20 March 2012

Tombstone Tuesday--The Averill Mystery

Well, okay. It probably is only a mystery to me. But it does drive me crazy. And obviously I need to take the time to dig into the county records.
Bennett Cemetery, in Chester township of Ottawa County, Michigan is where my Great-great-great grandparents are apparently buried, along with many other Averills.
The above stone for Samuel Averill and two wives (consecutive, not simultaneous as far as I know,) is located in the background of this stone. According to the transcript given at the Bennett Cemetery link, they list this as Oscar V. Averill.
It seems to me though, while not completely clear here, that it says "Wife Of Oscar Averill", especially when I visited the site in person. They website also does not list the dates, which is also quite frustrating. The stone above for wife of Oscar, as well as on the Averill stone in the background both lists dates, as do others that I have picture of. Apparently whoever made the transcript decided not to fill in the information on that column.
I remember these stone was quite close to the deep ditch in front of the cemetery. It also is clear that it was broken. (duh!) I dearly wanted to dig a bit to see if a death date was also given. After all, if the top was broken off, so could the bottom have been broken. But I restrained myself.
Clearly, a call to the Chester township offices, or county clerk is in order.

1 comment:

  1. Yes - I must admit I have dug down a couple inches to reveal a date or hidden inscription. Then I clean up the site and leave the inscription exposed - til mother nature moves in again.
    Regards,
    Theresa (Tangled Trees)

    ReplyDelete

Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.