Did she marry her father-in-law after they both died?

Question

I think I found a horrible mistake.  Rachel's record at Find a Grave describes her as married to her husband's father.  It lists some of the children that she had with her husband and also mentions some of her husband's siblings, identifying them as her step-children.  What is even worse is the gravestone photo clearly shows that she and her father-in-law share the gravestone.

Her father-in-law died in 1976, his wife died in 1995 and is buried in a different cemetery in the same town.  Rachel died in 2010 and I have not found a death record for her husband, who was born in 1925 and is therefore unlisted (I broke my own rule to never add possibly living people in order to make the connection between Rachel and her in-laws).

Is this really the terrible mistake that it appears to be or is there any rational explanation for the whole mess?

Comments

Stranger things happen at sea ;-) I take it there are no divorce records for either of the original couples? In this day and age anything is possible?

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I tend to agree with Lizzie on this one, strange things happen, a family scandal no doubt.  There will be divorce records somewhere I'm sure.  Rachael ends up being the step-mother of her own ex-husband, very interesting.  LOL.

Answer 1

I would sy someone made a big mistake.

Answer 2

Did you email the lady at find a grave who put all the info together?

Comments

The problem started way before the person who added that to Find a Grave.  The photo shows that Rachel and her father-in-law share the same gravestone, which means that whoever ordered her name added to her father-in-law's gravestone was at fault.  Even more - her father-in-law's gravestone allowed the space for someone else to be buried next to him and share the stone - how come his wife, who died after him and before Rachel, was buried in a different cemetery in the same town instead of next to him?

Answer 3

Do you live in that area or can you find someone who will go and search public records to check for these possible marriage records? There might be something in the newspaper, too. That used to be publicly written in our local paper.

Answer 4

My grandmother was first married to an older man that had adult children from a previous marriage. Somehow, she became enamored with one of the sons. Long story short, she divorced the father and married the son. That union produced my father.

So I say that it is entirely possible she married her father-in-law and that explains why she is buried next to him. Have you thought about contacting the cemetery? They often have quite a bit of information. I did this for a person on the other side of the country from me and found 3 additional generations I did not know about.