Into the Silence

 

Terry and I woke and went to our places in the house. I was on the computer and he was outside sucking down a cigar. He shot me a text asking what I wanted to do today, if anything. I replied that we could go for a drive or maybe even walk through the cemetery. The cemetery it was. 

Last time I headed into the final resting place for bodies of many pioneers of the area, I went alone. This time I had my partner in crime by my side. Since Terry was with me, I knew I could step outside of the car and actually see some of the headstones. They were beautiful, but to our surprise, this was not only an old historical site. Recently there had been a few people put to rest in the IOOF Cemetery. We saw one from 2012 and another in 2022. I figured these were stragglers to the family plot or something along those lines. 

Terry and I chatted about how run down the place was. The grass was all straw-like and had not seen a sprinkler in many, many years. There were headstones knocked over that could have and should have been placed upright again. I'm surprised the families of those laid here do not set the fallen up again. 

One thing Terry was interested in were the cylindrical shaped "stones" for the lack of a better word. Was the entire body placed in these pieces and then laid in the ground or were these something that was placed on top of the burial site of a loved one?

If anyone can tell us what these "tubes" are called, please let us know. I tried to look it up but could not find anything on them. 

These two aged stones had seen better days, along with the rusted out fencing surrounding them. All I can say is that I do hope the bodies are not directly inside of these odd shaped burial stones due to the condition they are in. If so, Aunt Edna and Uncle Fred may come back to visit soon enough. 

This was the front end of one of the cylindrical stones. You could see deeply into the ground with it in this condition. There seemed to be another round piece inside, but it took has the broken end, exposing whatever could lie within. I'm not asking. Didn't ask, didn't question it, and I sure as heck did not look deep into the abyss before me. 

I looked up this name and could find nothing so far. This bums me out as I love taking the photos of the markers and learning more about those who were buried here. 

I could not find a name for this grave. They were 35 years of age when they died in 1884. 

Herman Hashage was born in Germany in March of 1842, died in December of 1897, at age 55. Mr. Hashage married Susanna Bruckner Gaterman in 1886. The name, Gaterman brings me back to the other picture above. Instead of Caterman, maybe it is Gaterman? 

The inscription in the stone is written in German, however the translation is also available. It reads:

Here rest in God. Rest gently in your tomb, God's angel calls you. Rest in peace. 

In German, it appears like this:

Hier Ruht in Gott. - Ruht sanft in euer gruft, his euch Gottes Engel ruft, Ruhet in Frieden.

It seems the stones of Henry Gaterman and Henry Hashage are connected. I'm very confused as they both say they perished at age 35 and were married to Susanna Buckner. The Gaterman stone, when translated to English from German says:

Abiable and beloved husband, farewell, thy years were few, but thy virtues were many, they are recorded, not on this perishing stone but on the book of life, and in the hearts of thy afflicted friends. - Yet again Dear Husband I hope to meet thee when the day of life has fled, then in heaven with joy to greet thee, where no farewell tear is shed.

Confusing, but interesting. I thought at first it would be father and son, which several graves appear to be. But unless they married the same woman, they are the same person but with different names? 

Allen Creath Vernon and his wife, Ruth Wheaton Vernon. Allen was born in Missouri in 1844. Because of that, I'm assuming he came to Oregon via the Oregon Trail. 

I'm assuming this is Allen Vernon or AC as is written on his stone. The photo was left by what I would believe to be a relative or someone who has done extensive research. 

Allen was 70 years old at the time of his death. Quite a long life for the time. He passed in 1915. 

His wife, Ruth hails from Indiana. She passed away at age 90, in 1939. Very long life. This couple makes me wonder how they met and more about their life than I can find. Their children, parents, and siblings are listed as being in the cemetery as well. It appears that Allen was Ruth's second husband. 

Mary Francis Bates passed in 1919, as the stone clearly says. Because there is no month listed for her birth, she was 68 or 69 upon her death, depending on that definite time frame. 

Other than that, the listing is short. There are no siblings, children or husband listed in the research I did around Mary Francis Bates. No place of her birth is listed either. Interesting. 

Terry noticed the inscription on this stone and pointed it out to me. We both loved the sentiment and chose to have it for the post name. We found beauty in the stone and loved the words written for her. This was actually one of my favorites. 

Well now. Dillion Asher has three spouses listed, 11 siblings, along with 10 children. Wow! Was he a busy beaver. Obviously his last wife was Mary, who was born in 1848 and passed away in 1918. 

Dillion was born in Kentucky in 1843 and died in 1927 in Washington. Why he was buried here is a mystery to me, but there must have been a reason he chose to be buried with his wife in Douglas County. 

Frederick Graecen Stewart was born in 1877 in Michigan. His family and friends knew him as Fred. He met his wife, Ella Cox Stewart, who died in 1966 at the age of 87. Ellen or Ella was born in Colorado. Ella remarried after Fred passed. The Stewarts had one child, Frederick Gordon Stewart who passed in 1995. 

There were stones that had fallen onto the ground. The large cylindrical grave markers had been damaged and crushed in places. Grassy places had very high hay-like grass that make it difficult to walk in, along with the very uneven ground. Even thistles grew around the graves. It was sad to see it in such disarray.

Other gravestones were prominent during this visit, but I do not want to get carried away in this blog post. It's an interest that I picked up a while back and have found it to be a wonderful thing to learn more about those who passed so long ago, that may be ones who have helped found our cities and our states which make up our country. 

I do this as a periodical interest, not to find the macabre in it all, but to find the beauty in those lives who came before us. Ancestral and historical information lies beneath the stones found in a cemetery and especially a burial ground as old as this. 

***

This was our Saturday so far. We picked up the makings of a pot roast and it is cooking now. My house smells awesome and it's a beautiful thing. Good grief. The price of a roast is outrageous. We have not had one in a long time and we both love a good roast, so it seemed like it was time to get one. I'm hoping it will taste good. It better taste good after paying that much for it. That roast better tickle both of us into euphoric feelings of joy. It better be scrumptious. It costs more than eating at the Thai restaurant, giving both of us a mango sticky rice dessert. Yeah. It better sing to me.  

The roast dinner turned out well. All is good in the Macrae household. Terry and I spent some time outside, discussing various topics and enjoying the night breeze. Ms. Evie came up to us and began rubbing all over my legs. Evie is the kitty that has adopted us. She lives outdoors still and is homeless so to speak. 

I've been working on finding her a forever indoors home, but it's almost impossible to do. One mother and daughter pair came to pick her up, but she hid when it came time for them to take her. I could not get her to come back out. She was frightened, as most animals might be with three women standing in front of her, with kennel in hand. The women wrote to me the next day and informed me they would not be back to take her as she is too feral. 

Nothing is "feral" about Ms. Evie. She is young and the extra people scared her. Otherwise, she comes out and mauls me for love. She's a sweetie, but just a bit misunderstood by the humans who chose not to take her. I believe some animals come to you for a reason. They belong with you, period. My daughter and I had a dog like that. Her name was Cheza and she was given to people twice. She was returned twice. The entire time she was gone to those two homes, my daughter and I both were thinking of her all the time. We weren't all that attached to her for any reason, she was just meant to be with us. We figured it out and kept her. One of the best dogs I've ever had the pleasure of sharing my life with. Maybe Evie is meant to be with us in the same way? 

I don't know what to do with her. I love her dearly and want such good things for her, but we have two dogs and a cat. One dog I'm not positive on the reaction he may give. The other dog, the chihuahua, they've already met. They rub against each other and move on with their day. The husky? Not positive Togo would be willing to share his home with this little girl. So, we keep searching. 

***

Sunday, August 11, 2024

Nothing much happening today except for the agreement that Terry and I would work on straightening up the office. With the bookshelf finally together after many episodes of A Psychic and a Poet Walk Into a Bar, we need to begin putting it in its place and setting items on it. 

The office became a room where everything went. Got something new and nowhere to put it? Hey, we've got an office. It's a catch-all room, invented for work and for our overflowing crap. 

The fall definitely made things spiral out of control. I was in the mood for fixing up the house, and especially our office, when disaster struck. Between losing Bella and my fall, hospital stay, healing, etc., the house decor was put on the back burner. 

Well, today is the day. We choose to get this room cleaned up, organized and put back to the way it should be. That is our goal. 

I'll leave this here for today. I have work to do and it won't get done with me over the keyboard. Until our next post, take care and always count your blessings. 

Photo by granddaughter Kaylie Rose. "Dragonfly on Lotus"