Jun 20

Tombstone Tuesday-Coins Left on a Tombstone

Occasionally I will see coins that were left on a tombstone. What does that mean?

Coins, Evans Cemetery, Pennsylvania

Coins placed on a headstone or at a gravesite show that someone has visited the grave to pay their respects and to honor the deceased. The coins symbolize that the deceased is still in the family’s thoughts and is a practical way to honor a loved one. Some see it as a substitute for flowers.

Coins, Evans Cemetery, Pennsylvania

People also leave coins the tombstones of veterans to honor them and, by bring attention to their graves, encourage others to honor those who served. This became a common gravesite practice during the Vietnam War.

Coins, Evans Cemetery, Pennsylvania

The custom of gravesite coins dates back to ancient Greek mythology, where soldiers inserted a coin into the mouth of a fallen soldier to ensure the deceased could pay the fee to cross the River Styx and enter the afterlife.

Jun 16

Area News, April-May 1911

There is probably not a better way to see what was going on in this area than to read what was in the local newspaper. Today, some area news from April and May 1911, as published in Mercer County’s Celina Democrat.  

An April wedding:

The Celina Democrat, 28 Apr 1911

Blackcreek News:

The Celina Democrat, 12 May 1911

I am still not sure where Forest Hill was but it seems to have been in the Willshire/Rockford area:

The Celina Democrat, 21 Apr 1911

The Celina Democrat, 26 May 1911

A more detailed report of William Harb’s death:

The Celina Democrat, 26 May 1911

A Liberty Township death notice:

The Celina Democrat, 12 May 1911

News of a successful operation:

The Celina Democrat, 19 May 1911

It is always interesting to read the real estate transfers:

The Celina Democrat, 26 May 1911

Jun 13

Tombstone Tuesday-FNDOZBTKC/MRAY Masonic Inscription

Woodland Cemetery, Van Wert County, Ohio

These mysterious letters, FNDOZBTKC/MRAY, are inscribed on a tombstone in Van Wert’s Woodland Cemetery. They are a Masonic acronym. This long acronym is rather uncommon around here but is reportedly more common in southern states. It was generally used in the mid-1800s-early 1900s.

The letters FNDOZBTKC are an acronym for a Bible verse, John 12:15, “Fear Not, Daughter Of Zion; Behold, The King Cometh.” The remaining letters, MRAY, are an anagram of the word MARY and are usually encircled by the other group of letters. The G in the center probably stands for God or geometry. The letter G is usually in the center of the common Masonic symbol, the compass and square.

This Masonic Degree was conferred on wives, daughters, sisters, or mothers of Masons to recognize their aid to the society and gave them a secret sign of recognition.

The more common Masonic symbol, the square and compass, is inscribed on the side of this tombstone.

Maria (Langdon) Webber tombstone, Woodland Cemetery, Van Wert County, Ohio

This is the tombstone of Maria (Langdon) Webber, born 11 October 1823 in New York. She died 10 April 1886 in Van Wert County. Maria was married to Lyman Jones Webber (1822-1909), who is also buried in Woodland Cemetery. According to Maria’s obituary, she and her husband settled on a farm in southwest Pleasant Township in 1852 and moved into Van Wert about 1876. Maria and her husband had three children and she had been in ill health for several years before her death. Her obituary does not mention her Masonic degree. However, her husband’s obituary mentions that he was one of the oldest Masons in the area and was a Van Wert Masonic member for over 50 years.

Maria (Langdon) Webber tombstone, Woodland Cemetery, Van Wert County, Ohio

 

Jun 09

Willshire High School Class of 1938

Thank you very much to Larry and Anita for sharing this photo of the Willshire High School Graduating Class of 1938.

Willshire High School Class of 1938

A closer look with the names below, left to right.

Willshire High School Class of 1938, rows 1-6

Row 1: Katherine Bilderback, Sec; Taylor Gluth, Super; M.J. Morrison, Principal; Rosella Dull, Treas

Row 2: William Eichar, Pres; Vera Dull, Sponsor; Mary E. Schumm, V. Pres

Row 3: Lawrence Johnson, Teacher; Kathleen Detter; P.G. Konrath, Teacher; Ralph D. Lemon, Teacher

Row 4: Edward Servos, Teacher; Evelyn Dick, Teacher

Row 5: Ruby Pifer; Velma Vining

Row 6: Fermin Dellinger; John J. Giessler

Willshire High School Class of 1938, rows 7-11

Row 7: Glenda Pifer; Pauline Wendel

Row 8: Robert Cowan; Goldie Baumgartner; Delores M. Schumm

Row 9: Betty Medaugh; Betty Altheon; Ruth Miller; Alice Louise Ault

Row 10: Isabel Bollenbacher; Emma Dietrich

Row 11: Joe Avery; Louis Wolfe; William Myers; DeLoyd Hileman

My aunt Ruth Miller was a member of this graduating class and she mentioned some of her classmates when she talked about her school days. Aunt Ruth was the oldest of the eight Miller children. My dad was the fourth Miller child and the first boy in the family.

Ruth (Miller)

Some of my Aunt Ruth’s memories of her class at Willshire High School.

She said Katharine “Katie” Bilderback became a teacher. Kate once brought bananas to a school picnic and Ruth took 2 bananas home to her mother, who loved bananas.  

Aunt Ruth was very good friends with Pauline Wendel, sister of Bob and Jim Wendel of the Wendel Brothers Motor Sales in Chatt, and Velma Vining, sister of Gene Vining, who Joe remembers from their days at the telephone company. The three women were such good friends in school that they called themselves a “trio.” Both Pauline and Velma were in Ruth’s wedding party. Ruth also talked about classmate Betty Altheon.

Ruth and her sister Helen played basketball at Willshire. Their father Carl would pick them up after practice and if Helen’s practice ran long Ruth would go to Mary Schumm’s house on the south end of Willshire.

Ruth said their High School principal Mr. Morrison suggested that she go into the nursing program at the University of Michigan, and she did just that. Her classmate Pauline Wendel also started in the nursing program there but dropped out. Ruth got her nursing degree from the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor in 1941. While attending school there she met Robert Werner and they married in Ann Arbor after Ruth graduated from the nursing program and took her state boards. Robert was still working on his doctorate when they married.

I remember some of the people in the Class of 1938 and have heard of some others. Mary Schumm was my first organ teacher and I took organ lessons from her in the 1960s. Rosella Dull married Gene Vining and Rosella was my music teacher in elementary school and junior high. Joe Avery was an insurance agent and his wife Edna was my mom’s beautician in Willshire for years. Of course, anyone from the area with the surname Schumm is my relative, as well as Emma Dietrich. Glenda and Ruby Pifer were sisters from the Chatt area and I remember them from church dinners. Robert Cowan went on to be a teacher.

My Aunt Ruth lived to be 100 years old. She died in 2020 and I believe she was the oldest living Willshire alumni for a short time.

Thank you for sharing this photo.

Jun 06

Tombstone Tuesday-Maria E. Sundemacher

Maria Weaver Sundemacher, Kessler Cemetery, Mercer County, Ohio (2023 photo by Karen)

This is the tombstone of Maria E. Sundemacher, located in row 12 of Kessler Cemetery, Liberty Township, Mercer County, Ohio. The marker is inscribed:

Maria E. [?]
Frau von [wife of]
J.D. Sundemacher
Gestorben [died]
9 Mai [May] 1876
Alter [age]
67 J [years], 4 M u. 3 T [days]

This is one of two nearly identical tombstones that stand side by side in Kessler Cemetery. These two stones mark the graves of the first and second wives of John Dietrich Sundemacher. A few weeks ago I wrote about John’s first wife Rebecka (1809-1872). [1]

This surname has been read as Gundemacher on these two tombstones but research and studying the letters G and S in the old script shows that the surname is actually Sundemacher.

Sundemacher, Rebecka & Maria, Kessler Cemetery, Mercer County, Ohio (2023 photo by Karen)

John Dietrich and Rebecka Sundemacher lived in Auglaize County in 1860 and likely moved to the Chatt area about the time their daughter Martha married Jacob Hiller at Zion Chatt on 20 February 1868. After their marriage Martha and Jacob Hiller lived in Adams County, Indiana.

John D. Sundemacher’s first wife Rebecka died 27 August 1872 and two years later, on 7 November 1874, John D. Sundemacher married Maria E. Weaver in Auglaize County, Ohio. [2]

Zion Chatt’s communion records agree with this information and these dates. John D. Sundemacher and wife Rebecka first communed at Zion Chatt on Christmas Day 1869. They communed at Zion Chatt at least once a year until Rebecka’s death on 27 August 1872. After Rebecka’s death widower John D. Sundemacher continued to commune at Zion Chatt, communing without a wife during this time. Widower John D. Sundemacher married Maria E. Weaver on 7 November 1874 and they both communed at Zion Chatt on Christmas Day 1874. Maria Weaver Sundemacher died May 1876 and widower John D. took communion by himself in November 1876.

As calculated from her tombstone, Maria Weaver Sundemacher was born 6 January 1809. She was about 65 years of age when she married John D. Sundemacher, so there is a very good possibility that she was married previously. That would mean that Weaver was not her maiden name.

Maria Sundemacher, Kessler Cemeteery, Mercer County, Ohio (2023 photo by Karen)

Negative image, Maria Sundemacher, Kessler Cemeteery, Mercer County, Ohio (2023 photo by Karen)

Zion Chatt’s records indicate that Maria Sundemacher died 7 March 1876, approximately 66 years of age. That date disagrees a couple months from the date inscribed on her tombstone.

Unfortunately, I do not know anything else about Maria Weaver Sundemacher. John D. and Maria married in Auglaize County and I wonder if he knew Maria a few years before, during the time he and his family lived in Auglaize County, in the 1860s.

This is certainly a challenging family to research.

[1] Rebecka A. Sundemacher was the first wife of Johann Dietrich Reinhard Sundemacher. Zion Chatt’s records indicate the Sundemachers were from Weseloh, Kingdom of Hanover. The couple married in Germany and had their children before immigrating to America. Tombstone Tuesday-Rebecka Sundemacher, Karen’s Chatt, 23 May 2023.

[2] Ohio, County Marriages, 1789-2016, Auglaize Marriages, Vol. 4: 240, John D. Suntmacher [sic] & Mary E. Weaver, 7 Nov 1874; FamilySearch.org, viewed 25 May 2023.