Benicia Military Cemetery

Before I get into this post I just need to say one thing. Moving stinks and it's great to be back...

I came across Benicia Military Cemetery as I was on my way to show my friend the Clock Tower or Stone Fortress which I'll get to later in this post. The cemetery was established in 1849 and is the oldest military cemetery in the Pacific Northwest. It is the final resting place of 211 people. Included are 123 U.S. Soldiers, 9 German and Italian POWs, 61 civilians of which 18 are unknown and 3 pets. Somehow my camera ate the picture of the 3 pets. I was talking to my boss who was in the military and he said when people first started using dogs nobody wanted to be around the dog. It wasn't until they realized that the dogs could smell the enemy coming a while before a human could detect it that people almost begged the dog handler to be around them. I guess they figured it was better to smell a stinky dog than get killed. That's about the way I would see it too. Lt. Colonel James Mason is the highest ranking individual who is buried here. He was appointed Superintending Engineer for the defenses of the Golden Gate, however he caught yellow fever and died at the age of 36 in 1853. Now that I think of it he must have been a very special soldier to have arisen to such a high rank at a young age. I think in those days you were appointed rank not only on accomplishment but by whether or not your superior was able to stay alive. In other words you had your job until you died or they found somebody better. (before someone says anything I need to give credit for that line to Starship Troopers very poor acting but still an entertaining movie). One thing that struck me about this cemetery is that the stones were all uniform and lined up in rows probably similar to what you'd find if these soldiers were all standing at attention waiting for orders. I will now follow this post with a few pictures of Benicia's rich military history...again it's great to be back


This is what's known as the Clock Tower or what I call the Stone Fortress. It was the first stone fortress built in the far west and for many this was the last thing they saw before going overseas to fight in the war. It was originally built with two towers but was partially destroyed in an accidental explosion in 1912 and was rebuilt with only one.







This was the Commandant's Quarters. It was built in 1860 by Col. Julian McAllister. The leaf work around the pillars and outside of the building was amazing. Apparently inside they have 14 foot high ceilings and 24 inch thick brick walls. The building is currently undergoing renovations and there was no way to go in even though I really wanted to.







This is known as "The third guard house" There isn't a whole lot of information on it other than that. Apparently there used to be a couple earlier guard houses in the area. One of which held a trial for Ulysses S. Grant on a minor offense. This particular building was built in 1872 some 20 years after the first one was built.

Benicia City Cemetery Benecia, CA

In 1846 while escorting General Mariano Vallejo to Sutter's Fort in Sacramento a gentleman by the name of
Lt. Robert Semple saw the Carquinez Strait. Most of the land north of the strait was owned by Vallejo and the two men came to an agreement that they would form a town here. In December of 1846 Semple was granted half interest in the land tract on the condition that he name the town after Vallejo's wife Francisca Benicia Carillo de Vallejo. Francisca was actually the original name of what we call Benicia today, however it conflicted with the more popular city of San Francisco. It was then decided that it would be called by Francisca's second name Benicia. In 1847 Semple sought the assistance of a prominent American settler by the name of Thomas O. Larkin which you may remember from the post on Cypress Lawn in Colma.



Established in 1847 just after Benicia became a town is Benicia's City Cemetery. Nestled on a hillside and overlooking the Carquinez Strait the cemetery is still in use over 150 years later. This is one of the few cemeteries I have been to that was established prior to California becoming a state. It was a hot yet beautiful day when I visited and I could see a sailboat race in the distance as I snapped a wide angle picture. I was playing with the settings on my camera and figured out that my camera had some capabilities that I wasn't aware of. When we set out this day it wasn't to visit Benicia at all. We were actually making our 3rd attempt to visit St. Catherine of Siena in Martinez only to be disappointed by the Martinez Police Department once again. We waited and waited for an officer to come to the police department where you have to pick up the keys and nobody ever came, although we did see at least 4 drive by the police station. So deciding not to lose the entire day we headed to Benicia.What I observed while visiting this cemetery was that many of the headstones and family plots in the older section have fallen into disrepair over the years. Most likely this was caused by erosion, neglect and as usual vandalism. Little by little things are being done here to help restore some of the plots in the older section. But for some, I'm afraid there will be nothing anybody can do but wonder what they used to look like. With so little history still available to us it's always disheartening when you see signs of vandalism in and on historic places. People need to be educated. Just a guess but I'd bet most kids these days couldn't even tell you when California became a state. It's disheartening. People often ask me why I bring my kids to cemeteries because they most people don't understand why I myself visit them. I simply tell them that I do this for the education, beauty and serenity. Of course bringing the kids sometimes diminishes the serenity I feel it's still necessary to educate them not only in school but in anything I can find around me. To close this post I'd like tot show some pics I got by playing around with the settings on my camera.


This shot was taken in a darkened sepia. I took it on manual mode and liked the sepia effect along with the shadows. I'm not a professional photographer of course so normally I'd take this into photoshop and doctor it. This time I chose to use it's raw format.








This is a landscape shot in black and white. Once again untouched. I like black and white photos because they give the picture an old time feel.











This is the last shot I'm going to post today. I probably took over a hundred pictures that day and this is probably my favorite one. It's another sepia. I like how it has an antique look.










I would like to thank everyone for reading my blog and giving me a reason to continue. If anyone would like to be a guest author and post anything about a cemetery, family member or anything else that may be related to this blog I'd like to encourage that. If you have your own blog it would be perfectly fine with me if you want to post something and plug your own blog in the process....until next time...

Freaky Friday

Something here is not quite right. I just can't seem to put my finger on it. Hmm...what could it be? Oh I know. Maybe somebody decided to make an attempt at restoring this statue. But instead let's get a head that doesn't quite match. I think they would have been better off leaving it headless.

Virtual Memorial Dino "Uncle Dino" Magnani 1958-2009

So here's another grave I found without a headstone. I'm not sure how long it takes to get a headstone placed and this grave was fairly recent. It has only been there since January of 2009. With the help of a friend at find a grave I was able to locate an obituary that like that of Andrew J. Wasson was posted in the Times Herald which serves Solano County. Reading obituaries that go along with the pictures I take puts things in perspective for me. It's not just a picture anymore it's a person with a family that loved them and still loves them. When visiting the older graves I can see that hardly anybody visits anymore unless they're researching family history or something. But these newer ones sometimes get to me. It seems more personal. This is why I've decided that maybe I'll start giving some of them my own memorial. A headstone in cyberspace if you will.


Birth: Feb. 12, 1958
Death: Jan. 5, 2009

Feb. 12, 1958 - Jan. 5, 2009
Dino lost his battle with cancer Monday, January 5, 2009. He was the back bone of the family. Whenever we needed him he was there 15 minutes early, ready and willing to pick up the slack. Our family couldn't of made it this far without him. He was "Uncle Dino", our hero and our friend, loyal and consistant til the end. He lightened the load to our hectic lives, and made the pressures of life easier to withstand. We thank the Lord for blessing us with such a tremendous man and loyal soul.

His suffering has now ceased and peaceful eternity has begun with God our Father. Dino was preceded in death by his mortal father, Libero Magnani, and close long-time friends, Chuck Sanchez, James Moises, and Rob Mantle. We find comfort that they were there to greet him at the gates of heaven.

Published in the TimesHeraldOnline on 1/8/2009

I purposely left out the names of his surviving family out of respect for them. Thanks to hnybnch at Findagrave.com

That Thing Thursday

Found some bones while visiting Benicia's City Cemetery the other day. I'm not really good at identifying animal bones because usually they stink and I won't even look at them. I'm not sure what this is...Maybe a mouse? I can see a leg bone there but I'm not sure what else. I looked at it long enough to get queasy and that was it...

Virtual Memorial Andrew J. Wasson 1988-2008

As I was almost finished with my trip to Benicia's City Cemetery the other day I started looking at the other side where they had some newer graves. Usually I don't look at the newer sections because I can still feel the emotions that remain there from families that frequent those sections grieving over their loved ones. Being a sports fan myself I noticed a grave that had nothing more than a plastic marker signifying the burial of a young man by the name of Andrew J. Wasson. He died at only 20 years of age. Clearly somebody had been visiting because on top of the grave were several San Jose Sharks flags and a San Francisco 49er flag as well which happens to be my favorite football team. I thought to myself why the family wouldn't have a headstone made and pretty much came to the conclusion that they were either still saving for one or possibly they never planned to have one placed due to financial issues.So I decided that if Andrew deserved something. Of course I couldn't buy him a headstone myself so I decided that I'd pay him tribute here on my blog. I don't know how he died so young but the decorations his loved ones left behind said something about this kid. There were the flags of sports teams, skulls, a wizard and a conch wrapped in some sort of nylon possibly for protection from the elements. I was able to deduce that Andrew was a unique kid just by the things his family wanted to be with him as he lay at rest. I may be doing more of these and so what if nobody reads it. It's for Andrew this time and possibly any of his family members that may type his name into Google one day.

*After a little more research and $3 I was able to locate an obituary...

March 15, 1988 - April 26, 2008

Andrew J. Wasson, 20, passed away Saturday at Kaiser Hospital in Vallejo.

A celebration of life will be held 3 p.m. Friday at the Clubhouse of Sterling Heights, 150 Rankin Way, Benicia.

Memorial contributions are preferred to Bank of America, Benicia Branch, account No. 0105017151.

Arrangements are under the direction and care of Twin Chapels Mortuary, Vallejo (707) 552-6696.

This was found in the Times Herald

Wordless Wednesday

Silveyville Cemetery Dixon, CA

Dixon California didn't actually start as as being Dixon. It actually started out as the town of Silveyville which has the distinction of having the first white settler in Solano county. In 1842 a man by the name of William Wolfskill secured a grant from the Mexican government measuring one league (A land league used to be defined as an hour's walk. It's now defined as exactly 3 miles (4828.032 m) long by 4 leagues wide. When gold was found the most logical route the mines from San Francisco ran from Benecia to Sacramento and passed right through the new settlement.Originally, on his own quest for gold, a man by the name of Elijah Silvey found his way to this area. He soon realized that an easier way to make money would be to open an inn and saloon in the area. Silvey called his inn or house "The Halfway House". In those days the trail was not yet defined and he would hang a red lantern high in the air so that any would be traveler would be able to find his way to his inn for the night. By 1865 this area was now being called Silveyville and boasted over 150 residents, a general store, a post office and a blacksmith to serve the needs of coaches traveling to Sacramento. Unfortunately Elijah Silvey met an early end when he fell from his porch.In 1868 the California Pacific Railroad was completed and the residents of Silveyville were disappointed to find out that the railroad would not be coming to Silveyville. A rancher by the name of Thomas Dickson donated 10 acres of land and built a house along the tracks. This depot became known as Dickson Station. Upon the first arrival of goods to Dickson Station the packages were marked Dixon Station. After battling the spelling for 2 years the country recorder finally filed the name under Dixon because at the time it seemed more simple and since then the name has stuck.

A weird thing happened to me while I was here. As I was about to take a picture of the final resting place of Elijah Silvey my camera started acting funny. I'm not sure what it was but I have this negative feeling like I shouldn't be taking the picture. So I snapped off two shots and the fresh batteries I had loaded right before I started taking the 50 or so pictures had died. They were brand new when I started and I usually get more pictures out of my camera. I turned my camera off and back on again and the settings were all changed. I had to delete several pictures before I figured it out and set everything back to default settings. After I did that the batteries were magically good again. Just thought I'd share that tidbit because I found it strange.