Tuesday, March 1, 2011

Wednesday’s child: Unknown

Last weekend, before the snow had melted completely in central Ohio, I came upon a replacement marker in Cheshire Cemetery for an unknown child.

This lonely grave marker reminds me that even though most gravestones show names, dates, and often relationships, those buried here (whether in my family tree or yours) essentially are unknown to me, unknown to most passers-by.


Cheshire Cemetery, Delaware County, Ohio

2 comments:

  1. How terribly sad!
    Surely someone realised this child was missing?
    By Who, How, and When were their remains discovered?
    My how times change, I suppose that back then in those days, a child's place was to be seen and not heard, a citizen of the least importance.

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  2. I should have included some of the history of this cemetery: It was established back in the 1970s when the graves from several smaller cemeteries were moved here because a large reservoir was being built (and the old cemeteries would be under water). So chances are that the child was known when she was first buried. But at re-burial time, her marker was lost or damaged and she could not be identified.

    There are quite a few "unknown" markers like this one in this cemetery. This is the only one I've seen marked as "unknown child."

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