Cemetery restoration project continues

On March 19, 1893, Jesse R. Grant died and was buried at the Oak Mound Cemetery. It wasn’t that many years earlier, in 1859, that Roderick Matheson, William Macy, and Ransom Powell got together to choose a new location for the Healdsburg cemetery.
They settled upon a small part of Matheson’s 300-acre farm that was situated not far from downtown, what is now Oak Mound Cemetery at 601 Piper Street. They thought that this oak-studded knoll would make the perfect location for the town’s cemetery.
It is estimated that shortly after the burial of Grant, an oak sapling began to take hold in his resting place. In subsequent years, additional members of the Grant family, and relatives of the Fitch family, were interred in this family plot.
Helen Grant Duhem, Betty DeGeus, Josefa DeGeus and, even later, Leonard DeGeus were laid to rest in this gravesite under the shade of what had become a large oak tree.
Unfortunately, well over 100 years later the majestic oak that stood guard over the Gant/DeGeus families succumbed to the forces of nature. It toppled over, causing considerable damage to the grave site and burying not only the site, but the nearby resting place of Philip Luce.
The Healdsburg Museum & Historical Society has taken one more step in bringing the Oak Mound Cemetery back to its original beauty. The latest phase of the project was the removal of the fallen oak and its large root ball. Removing the oak tree, with its 48-inch diameter trunk, required extraordinary effort.
Jeff Kowell, owner of Image Tree Service, donated his heavy equipment and a considerable amount of labor to not only remove the oak but also to take down other dead trees that were causing a safety hazard to those visiting the historical section of the cemetery.
Atlas Tree Surgery recycled the root ball. Also assisting in the project were Mike Biagi who donated his time and excavator, JR’s Concrete who hauled away the concrete rubble, Matthew Thompson who donated his time and talents to the project and Jim Dreisback, the project manager.
As the sponsoring organization, the Healdsburg Museum & Historical Society is accepting donations to the cemetery cleanup project so that work to restore the heritage section of the Oak Mound Cemetery can continue. Contact the museum at 431-3325 for more information or send your donation with a “Cemetery Project” designation to the Museum at HM&HS, P.O. Box 952, Healdsburg, CA 95448.
– Submitted by Jim Dreisback