MORRISON  —  Efforts to restore Clary Cemetery have been ongoing for over a year, but Jody Lewis offered something a little different — she dowses for graves as a hobby. “There’s three different terminologies,” Lewis explained. “Witching, which is anything to do with water. Dowsing is old foundations, graves, and underlying electrical structures. Doodle-bugging is if you’re looking for oil. If you can dowse for water, you can dowse for graves.”

She began by holding the dowsing rods loosely in her hands and walking in a straight line until the rods crossed, indicating a grave or foundation. “When anything is dug, the magnetic field is broken, and it will never reconnect,” Lewis said. “That’s why the rods cross, because the magnetic field is trying to reconnect. You could even come in and asphalt or concrete over this, and you’d still be able to find the graves because of the magnetic field being broken.”

When she finds a grave, she drops the left dowsing rod to her side, allowing the right one to swing freely. “You’re buried head West, feet East,” Lewis said. “They can’t scientifically say why, but if it’s a male, it will go to the East, to their feet – Clint EASTwood - and if it’s a female, it will go to the West to the head – Mae WEST – and that’s just an easy way to remember.”

Lewis added she could also tell whether the deceased was a child or an adult, or at least their size, by walking the length of the grave until the dowsing rods uncross.

That appeared to hold true with the marked graves, except for one, where Lewis said the married couple was buried opposite of where their names were listed on the headstone.

Board member Shannon “Woody” Whithaus, who has dowsed for water, tried it as well and appeared to get results consistent with Lewis’s.

Board member Steve Nolte pointed out a row of children’s graves along the west fence line, explaining that many were children whose parents had left the area after their child’s death. Both board members also called attention to the graves of Civil War veterans and family members.

“You can tell (those are Union soldiers) because that’s a rounded top,” Lewis said. “Confederate (graves) have a pointed top because they didn’t want any Yankees sitting on it.”

“There’s a reason for every damned thing, isn’t there” laughed Clary Cemetery Board President Kenny Hackmann.

“A lot of times, during the Civil War, when a soldier would die, they would change the date on his rock or headstone by a month (to discourage) grave robbers,” Lewis said. “He may have died, say, May first, but they might have put March first because nobody wants to dig up a rotten body.”

While working, she offered stories and information based on her cemetery experience. Lewis explained that lost cemeteries with no headstones can often be found by looking for cedar trees or yuccas. “They’re the tree of life; they stay green year-round, and that’s why you always see them at the cemeteries,” she added. “Plus, deer don’t like yucca, so people don’t have to worry about their flowers being (eaten).

“I have no ties to this cemetery, but it’s somebody’s final resting spot,” she continued. “And to have a cemetery either destroyed or desecrated in any way, I’ll be honest, I’d just, like, take somebody out at their knees because it’s not right.”

Based on information Lewis provided, board members marked alleged unmarked graves inside the fence with blue flags for men and orange for women, but her efforts left them with more questions than answers. After nearly three hours, Lewis located 47 mostly unmarked and undocumented graves and the foundation of the old building inside the cemetery. The foundation was expected; graves in the same location were not.

In another area, she found a rectangle that could have been a foundation, bunker, or even a place dug to accommodate a bunker that had never been built. Inside the rectangle were unmarked graves for one adult male and one adult female.

Lewis was also able to locate what seemed to be the old road through the cemetery, beginning at the original gate. Within that area appeared to be a group of approximately 14 previously unknown adult males buried in two rows. “Usually, if you have a lot of males in line, it was either a mining accident or a war,” Lewis said.

“I had a book that listed all the Osage County Civil War vets, and I didn’t find any casualties that I thought could have been buried here,” said Hackmann.

Lewis also located approximately 88 unmarked graves outside the West fence, which she said often meant the deceased were slaves. Those graves were not flagged individually, as that area is a cow pasture, but orange flags were placed just inside the cemetery fence to mark the beginning of the first row.

“That blows my mind,” said Hackmann, taking his hat off to run a hand over his head, “Steve mentioned that we were hoping to do a cemetery walk. We’re hoping to make that interesting, but this is going to add a new dimension to that.”

To make donations to the restoration fund, mail checks to Clary Cemetery at St. James UCC, 690 Hwy. 100, Morrison, Mo., 65061. All money collected will be used strictly for the restoration and upkeep of the Clary Cemetery.