No one knows much about Lessie, a St. Augustine woman who died in 1936. But construction crews clearing land on U.S. 1 South recently found her tombstone.
A tombstone with Hunter's name on it was found hidden deep in a thick woods, sparking a mystery of who Hunter was and how her gravestone ended up in such an isolated spot.
The 6-acre construction site, adjacent to Park Place retirement home and Lambert's Nursery, is expected to be the future home of office and warehouse condominiums.
The gravestone said Hunter was born Oct. 10, 1910, and died March 7, 1936.
"The stone was under a bunch of shrubs and debris that had accumulated over the years," Galletta said. "We put a notice in the paper that we had found the marker and moved it to a cemetery. There was nothing else there."
"We have no idea who she is. About 200-to-300 feet away there is a makeshift cemetery, but it has a totally different type of marker," he said. "But we don't know what the property was like 70-something years ago."
Someone in St. Augustine does remember Lessie Mae Hunter, however.
Louise Bryant said she was a child when Hunter died and that she knew her. Bryant is distantly related and lives at the same address that Hunter did. Her last address is on her death certificate.
Hunter's death certificate, issued by State Registrar Mary F. Ponce, indicated a Dr. R.D. Harris attended to Hunter from Feb. 28, 1936, to March 7, the day she died. The cause of death is blacked out.
Hunter's occupation is given as "maid," and her husband was listed as an Elijah Hunter. Her parents were Murcro G. Green and Josephine Davis of Oliver, Ga.
And her place and date of burial is given as Moultrie Cemetery on March 9, 1936, overseen by Hilmes and Johnson, undertakers.
One possible clue to the mystery might be the discrepancy between Hunter's date of birth on the death certificate, 1913, which does not match the date carved into the tombstone, 1910. Perhaps the marker was a mistake by a stone mason and thrown away into the woods.
Hers was the only gravestone uncovered.
A lot of research had been done, trying to learn more about Hunter or her family.
A tombstone with Hunter's name on it was found hidden deep in a thick woods, sparking a mystery of who Hunter was and how her gravestone ended up in such an isolated spot.
The 6-acre construction site, adjacent to Park Place retirement home and Lambert's Nursery, is expected to be the future home of office and warehouse condominiums.
The gravestone said Hunter was born Oct. 10, 1910, and died March 7, 1936.
"The stone was under a bunch of shrubs and debris that had accumulated over the years," Galletta said. "We put a notice in the paper that we had found the marker and moved it to a cemetery. There was nothing else there."
"We have no idea who she is. About 200-to-300 feet away there is a makeshift cemetery, but it has a totally different type of marker," he said. "But we don't know what the property was like 70-something years ago."
Someone in St. Augustine does remember Lessie Mae Hunter, however.
Louise Bryant said she was a child when Hunter died and that she knew her. Bryant is distantly related and lives at the same address that Hunter did. Her last address is on her death certificate.
Hunter's death certificate, issued by State Registrar Mary F. Ponce, indicated a Dr. R.D. Harris attended to Hunter from Feb. 28, 1936, to March 7, the day she died. The cause of death is blacked out.
Hunter's occupation is given as "maid," and her husband was listed as an Elijah Hunter. Her parents were Murcro G. Green and Josephine Davis of Oliver, Ga.
And her place and date of burial is given as Moultrie Cemetery on March 9, 1936, overseen by Hilmes and Johnson, undertakers.
One possible clue to the mystery might be the discrepancy between Hunter's date of birth on the death certificate, 1913, which does not match the date carved into the tombstone, 1910. Perhaps the marker was a mistake by a stone mason and thrown away into the woods.
Hers was the only gravestone uncovered.
A lot of research had been done, trying to learn more about Hunter or her family.
No one knows much about Lessie, a St. Augustine woman who died in 1936. But construction crews clearing land on U.S. 1 South recently found her tombstone.
A tombstone with Hunter's name on it was found hidden deep in a thick woods, sparking a mystery of who Hunter was and how her gravestone ended up in such an isolated spot.
The 6-acre construction site, adjacent to Park Place retirement home and Lambert's Nursery, is expected to be the future home of office and warehouse condominiums.
The gravestone said Hunter was born Oct. 10, 1910, and died March 7, 1936.
"The stone was under a bunch of shrubs and debris that had accumulated over the years," Galletta said. "We put a notice in the paper that we had found the marker and moved it to a cemetery. There was nothing else there."
"We have no idea who she is. About 200-to-300 feet away there is a makeshift cemetery, but it has a totally different type of marker," he said. "But we don't know what the property was like 70-something years ago."
Someone in St. Augustine does remember Lessie Mae Hunter, however.
Louise Bryant said she was a child when Hunter died and that she knew her. Bryant is distantly related and lives at the same address that Hunter did. Her last address is on her death certificate.
Hunter's death certificate, issued by State Registrar Mary F. Ponce, indicated a Dr. R.D. Harris attended to Hunter from Feb. 28, 1936, to March 7, the day she died. The cause of death is blacked out.
Hunter's occupation is given as "maid," and her husband was listed as an Elijah Hunter. Her parents were Murcro G. Green and Josephine Davis of Oliver, Ga.
And her place and date of burial is given as Moultrie Cemetery on March 9, 1936, overseen by Hilmes and Johnson, undertakers.
One possible clue to the mystery might be the discrepancy between Hunter's date of birth on the death certificate, 1913, which does not match the date carved into the tombstone, 1910. Perhaps the marker was a mistake by a stone mason and thrown away into the woods.
Hers was the only gravestone uncovered.
A lot of research had been done, trying to learn more about Hunter or her family.
A tombstone with Hunter's name on it was found hidden deep in a thick woods, sparking a mystery of who Hunter was and how her gravestone ended up in such an isolated spot.
The 6-acre construction site, adjacent to Park Place retirement home and Lambert's Nursery, is expected to be the future home of office and warehouse condominiums.
The gravestone said Hunter was born Oct. 10, 1910, and died March 7, 1936.
"The stone was under a bunch of shrubs and debris that had accumulated over the years," Galletta said. "We put a notice in the paper that we had found the marker and moved it to a cemetery. There was nothing else there."
"We have no idea who she is. About 200-to-300 feet away there is a makeshift cemetery, but it has a totally different type of marker," he said. "But we don't know what the property was like 70-something years ago."
Someone in St. Augustine does remember Lessie Mae Hunter, however.
Louise Bryant said she was a child when Hunter died and that she knew her. Bryant is distantly related and lives at the same address that Hunter did. Her last address is on her death certificate.
Hunter's death certificate, issued by State Registrar Mary F. Ponce, indicated a Dr. R.D. Harris attended to Hunter from Feb. 28, 1936, to March 7, the day she died. The cause of death is blacked out.
Hunter's occupation is given as "maid," and her husband was listed as an Elijah Hunter. Her parents were Murcro G. Green and Josephine Davis of Oliver, Ga.
And her place and date of burial is given as Moultrie Cemetery on March 9, 1936, overseen by Hilmes and Johnson, undertakers.
One possible clue to the mystery might be the discrepancy between Hunter's date of birth on the death certificate, 1913, which does not match the date carved into the tombstone, 1910. Perhaps the marker was a mistake by a stone mason and thrown away into the woods.
Hers was the only gravestone uncovered.
A lot of research had been done, trying to learn more about Hunter or her family.
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