r/CemeteryPorn • u/LegendaryGaryIsWary • 2d ago

Hoping you all can help…

Post image

I know this isn’t the norm here…. but I’ve been intrigued by a stone in the backyard of a house near where I live. At first I thought maybe it was for Halloween, then maybe for a pet, but after getting a picture of it (best I could over the fence without being too intrusive) I believe it’s a young child. I’m having trouble clearly reading the stone (it looks like 1372??). This stone has not moved in all the time I’ve lived here. The first houses were constructed on the streets where this stone is, which would have been the 1810’s. I can’t find anything indicating a grave is located here, but across the street is the business building of the original headstone maker/engraver for the city. I don’t know if the two things are connected or not. I would like to do some genealogy research on the names, but I’m having trouble reading the stone.

Can anyone help me read this stone? This is what I think I’m seeing:

Lulu Kate daughter of J J _______ Woolley died June 22 _____ aged 5 years 8 mos

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80

u/rhit06 2d ago

In Ohio?

This grave looks like an information match: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/29908086/lula-katherine-wooley

Father is a JJ (Joseph Jefferson) and mom an A (Adelaide)

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u/LegendaryGaryIsWary 2d ago

Yes! And this is the correct city. I wonder why this headstone is in the backyard??

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u/rhit06 2d ago

Style of her “new” stone matches her parents stones (they died in the 1920s). Perhaps an attempt at uniformity for the family.

This stone was also spelled “Woolley” where as the later stones are all “Wooley”

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u/Odd-Biscotti-5177 2d ago edited 2d ago

It's possible that her stone was replaced at some point, and whoever replaced it brought the old stone back home. I wonder if a relative, maybe a sibling or descent of one, lived there? Not quite the same thing, but my grandparents had a tombstone from their dog's grave in their backyard my whole life. The pet cemetery ended up in disrepair, so they went and got the grave marker so it didn't get damaged.

Another possibility is that it was originally actually carved as 1300s in error, the carver scrapped that initial attempt at the stone, and it somehow made its way across the street. I've seen unused tombstones (broken before being placed, miscarved, etc.) used as things like paving stones or other building materials. Maybe someone found one being used as such and just propped it up there and never moved it again.

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u/LegendaryGaryIsWary 2d ago

I have wondered something similar, if the original stone workers lived in that house or something and just carried it over there. If they leaned it against the tree and left it everyone from then on would have also left it alone, assuming a gravesite.

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u/Remote_Fee_1192 2d ago

Is the girl buried there? I can’t help but imagine she was buried under her favorite tree

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u/LegendaryGaryIsWary 2d ago

It could be possible. The original cemetery was half a block from the location from this stone. I wonder if she was buried in the old cemetery and moved to the new one (where the new headstone is). This might be the stone from the old cemetery. This could be her old family home.

Or she could legit be buried there and they just gave her a headstone with the family when they buried them. I really don’t know! I’m definitely going to be researching this!

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u/Nervous-Award976 2d ago

They lost two of their girls in a year 🥺

Thanks for posting about this. There is an unusual and lonesome grave I pass every day to and from work (also Ohio!) and I’m so curious about it. There’s no house to knock and ask or else I would.

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u/Flora0416 2d ago

Their son died when he was 80, but he did lose his first wife when she was 33. Complications after an appendicitis operation. So they also lost their daughter in law. He never had any children, their branch of the tree ended right there…

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u/LegendaryGaryIsWary 1d ago edited 1d ago

Very appropriate to have her stone leaned on a tree, being the end of the branch… I’m tempted to reach out to our local historical society with this information as well. They may also have some more info. I feel like this stone should be preserved.

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u/LegendaryGaryIsWary 1d ago

I love the small mysteries like this in Ohio. Part of where I am has some mystery bc a lot of the towns records were lost in a fire in 1899. So things like this require some patience and research. Took me over a year to finally date when my house was built bc the records were destroyed and the houses were all renumbered. So I’m hoping, since her death date was before the fire, that I can find some census records with the family and track down the address that way, then line it up with the old fire maps.

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u/Nervous-Award976 1d ago

That is so interesting and so cool! I have looked up land records online and haven’t had any luck. My husband thinks I’m the only person in the world who has even noticed the lone tombstone but I’m always searching for hawks along the highway and it caught my eye. Please keep us posted on what you uncover. Personally, I’m very antisocial in the same way and would consider even leaving a note for your neighbor with your phone number. You could send them this post if it goes okay. Good luck!

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u/Netherium 2d ago

I think it says:

Lulu Kate

Daughter of J.J. & A. WOOLLEY

Died June 23 (or 22 or maybe even 30), 1872 (or 1372)

Aged 5 Years 3 (or 5 or 8) Months

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u/ThatMassholeInBawstn 2d ago

If it was 1372, then it would be unreadable and the stone would’ve collapsed by now.

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u/Mediocre-Proposal686 2d ago

I hear you, and I’m thinking of everthing that could have happened to the headstone, including, maybe, what pushed it against the tree and potentially saved it from the elements

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u/TransPeepsAreHuman 2d ago

Might be neat to add this photo to her findagrave, OP. Thanks for sharing.

ETA: I’ll see what info I can find on ancestry and newspapers.

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u/LegendaryGaryIsWary 1d ago

I’ll try and get some better photos of it this weekend and do just that.

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u/Mind_The_Muse 2d ago

Have you tried asking the neighbors to have a look?

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u/LegendaryGaryIsWary 2d ago

If I ever saw them, I would. But I’ve never crossed paths with them. This is a few houses up from mine.

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u/YourFriendInSpokane 2d ago

You could look up the address (and variations of it) on newspapers.com to learn the history of the occupants of the home- maybe even find her obituary. That would give some insight into who had lived there and maybe brought the stone there.

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u/momo098876 2d ago

If you're wondering if she is buried there, this might be a long shot but maybe talk w/ the local police perhaps they could contact someone w a cadaver dog. Edit:NM I see that the stone is in someone else's property.

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u/Alpha1Mama 2d ago

This active, 97-acre cemetery is owned and managed by the Greenwood Cemetery Association, which was established in 1848. The Association purchased land for the cemetery, and over 1800 remains from Hamilton's two pioneer cemeteries were moved to Greenwood. Adolph Strauch, the designer of Spring Grove Cemetery in Cincinnati, also planned Greenwood.

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u/FelinityApps 2d ago

Ah yes, Ohio 1372. What a year.

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u/LegendaryGaryIsWary 2d ago

Right?? I’m sure the natives just left this lying here with the most European names inscribed that they could think of, in order to confuse the actual Europeans who would steal the land later.

/s

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u/FelinityApps 2d ago

😂 ❤️

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u/twinWaterTowers 2d ago

Are you forgetting the Vikings?

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u/PB3Goddess 2d ago

Ah, yes...those were the days! The pillaging that was had in the territories and villages of Ohio, 1372. 🤣🍺☠️🗡🚢

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u/HenrySellersDrink 1d ago

It’s a very English/European name, of which there were no English in America until the 1600s. Any grave markers of the 1300s (pre-Spanish arrival too) would, if even used, be the most basic surely. It’s an elaborate carving seen in most European countries. 1872 has to be the date.

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u/Character-Taro-5016 1d ago

This was probably the original headstone and was replaced at some point by a family member once additional burials occurred. The discoloration of the base of the stone indicates it was once below-ground. Its' location now is probably the ancestral home of the family.

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u/CablePuzzleheaded729 2d ago

It does on first glance look like 1372 but as this type of memorial was not done at the time I would think maybe 1872. If you could get a bit closer the name might be easier to read. Really fascinating!!

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u/LegendaryGaryIsWary 2d ago

The problem is I feel like a real creep leaned over their fence taking pictures. lol.

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u/HippieHighNoon 2d ago

I would knock on the neighbors door and introduce myself and ask them about it!

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u/Splendidended1945 2d ago

It does seem to say Lulu, and if the other headstone is correct perhaps the parents rejected this one because it misspelled her name. It may just have been left sitting around the shop after that.

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u/Mundane_Chipmunk5735 1d ago

Looks like an error stone. Super cool. I tried digging into my local cemetery’s history and no one at town hall knows anything or has records. Super annoying. I have a map of roughly where decedents “should” be, and a bunch of broken headstones scattered all over not near the decedents.

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u/luxatingpatella 2d ago

I would just knock on their door tbh

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u/LegendaryGaryIsWary 2d ago

My social anxiety won’t allow that, but my spouse is fearless so I may send them to do the dirty work.

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u/RedneckMarxist 1d ago

A few applications of Wet & Forget will safely clean it up.

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u/LegendaryGaryIsWary 1d ago

Not on my property. :(

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u/Splendidended1945 2d ago

It does seem to say Lulu, and if the other headstone is correct perhaps the parents rejected this one because it misspelled her name. It may just have been left sitting around the shop after that.