Thursday, December 18, 2014

NAP Assistants and Volunteers Clear Brush at an Abandoned Graveyard Near the Bayou Teche

New Acadia Project student assistants and volunteers spent the day clearing brush at an abandoned family graveyard near Bayou Teche in preparation for remote sensing. At least four or five burials are present in the graveyard, as indicated by two large above-ground vaults, a headstone and footstone (or small headstone), and a small slab. Five or more large oaks surround this small family cemetery on the Teche ridge.

Two (unmarked?) tombs  in a wooded lot as they appeared in
October of 2013.
The graveyard was overgrown when previously visited in
October of 2013 and the Summer of 2014.
The same tombs and small slab (on the left) on December 18, 2014,
after the clearing of brush, view to the northwest.
Small unmarked slab in the foreground and two tombs in
the background (view to the northeast).
Once the grounds were cleared, the students laid out a
12-by-18 meter grid for remote sensing (view to the east).
The graveyard includes two chipped and broken headstones, or perhaps
one broken headstone (right) and a small accompanying footstone (left)
that may have been rearranged.
The headstone bears the inscription:
"JULES BERARD
Ne Avril 12, 1856
Decede Novembre 6, 1888"
Another small stone inscribed with the initials "J.B." was initially
thought to be the headstone for a child's grave, but may be a
footstone for the burial of Jules Berard. Footstones bearing the
 initials of the deceased were common during the 19th century.
If this is a footstone for the burial of Jules Berard, it may have
been dislodged and re-positioned.
The graveyard after brush was cleared and a grid was established for
remote sensing (view to the southwest).
Are there additional, unmarked burials in this abandoned graveyard near the Bayou Teche?