May the circle be unbroken

Hi, all!

I spent some time last week searching for the ghosts of my past. My grandmother's family on my father's side were plantation owners in Louisiana in the 1800's, and since I was in the area for my CREDO conference, I took an extra day to rent a car and drive to the site of the old plantation.

I've always been fascinated by this part of my family history. The Bowman family came down the Natchez Trace from South Carolina around 1810 and established Alphenia Plantation near Clayton, Louisiana. I've read about the plantation and always wanted to visit the site.

My brother, the family genealogist, sent me the Google Earth coordinates so I had no problem finding the site. No buildings exist, but there's a huge old oak tree and three ancient Indian mounds that mark the site of the old plantation. 

It was late afternoon when I parked the rental car in a recently harvested cotton field and climbed the mound nearest the Tensas River. Among the trees and brush I found the gravestones of Sarah Caroline Bowman and her four children, who died within a month of each other in a fever epidemic in 1852. I traced their names on a large marble base and a tall obelisk that had toppled to the ground. 

Standing there where my ancestors lived and died was a powerful experience for me. I said a prayer for those who had gone before me, remembering them to God. 

But I wasn't finished. I pushed through the brush and climbed the mound furthest from the river. This was the mound where the slaves of the plantation were buried. It's strange how the ghosts of the past haunt us today. Slavery was an evil institution, and its effects still linger today. 

As I stood there, I wondered what it was like for the slaves 160 years ago. I said a prayer for those who were buried there and for their descendants, and I asked God for forgiveness.

I don't know what difference it made that I visited the site of the old plantation. But it was something I needed to do for myself, and I realized as I walked back to the rental car that this place is sacred ground for me. In some sense, I feel I completed the circle. I'm glad I went.  

Bill