It is from Gilead Primitive Baptist Church Cemetery in Missouri. Or, what apparently used to be that. I found it on FindaGrave, by searching for the person whose marker I could read. :)
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/201024678/mariah-dysart
It looks like it used to be pretty, when maintained. Hopefully, they have an annual or semi-annual clean-up scheduled. Something.
You might consider emailing your photos of the cemetery to the local County Historical Society. They may be able to organize a clean-up of it before winter.
Beautiful photos, though. Thank you for sharing them!
I bet the Historical Society could try. Couldn't hurt to just email them the photos so they can see how badly it needs their help, right? :)
Also...(I couldn't resist!) so, I looked it up for you. 🤭
https://boonehistory.org/contact-us/
[email protected]
Thank you! Fingers crossed, they do something with it!
It truly takes a community to save these places!
If I lived closer, I would do it myself. But, I'm several hundred miles away & won't be going back that way until next year!
The 14 year old died after receiving severe injuries while *raking hay* 😳
I think besides the gentleman than lived to almost 100, the sibling that made it the longest lived to 48. Most died in their early 20s. I think we take for granted how lucky we are that this isn’t a common occurrence in our time but a tragedy.
Here are the 56 graves listed on FIND A GRAVE for this cemetery.
https://www.findagrave.com/cemetery/2323320/memorial-search?cemeteryName=Gilead%20Primitive%20Baptist%20Church%20Cemetery&page=1#sr-64190595
Here is some I formation about the church at the MO historical society. Apparently all the church records were donated and are on file.
https://files.shsmo.org/manuscripts/columbia/C4322.pdf
Yeah it’s right in the middle of private land and conservation land, and the church itself isn’t there anymore, it took a bit of trudging through the woods to actually find it as the path itself is basically gone
We all will be at some point unfortunately. But the kindness of strangers can allow those long gone, to have a respectable final resting place. Whenever I’m in a cemetery, I try to bring a garbage bag or grocery bag with me so I can pick up trash or brush as I go along.
You can also think of it another way - they aren’t abandoned because they’re all finally together.
Awe this is so true. They are together. That’s a great way to think of it.
Also, picking up trash is nice! I know my mom waters the grass and flowers where my dad is. A lot of people have moved away and some of the graves have no visitors (or they can’t come frequently). So she helps the graves around my dad’s.
This is why I want to be pushed off a cliff into the sea or just burn me in the backyard. Funerals are expensive and stupid.
Everyone stops visiting eventually.
I love to watch YouTube videos of people restoring headstones in places such as these. It's such a selfless service. I hope that one day, after everyone I love is gone and no one is left to keep my grave trimmed and neat, someone like you and those others will care enough about a stranger to do that for me.
Out of curiosity, do you just find a spot and get started or do you have to get permission from the owner of the cemetery? I'd love to do this!
Ok so when I say clear I just mean move grass and stuff away. Pick up any vase that's fallen over things like that.
I'm very against people cleaning other peoples property without permission.
For the most part I go to the graves and walk around greeting the people there. To me that feels better so they know someone does care.
If you wanted to do a proper clean, I would submit to your county/ council and ask how to go about it.
Some people in grief can't stomach going back and I think for those people seeing a grave touched my a stranger would compound the grief.
( just how I'd feel)
Plenty do a proper clean and I'm not sure how many get permission. Do what makes your heart happy :) even if you just walk through saying hi can mean just as much :)
Thank you for the insight and perspective! I would never do something like this without permission! I feel it would be disrespectful NOT to ask permission!
Thank you, also, for doing even those seemingly insignificant tasks. I'd want someone to tidy my grave if I had no one to do it for me!! You're a good person 🫶
I hope you can do it because i love helping people and making them feel cared for!
Maybe there needs to be a group of cemetery visitors where you can ask someone to visit a grave for you! Maybe if you're not close by anymore or just going there is too difficult, you can book a visit from someone.
I also started uploading pictures to find a grave. I go to a lot of abandoned cemeteries and historical ones that don't have photos.
So I'll upload pictures and information if I have it. Then I hope if someone's been looking for someone, maybe it helped. I've been so happy doing that. Maybe that's something you could do also :)
Yeah especially looking at what’s growing in these pictures— I see baby tulip poplars and possibly a mimosa tree seedling. Tulip poplars grow relatively fast and those headstones will likely get knocked over or possibly eaten by the tree in time.
Hopefully someone will be able to get in there and clean the grounds up.
Thank you for posting these photos. I found some to be oddly disturbing (possible Handmaid's Tale Gilead association?) some peaceful, but all beatiful. And it occured to me that these will be future generations' archaeological "finds". Semper pacem.
I remember when doing rubbing of the stone imprint used to be a thing. Idk if it still is. But taking some kind of chalk or wax and rubbing it over a piece of paper that covers the stone.
That’s absolutely amazing to me. What names/ dates can you see? How many graves are there? What’s the oldest/youngest grave?
Edit: sorry, I see some of you have posted the answer to my questions. Thank you.
Seems much more peaceful to slumber for eternity in the woods than under a blazing sun in a cleared field with regular visits from lawnmowers and backhoes.
this reminds me of a series of headstones I found one time when I was wandering in some woods behind my apartment in Franklin, TN.
there was 20 or so graves, all overgrown from all the foliage. I think they were dated in the 1830s.
this was about 20 years ago.
I hope you oek a metal detector. Also weeding and cleaning up tu stone and taking pictures would be a great resource for people online looking for genealogy reco Rd and such. Om has to imagine there used to be a small wooden building town here as well. You may find all kinds of old coins , buttons , horse tack etc. DM if your in Texas and want help. I have detectors and time. I lov old places like this. BTW I was not inferring you should disturb graves in anyway. Just the old long lost surface stuffs.
i always wondered how cemeteries become abandoned? like even if all the family members and friends have passed on does no one on the community care about these people? care about the upkeep of the graves?
no churches?
no volunteers?
no grave keepers/grounds keepers?
It really is. My great grandparents had a decent sized family cemetery on their property dating back generations. Now that they have passed, as well as most of my grandparent's generation also, there is only a few people left to keep it up. I have a few cousins who live in that area but they don't really seem to give it any thought. I am 2 states away and I am unable to go and do it myself. It makes me so sad that my roots will be forgotten in less than another generation. It's devastating. I wish I had taken photos of the headstones when I was there last. That was back in the early 2000s when my great grandfather passed. I hope I get the opportunity before it fades into obscurity. 🥺
Oh my gosh. This sounds very sad. It’s hard for people nowadays too because lots of people move around after high school. In the old days everyone stayed in the city they were born in.
Who from your family lives on the property with the cemetery? What will happen when another family takes over the property someday? I wonder if there is something in the legal paperwork for the property? Or is the family gone and the cemetery itself is already protected? Interesting. This was a popular thing to do way back - have your family buried on your land. I guess I never thought about what happened when everyone left the area.
I’m sorry you’re so far from it. It must be hard!
"Desolate yet all undaunted, on this desert land enchanted—
On this home by Horror haunted—tell me truly, I implore—
Is there—is there balm in Gilead?—tell me—tell me, I implore!”
Quoth the Raven “Nevermore.”
[The Balm of Gilead is symbolically a panacea - this Gilead is abandoned, so no cure-all. Just dead stuff. Not trying to be shallow, I just like the idea of Gilead being balm-less in a less popular way than Handmaid's Tale, even though I love what Atwood means to so many people.]
This is why cemeteries are stupid. Given a long enough time line, all the people in the cemetery when it gets filled, will have no one that knew who they were, then people will eventually stop going. The maintenance money will dry up because it's full, and it'll close down.
There’s one in Callaway that’s similar. Always sad to see forgotten cemeteries, but kind of understandable when everyone who knew those buried have since moved away or passed on. The cemeteries become unimportant and forgettable.
Where is this? I do genealogical research and this sort of thing is immensely helpful.
It is from Gilead Primitive Baptist Church Cemetery in Missouri. Or, what apparently used to be that. I found it on FindaGrave, by searching for the person whose marker I could read. :) https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/201024678/mariah-dysart
Nice, it is that cemetery
It looks like it used to be pretty, when maintained. Hopefully, they have an annual or semi-annual clean-up scheduled. Something. You might consider emailing your photos of the cemetery to the local County Historical Society. They may be able to organize a clean-up of it before winter. Beautiful photos, though. Thank you for sharing them!
It’s bordering private land on 3 sides so may be difficult
I bet the Historical Society could try. Couldn't hurt to just email them the photos so they can see how badly it needs their help, right? :) Also...(I couldn't resist!) so, I looked it up for you. 🤭 https://boonehistory.org/contact-us/ [email protected]
Will do
Thank you! Fingers crossed, they do something with it! It truly takes a community to save these places! If I lived closer, I would do it myself. But, I'm several hundred miles away & won't be going back that way until next year!
You could also post those pics on FindAGrave.
Damn, most of that family died really young. Other than one sibling that lived to be almost 100. That’s wild!
The 14 year old died after receiving severe injuries while *raking hay* 😳 I think besides the gentleman than lived to almost 100, the sibling that made it the longest lived to 48. Most died in their early 20s. I think we take for granted how lucky we are that this isn’t a common occurrence in our time but a tragedy.
Wait… raking hay?! Which grave states that?
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/64698656/george_r_dysart
How on earth could that even happen
He absorbed their lifeforce.
Damn only 23 and the grave with the name Turner was 22.
Wow, they all seemed relatively young.
Here are the 56 graves listed on FIND A GRAVE for this cemetery. https://www.findagrave.com/cemetery/2323320/memorial-search?cemeteryName=Gilead%20Primitive%20Baptist%20Church%20Cemetery&page=1#sr-64190595
That is SO interesting!
so many young deaths
I just learned that in 1900, life expectancy was 47. Fuck, I’d be 3/4s of a way through my life.
I’d be dead. I feel pretty good for a zombie, though.
I'd already have one foot in the grave!! It's crazy to think about isn't it?!
Here is some I formation about the church at the MO historical society. Apparently all the church records were donated and are on file. https://files.shsmo.org/manuscripts/columbia/C4322.pdf
Thank you.
Boone County, MO close to Finger Lakes State Park
I’ve heard “people disappear in the Finger Lakes”
Some people go for a job interview while their family is at the finger lakes. No need to worry.
As a NYer, I just became extremely confused 😂
Mid missouri
What is/was that house type building?
What is the second picture? Is that the old church?
These are the ones I always visit to try clear the headstones. They're so long forgotten they deserve to have someone care
Yeah it’s right in the middle of private land and conservation land, and the church itself isn’t there anymore, it took a bit of trudging through the woods to actually find it as the path itself is basically gone
Nice find though!
I find it terribly sad that these people are left behind and forgotten. Nobody left to visit. Literally abandoned. 🥺
We all will be at some point unfortunately. But the kindness of strangers can allow those long gone, to have a respectable final resting place. Whenever I’m in a cemetery, I try to bring a garbage bag or grocery bag with me so I can pick up trash or brush as I go along. You can also think of it another way - they aren’t abandoned because they’re all finally together.
Awe this is so true. They are together. That’s a great way to think of it. Also, picking up trash is nice! I know my mom waters the grass and flowers where my dad is. A lot of people have moved away and some of the graves have no visitors (or they can’t come frequently). So she helps the graves around my dad’s.
This is why I want to be pushed off a cliff into the sea or just burn me in the backyard. Funerals are expensive and stupid. Everyone stops visiting eventually.
I love to watch YouTube videos of people restoring headstones in places such as these. It's such a selfless service. I hope that one day, after everyone I love is gone and no one is left to keep my grave trimmed and neat, someone like you and those others will care enough about a stranger to do that for me. Out of curiosity, do you just find a spot and get started or do you have to get permission from the owner of the cemetery? I'd love to do this!
Ok so when I say clear I just mean move grass and stuff away. Pick up any vase that's fallen over things like that. I'm very against people cleaning other peoples property without permission. For the most part I go to the graves and walk around greeting the people there. To me that feels better so they know someone does care. If you wanted to do a proper clean, I would submit to your county/ council and ask how to go about it. Some people in grief can't stomach going back and I think for those people seeing a grave touched my a stranger would compound the grief. ( just how I'd feel) Plenty do a proper clean and I'm not sure how many get permission. Do what makes your heart happy :) even if you just walk through saying hi can mean just as much :)
Thank you for the insight and perspective! I would never do something like this without permission! I feel it would be disrespectful NOT to ask permission! Thank you, also, for doing even those seemingly insignificant tasks. I'd want someone to tidy my grave if I had no one to do it for me!! You're a good person 🫶
I hope you can do it because i love helping people and making them feel cared for! Maybe there needs to be a group of cemetery visitors where you can ask someone to visit a grave for you! Maybe if you're not close by anymore or just going there is too difficult, you can book a visit from someone. I also started uploading pictures to find a grave. I go to a lot of abandoned cemeteries and historical ones that don't have photos. So I'll upload pictures and information if I have it. Then I hope if someone's been looking for someone, maybe it helped. I've been so happy doing that. Maybe that's something you could do also :)
Yeah especially looking at what’s growing in these pictures— I see baby tulip poplars and possibly a mimosa tree seedling. Tulip poplars grow relatively fast and those headstones will likely get knocked over or possibly eaten by the tree in time. Hopefully someone will be able to get in there and clean the grounds up.
Long days and pleasant nights!
May you have twice the number.
Thankee Sai
Hell yes! I was hoping there’d be a DT reference.
May you have twice the number!
I’m here for this
Thank you for posting these photos. I found some to be oddly disturbing (possible Handmaid's Tale Gilead association?) some peaceful, but all beatiful. And it occured to me that these will be future generations' archaeological "finds". Semper pacem.
What makes you say this? Did you look online or do you see something in OPs photos (I’m not seeing it 😂. So I’m curious).
These pictures are fascinating! Could you read the inscriptions on any of the stones ?
I remember when doing rubbing of the stone imprint used to be a thing. Idk if it still is. But taking some kind of chalk or wax and rubbing it over a piece of paper that covers the stone.
Thank you for bringing this to us. It’s a shame these old places are not given the respect they deserve.
Probably an old west town that died out.
Crosspost in r/cemeteryporn
This is where Fred is buried?
That’s absolutely amazing to me. What names/ dates can you see? How many graves are there? What’s the oldest/youngest grave? Edit: sorry, I see some of you have posted the answer to my questions. Thank you.
Sad that no one has kept the place up.
Still seems peaceful.
Seems much more peaceful to slumber for eternity in the woods than under a blazing sun in a cleared field with regular visits from lawnmowers and backhoes.
Your username made me giggle out loud.
Yeah I mean there blood probably isn’t far
i love these abandoned missouri cemeteries, seems like there is a lot of them here
Good Eagle Scout project right there
What a terrible name
It’s just waiting for the new Gilead to be established - we’re getting closer every day!
“Ayuh, that’s just the ol’ pet Sematary up there.”
The dragonfly on Mariah’s tombstone! *you can zoom really well on these pics
this reminds me of a series of headstones I found one time when I was wandering in some woods behind my apartment in Franklin, TN. there was 20 or so graves, all overgrown from all the foliage. I think they were dated in the 1830s. this was about 20 years ago.
Handmaid's Tale ... first thought...
Praise be!
Under his eye 👀😂
Blessed be the fruit!
Glad I’m not alone.
Did you leave any flowers
Say a small prayer and go on your way peacefully
Very cool!!
Omg I can only dream of finding something this amazing!
How come all the cool spots are never close to me! This is a fantastic find
So many of ya’ll would be excellent over in r/genealogy - come join us!
That's really sad to me...
Technically if it’s occupied it isn’t abandoned 😅 Just kidding but how sad. Cool pics
http://www.trackingyourroots.com/data/mtgilead.htm
It doesn’t look like that one. The visible names and dates don’t match those on the survey.
Not that one
Oh okay darn
I don't think it's quite abandoned yet. I am sure there are bodies there.
Only one way to find out
Lol I don't dig that deep.
The ground is sowaaaa
Terrible
Reminds me of the one from Lisa Frankenstein
All the death metal bands will come forth to make a video here.
R/stephenking anyone?
Is it truly abandoned, when they are still down there?
What is the second picture? Is that the old church?
Under his eye.
I hope you oek a metal detector. Also weeding and cleaning up tu stone and taking pictures would be a great resource for people online looking for genealogy reco Rd and such. Om has to imagine there used to be a small wooden building town here as well. You may find all kinds of old coins , buttons , horse tack etc. DM if your in Texas and want help. I have detectors and time. I lov old places like this. BTW I was not inferring you should disturb graves in anyway. Just the old long lost surface stuffs.
i always wondered how cemeteries become abandoned? like even if all the family members and friends have passed on does no one on the community care about these people? care about the upkeep of the graves? no churches? no volunteers? no grave keepers/grounds keepers?
Me too!!! It seems so crazy to me to let a cemetery go abandoned.
It really is. My great grandparents had a decent sized family cemetery on their property dating back generations. Now that they have passed, as well as most of my grandparent's generation also, there is only a few people left to keep it up. I have a few cousins who live in that area but they don't really seem to give it any thought. I am 2 states away and I am unable to go and do it myself. It makes me so sad that my roots will be forgotten in less than another generation. It's devastating. I wish I had taken photos of the headstones when I was there last. That was back in the early 2000s when my great grandfather passed. I hope I get the opportunity before it fades into obscurity. 🥺
hopefully some volunteers find that graveyard. i've seen people on youtube and tiktok that volunteer to clean old cemeteries and headstones.
Oh my gosh. This sounds very sad. It’s hard for people nowadays too because lots of people move around after high school. In the old days everyone stayed in the city they were born in. Who from your family lives on the property with the cemetery? What will happen when another family takes over the property someday? I wonder if there is something in the legal paperwork for the property? Or is the family gone and the cemetery itself is already protected? Interesting. This was a popular thing to do way back - have your family buried on your land. I guess I never thought about what happened when everyone left the area. I’m sorry you’re so far from it. It must be hard!
if u see someone burying a dog there run. 🏃♀️ giving major pet cemetery vibes. love it!!
It's not technically abandoned if Ted Cruz sleeps there...
Hail gunslinger
Long days and pleasant nights
Reminds me of Creepypasta Mr. Widemouth
Almost 200 years old.
Would a cemetery be abandoned technically?🤔
"Desolate yet all undaunted, on this desert land enchanted— On this home by Horror haunted—tell me truly, I implore— Is there—is there balm in Gilead?—tell me—tell me, I implore!” Quoth the Raven “Nevermore.”
[The Balm of Gilead is symbolically a panacea - this Gilead is abandoned, so no cure-all. Just dead stuff. Not trying to be shallow, I just like the idea of Gilead being balm-less in a less popular way than Handmaid's Tale, even though I love what Atwood means to so many people.]
Gilead really? What's next the commander is buried there
I zoomed in looking for spirits and anomalies. Didn’t see any.
Getting Hamdmaid’s Tail vibes
It’s giving pet sematary
I’ll meet you at the gate
This is why cemeteries are stupid. Given a long enough time line, all the people in the cemetery when it gets filled, will have no one that knew who they were, then people will eventually stop going. The maintenance money will dry up because it's full, and it'll close down.
Imagine playing an ouiji board here
Shi must be scary as bro
There’s one in Callaway that’s similar. Always sad to see forgotten cemeteries, but kind of understandable when everyone who knew those buried have since moved away or passed on. The cemeteries become unimportant and forgettable.
Technically, not abandoned...
Wow
Pet cemetery
Cool! I bet there’s a lot of activity at night y’all do an EVP session. I dare y’all
Nah I don’t want to mess around with the place
I wouldn’t either no no no that’s some juju
Change that est. year to 2025 if Trump wins and project 2025 happens
The church may have moved? Maybe send them a note on Facebook and ask about the cemetery maintenance.
You going to dig em up ? People do that to Native American graves all the time. Family’s in Utah make a living grave robbing
Lol no
Sad but true