November 14, 2010
RESTORE HONOR
St. Mary's Cemetery has a story to tell, approximately 3,000 of them. From military veterans graves, 70 individual plots including a Medal of Honor Recipient to pioneer families of California.
Today 70 American flags are flying above the unmarked veterans graves since this past National holiday on Veteran's Day. On Monday the 8th, the Engineering Department of the City of San Buenaventura along with the Restore St. Mary's organization and general public surveyed the 7 acre, 3,000 desecrated graves of St. Mary's/Presbyterian/Hebrew Cemeteries. They embarked to re-locate the exact grave locations from records and mark all 70+ Civil War, Spanish-American War and World War I veteran graves.
Private Charles H. Townsend marked grave. Photo courtesy of http://www.davidpuu.com/
Pvt. Townsends grave marker
Presently, only the grave of the Congressional Medal of Honor recipient Private James Sumner is permanently marked. When you visit the cemetery there are still many headstones lying at the gravesites of our California ancestors.
Veteran's Day Memorialization on Thursday, November 11, 2010 at 11 AM took place with taps being played and raising of the flag in their honor. Just like Veterans Day memorial celebrations across the United States, this was the first one performed here since 1967 in honor of our Nations Fallen Heroes at this cemetery.
Steve Schleder raises the flag on Veterans Day at San Buenavetura cemetery in Ventura, CA. Photo courtesy of http://www.davidpuu.com/
"I could see these soldiers standing up, these Generals, the Medal of Honor recipient. They are all over the place, this is a heavy moment. This not only affected myself, but everyone present. Look at all these guys! I started to see soldier friendships. How they wanted to be buried close to one another when one went to the grave; he wanted to be next to his brother. You could read history into these clumpings of graves. People were walking around the cemetery and reading the names on their graves, connecting with the memory of who this person was. It is like they are coming back to life. Yeah, we are here, we're still here, we've been waiting for you." remarks Mr. Schleder.
History
The cemetery was converted to a park in the mid-1960s, and the remains of approximately 3,000 people were left underneath the lush grass. The city of Ventura’s removal of approximately 600 bought-and-paid-for grave markers and headstones of pioneer families and war heroes laid to rest in what is now officially referred to as Cemetery Memorial Park, and to a few, 'Dog Park'.
About
Historical preservationist Steven Schleder founded the Restore St. Mary's Cemetery movement. Mr. Schleder has researched the history of the cemetery desecration, the subsequent mis-treatment of the surrounding grounds and graves. He has established a web site disseminating information about the restoration project. Please visit for additional historical records and information:
http://www.restorestmarys.org/
Podcast
If you would like to hear the interview that Steve Schleder did this morning on KTVA follow this link:
http://1400localsonly.podomatic.com/entry/index/2010-11-13T12_01_44-08_00
Restore Honor Youtube Memorial
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vw7eDtBImDs&feature=mfu_in_order&list=UL
Location
N 34° 16.931 W 119° 16.815
11S E 290102 N 3795797
Civil War Veterans at San Buenaventura
http://www.restorestmarys.org/Civil%20War%20Vets.html
Cabinet Card: Le Fevre Webster, Civil War veteran, in GAR uniform.
Courtesy Simi Valey Historical Society
