by Donna Swagerty Shreve
I never knew my grandmother on my mother’s side of the family. She died before I was born. My mother had hazy memories of her mother as her mother left the family when my mother was five years old. I obtained my grandmother’s death certificate and a few new details intrigued me enough to travel with a friend to Boise, Idaho to find out more. We spent time in the library and courthouse and found the name of the cemetery where Virginia was buried.
We got directions and drove to the Meridian cemetery. The sexton saw us and came over. I gave him the names of my grandmother and great-grandparents who were all listed as being buried in the Meridian cemetery. He looked them up on his computer and then had to go to his old register where much older names were listed. He soon found them in Lot 40 and took us over to see the graves. Lot 40 contains six graves and only three of them were marked. Virginia and her brother were not marked and there was an unknown grave. It upset me that there were no markers and I asked for the nearest monument place. I ordered two markers and was amazed at the low cost compared to prices in California.
I had found the widow of my mother’s first cousin and we went to visit her. Rachel entertained us and told me stories of the family. I asked Rachel about the unknown grave in the Brown family plot. Rachel said they, the Browns, discovered the grave in the Brown lot when they buried Charles Brown in 1931. The story is that the unknown grave is a flu victim. According to the family version the flu victims were buried wherever they could find an empty space.
We then went back to the cemetery to take pictures, as I had messed up the previous pictures taken the day before. I told the family story about the unknown grave to the sexton. He said they had a Freemen’s section or pauper graves where unknowns were buried. Whoever is buried in Lot 40 is a Brown, he assured me. He also said it was a small coffin that would contain a baby or child. Interesting mystery.
The family story said the unknown grave was discovered in 1931. If that date is correct, it limits the possibilities of who it could be. My thoughts went to my grandmother Virginia who was a bit of a wild child as was her younger brother Fletcher. I thought of going through the expense and effort needed to exhume the remains for a DNA test but I decided it was best left a mystery.
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Swagerty-Aldrich Family Web Site 