Tombstone Tuesday – Smutz

Today’s tombstone is located in Brunswick, Missouri and belongs to my husband’s great-grandparents, Joshua and Jennette Smutz. I took the photo of their gravestone in June 2013 while we were in Missouri on vacation. My sister-in-law has done quite a bit of research on the lines of my husband’s family.

Joshua was born in Fayette county, Pennsylvania to Isaac Smutz and Sarah Stauffer on November 21, 1855. He married Jennette Herbert, daughter of John Herbert and Jennette Smith, on February 26, 1878. The couple had two sons (Earl and Layton) and four daughters (Maggie, Ora, Eva and Della Beryl – my husband’s grandmother). Joshua died on November 21, 1921. Jennette died almost twenty years later on July 25, 1941. They are buried in Elliot Grove Cemetery.

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Tombstone Tuesday – Anna B Sheild

My grandfather took this picture of friend, Mary Lou Sowers, at the gravestone of Anna B Sheild, wife of W.H. Sheild. It was at the family cemetery at Moore House, Yorktown, Virginia. Even though the surname is familiar – these are not the Shield’s who married into my Johnson family. I believe one of the reasons this photo was taken is because of the incorrect date etched into the gravestone of February 30 – the last time I checked, February never had 30 days!

For more information about Moore House, please refer to Moore House – Yorktown National Battlefield (or just google it!).

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Tombstone Tuesday – George Hefler

The photo above was taken by a friend of my grandparents pre-1920 in Anderson, Madison, Indiana. Glen R. Johnson (my maternal grandfather) is standing in between the two headstones and my grandmother, Vesta C. Wilt, is leaning on George Hefler’s headstone. The gal on the right, leaning on Sarah Boltin’s headstone, is a friend of the couple.

When I checked Find a Grave, I noticed that the current picture of George’s stone is very difficult to read. Time and weather has deteriorated the readability – at least via a photo. At the time of the above photo, Sarah Boltin (George’s second wife), was still living. Currently on Find a Grave, it shows that her tombstone has broken off at the base and is laying on the ground. I have cropped a picture of each stone in the above photo and added them to Find a Grave.

I do not believe that George Hefler nor Sarah Boltin are related in any way to my grandparents – the names have not come up in my research. The cemetery –  Grove Lawn in Pendleton, Madison County, Indiana – is also the final resting place for many of my grandfather’s relatives – Johnson’s, Goul’s, and Blazer’s.

 

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Tombstone Tuesday – Johnson

The marker for my maternal grandparents – Glen and Vesta Johnson.  They are at rest at Glen Haven Memorial Gardens, New Carlisle, Clark County, Ohio.  I took this picture on May 13, 2009 after my mother’s graveside service.  It had rained on and off that morning – so the dark spots on the marker is rainwater.  The inscription reads:

   Vesta C.                                              Glen R.
1898-1984                                       1898-1985

                      Together Forever

                             JOHNSON

The symbols are for Eastern Star and the Masons.

They are buried in the Veterans area.

At the edges of the family plot are markers with the initial “J”.

Next to my grandparents is their baby daughter, Lois Evelyn, who died at 6 weeks of age – due to being premature and not being able to gain weight.

Also buried in the family plot are my mother’s brother and his wife.  The picture below is of my grandparents’ marker after I put flowers in their vase.

Rest in peace, my family.

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Tombstone Tuesday – Missouri

This is the very small family plot for George Washington Littrell, his wife – Kitty O. Blakely – and their young daughter – Annie Elizabeth Littrell.  The plot is now located on privately owned land in Chariton County, Missouri outside the city limits of Mendon.  Luckily, the owners are aware this is a family plot and allow the family to visit the small burial ground.  George Washington Littrell is the 2nd great-grandfather of my husband.  He was born in 1828 and died just prior to turning 40 years old in 1868.  Kitty was born in 1837 and died at age 42 in 1875.  Little Annie was born in 1863 and died two years later in 1865.  They parented many children who went on to produce many descendents.

The first time I visited this sacred place, weeds had grown tall and obstructed the stones and littered the ground.  My husband and I went back later to clear it all away.  Each summer when we visit, we try to make sure the cemetery is cleared of debris and weeds.

Most of my husband’s other ancestors, uncles, and grandparents are buried in Mendon City Cemetery located just next to his parents’ home.  My children have visited that cemetery each year and taken countless photos of all the headstones. 

Photographed by Wendy Littrell in July 2002.  Digital photo owned by Wendy Littrell (address for private use).

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Tombstone Tuesday – Sarah Wilt Hofherr

Gravestone of Sarah C. Wilt born to Israel Isaac Wilt and Christena Nash on Oct. 16, 1859 in Indiana.  Married John Hofherr Aug. 16, 1894 in Delaware County, Indiana.  Mother of Bertha May Hofherr Pierce.  Died Aug. 27, 1928.  Buried at Hawk Cemetery near Yorktown, Indiana.  Survived by husband, two sisters, four brothers and three grandchildren.  Sarah was my great-grandfather’s sister.

Photographed by Glen R. Johnson (my grandfather).  Original owned by Wendy Littrell (address for private use).

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Tombstone Tuesday – Nancy Caylor Stern

Gravestone of my 2nd great-grandmother, Nancy Caylor Stern.  Born May 10, 1840 and died Dec. 21, 1900.  Buried in Noblesville, Hamilton County, Indiana.  Photo taken by my grandfather, Glen R. Johnson. Original in my possession.

Nancy married Emanual Bushong Stern on Feb. 6, 1857 and they had 8 children: Susannah, Samuel, Margaret (Ellen), John, Daniel, Elias, Martha (my great-grandmother), and Mary between 1858 and 1874.  Nancy and Emanuel divorced before the 1900 Census.

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Tombstone Tuesday

Can I get in on this at this late hour?  Just today I scanned some more photos that I’ll be cleaning up & cropping to post to Find A Grave. 

My grandmother, Vesta (Wilt) Johnson and her brother, Clarence Wilt, at the grave of their father, Joseph Napolean Wilt, in Bethel* Cemetery near Lexington, Scott County, Indiana.  Joe died in January 1944.  When he died it had been many years since my grandmother had seen him.  My mother remembers standing “on the side of a hill” during the burial and the ground frozen solid.  This picture was taken by my grandfather, Glen R. Johnson, in 1959.

Taken three years later, four of Joe’s six children, gathered at the gravesite.  One son, Jesse, had passed away in 1959 and the second oldest, John, did not travel from Oregon to Indiana.

The headstone also lists Joe’s second wife, Anna Park, and their son, Albert. 

Joseph Napolean Wilt – born January 21, 1868 died January 9, 1944
Anna Park Wilt – born April 12, 1879 d. 1941
Albert Wilt – born 1917 d. September 1933

*Other information lists the cemetery as Beswick.

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