Theodore Sherman Palmer (January 26, 1868 - July 24, 1955) Audobon Society Co-founder; Famed Ornithologist; Conservationist

Theodore Sherman Palmer

East end of the endowed portion of Plot 5

Theodore Sherman Palmer was born in Oakland, California on January 26, 1868. In 1886, his family moved to Pomona, California where his father started a bank.

He studied at the University of California at Berkeley where he took an interest in the flora and fauna of the California mountains. A year after graduating in 1888, he joined the Division of Economic Ornithology and Mammalogy of the United States Department of Agriculture under Clinton Hart Merriam. In 1891, he led an expedition to study the biology of Death Valley and adjacent territories. He edited and published "Place Names of the Death Valley Region in California and Nevada” and “Chronology of the Death Valley Region in California, 1849-1949.”

Theodore Palmer's grave

After successfully helping organize exhibits for the World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago, he was named the Assistant Chief of the Department, where he served from 1896 to 1902, and again from 1910 to 1914.

He seemed to have a penchant for compiling information into books and during these years he published books about the history of hunting licenses, private game preserves, game protection, bird legislation, jack rabbits, economic ornithology and the benefits of game protection. An 1899 publication on “noxious animals” led to the Lacey Act of 1900, which protects both plants and wildlife by creating civil and criminal penalties for a wide array of violations. The Federal act prohibits trade in wildlife, fish, and plants that have been illegally taken, transported or sold. The law is still in effect.

Palmer became interested in legislation affecting all wildlife, but especially birds. This led to an association with George Grinnell and William Dutcher who co-founded the National Audobon Society. Palmer served as a vice-president of the organization from 1905-1936.  He also helped found the Washington D.C. chapter of the Audobon Society and served as its president from 1924-1941.

Pelican Island

In 1916, he wrote the preliminary draft of the treaty which protected birds migrating between Canada and the United States. In 1918 he was the Chairman of the Committee that prepared the first regulations under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act. He played a key role in creating Pelican Island in Florida, the first federal bird sanctuary, which was set up to prevent the slaughter of pelicans by fisherman.  

He also became interested in publishing the obituaries of ornithologists and chaired a Committee on Biography for the American Ornithologists’ Union from 1915-1919. Palmer was so dedicated to the work that he made pilgrimages to the burial places of ornithologists and recorded them. Much of our historical knowledge of ornithologists comes from Palmer’s published works. He published the compilations at his own expense.

Palmer spent the last 2 ½ years of his life confined to his house after breaking his hip.

Connecticut Governor Jonathan Trumbull and wife Faith

Palmer was the great-great-great grandson of American founding father Roger Sherman. His uncle, Ira Hart Palmer, married Harriet Trumbull; who was the daughter of Connecticut Governor Jonathan Trumbull, Jr., who was the son of Roger Sherman's fellow judge on the Connecticut Superior Court, and who was also the son of Connecticut Governor Jonathan Trumbull, Sr..

Luther Fillmore (1826-1905) - Railroad Pioneer; Erie Canal Contractor

Fillmore family lot (Photo by Michael Colbruno)

Oakland Tribune, Dec. 18, 1905

THE LATE LUTHER FILLMORE. 

OBITUARY FROM DECEMBER 18, 1905 OAKLAND TRIBUNE

Luther Fillmore, formerly superintendent, of the Southern Pacific Coast Railroad between Oakland and Santa Cruz, died this morning.

Mr. Fillmore was one of the early pioneers and was prominently identified with the early settlement of Colorado and California, and helped to blaze the railroad trail into the Far West.

HE CAME WEST.

Mr. Fillmore, was born at Fayetteville, N. Y., and at an early age decided to fling his fortunes into the lap of the West. When only twenty-one years of age Mr. Fillmore took a contract to grade a section of the Syracuse and Binghampton Railroad in New York State, and in 1848 was the principal contractor in the rebuilding of the Erie Canal. He then went over to the Delaware, Lackawanna & Western Railroad, with which road he was associated for fifteen years, attaining to the highest positions in its service.

Southern Pacific Coast Railroad

 IN DENVER.

In 1869 Mr. Fillmore went to Denver and was instrumental in pushing much of the railroad 

work which at that time sent Denver and the State of Colorado ahead with such rapid strides. 

From there Mr. Fillmore went to Wyoming and became division superintendent at Laramie on 

the Union Pacific Railroad. He was later superintendent of the Union Pacific from Cheyenne 

to Ogden, when his name, was interwoven with the names of D.C. Dodge, Sidney Newton and 

the late Senators Fair and Leland Stanford in many big enterprises. In March, 1884, Mr. 

Fillmore accepted the management of the Southern Pacific Coast Railroad, under the Fair regime, 

and made that road one of the best paying systems in the West, and was instrumental in

improving the ferry service between San Francisco, Oakland and Alameda.

RETIRED IN 1896.

In 1896, after twelve years active service, he was compelled on account of ill health and 

advancing years to retire, much to the regret of the Southern Pacific employes, with whom, he 

was most popular, and who regarded him more as a friend than an employer, and he had at the 

same time the faculty of getting more conscientious attention to duty from his subordinates than any

other man on the road. During the last few years of his life Mr. Fillmore has been residing at 

Laramie, Wyoming, looking after his large cattle interests in that State. About a year ago he

returned to California in search of a less rigorous climate.

Mr. Fillmore came of an old railroad family, and his nephew, the late J.M. Fillmore, was manager 

of the Pacific Coast Railroad between Port Hartford and San Luis Obispo. He mas born 

near Syracuse, N Y, and was a relative of President Millard Fillmore, his father being a cousin of 

the President.

HE WAS SEVENTY-NINE.

At the time of his death Mr Fillmore was seventy-nine years of age. He is survived by a widow 

and four daughters. Mrs. Luther Fillmore, the widow is at present with her daughter, Mrs. Clyde 

Opelt and owing to sickness and old age will be unable to be present at the funeral. Mr. 

Fillmore’s daughters are Mrs. W.H. Adams of 123 Eighth Street Oakland, Mrs M.C. Brown 

of Seattle, Mrs. C. Opelt of Denver, and Mrs. G. Tinkham of Chicago. A son-in-law, W.H.

Adams the capitalist, resides at 123 Eighth Street.

The funeral services will be held at the home of his daughter on Wednesday next. Dr. 

Homer J. Vosburgh of the First Baptist Church will officiate. The remains will be Interred in 

the Oakland cemetery.

Angels, Cherubs and Puttos at Mountain View Cemetery

Crocker Angel (photo by Michael Colbruno)

Schmidt Angel (photo by Michael Colbruno)

The Crocker and Schmidt angels have become the unofficial icons of Mountain View Cemetery. An angel sitting on a grave, like these angels,  represents an untimely death. Albert Schmidt, a prominent real estate developer, erected this angel in memory of his daughter who died from a bout with acute appendicitis. You can read about Henry Crocker at a previous post.

These two angels are probably the most photographed graves at Mountain View Cemetery. There are entire websites and photo sites dedicated to funerary angels and they seem to fascinate people of all ages. Angels are generally thought of as messengers to heaven and therefore always have wings, although that wasn't always the case. Originally, angels were depicted as young men and didn't appear with wings until the 5th century. As you can see from these pictures of some of the more prominent angels at Mountain View Cemetery, they can evoke a number of moods and are often covered with symbolism.

Edward Bushell Angel (photo by Michael Colbruno)

Edward Bushell was described by the Oakland Tribune as a "capitalist."

Edward Newland (photo by Michael Colbruno)

 You can read about Edward and Kate Newland at a previous post.

Tribute to Ralph & Nellie (photo by Michael Colbruno)

This putto appears to be in honor of Ralph Mead's children Ralph and Nellie. A putto is a figure in a work of art depicted as a chubby male child, usually nude and sometimes winged. In decorative art they represent the purveyor of love.

Crane putto (photo by Michael Colbruno)

This is another version of a putto. The realistic face set in wings evolved from the skull set in wings known as "Death's Head." Other symbols to look for that honor children are an angel holding flowers, which usually indicates the death of a child.  Angels with daisies represent the innocence and purity of a child and an angel with roses is an appeal to the Virgin Mary.

  

Conrad Liese Angel (photo by Michael Colbruno)

The Conrad Liese angel is packed with symbolism. An angel pointing one finger upward is leading the soul toward heaven (two fingers pointing up represents the hand of God); the trumpet represents the Archangel Gabriel who stands ready to issue the call to resurrection; the star on an angel's crown indicates the spirit rising to heaven. You can read more about Conrad Liese at a previous post. 

Other symbols that can be found with angels include:

• Swords, which convey protection, leadership, purity in thought and valor. 
• Scrolls, which represent messages, oracles, divine communications, faith or sacred knowledge 
• Roses in the hand of an angel can represent everlasting love or purity. A lily can represent either purity or faith in God.    
• Flames and torches convey the inner light of the soul. Occasionally, and angel can be found at the grave of a child with an upside down torch, which represents a life extinguished too soon. 
• The wings are symbols of the higher realms of existence, ascension and spiritual mobility.
• Hearts can convey health, healing, love, devotion and compassion. These are more common in Catholic cemeteries.     
• Trumpets and horns announce important news or a triumphant declaration.

Bradbury Angel (photo by Michael Colbruno)

The angel sits on a track that moves when the door of the family mausoleum is opened. You can read about Simona and Lewis Bradbury at a previous post. 

Below you'll find a weeping angel grieving over two hearts, which is one of the more recent additions to the cemetery. Below that is an angel embedded in a gravestone, which honors Thomas Rickard, an early pioneer of Berkeley.

Emma Au weeping angel (photo by Michael Colbruno)

Thomas Rickard (photo by Michael Colbruno)

Hugh McCormick Angel (photo by Michael Colbruno)

Nancy Joyce Nutter Angel (photo by Michael Colbruno)

JR Hord Angel (photo by Michael Colbruno)

We don't know much about J.R. Hord, but he's one of the few burials who was born in the 18th century.

Kittie's Angel  (photo by Michael Colbruno)

This angel, who has unfortunately lost her left hand and a cross from her right hand to the ravages of time, was built in memory of Catherine Bathrust Thomson. Known as Kittie, she lived from 1861-65. Her father was a prominent politician and trustee at Mountain View Cemetery. You can read more about him at a previous post.

Elizabeth Miller (photo by Michael Colbruno)

Nelly Albeck (photo by Michael Colbruno)

The laurel wreath that this angel is holding can represent spiritual victory, eternity, immortality and chastity. Laurel leaves represent the concept of eternity and immortality because they don't fade or wilt.

Elizabeth Martin (photo by Michael Colbruno)

Barsam Movessian (photo by Michael Colbruno)

Jane Anne Grening 1927-28 (photo by Michael Colbruno)

Leonard Overton (photo by Michael Colbruno)

Charles Twombly (photo by Michael Colbruno)

Like the Bradbury angel above, the Twombly angel sits on a track that moves when the door of the family mausoleum is opened. You can read about the Twombly and Burchard families at a previous post.

 

Edwin Baird Mastick (1824-1901) Alameda Pioneer, Attorney, Politician

E.B. Mastick Family Plot

PLOT 27, LOT 70

By Dennis Evanosky

Edwin Baird Mastick was born in Burton, Ohio on March 22, 1824, to Benjamin and Elizabeth “Eliza” Tomlinson Mastick.  He was the second of nine children. While Edwin was still an infant, his parents moved to Rockport, Ohio. Edwin attended law school in Cleveland and began his practice there. When he was 24, he married Lucretia Mary Wood whose family lived in Rockport.

Three years after his marriage Edwin set off for California. Just after his arrival, he obtained a clerkship at the California Supreme Court.

Over the next 43 years Edwin built a large law practice with offices at 520 Montgomery Street in San Francisco.  He sat as a senior partner in the firms of Mastick & Mastick, Mastick, Belcher & Mastick and Mastick, Van Fleet & Mastick.

Oakland Mole, Station for the San Francisco and Oakland Railroad

Edwin lived in Alameda for thirty-seven years from 1864 until his death in 1901. He had a large estate bordered on the north and south by Pacific and Railroad avenues and on the east and west by Wood and Prospect streets. The city renamed Railroad Avenue to Lincoln Avenue in 1909. Wood Street was named for Lucretia’ s family; Prospect Street is Eighth Street today.

Edwin sat on the board of directors of A.A. Cohen’s San Francisco & Alameda Railroad. Cohen, a fellow Mountain View Cemetery denizen, named the railroad’s first locomotive "E B Mastick" for Edwin and placed one of SF&A’s stations at Edwin’s doorstep on today’s Lincoln Avenue.  

Mastick School in Alameda (circa 1908)

Edwin also served as a member of Alameda’s board of trustees (an entity comparable to the modern-day city council) from 1878 to 1893. He served as the board’s president (the equivalent of today’s mayor) from 1883 to 1893.

Edwin died on February 17, 1901. His funeral took place at Mountain View the following Thursday, Feb. 20. “Sacred music appropriate to the occasion was furnished by the Knickerbocker Quartet,” The Oakland Tribune reported the following day. “The floral tributes were both numerous and beautiful.” The Tribune also informed its readers that, “A host of  friends, among them some of California’s most distinguished public men, attended the funeral and paid their last respects to the departed.” 

Edwin and Lucretia had five sons: George, Edwin Jr., Charles, Reuben and Seabury. They all served as pallbearers at Edwin’s funeral. The couple had a daughter, Lucretia—known affectionately as “Lulu.” She married another prominent Alameda resident, Edwin’s law partner and future mayor Frank Otis. 

It is sometimes incorrectly stated that Mastick was Alameda's first mayor. That honor goes to Mountain View denizen Henry Haight, who had already served as California's governor and lived on a large estate in Alameda. The city of Alameda was incorporated in 1872 and governed by a board of trustees. That was when Haight served as president of the city's board of trustees (roughly the equivalent of mayor).

Alameda didn't have "mayors" until it changed its charter in 1916. The first "mayor" was Edwin Mastick's son-in-law Frank Otis.

Fallen Officers: Wendell Troyer, David Guider & Jimmie Rutledge

Officer Wendell Troyer

   Buried almost right next to each other on a hillside are Oakland Police Officers David Guider and Wendell Troyer.      

   Officers Wendell Troyer and David Guider were assigned to ARGUS, the Oakland Police helicopter, on the evening of October 2, 1973. Troyer, 47, was a 22-year veteran of the department and the pilot that evening. Guider, 26, had 4 years with Oakland Police Department He was assigned the observer position in ARGUS.   

Officer David Guider

   At 9:35 p.m. as they were patrolling over East Oakland, they received a dispatch directing them to assist downtown units in a robbery. As they flew west, the helicopter suddenly lost power and plummeted to the ground. The helicopter crashed in a large explosion and fire. Both officers were trapped in the flaming ARGUS and were unable to escape.

     The initial investigation revealed a possibility that the officers were victims of a sniper. Troyer had a gunshot wound to the head. Witnesses claimed that they heard gunshots prior to the crash of the helicopter.

     It was later released that the helicopter suffered a mechanical failure that resulted in the loss of power and subsequent crash.

     Troyer was married with two children. Guider was survived by his wife.

[From the CALIFORNIA PEACE OFFICERS' MEMORIAL]

Sgt. Jimmie Rutledge

PLOT 27

     Sergeant Jimmie Rutledge was born in Oakland, California. He attended local schools and graduated from Oakland Technical High School in 1942. He later attended both the City College of San Francisco and the University of California at Berkeley. Sergeant Rutledge enlisted in the U.S. Navy in 1942 and was honorably discharged in 1948 at the rank of Radioman 1st Class. He was later recalled to active duty during the Korean War and served overseas from 1951 to 1952. Sergeant Rutledge was appointed to the department as a Patrolman-Clerk assigned badge #94. On December 1, 1972 he was promoted to the rank of Sergeant and assigned Badge #S-15.

         During his tenure with the Berkeley Police Department, Sergeant Rutledge held positions in Patrol Division, Service Division, the Patrol Special Detail and Juvenile Bureau. In addition he was also a department Range Master. Sergeant Rutledge was involved in several youth programs, including Sea Scouts. After his death the local Boy Scout Council named a Sea Scout Vessel the "Jimmie Rutledge" in his honor.

        At 5:23 a.m., Officers were dispatched to the 2200 block of Russell Street on a report of a prowler. Initially officers were unable to locate the prowler and Sergeant Rutledge remained in the area to watch for the suspect. Sergeant Rutledge subsequently contacted an individual and attempted an arrest on his own. The subject, later found to be an ex-felon, resisted handcuffing and a struggle ensued. During the fight, the suspect gained control of Sergeant Rutledge's gun and shot the officer, fatally wounding him. The suspect also wounded a neighbor who had come to render assistance to Sergeant Rutledge. Following the shooting, the suspect forced his way into an acquaintance's home and took several hostages. At the conclusion of the standoff, the suspect killed one of the hostages, a 4-year old girl. The suspect then chased the remaining hostages from the house with gun in hand and was killed by police. 

[From the Berkeley Police Department]

Click HERE to read about Office John Hege, who is also buried at Mountain View Cemetery. 

Nancy Hannaford Doe Kezar (1831-1898) - Stadium named in her honor

Doe family vault (photo by Michael Colbruno)

Inside the Doe family vault on Millionaire’s Row is Nancy Kezar, who like her brother Charles Doe, was immortalized by a structure built by a famed architect. Doe, who is featured on this site, bequeathed a portion of his estate to build the Doe Library at the University of California at Berkeley, which was designed by John Galen Howard.  

Nancy Hannaford Doe was born on May 6, 1831 in Parsonsfield, Maine. She married Samuel F. Kezar on December 4, 1853., with whom she had two children, John (1855-1898) and Mary 1859-1917), who like her uncle, Charles Doe, never married.

We know little else about Nancy Kezar other than the famous stadium in San Francisco bears her name. At her death in 1917, Mary Kezar bequeathed $100,000 for the construction of a “playground” for the San Francisco Polytechnic School to honor her mother. The executors decided to build a stadium in Nancy Kezar’s honor, after debating whether it was consistent with Mary’s wishes. The probate judge ruled that a stadium was an appropriate use and construction began in 1924.  The City of San Francisco kicked in an additional $200,000 to finance the stadium.

Kezar Stadium

The stadium was designed by Willis Polk, who designed some of the Bay Area’s most historically significant homes. Unlike most stadiums that are oriented from north to south, Kezar was oriented from east to west at the request of Park Superintendent John McClaren. The orientation was intended to protect acreage belonging to the park.

The stadium was dedicated on May 2, 1925 before 22,000 celebrants with a track race that featured Finnish runners Paavo Nurmi and Willie Ratola.  The San Francisco 49ers called Kezar home from 1946 until 1971, as well as the Oakland Raiders for one season.  After the 49ers left, Kezar became a popular concert venue that featured the greatest musicians of the time, including Led Zeppelin, The Doobie Brothers, Jefferson Starship, Tower of Power, Joan Baez, The Clash, The Grateful Dead, The New Riders of the Purple Sage, Carlos Santana, Waylon Jennings, and Neil Young.

Future United States President Gerald Ford played an East-West Shriners game there in 1935. In 1971, several scenes of the movie “Dirty Harry” were filmed there.

The original stadium was demolished in 1989 due to structural deficiencies and rebuilt with less than half the original capacity.  The arch is a replica of one that was part of the original stadium.

Johnny Skae (1842-1885): Rags to Riches to Rags; Friend and Literary Subject of Mark Twain

 Had John William “Johnny” Skae lived in modern times, he might have made headlines as an internet hacker or a violator of SEC insider trading laws. But Skae lived in Virginia City, Nevada during the peak of the mining days. He became a millionaire as an early “hacker” when he used his position as the local telegraph operator to decipher messages from mining magnates to the San Francisco stock market. Like a modern day insider trader, he used the information to line up investors and make a fortune off of the silver barons, known as the “Bonanza Kings” - John W. Mackay, James G. Fair, James C. Flood, and William S. O'Brien.

Skae was born into relative poverty in Oshawa, Ontario of Scotch and Irish parents. He came to California as a boy and perfected the telegraph trade, which some members of his family had trained for in Canada. He was working for the California Telegraph Company when the Bonanza Kings were developing the Consolidated Virginia and California mines. He raised cash based on the knowledge he acquired and bought large amounts of stock on margin. He was so successful that he became a major figure at the Stock Exchange. As the stock climbed, he recklessly ordered his brokers to “double up” daily until stock that was purchase for $20-$30 reached $1,000 a share. He amassed millions of dollars and took control of the Virginia and Gold Hill Water Works.

Virginia and California Mine

Skae’s activities prompted the California Telegraph Company to implement a policy that prohibited their employees from owning stock in the mines.

Skae was a well-known public figure and was featured by Mark Twain in two of Twain's stories in the Territorial Enterprise (Oct. 22-24, 1865) and the Californian (Aug. 26, 1865) which related to California mining enterprises.

As his wealth increased, he began spending his money in reckless ways. He would fill ponds with trout, invite over friends and provide fishing poles with dried beef tied to the hooks. His “trout breakfasts” became legendary among gourmands in the region. His parties also included some of the most expensive wines which could be purchased in the mining country and it was said that it flowed like water. It was said that he once lost $60,000 in one poker game at the Palace Hotel in San Francisco.

Unfortunately, his luck ran out when he no longer had insider knowledge from the telegraph dispatches. He failed to sell his stock in time to avoid the crash and the man who at one time was worth $10,000,000 was broke. Newspaper reports claim that the “father of the new Bonanza” was found helplessly drunk by a police officer on a San Francisco street. With only a few coins in his pockets, he couldn’t pay his $5.00 ticket and he was sent to jail. 

[There is at least one account that claims that Skae did not die penniless.]

The grassy area is the Skae family plot

Skae is buried Plot 27, Lot 14 just beneath the famous Crocker monument on Millionaire’s Row. The grass plot contains no headstones. The Skae family is buried in an underground vault with six crypts, which sits two feet beneath the surface.

[Excerpted from the July 18, 1885 obituary,  the July 23, 1885 Omaha Daily Bee, Lighting Out for the Territory and Mark Twain’s “Notebooks and Journals”]

Mark Twain

An excerpt from “The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County, and Other Sketches” by Mark Twain:

Our esteemed friend, Mr. John William Skae, of Virginia City, walked into the office where we are sub-editor at a late hour last night, with an expression of profound and heartfelt suffering upon his countenance, and, sighing heavily, laid the following item reverently upon the desk, and walked slowly out again. He paused a moment at the door, and seemed struggling to command his feelings sufficiently to enable him to speak, and then, nodding his head toward his manuscript, ejaculated in a broken voice, "Friend of mine -- oh! how sad!" and burst into tears. We were so moved at his distress that we did not think to call him back and endeavor to comfort him until he was gone and it was too late. The paper had already gone to press, but knowing that our friend would consider the publication of this item important, and cherishing the hope that to print it would afford a melancholy satisfaction to his sorrowing heart, we stopped the press at once and inserted it in our columns:

 DISTRESSING ACCIDENT. -- Last evening about 6 o`clock, as Mr. William Schuyler, an old and respectable citizen of South Park, was leaving his residence to go down town, as has been his usual custom for many years, with the exception only of a short interval in the spring of 1850, during which he was confined to his bed by injuries received in attempting to stop a runaway horse by thoughtlessly placing himself directly in its wake and throwing up his hands and shouting, which, if he had done so even a single moment sooner, must inevitably have frightened the animal still more instead of checking its speed, although disastrous enough to himself as it was, and rendered more melancholy and distressing by reason of the presence of his wife`s mother, who was there and saw the sad occurrence, notwithstanding it is at least likely, though not necessarily so, that she should be reconnoitering in another direction when incidents occur, not being vivacious and on the lookout, as a general thing, but even the reverse, as her own mother is said to have stated, who is no more, but died in the full hope of a glorious resurrection, upwards of three years ago, aged 86, being a Christian woman and without guile, as it were, or property, in consequence of the fire of 1849, which destroyed every blasted thing she had in the world. But such is life. Let us all take warning by this solemn occurrence, and let us endeavor so to conduct ourselves that when we come to die we can do it. Let us place our hands upon our hearts, and say with earnestness and sincerity that from this day forth we will beware of the intoxicating bowl. -- First Edition of the Californian.

The boss-editor has been in here raising the very mischief, and tearing his hair and kicking the furniture about, and abusing me like a pickpocket. He says that every time he leaves me in charge of the paper for half an hour, I get imposed upon by the first infant or the first idiot that comes along. And he says that distressing item of Johnny Skae`s is nothing but a lot of distressing bosh, and has got no point to it and no sense in it and no information in it, and that there was no earthly necessity for stopping the press to publish it. He says every man he meets has insinuated that somebody about THE CALIFORNIAN office has gone crazy.

 Now all this comes of being good-hearted. If I had been as unaccommodating and unsympathetic as some people, I would have told Johnny Skae that I wouldn`t receive his communication at such a late hour, and to go to blazes with it; but no, his snuffling distress touched my heart, and I jumped at the chance of doing something to modify his misery. I never read his item to see whether there was any thing wrong about it, but hastily wrote the few lines which preceded it, and sent it to the printers. And what has my kindness done for me? It has done nothing but bring down upon me a storm of abuse and ornamental blasphemy.

Now, I will just read that item myself, and see if there is any foundation for all this fuss. And if there is, the author of it shall hear from me.· · · · · · · ·I have read it, and I am bound to admit that it seems a little mixed at a first glance. However, I will peruse it once more.· · · · · · · ·I have read it again, and it does really seem a good deal more mixed than ever.· · · · · · · ·I have read it over five times, but if I can get at the meaning of it, I wish I may get my just deserts. It won`t bear analysis. There are things about it which I cannot understand at all. It don`t say whatever became of William Schuyler. It just says enough about him to get one interested in his career, and then drops him. Who is William Schuyler, any how, and what part of South Park did he live in, and if he started down-town at six o`clock, did he ever get there, and if he did, did any thing happen to him? Is he the individual that met with the "distressing accident"? Considering the elaborate circumstantiality of detail observable in the item, it seems to me that it ought to contain more information than it does. On the contrary, it is obscure -- and not only obscure, but utterly incomprehensible. Was the breaking of Mr. Schuyler`s leg, fifteen years ago, the "distressing accident" that plunged Mr. Skae into unspeakable grief, and caused him to come up here at dead of night and stop our press to acquaint the world with the unfortunate circumstance? Or did the "distressing accident" consist in the destruction of Schuyler`s mother-in-law`s property in early times? Or did it consist in the death of that person herself three years ago? (albeit it does not appear that she died by accident.) In a word, what did that "distressing accident" consist in? What did that driveling ass of a Schuyler stand in the wake of a runaway horse for, with his shouting and gesticulating, if he wanted to stop him? And how the mischief could he get run over by a horse that had already passed beyond him? And what are we to "take warning" by? and how is this extraordinary chapter of incomprehensibilities going to be a "lesson" to us? And above all, what has the "intoxicating bowl" got to do with it, any how? It is not stated that Schuyler drank, or that his wife drank, or that his mother-in-law drank, or that the horse drank -- wherefore, then, the reference to the intoxicating bowl? It does seem to me that, if Mr. Skae had let the intoxicating bowl alone himself, he never would have got into so much trouble about this infernal imaginary distressing accident. I have read his absurd item over and over again, with all its insinuating plausibility, until my head swims; but I can make neither head nor tail of it. There certainly seems to have been an accident of some kind or other, but it is impossible to determine what the nature of it was, or who was the sufferer by it. I do not like to do it, but I feel compelled to request that the next time any thing happens to one of Mr. Skae`s friends, he will append such explanatory notes to his account of it as will enable me to find out what sort of an accident it was and whom it happened to. I had rather all his friends should die than that I should be driven to the verge of lunacy again in trying to cipher out the meaning of another such production as the above. 

Kings' Daughters' Home Plot

Marker at the Kings' Daughters' Home Plot (photo by Michael Colbruno)

Adjoining the Ladies Relief Society plot in the unendowed area is the plot of the "Kings' Daughters' Home for the Incurables." Like the Ladies Relief Society, the Kings' Daughters' Home cared for those most in need, many of whom were too ill to be cared for in hospitals. The name has a religious connotation as it comes from the daughters of the "King of Kings," which would be Jesus Christ of the Bible.

Drawing of the West Elevation by Julia Morgan

The building, which is now owned by Kaiser, replaced another structure which was considered unsafe, a fire hazard and unable to handle the growing number of residents. The board of directors decided in 1906 to build a new structure to be designed by Mountain View Cemetery denizen Julia Morgan. The budget for the building was $45,000 for the three-story structure, which was exceeded by $13,000.

The building was dedicated on November 24, 1912 by Judge Everett Brown with a crowd of over 2,000 people in attendance.

Rev. Frank Goodspeed, pastor of the First Presbyterian church, led an interfaith dedication that included Jews and Christians. "This dedication is an important event," said Rev. Goodspeed. "It means that another building has been erected to serve as a blessing for humanity. This structure will stand during its entire life as an evidence of Christianity and as a proof of the broad attitude of charity which men are taking nowadays toward their fellows. Formerly we wrote our Christianity in books: now we write it in such splendid buildings as this."

Gateway, donated by Eliza Morgan, mother of the architect

The brick building with a tile roof is vaguely Mediterranean in style. Like many of her works, it was designed around a courtyard. The entrance gateway, also designed by Morgan, was donated by Morgan's mother (Eliza Morgan) in memory of her son Sam, Julia's younger brother, who was killed in 1913 at age twenty-six. Eliza Morgan served on the Board of Directors.

Ladies Relief Society Plot

Ladies Relief Society of Oakland

This cross marks the burial ground for the Ladies Relief Society and it lies just east of the elk in Plot 32.

The Ladies Relief Society was formed out of the embers of the Great Chicago Fire of 1871 when a group of Oakland women formed a sewing club to aid the victims of the catastrophe some 2,100 miles away. During their work, they discovered that had hundreds of poor and needy amongst their midst and they formed the Ladies Relief Society.

The original Children's Home of the Ladies Relief Society (Oakland Tribune)

They incorporated in 1872 set up on fourteen acres of land on 42^nd Street just west of Broadway. They dedicated themselves to providing housing and other services for the city’s indigent women, children and elderly. The Society was unique in that it was one of the few organizations run and managed by women.  

Early gatherings of the Society took place at the home of Mrs. R.E. Cole on 10^th and Adeline. The meetings included some of the best known names in Oakland high society, including Mrs. Ralph Kirkham, Mrs. Samuel Alden, Mrs. James DeFremery, Mrs. Charles Theodore Hart Palmer and Mrs. Edwin G. Mathews, all of whom are buried at Mountain View Cemetery. Another cemetery denizen, William Boardman, donated his surveying services to assist in laying out the land.

View of site around 1925. Lower left is Home for Aged Women, Courtyard building is Children's Home

A building at the current site was constructed in 1894, but was destroyed by a fire in 1906 and rebuilt using the same footprint and foundation.  The year 1906 also saw the facility's demand increase dramatically, as thousands of refugees fled to the East Bay after the devastating earthquake and fire.

The facility did not discriminate on the basis of religion, but they did only admit white children, with the rare exception of brief stays by an Asian child. Chinese-American girls had to stay at the Ming Quong Home in downtown Oakland and African-American children had to stay at the Fannie Wall Children’s Home and Day Nursery in West Oakland. During World War I, the Society amended the governing rules at the Children’s Home to state explicitly their policy of racial exclusion.

In 1920, the Society came close to shutting down, but avoided the closure through the sale of property and other fund-raising efforts. They ended up raising enough money to renovate the Children’s Home, modernize the playgrounds and replace the old wood Home for Aged Women and the De Fremery Nursery with modern, reinforced concrete buildings. The new building were fitted with modern plumbing and complied with updated building codes.

The building as it looks today

The Society operated until the beginning of World War II when the Army leased the facility. In 1947, the building and adjoining boys playground was purchased and donated to Oakland for use as a recreation center. It is currently the Studio One Arts Center.

 

The building is significant in terms of architecture because its main shingle style building is Oakland’s oldest surviving children’s home of the congregate type.