Epitaph

Cemeteries are unique places in our lives. Some are beautiful, some are historic, and some are even entertaining. There is a quiet sadness about all cemeteries because they are the final resting places of our loved ones. We intend to post pictures here of cemeteries and head stones that are original photographs. We are looking for beauty, dignity, funny and above all something interesting. Feel free to comment and to contribute. We will provide a mail box if you want to contribute.




Tuesday, May 18, 2010

Higganum - Burr

I have a knack for finding small cemeteries.  All cemeteries are filled with all kinds of history and memories, but sometimes the small ones seem to intrigue me.  This is another cemetery where I have performed a burial.  See my information for more on that. I am including the required flowers right away.
I found several things of interest  at this Cemetery, the Higganum and Burr Cemetery.  It is located just off Rt 81 in Higganum, Connecticut.  This is a small cemetery for a small community.  It is apparently a merger of a community cemetery with a family cemetery.  There is a very old section some of which you can see below.
Though old is often interesting, this cemetery has several very interesting occupants.  It seemed to me that there were a large number of veterans buried here.  As the picture below shows every grave of a veteran has an American Flag and there are a lot of them.  (Remember this is not a specifically military cemetery!)

Though there were many graves from the Civil war era, some of the markers were different from the usual simple military marker.  the one below is quite typical of the usual marker.

The marker below is quite different because it identifies not only the soldier who is buried there, but also identifies the battle in which he died.  He died in one of the most terrible of Civil War battles, the Battle of Antietam. Antietam was the bloodiest single-day battle of the war with 23 thousand casualties. He apparently was seriously wounded in the battle and died later in a Hospital.  Today we think of people surviving if they make it to a Hospital for care.  Medicine and medical care were quite different then.  Antietam Creek is located in Maryland near Sharpsburg. This Connecticut man died a long way from home.
There is much more to be seen in this small cemetery.  It will have to wait for another post.  Peace.

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