•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). 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