understand a little more.; • *Within a stones throw

understand a little more.; • *Within

a stones throw of the cemetery, we sat down by the Piney at the intersection to where one would’ve gone up the Jenny Grey Road to Dr, . Kelley’s or Bernard Bolen’s. Bob told us that in the day of the horseback mail carrier, who was Mr. Kitty Brown, the routes up here were Route 1 and Route 2, but he wasn’t certain which was which. The • Bolen and Kelley mailboxes • were here at the intersection, and it was presumed the children upon walking home from' > Hull School would get the.’ mail. Some of the folks, like Dr.. ' Kelley, Bernard Bolen, and the Johnsons had telephones. The-. lines were strung from Luray up Rocky Branch on the Page County side then across Beahm’s Gap, down the hollow,across Fork Mountain then on. to Kelleys and Bolens. They were party lines of course in those days. Sally remembers her grandfather’s ring to be one long and one short.

I’ve forgotten the number,of acres, a couple of hundred; anyway, that Charlie Bowen , had owned.

He fell heir to it from his father, William Franklin Bowen. Here on this farm was one of three Bowen cemeteries, in the Shenandoah Park. This one we call the Charlie Bowen to distinguish it from the Joe, Billy Bowen (or Mary Frazier> , and the old William Bowen (or John Henry Waters). Mr.,. Bowen had tenants living onthis property. At the time the park came the Howard Clatterbuck family was living in the two story frame house nearest the cemetery.

Across the road just above the meadow (south of the tenant house) was Bowen’s house, , but where the Lawrence “Billy” Johnson family lived. Johnson managing the farm for Bowen.

Here, Bob recalled his experience with hard cider. What better drink has come from the juice of any fruit? A liquid when squeezed from its natural containers is sweet as nectar, but when aged can make you drunk. Aged still more, it’s used as a preservative in canning or for cleaning and personal hygiene.

The cemetery, once fenced, lies on a gentle easterly slope' facing the backside of Pignut Mountain. A rough grave count would be thirty to forty, some with inscribed markers either plain fieldstone or white marble. Bowen, Brandon, Rolls,' Manuel, and Waters are th6predominate names etched on these markers. There are perhaps others who have long since been forgotten along with the cemetery itself, which is returning to nature. Most of the stones are lying down,. some broken, all fading with the passage of time.

Each time we’ve visited this spot, we’ve learned a little more. Yet, each time we find that time itself has been harsh even cruel to the man-made monuments and the landscape. Although there is a since of pride, there is a since of loss too. For we know soon, hardly a trace will be evident of this place. We’ve documented and captured on film all we can.

Those of us who know its location grow fewer with the years and those who have an interest, relinquish it due to that same cruelty of passing years, only to cherish the fond memories we try to share with others....perhaps yet to be born.