A Short Detour on the Way

Today Daryl and I were on the road again.  Somewhere out in rural Alabama I glimpsed this little church building on a side road so we pulled off to take a look and I'm so glad we did!

St. Andrew's Episcopal Church

When we got to the hotel tonight I looked online to see about the Canebrake.  It is the name for a five county area of Alabama that was known for having extremely thick stands of bamboo.  The cemetery here is said to be a Who's Who of the western part of Alabama.  

 The front doors to the church are padlocked shut from the inside.  I love the iron work on the hinges.

This moss is growing on one of the oldest tombstones in the cemetery.

 Each family plot has beautiful iron fence around it.

I'm so glad we took the time to stop for a while.  Daryl and I seem to be drawn to old cemeteries.  We have walked around in one in a seaport town in Alaska and in an old New Hampshire village.  And now in Alabama.

Tombstones really move me.

"In defence of his country"
There was a siege in Petersburg, Virginia during the Civil War from June 1864 until March 1865.  Walter must have been wounded before the siege began.

What could possibly have taken  little Mary and Julia  away so early?  The carving of such a caring angel and the two girls together must have been a comfort to their parents.  After all these years, my heart goes out to H. and J. Reese.

I had to look up "relict" in the dictionary, but apparently Olivia was married to W.A. Robinson first, he died, then she married J.T. Collins.  This is just a way of listing both of her husbands on her tombstone.
The line on the bottom of the stone is a quote from Jesus.  When Mary anointed Jesus feet with oil and was criticized for it, Jesus said, "She has done what she could.  She anointed my body for burial."

What an educational side trip!  I wonder what we'll find tomorrow?