Moberly Graves

Bethel Cemetery, Summersville, MO, July 1999

To get to Bethel Cemetery, you need to start from the junction of Route 106 and Route 17. Heading route-north on Route 17, it is 1/10th of a mile from Route 106 to "Factory Road" on the left. Take the left onto Factory Road. Two and a half miles down Factory Road, you meet a crossroads for Bethel Road. Take a left on Bethel Road. A half mile down Bethel Road, you'll find Wurtley Road, and the Bethel Church. If you park in the church parking lot you will be near the top of the hill, and face a downward slope with the cemetery across the street. There are three gates into the cemetery. The first is a car gate, the second is a car gate, and the last is a small gate. If you enter through the last small gate and walk straight across the cemetery, you will find the monument to John Moberly and Mary Ann (Street) Moberly in that corner. Looking back toward the church, you'll see three trees between the two car gates. If you walk in that direction, before you get to the three trees you will find, to your left, several Moberly graves (along with many Laidleys). Dale Edward Moberly's grave is there, along with his parents Henry Franklin and Anna (Morton Laidley) Moberly.

Monument of John and Mary Ann (Street) Moberly: These images are not as good as they come from my digital camera rather than from my 35mm SLR. This shows the ageing monument in the corner of the cemetery, from a small distance.
John's Side: Says "husband of M.A. Moberly" and has the dates "born Dec 19 1822" and "died Nov 5 1901" on it.
Mary Ann's Side: Says "born May 18 1829" and "died May 27 1902" on it.
Henry Franklin Moberly: The marker for John and Mary Ann's son.
Henry, his wife Anna, and his son Dale: All three graves are side-by-side.
Dale Edward Moberly: Son of Henry and Anna, who died just a year after his mother.
John P Moberly: Another son of Henry and Anna. His birth year here is earlier than family records show (I have April 10, 1902) but I have no more information about him so do not know if he ever married, or who will have buried him -- someone who did not know his birthdate, perhaps?

Centerville Cemetery, Belmont County, OH, July 1999

To get to this cemetery, take State Route 147 to Centerville. At the east edge of town, opposite the Presbyterian Church, you'll find the graveyard. Just over the crest of the hill in the graveyard, you'll see two monuments shaped like the Washington Monument, and a small tree (well, it's small in 1999). The graves for John and Lucinda are between that tree and the monuments. These are very old graves with hard-to-read inscriptions. There are published lists of all the graves in this cemetery, copied down in 1968, so more information can be obtained from there. I did my best to read the graves myself, and on some points I disagree with the list. I'll note the differences here where I can.

John Mobberley.: Although at the time, I read his stone as "Died March 6, 1861" and "Aged 43 Years, 27 Days" now that I look at the picture, it looks more like "1864" and the age, while clearly ending in a "3" could be "73". This would be fairly consistent with the published dates (from the Moberly email group) for John's birth (in 1791) and death (records say 1861). The published list of Centerville cemetery markers just has "illegible" on it.
Lucinda Moberly: Wife of John, Sr, at least according to the person who documented this graveyard in the 1960s, where the notes just put Lucy's grave next to John's and say "wife Lucy". The only part of this stone I could read was the date "Aug 6" and the fact that her name is spelled Lucindia here. See my notes below on Lucy.
Catherine Moberly: While I suspect John's mother was a Catherine, the dates given on the published list for this stone say that this one died in "1856 age 37" which has her born in 1819. This would make her more likely to be John Sr.'s daughter. The person who documented this cemetery in the 1960s said the stone said "dau of J & L."
Another Moberly: There were lots of illegible Moberly stones in the area; this one is a fallen stone. The list I mentioned also tells of stones for another Lucinda (they say 1879 age 45, I read either 1850 or 1870); Elisha (1841-1917) and wife Eliza (1838-1913); Sara (1864 age 13?) daughter of J&M (probably John and Mary Ann's); Rebecca (1854 age 34); and Joshua (1851 age 6 mo, son of R and J), probably Rezin and Julia. I also found stones for Rezin (June 24, 1811/May 19, 1875) and Julia A (May 19, 1814/June 3, 1875).

Clearly we have more than one Lucy/Lucinda here.

There's the grave next to John's, which is his wife according to the list of Centerville graves.
My research of the death records for the county have "Moberly, Lucy" who died in Smith Township August 28, 1873, aged 83 years, 4 months, 17 days. Which makes her birthdate April 11, 1790.
There's a Lucinda Moberly, died in (1879? 1850? 1870?) at the age of 45, as told in the list of Centerville graves. This is probably the daughter of John and Lucinda, sister of our "John Jr." (who married Mary Ann Street). This Lucinda, our records show, was born in 1824, which would be consistent with an 1870 death date.

The first two could be the same one, if the John who married Lucinda lived to be 73, not 43 as I saw on the gravestone.