It was a quiet day and the weather was cold cause it’s winter. There were so many buggies lining our road … going to the cemetary on Eby Rd. At least that was my guess, so I got in the car and tried to find a place where I could take pictures. Taking pictures is a hard thing to do cause that’s what it feel like…”TAKING! ” Especially for such a private affair as a funeral. But I did manage to get a few that I want to share here.
The funeral procession itself is quite interesting. There is a lead horse pulling a wooden home-built hearse and then each buggy is numbered to follow. The roads are carefully blocked so that it is a safe commute for those involved. So if you are in a car at an intersection where the train of buggies comes through, you wait till all have passed to keep going where you are going. They arrive at the graveside and someone is there to help them with their horse as they proceed to finish what they came to do.
My pictures are all taken from a distance, there are no pictures of the lead horse or the horse-drawn hearse or the numbered buggies, but if you are ever in the area and you see this, at least you will know what’s going on.
The cemetery they were traveling to is on Eby Road, a connector road to Stumptown, just north and east of Stumptown Manor Bed and Breakfast. It is known as one of the older cemeteries in the county. Many people stop to see the old grave markers or to find their roots here while traveling in Lancaster County.