CAN WE FIND THEM? (December 2015)
A few years ago when I still lived in Texas and I was just visiting here, Janet Smith took me to the Cemetery of St. John the Baptist Church in Johnsburg on a mission to locate the graves of two of the Schueneman family; one was the mother of Johann Heinrich Schuenemann, Anna Elisabeth nee Dankbar Schuenemann. I knew she died and was buried in l866 because I had received a letter from Reverend John Holdren with that information. The other one was a child, Johann Gerhardt who was three years old on the l860 census and died in l861, who was in Volume 1 of the church’s records. Neither of those two have visible headstones on the plot of Johann Heinrich and his wife Maria Catherine nee Greitenevert Schuenemann in the cemetery.
At the time, Janet and I were fortunate to view the original cemetery plat of the graves. However, neither of the two I was looking for was located on that plat. It was the opinion that the plot of Johann Heinrich was quite large in comparison with the other old ones and possibly could have the other two graves in it but through the years could have been covered up with soil and grass. No one at the time could explain where these two mentioned above were buried elsewhere, and yet they were in the church cemetery records. I returned to Texas and although I wrote about it in Know Your Roots newsletters I never followed up on it.
Now that I live here in the vicinity of Johnsburg I decided to try again and find them. I enlisted the help of Jerry Larkin in my quest and he agreed to take me to Johnsburg to speak with the woman in charge of the cemetery. Guess what, she was still the same person in charge of the cemetery and had a copy of the old cemetery plat all laid out for us. (The original plat is in very delicate condition and is now in a safety vault.)
Jerry and I went over the copy of the original plat and still found no evidence of the location of the graves of Anna Elisabeth and the child Johann Gerhardt. Yes, the church had the records of the burials. Yes, the plot was big enough to hold two extra graves. No, the church did not have the wherewithal to try to locate and uncover them. Once again, we were given permission to try to find them ourselves. So after the first of the year, when the weather permits, in the large plot of Johann Heinrich, Jerry with rod and shovel will do his best to ferret out our two missing ancestors. Keep in mind he will be searching through almost 155 years. Do you think he will find them?
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year
At the time, Janet and I were fortunate to view the original cemetery plat of the graves. However, neither of the two I was looking for was located on that plat. It was the opinion that the plot of Johann Heinrich was quite large in comparison with the other old ones and possibly could have the other two graves in it but through the years could have been covered up with soil and grass. No one at the time could explain where these two mentioned above were buried elsewhere, and yet they were in the church cemetery records. I returned to Texas and although I wrote about it in Know Your Roots newsletters I never followed up on it.
Now that I live here in the vicinity of Johnsburg I decided to try again and find them. I enlisted the help of Jerry Larkin in my quest and he agreed to take me to Johnsburg to speak with the woman in charge of the cemetery. Guess what, she was still the same person in charge of the cemetery and had a copy of the old cemetery plat all laid out for us. (The original plat is in very delicate condition and is now in a safety vault.)
Jerry and I went over the copy of the original plat and still found no evidence of the location of the graves of Anna Elisabeth and the child Johann Gerhardt. Yes, the church had the records of the burials. Yes, the plot was big enough to hold two extra graves. No, the church did not have the wherewithal to try to locate and uncover them. Once again, we were given permission to try to find them ourselves. So after the first of the year, when the weather permits, in the large plot of Johann Heinrich, Jerry with rod and shovel will do his best to ferret out our two missing ancestors. Keep in mind he will be searching through almost 155 years. Do you think he will find them?
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year