 |
My
second trip was one week later and my goal was to continue excavating and removing
the 10-12" thick layer of roots and mulch which had to be pulled loose with
a hoe or rake and pulled up by hand. |
| You can see Sissy's stone (above) to the left of the small concrete piece which was the base. The close up of the stone to the right is messy looking, but I found it was readable when I was cleaning it so I let the mud stay for a moment to snap the photos.
SISSY |  |
 | I
knew I'd found all of them except for GGG Grandmother Adaran and her son James,
but where to start. The entire right 1/3 of the plot was still covered and I was
already tired and the sky was getting stormy. I began digging by Adaran's sister
and hit something immediately. Adaran was buried next to her sister and just behind
Benjamin. The foundation for Adaran's stone is just above her sisters (to the left of the white concrete block I was using as a fulcrum to lift and turn over Adaran's stone). If you look to the left you can see the tree that grew up through the gate and has bent it totally around the tree. |
|
ADARAN
M. Adaran's stone is actually beautiful white marble. She has stalks of wheat and sprigs of Ivy on her stone and the inscription reads: |  |
 |
With that
done, I knew I had just one more grave to find. I stopped for a moment to take
a few photos and continue with the removal of the mulch/root mixture to clear
the entire plot. Just about then, it began to rain. |
|
So,
after two days, the Upton Cemetery went from having only the far back two stones
to having nine grave stones and eight foot stones and one strange marker in the
far corner by Ben's grave! There are many expensive hurdles ahead. There are about
seven large pine trees inside and surrounding the plot, one of which is almost
dead from boring insects which will surely attack the remaining pines in short
order. All of them need to be removed to prevent them from falling on the stones
and destroying them. To remove the trees the stones need to be removed by a monument
company. After the trees are removed, the ground needs to be leveled, some form
of brick or concrete base placed at or just beneath the soil and the stones need
to be reset. The oak trees in and around the plot, while they might eventually
disturb the stones with falling limbs are less likely to do so than the pines.
|
| Special thanks to the DAR for their original inventory of the site in 1955 and to Mr. Jon Ferguson and Mrs. Mary Townsend who inventoried this site in 2001. Extra thanks to Mr. Ferguson from the Southern Genealogical Exchange Society for all his wonderful leads and information and for sending me the obituary for Benjamin Upton from the Florida Times Union, Jacksonville, Duval County, Florida, Wednesday, November 20, 1895 appearing below. |
| DEATH
OF BENJAMIN UPTON Benjamin
Upton, aged 64 years, one of the oldest settlers and best known citizens of Duval
county, died at 1 o'clock yesterday afternoon at his residence, 520 West Monroe
Street, of congestion of the liver. The deceased had been ill only a few days. |
| POSTSCRIPT: At least one huge pine has fallen across the plot, smashing the fence on the left. I haven't been back since the hurricanes came through in 2004. I have tried to get several tree removal companies to give me estimates, but no one returns my calls. I'm still trying to preserve the plot and the grave stones, but have had no luck at all. |