Where is 'this area'?
Mike

It's nice to go through old cemeteries like that. I always note how many child graves there are with many just being days old. Mary Johnson died at the start of the Civil War. Some stones around here in MA go back to the early 1700s.

If it ever stops raining I will venture out on my bicycle and grab some pictures of a graveyard near me in Lakeville that is in a pine grove high on a hill that is roughly kept up, but the stones are so very old I don't think any relatives visit. It is an experience to go up there. So, so quiet, beautiful, not a sign of any living person. I can't help reading the inscriptions and feel obligated to say a little something to the 'residents' since they get so few visitors.

None have responded. Surely a little whacky, but what do you do when walking around such a place?

Jon

South central Michigan, right where Indiana and Ohio come together.

Graveyards are always interesting to me. I had a high school teacher that showed us the background of many of the symbols you see on the stones; it was fascinating.

Really old ones, you'll see a lot of stones just labeled "Baby." I was told that often times people wouldn't name their children 'till they were a year old, since they lost so many.

who knew

Here is a link that might be useful: link

I noticed that there always seemed to be big Century plants in old cemeteries. Ken, your reference explains that it represents immortality or long life. Interesting, I used to call them cemetery plants.

It seems bigness in P. strobus starts at about 148' high and maybe 3' in diameter, based on current records been reported. How big do you think this one is?

When I was a kid I lived 5 minutes from an old cemetery. There were prominent people buried there, as well as my hometowns founder. There were a few very large European beeches and some very large white pines, one of which had partially "eaten" a tombstone. The oldest stones were made of limestone, and the lettering was almost completely eroded away. I don't remember the founders exact date of death, it was sometime in the mid 1600's.

Being a father of 2 daughters, I can't help it but feel sad for those parents that lost their daughter. :-(

bboy, judging from a 100 ft white pine bordering my lot, I don't think the pictured one above is that tall -- maybe 90'. But it sure has a huge trunk.

Isolated white pines get beat up as they get old (especially from ice-storms), but the one above is still impressive.

The General McArthur white pine, previously the world's largest, finally succumbed to repeated lightning strikes and other adverse weather events, in its N. wisconsin home. It was big!

+oM

2 of the largest trees I've ever seen in Indiana were both in grave yards. In southern Indiana, there are probably the largest tulip poplar (in girth, not height) in a cemetary in the middle of a nature preserve and along 37, near Mitchell, there are 3 extremely large eastern red cedars in a grave yard, easy to see from the highway. They are busted up very badly internally, but kept growing anyway, so very gnarled and fantastic. Glad we have such beauties growing here in the midwest. Too bad they are only in grave yards, but thank goodness they are SOMEWHERE. :-)

Yes, generally speaking, cemeteries are great places to see big, old trees. Lots of really large Norway spruce can be found here, for another example.

+oM

If you want old trees in cemeteries, plant Yews.

This one has a trunk around 2 metres diameter and is reckoned to be around 700-800 years old ;-)

at Beltingham Church in Northumberland, UK

Resin