Back in November 2010 we were doing some clean up work in America Cemetery and found the headstones for four boys, Abner, William, John and Wabeen Stevens. They all died under the age of 5 and were all the sons of Elijah and Permelia Stevens.
You can read the posting here....
We searched the rest of the cemetery and didn't locate their parents. I did some searching on Ancestry, Find A Grave, etc... and couldn't find what happened to the rest of the family and, especially their parents.
The sight of these four little stones just tugged at my heart and I desperately wanted to find the rest of their family.
What happened to their parents Elijah and Permelia has remained a mystery to me.....until today!
I received the following comment on that posting 11 months after it first appeared and this is what it said:
"Permelia and Elijah Stevens were my 2nd great grandparents. I just found their graves on FindAGrave.com listed under Elijah Stephens and Emelia Stephens at the Old LaFontaine Cemetery. Their last name was spelled Stephens on the death certificate of their daughter, Alice also. On a whim, I searched on the alternate spelling and couldn't believe I actually found them."
I can't believe she found them either! But I shouldn't be surprised. After all tomorrow morning I am headed two hours back to the cemetery to do more clean up work. A trip that has been planned for months.
Perfect timing? Strange coincidence? Or another instance of Cemetery Serendipity. I think you all know which one I think is at work here......
Lisa I just love stories like this. One day, my prince will come - I too shall have a serendipitous genealogical moment happen to me.
ReplyDeleteThat is great! I love getting comments on old posts. Even better when they solve a mystery.
ReplyDeleteWonderful discovery! So the parents are in a different cemetery? I wonder what caused the early deaths of all the children: disease or just a hard life?
ReplyDeleteWhat an awesome outcome - I love reading stories like this!
ReplyDeleteWhat a terrific turn of events!!
ReplyDeleteThe parents are in a different cemetery but I believe that is because the cemetery the children are in was full. It only has 76 burials in it. I was there today and did notice alot of people in the cemetery died about the same time as the kids. May have been disease. I'm going to do more research not only because I'm curious but I also believe I may be related!
ReplyDeleteHow wonderful. My daughter and I will soon be taking cemetery pictures and we hope to help others in such a way.
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