Per his obituary, Johann is buried in Resurrection. Unfortunately, church and cemetery records from approximately 1902-1914 were destroyed at some point. Family stories tell us that Johann and Adelheid are buried alongside their granddaughter Helen Diebold (1906-1909) in Section 1, Block 2. This is a large plot, listed in cemetery maps as being owned by "Mrs. Rosalia Diebold" (perhaps a mistaken transcription for Adelheid?). The only visible gravestone is for Helen.

My grandmother (Mary Diebold) once approached the groundskeeper (sometime in the 1950s) in an effort to find out where they were buried. She says that he pulled out an old and faded book with handwritten burials entered on the pages. Though the ink was faded, she could see, up-side-down, while he searched right-side-up, the name Diebolt and the names of her great-grandparents. He didn't see it, "the idiot!" (as she would say) and told her he could not find them in the records.

I hope to someday find an answer.


Johann immigrated in the early 1850s. It is said he left the Saverne/Zabern area of Alsace-Lorraine (although I have yet to confirm a birth record for him in this area) in an attempt to avoid the German conscription. Family story says that he ended up working "on the docks of Lake Erie" in an area heavily populated by immigrants.

It is believed that he met his wife, Adelheid Grass, among the other German-speakers he found in this area. It is believed they were married in New York. His obituary states they were married in 1855. Their first son was born in 1856, and his birthplace is often listed as Utica, New York. This has also unconfirmed as of yet.

Within the next couple of years, the family moved to Madison, Wisconsin, likely to join Adelheid's parents and siblings who had settled in the area. Upon his death, Adelheid had his memorial written and published in German. My grandmother has always said, if he had known she had done that, he would have been furious (apparently by his death he'd become dedicated to being American and speaking English). My grandma was told to "never forget it is 'DeBold.'"