Tombstone Tuesday: Resting in an Unmarked Grave

Just last week, I gasped as I read the 1853 will of David SIMMONS, a prosperous merchant in Philadelphia.  He had grandchildren who he named!  And great grandchildren, too!

So off on another mission with my fin fans to see what I could find.  His children are not in the Hood Cemetery with David and his wife, Margaret CHAMBERS.  What to do?

Look at the most unusual name and see if any information can be found.  There it is in Washington, DC.  It's a marriage certificate and then interments at Glenwood Cemetery in Washington, DC!

Let me explain how I know the right bones have surfaced.

The 1853 will makes no mention of children.  Instead, it specifically mentions the following grandchildren:

Will of David P Simmons

William R SIMMONS
Elizabeth GODDARD
James SIMMONS
John B SIMMONS

and children of granddaughter, Margaret DOWLING:
David DOWLING
Marshall DOWLING
Julius DOWLING

There are the clues.

Granddaughter Margaret DOWLING is dead before 1853.

The marriage records in Washington, DC, confirm a Margaret SIMMONS married Patrick DOWLING 9 May 1939.  The 1850 census confirms Patrick b. Ireland and children are living in the household of Elizabeth SIMMONS, who we can assume is the mother of Margaret and the widow of William Clarke SIMMONS.

Now to finalize the information trail.  On Findagrave, we see a Margaret DOWLING with no marker, no death date in the Glenwood Cemetery.  We do, however, see the Plot listed.  This is crucial.

Section B, Lot 85, Site 7

Why look!  Here is Patrick DOWLING, b. Ireland d. 1864 in Glenwood Cemetery in Section B, Lot 85, Site 6.

BINGO!  His bio also confirms two marriages.  One in 1939 to Margaret SIMMONS, and the second to Drucilla MARKS in 1852.

Ahh, genealogy.  Remembering our beloved bloodlines who rest even if there isn't a marked grave to visit.

©2017  AS Eldredge

Sources:
Ancestry.com. Pennsylvania, Wills and Probate Records, 1683-1993 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2015.
Original data: Pennsylvania County, District and Probate Courts.
Ancestry.com. District of Columbia, Marriage Records, 1810-1953 [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2016.
Ancestry.com. 1850 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2009. Images reproduced by FamilySearch.
Original data: Seventh Census of the United States, 1850; (National Archives Microfilm Publication M432, 1009 rolls); Records of the Bureau of the Census, Record Group 29; National Archives, Washington, D.C.
Find A Grave Memorial# 165062964
Find A Grave Memorial# 165063464
Cemetery photo by Janet Greentree