Obituaries of Kendall, Lydia German Lutheran, Lydia Lutheran, Lydia Methodist, and Shockey Cemeteries Located in Grant, Hamilton and Wichita Counties, Kansas
Betty Barnes is like a social archeologist whose painstaking endeavor to uncover faces from the past has resulted in yet another revealing volume of Diggin’ Up Bones. The subjects of Book IV, many of them early pioneers, are buried in five Kansas cemeteries: Kendall, Lydia German Lutheran, Lydia Lutheran, Lydia Methodist and Shockey, and include burial dates from the late 1800s to the present time. By matching obituaries from local newspapers to the occupants of the marked gravesites the author resurrects the lives of those beneath the tombstones and creates an illuminating resource for historians, and genealogists alike. The data is arranged in alphabetical order by surname and contains hundreds of entries that are then tied through the obituaries to extended families, in-laws and friends so that numerous collateral references are made to surnames not found in the cemeteries. The entries generally include a plot or section number, obituary and the name and date of the paper that published it. Besides the straight facts that can be extracted from obituaries, these personal vignettes add another dimension to preserving voices of the past. From them we can learn about their occupations, hobbies, social pastimes, character traits, personal contributions valued by the community, and who was considered a prominent citizen. Drawing on dozens of resources and including maps of the cemeteries involved, Diggin’ up Bones unearths the colorful lives of these early pioneers without ever turning a stone.
Betty Barnes
2001, 5½x8½, paper, map, 196 pp.
ISBN: 9780788418785
101-B1878
