The First Word #6: Roadside Stops: Rest Areas, McDonald’s® and Cemeteries

Last summer, my family and I visited relatives, as we do every year. All of my ancestors, all four lines, converged in Wood County, Ohio for several generations, so there is a lot of information to find each time we go back for a visit. I always make a list of new things I want to search for, such as obituaries, church records, land records, and so forth, but probably my favorite is searching for the cemeteries and tombstones of my ancestors.

Often I am visiting “easy” cemeteries such as Fort Meigs Cemetery in Perrysburg, Ohio. It is quite large but very well indexed and mapped and only a few miles from my grandma’s house. Another “easy” cemetery is Maple Grove Cemetery, in Findlay, Ohio located one block from my dad’s house. On nice days, we just take walks in the cemetery even if I’m not looking for tombstones.

On our last excursion, I had a few ancestors to locate in a “new” and as it turns out, not-so-easy cemetery in Hancock County, Ohio. Hancock is one county south of Wood, and the cemetery was near the city of Findlay. I had done some research in advance of our trip, consulted historical maps, checked county history books and looked in Google Maps for a current map of the area. I knew the general location of this cemetery, within a few square miles or so. I knew it would be between a few major roads, but not on which particular county road.

My dad, who I mentioned lives in Findlay, offered to drive us and help us find it. He knew from my maps the general area in the country where this cemetery should be and a few landmarks along the way. My extended family has become curious about my “hobby” and they are interested in the new things I find out about our ancestors every time I come. We had to take two cars because everyone wanted to ride along, six of us in all.

Since my dad knew the area best, we let him lead and followed him in our car. He drove to the general area with no problems, but after a few turns and no sign of a cemetery, we quickly realized that we didn’t know enough to find it ourselves without systematically driving up and down country roads in a grid-like manner.

After some time, we were driving down yet another country lane surrounded by farm land and a few houses nestled next to small wooded groves. My dad spotted a farmer driving his tractor down the road ahead of us. My dad, who has a knack for striking up conversations with perfect strangers, pulled up beside him and waved him down. Since I was in the second car, I couldn’t hear the conversation but I watched my dad get out and lean up against the tractor like he was talking with an old buddy about “this weather we’re having.” I watched the flapping of arms left and right and the pointing “over there.” My dad finally motioned for us to follow him, climbed into his car and we were on our way again.

We turned around and went east just one road. Behind a stand of trees that had been blocking our view, sat a little cemetery. It seemed to be well cared-for and was located a stone’s throw from someone’s house. I suspect that it was originally a family cemetery that expanded to meet the needs of the surrounding community. We had a fun time walking the cemetery and locating the tombstones together. It wasn’t too difficult to locate our ancestors due to the small size of the cemetery.

I think it was a memorable experience for my dad. I also learned one thing about genealogy from my dad during that trip; don’t be afraid to talk to the locals, and if you are, then bring along someone who isn’t. It can also become a fun activity or adventure for your family members to help you out with your research. It will give them a sense of being involved in the process.

I also try to get my children involved with searching for our ancestors. When I take them to cemeteries I use it as an opportunity to work on the alphabet.* (“Ethan, find a tombstone beginning with an M.”) On this trip, involving my kids in the search for our ancestors’ graves had begun to take it’s toll. One day, while taking some time to check out two cemeteries, my son fell asleep in the car in the cemetery. He was confused when he woke up and said “Are we still in the cemetery?” I had to answer, “No, we’re in another cemetery now.” On a different day, while riding in the car with my grandma, Ethan saw a business’s sign made out of a large slab of stone. He said to my grandma with much trepidation, “Grandma! That’s not a tombstone is it? My mom stops at anything that looks like a tombstone!” I guess he’d had enough genealogy for one trip.

*As mentioned in “How Potty Training Can Help Your Genealogy” in BGS Quarterly, Vol. 38, No. 2, May 2006.