GENEALOGY PUSUIT UNCOVERS UNUSUAL FIND: FAMILY ASHES

In his quest to learn more about the family who built and lived in the historic Glenn House in Cape Girardeau, John Bry came across something he didn't expect: the ashes of the Glenns' daughter-in-law.

"She called this place home until the 1920s, and even then, she made frequent trips back to visit relatives and friends," said Bry, the home's director, speaking of Geraldine Albert Glenn.

"I think this is the proper place for her, and definitely a happier ending to what may have become of her," he said.

Geraldine Glenn was married to the son of David and Lula Glenn, the couple who built the house in 1883. She spent her last days in a nursing home in Decatur, Ill., and died in September of 1990.

Bry said through research and talking with other descendants, he learned that Geraldine had never been buried in the family plot in New Lorimier Cemetery.

He said he learned that a nephew who had been caring for Geraldine had opted for cremation and left her ashes with a Decatur funeral home, amid bitterness about his inheritance, Bry said.

Sure enough, when he phoned the funeral home last week, they still had them.

"They told me her ashes would eventually be mixed in with others," Bry said. "I thought `this lady deserves better than this.'"

So Bry asked the funeral home to send the ashes to Cape Girardeau for a proper burial. They shipped them third class.

"She's come home now," he said. "I think this is the right place for her."

He plans to hold a memorial ceremony for Geraldine at the cemetery on Sept. 8, the two-year anniversary of her death at age 99.

She will be buried next to the Glenn family plot in the cemetery. Her own family, the Alberts, have a plot right next to the Glenn's.

"I was surprised that extensive research was never done on the Glenns," he said. "When people come to visit the house, they're surprised that a lot of the things here were not the Glenn's, but were donated.

"People want to see more about the family, so I hope I uncover more about them."

But the ashes of the Glenn's daughter-in-law is not what he expected to find, he said.

Until a proper burial is done, the ashes will be kept at the house in the black box that bears her name and the date she was cremated.

The Glenn House, at 325 South Spanish, was built by Lula Glenn's father, Edwin Branch Deane, a prominent architect. He gave it to his daughter and her husband as a wedding gift, Bry said.

David Glenn owned Glenn's Mercantile on Main Street, which housed several department stores. He was also president and founder of the former First National Bank on Main Street, and served on the city council, park board and fair board. He died in 1930.

Lula Glenn died in 1945 in Alexandria, Va. and is buried there along with one of her daughters, Ruth. Her name, however, is on the Lorimier family plot.

Geraldine was married to Garrett Glenn, David and Lula's son. Bry said he has so far uncovered little about Garrett Glenn, other than he died sometime after 1945.

Bry said most of the Glenn family descendants live out of state, including several in California, which makes tracking of the family tree more difficult.

If he uncovers enough of the Glenn family history, he plans to put it together in a scrapbook, he said.