52 Ancestors- week 21 Cemetery

February 15, 1897, Amelia Elizabeth Petersen-Marcus was buried in the New Danish Church Cemetery in Christiansted Town.  Amelia E. Petersen was born on St. Croix in April 1834 died in February 1897 during the Danish Period.  A family member in St. Thomas, USVI  explained that Amelia’s son (August Bough) had a tombstone design and placed it on his mother’s grave.  She further stated that a friend of the family would take me to see the marker.  As I prepared to visit the gravesite, I thought I would get a summary of my 3-great grandmother, as described below. 

Amelia Elizabeth Petersen-Marcus

• Born April 13, 1834 Christiansted  St. Croix.
• Amelia had five (5) children.
• Married Michael Marcus April 2, 1879.
• She was a lifelong resident of Christiansted St. Croix.

We introduced ourselves and began to walk through the cemetery to see the memorial site.  Lo and behold, it was everything my cousin described without exaggeration.  To my surprise, there were two tombstones side by side.

I was narrowing down my research on August C. Bough to his only wife, Hadassah Summersille-Bough, as recorded in the Lutheran Church Book, and other partners. The visit provided additional information which I did not expect to find.   Most of my research comes from Historical documents/databases/ funeral booklets/family lore.

The tombstone August C. Bough erected, was for his mother, and another tomb stone for his first wife Mary Eliza (Armstrong), who died at the young age of 20 years old.  This visit to the cemetery, got me a gem in the rough.