I'm a Cemetery Walker with a QUESTION -- PICTURES ADDED (Regzena & Robert)
We're from a very small town in Texas and one of my "hobbies" is to go walking through the old cemeteries, taking pictures of the angels, making rubbings, etc. Okay, since it IS such a small town, sometimes it's pretty easy to find out the "story" of the graves, even within the last 50 years or so. But here's one that's got me stumped......
I wandered across it several years ago. Her name, as it's spelled on the stone, was "K. Regzena (Rex) Moss" and the picture is so striking -- She's gorgeous -- with a flapper hairstyle, looking over her shoulder at the camera. August 29, 1911 - March 22, 1936.
In the plot BEHIND her, there is "Robert L. (Bob) Moss)" -- very dapper, handsome -- brother or husband? His dates are September 12, 1913 - November 13, 1943.
How can I find out who these people were or what happened? I don't know why I'm so intrigued, but I've been visiting her grave for years and no one knows who I'm talking about when I ask around town. Where can I begin? The newspaper wasn't there back then. Any ideas or suggestions? It's not of great significance in MY life, but I'm very curious. Also, the grave(s) have long been abandoned.....
I like cemeteries too. Especially the old ones in New England.
You could go to the town hall and pull up birth, death, marriage certificates. I think you can pull up the census reports as well, but I'm not sure if it would give you much info. Then you can go to the library and see if they have old newspapers on microfiche and read up on the people. I think the LDS church has a genealogy place in Utah (?) where you can request information about people. I don't believe you have to be LDS to use it, but I dont' know much about it, maybe another mama would know more. Also, try googling the names...you might come up with genealogical charts, or at least some genealogical websites. Some libraries have memberships to ancestry.com and other websites, and you can use them if you have a library card.
And I thought I was the only one who liked to look at gravestones and imagine the people's lives....the ones I am always the most interested in are those with several young children who died in teh same year...makes me wonder what they all died of. So sad.
Michelle
__________________
~Michelle
Christian homeschooling mama
to a Jumpin Bean (1/01)
and a Pumpkin Head (4/03)
I took pictures of the stones -- with THEIR pictures on it. Problem is, I have a new camera and can't figure out how to upload the pics to my computer yet. When I googled the names, I got a list of the Cemetery plots.
In this particular cemetery, there are lots of interesting stories. Michelle, there is one that is looooooong and white. The center part of it is really tall and that's the family name and where the parents are buried. And then there are 2 or 3 small children buried on one side that died before they were 2, on different dates. Then there are 3 more children that all died on the same date as the parents. It was a house fire.
One of the saddest ones is a girl who died when she was 17 and there's a picture of her on her stone. She died in the 1970's, so she has the typical straight hair with a part in the middle. She was the daughter of a man who still lives in the town. She had gotten really bad into drugs, running away all the time, etc. etc. He kept dragging her back home all the time and I guess things were really awful because the last time he brought her back home, she shot herself in the head and left him a note that said "Now your g*d* problems are over." That's another grave I always visit. Actually, I have to FIND hers first (and it's easier because it's white) and then from hers I can find Regzena's.
I took some pictures of one today that was bizarre. The stone was like two flat rocks, really tall, stuck in the ground with the names and dates. And then the whole thing was about 8' x 10' and it was COVERED with Christmas ornaments, statues, and lights.
I've got an excellent book called Texas Graveyards that discusses the imagery and symbolism associated with different things you might find on tombs and stones in different areas of Texas. I guess I'm a freak, huh? But I don't feel ghoulish or anything. I feel like these were people who laughed and cried, lived and loved and now here they are. I have the same kind of "thing" about going in old, abandoned houses. I like to think about the babies that were born inside those walls, the Christmases, the lovemaking, the conversations..... I love to feel a connection with the cycles.
Location: email me if you want to stay in touch - madhousemauly@gmail.com
Posts: 15,641
since you have the names and dates you can look them up on ancestry.com or if you have family tree maker software you can find details on those cds as well
Location: email me if you want to stay in touch - madhousemauly@gmail.com
Posts: 15,641
Did a quick look up on ancestry.com and found this on the 1930's census
Name: Robert L Moss
Age: 15
Estimated birth year: abt 1915
Relation to head-of-house: Son
Home in 1930: Precinct 7, Live Oak, Texas
Family and neighbors: View Results
Occupation: View Image
Education: View Image
Military service: View Image
Rent/home value: View Image
Age at first marriage: View Image
Parents' birthplace: View Image
Owned a radio: View Image
Image source: Year: 1930; Census Place: Precinct 7, Live Oak, Texas; Roll: 2370; Page: ; Enumeration District: 9; Image: 1168.0.
I cannot find any record of him dying or going missing in WWII
The stone beside them is also surname MOSS.
The names and dates on it are:
Myrtle B
May 16, 1884 - Nov. 9, 1970 (she hung in there a WHILE!)
Newton C.
Jan. 12, 1876 - Jan. 5, 1965
Do you have a membership to ancestry.com? I'm finding it so fascinating, but it seems EXPENSIVE. My dad used to be a geneology NUT and he traced us back until he discovered that we're related to Tom Horn, the bounty hunter. Whoop de doo.
The other part of my family was a *little* more aristocratic. They actually have a THICK hardback book that goes all the way back to the beginning, in the 1600's with the first of us that landed in America. There is some argument as to whether he was Dutch or German, but he was a physician and it was a shipwreck that landed him in America. It's fascinating because many of the men were either "physicians or poets," and there are lots of their personal essays included. It goes right up to the birth of my mother before it ends. Several of the women seemed to "take leave of their senses" after their childbearing years. Uh oh.....
Location: email me if you want to stay in touch - madhousemauly@gmail.com
Posts: 15,641
I do have a subscription, it is expensive but my mama helped me pay for it. we are both genealogy hounds and she knew if she paid for a subscription she could get me hooked
i would be happy to look up some more stuff! i love this stuff!
when i do look-ups i just try to be as specific as possible and lookup as many forms of the names as possible (bc, as i am sure you know, many of the census takers would mis-spell things)
So with a subscription, do you get THAT many returns? Like the 3000+ that I'm getting?
Can you look up obituaries? Newspaper articles?
When I was pregnant with Anabelle, I was searching for names in our family tree that went back about 6 generations. I was only looking at the names as possibilities for what to name the new baby. Well, it redirected me to a site where a woman had posted that she was looking for relatives of SEVERAL of the people on our tree. So I e-mailed her, but it was out of date.
Good grief. Am I growing a new obsession? That's just ALL I need!!!!
Location: email me if you want to stay in touch - madhousemauly@gmail.com
Posts: 15,641
you will get that many returns but they will show you which ones are more likely (not sure without a sub, do they use the star system?)
you can get info from these areas:
All Records
Census
Birth, Marriage, & Death
Military
Immigration
Newspapers
Directories
Trees & Communities
Family & Local Histories
Court, Land, Probate
Reference & Finding Aids
Living People Finder
and it gives pictures! I am sooo hooked
I was so flattered when the historical society that my mom works for asked me to take pictures for their county history. Now iI am a published photographer. WooHoo! I knew all that cemetary time would come in handy....
Did you try the Social Security Death Index? Not sure how far back it goes (IIRC birth year 1875), but a good resource to have...and the only free one I know of that's not full of annoying ads.
Also, a good access to free geneology info is Cyndi's list www.cyndislist.com
Another thought...call your Chamber of Commerce and ask if your town has a Geneology Society. If not, call surrounding towns (many collect countywide) to find out...then you can pick a bunch of old ladies brains on this.
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Parents:
Father: Newton C. Moss Family
Mother: Myrtle Nickols
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Messages:
Record submitted after 1991 by a member of the LDS Church. No additional information is available. Ancestral File may list the same family and the submitter.
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Source Information:
No source information is available.
Myrtle's SS Record (notice the birth year is 1 yr earlier)
Myrtle MOSS
Birth Date: 16 May 1883
Death Date: 15 Nov 1970
Social Security Number: 457-88-6909
State or Territory Where Number Was Issued: Texas
Sometime I would love to find out who my half-siblings are from my fathers first marriage. Met one in the mall years ago. The lady was with a boy. She knew my name and my mom. My mother had no clue who she was, but she said his name and it was the same as mine.
I am just not willing to stick my nose into it that much.
Yes, that was all on the LDS site. There's alot of great stuff there, and links to other sites. I couldn't find any mention of the woman though. I checked Regzina, Rex, and "K" which is her first initial. It's certainly intriguing!
Are you nearby and LDS meeting house with a Family History Library? You can check here http://www.familysearch.org/Eng/Libr...ameset_fhc.asp . You can go there and order microfilms to view. It's free and there are people there to help you. Also, it doesn't matter if you're a member of our church or not (no pressure ). From Family Search, it looks like the following are available for Montague County. You can click on the descriptions to see what they are.
JAYME
). From Family Search, it looks like the following are available for Montague County. You can click on the descriptions to see what they are.
Linear Mode
