New Brunswick, Graveyard Dance: Millenium series 32
Today we set out to visit small places, with names like Charlo, Belledune, Nash Creek and Jacquet River. I have only read about these places, while searching for my "roots." The day is clear and sunny as we drive through hills of deciduous trees, newly green. We get an occasional glimpse of the blue water of the Restigouche River, then later Chaleur Bay. We pass many interesting old houses and outbuildings perched on the banks of the sea. It is in this picturesque setting that we drive the highway to our ancestral past.
Our first stop is St Gabrielle Church. It is in Jacquet River, where my Grandfather was born. We inquire about church records and about members of the King family living in the area. Unfortunately there are few if any left here. However due to large families marrying into other large families here, there are many relatives whose names differ. And, there are a lot of churches in the area, with small graveyards, alongside. Genealogists can learn a great deal by reading gravestones.
We start out in the St Gabrielle cemetery. The graveyard is well kept and many of the stones have flowers, both imitation and real. All the headstones are upright. This is so they can be found when it snows. Some are decorated with baskets, pictures, toys and or small statues. It is obvious that they are cared for and visited frequently. There is a large statue of an angel, blowing a trumpet and many head stones big and small, simple and elaborate. It is the older ones that I am most interested in.
As I read the names on the stones, I recognize many of them from my studies. Aunty Val and I trip between the graves, checking here and there. It is not a sad moment for us, but more like a celebration, a reunion with all these people of our blood, whose names and a small part of their lives I have gleaned from my research. Val feels this too, as we do what I call our graveyard dance. Moving between the rows I excitedly call out, "There's Bernard and Catherine! Here's James and over there Wilfred Roy!" It's as if they are all around us in spirit, also doing the dance, with us.
We find one very poignant stone. It is one which reads" IHS Our Darling MARY ELLEN, daughter of Jerome + Elizabeth Roy. who was shot Sept 29, 1918, age 11 yrs 9 months." I believe she is a cousin. Mary Ellen is a family name. We stop the dance and are quiet for a moment.
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