Philadelphia Cemetery

I heard this NPR story on Mother's Day this year. Seemed appropriate for this blog.

Because it is the only green space for many folks in down town Philadelphia, they are enjoying and beautifying the 19th century Woodland cemetery on the grounds of the former William Hamilton estate, a botanist.




What caught my attention was that some (many?) of the headstones have eroded and the names can no longer be read. It makes me hope that fellow FAGs (Find-a-gravers) have recorded these interments for posterity. I pray that the paper records are intact and that they have been transcribed.

I was also interested in the discussion about the unmarried, former Civil War nurse. After doing some research on some of the people buried in the cemetery, the interviewee was speculating as to why she became a nurse and what was the role of her father, who lies buried next to her (or vice versa, as she lived until 70.) That is exactly the kind of thing that I want to do - imagine and write the stories of the child free women in my tree.

Take a listen here. It's only 3 minutes of your time.

A Freakin' Coincidence

I was doing a search on the New York Times between the years 1908 and 1911 for a certain family name. I found what I was looking for - an obituary to confirm the death of a cousin/uncle. I turned away quickly, but in doing so, something caught my eye. The next obituary was written for a person with the last name Van Houten. It was a woman, and her maiden name and parents' names were given in the small blurb.

I have a brick wall with the Van Houten name so I thought to myself, let me take a few minutes and see if I can find her husband and his family. Maybe I can climb a few branches and find the name I am looking for. Maybe this will lead me to sources which I can explore more fully. This family seems to be involved with the Dutch Reformed Church and there is a very large family group in Passaic, New Jersey. I had been led to both places previously, but have not found what I was looking for.

Plenty of wiggling leaves enticed me on the newly created tree. I finally got to one hint which led me to Findagrave... (I love Findagrave; I love the quietness of walking in the cemeteries; I love the possibility of helping someone find their missing relative; I love seeing beautiful statuary... I just think it is all a great way to spend some time... kinda like golf, I imagine.... a beautiful day in the sunshine taking a slow, purposeful walk.)



When I clicked on her husband what did I find? I found that in 2013 I had created his memorial on the web site; that I had uploaded the photograph! Bi-Zarre. I don't remember that at all.

And, with that being said... I may have just realized a huge mistake on my part. This tombstone does not suggest he is dead, just that he was the husband of Anna Carter Laffey Van Houten who is buried here with her parents. She clearly died young. I can not find another Willard Van Houten on Findagrave which matches the Vital Statistics of this man. And, I gotta tell you, I don't recall wandering through this graveyard... so perhaps I am mistaken. Yikes. So, do I delete the memorial I just found? That's probably the safe thing to do. Let someone else find him again if he is there.