Chapel Cemetery Coventry

Ferns & trees grow around the old gravestones in the Chapel Cemetery.

 

Ever since I was young, I've loved cemeteries. When I was a teenager, my best friend and I would dress up and take black & white photos in old cemeteries. 

A picture of me (aged 15!) posing by an old gravestone.

While I no longer drape myself over old graves wearing long dresses, I still love to visit them. Cemeteries feel really peaceful to me, I don't think of them as spooky. 

Right opposite the driveway to the house where we're staying is Cueball Road (I'd love to know how it got it's name!). On a recent drive down this road, Nick and I discovered a really lovely cemetery. While it isn't totally neglected, a lot of the stones seem to be lost in the woods in this lovely, quiet spot. We've visited twice and I wanted to share some photos. I haven't been able to find much information on the cemetery, or if there was a chapel next to it (there isn't one now). A list of internments is online, and the oldest grave dates from 1814! 

This grave of Ebenezer Everts dates from 1832

This beautiful grave dates from 1844. There is a flag on his grave and he was a captain. I wonder what war he fought in? He would have been born in 1788.

This one is a little hard to read, but it shows an angel and says "Our Little Hattie."

This picture (and the ones that follow) are from our second visit (we first went two weeks ago) the ferns are a lot taller!

This is the oldest grave we found, dating from 1824. The one from 1814 may be illegible. 

This one really intrigues me. Was Apollos buried here and they just forgot to carve his death year, or was he buried elsewhere? I looked him up on FamilySearch and he was still alive in 1925. It's very mysterious. 

Family Buttons

 Earlier this year, my husband Nick's grandmother died. She was nearly 100 years old. I didn't have the chance to meet her, but a few weeks ago we went to her house in Poughkeepsie. I was given a large collection of family clothing, buttons, sewing notions, etc. dating from the late 1800s up to about the 1940s. I will eventually share photos of the clothing, but wanted to start out with some wonderful button pictures. 

Beautiful antique buttons with metal cutout design, on the original card.

Among these was a box full of shell buttons, which became very popular in the 1800s, and continued into the 20th century. It's interesting, because there are a lot of shell buttons in this collection, and some plastic made to look like shell buttons, which date from post 1930s. My friend Gina has a YouTube channel of her online museum that talks all about these buttons and how they were made. She has a delightful video about them - please take a look!

A selection of 19th century buttons: pressed glass, perfume and others. Perfume buttons were metal with a bit of fabric beneath, and women would put perfume on these buttons.  

Look at these beautiful buttons.

The top half of this photo shows the shell buttons. A lot of them are plain, but there are a few that are decorated. So lovely!

White carved shell buttons. 

I'm impressed (and excited) by how old a lot of these buttons are. There are also several 20th century buttons, a lot of them on cards (maybe I'll do a follow-up post about those). There are also belt buckles with a deco look, probably dating from the 1930s and 1940s. The others  

Look at these wonderful belt buckles!