A Family Mystery: Body Moved from Hawaii to San Francisco 52 yrs after Original Burial

Eliza Mercado was born 1891 in Puerto Rico and died August 1, 1923 in Honolulu Hawaii, where she was buried. On August 4th 1975, Elizabeth’s body was removed and put on a plane to be re-buried at Cypress Lawn Cemetery in Colma, California.

While most Graveyard explorers know that relocation of interns from one cemetery to another is really nothing new, rarely does it involve such a long distance. A move such as this would be quite costly and certainly not paid for by the cemetery or state. The reburial was not of ashes, but a grave.

Eliza Mercado was laid to rest this second (last lets hope!) time with Chilo Mercado, who was born 1881 in Puerto Rico, immigrated to Hawaii abt. 1899 and then settled in San Francisco in 1924- one year after the death of Eliza. Chilo Mercado passed away on July 24, 1968.

I have no idea what the relationship is between Chilo and Eliza; they may have been wed or she may be a Daughter. Whatever the relation, someone cared quite deeply to know that they should be placed together and made this happen.

I have tried to research cemetery reburials in Hawaii circa 1923 with no luck. Cypress Lawn staff was kind enough to meet with me and throughly check their records but there was nothing specified other than the above posted dates and information. One clue may be in the undertaker (Tommy Wong) and address on Kopke St. Honolulu. If anyone has any information or theories I would love to hear them.

Gone but Not Forgotten: Over 400 Jonestown Victims Buried in Oakland California

Jonestown was the informal name for the Peoples Temple Agricultural Project, an intentional community in northwestern Guyana formed by the Peoples Temple, an led by Jim Jones. On November 18, 1978, A total of 909 Temple members died in Jonestown, all but two from apparent cyanide poisoning, in an event termed "revolutionary suicide" by Jones To the extent the actions in Jonestown were viewed as a mass suicide, it is the largest such event in modern history and resulted in the largest single loss of American civilian life in a non-natural disaster until the events of September 11, 2001.

Today marks the 31^st anniversary of the Jonestown tragedy…. I am always saddened and amazed to find the majority of local residents of Oakland California are not even aware that over 400 victims of the Jonestown tragedy are interned at Evergreen Cemetery of Oakland, nor do they realize on this day each year there is a memorial service to those which brings in hundreds of mourners. Friends and family of the victims as well as temple survivors come to pay their tear filled respects. Even so, each year the annual memorial service at Evergreen increases in number. While at one time there was a sort of false and unfortunate stigma attached to the Jonestown Massacre, it has become more widely accepted that all involved were simply ordinary people betrayed by a charismatic minister who lured them to an integrated church with programs for the poor.

Evergreen is home to 400-410 victims of the Guyana tragedy, both adults and children were laid to rest in a mass grave here in the 1970’s. While some names are known, the majority of interned here are still unidentified and unclaimed. The mass grave is marked by a headstone and throughout the years more memorials have been placed in homage to the tragedy. There is a Cherishing the Children Jonestown Memorial Wall dedicated to the 273 children whose lives were lost, with Forty three and one-half-foot caskets as a reminder. There is also a 36-foot-long stone wall inscribed with the names and ages of more than 900 victims of the violence in Guyana, which is still in progress.

Remains of 1,000 people recovered from one of Ireland’s largest medieval cemeteries

The skeletal remains of more than a thousand people have been recovered from what experts believe was one of Ireland’s largest medieval cemeteries.

According to a report in the Irish Examiner, the ancient bones have produced evidence of several suspected murders and one case of leprosy – an extremely rare occurrence in medieval times. Osteoarchaeologist Carmelita Troy, of Headland Archaeology in Cork, said yesterday she has studied the ancient remains of nearly 1,300 individuals – adult males and females along with children – who were buried at the site at Ardreigh, Athy, in Co Kildare. It is one of the largest skeleton assemblages in the country.

It is believed the site served as a huge regional cemetery for the south Kildare region from perhaps the 7th or 8th century, with classic Christian-style burials – bodies aligned west to east – taking place right up to the 1400s. “The skeletons from Ardreigh give us an important insight into, and help us understand our national heritage and the people from whom we are descended,” Troy said. The site yielded vast amounts of medieval material and the remains of some 1,300 people. The remains include male and female adults, some aged between 45 and 60, teenagers, children and even some fetuses – one as young as 20 weeks.

Roman-Era Cemetery Discovered in Hebron

“Hebron – Ma’an – Palestinian tourism and antiquities police uncovered Roman-era cemeteries in the town of Halhul, north of Hebron, on Thursday, according to the department’s media office. As the municipality of Halhul was using heavy machinery to expand the main road, a number of Roman-era graves and skeletons were found, and workers immediately contacted antiquities police,’ the department said in a statement. Ramadan Awad, the head of Hebron’s police department, asked residents to report any related discoveries to the antiquities police ‘in order to help preserve the civil and historic heritage of Palestine.’”

Head(stone) Scratcher of the Month