Come March 12th, I will be flying out to Danville, Illinois to visit with my beloved. Why is this relevant to this blog? Well, it turns out there are apparently a handful of historic cemeteries in Danville, and since she loves cemeteries as well, we will be making at least one outing. The graves from my understanding are largely of Native American individuals and families, which I think will make for not only a fascinating experience, but will serve this blog quite well. We are, after all, about proclaiming the names of those long forgotten, and to respect those who have turned to dust, as we will all join them one day as well.
Stay tuned.
Wednesday, February 16, 2011
Thursday, October 21, 2010
...
I'm feeling another walk coming on soon (when I have some time, uhg...). Next stop is the Santa Ana Cemetery. It's quite large, and I've been there before many years ago. Stay tuned. : ]
Sunday, October 3, 2010
Anaheim Cemetery, Sat. 10/02/2010
Today I traveled to the Anaheim Cemetery. I hadn't been there in several years, despite living within walking distance of it. As circumstances would have it though, my mind has been rather distraught this week, and I needed a quiet place to go to clear my thoughts. Before we continue though, I'd like to share a few quick facts about my home town of Anaheim before we proceed to any of my findings:
Anaheim was founded by grape farmers from Bavaria (southeast Germany) in 1857. The settlement was named "Annaheim", meaning "Home by the Santa Anna River", and eventually the name was altered slightly to "Anaheim". In 1880 however, the grape market was destroyed by insects of some kind, and was soon replaced by walnuts, lemons, and oranges. Anaheim was also home of Helena Modjeska, a Polish actress known for her roles in Shakespearean tragedies. She has a park named after her here, which also happens to be the same place my pals and I have Nerf gun fights. In the 1920's, Anaheim was heavily infiltrated by the Klu Klux Klan, who secretly put several of it's members into the political circles as well as the police force before being exposed and voted out. Disneyland opened to the public on July 18th, 1955, and the rest is pretty much known from there.
Many of the graves I found at Anaheim cemetery were, pleasantly enough, from the late 1800's. Furthermore, a delightful number of them were not only of German individuals and families, but the headstones themselves were written in German. I also found what appeared to be Polish names and headstones, but I'm not entirely certain.
Now without further a due, the results of today's Cemetery Adventure:
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Mr. and Mrs. Hein: "Asleep in Jesus." The other side reads "Blessed are they who die in the Lord."
Theodore Oswald. Top reads "Auf Wiedersehen." This was the first German headstone I found. I was attracted to it's bright limestone in contrast to the other darker headstones.
Gregorio Reza Jr., died the year of his birth. Tragic, though I did admire the art and inscription:
"God took him home
It was His will
But in our hearts
We love him still."
Fred Staublin. This headstone was in the far southwestern corner of the cemetery. It appeared oddly alone, surrounded by flat headstones. It's corner was dark and isolated; I was drawn to it. Another old, forgotten resident of Anaheim.
Anna Krebs, old enough to be an original settler perhaps.
"Here rests in God Anna Krebs.
...
Rest in peace."
Broken statues are tragically wonderful, aren't they?
Nearby is an interesting plaque that reads:
"Dawn Redwood
(Metasequoia Glyptostroboides)
This grove of Dawn Redwood trees was planted by the Orange County Cemetery District as a memorial to the people of Chinese heritage interred in the Anaheim Cemetery. This species of tree was thought to be extinct until they were rediscovered growing in Szechwan, China in 1948. At this time it is the only grove of Dawn Redwoods known to exist in California.
September 1989"
A lovely Phoebe bird was perched atop the grave of a mister Geo. Park Reed. It was kind enough to let me take it's picture.
I love the name Ursala. I have no idea why.
Before:
I stumbled across this mystery grave in my walk. How forgotten this person has become... I had to unveil their identity.
After:
Using my trusty shark bottle-opener keychain, I cleared away the grass to discover a Mr. Walter Ernest, who passes away at a mere 25 years old; one year older than me, currently.
Unfortunately back then, people died young all the time. Actually, if it were not for modern medical science, I would have died at 19 years old.
Quite a humble headstone indeed. I felt he deserved a tribute.
Otto Schwartz, 03/21/2008
"Now I me down to sleep
Always in our hearts
Our son
Andre Joseph Price"
The colored train imprint really tugged at my heartstrings. It has inspired me to start doing artwork made entirely from headstone rubbings, which I will be posting in the future.
This lady's name made me laugh. No offense.
Mary Pearl Boyce. On her headstone was a poem that she had written. Not the most thrilling piece of literature I have ever read, but I thought this product of a now dead mind was worth sharing indeed:
"While looking at the old crooked tree, my mind goes back to days of long ago, with my brothers & sisters down by the old blacksmith shop and the old crooked tree. Up and down that old crooked tree we would climb, not minding the scratches and bruises and maybe a fall, for we was having fun climbing the old crooked tree. Many years had past and gone but once again I was looking at the old crooked tree. The old home had been moved away, the old blacksmith shop that used to be just a few rocks remained, but the old land mark was still there, the old crooked tree. I just stood there, and as a child once again I thought of the fun we had climbing the old crooked tree, and just wondered how it had weathered so many storms and still looked the same to me. I turned to go, but once again I looked back at the old crooked tree."
Leola Berg: another tragically short life. The contrast of her headstone really stood out to me.
Anaheim was founded by grape farmers from Bavaria (southeast Germany) in 1857. The settlement was named "Annaheim", meaning "Home by the Santa Anna River", and eventually the name was altered slightly to "Anaheim". In 1880 however, the grape market was destroyed by insects of some kind, and was soon replaced by walnuts, lemons, and oranges. Anaheim was also home of Helena Modjeska, a Polish actress known for her roles in Shakespearean tragedies. She has a park named after her here, which also happens to be the same place my pals and I have Nerf gun fights. In the 1920's, Anaheim was heavily infiltrated by the Klu Klux Klan, who secretly put several of it's members into the political circles as well as the police force before being exposed and voted out. Disneyland opened to the public on July 18th, 1955, and the rest is pretty much known from there.
Many of the graves I found at Anaheim cemetery were, pleasantly enough, from the late 1800's. Furthermore, a delightful number of them were not only of German individuals and families, but the headstones themselves were written in German. I also found what appeared to be Polish names and headstones, but I'm not entirely certain.
Now without further a due, the results of today's Cemetery Adventure:
**********************************************************************************
**********************************************************************************
**********************************************************************************
"God took him home
It was His will
But in our hearts
We love him still."
**********************************************************************************
Fred Staublin. This headstone was in the far southwestern corner of the cemetery. It appeared oddly alone, surrounded by flat headstones. It's corner was dark and isolated; I was drawn to it. Another old, forgotten resident of Anaheim.
**********************************************************************************
Minerva Krejci. This woman had a cool name.
**********************************************************************************
"Here rests in God Anna Krebs.
...
Rest in peace."
**********************************************************************************
**********************************************************************************
"Dawn Redwood
(Metasequoia Glyptostroboides)
This grove of Dawn Redwood trees was planted by the Orange County Cemetery District as a memorial to the people of Chinese heritage interred in the Anaheim Cemetery. This species of tree was thought to be extinct until they were rediscovered growing in Szechwan, China in 1948. At this time it is the only grove of Dawn Redwoods known to exist in California.
September 1989"
**********************************************************************************
**********************************************************************************
**********************************************************************************
I stumbled across this mystery grave in my walk. How forgotten this person has become... I had to unveil their identity.
Using my trusty shark bottle-opener keychain, I cleared away the grass to discover a Mr. Walter Ernest, who passes away at a mere 25 years old; one year older than me, currently.
Unfortunately back then, people died young all the time. Actually, if it were not for modern medical science, I would have died at 19 years old.
**********************************************************************************
Otto Schwartz, 03/21/2008
**********************************************************************************
Always in our hearts
Our son
Andre Joseph Price"
The colored train imprint really tugged at my heartstrings. It has inspired me to start doing artwork made entirely from headstone rubbings, which I will be posting in the future.
**********************************************************************************
**********************************************************************************
"While looking at the old crooked tree, my mind goes back to days of long ago, with my brothers & sisters down by the old blacksmith shop and the old crooked tree. Up and down that old crooked tree we would climb, not minding the scratches and bruises and maybe a fall, for we was having fun climbing the old crooked tree. Many years had past and gone but once again I was looking at the old crooked tree. The old home had been moved away, the old blacksmith shop that used to be just a few rocks remained, but the old land mark was still there, the old crooked tree. I just stood there, and as a child once again I thought of the fun we had climbing the old crooked tree, and just wondered how it had weathered so many storms and still looked the same to me. I turned to go, but once again I looked back at the old crooked tree."
**********************************************************************************
**********************************************************************************
The northeast corner of the cemetery was full of these little headstones, which the majority of them were completely unmarked. I felt they deserved a tribute.
**********************************************************************************
Thus concludes this week's visit to the Anaheim Cemetery. Stay tuned next time for more photos and commentary.
Sincerely,
D
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