Haven't done one of these in a while and I got a great one from my bro-in-law Nate. So, here it is. This is the grave marker for Burrell Kendrick, son of Thomas and Esterlee. He was buried in the ER Cemetery in Weston, Campbell County, Wyoming. I can't find squat on the ER Cemetery so I don't know why it's called "ER" or why there are only 7 people apparently buried there. I will continue to look for information about it and if I find any, then I will update this post. Again, many thanks to Nate for sending me this project. :-)

Sorry it's taken so long to post part 2 of the Austrian Central Cemetery trip but I have been beyond cranky since that day. It's like every day that goes by I feel myself getting just a little bit angrier...

Anyway, here's part deux of the ACC trip.

So, after leaving The Little Acorn we traveled through Spanish Fork Canyon. It's a beautiful canyon and if you've never been, you should rectify that oversight immediately. The canyon has a long history of European use. It began with the Dominguez-Escalante expedition of 1776 and a giant metal cross stands as a commemoration to that expedition (Fathers Fransisco Atanasio Domínguez and Silvestre Vélez de Escalante were tasked with finding a route from Santa Fe, New Mexico to Monterey, California...they failed, but they left a journal detailing their trip and it stands as the second oldest record of the land and peoples of Colorado, Utah, Arizona, and New Mexico). Although the Spanish didn't stay in this area, they have left their mark...many areas in Utah are named for the above-mentioned priests.

Mormons first came to Utah in 1847, and have been here ever since. But it was coal mining and the railroad that made it's mark in Spanish Fork Canyon. Littered throughout the canyon are the remnants of dozens of coal or rail towns, and there is even a cemetery of some of the earliest settlers about 12 miles east of the ghost town of Thistle.

And, speaking of Thistle...not all ghost towns in Spanish Fork Canyon were abandoned when coal and rail stopped being so important. In 1983, the town of Thistle was obliterated in a devastating land slide and subsequent flood. The sliding earth dammed the Spanish Fork River and flooded the town leaving very little in its wake. From a scenic overlook you can see the path of the earth and if you travel down to the Thistle road you can drive past the few remaining foundations that mark where Thistle used to be.

Soldier Summit is the name of both a mountain pass and a ghost town. It was named for the Southern soldiers (previously under a Union general), on their way to join the Confederate Army, who where caught in a freak July snowstorm in the pass in 1861. What remains today are a few building and many foundations. The town's importance was due to its being a transportation route between the Wasatch Front and Price, Utah (a mining and railroad hub). It's on the route of both U.S. Route 6 and the old main line of the Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad, which is now owned and operated by the Union Pacific Railroad. From 1921 to 1984 the town was incorporated, but thanks to a steady outflow of residence it is now just a tourist spot.

Another area of interest is Scofield and the Scofield Reservoir. The town of Scofield was build on coal mining but after a devastating mine disaster on May 1st, 1907, in which 200 people were killed, the town began to fall apart. Today, Scofield is a tiny town with fewer than 30 residents. The main attraction in Scofield is the reservoir. But within the town is the cemetery where many of the 200 victims of the Scofield Mine Disaster are buried.

Other areas to visit are the Castle Gate area (so-called because of the unusual rock outcropping that kinda looks like a castle gate), the railroad museum in Helper (so-called because the "helper" trains that got the locomotives up the mountain were located there), the Natural History Museum in Price, and, of course, the Austrian Central Cemetery.

The cemetery isn't hard to locate, if you know where you're going. Traveling west to east on Highway 6 you turn left on Consumers Road, which is just a short distance from the Spring Glen turnoff. You then take the first left turn and then the next first left turn, and there you are!

According to the plaque at the entrance to the cemetery, the Austrian Central or Austrian Lodges Cemetery was established in 1930 on land purchased from the Ku Klux Klan! The purpose of the cemetery was to provide low- or no-cost burial places for immigrants whose family had remained in the Old Country. As the plaque notes (and I can attest to from their death certificates), most of the men buried here lost their lives in mining or other accidents. There are only 70 people buried here, so it doesn't take too long to walk around and see them all (or photograph them, as the case may be). I'm adding here examples of the different types of grave markers with an emphasis on the more interesting ones...or, the more interesting causes of death. (NOTE: In listing cause of death I am in no way trivializing or condemning these people. The information I am providing is readily available to anyone who wants to take the time to look up the death certificates.)

 

BELOW: The front entryway. As you can see, it's a lot of dirt and prickly brush. Quite painful, so if you plan to do a little cleaning up around the graves then make sure you take good leather gloves.

BELOW: The view over the northwest end of the cemetery, toward the road. Lovely view these people have here!

BELOW: Frank Bragach. Died as a result of a gun shot wound that blew out the entire right portion of his neck! It was ruled an accident.

BELOW: John Fiechko. Died as a result of an accidental mine injury that crushed his head and amputated his right foot.

BELOW: Joe Zijich (you may notice the difference in names here. The name I have given reflects the public record death certificate). Cause of death was ruled ulcer of the stomach and syphilis. And yes, an ulcer can kill you. It can either cause a stomach rupture (by compromising the integrity of the stomach lining), or, if it bleeds heavily, it can cause you to bleed to death.

BELOW: Stena Brakus. This lady died as a result of postpartum hemorrhage, septic infection, and a pulmonary embolism (anyone of these would kill you, but to have them all??! Yikes!). Apparently, she attempted to deliver herself of her baby and the doctors weren't called in until 2 hours afterward. She was given a blood transfusions, but died 19 days after the birth.

BELOW: Martin Marcin. He died as a result of shock secondary to a mine injury that resulted in the double fracture of his right femur, fracture of his pelvis, and fracture of something else on the left side that I couldn't read...but it looks kind of like humerus.

BELOW: Leonard Mohorich. He was a carpenter who died as a result of cerebral hemorrhage secondary to hypertension.

BELOW: Antone Evatz. A coal miner, he died from miners tuberculosis and hemorrhage of the lung.

There are so many more. I may do a part 3.

 

This weeks Vision comes from the Logan City Cemetery. The Thatcher family has a decent-size section in a back corner of the cemetery. I didn't know anything about the Thathcher's but apparently they were once a prominent family in the area.

BELOW: George Washington Thatcher.  George was born February 1, 1840 in Springfield, Illinois. In 1844 his family moved to Nauvoo, Illinois, and in 1847 they moved to the Salt Lake valley. In 1849 the Thatcher family moved to Auburn, California working in California’s Gold Rush. During this time George worked for his father as a hotel keeper, rancher, and in merchandising. In 1857 the Thatcher family returned to the Utah Territory. In 1858 George worked with the Native American Agent, Jacob Forney, on a mission to the southwest Native American tribes, and from 1860 to 1861 he was employed by the Russell, Majors, & Waddell Co. as a Pony Express rider.

In 1861, George married Eunice (Luna) Caroline Young (daughter of Brigham Young, who was the territorial governor and president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints). From 1861 to 1867 George was the manager of his father-in-law's property in Big Cottonwood. He also managed the Salt Lake Theatre and Brigham Young’s interests within Salt Lake City. In 1867 George took a second wife, Fannie Young (another daughter of Brigham Young). From 1868 to 1869 George and John W. Young supervised the construction of the railroad grade for the Union Pacific Railroad in Echo and Weber Canyons. In 1871 George, along with John W. Young and H. P. Kimball, oversaw the construction of track for the Utah & Northern Railroad Company.

In 1873 George served as a missionary in Great Britain for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. After serving for one year, George returned to the Utah Territory and formed another partnership with John W. Young and H. P. Kimball to construct the Utah Western Railroad. In 1847 George was elected as a member of the Salt Lake City Council and served a two-year term.

In 1876 George moved to Logan, Utah were he worked as the Superintendent of the Utah & Northern Railroad Company until 1882. In 1877 he became the Trustee for the Brigham Young College (now Logan High School). In 1883, George, his brother Moses, H.E. Hatch, W.D. Hendricks, S.T. Josselyn, and W.A. Rossiter, formed Logan’s first bank, the Thatcher Brothers & Banking Company. George served as the bank president until 1902.

 

From 1893 to 1896 George was a member of the Utah Commission and in 1894 he was elected Mayor of Logan for a two-year term. In 1900 he was the Utah Democratic party’s candidate for nomination as Governor of Utah. In 1900 he also represented Utah as a delegate at the Democratic National Convention held in Kansas City. George died at his home on December 23, 1902.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

BELOW: The Thatcher momument.

 

 

Man! I tried for hours to get this published yesterday...have no idea what the issue was but it seems to have resolved. So, here is Part 2 of Toowong Cemetery. Thanks again to Julie for the beautiful images and enabling my cemetery/genealogical research addiction. :-)

BELOW: Benjamin Leach, his wife Catherine, and their son Alfred Thomas. Benjamin was apparently a contractor in Western Australia. I wasn't able to find much information on him.

BELOW: James Forsyth Thallon (and family). He was a Queensland Railway worker who became Commissioner for Railways in 1902, a position he held until his death in 1911.

BELOW: Eileen Mary Sterling and Madeleine Lucy. Unfortunately I could find no information for either of these ladies...yet.

Another guest spot this week! This one is a real treat as it's coming to you from sunny Brisbane, Australia. A good friend of mine took some pictures of an old cemetery for me and here you get to see these amazing photos!

All of these photos come from Toowong Cemetery (aka Brisbane General Cemetery) in Toowong, a suburb of Brisbane. If you ever find yourself in Brisbane and would like to visit, Toowong can be located at the center of Mount Coot-Tha Road, Frederick Street, Birchwood Terrace, and Richer Street (address is 304 Birchwood Terrace, Toowong).

 

I am told that the ambiance around his grave is...stifling.

 

Below: Samuel Wensley Blackall, (1 May 1809 - 2 Jan 1871) was an Irish soldier with the 85th Regiment but sold his commission as lieutenant and entered the Royal Longford Militia, where he became Major. He became high sheriff of County Longford in 1833 and represented Longford in the House of Commons. In 1861 he became high sheriff of Tyrone, and between 1851-57 he was lieutenant-governor of Dominica.
In 1862 he re-entered the colonial service as governor of Sierra Leone, and in 1865 became governor-in-chief at the West African Settlements. In 1865 he was appointed Governor of Queensland, a position he held until his death in 1871.
In 1870, when the government set aside land in Toowong for a cemetery, Blackall inspected the area and selected the highest spot for his grave. Toowong wasn't official opened until 1875, Governor Blackall was it's first interment in 1871.

Below: Reverend Thomas Jones, (30 July 1836 - 14 Aug 1918) born in Preston, England, he was educated at the Grammar School there, then took a position as master at the Marlborough Grammar School, where Bishop Tufnell persuaded him to take Holy Orders.
He was ordained deacon in the Church of England at Salisbury by Bishop Hamilton in 1859, and in September 1860, he followed Bishop Tufness to Brisbane upon the latter's consecration as Bishop there.
Thomas became curate of St. John's Church and worked half the Brisbane area, living with the Reverend R. Creyke in a house at the corner of George and Elizabeth Streets. In June 1861,he was ordained priest and sent to Rockhampton, where he built the first church, the next year.
Upon the resignation of the Reverend J. Tomlinson, Thomas was recalled to Brisbane and installed as incumbent of the Wickham Terrace Church (All Saints') on January 1st, 1865.
In 1877 he went to England on vacation, resigning from All Saints' Church the following July. Upon returning to Australia and relieving the Dean of Hobart, he became Rector of Toowoomba in 1881.
While at Toowoomba, he enlarged St. James', reopened St. Luke's, built two mission churches and built churches at Laidley, Gatton, Gehan, Meringdan, and Crow's Nest.
In 1886, he was made Archdeacon of the Western District but his work there ended owing to a disagreement with the Bishop of the day, on a question of principle.
After this, he left Queensland for a time hoping that resumed relations would be happier, but after he left his living was declared vacant, churches he had opened were closed and remained closed for years, and his band of workers was scattered. He eventually returned to his old diocese, willing to take any position, but for two years he was treated as if he had been a drunkard or adulterer and denied the opportunity of ministering to the people who loved him. At the end of those two years, the Honorable J.R. Dickson (one-time Premier of Queensland) paid a visit to the Bishop and Thomas was reinstated. In 1891, after again being licensed, he returned to All Saints' as curate.
He was made honorary canon of the Cathedral, but in 1893 resigned. In 1894 he became Rector of Indooroopilly, where he remained until 1918. After his resignation from Indooroopilly in July he was given leave to officiate in the diocese, but died a few weeks later on August 14th.

These are just a smattering of the photos she sent me (they are all so great it was hard to choose!). We will probably have to do a Toowong Part II.

This weeks Visions come to us via my brother-in-law. He took the first two pictures while at the Garland cememtery. This burial is for the McNeff sisters, Cora and Irena. They were the daughters of John Samuel and Mary Ellen Young McNeff. As with some of my more interesting people, there is limited information about these two and their family (that's part of what makes them so interesting!).

This is the headstone of James Mathew Quigley. I was looking for him and his siblings in the Clarkston Cemetery. Unfortunately, as happens so often with children during this time period, there were no headstones for the siblings, only James, who was 3 months old at time of death. He was the son of Andrew and Harriet Yates Quigley, both buried in Oxford, Idaho.

I've been slacking off with my blog lately. I missed Monday's Death post, so I'm making up for it today.

This time around I've chosen a really awesome memorial for James and Linda Mayers. This is in the Wellsville City Cemetery. I was looking for some other people when I came across this one and just had to have a picture of it. It's made of metal and essentially hollow; the black area with information is a separate sheet of metal. Some of you may recognize what it is, others may not.

 

(The back - this is what I saw first)

In keeping with my new-found determination to post this weekly segment, this week I'm putting up what is probably one of, if not the most recognizable monument in all of Logan City Cemetery...maybe even in all of Cache Valley. She belongs to Peter and Anna Cronqist. As with many such monuments, there are all sorts of folklore and legends surrounding her; people have claimed that she weeps (condensation is determined to be the agent of this phenomenon). I have heard that she is a hot ticket on Halloween and people seem to expect her to do some...thing. I did a little research (as always :-D ) and discovered that Peter and Anna (or Pehl and Annie as they appeared in the 1880 census) both came from Sweden. Peter was a plasterer and Anna was a housewife (you will notice that Anna was 18 years older than Peter...). And that's all the information I could find! But you know me...;-)

If anyone has any stories they would like to share, feel free to post them (here, please, not on Facebook. If you need a refresher on how to post then check out the FAQ).

Last week I was catching up on some Find A Grave work and I came across a headstone that made me think I should start a new, weekly post. This spot will feature interesting or unique headstone/grave markers that I come across in my volunteer work with Find A Grave. But, since I can't guarantee that I will personally find enough to fulfill my challenge, I may present memorials photographed by other people (obviously they will receive credit).

The impetus for this was found last Monday when I was in the Richmond, Utah cemetery, taking pictures of Hill's (there are Hill's on my maternal side and I was going to check if they are related - turns out they aren't; the Richmond Hill's are from England and my Hill's are from Scotland) buried in the northeast corner of the cemetery. As I moved toward the last few markers I spotted an upright stone that, from the back, looked like dragon scales! The side of it looked like a tail and I had high hopes for the front...unfortunately, it was not meant to be. But it was still a very fascinating marker and so I took pictures of it.