This activity surrounds a decrepit cemetery with cracked markers and moss-draped oaks, a graveyard that appears to have been left behind by the city that grew up around it. As many people who know me, know I am a History buff, and this place is sad !!! The graves are broken due to the type of cemetery it is......... Let's say every 2 to 3 steps you see the Stars and bars.
Perhaps one of the more touching epitaphs appears on a marker with a weeping willow tree etched in its stone.
"Here lies William Ashley and Nancy Ashley, Master and Servant. Faithful to each other in that relation in life, in death they are not separated.
"Stranger, consider and be wiser, in the grave all human distinction, of race or caste, mingle together in one common dust.
"To commemorate their fidelity to each other, this stone was erected by their Executor, John Jackson (1873)."
William Ashley, a clerk in Mayor John Jackson's office, never married because he could not legally marry Nancy, his slave. After he died, she died of a broken heart, Patrick said.
"Here they are," she said. "The beautiful inscription speaks volumes not only about the abstract principle of love, but how the courage of one person can stand up to the conventions of age."
"Stranger, consider and be wiser, in the grave all human distinction, of race or caste, mingle together in one common dust.
"To commemorate their fidelity to each other, this stone was erected by their Executor, John Jackson (1873)."
William Ashley, a clerk in Mayor John Jackson's office, never married because he could not legally marry Nancy, his slave. After he died, she died of a broken heart, Patrick said.
"Here they are," she said. "The beautiful inscription speaks volumes not only about the abstract principle of love, but how the courage of one person can stand up to the conventions of age."
More on this story later. Here are some pix of a grave yard gone bad. Lake view (Cleveland) never let my fav. place look like this ! I will drum up a group to go and clean up the place, even if it's a site for Johnny Reb.
1 comment:
I appreciate your pictoral and written reflections on the final resting place of Johnny Reb. I'll send you an invite to my blog where I've posted a diary entry from my great-great grandfather, pertaining to the Battle of Shiloh. A brief excerpt: "Our boys took cover behind the ridge and kept our place for a long time. The rebels brought up fresh troops twice but could not drive us....." I too love to wander around cemeteries but that's a whole other story....
Post a Comment