And Yet Another Mystery!!

I spent about two hours in the cemetery today and it was a beautiful early spring day. It was warm enough to go coatless! As mentioned in an earlier post, I wanted to clean off the grave of Baby Barlow, which I did, and here is the picture of the now-clean grave. I think I will plant nasturtiums in the planter this spring.

Baby Barlow is interred in Section F, Lot 157. Most of the lots in this section has 5 or six burials in them. I counted nine in this section - most of them infants. Also, there is a "Unknown Man" buried here, and I did find a marker for a "Paul A" Paul's marker is one of the many concrete markers that were made by the friends or the family and which are deteriorating very quickly. We want to document them soon as we don't know how long they will remain in one piece.

The Ukrainian Pentecostals were there again today, driving up in their brand-new Mercedes 4-door and looking very prosperous. They cleaned the gravestones of their relatives all the while giving me the look of " we don't know you, but we are prepared to not like you" and when they left, they drove very slowly past me as I was cleaning another stone; I waived, they glared, except for a young girl in the back seat, she waved back. There is hope.

I Await Thee

Like many cemeteries, there are stones at MPC upon which two or more names are inscribed and one inscription is complete with the year of death and the other name has the birth year but no death date. Such is the case of Fred and Rose.

After a bit of research, I found Rose in the database; she died in 1930 and is buried next to Fred. I speculate that upon her death, during the depression, that funds were not available to inscribe the stone with her date of death.

Breakfast with Baby Barlow

I felt the need for some quiet time this morning and what better place to have a Burger King breakfast than the cemetery. It was a steady soft rain on the neighborhood today and outside the lovely iron fence, the work-a-day world went on as usual. Cars, trucks, busses whizzing by on their way to commerce, collision or mayhem or maybe off to visit the dearly departed; but not today.

I was the lone mobile visitor this morning and I walked most of Section F, taking a few photos along the way. The camera lens got a bit wet and some of the photos are a bit blurry but hey, this is Portland and it is winter.

I suppose I was looking for some signs of spring in the graveyard and there are, no doubt, quite a few. I saw daffodils springing from old graves, getting ready to bloom, once again setting in motion life in a violent yellow, and I noticed that under some of the trees the violets are blooming.

Like Dave, I can be walking across a section when my attention is suddenly pulled to look at a headstone. As if a voice rises from the sodden soil saying - "Yo! Yeah, you, look down." At that point, my momentum stops and I pay attention to the unheard voice.

In the African-American spiritual tradition of HooDoo, it is said that the spirits in the graveyard are waiting to help the living do certain deeds. They can help to heal, or hex or cause someone to be found, or for that matter, to founder. To those who believe in the power of the dead, a message to "look down" is a direct invitation.; the spirit of that grave wants to work with you. So, what does one do with such an invitation?

Infants

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After doing some work this afternoon in Section A I went over to pay my respects to the latest interment in the Cemetery. On my way over I looked down and discovered the monument for Robert Lee Ross who was on this earth just a short time. It is always sad to see markers for those who don't get to experience a full life.

I think Robert's parents are nearby in Section E. There is an Olive Ross who died on October 31, 1918, just 6 days after Robert's birth. Olive's husband (Robert's father?) George lived until 1933.







There are quite a few infant burials within the cemetery as would be expected for this time period. However, the ones that are the most poignant are the four that are found in Section A, Lot 127A. These four infants were all buried in this corner in 1930. All of these markers were buried at least 2 inches below current ground level. They are now visible for all to see and ponder on.
Dave

Infant Bokoski


Infant Oleson



Infant Henry

Infant Clark

A Garden of Untimely Demise

Unto each of us is the possibility that we will not live to see old age, and that is the story of many of the denizens of Multnomah Park. Take this handsome gentleman for example.

Our handsome friend was 26 years old at the moment of his untimely demise. According to the newspapers of the time, he was shot with a large caliber hand gun at point blank range in the chest by a man who was guarding a very large marijuana growing operation.

This man will stare into the heavens from the safety of his black granite headstone until the moss or the dirt or the angry transient or the ravages of time obscures him from our eyes; memories are like that.

Facebook!

Well, it is the 21st Century, and right now, in the early days of that Century, facebook is a popular way to communicate. We've now started our facebook page! Check it out! We'll post our "work" days, news, and who knows what else!

The Moss that Hides and Reveals

Many of the older stones in the cemetery have moss growing on them; sometimes that it is a good thing because we can read the names. At other times, the moss obscures all.

Lists

We are in the process of going through the list of burials and putting that together with the photos of the headstones. Ugh! After a few hours, my head spins and the names run together. This is going to take awhile.

Come To Me

Dave and I spent last Saturday in the cemetery taking photos of Section B. It was cold and windy and the rain threatened, but held back for a few hours; it is winter, ya know.

Section B is the most exposed section of the cemetery with just a few trees. It fronts 82nd Ave and while going up and down the rows of gravestones, I would look up often and see people walking along the sidewalk and going about their daily stuff. Hundreds of cars whizzed by on 82nd while Dave and I were there.

The headstone of Etta Sigsby kinda says it all. When all the busyness of life is over, come to me, I'll leave the light on.

I can't believe it's been just a few short months since Eric and I have undertaken this project of ours. In this short period of time we have added over 4,000 names to the Find A Grave website database. In the beginning we were transcribing information from photographs taken in the cemetery, but now thanks to Metro we're using data from their database. Still a time consuming process, but it is much easier and quicker using data already on spreadsheets. We've also taken over 5 photos for people with relatives in the cemetery.

During this time Eric has also dug up the history of the Morningside Hospital to which Alaska sent it's mental patients until the 1960's. Several of the patients who died while at the hospital are buried here at Multnomah Park.

This is the marker for Harry Loud, or Lold, who died in 1915. His marker is along the fenceline at the back of the cemetery, along with several other Morningside patients.

Neither Eric or I know where this project will lead us, but we would like to have a user friendly website showing the cemetery and the lots, photos of the markers, and a brief bio of each person. Wouldn't that be grand?!