Gone But Not Forgotten Memorial

 

The  Bertha D. Webb-Brown families, Capital Monument Inc., Midwest Block and Brick, and the Millard Family Funeral Chapels have joined together and  donated a special "Remembrance" monument to the City of Jefferson.  This monument has been placed in the Old City Cemetery, 1000 E. McCarty Street, to recognize individuals buried in this cemetery who have no permanent gravestone markers.   Because the cemetery is aging, markers may have been moved, removed, deteriorated because of weather, or even vandalized.

Recent research compiled by Nancy Thompson, Cemetery Resource Board Member, has found numerous individuals buried in Woodland/Old City Cemetery without grave markers.  Please follow the below link to view this list of individuals.  

Listing of individuals in unmarked graves.

Anyone with ancestors, loved ones, or would like to donate to or sponsor an individual who is interred without a marker at Old City Cemetery may have the individual's name, birth and death date engraved on the monument.  For more information such as costs, contact  the City of Jefferson Department of Planning and Protective Services at 573-634-6410.

Nora Webb was born on December 5, 1913, to Eugene and Estella (Warren) Webb.  She had four siblings, a brother who was still born in November of 1910, Bertha (November 1911), Robert (January 1916) and Juliaetta (April 1917).

Eugene Webb was born in Olean, Missouri in October 1885 while Estella (Warren) Webb was born in Lohman, Missouri in March 1895.

Estella and Eugene were friends while attending grade school and living in the Russellville, Lohman and Eugene, Missouri areas.  They were later married after a lengthy friendship and courtship on February 24, 1910.      

In 1917 tragedy struck the family when Nora's father, Eugene passed away.  Eugene was a share-cropper and one day a prized horse belonging to the owner of the land that he share-cropped got away from the property.  The landowner directed Eugene to find and catch the horse, but not to ride the horse back once caught.  Eugene did as instructed; found and caught the horse.  In order to return the horse to the landowner, he had to cross the Moreau River.  Eugene waded through the river as he walked the horse across, returning it to the land owner.  On March 30, 1917, Eugene died of acute hepatitis and labor pneumonia.

By the 1920 Federal Census, Nora, her mother and siblings were living in Jefferson City, Missouri.  Estella and her children were living with Estella's three brothers, Thomas (23), Ray (19), and Charlie (16).  Estella worked as a housekeeper and Ray and Charlie worked as laborers to help the family survive after Eugene's death, while Thomas went on to own his own successful barber shop.

Nora Webb passed from this earth on November 30, 1923 from a weak heart and pneumonia at the age of ten.  When she passed, her family was not able to erect a headstone in her honor.  She was buried in the Old City Cemetery, Jefferson City, Missouri, without a headstone to mark her resting place.

When Nora's sister Bertha grew up, married, had children, and later in years was confined to a nursing home, she elicited a promise from her son, Glover Brown.  The promise was that Glover would not let the memory of his Aunt Nora Webb be forgotten.  After years of remembering his Aunt Nora through stories within the family, Glover now in his 60's decided it was time for a more permanent remembrance of his Aunt Nora.  With this in mind, Glover put together the idea of erecting a memorial headstone in honor of his Aunt Nora.

In the fall of 2012, with the help of family and friends, a few local business owners, City officials, and concerned citizens, Glover's promise came to fruition.  A memorial headstone was erected with Nora's birth date and death date in the upper left hand corner.

At the dedication ceremony an invitation was issued to the citizens of Jefferson City and the surrounding area.  If anyone has a relative buried in the Old City Cemetery, in an unmarked grave, they are welcome to have that person's name added to the headstone with Nora's.

The Memorial Stone is sponsored by the Webb/Brown Families, the City of Jefferson Cemetery Board, Capital Monuments, Inc., Midwest Block and Brick, Millard Family Funeral Chapels, and Mueller Landscaping and Construction. There is currently a fee of $60 for placing a name on the headstone and the person whose name is placed on the headstone must be in an unmarked grave site within the Old City Cemetery.

                                                           

When Glover looks at the above photo of his Aunt Nora (peeking around from behind her mother) and Bertha (his mother beside her sister Nora, it appears to him that his Aunt Nora is saying, "Thank you for remembering me" and his mother is saying, "Thank you son, for keeping my promise. As a result of this endeavor, four more souls of Nora Webb's extended family have been discovered buried in unmarked grave sites in the Old City Cemetery.

• Mary Frances Warren    July 21, 1868 - November 10, 1919
• Paul Warren     July 29, 1902 - February 27, 1925
• Minnie Warren    May 25, 1912 - June 5, 1912         
• Infant Warren     August 15, 1921 - August 15, 1921    

Sources:

• Glover Brown, nephew of Nora Webb
• Missouri Death Certificate, Nora Webb
• 1920 Federal Census
• Planning and Protective Services Department, City of Jefferson