In Search of James Pritchard.....

[aneaglesangel]

...yes I went looking for trouble, er, James Pritchard today. What I've found out is interesting. I was supposed to be going to the grocery store, but it was so beautiful out, I went to look at a cemetery that for some reason seemed to strike our member standingstone as important. He described it in our Saturday night Spooky Justin TV chat room and I was intrigued. The way he described it made me think of a specific place. I hadn't been there in years, and it was so nice out, I decided to drive by. Once there, something seemed to be knocking on my spidey senses. I decided I'd have to go grocery shopping and then come back with equipment. I did note across the field near the farm, something that looked like a wagon wheel with red spokes. Just like standingstone had said!

So I did go back and I did grab more pictures of the surrounding area, for it's a place that is rich in history. It's close to Hixville, which is one of the oldest parts of Dartmouth and was founded when a Reverend Hix started his church, which you'll soon see pictures of. It also saw all of the houses standing burned to the ground when the Wampanoags came through during the King Phillip's War and they burned all of the houses in Dartmouth to the ground. Close by sits Copicut Rd and the Freetown State Forest, which of course have a history with a darker side. As I took pictures of the broken stones, that names mostly could not be read on, I wondered if the missing pieces were lost somewhere out there in Copicut, used for Satanic rituals.

And I also wondered if James Pritchard was a lost name. The cemetery is listed in Judith Lund's book BURIALS AND BURIAL PLACES in the Town of Dartmouth, Massachusetts as an "Unknown Cemetery of an Unknown family" since many of the stones have long since been broken and taken elsewhere. Only one could I find some of the missing pieces of, but not enough to identify the person interred below. I looked around and noted that there were only a few, maybe 6-8 adult stones, with just as many baby stones, and one that was possibly a child. Could James Pritchard's stone be one that has lost its name? Or maybe one torn apart and used for unknown purposes? Is this why when standingstone said the name I felt a certain chill and pull at my heart strings? And why when I stood there in the cemetery itself I felt goosebumps and all my hair standing on end?

I don't know the answers for sure, but I do know that I have a few audio clips also, and am pretty sure I have some hack shack hits, but have as yet to get to listening and editing that recording. But as I sit here and type this, I'm pretty sure that I did hear the name "Pritchard" in the hack shack, it's only a matter of time before I find out for sure. So stay tuned, as we see if we can find someone's lost son, James Pritchard. God rest your soul, friend! (And also the friends that you seem to have alongside you in this lovely little place.) I can only wonder if this quiet and magical little countryside was once your home!

We start our tour of James' home with the historic village of Hixville. When you stand here looking over the old Hixville Baptist Church, it is like stepping back through time!

[aneaglesangel]

There was just such a quality to the light today. It made everything seem beautiful and somehow, magical.



This little stone is so heavy it even made the tree lean!

[aneaglesangel]

Our tour continues as I drive up Hixville Rd because I couldn't resist the lonely little old farmhouse. Like I say, take a walk back in time. It was almost like you could see the ghost of the house that used to be, siting all alone, brooding in the meadow.





I love the mist in this one. It was like a huge beast that came out of the woods and moved into the field, insinuating its way toward the lonely house.



Spooky shot of the lonely house.

[aneaglesangel]

And now we come to the place that may or may not be the last resting place of James Pritchard. I love this little cemetery. It's so quiet and surrounded by life all around it. You can hear the birds singing and an occasional car going by, but other than that, it's so serene, I can see why someone would be attached to the place. I sat and wondered, what was here before? Was it a home, like our lonely little house, but gone, lost to the will of time? I hope that maybe I can find out. One thing I have found about old records, and that is this, sometimes there is no record of things that happened in the past. It is a shame that we have lost and forgotten what came before us, and I hope that someday, we learn the lesson that in order to learn more about the future and ourselves, we must first look to our past!

The "Unknown Cemetery of the Unknown Family."

Can hardly tell there's even a cemetery here!





These are the most recent stones in the cemetery, they are also the only two that you can read the names on. The other stones are either so time worn that the names and dates are illegible, or they have been vandalized and broken. The dates in this graveyard that can be read were in the 1800's but I suspect that the time worn ones may be much older than that.





I'd say no one has been here for months. All of the stones were covered with grass like this. I went around searching, uncovered them all and cleaned them the best I could. I was surprised at all the little "baby" stones!



After I'd cleared some of the grass away, hey, there's a stone under there!

[aneaglesangel]

If you look carefully, or maybe save the picture and blow it up a bit, you can make out the wheel, the red spoked wheel, that I think standingstone was describing to me. Let me know standing, if this rings any bells for you!



A line of baby stones. I think the bigger one in the front of the picture may have been a child, notice there are more baby stones in the background. It's so sad to think of all the babies they used to bury back then. And I wonder about the women who lost them. Think about it. Most of these babies died and did not even get the luxury of having their name on their stone, many times, there's just initials if anything on their stones. To people back then, you weren't supposed to grieve over losing a baby. It wasn't like they had grown into a child or anything. You were supposed to bury your baby and be back to work as usual within a few days. Even the fact that the stones were left unmarked showed how little value was put on these little souls. But something I have always felt is that the mothers grieved inside, long and silently, they grieved their little ones!



Poor little baby stone trying to peek out of a pile of grass. Don't worry, I uncovered him!



Broken stone leaning up against the stone wall. At least someone tried to save it!

[aneaglesangel]

Another broken stone that I stepped on, dug up and then tried to move so that it wouldn't be buried. It seems to weather them worse if they're sitting in the dirt. Only the dates were left on this one, no name. Darn it!



Unfortunately, this broken stone was not part of the one I found buried. I was hoping that if I could find the pieces, I could at least put them together again, well, sort of. Still it tickles at the back of my mind, where are the rest of the pieces of the stones that are missing?



From the looks of the base of this stone, I bet it was a work of art when it was whole!

[aneaglesangel]

And so we look to the skies and hope for the answers to find us in the way that they sometimes do. Like whispers on the wind, the voices of the ghosts are the ones who might be able to help us find the clues. But could they speak the words I needed to hear? Will they, if I return? I don't know, but as soon as I'm done with the audio, I will post it up, for already, I have found some interesting things. If James Pritchard is indeed here, I don't think he's exactly alone!

[andergraph]

I really enjoyed this Anne and I checked the maps availble that I could lay my hand on. While there are alot from 1801 -1950's unfortunately there is nothing with the names of places and residences I could find. It seems Dartmouth was quite overlooked as historical as far as mapping goes. You may want to contact the P.O. for early route maps I have had some good sucess with those but not sure how far they date back. The earliest I have pulled from GA was the 1890's. You can always try David Rumsey Colection and the University systems. It's got to be there somewhere.