For Nancy

Nancy, wife of J G Williams
Born October 12, 1821
Died April 1, 1850
She lived about ten years of her life a devoted Christian and died in the faith


To Nancy
Lying in the woods
Beside the road where I walk
Your grave stone lies flat
In the leaves and sapling trees
No one but the dear and birds
Attend your sleeping
Born one hundred years before me
You bear my name

Now you know, as you know God
Our souls are held by him from
Our conception and beyond--not just ten years
Now you know that ownership of men
And women was against his design
Now you know that we are all His
As you break bread with souls
From every tongue and tribe
Now you rest in peace

7/31/16

Yesterday, along the road where we walk, my sister and I discovered an old burial ground. Some of the markers are hard to read; some are small with no names at all--possibly infants or children. One that drew me in was the one pictured above: Nancy, wife of J G Williams. Only 29 years old when she died. What was her story? She died before the civil war; did she own slaves? I went back to the cemetery this morning, drawn in to this woman's untold story. She died 100 years before I was born, yet somehow I feel connected. Weird...