A Tale Told by Three Gravestones
The summer of 2024, my husband and I drove down to Pleasant City, Ohio. It was the first time I had been down there since I was a kid. We drove to through the center of town. There had been businesses at one time but that summer there was no restaurant or even a place to buy a Coke. We found the church and then on our way out of town, we found the cemetery. It took some searching but with John's help, I found the gravestones I was looking for. My grandfather (Stephen Troyan) and his parents, Helen and George Troyan (my great-grandparents). The three headstones gave me lots of information: My grandfather was born August 6, 1899. He and my mother, Alice, nearly shared a birthday. My mother was born on August 5, 1923. Tragically, Stephen (Steve) was crushed to death by a piece of slate in the Banner Mine in Byesville, Ohio on August 24, 1924. My mother had just turned 1 and he had just turned 25. It's possible they celebrated their birthdays together on the 5th or the 6th of Augu...