My Mystery Monday to do list just keeps getting longer and longer. I’m currently scanning documents that pertain to my Great-Grandfather, William Lawrence Moore. Some I’d scanned before but could use a fresh scan. Others, I never scanned before so I’m getting my first look at them.
Perpetual Care
I know you guys must be getting sick of me saying what good record keepers my Great-Grandparents were. It bears repeating though since I just spent 20 minutes scanning correspondence between multiple family members about the family lot at Evergreen Cemetery in Brooklyn, New York. The above diagram was sent to William when he inquired in 1970 about keeping up the graves. From what I can tell Robert J. Moore Jr and his wife Gertrude were taking care of the graves until Gertrude’s death in 1970. Then Gertrude’s family and the Moores split the costs of perpetual care for the lot.
I had known the names of the people in the grave, but not in this detail. We called the cemetery back when we originally got the deed from my Grandfather. We just had the names, not the dates or anything like the detailed diagram above.
Figuring It Out
Once again, I’m blessed that William wanted to make a list of the family members buried in the plot. He left it in the paperwork and correspondence for the perpetual care. The only one not on William’s list is “Baby Moore.”
Based on the burial date of 1909 and that the baby is in the same plot as Robert J. Moore Sr. and his wife, I would say the child would have been my Great-Grandfather’s sibling. I’ll have to look at birth and death records for Brooklyn to make sure.
The other interesting thing is that M. Moore or William’s mother, wasn’t buried until 1945. She last showed on census records with the family in 1910. In the 1915 State Census she is missing and in the 1920 United States Census, her husband is still listed as married. So where was Mary Johnson-Moore from 1910 to 1945?
Oops Moment
Looking at the paperwork from the cemetery, I know why New Jersey didn’t find a death record for my William H. Moore even after numerous attempts. He died in 1923, not 1928! Well that makes a big difference!
My Genealogy Do-Over is working already!!
