First Coast News has found a headstone dug up during I-295 construction that disrupted a historic African American cemetery.
The headstone belonged to Thomas Watson, the great-grandfather of Wanda Ratliff who lives in Baltimore.
Ratliff reached out to First Coast News for help confirming that and shared a 1936 veteran headstone application, which she found on Ancestry.com.
That application, filled out by her great-grandmother, Nettie Watson, matches the information listed on the headstone First Coast News discovered.
“His wife was really proud and honored to give him a headstone,” Ratliff said. “She had to go and apply for it for about a year and I think she had to be proud.”
Watson was a Private in the 403rd Labor Battalion QMC in Georgia. He died on December 21, 1936. All of this information was found both on the application presented by Ratcliff and on the headstone.
Jacksonville National Cemetery Director Al Richburg says this is the first time in his career a distant relative has come forward.
“It’s cases like this, I want to make sure the veteran is interned with dignity, honor and respect, something deserving of this great nation,” Richburg said.
Ratliff said, if she is determined to be the next of kin to the remains found near the headstone, she would like Watson to be laid to rest at the Jacksonville National Cemetery.
“If the family does request, we will interment here at the Jacksonville national cemetery,” Richburg said.
The headstone is scratched, chipped and dirty but still intact after despite being scooped up by a construction bulldozer. Ratliff hopes it can be cleaned and used again, since her great-grandmother worked so hard to get it.
The remains are currently being tested at Florida Gulf Coast University.
Ratliff said if they are found to be her great grandfather's she wants to bring her family down to Florida to give him a proper burial.
“If he was a veteran he should be honored as such,” she said.