Here is Jeremiah Coleman's stone in Loda's Pine Ridge Cemetery.
This was Johanna's stone that was about 3-4 inches below the surface of the ground. Here is the story of how I found her stone: When I went back, it was with my new digital camera in tow as well as many memory cards, my laptop and an external hard drive so I could take a lot of photos of the cemeteries there to transcribe them. No one in my current family who was alive could tell me where Jeremiah and Johanna were buried.
I planned out the cemeteries to visit that might give me the most information on our family. I picked one at random and went, Pine Ridge Cemetery in Loda, Iroquois County, Illinois. It was a beautiful sunny day. Since I am now living in the Northwest, sun is coveted.
And guess whose stone was the first family stone I found - Jeremiah's monument/needle! It was worn, but legible. I did a rubbing with aluminum foil just to make sure what it said. But on my first couple of visits there, I could not locate Johanna's. I thought that was odd. Why wouldn't she be buried with Jeremiah?
I went to a family get together and between many relatives and all the stories they heard, we decided she had to be there somewhere. So I went back the next day. I stood in front of Jeremiah's stone and said, "Ok now Jeremiah and Johanna, I am looking for Johanna's stone. Please help me find it." I closed my eyes and walked where my feet were led. I stopped where I felt I needed to. I bent down and placed my hand on the ground. I opened my eyes and looked. The grass was just like it was everywhere - lucious and green. No dents in the ground or anything. But something told me to dig and dig with my hands I did. About 4 inches below the top of the soil I found it. Right under where I had placed my hand. It was the stone that said Mother on the top. And carved in the front was Hannah. I found her! Talk about eerie. But it felt like they wanted me to find her stone.
Here is the rubbing I did of Jeremiah's stone. I first rubbed the aluminum foil on his stone and then I used a permanent marker to outline and color in the letters. I ended up rubbing the foil smooth so I could take a photo of it without all the reflections.
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