Mystery grave in Pike Brethren Cemetery

Mystery grave in Pike Brethren Cemetery

Mysterious gravestone—David Caldwell submitted this photograph of a tombstone with a mysterious inscription. He explains: "Perhaps someone will know the story behind the tombstone in the photo I am attaching. The tombstone is in the Pike Grace Brethren Cemetery (Mundy's Corner) in the section across the road from the church. My father first showed it to me when I was a child. He said that William Donaldson was a coal miner who had no relatives in the area when he died. One of the bosses went through his personal possessions and found a piece of paper with the poem that is now inscribed on the tombstone. The boss took care of the funeral and the tombstone. There are no dates that we could find. A story on this tombstone may have appeared in the newspapers in the past. If so, I never saw it." Under a large heading "At Rest," the "poem" says:

William Donaldson is my name
And Scotland is my nation
Nant-Y-Glo is my dwelling place.
And Heaven is my expectation.
When I am dead and in my grave
And all my bones are rotten
These few lines will tell my name
When I am quite forgotten.

Is William Donaldson "quite forgotten"? If anyone can provide additional information, please send it to webmaster for inclusion here.

An anonymous writer, tunaway2@aol.com, says:

I'm pretty sure the man buried there was a relative. My father's family immigrated to America in 1910 from Scotland. Most of the males became miners. Our family name is Donaldson; I had an uncle named William and my son is also William. I will keep checking to see if you get any confirmation or further information. I too would like to know. Good luck.

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