The Magers Family
Heinrich D. Magers, who died in 1851, and his wife, Louisa, who preceded him in death in 1848, were both born in Germany and started their family in Hanover. They immigrated to America shortly after and traveled west to settle in Weston. Heinrich operated a hardware store, which his son, Henry W. Magers, continued to operate for many years after his father death. Henry was elected the Mayor of Weston in 1878 and died in June 1890. Henry brother, Thomas C. Magers, became Weston Postmaster in 1889 and died in 1928, at the ripe old age of 87.
Fenced in by stone slabs, the Magers? family plot holds only a few members of the family. Other family members, many of whom had married into other Weston families, are found throughout the rest of the cemetery. Up the hillside and to the right, one can see a monument that looks like an arch or door. This particular headstone belongs to Heinrich and Louisa Magers and the arch is considered a symbol of the doorway to heaven. It is the only one of its kind in this cemetery.
The Dietz Family
Jacob Dietz and his younger brothers, Henry and Matthias, were born in Germany and after immigrating to America, became successful businessmen in Weston. Married twice to Weston women, he unfortunately lost many of his children when they were very young. Oscar, the son of Jacob and his second wife, Lucy H. Porter, went into business in St. Joseph, but was returned to be buried in Laurel Hill after his death. Jacob brothers and their wives are buried here, as well. Henry married a woman named Anna Mary. His other brother, Matthias, married a woman named Wilhelmina and ran a grocery store in Weston.
The Shortridge Family
Dr. Wm. T. Shortridge, a man of great compassion and loyalty to his Hippocratic oath, ministered to soldiers on both sides of the Civil War. Once arrested by Union soldiers for "treason" and taken to Fort Leavenworth, he took care of the soldiers and prisoners there. He was released several months later because he was needed by the soldiers quartered in Weston, as well as the town people and his family. His wife, Julianna McAdow, was nineteen years younger than her husband when she married him at the tender age of 16. They were parents to three sons, all of whom died in infancy. Being a doctor wife, as well as the daughter of a doctor, she helped turn a part of their home into a hospital to nurse and care for the sick, wounded and dying.
[Inset photo captions, from top right to bottom right, read]
1. The Deitz [sic] Monument and Jacob Deitz [sic]
2. Julianna Shortridge
3. Magers Arch symbolizes a "passage to heaven"
4. A Sheaf of Wheat symbolizes "old age" and a "long fruitful life"
5. A Broken Flower for someone who died an untimely or premature death, which often is seen on graves of the young
6. Lamb on a childs [sic] grave, symbolizing their "innocence"
7. A Calla lily symbolizes "beauty", the scroll "the scriptures", and a palm represents "victory over death"
8. Clasped Hands means a "farewell to earthly existence"
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