Dear Joanne,

You have found one of many anomalies in the Cemeteries Book. After rechecking the entry in question, here's what I found:

The information on Martha J. Bush is correct as I gave it to you and it appears that she is 103 years old.

This cemetery, Mt Sterling City Cemetery, has a preceding section titled, "Persons Attaining Ninety Years of Age Buried in Mt Sterling Cemetery". In this list, the entry on p.202 is as follows:

Lucinda Bush, wife of Richard Bush, 1830 - 1933, 103 yrs.

Then on p. 245 in the family relationships section for the Bush's, they are listed this way:

Richard Bush (1887-1905) [That's not my typo.] and wife Martha J. (18?? - 1933)

Apparently the person writing this entry couldn't believe the 1887 date either and chose not to add the 1830 entry for Martha. However, if they had taken a little more time they could have noted that the children of this couple, P. T. and Parthena were born in 1853 and 1857 respectively and could have resolved Richards birth by looking at the entry on page 208.

Now, what if Martha J is really Martha L.? It's not too far a stretch after all of the other errors noted above. Then it would be possible that Martha and Lucinda are the same person. You might check those censuses for Lucinda Bush.

Really, the best way to solve this may come from two other sources. Try getting the death certificate from the State of Illinois for both names. The second is to go to the newspapers for 1933. Anyone living to 103 will have made a big splash in the newspaper. The Mt Sterling Library has the local newspaper on microfilm and you may be able to get an interlibrary loan to your library and read through it there. That's how I found my 2nd Great grandmother. Family tradition had her buried in Nebraska but she was really in Brown County.

This looks like a really fun research project. Good luck and let us know how it turns out.

Sincerely,

Ken Huffman

-----Original Message-----

From: Joanne Gonsalves [mailto:[email protected]]

Sent: Wednesday, March 12, 2003 7:46 PM

To: HUFFMAN,KEN (HP-USA,ex1)

Subject: Re: Cemetery Index

Hello Ken,

I know this is a little after the fact, but I started research on this line

again, after being ill since Dec. I hope you don't mind a question. In the

information below, in the 3rd paragraph, it states, "Martha J., wife of

Richard Bush 18 Apr 1830 - 12 Aug 1933" This would make this lady 103

years old. I can't find her listed anywhere in the 1920 or 1930 census, so

I was just wondering if maybe someone made a mistake in the book. Is there

a way of checking this?

Thanks so much, I greatly appreciate the information you sent in Dec.

Joanne M. Gonsalves

Lone Tree, CO

[email protected]

----- Original Message -----

From: "HUFFMAN,KEN (HP-USA,ex1)" <[email protected]>

To: <[email protected]>

Cc: <[email protected]>

Sent: Tuesday, December 17, 2002 7:06 AM

Subject: RE: Cemetery Index

> Dear Joanne,

> I'm travelling this week and my wife forwarded your message to me. So that

> explains the different email address. Please continue to use the other one

> for future requests.

> Here's the information you requested from " Cemeteries of Brown County,

> Illinois":

> Mt Sterling City Cemetery, pp. 206, 208

> P. T. Bush 3 June 1853 - 29 Oct 1898 - Son of Richar and Martha J. Bush

> Richard Bush 1827-1905

> Martha J., wife of Richard Bush 18 Apr 1830 - 12 Aug 1933

> Thomas Eli, son of P. T. and O. Bush 25 July 1881, aged 11 months.

> Effie Ward Bush, wife of Earl Bush (son of P. T. & O. Bush) 1880-1950

> Parthenia (Bush) Bond, dau of Richard Bush, wife of John A. Bond 1857-1935

> John A. Bond 1852-1935

> Buckhorn Cemetery, p. 89

> Thomas Bush 13 Dec 1884, age 82 yrs, 8 mos., 12 days

> Elizabeth Morrison, wife of Thomas Bush 14 Apr 1889, age 83 yrs, 6 mos, 27

> days

> Sarah Jane, dau of Thomas & Elizabeth Bush 11 Mar 1877, age 39 yrs, 10 mos

> Infant child of Joseph & Emily Bush [No Dates]

> Melinda C., dau of Richard and Lucinda Stayle Bush (Richard is son of

Thomas

> & Elizabeth) 20 Jun 1863, age 12 yrs, 2 mos

> Alemeda, dau of Richard and Lucinda Stayle Bush 23 Aug 1863, age 10 mos.

> days

> Charles L., son of Richard and Lucinda Stayle Bush 2 Feb 1871, age 6 yrs,

> mos, 19 days

> Sincerely,

> Ken Huffman

> -----Original Message-----

> From: kenandlauriehuffman [mailto:[email protected]]

> Sent: Sunday, December 15, 2002 7:41 PM

> To: Ken Huffman

> Subject: FW: Cemetery Index

> -----Original Message-----

> From: Joanne Gonsalves [mailto:[email protected]]

> Sent: Sunday, December 08, 2002 10:46 PM

> To: [email protected]

> Subject: Cemetery Index

> Hello,

> I was wondering if I could ask for the burial information on the following

> persons? If you have the ability to copy the pages I have a fax machine,

> that would make it easier. Thanks so much for doing this. I am putting

> together a family history for an elderly lady, and although she had some

> death dates for the family, she did not have death places. This will be a

> confirmation of what I had reasoned.

> Thanks so much for doing this. I am a volunteer at the Rocky Mountain

> Regional Archives (NARA) so if you would like a lookup in Census Record,

> Rev. War Pension Files or a copy of a passenger list, please just ask.

> Regards,

> Joanne M. Gonsalves

> Lone Tree, CO

> 303-792-0697 (Fax)

> 303-792-0696 Home

> Bush, Effie (Ward) ________ 208

> Bush, Elizabeth (Morrison) ________89

> Bush, Emily ________ ________89

> Bush, Joseph ________ ________89

> Bush, Parthenia ________ 206

> Bush, Richard ________ ________208

> Bush, Sarah Jane ________ 89

> Bush, Thomas ________ ________89

> Bush, Thoms Eli ________ 208

> Bond, John A. ________ ________206

> ---------------------------------------------

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Bond, Bush