Unsolvable? mystery!

       One mystery was solved but the other may not be solvable. Let's begin with the one that is solved. Grandpa Bergh, Gramma and their children who died while they still lived, are buried in a plot that is circumscribed by a concrete border. This plot is in the southwest corner of the cemetery. There is one plot of graves west of them and then the west border fence. The plot to the west contains the unsolvable mystery, but, more about that later. The Bergh plot is almost to the south tree line, but, not quite. There's a lone grave for Bertha Mostue, who died in 1918, between the Berghs and the south border. Who is Bertha?  There are no other persons named Mostue buried in the cemetery.

     Last night, in conversation with my cousin, Alvin, another grandson of Grandpa and Gramma, he asked "Have you seen a marker for Bertha Mostue?"  Well, yes, I had.  Alvin is very interested in our family history and was reading from another cousin's, Dorothy who did extensive genealogical work, papers. Dorothy discovered that Bertha was Grandma's unmarried aunt who came to the Berghs to help take care of the children. Bertha was born in Norway on December 16, 1828 and died April 13, 1918.

     My mother was born in 1900 and I have no memory of her ever mentioning Bertha. Alvin's father, Alfred, was born in 1895, and neither has he any memory of his father talking of Bertha. It's time to survey the other grandchildren.

     That solved the mystery of the lone grave, now, the other one. The graves to the west of the Berghs is marked with a huge, beautiful, polished granite marker. On the east face, toward the graves of the parents and several children, is inscribed: TONSAGER. The sexton confirmed that indeed the persons buried there are recorded in the cemetery records as Tonsagers. Walk around the marker and look at the side facing west and there you will see inscribed, in letters as clear and large as on the other side: THORKELSON. The sexton said that there are no recorded burials of anyone named Thorkelson. Why does this stone have different names on the east and the west? Does any living person know? It's doubtful. Does anyone care, but me? 😉 Probably not.

Takk for alt,

Al

                                         Great Aunt, Bertha Mostue's marker.

                                               The east face.

                                             The west face.