I dragged K along to examine a couple of cemeteries during our recent trip to Kauai. Initially she was being nice and tagging along, but she quickly discovered why cemeteries can be interesting places to visit. While exploring at the Koloa Cemetery, she discovered this small, plain marker. There were a number like this; some were generic markers where no one had bought or made a headstone, but there were a surprising number of "John Doe" markers. In the U.S., John Doe is used as placeholder name for an unknown or unnamed man; similarly Jane Doe (or Roe) for a woman, and Baby Doe for an infant. It can be used in a legal document, but is also commonly used to refer to unknown people.
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8 comments:
Looks like a relatively small cemetery in a beautiful setting! I am surprised that so many markers should be named "John Doe". I have never seen one!
Thanks for posting this. We were also in Kauai last week, and drove past the Koloa cemetery turnoff a number of times. Interesting post, and nice pix!
Interesting post. Beautiful little marker. Over here in the UK if you're an unknown person, you simply don't get a marker of any kind. Unless you're an unknown soldier.
Beneath Thy Feet
I clicked and enlarged so I could see the photo clearly --- very interesting! This looks like a nice, small cemetery in a pretty setting.
I have never seen a marker like this before. I have seen a few flat stones in areas reserved for benevolent societies and must look more closely to see what they say.
I would say that in the cemeteries that I visit, about half of those interred do not have a marker. The trustees have lists and maps to help you find people without markers, but there is nothing in situ. That is different from not knowing who is in the grave. I have never come across a 'x-doe' marker here in Australia at all.
That final shot of the cemetery in Hawaii is interesting to me. It shows that there ARE places in America where a full grave bed is the go. Up until now, I have mainly been seeing that, even from the early days, there was a headstone, but no bed-stone. Over hear, single headstones are only now the rage, and this is to allow a tractorised mower in between the memorials.
Thanks for rejoining, Gene. You are a valued contributor.
@Julie - happy to be back! It wasn't for lack of interest or lack of material, just lack of time. Hopefully I'll have time in the coming weeks, as I got some interesting material in Hawaii.
I found it interesting that some of these John Does did not have a death date listed ... which led my imagination in various directions. Remains washed up on the beach? Paperwork lost in the morgue?
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