Editor’s Note: This is part two of a two-part series regarding the history of East Sacramento’s former New Helvetia Cemetery.

It has been nearly 162 years since Captain John A. Sutter set aside 10 acres for his establishment’s first formal burial ground, the now nonexistent New Helvetia Cemetery.

The cemetery, which was eventually doubled in size, served the community for many years before evolving into a public park, which was known as Helvetia Park.

The old cemetery grounds, with the exception of a tombstone-like marker presenting information about the former cemetery, are no longer distinguishable. The land is presently the site of Sutter Middle School at 3150 I St.

In the process of creating Helvetia Park, the old cemetery, which actually adjoined East Park (today’s McKinley Park), had its headstones removed and replaced with flat gravesite identifying markers.

Unfortunately, various decisions and actions connected to the processes of creating the park and removing the cemetery in its entirety resulted in many missing tombstones and markers and even unidentified graves.

Other gravesites were presumably left unidentified in earlier times due to such possible causes as the deterioration of wooden markers and flooding that carried away wooden markers. Because of recurrent flooding in the area, there were no burials at the cemetery from 1850 to 1857.

A classic example related to the old cemetery’s missing markers was presented in the Aug. 11, 1989 edition of The Sacramento Bee, as a story was related in which a lecture about Sacramento cemeteries at California Middle School was interrupted by a boy who raised his hand and said, “We have some of those stones in our yard.”

In a meeting with the East Sacramento News last week, Dr. Bob LaPerriere, co-chair of the Sacramento County Cemetery Advisory Commission, discussed the topic of missing tombstones and other markers from the New Helvetia Cemetery.

“When they removed the bodies in the 1950s, we’re not sure exactly what happened, but some people recall that these concrete markers were kind of stacked up along the street,” LaPerriere said. “A couple years ago, we located – just between two homes behind Sutter Middle School – over 70 of these flat, concrete markers. They were used for stepping stones and kind of to widen the driveway.”

LaPerriere said that a unique event occurred following the discovery of these markers, as the stones were transported from Sutter Middle School to East Lawn Memorial Park at Folsom Boulevard and 43rd Street via a horse-drawn wagon.

The decision to deliver these markers to East Lawn Memorial Park was a simple one, considering that the city had purchased property at the cemetery for a mass, unmarked burial site, where 4,691 unidentified human remains from the New Helvetia Cemetery were reinterred.

Unfortunately, this large number of “unknowns,” as these unidentified remains are often referred to, account for the majority of the remains from the New Helvetia Cemetery.

The Sacramento Historic City Cemetery at 1000 Broadway is the site of the remains of about 400 additional people who were once buried at the New Helvetia Cemetery.

However, these remains are individually identified and are located in three separate areas at the Broadway cemetery, west of Riverside Boulevard.

Other individually identified remains from the New Helvetia Cemetery were reinterred at the following Sacramento city and county cemeteries: East Lawn, Masonic Lawn Cemetery at 2700 Riverside Blvd., Odd Fellows Lawn Cemetery at 2720 Riverside Blvd., St. Joseph’s Cemetery at 2615 21st^t St., St. Mary’s Cemetery at 6700 21st St., Sacramento Memorial Lawn at 6100 Stockton Blvd., Elk Grove Cemetery at 8540 Elk Grove Blvd. in Elk Grove and the Sylvan Cemetery at 7401 Auburn Blvd. in Citrus Heights.

Despite this long list of other cemeteries, LaPerriere notes that a relatively low number of remains from the New Helvetia Cemetery were relocated to these cemeteries.

LaPerriere provided the following numbers regarding the relocations of these remains: 410 sent to Broadway cemetery, 84 to East Lawn, 32 to Odd Fellows, six to Sacramento Memorial Lawn, three to St. Joseph’s, three to Elk Grove, two to St. Mary’s and one to Masonic.

In regard to the many flat markers from the New Helvetia Cemetery site that are still missing today, LaPerriere mentioned that he would not be surprised if some of these markers are presently located on residential properties within the nearby vicinity of this former East Sacramento cemetery.

Although the aforementioned mass burial at East Lawn Memorial Park is recognized as consisting of “unknowns” or unidentified remains, this does not mean that there are no records of any of the names of the deceased people from the New Helvetia Cemetery who were reburied there.

To the contrary, records exist for many people who were buried at the New Helvetia Cemetery and it is by deduction from the names of those who were reinterred in other local cemeteries that a list of assumed names was created for the mass burial site at East Lawn Memorial Park.

LaPerriere said that East Lawn Memorial Park, although it was not obligated to do so, greatly contributed to the cemetery’s mass burial site.

“The city never put up a marker or anything (at the mass burial site), absolutely nothing,” LaPerriere said. “It took John Bettencourt (the late cemetery historian and preservationist who was vital in the formation of the Old City Cemetery Committee) and I working with East Lawn, quite a few years ago, to get the area memorialized. East Lawn, of course, had no responsibility to do it. The city bought the area, buried the people and the city should have taken care of things. But East Lawn, being very community minded, worked with us and they put four (right angle) corner walls in around the area to demarcate the area and they put a nice monument in the center memorializing those who were moved from New Helvetia (Cemetery).”

In addition to this burial site’s corner markers, most of the perimeter of the site is outlined with the flat, concrete markers that had been retrieved from the residential yards near Sutter Middle School.

As of about two years ago, the whereabouts of only one verified original tombstone from the New Helvetia Cemetery was known.

But fortunately, it was discovered that another original New Helvetia Cemetery tombstone – that of members of the Asch family – was located in Auburn.

About a month ago, the stone was relocated to Sacramento and it will soon be placed in the Sacramento Historic City Cemetery’s already existing Asch plot.

LaPerriere said that anyone with information regarding missing headstones or markers from the New Helvetia Cemetery is encouraged to call the Sacramento County Cemetery Advisory Commission at (916) 874-9103 or write to the e-mail address: cemeterycommission@saccounty.net.

Anyone with information regarding missing headstones or markers from the New Helvetia Cemetery is encouraged to call the Sacramento County Cemetery Advisory Commission at (916) 874-9103 or write to the e-mail address: cemeterycommission@sac

county.net

The final resting place of the city’s founder, John Augustus Sutter, Jr., is one of the Sacramento Historic City Cemetery’s most notable gravesites. / Valley Community Newspapers photo, Lance Armstrong

Nine years following the landing of his father, John Augustus Sutter, Sr., on the south bank of the American River – an historic moment that led to the construction of Sutter’s Fort – John Sutter, Jr. reunited with his father at the fort.

Less than two months after his arrival, John Sutter, Jr. announced that he would build a new town, called Sacramento City – the original name of Sacramento – along the Sacramento River.

Although John Sutter, Jr., who was the eldest of five children, passed away at the age of 70 in 1897, efforts to have his remains buried in Sacramento was no simple procedure.

Furthermore, another 66 years passed before his remains were buried in the capital city.

This fact is so, since the younger John Sutter died and was originally buried in Acapulco, Mexico, where he resided after leaving Sacramento in July 1850.

In Acapulco, Mexico, John Sutter, Jr. became a respected civic leader and a representative of the American government. He served as American consul to Acapulco from 1870 to 1887.

Although John Sutter, Jr. had been buried in Acapulco, a major drive to have his remains reinterred in Sacramento began in 1963 as a result of the news that the St. Francis Cemetery, where he was buried, was being moved to a different location due to a redevelopment project in that area.

This drive included the creation of the John A. Sutter, Jr. Memorial Committee of Sacramento – a group consisting of Sacramento historians and civic leaders – and the support of the

John Augustus Sutter, Jr. is shown in this image from an historic painting. / Image courtesy, California State Library

Sacramento County Historical Society.

Additionally benefitting the relocation of the remains was the support of the project by heirs of John Sutter, Jr., who was the father of 12 children, all of whom were born in Mexico.

By the time that the relocation project began, only one of these children – Anna (Sutter) Young – was living.

Also in support of the project was Ricardo Sutter Morlett, a great-grandson of Sacramento City’s founder. Ironically, Morlett happened to be serving as the mayor of Acapulco at the time.

Another great-grandson of John Sutter, Jr., Art Sutter, Jr., was locally pledging his support, since he had then-recently moved to the Sacramento area to join a mortgage firm.

Antonio Islas, Mexican consul in Sacramento, also expressed his support of the relocation project.

During the process of obtaining full approval and arrangements for the relocation of the remains, efforts were also made to select a new burial site.

In addition to the city cemetery, Sutter’s Fort, the embarcadero area of Old Sacramento and the city plaza – today’s Cesar Chavez Plaza – were among the proposed sites.

After months of deliberations, complete approval for the re-interment was obtained and arrangements were made for the reburial in the city cemetery.

Sacramento newspapers announced on February 26, 1964 that the city’s founder would be reburied in the city cemetery on March 11, 1964 at 11 a.m.

It was also reported that the relocation of these remains would be temporary, as they would later be exhumed and reburied once more; this time in the West End section of the city following the redevelopment of Old Sacramento. These plans, however, were eventually abandoned.

The remains of John Sutter, Jr. were transported from Acapulco aboard the USS Leonard F. Mason, and after the Navy ship’s arrival in Long Beach, these remains were then flown via a U.S. Navy plane, which arrived at Municipal Airport – today’s Executive Airport – on Monday, March 9, 1964 at 12:30 p.m.

Two days later at 10:30 a.m., a procession left the Clark, Booth and Yardley funeral home at 917 H St. and made its way to the cemetery.

Graveside services were conducted at 11 a.m. at the city cemetery by the Rev. Noel F. Moholy of the St. Francis Catholic Church.

Among those in attendance at the ceremony were: Islas, J. Studer, Swiss consul general in San Francisco, Fred A. Barbaria of the Sacramento County Board of Supervisors, City Councilman Albert Talkin and descendants of John Sutter, Jr., his daughter Anna Young, his grandchildren, Art Sutter, Jr., Reginald Sutter, Jr., Alba (Sutter) Robinson, Dolores (Sutter) Kason, Gloria (Sutter) Parson and Nicholas Sutter, and his great-grandchildren, Ricardo and Marco Morlett.

Pallbearers at the services were memorial committee members, Frank Christy, Raymond Momboisse, Lee Richardson and Miles Snyder.

A memorial luncheon was held at the Mansion Inn – now Clarion Hotel Mansion Inn – at 16th and H streets following the services.

In September 1967, as a response to Anna (Sutter) Young’s expressed disappointment with her father’s 24-inch by 24-inch, flat, marble marker at the cemetery, the Sacramento City Historical Landmarks Commission suggested that a more appropriate marker be placed at the cemetery.

The suggestion led to the installation of a much larger, black granite marker at the site. This memorial marker, which also incorporates the original Mexican cemetery marker, was dedicated on Saturday, Oct. 12, 1968 at 11 a.m.

Anna (Sutter) Young and James A. Brown, Jr., chairman of the landmarks commission, unveiled the marker during the brief dedication ceremony, which was followed by a no-host luncheon at the Mansion Inn.

The ceremony was a cherished moment, as well as a timely moment for Anna (Sutter) Young, since she passed away at the age of 81 in a San Francisco hospital only 15 months later.

Services for Anna (Sutter) Young, who was buried alongside her father, were held at the city cemetery on January 27, 1970.

Dr. Bob LaPerriere, who was involved in establishing the committee to preserve the city cemetery and is among the many locals who appreciate efforts that were made to reinter the remains of John Sutter, Jr. in Sacramento, explained what it means to him to view the gravesite of the city’s founder at the city cemetery.

“A jolt of historic stimulation comes whenever I enter the gates to the Sacramento Historic City Cemetery at 10th and Broadway,” LaPerriere said. “Walking past the gravesite of John Sutter Jr., who founded the city of Sacramento as we know it today, and also donated the first acreage to establish the city cemetery, is a great reminder of the 150-plus years of the wonderful, historic heritage that Sacramento offers.”

The final resting place of John Sutter, Jr., as well as the gravesites of many other early, prominent residents of the city, can be visited at the city cemetery daily, from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m., with the exception of Wednesdays, Thursdays and city holidays.

lance@valcomnews.com