San Luis Rey Pioneer Cemetery Last Updated March 2009 | ||
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A small cemetery sits on a knoll in the San Luis Rey Valley across from
the Mission San Luis Rey. Few notice it is even there and its anonymity
has perhaps contributed to its near demise. While commuters busily drive
Mission Avenue or Highway 76 they scarcely look up at the resting place
of the valley's pioneers. They may never notice when vandals littered
the area, pushed over headstones or even worse, dug into the graves and
even stole the headstones, the very record of those buried there. The San Luis Rey Township was a vital, busy place in the 1870's. Many families came to settle around the area to homestead. Families like the Goldbaums, Lanphers, Libbys, Bordens, Hubberts, Freemans, and Myers. The township had a post office, hotel, a newspaper called the "San Luis Rey Star" and a general store. It also had a school where the First Christian Church met on Sundays. At that time there was only one cemetery, that belonging to the Mission San Luis Rey, which of course, was reserved for Catholics. The protestant (or non-Catholic) settlers had no burial place for their dead. Sometime in the late 1860's land was designated for a cemetery on a small hill, just southwest from the Mission. The first known burial in this cemetery is that of one-year-old Catherine Foss, who died in 1869. In 1875 Isaac Kolb donated the land to "reserve for public burying ground or cemetery where the same is now used for that purpose". The following year the cemetery was deeded to the San Luis Rey School District "to hold in trust for a public burying ground". Andrew Jackson Myers and his wife Sophia settled in the San Luis Rey Valley around 1875. In 1881 Myers would later receive a grant that would be downtown Oceanside. Although he is known as the founder of Oceanside, he was still a pioneer of the San Luis Rey Valley, and so was buried at the cemetery when he died in 1907. He was laid beside his wife Sophia and four of their children, Alfred, Etta, Maggie and Andrew, Jr. Only two of those headstones remain today, that of Maggie and Andrew, Jr., both of whom died very young. The list of those buried continued to grow with the burial of many pioneer members of the Freeman family. Alfred A. Freeman, the patriarch of the Freeman family who came to San Luis Rey from Texas, is buried there with his wife Permelia. A row of wooden crosses and other monuments signify the Freemans and the cemetery was said to have been referred to as the "Freeman cemetery" in early years by the Freeman family. Over time the number buried there increased. Early lists estimated 84 burials, but recently, with more in-depth research, that number has risen to 120. Other names include Lusardi, Cerda, Salgado and Meza. It is not known if an actual plot map of the cemetery ever existed. In 1989 Al Cerda, Jr. drew a map according to existing records. The San Luis Rey Township was a tight-knit community. The settlers knew where their loved ones rested and must have assumed that someone would always know and never planned for what lay in store for the cemetery or the fate of their own final resting place. The San Luis Rey School District, although the legal owners of the cemetery, seem to have kept no official record or count. School Trustee Shirley Woodruff filed the tax exemptions yearly and was responsible for pointing out available burial sites to families looking to bury their dead. He was for years the cemetery's only "caretaker". In the late 1940's the Oceanside Unified School District took over the San Luis Rey School District, and unknowingly acquired the cemetery. Shirley Woodruff, then retired, still continued to file the annual tax forms for the cemetery until his death in 1989. Shirley was buried in this cemetery in the plot that was reserved for him several decades ago, alongside family members. As the population grew and construction increased in and around the valley, the cemetery on the hill seemed to fall into the cracks. Progress went unimpeded and no one seemed to notice or care about its fate as vandals frequented the cemetery, leaving beer cans and litter strewn about in the cemetery. Sometimes the wooden crosses were taken out of the ground and tossed and gravestones were pushed off their bases. The Oceanside Historical Society formed a cleanup in 1991, calling on descendants of these pioneers, as well as their own members. Marines from Camp Pendleton also volunteered and after much effort, toil and sweat, bags of trash were removed and entire dumpster of brush and weeds were cleared and some headstones placed back on their bases. However, in 1992, the unthinkable happened. Three graves were desecrated by grave robbers or macabre thrill seekers. Whatever the motive, it was clear that this little cemetery was very vulnerable. Several headstones have been stolen since 1989, namely the markers of Leovi Cerda and Benjamin Neff, as well a "double" headstone for William E. and Catherine Libby. Also stolen was one of the oldest and most unique headstones, that of Steven D. Lanpher, who died in 1891. Betty Lanpher Kopcso filed a police report after she had visited the cemetery and discovered her great-grandfather's headstone was no longer there. Weighing nearly 400 pounds it must have been quite a feat for robbers to lift the headstone and remove it from the cemetery. On December 2, 1996 the Historical Society received a phone call from the Oceanside Police Department. A woman in Fallbrook had heard about the missing Lanpher headstone and realized that it was the very headstone that she had sitting in her yard. She had the heavy, granite stone loaded into a van, drove to the Oceanside Police Station and told a police officer that she wanted to turn it in. She did not want to give any details, only that she had purchased the headstone for $100. It took five police officers to remove it from her van and place the headstone into "evidence". Its journey is complete as it is now back in its intended home, once again marking the resting place of Stephen Lanpher. The Oceanside Historical Society armed with new fervor again mustered to take care of this orphaned cemetery. In September of 1996 a crew was hired to clean and mow the cemetery, which is now done at least twice a year, or as donations allow. The Society requested help from its members and the descendants of the deceased pioneers to cover the cost of clean ups and maintenance. Support came in slowly at first, but the momentum has built with more attention and publicity. A small fund has been established through the Society to help maintain the cemetery. With a grant from the San Diego County Board of Supervisors, a donation from the Oceanside-Pacific Kiwanis Club, and generous donations from members and descendants, a new fence was erected to protect the cemetery from vandals and also preserve the cemetery for future generations. In more recent years family members have replaced markers that have been lost. Cement crosses have been erected for Lucia Nares, Simon Abilez, Jr., Alfred Freeman and Archibald Freeman. The Society has remounted a number of headstones that were toppled over, including the Dunn and Foss headstones. We encourage concerned family members and residents to contact the Oceanside Society Historical for information. We greatly appreciate monetary support in any amount to help us maintain this precious historical cemetery.
Kristi Hawthorne | ||
Catherine Higgins/wife of William E. Libby Sept. 13, 1812 to Jan. 10, 1879
William E. Libby Feb. 14, 1809 to Jan. 15, 1881
Susan E. Libby/wife of Charles S. Libby 1868 to Oct. 20, 1900
Frank Libby February 22, 1904
Theodore Wackerman March 4, 1888
Lavenia K. Wackerman March 15, 1906
Jefferson Lowel Wackerman January 4, 1923
A. A. Freeman April 29, 1822 to Nov. 29, 1898
Permila Freeman Feb. 25, 1826 to April 8, 1907
Archibald Jackson Freeman July 8, 1925
William Freeman 1862-1937
F.M. Freeman Oct. 1, 1870 to Nov. 22, 1892
John W. Freeman Dec. 17, 1856 to Jan. 12, 1892
J.C. Freeman April 5, 1859 to Nov. 1, 1902
Verna Freeman August 29, 1917
Almarine Freeman Dec. 17, 1856 to January 24, 1919
Pauline L. Freeman 1919 to 1932
Andrew Martin "George" Freeman February 11, 1952
Benjamin F. Freeman 1899 to 1965
Nolia Freeman Bell 1875-1942
Alfred L. Freeman May 29, 1904 to April 9, 1968
James W. Dunn 1852 to 1918
Homer Dunn 1892 to 1918
J. D. Fagg August 24, 1836 to July 3, 1912
Margaret J. Fagg 1846 to 1924
Fred M. Sickler 1879 to 1962
Florence A. Sickler 1890 to 1961
Catherine E. Foss October 21, 1867 to January 10, 1869
Rutherford B. Foss March 5, 1877 to March 8, 1877
David R. Foss 1886
Rebecca A. Foss 1835 to 1925
Lee Kolb June 1872 to April 10, 1895
Chester L. Kolb 1899-1909
Henry Lusardi, Jr. October 12, 1911 to May 27, 1930
Elizabeth (Hubbert) Lusardi 1880 to 1960
Henry Lusardi, Sr. September 20, 1963
Henry T. Harland 1860 to 1916
Ruth M. Harland/wife of Murray Hubbert 1894 to 1917
Mathew Hubbert 1810 to 1886
Elizabeth Thorton wife of Matthew Hubbert 1817 to 1902 | Helen M. Hubbert November 1934
Mary E. Hubbert July 15, 1861 to February 26, 1906
Benjamin F. Hubbert August, 1940
Edgar T. Hubbert 1901 to 1967
Frances Saloma Hubbert November 5, 1985
Oliver Borden January 15, 1821 to May 10, 1906
Minnie Wright Borden August 30, 1827 to July 22, 1890
Ellen Jane Borden/wife of Jacob Watson Jan. 22, 1915
Herbert Borden February 28, 1913 to July 20, 1913
Lula F. Borden May 24, 1895 Jacob Watson December 19, 1850 to July 15, 1933
S. D. Lanpher September 9, 1891
Sarah Lanpher 1839 to 1908
Walter C. Lanpher 1894 to 1911
Henry Thorton Lanpher December 13, 1918
Fay T. Lanpher 1867 to 1945
Arthur James Lanpher 1901 to 1951
Bettie Lanpher 1873-1960
J.B. McNeil Feb. 14, 1888
Armour McNeil January 14, 1888 to September 17, 1896
James Wm. McNeil October 5, 1844 to February 14, 1892
John W. McNeil February 9, 1888 to January 7, 1892
Arthur L. McNeil 1884 to 1949 William Woodruff 1868 to 1946
Clara L. Woodruff 1874 to 1952
William Allen Woodruff, Jr. October 16, 1971 to October 27, 1971
William Allen Woodruff, Sr. [ashes] September 16, 1940 to January 2, 2000
Hazel N. Woodruff 1902 to 1973
Aurelia May Woodruff 1908 to 1976
Shirley Woodruff 1915 to 1989
Eva Carey Woodruff 1916 to [reserved]
Roy Paul Woodruff 1902 to 1983
William Everette Woodruff October 28, 1989
Dessie Woodruff Williams March 2001
Richard Williams August 2001 M. F. S.
Rose May Abilez 1920 to 1955
Simon Abilez, Sr. 1870-1953
| Presilia Abilez 1880-1934
Simon Abilez, Jr. 1907-1963
Richard Abilez March 7, 1934
James Veldon Abilez September 13, 1945
1916 to 1934 Lucia Nares November 9, 1927 to December 19, 1932
David Hughes 1843 to January 3, 1892
Mary Jane Houston 1852-1924
Andrea Ocampo 1852-1942
Carmen Contreras June 22, 1964
Ramona Heredia 1920 to 1934
Ronald James Skoda August 8, 1928 to May 11, 1961
H. L. [Henry Lusardi]
Maria J. Salgado 1875 to 1947
Thelma Gladys Cook 1907-1912
Benjamin W. Neff December 27, 1881 53 years, 7 months, 16 days
Bennie Griffin August 10, 1891 to April 2, 1892
Addie E. Haskins September 13, 1868 to April 15, 1912
David Kitching July 19, 1891
John W. Murray
William Wallace October, 1892
Buried in Cemetery as evidenced by obituaries and/or death certificates John Wilson June 7, 1903
Will Freeman October 1907, aged 11
Augustus C. Kitching May 1931
Charles Kitching March 1936
John B. Summers December 1896
Ardath Vina Wing, 1932
Samuel Carter March 20, 1894
Lee Duro, November 1934
Frank Meza [circa 1937]
Nick L. Bay [Beyota], 1941
Delphia Bay Shaw, 1947
Philip Bay, 1943
Hazel Ibell Adams 1896-1898
Salvador Carranza 1907-1935
Ignacio Gomez, 1962
Antonio Subish August, 1898
Jennie Badillo January 19, 1934
Leo Barr or Bauer January 23, 1934
Charles Saunders March 22, 1935 |
