Tombstone Tuesday - Roscoe Family Plots

The Roscoe family plot in the Clatonia Cemetery, Clatonia, Nebraska is the final resting place for my Great-Great Grandparents William and Lena Roscoe and 4 of their 8 children. The two military markers seen in this photo are for sons Frank and Oliver Roscoe. 

Frank died in 1923 at age 34 of Typhoid fever.  He had served in France as a fireman in the Navy during WWI.  One obituary says he was survived by a wife but I have yet to learn her name, and there was no mention of any children.  Frank was single and living with his parents in 1920.  After recently stumbling on a short paragraph in the Beatrice Daily Sun, I suspect his wife may have been pregnant at the time of his death.  A "Miss Frankie Mae Roscoe of Missouri is visiting at the home of her grandparents Mr. and Mrs. William Roscoe" in August of 1941. As of yet, this is the only reference to Miss Frankie Mae Roscoe I have ever seen and have not had any luck finding her in census records.

Oliver served as a private in the Army, Co 1,3 164 Depot Brig.  The Nebraska State Journal ran this paragraph on January 4, 1919:  "Oliver Roscoe, son of William Roscoe of Clatonia, died at the home of his parents on January 1.  The young man had been home only a day after being mustered out of the army.  He left Vancouver, Wash, sick with the Spanish influenza, to go to Camp Funston for discharge.  He contracted pneumonia before he reached home.  Oliver was well known and a popular young man among his friends."  He was 23 years old.  Oliver has a second flat marker for some reason. 

William and Lena have this simple flat marker. Their son David Harlow Roscoe is also buried in Clatonia, but when I was there years ago I wasn't aware of that.  So I have no photo of a stone for him, but I know I would have taken one if I had seen it.  One of these days I'll get back there, it's about a 2 hour drive.  David lived with his parents until his death in 1948 at age 51. He apparently didn't ever learn to read or write, so I think he may have been mentally or physically challenged. 

As I sort through my Roscoe files during the next few weeks, my series of blog posts will be focused on William and Lena's family.