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The past always seems to prevail upon the present and this appears to
be one of those times. When I first came to write these weekly articles, I made
you a few promises. I also said that you would be summoned to help. That time
has come. The Galt Area Historical Society desperately needs your help in
identifying the graves in the Liberty Cemetery – a declared historical site. Tom
Champion and his Eagle Scouts have already spent countless hours in the
cemetery’s rejuvenation, and there are still months of hard labor ahead. Tom has
also researched and found a registry of the early pioneers buried there, but the
headstones are so badly damaged that many cannot be identified. He is also not
sure if the registry is complete. Therefore, I thought that this week I would
tell you a little about Liberty in the hope that some of you may recognize some
of the early founders. Maybe some of you out there know if or where these
individuals or others are buried at Liberty. If you do, won’t you help us
restore dignity to the resting place of your relatives and our founders?
Did you know…
…that Liberty Cemetery was once located [in part] on what is now Interstate
99 and Liberty Road? Yes, a part of it was where the freeway is now! In
1954, families were contacted and arrangements were made for the graves to be
relocated to Liberty Cemetery’s present site [on the east fence line] – east of
the freeway.
…that old Liberty came into being for the sole reason that the road crossed
Dry Creek, running from Stockton to Sacramento? Did you know that
Liberty’s population never exceeded seventy-five and that prior to 1852, the
date of its beginning, it was known as Davis’s Crossing? C.C. Fugitt founded and named
Liberty in the fall of that year. It also seems that William Allport purchased
the first lots on October 26, 1861 for $200.00. Quite a bargain! Or was it?
Not too long ago I mentioned that the town of Liberty was moved in 1868. The
townspeople moved it one mile south. I found out why. The “iron hore” came to
California, and the citizens of Liberty believed that the railroad company would
give them a depot. Alas! Guess who got the depot instead? Gault!
(No, that’s not a misprint.) According to the History of San Joaquin County,
California, Mr. Fugitt, after watching his city “pass utterly from the face of the country as
though an avalanche had swept it from the earth…” joined the army of the
conqueror and removed to Gault where he bought a farm.
Did you know that Lodi was part of Liberty Township that came into being on
June 3, 1861? But that’s another story. What is important are the names of the
Liberty Township founders. Do you recognize some of them? Check your
family tree.
Theodore Tracy, James Nolan, John Welch, Peter Jahant, Victor Jahant, N.A. Knight, H.J.
Keen, J. Driscol, B. A. Woodson, J. Schomp, W.H. Childs, J. Lower,
W.R. Pearson, C.W. Hunting, L. Titus, J.B. Furnish, J. Rattan, W.D. Smithson, H.C.
Bell, J. Kenefick, J.J. Emsley, J. Van Volkenberg, J. F. Still, Ro Owns, Wm. Presbury, A .J. Woods, R. Hickman, W. M. Oliver, M. Peters, S.H. Pleas, H.G. Emmerson, Dr.B. F. Slater, J. F. McCauley, J.S. Thurstin, Don Ray, E.W.S. Woods,
and John M. Woods.
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