Tuolumne City Memorial Museum

Carters Cemetery Tour

Tuolumne, California

October 21, 2006

The Tuolumne City Memorial Museum has scheduled a field trip program to Carters Cemetery in Tuolumne on Saturday Morning, October 21, 2006, promptly at 10:00 AM.

The approximately one-hour tour will be conducted by TCMM Museum Volunteer Joyce Crawford. Joyce has extensively researched Carters Cemetery and has volumes of information relating to most of the burials in the pioneer cemetery.

In May, 1856, one of the first burials was that of Cherokee Indian James Ham, who was buried in what was then called Summersville Cemetery.

In 1860, the first child buried in Summersville Cemetery was Silas Gibbs, the eight-day old infant son of William Dulaney and Mary Frances (Summers) Gibbs. Baby Silas Gibbs was laid to rest as his mother Mary watched the father and other members of the family carry the little body up the hill. When they reached, what she thought was the nicest spot, she waved her handkerchief from a window and the father started what has grown to be Carters Cemetery.

Unfortunately, there are a number of grave sites that cannot be identified or located due to incomplete recordkeeping that is over 100 years old.

Bring your camera and stroll down the grass, the dirt walkways, and rows of memories. Listen to the stories about the pioneer families who had a hand in establishing the Summersville and Carters community. Read the names on the gravesite markers of many of Summersville first pioneer families.

We will meet at the entrance of Carters Cemetery, which is located on Cemetery Lane (off Carters Street) at 9:45 AM. Car pooling is suggested due to limited parking at the cemetery. (You may park at the museum and carpool to the cemetery.)

[Please be advised that since weather or funerals cannot be scheduled in advance, the museum program is subject cancellation for preference of a burial at Carters Cemetery on that day. On Saturday morning, call the museum at (209) 928-3616 and a recording will tell you if the cemetery program is on or off.)

Return to www.TuolumneMuseum.org