Renewing Tumwater's Union Pioneer Calvary Cemetery

Shirley Stirling portrait

A short distance from the historic Davis-Meeker tree in Tumwater and on traditional lands of the Coast Salish people is one of only five cemeteries in Washington State included on the National Register of Historic Places*.

It's the Union Pioneer Calvary Cemetery, just south of where pioneer Jessie Ferguson's cabin once stood. It is a piece of history midway through volunteer refurbishment, with completion expected next year.

Phase One is done

So far, 215 founders' and early residents' stones have been restored, several broken ones were repaired, and seven raised, leveled, and straightened. The work, largely completed by a core group of ten individuals, with over 500 hours logged so far, is delicate, as the stones are old and fragile. They are sandstone, marble, and granite with bases made of Tenino sandstone. Stones black and illegible are now easily read and back to their original color, using methods approved by the National Park Service. George Bush and Michael Simmons were the founders of Tumwater.

Sponsors

The Sacajawea Chapter Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) sponsored the project with help from the George Rogers Clark Sons of the American Revolution (SAR). They started a year ago, working weekly in marker cleaning weather (60+ degrees), and last Saturday, they held a Phase One celebration with almost 200 attendees.

Leaders

A preservation expert out of Bremerton, Marion (Mick) Hersey, John Paul Jones Chapter SAR, is a volunteer instructor and consultant on the project. Franida Maudsley is the coordinator, supervising the volunteers, and Shannon Wells researches and maintains detailed records -- and cleans relentlessly. The neighboring Mills and Mills Cemetery staff also instruct, advise, and, in phase two, will lend staff and special equipment to help lift and move large stones. City of Tumwater grounds staff have supported the project by trucking water and clearing overgrown vegetation.

Now Phase Two

The group is now in phase two of the project, using the city's ground-penetrating radar maps to locate an estimated 146 sunken gravestones and unmarked graves. Working with the City of Tumwater, they will use their research, along with cemetery records and maps, to identify as many graves as possible with ample elbow grease to clean, repair, and mark the rest of the graves - for the sake of the descendants and community.

Who is buried there?

The Union Pioneer Calvary Cemetery is the resting place of many well-known and little-known early settlers. A few examples:

• The first burial was of George Watson Stevens, in 1855, a nephew of Territorial Governor Isaac Stevens.
• Four members of the Bordeaux family who were killed by eating bad canned cabbage.
• Charles Mason, the first Secretary of Washington Territory and acting governor after whom Mason County was named.
• Abram Benton Moses, a veteran of the Mexican-American War and the man that Chief Leshi was falsely accused of killing.
• Sarah Lange, wife of artist Edward Lange, with five children, a victim of Tuberculosis, too weak to leave her room for her last nine months of life.
• Abigail Jane Connolly McReavey, who died giving birth to her third child. She had attended the Union Academy in Olympia, and her obituary remarked that she was "a most estimable and amiable lady."
• Thomas Frost died in Olympia of typhoid fever at 27, only a few months after completing his survey of Washington's own principal meridian, the Puget Sound Meridian. In surveying, a meridian is an imaginary line that runs from the North Pole to the South Pole and is used to indicate longitude. It is very important as that is the line with which all other surveys must align. His meridian was excellent, but sadly, it was short-lived due to national administrative decisions, and, instead, the principal meridian in Portland was used. Had he survived, he could have taken action to satisfy. His work was excellent, and in the 20th century, two monuments at his gravesite were installed. The Land Surveyor's Association of Washington Historical Society placed bronze plaques to honor Mr. Frost. One is explanatory, and the other marks his grave's coordinates. 
• Jasper Newton Murray, born in 1850, was a farmer and teamster (driving teams of horses, oxen, or mules to transport goods). He lived to be age 100, with 70 years in Thurston County.
• Charles Palmer Judson helped establish the Union Cemetery and served as secretary. His daughter-in-law was rather famous as the author of A Pioneer's Search for an Ideal Home.
• George & Isabella Bush and other well-known families, such as: Trosper, Rutledge, Ferguson, Camby, Judson, and more. 
• Two, veterans of the War of 1812.
• Six Civil War Union veterans.
• One World War I veteran.

Donated Land

Jessie Ferguson provided property from the Donation Land Claim he received from the federal government to create a cemetery. He did so in memory of his wife, Margaret Rutledge Ferguson, who died in childbirth and was buried there. e deeded two acres for $10 in 1866 to the cemetery trustees and the cemetery was incorporated by the Territorial Legislature in 1866 as Union Cemetery. A few years later, he deeded 2.3 acres to the Seattle Catholic Diocese for "57 U.S. Gold coin dollars," and the Calvary Cemetery was consecrated for Catholic burials and dedicated in 1872. 

What's in a name

Calvary Cemetery was eventually renamed Pioneer Calvary Cemetery to differentiate it from a new Catholic cemetery named Calvary Catholic Cemetery, which was established in association with the St. Michael Parish near the current O'Bee Credit Union in Tumwater. Many Catholic graves were, in 1909, moved to that new cemetery. Eventually, falling into disuse, citizens encouraged the City of Tumwater to take responsibility, and it did, receiving the deeds. They took the Union Cemetery in 1977 and the Pioneer Calvary Cemetery in 1991. Tumwater combined the two with a new name, Union Pioneer Calvary Cemetery.

This is a typical before-and-after cleaning. This picture is of the Charles Palmer Judson gravestone. Judson helped establish the Union Cemetery and …

Clean-up

Many community volunteer work parties, including scouts and other groups, worked to improve the overgrown and decrepit cemetery over the years. This restoration is the biggest ever.

Talking Headstones

Ms. Maudsley invites all, "If you love history, visit anytime and see the now invigorated cemetery. Now, you can actually read the stones and learn more about the history of New Market, Tumwater, and more! Also, please plan ahead and mark your calendar for October 18, 2025. Join in our celebration and visit the 'Talking Headstones' with graveside stories told by reenactors in costume."

*  The  Washington cemeteries listed in the National Register of Historic Places include:

1. Union/Pioneer Cemetery in Tumwater
2. Chamber's Prairie Cemetery in Lacey
3. Bothel Pioneer Cemetery
4. Black Diamond Cemetery
5. Part of Riverside Park Cemetery (the American Legion Cenotaph) in Spokane 

Shirley Stirling, of Lacey, writes about good things people in Thurston County are doing. I you'd like to nominate someone to be profiled, contact her at shirley@theJOLTnews.com or comment below.

Editors note: This story was updated for additional accuracy on 10-28-2024