The headstone application for Claude Sartorius appears in “Headstone Applications for Military Veterans, 1925-1963,” on Ancestry.com. There is a significant amount of detail on this “Application for Headstone or Marker” which documents some of his military service between 1906 and 1909.

He is buried on the grounds of the former Peoria State Hospital near Bartonville, Illinois, and I’m surmising that the information on the card was taken from the hospital records on Claude. Those details will need to be confirmed from other records.

The records of the Peoria State Hospital are sealed per state statute. I have not decided whether or not I want to pursue accessing the records.

I’m also not exactly certain why it took thirteen years for the stone application to be completed. Claude never married.

Claude’s name is spelled on his stone exactly as it is spelled on this card “Claude Sartoris.”

We will be looking at Claude in a variety of other records in upcoming posts.