![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Modern dowsing begins to appear in records around the 15th century in Europe. In a self-published booklet titled, Dowsing for Fun and Profit, Gregg writes, “In Peru, a rock carving more than 9,000 years old depicts a man holding a forked dowsing stick,” he writes. It was amazing! There were some people there who couldn’t get the hang of it, or it didn’t work for them, but for Joseph and me and one other lady, it did.” Somehow it seemed to work for myself and Joseph Williams, also from Springville and part of the Springville Preservation Society. “He gave a long, interesting class that morning, we had lunch, then went to an old cemetery,” Waid says. ![]() She is a member of area historical and genealogical societies and thought grave dowsing might add depth (no pun intended) to that type of research. Waid took a grave-dowsing class from Gregg about three years ago at his wife’s urging. “Most of these slaves came from South Carolina, and they were Caribbean slaves, so some of their beliefs determined how they were buried.” “They wouldn’t have had the resources for caskets, so they probably wrapped the bodies in blankets,” he said. Waid noticed that all the graves in the slave section were small and wondered whether they might be buried in a fetal position. Wayne can tell that, but I don’t have that experience yet.” Lots of times (during the 1800s) women died in childbirth and they buried mom with her baby on her chest. “If they cross high, it’s a female if low, it’s a male. “I use two wires I got from Wayne,” Waid says. Gregg narrated while Waid demonstrated dowsing techniques. The Backwood Boys – Gallant musicians Adron and Mark Willingham on guitars, Marlin Galloway on mandolin – continued to play as the audience filed outside behind Gregg and Waid for the actual grave dowsing. “They also enjoyed Macki Branham’s brief history of the church and Glenda Tucker showing off a fashionable dress from the McCorkle era.” The dress was once worn by Eliza Elizabeth (Moore) Keith, (December 16, 1827-January 8, 1891), the great-great-grandmother of Glenda’s husband, Harry Tucker. People were so interested in Gregg’s presentation on grave dowsing that their questions and his answers pushed his allotted 30-45 minutes on the program to an hour. The church historical committee is restoring the sanctuary and its attached fellowship hall to be used as an event venue.īut restoration wasn’t uppermost in the minds of those in attendance on dowsing day. The dowsing event was another effort to raise awareness and money for the restoration of the original church building. I think there’s two people in this grave, but I’m not sure, because I’m not as experienced as Wayne Gregg.’ So, when they had the special day and demonstrated dowsing for the people, Wayne started walking in the spot where I had been walking and said, ‘There are two people buried here!’” I was getting readings of male and female bodies. (Moyer says they put ribbons on the graves of the church founders.) One kept giving all kinds of problems. “We laid out the McCorkle Cemetery and marked a bunch of graves with flags. “I went up there one afternoon with some members a week before they had the official event,” says Frank Waid, a Springville grave dowser who studied under Gregg. Gregg, who is from DeKalb County, wasn’t the first dowser to notice the anomaly of an extra person in a grave, however. The committee wants to mark those graves and give the folks buried there the recognition they are due, even if their names are unknown. The group soon moved on to the slave section of the cemetery, where the graves have no stones. “We think it might have been Elizabeth’s husband,” says Linda Moyer, chairperson of the Reeves Grove Historical Committee. His rods indicated the presence of a second body that wasn’t represented on the grave marker. The markers weren’t where they were supposed to be. According to the marker, that grave belonged to Elizabeth McCorkle, wife of the original owner of the McCorkle Plantation upon which Reeves Grove now stands. It didn’t take long for Wayne Gregg’s rods to cross, indicating a grave. Backwood Boys Mark Willingham, Marlin Galloway and Adron Willingham play at grave dowsing event. ![]()
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