Sierra Madre Pioneer Cemetery Explained

Sierra Madre Pioneer Cemetery
Location:	535 E. Sierra Madre Blvd. Sierra Madre, California, US
Coordinates:	34.1625°N -118.0417°W
Area:	2.19 acres
Built:	1881
Designation2 Number:	historic landmark #45

Sierra Madre Pioneer Cemetery, is a cemetery and a historic landmark in Sierra Madre, California.

History

In 1881, Nathaniel Coburn Carter purchased land located along Central Ave., later renamed Sierra Madre Boulevard, for use as a Cemetery for the new city.

The cemetery is located on a 2.19-acre (10,117 m²) site on Sierra Madre Blvd and Coburn Ave. It is the area's oldest cemetery. John E. Richardson, a Civil War veteran and Carter's servant, became the first person interred in the Cemetery on July 3, 1882. Of the first seventeen families that lived in Sierra Madre, when it was founded in 1881, twelve of them are buried in the cemetery.^{[1] [2]}

Sierra Madre Pioneer Cemetery is a historic landmark #45 in Sierra Madre. There are fifty-three properties listed on Sierra Madre's Designated Historical Properties List.^{[3] [4]}

Each Memorial Day since 1924 Sierra Madre VFW Post 3208 with Boy Scouts of America Troop 373 of Sierra Madre places flags and crosses at the graves of military veterans.^[5] Veterans of the American Civil War, both Union and Confederate, Spanish–American War, World War I and World War II and the Korean War are buried at Sierra Madre Pioneer Cemetery.^{[6] [7]}

After WW I, Sierra Madre held Parades on Memorial Day, Veterans Day and 4th of July Independence Day. Veterans, Scouts and City officials would march from Sierra Madre Memorial Park to Sierra Madre Pioneer Cemetery. While the Memorial Day and Veterans Day Parades have ended. The Independence Day Parade continues each year.^[8] A Memorial Day service is held in Sierra Madre Pioneer Cemetery at 11am each year, hosted by the VFW.^{[9] [10] [11] [12]}

In February 1881, Nathaniel Carter purchased the original 1103 acres that comprised the new city of Sierra Madre. The land was acquired in three purchases: 845 acres of Rancho Santa Anita from Lucky Baldwin, 108 acres from the Southern Pacific Railroad Company and 150 acres from John Richardson (1811–1884).^{[13] [14] [15]}

Carter transferred 20 feet by 20 feet family sized cemetery plots to city citizens in the early years. He died in 1904 and his widow, Anneta M. Carter, continued to sell family plots by request.^[16]

After decades of no formal caretaking the cemetery fell into neglect with upkeep only from volunteers, family members of those interred, or local members of the Veterans of Foreign Wars and American Legion. The Sierra Madre Cemetery Association was organized in 1961 and the cemetery is well cared for now. The only new spaces available are in the new Memorial Garden which is an area for cremains and the area on the east side which was expanded in 1999.^{[17] [18]}

Sierra Madre Pioneer Cemetery is next to Sierra Vista Park, Dapper Baseball Field, the City Yard and the city settling basins.

Notable interments

This is a partial list of notable people interred at Sierra Madre Pioneer Cemetery by name, years of birth and death, and a short description.^[19]

• Annetta M. (Pierce) Carter (1846–1937), wife of Sierra Madre founder.^{[20] [19]}
• Nathaniel Carter (1840–1904), founder of Sierra Madre.^{[19] [21]}
• Almarian Decker (1852–1893), American pioneer of electrical engineering
• Louise Gunning (1879–1960), American soprano singer
• Donald Gray (1933–2016), Air Force, NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena Chief Navigator of the Navigation Team for Voyager 2.^[22]
• Professor John Jacob Hart (1843–1932), one of the founding fathers of Sierra Madre, music teacher and SM winery owner.^[23]
• Gordon MacMillan (1901–1970), first Chief of Police of Sierra Madre, California.^[19]
• William H. Newbery (1925–2009), World War II Veteran (Bronze Star Medal – Battle of the Bulge), owner of Bill's Bicycle Center in Sierra Madre, Boy Scout Leader, volunteer Fireman with SMFD, Sierra Madre VFW 3208 Commander and member of 75th Division Veterans Association^[24]
• John E. Richardson (1844–1882), first burial at this cemetery. His tombstone no longer exists; it was removed by vandals.
• Louis (Ludovicus) Van Iersel (1893–1987) cenotaph, World War I Congressional Medal of Honor Recipient.
• Charles E. Whittingham (1913–1999), legendary horse trainer, his death in 1999, at 86, was announced during the races at Santa Anita Park and the crowd stood for a moment of silence.
• Alan Wood (1922–2013), supplied the American flag being raised in the historic Raising the Flag on Iwo Jima.
• Father Roger Wood, (1923–2017), a canon of the Episcopal Church in the diocese of Los Angeles. Brother of Alan Wood (military officer).^[25]

See also

• Old North Church (Sierra Madre, California) Historic landmark #40 in Sierra Madre.
• Episcopal Church of the Ascension (Sierra Madre, California) Historic landmark #7

External links

• Sierra Madre Pioneer Cemetery official site
• – 34.1625°N -118.0417°W

Notes and References

1. Web site: Sierra Madre Pioneer Cemetery Portal . www.sierramadrepioneercemetery.org. 27 December 2019.
2. Web site: Sierra Madre Pioneer Cemetery. hometown-pasadena.com. 29 September 2018.
3. Web site: Historic Preservation – Sierra Madre. www.cityofsierramadre.com. 27 December 2019.
4. Web site: Sierra Madre Historical Preservation Society, September 2016 Newsletter. smhps.org. 29 September 2018.
5. Web site: Memorial Weekend. Sargnet. home.earthlink.net. 29 September 2018.
6. Web site: Sierra Madre honors fallen soldiers with observance ceremony – Sierra Madre Weekly. 29 May 2012. sierramadreweekly.com. 29 September 2018.
7. Web site: VFW Post 3208 Hosts Memorial Day Service at Pioneer Cemetery. www.sierramadrenews.net. 29 September 2018.
8. Web site: City of Sierra Madre – Sierra Madre Fourth of July Parade. https://web.archive.org/web/20140527225604/http://www.cityofsierramadre.com/city-news/670-sierra-madre-fourth-of-july-parade. dead. 27 May 2014. 27 May 2014. 29 September 2018.
9. Web site: Memorial Day Ceremony at Pioneer Cemetery. 24 May 2012. patch.com. 29 September 2018.
10. Web site: Sierra Madre Memorial Day Service, 2010 VFW Post 3208. SierraMadreNews.Net. 31 May 2010. 29 September 2018. YouTube.
11. Web site: video.google.com, Memorial Day Ceremony at Pioneer Cemetery. google.com. 29 September 2018.
12. Web site: Please Attend Tomorrow's Sierra Madre Memorial Day Services. The. Moderator. 24 May 2009. sierramadretattler.blogspot.com. 29 September 2018.
13. Web site: Sierra Madre Turns 100, Year Long Celebration Begins. The Mt. Wilson Observer. 3. Susan Henderson. January 10, 2007. mvobserver.com. 29 September 2018. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20180929080118/http://mvobserver.com/old/MWO/v02/MWO-010507.pdf. 2018-09-29.
14. Annual Publications of the Historical Society of Southern California, Volume 6, p. 178
15. Web site: Links to the Past . latimes.com . Renee . Tawa . April 13, 1999 . July 28, 2020.
16. Web site: Sierra Madre Historical Preservation Society, Sierra Madre Pioneer Cemetery, Story by Stan Hutchinson. smhps.org. 29 September 2018.
17. Web site: Sierra Madre Pioneer Cemetery • Portal. www.sierramadrepioneercemetery.org. 29 September 2018.
18. Web site: Pioneer Cemetery. www.sierramadrenews.net. 29 September 2018.
19. Web site: Sierra Madre Pioneer Cemetery . usgwarchives.net . Penny . Dodd . February 1998 . July 27, 2020.
20. Web site: Image / Carterhia, Sierra Madre . July 27, 2020.
21. Web site: Sierra Madre Historical Preservation Society, September 2016 Newsletter . smhps.org.
22. Web site: legacy.com, Donald Gray. legacy.com. 29 September 2018.
23. Web site: The Music Man Behind Sierra Madre's Fine Winery, Now Memorial Park. 5 October 2010. patch.com. 29 September 2018.
24. Web site: legacy.com, William H. Newbery. legacy.com. 29 September 2018.
25. Web site: legacy.com, Father Roger Wood. legacy.com. 29 September 2018.