Tombstone Tuesday– Finding Sacramento Area Cemeteries

[Editor's Note: Today's post was written by Richard Hanson. Photo courtesy of the Find A Grave website.]

At workshop meetings of the Root Cellar Sacramento German Genealogical Society, the opening question/answer/discussion session can lead in any direction. At the March 20 meeting, it led to the now gone New Helvetia Cemetery with the question being where did all the residents go. Several attendees provided helpful tips and information. But if you cannot attend the workshop meeting, is there somewhere else to obtain information on local cemeteries and find out what became of the missing ones?

Historical marker for the New Helvetia Cemetery. Photo is from Find A Grave.
(http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=cr&CRid=1982256)

One source is the website of the California GenWeb Project. Specifically, its Sacramento County website. To see a list of local cemetery resources posted there, go to:

http://www.cagenweb.com/sacramento/cemetery_dist.htm

Almost all the listed entities have websites and some include online searchable databases. It also includes a summary listing of over 150 cemeteries. And there is a page dedicated to the New Helvetica cemetery. As of the date the blog was authored (March 21), the URL on that website for the Sacramento County Cemetery Advisory Commission is wrong. Correct one is:

http://www.coroner.saccounty.net/sccac

I emailed the correction to the webmaster for the Sacramento CAGenWeb website and she replied back the same day saying Sacramento County has changed the URL for that page a number of times over the past year or two. So if you bookmark this county coroner page, be prepared to find it again.

She also wants to make this page the go-to place for finding local cemetery information. So if you have any corrections, updates, missing information or lists of graves, please send them to her. The website contains a contact form.

Oh yes. The answer to the question as to where the residents of New Helvetica where relocated follows.

   4,691 sent to East Lawn Memorial Park and buried in a common grave
   410 to City Cemetery
   84 to East Lawn and buried in private plots by relatives
   32 to Odd Fellows Cemetery
   6 to Sacramento Memorial Lawn
   3 to St. Joseph’s
   3 to Sylvan Cemetery
   3 to Elk Grove Cemetery
   2 to St. Mary’s
   1 to Masonic Cemetery
Source: http://www.cagenweb.com/sacramento/pdf/NewHelvetiaBrochure.pdf

Cemetery information provided courtesy of

Sacramento County part of the CA GenWeb Project

(www.cagenweb.com/sacramento)

The Root Cellar Sacramento Genealogical Society also provides information local cemeteries:
• Root Cellar's online store sells volunteer-created publications, some of
  which contain cemetery records.
• Root Cellar maintains a library at the State Archives Library in downtown
  Sacramento.
• Root Cellar provides volunteer research service to search accessible local
  records including cemetery listings.

Tombstone Tuesday – John & Carolina Rutishauser

Johonnes Ulrich Rutishauser

Born: 18 Dec 1818 in Amriswil, St. Gall, Switzerland

Died: 6 Sep 1895 in Scales, Sierra County, California
Occupation: brewery owner and saloonkeeper
Find A Grave Memorial# 54840507 (created by Teena Smith on July 12, 2010)

Carolina Meyer
Born: 1822 in Switzerland
Died: 4 Jun 1886 in Scales, Sierra County, California
Find A Grave Memorial# 54840455 (created by Teena Smith on July 12, 2010)

John Rutishauser, my great-great-great uncle, is one my few relatives who actually did well financially during the California Gold Rush. Arriving in Scales in during the early days of 1849, he no doubt engaged in some mining. But his situation improved after opening his own lager beer brewery. By 1860 he was prosperous enough to marry one Carolina Meyer. Later he partnered with Joseph Gibson to run a saloon and eventually owned his own drinking establishment.

John gained some local fame during his ill-fated attempt to drive some stock across a freezing fast-moving Slate Creek (small river) when it was at its winter high mark. John lost his balance plunging both himself and his mule into the flowing icy water. Both were swept downstream and John was saved by becoming lodged against a fallen log. No mention was made of what became of his poor mule.

Both John and wife Carolina are buried in the cemetery for the town of Scales located in Sierra County, California. Today that cemetery is the only visible clue that a thriving town existed there during and for a long time after the California Gold Rush. But if you know where to look amid the densely packed pine trees, you’ll see bits of saw-cut wood and stones arranged in square formations. That’s all that remains of buildings with their stone-reinforced foundations and cellars.

A street in Scales? Remains of buildings are visible along both sides of this lane (date: 1989).

Submitted and posted by Richard Hanson

George Washington Jones – Tombstone Tuesday

George Washington Jones, b. 21 December 1828 in Wayne County, Kentucky, married Sarah Kennedy/Cannady 17 February 1853, and d. 22 September 1909 in Wayne County, Kentucky. 
According to my records, their children were:
James Daniel, b. 16 Jan 1854, d. 1920
Harrison, b. 1 Aug 1856, d. 8 Mar 1946
Hanna Elizabeth, b. 1860, d. unk.
Margaret E., b. 1862, d. unk.
David, b. 21 April 1865, d. 10 Feb 1936
Dora B., b. 1868, d. unk.
William Isaac, b. 22 March 1870, d. 12 Apr 1904
Andrew W., b. Dec 1873, d. unk.
Mary J., b. 1876, d. unk.
George W. Jones is my GG Grandfather. Thank you to Charlene New Holmes for photographing and posting this on FindAGrave.com.

Burial:
Jonesville Cemetery
Wayne County

Created by: Charlene New Holmes
Record added: Aug 04, 2001
Find A Grave Memorial# 5662666

Posted by Ron Setzer

Tombstone Tuesday – Maria Louisa Archer Rosser

Maria Louisa Archer Rosser
b. 5 December 1820
Virginia
d. 5 November 1904
Old Town, Dallas, Alabama

Maria Louisa was my GG Grandmother. She married Thomas Henry Rosser on 3 October 1839 in Petersburg, Dinwiddie, Virginia. They had seven children: Elizabeth, Henry Nollner, Allen Thomas, Joseph F., William C., Walter Erwin, and George D.

Photo posted on FindAGrave.com by jdc
Posted by Ron Setzer

Tombstone Tuesday

My GG Grandparents' gravestone

William R. Ralston
b. 18 December 1831 in Lebanon, Lebanon, Pennsylvania
d. 7 November 1912 in Marion, Grant, Indiana
(in the US National Home for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers)

Mary J. (Painter) Ralston
b. 1 October 1839 in Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
d. 9 April 1902 in Massillon, Stark, Ohio

They are buried in Leiters Ford IOOF Cemetery in Fulton, Indiana.

Posted by Ron Setzer

Tombstone Tuesday – William & Mary Ralston

This is a photo of my GG Grandparents tombstone in Fulton, Indiana.

William Rudicill Ralston
b. 18 December 1831, Lebanon, Lebanon, Pennsylvania
d. 7 November 1912, Marion, Grant, Indiana

William served in the Union Army during the Civil War in the 104 Ohio Infantry. He was admitted to the U.S. Nation Home for the Disabled Volunteer Soldiers in Marion, Indiana and died there a year later.

Mary Jane (Painter) Ralston
b. 1 October 1839, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
d. 9 April 1902, Massillon, Stark, Ohio

Posted by Ron Setzer

Tombstone Tuesday – John McLearie Sr.

John McLearie Sr., his wife, Agnes McInnis (McLearie) and their son, John McLearie Jr., immigrated to the United States from Scotland in about 1871 and settled in Omaha Nebraska. John Sr. was a "moulder", first working for the railroad and then in his own iron and steel works business. Agnes was a homemaker, a difficult and challenging job during this period of time. John Jr. also worked for the railroad as a draftsman. John Jr. died from an illness at the young age of 37. His wife, who's burial place remains unknown, had preceded him in death by a few years. They left behind three young daughters. The daughters, Caroline, Agnes and Margaret, were taken in by young John's older sister and raised as her own. A lot is not known about this family both here in the United States and in Scotland.

Submitted by John Jay

John McLearie Sr. was John Jay's Great Grandfather.

Posted by Ron Setzer

Tombstone Tuesday – Merit BABCOCK (13 September 1838-24 April 1863)

In the Register of Enlistments, United States Army, it states my Great Great Granduncle Merit Babcock enlisted on 20 December 1862, soon after one of his older brothers, Orange Babcock. It further added that he had hazel eyes, black hair, ruddy complexion, and was 5’7” tall. He died at Murfreesboro, Tennessee of typhoid fever on 24 April 1863.  He served as a private in Independent Infantry Company C, Pennsylvania Volunteers (The Warren Rifles).

National Cemetery in Murfreesboro. Tennessee

On a trip to Tennessee and Alabama this past summer I was able to visit his gravesite in the National Cemetery. Note that his first name on the gravestone is misspelled. All Army records list him correctly as "Merit," while his marker says "Merritt."

Posted by Ron Setzer

Tombstone Tuesday

Francisca V. de Rinaldi

October 14, 1844 – March 14, 1921

Submitted by Nancy Fiorini

Posted by Ron Setzer

Tombstone Tuesday

Albert Oeltjenbruns (b. 1921, d. 1987) is the grandson of my Great Grandfather, Gayhart "George" Oeltjenbruns (b. 1 April 1864, d. 24 August 1931). That would make him my first cousin once removed. He is one of  "side step" genealogy research attempts, but has brought me to a dead end. With every step my relationship chart spreads out.


Submitted by DeAnna Lage Setzer
Posted by Ron Setzer

Tombstone Tuesday

Bessie Boyd Rosser

16 April 1884

27 December 1963

Army Nurse Corps during WWI

This goes along with yesterday's posting. Further prodding may create responses. 

Posted by Ron Setzer

Tombstone Tuesday

Inscription reads:


Edwin W. Towle, Born in Corinth, Orange Co., Vermont, Jan. 15, 1839, Died June 25, 1887, Aged 48 Years.


Gravestone is located in Dutch Flat, California


Submitted by Judy Willey
Posted by Ron Setzer

Tombstone Tuesday

Claus Hinrich Lage was my Great Grandfather. He immigrated from Germany in 1873 with his wife, Louisa M. Haas. He was born 11 August 1837 and died 27 October 1900. He is buried in Hayes, Crawford, Iowa.





Submitted by DeAnna Lage Setzer
Posted by Ron Setzer

Tombstone Tuesday - Query from Belgium

Cemetery: Placerville Union Cemetery, Placerville, California, USA

Born: March 8, 1871

Died: May 5, 1943

Hi,

I'm Wouter De Boeck from Belgium and I found a family member from my mother's side of the family tree who moved to California: Peter Van der Auwera, who died in Sacramento (Mercy Hospital).

Peter was a native of Boom, Belgium and came to the US in 1910, one year after his half-brother Joseph did. In 1918, Peter and his (second) wife, Rose Dillenbeck, moved to Placerville (9 Gilmore Street), El Dorado county, California. Peter was a photographer and conducted a photo studio for several years. He also invested in real estate and lost a building in a fire in 1930.

His family in Belgium was very poor and almost everyone had been working in the famous brick factories.

I'm still looking for his daughter, Mrs. Paul Hartmann…

Thank you.

Submitted by Wouter De Boeck

Posted by Ron Setzer

Tombstone Tuesday

My GG Grandparents are buried side-by-side in Oakwood Cemetery in Montgomery, Alabama.
George Robert Boyd, b. 2 September 1826 in Perry County, Alabama; d. 16 February 1908 in Montgomery, Alabama. Melissa Carolyn (Oldham) Boyd, b. 22 September 1833 in Shelby County, Alabama; d. 7 April 1903 in Montgomery, Alabama.

Posted by Ron Setzer

Tombstone Tuesday - Smith and Shutzbaugh

Adam and Barbara (Shutzbaugh) Smith came from Nassau, Germany, had daughter Elizabeth Christianne in 1849 in New York, and moved on to Ohio, Indiana, and finally, California. Christianne married in Indiana and moved to Nebraska, where she reared two children, one of whom was the grandmother of my husband, Bob Shumaker. He also grew up in Nebraska. 

In 1870, the Smiths, with their 8-year-old daughter Cassie, were in Sonoma County, California, where they spent the rest of their lives farming. They are buried in the Sebastopol Memorial Lawn Cemetery.

Bob Shumaker never knew he had great-great-grandparents buried in California until we recently traced their history with the help of a photo made in Santa Rosa, California and found among mementos in the Nebraska estate of his maiden aunt, grand-daughter of Christianne.

Contributed by Lois Shumaker, member of Root Cellar Sacramento Genealogical Society. Contact Lois.

Posted by Denise Hibsch Richmond. Submit content to rootcellarsgs@gmail.com.  

Tombstone Tuesday

This is the headstone for my Great-Grandfather John J. HALL.  It's located in Tulocay Cemetery, Napa, California.  He was born in Starksville, Herkimer County, New York.  He traveled to California via the Winged Racer, a Clipper Ship of about 1700 tons, with his mother and three of his seven siblings.  The 108 day voyage began 11 Dec1852 in New York Harbor, Sacramento bound with 12 passengers and crew.  The five family members reunited with the rest of the family in Sacramento, California.  He married Caroline GUERIN on 16 Feb 1873 and they soon moved to Eureka, Eureka County, Nevada.  In about 1890, John, Caroline and their children then moved to Napa, Napa County, California, where John passed away in 1923. Contributed by Diane Maltase, Root Cellar Sacramento Genealogical Society member .

Please participate in Tombstone Tuesday. Send a photo of your ancestor's tombstone with a short description of the person or image to rootcellarsgs@gmail.com.

Tombstone Tuesday

If you wish to participate in Tombstone Tuesday, send us a photo of an ancestor's tombstone with a short description of the person or image.

This is the tombstone of my great great grandfather William Babcock, b. 9 Dec 1831 in Brokenstraw, Warren, Pennsylvania and d. 24 March 1905 in Colorado Springs, El Paso, Colorado. His wife Emily died in Colorado Springs 2 Apr 1905. William served during the Civil War in Company A, Michigan 8th Infantry Regiment."