Sonoma County cemetery tours re-enact lives of residents long gone

In the cool evening quiet of the Sebastopol Memorial Lawn Cemetery, a crescent moon hovered above in the light fog, the resident cat meowed and ran through gravestones and a group of about 20 people followed a cloaked woman with a flashlight. Denise Eufusia guided them through the dark to a pool of white light where two figures waited as they approached.

Eufusia’s voice trailed off and, on cue, the two women in the spotlight dressed in early 20th century clothing came to life, re-enacting a conversation they might have had if there hadn’t been an ocean separating them. They are the wife and mother of German immigrant Simon “Sam” Nahmens, who came to Sebastopol in 1915 and eventually became a successful farmer. Their spoken words, and the smells and sounds of the cemetery Nahmens is buried in, bring his story to life in a way that written history does not. And, along with eight other vignettes crafted by a group of volunteer writers, the actors’ performances tell a colorful, touching history of Sebastopol.

The tour, named the Barbara Bull Memorial Walk, after its creator, meandered over the uneven ground. People dodged headstones and listened to tales about disillusioned Gold Rushers, like George H. Ayer, who chatted with his friend Samuel Clemens around a campfire one night before abandoning the prospector’s life and starting a farm in Green Valley. And with the sound of a Hubbub Club oboist’s solemn tune, the group walked through the shadows, following a trail of luminaries to the next stop. This time, the story was of a 19-year-old Japanese immigrant who succumbed to tuberculosis at a Bennett Valley sanatorium. His family was one of many who moved here to work in the apple orchards.

Eufusia became involved with the annual walk four years ago, and, since then, has acted in and written multiple vignettes and organized and guided tours.

“I was hooked,” she said. “I loved everything about being out here in the middle of the night. It wasn’t at all creepy.”

Eufusia’s group was the last of four that cycled through the evening - all Santa Rosa residents who make an annual pilgrimage to West County for the walk, which has raised money for the West County Historical Society for the past 14 years. The tours are always on two nights in October and always sell out, with visitors coming from Sonoma County and the Bay Area.

“You can read about history, but when you see it, it’s a whole different thing,” said visitor Larry Wofford.

And the history of a small community - like Sebastopol - can be challenging to track down, but vital to the its culture and fabric.

“It matters because you are part of that community,” said Rae Swanson, one of the original organizers of the walk and granddaughter of two of its central vignette characters. Her family moved to Sebastopol in the 1850s and the scene focuses on her grandparents, Matilda Thomas Williamson, who had her ninth child at ?49 years old, and Frederick Franklin Williamson, who grew fruits and vegetables and was well known for his clairvoyance.

It’s unusual, however, that a living descendant contributes to the cemetery’s lore, said Eufusia. Most stories are gleaned from archival newspapers, death certificates, coroner’s reports, historical books written by local author Evelyn McClure or someone like Brad Davall. He was raised in Southern California and lived in Sebastopol for 17 years without knowing his great-great grandparents had settled here. That discovery, and a natural talent for repairing ancient cemetery monuments, has earned him a reputation as a well respected and reliable town historian.

The walk, which is preceded by a vegetarian meal at St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church and followed by fresh apple crisp at the cottage on Luther Burbank’s Gold Ridge Experiment Farm, has garnered a loyal following of its own, but it was inspired (and mentored) by the Lamplight Tours at the Santa Rosa Rural Cemetery, which started in the mid-1990s and also sell out every year.

“We get a lot of visitors from other cemeteries,” said Bill Montgomery, a retired city employee who coordinates the tours. “Sometimes they copy us, which we don’t mind at all.”

A group of volunteers - who were, in fact, inspired by similar tours in other parts of the country - gather every February to list their ideas for vignettes. Further research and fact-checking is done, scripts are written and lines are rehearsed, culminating in highly produced performances on the third weekend in September, complete with sets, lights, music and period costumes. Each scene involves characters that are either buried in the cemetery or relate to someone who is buried there.

A storyline might follow one of the many veterans who are buried there from the War of 1812, the Spanish American War, the Civil War (Confederate and Union), World War I, World War II or the Korean War. Or, as they did this year on the tour’s 20th anniversary, it might be a chronological retelling of Santa Rosa’s history, complete with cameos from a man selling ice in the 1880s and a hobo in the 1930s. This year, they also featured the first burial in Santa Rosa of Thompson Mize, who drowned in 1854 and caused the city to create the cemetery. They also told the story of Gordon’s Drive-In, the place to go in 1952, and, through a projectionist who is buried there, the California Movie Palace in 1932, a theater that provided some distraction during the Depression.

“We have had eight new ones every year for 20 years,” said Montgomery, “and we have enough stories to last another 50 years.”

These stories are also funneled into other types of tours. Every other year, the “Dark Side” tour emphasizes suicides and unusual ways of dying.

“It sounds a little gruesome, but people love it,” Montgomery said. “But we don’t do ghosts because we don’t have any ghosts that we know of.”

Almost 100 volunteers are involved in the production that raises $12-14,000 per year for the cemetery. It is city property, but it only receives $5,000 a year from Santa Rosa. This money, along with contributions from the “friends” program and other special events, has helped the cemetery supporters rebuild the McDonald Avenue entrance and the Grand Army of the Republic Monument to the Civil War.

As Montgomery explained, the cemetery is not only an important part of the community’s history. It also accepts two or three new burials a year for people who have demonstrable connection to families who are already there.

Similarly, the Sebastopol Memorial Lawn is still an active resting ground for the town’s residents. And, like all cemeteries, both will continue to hold stories of the past for generations to come.