OH-NW-HERITAGE-L Archives

From: Bill <>
Subject: Tid Bits from List Administrator
Date: Sun, 26 Oct 2003 17:29:34 -0500

G'Day Good Folks,


"Things I learned while looking for something else":
[the late Sidney Harris, Columnist, Chicago Tribune]

Very often we will read something and at the time pass it
off without properly noting the source because we do not
believe it will be necessary; that we are not going to use
it or write about it. Recently, I read a piece about
POTTER'S FIELD and I can't remember the source. This
brought to mind that I had searched for years for a 2nd
Great Grandma's [Rettig] grave. I finally found it in the
Fort Meigs Cemetery, Perrysburg, Ohio, in their Potter's
Field. Digging into the burial/plot records I made a great
discovery. Buried along side her was a male child that I
never knew existed and had never heard any family tradition
about.

Here is what I remember from reading about Potter's Field.
In Matthew 27:7 of the New Testament of the Bible is the
story of the betrayal of Jesus by the Apostle Judas Iscariot
for the sum of 30 pieces of silver. Judas gave the money to
the Temple Priests, but they refused to put into the
treasury. Instead they purchased a "field" from a "potter"
in which to bury strangers. This field contained the clay
the potter used in his craft. Today, the name is applied to
sections in any cemetery used to bury strangers, as well as
folks too poor to pay the expense of burial; thus they were
usually buried at "county" expense.

And, one final humorous bit of useless knowledge: raccoons
will test your crop of melons and let you know when they are
ripe. :)

Wado,

Bill Oliver
ListAdmin
-=-

This thread:

• Tid Bits from List Administrator by Bill <>