Archive for the 'Sepulcher' Category

Nearly Forgotten

November 5th, 2008

I almost missed the grave of Katie Lane when I dropped in on Harelson Cemetery for an impromptu graving trip.  It was against a fence; deep within a thick mess of underbrush.  You had to fight your way in just to get to where she was buried - if that is even the original spot of her headstone.

Katie, barely nineteen years-old when she died in 1903, is one of those "forgotten" graves - and persons - that are so important to me in my hobby and research.  It saddens me to think that she is not remembered, not looked for, and never commemorated.  Flowers have probably not been put on her grave in close to a century; eyes have probably not been laid upon her headstone a dozen times in the last ten years.

No one thinks to remember young Katie; there is no one left to care that she lived or died.

The best that I can do for her is memorialize her here.  All I could find, so far, was mention of her living with her family in the 1900 U.S. Census.

Katie L. Lane lived in what was then East Baton Rouge parish, Police Jury Ward 7, with her parents Joseph and Emma Lane.  I believe this area is now considered part of Iberville parish.

Her father, sixty-two years of age at the time, was from New York and a carpenter.  Her mother, whose surname I only know begins with a "G", was a Louisiana native and was fifty-one in 1900.  Katie was fifteen at the time.

She lived with a bevy of siblings:

  • Mary Bell, 27
  • Maud D., 25
  • Pearl E., 21
  • Ethel, 18
  • Carlile A., 11
  • Leslie B., 7

From the 1920 Census, I see her parents still living and all of her siblings, even her older sisters now in their forties, single and living with them.

This is all I could find - so far - on poor, forgotten Katie L. Lane.  It is my hope that she will be remembered or perhaps someone will stumble across this post and recognize her as an ancestor.  Until then, rest in peace, Katie; you are not forgotten.

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Basking In the Sun

April 9th, 2007


What you see here is, indeed, a coffin; a very old one.

There is no longer any legible marker to tell us who the occupant of this centuries old cast-iron casket is. All that I can tell you about it is that it has sat - basking in the light of day - for over fifteen years or longer. When this coffin was originally entombed is still a mystery, but some of the graves in this cemetery date back to the mid-1800's.

It would seem vandalism would have taken place over such a long period - and perhaps, there have been reckless youths that desired a peek inside. Yet there is really nothing to fear; even a very strong man would find it difficult - if not impossible - to pull that casket the rest of the way out of it's tomb.

It is made of heavy cast-iron. Though the feet area is seemingly too small to hold an adult's feet, the length of the casket, which can be seen when you peer down into the depths of the tomb, indicate this is an adult's grave.

The flash on my camera briefly illuminated the the dank darkness of the vault, and I snapped what appears to be a white cross, porcelain I am guessing, near the head of the casket. Unfortunately, it does not appear to be one of the infamous cast-iron caskets with a glass head so that the deceased person's face was visible.

The tomb itself is a waist-high, double-vaulted brick abode; the ground itself provides the flooring for the crypt. The adjacent vault, to the right of this one, is still securely sealed; the front of this one crumbled at some time in the distant past and has never been repaired.

My aunt - a local of the town where this cemetery exists - and I are trying to track down the cemetery records. It isn't a Catholic cemetery; in fact, it is one shared by a number of Protestant denominations in the area - so records aren't as readily available, or as detailed, as one might hope.

Once - and if - we learn more, I'll post it here.