The picture above was taken this summer in a wooded area adjacent to the Perkins Township Cemetery in Erie County, Ohio. It caused me to ponder on what the land in Ohio looked like in the early 1800s. When my House and Young ancestors settled in Ohio, much of the newly formed state was covered in woods. This chart shows the varieties of trees that were once in Ohio.
The chart appeared in the Ohio Journal of Science, volume 25, issue 3, in an article entitled The Natural Vegetation of Ohio, by Paul Bigelow Sears. Julius House, my ancestor from Glastonbury, Connecticut, and his family and neighbors had to clear the land, build cabins, and till the land in order to provide food for their families. Somehow I think the land may have look similar to the woods that is currently next to the Perkins Cemetery, where many of my House ancestors found their final resting place, along with my son and my parents. I too will someday be buried at the Perkins Cemetery. The wooded area reminds me of the cycle of life, and how death too is a part of life.The trees also remind me of peace and solitude, which is evoked when you see a tombstone that reads "Rest in Peace."
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