Returning The Gate: This Weekend's Project

I grew up on a farm that has been in my family for generations. Over 170 years. In that amount of time, and acres to work with, a lot of "stuff" can be accumulated. Take into account that these people often didn't have a lot to work with, they were isolated, and not wealthy. Add to that: they made it through the Great Depression, and that's why EVERYTHING is saved.

This gate has been in the barn since I can remember. Isn't it beautiful? The newels are in the picture above. My Dad told me that this gate and fencing was originally erected around a family cemetery plot. His Mother's family buried 5 children in one year because of diphtheria. His Mother, and 4 other siblings, survived.

The fence was removed in the 1940's to make it easier to mow the cemetery. My Dad used the fence for pigs (He was young, and stupid, and didn't see the value in an old fence...His words, not mine). So, much of the original fencing has been destroyed, but he still has about 12' and the gate.

When I said I'd ask if the cemetery would want it back, he acted as if a weight had been lifted.
I think he has felt badly, all of these years, and would be happy to have it returned to the original cemetery plot, or at least to have offered it back to them. So that's how I came to spend the weekend trying to return a cemetery gate.