Why Do People Leave Stones on Graves?

 

PCA Archives

Why do people leave stones on graves?

Sometimes when we go out into the cemetery, we see that someone has left a stone on a grave. It’s a simple way to say “I was here. I remember you.”

Unlike flowers, stones don’t fade. They last, just like love and memories.

It’s especially common in Jewish tradition, but anyone can do it.

In some cultures, it can also be considered an offering, or in some cases a way to "pin a deceased to their grave" so they don't roam the earth.

Have you ever seen something left in a cemetery that was unusual (besides our recent ladder of course )?

Civil War Reenactors of the 1st New Mexico Volunteer Infantry, Co. B Salutes Captain Reuben Hill!

 

PCA Archives

Civil War reenactors from the First New Mexico Volunteer Infantry, Co. B, gathered in solemn silence to honor Captain Reuben Hill, a Union Army veteran laid to rest at our historic cemetery.

Captain Hill enlisted on September 29, 1861, at Camp Downey near Oakland, California, as a third corporal in Co. I, 1st California Infantry. He served under Colonel James H. Carleton, seeing action at Picacho Peak, Arizona—the westernmost battle of the Civil War.

His bravery and leadership earned him a promotion to sergeant and later a commission as Captain of Co. K, 1st New Mexico Volunteers at Fort Sumner on February 29, 1864.

With a silent salute, these reenactors brought his story full circle. See it here: Silent Solute to a Soldier

 

Limewashing Our Vaults - Thank You Volunteers!

All Pictures by Patty

We are grateful for two of our volunteers who are a bit camera shy but recently continued our preservation efforts at PMMP. Steve and Oscar spent the day lime-washing our burial vaults in the north cemeteries. This natural process protects these structures from moisture and our harsh sun for years to come.

John A Rodgers (1873 - 1908) - Spanish-American Soldier (repost)

                                       

Army Invalid card for John A. Rodgers, 1908

National Archives and Records Administration (NARA)

John A. Rodgers, African American, was born around 1873 in Senatopia, Mississippi. On July 12, 1898, he enlisted in Company E, 23rd Kansas Volunteer Infantry. It was a segregated unit drawn from several Kansas communities founded by freedmen in the post-Civil War era. Black units were being sent to Cuba on the theory that African Americans would have some immunity to tropical diseases. Unfortunately, this proved not to be the case.

By the time the regiment reached Santiago, Cuba, in August 1898, the shooting war was already over. The 23rd Kansas was tasked with guarding 5000 defeated Spanish soldiers awaiting transport back to Spain. During much of his tour of duty in Cuba, Rodgers was laid up with dysentery and then malaria.
 
On March 1, 1899, the 23rd Kansas boarded a transport ship for New York City. Rodgers was discharged on April 10 at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. He moved to Hot Springs, Arkansas, where he married a woman named Annie Pickett on October 3, 1900.
 
Rodgers’s military service had left him debilitated and unfit for heavy physical labor. Pension records show that he was 6 feet 4 inches , unusually tall for that era.  He became a tailor, possibly because readymade clothing did not fit him and he had to sew his own anyway. 
 
On May 26, 1906, Rodgers applied for and received a disability pension (Invalid Certificate #1022317). Owing to his bout with dysentery in Cuba, he was afflicted with large, protruding piles (hemorrhoids). Initially, he received $10 a month. Over the years, payment was increased to $17 a month.
 
In mid 1908, John Rodgers was experiencing heart problems, although he was only 35 years old. He left his wife in Hot Springs and went to Los Angeles, possibly to the Old Soldiers Home in Sawtelle. Thereafter, he moved to Phoenix, Arizona, where he rented a room at 30 North 2nd Avenue. To support himself, he placed ads in the local newspaper, asking for work repairing old carpets and refurbishing used clothing.
 
John A. Rodgers died on November 14, 1908, of aortic insufficiency, mitral regurgitation, and hypertrophy of the left ventricle.  He was buried in Rosedale Cemetery.
 
Several days after Rodgers’ death, Marshal Moore of Phoenix received an urgent letter from a Mrs. Jennie Reeves, asking the marshal to take charge of Rodgers’ body and effects. She also said that the deceased was a military veteran and asked that Rodgers’ body be returned to Arkansas for burial or sent to the National Cemetery. Her request could not be accommodated, however, because Rodgers was already buried and no one could attest to Mrs. Reeves’ legal rights to Rodgers’ property.
 
- story by Donna Carr

Mary Lee (1862 - 1900) - Restaurant Owner (Re-post)

Mary's success was remarkable for her time, as women were not often seen in business roles.

The border vidette. (Nogales, Ariz.), 18 Feb. 1899. 
Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers
Library of Congress

Mary A. Lee was born about 1862, and was a restaurateur in Territorial Phoenix  and Tucson during the late 1890s.  She was a single, African-American woman who was reported in the December 5, 1897 Arizona Daily Star as "...the famous caterer who is known to prepare the finest dinner, breakfast, or luncheon in Arizona.."  Not much is known about her early life, or where she was born.  However, she appeared to have rose to the Phoenix scene around 1892 in a partnership she formed with Samuel W. Slade, called "Lee and Slade".  The partnership maintained The Opera House cafe which featured "game, fish, and oysters".  At the later part of the year, they acquired a five year lease for $18,000 from the owner of the Ford Hotel to maintain a restaurant on the premises.  The partnership dissolved in 1896, and Mary ventured to Tucson where she became of the proprietor of Williams Hotel, The Alhambra, and the Orndorff Cafe.  Mary returned to Phoenix suffering from an illness, and died of tuberculosis October 26, 1900.  Curiously, her probate records states that she had an account at the National Bank of Arizona at Tucson for $325 and a trunk of personal effects in Phoenix.  Her executor later stated that these items "could not be found."  She is buried in Rosedale with no marker.  

This Mary's Cafe Fare menu is dedicated to her.  It consists of breakfasts, lunches, and dinners found often in the home and restaurants of the 1890s, and consists of three planned meals with recipes.  The recipes are found from cookbooks of the era that are posted on Project Gutenberg.  References available on request.  

Click the menu below for a copy.  There are a few other menus on this blog as well.  Just search for "Cafe".  

Created by Val

Nathaniel Sharp (1816 - 1906) - Renaissance Men

Chronicling America
Weekly Arizona Miner, October 19, 1872

Nathaniel Sharp was born about 1816 in Tennessee. Very little is known about his early life. Apparently he served in the Mexican War, since his obituary says that he first came through Arizona as a member of an invading army in charge of a company. He was also mentioned as being in Arizona by 1856.

Sharp settled first in Calabasas, intending to raise cattle. However, the outbreak of the Civil War and the expected arrival of Union troops from California caused Sharp, along with Thomas Farrell and Jack Pennington, to pack up and head for Mesilla, New Mexico, in August of  1861. Their wagon train, which would become known as the Ake-Wadsworth Party, was accompanied by herds of cattle and flocks of sheep. This temptation proved to be too much for the Chiricahua Apaches. Under the leadership of  Cochise and/or his son-in-law Mangas Coloradas, the Chiricahuas attacked the 
Ake-Wadsworth party in Cooke’s Canyon. 

During the running battle, Nathaniel Sharp received an arrow through the neck, but witnesses said that he simply broke the arrow in half and pulled the pieces out. Sharp was described as being about sixty years old at the time (he was actually 45).  After Sharp recovered from his injuries, he and Thomas Farrell journeyed to Pinos Altos, where they enlisted in the Confederate Army. Both served as privates in Helms' Company, Herbert’s Arizona Battalion. Farrell was taken prisoner during the unit’s Trans-Mississippi campaign and did not see Sharp again until 1871.

After the Civil War, Sharp went to California and was for a time a lawyer in Sacramento. However, he returned to Arizona around 1869, where he helped to dig the Tempe Canal. Thus assured of water, he started a cattle ranch south of the Salt River. After James T. Priest resigned as zanjero of the Tempe Canal Company to pursue other ambitions, Sharp was elected zanjero, a position of some importance in the community. 

Sharp was living in Los Angeles, California, when he died on 29 September 1906.  His remains were returned by rail to Phoenix, accompanied by his late wife’s daughters, Mrs. Burgher and Mrs. Grubbings. - Adapted from a story by Donna Carr

There's more to learn about Nathaniel Sharp.  Do you know why he was living in Los Angeles, California?  Let us know!