Sunday, May 23, 2021

Bodie Cemetery - A Place Frozen In Time

 



Two weekends ago, my love and I traveled east over the Sierras on a little road trip. We stopped first in Bridgeport (the same place where the Murder of Poker Tom occurred), and then we traveled onward to Bodie State Historic Park. Bodie is a ghost town that has been preserved forever frozen in time.  The stores shelves are still filled with items that were there the last time anyone ever lived there. 

Bodie itself was founded by Waterman S. Bodey, when he discovered gold nearby in 1875. By 1877, the Standard Mining Company had begun mining and before anyone could say "pay dirt" the town of Bodie had arrived. By 1915, the town had dwindled in population, and that is when it was first referred to has a "ghost town." There were still people living here well into the 1930's and 40's but very few. The last resident of Bodie, the caretaker Cecil Birks died in 1961.

The buildings were left in a state of what they call "arrested decay." The town itself, well, what is left of it, after time, the elements and even some fires got to it, is what you see today.

There are three cemeteries in Bodie but they are all adjacent to one another.  Many of the graves are unmarked so it is hard to tell exactly how many people are buried there. Some of those who died by horrible accidents are buried here. I am going to share with you just a couple of those stories today. 

Charles Benson and George Watson

I could find no trace of their graves while there. So I have to assume theirs is either unmarked or one of the many wooden markers with no name on it. Charles Benson, George Watson and another man named Snibley,  were killed in a fatal gun powder explosion in the tunnel of the Great Sierra Mining Company, on October 2, 1883. Snibley's family had his remains shipped to San Mateo for burial, while Benson and Watson were buried in the cemetery here. 

 Anthony Thumann

One grave that actually was there, and I missed it (which drives me crazy!) was the small obelisk of Anthony Thumann (the newspapers called him Thurman). His death was also mine related, when he fell down the pump shaft of the Standard Mine on November 14, 1883.

David McKinney

McKinney was crushed to death by a falling casting that was being moved from the freight wagon. It crushed his upper body and head. Sadly, the newspapers reported that it took seven minutes for him to pass. Again, like Watson and Benson, I could find no trace of McKinney's grave. 

There were many other accidents, I am sure, but those were just a few of those I found that are recorded to be buried within the cemeteries boundaries. Last but not least it the little girl who has become infamously known as the Angel of Bodie, Evelyn Myers.

(Photo: Roland Boulware)

Evelyn Myers

The Angel of Bodie, as the April 16, 1897 edition of the Daily Appeal (Carson City) called her, was killed accidentally on April 5, 1897, when she leaned over the railing of the porch of her home, when a hired worker, an Indian man, was using a pickaxe to cut a drainage ditch around the house to make way for the melting ice. During the hired man's back swing, his axe hit the crown of little Evelyn's head. She lived for two hours, until the bleeding stopped and she perished. 

People have flocked to Evelyn's grave for many years, and the fact that she has such a beautiful marker probably draws even more attention to her story. In fact, Evelyn's headstone is probably one of the prettiest, if not the prettiest in all of Bodie. Don't forget to stop by and pay your respects to those forgotten in time at the cemetery, if you ever make the trek to Bodie. 

(Copyright 2021 - J'aime Rubio. www.jaimerubiowriter.com

Photos by: J'aime Rubio  & Roland Boulware

Sunday, January 10, 2021

Exposing A Very Poorly Researched "Ghost Story": The Lady in Burgundy


Credit: Some Rise, Some Set (Findagrave)


First and foremost, I originally learned about a particular website known as backpackerverse.com several years ago, when I found out that one of my photos from my own blog not only had been used by them (without permission), but that the writer of the website decided to fabricate a slanderous backstory on the subject: Dr. Aden Hart.

It took threatening to sue the owner of the website before he removed my photo of the Hart House from his site. And even after I made him remove it, he had the audacity to email me back and ask if he could have permission to post it again.  Unbelievable!

Over the years, I have seen people on Facebook sharing links from this completely fictitious website. I have tried to warn people that the stories on that site are all fabricated to drive up traffic, but it still seems to fall on deaf ears. Sadly, most people would rather believe the lie, than do research to find the truth.

Anyhow, while researching the history of the City Cemetery in Placerville, I stumbled upon yet another backpackerverse article that really takes the cake this time! Not only is the entire story false, but the writer even fails to cite the correct cemetery! 

So, here I am debunking the story of the "Lady in Burgundy" as posted in the article "A Myriad of Horrors Haunt This Old California Cemetery." 

As you can see, I provided a link to the article. I did so, so that you can go over and read the ridiculous claims for yourself, after reading this blog. So you can see, once and for all, how lazily researched and completely fabricated this "ghost story" is. 

For one, the writer says "Up in the hills of Placerville, lies the Pioneer Cemetery." 

Um, WRONG!!! ---  The cemetery in Placerville is named the City Cemetery, and the fact of the matter  is, this story doesn't take place in the City Cemetery. In fact, it doesn't take place in Placerville at all.

As you read on, it is apparent that they are talking about the Pioneer Cemetery in Coloma, California. But, again, the writer couldn't get their "facts" straight. 

As you scroll down, you see a photo of a child (deguerreotype). This was borrowed from another site, and is NOT anyone mentioned in the article. Just an old unidentified photo.

Now they start talking about this "Lady in Burgundy" and how she haunts the cemetery.

Just so you know, there are no documented accounts of a Lady in Burgundy being seen at that cemetery. Only in recent times have articles been posted (clearly using verbage from the article I am citing), and thus this "ghost story" has picked up steam, proving that just like the game of "telephone" once you tell a story and keep telling it, it can take on a life of its own.

Going back, the article continues on now, speaking about the Scheiffer family. Again, they are saying that they were from Placerville. 

WRONG AGAIN!! --

The Scheiffer's were from Coloma, California.  They mention the father, Charles being buried there (he died in 1864) and his daughters Catherine and May. They point out that May died tragically young. 

Catherine died at the age of 54, in San Francisco in 1916, and May died in 1890, at the age of 28. Yes, 28 years old isn't what you would consider a long life lived, but she wasn't a child either.  You have to remember, I have walked cemeteries all over California and the majority of the time you find that people died as young adults. Most children didn't even make it due to childhood diseases. This was how it was back then. Tragic, yes. But as common as you can imagine.

Did May die a tragic death? Well, in my opinion all death is tragic. I mean, they died. I haven't been able to uncover any smoking gun evidence of some very mysterious or terrible ending, but whether she died from sickness (most likely), an accident or at the hands of another person, again, all death is tragic.

But what really got to me was what the story started to insinuate.

In their Sub-Heading "Dark Secrets of the Gold Rush" they start to question who Eliza Taylor was. 

Credit: Some Rise, Some Set (Findagrave)

They even go so far as to say "Historians and townsfolk are undecided as to whether Eliza was a close friend, an illegitimate daughter, or perhaps even a lover." 

I am not sure what "historians" they spoke to, but I truly doubt they contacted anyone about this story.  It took me literally SECONDS to do a search online to determine who Eliza was. She was Charles' wife, and mother to both Catherine and May. No big mystery here folks! And if you were wondering why her name was Taylor, that's because after her husband died, she remarried to William Taylor, thus the new last name. Again, nothing secret about that. 

But this is clearly the typical sensationalism that backpackerverse is known for.

Next, they claim Eliza is the one haunting the cemetery, and they make obscure statements about a family seeing her ghost, yet they fail to quote the witnesses statement, or even give any more details. As usual, it's always very vague. 

So, in ending....Going back to the "haunted cemetery" story, Eliza Taylor died at the age of 62, in San Francisco, and her body was returned back to Coloma to be buried with her children. Nothing scary or mysterious about that either. No one out there can rightfully claim that it is her ghost haunting the cemetery, therefore to take a story and attach it to Eliza is not only wrong but very disrespectful.

If you are a fan of this website, my advise to you is that you need to research the fact before believing ANYTHING that website claims. It is well known that they are notorious for posting ill-researched stories, but also slanderous ones, at that. 

If you don't believe me, I can give you another example. Take a look at the Martinez House blog.....that's the one where they slandered Dr. Aden Hart, whom I mentioned briefly in this article. 

For the record, I know the owners of that house in Sacramento. No one died in the home, and no one was murdered there, no one was evil or wicked, and most importantly, the house is not haunted.

If you would like to read the REAL STORY about Dr. Aden Hart, please click on the link below:

HART MANSION SECRETS ( originally published 6/5/2011 on Dreaming Casually)

and you can read more about it here: THE HISTORY OF ADEN C. HART (published 10/4/2015)

When you write about the dead, you are supposed to do so with respect and integrity that what you are sharing is backed up by documented facts. Otherwise, you are just spinning us a yarn, and many times doing a disservice to the one you are supposedly writing about. Afterall, the historian owes the dead nothing but the truth.

(Copyright 2021 - J'aime Rubio www.jaimerubiowriter.com)

PHOTO CREDIT: Some Rise, Some Set (Findagrave: 49465871)




Friday, January 1, 2021

Tragedy on the River - Six Deaths in One Day

Have you ever lost a loved one? Most people today can say that they have. Some more than others. But, in reality, how many of us can say that we lost nearly our entire family on the very same day? Sometimes in horrible accidents an entire family may perish, and over the years I have came across some headstones that elude to that. But while visiting the Holy Sepulcher Cemetery in Hayward, California, I was introduced to one of the saddest, most tragic stories that I am about to share now with you.

I cannot take the credit for finding these graves. No, that has to go to my main squeeze. I was walking around with him at the cemetery when he pointed out the graves to me and said, "look at their death dates. Notice anything strange?"  They were all the same date:  July 9, 1955.





And then, all of a sudden I felt a spark inside. A feeling I had thought that I had almost lost completely. You see, for the past year or so, I hadn't been researching and writing like I used to, and frankly, it was a bit discouraging. I was beginning to think that I had lost that inspiration, that magic I once felt to uncover a mystery and to share the stories of those forgotten ones I have been sharing for the past 15 or so years. But within that very moment, that feeling came raging back to me, and I just had to know what happened to these beautiful people. I had to find their story, so I could share it with the world.


So, when I got home I started digging. Once I uncovered the tragic story, I found myself in tears, and I found myself so very heartbroken for the family who survived to feel the loss of so many loved ones, gone all in one tragic day.

"River Takes Six Lives"

That was the headline in the newspapers dated July 11, 1955.  

So what happened? How did six people die in the river? It seemed so hard to comprehend. 

According to the Madera Tribune, the Villa, Ramirez and Killingsworth families had decided to have a picnic at the river just about 12 miles west of Modesto, at the Maze Bridge along Maze Blvd and the San Joaquin River. 


Clemente Villa, father of  daughters Santo (18), Henrietta (14) and Gloria (7) along with his other daughters Vickie, and Lucy and  Lucy's husband Trino (26), and two grandchildren, Peter (3) and Mary (2) went to the beach area along the river with friends Mrs. Killingsworth and her daughter, Irma (7). The Ramirez family were visiting from Decoto (which was just north of Fremont, California). 

Tragedy struck while Santo Villa was wading in the water while holding onto the children in a chain formation. Everyone was holding onto the other, and when Santo took a step forward she stepped into a deep hole and the current pulled her under. This was when all the children were pulled into the deep water with her.  Immediately Clemente, Trino, Lucy and Mrs,. Killingsworth jumped into the water after the children. 

Clemente was able to save Irma (Mrs. Killingsworth's daughter). Lucy and Mrs. Killingsworth, could not reach anyone, and the newspapers claimed they barely were able to fight their way back to shore. Trino, the father of young Peter and Mary, dove in after them, but never came back up. 

Sheriff's deputies were called to the scene, and eventually began to drag the river to retrieve the bodies of the victims once they realized it would be more of a recovery mission, than a rescue. That afternoon, as the boatmen were pulling Trino's body from the river, his wife Lucy was heard screaming from the beach area, "No! No! No!, That's my Trino!" 

Reverend Fr. William Kennedy arrived to the scene to console the bereaved.  Clemente stood there hugging his other daughter Vickie and praying at the edge of the beach. All but one of the bodies were found that day. On Saturday, the following day, the body of three-year-old Peter Ramirez washed up a quarter of a mile from the area they had went under.

All six of the victims:

Trino Ramirez and his two children, Peter and Mary, and his three sister-in-laws Santos, Henrietta and Gloria were all laid to rest together side by side at the Holy Sepulcher Cemetery in Hayward. Their dates of birth and dates of death say nothing about the life they led, nor the way that they died. 

However, the death dates matching is an indication that something tragic happened that day on July 9, 1955.


                                                        Trino Ramirez ( 6/12/1927 -7/9/1955)



                                                         Peter Ramirez (3/3/1952-7/9/1955)



                                                        Mary Ramirez (3/2/1953-7/9/1955)


                                                        Santos Villa (4/2/1937 -7/9/1955)

                            

                                                         Henrietta Villa (7/15/1940-7/9/1955)

                                

                                                         Gloria Villa ( 9/19/1947-7/9/1955)

Let us remember this tragedy with love and respect, and let us walk away from this story with the thought that life is very short. This poor family lost not one, not two, but six of their family members in the blink of an eye. I cannot fathom to imagine how Clemente felt, losing three daughters, a son-in-law and two beautiful grandbabies. How Lucy could go on living after watching her two babies and the love of her life disappear into that fast moving water. It breaks my heart just thinking about it.

Let us take this story and learn from it. Let us learn that we never know how much time we have with those around us. Remember to tell those whom you love, that you love them. Never let a day go by without letting them know how much they mean to you. Because we never know what is just around the corner. 

Rest in Peace Villa-Ramirez family.

(Copyright 2021-- J'aime Rubio, www.jaimerubiowriter.com)