Tombstone Tuesday - John and Susanah Beistline

This is the tombstone of Susanah and John R. Beistline (Beistlin) located at Blair Cemetery, Blair, Nebraska. They are my 4th great grand parents. The parents of my 3rd great grandmother, Sarah A. (Beistline) Hunt. Sarah was the wife of Samuel Hunt, they were the parents of my 2nd great grandfather, John Hunt. John Hunt's daughter Thelma married Floyd Brassfield. Hopefully some of those names are ringing some bells.


I have very little detail about them, in fact even the spelling of the name might be wrong. Beistline or Beistlin. The tombstone says Beistlin, but cemetery records and census records say Beistline. According to the 1880 US Census, John and Susanah were both born in Pennsylvania. They apparently moved to Iowa after 1854 and before 1862 then to Nebraska before 1880. Their daughter Sarah married my 3rd great grandfather, Samuel Hunt in 1868 in Downey, Cedar County, Iowa. So that gives an idea of how they got from Pennsylvania to Eastern Nebraska.

The tombstone is transcribed as follows:

J.R. Beistlin
Born
1821
Died
Apr 16, 1904
Aged
83 years
Gone but not forgotten

Susanah
Wife of J.R. Beistlin
Died
Dec 30, 1885
Aged
64 years

A close up of J.R.'s side of the stone
The morning sun was at a low angle which
enhanced readability of this side.