First, I hate using "Tumbling" in the title. It is misleading. I wanted to use "Wandering," but simply could not think of a word for a headstone or tombstone that started with a 'W', or even had a similar sounding first syllable as either name. I really wanted that lilting cadence in the title.
Second, I will not be divulging any names or locations this time. The details are sensitive. At least they could be. They should be. So I am erring on the side of caution. I think you will agree and appreciate this as you read further.
Once upon a time (Isn't that the most apropos intro to a Br'er Graveyard Rabbit spiel?), a young man died. He was mourned. He was buried, and his grave marked by a basic headstone. Under normal circumstances, that would be the end of the tale.
The circumstances were not to remain normal.
The circumstances were not to remain normal.
Separately, Br'er learned of a cemetery in a most unusual spot - a convenience/gas station parking lot. This odd juxtaposition was intriguing enough to warrant a visit. This had to be confirmed.
Sure enough, everything was as it seemed. Though, the details gleaned from seeing it in person were enlightening. First, the cemetery was old for the area, dating from the mid-19th century. It was obviously a family, and the story the stones told was as sad as expected. One grave held a young mother and her infant. The heartbreak of a husband and father, the tragedy of a broken family, and other facts were moving.
Additionally, the graves were almost under a raised mound. The surrounding area had been removed to level out the larger area when the site was developed from the farmland it must once have been. The result left the small area of the cemetery about four feet above current ground level. A retaining wall and fence had been added to protect the site.
With only a scant handful of graves recorded, I decided to audit the cemetery; to verify all the graves and update GPS.
Then I see a much newer, unrecorded grave dating from the late 1990s - a century or more after the last burial. And the name does not appear to be related to any of the other graves.
We have a right bizarre situation!
Now, understand that we are not describing some homemade, temporary, or tiny marker. This is a commercially produced granite headstone weighing several hundred pounds. And it appears to have been deliberately set. Very strange.
Being unable to contain my imagination, I had to speculate how the marker came to be here. It seems most likely to me that this was a "guerilla" burial, probably for cremains. I've seen much the same thing in other places. Other tales for other times. I don't suppose I will ever know the truth.
I search for the memorial in Find A Grave and come up with nothing. So I add it as a new memorial and move on.
Fast-forward a few years and I get an email informing me that this person is not buried where I found the headstone, but in a municipal cemetery some 33 miles away, asking that I 'move' the memorial to the correct cemetery,
Ordinarily, I would not hesitate to apply any reasonable changes to a memorial requested of me. But this? No, I am going to have to demure since I personally saw the headstone in situ and created the Find A Grave memorial standing next to it. The person who had contacted me understood; and offered to recheck their facts and then contact me with more details.
Sweet! I had tried to find more details when I first found the grave but did not get anywhere.
A few days pass, and I have a new email updating me on the mystery marker. I doubt I could have dreamt up a story like this!
The person was, in fact, interred miles away in the municipal cemetery. The paper trail is solid. A person or persons unknown later decided to abscond with the headstone. For reasons beyond the comprehension of mere mortals, they dumped the headstone in the family cemetery where I found it.
That took dedication! Not that I would ever approve of vandalism, I can at least understand some lowlife toppling or moving a stone a few feet.
But thirty-plus miles? To place it in another cemetery? (Much less this cemetery.) That beggars the imagination!
As our little story unfolds, I learn that the deceased died committing armed robbery. And that he left a wife and four young children behind.
I have reassigned the Find A Grave memorial to the correct cemetery. And added the location details provided by the contact who originally brought the story to light.
As I write this, folks are coordinating efforts to return the headstone to the correct cemetery and place it at the correct gravesite.
It is not often one hears of a wandering grave marker!
No comments:
Post a Comment