Tombstone Tuesday - Same Tombstone 30 Years Apart

Several years ago I scanned the slide collections of my parents and grandparents. I didn't notice this one at the time. That's me checking out the tombstone of my second great-grandparents, James and Barbara (Black) Cubbage at Rockdale Cemetery in Penn Township, Butler County, Pennsylvania.

Fast forward exactly 30 years ... I am back there on beautiful fall day with my father, brother and sister on a Cubbage family history road trip. I wish I could say that my interest in genealogy and my family history started way back when ... but maybe the seed was planted on that trip out to Pennsylvania almost 40 years ago!

Sunday's Obituary - James and Barbara Cubbage

 

James Cubbage and Barbara Black Cubbage are my second great grandparents. I recently posted a picture of the tombstone.  James died on 28 February 1906 at his home in Glade Mills, which is a part of Penn Township in Butler County, PA. Barbara died on 9 February 1907, also at home, less than a year after her husband. Barbara's obituary had a lot more information in it compare to James'. Her funeral card has even more details about her life and eight children!
 

Those Places Thursday - Rockdale Cemetery

Rockdale Cemetery is located off of Rockdale Road in Penn Township, Butler County, PA. In older obituaries, it is also referred to as Thorn Creek Cemetery. It is not far from the small Thorn Creek or the Thorn Creek Church. I was able to visit with beautiful cemetery many where several of my Cubbage ancestors are interred. Thankfully, there is the "Rock Dale Cemetery" sign, as the cemetery is not visible from the road.

We drove up on a windy unpaved road along a farm to find this small cemetery. This beautiful setting is on a hill, nestled is the woods between two farms. 

We easily found the tombstones for my second great grandparents, James and Barbara Black Cubbage, and two of their children, Sarah and Mary Ann Cubbage.

 

It was such a beautiful fall day to finally see the resting place of these ancestors. These pictures really don't capture the beauty of the views from this cemetery.

Tombstone Tuesday - James and Barbara Cubbage

 

Rockdale (Thorn Creek) Cemetery

Penn Township, Butler County, PA

James Cubbage and Barbara Black Cubbage are my second great grandparents. James died on 28 February 1906 at his home in Glade Mills, which is a part of Penn Township in Butler County, PA.  Barbara died on 9 February 1907, also at home, less than a year after her husband. I posted her funeral card a while ago, which has a lot of details about her life and eight children. They are buried next to their daughters, Sarah and Mary Ann.

Tombstone Tuesday - Sarah & Mary Cubbage

Sarah and Mary Ann Cubbage were my great-grand aunts, and the daughters of James Cubbage and Barbara Black. Sarah was born on this date, March 6th, in 1855 in Butler County, PA. She died on December 25, 1902 and was buried in Thorn Creek (Rockdale) Cemetery in Penn Township, Butler County, PA. Her sister, Mary, and her parents are buried alongside of her.


I found Sarah's obituary in the Cubbage Family Bible. She died on Christmas Day a week after a "severe fall". I don't believe she ever married, and she lived for many years with the Logan family.


This is a page from the Cubbage Family Bible which lists Sarah and Mary Ann's birth dates along with those of her siblings.


I don't know too much about Mary Ann yet. She died when she was 14 years old. This is the list of deaths from the Cubbage Family Bible, which include Mary Ann, her sister Nancy. Sarah's death is listed on a separate piece of paper that was in the Bible, and also lists their parents' death dates.

Funeral Card Friday - Barbara Black Cubbage

This is yet another wonderful item found in the file of photocopies that I just received from my father. I'm not sure if this is exactly a funeral card or if it was printed in the newspaper, but it does contain a lot of information about Barbara's life and children.