I'd think maybe the box shaped ones with the 1 piece headstone may be along the lines of a tomb even tho it doesn't house the actual coffin aboveground?.
"The graves are most iconic for the slabs of stone that meet at a point above the burial plot. The story goes that aging graves, back in the 1800s, would settle and fall apart. Once the wood coffins broke up in the earth, the ground would sink around the sudden underground space. By using a tent-like gravestone above the burial plot, the stone would protect the sunken ground and even keep animals away. "
I can't say about Tennessee or tent Graves but in Louisiana they use to build little house covers to make the dead comfortable. I know strange concept but the believe system in the old days was very strange. At least that's what I was told as a kid growing up.
It seems like the placement of the long flat stones in the "tent graves" was designed to fold in on itself as the ground settles over time. The slabs could then discourage tree growth in the middle of the grave. Just a thought.
I hate those little flags with the tiny, short sticks! It's literally impossible to poke them far enough in the ground to stay standing without the flag touching the ground!
We have around 8-10 more or less intact tent graves here in Germany. All for US soldiers that died in WWII. They were unknown and buried here, not sure how they came up with the tent graves. But they are empty now, the remains were transferred to Arlington in the 1980s.
@@reginamathews2001 do you the tent graves are Native American graves? Qualls is in my family and we were told he was a Indian. They didn't go on the trail of tears so no record.
@@zigzag5072 I'm also indigenous....some of my ancestors were covered by rocks/stones, so to keep coyotes, and such from digging up the graves. My grt-grt-grandfather is buried in an area that at the time, had no, or was short on available wood for coffins....his grave was covered in rocks/stones to keep out wildlife. Eventually, his grave would be fenced as well.
How interesting Chris! I love cemeteries. Very strange “tent”stones to say the least! The dates are so old😳. I’d love to know the stories behind them all🙏🏻
Several have said the tent is to protect people when the coffin rots and the ground could collapse. My mom told me that she and her cousins cut through a cemetery near Apsley Ontario when they were kids. One cousin started to scream because the ground suddenly collapsed and she fell into a hole. It wasn’t deep and she wasn’t hurt but they were all terrified and got home as fast as they could.
I work for a town and a long time ago someone who worked before my time was mowing one of our cemeteries and went through one grave due to collapse. Pretty common.
This happened to me when I was a child of about 12. I stepped onto a grave to get close enough to read it. It had a tall tombstone that was on a pedestal. The grave gave way beneath me and I fell in up to my upper thighs. The whole tombstone started to teeter back and forth over me down in that hole. I thought I was going to die right there in my great grandfathers grave. But finally it settled back on itself and someone helped me out. I have never walked on a grave again! I wouldn’t have then but for trying to read the faded writing.
@@deborahdanhauer8525 it just dawned on me this must be why you’re not supposed to step on top of a grave! I always assumed it was more of a respect thing but it must have really became a thing out of necessity! Thank you for sharing your story- that sounds truly terrifying but I’m glad you’re okay!
Interesting, I've seen an actual tent shaped grave. It was for a soldier has a canteen and other military type decorations. Never knew about the animal thing.
Those box shaped graves are called "false crypts". The body is still buried six feet under, with the crypt above ground. The grave you found with just a birth date? That usually means the child did not survive the first day or it was a stillbirth.
However, that was a pretty large grave for a baby, if that was the case! Maybe it was a woman who, for whatever reason, was estranged from her family, ran away from home, and her fate was never known, which makes more sense to me. Maybe she was disowned by her family and was shunned by them even in death!
@@JoMarieM WOW That is quite the story, and you have quite the imagination. If that did happen in the 1800 it would be quite the scandal. Do some research and see what you can find out. I would gladly hear what you find out and your sources. I am not afraid to admit when am wrong. I have to say though, if that did happen-she would be a larger person.
@@JoMarieM More likely abandoned and adopted or grew up in an orphanage and her birth date was a rough estimate as the marker had the year but not month or day.
People act like babies, born back in the 1800s, were valued the same way children are today. 200 years ago, they weren't. Birthdays were not widely celebrated, either. Who knows why the graves are marked the way they were: reinterred after ground water pushed the coffins up, couldn't afford the cost of headstone engraving, unknown birthdate. It would be interesting who maintains the cemetery as they are the most likely to have the records.
This is a new one for me. I’ve never seen that kind of a grave. I did some research. And besides the animals they had grave robbers who would get the bodies to go for medical research. Really interesting.
It was for that and the sinking ground after the wooden coffins would naturally decay the earth from above would concave and so this was the solution and as you mentioned.
@@michaelsteven1090 That’s a piss poor attitude. I think he does a good job. He’s a young man who has taken us to see many things. I’m an old lady and I always enjoy his videos.
@@deee5520 I watch his vids but he always comes up short on any history..Even a little more would be helpful...Every thing is "I'm not sure why or who"..Its like, why bother watching..It makes a difference to many.
I had a a Great - Great Grandmother who was born in 1812 and died in 1902! 90 years old when she died! She had 13 children, 10 of whom lived into adulthood! She was a widow when a tree her husband was cutting down killed him! She raised those children as a single mom on a farm! They trucked vegetables! Their family still is in business! Good strong Swiss genes! 🇨🇭🥰
@Sunshine 🌠 Sunshine 🌠 Oh...and if you read the comment again, look for the part about three of the great-great-grandmother's children not surviving to adulthood. This relates to the children's graveyard in the video.
@Sunshine 🌠 Sunshine 🌠 I'm sorry for your family's losses. That's hard. I don't know how mothers in the 19th century and before coped knowing they would almost certainly lose at least one child. If they survived childbirth.
Not for animal protection ... reason is to protect the land above the wooden coffin, once the wood coffin has rotted away, the dirt above will try to settle in the void ... the dirt does settle in the void but only from dirt under the tent ... not next to it ... the dirt that was packed in the tent during burial will fall into the void
The tent could prevent erosion of the uphill land when the wooden coffin decays. The soil will move over time to fill the void and the erosion would create a very uneven slope, over turn markers and maybe uncover human remains.
It's none of my business but how do you afford to do this? Did you retire at 7 years old in a 1860s coal mine after accidentally striking gold? I love the channel and I'd just love to wander around everywhere too some day.
Child mortality was very high back then. Neat stuff! Maybe I'll have one like that made, as I would like to have a natural burial. When I'm down to bones someone else can use it! 😄 So glad you are doing this- it is fun to watch younger generations learn about our country's history. Keep digging and you will learn a lot. Post what you find!
Wonder if the child with the unfinished epitaph perhaps died the same day she was born? I love the history and mystery of cemeteries, trying to piece little tidbits of local and familial history together..
I think that maybe the person who only had the date of birth on her tombstone, could have been estranged from or even disowned by her family. Perhaps she had married someone they didn't approve of, or did something else that disgraced her family (people would disown their sons and daughters for all kinds of stuff back then), and she ran away and her fate was never known, so her date of death was simply left blank. That's a pretty big tombstone for a baby, so I think that my theory about this being the grave of a woman who was shunned by her family makes more sense to me!
I came across a cemetery in southeastern Wisconsin it had several areas with 6 or 7 tiny gravestones and 2 large ones. It looked like a family had to bury small children. So sad.
Very moving and yet it appears overwhelmingly common in the 19th century. Alongside mortality of women followng childbirth, before scientific work established the existence of bacteria and viruses, and therefore hygiene as we know it, as well as antibiotics and vaccines. Seems like it was super common then for families to at one stage have several children, sometimes with successive wives in event of mortality, and for the majority of siblings to not even make it to puberty. I think we can begin to see a really distinct before and after in such mortality stats when it comes to the tenets of medical science concerning pathogens. Even just pasteurising milk alone would have had a massive impact. I lived in a 19th century dwelling some time ago and was considerably haunted by questions of how ideas underpinning built structures of the day could potentially seal in poor health outcomes. Everything from plumbing to ventilation, light, damp, functional paths.. I'm not sure i'm describing it well but i felt like i had a reaaonably grim glimpse of 19th century conditions in a way i could make better sense of high levels of mortality in those times, and what sorts of things had enabled a change in real terms. Hope that makes sense.
Hi, Chris, I had never heard of these "tent graves", but I did a little research and found that they were used throughout Tennessee. They were probably trying to prevent animals from getting to the remains as the wooden caskets broke down. The Tent panels would flatten out and provide the protection needed. They probably fell into dis-use after concrete burial vaults came into popular use. There were a very large number of these tent grave in the Cash Cemetery (where Johnny and June Cash are buried). God Bless and stay safe.
Not sure it's been mentioned, but I lived in TN for 4 years and recurring thing is it's all on bedrock. I couldn't get a house built with a basement without blasting. I would hazard a guess that these tent graves would due to the fact that they couldn't dig six feet down for the body. So they added protection on a body buried maybe 3 feet by adding the tent. Just something that occurred to me right away. May be wrong. Cheers
Interesting! Mountains are naturally rocky and only the poorest people tried to farm on them because the soil and terrain was bad. Depth of graves may have been a factor.
Absolutely bizarre to recognize the fact that when most of these people died any form of visual media was completely in its infancy and to think that in just one hundred years these humans names are now entered into the vast flow of electronic information. I applaud your sincerity when exploring these places and hope to see more of your adventures
I'm not sure i can agree "any form of visual media". Could i plz clarify, do you mean you exclude newspapers, books, magic lanterns, etc and you're focussing on photography and film when you say "media"? Because the Victorian era wasn't without visuals, i think there were lots of visual novelties, and i thought i picked up that some of these graves were from around that time. Mind you, there was prob a highly regional element to that, what people could potentially witness in a big city might be very different to the provinces of a colony.
What a gorgeous location , with such interesting graves , and the dates on them are quite old . Let hope suburbia never comes to change this unique cemetery. First I've ever seen . Thanks for the guiding us through one of America's oldest cemetery much appreciated.
That's odd. Simply because of the coincidence that the Native American, Mississippian Culture, of Northern Tennessee also buried their dead in what we call "Stone Box Burials". They were buried in the similar fashion as these individuals. It's mainly in the Northern to Central Tennessee areas that we see this phenomenon.
Welcome to Tennessee! First those ‘cows’ are Bulls and Heifers. Note: if you aggravate the bull the bull will come after you 😎. Funny I’ve lived in TN all my life and I’ve never seen graves like these, very interesting. The above ground graves are called Alter Tombs.
Interesting graveyard. Thanks for posting new and varied things. I don’t mind that you are curious and don’t know everything. That’s what makes your videos relatable and worth watching.
I have never seen grave markers like that before. Interesting. Wasn't that unusual for children to pass so young back in the day. Especially before antibiotics. Thanks for sharing.
Lots of childhood diseases such as measles, scarlett fever, whooping cough, polio, ect. killed huge numbers of children under 10 before vaccines were available.
There were many childhood diseases, more recently prevented and cured by vaccines. Among them: measles, mumps, rubella ("German Measles"): "MMR" Vaccine. Smallpox (huge killer, adults and children). Polio. "DPT Vaccine" --I forget what the "D" is, Diphtheria? PT is Pertussis, better known as "Whooping Cough." : 2 Michigan women scientists cured PT in the '30's with an effective vaccine. I learned the PT story in Smithsonian mag, March 2022.
It was unusual unfortunately back then for children to live over the age of 3 years old; often people would wait until then, before they would 'officially' name their children for that reason. Antibiotics and vaccines have saved many children and adults from many diseases, some of which are no longer even around, over the years; things like measles, small pox, & polio are only a few that come to mind.
Yeah, i am not familiar with them here, but in the settlement of Australia, city planning processes did involve the upheaval of pre-existing burial grounds on at least one occasion, at least in Sydney. It seems originally there was a cemetery in the CBD and it quickly wound up beyond capacity, leading to big problems. AFAIK they then transferred the interred contents to (at least, primarily) Rookwood, a suburban location, and there is a now disused 19th century building at Central train station which was for a "cemetery line" to Rookwood. I think this both transported visitors and coffins, presumably on different services. And a visit to the cemetery was apparently seen as a bit of a day out by the Victorians. Graverobbing - not sure of our own history in this respect. Prob some gnarly history there waiting to be unearthed, as it were. There would have been medical students at the Uni of Sydney.. Collapsing graves - have never heard of this happening here, bit of a revelation. I just never had an impression of this being a thing to watch out for. Maybe our graves are too recent, at least in settled areas?
I'm pretty sure we saw two in the historical area of the Toowoomba Cemetery, but we went to a number of historical cemeteries that day looking for family graves, so may have been at another smaller cemetery in South East Queensland.
Also found it on Findagrave. Myrtle Vaughn Born May 25, 1907 Died Oct. 3 1909. She was 2 years old. I've never seen graves like these. Thanks for sharing!
The story goes that aging graves, back in the 1800s, would settle and fall apart. Once the wood coffins broke up in the earth, the ground would sink around the sudden underground space. By using a tent-like gravestone above the burial plot, the stone would protect the sunken ground and even keep animals away.
I live in Tennessee. I suspect it is for the same reason all my vegetable beds are raised beds. I cannot imagine hand digging in this rock deep enough to bury a person. In most of my yard there is less than 3 inches of soil.
Grave vaults or liners are a relatively new construct as they were rarely used before the 1800s. Back in those days, vaults were often made of wood, brick, iron or steel and had a primary purpose of preventing grave robbery-which apparently was much more common back then, as loved ones were often buried with expensive jewelry or other finery.
There’s an old cemetery near Cosby in the smokies that has a couple that’s the furthest east I’ve seen it. I also love all the little 10-grave cemeteries you see along all the roads through the south. And the big ones are called ‘vaults’ I believe, you see them still today they’re just more modern looking.
I'm in Alabama and when I was a young child I went to a cemetery with my grandmother to put flowers on her family graves. There was a couple of the square type tombstones there from the 1800s and they were so old they were cracking /crumbling. I was about to touch one of them when I noticed a bunch of little baby snakes coming out of some of the cracks. 😬🐉🐉🐉🐉
There are lots of fun stories in these comment sections, haha. Baby snakes coming at ya out of a crumbling tombstone. It's a bit like a Southern Gothic version of Hammer Horror, i can dig it. Unfortunately i don't have the emojis i want on this handset. 🐍🔎
@@mothratemporalradio517 glad you enjoyed the story. I have some more true stories that might make for an interesting read if only I had some help with it before I get too old to remember them. 😆 Edit: This one is the tamest of them all. 😉
This is intriguing. I live in Tennessee and have seen many old rural graveyards and have never seen tent graves before. I've seen many old graves though, some with just a rock for a marker. One of those old graveyards is located just beyond my back yard. Many of those graves have collapsed, so I take great care when walking through it. The ones that have headstones are very worn and many are illegible. Many people wouldn't want to live next to a graveyard, but it doesn't bother me. In fact, I ratter like it. it's peaceful and fascinating. The folks buried there feel almost like neighbors.
That last part about the folks being buried there feeling almost like neighbors is such a southern thing to say! I loved visiting there and have lots of family there but am stuck here up north. Inside I'm a southerner and I really appreciate the history, people and the food!
I been subscribed and followed you for some time now because you do things like you did in the opening of your video where you picked up an American flag at a grave. I commend you for that. Your videos are very interesting and I learned things. Keep the videos coming.
I'm from Tennessee...I always thought it was because of the coyotes. I think I know which cemetery you're in, but since you're not revealing the location, I won't either.
Besides a roof surface if/when the grave collapsed/settled: The Tent would stop people from walking on the graves; if that was a concern. It does echo the ancient custom of piling a lot of stones on the grave; to keep out animals and as a memory monument.
I've seen a couple of graves done this way in central Missouri and one or two in Arkansas rural cemeteries. I don't think I've ever seen one of these in a more "high end" area or in a town cemetery of any significance, rather they seem to be in areas where vernacular "folk" traditions are practiced.
The kids died from the Spanish flu. I’ve seen family cemeteries where the wife and children are buried inside a fenced area, due to to pandemic. The Father was killed at war and was buried buried at the gate. These were called quarantined cemeteries. My Family came from Kentucky so I guess the tradition cams with them.
The theory of the tent configuration would protect the unwary from walking over a gravesite only to have it collapse under them seems plausible at first, but I find it questionable. Normally after a grave was filled in, the earth was built up over the grave in a triangular mound. This is still done in many places. Eventually as the coffin or casket decomposed, the earth would settle, compacting downward and become level with the rest of the ground. There was a time when it was believed that mounded earth over the grave would deter water from entering the grave. The placement of two simple slabs over the mound would even further deter the water from seeping through to the coffin. Also, there was a lot of superstition in this area at the time. It is therefore entirely likely that this played a role as well, since these seem mostly used for children's graves.
Damn, i was only thinking about grave robbers but maybe sometimes they wanted to rest assured the dead would not rise from their graves! :v A bit Pet Sematary in their thinking, perhaps?! Appreciate the point about the mound because as simple as the explanation is, i remember only recently staring at a pile of earth over some filmed grave and feeling uneasy about the fact i couldn't think of why this would be necessary.
I agree on the mounded earth, but this may not have been the case in all graveyards. Several posters in a sub-posting said that they had fallen to their ankles or higher (one to her thighs) into old graves that gave way. So, not all traditions could be the same.
Well I'm in East Tennessee and I personally have never saw any like this . Very cool. I've saw them shaped different and stuff but never tent like. Very interesting. Thanks for sharing. And yes there are commentaries on almost every road ever few miles there s alot of small ones pretty much. Families have their own and alot of churches have them.
I live in southern TN, and there are two family cemeteries in my family that I have been to that have graves dating from the 19th century, and I've never seen a tent grave.
The "box" graves, my mom called them bed graves, I had some ancestors in them in Pennsylvania (Plainfield twp, Northampton county, across the road from St. Peter's Lutheran church)
6 foot depth would be enough deterrent for animal intrusion. My guess it’s a human deterrent- grave robbers , body snatchers, or maybe keep track where the body actually lies? But seeing how it’s in a rural area maybe they were constructed during the “vampire scare”… interesting. Thank you for sharing.
So odd, I'd love to know why that particular shape was picked for the graves and headstones. I believe the word you're looking for for the big graves is sarcophagus :)
I have seen stones “tented” like those in some older cemeteries here in Atlantic Canada 🇨🇦. Some had engraving on them. I always thought I may have something to do with the family being wealthy or well known. Some I have seen were the graves of Governors and Judges for example.
Have you seen any of the grave houses? Like the little girl's playhouse grave. Several different cemeteries have little houses built over graves. Some are very elaborate. Old private cemeteries are usually where they are found. It's fascinating to see something so different in such a place. I think I remember one that was the size of a small house and had several graves in it. Like you could walk in it and view the graves up against the painted wooden wall. Just fascinating.
Cool. I'm not sure if we're thinking of the same kind of structures but there's something a bit like that at Bronte in Sydney, where there's a clifftop cemetery overlooking the sea. Not sure of the proper terms to use offhand, i forget, but some graveyard lots would have multiple members of a wealthy looking family and a stylised structure like a little house. But not like a doll's house. There's an obvious word for such structures i'm thinking of that i just can't remember. Not really sure if "crypt" fits.
@@mothratemporalradio517 I'll have to look that up. It's really fascinating all the different traditions across the world. I'm sorry I was so confusing in my original comment. Some places have the dollhouse or playhouse looking structures. The one that I can't seemed to find where I saw it was actually like a little shack with a roof, painted walls, and pictures on the walls. There was no floor and the headstones were all arranged against the walls. I think it was somewhere in Appalachia or the American South. I'm from West Virginia so I thought that was interesting. Now I can't find where I saw it. I love learning about how people remember their deceased so I'll have to look up what's in Bronte. Thanks for sharing it.
When there’s no death date is usually because they found the body and they could tell it had been dead for possibly a few days but not positive what day. Or they just came up missing kidnapped ran off after about 7-10 years some families just have to have a place to put on the rest. Or since it was a woman it’s because a man wanted to remarry and claimed her dead after three years . So he can claim his self as a widow and remarry
Yes we have several of these in our small family cemetery in middle-TN. One was destroyed a few years back by vandals riding their ATV over it. This part of the cemetery also has some of the old ceder trees growing among the graves as well. Saturday May 28th is our annual "Decoration" day. It is part of Memorial day where the family meets, remembers our family members, talk about keeping the cemetery up, we have a pot luck meal and a raffle for a hand made quilt to help fund the cemetery upkeep. Also on our Tent Graves the headstones are rounded on top and not the trapezium shape like the ones in this video.
My mama is buried at a very old cemetery & there’s several “tent” graves there as well. It’s def strange 2 c these graves an 2 b able 2 c the inside of the graves. My mama is buried in Sparta Tn, so it’s ironic 2 c these same kind of graves there at the cemetery that u r at. May god bless ur day!!
So peaceful and quiet! Omg, the children🥺How sad, so young🙏🏻 The box like designs are very peculiar! Almost like an above ground 🪦 burial? I love the area! A step back in time! Thank you Chris!🌟💙🌟
Hi there from the U.K. 🙋♀️ that was incredible! Never seen graves like those before…where did they quarry so much flat stone?! You probably already know, but if you take a small mag light with you and shine sideways on to the writing, you can usually read it a lot easier. ( or the light on your mobile if you forget!) best wishes Helen 🙋♀️🥰👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻😋
Graveyards have always been intriguing to me. Just an alternative consideration...donating your body to science or to a medical university for their students. When my daughter was in med school, parents were invited to make an appointment to see what their body dissection lab looked like. I got to "meet" my daughter's team's body. I was impressed with how extra respectful they all were and that they were instructed to call the bodies by their actual names. After completion, the bodies were cremated and a special memorial ceremony took place with the families of the deceased. I'm planning on donating my body to Wright State's Boonshoft School of Medicine in Dayton, Ohio. I'd been an organ donor up until being too old for most transplants.
Why can't people be respectful to other people while they are still living? Why wait until they are permanently dead and buried before getting respected the right way?
I stopped at an old hilltop church/graveyard the other week (in Ohio) while out on my motorcycle and I saw one of these at the cemetery. It was a little different though, it didn’t have the end slabs. It was only the tent part and they were resting on each other rather than on a metal rod. I was wondering what it was for or why. It’s called the Mt. Tabor Cemetery if anyones interested. There’s even Revolutionary war veterans buried there. It was an interesting place.
That’s why today,in most states, the caskets are placed in the grave in a concrete vault. That way the graves don’t collapse, and the grounds keeping crew can mow straight,and the ground’s not all sunken patches.
A lot of my Ancestors ( Evans, Utley, Pooles) came from Tenn. & Kentucky on their way to northern Tuscaloosa Co, Alabama. The materials are whatever was in supply at the time. They used Sandstone in Evanstown , Al. Samuel Sidney Utley died in Tenn. and was brought to Alabama to be the first buried in that cemetery. His grave was in cased in stone and has a metal roof. ELIZABETH BOWMAN is one of my Ancestors also.
Very interesting. I like the old cemeteries. Good job. I like to read the names and whatever is written to know more about the people that are laid to rest there.
Reasons for their construction are often given as protection from animals such as cattle walking on the graves or to protect the grave from the weather. The date of the tent graves generally is between the middle 1800’s to the mid 1900’s. With a few exceptions, they only appear in a nine-county area around White County and Overton County in eastern Middle Tennessee, OR places to which people from those counties migrated.
This man was down in the area where my ancestors are from my heritage came from north central Tennessee in the Overton County area. My tree is filled with Qualls and Loopers. My great grandmother's maiden name was Norrod . My family name is Key. My great great grandfather a one Goosby Key (1827-1910) was burned in a "tent grave" in north Overton County. Like this young man I was surprised by this style of grave as well when I saw. His son relocated to South central Kentucky where my family has resided every since.
Always wish someone would clean these stones so we could read them. Cemeteries are always so fascinating. I love history and just imaging their lives ❤ Those tent stones are interesting. Never heard of them before.
@@serenitypeaceandcomfort3669 It's often because there's nobody around to clean them anymore. In areas like this where a 'town' was just a few houses on a mountain, familes would typically have their own cemetaries that they maintained themselves, or more populace small towns would have people dedicated specifically to maintaining them. Some of these graves are over 200 years old and it really only takes 2 or 3 generations for you to be completely forgotton. For example, most of us don't even know our great grandparents' names, they might as well have never existed. Do you know where your great great grandfather is buried? Unless you have a family tomb, likely not and you're unlikely to know without a bit of research into your family history. On that note, many of these families have likely died out entirely, or the mountain communities these cemetaries were associated with were abandoned completely. These old backroads mostly lead to nowhere nowadays and you won't find a ton of people there. If theres nobody to remember that you ever existed, who will maintain your headstone? One could consider that a morbid or depressing thought, but take comfort in knowing that it's nothing borne from disrespect or societal or moral rot, there's just nobody around who remembers. It's normal for the dead to eventually be forgotton, it's just the way of things as it has always been. We all like to hope that we'll always be remembered by our families, but memories fade and families die out. Even pharohs that fancied themselves gods who spent their entire life preparing for the day it ended eventually wound up forgotton, even if it took 2000 years. There are many grand lavish tombs that have no name attached to them.
@@crowteeth57 My church maintains an old cemetery going back to the 1600s. And it's not in our town. Nobody in the church has any family member there. But we do it because it needs to be done. Hopefully other churches will return to being the heart and soul of the local community. Has nothing to do with being a family member.
@@naomiweaver1855 It can be done with the right solution, and attitude. Great advances have been made so that in severe cases you don’t even have to touch the stone to help it. Lots of videos about. Don’t look at mine, I can’t edit and they are terrible, but I recommend looking it up.
Hi! Jane here. What an interesting way to bury loved ones. As there are so many small cemeteries scattered around, do you think they might have started out as family plots?
I have seen these types of graves up in the mountains around my property ( way up in the woods ) it was pretty interesting. i couldn't make out a lot of the writing on the stones but I think most were from the mid to late 1800s. And i'd like to think that Cora's stone is unfinished because she's still alive... lol
Maybe back in 1894, they didnt realize they had to go 6’ deep so they came up with a different form to shirld the graves. Or its considered to be an honor and or status of wealth to have a tent grave?
There is next to no soil there. Just a couple of feet ontop of bedrock. Yes they knew the 6ft rule. When the coffin rots, the metal bar does too. The soil on top and the stones then fall to cover the grave like it had been buried 6ft under. Sometimes the bars and stones stay upright regardless. These people were dirt poor so your status symbol for wealth? Stop.
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I'd think maybe the box shaped ones with the 1 piece headstone may be along the lines of a tomb even tho it doesn't house the actual coffin aboveground?.
wow, never seen this before, thnx
1788 to 1859 that is quite a feat back then must have had a very good immune system
"The graves are most iconic for the slabs of stone that meet at a point above the burial plot. The story goes that aging graves, back in the 1800s, would settle and fall apart. Once the wood coffins broke up in the earth, the ground would sink around the sudden underground space. By using a tent-like gravestone above the burial plot, the stone would protect the sunken ground and even keep animals away. "
Thank you for sharing the information
Thank you very much for the explanation. Was wondering why.
Well, there you go..You should be making these videos..
@@michaelsteven1090 If it bothers you so much how Chris runs his show, why are you here with your negativity?
@@karenmilligan5597 you Karens just can't laugh at anything huh? Sad that you have no sense of humor
From the look of the older tent graves the design worked.
I can't say about Tennessee or tent Graves but in Louisiana they use to build little house covers to make the dead comfortable. I know strange concept but the believe system in the old days was very strange. At least that's what I was told as a kid growing up.
You see quite a few of these in Eastern Kentucky
It seems like the placement of the long flat stones in the "tent graves" was designed to fold in on itself as the ground settles over time. The slabs could then discourage tree growth in the middle of the grave. Just a thought.
That makes a lot of since
I respect your care for the flag and you did your best to place the flag correct instead of walking away and leaving it like that.
I thought that was great too!! Nice
Totes
I hate those little flags with the tiny, short sticks! It's literally impossible to poke them far enough in the ground to stay standing without the flag touching the ground!
Although I am in Europe and not the US, I like to see proper respect for the flag, which this good guy clearly did.
We have around 8-10 more or less intact tent graves here in Germany. All for US soldiers that died in WWII. They were unknown and buried here, not sure how they came up with the tent graves. But they are empty now, the remains were transferred to Arlington in the 1980s.
Wow that's amazing! Thanks you for sharing!!
native americans!
@@reginamathews2001 do you the tent graves are Native American graves? Qualls is in my family and we were told he was a Indian. They didn't go on the trail of tears so no record.
@@zigzag5072 I'm also indigenous....some of my ancestors were covered by rocks/stones, so to keep coyotes, and such from digging up the graves. My grt-grt-grandfather is buried in an area that at the time, had no, or was short on available wood for coffins....his grave was covered in rocks/stones to keep out wildlife. Eventually, his grave would be fenced as well.
Of course the wind talkers 🤔
How interesting Chris! I love cemeteries. Very strange “tent”stones to say the least!
The dates are so old😳. I’d love to know the stories behind them all🙏🏻
I'm writing to say, how facinated I am w/ some of the comments! This is usually the way I find things out!!!
Me too! It's also fascinating to spend time in cemeteries - the older, the better!
Several have said the tent is to protect people when the coffin rots and the ground could collapse. My mom told me that she and her cousins cut through a cemetery near Apsley Ontario when they were kids. One cousin started to scream because the ground suddenly collapsed and she fell into a hole. It wasn’t deep and she wasn’t hurt but they were all terrified and got home as fast as they could.
I work for a town and a long time ago someone who worked before my time was mowing one of our cemeteries and went through one grave due to collapse. Pretty common.
My nightmare
This happened to me when I was a child of about 12. I stepped onto a grave to get close enough to read it. It had a tall tombstone that was on a pedestal. The grave gave way beneath me and I fell in up to my upper thighs. The whole tombstone started to teeter back and forth over me down in that hole. I thought I was going to die right there in my great grandfathers grave. But finally it settled back on itself and someone helped me out. I have never walked on a grave again! I wouldn’t have then but for trying to read the faded writing.
And it stopped them from ever jumping on top of graves again.
@@deborahdanhauer8525 it just dawned on me this must be why you’re not supposed to step on top of a grave! I always assumed it was more of a respect thing but it must have really became a thing out of necessity! Thank you for sharing your story- that sounds truly terrifying but I’m glad you’re okay!
Interesting, I've seen an actual tent shaped grave. It was for a soldier has a canteen and other military type decorations. Never knew about the animal thing.
Those box shaped graves are called "false crypts". The body is still buried six feet under, with the crypt above ground. The grave you found with just a birth date? That usually means the child did not survive the first day or it was a stillbirth.
However, that was a pretty large grave for a baby, if that was the case! Maybe it was a woman who, for whatever reason, was estranged from her family, ran away from home, and her fate was never known, which makes more sense to me. Maybe she was disowned by her family and was shunned by them even in death!
@@JoMarieM WOW That is quite the story, and you have quite the imagination. If that did happen in the 1800 it would be quite the scandal. Do some research and see what you can find out. I would gladly hear what you find out and your sources. I am not afraid to admit when am wrong. I have to say though, if that did happen-she would be a larger person.
@@janicestevenson7109 haha. Nice
@@JoMarieM More likely abandoned and adopted or grew up in an orphanage and her birth date was a rough estimate as the marker had the year but not month or day.
People act like babies, born back in the 1800s, were valued the same way children are today. 200 years ago, they weren't. Birthdays were not widely celebrated, either. Who knows why the graves are marked the way they were: reinterred after ground water pushed the coffins up, couldn't afford the cost of headstone engraving, unknown birthdate. It would be interesting who maintains the cemetery as they are the most likely to have the records.
This is a new one for me. I’ve never seen that kind of a grave. I did some research. And besides the animals they had grave robbers who would get the bodies to go for medical research. Really interesting.
It was for that and the sinking ground after the wooden coffins would naturally decay the earth from above would concave and so this was the solution and as you mentioned.
He should do the research..lame
@@michaelsteven1090 That’s a piss poor attitude. I think he does a good job. He’s a young man who has taken us to see many things. I’m an old lady and I always enjoy his videos.
@@deee5520 I watch his vids but he always comes up short on any history..Even a little more would be helpful...Every thing is "I'm not sure why or who"..Its like, why bother watching..It makes a difference to many.
@@michaelsteven1090 Well maybe you should watch something else.
I had a a Great - Great Grandmother who was born in 1812 and died in 1902! 90 years old when she died! She had 13 children, 10 of whom lived into adulthood! She was a widow when a tree her husband was cutting down killed him! She raised those children as a single mom on a farm! They trucked vegetables! Their family still is in business! Good strong Swiss genes! 🇨🇭🥰
My great-grandmother had 21 children, 18 living to maturity. Long winters in Upstate New York!
Tent graves??
@Sunshine 🌠 Sunshine 🌠 Someone wanted to share their story. I'm interested. Just find something else to read if you prefer.
@Sunshine 🌠 Sunshine 🌠 Oh...and if you read the comment again, look for the part about three of the great-great-grandmother's children not surviving to adulthood. This relates to the children's graveyard in the video.
@Sunshine 🌠 Sunshine 🌠 I'm sorry for your family's losses. That's hard.
I don't know how mothers in the 19th century and before coped knowing they would almost certainly lose at least one child. If they survived childbirth.
Wow very unusual but interesting. I've come across lots of graves on my travels but never saw these before
Not for animal protection ... reason is to protect the land above the wooden coffin, once the wood coffin has rotted away, the dirt above will try to settle in the void ... the dirt does settle in the void but only from dirt under the tent ... not next to it ... the dirt that was packed in the tent during burial will fall into the void
👍
Thanks
@ 2:24 the tent partially fell down.
The tent could prevent erosion of the uphill land when the wooden coffin decays. The soil will move over time to fill the void and the erosion would create a very uneven slope, over turn markers and maybe uncover human remains.
👏👏👏✌
The plague, yellow fever and dysentery were pretty popular back then.
It's none of my business but how do you afford to do this? Did you retire at 7 years old in a 1860s coal mine after accidentally striking gold? I love the channel and I'd just love to wander around everywhere too some day.
Child mortality was very high back then.
Neat stuff! Maybe I'll have one like that made, as I would like to have a natural burial.
When I'm down to bones someone else can use it! 😄
So glad you are doing this- it is fun to watch younger generations learn about our country's history. Keep digging and you will learn a lot. Post what you find!
Wonder if the child with the unfinished epitaph perhaps died the same day she was born? I love the history and mystery of cemeteries, trying to piece little tidbits of local and familial history together..
I think you are right
Maybe the mother died before the date could be inscribed?
Yes that’s what I assumed, or perhaps a stillborn so they really didn’t know when the child has actually passed
I think that maybe the person who only had the date of birth on her tombstone, could have been estranged from or even disowned by her family. Perhaps she had married someone they didn't approve of, or did something else that disgraced her family (people would disown their sons and daughters for all kinds of stuff back then), and she ran away and her fate was never known, so her date of death was simply left blank. That's a pretty big tombstone for a baby, so I think that my theory about this being the grave of a woman who was shunned by her family makes more sense to me!
I came across a cemetery in southeastern Wisconsin it had several areas with 6 or 7 tiny gravestones and 2 large ones. It looked like a family had to bury small children. So sad.
Very moving and yet it appears overwhelmingly common in the 19th century. Alongside mortality of women followng childbirth, before scientific work established the existence of bacteria and viruses, and therefore hygiene as we know it, as well as antibiotics and vaccines. Seems like it was super common then for families to at one stage have several children, sometimes with successive wives in event of mortality, and for the majority of siblings to not even make it to puberty. I think we can begin to see a really distinct before and after in such mortality stats when it comes to the tenets of medical science concerning pathogens. Even just pasteurising milk alone would have had a massive impact.
I lived in a 19th century dwelling some time ago and was considerably haunted by questions of how ideas underpinning built structures of the day could potentially seal in poor health outcomes. Everything from plumbing to ventilation, light, damp, functional paths.. I'm not sure i'm describing it well but i felt like i had a reaaonably grim glimpse of 19th century conditions in a way i could make better sense of high levels of mortality in those times, and what sorts of things had enabled a change in real terms. Hope that makes sense.
Hi, Chris, I had never heard of these "tent graves", but I did a little research and found that they were used throughout Tennessee. They were probably trying to prevent animals from getting to the remains as the wooden caskets broke down. The Tent panels would flatten out and provide the protection needed. They probably fell into dis-use after concrete burial vaults came into popular use. There were a very large number of these tent grave in the Cash Cemetery (where Johnny and June Cash are buried). God Bless and stay safe.
In the UK we still don’t use burial vaults today, They just go straight in the ground.
@@zerofox7347 😳
@@zerofox7347 That’s more natural.
@ Dave Oelke Vaults. Bnnjare completely unnecessary. They will fill an empty constantly with water from the ground and reeees suffe graves.
Thanks for the information😊😊
Not sure it's been mentioned, but I lived in TN for 4 years and recurring thing is it's all on bedrock. I couldn't get a house built with a basement without blasting. I would hazard a guess that these tent graves would due to the fact that they couldn't dig six feet down for the body. So they added protection on a body buried maybe 3 feet by adding the tent.
Just something that occurred to me right away. May be wrong. Cheers
I wasn't thinking of bed rock. But had a similar Idea of wanting the burial deeper for whatever reason.
Interesting! Mountains are naturally rocky and only the poorest people tried to farm on them because the soil and terrain was bad. Depth of graves may have been a factor.
Absolutely bizarre to recognize the fact that when most of these people died any form of visual media was completely in its infancy and to think that in just one hundred years these humans names are now entered into the vast flow of electronic information. I applaud your sincerity when exploring these places and hope to see more of your adventures
That’s a remarkable point.
I'm not sure i can agree "any form of visual media". Could i plz clarify, do you mean you exclude newspapers, books, magic lanterns, etc and you're focussing on photography and film when you say "media"? Because the Victorian era wasn't without visuals, i think there were lots of visual novelties, and i thought i picked up that some of these graves were from around that time. Mind you, there was prob a highly regional element to that, what people could potentially witness in a big city might be very different to the provinces of a colony.
@@mothratemporalradio517 I see your point and "touche" 🐱🐈🐈🐱
What a gorgeous location , with such interesting graves , and the dates on them are quite old . Let hope suburbia never comes to change this unique cemetery. First I've ever seen . Thanks for the guiding us through one of America's oldest cemetery much appreciated.
That's odd. Simply because of the coincidence that the Native American, Mississippian Culture, of Northern Tennessee also buried their dead in what we call "Stone Box Burials". They were buried in the similar fashion as these individuals. It's mainly in the Northern to Central Tennessee areas that we see this phenomenon.
Wow, this is really fascinating, I've never seen anything like this before. Thanks for sharing! 🇨🇦
You were right about the the graves fall a[part from decomposing and this does keep the animals out. Greeting from Edmonton Canada
Thank you for picking up the Beautiful Flag🇺🇲 I'm going to Tenn this summer & will try to visit this cemetery! Great vid 🥳
Hi how are you doing?
That type grave is common in our area. Never knew they were called "tent" Graves. We are in Alabama.
Welcome to Tennessee! First those ‘cows’ are Bulls and Heifers. Note: if you aggravate the bull the bull will come after you 😎. Funny I’ve lived in TN all my life and I’ve never seen graves like these, very interesting. The above ground graves are called Alter Tombs.
Hi 👋 how are you doing?
Interesting graveyard. Thanks for posting new and varied things. I don’t mind that you are curious and don’t know everything. That’s what makes your videos relatable and worth watching.
I have never seen grave markers like that before. Interesting. Wasn't that unusual for children to pass so young back in the day. Especially before antibiotics. Thanks for sharing.
Lots of childhood diseases such as measles, scarlett fever, whooping cough, polio, ect. killed huge numbers of children under 10 before vaccines were available.
Believe "failure to thrive" took many too.
There were many childhood diseases, more recently prevented and cured by vaccines. Among them: measles, mumps, rubella ("German Measles"): "MMR" Vaccine. Smallpox (huge killer, adults and children). Polio. "DPT Vaccine" --I forget what the "D" is, Diphtheria? PT is Pertussis, better known as "Whooping Cough." : 2 Michigan women scientists cured PT in the '30's with an effective vaccine. I learned the PT story in Smithsonian mag, March 2022.
It was unusual unfortunately back then for children to live over the age of 3 years old; often people would wait until then, before they would 'officially' name their children for that reason. Antibiotics and vaccines have saved many children and adults from many diseases, some of which are no longer even around, over the years; things like measles, small pox, & polio are only a few that come to mind.
The Spanish Flu arrived in the states in 1918. Many in my small town died from it. Very sad.
Never seen graves like that here in Australia either. Very old grave site and would be interesting to find out the history of these.
Yeah, i am not familiar with them here, but in the settlement of Australia, city planning processes did involve the upheaval of pre-existing burial grounds on at least one occasion, at least in Sydney. It seems originally there was a cemetery in the CBD and it quickly wound up beyond capacity, leading to big problems. AFAIK they then transferred the interred contents to (at least, primarily) Rookwood, a suburban location, and there is a now disused 19th century building at Central train station which was for a "cemetery line" to Rookwood. I think this both transported visitors and coffins, presumably on different services. And a visit to the cemetery was apparently seen as a bit of a day out by the Victorians.
Graverobbing - not sure of our own history in this respect. Prob some gnarly history there waiting to be unearthed, as it were. There would have been medical students at the Uni of Sydney..
Collapsing graves - have never heard of this happening here, bit of a revelation. I just never had an impression of this being a thing to watch out for. Maybe our graves are too recent, at least in settled areas?
I'm pretty sure we saw two in the historical area of the Toowoomba Cemetery, but we went to a number of historical cemeteries that day looking for family graves, so may have been at another smaller cemetery in South East Queensland.
Also found it on Findagrave. Myrtle Vaughn Born May 25, 1907 Died Oct. 3 1909. She was 2 years old. I've never seen graves like these. Thanks for sharing!
Never knew these kind of Graves existed, it's very interesting.
The story goes that aging graves, back in the 1800s, would settle and fall apart. Once the wood coffins broke up in the earth, the ground would sink around the sudden underground space. By using a tent-like gravestone above the burial plot, the stone would protect the sunken ground and even keep animals away.
That makes sense. Thanks for posting this.
I've explored a number of old cemeteries in New England and have never seen that type of grave.
I live in Tennessee. I suspect it is for the same reason all my vegetable beds are raised beds. I cannot imagine hand digging in this rock deep enough to bury a person. In most of my yard there is less than 3 inches of soil.
I would say that many of the people could not afford the cost of engraving the stones for their loved ones. Such a shame!
Yes. They may also have had painted inscriptions that have simply weathered away.
The cemetery where many of my mother's family members are buried has metal markers from the 1930's. I guess people couldn't afford a proper headstone.
Grave vaults or liners are a relatively new construct as they were rarely used before the 1800s. Back in those days, vaults were often made of wood, brick, iron or steel and had a primary purpose of preventing grave robbery-which apparently was much more common back then, as loved ones were often buried with expensive jewelry or other finery.
There’s an old cemetery near Cosby in the smokies that has a couple that’s the furthest east I’ve seen it.
I also love all the little 10-grave cemeteries you see along all the roads through the south. And the big ones are called ‘vaults’ I believe, you see them still today they’re just more modern looking.
There is a Home Depot store in Commack, Long Island, NY that has a small family cemetery in the middle of the parking lot.
I'm in Alabama and when I was a young child I went to a cemetery with my grandmother to put flowers on her family graves. There was a couple of the square type tombstones there from the 1800s and they were so old they were cracking /crumbling. I was about to touch one of them when I noticed a bunch of little baby snakes coming out of some of the cracks.
😬🐉🐉🐉🐉
😳😳
There are lots of fun stories in these comment sections, haha. Baby snakes coming at ya out of a crumbling tombstone. It's a bit like a Southern Gothic version of Hammer Horror, i can dig it. Unfortunately i don't have the emojis i want on this handset. 🐍🔎
@@mothratemporalradio517 glad you enjoyed the story. I have some more true stories that might make for an interesting read if only I had some help with it before I get too old to remember them. 😆
Edit: This one is the tamest of them all. 😉
This is intriguing. I live in Tennessee and have seen many old rural graveyards and have never seen tent graves before. I've seen many old graves though, some with just a rock for a marker. One of those old graveyards is located just beyond my back yard. Many of those graves have collapsed, so I take great care when walking through it. The ones that have headstones are very worn and many are illegible. Many people wouldn't want to live next to a graveyard, but it doesn't bother me. In fact, I ratter like it. it's peaceful and fascinating. The folks buried there feel almost like neighbors.
That last part about the folks being buried there feeling almost like neighbors is such a southern thing to say! I loved visiting there and have lots of family there but am stuck here up north. Inside I'm a southerner and I really appreciate the history, people and the food!
Hopefully the cemetery is well-maintained. I'd rather live next to a cemetery than rowdy neighbors.
Going thru a VERY tough time rght now so THNKU, Chris. 😔.
i cried a little when you replaced the flag on the grave in the first minute of the video...thank you for posting .
❤️🤍💙🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸
I’d never heard of tent graves before. I wonder if the one that gave no date of death was maybe a stillbirth. Interesting! Thanks Chris!
I believe the above-ground tombs are called chest tombs. I've never seen one with an upright stone. Usually the engraving is done on the top.
I been subscribed and followed you for some time now because you do things like you did in the opening of your video where you picked up an American flag at a grave.
I commend you for that.
Your videos are very interesting and I learned things.
Keep the videos coming.
My great grandfather told me along time ago that they did this to keep the wild animals from digging up the bodies.
Very interesting. I've never heard of these "tent graves" before. Seems very uncommon.
I'm from Tennessee...I always thought it was because of the coyotes. I think I know which cemetery you're in, but since you're not revealing the location, I won't either.
Lol should've watched the whole video before commenting. I was right...I recognized the hill in the background.
@@shawn.the.alien423 unless there's some special reason for secrecy, may i plz ask ze location?
I read they're to protect graves from grazing animals.
Thanks for the tour Chris!
👍👍👍
Besides a roof surface if/when the grave collapsed/settled: The Tent would stop people from walking on the graves; if that was a concern. It does echo the ancient custom of piling a lot of stones on the grave; to keep out animals and as a memory monument.
I've seen a couple of graves done this way in central Missouri and one or two in Arkansas rural cemeteries. I don't think I've ever seen one of these in a more "high end" area or in a town cemetery of any significance, rather they seem to be in areas where vernacular "folk" traditions are practiced.
The kids died from the Spanish flu. I’ve seen family cemeteries where the wife and children are buried inside a fenced area, due to to pandemic. The Father was killed at war and was buried buried at the gate. These were called quarantined cemeteries. My Family came from Kentucky so I guess the tradition cams with them.
Hi how are you doing?
The theory of the tent configuration would protect the unwary from walking over a gravesite only to have it collapse under them seems plausible at first, but I find it questionable. Normally after a grave was filled in, the earth was built up over the grave in a triangular mound. This is still done in many places. Eventually as the coffin or casket decomposed, the earth would settle, compacting downward and become level with the rest of the ground. There was a time when it was believed that mounded earth over the grave would deter water from entering the grave. The placement of two simple slabs over the mound would even further deter the water from seeping through to the coffin.
Also, there was a lot of superstition in this area at the time. It is therefore entirely likely that this played a role as well, since these seem mostly used for children's graves.
Damn, i was only thinking about grave robbers but maybe sometimes they wanted to rest assured the dead would not rise from their graves! :v A bit Pet Sematary in their thinking, perhaps?!
Appreciate the point about the mound because as simple as the explanation is, i remember only recently staring at a pile of earth over some filmed grave and feeling uneasy about the fact i couldn't think of why this would be necessary.
I agree on the mounded earth, but this may not have been the case in all graveyards. Several posters in a sub-posting said that they had fallen to their ankles or higher (one to her thighs) into old graves that gave way. So, not all traditions could be the same.
Well I'm in East Tennessee and I personally have never saw any like this . Very cool. I've saw them shaped different and stuff but never tent like. Very interesting. Thanks for sharing. And yes there are commentaries on almost every road ever few miles there s alot of small ones pretty much. Families have their own and alot of churches have them.
As a former cub scout leader I wanna thank you for picking up and replanted the flag instead of leaving it on the ground
When I saw the first shot of the opening of this video I knew you were in or near where I grew up. The tent graves are new to me and very interesting.
Beautiful area
@@MobileInstinct 2:53 a black bull.
Hello Delores how are you doing?
I live in southern TN, and there are two family cemeteries in my family that I have been to that have graves dating from the 19th century, and I've never seen a tent grave.
The "box" graves, my mom called them bed graves, I had some ancestors in them in Pennsylvania (Plainfield twp, Northampton county, across the road from St. Peter's Lutheran church)
Wow, never seen anything like that here in Ireland, although I have seen cemented covered graves but yes they do collapse.
I live in Knoxville Tennessee. Where exactly were these graveyards at. Thank you for sharing this amazing video.
God Bless
So many children! Definitely not the good old days
6 foot depth would be enough deterrent for animal intrusion. My guess it’s a human deterrent- grave robbers , body snatchers, or maybe keep track where the body actually lies? But seeing how it’s in a rural area maybe they were constructed during the “vampire scare”… interesting. Thank you for sharing.
That would be ridiculously interesting, especially if there was extra superstition about children!
So odd, I'd love to know why that particular shape was picked for the graves and headstones.
I believe the word you're looking for for the big graves is sarcophagus :)
I have seen stones “tented” like those in some older cemeteries here in Atlantic Canada 🇨🇦. Some had engraving on them. I always thought I may have something to do with the family being wealthy or well known. Some I have seen were the graves of Governors and Judges for example.
Have you seen any of the grave houses? Like the little girl's playhouse grave. Several different cemeteries have little houses built over graves. Some are very elaborate. Old private cemeteries are usually where they are found. It's fascinating to see something so different in such a place. I think I remember one that was the size of a small house and had several graves in it. Like you could walk in it and view the graves up against the painted wooden wall. Just fascinating.
Cool. I'm not sure if we're thinking of the same kind of structures but there's something a bit like that at Bronte in Sydney, where there's a clifftop cemetery overlooking the sea. Not sure of the proper terms to use offhand, i forget, but some graveyard lots would have multiple members of a wealthy looking family and a stylised structure like a little house. But not like a doll's house. There's an obvious word for such structures i'm thinking of that i just can't remember. Not really sure if "crypt" fits.
@@mothratemporalradio517 I'll have to look that up. It's really fascinating all the different traditions across the world. I'm sorry I was so confusing in my original comment. Some places have the dollhouse or playhouse looking structures. The one that I can't seemed to find where I saw it was actually like a little shack with a roof, painted walls, and pictures on the walls. There was no floor and the headstones were all arranged against the walls. I think it was somewhere in Appalachia or the American South. I'm from West Virginia so I thought that was interesting. Now I can't find where I saw it. I love learning about how people remember their deceased so I'll have to look up what's in Bronte. Thanks for sharing it.
This was very interesting, I have never heard of these tent graves or seen them. Thank you for another fascinating video 👍😊
When there’s no death date is usually because they found the body and they could tell it had been dead for possibly a few days but not positive what day. Or they just came up missing kidnapped ran off after about 7-10 years some families just have to have a place to put on the rest. Or since it was a woman it’s because a man wanted to remarry and claimed her dead after three years . So he can claim his self as a widow and remarry
She done R-U-N-N-O-F-T
Damn that last one is brutal, f
Women get dirt served to them before they die and right after. Holy moly tonite. Rough n tough times. Lord help them. May they rest in peace.
It is always unnerving to come across children's graves -
Thank you for this unusual tour.
It's a sobering reminder that children died of illnesses that could be cured by antibiotics or vaccines today.
Maybe to keep from grave robbing? Very interesting. But I'm guessing the sinking of the ground is most likely the reason for this shape.
The large boxesare usually called vaults, or sarcophagus , or " keeps", theres many names for them depending on the way they were taught.
I just saw the same “tent” style graves from the 1600s in Prague, so it seems to have been more widespread than just Tennessee.
Wow, I wonder which cultures formed this type of grave? Germanic? Slavic? Migration patterns?
Yes we have several of these in our small family cemetery in middle-TN. One was destroyed a few years back by vandals riding their ATV over it. This part of the cemetery also has some of the old ceder trees growing among the graves as well. Saturday May 28th is our annual "Decoration" day. It is part of Memorial day where the family meets, remembers our family members, talk about keeping the cemetery up, we have a pot luck meal and a raffle for a hand made quilt to help fund the cemetery upkeep. Also on our Tent Graves the headstones are rounded on top and not the trapezium shape like the ones in this video.
YESS THAK YOU FOR REPLACING THE FLAG🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸GOOD JOB SIR❤️🤍💙 GOD BLESS USA
My mama is buried at a very old cemetery & there’s several “tent” graves there as well. It’s def strange 2 c these graves an 2 b able 2 c the inside of the graves. My mama is buried in Sparta Tn, so it’s ironic 2 c these same kind of graves there at the cemetery that u r at. May god bless ur day!!
So peaceful and quiet! Omg, the children🥺How sad, so young🙏🏻 The box like designs are very peculiar! Almost like an above ground 🪦 burial?
I love the area! A step back in time!
Thank you Chris!🌟💙🌟
Hi there from the U.K. 🙋♀️ that was incredible! Never seen graves like those before…where did they quarry so much flat stone?!
You probably already know, but if you take a small mag light with you and shine sideways on to the writing, you can usually read it a lot easier. ( or the light on your mobile if you forget!) best wishes Helen 🙋♀️🥰👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻😋
Fascinating. I’ve never seen any grave markers like these before. Thanks for sharing your travels!
Hello dear how are you doing?
Graveyards have always been intriguing to me. Just an alternative consideration...donating your body to science or to a medical university for their students. When my daughter was in med school, parents were invited to make an appointment to see what their body dissection lab looked like. I got to "meet" my daughter's team's body. I was impressed with how extra respectful they all were and that they were instructed to call the bodies by their actual names. After completion, the bodies were cremated and a special memorial ceremony took place with the families of the deceased. I'm planning on donating my body to Wright State's Boonshoft School of Medicine in Dayton, Ohio. I'd been an organ donor up until being too old for most transplants.
Why can't people be respectful to other people while they are still living? Why wait until they are permanently dead and buried before getting respected the right way?
Remarkable. OLD..1700’s. Thank you for showing us these historic out-of-the-way cemeteries, places of distinction. Stay safe…
I stopped at an old hilltop church/graveyard the other week (in Ohio) while out on my motorcycle and I saw one of these at the cemetery. It was a little different though, it didn’t have the end slabs. It was only the tent part and they were resting on each other rather than on a metal rod. I was wondering what it was for or why. It’s called the Mt. Tabor Cemetery if anyones interested. There’s even Revolutionary war veterans buried there. It was an interesting place.
There are numerous cemeteries in Middle TN with these types of graves. My dad is in a cemetery that has about 40 - 50 of them in its oldest section.
That’s why today,in most states, the caskets are placed in the grave in a concrete vault.
That way the graves don’t collapse,
and the grounds keeping crew can mow straight,and the ground’s not all sunken patches.
I actually like the "Tent Graves". It reminds me of being buried in my home, a house. Just my thought. 🙂
EDIT: Or maybe a church?
A lot of my Ancestors ( Evans, Utley, Pooles) came from Tenn. & Kentucky on their way to northern Tuscaloosa Co, Alabama. The materials are whatever was in supply at the time. They used Sandstone in Evanstown , Al. Samuel Sidney Utley died in Tenn. and was brought to Alabama to be the first buried in that cemetery. His grave was in cased in stone and has a metal roof. ELIZABETH BOWMAN is one of my Ancestors also.
I have never seen those before. Thanks for sharing!
Very interesting. I like the old cemeteries. Good job. I like to read the names and whatever is written to know more about the people that are laid to rest there.
Reasons for their construction are often given as protection from animals such as cattle walking on the graves or to protect the grave from the weather. The date of the tent graves generally is between the middle 1800’s to the mid 1900’s. With a few exceptions, they only appear in a nine-county area around White County and Overton County in eastern Middle Tennessee, OR places to which people from those counties migrated.
I saw similar graves while on deployment to Grenada in 1985. The locals told me the graves were made above ground because of money issues.
This man was down in the area where my ancestors are from my heritage came from north central Tennessee in the Overton County area. My tree is filled with Qualls and Loopers. My great grandmother's maiden name was Norrod . My family name is Key. My great great grandfather a one Goosby Key (1827-1910) was burned in a "tent grave" in north Overton County. Like this young man I was surprised by this style of grave as well when I saw. His son relocated to South central Kentucky where my family has resided every since.
I’ve seen graves like that “tabletop” (at least what I call them) one of the Buckner gentleman in New Hampshire. I always thought they were strange
Stone coffins, sort of like those larger box shaped ones, could be a variation of a sarcophagus. I've not seen these tent graves before. Interesting.
Always wish someone would clean these stones so we could read them. Cemeteries are always so fascinating. I love history and just imaging their lives ❤ Those tent stones are interesting. Never heard of them before.
I agree. It's a real negative commentary on society when the graveyards are not cleaned, maintained or respected.
@@serenitypeaceandcomfort3669 It's often because there's nobody around to clean them anymore. In areas like this where a 'town' was just a few houses on a mountain, familes would typically have their own cemetaries that they maintained themselves, or more populace small towns would have people dedicated specifically to maintaining them. Some of these graves are over 200 years old and it really only takes 2 or 3 generations for you to be completely forgotton. For example, most of us don't even know our great grandparents' names, they might as well have never existed. Do you know where your great great grandfather is buried? Unless you have a family tomb, likely not and you're unlikely to know without a bit of research into your family history.
On that note, many of these families have likely died out entirely, or the mountain communities these cemetaries were associated with were abandoned completely. These old backroads mostly lead to nowhere nowadays and you won't find a ton of people there. If theres nobody to remember that you ever existed, who will maintain your headstone?
One could consider that a morbid or depressing thought, but take comfort in knowing that it's nothing borne from disrespect or societal or moral rot, there's just nobody around who remembers. It's normal for the dead to eventually be forgotton, it's just the way of things as it has always been. We all like to hope that we'll always be remembered by our families, but memories fade and families die out. Even pharohs that fancied themselves gods who spent their entire life preparing for the day it ended eventually wound up forgotton, even if it took 2000 years. There are many grand lavish tombs that have no name attached to them.
@@crowteeth57 My church maintains an old cemetery going back to the 1600s. And it's not in our town. Nobody in the church has any family member there. But we do it because it needs to be done. Hopefully other churches will return to being the heart and soul of the local community. Has nothing to do with being a family member.
In cleaning the graves, how do you do it without eroding the stone?
@@naomiweaver1855 It can be done with the right solution, and attitude. Great advances have been made so that in severe cases you don’t even have to touch the stone to help it. Lots of videos about. Don’t look at mine, I can’t edit and they are terrible, but I recommend looking it up.
Hi! Jane here. What an interesting way to bury loved ones.
As there are so many small cemeteries scattered around, do you think they might have started out as family plots?
I have seen these types of graves up in the mountains around my property ( way up in the woods ) it was pretty interesting. i couldn't make out a lot of the writing on the stones but I think most were from the mid to late 1800s.
And i'd like to think that Cora's stone is unfinished because she's still alive... lol
Thank you for picking up the flag.
Maybe back in 1894, they didnt realize they had to go 6’ deep so they came up with a different form to shirld the graves. Or its considered to be an honor and or status of wealth to have a tent grave?
There is next to no soil there. Just a couple of feet ontop of bedrock. Yes they knew the 6ft rule. When the coffin rots, the metal bar does too. The soil on top and the stones then fall to cover the grave like it had been buried 6ft under. Sometimes the bars and stones stay upright regardless. These people were dirt poor so your status symbol for wealth? Stop.