Tombstone Tuesday

This weeks featured tombstone comes from the backyard of a private residence in Middlesex County, Virginia. During our genealogy trip, my cousin and I were told the location of the graves for Noah Francis Jackson, Sr and his wife Annie Eliza Crittenden.  The graves were located behind a private residence.  I must say, there's something about going up to someone's front door, knocking and then saying. "This might seem weird but do you have graves in your back yard?"  Luckily, we had found the right house, and the owner was happy to let us go check out the headstones.  She told us that she knew there were the 2 headstones for Noah and Annie and that there were also 2 infants buried there with no markers based on what she was told.
The headstones have been incorporated into a gorgeous perennial garden, and the owner said she does her best to see that the stones are treated with respect- which was obvious.

Annie Jackson's grave lists her birth year as 1841.  In my online research, I have a birth year of 1843 based on information listed on her marriage certificate that she was 16 in 1860.  She died December 12, 1905. Annie was a member of the Crittenden family which is another prominent name in the area.

Noah Francis Jackson Sr was born November 23, 1839.  He died February 5, 1909 according to research.  The death date on the headstone is below the soil line.   Noah Sr. was the brother to James Robert Jackson who my cousin and I refer to as "Tulip James" to differentiate between the other James R Jacksons in the tree.  Tulip James died during the Civil War aboard the USS Tulip.  Noah Frank (as he was called) also fought in the Civil War, though he managed to survive well past the surrender at Appomattox. He served in the 55th Infantry Regiment of Virginia and was present at many battles including Antietam and Gettysburg.  Noah Frank is one of those ancestors I am drawn to, mostly because I live only minutes from the Gettysburg Battlefield and visit there often.  I've also spent some time at Antietam.  I'm planning on a trip to both battlefields to take photos of monuments and areas where his regiment fought.


So far, I have had good luck being able to access family cemeteries on private property.  Keep in mind that you do need to get permission to go on someone's property.  In Virginia, property owners with private cemeteries are not allowed to deny access to descendants wanting to do genealogy research or visit family graves, though they can decide on dates, times and duration of visits.  You can read about it here.