I seems to be my day to ask for more information. First as near as I can tell that church has burned at least three times, once very recently. Second, what is it you are trying to find out about Sebastian Bolch and his wife. Sabastian was supposedly deceased by Feb 1815 when his will was proved so his stone if any existed, would have been there that long. Are you sure that is where he was buried? Maria Margaret Heffner was listed in South Fork Church as a first time communicate August 1776 along with what I presume were her daughters, Elizabetha Bolicken and Christina Bolicken.. I don't know the exact location of this Church but someone on this list will. Third, folks have been searching those St. Paul Records for years and barring a miracle the extant ones have been located, copied and recorded. See the Book Lifting High the Cross for 200 Years, St. John's Lutheran Church. And Lastly, the business about tombstones is most likely an old wives tale. Those gravestones have been there for a very long time, they were made of stone that deteriorated, they were carted off by miscreants, and sometimes there was none because the family could not afford one, or as you suggest they were buried on their own land. Agnes Cloninger On 7/6/04 2:00 PM, "CATAWBA-WEST-D-request@rootsweb.com" <CATAWBA-WEST-D-request@rootsweb.com> wrote: > From: "Ray H. Smith" <rsmith2092@carolina.rr.com> > Date: Mon, 5 Jul 2004 21:03:50 -0500 > To: CATAWBA-WEST-L@rootsweb.com > Subject: St. John's Lutheran Church Pastorial Diary/Records? > > Did any of the pastors that followed Rev. J. G. Arndt keep as elaborate > records as he did when he was the pastor at St. John's? > > My wife has a Revolutionary War patriot Sebastain BOLCH who was a member at > St. John's. He resided on Lyle Creek nearby. He died in 1822 which was after > Rev. Arndt's death. > Sebastain's wife Maria Margaret Hanna HEFFNER dies in 1830. During this time > period people did not want headstones with their names on them to prevent the > devil from finding them prior to resurrection morning. This couple could > possibly be buried on their plantation,but no one knows. > > Hence my on the surface dumb question. I realize there have been several > fires at this church over time; maybe a record of what I am seeking could have > been destroyed as result. Could the NC Lutheran Synod Archives in Salisbury > have such diaries-records. Then too it is my understanding that the senior > volunteer researcher there passed away recently. > > Anyone out there willing to comment or am I barking up an impossible tree?