NOTES ON THE OLD HAGUE CEMETERY

     "400 feet (up on the hill) east of The Old Hague House."

  Our Jun 23, 1988 field notes of THE HAGUE CEMETERY. 
The numbers above on the gravestones are my numbers.  Carol Minson.

Gravestone Descriptions with #’s corresponding to notes above.

#1:  (Gravestone deep in the ground)  “In memory of an infant daughter of Reuben and Margaret Hague who died 1826.”

 #2:  “In memory of/ Isaac Hague/ son of John and/ Sarah Hague/ who died Jan/ the 30 1829 in/ the 13^th year of/ his age.”

#3:  Upright sandstone, only thing that could be seen on the stone was “11”(which might have been two slashes instead of the number eleven.)                                                                                  

#4:   I see only “John” listed on our field notes.  Can’t remember if there was more on the gravestone or not. 

 #5: I see only “Jehu”.   (How sad not to have made better notes.)

#6:  I see only “Isaac”.    (Ditto…..and I’m really sorry!) 

#7:  Our notes say “no writing” on this stone. 

#8:  I think the “?” on the notes indicates there was no writing.  Not sure. 

#9:  This was the stone in the tree.  “T. H.” 

#10:  Another question mark. 

#11:  Ditto 

#12:  “J H” on one side of the stone. 

#13:  “In memory of/ John Hague/ who departed this/ life Jan the 11 1841/ in the 66^th/ year of his age.” 

#14:  “Father”   (Was there more?  I don’t remember.) 

#15:  “Mother”  (Was there more?  I don’t remember.)

There was one big HAGUE stone – you can see it in the other pictures.

click on picture for larger view

Gravestone of Joseph and Barbara (Yoho) Hague

               with names of 3 of their 10 children:

When we first reached the graveyard, I was almost awestruck.

Then I never will forget how our guide poked his staff into the dirt between two upright headstones and said, "I think there's a grave stone here.”

How did he know to do that?  Why did I believe him so quickly?  I’m not sure.  I just remember getting down on my hands and knees and scraping dirt with that very handy, and at that moment, much needed ice scraper!  

Sure enough, between the two upright gravestones, we uncovered a gravestone slab lying absolutely flat ---  completely covered with three inches of dirt.   With more scraping, the letters began appearing and with great excitement I read:

click on picture for larger view

                Then we found another stone:

              I was so excited. I could hardly contain myself. 

 Now we knew that “Sarah” was the name of John Hague's wife, and their son was Isaac, who died at  age 13.

  Up to this time, I’d not known of “Sarah” or “Isaac”. 

But we weren't through yet........

 Roland was attempting to straighten a gravestone which had tilted over and through the barbed wire fence. 

 As he was struggling to lift the stone so we could read the inscription on the bottom side, 

I cautioned, "Careful Roland, ......of your back."

Our guide, looked up at me and barked:

Before I could close my gaping mouth, Roland straightened

that little gravestone and read the words:      

"Infant daughter of Reuben & Margaret Hague who died 1826!"

“IN MEMORY
OF AN INFANT …..

Reuben and Margaret are my direct line! I had been writing a book about “Reuben and Margaret Hague” and I didn't know about this baby girl!  She was their second child, and NO RECORD of her in any of my MANY library searches. 

           Another great discovery!

This graveyard search -- completed the puzzle and now tied John Hague to his eldest son, Reuben, and Reuben to his infant daughter.  It also identified Sarah as John’s wife with a son Isaac.  It’s another of those miracles that come after much searching.  It’s was as though the graves were suddenly opened for us.

Five of Reuben and Margaret (Foreacre) Hague's 10 children died very young.  FIVE out of TEN! At age 3 and 4 years & younger! The Hague Graveyard near Kennonsburg held their first infant daughter.

It was a wondrous find.  The other four children are buried over by Sharpsburg in Athens County, Ohio.

        But that’s another day and another interesting story

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