Where is Martha's Headstone?

The answer to the question above is, 
"Not in the cemetery where she is buried!"  

Most headstones indicate the place where a person is buried and are usually placed at the head of the burial plot of the person buried in a particular plot in a cemetery.  But, not so for the headstone for our 3rd great-grandma, Martha Jay Hatfield.

Martha Hatfield Headstone

Martha Jay Hatfield, was born September 25, 1830 in Randolph County, Indiana.  She was the daughter of William Jay and Labitha Hockett and came from Quaker roots.

Believed to be the photo of Martha Jay Hatfield.
Belonged to her son, Martin Monroe Hatfield and
passed down in the Hatfield family. 

Martha married John Martin Hatfield on September 6th, 1849 in Henry County, Iowa.  Martha and John Hatfield had seven (7) sons.  Their fifth son, Martin Monroe Hatfield, is our ancestor.  To see the family record of the John Martin Hatfield family, click here.

Martha died on March 5th, 1863 in Taylor County, Iowa and was buried in Helm Cemetery.  Her name was on the list of burials for Helm Cemetery but no headstone could ever be found.  I always felt sad that she did not have a headstone marking her grave.

Helm Cemetery, Taylor County, Iowa

The story does not end there.  Several months ago one of our cousins, Walter Hatfield, located Martha Jay Hatfield's headstone.  But, it was not in the Helm Cemetery in Iowa where Martha Hatfield is buried;  it was in a museum in Nebraska!  Walter was able to track the headstone down to a different state, even though our grandma, Martha Jay Hatfield, is buried in Helm Cemetery in Iowa.  This is his story:

Walter has spent years working on the Hatfield Family History.  Many thanks goes out to Walter for tracking down the the headstone for our Martha Jay Hatfield.  Martha's headstone is located at the STUHR MUSEUM of the PRAIRIE PIONEER in Grand Island, Nebraska.  Perhaps, this is the best place for the headstone.  It is being cared for and Martha was a pioneer.  

Below is the catalog entry for the headstone.