Cemetery Surprise: 52 Ancestors 2025 Prompt “Cemetery”

 

Two Childhood Deaths Discovered Through Cemetery Records

Margaret Esther Macbeth: 1912-1914 (Maternal Great Aunt)
Leland Macbeth: 1909-1909 (Maternal Granduncle)

 

I received an interesting email from FamilySearch a week ago, with the subject line reading “You have 12 ancestors buried in the Eagle Lake Cemetery.” I think this is a new service by FamilySearch, sorting ancestors by burial site. While I was surprised by the type of information, I wasn’t surprised to learn I had several ancestors buried in Eagle Lake. I’d visited the cemetery several times over the years and had photographed several ancestors’ graves. However, I decided to explore what FamilySearch had uncovered, and clicked on the link marked “View Ancestors”.

The information FamilySearch had compiled included the ancestors’ names, birth and death dates and locations, their relationship to me, and a photo, if available, of the headstone. I recognized most of the names and headstones, which included my great-grandparents, great-great-grandparents, and third-great-grandmother, along with several great-aunts and uncles. However, two names were unfamiliar: Marguerite Esther Macbeth and Leland Macbeth. According to FamilySearch, they were my grandaunt and granduncle. Who were these new Macbeths?

Leland and Marguerite/Margaret Macbeth headstone in Eagle Lake Cemetery. Photo from Findagrave. 

I clicked on the “View Relationship” tab and was surprised to see they were said to be the children of my great-grandparents, Walter Macbeth and Lucy May Dane Macbeth, which made them my grandfather Ivan Macbeth’s younger sister and brother. But I had no record of these children in my tree, and as far as I knew, other relatives’ trees I’d seen also had no mention of these two children.

I quickly did some research, and was able to find Leland’s Birth and Death Index records. Leland was born March 25, 1909, and died exactly one month later on April 25, 1909.

I had even more luck with Marguerite Esther’s records. I found her birth record, showing she was born October 26, 1912. Her death record was even more helpful. In addition to the Index record, I found the actual handwritten Death Record from March, 1914 in FamilySearch records (see citation below). As you can see below, Marguerite, now listed as Margaret, died March 19 of “acute perforative appendicitis—general peritonitis.” 

The record shows her parents’ names, as well as the name of the doctor who treated her, JL Macbeth. Dr. Jesse Macbeth was little Marguerite’s uncle, Walter’s brother. I can just imagine the fear and desperation Lucy and Walter felt as their little toddler cried in pain—appendicitis causes severe abdominal pain—and eventually faded and died from infection after her appendix burst. Poor Uncle Jesse must have felt helpless, as appendectomies simply weren’t done in that era so there was little help he could provide.

Death Record section showing Marguerite's parents and doctor

Interestingly, Marguerite’s name was listed as Margaret in her death record, and was also listed as Margaret on the headstone. Only the birth record reads Marguerite. The headstone appears to have been made some thirty years after the childrens’ deaths; it was probably ordered at the time Lucy Dane Macbeth’s headstone was ordered in 1939, as they are similar in composition and style. Perhaps the family had forgotten how to spell Marguerite’s name by that point, or they based it on the death record.

My grandfather never mentioned either of these siblings. He would have been only five years old when little Leland was born, so might have forgotten Leland’s brief life. However, he was ten when Marguerite died, so he surely would have remembered her life and death. Was it simply too painful to discuss? Did my mother ever know about these siblings? They were buried next to her grandparents, so she must have seen the graves when they visited the cemetery on “Decoration Day”, as my grandmother was a stickler for bringing flowers to family graves on Memorial Day. Perhaps they seemed unimportant to her as she had never met them, so she never told me about them when she talked about her father’s family.

I probably should have noticed that the 1910 census for the Macbeths showed that Lucy had given birth to seven children, of whom only six survived. At that time, Leland had died a year previously, and Marguerite had not yet been born. This is a good reminder that I should check every 1910 census record more thoroughly.

1910 Census showing Lucy gave birth to seven children, with six surviving

I am grateful for FamilySearch’s email; it prompted me to take a different look at cemetery listings. If I hadn’t examined the listing of the twelve Macbeth and Dane ancestors buried in the Eagle Lake Cemetery, I might never have realized my grandfather had two additional siblings that I hadn’t included in my family tree. Family groupings of graves can provide important hints about family structure.

 

Sources:

"Minnesota, Death Records and Certificates, 1900-1955", FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:FDDQ-HT5 : Sun Jan 19 23:07:23 UTC 2025), Entry for Leland MacBeth and Walter H. MacBeth, 25 Apr 1809.  

Findagrave memorials for Leland and Margaret Macbeth. Photo by Richard Jacobsen. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/151369712/margaret-macbeth?_gl=1*yyaf2p*

Minnesota Historical Society; St Paul, Minnesota; Minnesota Birth Certificates Index; URL: https://www.mnhs.org/search/people

910 United States Federal Census. Online publication - Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2006.Original data - Thirteenth Census of the United States, 1910 (NARA microfilm publication T624, 1,178 rolls). Records of the Bureau of the Census, Record Group 29. National Archives, Was Year: 1910; Census Place: Le Roy, Blue Earth, Minnesota; Roll: T624_691; Page: 9B; Enumeration District: 0010; Image: 83; FHL microfilm: 1374704.