Jacob Wesley Ditzenberger Date of Death

I have two sources for the date of Wesley's death in Alva, Woods Co., OK.  One is the cemetery records for the Alva Municipal Cemetery.  That date says simply "1909."  The other I found in a record at the Alva Library called "Early Records of Alva Mortuaries: 1900-1930."

The entry looks like this,

DITZENBURGER, Wesley
o  -Mak Eller
d  -ca. 18 Apr 1908

The codes at the front of the transcript explain that "d" = death and place, but it fails to explain the "o".  Looking at other records with an "o" didn't help me at all, and although I can explain the "Eller," because Wesley married a girl named Eller, and it was probably her father, Nick Eller, who paid for the burial, I don't know what Mak means.  My best guess is a transcription error, so that "Mak" is Nick, the "o"wner of the plot.

In a nearby grave lies Ruby Ditzenberger, d. 13 Apr 1908, and this is his first daughter who died very young and only 5 days before her father if the Apr 18th date for his death is used.  It is even possible that a 3 and an 8 were mistaken, and they died on the same day, one or the other.

Another date to throw into this mix is the birth of Wesley's second daughter, Myrtle Edith, which was 8 Nov 1908.  When I only had the online cemetery information, which provided a date of death for Wesley as 1909, I was never quite sure whether he lived to see Myrtle born or not.  I now think he passed away before her birth.

The newest information I have convinces me this is the case, in fact.  I recently found a Woods county courthouse index entry for Capatola Ditzenberger's second marriage, and the date is 18 Feb 1909.  If Wesley died in 1909, then an early 1909 marriage is a tad inappropriate for remarriage.  I think it's more likely Wesley passed away in early 1908 along with his first daughter, Ruby, and I amended my Ancestry.com family tree accordingly.