PACHECO
CEMETERY
Pacheco, Contra
Costa County, California
Californian's
To Lose Yet Another
Historic Public Cemetery?
California Saving
Graves (CSG) maintains that the public (citizens of the town of Pacheco and
vicinity) acquired legal title to the Pacheco Cemetery which they used from as
early as 1861. (It
is known to have been used prior to that time, but the earliest dated tombstone
extant bears the year 1862.)
We maintain that no deed purporting to transfer any legal interest in this
cemetery is valid as against the title the public acquired as a result of their
use of the cemetery from 1862 to 1900.
The case for the public
title to this cemetery is laid out in our Case
Presentation.
From this page you will be able to access several documents that speak to the public's use of the cemetery. These are:
1. Our report titled "An Historical Perspective" giving the history of the town of Pacheco and the Pacheco Cemetery.
2. A copy of the Attorney General's letter to Senator Tom Torlakson concluding the public acquired legal title to the Pacheco Cemetery prior to 1900; and addressing other questions submitted to the Attorney General by Senator Torlakson.
3. A discussion of the efforts of the Friends of Pacheco Cemetery (FPC) to persuade and convince the board of supervisors of Contra Costa County of the public's title and their numerous requests asking the supervisors to claim that title on behalf of the public.
4. Newspaper accounts of the condition of the Pacheco Cemetery under private "ownership." (Upload scheduled to begin April 16, and continue until complete.)
5. Photographs of the cemetery from the 1950s and as it appeared at the time the FPC began it's campaign to reclaim the cemetery for the public. (Continuing under construction.)
6. 1893 Contra Costa County Tax Assessor's Roll showing description property of Patrick Tormey as bounded by "the Pacheco Cemetery." Eight years earlier, Thos. P. Tormey was assessed for the same property in 1885. In that year it was simply referred to as "Cemetery."
CSG condemns the board of supervisors of Contra Costa County for the board's failure to act on behalf of the public trust and for allowing this historic public cemetery to remain in private hands, all to the detriment of the cemetery and the families with loved ones buried there.
Please join us in sending a message to the board that Californian's expect their elected public officials to act on behalf of all of the public, including those persons who built our state, counties and communities from the ground up and now rest in that same ground.
Send an email, fax, or letter to the supervisors, telling them they are to blame for this continuing loss of one of California's historic public cemeteries. Please include your name and mailing address so they will see how far this news is spreading.
Please Email, fax or write to:
Supervisor
Gayle Uilkema , District 2
c/o Lauri
Byers, Executive Assistant
651 Pine St., Room 108A
Martinez, CA 94553
Phone: (925) 335-1046 Fax: (925) 335-1076
Supervisor
Mark DeSaulinier, District 4
c/o Marilyn
Smith, Executive Assistant
2425 Bisso Ln, Ste 110
Concord, CA 94959
Phone: (925) 646-5763 Fax: (925) 646-5767
(Pacheco Cemetery is in
Supervisor Uilkema's district, but a part of the Town of Pacheco in is
Supervisor DeSaulinier's district.)
CSG thanks you for your
interest in helping to preserve and protect our state's historic
cemeteries. We believe if we all work together we will be able to provide
a collective voice for all the dead who rest in these invaluable hallowed
grounds, including our own ancestors. Their voices can no longer be heard.
Be a voice for the voiceless of your county. Without you, they're fate is left to uncertainty.
THANK YOU!
Endangered Report - Pacheco Cemetery
Hall
of Shame
(Under Construction)
Historical
Perspective
(Please be patient;
this takes some time to open.
Attorney
General's Opinion Letter
Newspaper
Articles
(Under Construction)
Photographs
(Continuing Under
Construction)
1893 Contra Costa County Tax Assessor's Roll
1885 Contra Costa County Tax Assessor's Roll