Find an Unmarked Grave

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Grace Averill

Some ancestors are most likely in unmarked graves, which might present a puzzle to be solved. Here are two cases in point. 

Case 1: Little Baby Lost

An ancestor, named Mabel Averill, died in Illinois shortly before her first birthday, but her body was returned to Nebraska for burial according to her death certificate. No cemetery or undertaker was on the certificate. Her parents, now living in Illinois, felt it best that she be buried with her older sister who also died when very young. Her older sister, Grace, was buried in the Wisner City Cemetery.

The puzzle was: where was Mabel buried?

Mabel Unknown

Baby Mabel was almost certainly buried in the Wisner City Cemetery, but there was no listing for her. Looking at Findagrave, a Mabel was buried there with no surname listed. In findagrave, she is listed as "Mabel Unknown." What's more, the headstone, shown at left, had the inscription "Another little angel before the heavenly throne." An identical inscription was on the headstone of her cousin Clyde Averill. Perhaps this was the answer to the mystery. The odd factor was that "Mabel Unknown" was buried nowhere near the rest of the Averill graves. So things stood in 2017.

In 2023, the puzzle was taken up once more. Between 2017 and 2023, observation of the cemetery grave listings showed that "Baby Averill" (Mabel's sister Grace) was in Grave C and Mabel's Cousin Clyde was in Grave E. Grace passed away in 1881, Mabel died in 1891, and Clyde died in 1898. Perhaps the missing Grave D contained our Mabel, but there was nothing listed in the cemetery book.

Cemetery Book Plot Gap

Wisner Municipal from Google

A visit to the Wisner Municipal Office provided a final piece to the puzzle. The clerk confirmed that there was a burial in Grave D, but she had no name or date for the burial. As it turns out, "Mabel Unknown" belonged to another family and our Mabel was buried in the Averill plot between her older sister and her younger cousin.

Mabel Averill unmarked grave and Mabel Unknown

Case 2: Missing Patriarch an Easy Solution

An ancestor, James G. Booth, immigrated from England with his wife and children where they ultimately settled in Saint Louis and raised 8 children. Sadly, James passed away from tuberculosis in 1887 and both the burial certificate and Findagrave indicate he was buried in Bellefontaine Cemetery in Saint Louis. In this case, there are over 87,000 people buried in the cemetery and Findagrave did not have a photo of the headstone.

Booth Family inBellefontaine

Booth Plot Graves

Luckily, Findagrave DID list James's grave as "Section HOWE Block 171 lot 3404." What's more, Bellefontaine Cemetery and Arboretum maintains an online cemetery map. Combined with the Findagrave photo, the site of James's grave was located, and it was determined that James and his wife, Sarah, were buried under the bushes to the right of Grace Jackson's grave and directly behind the graves of Leslie and Thomas Booth.

Booth Plot with James at the back

James and Sarah Booth

James is right under a bush!