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New Project, New Blog

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I know I've been neglecting this blog for a couple of weeks, and I'm sorry. In my defense, I have been working on a new project. Of course, it's cemetery related. :-)

I decided to begin a location-based genealogy research project, and my principal subjects are the individuals interred in the Byron City Cemetery of Peach County, Georgia. Along with that comes a new blog - Byron City Cemetery.

Here is the post I wrote to open and introduce the new blog.
Ever since I attended Bernie Gracy's Breaking Down Brick Walls with Location Based Genealogy class at the 2010 Atlanta Family History Expo, I've been itching to put it into practice in a big way. It's no secret I have a love of cemeteries, so I of course will be starting there. And since I'm related to the PEAVYs of Byron, Georgia, what better cemetery to start with than the Byron City Cemetery.

I've always had a fondness for this cemetery, and I'm not sure why. It's not huge, but not small either. There are hundreds buried there. There is one pretty tall obelisk, but the rest are fairly modest, contemporary stones. Nonetheless, I am connected to some of the individuals interred and the history they made with the relationships they share.

I really liked one of the things Mr. Gracy had to say in his class -- a cemetery is a large public database. And it certainly is! Oftentimes genealogists go to a cemetery and focus on one tombstone, or maybe a family plot. Chances are, however, there are other interments related to your family history. That is, even if the individuals themselves are not a relative of yours. "Spacial orientation is important and telling." Clues to your family history can likely be found in the lives of the people who lived around your ancestors.

I hope you'll follow along with me as I work on this location based genealogy research project. There is actually more than one website that lists the burials for Byron City Cemetery, as well as pages that describe the family history of some of the individuals buried there. My goal is to systematically research and connect as many as possible.
Now! Back to our regularly scheduled programming...
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The hand of the Lord came upon me and brought me out in the Spirit of the Lord, and set me down in the midst of the valley; and it was full of bones. Then He caused me to pass by them all around, and behold, there were very many in the open valley; and indeed they were very dry. And He said to me, "Son of man, can these bones live?"

So I answered, "O Lord God, You know."

Again He said to me, "Prophesy to these bones, and say to them, 'O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord!' Thus says the Lord God to these bones: 'Surely I will cause breath to enter into you, and you shall live...'" (Ezekiel 37:1-5, NKJV)