It Could Have Been Gomorrah
Reenacting a photo of my great great grandfather at Maple Creek Cemetery in Precept, Nebraska, in June 2018. See how windy it was.
I wasn’t sure I was going to do a post today, but I found a Wi-Fi spot to do a little work. I decided to post about my recent adventure since that’s the only photos that I have access to right now.
I mentioned the trip to Nebraska to visit the graves of my great great grandparents a few weeks ago, and decided to reenact one of the photos that I posted. That’s the photo of me standing next to the headstone in the cemetery.
Before we went to the cemetery, we stopped in the small town of Beaver City, Nebraska. At the library I found some information about my great great grandparents Samuel Charles Phenice and Cathrine Jane Foster. On two of their children’s marriage certificates, I saw that they went by the names Charles and Kate.
Charles and Kate lived in the small community called Precept, Nebraska. The early settlers picked the name by choosing a phrase from the Bible at random. It’s a good thing they didn’t pick Gomorrah! I also found a photo in a newspaper clipping that showed the church of Precept. It’s the church that Charles and Kate must’ve gone to. Their daughter was married there and Kate’s funeral was held there.
I’m glad I found that photo because it helped me to identify the church when I saw it on the way to Maple Creek (pronounced ‘Crick’ by the locals) Cemetery. The church was moved in 1927 from the cemetery area to the ‘town’ of Precept.
The church in Precept in 2018.
It seemed odd to me that they would make the effort to move the church less than 2 miles away to another secluded area. I suppose there must’ve been more people living in that vicinity. Nothing but fields and clouds for miles around. And an old abandoned church.
Which made the cemetery that much more surprising. It was immaculate! I’m glad to know that their graves are well taken care of. Maybe some of you want to check it out someday.
I had to get creative with this one. Her name is very hard to read when you look at it straight on. Now I know how she spells her name!
The Phenice plot. Kate was buried here in 1921 and Charles was buried in 1939.
Maple Creek Cemetery in Precept, Nebraska, is such a well-groomed cemetery. Very impressive.