Markers need safe return
Published 7:00 am Tuesday, May 27, 2014
On the side of U.S. Highway 11 South rest two headstones, but this was not the original resting place for these two markers.
The markers, which bore the names Katherine W. Mayronne and Dielenschneider, originally come from cemeteries in Mandeville, La. and Gulfport.
No one is sure how these two headstones came to Pearl River County because of the two cemeteries records.
Katherine W. Mayronne was buried at Handsboro Cemetery and according to the headstone, died in 1960.
City of Gulfport Program Coordinator for the Department of Leisure Greg Whitfield said the cemetery doesn’t have a record of when the headstone was placed or where it belongs in the cemetery because until recently, the city didn’t keep a record of the people buried in the cemetery or where they were buried.
Whitfield said a few months ago, the city started creating a record of the graves, but since this headstone had not previously been recorded by the city, they don’t know where it belongs.
According to findagrave.com, which is a site where individuals take pictures and record headstones on a volunteer basis, Mayronne’s headstone does belong at Handsboro Cemetery. The record of the headstone was added to the website by Ed Stallings on Oct. 8, 2009.
Whitfield said if anyone is interested in returning the headstone, contact him at 228-214-3600.
The other headstone contains the names of a husband and wife Charles C. and Catherine Cavalier Dielenschneider.
According to findagrave.com, the record of the grave was added on May 30, 2012 by DGW.
Mandeville City Clerk Doug Schmidt said until earlier this year the cemetery had not kept records of the graves and burial plots of individuals in the older part of the cemetery where the Dielenschneiders were most likely buried.
He said he is very interested in getting the headstone returned to its rightful place for their records.
Schmidt said if a family member or an individual doesn’t report the missing headstone, it is difficult for the cemetery to know that it has gone missing and for some people buried in the older part of the cemetery, the descendants are no longer alive or live in the area any longer.
There has been no vandalism or problems in the past with headstones being stolen, Schmidt said.
If anyone interested in returning the headstones to either cemetery can call the Handsboro Cemetery at 228-214-3600 and Mandeville Cemetery at 985-626-3144.