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Purissima Cemetery
Half Moon Bay, San Mateo County, California

Lat: 37° 24' 14"N, Lon: 122° 24' 54"W
Miramontes Twp, Sec 21

Contributed by Dayna Chalif, Aug 19, 2005 [zoeys_mom@yahoo.com]. Total records = 58.

From the town of Half Moon Bay, take Hwy 1 (Cabrillo Highway) south towards Santa Cruz. About 4 miles south of Half Moon Bay, you'll see a sign that says "UC Elkus Ranch" then another (a large yellow diamond) that says "Verde Rd." Just after those signs make a left at Verde Rd. On the right side of the road, soon after you turn onto Verde is a short Green metal gate. Pass that and drive just a tiny bit further til you see another metal gate (this one is yellow) on your left.

Park in the little clearing near the gate, across the street, and walk up Verde about 10-20 paces. You should see a short embankment and a little path. Walk up the path and turn to your left and you should see the Josephine Harsha stone just ahead. (The cemetery is on the south side of the street).

The official name is Purissima Cemetery as far as I can find out. It was part of the once beautiful little town of Purissima. The cemetery and the remnant of the schoolhouse are all that is left of the town today.

This cemetery was extremely difficult to find, and is nearly swallowed up by weeds, trees and poison oak. There are also quite a few snakes living there. All of which make it extremely difficult to do a survey.

My first visit I found only 8. I was contacted by Ellen and Ben who told me that there was another section to this cemetery, so I returned, and found it. They told me about an earlier work done by Mrs. James A. Ramsey which was contributed by the Los Gatos Chapter of DAR, to the archives, about 1935.

I compared my findings with the Ramsey work and have placed an asterisk * following each entry, which means it was either swallowed up by vines, or no stone or marker exists. I have a jpg picture of stones without an asterisk, * if interested in a copy please contact me.

I first visited this cemetery on Jul 20, 2005. The second trip was Aug 15, 2005.

- Dayna Chalif

Bartels, John, b. 1819, d. 1902 *
Bartels, John, b. 9 Mar 1850 Germany, d. 18 Mar 1878 *
Behn, Anna, b. 30 Nov 1830 Holstein, Germany, d. 9 Jun 1895, age: 54y6m10d, "Our mother has gone to a mansion of rest from a region of sorrow and pain..." (remainder unreadable), s/w Otto Behn
Behn, Otto, b. 22 Nov 1841 Germany, d. 24 Jun 1924, "No sorrow, pain or troubled fears disturb our loved one resting here", s/w Anna Behn
Brutt, Henry, b. 1839, d. 1922 *
Brutt, Margaret, b. 1847, d. 1914 *
Butts, John, b. Hanover, Germany, d. 6 Feb 1889, age: 58y, next to H. Dennemark
Cherington, James Johnston, d. 30 Jun 1869, age: 31y8m10d *
Dennemark, Henry J., b. Germany, d. 27 May 1876, age: 38y, next to J. Butts
Dobbel, August A., b. 1864, d. 1910, Beloved son of H & M Dobbel, s/w all Dobbels
Dobbel, Henry Jr., b. 1858, d. 1916, s/w all Dobbels
Dobbel, Henry, b. 1 Jul 1829 Holstein, Germany, d. 22 Dec 1891, s/w all Dobbels
Dobbel, John C. C., b. 29 May 1859 California, d. 15 Jun 1902, age: 43y17d, s/w all Dobbels
Dobbel, Julius C., d. 21 Aug 1870, age: 1y1m20d, s/w all Dobbels
Dobbel, Margaretha L., n. Hanover, Germany, d. 3 Sep 1885, age: 54y, w/o Henry Dobbel, s/w all Dobbels
Fell, Hattie A., d. 27 Oct 1870, age: 15m, d/o FM & Jennie Fell *
Frey, Anna, b. 1827, d. 1896 *
Frey, Helen, b. 1880, d. 1882 *
Frey, Henry, b. 1821, d. 1898 *
Frey, Willie, b. 1886, d. 1887 *
Griffith, Eva F., b. 12 Dec 1861, d. 6 Feb 1864, d/o WH & A Griffith *
Hale, Charles, d. 16 Oct 1872 *
Hale, Frank B., d. 24 Sep 1886, age: 57y or 87y *
Hale, Julia C., d. 14 Feb 1864, age: 6y8m7d *
Harsha, Josephine V., d. 13 Sep 1885, age: 48y4m3d, w/o John B. Harsha
Hartley, Mabel, d. 5 Sep 1871, age: 6m3d, d/o GP & JE Hartley *
Hatch, Anne S., b. 1828, d. 1871, Our Mother, next to James Hatch
Hatch, James, b. 12 Mar 1827 Canada, d. 26 Oct 1912, Our Father, next to Anne S. Hatch
Hovious, James Henry, d. 13 Mar 1868, age: 1y3m15d, s/o JH & AH Hovious, s/w all Hovious'
Hovious, Samuel Miller, d. 11 Jan 1875, age: 4y18d, s/o JH & AH Hovious, s/w all Hovious'
Hovious, Silas, b. Kentucky, d. 25 Jan 1871, age: 63y, s/w all Hovious'
Johnston, Charles Francis, d. 6 Oct 1865, age: 8m, s/o Charles & Mary Johnston *
Keifer, Phoebe A., inscription illegible, except that she died on the 10th" *
Marsh, Alvah, b. 13 May 1796 Vermont, d. 20 May 1881, Our Father, s/w Hannah Marsh
Marsh, Hannah, b. 5 Jun 1803 New York, d. 15 Jun 1882, Our Mother, s/w Alvah Marsh
Merrill, Nellie, d. 6 Dec 1895, age: 40y 5m, w/o Reuel C. Merrill, "Only surviving stone in large fenced plot, top of stone missing"
Moore, Erastus, b. 1854 Iowa, d. 3 Aug 1878 *
Moore, Mary, d. 30 Jan 1873, age: 2y9m20d, d/o Erastus & Ellen Moore *
Morrell, Fred Foster, d. 24 Mar 1881, age: 3y15d, s/o GW & Kate Morrell *
Morrell, Susan H., d. 11 Aug 1872, age: 22y5m2d *
Munro, Agnes, b. 1872, d. 1884 *
O'Brien, Francis, d. 8 Mar 1864, age: 36y *
O'Brien, George Francis, b. 27 Sep 1860, d. 18 Jun 1882 *
O'Brien, Walter J., d. 29 Sep 1875, age: 12y7m4d, s/o Francis & Josephine *
Ostermann, Andreas, b. 5 Jan 1839 "Holstein, Germany, d. 22 Aug 1893, age: 54y7m7d
Pitcher, Anita M., b. 21 Feb 1877, d. 4 Oct 1880, s/w all Pitchers except Fidelia and Thomas
Pitcher, Fidelia (Ambrose), b. 1872, d. 1940, Next to Thomas B. Pitcher
Pitcher, H. S., b. 1834, d. 1897, s/w all Pitchers except Fidelia and Thomas
Pitcher, John, b. 25 Jul 1827 "Vincennes, Indiana, d. 24 Feb 1924, s/w all Pitchers except Fidelia and Thomas
Pitcher, Louisa B., b. 9 Dec 1835 "London, England, d. 28 Jan 1893, w/o John Pitcher, s/w all Pitchers except Fidelia and Thomas
Pitcher, Mary M., b. 24 Jan 1858, d. 20 Jan 1861, s/w all Pitchers except Fidelia and Thomas
Pitcher, Thomas Benton, b. 1873, d. 1963, Next to Fidelia A. Pitcher
Purser, John, no dates *
Purser, Mary Elizabeth, b. 27 May 1833, d. 10 Apr 1868, "Sister, thou were mild and lovely, gentle as the summer breeze, pleasant as the air of evening when it floats among the trees. Peaceful be thy silent slumber…"" (the rest is unreadable)", "Archives record: top part of the stone is broken & missing, only dates remain which faciliatated identification"
Shields, Willie Alexander, d. 6 May 1881, age: 7m 9d, s/o William & E. Shields, Next to Marsh graves
Solton, Jacob, b. 16 Aug 1858 Germany, d. 16 Jan 1886 *
Young, Elizabeth (Bower), b. 18 May 1920, d. 18 Mar 2001, "LTJG US Navy, World War II", "Pitcher family plot, next to Gertrude P. Young"
Young, Gertrude (Pitcher), b. 1893, d. 1953, "Pitcher family plot, next to Elizabeth B. Young"