I have been involved in cemetery research since 2004, concentrating on old sites in Claiborne County, Mississippi. I love the peace and solitude that comes with surveying an old site and discovering whose name will be on the next stone. I have been very fortunate in getting the cooperation of hunters and land owners in gaining access to so many of the sites in the county, and my good fortune has resulted in a couple of published books, namely, Carved in Stone: Cemeteries of Claiborne County, Mississippi, and Whispers in the Cedars: Port Gibson, Mississippi's Wintergreen Cemetery.
I get a thrill out of being able to put people in touch with their long-lost ancestors and will always be happy to transfer any memorials to their relatives or other loved ones. And despite my e-mail address, I do NOT dig up bones!

THE CEMETERY
by Irwin Russell

I stand within this solemn place
And think of days gone by;
I think of many an old-time face;
Here's where those faces lie.
I think of when, what time God please,
The hour shall come to me,
That, covered by the clay, like these,
My face shall masked be.
No marble monument will rise
Above that grave of mine;
No loving friends will wipe their eyes
When life I shall resign.
But when I leave my life-have left
My every present care-
I'll find a home of care bereft;
My friends are living there!

I have been involved in cemetery research since 2004, concentrating on old sites in Claiborne County, Mississippi. I love the peace and solitude that comes with surveying an old site and discovering whose name will be on the next stone. I have been very fortunate in getting the cooperation of hunters and land owners in gaining access to so many of the sites in the county, and my good fortune has resulted in a couple of published books, namely, Carved in Stone: Cemeteries of Claiborne County, Mississippi, and Whispers in the Cedars: Port Gibson, Mississippi's Wintergreen Cemetery.
I get a thrill out of being able to put people in touch with their long-lost ancestors and will always be happy to transfer any memorials to their relatives or other loved ones. And despite my e-mail address, I do NOT dig up bones!

THE CEMETERY
by Irwin Russell

I stand within this solemn place
And think of days gone by;
I think of many an old-time face;
Here's where those faces lie.
I think of when, what time God please,
The hour shall come to me,
That, covered by the clay, like these,
My face shall masked be.
No marble monument will rise
Above that grave of mine;
No loving friends will wipe their eyes
When life I shall resign.
But when I leave my life-have left
My every present care-
I'll find a home of care bereft;
My friends are living there!