Three husbands in one grave

Ted · Post by **Ted** » Fri Jan 02, 2009 1:40 pm

Hi Folks

Just had to share this one - I had searched for about 4 years for the death of a great uncle who moved to the US in 1908. He married an ex-pat Scot there in 1911 - she died in 1928. He re-married to a German woman in 1930 and died in 1942. After a great deal of searching I eventually found his grave in Philidelphia - to my surprise there were two other men in the same grave who I had never heard of.

Another 18 months worth of searching I eventually established that all three were married to the same woman (not all at the same time) and she buried them all in the same grave. Is it just me or is that a bit spooky ! (She is not in that grave).

Tracing them was great fun - one was actually a bigamist - left his wife and kids in Norway in the 1930's.

Regards

Ted

Post by **SarahND** » Fri Jan 02, 2009 1:52 pm

Happy New Year, Ted!

Ted wrote:Is it just me or is that a bit spooky ! (She is not in that grave).

It's not just you... I think more research is necessary into this woman-- and the cause of death of her three husbands

Sarah

Ted · Post by **Ted** » Fri Jan 02, 2009 2:01 pm

Happy New Year Sarah

I was intrigued so I traced the other deaths - her 1st husband was killed by a train (his car broke down on a level crossing - newspaper reports in 1927 gave graphic details of how he and 2 passngers died). My G Uncle died of TB and the 3rd one (bigamist) died of natural causes

Maybe she just liked wedding cake !

Ted

Post by **marilyn morning** » Fri Jan 02, 2009 2:34 pm

she buried them all in the same grave. Is it just me or is that a bit spooky ! (She is not in that grave).

Hi Ted,

Very Interesting! Hmm, I wonder what happened to her?

k either she married for a 4th time and is buried with that husband or perhaps she moved out of state with a relative or she was cremated?

My father passed in 1982 and is buried in our family plot. My mum remarried and my step-father passed in 1988 and is buried in a two person grave, next to my family plot. There was no way my mum was going to bury them in the same plot.

Regards
Marilyn

Ted · Post by **Ted** » Fri Jan 02, 2009 2:44 pm

Hi Marylin

She did not marry for a 4th time - she moved out of State and died aged 92 - she was cremated. I just thought it was a bit creepy to bury all 3 in the same grave - bet they wouldn't have agreed to that if asked when alive !

Ted

Post by **marilyn morning** » Fri Jan 02, 2009 3:37 pm

a bit creepy to bury all 3 in the same grave - bet they wouldn't have agreed to that if asked when alive

I would agree Ted, its really creepy!

Marilyn

Rach · Post by **Rach** » Fri Jan 02, 2009 4:29 pm

Hi Ted,
This is one of these stories that turns us into genealogy sleuths - well, even more than usual! It must have been intriguing solving it all and wondering what on earth you were going to find. Well done.
Rae

Ted · Post by **Ted** » Fri Jan 02, 2009 4:54 pm

Hi Rae

It sure was a labour over several years - two of my cousins who are also into genealogy helped a lot. Between us and during the process we solved several mysteries for a few folk - we found a 2nd cousin in New York who was the grandson of the 2nd husband (my G Uncle) - he knew nothing about his grandfather and was overjoyed to get all of the info - including his WW1 service record etc. Interesting part there was that he had paid a professional Genealogist to look for his grandfather in Scotland - but came up blank. We also traced his grandmother back to Newmilns and took photos of the area for him including the school his own father attended when the family returned to Scotland during WW1 (then went back to the US in 1921).

We also traced the family of the 3rd husband and found some living relatives who were delighted to find out about him - his family never heard from him again after he left them in the 1930's. During that process we found two of his grandchildren (one in Denmark and one in Canada)who then made contact for the 1st time and met up with my NY cousins in the US in 2008.

So eventually a big win all round and lots of fun in the process - and I am still in regular contact with all of them.

Back to my other brick walls now!

Ted

nancy · Post by **nancy** » Fri Jan 02, 2009 6:26 pm

Happy New Year Ted

Just couldnt stop chuckling at headline,
buried three husbands in one grave

sounds a bit like something from Miss Marples or Agatha Christie,dont it??

WilmaM · Post by **WilmaM** » Fri Jan 02, 2009 6:32 pm

Or maybe she was just thrifty [or hard up!]

and couldn't afford to buy a new plot for number 2 so buried him in the plot she already owned.

TalkingScot.com

Three husbands in one grave

Three husbands in one grave

Re: Three husbands in one grave