Thanks to a fellow genealogist, I learned more about the circumstances surrounding the “missing tombstone” today.

The plaque is located at the base of a memorial dedicated to Portage County’s Civil War veterans – not on the altar in the Our Lady of Lourdes grotto.

According to fellow researcher Ann Nikirk, the cemetery attempted to contact relatives of the deceased who were buried under the proposed Civil War veterans’ memorial site.

The cemetery documented the fact they couldn’t reach any descendants to ask their permission, so they put the Civil War memorial on top of the existing graves. I haven’t had an opportunity to visit the cemetery office to find out what documentation exists about this yet, but I would be curious to see if anything is still on file about their efforts to locate descendants and secure permission to relocate the graves.

John Adam KNAPP was the younger brother of the man who donated the land for the church. What an interesting situation that his grave now sits underneath a Civil War memorial, unmarked by an actual tombstone.

Now I am wondering if his wife is buried under there, too. Or did they move her and leave him there? I don’t really know what happened to her grave, but this is just another item to add to my research “To Do” list.

And a big thanks to researcher and Find A Grave contributor, Ann Nikirk, for shedding some light on this story – and keeping me honest!

Happy ancestor hunting!