I first attempted to make a field check of this cemetery on April 10, 1994
but it was buried under about three feet of snow and no stones were visible,
such is the weather in the hills of Fenner!. Skip Geiger and his
wife, who live on the site of the old Hector Pickard house showed me where
the stones are and said that there are a few stones, which were too readable
or are buried. He has purchased the land that formed the original
farm and showed me some deed references for the property, including Deed
CC:112, and Deed 106:388. I have not conducted any research on the
site. The 1853/1854 Gurdon Evans Map of Madison County shows
that Robert Ransom lived in this location at that time. Many other
members of the large Ransom family, including Robert Ransom, are buried
in the Perryville
Cemetery, about 1.5 miles to the west, and, although it was part of
the Robert Ransom farm, it is not clear why these three girls are buried
here, all alone.
The cemetery is located in the very southeast corner of the field to the east of his house just at the gate that leads to a back field. The corner is formed by a fence and hedge with a stone wall. The corner (and cemetery) is about 350 feet south of Mile Strip Road. The single stone found contains the names of three young sisters, and a footstone has the initials of the three girls. The very unusual location (tucked into a far corner of the field) would suggest that the stones were moved here from some other location, but this does not seem to be the case as it carries all the patterns (the headstone is at the west end of the grave and it faces west, but a grave relocated to this spot would have the stone closer along the fence line and at the foot of the grave) to indicate it is an original grave site (moved graves tend to fit the landscape rather than the strict pattern of early 19th century burial). The footstone is not centered on the headstone, reflecting the three children buried here, and the two markers are about 3.5 feet apart.
This cemetery is an excellent example of why I undertook the massive task of re-reading the thousands of stones in the three towns - of the three names, dates, and ages for these girls the old list had two names wrong, two dates wrong, and one age wrong!
Ransom, Lois Alzina, daughter of Robert and Lucy Ransom, sister of Mary Ellen and Polly Rosina Ransom, died October 16, 1836, age 2 years 5 months 10 days.
Ransom, Mary Ellen, daughter of Robert and Lucy Ransom, sister of Lois Alzina and Polly Rosina Ransom, died June 13, 1839, age 3 years.
Ransom, Polly Rosina, daughter of Robert and Lucy Ransom, sister of Lois Alzina and Mary Ellen Ransom, died February 27, 1834, age 2 years 1 month 13 days.