Tuesday, November 3, 2009
Ohio Woman Seeks Grave For Tombstone
For several weeks the Communications Director for Gaston Township, Ohio, has been on a quest, attempting to locate the grave of a St. Joseph resident who’s tombstone turned up in her area, and she is now seeking help from anyone who may have known him.
Goshen Communications Director Mandy Storer says the crusade began in mid-September after the tombstone was discovered during an inspection, beneath a mobile home in one of the area’s mobile home parks. The tombstone bears the name of Lester Gaston, Sr., and the years 1872 - 1922.
Once the discovery was made officials with the Goshen Police Department initiated an investigation, searching cemetery records in that and surrounding areas. When the case ran cold Police Chief Ray Snyder turned to Storer for help.
“I started by picking up the case where the police left off,” Storer said, “They’d already done some preliminary legwork for me, so that saved me some time.”
Storer said she started by calling the Ohio Department of Vital Statistics in Columbus to search for a death certificate, however the record was no longer on file. This lead her to begin a search of records archived with the Ohio Historical Society. They were able to locate Gaston’s full date of death and the place of death. These new bits of information enabled Storer to utilize internet genealogy websites in her search.
“From there I found out where he [Gaston] was buried. All I needed to do next was wait on the death certificate to arrive to tell me exactly what cemetery he was in so I could ship the stone,” Storer said.
During her search Storer learned that Gaston was a salesman born in Tennessee. He happened to be in Hamilton County, Ohio, at the time of his death on January 9, 1922, when he was fifty years of age. Two days later, she said, his death certificate indicates he was buried in St. Joseph, “Alabama.”
When Storer began to seek information on St. Joseph, Alabama, she quickly learned that no such place exists. After much research and careful consideration she has come to the conclusion that he must have been buried in St. Joseph, Tennessee, near the Tennessee/Alabama state line.
With this much work behind her Storer contacted the Lawrence County Archives and discovered there was no record of Gaston. “The local archivist (Kathy Neidergeses) told me it’s likely that Lester is in the St. Joseph cemetery, but in an unmarked or unidentified grave,” Storer explained, “She told me the best hope we’d have for finding his burial rights now would be if he were a Catholic and was registered in their death and birth rolls.”
Storer has since contacted the St. Joseph Catholic Church and is currently awaiting a reply. “Another option would be finding a family member,” Storer said. Thus far she has been able to identify only one possible relative by the name of Bernadine Gaston nee Luebbe. Her efforts to track this person down, she said, have not been successful.
In the hopes of someday returning the tombstone to Gaston’s grave Storer asks that anyone who might recognize the name or have any information about Gaston or his relatives, contact her. Storer may be reached by telephone at 513-722-3400 or by email at: mandy.storer@goshen-oh.gov.
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