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American
Pioneer & Cemetery
Research Project
Revised Version 010716
NELSON
MEMORIAL CEMETERY
Revised;
July 11, 2014
By: Kathy Block
ADDENDUM
January 7,
2016 (Scroll Down)
By: Neal Du
Shane
Nelson, Yavapai County,
Arizona
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Google Earth Satellite
Image of Nelson, Arizona
A reader of the APCRP website sent some
photos of an obscure, abandoned cemetery and sought more information. Along
with my late husband Ed, we made several trips to research and photograph this
cemetery for an article for APCRP. In June, 2014, John Lemus, who has family
members buried in Nelson Cemetery, contacted APCRP after reading the original
article. Current information has been revised and updated for this article to
include new research about people buried in this cemetery, using John’s contributions
of photos, family history, and additional information on historic events at
Nelson and the lime companies.
Nelson Cemetery is relatively easy to
locate. Travel on Historic Route 66 between Peach Springs and Seligman. Just
west of mile marker 112 is a road going south called "Nelson Road,"
Road 19. A sign at the turnoff says
"Lhoist North America, Nelson Plant."
Drive south on this graded road for
about 4 miles to an active quarry and plant straight ahead. Park in an area on the
west (right) side of the road just before crossing a cattle guard. Walk
carefully over the cattle guard and go to your right about 100 feet on a
prominent dirt path thru the brush, to the easily seen entrance to the cemetery.
Watch out for fresh “Meadow Muffins” on this path and inside the entrance. Note
the spelling: "Nelson Memorial Cemetary" (SIC) on
the entrance sign.
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Ed Block stands at the entrance of the
Nelson Memorial "Cemetary" (SIC) Photo: Kathy Block |
The town and cemetery are named (according
to Arizona Place Names) after Fred Nelson, former division
superintendent of the A&P RR, 1886.
A slightly different version is found in an advertisement for the sale
of a brass tag used in Nelson at the cement company around 1900. "The
Grand Canyon Lime and Cement Company was located in Nelson, Arizona .... Fred
Nelson was a conductor on the construction train of the Santa Fe Railroad when
track was laid in the region in 1883. Nelson happened to notice the presence of
fine lime and other construction raw materials near the location of the
location which bears his name (Nelson). He went on to start several lime and
cement quarries and also a lime kiln in Nelson."
An early notice of mining claims was
filed in Kingman in August 1907 under the name, "Grand Canyon Lime and
Cement Company." Twenty claims were filed on 400 acres of land in an
unorganized mining district near the Grand Canyon. The company was described as "a
powerful corporation, composed for the most part of Los Angeles capitalists and
businessmen. For some time they have been shipping lime to California and
already have five kilns in operation." It was their intent "to
furnish Arizona, New Mexico and Southern California with lime and cement .... The
field is a large one and undoubtedly they will find an ample market for their
products."
The company said the claims "are
natural sites for the making of cement and the quarrying of lime .... The Company
will doubtless exert the wildest influence upon the prosperity of the
territory. Besides furnishing employment for a large number of workmen and thus
laying the foundation of an important city, they will furnish lime and cement
to the southwest at a figure far below the present rate. The district in which
the claims are located has always been known as a placer country, but no mines
of any importance have ever been found there. The land seems to be worthless
except for the making of cement. In a
short time Arizona will be supplied with cement manufactured within her own
boundaries and the government plant at Roosevelt will not be the only cement
factory in the territory." (The Copper Era, Clifton, Graham County,
August 1, 1907.)
Additional claims were filed at the land
office in Phoenix in July, 1908, for eight claims known as Schire-Cary and eleven
claims known as Grand Canyon claims, that stretched from the boundary of the
"Wallapai Indian Reservation" west and south into "un-surveyed
public lands" in large 160 acre sections.
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Nelson, AZ. Photo courtesy John Lemus |
The cement company built homes for the
workers that it rented to them, as it began to mine surface deposits. The
community of Nelson developed near the railroad and mine. It was about a mile
southwest of the cemetery. There was a railroad siding at Nelson since at least
the late 1800s, serving the lime quarry mine. By 1910, the census showed an
active community, with 304 inhabitants recorded. Many were Mexicans and worked
as laborers and miners in the lime quarry. A few residents were engineers and or
RR workers.
By 1920, the census listed only 69
residents. Possibly the quarry operations were reduced at this time. However,
in 1922, an Arizona business directory listed Nelson: "Post office in
Yavapai County and station on the Atkinson, Topeka & Santa Fe Railway,
sixty six miles northeast of Kingman the nearest banking point. Lime manufacturing the industry. Population about 200. Altitude 5,200 feet.
Aubrey Inv. Co sheep and wool growers. BARANDON. E. postmaster. Grand Canyon
Lime & Cement Co, J. S. Sebrim President, E. Barandon supt. genl.
mdse."
The post office, established March 23,
1904, was probably in one of the lime company buildings, and note the mine
superintendent of general merchandise was also the post master. An interesting
postcard for sale from 1912 shows the post office was open then. Mrs. Francis
W. Munds (1866 to 1948), an active women's suffrage advocate and State Senator
from Yavapai County from 1915 to 1917, received a card at Nelson, Arizona from
a supporter just after Arizona women could vote.
The 1940 Census enumerated 119 residents
of Nelson. There were 17 laborers in the lime quarry, 5 track laborers for the
"steam railroad", and one each: fireman for the lime quarry, maid for
private family, foreman lime company, bookkeeper for the lime quarry,
superintendent for lime and cement manufacturing, stationary engineer for the
lime company, carpenter, lime quarry, and school teacher, public school!
The public school had a teacher named
Bernice B. Walter, age 28, from Jackson, Mississippi. Her husband David S. Walter,
age 21, was a truck driver. A photo courtesy John Lemus, possibly from 1939,
shows about 35 students, with 16 of them boys. The income for Bernice Walter
for the year ending Dec.31, 1939, was $1,390 and her husband's income was
$1,020!
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Nelson School. (Year unknown) Front Row.
Juan Lemus far left (John’s father), Brother to Juan, Gilbert Lemus far
right, next to Gilbert is Cousin Philip Bravo. Front Row 7th from
right, little boy with jacket zipped, hands in pockets is Robert “Bobby”
Bravo who still lives in Peach Springs. Photo courtesy John Lemus |
The enterprise, Aubrey Investment
Company, listed in the business directory from 1922, had large sheep ranches in
areas stretching from Nelson to Seligman.
It advertised in The Holbrook
News, September 3, 1915: "FOR SALE: Rambouillet Rams. Yearlings and
two years olds. Large, Smooth, Heavy-wooled, Range Raised. Our rams have been
awarded silver cups, championships and many other prizes at the New Mexico and
Arizona State Fairs, and the Northern Arizona Fair. Send for further
information. Aubrey Investment Company, Prescott, Arizona. Ranch address:
Nelson, Arizona."
This company's legal problems were the
subject of amused newspaper articles from 1915 thru 1920, and involved mules
and used machinery sold to the State for use in certain road building projects.
Two examples of headlines: "Take Back Your Mules, State to Aubrey
Investment Company" (1920) and "Mules Come up for Trial in Superior
Court." (1920). The complicated situation involved the sale of 34 mules,
34 horses, and used construction equipment to the State in the "dying days
of the last Democratic state administration" for $22,475.64 to use for
road building. A prominent Democratic politician named Senator A. A. Johns, one
of the largest sheep growers in the state, facilitated the deal to buy the
mules! (The Aubrey Investment Company also had vast flocks of sheep.)
A new administration refused to pay a
balance due of $18,000 and canceled the contract after a veterinarian examined
the mules and horses. He determined that the horses and mules were "so
old and decrepit and so spavined and ring boned and knock kneed as to be of no
possible use to the state." The company claimed the mules were
worth $400 each during a time when the French and American governments were
bidding the price of mules "way up". The construction equipment had "large
quantities of old chains and scrap iron of doubtful value except as junk."
Aubrey Investment Company was urged to "Come and get your old mules,
we don't need them any more" in turning down the company's claim. The
State claimed this stock cost them in feed alone, since their acquisition,
something like $6,000 for the 100 days they had been boarded at the highway
department.
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Jesus Lemus and Alejandra (6 yr.) |
Translated: “Jesus Lemos my cousin. First house in
Nelson. 2/9/1911 Your mom and me at your left with
Alejandra who is 6 years old and she is the oldest of my young girls.” |
(Journal-Miner,
Phoenix, April 17, 1919.) Eventually, in
November, 1920, after much acrimonious testimony, a jury for the superior court
of Yavapai County admitted the validity of the contract and awarded the company
$17,000. The plaintiff had asked for $21,000.00, after one initial payment of
$3,000. An appeal was planned, but no further news was found, nor information
on the eventual fate of the defective mules!
Besides the mule scandal, some famous
historical events took place in Nelson. A railroad siding was the scene of a
train robbery on February 24, 1897. James Fleming Parker and an accomplice,
whose name has never been verified, stopped a train at a pass called "Rock
Cut" by forcing a RR employee to flag the train down. The robbers wore
masks and carried guns and dynamite. The mail and baggage cars were uncoupled
and driven two miles east to Nelson Siding. There, one robber was shot down by
a messenger who was in the baggage car, and Parker grabbed some money and fled,
but was unable to dynamite the safe, as the dynamite was on his slain
accomplice. After a dramatic hunt, he was captured and jailed in Prescott. In a
jailbreak, he and two others escaped after shooting and killing a District
Attorney and were eventually captured. Parker was hung, and buried in Citizens
Cemetery in an unmarked grave noted in my article on Potter's Field there. To
the last, Parker refused to name his slain accomplice. At the time and now,
there was speculation this man was Parker's brother or close friend, due to
Parker's reaction of extreme grief when he learned this man was shot and
killed. A question lingers: Could this unknown man be buried at Nelson
Cemetery?
Two decades later, another event
happened at Nelson, involving the lime company. On July 18, 1908, a man who
called himself Charles Bly was captured by Lieutenant Olds of the New Mexico
Rangers at Grand Canyon Lime and Cement Company's camp. Bly had escaped on the
warden's horse from New Mexico penitentiary where he'd served two years of a
four year sentence for horse stealing! Bly was actually Frank Sherlock. Under
the name of Bly, he'd actually served as deputy sheriff of Mohave County for
eight years and run down many desperate criminals. He had a reputation as a
"dead shot with a pistol." He was betrayed by a fellow convict whom
he discharged from a position with the lime company, where Sherlock had a
contract for provisions to the mine. Sherlock (Bly) had a small trading store
at Peach Springs and worked on neighboring cattle ranches. One news article
claimed that "since coming to this county he appeared to be a hard working
fellow, but made few friends, there being something about the man that repelled
the people with whom he came in contact." Also, "he is a man who
could never hide his identity on account of a cast in one eye and other marked
characteristics."
He was captured when Olds, accompanied
by manager M.E. Woods, met him casually at the company's camp. Olds introduced
Woods and while the two men were shaking hands, Olds stuck his pistol against
Sherlock's stomach and cried, "Hands up! I have a warrant for
you!"
A news account reported that Sherlock
calmly replied as his hands went up, "Guess you got me, Kid." Woods disarmed Sherlock of a huge pistol and
extra clip cartridges while Olds covered him with a cocked gun.
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Marker
of five Chacon children. |
Sherlock had been living with a Mrs.
Palmer and at his request he was taken to the woman's home. He supposedly said, "Guess I've got
to leave you, little woman, these fellows have got me." She replied, "If you are coward enough
to let them take you, go on!" Then, for the first time, "Sherlock
weakened badly and wept bitterly as the officers took him away." He
admitted he was the man wanted, but said he'd "quit crooked business
long ago, and wanted no more of it."
He was taken to Williams to be put on a
train to New Mexico to be turned over to Captain Christman of the New Mexico
Penitentiary. There, he was asked by a reporter if he was a deputy sheriff of
Mohave County? Sherlock replied, "I used to be but I am something else
now." Then, asked if he was the man they wanted in New Mexico, he
said, "I resemble him some but won't admit it just now." He was stripped by Olds and identified by a
bullet wound in the left breast three inches above the nipple, answering a
description and a photograph. (Weekly
Journal-Miner, Prescott, July 22, 1908.)
The Arizona Republican,
Phoenix, August 21, 1908 reported that owing to Sherlock's good conduct and
evident reformation he was granted a pardon. It is said that he was surprised
and grateful when the pardon was granted him and that he "wept like a child."
The Grand Canyon Lime and Cement Company
ceased operations on August 24, in 1934, in Arizona. It was reported as
"inactive" by the California Secretary of State eighty years after
filing.
Lloist North American, based in Los
Angeles, has operated the lime quarry operations since 1986. It mines the
sedimentary red wall limestone surface deposits and recently operated 24/7 with
3 shifts, employing about 72 workers. One report said the company is developing
large reservoirs of 100 million tons of high quality chemical and metallurgical
grade limestone. With nearby rail facilities at the site, there is basis for
plant expansion.
The lime companies have faced various
legal problems over the years of operation. The Grand Canyon Lime and Cement
Company was sued by the Federal Government in litigation that began in 1907 and
finally was settled in 1912, over two issues: illegal payments to the Topeka
and Santa Fe Railroad for shipping lime; and illegal cutting of timber owned by
the government to provide fuel for lime kilns. Briefly, the railroad had
granted special tariff rates to the lime company. These were illegal under the
"Elkins Law." The railroad argued they hadn't violated the law, but
that lime cars were billed at one rate at the shipping point, but when the cars
arrived at their destination, there was some depreciation from line falling out
of the cars, and charges were based at the weight at the receiving point. This
made the tariff rate lower. The railroad had been fined $330,000 by the government
for these "rebates". The lawsuit was eventually settled in favor of
the railroad.
The woodcutting lawsuit by the
government claimed the cement company had illegally cut $38,886.75 worth of
wood, totaling 12,810 cords. on public lands on a strip of land seven miles
long between Nelson and Yampai, Arizona extending for half a mile on both sides
of the Santa Fe main line. The wood was
burned in the lime kilns. Eventually the suit was settled for a fraction of the
original, at $3,125.00, in January 1912.
Mining in the lime quarry was dangerous.
Two workers were killed in powder explosions on April 8, 1912. A news article
stated that: "The Gaddis Perry Company received an order for two
coffins from the Grand Canyon Lime and Cement Company and undertaker VanMarter
made the shipment. Two Mexicans had been killed at the lime quarry by an
explosion of both giant and black powder early in the morning. The bodies of
the two victims were horribly mutilated. The man was one of the Quarry workers
and was close to the powder when the explosion took place. The other, a boy of
about twelve, was carrying a bucket of water some distance away and was knocked
down by the force of the explosion and every bone in his body was broken. Death
in each case was instantaneous, the theory is that sparks from the kiln stacks
may have fallen into some black powder which in turn exploded the giant powder.
"(Mohave County Miner, April
12, 1912.) The names of the victims were not given, but death certificate
records show the man was Enrique Albares, age 27, and the boy was Jose Lopez,
actually age 16. The victims were buried in Nelson Cemetery.
Earlier, in February 24, 1910, Cristobal
Ramas, age 40, a laborer, was killed by explosion of powder. His death
certificate stated that he "died before medical aid could be had." He,
too, was buried in Nelson Cemetery.
In 1913, the Grand Canyon Lime and
Cement Company was sued by a man crippled in an accident at the plant.
Headlines read: "Maximo Perez became a cripple while in the employ of
defendant concern." To quote from the article: "A railroad line,
operated solely by the force of gravity and human power, leads to the company's
kilns a short distance away. The cars are guided downhill to the kilns and then
pushed back up by the laborer. While employed upon one of the cars, it was
derailed by a defective rail and overturned. Perez was caught in the car. When
rescued from the wreckage, his right leg was found so badly crushed and his
condition otherwise so critical that amputation was resorted to in order to
save his life." Eventually the victim sued for $15,000 damages. One
point was stated that "the concern operates quarries as though all are
peons!" The accident occurred May 1, 1913 and the lawsuit was filed
September 9, 1913. No report of eventual outcome. (Weekly Journal-Miner, Prescott, September 10, 1913.
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Mine
tailings across from the Nelson Cemetery. Photo Kathy Block |
And in June, 2014, the Chemical Lime
Company Nelson Lime Plant, owned by Lhoist North America and headquartered in
Fort Worth, Texas, had been targeted by the EPA for pollution controls to limit
nitrogen oxide and sulfur dioxide emissions at the lime plant partly due to a
visual impact on the Grand Canyon and other areas within 200 miles, including
Petrified Forest National Park, Sycamore Canyon Wilderness, Pine Mountain
Wilderness in Arizona and Zion and Bryce Canyon National Parks in Utah! A
detailed report gave information on the Nelson Plant and its operations, and
current pollution control efforts. Here are some facts.
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Lime
Plant looking South from cemetery. Photo Kathy Block |
"The Nelson Plant processes
limestone and manufactures lime near Peach Springs in Yavapai County, Arizona.
The limestone processing plant consists of a quarry mining operation, a
limestone kiln feed system, a solid fuel handling system, two rotary lime
kilns, front and back lime handling systems, a lime hydrator, diesel electric
generators, fuel storage tanks, and other support operations and equipment. The
lime manufacturing equipment consists of two lime rotary kilns (Kiln 1 and Kiln
2) and auxiliary equipment necessary for receiving crushed limestone,
processing it through the lime kilns, and processing the lime kiln product. The
lime kilns are used to convert crushed limestone (CaCO3) into quicklime (CaO).
"
The EPA examined four available retrofit
control technologies and only one was a "technically feasible control
option." After many studies and experiments, a system called Selective
Non-Catalytic Reduction (SNCR) was chosen as an option for reducing emissions
from the kilns. The control technique uses injection of ammonia or urea without
using any catalyst, at a critical temperature window. Though no detailed design
work for this system had been done, there was an anticipation that a 50 percent
reduction was achievable based on the company's experience with operating the
urea injection system at another company lime plant. There were concerns that
the urea would be stored on site, and leaks could cause air and non-air quality
impacts. Also the systems would require electricity to operate the blowers and
pumps, resulting in emissions, but these would be low.
The company currently doesn't have this
control equipment and the kilns are allowed to burn coal, petroleum coke, fuel
oil, or any combination of these fuels. There are "bag-houses", two
multi-cyclone dust collectors, and a wet scrubber to control particulate matter
emissions.
The COSTS to comply with the EPA rules
were calculated. Using a 20 year amortization period, since there was no known
enforceable shutdown date for the plant, the totals for each kiln for various
costs for emission reductions were, spread out over a 20 year period, Kiln 1 =
$1,253,180.00, and Kiln 2 = $1,246,216.00! This is about $62,659.00 per year
for Kiln 1, and $62,310.80 for Kiln 2.
A recent Google Map shows only a long
rectangular building near the RR tracks and possible foundations/ruins at the
site of Nelson, along a secondary road south of the RR tracks. The company
houses were removed. They now truck their materials to other sites for shipment.
Nobody lives at Nelson any longer. A few Native Americans may live in the area.
Workers for the quarry possibly travel from nearby Peach Springs and other
nearby settlements and farms.
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Nelson today - Frank Lerma, (L)
brother-in-law of Emma Lerma, who is buried in Nelson Cemetery. Man on right
unknown. Photo courtesy John Lemus. |
The Nelson Cemetery, where many of the
early people who lived and worked in Nelson, has 4 marked individual graves out
of at least 24 individual burials, plus one grave with possibly 5 burials of
children, marked with a plaque that is partly obliterated and unreadable.
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Path
thru brush. Ed Block verifies coordinates. Photo Kathy Block |
Fifteen (15) death certificates were
found, supplemental documentation in old newspapers of burials; two birth
certificates, plus one additional name to the roster with information from John
Lemus. The records are scattered among death certificates recorded in Yavapai
County and some in Mohave County. The county line angles NW to SE just west of
Nelson, but Nelson and the cemetery are in Yavapai County.
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Marker believed of five children.
Photo Kathy Block |
This plaque on a tall upright stone,
says, in Spanish, translated.
"Here rests the remains of the
children." The plaque itself is unreadable. John Lemus gave the names of
the children as: Zacarias, Isabel, Lydia, Rolando, and Maria Chacon. Zacarias
and Isabel are twins, as are Lydia and Rolando. Birth certificates for Lydia
and Rolando show they were born June 28, 1937.
No other records could be found. John Lemus sent information that Lydia
died on July 24 and Rolando died on September 24, but didn't know the year.
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Headstone
of Ernest Bravo. Photo Kathy Block |
Ernest Bravo's glass fronted headstone
is first row to the right when facing the cemetery from the entrance. Ernest
died at the age of 1 month, 24 days, of Broncho-pneumonia on April 8, 1955. The
glass has been damaged from the exposure from the elements, cattle and wild
life. His is the newest marked burial in this cemetery.
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Emma Lerma marker. Photo courtesy John Lemus. |
Emma, a married housewife, died at age
25 years, 5 months, 27 days, on October 10, 1952, a suicide from arsenic
poisoning, in Williams Hospital, Williams, Arizona, and buried in Nelson
Cemetery. Photo courtesy of John Lemus.
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Marker for Maria Zamora. Photo Kathy
Block |
This stone for the grave of Maria Zamora
was partly obscured by brush in the row in the upper right hand corner near the
fence.
The faint carved inscription in Spanish
says, roughly, "A nina Maria Zamora
que fallecio a la edad de 3 anos Marzo 18, 1924, su afligida madre le dedica
este recuerdo."
Jose Borrajero translated: "To the girl Maria Zamora, who died at the
age of 3 years, March 18, 1924, her grieving mother dedicates this remembrance."
The child died from Bronchial-pneumonia.
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(L), John Lemus Jr., (R) John Lemus,
at grave of Jesus Lemus, 2011. Photo courtesy John Lemus |
Grave of Jesus Lemus in 2013. Time, neglect and the elements take a toll in just two
years. Photo courtesy Author. |
This toppled cross marks the grave of
Jesus Lemus. John Lemus identified her grave.
Jesus Lemus (Lemos) was the mother of
Vicenta Lemus, also buried at Nelson Cemetery. Jesus Lemus died September 12,
1924, age 40, of "surgical shock." Her daughter, Vicenta Lemus, died
at age of almost 10 years, January 1, 1919, of "probably double
pneumonia."
|
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Vicenta Lemus. Courtesy
John Lemus.
Another burial in Nelson Cemetery with
no marker was Atilano Lemus. He died in October, 1918. A brief news item from The Mohave County Miner and Our Mineral
Wealth, Kingman, Arizona, October 26, 1918, said: "Information has
just been received that the person who suicided at Nelson, Arizona some two
weeks back, was a Mexican resident of that place by name of Lemus. No motive is
assigned for the act."
John Lemus, provided the name of Atilano
Lemus. Sent a photo of Atilano and his two brothers, Julian and Dioniso. Atilano is on the left. The grave of Atilano,
was said to be near this rebar, which had a statue of the Virgin Mary attached
at one time.
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(L) Atilano Lemus and his brothers.
Photo courtesy John Lemus. |
Substructure
once held a statue of the Virgin Mary in the Nelson Memorial Cemetery. Photo Kathy Block |
Other graves scattered in Nelson
Cemetery had either no grave markers or markers so decayed as to be unreadable.
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Graves with no markers or illegible.
Photo Kathy Block. |
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Layout
of Nelson Memorial Cemetery created by Ed Block. No Scale. |
The late Ed Block drew this map of
Nelson Cemetery showing the locations of the graves. The perimeter of the
cemetery is surrounded by a decrepit barbed wire fence supported by weathered
wooden posts that enclose the 60 foot square on the hillside to the west of the
road to the quarry and lime processing plant.
There are unconfirmed reports that the
original Nelson Cemetery was located near a building at the Grand Canyon Lime
& Cement Company quarry, and that the graves were relocated when the
operations expanded.
One source claimed that Native American
workers refused to dig up and transport coffins and bodies to a new location;
another claims only the grave markers were moved. Possibly more evidence will
eventually be found about this relocation.
|
Researched and created by Neal Du
Shane |
Google Earth Satellite Image showing
four possible locations of the original Nelson Cemetery. Urban Legends abound
as to what graves, if any, were exhumed and reinterred in the current cemetery.
The most prevalent Urban Legend has no graves exhumed, only headstones and
markers were relocated. APCRP’s research finds what we believe to be 24 actual
graves in the current Nelson Memorial Cemetery. APCRP’s research reveals:
Pin one (1) is the most logical location
for the original cemetery.
Pin two (2) and three (3) are
possibilities.
Pin four (4) is indicated on most
topographical maps.
The Nelson Cemetery or cemeteries still
hold mysteries yet to be solved, research continues!
If you travel west toward Peach Springs
on Historic Route 66, there is an appropriate set of restored Burma Shave signs
not many miles past Nelson Road exit:
"If daisies are
your favorite flowers
Keep pushing up those
miles per hour!
Burma Shave."
I wish to thank: Neal Du Shane, as
always a most helpful editor and satellite image creator; my late husband Ed
Block for mapping the cemetery; Jose Borrajero, Barbara Thompson as well as Joe
and Molly Bejarano for the translations of the Spanish on the gravestones and
plaques; to Molly Bejarano for her exceptional research; and a special thank
you to John Lemus for contributions of photos and family history. This APCRP team
effort helped make this revised article the most comprehensive to date.
---------- NELSON MEMORIAL CEMETERY
UPDATE ----------
NELSON MEMORIAL CEMETARY (SIC)
NELSON (GHOST TOWN), ARIZONA
December 11, 2015
By: Neal Du Shane
Nelson
as a community, has been an on again, off again, community since 1886 when the
railroad laid tracks through this region of Arizona connecting east and west
coasts. The earliest recorded grave in this cemetery is February 24, 1910. It
is logical to assume there were earlier unrecorded burials in the general area
and likely were not in the formal cemetery. Rather these graves were possibly
individually buried at random throughout the community and surrounding area as
was the custom of that era.
|
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Remains of the former town of Nelson, AZ. 2015 Photo: Neal Du Shane |
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Picket gate stands guard at Nelson, AZ. 2015 Photo: Neal Du Shane |
Today
Nelson (ghost town) sets beside the main east/west coast line of BNSF with
trains running regularly every hour. There are sidings to the Lime Processing
plant that load and haul processed lime to either coast, with deliveries at all
points in-between.
|
Judy Bryant & Neal Du Shane
Researching Graves. Photo: Kathy Block. |
Previously
Ed and Kathy Block found, researched, and then identified what they believe
were the graves in this Pioneer Cemetery. Kathy Block, Judy Bryant & Neal
Du Shane revisited this cemetery on Sunday December 6, 2015 to compile and
document additional information. Specifically to identifying who is buried by
name, in which grave with or without markers and to determine if each grave had
an interment.
During
the process of interviewing local residents in the surrounding area, Ed and
Kathy found there were numerous Urban Legend’s. One was that the original
Nelson Cemetery was relocated by the mine company at that time. In this process
some local residents and workers, believed the mining company only moved the
headstone, but not the actual graves. Another Urban Legend is the Native
Americans living in the area wouldn’t move any of their descendants.
We
were able to identify what we believe was the original cemetery, which is in
fact below the main offices (number one
yellow stick pin) with no indication there were graves remaining below the
building. Our research found no indication about the original cemetery that was
speculated as being below a tailing pile or mine pit. In addition each and
every grave in the current Nelson Memorial Cemetary (SIC) had an interment with
the exception of one. (See mystery below)
In total, this accounts for twenty-seven total interments. The names of the
individuals matched the markers when applicable. Many death certificates were
researched and found for each and every grave in the current cemetery.
|
Research
revealed the original Nelson Cemetery is believed to have been in the area of
the number one yellow stick pin. Number two through four stick pins were
researched and proved negative for the original cemetery location. |
Using
APCRP’s Rule Of “TEN” estimator, this would account for a population at Nelson,
in its peak, to be approximately 270 residents. While this estimator is not
scientific, it is a rule of thumb APCRP uses to provide an estimate for
population, visa-versa to estimate possible graves. If inhabitants were 3.5 per
household, Nelson may have had up to 77 homes either permanent, semi-permanent
or temporary transient (wood/canvas) structures. The 270 population of Nelson
was likely made up of mine and railroad workers.
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One
structure at the former Nelson town site, constructed of concrete still remains
today. (3 Photos Above) It is devoid of doors and window glass that may have
been removed by local residents. Logically it was a railroad housing structure
in its configuration, the configuration of the
rooms consisted of one large room at each end, some individual 8’X10’
had joining doorways between two rooms. There were six chimneys for cooking and
heat visible on the connecting corrugated tin roof. In the center joining the
two sides was an open area that may have been used as an open eating area in
the heat of the summer?
The
Urban Legend regarding the Mine Company moving only the headstones has been
debunked. As was the Urban Legend that the graves were left behind in the
original cemetery, it is our belief there were no interments left behind.
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Sadly
the Nelson Cemetery has been devastated by the lack of attention and neglect.
Many of those interred here potentially had families that have moved on and no
longer reside in the general area. The fence surrounding the cemetery has
fallen, fence posts barely erect, and the wire is in disrepair. Weeds are
growing wild and over taking the grounds. It is uncertain, based on this
neglect, how many more years this Pioneer Cemetery will remain an historical
place or will simply melt back to earth, leaving no trace of its former proud
and honorable existence.
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LAYOUT OF INTERMENTS - NELSON MEMORIAL
CEMETERY, NELSON, AZ
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ROSTER OF INTERMENTS
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Nelson Memorial Cemetary (SIC) Mystery:
There
is one single 7’ X 3’ alleged grave site (number
15 – 19 on the cemetery layout above) however, that has a marker/headstone
with all outwardly appearance of a grave. It has six names listed on the
extremely weathered marker, hand written on paper behind Plexiglas. (Photo below) Numerous hours have been
spent trying to identify the names and inscription, we believe we are extremely
close but recognize we may not be 100% accurate. All are children passed in the
1920’s through the 1930’s. Our research at this grave site found no indication
there is anyone buried in this grave, empty of any interments. Speculation
theorizes this may have been a memorial as opposed to an actual grave site? But
where were the children buried if not here?
1.
It
isn’t logical to bury six individuals (children) in one 7’X3’ grave which would
require stacking horizontally.
2.
They
passed over several years, how would you excavate a new burial without
disturbing previous burials?
3.
If
these were all cremations we would still find an indication of one or more
burials.
4.
If
the children didn’t pass from an epidemic or a fire, their death dates would
not span the multitude of years listed.
With
historical research, often there are more questions than answers. We are
continuing research to see if we can find the answers for this perplexing
situation.
If you have
documentation regarding this mysterious situation, please contact us: n.j.dushane@comcast.net
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Recreated text on the
marker at the mystery grave – translated below.
AQUI DESCANSAN
DOS RESTOS DE LOS
NINOS 12-03-??
2-5-24 ZACARIUS 11-??-22
6-23-37 YSABEL 11-23-24
4-11-31 MARIA 04-22-32
6-23-37 ROLANDO 11-23-35
6-23-37 LYDIA ??-11-35
PADRES
RAFAEL CHACON
JACINTA ROMERO
----------------------------------------------
HERE LIE
THE REMAINS OF
CHILDREN 12-03-??
2-5-24 ZACARIUS 11-??-22
6-23-37 YSABEL 11-23-24
4-11-31 MARIA 04-22-32
6-23-37 ROLANDO 11-23-35
6-23-37 LYDIA ??-11-35
PARENTS
RAFAEL CHACON
JACINTA ROMERO
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
A great full appreciation to Kathy
Block, for her diligent research at the cemetery and computer; the late Ed
Block for mapping and research at the cemetery; Jose Borrajero, Joe and Molly
Bejarano for translation on the gravestones and plaques; to Molly Bejarano for
her exceptional research and cultural insight of Joe Bejarano; to John Lemus
for contributions of photos and family history. This combined APCRP Booster
team effort helped make this revised article the most historically comprehensive
to date.
American
Pioneer & Cemetery
Research Project
Revised Version 010716
Webmaster: n.j.dushane@apcrp.org
Copyright © 2003-2016 Neal Du Shane
All rights reserved. Information contained within this
website may be used
for personal family history purposes, but not for
financial profit or gain.
All contents of this website are willed to the American
Pioneer & Cemetery Research Project (APCRP).
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