Tombstone Tuesday--Alton Cemetery--More Family

I love going cemetery hopping with my crazy Aunt Glenna.  She and another cousin had pretty much researched my dad's side of the family back to colonial times.  We have visited my mothers family stones up north, and previously her and Dad's family cemeteries to the south.
Back in late summer of 2006, a few months before my dad died, he and his younger and older sisters and I went once more to make the rounds of his family cemeteries in Kent county.  By this time my dad was unable to get out of the car much, so he sat the car as his old sister, Aunt Glenna and I roamed and pointed out the stones.

One of my favorite family cemeteries was Alton Cemetery, in Vergennes township, Kent county, Michigan.  Many of the names that are sprinkled through the 1800's section of my family tree are found here: Aldrich, Barto, Allen, Condon, Ford.

An old church sits in one corner of the cemetery.  From near there is this view of the cemetery.  There is a great variety of stones here in Alton cemetery.  You can see the tall white marble, some more ornately carved stones, simple slabs, and on the left one of those wonderful white zinc stones that stand up so well to the elements.

This stone is for Edna Barto Ford on my grandfather's side of the family.  I believe her husband Warren Ford is also here.  This was the second connection in my family of the Ford family.  Earlier, the Ford family had married into the Cross line on my grandmother's side.  This is the source of my great family mystery that drives me crazy.  If, as a child, my grandmother remembers Gerald Ford at Ford family reunions, why can't I find a connection to his adopted family?  The fact that my grandmother's divorced mother later married my grandfather's widowed father only serve to complicate matters.  But isn't that what makes genealogy so much fun?

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Also to be found here are the parents of Edna Barto.  This stone has faded since the first time Aunt Glenna remembers it, so I tried to capture the inscription.  This side is for Fanny (Frances) Clark Barto, and on the next side is her husband Barlo.  Of all the unusual names I have in my family, my favorite is Barlo Barto.

 Here is a picture of him in livelier times.
Finally are the stones of my great-grandparents, the stones Aunt Glenna was studying in the first picture. Grandpa's Dad, and

 Grandma's mother.

Resting peacefully together in Alton cemetery.

Tombstone Tuesday--Curtice Cemetery

Yet another of the many county cemeteries I have not visited. But I will. The reason? One day, several years ago, when reviewing these pictures, my co worker called to me to ask if I was related to a "C J Cross'. After repeating the name to myself several times, I had a "Well, Duh!" moment. My father's grandfather! While we knew him as Jesse, his real name was Calvin Jesse. And there was his stone.Great Grandpa Jesse's stone was remarkable to me when I first saw the picture. It was a cement stone, painted silver, with the lettering looking as though someone had carved in the damp cement with a nail. And that may have been the case. However looking through our file pictures from the cemetery, I discovered several other stones about the same general shape as his, but with molded lettering. See below.
Jesse's stone is in the background here, on the left next to the earn. The central stone with the name Thomas is also cement, and also painted silver. It is placed between two granite stones that look much newer. The carving of the granite stones is hard to see in this picture, but when I look at a enlarged version there are deeply carved flowers outlined around the border. The remind me of the early to mid 20th century stones of other family members. The center stone, shaped similarly to Great Gramps, has clearly molded letters and decoration in the center. You can also see the lines of the mold along the edges.
Here below is another stone that, when closely studied, also appears to be of cement. Again a finer molding of the design on front--sort of a double heart inscribed Rest in Peace. The name on the top is difficult to make out even in the enlarged version.
The stone below in contrast looks quite modern. The person it remembers however is one of the earlier burials, dying in 1914. In perusing the transcript we have of Curtice Cemetery, only a handful died earlier.
Most of the names in the transcript show death dates from the early 1920's on into the 1960's, with a few beyond.
Even this large stone in front, for the David family appears with close scrutiny to be made of cement. As with the others, a closeup view shows the wear and pebbles poking to the service. The large stone near the shrub is too dark to tell the material it is made from.
This pictures shows the back of the above scene and the other side of the bordered plot.
The presence of these cement stones causes me to wonder if other cemeteries have this much cement work as well? Did I simply realize it because of Great Grandpa Jesse's stone? Have I overlooked them in other cemeteries?
Or was this a factor of the geographic location? Northern Newaygo county has gravel and marl that were used in the production of cement. Was there a local craftsman or business who specialized in grave markers using local materials?
Definitely worth pondering as well as researching.

Tombstone Tuesday--Clark Cemetery

Clark is nearby cemetery that is not city or township owned. It sits near the corners of 3 counties and 4 townships. Across the street from a farm machinery dealership, and sided by a large pole building, it still maintains it rural touch. This classic stone shown above for Amanda Wright shows the clasped hands that was often shown on the graves of wife's who had died.

I have several family members in this cemetery. The below stone is from my paternal grandparents. Although I have found unusual first names are helpful in genealogy, they can also present a problem. Gramp's name is misspelled here and never corrected. At least they had a stone. Grandma's brother and wife are buried here also, near Grandma and Grampa. However, although Uncle Bert had a stone, Aunt Lyla had none. Apparently that small aluminum marker was all she had. Dad made up this stone for her out of cement and wooden letters. Although the letters have since fallen out, you can at least read the name and in real life, the dates. I liked Aunt Lyla. She taught me to enjoy Perry Como.

My Hubby also has family in this cemetery. Although most of his family is in the Holton cemetery, I had searched in vain for the older generations of Walsworths. Imagine my surprise, when, as so often happens, I saw the name Walsworth just before the cemetery exit. The name is carved in the base, and around the sides were the names of Hubby's great-grandparents Artemas and Amanda, but also his great-greats--Elijah and Lucina. I love cemetery serendipity!
Of course I am not related to everyone there. The stones are varied while some are almost hidden in the tall flowers.

One of the nearby roads in one of the adjoining counties are named for this family. I love the log style stones. This one looks like pink granite.

This is such a sad stone. It incorporates many of the commonly seen symbols. The drapery and the lambs. The top of the stones says "Our Little Lambs." And also "the children of _____ and ______ Stevens." Apparently the Stevens children died at the same time. I don't see the names of the children, maybe they are on the sides or back of the stone.

This last tombstone seems to have an urn on the top. I cannot read the name of this rather hidden stone.

But did you notice the little slab leaning against the bottom?

Tombstone Tuesday--Alton Cemetery, Kent County

One of the last road trips my father took before he passed away was to go cemetery hopping with his 2 sisters and myself.

We visited some of the cemeterys in Kent County where his grandparents and some of the greats were buried. Since Aunt Glenna had been there more than any us, she quickly found the first graves.

Omar Allen and his wife Carrie Ford Allen were resting peacefully side by side in a lower portion of the rolling graveyard.

With some roaming around, I spotted the ancester with my favorite name, my 3rd great grandfather, Barlo Barto. Isn't that name great? Wife Fanny (Frances Clark) was listed on the south side of this stone and the inscription was fading. Aunt Glenna said it was much fainter since her previous trip.

Barlo and Fanny's daughter Edna married into the Ford line. Somewhere here is the legendary connection to Gerald Fords adoptive family. He was at Ford reunions that my grandmother attend, so all I have to do is confirm the connection. I once wrote to President Ford asking about this. He referred me to his daughter, but I was too chicken to write to her. Maybe someday.

My grandmother, Edna Cross Allen, was named for her grandmother whose grave is shown here: Edna Barto Ford.

Intro to Me

I’m Linda, the quiet and shy snow-loving member of our twosome. I’m married to a farmer who has never lived more than half a mile from where we now live. I have two grown sons, both farmers through and through. While I have moved around some, I have stayed in the West Michigan area all my life. My love of family history began with my grandmother telling me stories of how we were related to Ethan Allen (un-proven as yet) and how Gerald Ford used to attend our Ford family reunions as a child. Much work had been done on my father’s family history, so my first breakthrough came when I discovered my first Civil War ancestor on my mother’s side. It has been an exciting quest to dig into the Allen, Ford, Cross, Samis, Gilbert, Cunningham, Wells, Stiver, Hagen, and Walsworth lines. (Just to name a few.)
One of my biggest college regrets was that I decided not to pursue a history minor. Digging into the family history as well as the area history has been never-ending and rewarding adventure.