Excelsior local Jim Baldwin discovered a tombstone on his property
Jim Baldwin wondered what lay wedged between two small trees in a tight space between his garage and a shared alley.
He might’ve been the first.
Jim and his wife, Sandy, moved into the home at 407 Kimball in Excelsior Springs last September.
For Sandy, a native who attended the old Excelsior Springs High School, it was a homecoming. For Jim it might as well have been.
“My grandmother and grandfather lived a little south of Excelsior Springs, so it’s kind of been a kind of second home for me,” he said.
His father also attended school here.
Now Jim’s wondering where the true home lies for the gravestone he found face down, nestled between those little trees next to his garage.
The stone isn’t historically significant, but might be of interest to the family of its namesake. The rectangular slab, 20 inches long, six inches deep and 12 inches tall, offers few clues.
All it says is Buford M., 1904-1968, unusual in the fact that what appears abbreviated is the last name.
“Kind of an unusual way to put a name on a tombstone, I thought, but what I think about it doesn’t matter,” Jim said. “I have no idea where it came from.”
Neither do his neighbors.
To read more, see the Tuesday, March 22, 2016 issue of The Excelsior Springs Standard