Digging up the Dirt on my Dead People: Friends with Family in the Right Places: Thanks!

While putting some research into my American Revolutionary Patriot ancestors, my 5th great grandfathers who were also brothers, Colonel Daniel Moore and Lt. Colonel Robert Moore of New Hampshire, I learned that Robert Moore (or Moor) was born on May 26, 1726, in Londonderry, NH and died on October 25, 1778, also in Londonderry, NH.

Londonderry, New Hampshire is now known as Derry. And it just so happens that some of my very best friends have family in Derry. So this past summer, June 2012, my friends Andrea and Laszlo along with their children and mothers traipsed to the Forest Hill Cemetery in Derry, NH for me to find Moore family headstones.

From what I understand, it made for quite a field trip. Laszlo wasn't so sure they'd be able to find the graves. And sometimes it takes a lot of time to find graves if the cemetery lacks a directory or someone of the staff present to help you find the headstone. Nine out of 10 times my relatives don't even have headstones. They were generally a poor people who couldn't afford stones. Next time your walking through a cemetery and come across an "empty spot" in the middle of rows and rows of headstones, that empty spot is probably a relative of mine. In any case...

Andrea was kind of astonished that headstones from the late 1700s still existed. I was kind of astonished that she was astonished. See, in Hungary where Andrea was raised, gravesites must be financially maintained by the family in order to stay intact. I am hoping that Andrea will read this post and use the comment section below to explain the European practices in more detail.

Additionally, I think the adventure also provided her children with some fun. I think it was kind of neat that they got to see some history of their grandparent's town; a town that my family helped to found but that I have yet see.

Colonel Robert Moor(e) is interned in the Forest Hill Cemetery right near his parents; my 6th great grandparents John and Janet Moor. Colonel Daniel Moore is buried in a different location in a nearby town. When I have the opportunity to venture up that way I will be sure to visit his gravesite too.

Its incredibly wonderful to have real friends; friends who will take the time of their travels to do a genealogical kindness. Here are the pictures the family took for me of the Moore Family headstones in Forest Hill Cemetery in Derry, NH: