Oakland Urban Paths: Walk of the Dead

After the smoke from the fires up north forced a reschedule, we had a small but "lively" group for the Walk of the Dead. In addition to clearer skies in December, we also had great weather—sunny and not too warm. After talking a bit about customs around death like the Day of the Dead, a brief glossary of terms, and some of the symbols we might see on grave markers, we headed off.

Our first stop was Chapel of Memories, also known as the Oakland Columbarium. It opened in 1901 as an independent business, but now is run by nearby Chapel of the Chimes. The buildings are mostly full of smaller niches. While a few are tagged "before need", most are occupied.

Just up Howe St. is Oakland's oldest existing cemetery, St. Mary's Cemetery, a Catholic cemetery which started a bit before nearby Mountain View Cemetery. There were earlier cemeteries closer to downtown, but as Oakland grew, they got in the way of development. The Oakland Cemetery (1852-1857) was at 8th and Oak. The Webster St. Cemetery (1857-1867) was between Webster and Snow Park. Most of the residents
moved to Mountain View or St. Mary's c.1872-76, but not all:

An excavating machine hit a metal coffin and spilled the contents: “the left hand and arm
nearly to the elbow protruded from the ground, the hand drooped over gracefully from the
wrist. Portions of the coat and vest were visible, as were the outlines of the face, but over these
still rested a coating of fine earth.” Oakland Tribune April 28, 1877

After a brief stop at 4460 Howe Street, which was home at different times to a superintendent of St. Mary's, a florist, and a granite and marble showroom, we went in the top entrance of Chapel of the Chimes. That took us into the newer areas, but down some flights of stairs and around a couple of corners, and we were into an older part, which was designed by noted architect Julia Morgan. Five different architecture firms worked on the structure over the years. The oldest part was originally a station for the streetcar which stopped at the top of Piedmont Avenue.

From there it was through the gates of Mountain View Cemetery, but into Home of Eternity Cemetery, a Jewish cemetery run by Temple Sinai. They purchased land from Mountain View in 1865. Besides more familiar religious symbols on the grave markers, there we saw some kohanim hands, which mean the person was of the priestly tribe of Aaron. Leonard Nimoy used a modified version of the gesture as the Vulcan greeting in Star Trek.

Stepping past a row of trees took us into Mountain View Cemetery, which at 224 acres, is by far the largest cemetery in Oakland.

First we went into one of several large mausoleums on the Mountain View grounds, which contains the remains of Oakland city council member Frank Ogawa and his family. He and his wife were imprisoned in an internment camp along with other Japanese Americans during WWII. Their daughter, Nancy Lynne Ogawa, was born in the Topaz camp and died there. That mausoleum also contains the remains of my grandparents, my aunt and uncle, and my aunt's father, Dr. Edward Lundegaard. Dr. Lundegaard served as a surgeon in the county coroner's office from 1946 to 1954, and then was elected coroner in 1954.

We wound our way up the hill to "Millionaire's Row", where the likes of "Borax" Smith, mayor Samuel Merritt, and the Crockers of Crocker Bank fame are buried in some sizable and lovely mausoleums. The air quality was better than November, but it was hazy enough it didn't show off the great view. That view, plus the park-like setting (MVC was designed by Frederick Law Olmsted, who designed Central Park in New York City) are part of why people used to visit their grave sites before they needed them, and countless Oaklanders still walk, run and admire the views today.

We finished by the Infant's Plot by the Main Mausoleum, in view of the Pauper's Plot. We didn't have time to continue down Piedmont Avenue and check out the cemetery-related businesses, including florists, grave marker carvers (former), and funeral homes, but we got a nice overview of part of Oakland inhabited mostly by the dead.

photo of the week: The Living and the The Dead

Lots of dead people, and thanks to the rain last week and sun this week, lots of living flowers and grass in St. Mary's Cemetery.

Saint Mary's Cemetery 150th Anniversary

The other week, Saint Mary's Cemetery marked its 150th anniversary with a special ceremony and the unveiling of several new features. The day began with a mass led by Bishop Michael Barber of the Oakland diocese, who re-consecrated the cemetery grounds.

Following the mass, a beautiful new statue of the Virgin Mary was unveiled. Currently it's near the chapel in the center of the cemetery, but will be moved to near the front gate. Also unveiled was a new grave marker for the last governor of Alta California, Juan Bautista Valentin Alvarado, and his wife, Maria Martina Castro de Alvarado. Some of the most famous of St. Mary's residents, their grave was unmarked until local historian Alfred Janske re-discovered their burial location. He worked with St. Mary's Cemetery, the San Pablo Historical Society, and other groups to have a marker added.

Afterwards I talked with Janske, and learned that the first burial in St. Mary's was Mary Riley, who died December 13, 1863. Her grave is currently unmarked, but he's hoping to get a marker added. Given how far back in local history that is, and her relatively common name, finding out more about Mary's story has been difficult.

More pictures from the 150th anniversary:

Oakland's Cemeteries - St. Mary's turns 150

You'd expect plot 1 in a cemetery as old as Mountain View Cemetery to have a lot of history, and in that regard, it doesn't disappoint. It's the resting place of a number of people who were instrumental in the shaping of the early town of Oakland, like Solomon Alden, John McElrath, Moses Chase (the first American citizen to settle in Oakland), Enoch Pardee and George Pardee, Jane Waer (the first burial in Mountain View) and many others.

While Mountain View is the biggest cemetery in Oakland, it wasn't the first. It's not even in the top 3. The first cemetery was the Oakland Cemetery, near where Laney College is now. When it was started in 1852, Oakland was a brand new town, and the location was out of the way. But Oakland was growing rapidly, and within 5 years the cemetery was in the way of expansion.

The larger Webster Street Cemetery was started in 1857, but it barely lasted 10 years. Mountain View Cemetery was founded in 1863, but the first burial didn't take place until 1865. Burials stopped at Webster Street in 1867. In preparation for development, most of the remains were moved from Webster Street to other cemeteries. The 'most' part makes it unsurprising that in 1877, an excavator accidentally hit one of the remaining coffins and spilled the contents: "the left hand and arm nearly to the elbow protruded from the ground, the hand drooped over gracefully from the wrist. Portions of the coat and vest were visible, as were the outlines of the face, but over these still rested a coating of fine earth."

The third cemetery to open in Oakland was Saint Mary's Cemetery in 1863. This Saturday, Saint Mary's will be celebrating its 150th birthday with a ceremony and tour. It's a great chance to learn more about this smaller neighbor of Mountain View Cemetery, and learn some Oakland and California history in the process.

Lots more pictures from Plot 1 in Mountain View Cemetery:

Saint Mary's Cemetery

Friday after the 12th Street Project update and some lunch, I went to Saint Mary's Cemetery to look for the grave of journalism pioneer Delilah Beasley. Although I've been to Saint Mary's Cemetery before, I haven't spent nearly as much time there as at neighboring Mountain View Cemetery.

I'd read that Delilah Beasley's grave was there, although the marker wasn't added until 20 years after her death. I also wanted to check on whether Dr. John F. Slavich (the 39th mayor of Oakland) was buried there or not, as I'd seen conflicting reports. Yes, I've been spending a lot of time lately on Oakland Wiki topics.

I started with a visit to the office to find out about Mayor Slavich and to get the location of Delilah Beasley's grave. Although Saint Mary's is much smaller than Mountain View, it's still plenty big so finding a grave with no guidelines is a matter of luck. I quickly got the location of Beasley's grave and found out the source of the confusion about Dr. Slavich's location. His father, John F. Slavich, Sr., had been interred there in 1922, but his remains were moved to Holy Sepulcher Cemetery in Hayward in 1923. That's also where Dr. John F. Slavich, Jr. is buried, so the seeming inconsistencies were resolved.

Location in hand, I headed to the area where Delilah's grave is. I enjoyed wandering around looking at the various graves, seeing familiar symbols and features, and then quickly found the marker for Delilah. It's a simple but attractive marker, though it would be nice if there were some recognition to her work.

I spent some additional time exploring the cemetery, and setting in motion another half dozen historic rabbit trails. Who was this person? What's their story? Why was the symbol selected for their marker? Alas, those rabbit trails will have to wait. But Saint Mary's Cemetery, while smaller than nearby Mountain View, is worth exploring, too.

More pictures from Saint Mary's Cemetery:

Saint Mary's Cemetery

G.E. Lubatti, 1923-1924

Next door to the Mountain View Cemetery in Oakland is Saint Mary's Cemetery. It's a Catholic cemetery serving parishes in Oakland, Berkeley and Alameda, and opened in 1863, two years before Mountain View.

I mentioned St. Mary's in last week's taphophile tragics post. It's where Domingo Ghirardelli moved his granddaughter's body from after a priest had refused to administer last rites as she lay dying.

There's a lot of other Oakland history represented in St. Mary's, though. It's the resting place of Edward and Virginie Rémillard. You may recall the Rémillard name from the Preservation Park walking tour. One of his brothers started a brick company in Oakland, and the company's bricks were used all over the Bay Area. Interestingly, most of the Rémillards are buried in Mt. View with Pierre, but Edward and Virginie are in St. Mary's. Read more about the Rémillards on Wikipedia and at Lives of the Dead.

One of most significant names in Oakland history is Peralta. Luís María Peralta was a soldier for the Spanish government in Mexico, and was given a large land grant which included most of the East Bay. According to Beth Bagwell's Oakland: The Story of a City, about 75 members of the Peralta family are buried in St. Mary's. And of course Peralta Hacienda in East Oakland is now a museum and historical site.

Lugrezia Vinella, 1921-1922

Knowing a little more about graves now, I noticed different things looking at various graves. There are lots of beautiful markers and even a number of larger mausoleums, though smaller than those at Mt. View. There are lots of 'standard' grave symbols used in the cemetery (no Masonic symbols, of course), though many more that are associated with Catholicism, like the Blessed Virgin. As with older graves in other cemeteries, the markers frequently list the birth country of person, e.g., "natives of County Galway, Ireland".

But I saw a couple things that I hadn't seen as much of before, including text in the native tongue of the deceased's family -- there were a fair number of markers in Italian. There were also a lot of markers with pictures of the deceased affixed. I saw a few of those in Mt. View and the Home of Eternity, but there are many of them in St. Mary's.

Lots more pictures:


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