A tombstone that is more than 140 years old has a new home in an Arnold cemetery.
A grave marker bearing the names of John Balzer, who died in 1873, and John Ritter, who died in 1875, was relocated on Dec. 19 to Richardson Cemetery on Richardson Road just west of Rosedale Drive.
“It was the last warm day that we had,” said Bernie Wilde, treasurer of the Arnold Historical Society, which helps oversee upkeep of the cemetery. “We got it done before the big (temperature) drop.”
Members of the Arnold Historical Society learned about the tombstone around five years ago, when some of Balzer’s descendants contacted the group after the marker was found in the Stone Oaks subdivision off Elm Street just outside the Arnold city limits, Wilde said.
Balzer is believed to be the younger brother or nephew of Ferena Balzer, who married Aloysius Beck.
The city of Arnold was formed from several little towns. One of them was Beck, which was named after the Beck family that in 1837 immigrated to the Arnold area, where Aloysius Beck received his medical license in 1838, Wilde said.
Aloysius and Ferena Beck died in May 1854 and are buried in the Immaculate Conception Cemetery in Arnold, according to Historical Society records.
The gravestone bearing Balzer’s name was located on land that once belonged to Beck’s son, Emanuel, who married into the Dornseif family and is buried in St. John’s Lutheran Cemetery in Arnold.
For some reason, Wilde said, Balzer and Ritter were not buried in either of those cemeteries with other relatives.
She said Balzer’s relatives believe that his tombstone was discovered during the construction of the Stone Oaks subdivision.
It was fortunate the marker was not extensively damaged, Wilde said.
“The stone was in near perfect condition when we picked it up,” she said. “That is amazing when you think about a bulldozer being out at a subdivision. They only nicked a piece at the very top.
“How it couldn’t have been damaged more is beyond me. They must have noticed they hit something and set the stone aside.”
Wilde said about 20 people gathered at Richardson Cemetery when the stone was placed there in December.
She said the group included members of the Arnold Historical Society, employees from the Northwest Branch of the Jefferson County Library and caretakers of the cemetery.
Wilde said they were fortunate caretaker Wesley Jackson found a base on the cemetery’s property to hold the stone.
“He just had to chisel out a little bit to make the stone stay,” Wilde said.
After the tombstone was set in the cemetery, Historical Society members learned that at least three people related to Balzer are buried there.
“He is back with his family,” Wilde said.
She said not much is known about Ritter, although it is believed he was a handyman who relocated to the Arnold area along with Balzer to work on a farm with him.
Wilde said it is unusual to find tombstones with two people’s names on it who are not married.
“The only thing we can figure out is the families may have had to pool their money to purchase one tombstone and put both men’s names on it, instead of buying two tombstones,” Wilde said.
She said anyone with information about the men or their relationship to the Balzer and Beck families are encouraged to contact the Arnold Historical Society through its Facebook page, by calling 636-282-2828 or by sending an email to arnoldhistorical@yahoo.com.