LANSING, Mich. (WEYI) — After 146 years a headstone is back in a cemetery after being used to make fudge.
According to The Friends of Lansing's Historic Cemeteries, Peter J. Weller was a businessman in the Lansing area and died in 1849.
His headstone got lost in transition when he and his family were moved from the city's Oak Park cemetery.
After getting lost, the headstone made its way to the home of an Okemos family where the backside of the headstone was used for making fudge.
On Sunday, the cemetery dedicated the headstone marker to Weller at his gravesite.
The cemetery marker was restored after being found by Walter Anderson who saw the marker listed for sale on the auctioneer's website.
Here is what The Friends of Lansing's Historic Cemeteries:
The Friends of Lansing's Historic Cemeteries will hold a Dedication Ceremony Sunday, Sept. 26th at 3 p.m. in Mt. Hope Cemetery for Peter J. Weller's monument, missing from his gravesite for several decades and recently restored after being used to make fudge.
Mr. Weller was a Lansing pioneer and business man who died in 1849. He was initially buried in the city's Oak Park Cemetery. When his grave was moved to Mt. Hope Cemetery in 1875 the monument got lost in the transition. No one knows where it was for most of that time but an auctioneer found it in an Okemos home where the back side of the monument had been used for many years to make fudge.
The FOLHC was alerted to the situation by former Lansing area resident Walter Anderson, who saw the monument listed for sale on the auctioneer's website. Brad Stoecker of Epic Auctions donated the monument once he knew it belonged on an unmarked grave in Mt. Hope Cemetery. Genealogist Ginger Ogilvie researched the Weller family tree for the FOLHC and determined no living relatives could be located.
With permission from the city, the FOLHC hired cemetery preservationist Andrew Noland, of Silent Cities, to install the missing monument on Weller's grave. He also recovered, repaired and reset Christina Weller's monument and reset Lucretia Weller's monument. All 6 of the monuments and markers on the 10 plot family gravesite were cleaned. Christina and Lucretia were daughters of Weller.
The dedication ceremony will include the well-researched life and times of Peter Weller and his descendants and their spouses, including a Michigan Speaker of the House of Representatives, members of the Blue Book society of Detroit, and a Shakespearean actress.
Cemetery preservationist Andrew Noland and genealogist Ginger Ogilvie are expected to be in attendance and available for questions.
Mr. Weller's monument is on his grave now, 172 years after his death, 146 years after it was lost; Sunday we dedicate it to his memory in eternity.