Petrolia is a tiny town that’s nestled along Mattole Road in the middle-of-nowhere of California’s Lost Coast. There are a handful of historic cemeteries along the way and I’m so glad it’s this one that we made time to visit.

We parked at the Petrolia Post Office and walked the road to the entrance gate which was pretty clearly marked.

“California’s first drilled oil wells producing crude to be refined and sold commercially were located on the North Fork of the Mattole River approximately three miles east of here…” Historical Landmark #543 placed here in November 1955. It dawned on me later that this is why the town is called PETROL-ia.

The Petrolia Pioneer Cemetery was built in November 1857 – the first burial was of an infant.

It’s a quarter of a mile walk down an old road which eventually become surrounded by berry bushes, and then to the junction where you can access the cemetery up a hill on the left or find the building below on the right.

The gate is locked to keep cows out, so be diligent to re-chain and lock it once you’ve gone through. Don’t save it to do on the way back because you feel like no one else is out there.

At the second gate which leads into the actual cemetery, there’s a black mailbox full of laminated pages that tell you all about the residents buried there. It’s obvious that so much work went into this and we truly appreciated it. I took a bunch of photos of the pages, but I wish I would have realized how little info there is online about this before we went because I could have done way more to immortalize all of this.

I couldn’t believe the amount of detail that went into some of these memorials. Look at that fence.

There are so many children buried here. If you take time to notice the details of their birth and death dates, last names and how they’re related to each other, etc, you can start to imagine their lives and how much sadness some of them must have experienced.

We always take special care to never walk where the actual caskets are probably buried. Is it just me? I just feel rude to walk right in front of their gave stones, I feel like I’m walking on top of them.

I remember hearing that people don’t truly die until their name is said for the last time, so when I’m walking through I try to say hi to as many as I can by name. It’s like, when do you think the last time they heard that was?

The town takes awesome care of this place and it’s so apparent and appreciated. I hope someone’s taking care of my gravesite 155+ years after I’m put in there, you know?

On our way out, we stopped to read the resident’s stories in depth. Before writing this post, I hadn’t looked online for information about this place. I originally found it on Google Maps while zooming in and out on Mattole Road while planning this trip and thought it would be a cool pit stop. And that it was.

I didn’t think I’d end up transcribing everything these pages said (at least the parts I took photos of) but I’m so tempted now that I can’t find it anywhere else… so I hope you don’t mind as I indulge in that. Like, what if that packet inside of the mailbox got taken? I hope the Mattole Valley Historical Society is still active and keeps a copy somewhere but who knows.

It reads that they originally placed this in 2011, then updated it in 2022.

Photo #1.

“Welcome to the Petrolia Pioneer Cemetery

What you hold in your hands is an introduction to the identities of the people interred here. It is not intended to be a thorough genealogical resource, but an overview and introduction to the historical community that in large part lies buried on this little hill.

Fire has destroyed many of the original markers; others, through vandalism, earthquakes, and other ravages of time, have disappeared into the soil. There are 143 marked graves here. Not all hold bodies; some, especially more recent markers, are for burials of ash urns. However, at least 40 more people of pioneer families are known to be (through newspaper reports and family stories), or strongly suspected of, resting here. Therefore, this list contains 183 names of pioneers buried within the fence. If you see an asterisk before a name, you will not find a stone for that person; he or she is assumed to be in one of the unmarked graves. A question mark indicates that a burial is doubtful, but the info remains as relevant.

In addition to those listed in the cemetery proper, there are several Mattole Natives said to be buried on the south slope, outside the enclosure. The only one whose name is known with relative certainty is Isaac Duncan. His makes 184 burials, total, though there are likely more.

Our Pioneer Cemetery has traditionally allowed burial only of the original pioneers (evidently, the community has been half-committed to accepting original Native inhabitants as “pioneers”) and their immediate families or direct descendants. Patty Mendes represents the Petrolia Cemetery District; here is an excerpt from her report on its history:

The Petrolia Cemetery District covers 172 square miles in the southwest portion of Humboldt County. In 1955 the residents of the area voted to petition the Board of Supervisors to form the district, which was established on Sept. 26, 1955.

The earliest known marked site of a grave in the cemetery is 1857. In the 1950’s a fire destroyed most of the early wooden markers. The district board has remapped and documented the cemetery to the best of their ability and now has made available the burial of ashes of direct descendants of those families owning known plots.

For several years the district board has tried to find land to establish a new cemetery for the residents of our area. When the board realized that at some point two cemeteries would be in the district, they renamed the existing cemetery The Petrolia Pioneer Cemetery.

In 2003 and 2004 the board found and began purchasing a site located on the table to the north of Petrolia, next to the big Eucalyptus trees. The new cemetery site has been named The Petrolia Table Cemetery.

The newer cemetery is about two miles northwest of the Petrolia Square, alongside the county road on the flat. Its western fence intersects the world’s largest blue gum eucalyptus.

Tody Cook, gt-gt granddaughter of Charles Sage and Ann Elizabeth Walker Cook, has been maintaining the grounds at the Pioneer Cemetery. Please help by respecting the stones (many small shards are lying on the ground, carefully placed near their original positions), and by taking any trash with you when you leave. Also, respect any posted hours and/or locked gates; the land is private property, not owned by the Cemetery District.

How to read the entries: note that the boldface introductory lines usually, but not always, say part of what’s actually inscribed on the stone (excluding the poetic epitaphs), with the addition [in brackets] of the full name for which an initial stands, of a woman’s maiden name, or of a nickname. In the non-bold paragraph that follows, you will find more specific information as to dates, places of birth, some family members, occupations, etc. If a woman has a surname other than that listed on the stone, the first one following her given name(s) is her maiden name, and any others are from various marriages, as noted.

On the last page of print text, find a list of sources for this information. For a more thorough accounting of where specific facts were found; for a list of other local cemeteries where your ancestors might be buried; for a copy of this booklet; or to add information or corrections, please contact:

Mattole Valley Historical Society
P.O. Box 144, Petrolia, CA 95558
mattolehistory@frontiernet.net
http://www.mattolehistory.wordpress.com
707-601-7300

(We are also on Facebook. Just search by our name)

~Laura Cooskey, November 2011 & March 2022″

Photo #2.

Children of Lucy Wright and Elias Hunter: Ellis, Claude (back), William, Rose (Dot), Clara, Irma, Austin (back), James, mother Lucy in front.
Charles A. Roberts

• Children of Lucy Wright and Elias Hunter: Ellis, Claude (back), William, Rose (Dot), Clara, Irma, Austin (back), James, mother Lucy in front.
• Charles A. Roberts
• Children of Lucy Ann and Lucian Wright: Tiny (Lestina), Susie, Lucian M., Rosie, and Lucy
• Georgina Mackey
• Viola Wright (not buried here) and friend Hattie Hansen (Mrs. George A.) Titus
• Lucy Salome Wright and Elias Sanders Hunter’s wedding photos

Photo #3.

MINER, Margret M. [Hultz)- 1852-1911 Margaret Matilda Hultz, b. 9/??/1852, IA, d. 6/171911, age 58, of cancer. Wife of Henry Allen Miner: Lived in New Jerusalem at the Waterfall Ranch with her large family.
MOORE, Charles Francis – 1875-1896 Son of Joseph and Martha Moore. 4/07/1875-7/23/1896. Nothing else is known of this man and his family.
MOORE, Elizabeth Last name surmised by location next to Charles F. Moore.

O’LEARY, Patrick- age 62, 1910 b. 1/07/1850, Ireland, d. 5/03/1911, age 60 yrs, 8 mos. Died of hardening of the arteries. Husband of Margaret Jackson. Brother of Honorah Mackey and Comelius O’Leary. The village blacksmith. Patriarch, father of most of the Petrolia O’Leary’s (see Margaret’s entry, below).
O’LEARY, Arthur- age 54, 1926 “Art.” Born 1872, son of Patrick and Margaret O’Leary. A blacksmith like his father.
*O’LEARY, Charles- 1879/80- 1902 Died 3/09/1902, age 12, of tonsillitis. Son of Patrick O’Leary, brother of Patrick, Henry, and Margaret O’Leary (Daisy Cook), et. al.
*O’LEARY, Daughter of Patrick- 1888- April 1889. Age about 1 year. Died of whooping cough.
*O’LEARY, Cornelius- b. Ireland, 1854, d. 1/16/1895, Westport, CA, of dropsy. Son of Dennis and Julia (Sullivan) O’Leary. Brother of Patrick O’Leary and Honorah O’ Leary (Mrs. John A.) Mackey.
*O’LEARY, James Jackson 1886-1899 Died in Petrolia, April 4, 1899, age 13, after being thrown from horse while jumping over a log, then hitting his head on a rock, on April Fools’ Day.
… Patrick [Margaret Jackson]- age 83… Margaret bore at least 11… (born at the coast on Cooskie… Mrs. Wm. Reynolds), Margaret (Daisy… Mrs. George Cook, mother of Jim Cook), Lena, Henry (Hen. O’Leary, also a blacksmith), Frank, James (died at 13, see entry a above), Loretta (died as one year-old in 1889 od at 5, see entry above), Loretta (died as one-year-old in 1889, of whooping cough), Charles (died at age 12), Blanche, and Harold.
*PATRICK, Esther- 1900-4/20/1901, age 10 mos., of tubercular meningitis. Daughter of Elizabeth Patrick (daughter of George M.G. Titus) and John Patrick.
*PERSONS, Frank- 1875-1896, d. age 21, drowned in quicksand.
*PETERS, William- 1856-4/04/1896. Age 40. Killed when stage upset. Stage Driver.
RACKLIFF, Raymond Laverne- 1912-1913 “Son of Clark and Minnie Rackliff” Bom 12/27/1912, died 4/27/1933 of meningitis. Brother of Audrey, Frankie, Mary (Mrs, Edward Etter), and Robert Rackliff,
RENERO, Absalm R.- age 2, 1870 Born 1868, died 10/11/1870, age 2 years, 20 days. Son of Sarah Shinn and David K. Renfro.

ROBERTS, Charles A.- 1863-1914 Born 8/02… died 11/24/1914 in wreck of Hanalei off Duxbury north of San Francisco. His son Harry died in same accident. Son of William and Elizabeth Roberts.
ROBERTS, Dora- age 8, 1874 (last name misspelled on stone) b. 1866, d. 1/16/1874, daughter of William and Elizabeth Roberts. Shares stone with brother who died the same week, also of Scarlet Fever.
ROBERTS, Elizabeth E[lmina] [Dukes]- 1904-1985 “Liz.” Born Eureka, CA, 12/10/1904, died 1/05/1985. Wife of Lloyd Roberts. Mother of Doug East and Becky East Enberg, Al (Darky) and Katherine Lockwood.
ROBERTS, Harriet-1869-1936 b. Des Moines, IA, 2/28/1869, d. 10/26/1936. Wife of Charles A. Roberts, niece of Theodore Aldrich.
ROBERTS, Harry- 1901-1914 Died 11/24/1914 in wreck of Hanalei with his father, Charles A. Roberts.
ROBERTS, Lloyd William- Born 7/15/1906, died 5/01/1996 in Kelso, WA. Son of Charles A. and Harriet A. Roberts. The Flowering Dogwood tree at his grave was planted in appreciation of all his work on the cemetery. His brother and nephew (Don and Mac) died by drowning, in a Mattole River father-and-son accident; likewise his and Don’s third brother, Harry, and father, Charles, died by drowning, in the shipwreck.
ROBERTS, Theodore- age 4, 1874 (spelled Robberts on gravestone). Died 1/10/1874, age 4 years, 3 mos., 24 days. Son of William and Elizabeth Roberts. Died of Scarlet Fever six days before sister Dora succumbed.
*ROBERTS, William G. b. IN 1830, d. 11/10/1906 of Bright’s Disease. Married Elizabeth C. Lambert, dau. of Thomas Lambert, in 1867. Stockman. Killed Mattole warrior Snaggletooth in Squaw Creek massacre. Partner of Theodore Aldrich.

RUDOLPH, J. C.- 1788-1870 John Caspar Rudolph, born 8/16/1788 on the Rhine in Austria, died 12/15/1870. Husband of Mary Hamlin. Father of John Rudolph the Petrolia grocer, Morgan Rudolph, and Thomas Rudolph, et. al.
RUDOLPH, J. L.- 1851-1918. Mystery man. There is a John Lincoln “Line” Rudolph, son of Morgan and Rebecca Rudolph, born 1861, but that’s the closest guess possible with current information.
RUDOLPH, Mary- 1786-1870 Mary Hamlin Rudolph. b. 4/13/1786, d. 8/12/1870. Wife of John C. Rudolph. Earliest-born person in the Petrolia Cemetery.
*RUDOLPH, Thomas- b. MD 1831, d. 3/02/1896 of heart disease, Husband of Martha Coy. Brother of John and Morgan Rudolph. Father of William H. Rudolph of Upper Mattole, who was husband of Caroline Langdon. Like his brother the Rev. Morgan Rudolph, he was a noted believer in the doctrines of the United Brethren Church, active in the Mattole Valley in the early days of white settlement.

Photo #4

RUNION, Mary- 1818-1889 Also spelled Runyon. Mary Dowling, b. NY, 5/24/1818, d. 2/16/1889, age 70 years, 9 mos. Wife of Samuel Runion, mother of Clara Runyon (Mrs. Richard C.) Johnston and Mrs. Thomas Reed.
*SHERMAN, S.H.– b. NH 1839, d. Feb. 1907. Served in Civil War, died during drinking spree. Fence builder, sheep shearer. “He probably built more picket fences in the Mattole Valley than any other man.” -W. Roscoe
*SHINN, Restore Elliston [Jr.]– b. 1/24/1874, died 6/16/1913, from liver trouble, in Frank, CA. Husband of Eva McKee, later Mrs. Fred F. Fearrien. Bro. of Vernile.
SHINN, Vernile- 1872-1930 Vernile Delonzo Shinn, bom 6/18/1872, died 4/06/1930. Husband of Mary Louise Etter (dau. of Emil J. Etter). Son of Dallas T. and Belinda Johnston Shinn. Father of Anne Belinda (Mrs. Paul) Smith, Margaret “Happy,” Evelyn, Mary “Minnie,” Alice, and “Bob” Vernon Shinn. Rancher at Upper Mattole.
SIMMONS, Clara A.- age 15, 1880 Died 9/29/1880.
SIMMONS, Orson S.- age 12, 1880 Died 9/29/1880.
Likely that siblings Orson and Clara were victims of Scarlet Fever. Children of David Simmons, a laborer and farmer from Michigan, and his wife, Martha Jamison, from lowa. Ann (an older sister), and younger siblings Frank, Mary, and Walter, survived Clara and Orson, and another son, Jesse, was born in 1882. Mary’s twin died at birth, at the Minor Langdon Mill near Petrolia, 4/21/1876.
SMITH, William- 1825-1890 William D[ayton] Smith, b. NY, July 1824, d. 6/04/1890, age 65 yrs, 10 mos., 23 days, of cancer. Husband of Mary Ellen Johnston (dau. of Charles S.B. and Catherine Johnston), father of Alice May Smith (Mrs. Lucian) Wright. Rancher.
*STEVENS, Elizabeth- b. Smith Falls, Canada, 1833, d. 12/21/1888, age 55 years, 9 mos., 13 days, of cancer.
(STOCKTON), Isaac Warren- age 11, 1883 “Son of A. & J. Stockton” Looks like Warren is surname on stone. Born 1873, d. 3/13/1883, age 11 years, 11 mos., in a plowing accident, at the residence of Charles S. Cook, Petrolia.

TITUS, Hattie M[yrtle] [Hansen]- 1896-1978 b. Bear River, 12/06/1896, d, 12/14/1978, Married to George A. Titus (1883-1944), Mother of Phyllis (Mrs. Charles) Branstetter, Gene Titus, and Sibly Bernice Titus (Mrs, Boots, later Mrs. Joe Giacopazzi).
*WILLJAMS, Infant Son- of Mr. H. and Mrs. Elizabeth Holman Williams, b. Dec., 1897, d. 1/07/1898, age 21 days, of acute gastritis.
*WILKES, Coleman- b, KY, 1827, d. 9/15/1890 or 91 of hepatitis, Rancher.
WOODFORD, Marilla- 1826-1899 Age 73. Fannie Marilla Farnsworth Bell; b, NY 1826, d. 9/26/1899. Dau. of Salome Lyons and Zachens Farnsworth. Came out after family was settled, missing the 1859 wagon train which brought four of her siblings.

*WRIGHT, Amy- b. 1890, d. 11/12/1897, age 7 years 9 days. Dau, of Lucian Merritt and Alice M. Wright. Listed also as unnamed “Daughter” in death record of that month stating diphtheria as cause of death.
WRIGHT, baby girl- 1955 Jane Wright, b. 6/29/1955, d. June, 1955.
WRIGHT, baby girl- 1955 Mary Wright, b. 6/29/1955, d. June, 1955. These twin girls were the children of Hayden and Audrey Wright (Hayden was a son of Otto Lucian Wright, and grandson of Lucian and Alice Wright).
*WRIGHT, Chester- 1886-1901. Son of Marshall and Martha Wright. Died 04/10/1901 of tonsillitis, age 14.
WRIGHT, Clarence Duane- “Curly” 2/10/1916-1/03/2003. Husband of Evelyn Sumerlin. Son of C.E. “Jack” Wright and Susan Vivian Titus; grandson of Marshall Wright and Martha Rudolph. Father of Linda, Nancy, Carol, and Jackee.
WRIGHT, Hiram- age 2, 1880 Died 10/08/1880, age 2 years, 10 mos., 23 days. Son of Marshall and Martha Wright. See entry for Hiram’s cousin, Almon O. Duff.
WRIGHT, Lestina – 1867-1931 “Tiny” b. 7/30/1867, d. 8/07/1931. Single. A woman of service. It was at her home that her uncle Fred Farnsworth died. Later lived with mother Lucy Ann, then with elder sister Lucy S. Wright Hunter.

WRIGHT, Lucian- 1813-1886 Born Quebec, died Petrolia 12/24/1886. Husband of Lucy Ann Farnsworth, father of Lucy Hunter, Rosa Johnson, Mary Whipple, Susan Duff, Lestina Wright, Marshall and Lucian M. Wright. Came to California in 1849, returned home to Wisconsin, and came back here with his wife, children, and a family of Farnsworth in-laws by wagon train. Arrived Mattole 1860 after settling briefly in Hydesville.

Pioneers Lucian M. and Lucy Ann Wright

Photo #5

WRIGHT, Lucian M/erritt][Jr.)- 1854-1943 b. WI 6/26/1854, d. 5/04/1943. Son of Lucian and Lucy Ann Farnworth Wright. Married to Alice May Smith, dau, of Wm. Smith & Mary Ellen Johnston. Father of twelve children: Georgia M., Ellen, Otto L., Katy Alice, Amy, Addie S. (Mrs. Vredenburgh), Anna V., Lola, Hazel, Viola, Dayton H., and Mildred. Member of Wright-Farnsworth wagon trip from Wisconsin to Calif.
WRIGHT, Lucy A[nn]- 1822-1913 Bom NY, died 10/03/1913 at 90 yrs, 11 mos., 28 days. Married at Lake Geneva, WI, to Lucian Wright. Dau, of Zachens and Salome Lyon Famsworth. Mother of seven (see entry for Lucian Wright, Sr.).
*WRIGHT, Marshall, 1844-1914 b. WI 6/01/1844, d. 1/31/1914, age 69. As a child of Lucian and Lucy Ann Wright, he crossed the continent on foot, horseback, and wagon in 1859. Husband of Martha Rudolph. Father of Morgan (Tan or Bogus), Hiram, F. Frank (died when smoke stack fell on him at an oil-drilling derrick), Charles E. (Jack), Martha (Mrs. Ellis) Hunter, Addie B. (Mrs. Otto) Clark, Chester, Minnie (Mrs. Chas. “Clark”) Rackliff, and Mortimer (Morty) Wright.
WRIGHT, [Marshall] Morgan- Known as Morgan, Tan, Bogus, or Bogue; b. CA.03/19/1877, d. 03/15/1931 of heart failure, at Byron Hicks’ place. Single.
WRIGHT, Martha Ann (Rudolph]- b. Marion Co., OR, 6/23/1853, d. 3/07/1920, Wife of Marshall Wright. Child of Morgan and Rebecca (Donaca] Rudolph. Mother of at least nine (see list of Marshall’s children above).

Martha Rudolph Wright, with granddaughter Mayme Hunter Cook, who was a daughter of Martha Wright and Ellis Hunter

CENOTAPHS (memorial stones) recently added:

CLARK, Charles 1896, 76 years, Native of England. Father of William M. Clark and of Mary Jane Clark Rackiff, the first white child bom in the Mattole Valley.
CLARK, Dora Belle, 1864-1933 Wife of William M. Clark, dau. of Thomas Hunter and Emily Bowman. She was always called “Dora Belle.” She went blind late in her life.
CLARK, William M. 1862-1949 Husband of Dora Belle (Hunter) Clark.
CLARK CHILDREN- Offspring of William and Dora: Otto, Lila, Norine, Iris, Charles (Smoke), Thomas Knowles, Mabel, and Creta.

HUNTER, William Dean- 10/18/1927-8/17/1995. Known as Dean Hunter. Husband of Beverly Backlund. Son of Claude and Ruth (Robinson) Hunter; brother of Donell Hunter McCanless. His ashes are up on the south side of Cookie Mountain, where he lived for years.

NATIVE BURIALS on south slope of hill (unmarked locations):

*DUNCAN, Isaac- Early 1870s – 2/02/1948. “Ike” Duncan (Na-sol-she) was the son of Joe Duncan, who had been raised in the Mattole Valley before the arrival of the whites. Both men cooperated with the linguists &t anthropologists who visited the Valley in the 1920s-‘ 40s.
*?HARRIS, Jack, 1858-1904, age 45. Jack was the adopted son of Alfred Harris and brother of Ellen, the Native woman married to Alfred. Died March 12, 1904, in attempting to save the Hadley girls from drowning; all three died. He was said to have enjoyed the honor of being buried as a hero, “in white man’s clothing.”
*UNKNOWNS. There are probably several Natives buried here. Gypsy Evenden remembered being at a Native burial on this hillside, and they threw in the…

Photo #6

ADAMS, Helen Maude-1905-1916 Drowned at Roberts’ Hole in the Mattole River, 7/10/1916; Charles Gilbert (buried next to her) died trying to save her. Daughter of Frank Adams and Addie Burgess; granddaughter of S.S. and Annie Brown Adams.
ADAMS, S.S. [Samuel Sylvester] – 1829-1914 Husband of Annie Brown, who was daughter and personal secretary of abolitionist John Brown. Samuel was of the presidential Adams line. Sam and Annie were great-grandparents of Gypsy Adams Evenden and Roger Brown. They lived on the river below and south of Shenanigan, where Sam plied his blacksmith trade.

ALDRICH, Theodore- 1829-1911 Born OH 3/03/1829, died 12/26/1911 of heart disease. Owned lots of land out in the Cookie Range with his partner, Wm. Roberts. A perpetrator of Squaw Creek massacre, killing twin Native babies by smashing their heads against a tree, an act that seemed to haunt him later in life.

“None of the early settlers took a more active part in the Indian wars than did he. He frequently quoted the saying, There are no good Indians except dead ones.’ In expressing his regard for an Indian baby, he would say, ‘Nits make lice.’ Perhaps no white settler in the valley was as bitterly hated by the Indians as was Theodore Aldrich.”—W.W. Roscoe, A History of the Mattole Valley

*BEATTY, (Mrs.) Frankie L. [Rackliff] – 1915-1998 b. 3/25/1915, d. 5/17/1998. Married Walter Beatty in 1946. Dau. of Minnie Wright and Charles Clark Rackliff.
BENTON, Joel- 1901- age 77 years, 10 mos., 10 days. Born VT, 1823, came to Mattole 1857, died 5/01/190L Husband of Anna Goff (Davis, Harbin). Lived at what’s now (2011) the Triple R Ranch on Lighthouse Rd.
BIGOT, Prosper- age 77, 1901 “Native of France” Born 1824. Lived and owned property on what’s now Prosper Ridge.
BOOTS, Edith May- 1888 Born 7/29/1888, died 8/6/1888, age 7 days. Daughter of Martin and Flora Hadley Boots.
*BOOTS, Martin- b. MO 1/30/1840, d. 1/02/1920, age nearly 80, of heart disease. Son of Elijah Boots, part of a large family of Southern pioneers who came here via Washington State. While the main Boots ranch was on the north side of the river just downstream of Roscoe territory in Upper Mattole, Martin Boots’ place was the ranch later run by Claude & Ruth Hunter, at the end of Chambers Rd, with a big old white house in good repair.
*BOOTS, Walter L.- Born CA 1895, died 5/4/1934. Divorced. Son of Martin Boots. Suicide, shot self after shooting Addie Reynolds… unrequited love.
*BROWN, Isaac- Born NY 1826, died 12/02/1897 at 71. Blacksmith, saloon keeper, Justice of the Peace.
*BROWN, Mrs. Mary A. [“Dolly”|- Born MD 1825, died 5/26/1898 of TB. Wife of Isaac Brown. Writer.
BUTLER, Asa- 1825-1914 Born ME 10/07/1825, died 11/13/1914. Married to Rosina Farnsworth, a sister of Lucy Ann (Mrs. Lucian) Wright. Pioneer of 1859 Wright-Farnsworth wagon train. Indian fighter, Company “A” First Battalion, Cal. Volunteers.
BUTLER, Rosina- 1830-1902 b. NY 10/12/1830, d. 10/12/1902, age exactly 72 years. Married to Asa Butler. Daughter of Zachens and Salome Lyons Farnsworth. Pioneer of 1859 Wright-Farnsworth wagon train.
*CADY, George Hickox “Jack” – b. 1843 Pike Co., MO, d. 1886. Married to Eliza Anne Hunter, who was later Mrs. Watson. Father of Malcolm, George, Erwin, Roy, and Mertia Cady.
*CADY, Mrs. Alice G. Cook Hunter- 1858-1933. Daughter of pioneers Isaac Cook and Emily Jane Carpenter. Wife of Paschal Hunter (III), m. 1875, ending in divorce. In 1897 became wife of Malcolm Cady. Came to Humboldt Co. from NY at the age of 8 with her parents, crossing the Isthmus of Panama between steamship legs.
*CALKINS, Joseph Arnold- “Arnold.” Born NY 1831, died 1908 at age 76, of old age. A cooper (barrel & butter keg maker). Bro. of Hannah Calkins; they lived on Squaw Creek. Known as a great teller of tall tales.
*CARLISLE, Harry- Born MA 1851, died 1908 of heart failure. Carpenter.
CHAMBERS, Emily [Cuthbert] – 1857-1903 Born Ireland, died in San Francisco. Wife of John Chambers. Once boarded with the Conklin family as their music teacher (Margaret was her sister-in-law). Said to have missed her refined life enough that she spent much time in the City.
CHAMBERS, John- 1833-1910 Born in Ulster, North Ireland. Died of kidney disease. Married to Emily Cuthbert, Father of Irving Chambers, grandfather of Lois Gillespie and Dorothy, Johnny, and Russell Chambers. Rancher.
CHISM, Amelia [Hewitt Goodman]- age 62, 1882 b. Taunton, MA, c. 1820-2, d. Petrolia 7/10/1882. Amelia Hewitt was married first to John F. Goodman of Ireland, and had eight children by him. When he passed away of TB in 1862, she married the recently-widowed Seth P. Chism (his wife also taken by TB), a native of Maine who had been a County Supervisor from Hydesville. By 1880 he had adopted her youngest, Anna Chism, and himself passed away Nov. 29 of that year.

Mattole Valley Historical Society:
www.mattolehistory.wordpress.com

More about the Petrolia Pioneer Cemetery:
https://www.findagrave.com/cemetery/2334338/petrolia-pioneer-cemetery

More about Petrolia, California:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Petrolia,_California

More about the King Range National Conservation Area:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/King_Range_(California)