Stockton Rural Cemetery

The Rural Cemetery in Stockton was founded in 1861 and contains many residents that are well known for their successes and failures. Some were pillars of the community, others were, well, of ill repute.

I don't know who the fellow buried above is but he has an interesting tombstone. A quick look at the hand pointing up suggests that perhaps the wrong finger is raised. However, if you count the fingers you see that it is indeed the index find and the thumb is in an unexpected place. Still, it catches you attention.

The people buried here are all members of the Eureka #2 fire station. As you can see, fighting fire was a deadly business a hundred years ago.

Some residents came to be here in more recent times. With this large statue, John McMullin announces his position in life and society.

This monument with its extra deeply engraved words marks the final resting place of four small children, likely taken by disease.

Their parents must have prayed along with this angel for their afterlife.

Near the entrance of the cemetery, we find this row of palm trees. I've never seen such a display of palm trees in a cemetery. It gives the place a bit of a more festive air that I am used to seeing in such a place. In the background, near the front gate, is a chapel and mortuary. Somehow, this doesn't quite fit together.