Sope Creek Graveyard

In the Sope Creek graveyard from the late 1800s, the Scribner family, blood and non blood relatives, are all buried here. According to the 1935 history book by Sarah Blackwell Gober Temple, the Scribner house was located near the graveyard. Dr. Daniel Dana Scribner was married to Sarah Jane Ansley. Sarah Ansley is buried with her sister, Mary Winifred Ansley Andrews, her two children, and her husband. After the death of both of their husbands, Mary Winifred Ansley Andrews and Sarah Jane Ansley, in their later years, moved in together on the Scribner place until they died in the 1880s.

This experience of visiting this graveyard was very cool and unique because when people pass a graveyard, they never take the time to research the history of it and the people buried in it. The difference in the layouts of graveyard over the years is also very interesting. In modern graveyards, in old graveyards, people were buried facing the east because of belief that those buried toward the east will be brought back to life when Jesus returns to earth but in modern graveyards, people are buried facing all different directions. Also the grave stones have been simplified over the years and only tell the name, the date of birth, and date of death, but in old graveyards, some grave stones have designs and say more information about the decease.

Graveyards and cemeteries tell stories. They are historic and tell the story of the lives of the people. Not only the grave stone tells the story of their life, but the surroundings of the grave, such as the fences and layouts of the graveyards, tell the story of the people by aged materials. Personally, I think graveyards are fascinating because you learn about people and you get to find out about their history. Some people say that graveyards are creepy because they are "standing on dead people" but I do not believe in this statement because, in a grave, it is a body but no soul or spirit and a person is not complete without a soul. Standing in graveyard, people are standing on soil but under the soil is a body in a casket but the body is lifeless and it is nothing more than a previously alive creature with no life left in them.

I believe that a graveyard tells the stories of the time period of people in it. In the Scribner family graveyard, the rusted and designed fence adds a beauty to the graveyard and the natural, hidden location of the graveyard makes it all the more beautiful and interesting. The surroundings affects the beauty and the historic values of the graveyard.