Did you know that cemeteries close down and graves get transferred all the time? This might seem strange to you or a bit of a myth but it happens more than you know. Although it should not happen without a descendant notified, sometimes there are none to notify. Take the case of Reuben "Eugene" Ware (1871-1894) Eugene was a son of Hiram V. Ware and Rebecca Jones. His arms and back were partially paralyzed from typhoid fever. Despite his handicap, he was working as a clerk at the St. Nicholas Pharmacy. In 1894 he was stabbed nineteen times, and found thrown into the basement of the store. His murder is not what this article is about. It's about how he was buried in the now defunct Laurel Hill Cemetery in San Francisco, California. In 1901, the Laurel Hill Cemetery was closed (modern progress, expensive land, etc) and was forced to move the thirty five thousand (35,000) buried there. Most were moved to Cypress Lawn in Colma, California. While the task of moving over 35,000 graves is daunting, there were some that were never completely identified. These graves were of the original Westward Ho Pioneers. The families that were able to request their loved ones to be moved together to the new location were but many were mass buried in vaults under a mound that bears a memorial to their achievements. NOTE: Some graves were also moved to the Japanese Cemetery and the Serbian Cemetery, both in Colma. This might seem like an extreme example but it isn't. Since I document cemeteries in West Virginia, I have found many cemeteries completely moved by lumber companies, construction companies and dam builders. In Georgia, where I also document cemeteries, untold how many graves were flooded over with the creation of Lake Lanier. For A Georgia lake's dar and deadly history has some people seeing ghosts.
Read more about Eugene Ware's Murder: WikiTree contributors, "Reuben Eugene Ware (abt.1871-1894)," WikiTree: The Free Family Tree, (https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Ware-1849 : accessed 09 October 2022).
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Sandy PatakProfessional Genealogist. You can usually find me searching through dusty piles of papers, photographing tombstones of Ancestors and drinking lattes. Research is my life. Living in an Airstream at the Beach is my Dream. Archives
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