It might seem odd to have an entire page devoted to a single grave, but in Nellie's case it feels appropriate.  We looked a long time for this grave.  And it had been a long, long time since a member of Nellie's family had come to see it.

          Tom had the honor of being the first person in perhaps 70 years to pay Nellie's grave a visit.  Her daughter Jennie (d. 1944) doubtless visited the site from time to time.  She provided the information for Nellie's death certificate, and probably paid for and instructed the stone cutter on what the gravestone should say.

          The gravesite itself is situated in a kind of "pauper's section" of the cemetery, with nothing but small rectangular stones, flush with the earth, atop each gravesite.  Most are single individuals with no family members.  Most of Nellie's row dates to 1927. 

          In the photograph below, taken in May 2006, Nellie's grave is about 30 feet straight ahead of where the photographer (Tom) is standing (tracks to the site are visible in the grass):

Walking up to the site, Tom encountered the following:

After clearing away the grass along the edges of the stone (the first time that had been done in perhaps 70 or more years):

And a closer shot:

           In Tom's words, "It was kind of moving being there.  The last chapter in a mystery.  Seeing her grass covered marker made me wonder when was the last time anyone was there to see her, and who was there at her burial.  The whole Sullivan clan?  I was probably the first one to see her grave in more than 70 years.  Jennie was mostly likely the last one to visit her.  When she was buried, Grandma was married to John and she became pregnant with Mom five months after Nellie's death."

          May her spirit rest in peace.

   Back to Nellie in the People Index