Early morning. Sheboygan Wisconsin. A good time for a cemetery visit as traditionally graves are oriented towards the east. This was done to face towards Jerusalem or perhaps to be ready to greet The New Dawning.
This particular marker has suffered more than the usual amount of age wear but in the bright morning sunshine I still spied a very unusual dedication:
SIR A.F. St. SURE LINDSFELT
AND
FAMILY GRAVE
The weird mixture of a British title, a French middle name and a Teutonic last name just cried out for a bit of research!
Fortunately a family member has done it A.F. St. Sure Lindsfelt The family goes by the name "St. Sure" now but seems to have a genuine affection for their forebear, a Swedish army officer who left the Old Country precipitously to become a farmer on the Wisconsin frontier.
But there are so many questions!
Was he really "involved" with the French "July Revolution" of 1830?
Does Sweden even have an equivalent to knighthood? It sure seems as if his claim to being an aristocrat was a complete fabrication.
Did his adoption of the middle name St. Sure (initially spelled St. Cyr) really hint at his being the illegitimate son of the French Marshal of the same name? Or was it just part of his "disinformation" campaign when he left his native Sweden?
And on that topic, was it financial irregularities that caused his downfall as a court official? Or was there something to that rumor of an inappropriate caress on the Queen, whom he had mistaken for a chambermaid!
Rogue, Revolutionary, Civil War Surgeon, Pioneer. A remarkable man and one well worthy of my infreqently employed tag "Larger than Life".
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