Holy Moses

I always try to have an end game for anything I do; a goal, something that drives me to push forward. In genealogy especially. Otherwise it can just get mind-numbing searching for names and dates. And my goal will change from time to time, to whatever I find more interesting or elusive.

One of my goals for the past year or two has been to find the final resting place of my Great-Great-Grandfather, Moses Baker (not to be confused with my Great-Grandfather, Moses Alexander Baker). I know that he brought the Bakers into Tennessee from North Carolina via Mississippi around 1850. And I even found a copy of his obituary in the local newspaper.

But it isn’t very specific about where he was buried. Where is “here”? Bolivar? Crainsville? I’ve searched every available cemetery record and can’t find anything. But there is rumor of a Crainsville Cemetery where the community used to be. However, it is on private property owned by a very private person. Others who have told me of this cemetery say that the owner has piled brush and wood on it.

Perhaps one day I’ll work up the courage to ask if I can visit this cemetery. Hopefully it will really be there. Hopefully there are still headstones. Hopefully they might be legible. Hopefully Moses Baker will be there. If and when I do find my current genealogical Holy Grail, I’ll finally be able to move on to my next goal.