Mass Grave Suggests Ancient Village Wiped Out by Massacre

The Dead Still Speak

A 7,000-year-old mass grave holding at least 26 adults and children, many of them with smashed skulls and broken legs, is likely evidence of an early Neolithic massacre, a new study finds.
Most of the cranial bones show signs of blunt-force trauma, the researchers said. A number of individuals also had broken leg bones (tibiae and fibulae), indicating they were tortured before death, or mutilated afterward, said the study's lead researcher, Christian Meyer, a bioarchaeologist who conducted the study while at the University of Mainz in Germany.

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Volunteers honoring those buried in unmarked graves at forgotten cemetery for mentally ill

Many graves go unmarked and forgotten.

For almost 80 years, no one is thought to have visited Peter Gauslin's grave.

Relatives didn't know where he was buried or how he died until his great-grandson Andrew Daft began researching family history in 2012 and learned his death occurred at a mental institution. He also discovered that Gauslin, his grandmother's father, is buried in an unmarked grave in Appleton, about 100 miles north of Milwaukee.

Gauslin is among tens of thousands who were buried in unmarked graves around the nation during the 20th century after dying at state- or county-run psychiatric hospitals, then called insane asylums or sanitariums. Families were either too poor for a headstone, couldn't be reached or had forgotten about their relatives.

Read more about the unmarked graves 

Coffin Plate Of Mary Jones 1871 - 1913

Mary Jones 1871-1913

This interesting Art Nouveau Coffin Plate for Mary Jones 1871-1913 was popular in the 1890-1920 time period. It is made from silver plated cast Pot metal—also known as monkey metal.

Mary Jones Died Jan 16, 1913 age 42 years.

If you would like to look for your ancestors Coffin Plate I have over 500 more at.... 

AncestorsAtRest.com

Keeping your genealogy research safe and sound is so important

Most of us spend years working on our genealogy. Keeping your genealogy research safe and sound is important. And the award winning iDrive is extending their special offer to the end of February.

iDrive is offering 1TB of automatic Online Backup Storage PLUS 1TB of Sync Space file storage, for $14.88 for the first year. This is a 75% savings off the regular price of $59.50 and saves you almost $45.00. Offer good until Feb. 28/15

iDrive just received the prestigious PC Mag Editors Choice award for online backup for 2015. iDrive is easy to install and easy to use. There's no learning curve and you can start protecting your years of genealogy research immediately. 

Use this link for the exclusive iDrive offer

Twenty-five skeletons found on farm

Archaeologists have unearthed more than two dozen skeletons in what is thought to be an ancient cemetery at Chester Farm, near Irchester.
It is hoped the exciting discovery may shed further light on the 2,000-year-old Roman settlement and give another glimpse into what life was like in Roman Britain.

Read More About The 25

Living With The Dead

HIDDEN between tomb stones and ancient crypts, this Filipino graveyard has become an unlikely living city for poverty stricken families.

North Manila Cemetary in the Philippines is home to more than 10,000 people too poor to afford rent in one of the most densely populated places on Earth.
Originally home to caretakers, the living population of the cemetery started to grow as generations hit by poverty moved into their family crypts, sleeping with the deceased remains of parents and grandparents.

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Skeletons of war dead from 11,000 BC go on display

Oldest War Dead

Lying on their sides, curled together, the two skeletons on display for the first time at the British Museum look peacefully laid to rest. But the razor-sharp stone flakes scattered around and among the bones are the remains of ancient weapons, with a myriad breaks and slash marks on the skeletons. The two are among the oldest war dead in the world, men who died a brutal death after violent lives 13,000 years ago.
The cemetery they came from, on the banks of the Nile in what is now northern Sudan, is famous among archaeologists: dating from about 11,000 BC, it is among the oldest organised burial grounds in the world. However, the finds, including the shattered bones of scores of men, women and children and the remains of the weapons that killed them, have never been exhibited before.

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The 'oldest tree in Europe' discovered in a Welsh cemetery

5000 year old yew tree in Wales

I don't normally blog about trees (well perhaps Family Trees) but as this one is in a cemetery its worthy of note. Experts say a yew tree found in St Cynog’s churchyard in Wales, is probably Europe’s oldest living thing.

The tree is more than 5,000 years old, that's 3,000BC. It started growing about 500 years before the Pharaohs in Egypt built the Great Pyramid of Giza. And it was a sapling at about the time work first began on building Stonehenge.

If only it could talk.

Down syndrome in medieval France

The 1500 year old skull of a young girl with Down Syndrome

New research by archaeologists in France have discovered what is believed to be the oldest case of Down syndrome in the archaeological record. Archaeologists had originally discovered the skeleton of a young girl aged about 6 years old in 1989, when they excavated it along with 93 other skeletons from a 5th to 6th century cemetery located near the Abbey of Saint-Jean-des-Vignes in northeastern France. Researchers had suspected at the time of the excavation that the child may have had Down syndrome, but they believe they can now confirm the diagnosis.

Eight decades in the wrong grave: Map collection helps solve family mystery.

WW1

For 84 years, Private William Phillips was missing, lying underneath another man's headstone.

The soldier was killed in the final months of the war, when the front lines were moving quickly. He was buried on the battlefield near Bray-sur-Somme, but when the graves were moved into cemeteries in 1919, he was recorded as missing, his body classified as an unknown soldier.

 
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Remains of 40 Confederate soldiers discovered in Virginia cemetery

Their remains sat, unmarked, in shallow graves at the Old City Cemetery in Lynchburg, Va., for decades. Now, some 150 years after the Civil War, the bodies of 40 Confederate soldiers discovered over the past two months will receive a proper memorial.

Read More About The 40 Confederate Graves

Were Ancient Romans poisoned by lead?

A Roman Lead Pipe

Some historians argue that lead poisoning plagued the Roman elite with diseases such as gout, and may even have hastened the Empire’s fall. How far the gigantic network of lead pipes used in ancient Rome compromised public health in the city is unknown. However, lead isotopes in sediments from Portus – the harbour of Imperial Rome  – register the presence of a strong anthropogenic component during the beginning of the Common Era and the Early Middle Ages.

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Coffin Plate Of Emanuel C Beam

Emanuel C Beam

This coffin plate for Emanuel C Beam is without a date but we can tell from the style of plate and the frame it is displayed in that it dates from around 1880~1890. The photo was taken in Washington NJ so I went and had a look in the 1880 USA Census and found Emanuel living in Mansfield, Warren, New Jersey.

1880 United States Federal Census

Emanuel Beam born 1868. Son of Joseph and Mary living in Mansfield, Warren, New Jersey.

 For more Coffin Plates try Ancestors at Rest

Saxon bones are significant archaeological discovery

Bones unearthed by landscape gardeners laying a driveway at a house in Purley have been hailed as a significant archaeological discovery after it was confirmed they are at least 1,200 years old.
The skull and thigh bone discovered in Riddlesdown Road on April 14 have been analysed by experts who say they are Saxon and date back to between 670 and 775AD.

Read More On The Saxon Bones

Archaeologists Discover 3,300-Year-Old Tomb in Israel

Israeli archaeologists are announcing the discovery of a tomb, which contains bronze and ceramic artifacts, and a ceramic coffin, from the Bronze Age, some 3,300 years ago.
Inside the tomb archaeologists found a small golden scarab inscribed with the name King Seti I of Egypt who is believed to be the father of Ramesses II. Many of the other items in the grave suggest that whoever was buried in the tomb was Egyptian, however there is also some Canaanite items so it is not clear who the tomb was built for.

S. R. Turley 1896 Ledger Book, Culpeper Virginia ONLINE

Great news. The S. R. Turley Ledger Book from Culpeper Virginia for the year 1896 is now online and available for download as a PDF file. There are 5 files total on the Ancestors At Rest website.

There are many names of customers in this one-of-a-kind ledger book. Each page has a customer name and the list of items purchased that year plus the cost. Some customers have more than one page of items. It's very interesting to see what food cost in 1896 and what an ancestor was buying!

S. T. Cornwell in the image on the left, bought eggs, candy, oil, flour, socks, shoes and more. One pair of shoes cost $1.15 that year.

In some cases, one page has several customer names on it, such as the page on the right. If your ancestor lived in Culpeper Virginia in 1896 there's a good chance you will find his or her name in this gem.

I had a quick look for some of these names and found several of them living in Prince William County, Virginia. It seems Mr. Turley was a very bad speller as many seem to be phonetic representations of the person's name.

For example there is a "Page Bumery" buying laundry and gloves on one page. However his real name  is Page Bumbery. We also see "Tasker Fisher" and "Georgiana Fisher" A search of the 1900 census shows a black man Tasker Fisher and his wife Georgia in Prince William County, Virginia. 

All pdf file downloads are freely available. I am scanning adding the ledger books I own as quickly as he can, so be sure to keep checking on Ancestors At Rest for updates

Oswego, Oswego County, New York Samuel Stevenson Saw Mill Ledger Book List of Electors

Oswego County, New York Samuel Stevenson Saw Mill Ledger Book List of Electors

 
This is a 1850s ledger book from a saw mill in Oswego, Oswego County, New York that I now have online in PDF format. The book starts in 1858 and ends in April 1859. The ledger contains 8 pages of great genealogical and historical information for Oswego, Oswego County, New York.
The original owner of this this book was Samuel Stevenson. I found Samuel Stevenson in the 1860 United States Federal Census for Oswego, Oswego County, New York.
1860 United States Federal Census
Name: Samuel Stevenson
Age in 1860: 38
Birth Year: abt 1822
Birthplace: New York
Home in 1860: Oswego, Oswego, New York
Gender: Male
Post Office: Southwest Oswego
Household Members: Name Age
Clinton Stevenson 23
Clarasa Stevenson 23
Lewis Stevenson 5
Clara Stevenson 7.12
Samuel Stevenson 38
Ellen Park 18

This ledger book is a fantastic one-of-a-kind genealogy resource for Oswego County, New York.


 List Of Electors Oswego New York.

Ledger Books Index

Bernville, Berks County, Pennsylvania 1863 to 1870 Haag, Kline & Co Ledger

Bernville, Berks County, Pennsylvania 1863 to 1870 Haag, Kline & Co Ledger

I now have the Bernville, Berks County, Pennsylvania 1863 to 1870 Haag, Kline & Co Ledger online in PDF format. This great old ledger book is from Haag, Kline & Co in Bernville, Berks County Pennsylvania. Bernville is a borough in Berks County, Pennsylvania. The ledger starts in 1860 and ends in 1870 and has over 300 names. I had a look in the 1860 United States Federal Census and found a few of the folks that are listed in this ledger. Some of the Berks County names you will find in the Haag, Kline ledger are Adams, Becker, Burkhard, Bright, Bressler, Baus, Bickel, Boyer, Bassler, Brossman, Bentz, Bean, Bear, Berger, Conrad, Cummings, Derr, Daniel, Ernst, Fisher, Fox, Groff, Haag, Hix, Kalbach, Kauffman, Miller, Reed, Shutz, Shade, Snyder, Taylor, Weaver to name just a few.

 If you want to have a look go to
 Haag Kline Ledger Book

If you would like to see the index to all my ledger books go to
 Ledger Books Index

Schuykill, Pennsylvania Tax Collection Ledger 1913-1922

Schuykill, Pennsylvania Tax Collection Ledger 1913-1922

I now have the Schuykill, Pennsylvania Tax Collection Ledger 1913-1922 online in PDF format.
This Ledger Book is a fantastic genealogy resource for Schuykill, Pennsylvania.

 To take a look at the Schuykill, Pennsylvania Tax Collection Ledger 1913-1922 go to
Schuykill Pennsylvania Tax Book


To see my list of ledger books go to the
Ledger Books Index.

Ladonia, Fannin County, Texas 1908 to 1915 Jackson McFarland Store Ledger ONLINE

Jackson McFarland Store Ledger, Ladonia, Fannin County, Texas

I now have the Ladonia, Fannin County, Texas 1908 to 1915 Jackson McFarland Store Ledger online in PDF format. This is a original ledger book with assorted documents that came from the Jackson McFarland store in Ladonia, Fannin County, Texas. Ladonia is located in the southeast corner Fannin county.The city limits border on Delta and Hunt Counties.

Ladonia was first settled by James McFarland and Daniel Davis before 1840. The book starts in May 1908 and ends in 1915. The book contains the names of many locals that charged goods on account. This ledger book is great genealogy resource for this area of Texas. It paints a nice picture of life in Texas in the first few years of the century.

To take a look at the ledger go to Jackson McFarland Store Ledger

To see my full index of Ledger Books go to Ledger Books For Genealogy