"Auntie" Ferguson's Final Resting Place

"Auntie" is a few feet to the right of the white stone in the foreground  

At the end of one of my blog entries about "Auntie" Ferguson, Jack posted a comment wondering where she was buried – which was a great question. Even though I had two obituaries for "Auntie," neither mentioned a cemetery, so I assumed that it would be impossible to find out where her final resting place was.

I was wrong. It was as easy as picking up the phone and calling Elmwood Cemetery – because that's where she is!

The pen points to "Auntie's" spot in Elmwood Cemetery

The man in charge out there – Don Fronek – was extremely helpful. First he confirmed that he did indeed have a record of Catherine Ferguson – "Auntie's" real name – being buried there, with the date of her death matching that of "Auntie." It turns out she is in a row with several other Fergusons.

In the photo at the top of this post, she is in the same row (from left to right) as the white stone at the bottom of the photo. Her burial spot lines up with the small, square window in the mausoleum in the background.

Besides showing me where "Auntie" was buried, Mr. Fronek also spent time with me going through the files for all of the Fergusons buried in the cemetery. I have a lot of names, and the research into "Auntie's" family is only beginning.

Special thanks to Mr. Fronek for his help. He and his crew do an excellent job maintaining Elmwood Cemetery, and anyone that has loved ones buried there (like I do) should be grateful.

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By the way, the latest issue of The Black Swamp Trader & Firelands Gazette features my article on "Auntie" Ferguson and is now on the newsstands. I basically took all my research to date and turned it into one narrative that tells her story with a little more detail and historical perspective than what I was able to provide on this blog.

As always, The Black Swamp Trader & Firelands Gazette is FREE and available locally at the Vermilion Farm Market. You can also usually pick it up at the Oberlin Public Library.