Cemeteries, Cameras & Cataloging

Last summer, my sister and I took photos at 9 area cemeteries of 

all the tombstones/markers in those cemeteries.

This was part of a project for the Otter Tail Co.

Historical Society, and a daunting project it is!

Many more cemeteries are yet to be visited by volunteer photographers.

This past winter, I spent many an evening

indexing/cataloging photos that were taken by myself and

other volunteers at various cemeteries of the county.   

As I was looking at the photos and entering the information, 

I was amazed at how many of these long-gone and not-so-long-gone

people I knew.   There were acquaintances, family friends,

relatives, classmates and co-workers.   It is nearly mind-boggling just how

many people drift in and out of our lives!

The thought occurred to me of the tremendous amount of tears shed over

all the deaths through the years.

I would wonder how the person died, especially if they were very young.

I wondered if the person believed in God.

I don't know if there is any scientific study taken, but I noticed:

A lot of people died on their birthday, or very close to it.

Many, many married couples die within a very short time of each other.

The most common verse on the tombstones seems to be:  "Together Forever"

For children:  "Our Little Angel"

I developed a pretty good system for indexing all these photos.

I printed the names and stapled them in groups of 5 or 6.... this gave me

a "false sense" of accomplishment, especially with the very large cemeteries.

As I compared the photo (online) with my list, 

I noted any changes and when I completed the entry, I would 

run a highlighter through it to prevent (hopefully) typing information from the 

wrong line.  Then, when I noted any changes to OTCHS, I could just read 

my notes under the highlighted area.  

Is this brilliant, or what? (sarcasm)

With the long winter and lousy TV programs, this project kept

me busy.  Yesterday, I finished the last entry until more photos are taken.

So, how many entries did I do over the winter, you ask?

I created 7,189 entries - but who's counting?!

Two colors of highlighters - and there was a reason for this!

Mrs. Wisted

This is Mrs. Wisted.

This picture was in my Mom's things, and all I knew about this woman is that her name was "Mrs. Wisted, from up by Pelican Rapids."

Funny how things come to light sometimes!

Just last week, I was sorting out all these old, old photos - labeling those I could identify, and tossing some as well.    This one I put in the "keep pile", though I didn't know why.

The other day, I received a posting on my blog from someone that had some family

 connections to my Leikvold relatives.  Wow!  

We exchanged some information and photos, and indeed, our great grandfathers were brothers.

My new-found relative also mentioned something about a relative in 

Norwegian Grove Township.    Huh?    Seriously?   

I knew where Norwegian Grove Township is....it is "up by Pelican Rapids."

 I relayed my interest in this bit of news and told him about the picture  of 

"Mrs. Wisted, from up by Pelican Rapids."

My next e-mail from my distant relative

included a photo of Mrs. Wisted from Pelican Rapids!

 Mrs. Wisted DOES have a first name:  Sigri

And she DOES have a connection to the family:

She was a sister to Ole Leikvold (my great great grandfather)

So I guess I will keep the photo.

And label it.