Coins on a Grave

 

Picture created by Val (AI)

Have you ever been through a pioneer cemetery and seen coins on a Headstone?  What do coins have to do with a final resting place?  Unknown to some, this custom dates back to the stories in ancient Greece mythology of Charon the ferryman.  charon would bring souls across the river from the world of the living to the world of the dead. The trip would cost the family of the deceased an “obol” for passage into the afterlife.

Typically, the family placed the coin in the mouth of the deceased. Later, they were also placed over the eyes. The family buried their loved ones with this coin. Today, the coin symbolizes respect and remembrance, especially for those who have served. there is a meaning behind each type of coin:

• Penny - A penny at the gravesite means that someone visited the grave that is not related to the person but wants to pay honor to the person and their service in the military.  
• Nickel - A nickel is left by someone who trained at the same boot camp.  
• Dime - A dime means that someone served with the person at some point in the military
• Quarter - a quarter means that the person was there when the service man or woman died.  

Porter Cemetery Scavenger Hunt

 

Photo by Sterling Foster

Porter cemetery was acquired by Lulu porter, the wife of deforest porter, an Association Justice of the Arizona Territorial Supreme Court and a mayor of Phoenix.  It was Quit Claimed to her by J.M. Evans in approximately 1887.  The first burial there was her father, james Cotton, in 1888, along with Deforest himself at a later time.  

Sections of porter were sold to residents for burials.  This was a common practice of many cemeteries.

To get you better acquainted with each cemetery, we will be posting some scavenger hunts.  

The answers can be found on Find a Grave.  Our volunteers have placed all of our interred on this platform.  However, we do hope you will join us in Person soon.  Good Luck!

Can you figure out who Lies in Porter Cemetery?  Post Your answers in the Reply Section.  Good Luck!

Find A Grave - Millions of Cemetery Records

1.  Lamb on the marker meaning "innocent".  Died in 1893, and was the daughter of a merchant.

2.  Phoenix grave digger.  Buried many at the PMMP.   Died in 1912.

3.  Grave marker labeled "Our Darling".  Father owned Star Bakery.  Died in 1896.

4.  From England, and born in 1858.  Found to have several stashes of rare and elegant jewelry upon death.  

5.  Grave marker adorned by a large sphere.  Died in 1897.

Francis Eugene Lake (1845 - 1890) - Civil War Veteran

Picture Created by Val (AI)

Francis "Frank" E. Lake was born in Kalamazoo, Michigan in 1845.  Not much is known about Frank, other than his military record and history of illness. He died in June of 1890 at the county hospital after a long struggle with consumption, and was buried with military honors in Porter Cemetery.  He served in the 72nd Illinois Infantry, Company F, known as the Chicago Board of Trade Regiment, during the Civil War.  Frank Lake served from 1862 to 1865.  The infantry lost 242 men during its time in the war to disease and battle.  

It is not known if Frank was ever married or had children.  His military records state that when he was mustered in at 17, he was a farmer in St. Joseph, Michigan.  He was single, and stood 5'5" with black hair and blue eyes.  He had apparently contracted consumption during his service in the war.  It is not known when he came to Phoenix, although an 1884 voter registration log was found with his name in it.  

The sentiments of a newspaper reporter described his funeral procession as a "sad and pitiful cortege passing down Washington" in which 15 union veterans from G.A.R. followed stepping in time to the Death March.  There were no other mourners.  The reporter went on to say "No flag was half-mast, no secession in the busy rush of trade....not many seemed to know or care that one who bared his breast to the shock of war from which they today enjoy an undivided country" was being laid to rest, reflecting a sentiment that some shared that society was forgetting about those who had fallen for freedom.  

Frank died in poverty, and was buried by his Union comrades.  He is marked with a simple military marker.

   

 

Alexander Peter Petit (1819 - 1895) - Architect

rosson house, Library of Congress

Alexander Peter Petit was a well-known architect of his time in 1850s California designing theaters such as the National Theater and the New Pacific Theater.  Born in Pennsylvania around 1819 he and wife Catherine arrived in Phoenix about 1878 from California. 

Shortly after his arrival, he designed the Irvine Building on First and Washington Streets, one of the first two story brick buildings in Phoenix.  Petit and his wife moved to Tucson where he designed and built some of the commercial buildings along Congress Street, including the Henry Buehman Photography Studio and Gallery and a school near Military Plaza.  The Arizona Daily Star erected in 1883 is the only remaining evidence of Petit’s work in Tucson.

The Petits returned to Phoenix where in February 1891 Catherine died after a short illness.  She was buried in the IOOF Cemetery at the Pioneer and Military Memorial Park. 

Petit continued his work and his last design was the Rosson House located at 6^th Street and Monroe.  The Rosson House was completed a month before Petit died in March 1895. 

Alexander Petit’s contributions to Arizona have faded over time and one must search for his history.  The Petits’ graves were unmarked for many years in the cemetery making finding the Petits even harder to any historian.  In 2015 the Pioneers’ Cemetery Association, through our Memorial Marker Program, placed two new markers on the Petits’ graves in the I.O.O.F. 

-Donna Carr