•nil
Photo by Deifel Hewitt
Bones of History Atop Graveyard Hill
They used to haul the old
pioneers up the side of the hill and
burs them vs ith solemn honor and
farewell goodbyes.
Today, however, there's little
sign of activity in Eugene’s
Masonic Cemetery except for an
occassional dog or human being
trotting through. Instead, an eerie
sense of history drips from the tall
lirs and laurel bushes and hides
behind every leaf, mound and slab
The ground in Lane County s
oldest cemetery has shifted over
tunc, creating cracked plot tounda
lions, crooked tombstones and top
pled monuments. Ivy and weeds
have taken hold also, spreading like
cancer through the confines of the
12 acre site.
When Elizabeth Parsons died in
IK54 at the age of 22. she became
the first person buried on the hill
Parsons was a relative ol William
McMurtry. who owned the hill as
well as farm land to the south and
west. Like other settlers ol the day.
McMurtry used a piece of his land
claim as a burial plot.
“My hunch is that particular spot
was offered because it was a hill
and the old cemeteries were never
put where there was productive
land. says Alice Adams, unol
ficial cemetery historian
By 1857. there was enough in
terest to make the hill a formal
graveyard, and McMurtry sold the
land to the Masonic Lodge. The
“Standing Graveyard Committee"
of R W Undcrw«*od. A A Smith
and town founder Eugene Skintwr
sold family plots for SIS hut burials
were slow at first, perhaps due to
the tact the cemetery was three
miles from Eugene's eity limits
Preceded in death by daughters
Lcnora and Mary. Skinner died in
December. 1864 and was buried on
the lop of the hill nest to his
children, not far from Parsons and
MeMurtry.
“He got wet while trying to gel
cattle out ot the river and died ot
pneumonia." Adams says
When the cemetery was lirst plat
ted in 1859, eight-foot wide
alleyways were created so that
when horse and wagon reached the
site after their trip from the city
they could proceed up the steep hill
with the remains of the deceased
loiter a street car system was pul in
and ran to the vicinity ot 25th
Avenue and University Street,
thereby making the graveyard ac
cessible to more families.
Throughout the I8(XK. typhoid
fever and diphtheria took a toll on
Eugene residents, especially on
women and children. Cemetery
records show scores of both young
and old family members dying
w ithin a year or two of each other.
There were also a number of
drownings. indicating nature was a
constant threat to the safety of early
pioneers and their families.
The hill served as the site of
many prominent burials. When
John Wesley Johnson, first prcst
dent of the University of Oregon,
died in September of 1848. the
Hu gene Register reported that "the
remains were taken in charge by the
Masonic Order and the Workmen
who escorted the body to the grave
where the beautiful burial service
of ihc Masonic ritual finished the
sad rites "
Four years later. John
Whiteakcr. first governor of
Oregon, died, and was ihe subject
ot "one of the largest and most im
pressive funerals ever held in
EugeneAlter the services had
concluded, a long procession
followed Whiteaker’s body to the
family vault on the west side ol the
lull '
According to records, some ot
the people buried in the cemetery
were born during a particularly
historic period. Elizabeth Parson's
mother was born in 170S. her
father in 1741. The oldest bones in
the yard appear to be those ol Polly
Ann Sweet who was born in 1779.
three years after the Declaration of
Independence was signed and 10
years before George Washington
was chosen president
The inscriptions on the
gravestones that remain visible to
day tell much of past times. A
tombstone on the southeast end ot
the hill marks the spot where
America Pearce, born in 1817. is
buried. Not far away lie the re
mains of James Madison Hendricks
and down the hill aways. those of
sivyegr old Edgar Poe Miller.
Many of the first names found on
tombstones arc unusual. There's
Crcath Harlow, Serenus Nicker
son. Pamcligia Moore. Zophar
Davis and Marrel Mayhcw
Hulgaard among others.
Inscriptions also offer evidence
ol the position women held in
society. Many are laden with in
scriptions bearing the word missus
without a first name Others men
lion the fact that a woman was "the
wile of" the man buried nearby
Not every family opted to bury
their dead in McMurtrv's hill.
Photo Dy uerre« nwm
however. At the base of the west
end of the hill stands the crusted
form of Hope Abbey Mausoleum.
The building was built between
I 4 | 2 - I 3 by the Portland
Mausoleum Company, which was
busy promoting similar structures
in Portland. Salem. Albany and
Roseburg at the time.
A check of the original contract
between the Portland company and
Masonic l.odge No. II AT. and
A M. shows that tombs were to be
sold for "not less than $200."
"It's one of the few examples of
Egyptian motit in Eugene.' says
Chris Scovill. a graduate student in
the School of Architecture and
Allied Arts' historic preservation
program. The architectural style
was likely chosen because of the
popularity of King Tut and the
association with "Egyptian death
and their attempts at preserving
afterlife," according to Scovill.
Most of the crypts inside are lin
cd up m rows with the exception ol
a couple ol cubicles guarded by
gates Stained glass windows that
used to let in light from a clerestory
above have been filled in. leaving
the interior dark except for a glim
mer of light that enters through the
padlocked front door fhcrc are
roughly MX) people interred in the
building, including Prince Lucicn
Campbell who takes up a spot on
the south end
Unfortunately, there is little
evidence today ot family members
returning to pay tribute to
descendents in either the graveyard
or the mausoleum Only a lew emp
ty coffee cans with dried (lowers
are visible and Hope Abbey
Mausoleum is opened only once a
year on Memorial Day. Many ot
the families who own graveyard
plots have died out or moved away
from the area
The dead, in essence, have been
left to mingle with the dead In ihc
quiet ot the forested hill, they lie
sheltered from the insidious move
ntent ot modern life as a monument
to the past
- STKPIIKN MAHF.K
Photo b/Stephen Maner
Manx or the familv plots at F.ugenes Masonic Cemetery (lop ten, snore men ' "
din* to historians, the trees »,r,' not planted by relatives ol the deceased but instead
yiL Mausoleum (top right I was designed by Ulis F. Lawrence. a Portland arch,levtwhi, 'U ,
dean of,he Sc hool of Architec ture and Allied Arts in l«N and who also deigned the I „ rs lyl.brary .l td
the l nixersitv Art Museum. The grave of James I lombard (above left l lies alone m a pan I,old u •
\ maioritv of the graves in the cemetery are blanketed with weeds with some markers no long,yisibh Ih
Masonic (emeten holds the remains of many children, i,winding those ol Seymour < ondon (above right).
Most fell victim to diseases that swept the area and claimed entire families.
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