Headstone of the Week

William H. Fenton born 1872, died in 1914.
Here rests a Woodman of the World

Headstone of the Week

George was the son of Edison Tanquary and was 48 years old when he died on April 12, 1918. He had siblings named Millie, Nellie, C.M. and L.H. He could have been a victim of the influenza epidemic that swept through Portland in 1918.

Tracking Down the Real Ones

This stone reads "Y Shmoto. The database reads Yashi Smota. Checking with the Oregon Death Index and with an Oregonian article at the time, 1909, tells me that Yoshi Shimoto was a merchant in Chinatown when he was "died suddenly in an apoplectic fury." He died during a heat wave in Portland and was buried the same day. Yoshi's grave is along the back fence of the cemetery, the unofficial "Potter's Field" of Multnomah Park Cemetery.

Headstone of the Week

Infant mortality in the early 20th century was high. Many of the infants in this cemetery have only a cement marker as remembrance. Claude's parents saw fit to mark his brief existence with a marble stone. R.I.P. Claude Haley Cole

Eulogizer

Because of the Oregonian article detailing the 1899 funeral of Mr. O.P. Lent, one of the founders of the cemetery, we know that Mr. Plympton Kelly was a personal friend of his and "handsomely delivered the eulogy of his dearly departed friend." We also know that Mr. Kelly's carriage was in a place of honor in the funeral cortege between the hearse and the family of the deceased. High praise indeed.

Happy New Year

Headstone of the Week