Wordless Wednesday - 30 June 2010, Freeman Cemetery

Freeman Cemetery, Freeman District, Morris Tract, Brownville, Jefferson, New York.
Still my favorite cemetery

Tombstone Tuesday - 29 June 2010 - John E. Freeman

John E. Freeman (my g-g-grandmother's half-brother) was born in July 1836 (1837, according to the tombstone, but probably in error) in Jefferson County, New York, and died 29 June 1914 (96 years ago today) in Chaumont, Jefferson, New York. He is believed to be buried here, in Brownville Cemetery, Brownville, Jefferson, New York, with his wife, Margaret Walrath (they were married in 1856 and had 4 children, only one - Carrie May - who lived to adulthood, marrying, first, ___ Peck and, second, Eugene Brown).

Problem: no death date is inscribed on John's headstone (but his obituary does say this is where he lies).

John E. Freeman was born on the family farm in the Freeman District, Morris Tract, Brownville, Jefferson, New York and worked his whole life as a farmer (according to census and obituary information).

SUNDAY SINGALONG - Sad songs

Welcome to Sunday Singalong with Circlemending!

I was pleased to see some gospel singalong participants in the last couple of weeks. This week was the anniversary of my mother's passing and, as can be imagined, I was in something of a "funk" as a result. While I'm doing OK now (thanks, in part, to the Flagstaff Folk Festival this weekend), I thought that "sad songs" would be a good theme for this week (don't worry, I'll counter with "happy songs" for a future theme). So what songs do you remember as being sad? Remember, we want to keep these "older" songs (i.e., not something that was written last week, OK?). You can print out the lyrics, give a link to a set of lyrics, MP3, YouTube, or all of the above, if you like. Or just identify the sad song by title.

With the many disasters that have befallen our country in recent years (and currently, in the Gulf region), I can't help but think of songs written about those events. One comes immediately to mind as being particularly sad (maybe because it is still shrouded so much in mystery). July 2 will be the 73rd anniversary of the disappearance of Amelia Earhart. The song "Amelia Earhart's Last Flight" by Kinky Friedman is thought to be the first song that carried her name. The refrain, "Happy Landings to you, Amelia Earhart; Farewell, first lady of the air" are both catchy and poignant. Why, one can even get the tune as a ringtone for the cell phone!

To hear the song, go to the YouTube showing of Red River Dave (the first to record the song).