Send us a text! We love hearing from listeners. If you'd like a response, please include your email.

On this episode of The Ordinary Extraordinary Cemetery Podcast, Jennie and Dianne wander back in time to the wild west days of Old Colorado City, Colorado, to share the story of how "the dirty little coward who shot Mr. Howard" played a small part in that city's politics in 1891. Resting in a tidy grave at Evergreen Cemetery in Colorado Springs is Mr. John Henry Holt, who was once marshal of Old Colorado City and was presented with a very special badge by one Bob Ford, an infamous outlaw during the heyday of the western frontier.

Need an Ordinary Extraordinary Cemetery Podcast tee, hoodie or mug? Find all our taphophile-fun much here: https://oecemetery.etsy.com

Family Tales: A free printable is now available! Gather 'round the table and dig into your roots! This interactive family history game is perfect for holidays, reunions, or just because. Ask, listen, and laugh your way through generations of stories and secrets. https://drive.google.com/file/d/1UT_R56qEwNTIxIBrTy8KFyVmGnFOe7g8/view?usp=sharing

Support the show

Send us a text! We love hearing from listeners. If you'd like a response, please include your email.

This week on the Ordinary Extraordinary Cemetery podcast, inquiring minds want to know if sea burials of the past were just as solemn and religious as those on land, why post-mortem photos taken in the past were considered more respectable than in today's modern society, could cremated ashes added to tattoo ink harm the living person, and who wins when the law and religion collide after death? Ryan Seidemann joins Jennie and Dianne for another fascinating round of Death and Dying 101 as he answers these questions and many others!

Need an Ordinary Extraordinary Cemetery Podcast tee, hoodie or mug? Find all our taphophile-fun much here: https://oecemetery.etsy.com

Family Tales: A free printable is now available! Gather 'round the table and dig into your roots! This interactive family history game is perfect for holidays, reunions, or just because. Ask, listen, and laugh your way through generations of stories and secrets. https://drive.google.com/file/d/1UT_R56qEwNTIxIBrTy8KFyVmGnFOe7g8/view?usp=sharing

Support the show

Send us a text! We love hearing from listeners. If you'd like a response, please include your email.

250 years ago, America was an idea. Today, it’s millions of stories! This week, we go back to a few of them we've covered on the Ordinary Extraordinary Cemetery podcast, beginning with Kurt Deion, who spent his childhood visiting presidential graves and now cares for the stories of thousands of Americans at Congressional Cemetery in Washington, DC. We travel through the Wild West with "Bulldogging" Bill Pickett, one of our country's most famous black cowboys. Of course, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania plays a pivotal role in the American story, and so we revisit our conversation with Nancy Goldenberg and Sarah Hamill, Stewards of Laurel Hill Cemetery. You'll also hear some of Major Pauline Cushman's story, told by MJ Henion, as a spy for the Union during the American Civil War, and we cover the death of a Revolutionary War soldier buried at Whitehall Burial Ground in Mystic, Connecticut, whose death was brought about by the traitorous Benedict Arnold!

We wish you all a very safe and happy 4th of July! Happy birthday, America!

Need an Ordinary Extraordinary Cemetery Podcast tee, hoodie or mug? Find all our taphophile-fun much here: https://oecemetery.etsy.com

Family Tales: A free printable is now available! Gather 'round the table and dig into your roots! This interactive family history game is perfect for holidays, reunions, or just because. Ask, listen, and laugh your way through generations of stories and secrets. https://drive.google.com/file/d/1UT_R56qEwNTIxIBrTy8KFyVmGnFOe7g8/view?usp=sharing

Links to the full episodes mentioned in this episode:

Episode 191 - An Independence Day Chat with Presidential Grave Hunter Kurt Deion https://www.theordinaryextraordinarycemetery.com/episode-191-an-independence-day-chat-with-presidential-grave-hunter-kurt-deion/

Episode 162 - Laurel Hill Cemetery in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: A Conversation with Laurel Hill’s Stewards https://www.theordinaryextraordinarycemetery.com/episode-162-laurel-hill-cemetery-in-philadelphia-pennsylvania-a-conversation-with-laurel-hills/

Episode 49 - Sleepy Hollow Cemetery in Concord, Massachusetts https://www.theordinaryextraordinarycemetery.com/episode-49-sleepy-hollow-cemetery-in/

Episode 72 - “Bulldogging” Bill Pickett: Cowboy, Wild West Show Performer and Movie Star https://www.theordinaryextraordinarycemetery.com/episode-72-bulldogging-bill-pickett-cowboy-wild-west-show-performer-movie-star/

Episode 204 - From Stage to Spy: The Story of Major Pauline Cushman https://www.theordinaryextraordinarycemetery.com/episode-204-from-stage-to-spy-the-story-of-major-pauline-cushman/

Episode 119 - Whtehall Cemetery (Burial Ground) in Mystic, Connecticut https://www.theordinaryextraordinarycemetery.com/episode-119-whitehall-cemetery-burial-ground-in-mystic-connecticut/

Support the show

Send us a text! We love hearing from listeners. If you'd like a response, please include your email.

You’re walking through a 170-year-old cemetery and find a tombstone that’s… a desk? Welcome to Wyuka Cemetery in Nebraska City. The city itself was founded in 1855 after the U.S. Army abandoned Fort Kearny just eight years earlier. Thanks to its spot on the Missouri River, it became a boomtown before the turn of the 20th century, bringing in settlers, steamboats, and later the railroad.

One of those early families was the Hardings. Nehemiah and Mamie arrived that same year. He became the territory’s first insurance agent and opened Nebraska’s first bookstore. Together, they had 10 children and by the end of their lives were fondly remembered for their pioneering spirit. Their roll-top desk monument in Wyuka is a memorial to their family legacy, honoring their dedication to family and community.

Read more about some of the other fascinating monuments at Wyuka Cemetery in Nebraska City on the Adventures in Cemetery Hopping Blog written by Traci Rylands here: https://adventuresincemeteryhopping.com//?s=nebraska+city&search=Go

Need an Ordinary Extraordinary Cemetery Podcast tee, hoodie or mug? Find all our taphophile-fun much here: https://oecemetery.etsy.com

Family Tales: A free printable is now available! Gather 'round the table and dig into your roots! This interactive family history game is perfect for holidays, reunions, or just because. Ask, listen, and laugh your way through generations of stories and secrets. https://drive.google.com/file/d/1UT_R56qEwNTIxIBrTy8KFyVmGnFOe7g8/view?usp=sharing

Resources used to research this episode include various digitized records found on Ancestry.com and FamilySearch.com as well as various historical newspaper articles and advertisements found on newspapers.com.

"Fort Kearny". nebraskastudies.org, https://nebraskastudies.org/en/1800-1849/forts-built/fort-kearny/. Accessed 21 June 2026.

"Nebraska Center for the Education of Children who are Blind or Visually Impaired". ncecbvi.org, https://www.ncecbvi.org/whoweare. Accessed 21 June 2026.

"Nebraska Cities by Population (2026)". nebraska-demographics.com, https://www.nebraska-demographics.com/cities_by_population. Accessed 21 June 2026.

"J. Sterling Morton: Founder of Arbor Day". nebraskastudies.org, https://nebraskastudies.org/en/1850-1874/j-sterling-morton-founder-of-arbor-day/. Accessed 21 June 2026.

"History of Nebraska City". nebraskacityne.gov, https://nebraskacityne.gov/community/history.php. Accessed 21 June 2026.

Support the show

Send us a text! We love hearing from listeners. If you'd like a response, please include your email.

Happy belated Flag Day! On this week’s Ordinary Extraordinary Cemetery podcast, Dianne and Jennie are honoring the women behind the American flag. You know Betsy Ross, but do you know Mary Pickersgill and Grace Wisher? Did Betsy Ross really make the first flag? And why does she have three possible burial sites in Philadelphia? And how did Mary Pickersgill, a widowed business owner, and Grace Wisher, a free young woman of color indentured to Mary, inspire Francis Scott Key to write the poem that became our National Anthem?

Jennie and Dianne weave together the myths, historical facts, and the graves that hold their stories while celebrating how these women, and so many others like them, literally stitched our country together!

Need an Ordinary Extraordinary Cemetery Podcast tee, hoodie or mug? Find all our taphophile-fun much here: https://oecemetery.etsy.com

Family Tales: A free printable is now available! Gather 'round the table and dig into your roots! This interactive family history game is perfect for holidays, reunions, or just because. Ask, listen, and laugh your way through generations of stories and secrets. https://drive.google.com/file/d/1UT_R56qEwNTIxIBrTy8KFyVmGnFOe7g8/view?usp=sharing

Planning an overnight stay in Kearney, Nebraska? Book with the Heritage House! https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/15256246?source_impression_id=p3_1781800480_P3M2-1z61_DbCNx4

Resources used to research this episode include:

"The History and Evolution of the American Flag ." https://www.nationalflagfoundation.org/. 1 June 2026. www.nationalflagfoundation.org/flag-history-evolution/. Accessed 15 June 2026.

"Elizabeth “Betsy” Ross ." https://friendsofmountmoriahcemetery.org/. friendsofmountmoriahcemetery.org/about/notable-burials/elizabeth-betsy-ross/. Accessed 15 June 2026.

"Mary Pickersgill ." https://www.nps.gov/. 10 Oct. 2019. www.nps.gov/people/mary-pickersgill.htm. Accessed 15 June 2026.

"Grace Wisher ." https://www.nps.gov/. 5 Jan. 2021. www.nps.gov/fomc/learn/historyculture/grace-wisher.htm. Accessed 15 June 2026.

Support the show

Send us a text! We love hearing from listeners. If you'd like a response, please include your email.

In the previous episode of the Ordinary Extraordinary Cemetery podcast (#281), Dianne and Jennie explored Forest Hills Cemetery in Boston, Massachusetts and some of its most visited monuments including one often called, "The Boy in the Boat" which marks the grave of little Louis Mieusset. We shared the common story that Louis died as a result of being drowned, but while that story continues to be perpetuated, his death was the result of disease, a common occurrence for thousands of Victorian children; so how did his story become so changed?

In this episode, Jennie and Dianne delve into the story of the Mieusset family, which begins with two brothers from France who brought Parisian fine dining to Boston. One became the city’s most celebrated restaurateur, the other would fade into obscurity, lost to time after the death of his young son.

Need an Ordinary Extraordinary Cemetery Podcast tee, hoodie or mug? Find all our taphophile-fun much here: https://oecemetery.etsy.com

Family Tales: A free printable, is now available! Gather 'round the table and dig into your roots! This interactive family history game is perfect for holidays, reunions, or just because. Ask, listen, and laugh your way through generations of stories and secrets. https://drive.google.com/file/d/1UT_R56qEwNTIxIBrTy8KFyVmGnFOe7g8/view?usp=sharing

Resources used to research this episode include various digitized records found on Ancestry.com and FamilySearch.com as well as various historical newspaper articles and advertisements found on newspapers.com.

Support the show

Send us a text! We love hearing from listeners. If you'd like a response, please include your email.

Looking for things to do in Boston in addition to walking the Freedom Trail? Might we suggest visiting Forest Hills Cemetery in the Jamaica Plain neighborhood? This 275-acre historic cemetery, founded in 1848 and added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2004, is the final resting place of poets e.e. cummings (all lower case on purpose) and Anne Sexton, composer Amy Beach, victims of the Great Molasses Flood, and so many more. Forest Hills is also known for its Contemporary Sculpture Path, established in 2001. We discuss “Resting Benches” by Danielle Krcmer & Lisa Osborne, “Neighbors” by Christopher Frost, and the intricate Victorian marble monuments of Gracie Allen and Louis Mieusset. Join Jennie and Dianne for their overview of this stunning burial ground that has never been just a place to end an Ordinary Extraordinary story, but one where stories, art and nature have continued to bring peace and fascination to the living for nearly 180 years and counting.

Need an Ordinary Extraordinary Cemetery Podcast tee, hoodie or mug? Find all our taphophile-fun much here: https://oecemetery.etsy.com

Family Tales: A free printable, is now available! Gather 'round the table and dig into your roots! This interactive family history game is perfect for holidays, reunions, or just because. Ask, listen, and laugh your way through generations of stories and secrets. https://drive.google.com/file/d/1UT_R56qEwNTIxIBrTy8KFyVmGnFOe7g8/view?usp=sharing

Image Credits: Top Left: "Boy in the Boat" photo by LMJ and posted to findagrave.com on 10/11/2004. - Top Right: Gates of Forest Hills Cemetery Canva.com - Center Left: Portrait of Amy Beach in the Public Domain - Portrait of e.e. cummings in the Public Domain - Center Right: "Gracie Allen" photo by LMJ and posted to findagrave.com on 11/05/2004.

Resources used to research this episode include:

Forest Hills Cemetery , . "About Us/Resources/History/." https://www.foresthillscemetery.com/. www.foresthillscemetery.com/. Accessed 1 June 2026.

National Park Service , . "Forest Hills Cemetery ." https://www.nps.gov/. www.nps.gov/places/forest-hills-cemetery.htm. Accessed 1 June 2026.

Marx, Walter H. "Boy in the Boat Statue at Forest Hills ." https://www.jphs.org/. www.jphs.org/locales/2005/9/30/boy-in-the-boat-statue-at-forest-hills.html#gsc.tab=0. Accessed 1 June 2026.

Sammarco, Anthony M. "The Boy in the Boat." https://foresthillstrust.blogspot.com/. 21 Feb. 2010. foresthillstrust.blogspot.com/2010/02/boy-in-boat.html?m=1. Accessed 1 June 2026.

Poetry Foundation , . "E.E. Cummings ." https://www.poetryfoundation.org/. www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/e-e-cummings. Accessed 1 June 2026.

Brandman, Ph.D, Mariana. "Amy Beach (1867-1944) ." https://www.mawomenshistory.org/. www.mawomenshistory.org/resources/biographies/amy-beach-1867-1944. Accessed 1 June 2026.

Support the show

Send us a text! We love hearing from listeners. If you'd like a response, please include your email.

This past Monday, men and women who made the ultimate sacrifice were remembered in Memorial Day tributes across the United States, and on this episode of the Ordinary Extraordinary Cemetery podcast Dianne and Jennie chat with Ryan Seidemann who returns for the latest "Death and Dying 101" segment with questions his college classes have asked: If we can’t bring soldiers home, who’s responsible for their graves? Why did military headstones get simpler? Are remains from past wars still being found? Tune in for this conversation that digs deeper into the history and laws behind military burials, because remembering is only part of how we honor them.

Need an Ordinary Extraordinary Cemetery Podcast tee, hoodie or mug? Find all our taphophile-fun much here: https://oecemetery.etsy.com

Family Tales: A free printable, is now available! Gather 'round the table and dig into your roots! This interactive family history game is perfect for holidays, reunions, or just because. Ask, listen, and laugh your way through generations of stories and secrets. https://drive.google.com/file/d/1UT_R56qEwNTIxIBrTy8KFyVmGnFOe7g8/view?usp=sharing

Support the show