Tombstone Tuesday, or How a Tree Helped Me Find a Grave

The birds in the tree were singing so loudly during my Grandma Ruth's graveside service that I found it impossible to pay attention to what the priest was saying. It was as if all of our departed ancestors had come to sing Grandma's soul aloft. Her grave and the guardian tree are located at a high point in St. Joseph Cemetery in Bristol, CT. The funeral was twenty-four years ago this July. Wow, that's hard to believe. 

Don't Forget to Ask for Directions

Fast forward to last May 2010. As I mentioned, while attending my cousin's wedding in Glenn Cove, New York, MJ and I took a little trip to Calvary Cemetery to find my 2x great grandmother Sarah's grave. I had done my homework and knew she was buried in Section 2, Avenue 11, Plot P, Grave #8. There was just one key question I had forgotten to ask: Is there a map with sections, avenues and plots marked or are these locations clearly marked within the cemetery?

MJ and I arrived at the cemetery full of energy and ready to go grave seeking. The building at the main entrance was deserted. 

View Larger Map

There was a groundskeeper's truck parked nearby. The female in our group wanted to ask the gardener for directions, but the male was sure we could find the grave without assistance, so we started driving around. Luckily Section 2 was clearly marked. We hopped out of the car and started our search at the lowest point of the section. Immediately we realized that many of the gravestones were either missing or appeared to have melted. What were the odds that Sarah's grave would still exist after one hundred and ten years?

How a Tree Helped Me Find a Grave

After about an hour of reading stones and running short on time, MJ jumped in the car and left to try to find the groundskeeper and ask for help. While he was gone, I was suddenly transported back to my Grandma Ruth's funeral. There was a large tree at the pinnacle of Section 2. It felt just like the tree from which the birds had been singing at the funeral. I felt drawn to walk up to it.

Still scanning stones on my way up the hill, I immediately found this one:

Sarah Grace's parents were John and Sarah Murtagh, but from my research I knew that there were two so named couples. I hadn't yet determined John's date of death or place of burial, but took photos of the stones for later research.

Was it the Tree or Something or Someone Else?

I continued further, reading stones and waiting for MJ to return, but felt a strong pull from the tree back at the top of the hill. I stood very still and listened to the quiet voice. I asked this voice if I was imagining it, but decided that I didn't need an answer and, thinking about my Grandma Ruth, I wandered back to the tree.

The Duh Moment

MJ returned and reported no success in finding anyone to help us located the grave. I shared my recent experience and showed him the stone I had found and then we decided we must return for the wedding. Once in the car, I had the brilliant idea to try calling the cemetery office and luckily they answered. The helpful person at the other end of the line explained that each gravestone was marked with the section, avenue and plot. Hmmm....and we didn't notice that. Yikes, as my daughter would say. What a learning experience!

We jumped back out of the car and started looking again, this time for the location engravings. Using the engravings we were guided back to the stone I had photographed just a few minutes earlier. Although we could not find the location engraving on the Murtagh stone, here is the bottom of the Keilt stone from the photo above:

Section 2, Ave 11, Plot 10

 Genealogical Serendipity

A simple math equation of ten minus two made the Murtagh grave Plot 8, the unmarked burial place for their daughter Sarah and her infant. Some would say that it was all coincidental, but I know that we had some help finding this grave. It may have been my Grandma Ruth, or my Murtagh 3x great grandparents, or Sarah, or even her baby. Or, it may have been the tree, at the top of the hill.

Section 2, Avenue 11 is directly behind this street side grave

All I know is that genealogical serendipity has struck again and connected me just a little bit more strongly with my ancestors.

Scrappy Gen, looking weird because she couldn't figure out how to pose with a gravestone

Has genealogical serendipity happened to you? I would love to hear about it. 

Scrappy Gen

Let's Remember!

Related articles

• Tombstone Tuesday - How to Find a Grave (scrappygenealogist.com)
• Tombstone Tuesday - Kokoska (chicagofamilyhistory.wordpress.com)

Procrastination Pays Off....Again?!

Really! I don't believe that my procrastination is a good thing! Actually it is my biggest shortcoming. But, then...along comes this Report of Death, sent to me from Ancestry by one of my Brainard cousins. Clarence is our shared great grandfather, who left his wife and two young children and went to Canada. Coincidentally or serendipitously, I shared a bit about our great grandmother Irene just five days ago as part of the Fearless Females series.  

Report of Death of American Citizen Abroad

The big surprises were that he was married to someone named Dorothy, that he is buried in Mystic, Connecticut and that he was registered with the Veteran's Administration. More clues to follow. Could he have had children? When did he serve in the military? 

For our twentieth wedding anniversary, MJ and I spent a week in Montreal. Before our trip I had researched the Montreal City Directories and recorded the addresses of the places Clarence had lived. There were no less than eight. The final address was listed on this report as his place of death.

Please don't think that procrastinating is a good thing and certainly Ancestry will not have everything we need, it just worked out for me this time. Yes, it payed off. I didn't have to spend money to order the death certificate, but I could also be sitting here waiting another 50 years. So, don't wait, order or go and obtain those vital records you need to validate your family's genealogy. 

Thank you to my cousin for sending this important document! I love cousins! Remember? Like siblings, without the rivalry. 

Happy Saturday!

Scrappy Gen

Let's Remember!

Genealogical Serendipity or Supernatural Occurrence

Bubba was Irish and that may explain it. We grew up hearing anecdotes about souls, who had passed, communicating with those still living in the physical world. There was never a question of whether or not a connection to the spiritual world existed, it just did. It was certainly a comfort to grow up believing our ancestors were watching over us.

This history is why I was not all that surprised by what happened yesterday. Several weeks ago, I had decided to learn more about Bubba’s service on a PT Boat during World War II. I mentioned here having a patch with a rabbit that Bubba had given me. The patch represented his PT Boat Squadron. Wanting to share it with you, I searched through all of my treasure boxes and memorabilia files but could not find it anywhere.

I called my sister, who also had one of the patches, and she agreed to send it to me for scanning as long as I immediately returned it, which I did. Fast forward to yesterday and suddenly, sitting on my back hall counter was the patch. Had it fallen out of the bag for my sister? A call to my sister revealed that she was in possession of her patch. I knew I had put my patch away with my family treasures for safe keeping. How had it appeared on my counter? Did Bubba put it there?

A skeptic could easily explain away my discovery, but a skeptic I am not. I am partly Irish after all. 

Bubba, thank you for letting us know you are around. We love you and miss you, especially today, your birthday. Happy Birthday!

Love, 

Scrappy Genny

(Bubba always called me Jenny.)

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