White Oak Cemetery - February 4, 2023

White Oak Cemetery

Jackson Township, Jay County Indiana

on 850N just west of 250W

On this cold Winter day I chose to walk the quiet solitude of the White Oak Cemetery. The sun made for the feeling of warmth, although it wasn't. As I walked down the winding lane to the cemetery I could hear a Pileated Woodpecker and White Breasted Nuthatches. As I entered the cemetery a group of Juncos flew from the graves into the bushes. A single Robin could be heard calling. I had disturbed their quiet foraging in this sacred place.

I wished I had brought some paper and pencil to do grave rubbings (not robbings). It was difficult to read much of the lettering. It was necessary to look from above or the side to see the words clearly. So much of the information was lost to time and the elements.

Find-a-grave listed 126 graves. But that does not really tell the story of the White Oak Cemetery. Yes, the graveyard is surrounded by White Oak trees. Many of them extremely large which attests to the fact they were here when the first grave was dug. Most of the graves date to the mid-1800s and tell the heartache of life in this harsh, barely settled area.

Looking at the graves, you can marvel at the artistry that created the stones. Words, not carved by machine, but painstakingly hand carved or chiseled. Beautiful flowers, scenes and even a few verses adorn the stones of Limestone and Marble.

It is interesting to see how the graves were marked in the 1800s. Many said "wife of" or "son/daughter of". Most listed not only the date of death, but also the birth date. And what might seem odd now, they would list the length of the life by years, months and days. Every one preciously carved in the stone.

Being alone with the graves today helped me study each one and wonder about the lives of the people represented here. The heartache of two dead babies (only two years apart) along with the death of the Mother with the second birth. The two little lambs carved above the names of the little girls that didn't survive. The long lives in the 60s, 70s and 80s and the changes they saw as they aged. The civil war veteran still being remembered with pennies on his grave. So many lives, so long ago gone.

If you have never visited the White Oak Cemetery, it is a very sobering place and beautiful in its silence. Not many visit, but for those that do the beauty and history is breathtaking.

Driveway from parking lot that leads back to White Oak Cemetery

White Limestone showing on capstone of monument

Visitors place pennies on grave of Civil War Veteran

Rays of light from Eye

Bird hovering above open gate (depiction of rising to Heaven?)

Children of Alice Kerney

Father and Mother

NORTH - Zachariah B-Feb 21, 1829 D-Sept 29, 1905 76 yrs 7 mo 5 D
Catherine B-Feb 5 1829 D-Apr 12 1890 61 yrs 2 mo 7 D

Damaged Stone

Patched Obelisk

Infant Death

Dollie A - wife of Theodore M Preston
D-May 23 1897 Age 89 yrs 6 mo 7 D

This was a different stone, it was shaped like a scroll
Thurman B 1860 The rest was too hard to read

This one was different, it had a rectangular casement behind it

Patched together headstones

This was one of the newer graves in the cemetery, still over 100 years old

Cora B (Potter) wife of Wm. D-Dec 24 1903 Age-31 yrs 6 D
This was sad, died on Christmas Eve

BROWN
Catherine wife of J David
B-Aug 5 1835 in Madison Co Ohio D-Mar 2 1906 Age 66

At Rest in the arms
of Jesus. Blessed are
they that die in the
Lord.

This is the boundary line on the north side of the cemetery
I love the way this tree stretches its branches towards the cemetery.
It is like it is trying to touch or comfort the graves. (actually it is probably stretching for the southern sunshine)