Oak Ridge Cemetery MN

Mystery time!

Old cemeteries hold a lot of mysteries, and we have plenty at Oak Ridge. One involves the Ruggles family plot in Section E. Their handsome granite obelisk marker in this plot of 6 grave-sites lists 6 names and dates for 6 of their family members, yet 3 of their listed dead died well before Oak Ridge was even formed (1857). How can this be? See pics.

Did they reinter these 3 to Oak Ridge from other cemeteries or properties? Are their bodies even here? Could these be CENOTAPHs? -- memorial markers for people buried elsewhere, location known or unknown?

Let's first look into our old records to find clues. Of the 6 Ruggles-owned grave-sites we find that only 3 are known to be actual Ruggles burials and a 4th being one for an "Edward Clark, age 28."

So now let's check genealogy, census records, and old newspapers.

Let's start with the Ruggles member with the earliest birth date. That would be Mrs. Lydia Ruggles (1796-1885). She was the first of the family buried in this plot. She was married to Mr. Spooner Ruggles Sr (1795-1874), had 12 children with him, and lived in Illinois.

Upon Spooner's death in 1874 she moved to Faribault as one of her sons, Liberty, lived here. She is listed in the 1880 census living with Liberty, his wife Catherine, their son Arthur, and niece Jennie. See pic.

Liberty and Catherine were early settlers, arriving in 1856. They bought land for their first home from John Shields who eventually started Shieldsville. Catherine was the older sister of Mary Ripley Mott who was married to Rodney Mott, also a prominent early settler in the area.

Mother Lydia's time in Faribault was short it seems as she died in 1885. Son Liberty had her buried in one of the 6 grave-sites he purchased when the cemetery was formed.

The next burial in the family plot, per our records, was for Edward Clark in 1888. It turns out that Mother Lydia's last child was a daughter they named Lydia Jane, in 1834. Lydia Jane married a Mr. Lucius Clark and they had son Edward Clark in 1860, and lived in Illinois.

In 1880 Edward was classified by the State of Illinois as an “idiot” and institutionalized. He may have then been moved to the Faribault State Mental Hospital soon afterwards as he had family here; Liberty and Catherine were his Uncle and Aunt. He does have a separate marker in the plot but it is not very legible, but at least now we know how he's connected.

Unfortunately, Liberty's wife Catherine fell sick and died next at age 74 in 1897. It was likely about this time that Liberty procured the marker we see today. It is made of granite, as only about then were motor-driven machines available to cut, chisel, and polish such hard stone. It's beautiful. We suspect he had all the names and dates added to the stone we see leaving only his death date blank. He died in 1910.

As for the remaining “Mystery 3 Ruggles,” we found no evidence of any of them being reinterred with us, but we think we figured it out. These 3 are listed on one face of the obelisk marker with Mother Lydia, as well as on Mother Lydia's ground marker. (see pics)

Sarah Maria Ruggles (1826-1839); Age 12.
Thomas Carlton Ruggles (1831 -1850); Age 18.
Spooner Ruggles Jr (1828-1852); Age 24.

It turns out these were 3 of Lydia's 12 children, and they indeed have no known graves elsewhere. We did a pretty thorough search too. All but one of her children (William) outlived Liberty and those others who did die prior to Liberty we were able to find records of their graves' locations online.

Sarah, Thomas Carlton, and Spooner Jr have no burial records that we could find, and only Spooner Jr has a public record of his death.

It's not all that surprising, as in Illinois, where they all presumably died, a search found only 5 people named Ruggles who died prior to 1852 with publicly known graves, and all but 1 was an infant. Not much more we can do.

It's pretty reasonable to conclude, therefore, that by Liberty adding his 3 siblings' names and dates to these markers, it was his way to establish a memorial to honor their lives and to connect them to their mother.

He must have known that no one in the family knew where these 3 were actually buried as by then it was also many decades later. It likely will remain a family mystery, but we know more now than we did yesterday, which is progress. There are numerous other "Ruggles" family members around Minnesota, so if you know of any, send them a link.

All that said, we don't plan to change our cemetery records but we will make a note about what our research found.

Everyone deserves to be remembered.

Oh, you're going to like this story!

While mowing this week we noticed a beautiful flowering peony had blossomed in Section 3 located in the Barnett plot at the north-end of the cemetery. So stunning!

Looking more closely at the foot of the plant was the partially sunken marker for “S. Olive Baker” who died at just age 51 in 1928. Presumably this peony was planted sometime near the time of her death, making this peony almost 100 years old. Yes, peonies can live that long.

It's pretty likely that this peony came from the World famous Faribault Brand peony farm started by August Brand in 1868 and which continued until 1955 when it was taken over by the Tischler brothers.

The marker notes S. Olive Baker was a wonderful spouse, a helping-hand, and a fine parent; attributes most people strive to be in life and hope to be remembered for. Let's learn more about her.

She was born in southwestern Iowa as Sarah Olive Huff, the second child of 16 to Aaron and Lucy Huff. At age 16 she married Lewis Avery and had 2 children with him, Charles and Goldie. They divorced around 1901 but she remarried in 1903 to carpenter Herbert Victor Baker, and he adopted her 2 children. Good man.

Sarah Olive and Herbert then had 2 children of their own, Foss and Nicholl, and by 1920 the family of 6 moved to Faribault.

Herb was employed as a cabinet maker for E.M. Leach & Sons Lumber company. Herb also loved the violin, but being left-handed, he had to make his own “lefty” violins for himself. He became well known for this specialty and began making violins for other such “lefties.”

By the mid-1920s, the older children had moved out and youngest daughter Nicholl married local boy Reggie Prinzing and moved to Cannon City. Son Foss was just then graduating from Carleton and was also about to move out on his own. Sarah Olive and Herbert had suddenly reached life's empty nest phase.

So are you now ready for the plot twist?

Sadly in May of 1928, Sarah's father Aaron died at age 72 in Colorado. Her mother Lucy, also 72, was now left living alone. Ironically, it wasn't but a few months after this that our beloved Sarah Olive herself fell sick and died in Faribault. She was just 51, and left grieving husband Herbert a widower at age 64.

So let's see. Mother Lucy just lost her husband and daughter, and was now living alone. Herbert lost his wife and was also now all alone. It seems obvious that in the process of helping each other through the grief that they became closer. Perhaps he saw a lot of Sarah in her mother Lucy, and Lucy saw a lot of her husband Aaron in Herbert.

So yes, despite the raised eyebrows and whispers it would cause locally, they knew there would also be many accepting smiles by those close. So on April 27th 1930, just 17 months after dear Sarah Olive passed away, Son-In-Law Herbert Baker married Mother-In-Law Lucy Huff in Faribault. See pic.

Ya just gotta love it!

It's a bit fuzzy about what happened next but it looks like they ended up in California for the next 16 years, with Lucy passing on at age 90 and Herb 2 years later at age 83. Good for them. Let love prevail.

And now you know the rest of the story, one inspired by a lovely peony.

Everyone deserves to be remembered.

Memorial weekend is very special. Cemetery caretakers make a concerted effort to prepare the grounds nicely for families to come out to honor their family's Veterans who died in war. This practice began in 1868.

Cemeteries place flags at graves of all their Vets as a sign of the deep gratitude we all have for their sacrifice fighting for Freedom and Liberty through the years. At Oak Ridge, we are especially proud of the 119 Vets who rest in our care, which is nearly 1 in 4 of the adult men buried with us. That's exceptional, and it's an honor we hold dear.

As mentioned in our April 2026 article, we asked for support to place Date Tags on 6 more of our Civil War Vets' headstones this year. Support was swift and the work has been completed. (see pics). Thank you!!

Our Date Tag sponsors this year were:
Mary Lynn Andrews - Sergeant George S. Norton and Pvt Myron J. Perkins
Jane Berghoff - Corporal David Reed and Private Hugh Smith
Greg Zimprich - Sergeant Charles E. Smith and Major Rev. Edwin C. Sanders

Volunteers have now placed flags, and they look great and will fly all season. We welcome families and the public to come honor our Vets.

Do you have a few spare flowering annuals handy? Feel free to visit and plant them at one or more Vet graves that you are drawn to. They would appreciate it! Hostas are also welcome. OR, look over the list attached to find a family name you recognize and at least visit them to say Thank You. See the large map at the pump house to help locate grave site locations.

We also welcome families to come “tidy up” the grave sites where their relatives or friends rest. Several families were out doing just that in the last few days. It's so nice to see. Water is available at the pump house.

Thanks again to all who follow and support Oak Ridge, and we do hope you have a pleasant Holiday.

Everyone deserves to be remembered.

Spring chores. So far 60 hrs spent collecting up Oak Ridge leaves with help from Jason Krogh here. Lynda B, Laurie K, Becky B, Tom R, and Jane B, picked up all the sticks prior to first mow too. The sticks filled a large trailer, then off they went to the compost site. Thank you all!

Books could be written about the contributions of the Mott family in Faribault. They were pioneers and have a large lot at Oak Ridge.

One of their 5 daughters, Alice, has an interesting story of her own, highlighted in this 1899 article below.

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Miss Alice J. Mott, Ph. D., of Faribault Holds Many Degrees.

Not many women hold as many university degrees as Miss Alice J. Mott of Faribault. Like many other clever men and women, she was fonder seemingly of romping and playing when a child than of books.

Her mother was her chief instructor, in which task she was assisted by her eldest daughter, Mrs. West, who did not always find it an easy matter to teach the lively child, who much preferred to climb trees and run about outdoors than to sit in the house quietly.

But nevertheless she absorbed a great deal more knowledge than most girls and studied in a way all her own. She went to school apparently only to graduate, and she first graduated from Faribault High School, then from St. Mary's Hall. Her first University degree was Ph.B., which she gained at the University of Iowa; this was followed by an A.M. from the same University. This June the University of Minnesota conferred the degree of Ph.D. on this talented young woman.

Before obtaining the last degree Miss Mott took a post-graduate course at Yale. The course she selected was that of sociology, and her principal lecturers were Professor Hadley, now president of the University, and Professor Sumner.

She has always taken a great interest in the Institutions for Defectives, which clever and comprehensive name was suggested by her father, the Hon. Rodney A. Mott, to designate the state school for the deaf and dumb, the school for the Blind and the School for the Feeble-Minded here. in the latter institution she has taken a deep interest, and at the state school for the deaf and dumb she was instructor in drawing for a time.

She has written several striking papers for the state conference of charities and corrections. One of these, entitled "Nature's Stepchildren," was read at Grand Rapids, Mich., and attracted much attention in the east. It dealt with what are called the "slow children" in the schoolroom, and was a plea for special training for those who cannot keep up in their studies with others and who are left behind in the race of life.

Another of her papers read before the same body in Minnesota was called the "Economic Bearing of Charity," and treated the responsibility of society for its defective members, viz., those who are intrinsically unable to contribute their share to the common fund or to compete upon equal terms with the average worker.

For four years now she has taught in the summer schools, and this year she will give the instruction in reading, grammar, drawing, music and geography in the Rice county summer school, of which her brother-in-law, Professor Willis West, professor of history at the state university, is conductor.

Miss Mott is not at all a severe or solemn-looking person, but is always very bright and merry, with a fine sense of humor that enables her to see the funny side of life as well as the grave.
===
AUTHOR: Helen Gregory Flesher, The Minneapolis Journal, Minneapolis, Minn., Sat. Jul 01, 1899

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Everyone deserves to be remembered.

Many men who settled in the area in the early days were recruited to fight in the Civil War (1861-1865). Of the 110 Vets buried at Oak Ridge, 62 fought in this war.

Most people are familiar with the white marble “tablet” gravestones offered by the Federal government upon the death of a Veteran. These are wonderful, but one thing they lack are birth and death dates, and some lack first names.

We took steps a few years ago to supplement some of our Civil War Vet graves with a black polished granite tag identifying who they were and when they lived and died. People have mentioned how helpful these have been and how nice they look.

Shown is an example of 2 such Vets tagged last year near Oak Ridge's south gate entrance (see pic):

Lieutenant Frederock Roese, Company A, 75th Pennsylvania Infantry (1840-1895)

and

Thomas Roese, 2nd Minnesota Battery (1833-1868).

==
This season we have selected 6 more Vets from this era to add tags to their stones. We are looking for 6 Oak Ridge supporters to sponsor these for just $50 each.

Let's learn about each of these brave settlers who fought for the cause and then returned to proudly and honorably serve our community:

=1=
Corporal David Reed, 8th Minnesota Infantry

David was born in Jamestown Pennsylvania in 1833 and came to Faribault in 1855. He married Eliza Godfrey just weeks before being mustered into the service. He was mustered out in July 1865 and a 1 year old daughter awaited him. Two more children would be born prior to wife Eliza falling ill and dying in 1876. David was an engineer at E.M. Leach, who made doors, windows, and supplied lumber for decades. David died in 1908 of inflammation of the stomach. He is buried next to his second wife Carrie in Section 3, Plot 101.

=2=
Private Hugh Smith, Company C, 6th Minnesota Infantry

Hugh was born in Maine in 1824 and settled in Rice County's Forest township in 1856 at age 32 with his wife and 3 children. He was mustered into service in August 1862 but discharged for disability (sickness) less than a year later. Back in Rice County he farmed and took care of his ailing wife. He died in 1885 at age 60 and she followed just 8 month later. They are buried in Section E, Plot 77.

=3=
Sergeant Charles E. Smith, Company B, Ohio Infantry

Charles was born in Ohio in 1842 and served in Company B of the 101st Regiment of Ohio. He was wounded during the Battle of Chickamauga and carried the bullet in his leg the rest of his life. He received a Law degree after the war and settled in Faribault in 1876 with his wife Frances. They lived here most their lives and had 4 children. He practiced Law, was part owner of a Book Store, and dealt in real estate. They had 4 children. He died of heart problems in 1906 and is buried alongside his wife in Section F, Plot 5.

=4=
Major Rev. Edwin C. Sanders, 10th Minnesota Infantry

Edwin was born in western New York in 1826 and came to Minnesota in the early 1850s. He married Minerva Hopkins in Le Sueur in 1855. In 1862 he organized a Company of men and was made Captain. He was sent to quell the Indian up-rise in New Ulm and in the process took a bullet to his side. He later joined Company G of the 10th Minnesota Infantry and was involved in many battles in Mississippi, Alabama, and Tennessee. He held the rank of Major when mustered out. He then preach in a Baptist church in Le Sueur and then in Faribault. Afterwards he preached in many other emerging churches in the area. Edwin and Minerva raised 2 children. Edwin died at age 82. The burial services were under the auspices of the G. A. R. Capt. Cavanaugh and E. N. Leavens both being members of Maj. Sanders' regiment. He is buried next to his wife in Section F, Plot 47.

=5=
Sergeant George S. Norton, Company M, 1st Minnesota Heavy Artillery

George was born in Vermont in 1827 and came to Minnesota in the mid-1850s, settling in various places including Union Prairie, Orion, and Moscow, before finally settling down in Faribault and raising two sons and one daughter with wife Sarah.

In 1865 George enlisted at Rochester in the U.S. Army, 1st Regiment of Minnesota, Heavy Artillery, Company M. He was eventually promoted to Sergeant, before being mustered out in late 1865, at Nashville Tennessee as the war had ended.

Back in Rice County, George worked as a farmer, a laborer, and a teamster. They raised 3 children. George lived to age 77 and is buried in Section B, Plot 3 alongside his wife and their son Edward.

=6=
Myron J. Perkins, Company C, 3rd Wisconsin Cavalry

Myron was born in western New York in 1847 and as a 10-year old moved to Wisconsin. At age 16 he enlisted in the 3rd Wisconsin Cavalry and fought with them throughout the entire war. After the war he settled in Faribault. In 1871 he married Josephine VanOsdal and they raised 5 children. He worked
as a cooper; a craftsman who produces wooden casks, barrels, vats, buckets, tubs, and troughs. Myron fell sick and died at age 59, and wife Josephine carried on until age 90 and joined him in Section A, Plot 87.

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If you would like to support this effort, that would be wonderful. We will match you with one of these soldiers and inform you when the tag has been installed. We will also provide you a photo of it installed prior to Memorial Day. Thank you in advance!

[4/2 UPDATE: All 6 Vet tags are now sponsored! THANK YOU!!!]

Everyone deserves to be remembered.

You know when you deep clean your car, the garage, the shed, or a messy kitchen, that you are so pleased at how beautifully it turns out, and looks almost new? Well, the same joy appears when restoring old headstones.

The Johann and Anna Henkel's marker in Section F is just such an example. Johann and Anna were German immigrants who first arrived in NY before 1850 and eventually settled in central Wisconsin. By 1865 we find them living near Nerstrand MN with children Adolph, Mathilda, and Otto, the last 3 of the 10 children they gave birth to. Sadly only 1 of their 7 earlier children lived a full life.

Son Adolph also rests in the Henkel plot at Oak Ridge, while Mathilda and Otto rest in Nerstrand's Evangelical cemetery with their spouses and some of their children. The spelling can also be found as Henkle.

In the photos we show the state of Johann and Anna's marker a few years back and then cleaned. When they died, 1889 for Anna and 1892 for Johann, marble was the pretty much the only stone type available and was brought in by wagon and hand carved. The marker's base usually came from locally quarried limestone.

Marble is rather porous, and over time is susceptible to damage by a variety of sources, most notably bacteria, mold, mildew, algae, mosses, and lichen.

Then there are the effects of acid rain, birds, tree sap, dirt/dust, and freezing/thawing cycles. Yet with proper cleaning with the right tools and chemicals, many stones can be brought back to a nearly-new finish so that we can finally read and enjoy the writing and artwork.

Looking on Johann's side we can now see 2 beautiful accents carved by a local stone mason; a bundle of sword ferns on top and a flower blossom in the center under his name. Lovely.

The sword fern bundle symbolizes a long strong steady life lived with humility, sincerity, and solitude.

The flower blossom, possibly a poppy, symbolizes sleep and death. If it's a lotus flower, a water lily, or a lily of the valley, it symbolizes rebirth and reawakening.

On Mother Anna's side, the top of her stone shows several growing branches with oak leaves and acorns. This is so common with stones in our cemetery in particular, and it symbolizes strength, endurance, and “being mighty from small beginnings.” Anna likely was an incredible woman. Sadly we weren't able to find much out about any of their lives though our research.

One Anna's side of the stone we were also able to uncover a long disguised epitaph written in German. I was able to translate it. It's so beautiful!

“Rest in quiet, gentle peace.
Best mother, always true to us.
Dearly we cherish your image
until your resurrection celebration.”

She was the first to pass-on, and the loss was clearly deeply felt.

It's so nice now to see these stones back as they once were, don't you agree? We have much more work to be done like this. Headstone cleaning is not a “one and done” effort.

We will be sponsoring a headstone cleaning day this May or June if you would like to participate. We have all the supplies and would love to teach you how it's properly done.

Send us a message on Facebook to reserve a spot, or just reply below. Teams of 2 work great.

Everyone deserves to be remembered.

There are 7 members of the MORSE family buried in Oak Ridge's Section A, a section favorited by many early settlers. They came with hope for a new life, but sadly all this family seemed to experience was tragedy.

Lucretia Abigail Morse has the earliest birth date of the group, 1785, which is remarkable as she moved here from Massachusetts at approximately age 74. She was married to Deacon Sylvester Morse in 1815, and they had 3 children; Sylvester Jr., Lucy, and Edward. Sadly at age 34 she became a widow in 1820 and never remarried. She went by her middle name, Abigail.

Her first born, Sylvester Jr., married Lucretia Slocomb in 1846 at age 27 and they had 4 boys and a one girl prior to moving to Faribault; Edward, Charles, William, Henry and Mary. Charles died at age 1.

Massachusetts's records indicate that Sylvester Jr and Lucretia moved their family to Faribault in 1855, becoming one of the earliest families here, and stayed in town. In July 1857, their last child Mary was born. In the same month, Father Sylvester purchased 40 acres east of town just south of the “Kenyon Road,” (Hwy 60) and they settled in.

The 1857 Minnesota Territory census has them all together with 3 older boys and 2 younger girls. Father Sylvester was listed as a painter (see pic). [A brief family tree pic shows all who will be discussed here, as it can get confusing.]

By 1860 the Federal census indicates that Mother Abigail came from Massachusetts and joined them in their home. This must have been a great help for Lucretia as she was raising 5 kids under age 16.

Sadly though, in 1863 typhoid fever crept into their home, as it did many others in the area, and Mother Abigail fell sick. This bacterial disease stems from contaminated food and water, and causes stomach pain, high fever, and severe diarrhea.

Mother Abigail succumbed to its grip in late summer of 1863 and was the first of the family to be buried in the 4 gravesites son Sylvester had purchased at Oak Ridge in 1859. What good foresight he must have had to establish a resting place for his family that would likely be needed down the road.

What's rather remarkable to us is Mother Abigail's marble tablet marker has stood tall this whole time, we're talking 160 years or so, and it only took a minor cleaning from us to fully restore it and make it shine once again (see pic).

Typhoid fever affected almost every family in the area during this time, early 1860s. The following year it struck Sylvester's wife, Lucretia, causing her to die just 7 months after his mother. Lucretia lived to just 42 years of age. Her marker did fall over and break at some point, and was nearly swallowed up by nature, but we were able to save it as best we could (see pic).

A few months later tragedy struck the family once again, with eldest son Edward falling to this evil disease too, after being sick less than a week. Edward was just 19 years of age, and in the old papers they spoke of his death as "A sudden rush from life's meridian joys." He rests alongside his Grandmother Abigail and his marker also still stands tall.

Father Sylvester had had enough pain, losing his Mother, his wife, and his eldest son, so in 1865 he headed back to Massachusetts. He took with him his youngest boy Henry(15) and his 2 young daughters. Son William (17) stayed back in Faribault to work.

Sylvester soon remarried, finding a single lady in his old home town of Sutton Massachusetts, Ms. Mary Terry (47), who helped raise the girls to adulthood.

By the early 1870s, son Henry was in his 20s and on his own. He made his way back to Minnesota and in 1879 he married 23 year-old Eva Fuller of Albert Lea. It took some lengthy searching to uncover what happened to him, but we found an article from an old newspaper, the Freeborn County standard, discussing the awful accident that killed him soon after being married (see clip).

It's interesting that he died the same day back in 1881 that we're now writing this article for you, March 16th. Like his Mother's marker, it had also fallen over many years ago but we were able to clean and repair it sufficiently, adding a new base and mending back the main pieces. He was just 29 years old.

But the deep grief for Sylvester was not at all over that Spring of 1881.

Both of his daughters were now married, with the oldest, Mary, raising a 1 year-old boy, and daughter Alice giving birth to her first, son Frank. Frank was born on March 14th but the birth was difficult, and Alice died a week later.

The birth was also hard on little Frank, and he sadly died too on April 5th. Oddly, 3 weeks later Mary's 1-year old also died, and just a few month's later Sylvester lost his dear 2nd wife Mary, she being 62 years of age. I can't imagine the shock and feeling of helplessness he must had suffered.

Thankfully daughter Mary was still there for him as she lived to age 92. He passed on in 1892.

This leaves us to discuss the 2nd eldest son of Sylvester and Lucretia, William Sylvester Morse, the one who stayed behind in Faribault as Father Sylvester headed back east with William's siblings in 1865.

William was very well liked in Faribault and ended up working as a banker for many years at Citizen's National Bank. He married Belinda Judd in 1873 and proceeded to have with her daughter Alice in 1875, Bessie in 1880, Charles in 1882, and Franklin in March 1884 --- but then again, tragedy stuck.

Just 3 weeks after their little Franklin was born, brother Charles (age 2) died on April 9th, then sister Bessie (age 4) on April 16th, and then sister Alice (9) on April 22nd. Yes, you guessed it --- all from Typhoid fever. Luckily infant Franklin survived, but his parents must have been besides themselves.

This disease was rampant at the time. A vaccine was not developed until 1893, and you'll find that most old settler cemeteries are filled with similar stories resulting from these childhood diseases.

Their 3 children were buried in the adjacent lot at Oak Ridge to those mentioned above. They share a wonderful 4-sided upright marble monument with a side dedicated to each child. It has survived well and only needed a good cleaning by us in recent times (see pic).

As you can imagine, this was all too much for William and Belinda. They headed to California with their only remaining child, Franklin, and lived out the rest of their lives there. Sadly again, Franklin only lived to age 23, passing on in 1907, followed by Father William in 1917 and Mother Belinda in 1921. The Morse legacy faded out.

Unlike most families who came here and thrived, many did not. Some continued west, and some went back east. Early deaths of children and spouses caused many to remarry numerous times in order to persist.

We certainly didn't expect to discover what we did about this Oak Ridge family when we started doing this research, but now we know their story. We hope you'll join us in honoring them with your thoughts and prayers, and perhaps visit them too this Spring in Section A. Flowers too would be welcome.

Everyone deserves to be remembered.

Let's talk cemetery records.

Most cemeteries, including Oak Ridge, have pretty good data records dating back to 1857, but there are plenty of gaps that are not yet filled in, such as accurate dates of birth and full legal names.

During the “off-season” we not only try to fill in these gaps using online resources, but also try to uncover photos, stories, and family connections. It's rather fun and very satisfying discovering things long since gone or hidden, and adding these to the records.

There are generally 2 types of records cemeteries must keep. The first is gravesite ownership records and the second is burial records.

Gravesite ownership records identify original deed sales as well as subsequent deed transfers. Gravesites are considered real estate thus each gravesite has a deed. Deed transfers can happen through cross-party sales or inheritance, much like a car title. You must have the deed to be buried in the right site. Many purchased deeds never get used.

Burial records are equally important and are filled in when burials occur. Ideally the person's full legal name, maiden name, birth date, death date, burial date, and gravesite location information are identified, as well as any notes. It's these burial records that turn out to be the least accurate and are often incomplete, as most of the original data is provided by “the family” and they don't always have it right at the time. It's these records where online research later can be used to verify and/or correct the current records.

There is a third form of burial records out there and these are in the form of public-domain websites. The most popular are Find-A-Grave and Billion Graves. These sites get their information using “crowd-sourcing” where records are populated by graveyard enthusiasts, genealogists, cemetery managers like us, and others. The great thing about these sites is people today can post photos of the person and their gravestones, add bio and obituary text, and create links to grave listings of the person's parents, spouses, and children … creating a pseudo family tree of sorts.

We've opted to sync our burial record data to Find-A-Grave so that the our most current data is reflected correctly on that site. People are finding that Find-A-Grave listings are of tremendous historical value allowing families and others to learn about past people's lives and who they were connected to. A lot of family tree “gaps” can be filled-in this way too. It's such a good resource and it's free.

So now let's look at a recent record keeping example. Per our ownership records, on May 5th 1878 three gravesites were purchased in plot D-83 by Mr. John H. Stevens for $10 each. It turns out his beloved 3 year old daughter Angie had died just 3 weeks prior, prompting the purchase. Our burial records however did not have her birth date, her full legal name, nor her actual burial date. We do know that she was indeed buried in the southernmost of the 3 gravesites in D-83 since that is where a youth-style marble headstone for her was placed.

Using online tools we were able to determine her actual birth date because her headstone said she lived 3 years 10 months and 15 days, making her birth date thus 26 May 1874. We've now added this date to our burial records as well as added it to her Find-A-Grave listing, so at least that “gap” in her record has now been filled.

We then noticed that little Angie's Find-A-Grave listing was correctly linked to her parents graves, also located in D-83, but also notice there was a 4th “Stevens” buried in D-83. But they only bought 3 sites though! Huh?

Well, it turns out that this person was her brother John Bard Stevens, who died in 1907 at age 26. His Find-A-Grave listing was not yet linked to his parents or to Angie's, and it also lacked his birth date. Well again, with some online “digging” we found his birth information as well as a record of his tragic death (see article). We've now linked him to his parents and sister on Find-A-Grave, as well as filled in a few gaps in our own cemetery records for him.

To complete their story, son John's dismembered remains were placed in a small youth casket and placed in the same southernmost plot in D-83 with his dear sister Angie. They were joined later by their Father John in 1914 (age 67) and then Mother Lucy in 1928 (age 84). Father John was a house painter and they lived in Faribault from 1875-1908. Our research also uncovered birth dates for both parents, as well as found Father John's obituary, to help fill out some of the gaps in their own publicly visible records. Their Find-A-Grave listings have been updated accordingly.

So now you can see it's both useful and satisfying to do research to fill-in-the-blanks in the official cemetery records as well as discover and share related information on Find-A-Grave to more completely paint the historical record of people's lives. We now know much more about the Stevens family than we did before, and rest their souls.

If you have an interest in helping us with records work, just send us a message on Facebook Messenger, and we'll get you started. You never know what you will uncover!

Everyone deserves to be remembered.