Burial site for many San Pedro early settlers and pioneers
The town’s cemetery was created in 1883, when August Timms deeded three acres of land to the newly-incorporated City of San Pedro. He paid $1 to reserve the central burial plot for himself, and died that same year. (Block 4, Lot 21, Grave 3)
Obituary: MRS. DODSON EXPIRES AT SAN PEDRO
Descendant of Patriots and Pioneers Was Leader in Philanthropic Work
San Pedro’s foremost benefactress, Mrs. Rudecinda Florencita Sepulveda de Dodson, died yesterday morning at her San Pedro home, 1549 Meyler street, following an illness of several months. Mrs. Dodson was born October 27, 1858, on Rancho Palos Verdes, then owned by her grandfather, Dolores Sepulveda, to whom the rancho was granted by the King of Spain in the eighteenth century.
During almost her entire life, Mrs. Dodson was a leader in philanthropic and charitable enterprises throughout Southern California, particularly in the undertakings of her religious faith, the Roman Catholic church.
She was a charter member and founder of Rudecinda Parlor, No. 230, Native Daughters of the Golden West, at San Pedro, and was also an active member of the Pioneers Society of Southern California, the Women’s Athletic Club, the Friday Morning Club of Los Angeles, the Alegria Club and the American Legion Auxiliary.
Mrs. Dodson’s father was Jose Diego Sepulveda, early California patriot, and her mother was Reyes Dominguez, of the pioneer Dominguez family, which came to California in the same period as did the Sepulvedas. In 1881 she married James H. Dodson, son of an early settler from Pennsylvania, at a colorful wedding ceremony in Wilmington, then the social center of the port area.
She leaves her husband; a brother, Roman D. Sepulveda of San Pedro; two sons, James H. Dodson, Jr., of San Pedro, and Carlos Dodson of San Bernardino; a daughter, Mrs. Florence Dodson Schoneman of Los Angeles, and five grandchildren. Funeral services will be conducted next Monday at 2 p.m. at the Cleveland mortuary, San Pedro, by Rev. Harold H. Kelley, head of the Seamen’s Church Institute at San Pedro. Interment will be in the family mausoleum in Harbor View Cemetery, San Pedro.
Many local pioneers are buried in this old cemetery, with burial records dating back to 1879 (prior to Timms’ deed). With the growth of San Pedro and the creation of Green Hills Memorial Park in 1948, the San Pedro Cemetery, which had been acquired by the City of Los Angeles as part of its consolidation of San Pedro in 1909, was turned over to the Department of Recreation and Parks. Its name was changed to Harbor View Memorial Park, although the harbor cannot be viewed from any part of the little cemetery.
The cemetary is under the City of Los Angeles Department of Recreation and Parks. It is open Monday – Sunday from 7 AM – 2 PM, closed two Fridays a month. The monument in the above photo reads:
- George Wood (-1908) Watertenber U.S.
- A Reinhold (-1908) M.M. 2.C.
- S. W. Meek (-1908) F. 1.C.
- E. C. Boccs (-1908)F. 2.C.
- F. S. Maxfield (-1908)F. 2.C.
- J. P. A. Carroll (-1908)F. 2.C.
- E. J. Burns (-1908) C.P.
Died Heroically at Their Stations, In Line of Duty, USS Tennessee (ACR-10), June, 1908, Erected by Shipmates
“The USS Tennessee then patrolled off the California coast until 24 August 1908 but suffered a boiler tube explosion on 5 June, which killed seven men, while steaming at full speed. The explosion occurred just after the rear admiral in charge of the squadron had visited on a tour of inspection; had the explosion taken place a few minutes earlier, he might have been among the casualties. Since the ship’s 16 boilers were sub-divided into separate watertight compartments, the rest of the engineering section was not affected.” [1]
[1] Source-Wikipedia