Walter Van Dyke (1823-1905); California Supreme Court Justice

Plot 14B

Walter Van Dyke was born in Tyre, New York to Martin Van Dyke and Irene Brockway.

He moved to Ohio around 1846 in order to attend law school. Shortly after he was admitted to the Ohio Bar Association in 1848 word of gold being discovered in California spread like wildfire. According to his “Autobiography and Reminiscence of Judge Walter Van Dyke,” a group of his friends and acquaintances organized to make the trek west. Van Dyke says that it “did not require much urging” for him to embark on the adventure with thirteen of his friends.

The group met in Chicago and set off across the plains on June 6, 1849. They traveled much of the way along the 1,300-mile long Mormon Trail. When they reached Iowa, three members of the group headed home. Along the way, Van Dyke sent accounts of his trip back to his hometown newspaper in Cleveland. Upon reaching Las Vegas, he described the now glittering city as a “famous camping ground.” The group arrived eight months after they set off and miraculously suffered no illnesses or deaths, despite many hardships along the way.

He settled in the seaside town of Trinidad, California and began searching for gold along the coast just below the Klamath River at a place known as Gold Bluff. Finding only moderate success as a gold miner, he sold his interest in the Gold Bluff Company to Colonel A.J. Butler and returned to the practice of law.

In 1851 he was elected as the District Attorney of Klamath County. This led to Van Dyke serving in a rapid series of elected and appointed offices. When Humboldt County was organized a year later, he was elected to represent the area in the California State Assembly. In 1854, he was elected as the District Attorney for Humboldt County and became the editor of the Humboldt Times (dual careers that would be unheard of today). Prior to the Civil War, Van Dyke argued so passionately for the Union cause that he was dubbed the “Father of the Union Party.” After a brief stint in the California State Senate, he moved south to San Francisco where he practiced law. From 1874-1877 he served as the United States District Attorney for California. In 1878, he became an at-large delegate to the California Constitutional Convention. From 1885-1888 he served on the Superior Court bench in Los Angeles.

Van Dyke was elected to his final office when he successfully forged a coalition between the Democrats and the “Silver Republicans” and became an Associate Justice on the California Supreme Court.

On Christmas Day in 1905, Van Dyke died unexpectedly at his home on East Fourth Street in Oakland after suffering what he believed to be a severe cold. It turned out to a pneumonia.

Following his death, fellow cemetery denizen Governor George C. Pardee filled his vacancy on the court with San Francisco Superior Court Judge Marcus C. Sloss. Van Dyke was survived by his wife and five children. He was posthumously honored on both sides of the San Francisco Bay with streets named in his honor. Van Dyke Avenue in Oakland is off of Park Avenue in what was once known as the Ridgewood tract. Van Dyke Avenue in San Francisco runs through an industrial portion of the Bay View District off of 3rd Street.

Mark (1826-1912) and William Ashby (1820-1896) - Berkeley Pioneers

  

Mark and William Ashby were brothers who came to California from Massachusetts hoping to strike it rich during the Gold Rush. Like so many others, their dreams were of wealth were not realized and in 1856 they ended up buying property in what is now Berkeley. In 1857 and 1859 they bought additional property adjoining their farm, including land within the old Vicente Peralta property growing their land holdings to 187 acres.

In 1865 the brothers split their property, with William receiving the eastern edge adjoining College Avenue, which was then known as University Avenue.

Mark Ashby attended a series of meetings to consider a plan for a railroad and the incorporation of the town. There is no known record of William Ashby’s activities after the division of the property [If you know otherwise, please email me at Michael.Colbruno@gmail.com]. Ironically, Ashby Avenue ended up being named after William Ashby, whose property lined what is currently one of major streets in Berkeley.

In 1876, former California governor Leland Stanford and real estate developer Francis Kittredge Shattuck purchased a right-of-way for a steam train line that cut through the Ashby property and ended at Shattuck and University Avenues. This basically ended farming on the Ashby brothers property. Some accounts claim that they then got involved in the building of homes on the property.

The area soon became one of the cultural and community hearts of the city.

Todd Crew (1965-1987) - Bassist for Jetboy

Jetboy & Todd Crew

Todd Crew was the bassist for the bands "Jetboy" and "The Drunk Fux." The group Jetboy was a hard rock or “glam rock” band formed in 1983. Around 1984 Jetboy was regularly playing at The Rock and Mubahay Gardens on Broadway Street in San Francisco. The band went on to a moderately successful career playing in Los Angeles, particularly on Sunset Strip and signed a record deal with Elektra in 1986. Elektra dropped them before releasing an album and they were signed by MCA. Crew was fired from the band in 1987 due to his excessive drinking and became a “guitar roadie” for Slash and Guns ‘n’ Roses.

Things deteriorated rapidly for Crew after his dismissal from the band. His drinking became worse and friends began to worry about his well-being when drugs also began to take their toll. Crew ended up dying at the Milford Plaza Hotel in New York of a drug overdose after partying with Slash and porn star Lois Ayres.

Crew's grave across the street from the Garden Mausoleum II

There has be a lot of dispute surround Todd Crew’s death. Some people maintain that Slash was with Crew when he died, but freaked out and left him in the room to die. In fact, some accounts have Crew actually dying in Slash’s arms. Slash has acknowledged shooting him up with heroin, but claims it wasn’t a strong enough dose to kill him. A few things have not been disputed, mainly that Crew was on a downhill drug/alcohol spiral and that he had been drinking for 18 hours straight, much of the time with Slash. Also, Slash was the person who eventually called 9-1-1, allegedly after calling a and saying that Crew was turning blue.

Slash and members of the band maintain that when they returned to their room they found Crew unconscious and called promptly called 911. 

 

Jetboy’s greatest success came in 1988 with “Feel the Shake,” which reached #135 on the Billboard charts.  

 

Guns N’ Roses dedicated “Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door” to him at many of their concerts. Later they would dedicate the song to Freddie Mercury or others who had died during concerts.

Exedra

Exedra at Mountain View Cemetery (photo by Michael Colbruno)

You can find this exedra across the street from the main entrance to the mausoleum. Here is Doug Keister's description of exedrae from his book  "Stories in Stone."

These monuments are usually shaped like a curved or rectangular bench, but there are also many examples where the bench is straight. The ancient Greeks constructed public shelters known as stoa. In their simplest form, these structures consisted of a colonnade, walled on one side and roofed. At intervals along these shelters were recesses with seats carved into them. The seating areas were known as exedrae, the Greek word for “out of a seat.” These structures were frequently used in gymnasiums and public squares. Curved exedrae in public squares were favorite gathering spots for philosophers and teachers since their students could gather around the conveniently placed seats. In private homes and gardens, exedrae were also used for entertaining and seating guests.

Exedrae soon found their way into Greek burial grounds that lined the highways into the city. Greek law expressly forbade burial within the city, so the highways leading into the city became important places for Greek families to erect highly visible monuments to proclaim the stature of the family and celebrate and honor their dead. The traditional Greek burial custom dictated that when a person died, a large mound was formed over the grave. Soon after, an earth or rock wall was built to better define the burial plot; when enough resources were available, a more permanent stone grave marker was erected.

Graveside services were not a one-time affair for the ancient Greeks; thus, from time to time, the friends and family of the deceased would gather again at the grave. These services were accompanied with wine, food, and offerings that, for convenience, were placed on top of the burial mound. When the family had enough money to erect a suitable monument, they usually picked a table tomb so they would have a place to put libations and gifts. The next logical progression would be to erect a structure that would enable guests to sit and converse, which led to the introduction of the exedra in Greek burial grounds. The exedra was well suited to this setting; its three-sided or semicircular form helped define the burial plot (it replaced the earth or rock retaining wall) and its built-in seating enabled all of the mourners to talk to each other while focusing on the tomb that, conveniently, was heaped with food and wine. This arrangement is not unlike a contemporary living room with a conversation pit and a coffee table in the middle.

When designing exedrae for American cemeteries, architects used semicircular, rectangular, and straight forms. Typically, a statue or architectural feature with the family name at the center of the exedra and bench seats on either side, although there are some examples that are simply a bench. The heyday of the exedra was from the late nineteenth century until the 1920s. They are still popular today, but are usually used in public areas rather than as monuments for individuals or families.

Captain William “Bill” Leale (1846-1918) - Ship Captain; Owner of Historic Home

Leale home, grave marker and ferry

Captain William “Bill” Leale was born on the Isle of Guernsey in 1846. He came to San Francisco in April 1866 where he was hired as a deckhand on the river steamer Reform. He became the master of the steamer Pioneer within six years and commanded a number of other vessels.

In 1880 he purchased the steamer Caroline and the tugboat Frolic. By the 1890s he was the captain of the bay ferries for the Southern Pacific Railroad.

In 1883, he bought a home that had been built in 1853 at 2475 Pacific Avenue in San Francisco. He added a bracketed false front and built a small house in the backyard, which he fitted to resemble a pilot house. Historical records indicate that the house is one of the oldest in the Cow Hollow neighborhood of Pacific Heights.

The house has become famous in recent years as the home of Susie Tompkins, who has hosted some of the most prominent Democrats in America, including President Bill Clinton, Hillary Clinton, future President Barack Obama and Senators Barbara Boxer and Dianne Feinstein.

 

Dean Henry Detton (1908-1958) – Football Star & Professional Wrestler

Dean Detton

Dean Detton was a former University of Utah football star who went on to become a famous heavyweight wrestler in the 1930s and 1940s. He was one of eleven children and two of the nine boys became wrestlers.

He was the world heavyweight wrestling champion in 1936 and 1937. He lost the title after two years to the All-American football legend Bronko Nagurski.

He was known for his trademark toehold and shoulder tackles which combined traditional wrestling with a newer brand of more physical and showy wrestling.

After serving in World War II, he returned to California and promoted new wrestling talent. After a brief period in Southern California, Detton lived the last 14 years of his life in Hayward, California. Detton committed suicide by hanging himself in his tavern The Turf Club. The body was discovered by his wife and son. His wife said that he had been despondent over the financial challenges of his business. A few months earlier, Detton tried to throw himself in front of a moving train, but was only slightly injured.

Detton was a native of Utah and a member of the Mormon church.

Arthur Hastings Breed, Sr. (1865-1953) – State Senator; Father of State Highway System

Niche of Senator Arthur Breed, Sr.

Arthur Breed, Sr. during his early days in Oakland and shortly before his death

 

Arthur Hastings Breed was born in San Francisco in 1865 and moved to Oakland in 1883. He ran the A.H. Breed and Sons real estate company in downtown Oakland.

He was elected City Auditor Oakland in 1899 and later to the State Legislature in 1912. He rose to become President pro tempore of the California State Senate, a role he maintained for 18 years, which remains the longest term in history.

Breed was author of the California Motor Vehicle Act and of the gas tax, which provided for the construction of highways in California. At his death, Governor Earl Warren called Breed “the father of our state highway system.” 

He was named an honorary member of the Sierra Club in recognition of his efforts to build the John Muir Trail, running from Mt. Whitney to the Yosemite Valley.

He served as acting Lietenant Governor when Frank Merriam became Governor after the death of Governor James Rolph, Jr. 

Breed served on the Board of Directors and the finance committee of the Mountain View Cemetery Association.

Ina Coolbrith redux

PLOT 11

Although I've previously posted Ina Coolbrith on this site, I thought that this more comprehensive article from the Oakland Tribune might be of interest.

Nathaniel Spaulding (1829-1903) Saw inventor; Mayor of Oakland

Spaulding Grave (photo: Michael Colbruno); Mayor N.W. Spaulding from (Photo: Oakland Tribune)

Plot 6, Lot 1

Nathaniel Spaulding was born in North Anson, Maine on September 24, 1829. He learned the carpentry trade from his father and uncle and worked in the trade in Portland and Boston.

In 1851, he sailed for the Gold Fields of California, where he pioneered in the building of mills and flumes on the Mokelumne River in Calaveras County. He also built and managed the first hotel in Campo Seco, where he was married Mary Clinkinbeard in 1854. The couple eventually had ten children.

In 1859, he began a business in Sacramento as a manufacturer lf inserted-tooth saws. Spaulding patented the saw, which became known as the Spaulding Saw or chisel-bit saw. According to one source it, “…thoroughly revolutionized the circular saw business, not only in the U.S., but also throughout Europe.

He moved to San Francisco in 1862 and established the Pacific Saw Manufacturing Company. He also established the N.W. Spaulding & Company in Chicago with two of his brothers.

Spaulding moved to Oakland in 1866 where he built two large homes, one at 9^th & Madison and the other in Highland Park. He was elected as a Republican to the City Council, where he was named as chair of the committee that oversaw streets. Spaulding played a major role in the layout and lighting of the city. He was elected as Mayor in both 1871 and 1872 without opposition. He was a noticeable presence in City Hall, as he stood 6’3” and weighed 220 pounds, which was unusually large for the time.

As Mayor, Spaulding led the effort to move the Alameda County seat from San Leandro to Oakland, which was approved by the California Legislature in 1874.

After his terms ended, he served two more terms on the City Council and then was appointed as Assistant U.S. Treasurer by President Garfield. He also served as a trustee at Stanford University.

A thirty-third degree Mason, Spauling was founder of the Oakland Lodge No. 188 and Grand Priest of the California Royal Arch Masons. He died on October 8, 1903 in New Britain, Connecticut from complications related to malaria.

William Watrous Crane, Jr. (1830-1883): Oakland Mayor, Author

Oakland Mayor William Crane, Jr. (photo by Michael Colbruno)

Plot 14A, Lot 224

William Watrous Crane, Jr. was born in New York City on September 14, 1830 to parents of Irish and Scottish decent. He was educated in New York, including a stint at Columbia University. He was admitted to the New York Bar in 1853 and practiced law for a year before heading to San Francisco via the Panama route.

In San Francisco he practiced with the law firm of Doyle, Boyd & Barber, then alone for a time and afterward as a member of the firm of Crane & Boyd. In 1856, he married the former Hannah Austin. In 1862, the Cranes moved to Oakland and he got involved in politics. He was elected as a State Senator from Alameda County and in 1867 was elected as Mayor of Oakland and served from March 1867-November 1867. He didn’t complete his term as Mayor due to bad health and was succeeded by Samuel Merritt. He was offered the Republican nomination for Governor on more than one occasion, but declined due to his health.

In an effort to improve his health, he took two trips to Europe with his wife. He ended up serving as a bank director as well as the president of the Oakland Gas and Light Company. He was also published as a poet and essayist and was donor to the prestigious journal The Overland Monthly. He was the author of Politics: An Introduction to the Study of Comparative Constitutional Law.

Crane died at his Oakland residence at 10th & Market St. on July 31, 1883.