This historic cemetery is on the north side of Queen Anne Hill in Seattle and was started in 1879. The original homestead land grant was given to Nils Peterson in 1878. A year later, the International Organization of Odd Fellows purchased 10 acres near this homestead for the purpose of a cemetery but accidentally located the burial ground on Peterson’s land. Peterson thus sold that part of his homestead to International Organization of Odd Fellows.
In 1882, Peterson sold another 10 acres to the Free Methodist Church. It is believed this second cemetery formed Mount Pleasant Cemetery. Originally on Queen Anne Hill, two separate burial grounds existed.
Seattle undertakers Cross and Company also bought land from Peterson in 1882. In 1890, Congregation Chaveth Sholem established the first Jewish cemetery.
Mount Pleasant Cemetery Company was started by James W. Clise (1885–1938), a real estate investor and banker when he purchased the land from Cross. In 1929, Mount Pleasant sold a parcel of its cemetery to Temple de Hirsch for the Hills of Eternity Jewish cemetery. Another parcel was sold to the Chinese Chong Washington Benevolent Society. The neglected Mount Pleasant Cemetery was sold by Clise to Neil Edwards (1908–1986).
Mount Pleasant Cemetery and the Odd Fellows cemetery are under the same management, and the boundaries between them have merged over time. The Jewish cemetery, Hills of Eternity, and the A. A. Wright Columbarium are still separate. Muslim grave sites oriented toward Mecca were started in 1979.
Buried at Mount Pleasant Cemetery are several Wobblies killed during the Everett Massacre (Bloody Sunday) when there was an armed confrontation between members of the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) and the local authorities. On Sunday, November 5, 1916, hundreds of members of the IWW boarded the steamers Calista and Verona from Seattle and headed to Everett to attend a rally. They were met at the docks by Sheriff Donald McRae and over 200 citizen deputies. McRae told the Wobblies that they could not rally in the spot. Arguing ensued, then shots rang out on both sides. Two deputies died along with five Wobblies, and several men were wounded. Along with other prominent citizens from Seattle, three of the Wobblies are buried here at Mount Pleasant Cemetery.
TOMBSTONE OF DANIEL BAGLEY. Rev. Daniel Bagley (1818–1905) was married to Susannah Rogers Whipple. In 1842, Bagley was admitted into the ministry of the Methodist Protestant church, and for 10 years he was engaged in active work. In 1852, he was chosen by the board of missions of his church for a mission to Oregon Territory, which then included Washington and Idaho and parts of Montana and Wyoming.
DANIEL BAGLEY. In 1852, Bagley and his wife arrived at The Dalles in Oregon, where he began active missionary work that lasted for eight years. In 1860, they moved to Seattle, and at that time he was the only clergyman stationed in Seattle. Besides his ministerial duties, he became a prominent worker for the advancement of Seattle. He was in charge of the Brown Church for many years. (Courtesy Clarence Bagley.)
TOMBSTONE OF CLARENCE BAGLEY. Bagley (1843–1932) was born in Troy Grove, near Dixon, Illinois. In 1852, he became a student at the Willamette Institute (Willamette University) in Salem. He helped clear the land for the Seattle University (UW) when he moved with his family to Seattle. In 1865, he married Alice Mercer.
CLARENCE BOOTH BAGLEY. Bagley became a writer, a printer, a publisher, Seattle’s first historian, and a founder of the Washington State Historical Society. He was a collector of data concerning history, and he wrote more history articles for publication than any other resident of Washington. He wrote three volumes of History of Seattle (1916) and three volumes of History of King County (1929). (Courtesy Clarence Bagley.)
BERTHA PITS CAMPBELL MARKER. Campbell (1889–1990) was a founder of the Christian Friends for Racial Equality, was one of 22 women who founded the black sorority Delta Sigma Theta, and was a civil rights leader. Seattle proclaimed June 13, 1987, as Bertha Pitts Campbell Day.
MONUMENT FOR VALENCIA MARITIME DISASTER. A total of 26 people are buried here from a maritime disaster off Vancouver Island in January 1906. This monument honors those persons who died on the SS Valencia, which was en route from San Francisco to Seattle, passed the entrance to the Strait of Juan de Fuca in foul weather, and ran aground. In the worst maritime disaster of Northwest history, 136 people perished. There were 37 survivors.
MAYOR ORANGE JACOBS. Jacobs (1827–1914), mayor of Seattle from 1879 to 1880, was a member of Washington territorial council from 1885 to 1887 and was a superior court judge from 1896 to 1900. On September 27, 1881, he delivered a eulogy after Pres. James A. Garfield was assassinated. The memorial was attended by approximately 3,500 people, a huge crowd for Seattle at that time. (Courtesy Seattle Municipal Archives, No. 12261.)
WELLINGTON TRAIN DISASTER: LUIGI CIMMARUSTI. In 1910, near the town of Wellington (renamed Tye), an avalanche took the lives of 96 people. One of the survivors stated, “There was an electric storm raging at the time of the avalanche. Lightning flashes were vivid and a tearing wind was howling down the canyon. Suddenly there was a dull roar, and the sleeping men and women felt the passenger coaches lifted and borne along. When the coaches reached the steep declivity they were rolled nearly 1,000 feet and buried under 40 feet of snow.”
CARLOS BULOSAN. Filipino author Carlos Bulosan was born in Mangusmana in the Philippines and was the son of a farmer. American colonization brought hardship to many families; Bulosan left his country behind for dreams in America and arrived in Seattle on July 22, 1930, at the age of 17. His dreams were shattered when he found racial brutality and economic injustice in the land of the free. From unhealthy work conditions, he contracted tuberculosis. He became a prolific writer on the subject of his hardships and social injustice in America. He died from bronchopneumonia.
ANNA HERR CLISE. Anna Herr Clise (1866–1936) was a cofounder of Children’s Orthopedic Hospital, creating a safe haven for malnourished and crippled children. Clise and 23 affluent women contributed $20 each to start the Children’s Orthopedic Hospital, which opened on Queen Anne Hill and relocated to Laurelhurst in 1953.
SAMUEL J. SMITH TOMBSTONE. Sam Smith (1922–1995), longtime Seattle city councilman, grew up in Louisiana and at an early age decided to go into politics. Smith was elected to the state house of representatives and served five consecutive terms. In 1967, he achieved his goal of passing a state open-housing law and became the first black person elected to the Seattle City Council. For 24 years, he served on the Seattle City Council.
LONGSHOREMAN LABOR DAY. Portrayed here is one of a series of panoramic views taken by photographer J. A. Juleen at Everett’s 1912 Labor Day parade. (Courtesy Everett Public Library.)
DEATH MASKS. This postcard issued by the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) shows the death masks of five Wobbly victims. The date was November 1916, and the postcard was issued in memory of their fellow workers killed at the Everett Massacre. (Courtesy University of Washington Library.)
BODIES OF FOUR WOBBLY VICTIMS. This postcard issued by the IWW relates to the Everett Massacre. The four Wobbly victims were John Looney, Hugo Gerlot, Felix Baran, and Abraham Rabinowitz. (Courtesy Everett Public Library.)
BODY OF ABRAHAM RABINOWITZ. This postcard issued by the IWW shows the body of Rabinowitz, Wobbly victim of the Everett Massacre 1916. (Courtesy Everett Public Library.)
BODY OF HUGO GERLOT. Gerlot was killed in the Everett Massacre on November 5, 1916. On Saturday afternoon, thousands of Seattle citizens viewed the impressive funeral cortege of three martyrs shot dead. Leading the procession was an automobile filled with flowers. One of the flower arrangements had only one word, “Solidarity.” The most impressive floral tribute was a massive set of white carnations with the motto in red, “Workers of the World Unite.” (Courtesy Everett Public Library.)
MOUNT PLEASANT FUNERAL, 1916. These photographs show the funeral of Everett Massacre victims. Industrial Workers of the World (Wobbly) supporters gathered at Mount Pleasant Cemetery in November 1916 for the funeral of victims Gerlot, Baran, and Looney. (Courtesy University of Washington Special Collections.)
FUNERAL OF FELIX BARAN. Baran was killed at the Everett Massacre in 1916 during a labor dispute. His funeral was held in Seattle in November 1916. This photograph shows Mount Pleasant funeral poet Ashleigh speaking. (Courtesy University of Washington.)
MOUNT PLEASANT WOBBLIES HEADSTONE. On November 5, 1916, over 300 International Workers of the World from Seattle took a ferry to Everett, Washington, for a mass meeting to support an Everett shingle-mill-workers’ strike (organized not by the IWW but by an AFL union) and with the intent of pressing the free-speech issue. Two hundred deputies and Sheriff McRae, who had been responsible for the beatings, met the ferry. McRae asked, “Who are the leaders here?” The men on the boat replied, “We are all leaders here!” Shots rang out wildly. We remember Hugh Gerlot, Felix Baran, Abe Rabinowitz, Gus Johnson, and John Looney, the IWWs who died on Bloody Sunday.
WOBBLY MEMORIAL POSTER. “Workers Remember Your Dead,” advises this November 1916 Wobbly memorial poster. Artist M. Pass drew this memorial poster for publication in the Industrial Worker newspaper, to remember and honor the five Wobblies killed during the Everett Massacre. (Courtesy Everett Public Library.)
SONGWRITER JOE HILL’S ASHES. Joe Hill was executed by the State of Utah by firing squad in 1915 for a murder that he probably did not commit. His ashes are scattered in this cemetery. Small packets of his ashes were sent to Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) (except in Utah) to be scattered. Wobblies on May 1, 1917, sang his songs and spread his ashes at Mount Pleasant cemetery. The lyrics for one of his songs is featured here. (Courtesy Everett Public Library.)