Posted: 5:49 PM - Oct 27, 2000
These are true stories.
------------------------------------------
CEMETERY LINKS: TALES TO TELL BY THE CAMPFIRE
CLOSE ENCOUNTERS: TAKE TWO
by Sarah G. Nunez trinoaks@flash.net
[Samm Orgar <Samm.Orgar@btinternet.com> wrote in "Close
Encounters," Missing Links, Vol. 5, No. 41 (11 October 2000):
"A friend of mine was in Canada a while ago. We live in a
village in Kent, England. He was driving through a very pretty
area and feeling hungry he stopped to eat his lunch. There was
a small church with a pretty cemetery, so while munching he
wandered over to take a closer look. The first headstone that
caught his eye sent a cold shiver up his spine. `Here lies
Robert AUGER,' etc. My friend, Robert AUGER left and returned
to his car with the tune from the `Twilight Zone' playing
quietly in his mind."]
When my father-in-law passed away a few months ago, my husband,
his siblings, and I went to the military cemetery to visit his
grave. The graves were still marked with small temporary
markers, so it took a bit of looking to find it. A number of
graves had just been dug along that row, so we started at the
end and worked our way to his. Just before we got there, the
grave immediately before his bore a marker that read, ""Sarah
NUNES." Needless to say, I've made a note in the records of my
father-in-law's death that the grave next to his belongs to
someone who is NOT a known relation.
*
CLOSE ENCOUNTERS: ANOTHER GHOST STORY
by Mary Mason salson53@monmas.fsnet.co.uk
[Re "Close Encounters," by Samm Orgar, ML 5:41, 11 October 2000]
Permit me, Samm, to go one better than your friend. Having been
married just a couple of months, my husband, his mother, and I
went to lay flowers upon grandfather's grave at St. Matthews
Church of England, Billinge Road, Wigan, Lancashire. My home
town was Bury, Lancs before my marriage, so imagine my shock,
horror, and surprise, to discover that back to back with my
husband's grandfather's headstone was one with the name Mary
SALMON. You've guessed it. Mary SALMON was my maiden name. So
now every time that I get a cold shiver and say someone is
walking over my grave, it's more or less true.
*
SUCCESSFUL LINKS: A TRIO OF HAUNTING TALES
A CROSS IN TIME?
by Penny4Um@aol.com
My son Robin had been having a bad time adjusting after leaving
the army and at the time was living in Germany with his fiancee,
Miss O'HAGAN. I had just started to be interested in family
history and my Irish great-grandmother, Mary Bridget O'NEILL,
spending a lot of time in the local library.
I saw a post advertised near where I was living for a gardener,
driver, and housekeeper at a local estate owned by Viscount
MOUNTGARRET. My son and fiancee duly applied and started work.
All was not going well. Personalities clashed and flared, and I
feared for the two young people whose pride had problems dealing
with the arrogant and demeaning attitudes with which they were
having to cope.
This particular day as I browsed the library, I found myself
drawn to a book on the history shelf called THE TWILIGHT LORDS.
It opened to a section dealing with Shane and Hugh O'NEIL, Earls
of Tyrone. Fascinated, I read of the O'NEIL of O'NEIL, and the
foster system of the eldest son of each clan fostered "sideways"
with a brother clan, thereby keeping the bond and peace. I read
that the O'HAGANs were brothers of such blood, and that they did
the dirty work and fighting for the O'NEILs, rescuing Hugh from
capture at one time.
"What a coincidence," I thought, and then I froze as the page
turned and I read, "Hugh O'NEIL was a clever and crafty man who
had his daughter Margaret engaged to an impoverished English
lord, MOUNTGARRET. Goosebumps raised and hair standing on end, I
realised that here once more were the descendants (albeit
English) of the proud O'NEIL, the fighting O'HAGANs, and the
arrogant MOUNTGARRET, all in one spot and spoiling for a fight!
I ran to the phone, called my son and said, "Get out!" "Pack up,
leave and come home, this could be payback time!" He didn't even
argue and got out that day, homeless, jobless, but relieved.
"Mum, I just felt something awful was going to happen."
Was it just coincidence, or is there more going on than we can
imagine? The more I research, the more I begin to believe the
latter.
*
ANCESTOR POWER
by Kathy Hartley stocks@interlog.com
Power of the Internet, sure -- but what about the power of the
ancestors?
I was spending this afternoon [13 October 2000] going over the
material I had located while on my annual genealogical research
tour to England last month, when something strange happened.
In London I had found an entry in the Wills Index of the death
of a distant relative, George Kilbourne BETTS (1883-1957). As I
was updating my notes and entering the details, I noticed that I
still had to uncover the death dates of three of his siblings:
Annie Winifred, Janet Clara, and Harry Morrice BETTS.
As I sat there I realized that his brother would have been of an
age to serve in the First World War and I had a very powerful
feeling that he had been killed in action. I was sure of it --
it was that strong a hunch.
I called up the Commonwealth War Graves Commission Web site
http://www.cwgc.org/ on the Internet and within a minute or two
had discovered that, sure enough, Corporal Harry BETTS, son of
the late J.T. BETTS and Mrs. BETTS of Nottingham, had died at
age 28 on the 13th of October, 1915.
I felt the weirdest shiver run down my spine as I realized that
not only had I discovered something else for my quest using a
hunch, but also Corporal BETTS had passed away exactly 85 years
ago to the day that I was looking for him -- and yes, today was
Friday the 13th.
The Internet is an amazing tool, but I feel certain that my
relative wanted me to find him -- and on this date of all
dates -- as well.
*
WHAT DO YOU THINK?
by Diane Mowery RMDM021266@aol.com
I have been searching for my father's family for the past three
years and have been very successful, thanks to RootsWeb, since
purchasing our computer last Christmas. I knew little about my
paternal grandmother's JUDD family, because she died when my
father, now age 88, was only eight years old. Through the
Internet I was able to connect with a younger cousin of my
father, who gave me the directions to my great-grandparents'
graves near Allentown, Pennsylvania. Around the same time, I
read a query from a gentleman who was looking for family members
named FRANTZ in the same cemetery. I sent e-mail to tell him
that I was going to Holy Sepulcher Cemetery and would look for
his relatives' graves while I was there.
I had been told the general location of my great-grandparents'
graves, but I could not find them. After the seventh pass
through the cemetery, and a lot of walking, I decided to give
up. I happened to look one more time and there in the distance
I saw a stone marked FRANTZ. I thought to myself, "at least
maybe I can find that stone, if nothing else." There I found a
FRANTZ stone but it wasn't the one I was looking for. However,
alongside of it were the graves of my great-grandparents JUDD,
their four children, and their children's spouses.
When I arrived home I excitedly told my father what I had found.
He looked at me, momentarily dumbfounded, and then said, "My
aunt's last name was FRANTZ." He had never before told me about
this aunt. Who knows? Maybe great-aunt Bertha wanted to be
included in the family tree. What do you think?
------------------------------------------
CEMETERY LINKS: TALES TO TELL BY THE CAMPFIRE
CLOSE ENCOUNTERS: TAKE TWO
by Sarah G. Nunez trinoaks@flash.net
[Samm Orgar <Samm.Orgar@btinternet.com> wrote in "Close
Encounters," Missing Links, Vol. 5, No. 41 (11 October 2000):
"A friend of mine was in Canada a while ago. We live in a
village in Kent, England. He was driving through a very pretty
area and feeling hungry he stopped to eat his lunch. There was
a small church with a pretty cemetery, so while munching he
wandered over to take a closer look. The first headstone that
caught his eye sent a cold shiver up his spine. `Here lies
Robert AUGER,' etc. My friend, Robert AUGER left and returned
to his car with the tune from the `Twilight Zone' playing
quietly in his mind."]
When my father-in-law passed away a few months ago, my husband,
his siblings, and I went to the military cemetery to visit his
grave. The graves were still marked with small temporary
markers, so it took a bit of looking to find it. A number of
graves had just been dug along that row, so we started at the
end and worked our way to his. Just before we got there, the
grave immediately before his bore a marker that read, ""Sarah
NUNES." Needless to say, I've made a note in the records of my
father-in-law's death that the grave next to his belongs to
someone who is NOT a known relation.
*
CLOSE ENCOUNTERS: ANOTHER GHOST STORY
by Mary Mason salson53@monmas.fsnet.co.uk
[Re "Close Encounters," by Samm Orgar, ML 5:41, 11 October 2000]
Permit me, Samm, to go one better than your friend. Having been
married just a couple of months, my husband, his mother, and I
went to lay flowers upon grandfather's grave at St. Matthews
Church of England, Billinge Road, Wigan, Lancashire. My home
town was Bury, Lancs before my marriage, so imagine my shock,
horror, and surprise, to discover that back to back with my
husband's grandfather's headstone was one with the name Mary
SALMON. You've guessed it. Mary SALMON was my maiden name. So
now every time that I get a cold shiver and say someone is
walking over my grave, it's more or less true.
*
SUCCESSFUL LINKS: A TRIO OF HAUNTING TALES
A CROSS IN TIME?
by Penny4Um@aol.com
My son Robin had been having a bad time adjusting after leaving
the army and at the time was living in Germany with his fiancee,
Miss O'HAGAN. I had just started to be interested in family
history and my Irish great-grandmother, Mary Bridget O'NEILL,
spending a lot of time in the local library.
I saw a post advertised near where I was living for a gardener,
driver, and housekeeper at a local estate owned by Viscount
MOUNTGARRET. My son and fiancee duly applied and started work.
All was not going well. Personalities clashed and flared, and I
feared for the two young people whose pride had problems dealing
with the arrogant and demeaning attitudes with which they were
having to cope.
This particular day as I browsed the library, I found myself
drawn to a book on the history shelf called THE TWILIGHT LORDS.
It opened to a section dealing with Shane and Hugh O'NEIL, Earls
of Tyrone. Fascinated, I read of the O'NEIL of O'NEIL, and the
foster system of the eldest son of each clan fostered "sideways"
with a brother clan, thereby keeping the bond and peace. I read
that the O'HAGANs were brothers of such blood, and that they did
the dirty work and fighting for the O'NEILs, rescuing Hugh from
capture at one time.
"What a coincidence," I thought, and then I froze as the page
turned and I read, "Hugh O'NEIL was a clever and crafty man who
had his daughter Margaret engaged to an impoverished English
lord, MOUNTGARRET. Goosebumps raised and hair standing on end, I
realised that here once more were the descendants (albeit
English) of the proud O'NEIL, the fighting O'HAGANs, and the
arrogant MOUNTGARRET, all in one spot and spoiling for a fight!
I ran to the phone, called my son and said, "Get out!" "Pack up,
leave and come home, this could be payback time!" He didn't even
argue and got out that day, homeless, jobless, but relieved.
"Mum, I just felt something awful was going to happen."
Was it just coincidence, or is there more going on than we can
imagine? The more I research, the more I begin to believe the
latter.
*
ANCESTOR POWER
by Kathy Hartley stocks@interlog.com
Power of the Internet, sure -- but what about the power of the
ancestors?
I was spending this afternoon [13 October 2000] going over the
material I had located while on my annual genealogical research
tour to England last month, when something strange happened.
In London I had found an entry in the Wills Index of the death
of a distant relative, George Kilbourne BETTS (1883-1957). As I
was updating my notes and entering the details, I noticed that I
still had to uncover the death dates of three of his siblings:
Annie Winifred, Janet Clara, and Harry Morrice BETTS.
As I sat there I realized that his brother would have been of an
age to serve in the First World War and I had a very powerful
feeling that he had been killed in action. I was sure of it --
it was that strong a hunch.
I called up the Commonwealth War Graves Commission Web site
http://www.cwgc.org/ on the Internet and within a minute or two
had discovered that, sure enough, Corporal Harry BETTS, son of
the late J.T. BETTS and Mrs. BETTS of Nottingham, had died at
age 28 on the 13th of October, 1915.
I felt the weirdest shiver run down my spine as I realized that
not only had I discovered something else for my quest using a
hunch, but also Corporal BETTS had passed away exactly 85 years
ago to the day that I was looking for him -- and yes, today was
Friday the 13th.
The Internet is an amazing tool, but I feel certain that my
relative wanted me to find him -- and on this date of all
dates -- as well.
*
WHAT DO YOU THINK?
by Diane Mowery RMDM021266@aol.com
I have been searching for my father's family for the past three
years and have been very successful, thanks to RootsWeb, since
purchasing our computer last Christmas. I knew little about my
paternal grandmother's JUDD family, because she died when my
father, now age 88, was only eight years old. Through the
Internet I was able to connect with a younger cousin of my
father, who gave me the directions to my great-grandparents'
graves near Allentown, Pennsylvania. Around the same time, I
read a query from a gentleman who was looking for family members
named FRANTZ in the same cemetery. I sent e-mail to tell him
that I was going to Holy Sepulcher Cemetery and would look for
his relatives' graves while I was there.
I had been told the general location of my great-grandparents'
graves, but I could not find them. After the seventh pass
through the cemetery, and a lot of walking, I decided to give
up. I happened to look one more time and there in the distance
I saw a stone marked FRANTZ. I thought to myself, "at least
maybe I can find that stone, if nothing else." There I found a
FRANTZ stone but it wasn't the one I was looking for. However,
alongside of it were the graves of my great-grandparents JUDD,
their four children, and their children's spouses.
When I arrived home I excitedly told my father what I had found.
He looked at me, momentarily dumbfounded, and then said, "My
aunt's last name was FRANTZ." He had never before told me about
this aunt. Who knows? Maybe great-aunt Bertha wanted to be
included in the family tree. What do you think?