[1] Grave #112 John Buzzini was born on April 4, 1866 in Switzerland. He came to the United States, eventually settling in California. In Sonoma County, he worked as a "hand" on a ranch northwest of Santa Rosa along Fulton Road. During the Great Depression he, like so many others, had very little money. Having never married, Mr. Buzzini had no one to look after his affairs when he died on March 31, 1939 at the age of almost 73 years. Because Mr. Buzzini died at home, away from medical attention, the coroner held an inquiry that determined death to be due to natural causes. He was buried by the county on April 5, 1939. Mr. Buzzini is one of a few persons buried in Chanate for whom living relatives have been found.

[2] Grave #114 Walter F. McCoy, a retired Humboldt county lumberman, was a victim of cancer. He had already lost one arm to the disease and, when county physicians proposed radiation treatment, he refused. Before further steps could be taken to save his life, McCoy committed suicide on May 6, 1939. The Press Democrat headlined its story "Dying Man Slashes Throat To Avoid Entering Hospital Here." For some reason, the doctor's death report never made it to the county clerk’s office so McCoy has no death certificate. The photo of Walter McCoy is courtesy of a family member. 

[3] Graves #163 and #164 These two graves hold the bodies of Katherine Eskerica [163] and her husband, Martin Eskerica [164]. Mrs. Eskerica died June 24, 1938 and her husband followed two months later, on August 3, 1938. Mr. and Mrs. Eskerica are one of only two married couples to both be buried here at Chanate. Residents of Geyserville, the two had lived in Sonoma County for thirty years. He was aged 54 years and a native of Italy while she was 55 years old and had been born in Austria. Mr. Eskerica was said to have served in the Serbian Army during World War I.

[4] Grave #160 Get Wong was a "chair maker" who was well known in Santa Rosa. An opium user, Get Wong was arrested in a narcotics raid in 1938. The Press Democrat reported that, according to the arresting officer, G. A. Norton, inspector for the state narcotic squad, "Life without the drug to which he has been enslaved since childhood would be unbearable." The intentions of authorities were to send the old man to a state institution where he could receive treatment. Before this could be done, however, the 75 year old Get Wong died in the county hospital on June 14, 1938.

[5] Grave #158 Frank Cronin may have been a veteran of World War I, according to the Petaluma Argus-Courier, which reported his death on June 2, 1938. The 45 year old unemployed iron worker had just been released from the Sonoma County Jail and was attempting to return to Petaluma on a freight train when he slipped and was run over. Both of his legs were amputated by the wheels and he died of shock and loss of blood. If Mr. Cronin is indeed a veteran, it will be possible to request a grave marker from the Veterans Administration.

[6] Grave #296 Lenni Willman lived in the Stony Point Road area for nineteen years and was the wife of Frank Willman, who ran a gas station. Mrs. Willman, a native of Finland, died July 24, 1937 after a brief illness. She was survived by her husband and two sons, one of whom still lives in Sonoma County. The photograph shows Mr. and Mrs. Willman on their wedding day.

[7] Grave #140 Delta May Morrison died February 22, 1938. Born June 17, 1893 in Indianapolis, she was the 44 year old housewife of Benjamin Franklin Morrison when she was found dead of a fractured skull on Petaluma Hill Road south of Santa Rosa. Although police initially suspected an unknown hit and run driver, doubt was cast on this theory by the lack of skid marks or other evidence. Suspicion fell on her husband, with whom she had previously quarreled, but nothing has been found in the records to show that he was ever charged in her death.

[8] Grave #127 Edward Quay, a 25 year resident of Boyes Springs (near Sonoma), a former member of the Boyes Springs fire commission, and an honorary member of the Boyes Springs fire department, died May 21, 1938 after a long illness. Born June 30, 1863 in Pennsylvania, he was the son of Lloyd Quay and Mary Fleming. He had previously been in the Philippines and came to Sonoma County in connection with the El Verano water system. Mr. Quay was survived by four children and two siblings, had obituaries in both The Press Democrat and the Sonoma Index-Tribune, and received a funeral service organized by the Boyes Springs fire department. Perhaps it is illustrative of the difficulties facing everyone in the depths of the Great Depression that, as "widely known" as Mr. Quay was said to be, no one was in a position to buy him a plot in one of the local cemeteries.

[9] Grave #316 Walter Guy Wilson studied medicine at Cornell University but left to study art and travel the world. He worked as a landscape artist and had resided in Stewart’s Point for seven years when he died on November 26, 1937 at the age of 60 following an extended illness. Mr. Wilson left his wife, Anna, and seven sons and daughters aged 3 to 18, one of whom still lives in Santa Rosa. She remembers being at Chanate for the funeral but was too young to understand and wondered why everyone was crying. The photo (compliments of the family) shows Walter Guy Wilson with his wife and their two eldest children.

[10] Grave #131 Frank Buriesi (Brissi, Bracci) was a farm laborer who lived in the Cloverdale area. Originally from Italy, Mr. Buriesi died of mushroom poisoning after a self-gathered dinner. Sent to the hospital in Healdsburg for emergency treatment, he was sent home, apparently improved. Unfortunately, his illness returned and he died four days later, on March 1, 1938. Today we would suspect liver damage and look for a transplant but in those days nothing could be done. As was so often the case, Buriesi’s obituary noted that "no known relatives survive" and he was buried here at Chanate.

Researched and written ©2009 by Jeremy Dwight Nichols

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