Roots: Stop, Don’t Just Drive By August 30, 2006
Headstones in a family cemetery in Indiana.
By Pennee Murphree
Everywhere Pat and I, or Julie and I, travel, I have cemeteries to visit. Cemeteries are very historical places. They give you accurate birth and death dates when you’re trying to record family histories. Plus, the confusion with the spelling of ancient family names can often be clarified when ancestors are found as you walk the quiet, solemn rows of a cemetery.
And while most cemeteries are very pretty and well cared for, they also hold secrets you might never uncover unless you visit them. For example, I’ve come across the grave marker of a baby not listed in any family records. Or, sometimes special markers are placed by the headstone, for example, by the Daughters of the Revolution. A Bible verse, or quote, on a headstone might reveal clues to the deceased’s character or personality. Since families are normally buried in groups, you’ll find a treasure trove of information in one spot.
So as we travel Scotland this week, we’ll come upon some ancient cemeteries once again. I have looked at our itinerary and, oh yes, do we ever have Scottish roots and cemeteries to see. Or shall I say drive by.
Stop and You’ll Discover
Several years ago, Pat and I were traveling through Pueblo, Colorado and I had information that a great grandmother, Orris Morgan Ward, was buried somewhere in Pueblo. We didn’t drive by. We stopped.
Orris Morgan, born in 1830, married Hiram Ward in Indiana on September 10, 1848. In 1850, Orris and Hiram moved to Boone County, Iowa and acquired 80 acres of land. This is where they raised their seven children Harriet, Sarah, Ruth, Ezra (my great grandfather), Morgan, Seneca and Hiram.
In 1876, Orris and Hiram sold their farm in Boone County for a tidy sum and bought a farm in Story County, Iowa. The house on the farm was a beautiful two-story Victorian structure with two chimneys. On February 1, 1890, Hiram died and was interred at Boone, Iowa. Gosh, here’s another cemetery to visit that I haven’t made it to yet!
An obvious modern woman of her time, Orris was prominent in Iowa in the raising and marketing of livestock and grain. In the 1880 census, information cites Orris as owning 6 horses, 14 mulch cows, and 16 other cattle, 75 pigs, 10 sheep, and 83 poultry. But Orris sold her productive farm near Ames and moved to Harrison County, Iowa with her three younger sons, Morgan, Seneca, and Hiram.
One of her sons, Seneca, was thought to be an outlaw. I’ve been searching for that information but with no luck so far. However, her outlaw son may be the reason that Orris left her prosperous life on the farm northwest of Ames. Seneca was a hush, hush topic when I was a kid. Regardless of what happened, Orris and her three sons remained in Harrison County for only a few years.
The next record of Orris is from 1907 at Pueblo, Colorado. She was making a new life on a truck farm in Vineland, Colorado. Orris was 91 years old when she was laid to rest in Rose Lawn Cemetery on the outskirts Pueblo, Colorado where Pat and I ended up to discover her headstone in the cemetery. Dwight Young placed a granite tombstone with a simple inscription there in 1991 as a tribute to her.
I’m glad we stopped. And I’m wondering if I will ever find Seneca.
Historical Family information from Pirtle Grandchildren, by Dwight Wayne Young
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