Just South of Aunt Sally

I was going through some old cemetery books and came across this entry from 1920.  Apparently William Rowley purchased two lots, "south of Aunt Sallie."  Well, that tells me all I need to know, just like "Unknown Man Sunday."  If any of the readers of this blog wonder why we don't know where all these folks have been put, this is what we're up against.  These old entries don't have the lot or grave numbers, and "Aunt Sallie" never was identified.  The formers owners of the cemetery, Mr. & Mrs. Dorsey had their own special way of identifying of the burial places of incoming residents.  The blocks were divided up into areas designated for the various undertaking firms who did business with the cemetery.  We know, for example, that J.P. Finley purchased most of blocks G & H at a discount then resold the graves to their customers at a slight profit.  Then there was Kenworthy, Miller & Tracey, Lerch, Holman, Mt. Scott and many others who brought their charges to lay in the earth of Multnomah Park.  Unfortunately for us, the records of block, lot and grave assignment are missing or incomplete.  This has caused some big headaches in the past when a grave, thought to be vacant,  was sold, opened and . . . . whoops . . . bones!!!!  which were then carefully put back and the grave closed.  This is one reason why Multnomah Park is closed to new grave sales.  It all has to do with Aunt Sallie . . where ever she is. 

OCCUPIED

Here's one for all you cemetery sleuths out there (you know who you are) - Who is in Grave 5, Lot 14, Block D?    The old cemetery records simply list the space as - you guessed it, "occupied"  No name, no date, no funeral parlor, no data at all. 

The size of the stone and the lettering would lead us to believe the stone might have been put there sometime before 1935..... does that help?

The Week After Memorial Day

A week after Memorial Day this year, the weather was warm and sunny, very much unlike the weather ON Memorial Day.  Oh yes, we were there under our little blue Metro-provided canopy (Thanks, Monty) and braved the rain and cold breeze.  Very few people visited until after the rain stopped later in the afternoon.

The flags and flowers will remain on the graves until next week when they will be collected and the flags recyled for next year.   The flowers will be recyled as well but in a different way.  After all, Metro is dedicated to recycling in every form.