Top 10 Bizarre Disinterments
Listverse has a great compilation of top bizarre exhumations of famous people that is quite an interesting read.
My personal favorite is the story about Virginia Poe’s burial. She spent some time under a Poe biographer’s bed for several years before being reunited with her husband. Edgar Allan Poe’s remains also suffered from a not-so-peaceful interment, starting with a grave marker simply engraved “No. 80″ and ending up with a monument honoring him elsewhere. Wikipedia has more details.
Hi, I just found this site and see that you were in the old Placerville cemetery, and that you had written down names. Did you happen to write down a John Arnold b:1795 d: 1851??? This is my ggg grandfather and what I know is he went to the California gold rush and he was in the Placerville, Ca. 1850 census, and sometime after he arrived in 1850, he befame ill and died (probably Jan. or Feb. of 1851, not sure though). I have been searching everywhere for where he might be buried, and thought perhaps maybe he could be buried there. Just a chance that maybe he may be there. Could you let me know if his name may be one you had written down? I am doing genealogy of the Arnold side, and he is one that I cannot find his burial place. Thanks so much for reading this.
Barb Williams
Kansas
Hi Barb,
Sorry for the delay in getting back to you. I searched all my notes and photos from the Placerville Old City Cemetery as well as the Placerville Union Cemetery, and I can’t find a John Arnold. That doesn’t mean he’s not there – the Old City Cemetery has a lot of unreadable stones as well as unmarked graves. I also checked the burial index of the Sacramento Old City Cemetery and my notes and photos from the Clarksville Cemetery. No luck. You might try the El Dorado County Historical Society.
It’s unfortunate, but many people who came here for the gold rush died and were buried in unmarked graves. This really was the “Wild West.” Good luck in your search. I hope you find your ancestor.