Gathering Cemetery Information for My Mother-In-Law's Late Present

So, my husband talks with his mother on Sunday and she mentions that she is going to Missouri and may visit some family gravesites. Then I of course print out a list of people in his family buried there. Looking online for information I come across several of them in findagrave.com with lots of data and pictures. She will be getting a late Mother's Day present.


Then yesterday, Monday, I call her and she tells me she is leaving on Wednesday. The great push is on to compile as complete a list as possible so she will know what to look for in the Missouri cemeteries. The two day results of researching now include twelve direct line ancestors, eight in Missouri and four in New York, not to mention the other family members and their families.

The Missouri list includes seven cemeteries and two unknown burial locations. The unknowns are her great grandparents Asa William Eggleson and Sarah Margaret Roley who later married Christopher Corlett. Using the Missouri Digital Heritage website some time ago I obtained copies of many death certificates for the family relatives. It is found online at:
www.sos.mo.gov/archives/resources/deathcertificates/
There wasn't one for Asa William Eggleson who died in 1885, but there was one for Sarah Margaret Roley Corlett who died in 1928. Her death certificate suggests that she was buried in Balltown Cemetery, Vernon County, Missouri where her parents and first child/son are buried.

Here is the list that I gave to my mother-in-law per our phone conversation this morning:

Balltown Cemetery, Horton, Vernon County, Missouri
Michael Vance Roley died 6 November 1893 (gr.gr. grandparents)
Sarah A. Daughtery, wife of Michael, died 29 June 1897
They are the parents of Sarah Margaret Roley.
John Wilbur Eggleson, son of Asa William Eggleson and Sarah Margaret Roley, died 16 April 1868 (her gr. grandparents)

Hall Cemetery, Jerico, Cedar County, Missouri
Isaac J. Bynum died 22 May 1916 (her gr. grandparents)
Mary A. McCall, wife of Isaac, died 28 March 1914
They are the parents of Mattie M. Bynum Eggleson.
Leroy Eggleson died 10 August 1954 (her grandparents)
Mattie M. Bynum, wife of Leroy, died 10 July 1934
Child Zollman, son of William Calvin Zollman and Francis M. Haines, died 13 August 1912. He was her father's brother.

Hamby Cemetery, Jerico, Cedar County, Missouri
Samuel Erving Haines died 30 October 1912 (her gr. grandparents)
Armindia L. Mendenhall, wife of Samuel, died 20 November 1935
They share a marker, though her death certificate states she was buried in Potter Cemetery.

Due to the distant relationships of the other cemetery burials and/or the distance from where she would be traveling, I reserved the other known cemeteries for my own research. For each family member discovered on findagrave.com a word document was created so we can easily share that information in the future.

As we closed the conversation I suggested that if she has contact with the cemetery that she should request a cemetery map, a plot map, and any documentation they might have on the families. I shared that she needs to be careful in the cemetery and to contact a local funeral home if they need more help. Then I mentioned that it would be great if she could take pictures. She said yes she needed to pick up some film before she leaves. Her grateful appreciation for the simple details of her family burials was certainly genuine. It is only the beginning of the belated present that will be given when we see her again.

One generation conversing with the next as we continue on in the discovery of our family history. The work we do is priceless as she knows so many of the details and helps to blend together the documents that I discover. Happy Mother's Day to my wonderful mother-in-law and my own mother who also helps me with my side of the family. May you take time to gather the details and work together with your mothers and/or other family members in this process of building an understanding of the generations who have gone before us.