Baby Gideon’s Headstone Comes Home
By Dannielle Garcia, Reporter, and Drew Hill, Writer, WINK News, Ft. Myers | April 19, 2022 |
Remember the story of Baby Gideon? Back in 2020 the mystery of Baby Gideon was discovered when Port Charlotte, FL homeowner Thomas Dipaolo uncovered a headstone in his yard seven months after purchasing the home. It was of a baby, Gideon P. Brubaker, who died in 1863. He was only 21 days old.
Not knowing what he possibly had stumbled upon, Mr. Dipaolo contacted the local police and WINK News from nearby Fort Myers.
Image courtesy WINK News, Ft. Myers, FL.
Two tracks of sleuthing ensued. Reporter Dannielle Garcia from WINK News researched the history of Mr. Dipaolo’s property, looking at who the former owners were, if there was ever a church and/or graveyard on site or nearby; and any other possible clues that could explain why there was a tombstone buried in Mr. Dipaolo’s yard. While she was doing that, Mr. Dipaolo, on a longshot, did some online research about the Brubaker name and found us! Mr. Dipaolo was in contact with Elaine the Brubaker Families of America Historian, who quickly found Gideon’s family in the database.
Finding the closest, if any, next of kin, proved to be a little more daunting. After considerable research, a phone call was placed and a message was left. No return phone call and we thought we had exhausted all of the possibilities. But then, after months of silence, Elaine got a return phone call! This is how we met cousins Brenda Bosserman and her mother, Joyce Herndon. Joyce is a fourth cousin to Gideon; she is the oldest living next of kin to him.
Dave, Janet, Tom Dipaolo
Over the ensuing months, logistical arrangements were made to bring the headstone back to its rightful resting spot. This is where the blessings of a large extended family, stretched across the continent, came into play. With the close proximity of Sarasota, Florida to Port Charlottte, we enlisted Brubaker cousins Dave Ross and Janet Miller to begin the first leg of the journey home.
After meeting with Mr. Dipaolo and retrieving the headstone, Janet kept it for a few months in anticipation of the next rendezvous.
In early April, Doug Brubaker, his wife, and his parents were in Sarasota on a mix of business and vacation. Cousins met for dinner one night, and Janet handed off Gideon’s headstone to Doug. The stone then made the return trip to Page County, Virginia.
Brubaker cousins and spouses.
Back row L to R: John Bosserman, John Herndon, Doug Brubaker, Elizabeth Pituch Brubaker.
Front row L to R: Brenda Bosserman, Mark Bauserman, Joyce Herndon, Elaine Renkin.
On the beautiful sunny afternoon of Palm Sunday April 10th, cousins met in Luray, VA for the first time. And Gideon’s headstone was reset next to his sister and their parents. Records tell us that as late as 1985 his stone was in its proper place. Sometime after 1985, it disappeared and was rediscovered in Florida. It may never be known what happened, but we are glad that it has returned.
But…there are a few more tidbits to this story.
We learned that this cemetery, the Brubaker – White House Cemetery, is situated on the corner of the Brubaker family farm that played host to the fourth and eighth annual Family Reunions in 1922 and 1926.
In addition, our friend Dannielle shared with us how she went through quite a list of previous owners prior to Mr. Dipaolo purchasing his home. One of those contacts only recently returned Dannielle’s call, leaving a voice message for her. In that message, she told Dannielle that she happened to purchase the tombstone at a garage sale!
Garage sale??
Stay tuned—-there may well be at least one more chapter to add to this story!
See more here: https://www.winknews.com/2022/04/19/port-charlotte-man-gets-tombstone-of-baby-gideon-back-to-family/
Our heartfelt thanks to Dannielle Garcia of WINK News, Elaine our Historian, cousins Joyce and (daughter) Brenda; cousins Janet and Dave; cousin Doug, and of course Tom Dipaolo for finding the stone in the first place…and everyone else who was involved in this unique story.