Centuries-Old Tombstones Found in Man's Backyard

A retired construction worker was shocked to discover two 19^th-Century tombstones while doing some landscaping in his Michigan backyard. One headstone bore a name, William E. Turner, but the name had worn-off the other. A family plot in the cemetery across the street belongs to the Turners and a city clerk said some kids used to tie headstones to horses and pull them down in acts of vandalism.

I include this account because it is evidence of how a little legwork can expose the mundanity of what might otherwise be a creepy, little mystery. Oh, and because a woman showed-up at the city clerk's that same day and mentioned she was a relative of an E.D. Turner. "We we were all very shocked by the coincidence," the city clerk said. Officials are hoping the woman reappears so they can question her about any historical significance.

© C Harris Lynn, 2009