August Julius Lindstrom

August Julius Lindstrom
Born	February 3, 1871(1871-02-03) Wallentuna Socken, Stockholm Lan, Sweden
Died	October 7, 1884 (aged 13)
Cause of death	Pneumonia
Resting place	Phelps County, Nebraska
Parents	Gustaf Lindstrom Johanna Christina Carlsdotter

According to Roy Lindstrom, "Tragedy struck the Gustaf Lindstrom family Oct. 07, 1884, when their second son August Julius died, and it is said that he was buried on this same Quarter Section [Gustaf's original homestead], some say that he died of Pneumonia."

One would think that the location of a thirteen-year-old boy's grave would be marked, or that the location would at least be remembered and visited by family members. But the exact location of the boy's burial site seems to have been lost to history. Gustaf recycled the name, August, on his eighth child, and the family seemed to forget about the original August.

Dean Lindstrom has theorized that Gustaf's family had not yet joined a church, and therefore weren't yet welcome to inter August at Moses Hill Cemetery, where most of Gustaf's family was subsequently buried. Moses Hill Cemetery was already operating as of 1884.

Theorized Burial Location

Dean Lindstrom recalls walking with father George near the extreme north-west corner of George's quarter and hearing George say that a family member who died as a little boy was buried just over the fence, gesturing toward Gustaf's original quarter section. That story corresponds with Roy Lindstrom's report that August was buried on Gustaf's section.

Dean's brother Larry believes that August is buried on Charlie Lindstrom's quarter section, on an old fence line that used to separate the western 2/3rds of the property that was broken, from the eastern 1/3rd of the property that was unbroken. That fence line may still appear on google maps as a faded north-south shadow. Larry recalls running his planting tractor across a spot near that fence line, approximately three pivot towers into the field, from the north edge, and feeling the tractor pass over an unnatural dip in the ground. Larry Lindstrom believes that he possess the ability to locate graves and underground water sources by a process known as witching, whereby Larry walks over land holding two metal clothes hangers that are bent into 90 degree angles in his hands, and move when Larry believes that he his standing directly over a grave or underground water source.

The locations of August's burial site, as theorized by Dean and Larry, and marked here:

<googlemap zoom="15" lat="40.60404" lon="-99.411"> 40.604588, -99.412032 40.605606, -99.4089 </googlemap>

Standing on Charlie Lindstrom's place, near the circumference of the pivot, looking north-east across the unbroken center of the sections.