A Cross-Generational Virtual Cemetery Tour

Have you ever had someone FaceTime you from a cemetery?

I had little interest in visiting cemeteries before getting into genealogy. But between my interest in seeing the graves of my ancestors and my husband’s interest in visiting Presidential libraries and burial sites, it is not unusual for us to include a trip to a cemetery in any travel plans we make. And, boy, did we find out in 2020 what great travel destinations cemeteries are during a pandemic!

Many of my Covenanter ancestors, details of whose lives I’ve detailed in many previous posts, were interred in Covenanter (or ARP or Reformed Presbyterian) cemeteries. Within each of these cemeteries in South Carolina, Kansas, Illinois, and Indiana, I am related in some way to a majority of those buried there.

One such cemetery is the Covenanter Cemetery—a very small cemetery with fewer than 500 graves, located in a residential area of Bloomington, Indiana. I have not yet been to this cemetery, but I hope to visit it some day.

My daughter frequently travels to Bloomington to study with a distinguished voice teacher on the faculty of the Jacobs School of Music at Indiana University. On one of those visits, her teacher invited her to stay with her at her home.

My daughter’s teacher’s house was located on Covenanter Drive. Three-quarters of a mile from Covenanter Cemetery.

My daughter not only went to the cemetery, but she FaceTimed me as she walked into the cemetery and as she was looking for specific graves! Her trip even warranted a reel and story posted to her own social media!

It was such a delight to hear her exclaim, “Wow! There are SO many Curry’s here! Are we related to all of them?!” I told her that the chances were pretty good that anyone with that name in that cemetery was an ancestor.

And she seemed genuinely impressed to be right next to the headstones of her 5X great-grandparents.

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My daughter does not (yet) share my passion for ancestry. She does, however enjoy a good “scavenger hunt,” eagerly seeking out particular graves in a cemetery. And she does love me very much. She knew just how much it would mean to me for her to visit and take photos of some of the markers.

Maybe someday she will accompany me for a visit to Blackstock, in Chester County, South Carolina. There, in Hopewell Reformed Presbyterian Church Cemetery, she and I can visit the burial site of her 6X great-grandparents.

Written for the 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks Challenge, Week 20 – “At the Cemetery.” PROMPT: I was already fascinated with cemeteries when I became a genealogist. There’s something special about seeing a tangible remembrance of an ancestor. Which ancestor is buried in a favorite cemetery or has an interesting tombstone? Whose grave would you like to visit?