I believe that this is a memorial marker, or possibly the actual grave of John H Atkinson, son of David and Emily Atkinson, who are buried in a plot nearby. David's granddaughter, Mabel Doolittle insisted that this was the grave of some "other" John, because "their" John had been buried in a cornfield. It's true that he couldn't have been buried in Cottonwood Cemetery when he died, because it didn't exist then. But I think a family member placed this stone in John's memory, or even had him reburied there, later. Since the headstone is inscribed with the words "In Memory of", I'm inclined to think the actual remains are not in the cemetery. The most likely place of his original burial is Rhinehart Cemetery (also known as Buffalo Table Cemetery) a few miles to the East. It is known that at least several remains were moved from Rhinehart to Bethel over the years.
Other reasons to support my conclusion: Local records do not list any other person who might match the information on this headstone. The name, age, and middle initial on the stone do exactly match what records are available for David's son John. The plot this stone is on was purchased by David's distant cousin who buried his son George there, before the family moved away soon afterwards. Knowing he wouldn't need any of the other plots he had purchased, since he was leaving, this cousin could have offered the use of one of them to David.
Other reasons to support my conclusion: Local records do not list any other person who might match the information on this headstone. The name, age, and middle initial on the stone do exactly match what records are available for David's son John. The plot this stone is on was purchased by David's distant cousin who buried his son George there, before the family moved away soon afterwards. Knowing he wouldn't need any of the other plots he had purchased, since he was leaving, this cousin could have offered the use of one of them to David.
I believe that this is a memorial marker, or possibly the actual grave of John H Atkinson, son of David and Emily Atkinson, who are buried in a plot nearby. David's granddaughter, Mabel Doolittle insisted that this was the grave of some "other" John, because "their" John had been buried in a cornfield. It's true that he couldn't have been buried in Cottonwood Cemetery when he died, because it didn't exist then. But I think a family member placed this stone in John's memory, or even had him reburied there, later. Since the headstone is inscribed with the words "In Memory of", I'm inclined to think the actual remains are not in the cemetery. The most likely place of his original burial is Rhinehart Cemetery (also known as Buffalo Table Cemetery) a few miles to the East. It is known that at least several remains were moved from Rhinehart to Bethel over the years.
Other reasons to support my conclusion: Local records do not list any other person who might match the information on this headstone. The name, age, and middle initial on the stone do exactly match what records are available for David's son John. The plot this stone is on was purchased by David's distant cousin who buried his son George there, before the family moved away soon afterwards. Knowing he wouldn't need any of the other plots he had purchased, since he was leaving, this cousin could have offered the use of one of them to David.
Other reasons to support my conclusion: Local records do not list any other person who might match the information on this headstone. The name, age, and middle initial on the stone do exactly match what records are available for David's son John. The plot this stone is on was purchased by David's distant cousin who buried his son George there, before the family moved away soon afterwards. Knowing he wouldn't need any of the other plots he had purchased, since he was leaving, this cousin could have offered the use of one of them to David.
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Aged 23 years, 3 months, 29 days
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