epitaphs of interest
the table rock cemetery
JOHN N. GERE (1852-1870) -
epitaph: "Killed by Indians"
LUCeLLA BLOOM DARE CRAIG (1846-1898) -
epitaph: "she has done what she could"
It's hard to read but there it is, "She has done what she could."
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Lucella was the third wife of Nicholas Craig. In 1896, Craig, then the Table Rock marshal, was murdered by a tramp at the train station. As he was frisking the tramp, the tramp pulled a gun and shot him in the head. Lucella died about two years later; at least one newspaper attributed it to "dropsy" brought on by a broken heart. Craig had been twice widowed when he married Lucella; she was a widow, too; her first husband had been only 44 when he died. She was buried with him. At the time of her death, Craig's murderer had been neither identified nor caught. Some years later, an convict incarcerated in Minnesota confessed to the crime but the confession was a false one. The murderer was never b brought to justice. Many years later, it was thought that he had been identified, but he was already in jail for another murder and was sent to life in prison for that one and no trial for Craig's murder ever took place.
"She has done what she could." It comes from an essay by Ralph Waldo Emerson about living in the moment. “Finish each day and be done with it. You have done what you could. Some blunders and absurdities no doubt crept in; forget them as soon as you can. Tomorrow is a new day. You shall begin it serenely and with too high a spirit to be encumbered with your old nonsense.” It could surely have been a mantra for a woman in such horrible circumstances. A widow with children finds love again, only to lose him under tragic circumstances as well. |
Leland wood (1887-1907) --
epitaph: "His life went out in a mission of mercy"
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Leland Wood's tombstone has this epitaph carved on the side, which appears to have been added later. He drowned while trying to save a neighbor's stock from a flood. The stock may have meant the difference of penury or breaking even, so his efforts were of a serious intent.
anna work (1824-1896) --
epitaph: "At rest." "here i lay my burden down, change the cross into a crown."
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Anna WORK. Get it?
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mary fulton (1849-1907)
epitaph: "a voice i loved is stilled"
Civil War veteran Alpheus Fulton loved his wife very much. In her obituary, it says that the two of them grew up together in Ohio, indeed they were rocked together in the same cradle. The source of this is from a poem whose author is unidentified:
A precious one from us has gone,
A voice we loved is stilled,
A place is vacant in our home,
Which never can be filled.
God in His wisdom has recalled,
The boon his love has given,
And though the body slumbers here,
The soul is safe in heaven.
Mary's obituary said that "most of the family is gone," with only a son and a daughter left. Alpheus died in the Old Soldiers Home in Leavenworth five years later. His obituary cites only siblings surviving. No one apparently bought a tombstone for him; his grave is unmarked. Records have been gathered to seek a military tombstone, as of 2019.
A precious one from us has gone,
A voice we loved is stilled,
A place is vacant in our home,
Which never can be filled.
God in His wisdom has recalled,
The boon his love has given,
And though the body slumbers here,
The soul is safe in heaven.
Mary's obituary said that "most of the family is gone," with only a son and a daughter left. Alpheus died in the Old Soldiers Home in Leavenworth five years later. His obituary cites only siblings surviving. No one apparently bought a tombstone for him; his grave is unmarked. Records have been gathered to seek a military tombstone, as of 2019.
janeth taylor (1927-2012) -
epitaph: "GONE FISHIN' WITH KEN"
Janeth Thatcher Taylor was married to Ken Taylor, a World War II veteran. Ken's father Lester was a grandson of John & Nancy Kerns Taylor, John a Scot from the Orkney Islands and Nancy a Pennsylvanian whose first husband was killed in the Civil War. Janeth's history we don't know, but as her stone recognizes, she was a loving wife, mother, and grandma.
little carl carter
(1905 - 1909) - Table Rock Cemetery
EPITAPH: "We loved him, and perhaps too well"
Very touching words for the little boy:
We had a little treasure once, |
The obituary:
CARL ALBERT CARTER, son of Frank and Leona Carter, was born December 5, 1905 and died June 12, 1909, aged three years, 6 months and 7 days. The body and parents arrived in Table Rock on No. 42 Sunday evening. The funeral was conducted by the pastor Monday at 10 a.m. and the remains laid to rest in Table Rock beautiful cemetery.
Among the profusion of flowers brought by sympathizing friends, two very beautiful floral pieces were in evidence, the one presented by the Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen and Engineers, and the other by the Royal Highlanders, orders of which the father was a member.
The parents reside in Alliance, Nebraska, where Mr. Carter has a run as engineer on the Burlington. The grandparents, Mr. and Mrs. J. P. Carter are well known and respected residents of Table Rock. Other relatives live in this vicinity, to all of whom, and especially the parents, a host of friends extend their sympathy. May there be comfort and consolation in the words of David "I shall go to him but he will not return to me."
CARL ALBERT CARTER, son of Frank and Leona Carter, was born December 5, 1905 and died June 12, 1909, aged three years, 6 months and 7 days. The body and parents arrived in Table Rock on No. 42 Sunday evening. The funeral was conducted by the pastor Monday at 10 a.m. and the remains laid to rest in Table Rock beautiful cemetery.
Among the profusion of flowers brought by sympathizing friends, two very beautiful floral pieces were in evidence, the one presented by the Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen and Engineers, and the other by the Royal Highlanders, orders of which the father was a member.
The parents reside in Alliance, Nebraska, where Mr. Carter has a run as engineer on the Burlington. The grandparents, Mr. and Mrs. J. P. Carter are well known and respected residents of Table Rock. Other relatives live in this vicinity, to all of whom, and especially the parents, a host of friends extend their sympathy. May there be comfort and consolation in the words of David "I shall go to him but he will not return to me."
little lyle gray
(1891-1893) - Table Rock Cemetery
EPITAPH: "budded on earth to bloom in heaven"
teresa muller
(1864-1867) st. john's cemeter, rural table rock
epitaph: earth has one MORTAL less, heaven one angel more
Thank you to Luella Hinrichsen for her painstaking transcription of the epitaph on this weathered stone. Teresa was the child of William and Anna Marie Reuter Muller (1817-1879, 1823-1877). Nothing else is known of her. Her mother died the year the Table Rock Catholic church was built, 1877, and her father two years later. (The church was next called St. Wenceslaus, and eventually St. John's.)
more elsewhere
BERTHA SCHULTZ
(1869-1888) - sT. PETERS EVANGELICAL CEMETERY, RURAL DUBOIS
epitaph:
With prospects bright and budding fair.
Just rising into bloom.
Death came in an untimely hour.
And snatched her to the tomb.
REV. WILLIAM CROW
1793-1865
Walnut Grove Cemetery, Brownville, Nebraska
EPITAPH: "crow!!"
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Rev. Crow was born in Botetourt County, Virginia in 1793, a place bordered by the Blue Ridge Mountains and the Appalachians. By the end of the Civil War, he was in Brownville. He had married but his wife had died young, 20 years before. However, he had children who were to live good long lives. Presumably it was one or all three of them who are to account for the single word at the bottom of the tombstone, followed by not one but TWO exclamation marks!! Rev. Crow was presumably quite a speaker!!
And we owe Kathleen Crow Freibott a debt of gratitude for an image of the good reverend, shared on his memorial on Findagrave.com. 
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patricia adams tushla (1947-2013)
Holy Cross Cemetery, Rural Auburn
epitaph: "she kept a clean house"
Editor's note: I wondered when I saw this epitaph whether it was meant as praise or satire. Upon inquiry with the sexton, I happily learned that it was praise.
Photo shared by Sandi Knippelmeyer
holy cross cemetery, rural auburn
Becky Sitzman (1934-2007)
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bob sitzman (1930-2013)
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Bob and Becky Sitzman, long time citizens of Table Rock, are buried in Holy Cross in the Sitzman family plot. Bob wrote his own. Here is the front of the stone for reference. It is a bench, and on the front and the back of the bench seat are the epitaphs.
verlyn beethe
(1934-2010)
pawnee city cemetery
EPITAPH: "here lies a farmer. His earthly toils are done, now he walks the fields of heaven."
The Table Rock Historical Society placed this tombstone at the grave of their great benefactor, Verlyn Beethe. The words were penned by two members of the Historical Society. Verlyn raised Poland China hogs, silhouettes of which are included with some additional text on the back of the stone.
somewhere in missouri
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Historical Society member Sandi Knippelmeyer reports, ""I saw one in Missouri.. it was her potato salad recipe, the whole thing. It said something like. I didn't take the recipe to my grave." This sounds familiar. One urban legend has a similar epitaph saying something to the effect of "You can have this recipe over my dead body."
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