Beautiful old album dated Christmas 1899 (according to the inscription in the front).

Brompton Cemetery - http://www.brompton.org

It was a rainy, overcast, chilly day when I visited Brompton Cemetery. (The catacombs were closed, unfortunately.) It's hardly a two minute walk from the West Brompton tube stop, and impossible to miss.

On the up side, it's a gorgeous place, and the planned naturalization seems to really suit it. Lots of wildlife, too--particularly birds. There were two fox dens near the walkways over the catacombs, but I didn't get to see the residents. The squirrels were adamant about wanting to be fed, and they followed us everywhere, posing and being deliberately cute.

On the down side, feeding the wildlife is prohibited. Also, bikers (cyclists) use the cemetery as a cut-through and they whizz through at incredibly high speeds.

For good or ill, it also seems to be something of a popular hook-up spot for gay guys, which is fine by me, but it was still a bit of a shock to walk around a corner and see a couple of guys engaged in genito-oral activities of an adult nature, or negotiating said. They weren't too thrilled with me and my camera, either, but I made it a point to ignore them and keep the camera pointed at the ground when I was near the catacombs, just to keep the peace.

Unfortunately, we got to Brompton toward the end of our trip, and my knee was in bad shape from all the walking. It definitely didn't do the pictures any good--I was shaky, and it shows in quite a few of the photos. I've posted most of them anyway--better than nothing.

Here's another set from Charter Street Cemetery (aka Old Burying Ground) in Salem. (Can I just mention how fantastically, incredibly old it was...?)

The best shots, I think, are those I managed to catch of a hawk ripping into a squirrel in the rear corner of the cemetery. He was very, very cool and I made sure I didn't get near enough to disturb him.

Worse, in some ways, than Camden, NJ. But but not by much. (I worked in Camden for nearly 4 years and I have a deep affection for the place. The current situation is both disheartening and deplorable.)

Colma--City of the Dead.

These photos were with the envelpoe, pictured.

Can you identify any of the people in these pictures? Know someone who might be able to? Use the Comment feature to let me know if you recognize anyone. If you have an original printing of any of these photos that has names written on it by an earlier owner, please share. (The full-size images are available for viewing to make the faces more identifiable.)

Located on High Bridge Church Rd. in Natural Bridge, VA
Founded in 1770.

The sign says that Hillside was founded in 1882, but there's little evidence as far as headstones go.

Small album, circa 1890, of mostly unlabeled photos. The first photo is of an "Asa Knickerbocker" so I'm calling it the Knickerbocker album for lack of information.

A "walking tour" (of sorts) of lovely Laurel Hill Cemetery, Ridge Ave., Philadelphia, PA. (Various dates, starting with 31 July 2005.)

Taken between 4 and 5pm.

Almost everyone buried there is a relative. Ah, the wonders of the South Jersey gene pool.
Taken at various times of the year.

Mount Moriah is *huge.* Simply huge. And god, but it's beautiful--even if it is tragically neglected.

Corner of Ridge & Lehigh, across from Laurel Hill Cemetery (which is the location marked on the map).

They require that you make an appointment of you want to visit. The groundskeepers really seem to try to stay on top of things, but they have very little in the way of funds. It's no longer an issue of beautifying the place--it seems to be a struggle just to keep the grass mowed and the roads clear.

Wear your boots/long pants if you plan to go into the unmowed areas. (Or anywhere, really.) I saw poison ivy in several places--it just hasn't had a chance to take over yet this season.

EDIT: I've heard a few people say that they called in advance but were *still* denied access. I don't have an answer for this. The groundskeepers seemed a *bit* put off that we stayed as long as we did, but they were ultimately helpful and pleasant, and we signed the guestbook on the way out.

Taken at various times.

Trenton, NJ

Not sure who most of these people are, as none of the photos are labeled, but I know they're family.

Last Valentines Day, I stopped at an antique shop here in town and bought a Victorian photo album (patented November 1895) that had been languishing on a dusty shelf for a couple years. I'd always stopped and looked at it, but I always walked away empty handed.

But seeing as it was Valentines Day, and I figured I'd buy myself a present.

And I did. Even got the dealer to knock $15 off the price because it's been deteriorating with all the mishandling.

Feeling mildly guilty and yet entirely thrilled to have a new project, I took it home and set about extracting the photos. I'd been told that the dealer took the photos out when he got it, and there were no names on any of them. Still, I wanted to see for myself.

The photos are almost all taken by local photographers (mainly Salem County), and given the nature of Southern New Jersey genealogy, I figured that I have a 50-50 chance of being related to these people, one way or another.

So, tweezers in hand, I started pulling all 54 pictures out of the album. They were almost all cabinet cards, but there was one daguerreotype and one tintype. I was over 3/4 of the way through when I pulled a card with a name on the back.

"Charles D. Richman, 4 1/2 months."

I have *heaps* of Richmans in my family--the Richman's Ice Cream folks from Woodstown/Sharptown. So I looked him up in the census, found his parents in my genealogy database, and added Charles to the family tree.

In an effort to flesh out Charles' entry, I decided to see if I could find an exact date of birth, date of death, etc.

Charles DuBois Richman died on Valentines Day, 1988.

This album (a belated Christmas present) was purchased at an antique shop in Salem, Massachusetts. I think that the first photo was added to fill an empty space because it is from Colorado and has a separate price on the back. The rest of the photos are all from the same general area and the names all seem to be written in the same hand. The majority of them seem to be members of the Harmon family. Some of the unlabeled pics are obviously of the same people at different ages throughout their lives.

Purchased these in one lot from an antique shop in Mullica Hill, NJ. They were all labeled in the same hand--all with names and many with helpful notes regarding who they married and how they were related to the note-taker and her parents.

A beautiful place--absolutely lovely. I could spend hours there.

Miscellaneous photos, including some single-lane, unpaved County roads that might as well be cow paths winding up through the mountains near Union, WV.

Vintage images of non-relatives.