Tombstone Tuesday–Carrie W. Friedell

Carrie W. Friedell, Zion Lutheran Cemetery, Chattanooga, Mercer County, Ohio. (2011 photo by Karen)

Carrie W. Friedell, Zion Lutheran Cemetery, Chattanooga, Mercer County, Ohio. (2011 photo by Karen)

This is the tombstone of Carrie W. Friedell, located in row 1 of Zion Lutheran Cemetery, Chattanooga, Mercer County, Ohio. The marker is inscribed:

Carrie W.
Friedell
1873-1965

This surname is not at all familiar to me. Just who was Carrie W. Friedell and what is her connection to Zion Lutheran Chatt, or to Mercer County in general?

I first searched in the most obvious place, Zion Chatt’s records, but there is no mention of Carrie Friedell’s death or burial in the records. That is odd. She is buried there but not mentioned in the church records.

In the grand scheme of things 1965 was not all that long ago. There are some gaps in the church records back in the 1880s but the recent records are fairly complete.

There was no Carrie W. baptized at Zion with an 1873 birth year. Nothing even close. No confirmation or marriage record that would fit either. And, there are no Friedells mentioned in the church records.

This tombstone is a total mystery to me and, you know me, I enjoy solving a good mystery. I really wanted to discover her connection to Zion Chatt and how she came to be buried in our cemetery. Who was Carrie W. Friedell?

I am happy to say that after a lot of searching I did find the answer. I now know Carrie’s connection and why she is buried in Zion Chatt’s cemetery.

But I learned only a portion of the answers and they lead to even more questions. Why is it that in genealogy research an answer leads to more questions. There always seems to be one more mystery to solve.

At any rate, I found Carrie Friedell’s story to be very interesting, with several twists and turns and surprises.

Carrie’s story is so interesting and involved that I going to tell about her life in several Friday blog posts over the next few weeks.

I hope you will also find Carrie’s story interesting and that you will follow “Zion Chatt’s Mid-Summer Mystery” series in the coming weeks.

To be continued this Friday…

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