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Sunday, March 19, 2017

Ege Catholic Cemetery is Another Wonderful Piece of Northeast Indiana History

I transition here with one last photograph, the top one, of Notestine Cemetery and its classical old headstones. The second photo was taken by me in the still-used Ege Catholic Cemetery in LaOtto, Indiana - Noble County. Here is a lovely marble representation of the Virgin Mary as she looks over the peaceful, old, and new, graveyard.

I love how people have decorated this current cemetery with wind chimes, figurines, sun catchers, and solar decorative lights. Have you seen these little lights that people are putting in their yards and gardens? They absorb sunlight during the day, and then when it starts to get dark, they glow and change colorfully. It's so sweet to now see them near graves in cemeteries.

Websites have made wonderful records of those buried in many American graveyards. You can live states away or across the country, and find ancestors or long lost relatives far away. Often there are photos of the headstones and even old photos or portraits of people available to view. Many more modern gravestones even include contemporary color photos right on the headstones themselves.

I skimmed a website to see who was buried at Ege Cemetery. There are 560 grave sites recorded. The oldest "resident" I found was Valenty Ciesielska, born in 1782. I double-checked the website, which, surely enough, says that Valenty died in 1889, making him 107 years old! Could that really be true? I don't know, but if there's an error, it isn't mine. There is also a George Blaski, who was born in 1835 and lived to be 97. Impressive, considering the hardships of the time.

Impressive women can be found as well. Crescentia Hottinger was born in Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany, and died in 1912 in Ege, Indiana. There is an old portrait of her on the website. She bore eight children who made it into adulthood. It's hard to say if there were more that didn't survive.

I was also fascinated by the grave of Franciszka Jarzebska, who was born in 1842 and died in 1916. She was born in Kowalewo-Pomorskie Poland and died in Indiana. She had ten siblings: Marianna, Paulina, Catarzyna, Elizbieta, Rozalia, Tekla, Ignancy, Melchoir, Jozef and Felicjan. She married, and had nine children of her own.

My interest in graveyards is new. I think what we like and care about sometimes changes over the course of our lives. As the world becomes more technical and computerized, I become more interested in the tactile, sensory, real things around me. I love my technical tools, but I also want to maintain my old physical connections to the world.



Friday, March 17, 2017

Notestine Cemetery is One of Several Old Graveyards in the area

On the river side of St. Joe Road, about one-tenth of a mile east of Notestine Road in Allen County north of Fort Wayne, is a beautiful old graveyard on a hill by the river. There is a home adjacent, so a person needs to be careful so as not to disturb the homeowners. The cemetery is small, and no longer in use, but it is an excellent location to study old stones or to do some genealogical research. Many cemeteries or graveyards are documented on line these days, so a person can look up their ancestors or simply read about the folks who are buried there.

According to the Mary Penrose Wayne Chapter NSDAR, Notestine cemetery was documented in this way in 2008. Many very old graves were found, including some of people who had been born in the 1700s. Some of the sentiments inscribed on some of the tombstones are very touching. It gives us a glimpse into the sometimes short, sometimes long lives of the "residents" who have passed on.

For example, at the grave of Mary Coleman, who died in 1876 at the age of 35 years, this is inscribed on her stone: Dearest Mary, thou hast left us. Here thy loss we deeply feel, but 'tis God that has bereft us. He can all our sorrows heal.

Furthermore, Selden, a 2 1/2 year old son of hers, died in 1870. On his tombstone is inscribed: sleep, Selden, sleep Sleep sweet beneath the sod. For while we look upon your grave, your spirit rests with God.

There are many grave sites for children - we take for granted how for the most part, our lives are much longer than those who came before us. There were twin sons, first names of Andrew and Jackson. One died at 6 years, the other at only one year, eight months. For that child, the inscription reads: lovely babe, how brief thy stay. Short and hasty was thy day.

Walking along, I saw a grave for a 13-year-old, and one for an eleven-year-old, among the fall leaves still blowing about before the onset of spring. I saw graves for daughters of the Grubb family: a 9-month-old, a 1-month-old, and then the mother herself, who died years later at age 55. Some families were silent on their stones, some were fond of poetry. One read: a little flower of love that blossomed but to die. Transplant not above to bloom with God on high.

For one wife was written: call not back the dear departed, anchored safe where storms are. On the border land we left them, soon to meet and part no more.

I was happy to find not all the deceased had died young. Charles and Margaret Shriner were born in 1795 and 1783 respectively. These old timers had emigrated from New Jersey to Indiana, and the gentleman lived to the ripe old age of 86. Good for him. I bet if you did a little work and research, you could find an old cemetery like Notestine near you, and you could do a little exploring and wondering for yourself. The world awaits.