“Cemeteries are near and dear to many of us. Whose tombstone stands out to you? Was it something on the tombstone, the effort to find it, or who was buried there that makes it special to you? Feel free to post your links and stories in the comments below.” prompt by Amy Johnson Crow for 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks.
This gravestone is in Linwood Park Cemetery in Boone, Iowa. It says Hazel W dau of E & M Hoyer 7 Aug 1895 — 7 Nov 1897 —Clyde E son of E & M Hoyer 2 Oct 1897 — 9 Sep 1898. I have Edward and Margaret Hoyer in my tree. Margaret was my first cousin twice removed. Margaret’s parents were from Scotland, her mother is the sister of my great grandmother. Margaret was also born in Scotland.
I immediately assumed the E & M Hoyer were Edward and Margaret Hoyer. It made sense because I knew they were married and the initial’s were right. But, not everything in genealogy makes sense or at least not in the way you would expect. On the otherside of this same stone, I found this.
I was confused now wondering if their were two Ed Hoyer’s in Boone at this time. Did Margaret sometimes go by the nickname May? I didn’t yet have a lot of information for Margaret or Edward. I knew I would have to go home and do some further research. We took pictures of this stone and also found these near by.
When I returned home from our trip to 4 different cemeteries in Iowa, I had hundreds of photos to add to my family in the appropriate places. The majority I knew who they were and which relative I needed to attach them to on my tree. I have slowly been researching the few I wasn’t sure who they belonged to in my family. May, Hazel and Clyde fell into the second category. This prompt made me go back and take another look.
Margaret and Edward were married in 1901. This led me to suspect Edward had been married before and May was his first wife. So the two children were most likely those of May and Edward. I did find an Ed Hoyer married a Verna May Butler in 1894. This marriage happened in Carbon, Wyoming though which had me wondering if this was the same Ed Hoyer. I am still researching this and have sent a couple of messages to other people who have these families in their tree. I know the coal miners in my family at times ended up in Wyoming to mine coal there. So, I was wondering about the occupation of Edward.
I found Edward in the 1900 U.S. Census in Boone, Iowa living with his grandparents. Their last name is Pilcher, so I am guessing at this point they may have been his mom’s parents. Edward was born in Iowa and both of his parents were born in Ohio. It says he was born in Feb 1866 which is the same as the information I had already. He is 34 and I think it says Wd or widowed. So now I know he was married previously. Edward’s grandfather is a farmer and it says Edward was doing something on the farm as well. The most interesting part of this Census is the person directly below Edward. Maggie Crowe is a servant in the household. Maggie’s birthdate is Jan 1877 and she is from Scotland as well as both of her parents. Maggie is 23, single and arrived in America in 1880. This is definitely my relative.
In researching Edward’s family a little it appears his mom died when Edward was only 3 years old. It doesn’t appear that Edward’s dad remarried and he ends up living in Wyoming at the end of his life. I am guessing Edward’s grandparents may have helped raise him and the connection to a marriage in Wyoming for Edward is possible through his dad. I still have more research to do but I think I am on the right track.
The question remains, why did two children and their mother all die at such a young age? There were many diseases at the time that could have caused their deaths. Small pox, diptheria, scarlet fever and tuberculosis are all possibilities in Iowa during this time period. When I saw this tombstone it broke my heart that their parents lost two babies in such a short time. Realizing their mother also died soon after only added to the pain this family endured. May was only 25 when she died.
Edward and Margaret had two children before Edward passed away in 1910.
This is one of the tombstones that stood out to me in my cemetery travels. Too many died too young. There were others that stood out as well but this one had some mystery attached to it as well because I didn’t know who they were. I will probably find more in the future because cemeteries are a part of genealogical research.
My Tree in the Forest 