Charles R. Welch

1889 - 1918

Died in the Service

Charles R Welch has a flag placed by his granite monument in Section A.  He died while in the service.  He didn't die in battle on the European front like so many did.  Charles was stationed at the Vancouver Barracks when he was struck down and killed by influenza.  In 1918 it didn't matter where you were, or were stationed, your life would be impacted in some manner by the great influenza epidemic.   Charles' service is remembered this Memorial Day.

Our meetings with the Lost Alaskans group in Anchorage were fantastic.  The group is highly energetic and committed to knowing what happened to all of the Alaskans who were sent to Morningside Hospital and never returned home.  Our work in Portland is helping to answer those questions.
One of the things we learned was that some of the people who were being tried for being insane were able to use the judicial process to help fight those charges and at times got the sentence delayed, or even successfully fought those charges.
Of course there were people sent to Morningside who now would not be institutionalized and for whom medication now are used, but there were definitely those who could only be helped by being institutionalized/hospitalized.
Eric and David both benefitted by attending the meetings, and are extremely honored at being invited north.  The Lost Alaskans group is an awesome group of people who were very touched when they were shown photos of the markers of Alaskans in Portland area cemeteries.  We are now currently busy helping the project by helping with data extraction from the Death Certificates obtained at the Oregon State Archives in Salem, and from various quarterly reports issued by the Hospital.  The stories being gathered are poignant and ones that shouldn't be forgotten.

Tuesday May 8, 2012

     Today we had the great fortune of being shown some of the spectacular scenery that makes up the area around the Turnagain Arm of the Cook Inlet and the Prince William Sound.    There aren't any words I can think of that really describe this beauty, but "WOW" suffices, at least temporarily.
     The month is May, but we look out of the warm vehicle and it sure looks like it's still mid-winter out there.  It really isn't winter, the trees are starting to bud, the lows are up in to the 30's, and the daylight hours are quite long.  Nothing like the long freezing nights of winter.
     The stories that emanate from this place called Alaska are thick with hope and hardship, riches, hope, brokenness, death and insanity. Lots of insanity.   The winters alone cause a certain insanity that we, in the 21st century call seasonal affective disorder, but our Victorian friends called Melancholia.  
     If you were a guy from the lower 48 states back in the late 1800's and heard of the gold to be found up here you might be tempted to drop everything and head north to find your fortune.  You would become one among hundreds.  If you were an enterprising young woman just off the boat from France you might just get an idea to head to the gold fields of Alaska and try to make your fortune through the business of selling kindness to strangers. 
     There are tales of cannibalism during the Gold Rush; harsh winters can cause that - witness the Donner Party.  One man we know of did exactly that; three men in a cabin over a brutal Arctic winter and one survived physically though the experience claimed his reason and he spent the rest of his life in an insane asylum, namely Morningside Hospital of Dr. Coe in Portland. 
     Between 1904 and 1968, Morningside Hospital became home for "paretics (those suffering from tertiary syphilis) , "homeosexuals", "morons" (though we call their condition Down's Syndrome these days), "idiots" (developmentally disabled), epileptics, sufferers of tuberculosis, and the rather general but applicable label of "delusional manic depressive."  I supposed that covers most bases . . . 
     The winters are long, hard, and cold in Alaska.  You'd better be prepared.

We drove by The Park Monday on our way to the airport.  Fitting somehow to drive by and be reminded that the reasons we're heading to Anchorage lie therein.  Juries of 6 men found their peers to be mentally insane and those people were then sent south to Portland and Morningside Hospital.  Many of those people never returned and became The Lost Alaskans.  We have found the last resting spot for quite a few of those Lost Alaskans.  A few have monuments lovingly purchased by family.  Many have 'temporary' cement markers with their names and location imprinted on them.  Some have plain markers with no name but only a location on them.  Some people unfortunately remain lost buried in unmarked graves, or in graves that have been resold. 

While in Anchorage we expect to learn and share a lot of information on The Lost Alaskans, and to meet some very fascinating women who have been involved in this project for several years now.

Janice Bevill

Janice L Bevill was born on 20 February 1938 to Mr & Mrs J W Bevill of 1709 SW Morrison. Her death is recorded in the Oregon Death Index on 17 April 1938, and her burial on 18 April according to the cemetery records.   We have not yet seen a copy of her Death Certificate.

Her temporary marker indicates she was intended to be in Section A, Lot 112, the lower half of grave 3.  Her temporary marker however, is in Section C, Lot 38, grave nr 1.