I always joked that my second childhood had me was Forrestville Cemetery.

Forrestville Cemetery, located in the north central area of Boone Township in Madison County, Indiana, contains the graves of seven generations of my family’s graves. 

It once boasted lush green trees that gave it the beauty of a country park. Over the recent years, all but a few trees have survived being cut down by saws or disease. The only thing I find attractive is the genealogical connection. 

My great-grandparents and grandparents, plus all their relatives were religious in attending to family graves, especially around various holidays. Since so many pioneer graves were held in this cemetery, over half the graves were ignored. Our family gravesites were always nicely decorated with flowers, shrubbery, or peonies. 

I spent a lot of time with my family when we visited Forrestville Cemetery which was practically weekly. My job was to take the bucket to gather water after priming the handle with the rusted coffee can that either collected rainwater or was filled by the precious pumper. 

It was here I learned the names and important data of my ancestors, supplemented with the family oral descriptions and stories. I treasure those stories. 

In this photograph, I am seated next to the gravestone of my great-uncle, Ronald Monroe Clary (1921-1937). Ronald, the brother of my maternal grandmother, Donna Clary Barmes, died after sustaining fatal injuries from being thrown from a horse.

I hope to return one more time to Forrestville Cemetery, plus a pass by of the ancestral homes of the Ball, Noble, Greenlee, Vinson, Jones, and Clary families.