The genesis of Cemetery Tales dates back to the autumn of 1990, when I found myself wandering into a cemetery near my childhood home. This burial ground had long haunted my dreams, filled with eerie visions of specters emerging from their crypts. However, as my interest in history blossomed, so too did my perception of this place. Accompanied by my brother, I embarked on a journey to decipher the tales etched into the gravestones.
Each epitaph revealed a narrative waiting to be unearthed: a young Civil War soldier who met his fate at a similar age to mine, an elderly immigrant from County Armagh, Ireland, who lived to the remarkable age of 94, a family scarred by the loss of five children between 1837 and 1852. Yet, amidst these poignant inscriptions, one grave marker seized my attention—a modest stone nestled in the cemetery’s recesses, bearing a simple message:
Elizabeth
Daughter of John & Mary Stevenson
Murdered
Dec. 26, 1832
In her 18th year
Elizabeth’s grave lay barren, the stone precariously propped up by wedges of marble. I couldn’t help but wonder about her untold story, lost to the passage of more than a century and a half. Driven by a sense of duty, I resolved to unearth the truth behind her tragic demise. Thus began my quest, commencing with my enrollment at the State University of New York at Plattsburgh the following fall, with Elizabeth Stevenson as my first research topic. My investigation unearthed snippets of her narrative preserved in the annals of a local newspaper.
This endeavor marked a pivotal juncture in my life, steering me towards a path of history. I immersed myself in the lives of ordinary folk—French-Canadian immigrants, laborers grappling with perilous work environments, English settlers ensnared in Native American raids of the 17th and 18th centuries, and unassuming Civil War soldiers hailing from an upstate New York community. These ventures solidified my fervor for recounting the tales of everyday individuals who traversed the annals of time.
Though my professional endeavors veered towards technology, my passion for social history endured. Spare moments found me wandering amongst tombstones, delving into the annals of the past. Fast forward to 2012, I returned to the cemetery that had sparked my journey decades prior, only to find Elizabeth Stevenson’s gravestone missing. Amidst the familiarity of this small burial ground, her absence left me pondering a myriad of questions, chief among them: who would recount Elizabeth’s tale for posterity?
This lingering query birthed the fundamental ethos of Cemetery Tales—a commitment to resurrecting the forgotten voices of ordinary souls ensnared within the tapestry of history. I resolved to one day dedicate myself to this noble pursuit. Cemetery Tales serves as a testament to an unwavering dedication to illuminating the lives of those who once trod this earth, ensuring that their legacies endure beyond the confines of time.
Cemetery Tales 