Sunday, July 6, 2025

Gone but not Forgotten

 


Along a rural California road, there was a lonely and neglected cemetery I once came across.  Most of the headstones had disappeared, with one monumental exception.  The spire stone above and farther below memorializes a fellow from Ireland who was killed at age 27 by the fall of a steep riverbank during the gold rush.  This fellow, James Sheran, must have had a lot of friends, as he had an epic tombstone put up in 1851, which still stands today to tell us of his untimely demise in what was then a wild and untamed California.


That memorial couldn't have been inexpensive.   Must have had some good friends indeed!

3 comments:

  1. I found my great great grandparent's grave marker in Santa Cruz, CA, it was a big one.. It is in an established cemetery and I never gave a thought to it being special because it of it's size and I did not think about the cost.
    To be honest I was just impressed that I actually had great great grandparents!

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  2. Fatal Accident--On Saturday evening, the 9th a young man named James Sheran, was killed while working on his claim, by the falling in of a bank of earth. The body was much bruised and disfigured. He had worked but a day or two since purchasing the claim. The accident occurred on the South Branch of the Calaveras, about two miles from San Andres. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/13364081/james-sheran/photo
    Jack

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