The custom of the family burying ground has all but passed into oblivion. It was usually placed on a grassy knoll or slope, not far from the house site, so it could be frequently visited and lovingly tended. Many of the family plots recorded here are now so isolated and remote as to be virtually inaccessible. Some which were copied many years ago are gone. Others soon will be. The deserted church graveyards are in a similar situation. As the population shifted, leaving the neighborhood or migrating westward or southward, the old churches were abandoned and fell into ruins. Today, almost all of these old churchyards are neglected, overgrown with briars and underbrush. Before many years have passed, the valuable records they hold may be lost forever.
Louise Kelly Crowder
(1970), 2003, 8½x11, paper, index, 164 pp.
710-2637
