Tombstone Tuesday -- What Would You Do?

My June 7, 2011 post was a request for help. I'd love to have somebody take a photo of my grandparent's graves. This came about because I went through some old correspondence with the cemetery, dated 1998 and 1999. The thought came to my mind, what if I hadn't written the letter, what if I had used email instead and didn't print out the reply. A few what if's, but I'm thinking that is what is happening these days. No hard copies anywhere, and surely none coming in the mail.

Below are two sections of a letter Memorial Park Cemetery sent to me. The first section tells me that William Frederick Poole and Charles Poole are not buried there. When I received that, it was an eye opener and within a few weeks, I discovered where they were. William is buried just 35 miles from me, and  Charles is buried in Washington, DC. Both died in Illinois. It is important to not assume where they died, if you don't know for sure.

Then I was informed there were two spaces available in the plot of my grandparents. Both of their children are deceased (my aunt and father), and there are now six grandchildren. Perhaps I read that 12 or so years ago, but I was probably more intent in finding where William and Charles were buried. Now, reading it again, I'm wondering what to do. Perhaps try to contact some of the cousins, we all live in different states, but until I get the addresses, I'll write the cemetery and put in writing that it is my desire to donate the plot.

The letter below proves it is necessary to contact cemeteries when looking for a more recent ancestor's burial. You never know what they have in their files. (I enlarged the print so you could read it easily.)

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