Okay, the first time somebody sent me a graveyard pic (from Nebraska, no less) I was all like EEEW! It creeped me out, I must confess. That didn’t last very long, as I realized that if I wanted to obtain names and dates, tombstones often offered the best route for doing this. Eeew, indeed!
Now I plan whole vacations based on what graveyard I am hot to visit. It helps if you are blessed with a soul mate, who doesn’t mind going through cemeteries on vacations, with nebulous instructions to “Look for Lynches.”
So, when I have the time, I spend a lot of it in cemeteries. Which is why when Terry Thornton asked me to join The Graveyard Rabbit Association, I said yes – most definitely yes.
The Association was formed for the august purpose of “promoting the historical importance of cemeteries, grave markers, and the family history to be learned from a study of burial customs, burying grounds, and tombstones. As a group we pledge to promote the study of cemeteries, promote the preservation of cemeteries, and promote the transcription of genealogical/historical information written in cemeteries”.
As you can see by the name of the blog, I’ve chosen the Great Black Swamp as my area of interest. Historically the Great Black Swamp consisted of twelve counties in Ohio and Allen County in Indiana. I am concentrating on only the counties in Ohio.
The diagram below shows all the counties encompassed by the Great Black Swamp. Those counties include Ottawa, Sandusky, Seneca, Lucas, Wood, Hancock, Henry, Allen, Putnam, Paulding, Van Wert and Defiance counties. That’s a big chuck of territory to be sure.
My hope is to con sweet-talk encourage someone into co-writing the blog with me. For those of you who don’t want to make that kind of commitment, but might be interested in writing a piece now and then, please be sure to contact me at Blackswampbunnyataol.com. Come on, don’t be shy, you have a voice that is waiting to be heard.
For more information about the how and why the association was formed please visit our founder, Terry Thornton’s website, The Graveyard Rabbit Association. For an answer to the question, “Why the graveyard rabbit,” see Terry’s personal blog post here.
The Great Black Swamp Graveyard Rabbit 