Caldwells from Magilligan

[E Caldwell]

That was our initial thought - that the Caldwells in Magilligan were poor and hence the possibility of finding headstones would be even more remote.  But looking at the various maps we have from PRONI, we have fairly decent sized farms being attributed to Caldwells for much of this period.  Wouldn't it be somewhat unlikely that larger farm owners to both have the resources and the desire to have a grave with a headstone?   I can also see maybe one or two Caldwells not spending the money on a headstone, for some reason or another, but with so many in the area, it is more difficult to imagine that many larger farmers would pass on graves.  The Caldwell who emigrated had a large farm in Wisconsin and purchased his family and himself a fine headstone in the latter part of the 1800s.  It would be odd for him to be the only one in the family who placed meaning on a headstone with an inscription.

[aghadowey]

When I mentioned that some families weren't good at erecting headstones it wasn't limited to property or social class. Obviously many poor families would not have been able to spend money for such a 'luxury' although often gravestones were erected with money sent from overseas (and this is reflected in the wording such as 'erected by their son in Australia', etc.)
Also, some families might put up a marker with simple words such as 'Caldwell Family Burying Ground' or 'Caldwell.' One very well-to-do family I traced did this (fortunately though they kept very good records in the family Bible) but nearby a family that would have had very little extra cash have a lovely headstone with lots of names and dates recorded.
Headstones were not always erected soon after the death of the 1st person in the plot either (read through the stones in a graveyard and notice that the deaths listed do not always appear in chronological order.) Checking headstone dates with newspaper notices there can be errors a year or more off.

[kingskerswell]

Hi,
   Aghadowey's suggestion prompted me to look up the BMDs in the Londonderry Sentinel and it gives "Jane Caldwell died 17 Oct 1858. She was the wife of Alexander Caldwell of Ballyleighry, Magilligan". This only confirms the gravestone inscription which Aghadowey gave on 1 Aug 2009.

Regards

[E Caldwell]

Yes, that is the Alexander we know who died in 1899 but still do not have his grave.  Aghadowey raised  an interesting point.  In Limavady at the Presby Church there are three graves with just "Caldwell".  Unfortunately, they lost a lot of the records at that church so we do not know what Caldwells those graves are but it definitely could be the Alexander Caldwell you mention.  In looking at the grave, as imprecise as my judgment may be, it looks like it could be about 100 years old. 

[Magilliganlass]

Thank you to all for this excellent discourse on the ancient graveyards of Magilligan, which has been a great help to me, far away in the USA.  My Sweeney, McNally, Redgate, and Canning ancestors are buried at St. Aidan's and (probably) the COI graveyard.  I manage a very old cemetery in Pennsylvania, and I hope I might offer some advice based on my own experience.  Your ancestors might well have erected a gravestone which is still there, but "invisible."  

Frequently gravestones become unstable, fall, and are simply left in place by caretakers.  Within a very few years, their weight pushes them down into the soil a few inches and they are quickly covered by a layer of grass sod and become invisible.  Thus, you might look at a spot where your ancestors ought to be and see nothing, when in fact there are gravestones a few inches (usually four to six inches) under the grass.  You can detect them by taking a thin but strong metal skewer (like for shishkabob), probing the soil, to see if you can detect the general outline of such a stone a few inches down.  (Of course, Irish graveyards are full of stones of all types, but the outline of a fallen gravestone is fairly distinctive.)  If you discover a gravestone, you do have to get the permission of the cemetery caretaker to cut the sod and roll it back to uncover it, but it is usually worth the effort, especially if the stone fell face down and the inscription has been protected from the elements for a long time.  No harm is done to the grave site, you can just roll the sod back after.  (Of course, if the stone fell face down, you'll need some help to gently turn it over to read the inscription.  Those things are hundreds and even over a thousand pounds in weight.)

I look forward to following your continuing discussion.

Sincerely, Barbara Miller, Allentown, PA

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[stmccmagilligan]

just been up to the old graveyard on the right hand side of the lenamore road . it has been ploughed up. i believe this is a disgrace, there is a couple still standing in the hedge along with my earlier templer cross stone. not all farmers have such dissregard for historical places.

[E Caldwell]

Ah, that is so sad.  Thanks for looking.  The importance of these graveyards is just, very sadly, missed by some people. 

[E Caldwell]

Did you get a sense for the stones that you saw for how old they might be? 

[stmccmagilligan]

this was a very old graveyard deff no one burried there in the last 2 hundred years, they must have been either knocked into the ground or piled up in the hedge, will take a closer look when i get time. we used to play round them 20 years ago when going fishin up the lake