This is the single stone that I wanted to find yesterday. It just so happens to be right up the street from the house. I was expecting just Elmer C. Lee, Jenny’s great uncle.
\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/matthannan.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/05\/LeePlotWestSt.jpg?resize=600%2C399&ssl=1\" "\\"Lee")
\nAs you can see, it lists not only old Elmer, but his wife (who I had no record of), his mother (which was a shocker to both Jenny and I) and gives us the location of the mysterious John E. Lee. Everything about this guy is a mystery. And he happens to be the furthest back I can get in this line.<\/p>\n
While off doing our errands, we happened by another cemetery. This one happened to have Jenny’s mother’s father in it.
\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/dl.dropboxusercontent.com\/u\/2023076\/Genealogy\/Duphily\/DuphilyGraveII.JPG?resize=600%2C400&ssl=1\" "\\"Duphily\\"")
\nThe wife is still alive, but has been diagnosed with terminal cancer. She has about six months to live. \ud83d\ude41
\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/dl.dropboxusercontent.com\/u\/2023076\/Genealogy\/Duphily\/RobertDuphilyGrave.JPG?resize=600%2C400&ssl=1\" "\\"TL4E\\"")
<\/p>\n
A short while later, after we visited some hippie organic home and yard goods shoppe (where I got to play with a goat and managed to get a rooster to crow his head off), we happened by yet another cemetery. This one held Jenny’s father’s father and another uncle.
\nThe grandfather:
\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/dl.dropboxusercontent.com\/u\/2023076\/Genealogy\/Lee\/GilbertLeeGrave.JPG?resize=600%2C400&ssl=1\" "\\"Gilbert")
\nHis wife is still alive, but is now in a home. She suffered a stroke about a year ago.<\/p>\n
The granduncle and his wife (who I had no record of):
\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/dl.dropboxusercontent.com\/u\/2023076\/Genealogy\/Lee\/RogerLeeGrave.JPG?resize=600%2C400&ssl=1\" "\\"Roger")
<\/p>\n
One thing that caught my eye in all of these graves. Every one of the males was in WWII.<\/p>\n
After we were home for a while and I had uploaded all of the photos, I started to think about John E. Lee out in Walpole. A quick search of Google Maps showed me that he was only 25 minutes away, so I grabbed the camera and the wife and headed to Walpole. The cemetery was not terribly large, but we some how missed his stone on our first pass. I spied it about mid-way through on the second pass.
\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/dl.dropboxusercontent.com\/u\/2023076\/Genealogy\/Lee\/JohnELeeGrave.JPG?resize=600%2C400&ssl=1\" "\\"John")
<\/p>\n
Like I said, everything about him is a mystery. I have no record of him prior to 1920, when he is married with two kids and a third on the way. He was working as a brakeman on the rail line in Claremont, NH. On the 1920 Census form, he first gives the birth location of his parents as “Unknown”, but then changed that to “US”. Somewhere along the lines, the eldest son dies at 15. No idea how. The 1930 Census (yes, the next available record on him), finds him working as a silversmith in Attleboro, MA. On this form, his father is listed as “US” and his mother is “Canada French”. The next record I have on him is his headstone. Even that is a mystery. Why is he so far removed from his family? Even the location in the cemetery is odd! He’s kind of between<\/em> rows, by himself, but the stone looks like someone cared a bit about him! While I am glad we found an actual stone, I think I would have been more relieved to find him in a common grave or with a far more plain stone.<\/p>\n On the ride home, Jenny reflected on the day and said that she was glad that she came with me on this adventure. It started to give her a sense of who these people were. You can’t ask for more than that!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" This is the single stone that I wanted to find yesterday. It just so happens to be right up the street from the house. I was expecting just Elmer C. Lee, Jenny’s great uncle. As you can see, it lists … Continue reading