By Aidan Stacy
Katy Stacy looks at her genealogy in old family files. Mrs. Stacy is a history teacher and makes it a hobby to visit and explore historical cemeteries.
Stacy is researching where her past relatives are buried. She wants to see what sections of the West Hill Cemetery they are in.
Stacy is on her way to the West Hill Cemetery. She found relatives that go back as far as her great-great-grandparents.
After the arrival, she is putting on bug spray. Bugs are abundant in the Spring and she says she is
prone to bug-bites."
prone to bug-bites."
Before she begins the walk, she checks the map by the parking lot. The map will tell her the areas her relatives are buried in.
For information about the cemetery she picks up a brochure. It mentioned the famous people that are buried at West Hill.
Now that she has researched the area she is on her way to the first area. The first section of West Hill is going to be the Confederate section.
Stacy is reading the sign at the front of the Confederate section. The sign listed dates and names of soldiers that fought and are buried there.
She is looking at the graves in the Confederate section. None of the graves had names- just dates.
Over on this commemoration wall are names of the soldiers buried in the Confederate section. Mrs. Stacy is now looking at the names that match up with the dates on the graves.
Also in the Confederate section is a statue of General Bryan M. Thomas. This was the last stop in the Confederate section of West Hill Cemetery.
On the way to the next location, Mrs. Stacy takes a water break. The weather is getting warmer this time of year and today reached a high of 90 degrees.
The next stop was the Original section. Here is Mrs. Stacy fixing the flowers on some of her relatives graves.
To honor her relatives, she is putting a flag next to their grave. Her great-grandfather was a veteran in World War 1.
Something that a lot of people do to honor and remember their relatives are to "shade" their gravestones. When you shade over the grave the letters in their name show up on a piece of paper.
Here is a closer look. Mrs. Stacy is shading her great-grandmother's grave, whose last name was Sapp.
Near the exit of the cemetery is a cannon. It is said to be used by General Joseph E. Johnston.
Here is Mrs. Stacy reading the sign that gives the information about the cannon. Joseph E. Johnston overlooked his troops in the spot marked by the cannon.
One of the last stops in West Hill Cemetery is the New section. Mrs. Stacy is a famous individual's grave on top of a hill overlooking the New section of the West Hill Cemetery.
The individual's grave is Harry Leon Simpson. He was a professional American baseball player.
