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Single and Very Early "Trail Burials"

There is one thing that ALWAYS needs to be considered in the following history section. i.e. when those who initially tracked down most of these old cemeteries talked about how to document things, they decided and probably quite rightly so that a single grave is a cemetery. If a single grave is found on a farm on Howard Township for instance with information to back it up, we know that was indeed a cemetery although we do not know for certain how many graves are there. We know that there is one stone monument. But we do not know how many more burials exist there that are not marked.

However, this can lead us into other problems. We know of Native Burials along the River Thames for instance. Natives have populated this area for about 11,000 years. We know that the Woodland Indians did live or bury their dead at one point at a site along the Thames. We know that there were many very old Trails cutting through Chatham-Kent long, long before the Europeans ever landed on this soil. We know there there were some communal burial areas from long, long ago. We also know that there were many single ones.

We believe that these single burials were probably all along the river, but time and erosion has probably erased MANY if not most of them. Later, when Europeans arrived, the Thames River was a busy artery with many canoes going up and down it. Even Express Canoes. And if a person in a canoe died at a certain spot they would be simply buried on shore near by at an easily available and suitable place. The same would be happening with the Native trails. There is one very visible example of this that MAY be a burial spot. If you look at the position of the "Old Thamesville" cemetery way back behind the Sherman Cemetery at Thamesville. About a farm's length back. Right near this along the river is a rather large rock that does not "fit the location". It is very hard to see though when covered by vegetation. But dowsing indicates a grave under this spot. Is it a grave? This is dowsing so we of course cannot document this as 100% certain. But it is VERY likely that it is. And we find likely graves all along the river bank between Sherman/Old St Paul's Cemetery and Old Thamesville Cemetery.

We have also been told by local historians of the practice of burying those who died while riding in a railway passenger car right along the tracks. If a passenger died they simply stopped on the spot and buried them there.

Thus we MUST consider that there are probably very large numbers of single human graves and very small cemeteries of our Native Brothers that have been long forgotten. Graves and Cemeteries along the old pathways, and the banks of the Rivers and Lakes. Many if not most of those along the rivers and lakes are probably VERY severely eroded. Many are so old that even the bones have turned to dust. And MANY probably still show enough traces of their existence that we could document them if we only knew where to look for them.

If you ever happen across old cemeteries that we have not documented, or old burial areas of any sort please let us know. It is important that we document this sort of information for future generations.

ALWAYS remember that if you find a grave you think might be Native that you treat it with extra respect, as the old beliefs are that the spirit lives on through the remains buried there. Destroying or disrespecting the grave, means you are destroying the living spirit of those interred there. We MUST always treat them with the greatest of respect, even though, if they are Woodland in origin for existence, their people are long, long gone from the area!