It's Time to Play ... Tombstone Mysteries

The bottom of this tombstone says:

Text Luke C. 10. V. 42.

I've sent several people queries about this tombstone. I couldn't quite tell what it meant.


Initially, I  thought it said:  Luke 6. 10. V. 42.  After I wrote the first draft of this posting (having looked at the picture at least 100 times), I finally saw the "6" as a "C."  Clearly Chapter and Verse (duh!).  I was so convinced it was a 6 that I couldn't come up with any other option.

It's still rather odd - I expect the person ordering the tombstone wanted the actual text from Luke on the tombstone or just
Luke C. 10. V. 42., not the word text engraved on the tombstone. I could be wrong, but it seems funny!

From the New International Version of The Bible  -
Luke 10:42  ... but only one thing is necessary, for Mary has chosen the good part, which shall not be taken away from her.” 

This seems an odd selection for a tombstone.  For some time, I've considered the possibility that I misread the numbers. Could it be 10:12? What about 20:12 or 20:42?

I searched for other possibilities and described them in my second draft of this blog.  Then it hit me -- the woman buried here is Mary.  Now it makes sense.  Here's the verse in context.  Rest in Peace, Mary.

Luke 10:38-42
At the Home of Martha and Mary

As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet listening to what he said. But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, “Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!”

“Martha, Martha,” the Lord answered, “you are worried and upset about many things, but few things are needed—or indeed only one. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.”

The tombstone is in Bunker Hill Cemetery, Weissport, Carbon County, Pennsylvania.

Memory of

Mary

Wife of 

Josiah Ruch

Born Feb. 9, 1833

Died Aug. 21, 1892

Age 59 Yrs,  6 Mos. & 12 Days

 Till next time, keep the blue side up ... Lynn
P.S.  I'm not related to Mary or Josiah! 

DNA and a Tombstone Help Break Down a Brick Wall

I have stepped into the world of DNA.  About 3 months ago, my husband's uncle (age 83), (a.k.a. Uncle Donny or Chick) took a Ancestry.com autosomal DNA test.  Yesterday I was alerted to a "new match."  The new match was bernadette*** on ancestry.com

A close DNA Match. Bernadette was reportedly a 3rd or 4th cousin. The closest match so far. The common surname with Uncle Donny is "Beaver."  OK -- I've seen that before, almost as often as Brown and Jones show up.  I've yet to find a Beaver family match.  The Beavers are a brick wall for me.  I've confidently traced back to James Beaver born about 1816 but can't find his parents.  Beaver/Bieber is a very common name among German settlers in Pennsylvania.

Julia Beaver.  So, skeptically I looked at Bernadette's tree.  Burnadette's tree shows her gg-grandmother was Julia Klotz, nee Beaver  b.1812 and died 1887.  She doesn't have much evidence; no place of birth, marriage, or death.  Slowly I read through Julia profile until I get to the last item - and it's a gem.  Julia is buried in Bunker Hill Cemetery, in Franklin Township, Carbon County, PA.  Just last year, my husband and I took photos of James Beaver's tombstone in the same, small cemetery.

Is Julia in other family trees?  Armed with this information I search for other public trees on ancestry.com.  I immediately found a tree with more information, including a photo of Julia's tombstone.  The shot shows enough background that I can identify it as Bunker Hill.  Interestingly, this image is not on findagrave.com.

This second tree list Julia's brother as James Beaver.  It also provides names for their parents. Now we're really getting somewhere even though there's no evidence for the other family names. The image of Julia's tombstone was originally posted by another user and has been saved to three other trees.  I follow the image from tree to tree looking for additional evidence. 

Evidence please! None of the trees provide evidence and one is private.  Next steps - contact the owner of the final tree and hope they will share their tree.  I'll also ask all other users if they have more information than is posted on their tree.  If, like me, their primary tree is in a database on their computer, there may be additional information available.  

Clearly there's more research to be done, but I feel that DNA and the tombstone have knocked down a brick wall -- or at least put a crack in it.

Till next time, keep the blue side up ... Lynn