LANCASTER CEMETERY

The Lancaster Cemetery was one helluva cemetery to find! This was our third or fourth attempt over numerous years. On one of the previous tries my cousin went with us. He decided he was going to carry me across Mill Creek. He backed up to me & picked me up piggy-back style. He wasn't much larger than I was & it was very quickly evident that I was too heavy for him. He lost his balance & ......... I think you can figure out the rest. lol On our last attempt to find the cemetery Gene & I had to take our four-wheel drive pick-up truck past the barn, through the cow pasture, then down a very narrow, rough, dirt road through the woods. Through another cow pasture, then park it & go the rest of the way on foot. Climb over a barbed wire fence, through the weeds, down the creek bank and wade the cold water of Mill Creek. Then through the brush & up the hill. In the woods Gene & I got seperated from each other. He was walking in a westerly direction & I was walking east. I could hear my footsteps in the dry leaves. Then I noticed I could also hear footsteps some distance behind me. When I would stop the other footsteps would stop. When I would turn around & look there was nothing/no-one there. When I would start walking again so would the other footsteps. After 3 or 4 times of hearing these steps & turning around & seeing nothing there I began to get a bit unnerved. Decided I would head back towards Gene which meant I had to walk back in the direction from which I had come & heard the footsteps. Never saw anything except when I got about half to 3/4 of the way back to where I had started I found a pile of fresh deer poop. The only reasonable explanation I can offer for the footsteps is that perhaps a deer had been following me & when I would turn around & look he was standing still & blending in with the surroundings so much that I didn't see him. But I never heard or saw a deer bound off or any footsteps walking away from me. The only footsteps I heard on the way back were mine. After having tramped around for what seemed like hours & finding only a pile of deer poop Gene & I were walking several hundred yards apart & without each others knowledge gave up at about the same time & started heading for the creek when Gene found the cemetery & gave a holler & I joined him. The cemetery is on a small embankment of Mill Creek. We had been told it was on the top of the hill. No wonder we couldn't find it!! By this time we were about to drop from exhaustion but we got the information & pictures we wanted. Then we had to re-trace our path back to the truck, take the truck back up through the woods to the farmhouse of a relative & collapse on the couch.

Summer 2010: Gene & I tried to visit the cemetery again. Due to health problems Gene didn't climb up the creek embankment so stayed down by the water. I climbed up the embankment & began walking around looking for the cemetery. I immediately noticed footsteps in the leaves behind me just like before. Turned around & looked - nothing there. I mumbled out loud to myself, "Oh, no. Not again." I began walking again but there were no more footsteps. I walked around for maybe 30 minutes & never heard anymore footsteps.

SHOCKING AND FATAL ACCIDENT
Washington County Journal
Thursday, December 5, 1867
Page 2 Column 2

The following are the details of the very sad accident, which occurred at Cadet, in this county, on Wednesday last, and which resulted in a horrible, lingering death to Mrs. Lancaster, widow of the late James Lancaster, and sister-in-law to Judge D. E. Perryman. On that day as a daughter of the deceased, Mrs. Cummings, was leading a family horse into the stable, the animal from some unknown cause became either frightened or infuriated, and rushed upon her, emminently endangering her life. Seeing her daughter's critical position, with sympathy and protective instinct of a mother's nature, and entirely regardless of her own safety, Mrs. Lancaster attempted to make her way by the horse inside the stable, to rescue her daughter from danger. The animal meantime breaking loose from the latter, turned quickly around and rushing on Mrs. L threw her violently to the earth, and passed over her. In the fall she either received the full force of the horses feet or was thrown against some object near at hand with such violence as to fracture the temporal bone, in the head.

The aid of Dr. Bruce, of Old Mines, was called in and upon examination of the very serious wound it was deemed advisable to obtain further medical assistance, in consultation. Dr. Hall of this place was called in, and upon consultation it was decided to operate on the following (Thursday) morning, if the patient's case would justify it. This was accordingly done, but the patient was beyond the reach of relief, and, on Friday morning died.

(Neglected to copy last paragraph of article.)


Overall view of cemetery.	Photographed: 1 Oct. 1994