Undetermined Gilbert family members. The cemetery book published by the Friends of Oak Ridge Cemetery indicates "Gilbert family, seven persons, no names". City Hall, which maintains these records has no record of who is buried in this plot.. No proof of the persons buried in this plot has been located. This plot is in one of the oldest sections of this cemetery. It may be the burial location for Frederick and Harriet (Jenner) Gilbert, at least one of their daughters, Sarah (Gilbert) Young and two of her children, William and Neva Young. If anyone can answer this riddle please let me know. Thomas J. Gilbert, son of Frederick and Harriet was a stone mason by trade and may have made this marker.
Peter Lysy, the Archivist for the Local History department at the Buchanan district library developed the following research: "I visited the stone a few days ago. It is clearly a modern stone and not really weathered at all, though it does have old moss growing on it. My guess is that it's been there at least twenty years, maybe even fifty - but you guys probably have a better feel for the likely age of the stone than I do. More interestingly though, the current stone sits on what looks like a quite old, crumbling concrete foundation, which makes me think the current stone is a replacement for an earlier stone. Hard to say if it is a one-for-one replacement, if the text is the same, etc., though I would note that the new stone was built to match the size of the old foundation. A possible avenue of further research would be to contact local monument companies and see if one of them installed the new stone and might have a record of what the old stone looked like and what it said.
Cemetery deed stubs in City Hall show that this plot was purchased by Levi Young in February 1869. He was also shown as the owner on the 1899 plat map of the cemetery. He owned property in Buchanan between 1874 and 1882 (according to the real estate tax rolls) and registered to vote in Buchanan in February 1874 but was removed from the rolls the next year. Levi married Sarah E. Gilbert on 9/27/1866 in Buchanan. They had a son William who died as an infant in January 1869, just days before Levi bought the plot. So it seems almost certain that the infant William was buried there. Levi and Sarah are listed in Buchanan on the 1870 census but they are probably listed near Ludington on the 1880 census. Sarah died on 1/30/1883 per the Berrien County Record, leaving Levi and a young daughter who died in Grand Rapids in 1885. We don't know where she was buried . The wording of the newspaper article makes it seem Sarah's death and burial took place in Buchanan. It seems Levi sold his Buchanan property and moved away after that. He remarried in 1884 but then divorced in 1906. I'm not sure where he is buried but nothing suggests it was in Buchanan. I can't find his name in any Buchanan sources after 1883. A family history on Ancestry.com says he died in Grand Rapids under the name Phillip L. Young.
The relationships listed on the gravestone are peculiar and hard to match up with the information above. I think the most plausible explanation is that William is the nephew, Sarah is one of the sisters, and that the person making the list is a sibling of Sarah but is not buried there. However, neither William nor Sarah died with the last name Gilbert, which might throw into doubt whether they are being referenced on the gravestone at all. Unless we come up with further records, I don't think we'll have any confidence in who, or even how many, are buried there. My guess is that Sarah and William are probably buried there and that five of the names, or perhaps all seven, are simply being memorialized."
After looking at records I believe this stone is in memory of Frederick Gilbert's family.
Peter Lysy, the Archivist for the Local History department at the Buchanan district library developed the following research: "I visited the stone a few days ago. It is clearly a modern stone and not really weathered at all, though it does have old moss growing on it. My guess is that it's been there at least twenty years, maybe even fifty - but you guys probably have a better feel for the likely age of the stone than I do. More interestingly though, the current stone sits on what looks like a quite old, crumbling concrete foundation, which makes me think the current stone is a replacement for an earlier stone. Hard to say if it is a one-for-one replacement, if the text is the same, etc., though I would note that the new stone was built to match the size of the old foundation. A possible avenue of further research would be to contact local monument companies and see if one of them installed the new stone and might have a record of what the old stone looked like and what it said.
Cemetery deed stubs in City Hall show that this plot was purchased by Levi Young in February 1869. He was also shown as the owner on the 1899 plat map of the cemetery. He owned property in Buchanan between 1874 and 1882 (according to the real estate tax rolls) and registered to vote in Buchanan in February 1874 but was removed from the rolls the next year. Levi married Sarah E. Gilbert on 9/27/1866 in Buchanan. They had a son William who died as an infant in January 1869, just days before Levi bought the plot. So it seems almost certain that the infant William was buried there. Levi and Sarah are listed in Buchanan on the 1870 census but they are probably listed near Ludington on the 1880 census. Sarah died on 1/30/1883 per the Berrien County Record, leaving Levi and a young daughter who died in Grand Rapids in 1885. We don't know where she was buried . The wording of the newspaper article makes it seem Sarah's death and burial took place in Buchanan. It seems Levi sold his Buchanan property and moved away after that. He remarried in 1884 but then divorced in 1906. I'm not sure where he is buried but nothing suggests it was in Buchanan. I can't find his name in any Buchanan sources after 1883. A family history on Ancestry.com says he died in Grand Rapids under the name Phillip L. Young.
The relationships listed on the gravestone are peculiar and hard to match up with the information above. I think the most plausible explanation is that William is the nephew, Sarah is one of the sisters, and that the person making the list is a sibling of Sarah but is not buried there. However, neither William nor Sarah died with the last name Gilbert, which might throw into doubt whether they are being referenced on the gravestone at all. Unless we come up with further records, I don't think we'll have any confidence in who, or even how many, are buried there. My guess is that Sarah and William are probably buried there and that five of the names, or perhaps all seven, are simply being memorialized."
After looking at records I believe this stone is in memory of Frederick Gilbert's family.
Undetermined Gilbert family members. The cemetery book published by the Friends of Oak Ridge Cemetery indicates "Gilbert family, seven persons, no names". City Hall, which maintains these records has no record of who is buried in this plot.. No proof of the persons buried in this plot has been located. This plot is in one of the oldest sections of this cemetery. It may be the burial location for Frederick and Harriet (Jenner) Gilbert, at least one of their daughters, Sarah (Gilbert) Young and two of her children, William and Neva Young. If anyone can answer this riddle please let me know. Thomas J. Gilbert, son of Frederick and Harriet was a stone mason by trade and may have made this marker.
Peter Lysy, the Archivist for the Local History department at the Buchanan district library developed the following research: "I visited the stone a few days ago. It is clearly a modern stone and not really weathered at all, though it does have old moss growing on it. My guess is that it's been there at least twenty years, maybe even fifty - but you guys probably have a better feel for the likely age of the stone than I do. More interestingly though, the current stone sits on what looks like a quite old, crumbling concrete foundation, which makes me think the current stone is a replacement for an earlier stone. Hard to say if it is a one-for-one replacement, if the text is the same, etc., though I would note that the new stone was built to match the size of the old foundation. A possible avenue of further research would be to contact local monument companies and see if one of them installed the new stone and might have a record of what the old stone looked like and what it said.
Cemetery deed stubs in City Hall show that this plot was purchased by Levi Young in February 1869. He was also shown as the owner on the 1899 plat map of the cemetery. He owned property in Buchanan between 1874 and 1882 (according to the real estate tax rolls) and registered to vote in Buchanan in February 1874 but was removed from the rolls the next year. Levi married Sarah E. Gilbert on 9/27/1866 in Buchanan. They had a son William who died as an infant in January 1869, just days before Levi bought the plot. So it seems almost certain that the infant William was buried there. Levi and Sarah are listed in Buchanan on the 1870 census but they are probably listed near Ludington on the 1880 census. Sarah died on 1/30/1883 per the Berrien County Record, leaving Levi and a young daughter who died in Grand Rapids in 1885. We don't know where she was buried . The wording of the newspaper article makes it seem Sarah's death and burial took place in Buchanan. It seems Levi sold his Buchanan property and moved away after that. He remarried in 1884 but then divorced in 1906. I'm not sure where he is buried but nothing suggests it was in Buchanan. I can't find his name in any Buchanan sources after 1883. A family history on Ancestry.com says he died in Grand Rapids under the name Phillip L. Young.
The relationships listed on the gravestone are peculiar and hard to match up with the information above. I think the most plausible explanation is that William is the nephew, Sarah is one of the sisters, and that the person making the list is a sibling of Sarah but is not buried there. However, neither William nor Sarah died with the last name Gilbert, which might throw into doubt whether they are being referenced on the gravestone at all. Unless we come up with further records, I don't think we'll have any confidence in who, or even how many, are buried there. My guess is that Sarah and William are probably buried there and that five of the names, or perhaps all seven, are simply being memorialized."
After looking at records I believe this stone is in memory of Frederick Gilbert's family.
Peter Lysy, the Archivist for the Local History department at the Buchanan district library developed the following research: "I visited the stone a few days ago. It is clearly a modern stone and not really weathered at all, though it does have old moss growing on it. My guess is that it's been there at least twenty years, maybe even fifty - but you guys probably have a better feel for the likely age of the stone than I do. More interestingly though, the current stone sits on what looks like a quite old, crumbling concrete foundation, which makes me think the current stone is a replacement for an earlier stone. Hard to say if it is a one-for-one replacement, if the text is the same, etc., though I would note that the new stone was built to match the size of the old foundation. A possible avenue of further research would be to contact local monument companies and see if one of them installed the new stone and might have a record of what the old stone looked like and what it said.
Cemetery deed stubs in City Hall show that this plot was purchased by Levi Young in February 1869. He was also shown as the owner on the 1899 plat map of the cemetery. He owned property in Buchanan between 1874 and 1882 (according to the real estate tax rolls) and registered to vote in Buchanan in February 1874 but was removed from the rolls the next year. Levi married Sarah E. Gilbert on 9/27/1866 in Buchanan. They had a son William who died as an infant in January 1869, just days before Levi bought the plot. So it seems almost certain that the infant William was buried there. Levi and Sarah are listed in Buchanan on the 1870 census but they are probably listed near Ludington on the 1880 census. Sarah died on 1/30/1883 per the Berrien County Record, leaving Levi and a young daughter who died in Grand Rapids in 1885. We don't know where she was buried . The wording of the newspaper article makes it seem Sarah's death and burial took place in Buchanan. It seems Levi sold his Buchanan property and moved away after that. He remarried in 1884 but then divorced in 1906. I'm not sure where he is buried but nothing suggests it was in Buchanan. I can't find his name in any Buchanan sources after 1883. A family history on Ancestry.com says he died in Grand Rapids under the name Phillip L. Young.
The relationships listed on the gravestone are peculiar and hard to match up with the information above. I think the most plausible explanation is that William is the nephew, Sarah is one of the sisters, and that the person making the list is a sibling of Sarah but is not buried there. However, neither William nor Sarah died with the last name Gilbert, which might throw into doubt whether they are being referenced on the gravestone at all. Unless we come up with further records, I don't think we'll have any confidence in who, or even how many, are buried there. My guess is that Sarah and William are probably buried there and that five of the names, or perhaps all seven, are simply being memorialized."
After looking at records I believe this stone is in memory of Frederick Gilbert's family.
Advertisement
Advertisement
