The sadness of saying farewell, unrelieved grief at the loss of children, tragedies that tore apart families, traditions that connected a people to their almost-lost identity: all of these can be found in cemeteries in Gloucester and Mathews that span several centuries of our history.

A double drowning

Summer was winding to a close on Aug. 28, 1931, when 10-year-old Nannie Miller Minter of Beaverlett and her Newport News cousin Marie Dertl, 12, dressed in their bathing suits and ran to the edge of Horn Harbor to play. Marie was the guest of her aunt, Mrs. John Miller, who lived at Susan. Nannie came from her home to visit Marie, a cousin, and was also a guest.

The morning brought sounds of the girls’ laughter to adults at the waterfront Miller home, the Mathews Journal reported. Then the chatter ended. At first the hosts thought the girls had gone visiting elsewhere, but they soon became alarmed and summoned help.

Marie’s body was found first, on a shoreline about a quarte...