19/10/2026
The Grave Hunters Society started on October 19, 2019. Thanks to Herman Deurr, in 2020 we learned about his uncle Charles Duerr, who was brutally murdered on July 20, 1893, right in front of his pregnant wife and children just two doors from home! He was a well-loved and respected member of the community. His murder made headlines for a year, but as time passed, the buzz faded and he was mostly forgotten, leaving only his family to remember him. Years later, his grave became overgrown and completely lost to the world.
A year after that, Jonathan and Andrea found his story on Find a Grave and saw the request to locate his headstone. We already felt a connection to the family, but that’s a story for another time.
***original post, around October 19, 2019***
Jon and I did a thing today. Awhile back while at Antiques Village we found a Baptismal certificate the section. I instantly fell in love with it and had to have it! I needed to know all about the one year old little boy named Herman and his family! So we bought it, brought it home, and began to research.
We had little to start with, I knew they had once lived in Dayton and that they were German. Later thanks to a few online resources, we were able to find that he was born in Mad River, had enlisted in WWI, later he married Gladys, together they had two children, Phyllis and Richard. Their son died while serving our country during WWII.
Today we found his grave site! It was an odd feeling standing at his gravesite while holding his baptism certificate from 1898. Excitement and somber emotions were definitely in the atmosphere. I’m hoping to get Herman a star memorial marker to recognize him for his service during WWI. ❤️
