We headed eastward over into Brashear, population around 273. Every time we went through a town I copied down the population as I just couldn’t believe there were places so small that actually existed!
Time to try and find the ‘Reuben Long’ Family Cemetery. I had the rough directions from the old 1979 Adair County Cemetery Book to go on, that was it. The night before we went scouting, I looked at the area on Google maps and followed the directions exactly, which left me with one conclusion: the only road that took a southern turn after a curve off of County Road J was County Road 269, or Horseshoe Lake Way.
So off we went onto an unknown rocky dirt road, going slow and taking a good look around. According to the directions we would come across a farmhouse and the family cemetery would be about half a mile behind it in a grove of trees about ¼ of an acre in size.
A farmhouse appeared on the left and so we turned off and drove up into the driveway. There were cows in the barn and an old truck in the front so I thought there are a few signs of habitation. I got out of the car and went up to the door, but as soon as I did I could tell that no one had lived there in quite some time. It was empty. Windows were broken. Paint was peeling of the sides everywhere and to my horror, mud daubers (wasps) were everywhere. I’m severely allergic to bee stings, so I very quickly scurried off the front porch and went around back. The weeds were as tall as I was (5’ 7”)….I could see trees everywhere, but nothing that stood out as a spot that might be a burial ground.
Back into the car I went, and decided to see if I could find a neighbor at home. We drove down to the next farmhouse and were in luck. We met a very nice man named Todd Barnes. He was home that day due to a minor back injury and was more than helpful; he called his neighbor and made inquiries on our behalf. The owner told Mr. Barnes that he did recall hearing of a family cemetery somewhere back in the woods behind his home, but was unsure if it was on his property or on the property behind him…..he said he would find out and let us know.
In the meantime, Mr. Barnes said he seemed to recall several family cemeteries in the area but had never investigated and he wasn’t quite sure about any of it, but thought he heard rumors about one that could possibly be ours across from his home….ofcourse, that property belonged to someone else. Mr. Barnes said that the owner was gone quite often and he felt fine with giving us permission to go have a look and explore, at our own risk as well. He warned us about ticks….I was more concerned about the possibility of snakes myself, but the overwhelming desire to find my family took over any inkling of common sense I had, so Hannah and I ventured off the beaten path. Again, the weeds were as tall as we were, and being ever so cautious where we were stepping, just in case.
We carefully moved towards a small grove of trees, much less than a quarter of a mile off the road, probably about 800 feet or so. I had a feeling we were headed in the right direction. This would’ve been a good time to try to do some dowsing, but then again, we had been fortunate that everyone so far had been very kind to us; I didn’t want them to think we were some oddballs from Colorado doing ‘witchy’ things on their property. We finally reached the tight little grove of trees, and at first look, didn’t see anything. Feeling a tad disappointed, I motioned to Hannah to start to head over to the other grove and then, out of the corner of my eye, I saw what looked to be an oblong flat rock…..on closer inspection, it was a tombstone!
All of a sudden my heart just jumped out of my chest! I was so excited! We were very careful to get a closer look at the stone marker, and then discovered another one, right next to it, but being swallowed up by the ground and trees around it. I got out the camera and started taking pictures……we very carefully attempted to brush some of the dirt and debris off the stone that was more above ground, but it was a tight squeeze and difficult to reach.
Here’s what we could read:
Stone 1: MARY daughter of O.M. & A. Pitt
No dates were legible
Stone 2: JOHN son of O.M. & A. Pitt
The only date we could make out was 1858, and since it was towards the bottom of the stone, I’m thinking that was his date of death.
The excitement and thrill of finding this family burial site was so exhilarating, I can hardly put it into words! The adrenaline was pumping and I just wanted to shout for joy! Hannah didn’t quite get why I was so happy, after all, this wasn’t our family, but I’m sure as she thinks back on this she’ll start to understand. I’m sure many of you do.
After taking a few more pictures, we headed back towards the road and informed Mr. Barnes of our spectacular find. He was happy for us too, giving a little chuckle as he could see I was still beaming and on cloud nine! He informed us that his neighbor had called back with some not so good news; the ‘Reuben Long’ Family burials were actually on another owner’s property….. a dark look came over Mr. Barnes face and he hung his head down…he said the owner of that property was a Mr. P., (to protect his identity this is not his real name) and he was not cordial, inviting, friendly or nice. Mr. Barnes shook his head as he told us a story of a man whose dog got loose onto the property and he asked Mr. P if he could go look for his dog…..Mr. P. said emphatically, NO. Mr. Barnes had also told us of how Mr. P. had spray painted the property lines on trees and such, and crossing a red mark would provoke him to gunfire!
As much as I wanted to find my 3rd great grandfather and family, I had no desire to join them yet, so I told Hannah that since Mr. P. was certain to be unapproachable, we should be pleased and proud of our findings, and let it go at that.
We had gotten close. Close enough that I could just about taste it, but this time around, close enough was going to have to do.
Being a genealogist for 25 years now, with my love of cemeteries and family history, I’ve decided to adopt the ‘Pitt’ family and consider them my own. I’m going to find out their names, who they were and where they were from; Hannah and I are also going down into the history books as finding the ‘Pitt Family Cemetery’, documented and preserved by the Adair County Historical Society in downtown Kirksville, Missouri.
I consider our trip very successful; I found many family headstones in several different cemeteries across 3 counties….
All in all, we surely did find tombstone treasures!
© 2011 Patricia K. Long/Tombstone Treasures
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