Volume 3, Issue 3
In this Issue
President’s Message ....... 2
Help Wanted ................... 2
Volunteer Spotlight ........ 3
Volunteer News .............. 4
Pruning ............................. 5
What to do
with Uncle Harry ............ 6
OCCC Calendar
Saturday, October 8
Fireman’s Memorial
9 am ~ Free
Saturday, October 15
What’s Blooming
at the Cemetery
10 am ~ Free
Saturday, October 15
Dracula with the
Sacramento Ballet
7 pm ~ $10
Tickets: Ballet Guild
552-5800, Ext. 101
Monday, October 17
It’s a Full Moon Tour
7 pm ~ $10
Reservations: 448-0811
Fall 2005
THE “ORDINARY” PEOPLE OF THE CEMETERY
By Suzanne Sanchez, OCCC Board Member
In my years involved with the Old City Cemetery, I have felt an affinity to the
“ordinary” people buried there, the ordinary folks who led ordinary lives. We have
many important trailblazers, but I have always found the lives of all the others
interesting. Considering life in Sacramento 125 to 150 years ago… how times have
changed!
I initially became interested in 12-year-old May Woolsey. May died in 1879. One
hundred years later, her trunk was found in her home on 10th and E Streets. What
a great story of an “ordinary” person. How did children entertain themselves 125
years ago with no TV and no Playstations, let alone no electricity or air conditioning
in the summer?
Agnes McKenney was a “housewife.” Agnes died at the age of 20 in 1905 of
pneumonia. I know I have read in some of our records that she died in childbirth,
but I cannot verify that. What was her story? Why did Agnes McKenney come to
Sacramento? Interesting: to be a housewife at an age when now many young people
would be in the middle of college!
Emma Contell died of consumption (tuberculosis) on July 5, 1866. Emma was 24
and died soon after she delivered her son, David Contell. David died 18 days after
his mother from “debility.” He is buried with her. Another sad mother and child
story.
We’ve all noted the large number of children who died before the age of ten. I’ve
always been interested in Ernest Fetterly who died in 1888 at the age of six of
“hemorrhagic rubeola” (measles). Ernest’s parents inscribed on his stone: “Tis a
little grave, but Oh! have care, for world-wide hopes are buried there.” Anna, his
one-month-old sister, died of whooping cough in 1872 and is buried in the same
plot. How difficult it must have been for parents to lose two children at such young
ages. How life has changed with immunizations for children.
Saturday, October 22
Pruning Clinic
10 am ~ Free
In the Fountain family plot, which we often point out on tours, there are six
children buried who died from 1876 to 1891. What a tragedy!
Friday, Saturday, Sunday
October 28, 29, & 30
6:30 pm & 7:30 pm
Lantern Tours
$15, $10 Srs. & Kids
Reservations: 448-0811
Saturday, November 19
Pruning Clinic
10 am ~ Free
On a different note, Angus Ross was “killed at his plow” by a disgruntled neighbor
in a dispute over the neighbor’s dog that Angus had injured.
Epitaph Š Fall 2005
The Campbell plot, all people from Scotland and England, are a cozy family with at
least 14 people in the same plot. So much for “the family that stays together!”
This is a very small example of the amazing stories I’ve learned from plots that I’ve
cared for, from the Archives and our tours. They’re all “ordinary” people, with
extraordinary lives, who are buried in our cemetery. There are over 30,000 more
good stories. Where do we start?
Page 1
PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE
Greetings to all. This has been a busy summer for the
OCCC Board, OCCC members and Cemetery
volunteers.
An annual membership meeting was held in June at
which Board vacancies were filled. I am pleased to
announce that we have a full Board for the first time in
over two years. Welcome to new members: Sabrina
Okamura-Johnson, Lonnie Ratzlaff, Chris Pappenheim,
and returning member, Jane Howell. We also updated
the Bylaws and discussed past and future events and
activities.
The Board held a Brainstorming session in June where
we discussed opportunities and plans for events,
restoration, educational tours and other upcoming
activities. It was a fruitful session, generating a
number of ideas to raise the public’s awareness of the
Cemetery and to raise funds for Cemetery projects.
Over the past few years, we have pretty much done
things inside the Cemetery, which limits our audience
and public awareness. This year we have begun to
take the Cemetery out into the Community,
participating in Gold Rush Days in Old Sacramento,
the Admission Day reopening of the Stanford Take the Cemetery
Mansion and the upcomout into
ing Preservation Day celthe Community
ebration at Memorial
Auditorium in October.
Cemetery representatives have appeared before City
Council, telling of events and activities, and representatives of Councilman Fong’s office have toured the
Cemetery.
Jim Henley of the City’s Cultural and Museum
Department has generously offered to support our
efforts by donating the time of Amy Whitlatch of Old
Sacramento’s Living History Program. We are
working together with her volunteers and ours to put
on October’s Lantern Tours in the Cemetery.
Altogether, we’ve made great progress over the
summer and have plans to take the Cemetery forward.
As Board President, I can’t thank members and
volunteers enough for all that you’ve done to make
our efforts successful. Good job, everyone.
Judy Eitzen, OCCC President
HELP WANTED ~ OPPORTUNITIES AVAILABLE!
SCHOOL, TRAVEL TEEN, AND FIELD TRIP TOUR GUIDES
By Jane Lohmeyer Howell , OCCC Board Member
For many years, the Old City Cemetery Committee has
offered tours for schools and other youth groups as an
extension of their classroom curriculum. These tours,
most planned for children in third through fifth grades,
offer a wonderful ‘hands-on’ learning experience for
kids across the state.
Most of these tours occur during the spring and early
summer months when schools traditionally hold their
field trips. The local schools' tours are in the morning
while the travel teen tours are in the early evening.
Almost all tours are conducted by two tour guides.
It helps
if you’re a
bit of a ham
Epitaph Š Fall 2005
Offering these tours requires a
solid core group of volunteer
tour guides.
The Committee is looking for an
additional six to eight volunteers
to assist with these tours. Of course, more would be
better! No experience is necessary. Training will be
provided. Thanks to information compiled and
formatted into “tour-readiness” by the late John
Bettencourt and other volunteers, much of the
preparation work is already done. You are free to add
research to enhance the tour. Time commitments are
flexible and you can set your own schedule.
If you enjoy history, young people, and being outside,
give us a call. (It helps if you’re a bit of a ham.) We will
get together to train and develop the school tour
program in November and December.
Please call the Archives at (916) 448-0811 or e-mail
[email protected] to inquire. Leave your
name and phone number, or e-mail address and we
will be in touch.
Page 2
VOLUNTEER SPOTLIGHT
By Sharon Patrician, Volunteer Coordinator
This quarter we’re starting a new column featuring our devoted and long time volunteers.
For our first column, meet the ladies of the Archives…..
Lois Dove
She worked as a clerk typist
for the California Highway
Patrol Headquarters in Sacramento until retirement. Lois
began volunteering for the
cemetery in October of 1988.
She has always been interested in genealogy, and when
asked what she considers to
be her best personality trait,
she said “friendly.”
Dorothy Mills
Dorothy describes herself as
a “professional volunteer.”
Throughout her career as wife
and mother, Dorothy volunteered for many of the cultural
venues in Sacramento. She
came to the Archives in 1987
because she “loved history”
and has amassed a wealth of
research on the persons interred in the Historic City Cemetery. She describes her
best personality trait as “a warped sense of humor.”
Suzanne Sanchez
Suzanne’s profession before
retirement was as a Medical
Education Coordinator at
Kaiser Hospital in South
Sacramento. She started
volunteering as a gardener
with the previous Adopt A
Pioneer (now Adopt A Plot)
program in 1997. From there,
she gravitated to the Archives
because she was fascinated with the history of the
cemetery. Suzanne describes her best personality trait
as “an outgoing person who loves people.”
Marilyn Fuqua
Marilyn began volunteering
at the Archives in 1988 by
helping with a headstone
survey. She was a Secretary
for the State Department of
Justice Crime Lab prior to
retirement. Marilyn has spent
many years on her family
genealogy and felt her
volunteer work with the
cemetery was compatible with her interests. She feels
her best personality trait is her capacity for “loyalty.”
Becky Porter
Becky’s previous profession was working in the
business office at Blue Diamond prior to retirement.
She came to the Archives as a volunteer in June 2003.
Her hobby is genealogy, and she does much of the
computer input for the cemetery. She believes her best
trait is her ability “to laugh a lot and trying to look on
the bright side.”
(Watch for a photo of Becky in a future issue.)
Epitaph Š Fall 2005
The Archives is open during the
week from 10 am to 3 pm, except
on holidays. You are welcome
to research family history, learn
about the people buried in your
adopted plots, or prepare for a
tour. The Ladies welcome you!
You are
welcome to
research or
prepare for
a tour
Page 3
VOLUNTEER NEWS
By Sharon Patrician, Volunteer Coordinator
VOLUNTEER HOURS
You are getting used to calling me with hours, but I
still need to hear from all volunteers. Please call or
e-mail me at 916-455-8166 or [email protected]
with your monthly volunteer hours.
WEST NILE VIRUS
The State has made it official. West Nile Virus is
indeed in California, and dead birds with the virus have
been found in Sacramento County. Since the cemetery
has a good population of resident crows, please tell
Victor Esparza or Curtis Clark if you find dead birds.
Other birds also affected by this virus are scrub jays,
magpies, hawks and house finches. Do not handle the
birds. Tell the City staff where they are so they may be
collected and disposed of properly.
DONATED PLANTS AND FLATS
We occasionally get donations of plants from nurseries which generally come in four inch pots and are in
flats of 16 pots each. Please save the
four inch pots and all the flats and bring
Do not
them back to the brick building for recyhandle
cling. These containers are made
the birds from petroleum products and should
not go into the garbage sites. Thanks
for your help with this situation.
WEEKLY CITY MEETINGS
If you are an Adopt A Plot volunteer and have
questions, concerns or solutions, please attend our semiweekly Tuesday morning meetings (first and third
Tuesdays) with Victor Esparza and Curtis Clark. The
meetings start at 10 am at the cemetery office at the 10th
Street gate. These meetings are a good opportunity to
learn more about cemetery business and problem
solving. Call Sharon Patrician at 455-8166 if you have
any questions.
WEEKEND SHERIFF’S CREW
The Sheriff’s Work Release program is working on
revised rules for operations at the cemetery as it
concerns inmates and volunteers. I will distribute these
rules to you when I receive them. They will be put into
our Volunteer Handbook, which is still being reviewed
by the City. Once I have the Handbook — hopefully
this fall — I will schedule an orientation for all new and
interested volunteers.
Volunteers working
in the Cemetery
In Memory of Joseph Sertich
Joseph (Joe) Sertich, a former groundskeeper at the Historic City Cemetery, died this
summer of complications from surgery. He was interred in the Historic City Cemetery,
and his family asked that any donations be made to the Old City Cemetery Committee
(OCCC) in his name. Joe was well regarded by his colleagues, cemetery volunteers and
the Board of the OCCC. Victor Esparza, current groundskeeper, was trained by Joe and
kept in touch with him after he left. Joe had just retired and, according to Victor, was
looking forward to a busy and enjoyable life. If you wish to make a donation to the
OCCC, please send it to OCCC, 1000 Broadway, Sacramento, CA 95818.
Epitaph Š Fall 2005
Page 4
PRUNING
By Barbara Oliva, OCCC Board Member
There are about as many methods of pruning as there
are people with some form of cutting tool. Some
national cultures are accused of being secateur mad –
with a passion for amputating trees. This is a result of
a Gallic passion for order; “as if time spent on
informality was time squandered.”1 Others have
equally valid reasons for their style of hard pruning.
For example, to achieve one or two perfect, long
stemmed blooms for exhibition.
If, on the other hand, the rose plant is grown as a
flowering shrub in a garden with other flowering plants,
a different method is indicated. And for the heritage
roses, especially in our climate, there are some very
strong arguments for a different approach than that so
commonly found in the popular literature.
The word ‘pruning’ can cover a multitude of
approaches to cutting and cutting back, from grooming
and deadheading to hard winter pruning. Roses being
the vigorous and forgiving plants that they are, we can
get away with almost any treatment, especially in the
short term. However, most of the time, less is best. How
long will a rose live if it is repeatedly cut almost to the
ground? If it’s decline or death will make space for the
FIREMAN’S
MEMORIAL
newest offering in the catalogs,
that’s one thing. But in a garden
setting, especially in the Historic
Rose Garden, do we want a
shortened life span for the plants
in our collection?
Pruning
Clinics:
Oct. 22 &
Nov. 19
Time considerations have an effect on what we do,
weather in pruning season, available help, and many
other things force pruning decisions in ways that may
not be the best; especially in the Historic Rose Garden.
But it is well to stop and take a careful look at what we
do, and what we ideally should do.
One point: tea roses and china roses do not need (or
appreciate) hard pruning. They should be pruned
lightly, and for that matter, none of the old roses should
usually be hard pruned.
There will be a couple of pruning clinics this fall:
October 22, and November 19. I hope many of you
will be able to attend one of these; and perhaps also
help with our late winter, early spring pruning.
1
Mirabel Osler “The Secret Gardens of France”
IT’S A FULL MOON TOUR
Saturday, Oct. 8
9 am, Free
WHAT’S BLOOMING
AT THE CEMETERY
Saturday, Oct. 15
10 am, Free Tour
Guide: Amy Griffith
DRACULA WITH THE
SACRAMENTO BALLET
Saturday, Oct. 15, 7 pm
Ballet Guild Fund-raiser: $10
For Tickets call Ballet Guild
552-5800, Ext. 101
Epitaph Š Fall 2005
Monday, Oct. 17
7 pm, $10 Donation
Reservations: 448-0811
PRUNING CLINIC
Saturday, Oct. 22
10 am, Rose Garden
LANTERN TOURS
Friday, Saturday & Sunday
Oct. 28, 29, & 30, 6:30 & 7:30 pm
$15 General, $10 Seniors/Kids 12 & under
Reservations Required: 448-0811
Friday’s 6:30 tour is suitable for kids 8-80!
Presented by Old City Cemetery Committee
and the Old Sacramento Living History Program
Page 5
WHAT TO DO WITH UNCLE HARRY?
BURIAL CUSTOMS THROUGH THE AGES
By Dorothy Mills, OCCC Board Member
“ASHES TO ASHES,” etc ... Since the beginning of
time we have been faced with the problem of what to
do with a dead body.
nificent monuments of its kind.
But Uncle Harry wasn’t the
mausoleum type.
Put it behind the door? Stick it in a cave? The results of
the first method would, all too soon, be obvious. As to
the second, there are only so many caves in the world.
Since the beginning, we have sought the answer and
we are still searching for new ways and new places in
which to bury our dead.
We have cemeteries, so how shall
we bury him? Just plain bury him or cremate him first?
Let us look at some of the ways people through the
ages have dealt with this problem.
We have Uncle Harry, dead and waiting to be buried,
where shall we put him and how?
Among the Jews,
Greeks, Romans and
many ancient nations, the dead were
buried beyond the
town. Later people
were buried in the
church, but when it
became too crowded
they were buried
outside, near the church; hence the word Churchyards.
However, in large cities these quickly became offensive and unhealthy places.
Thus, came into being Cemeteries, those extensive, ornamental burial grounds for the purpose of burying
the dead. The word cemetery comes from the Greek
and means sleeping places.
Shall we just bury Uncle Harry? Dig a hole and then
just cover him up? Or shall we put him in something
first? We could put him in a coffin first. A coffin can be
made from wood, metal, stone, earthenware, glass,
paper mache or wicker.
But why waste money on a coffin when no one will ever
see it again? Still we can’t just stick him in the ground,
now can we? Isn’t there some place special we can put
him?
We could place him in a beautiful coffin and then put
him in a mausoleum. That’s a nice word. It is derived
from the tomb erected at Holicarnassus to Mausolus,
King of Caria, by his widow. It is one of the most mag-
Epitaph Š Fall 2005
He always
hated ants
Cremation was widely practiced in antiquity and consisted of a simple rite of burning a corpse on a funeral
pyre. In India, the wife of the deceased was placed on
top of the pyre so she could accompany her husband
into the next world. With the rise of Christianity,
cremation was discontinued, due to the belief in the
resurrection of the human body. Economics and sanitary considerations are the principal causes of the
revival of cremation in modern times.
Embalming came in the 1860s, and it served to preserve the body until family could arrive from faraway
and to cut down on the fear of disease being carried
into the water table of the locality and later into our
drinking water (before filtration systems did this for
us).
As populations increased, land for burial purposes became difficult to find and higher in price. They also
advised the cremation of persons who had died of a
contagious disease. During the Cholera epidemic, bodies were buried with great haste, and the body could
not be sent back home unless it was prepared in a certain way. The person who died of a contagious disease could not be shipped back home before embalming came to be. They then could be embalmed and all
orifices stopped with absorbent cotton, the body
washed with a disinfectant, wrapped in a layer of cotton not less than one inch thick, wrapped in a sheet.
The body was encased in an “airtight” zinc, tin, copper
or lead-lined coffin or an iron casket.
Uncle Harry didn’t die of a disease, so now what?
If we were in India we would search for a dokhma.
This is a tower from 20 to 40 feet high and usually more
than 200 feet in diameter. Somewhat below the top of the
wall is a floor of iron
grating upon which
the bodies are placed,
exposed to the elePage 6
UNCLE HARRY, CONTINUED
In China we would
accompany the coffin,
which would be
draped in a pall; red
for men and blue for
In Australia, aborigines put their dead in tree graves
women. The younger
where they remain for a year. After that time, the bones
relatives
are collected and with the exception of one
would be in
arm bone, all are put inside a white ant nest.
People were white, one
The
arm
of the colors of mourning. At the grave, fireburied in
bone
is
crackers would be exploded and sometimes
the church
wrapped in
a theatrical performance would be given.
paper bark
In Japan, Uncle Harry would be placed in a grave for a
and tied with an oposwhile then taken up and have his skull washed and
sum fur string, decopainted with a number and placed row upon row in a
rated with feathers
building. His bones would then be crushed and used
and placed in a hollow
for fertilizer.
trunk of a gum tree.
ments and birds of prey. When the body has been consumed, the bones fall into a pit below. The primary
purpose of the towers are sanitation. There is a dokhma
still standing near Bombay, India.
I don’t think Uncle Harry would like that, because he
always hated ants.
In Egypt the dead are buried with personal belongings
and food for their use in the next life. This is after they
have been soaked in a special solution and then
wrapped in yards of linen cloth, saturated with herbs
and spices.
Don’t like that? Well, he could be wrapped in a
blanket and put up on a framework, letting the birds
peck away at him until all that was left was bones.
Okay, maybe we should keep exploring burial customs.
Since we are out of space in this issue, read the next
issue of the Epitaph to find out what else we can do
with Uncle Harry.
Gold Rush Days
Labor Day Weekend y Old Sacramento
Epitaph Š Fall 2005
Page 7
Old City Cemetery Committee, Inc.
1000 Broadway, Sacramento, CA 95818
916-448-0811 y www.OldCityCemetery.com
If you’re receiving this newsletter, you’re important to the Sacramento Historic City Cemetery!
Are you a member of the Old City Cemetery Committee?
The Old City Cemetery Committee, Inc. is a 501(C)(3) nonprofit association, whose purpose is to maintain and
preserve the beauty and integrity of the Sacramento Historic City Cemetery. Membership is only $15 per
individual, $20 for families and $35 for businesses. Join today!
Membership Application
Annual Dues:
___ Individual: $15.00
____ Sponsor: $1,000
___ Family: $20.00 (One voting member per family)
____ Gold Sponsor: $250 - $999
___ Business: $35.00 (One voting member per business) ____ Patron: $200-$299
___ Donation: Amount & designation: ____________________________
Name (Include all names if family membership) __________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
Voting member’s name: ________________________________________________________________________
Street Address: ________________________________________________________________________________
City, State, ZIP: _______________________________________________________________________________
Phone (day): ________________________________________ Phone (eves): _____________________________
E-Mail: _______________________________________________________________________________________
Mail form and check payable to “OCCC, Inc.” to:
Prefer to receive Epitaph newsletter:
OCCC, Inc., 1000 Broadway, Sacramento, CA, 95818-2105
‰ e-mail ‰ mail
Call (916) 448-0811 for information.
Epitaph Š Fall 2005
Page 8