Ah, the automobile. We use it for mundane tasks like driving to work, hauling landscaping materials, and toting groceries. Today, though, I'd like to declare my appreciation for this fine piece of technology that allows me to visit ancestral places with relative ease. Without an automobile, how likely is it that I would have visited West Virginia and the spot where Colonel John Field lost his life? Not likely! Or the cemetery with the monument to the now non-existent town of Wilmington, Kentucky - a place where John Field purchased land with the hope of residing in the new county seat? Nope, probably wouldn't have made the trek to visit that place either. Over the last several years, I have enlisted the trusty family steed to take me to various areas of genealogical importance, so today, I pay homage to...the automobile.
In August of 2014, my sister's automobile took us to Pulaski County, Illinois. Here, I learned where my ggg grandparents were buried and was able to visit the stone of my gg grandparents. G.W.'s missing date of death has since been rectified.
Then I took a long hiatus from lengthy travels because I became a mom, but in July of 2022, I was back in the driver's seat to southern Illinois. This time, we were on the hunt for another ggg grandparent,
Thomas Green (the above Emma K.'s father). We found him in Anna Cemetery.
I have visited Thomas one other time since then.
The next month, I drove across the Ohio River to make the aforementioned trip to Kentucky to locate a cemetery with a couple amusing headstones.
It was in this town that John Field (my 4x great grandfather), purchased 3 lots of land in January 1827 with the intention of building in what was supposed to be the McCracken County Seat. I doubt it happened. When Wilmington flooded in 1832, only a jail, courthouse, and six houses had been completed. Now, there is no Wilmington - just a couple of commemorative monuments in Wilmington Road Cemetery.
In June of 2023, I took my brand new automobile to Minnesota. This time, though, I wasn't looking for a dead person. I was
visiting my "Cuzzin Heather" in person for the first time. This was the only genealogy-related trip for last summer, but it was well worth the drive!
In June of this year, we took a whirlwind road trip through the states of Indiana, Ohio, West Virginia, and Kentucky. While in Point Pleasant, West Virginia, my daughter and husband were anxious to visit the Mothman statue and museum, but I had genealogy on the brain. Just down the road from the cryptid tourist traps was Tu-Endie-Wei State Park, a sort of cemetery/historical marker for the Battle of Point Pleasant that occurred in 1774. At this battle, sometimes recognized as the first of the Revolutionary War, my ancestor, Colonel John Field, died. He was buried with other soldiers of rank at The Magazine.
Just a few days ago, we returned from a trip to southern Missouri. For the first time, I was able to visit Hayti - the place where
Great Uncle Horace perished.
The site of the former Keystone Building which was partially destroyed by a fire in 1941. Horace and Commissioner Houston H. Buckley died in the fire.
And then, I went to visit Horace's final resting place. It took some sleuthing and posting in various Facebook groups, but I was able to determine where the now-defunct cemetery is located.
County Poor Farm #2 was/is located just off the intersection of 412 and Highway Z next to the Pemiscot County Special School District administrative building. The district superintendent was outside when I pulled up, and he gave me permission to walk the empty field. I said a few words, left a note and some flowers, and felt a great sense of peace at finally being able to "Find Horace." Thank you, automobiles, for your assistance.
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