Stories in Drawyer’s Cemetery, Odessa Delaware

For a while now I’ve been photographing angels in cemeteries for a series I’m working on. Last weekend I was at Drawyer’s Cemetery in Odessa Delaware and found two sad stories and one celebration of life. I can’t imagine being George Janvier or Charles Matthews. I know childbirth was dangerous and infant/child mortality was rampant at the time, but….

George's wife and two children passed within a year of each other.
George’s wife and two children passed within a year of each other.
Charles Mathews wife died in child birth, his daughter who had his wife's name, died 6 months later.
Charles Mathews’ wife died in child birth, his daughter who had his wife’s name, died 6 months later.

Ray apparently liked to enjoy life. I think it’s good to celebrate life rather than focus on the losses we all face and experience.

Cool play on words. I wonder what Ray was like when he was alive.
Cool play on words. I wonder what Ray was like when he was alive.

One thought on “Stories in Drawyer’s Cemetery, Odessa Delaware”

  1. I’m not so sure. There was a time when death was not so uncommon. People would go to cemeteries but it might have not been to mourn but to celebrate the loved ones. We saw many mausoleums with chairs inside for sitting when looking in Brooklyn’s cemetery. People looked at death very differently than they do today. But we will never know.

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