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Lone Fir Cemetery records, 1866-1974

Overview of the Collection

Creator
Lone Fir Cemetery (Portland, Or.)
Title
Lone Fir Cemetery records
Dates
1866-1974 (inclusive)
1866-1935 (bulk)
Quantity
6 cubic feet, (6 document cases, 8 flat boxes, 1 custom box)
Collection Number
Mss 2010
Summary
Records of one of the oldest cemeteries in Portland, Or. Includes articles of incorporation and board meeting minutes of the Lone Fir Cemetery Corporation; lot and block books; and extensive notes and data on deaths, burials, and lot sales, compiled by J. J. Goodwin. Also includes deed to Tideman Johnson plot.
Repository
Oregon Historical Society Research Library
1200 SW Park Avenue
Portland, OR
97205
Telephone: 503-306-5240
Fax: 503-219-2040
libreference@ohs.org
Access Restrictions

The collection is open to the public.

Languages
English
Sponsor
Funding for encoding this finding aid was provided through a grant awarded by the National Endowment for the Humanities.
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Historical Note

Lone Fir Cemetery, the oldest existing cemetery in Portland, Oregon, is situated between SE Morrison Street, Stark Street, 20th Avenue, and 26th Avenue. It began in the 1840s as a single grave on a pioneer land grant. This grave was occupied by Mr. Emmor Stephens, who died in 1846. His son, James B. Stephens, sold the farm in 1854 to Colburn Barrell, a shipbuilder, under the agreement that he would maintain Emmor Stephen’s grave site. Later that year, Mr. Barrell’s partner, Crawford Dobbins, died in a steamship explosion. This tragedy prompted Mr. Barrell to turn 10 acres of the farm into a cemetery which he named Mount Crawford in honor of his deceased partner. The following year, Barrell purchased 10 adjacent acres. Two additional purchases were made in 1865 and 1866, bringing the total area of the cemetery to its present-day size of 30 acres.

Barrell felt that the cemetery belonged under the public’s control and offered to sell it to the City of Portland, but the offer was declined. As a result, Mount Crawford was bought by a private group, including Byron P. Cardwell, Robert Pittock, and Levi Anderson. That year, the new owners of the cemetery opted to change the name to Lone Fir Cemetery because of a solitary tree standing on the site. The new name was devised by Mrs. Amelia Barrell.

In tandem with Portland’s population growth, Lone Fir’s population began to grow as well, and its new inhabitants reflected the diversity of Portland’s residents in the late 1800’s. Grave markers’ inscriptions reveal a various ethnic groups including German, Swedish, and French settlers. Also recorded are a significant number Chinese and Japanese people. Some of the earliest burials were of Oregon governors George Law Curry and William Wallace Thayer, and Portland founders Asa L. Lovejoy and Daniel H. Lownsdale.

By 1928, the cemetery had deteriorated, and the state of Oregon granted the property to Multnomah County. In 1947, the county decided to use the western end of the cemetery as the site of a new County building, and 265 graves were subsequently exhumed. Multnomah County relinquished control of the cemetery to the Metropolitan Services District (Metro), but maintained possession of the adjacent County building. This building was closed in 2002 and plans were made to sell the site. But in 2004 human remains were discovered under a parking lot, and it was thought that these were Chinese burials which had gone unrecorded.

The following information was provided by J. J. Goodwin to the Oregon Historical Society on May 20, 1953: the Portland Bureau of Health was established in 1881, and has no records previous to that time. When Multnomah County took over Lone Fir Cemetery in 1928, the sexton's records were turned over to the County Clerk. But such records as were kept by the first sexton, Pat Kiernan, 1866-1881, were kept in the family, and held by his daughter, Mrs. Cason; these are now scattered or destroyed. Records of the second sexton, Albert Johnson, 1881-1886, were also kept in his family. The city firemen's association probably has complete records of their burials in Lone Fir. The Masons should also have a record. There are about 23,000 recorded burials in Lone Fir, and 30 acres. All graves are numbered from the north end. "H" indicates half grave (baby).

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Content Description

The collection consists of two distinct sets of records: the notes, data and transcriptions compiled by J. J. Goodwin, probably in the 1930s and 1940s; and original records of Lone Fir Cemetery itself, dating from 1866 to 1935. Also included are a few items from other sources, such as a brochure and a deed to a family plot.

The bulk of the collection consists of J. J. Goodwin's drawings and notations on cemetery plats, and records of burials, deaths, and removals. The cemetery plats are both photostats and line drawings, as well as a large series of 67 notebooks. The notebooks include random notes about particular grave sites, such as details about the deceased, age, sex, cause of death, etc.

Also among the Goodwin materials are records of deaths, burials, and removals taken from a variety of sources that include: sextons records, surface records (grave markers), the Health Bureau, the Count Clerk’s Office, and various newspapers. Not all the people mentioned in these records were buried in Lone Fir Cemetery. Of note are two notebooks (Goodwin vols. 61 and 62) containing lists of Japanese burials, and a list of soldier burials, probably from the Civil War.

The second series contains 11 volumes of original records of Lone Fir Cemetery itself. These records were maintained by Multnomah County and given to the Oregon Historical Society in 1982, many years after the Goodwin materials were acquired. Included in the Lone Fir records are the articles of incorporation and minutes of meetings of the board of directors, as well as lot and block sale books. Volume 3 of this series includes some names of Chinese burials.

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Use of the Collection

Restrictions on Use

The Oregon Historical Society is the owner of the materials in the Research Library and makes available reproductions for research, publication, and other uses. Written permission must be obtained from the Research Library prior to any use of reproductions. The Society does not necessarily hold copyright to all the materials in the collections. In some cases, permission for use of reproductions may require seeking additional authorization from the copyright holders.

Preferred Citation

Lone Fir Cemetery records, Mss 2010, Oregon Historical Society Research Library

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Administrative Information

Arrangement

The collection is arranged in three series:

  • Series 1: General records, 1866-1974
  • Series 2: Records compiled by J. J. Goodwin, undated
  • Series 3: Original records from Lone Fir Cemetery, 1866-1935

Related Materials

For logs of Chinese removals, see records of the Chinese Benevolent Association of Portland, Oregon.

Acquisition Information

J. J. Goodwin records: gift of Spencer Hinsdale, 1952.

Original records from Lone Fir Cemetery: gift of Multnomah County Records Management Division, 1982.

Deed to Tideman Johnson plot: gift of Jean Johnson, 1990 Apr., Library Accession 19851.

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Detailed Description of the Collection

The following section contains a detailed listing of the materials in the collection.

Names and SubjectsReturn to Top

Subject Terms

  • Cemeteries—Oregon—Portland
  • Registers of births, etc.—Oregon—Portland

Personal Names

  • Goodwin, J. J. (creator)

Corporate Names

  • Lone Fir Cemetery (Portland, Or.)

Geographical Names

  • Multnomah County (Or.)—Genealogy
  • Multnomah County (Or.)—History
  • Portland (Or.)—Genealogy
  • Portland (Or.)—History

Form or Genre Terms

  • Death records

Finding aid prepared by Geoffrey B. Wexler and Brandon Misok
2005

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