22 December 2009

Tombstone Tuesday--Bridgeton Cemetery

After spending some time poking around in our Local History files, I managed to come up with some pictures from the Bridgeton Cemetery. These seem to have been taken from one of our contributors who favored pictures of the cemetery as a whole, rather than just an individual tombstone.
Bridgeton Cemetery is located near the south end of the county. I love the look of the massive stones here. Notice how even the individual markers in this family plot have bulk and weight. Clearly the Stone family was not one to be trifled with.

This illegible stone seems to be just leaning on the tree. My mind wonders if it was broken by a too closely planted tree, or from natural or man-made forces.

This Jenning family plot has less massive stones. Still these 3 stones of children from ages 11 to 17 is a reminder of the harshness of life in the late 19th century rural Michigan.
This stone is for the Squier family. Their massive Family marker is shown below and both are in the picture above of the Stone family, in the background.
The letters in the oval near the top of the stone are BPOE--before television and radio, so many families joined different fraternal organizations. This family appears to have been members of the Benevolent and Protective Order of the Elks.Here is an over all view of much of the cemetery. As you can see, it is actively used today. Notice the newer granite markers, as well as at least three with the bronze veterans plaques.

1 comment:

  1. Thank you for sharing this piece of Michigan history.

    Bill ;-)

    http://drbilltellsancestorstories.blogspot.com/
    Author of "13 Ways to Tell Your Ancestor Stories"

    ReplyDelete

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