STUBBLEFIELD CEMETERY TOUR GUIDE
The Stubblefield Cemetery was established by John Saling, who came to Walla Walla from Missouri in 1859 along the Oregon Trail, and claimed a homestead here that year.
The original cemetery he conveyed to the Saling Cemetery Association in 1870 was 2.81 acres. This was increased by another 1.69 acres through a deed from Frank Shelton in 1880 which extended the cemetery an additional 110 feet on its west side for a total of 4.5 acres.
Following the deeds for the cemetery, the Saling Cemetery Association was formed in 1880, and its first trustees were John Saling, Joseph Stubblefield, Albert Cate, Orley Hull, and John Brewer.
The first burial at the cemetery was Andrew Morgan, a neighboring farmer, in 1863. The last burial was Kristy Sorenson, wife of Bror Sorenson, in 1920.
Though there are reports of over 200 burials at the cemetery, the cemetery records have been lost and there has been serious vandalism over the decades resulting in most of the burial markers being removed. In addition, in 2018, at the time Walla Walla Historic Cemeteries was formed and received a certificate from the Washington State Department of Archaeology and Historic Preservation for the care and maintenance of the cemetery, the cemetery road was closed, the gates were buried, and the cemetery was overgrown with vegetation and fallen branches.
Though few headstones remain, we have discovered approximately 50 grave marker bases or intact stones, some of which appear to have been disturbed from their original locations, all of which we’ve marked with yellow stakes. Additional yellow flags mark the locations where a visiting cadaver dog, Guennis, has laid down to indicate that he smelled the presence of a burial. Some plots also appear to have been excavated or to have had wooden coffins collapse.
The graves we have found appear to be in rows 9 feet apart running at a diagonal from south to magnetic north, rather than following the edges of the cemetery. The central row, which we refer to as Row No. 1, is marked with blue stakes from the southeast corner of the cemetery towards the parking area in the cemetery’s northwest corner. Other rows on either side of the central row we refer to by numbers east or west of the central row, and we’re continuing to carefully probe all the rows to determine whether any additional markers are present. As is customary for Christian burial grounds, any headstone and the head of the deceased are at the west end of each grave, with the feet of the deceased and occasionally a footstone with their initials at the east end.
As we follow the access road along the west side of the cemetery, which is also home to a herd of whitetail deer and several great horned owls, the first burial location we come to are the graves of Bror Sorenson and his second spouse Kristy.
Bror Sorenson, the great-great-grandfather of local historian Ron Klicker and his siblings, emigrated with his wife Hannah and children from Sweden to Utah in 1859, where they became followers of Joseph Morris, a new prophet challenging Brigham Young.
After Morris and his followers were attacked by authorities and Morris killed in the presence of Bror and his first wife Hannah, many Morrisites went into exile in Montana. In 1867, forty of them, including Bror whose first wife remained in Utah, followed William W. Davies to the outskirts of Walla Walla where Davies proclaimed a piece of land on Scenic Loop Road next to what is now Mormon Grade a consecrated place, and established what he called “the Kingdom of Heaven on Earth,” later revealing himself as the incarnation of the Holy Spirit.
In 1868, Davies proclaimed his newborn son Arthur the incarnation of Jesus Christ, and in 1869 he identified another son, David, as God the Father. A diphtheria epidemic struck the religious commune in 1879 and Davies’ wife and sons died, after which the community suffered a loss of faith in Davies and was dissolved. More details regarding the Sorensons and Davies can be found on the Walla Walla Historic Cemeteries and Walla Walla 2020 websites, including a living history video of Ron Klicker portraying his great-great-grandfather.
The next burials we come to on the west side of the cemetery are those of Joseph Stubblefield and members of his family. Joseph and his wife Anna came to the Walla Walla area from Arkansas in about 1860, along with Joseph’s younger brother Francis and Francis’ wife Lydia. Family members buried in the Stubblefield compound include Joseph, his wife Anna, his brother Francis, and eight of Francis’ twelve children. The remaining four children are buried at Mt. View Cemetery, where memorial markers have also been placed for the family members buried at Stubblefield. In addition to Stubblefield family members, several headstones recovered after being stolen from the cemetery have been placed along the walls of the family’s compound.
From the Stubblefield compound we’ll move east to the Cate monument in the center of the cemetery in Row 3 East, which honors the graves of six children of Albert and Clementine Cate. Albert came to Walla Walla from Missouri in the 1860s, and in 1866 married Clementine here. Nearby there are a number of other stones, including a partial stone honoring Mary McGuire Brinkerhoff and a central spire, both lying on the ground near Row 4 East.
From there we’ll enter the north lilac grove where there are a number of large monument bases in Row 5 East, and 6 East, as well as what appears to be a large dug grave or graves.
Continuing down the central path through the north lilac grove, we’ll come to an open meadow where we’ll find two gravestone bases, one in Row 5 West and the other in Row 6 West.
Across the meadow to the right of the entrance to the central path through the next or south lilac grove we’ll find several basalt rocks marking another apparent grave in Row 6 West.
Proceeding along the center path through the south grove, on the left near the south edge of the cemetery we’ll find two gravestone bases, the second with a surviving footstone bearing the initials C.G. in Row 7 West. This corresponds with the name Cincinnattus Gwinn appearing on the last headstone we’ll visit on our tour, which is leaning against a tree at the north end of Row 3 East.
Leaving the lilac grove on the south edge of the cemetery where the original entrance road came from the south, and continuing to the left along the south edge of the cemetery, we come to a basalt rock in the southeast corner which serves as the cemetery’s cornerstone and is marked by a blue post. This is the beginning of Row 1, which extends in a magnetic north direction toward the parking area near the cemetery’s northwest corner.
Returning to the meadow after leaving the lilac grove, we find several more bases in Row 1. In the meadow east of Row 1 we find a number of broken headstones and bases, including the intact gravestone of Nancy Rounsaville lying on the ground in Row 3 East.
Moving further north in the locust grove, to the right we’ll find a large intact headstone on the ground for Melvina Yenney, along with a number of bases and what appears to be a dug grave in the vicinity of Row 7 East.
To the left toward the north lilac grove we’ll find additional bases in Row 1, plus several bases east of Row 1, including the marker bases in Row 4 East, and the intact headstone of Orman L. and Ulysses Tower lying on the ground, young brothers who died in the diphtheria epidemic of 1879.
Continuing north beyond the center of the cemetery, we find several adjacent bases in Row 5 East, followed by a family plot in Row 7 East which was originally surrounded by wire fencing around what is now an apparent excavation.
There are only three more markers to the north, a base in Row 14 East, and two gravestones leaning against trees, one in approximately Row 19 East honoring Thomas Broderick, and the other in Row 3E honoring Cincinnattus Gwinn.
We’re very interested in recruiting additional volunteers for further work at the cemetery to assist us with surveying, the probing of rows and the GPS and GPR location of graves, the clearing of vegetation, and a variety of other tasks.
Please contact Stubblefield Cemetery coordinator Nancy Mitchell, mitchenl@whitman.edu, 509-386-2034, if you’re interested in helping.
10-18-24
