Family journeys
These pages are for letters written by ancestors and friends of the many people buried in the two hospital cemeteries. The letters tell the stories of the journeys of the families in finding their ancestors. All correspondence on this page is published with the express permission of the families concerned.
Each family has a different path to finding their ancestors. It is hoped the letters on this page will serve as both a reminder of how burial of a family member at Toledo State Hospital should not be viewed as a stigma or that their ancestors were different in any way, but rather viewed both as an inspiration to those of us who are still looking for ancestors who may turn up in the most unforseen places and as a celebration of the finding of our loved ones after journeys that often take years and cover multiple states.
It is hoped as more families find their missing ancestors and more journeys unearthed and permissions granted, this page can be made into a tool for visitors to the cemeteries to put names and stories to the stone markers which are currently the only way to differentiate between the almost 2000 people who themselves have different stories, backgrounds and journeys.
We currently have five personal journeys available and hope to add more in the future as we receive and get permission to publish them. The stories are available through the links below. The name is that of the person buried in the cemetery.
Thank you to all our family members who have provided us with these stories. We hope they provide hope and inspiration for those of you still searching for family members. We will be adding more stories in the future.