Clinton Cemetery Revisited

After the forty degree plus variations in the weather this past week here in Lawrence and another snow, I took the opportunity to head back out to Clinton Cemetery and take some more pictures.  There were still a few blankets of snow and the ground was a bit soggy, but it was seventy and sunny, and I took advantage of the warm break, since another cold front is on its way.

When the genealogist gets a lead that an ancestor is buried in a particular cemetery, she should remember to get not only pictures of that ancestor's stone, but also pictures and details on all burials with the same surname, since they will often later be found to be relatives.  I also always look for maiden names that could be included on female relative's stones.  Just as I do when I find an ancestor in census records, when I find an ancestor's final resting place, I take a strong inventory of everyone that is nearby.  Proximity can be an excellent lead for further investigation.  Proximity is never proof, but it can provide clues and direct your research.

As I recorded the Anderson family stones, a  stone was laid nearby for a Ruth A. Lamb (1855-1928).  Was the A perhaps short for Anderson?   The main family stone was for a Lillie Mae (1878-1964) and John W. Anderson (1868-1920).  There are also a couple of children's stones, Mable Ruth Anderson (1904-1907), and Glenn Anderson (1914-1914).  The fact that Mable's middle name is Ruth is adding to the evidence that Ruth A. Lamb is a relative.  Let's see what comes up in a census search for 1920 for the Anderson family and Ruth Lamb.

I find the John W. and Lily M. Anderson family in 1920 in Marion, Douglas, Kansas.
 

1920 US Federal Census, Marion, Douglas, Kansas

John W. Anderson, age 50, head, born Kansas, father born Missouri, mother born Illinois, owns home, able to read and write

Lily M. Anderson, age 42, wife, born in California, mother and father born in California, able to read and write

Donald W. Anderson, age 13,son, born in Washington, father born in Kansas, mother born in California, able to read and write

Pearl M. Anderson, age 11, daughter, born in Washington, father born in Kansas, mother born in California, able to read and write

Lila N. Anderson, age 9, daughter, born in Kansas, father born in Kansas, mother born in California

Ida M. Anderson, age 4 years and 7 months, daughter, born in Kansas, father born in Kansas mother born in California

Edward C. Anderson, age 2 years and 4 months, son, born in Kansas, father born in Kansas, mother born in California

This census gives us a little more information to go on, namely that Lillie's family is from California and she and her husband lived in Washington for at least a few years before coming to Kansas, where John was born.  I should search for marriage records in all three states.  The family is back in Kansas by 1910, where we find them in Clinton, Douglas, Kansas.

 1910 US Federal Census, Clinton, Douglas, Kansas

John W. Anderson, age 42, head, born in Kansas, father and mother born in Illinois

Lily M. Anderson, age 30, [mistranscribed at ancestry as age 50], wife, born in Kansas, father and mother born USA

Donald Anderson, age 3, son, born in Washington, son, mother and father born Kansas

Pearl Anderson, age 1, daughter, born in Washington, mother and father born in Kansas

Since Donald and Pearl were both born in Washington, I would begin with a marriage search there even though it seems a bit odd since there is no family connection that we know of there.  A search of the Washington State digital archives at www.digitalarchives.wa.gov. finds a marriage for a John W. Anderson and Lillie Lamb in 1903  in Spokane County.  After going to the notes we find that they were married on Oct.12, 1903, filed on Oct 14, 1903, document easpmc414 and an image is available online...nice.

This certificate gives us some additional information.  First off we learn that Ruth is not an Anderson, but is a probable relative of Lillie, and that Lillie is of Long Beach, California and that John W. Anderson is of Gray, Washington.  I certainly am a little bit curious about how these two connected so far from their home bases.  I also notice that their witnesses are Mw(?Matthew) and Birdena Woodward, and I know that there are a lot of Woodward burials in the Clinton Cemetery.  Maybe there is a connection there that brought John to Washington.  We will try to find out.

Clinton Cemetery, Lawrence, Kansas

Today I went to Clinton Cemetery to fulfill a Find A Grave request. Find A Grave is a great genealogical site that allows users to find where their ancestors are buried and get pictures of their grave site and memorial. If your ancestor isn't listed and you know where they are buried, you can build and post their memorial and then request that someone who lives nearby go take a picture of their headstone for you and post it online. When you post a request, an automatic email goes out to all of the volunteers who live nearby and hopefully, one of them will get a chance to fulfill your request. It's just a little something I can do to help out some of my fellow genealogists and since I enjoy cemeteries, with all of their interesting sculptures, epitaphs and often, scenery, it gives me an excuse to head out and do a little exploring.

Today was a little chilly, but the wind was still and the sun was out and that helped it feel a little warmer. The sky was a few incredible bright shades of blue. After traveling about fifteen miles on country roads and a few missed turns, I found the cemetery at the end of a dead end road, near Clinton Lake. The cemetery is still being used for burials and it was evident that it was being cared for, older stones were repaired and sunken stones had been re-situated on top of the soil. There is a small memorial area where you can sit and rest, and a posting area where the burials are listed, with the unknowns listed as such, which indicates that some records have been lost. Luckily, this cemetery has been well transcribed and most of the photos are already posted. The particular request I had simply involved taking a picture of the other side of the stone. Only the wife's side had been posted.

There isn't any out of the ordinary scenery to be found here but there is a pretty gated entry noting the cemetery's established date of 1864, a few nice trees as well as some craggy trees (for character perhaps) and a wooded area at the back of the cemetery. There were some examples of the usual traditional epitaphs (as I am now, so you shall be...) and stone imagery (hand pointing up to heaven as the destination) as well as a few examples of my favorite headstones, stones carved in the forms of stumps or trees. Many, but not all, of those particular types of stones were provided to Woodmen of the World (WOW) members as part of their benefits until the 1920's, when they became too expensive. Since that time, other types of markers can be purchased or may be provided to mark the graves of Woodmen in order to fulfill their obligation that no Woodmen be laid to rest in an unmarked grave.