HERE WE ARE AT THE CEMETERY
Today was a wonderful sabbath day for Andrew and I. A few weeks ago Mom called and asked how far Huntington was from our house. I found out that it was a little over an hour away. We decided to go on a Sunday drive to find the grave of one of my ancestors Ann Jewell Rowley, a handcart pioneer. We looked up directions and had a fantastic drive. We were both so surprised at how beautiful it was. Even if we hadn't have found her marker, the drive alone would have been well worth it. We passed through large forests of trees, such as birch, pine, and aspen. We climbed up to 10,000 feet and were surrounded by snow again. Somehow this time it didn't annoy me. It was breathtaking. It was a warm day, and as we descended we saw the glaciers melt away into brooks, streams, and finally rapids. We saw dams that were being built by beavers, and even a doe. There were huge carved out cliffs, and caves. Beyond that red rock cliffs stood as a background tall against the bright blue skies. So many different birds that I'd never seen in bright orange and black, not to mention our usual cows, sheep, goats, alpacas, and horses. Then as we approached Huntington we saw huge lilac bushes. There were so many different flowers in the cemetery, and it was well kept and very beautiful. As we walked around the smell was amazing! Lilac everywhere, it was like walking through a field. There was a breeze, and we knew her marker was in section J, but that is all we knew. I first found the Rowley section but it was Andrew who found her grave far from all the other ones. A closer look revealed that she actually had two stones. One marker was for her. It had four sides and stood as a column. The main side was hers, and then it showed two children born almost one year apart and both dying on the same day as they were born. This was a difficult thing to see and I can't imagine how she must have felt. Especially now that I'm pregnant, it would be beyond painful to endure. Another side showed a son that lived to be 14, and the last side we're unsure of. It was someone married to Thomas Rowley. As I mentioned before she also had a second stone. This one was done 150 years later for the pioneers sesquicentennial. It had a special etching in the stone of pioneers with their handcarts, a special gold seal that said "Pioneers, Faith in every footstep 1847-1997." It also showed that she was a member of the James Willie Handcart Company. I thought back to the book that had some of her journal entries in it, and realized even more today how brave she really was. What an amazing testimony she had. It made me very grateful for her, and for the time era in which I'm born. We found many other Rowley markers, as well as some others with the last name Guymon. It appears that somehow they were possibly married into that family. Almost anywhere you saw a Rowley/Jewell marker you saw one that said Guymon or Guymon/Jewell. We took many pictures, some I hope to be of some value to genealogy. However I'm sure the work has been done for all of these special people. I'm so proud to be related to such a remarkable woman, as there were only a handful of people in the whole cemetery that received that gold seal and a redo of their grave. I hope you enjoy the two short videos, and all our beautiful pictures of this special day for us. With Love, Sara and Andrew Ostler
PS to Mom... I have a ton of pictures of different markers, so when you come up in the next couple weeks I'll have you look at all of them and you can keep them and even take them home. OXOX
PS to Mom... I have a ton of pictures of different markers, so when you come up in the next couple weeks I'll have you look at all of them and you can keep them and even take them home. OXOX
Video on the way back from the cemetery
ABOVE: Andrew and I by a rushing brook about to turn into some rapids
BELOW: Ann Jewell Rowley's original grave marker
Below: The new stone with the golden seal they made for her just a few feet away
ABOVE: Sara with grave marker
BELOW: A pretty smelling lilac bush not far from where she is buried
Many times it was difficult to capture the beauty. Above is the mostly frozen
ELECTRIC LAKE and Below is a couple of forests the front one is birch then
directly behind it is some pines. Again the fresh air smell was incredible
Home at last I explain the grave rubbing's we did with colored pencil
WHAT AN AWESOME DAY!!
