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CLEAR Temp: 38 °F Wind: WNW at 5 mph Tuesday, February 25, 2003 SECTIONS Home Page Local News Sports Business Obituaries Life Opinion - Politics AP News Weather Classified Archives Site Map EXTRA HomeLife Magazine W3 Magazine Jobs @ Mail Tribune Tempo A & E Oregon CarZone Wellness Connection Real Estate Newspaper in Education Prime Times Outdoor Journal Personals Movie Times TV Times E The People CLASSIFIEDS Find a Car Find a Home Find a Job Find Everything E SOUTHERN OREGON Automotive Communities Entertainment Publications Recreation Calendar ABOUT US FAQ What's New Advertise Home Delivery Classified Ad Contact Us Media Kit Email Story to a Friend September 9, 2002 Masons put cemetery’s papers into database By BUFFY POLLOCK for the Mail Tribune CENTRAL POINT — When Central Point Masonic Lodge secretary Bill Best took over the job last December, he didn’t anticipate getting involved with final remains and graveyard plots. Sure, he assumed the typical responsibilities of recording lodge minutes and handling paperwork for members. He even kept the organization’s Central Point Masonic Lodge Cemetery in the good graces of the state. But the retired army command sergeant major admits he had no idea he’d be taking on what no one else had dared for several decades: the task of organizing cemetery records, most of which are in a heap of crumbling yellow papers, covered in faded, poor handwriting. "It just needed to be done; it was in such a state of disrepair and shambles that somebody had to do it and nobody else wanted to," he said. "I take my job as the secretary as a duty. I’m the secretary, the historian, the whatever. And I’m one of the few people retired that has the time. It’s fascinating, but it’s very tedious." Though the Hamrick Road site may appear a small graveyard, it totals 9 acres; two-thirds of the acreage has been used for interments for nearly 150 years. The Masons acquired the cemetery for a $2,000 donation to the Independent Order of Odd Fellows in 1990 when the IOOF members could no longer care for the land. Best is unsure how long the Odd Fellows managed the site, but since he began compiling old paperwork about four months ago, he has organized by database what was previously stored in scattered locations — an old barn, the Pine Street lodge and the attics of some former lodge masters. Over the years, changes in ownership are evident by styles of record keeping that range from handwritten slips of paper to land records vaguely mentioning interment. Along with his wife, Geri, who also became interested in the old records and tales of early settlers, Best has so far tallied more than 1,800 plots. While the Southern Oregon Historical Society has information dating the cemetery to 1868, Best said the oldest markers found so far date to 1891. "But we’re still looking and there could be a lot of graves without markers," he said. "There are bodies I’m sure that came in just before or just after Oregon became a state. I’ve been told the lodge pre-existed the city of Central Point and some of the people in that cemetery were likely buried when Oregon was just a territory." Best said his ultimate goal was not just to "make sure the right guy is in the right hole," but to compile all the information and publish a book about pioneer families buried there. Some early valley residents buried in the graveyard include Granville Sears, one of the earliest known settlers; William Constant Leever, a former mayor and hardware store owner; and, family members of Mary Takao, the author of "Reflections: Memoirs of a Japanese American Woman in Minnesota," who grew up in Central Point before Pearl Harbor. "These are the people that settled this area. I would imagine there are some pretty fascinating stories to dig up," he said, no pun intended. "My hope is that descendants of the people buried in the cemetery will come forward with information and people who still own plots out there." Best said his cemetery work had given his title as secretary a new meaning. "As a secretary, it’s my job to log the minutes. I kind of think of the people being buried out there as minutes from the past to be recorded for the lodge’s ‘hysterical’ file. I won’t say historical because it’s really more hysterical than historical," he joked. "But it’s sort of my contribution." Anyone with information about the old graves or information about settlers buried there can e-mail Best at [email protected]. Buffy Pollock is a free-lance writer living in Medford. E-mail her at [email protected]. Printer Friendly Version Email Story to a Friend Subscribe Archive: Click to Search Mail Tribune Home Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life Opinion - Politics | AP News | Archives | Site Map E Southern Oregon | Classified Copyright © 1997-2003 Mail Tribune. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy webmaster feedback A D V E R T I S E R S