BURIED APART by Bob and Phyllis Robb, [email protected]

When I visited the cemetery in Van Buren, Ohio, where my greatgrandparents, Samuel and Alvira TROUT, were buried, I found him in the old part of the cemetery, and she was buried on the other side, in the new part. She lived on 40 years after he died, and never remarried. Luckily, my Aunt Florence was still alive and could explain why Alvira had not been buried with Samuel.

When Samuel died, vaults were not used, and people were buried in simple wooden caskets. Over time, the caskets collapsed and the ground settled, creating a bumpy ground surface in the old part of the cemetery which caused difficulty maintaining the grounds.

All the stones were removed, the ground was leveled, and the stones were replaced, in the same order, but not necessarily in the same place. So, great-grandmother Trout discovered that she could not be buried next to Samuel because they couldn't be sure the place where his stone was located was actually where Samuel was buried. If my Aunt Florence hadn't been alive to tell me, I would still be wondering why they were buried apart.