As I write this article, it is Memorial Day and we are remembering and honoring all those who served our country, many of whom made the ultimate sacrifice. I would like to take this opportunity to thank all the volunteers who set aside time to help clean-up the grounds, place the 400+ American flags that mark the gravesites of our Veterans, and greeted families and friends in the cemetery over the Memorial Day weekend. Thanks to your efforts, along with the assistance of Jacksonville’s fine Public Works members Richard Shields and Eric Villarreal, along with a Jackson County Community Justice team of workers, and the support of Public Works Director Max Woody, the cemetery was a beautiful sight to behold. Many of the gravesites had been tended to by family and friends with flowers decorating the graves of loved ones. I am very proud that the Friends of Jacksonville’s Historic Cemetery is among a select group of local organizations that take the time and effort to recognize this special and meaningful day of remembrance.

We would also like to take this opportunity to sincerely thank Mike Lower and Nolan Briggs for the beautiful work they did constructing our new Cemetery Kiosk pavilion and for their kind generosity.

Project Updates

Work continues on the Mary T. Agnes Hanna plot in the Catholic Section of the cemetery. The preexisting sandstone surround was rebuilt, leveled and mortared in-place enabling construction of the new inner wall. The project is going along very well and will be done by fall.

With the Cemetery Kiosk pavilion in place, we are working on having it stained, gutters installed and having a handrail designed for the ramp with stairs leading to the Interpretive Center and pavilion. We have also started installing the Block Number signs along the roadways throughout the City Section.

Our New Civil War Brochure will be available in July. Thank you to John McGlothlin for all his hard work in researching and writing this wonderful new addition to our cemetery material for visitors to enjoy. A special thank you to Anne Brooke for her design of the brochure’s cover and artwork inside. Much appreciation to the Jacksonville Boosters Club for the kind donation of $700, along with a gift from Mike and Kandee McClain, which certainly helped us to have this brochure produced.

A headstone for the gravesite of Louisa Boddy Hartery has been placed by the Friends of Jacksonville’s Historic Cemetery. Mrs. Boddy’s first husband, William, her two sons, Richard and William Jr., and son-in-law Nicholas Schira, were all killed during an Indian raid on their homestead near Tule Lake, on November 29, 1872. In 1881, their bodies were exhumed and moved to the Jacksonville Cemetery. Louisa had an elaborate memorial marker made by San Francisco marble carver Edward McGrath, placed at their final resting place. In 1897, Louisa married Michael Hartery, a prosperous and wealthy stock man. They continued to live in Oregon and later made their home in California. When Louisa died on December 24, 1904 her daughter Katherine Hatton brought her mother’s remains to Jacksonville to be buried next to her husband, sons and son-in-law. Reportedly, Mrs. Boddy was the only woman to receive damages from the government for her losses in the Modoc Indian uprising in 1972.