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The backyard gravestone
This story first appeared in The Freeman May 27, 1977. It was reprinted in The Freeman May 30, 2002. The relatives we left behind in WI sent my parents copies both times.
In 1977 a young couple was in the process of buying the house one of my great aunts had lived in. The buyers were taking one last walk around the back yard when the wife stumbled accross a headstone half hidden under some brush. "Mary Holland Vass--1879-1930" was engraved on the stone. The wife freaked out. There was no way she was going to live in that house if there were a body buried in the backyard!
It took a little detective work but the story of the headstone was solved. Mary Holland Vass was married to John M Vass but she decided to live with her sister, Elizabeth Holland, when she found out she had cancer. When she died Mary was buried in Prairie Home Cemetery in the family plot. Mary's headstone didn't match the other headstones in the plot so another stone was ordered. The original headstone was then stored in a shed attached to the rear of Elizabeth Holland's home. I guess the young buyers were finally satisfied that no one was buried out back.
I never did find out what happened to the tombstone. I do know that my grandfather's final arrangements for grandma caused quite a stir long after both of them were gone.
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