Finding Grandma

Today's primary mission: Finding Grandma! My father's mother, Margaret Carroll Jordan, passed away when my father was a young boy. Dad never knew where she was buried, and his father didn't want to talk about it. Dad knew that his older sister had attempted to find their mother's gravestone many years before with no luck. So how was I to accomplish this mission that the previous generation could not?

Well, back in 2011, I requested a copy of my grandmother's death certificate from the New Jersey Department of Health and Senior Services (acquiring this document was another adventure!). The certificate stated that she was buried on June 1, 1949 at Holy Sepulchre Cemetery in Totowa, NJ, so that's where I headed. Since I did not know what plot I was looking for, my first stop when I reached the cemetery was the cemetery office.

The woman behind the desk was super helpful when I indicated I was trying to find my grandmother, and quickly located the burial card for the last name and burial date - which was not for Margaret Jordan, but Mary Jordan! But now I had a location: Section F, Lot 49, Grave 4. To my surprise and delight, I was also provided with the original burial book to view, where the information was first recorded.

Original Burial Book

Again, she was listed as Mary, but the address of 145 Springfield Ave was correct for 1949 - although the book listed it as Jersey City instead of Rutherford - but this was still a confirming bit of evidence. And a new piece of information was provided, one that had been purposefully blanked out of the death certificate (part of that other adventure) - my grandmother's cause of death, heart disease.

I asked who else was buried in the plot, in search of more clues. My grandfather had three wives, and my father knows he is buried in St. Mary of the Lake Cemetery in Lakewood, NJ, and not with my grandmother, his first wife. The card for Section F, Lot 49 was produced...and contained three names I'd never heard of, all with the last name Kelly! Were these more family members to hunt down?

Burial Card for Section F, Lot 49, Graves 3 and 4

A mystery to pursue at a later time, as now I had a grave site to visit. My hostess gave me a map of the cemetery and directed me to Section F.

I proceeded on to Section F, and about an hour later, another mystery was solved. Now I know why my aunt could not find my grandmother in the cemetery when she searched - THERE IS NO HEADSTONE. Not for my grandmother, or any of the Kellys she is buried with. Section F may contain many graves, but it is rather lacking in markers.

Section F

This evening I returned home to my parents' house, where I presented all my findings of the day to my father: where his mother was buried, what she died of, why his sister could never find her grave. And he was able to shed light on one of the new mysteries - he knew who the Kellys were. Getrude Kelly, the other person buried in grave 4 with my grandmother, was my grandmother's best friend, who passed away in 1976. Grave 3 contained her parents - Gertrude's father had died in 1946, which is why the family had the plot. Best friends together forever!

Gertrude Kelly and Margaret (Carroll) Jordan

Family History in Bergen County, New Jersey

My parents and I spent today roaming around Bergen County, New Jersey in search of my father's family's past.  

East Ridgelawn Cemetery
The first goal for the day was to find the grave of my father's grandparents, Frank and Ellen Jordan, from information in a cemetery plot deed:

Cemetery Deed for Frank and Ellen Jordan

List of Interments on Deed

So we traveled to East Ridgelawn Cemetery in Delawanna (Clifton), NJ.  Using the plot designation from the deed (Section 21, Lot 838, Grave #1), we looked for signs marking section 21.  Then came the hard part - wandering around section 21 looking for Jordans!

There are four parts to section 21 at East Ridgelawn. After about an hour of wandering, I finally found the grave half buried in dirt, making the Jordan last names difficult to see, in section 21 South End.  Using the snow brush from the car and water from our water bottles, Mom and I were able to clear the grave marker of dirt:

Grave Marker for Frank and Ellen Jordan

Goal 1 success!

Rutherford
After visiting the cemetery, Dad took us on a tour of his hometown of Rutherford, where we first stopped to take pictures of his sister Jeanne's old house on Riverside Avenue.

Bud and Jeanne Winand's House - 467 Riverside Avenue

From there, we drove by 145 Springfield Avenue where Dad lived for 12 years growing up.

Jordan Residence - 145 Springfield Avenue

Then we proceeded to St. John's Lutheran Church.  It is said that Ellen Jordan was one of the founders of this church and there was supposed to be a plaque commemorating that event in the church, though we couldn't find one.

St. John's Lutheran Church

Then we headed over to 374 Feronia Way where the Jordans lived after Springfield Avenue.

Jordan Residence - 374 Feronia Way

George Washington Memorial Park
The next cemetery on the list was George Washington Memorial Park, where a number of relatives were buried, including my father's older sister and her husband.  Since we did not have any deeds for this cemetery, and the office was open on Sunday, we stopped in and asked about our relatives this time.  :)  The staff kindly provided us with section numbers and a map!

Map of George Washington Memorial Park

Unlike all the various styles of headstones in East Ridgelawn, GW Memorial Park has a single, uniform grave marker used for all interments.  My father's sister and husband's marker (Bud and Jeanne Winand) was right next to that of his aunt and uncle (Charlie and Dot Richardson), in Section L 18A, D 3 and D 4.  After more cleaning and weeding by me and my mother, we were able to read the markers:

Grave Marker for Richard "Bud" and Jeanne (Jordan) Winand

Grave Marker for Charlie and Dot (Jordan) Richardson

Based on additional markings on the grave, it looks like Uncle Charlie was a Mason, and Aunt Flo was an Eastern Star! 

The other relatives buried here were my father's uncle Albin and his wife Betty.  They were buried across the road in Section T 30, A 4:

Grave Marker for Albin and Betty (Burkhardt) Jordan

You may notice that this marker has fresh flowers on it.  This is because on this cemetery visit, we did not just find deceased relatives, but living ones, too!  One of my father's cousins, a son of Albin and Betty, was there with his wife at the same time we were, visiting his parents' grave.  Now THAT is an impressive cemetery find!  :)

We had hoped to visit a few more cemeteries, but it was getting dark, so that will have to wait until another day. All in all, a good start for family history and cemetery visits!