It was quite the sight, adorned in white, a picket fence – modest and sweet;
Found during a walk, as my wife and I talk, on a footpath not far from the street.
Inside by row, and pure like the snow, nineteen white crosses stand;
Each simple and plain, and all without name, on this snow-covered blanket of land.

But, it looked very strange, to so neatly arrange, this group all alone and apart;
When all others graved, were collectively saved, in the south quarter of the town’s heart.
Curious, I, asked my wife “Why?” as she smirked and looked back in frustration;
“It started,” said she, “before I came to be, before Alberta joined Confederation¹!”

I then tried to spot, a gate but could not, there just was no way inside;
Where the gate should’ve been, a bronze marker I’d seen, and this story it had supplied:

Told; these crosses were, eighteen men and a her, from the gaol in its pioneer day;
Each for murder were tried, hanged and when died, were buried some distance away.

Now, the townsfolk did not, originally want, too close these “unrefined”;
But when building a bridge, they were moved to this ridge, in peace and to remind…

Swift Runner was first, and perhaps the worst, of the Alberta murders to date;
His six children, a brother, his wife and his mother, he killed … and allegedly ate!

By 1923, Lassandro was “She,” awaiting the hangman’s rope;
But, this unpopular motion, stirred up quite the commotion, giving the young woman some Hope.
For common practice it was, to commute the cause, of death sentences charged against women;
Yet, with gun in hand², she killed a man, of the Law – to get Life in prison?

From the public outcry, to not let her die, a letter campaign then commenced;
And the Prime Minister heard, some strong written words, not only for but against!
Like the female judge, (giving more than a nudge), that the Scales of Law must equate;
Murphy³ wrote with such flair, that the Courts must be fair, and Lassandro face her penalties’ weight!

But from the years before then, in-between and again, we lost eighty-six innocent lives;
Add: from assaults (two reported), Cop-killers⁴ (nine retorted), and three husbands shot by frustrated wives!
Forgetting not, twenty-two more, shot during robberies of home and store, and the woman, who killed her young, two-timing lover;
Or the twenty-one men who murdered their wives, for Peace and Quiet of their soon-shortened lives — makes me wonder how they lived with one another.
One hundred and twenty-five verdicts were given, and sixty-two were not forgiven, during this span of some eighty-one years;
But, spared from swinging were sixty-three, and “Life in Prison” they would see, on these lands of Alberta’s wild frontiers.

Nineteen of the 62 Alberta hangings took place in Fort Saskatchewan, 27.09km (16.83miles) north-east of Edmonton. The first hanging was 20DEC1879 and the last 25JUN1959; but this little cemetery was not perpetuated until 1914 – 35years late, so the first five hangings were buried just outside the log walls of the NWMP fortress.  In 1957, the cemetery was transferred to its current location.  Of the occupants contained therein, 14 were hanged and the remaining five died of illness.  After a convict’s death, next of kin were contacted to claim the body for burial.  Many refused to accept “the stain upon their family honour,” while others could not afford to transport their family member home, so the cemetery was constructed.

NOTES: [1] The Province of Alberta joined Confederation in 1905. In the 1880s, Alberta did not exist; it was divided in two halves: the Northern half was the District of Athabasca and the Southern half, the District of Alberta, until 1905.

[2] As her death sentence drew nearer, Lassandro recanted; she claimed not to have touched the gun used to kill Cst. Lawson.  She had made a false statement, to save her employer/ husband from a death sentence, but he was hanged too.

[3] Emily Murphy (1868-1933), from the Famous Five (“Women are Persons” Case), feminist and judge http://www.famous5.ca had written to Canadian Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King (1874-1950) in favour of the capital punishment verdict given to Lassandro.

[4] The killed law enforcement officers were all from the North-West Mounted Police (predecessors to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police of 1920).  Also known by their nickname, “Mounties”.

Historical facts verified by the Fort Saskatchewan Historical Society, Ft. Saskatchewan, AB

My wife, Donna and I were enjoying a summer/vacation drive through the province. 

When we located this cemetery, I went looking for a relative I had been told was buried there …

Innisfail Cemetery,

Innisfail, Alberta

I didn’t find him, but I did locate these little lambs made of limestone.  A lowing lamb was a common symbol used to signify the loss of a child.

The only down side of this picture: the inscriptions face the trees!

So, in this situation …

I give many thanks to the membership of the Medicine Hat & District Branch of the Alberta Genealogical Society (AGS) for their valuable assistance and kindness in helping me research this segment.

His name was John James ILOTT, born in England,  died in British Columbia, and buried in Alberta.  I had very little information on him and not that much more on his wife, the former Jane DORSEY; but it seemed an easy enough task: locate John’s gravestone.

It started with a quick session looking into the Alberta Genealogical Society (AGS) Surname database, which verified John was indeed buried in Alberta, at Hillside Cemetery in Medicine Hat — but he was alone.

Alone? – now that was a little curious, a married man buried by himself (“Peace & Quiet at last!” as my uncle would say); and reported burials of any other ILOTT relatives were not in our database.

Many questions and theories came from that database tidbit: Where is his widow, Jane?  Did she possibly predecease him? Where is his family? I was certain answers were waiting for me in “the Gas City,” so an e-mail query was sent to them requesting their assistance.

June

Enter, Kathy GLEISNER, the fresh face appointed as Research Co-Ordinator for Medicine Hat AGS.  My query was the first one she received and she responded quickly, following up three days later with a synopsis of her findings.

September

I met up with Kathy, after the Medicine Hat Executive meeting.  She explained what further information that she and her friend, Judy were able to locate for me.  Kathy and her fellow researchers all agreed that finding John’s stone and obituary only made the puzzle more mysterious.  I eyed the photographs she had taken of my relative’s stone looking for the faintest hint of an answer.

“Would you like to see him?” she said, pointing out the door. “He’s just across the street!”

“Is that a rhetorical question?” I smiled.

Hillside Cemetery is massive and surprisingly not the oldest cemetery in Medicine Hat.  It is meticulously maintained and clearly marked.  The only thing I would recommend is not to visit before 9am on foot unless you can outrun the strategically placed water sprinklers with their sweeping and overlapping 50foot arcs.

So, with photos and more questions in hand, I return to my notes looking for answers.

http://gp.abgensoc.ca/cemeteries.html

This week’s weather has been extreme; temps between -47C and -48C (that’s between -52F and -56F for my American friends to experience).  And the fridge decided it wanted a vacation and quit … everything melted or thawed.  New fridge shows up today!

Sorry, about the lack of posts, but if you can give me a week …

Stay well and keep warm!

I was only 12years-old when she died.

Emily was “Gramma Rabbit,” the first Graveyard Rabbit, who took me through the local cemeteries to tend to the flowers by the graves of her parents, her in-laws, one of her sons and her husband – my grandfather, Papa John (1902-1939).

She is buried with Papa John, and her sons, Harry (1930-1930) and Daniel (1937-2003), but the stone still does not acknowledge her or Daniel.

This post follows up those crosses.  And I thank Leanne Balfour of Medicine Hat & District Branch AGS for all her assistance!  She got very lucky with some background research for me; as their Branch meeting place is owned by Hillside Monumental, which has the old plot purchase registers!

I had estimated, based on data charts of medical epidemics and pandemics, that these children died from Influenza — sorry, not correct.  The facts are:

• Roland died 27MAY1916 from diphtheria.
• Five days later, 01JUN1916, his brother Adolf died from the same disease.
• Two months later, 05JUL1916, sister Hilda died from the Measles
• And finally, 20FEB1919, sister Ida lost her life to pneumonia

During the time frame of the children’s deaths there appeared to be two newspapers in Medicine Hat competing with each other for readership, so locating obituaries would be a bit time-consuming (and I do not expect Leanne, or anyone else, to go digging into that).

Their mother, Maria died 20AUG1951 and was buried in Hillside Cemetery (6 16D 6N).

Not long after losing Maria, Christian re-married, to a Katherine; but this marriage did not last long as Christian died 20APR1959.  He was buried in Hillside Cemetery (6 16D 6S), beside his first wife. (It is strongly believed since Katherine was previously married with children, when Christian died, she went and moved in with one of her married children.).

But, out of all this tragedy, one little ray of Hope was revealed in Christian’s obituary:

One child survived (out of five).

Curious thing though: there is no mention of Christian’s deceased first wife (Maria) in  his obituary?

Were obits expensive in 1959?