The Columbia Press
4
January 28, 2022
Cemetery: Remnant found of Pauper’s Cemetery
Continued from Page 1
en grave marker. … He didn’t
know what to do with it and so
he put it up in a tree. So he was
looking for that and, right there
overlooking Ninth Street, we
found a big board wedged into
a tree.”
They took a photo of it in
place so they could document
where it was found and then
took the sign for safekeeping as
they feared residents of a near-
by transient camp might use it
for a bonfire.
Next, they contacted the city of
Astoria, the Clatsop County His-
torical Society and the state His-
torical Cemetery Association,
letting them know they’d made
a significant find at the site and
had it in their possession.
The Clatsop County Cemetery
often is referred to in county
and state records as the Pauper
Cemetery.
The Pauper Cemetery was 4
½ acres and its first recorded
burial was Nov. 10, 1885,
according to the Oregon
Burial Site Guide by Dean
H. Byrd, published in 2001.
There were fewer than 250
burials before it was re-
placed in 1898 by Ocean
View Cemetery in Warren-
ton.
Ellsberg has found records of
burials at the site dating back to
the 1860s, he said.
The book “Necktie Parties: A
History of Legal Executions in
Oregon” by Diane Goeres-Gard-
ner describes the case of John
R. Reiter, a German immigrant
buried in the Pauper Cemetery.
Reiter was sentenced to hang
for the August 1892 killing of a
boarding house mate in Asto-
ria.
The cemetery was the final
resting place for everybody in
the county prior to 1900 and
after that was used to bury
those without resources as late
as 1925.
PUBLIC NOTICE
WARRENTON CITY COMMISSION
ANNUAL RETREAT – 02/05/22
The Warrenton City Commission will hold their Annual Retreat on
Saturday, February 5, 2022, beginning at 9:00 a.m., in the Commission
Chambers at City Hall, 225 S. Main Avenue, Warrenton, Oregon 97146.
The purpose of the retreat is to discuss City Commission goals and di-
rection.
The meeting location is accessible to the disabled. An interpreter for
the hearing impaired may be requested under the terms of ORS 192.630
by contacting Dawne Shaw, City Recorder, at 503-861-0823 at least 48
hours in advance of the meeting so appropriate assistance can be pro-
vided.
The marker reads “All is lost,
but hope” and includes the
words “Lesu, Lesu.” Lesu like-
ly refers to Jesus, Newton said
Wednesday. In classical Latin,
Jesus is spelled lesous or lesus.
“It has to be at least 100 years
old, maybe 140,” Ellsberg said
of the marker. “If I had my
’druthers, I’d like to remake the
entrance to the old graveyard
from the original photo, with
the sign up on eight-foot posts,
and a little rock garden in front,
with a plaque or some sign giv-
ing the history.”
After Ocean View Cemetery
opened, those who could afford
it moved their ancestors’ re-
mains there. That’s when Van
Dusen was moved and given a
large grave monument.
A 1903 article in the Daily As-
torian warns the kin of others
buried in the “paupers” ceme-
tery to quickly make the move.
During World War I, when
a railroad spur line was built
through the area for the har-
vesting of the area’s spruce
wood, many of the gravesites
were disrupted and unearthed
bones were possibly moved
elsewhere, Ellsberg said.
The state will make a deci-
sion about where the entrance
marker will go. Newton hopes
it can be placed with the War-
renton Historical Museum and
a replica returned to the origi-
nal location.
Newton showed off the relic
during Tuesday night’s War-
renton City Commission meet-
ing.
Ellsberg just wants to ensure
the history of the place isn’t
lost and he was giddy Wednes-
day over the important histor-
ical find.
“I’m not religious, but that
had to be an act of God if there
ever was one,” he said.
Warrenton Police Department
Crime: Highest for arrest cases
Continued from Page 1
this category of crime was
referred to as “disturbanc-
es.”
Person crimes showed a
16 percent rise, from 830 in
2020 to 964 in 2021.
“It looks substantial,”
Workman said. “I corre-
spond that to the huge in-
crease in homeless calls.”
Other crime categories
that went up:
• Driving under the influ-
ence of intoxicants rose 11
percent, from 27 cases in
2020 to 30 cases in 2021.
• Property crimes in-
creased 4 percent, from
1,191 cases in 2020 to 1,239
cases in 2021.
• Calls involving the home-
less rose a whopping 102
percent last year. Calls in-
volving aggressive contacts
with the homeless rose 400
percent.
“I don’t know whether
the homeless population is
up or if it’s just changing,”
Workman told commission-
ers.
Last year, when owners
logged wooded property on
Highway 101 between War-
renton KIA and Ocean Crest,
it removed an area that had
been consistently packed
with transient camps.
Two crime categories took
a dip last year:
• Traffic events decreased
17 percent, from 2,000 cas-
es in 2020 to 1,662 in 2021.
“This has been affected by
the continued (COVID-re-
lated) moratoriums on ex-
pired plates … and being
shorthanded on patrol so
there were fewer traffic
stops,” according to the re-
port.
• Drug/narcotics incidents
dropped 31 percent, from 58
in 2020 to 40 in 2021.
The drop is due to Senate
Bill 110, which went into ef-
fect last year. It decriminal-
izes many drug-possession
crimes.
“I think there are a lot
more people busy distrib-
uting drugs with very little
consequence,”
Workman
told commissioners. “Un-
fortunately, we took the
stick away. … If you’re in
the throes of addiction, you
don’t choose treatment.”
The reduction in penalties
can make an impact on cas-
es involving DUII and prop-
erty crimes, as well.
Warrenton is a small
town, and when the de-
partment is short-handed
-- as it was through much of
2021 -- it can affect statis-
tics, he said.
Fewer officers on the road
equates to fewer traffic
stops, for instance.