DELPHOS — Using an enhanced photo of St. John’s Cemetery taken in the 1890s, the original gravestone of Delphos’ founding father, the Rev. John Otto Bredeick, was pieced together Friday morning at the cemetery. Employees of the cemetery and Birkmeier Monuments reset the 145-year-old monument by the old north-side gate in the cemetery.

Eight pieces of the grave marker and two pieces of a wall which surrounded the grave were unearthed June 13, 2003 at the cemetery. After having the tombstone cleaned and repaired by the monument company, the pieces were returned to the cemetery for display. At least one piece, a cross which topped the monument, was not located.

Before resetting the stone, they tried to decipher the German and Latin writings on two engraved stones. While some of the lettering was lost due to erosion, much of it is still legible.

The one on the bottom tells when and where Bredeick was born and died. He was born Jan. 22, 1789 and died Aug. 19, 1858. The marker also explains when he came to America and founded Ottoville and Delphos. At the bottom, in Latin or German it says ‘Rest in Peace’.

The other one says, ‘Here lies the mortal remains of the Rev. John Otto Bredeick, First Pastor of the Catholic Congregation of Delphos’.