Thursday, April 11, 2013

Set in Stone


This is Mary Melissa McNiel Chanucy's grave stone.  Someone in her family spent many hours craving M. Chauncy into the face of the sandstone.  The carver ran out of stone before they came to the end of the name and found it necessary to lay the Y in its side, slightly below the c at the end of the name.


Click on the image and you can see the lazy y.

While killing time on the net yesterday, I found this marker on find a grave.


The inscription says Nancy wife of Joel McNiel.  Nancy died in 1888 and is buried in Walnut Grove Cemetery, Greene County, MO.  Nancy's son Manly Merrit McNiel and his wife Mary Josephine Gaddy McNiel are also buried in Walnut Grove Cemetery.  Mary Josephine is a daughter of our own George Gaddy.

Then, in a tree on Ancestry, I found this photo.


The woman seated in front, is Alma Soboa Chauncy, daughter of Mary Melissa Chauncy.  The descendant also posted this paragraph about Mary, "Mary Melissa McNiel worrked at a Hotel at age 15 where she met Warren Gidean Chauncey. He rode for the pony Express. he was 18. His family had come from Vermont. He join the war with his brothers in 1860. After the war he went back to Mo for her.They had a child and in the 1870 census Her sister Sara was living with her in Mo . Her sister had a child with last name Wallace. My Great GG grandmother was Mary Melissa McNiel.She came to carrol co, Ar. I think she died there.One of her children was Alma Chauncey. I have a picture of her and her family on line.She is not named in the Census as Alma. but a nick name. Aba. Alma died 1918.Her daughter was Abagail Caladona Blake."  I found this image here 


This weekend, we are going back to this cemetery.  George is going to cut down the thorny bushes and I am gong to pile them and put stump killer on the sprouts.  Black Oak Cemetery looks so different from what it appeared two years ago this March when George started cleaning it up.


Before pics, above and below.



   




2 comments:

Galla Creek said...

I emailed the owner of the tree and told her I could share a photo of the stone.

Did Jacob Shank run the hotel. Seems like he did.

Galla Creek said...

Well, I noticed the tree owner has not signed in in two years which is not a good sign of an active tree.

Some trees stay alive and grow. Some tie and some just sit there! lol