MILTON-FREEWATER — The Union-Bulletin on March 1 ran a story about the grave of one James Wood — a young boy who died more than 100 years ago and was buried at Bowlus Cemetery.
His headstone had “appeared” out of nowhere at the Walla Walla Jonathan M. Wainwright Memorial VA Hospital, tossed unceremoniously over a fence and onto the property.
The mystery was handed over to Kat Ferguson, an archaeologist on staff at the VA, and she was floored to find out that Wood shared the same birthday — day and month — as her.
Ferguson went about trying to find the owners of the graveyard and the headstone, but no luck. She tracked it to Bowlus Cemetery and eventually recruited the help of Umatilla County Sheriff’s Deputy Steven McDaniel.
McDaniel reached out to the community and was contacted by one Frances Weddle, a supposed matriarch of the Bowlus family. She requested to have the headstone returned, one way or another.
After a new site was selected for the headstone because of the derelict nature of the cemetery, the story the U-B ran generated dozens of phone calls and emails.
People were curious about the history of little James Wood. How did the young boy, who died at about 18 months old, end up in a graveyard without any of his family members? And where did they go?
Several people called claiming to know where the parents were buried or how he was tied to local Wood family members — which is still possible.
But the real answer came, once again, from Weddle.
Weddle contacted the U-B and revealed that she was, in fact, not a member of the Bowlus family but is actually the great niece of James Wood.
Weddle, 75, lives in Tooele, Utah, about a 20 minute drive west from Salt Lake City.
She has a master’s degree in history and said she had initially “poo-pooed” the idea of pursuing family history. But she began anyway and became hooked and now has a large “tree” on ancestry.com.
“I just fell in love with these people,” Weddle said.
During the 1990s, Weddle discovered the existence of her great uncle “Jimmy.”
Weddle was mostly raised by her grandmother, Edna Pearl Wood (Pitts).
“She never said a word about Jimmy,” Weddle said. “I was flabbergasted to learn there was another child.”
Weddle said she was always curious to learn more about Jimmy but there really was no trace of him anywhere.
“All I had was that he was from Umatilla County,” Weddle said. “I thought he might be buried in a farm field somewhere.”
Then, as fate would have it, Ferguson rung up findagrave.com to research the grave and her inquiry set off a chain reaction that alerted Weddle to the discovery.
“I was blown away about everything that happened,” Weddle said. “I find it just totally remarkable. I believe that Heavenly Father works in mysterious ways and (Ferguson) was meant to have that connection.”
Weddle revealed that Jimmy was the son of her great grandparents, Joseph Paul Wood Jr. and Sarah Jane “Jenny” Wood, both of whom are listed as dying in Stites, Idaho.
Weddle said in a phone interview that she has record of Joseph Paul Wood actually returning to the Walla Walla area and eventually being buried in Walla Walla County.
Weddle said it’s possible that her great-grandparents never mentioned Jimmy to her grandmother.
“I doubt if they ever mentioned it,” she said. “They were a very typical pioneer family that wasn’t all touchy-feely. They were very stern. … With the pioneers going west, it was a very difficult time.”
Despite that, Weddle said Jenny Wood was very distraught over the death of Jimmy. She would have been pregnant with Edna Wood, at the time of Jimmy’s death.
“I can’t imagine what kind of sorrow and grief she went through,” Weddle said. “He was dearly loved. I think his death was a great trauma to (her).”
The Woods were only passing through Walla Walla when Jimmy died. They had family in the area and likely stayed with them for some time.
The then family spent much time in Idaho where Joseph Paul Wood served as a sheriff for a time before he returned to Walla Walla.
Two things remain a mystery: Jimmy’s death and the reappearance of his headstone.
Whatever the case, Weddle now says she has a sense of closure that she didn’t have before. She is a practicing member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and said that Jimmy is now “sealed” to his parents.
“So they are together now,” she said.
All in all, Weddle was blown away by the entire story: the discovery of her great uncle, the discovery of his headstone and its return to Bowlus Cemetery.
“Just when you think the world is nothing but cruel and full of sorrow and heartache, these people do something like this and it really proves that human beings are far more compassionate than we give them credit for,” Weddle said of McDaniel and Ferguson.
“This is such a jaded age where people always wonder, ‘What’s in it for me?’ And these two people, as I understand it, worked for months trying to find his resting place and his family. I just think it’s miraculous.”
