52Ancestors52Weeks Week 21 Theme At the Cemetery: Meeting Josiah S. Boothby and Other Boothby Relatives at the Penland Cemetery

Headstone of Josiah Stewart Boothby Penland Cemetery Lexington, Oregon.  Photo by Patti Alden

                                    

   Have you ever planned a trip with your husband, with the express purpose of secretly squeezing in a visit to a cemetery?  We had been camping and exploring the Painted Hills and the John Day Fossil Beds National Monument area of eastern Oregon for a week or so in October of 2017.  We were 550 miles from our home in northern Nevada.  In the middle of our trip I opened Google Maps on my Ipad and began talking out loud.  "But, Sweetie, Heppner and Lexington are only 2 1/2 hours away! And who knows when we will ever get back up here again?" That was my sneaky plan all along, and luckily my husband thought it would be a great adventure to drive north from our RV home base in Dayville, Oregon to find the Penland Cemetery.  "My Great Great Grandfather is up there.  I know exactly where he's buried according to Find A Grave.  I'll never get a chance to see him again.  I have to go there!" And off we went. 

  

    There is just something about visiting a place where a distant relative lived, and was eventually buried. There is an unexplainable pull or draw.  Do you think you might meet them walking down the street?  Perhaps you might feel their presence somewhere.  For me,  I just enjoy looking at scenes or places that my ancestors might have also looked at during their lifetime.  I imagine myself looking through their eyes.  It was their own unique place in the world and I want to feel like I am making a connection there. 

  That is exactly what I felt as we found ourselves south of the little town of Heppner, Oregon.  We drove north through the Umatilla National Forest on State Highway Route 207 for quite awhile until the trees abruptly thinned out and we were suddenly on top of prehistoric basalt lava flows as far as the eye could see.  Not a tree in sight. Just golden fallow wheat fields and green fall alfalfa fields growing in patches on the thin top layer of soil.  In between the flows were small valleys where the water found its way over thousands of years.  The road would follow the hills and valleys and when we got back up the hills out of the valleys it literally felt like we were on top of the world.  This was the landscape that my Great Great Grandfather saw.  

  

  We made it to the town of Heppner and took pictures of the Morrow County Courthouse (built with dark blue basalt)  and then found a pizza place for lunch (it was called "Two Old Hags Pizza" but served a great Hawaiian).  We drove around and found the local historical society which was closed for the season.  At least I know where that is now.  Then, we were off to the cemetery in nearby Lexington where Josiah S. Boothby was buried.  I couldn't wait to meet him!  I had emailed the nice man in the county office several days before we visited, and he said the gate was always open.  Google Maps took us right through sleepy little Lexington and out Cemetery Hill Road to the cemetery.  

The Penland Cemetery with Lexington in the background.  Photo taken October 2017 by Patti Alden

Yes, the gate was unlocked.  Penland Cemetery Gate Lexington, Oregon.  Picture taken October 2017 by Patti Alden

  It took a few minutes of searching and matching landmarks to find the headstone I was looking for.  I remember that the cemetery was so quiet.  All you could hear was the occasional breeze blowing by.  We did not see a  living soul anywhere.  We didn't hear a car drive by or  working farm equipment, or even a plane overhead.  I took a picture of the area directly across the street from the cemetery.  The October sun was still warm, and there was hardly a cloud in the sky.  It was a very moving experience.  

    I spent some time taking pictures, experiencing the calm and pondering the life of my Great Great Grandfather.   He was a Civil War Veteran, having served 3 years in the Union army, before coming to Lexington.  He was elected as a representative in the state legislature for Morrow County after moving to Oregon.  He worked as a farmer in the area, and survived the Heppner flood of 1903. I have previously written about the Heppner Flood in a February 23, 2021 post.   Josiah was a respected member of his church and community.  He had a total of seven children.  

  I did find one of his daughters in the Penland Cemetery, in the adjoining plot.   She was his last child, born in 1874 in Kansas to his second wife Susan Yates.  His daughter had come to Oregon with the Boothbys and married Charles Beymer who was a farmer originally  from Ohio.   Her name was Lulu E. (possibly Ella) Boothby Beymer, and she died shortly after giving birth to her second daughter in 1900.  She was 27 years old.  Both of her living daughters were raised separately by different family members.   

Lulu E. Boothby Beymer's headstone Penland Cemetery Lexington, Oregon.  Photo taken by Patti Alden

  It was a quiet trip back to our campsite, but punctuated by absolutely beautiful scenery of the Blue Mountains in the distance and the Umatilla Forest once again while the sun slowly set.  I felt like I was just a little bit closer to knowing my Boothby relatives.  In the last several years since that visit, I have found more information on my Oregon relatives.  My Great Great Grandmother Affa Woodcock Hayman was buried in an unmarked grave in the Heppner Cemetery (see my March 26, 2021 post).  I am planning another trip to the area to do more research, and of course, visit a cemetery or two.  But this time it won't be such a secret! 

Relationship Reference:  Me->Dale Boothby->Sterl Boothby->Josiah Thomas Boothby->Josiah Stewart Boothby