Restore Ventura CA St Marys desecrated Vet & Pioneer cemetery

[ustpatcher1a]

The city of Ventura who took over a pioneer, veteran, rancho, and native American 3000 interment cemetery called St Marys cemetery and turned it into the outlaw descrecrated 'Memorial Park' for the local homeless to trash, local dog owners to walk off-leash and local dogs urinate & defecate on loved ones people's grave plots still there. The cemetery has over 300 Civil, Indian, Spanish and WW1 veterans still buried there without headstones or markers, including some real war heroes/recipients of Medal of Honor. read the more illegal activites of that city government, see LINK:

http://www.restorestmarys.org/ http://www.restorestmarys.org/

The graves of many heroes and military/civil personages are in this dog walking park:

1. William Dewey Hobson was influential and had two very influential sons. Two of his sons, Abram and William , continued the cattle business that their father started and called it Hobson Brothers Packing Company. The packing house was in downtown Ventura where Pantagonia is now headquartered and the company had many butcher shops in downtown Ventura, Santa Barbara and Los Angeles. Abram was considered a consummate horseman in the Vaquero tradition and loved riding his black horse Walter H. on the Aliso Ranch and around the state. His desecrated grave is in a dog park in downtown Ventura. William Dewey Hobson is buried in olde St. Mary's Cemetery and was sold to the city in 1950's. His family graves plot is in a juniper planter disgracefully.

 

2. William Vandever, 9 Iowa vols, civil war. William Vandever (March 31, 1817 – July 23, 1893) was a United States Representative from California and Iowa, and a general in the Union Army during the American Civil War. In 1858 he was elected as a Republican to represent Iowa's 2nd congressional district in the Thirty-sixth Congress, and was re-elected in 1860 to represent it in the Thirty-seventh Congress. He was a member of the peace conference of 1861 held in Washington, D.C., in an effort to devise means to prevent the impending war. In 1861, Vandever was mustered into the Union Army as colonel of the 9th Iowa Volunteer Infantry Regiment. He commanded the 2nd Brigade in Eugene A. Carr's 4th Division at the battle of Pea Ridge. He was promoted to brigadier general of Volunteers on November 29, 1862 and sent to command a brigade in the XIII Corps of the Army of the Tennessee. He returned to the Trans-Mississippi Theater to command the 2nd Division in the Army of the Frontier at the Battle of Chalk Bluff. He reverted to brigade command under Francis J. Herron during the siege of Vicksburg. He returned to Iowa as a recruiting officer in January 1864. He joined up with William T. Sherman's army in command of the 3rd Brigade, 2nd Division, XVI Corps and fought at the battles of Kennesaw Mountain, Atlanta and Ezra Church. He commanded the Post of Marietta during the fall of 1864 then rejoined Sherman's army in command of the 1st Brigade, 2nd Division, XIV Corps and fought at the battle of Bentonville. He was brevetted to major general in 1865. Although his official congressional biography states that Vandever only served in Congress until September 24, 1861 (early in his second term), he never resigned his seat. Iowa's only other congressional seat (in the First District) was vacant from August 4 to October 8, 1861 because Representative Samuel Curtis had resigned his seat after receiving command of the 2nd Iowa Infantry, so for a time Iowa was effectively unrepresented in the U.S. House. He died in Ventura, California, in 1893 and was buried in Ventura Cemetery.

3. James Sumner (1840 – July 5, 1912) was a United States Army soldier and a recipient of the United States military's highest decoration, the Medal of Honor, for his actions in the Indian Wars of the western United States. An English immigrant, Sumner served as a cavalryman during the Apache Wars of southeastern Arizona Territory. He was awarded the Medal of Honor for advancing through heavy fire in a skirmish against a group of Chiricahua Indians led by Cochise.

After his military service, Sumner moved to California where he lived first in Los Angeles and then in Oxnard. He never married and had no children. Sumner died at age 72 of kidney failure at a hospital in Ventura and was buried there in St. Mary's Cemetery.

Falling into disrepair after years of neglect, St. Mary's Cemetery was taken over by the city of Ventura in the early 1960s and converted to a park. Most of the grave markers were removed, however roughly 3,000 bodies were never disinterred. Cemetery Memorial Park, as it is now known, is dotted with a few dozen remaining grave markers, including Sumner's bronze plaque headstone.

The condition of Sumner's grave site received media attention in mid-2010, when the Ventura parks and recreation commission deferred a request to move his remains to Bakersfield National Cemetery. Supporters of the move called the situation "disrespectful," noting that Cemetery Memorial Park had become a popular place for locals to walk their dogs and that the animals defecate on and near Sumner's grave. The commission stated its intention to commemorate those buried in the park, however this effort has been long delayed.

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Legally, ethically, and morally; so long this plot of land has 3000 souls, graves, tombs, remains, people, Venturans, ancestors, skeletons, citizens still interned there IT IS A CEMETERY----the living is just fooling themsleves as a place for dogs to defecate on. Let's all take our dogs to their front lawn and let our dogs defecate on their front yard plots.

Sounds like a nice Restore the Cemetery publicity stunt, huh?

Hundreds of dogs going to the house front yards around the 'park' and have the dog defecate on their front lawns.

 

 

Video LINK:

http://www.youtube.com/user/1reporter

 

 

[ustpatcher1a]

The correct video link from the above posting SHOULD BE

 

You Tube- Video LINK:

 

[ustpatcher1a]

important bump....

[Lucky 7th Armored]

What a shame... Has there been any progress??

 

Haydn

[ustpatcher1a]

What a shame... Has there been any progress??

 

Haydn

 

 

THANKS for your kind attention. Steve Schleider is the chairman of this public action. he built the Saint Mary's desecration website. I have known and worked with him for 10 yrs now. Years back, this plight would get local and Los Angeles TV news coverage on some of the Vet's holidays, if Steve worked hard to contact them. **But nothing would progress. Some major public events would be organized in the public's eye.

 

1. Memorial Days a Civil War parade and false funeral- I was part of a couple of these events. We had civil war re-enactors (including look-a-likes like Gen Grant and Lincoln), funeral flag draped casket caisson, riderless horse, rifle squad to fire volleys, and mourners would march through downtown (handing out flyers) go from the Ventura mission to the cemetery/park. The final funeral stop would be at the grave of a medal of honor recipient from the indian wars (a calvary trooper who rescued a missing kidnapped settle child.) I local medal of honor recipient that served in WW2 and korea lent his attention to this matter by attending and speaking. He's now deceased. **But nothing would progress.

 

2. Mission anniversary informational picket event- We had a public event when the Catholic Cardinal Mahoney of Los Angeles was up at Ventura Mission for it's anniversary sunday services. It was outside the mission where we handed out flyers and talked to many people (including the Cardinal) about the desecration of the cemetery property. BTW- The Cardinal took our flyers, but said he knew nothing and could do nothing on the desecration.) **But nothing would progress.

 

3. Kalifornia Kaleidoscope public access cable shows- I have a public access TV show. Steve and I did several Warner TV cable (viewed by 850,000 family subscribers a week in LA & Ventura counties.) show are highlighting the Saint Mary desecration with several guest who's relatives are still buried on that 'dog walking' park and the problems of that. **But nothing would progress.

Show one video LINK:

 

show two video LINK:https://youtu.be/MY8wLJgg4Ho

 

 

4. Rolling Thunder event interest- A vet from Orange County, CA got interested in this plight after visiting the dog park and getting informed of the 3000 individuals still buried there. He was talking to Mr. Schleider about having a motorcycle honor guard event through Ventura and ending up at the Civil War, Spanish War, Indian Wars vet's graves. **But nothing would progress.

 

5. Ventura government Saint Mary's families speak public testimony at City Council & Park's department meetings - Many family members would attend and speak to the city bureaucrats during the appropriate 'public speaking' periods in the city government meetings. **But nothing would progress.

 

Latter there was discussion by the city to re-organize the property to put up memorial maps and signs to show where the graves are situated. And to allow flat headstones (flush markers) to be placed for the unmarked historic grave sites and enforce the dog walking park & lease rules. The Ventura city government response was that it's TOO expensive to solve the problem of memorial park (aka Saint Marys cemetery) at the present time. **But nothing would progress.

 

It seems to correct this Saint Mary's cemetery matter and why it's very slow is due Ventura city has organized it's city council members elections. There is a dead lock on the council seats. There are no council districts, all voters vote on all seats. Encumbants have a dead lock on their re-elections in Ventura. The encumbants don't want to address or redress this mistake of the previous city government electors in the mid 60's. It will take a change in the city charter to make a change in this. LONG work ahead.

 

Good luck there. City government stuck in the 60's. **Nothing would progress.

 

IMVHO; this matter needs a high profile and powerful champion or LARGE national club or charity to get this matter solved. OR **Nothing would progress.

 

thanks and tell a friend....

[riflegreen297]

It looks like that MOH recipient was COL. Millet, who led the last full unit bayonet charge in combat during the Korean War at Hill 180. Hell of a Man.

[suwanneetrader]

If the town won't step up and do the right thing maybe they would OK a Concerned Citizen's Comm. to raise funds and donated labor to restore to a Memorial Park ( a real one) Richard

[BILL THE PATCH]

Hats off to you , for bringing this to light. It should be turn back into a cemetery.

[ustpatcher1a]

It looks like that MOH recipient was COL. Millet, who led the last full unit bayonet charge in combat during the Korean War at Hill 180. Hell of a Man.

 

 

The "Restore Saint Mary's" was contacted by COL Millet, and he wanted to participate in some way. He lived nearby in Ojai, CA. He lent his support to our efforts and I enjoyed meeting & speaking with him. Truly a larger than life soldier. I was grieved to hear of his passing. He's interned in Riverside military cemetery and received full honors in his funeral.

I grew to respect him even more when I did some extensive research on his MOH and wartime soldering. He's quite a patriot. He's resting in a cemetery that respects the individuals who are buried and lived in the SoCal area. Glad he left Ventura environs.

 

The city council has things really locked-up around here. Contact the main website posted previously to answer your specific questions or to enlist any ideas to remedy this plight. Steve Schleider is the chairman and web-masters the site. That's "Restore St Marys cemetery" Ventura California.

[ustpatcher1a]

"The City of Ventura stole their cemetery" Blog article LINK:http://delphiseer.blogspot.com/2008/12/city-stole-their-cemeteries.html

[Leatherneck72]

Thanks for bringing this to light here.

[ustpatcher1a]

I know of four pioneer & religious cemeteries in the Southern California area that have been neglected (desecrated), abandoned, or been re-purposed WITHOUT moving a single internment. It's a great shame that these souls thought they would be safe from desecration when they passed on and they're not. In Saint Mary's case, they had a community center and parking lot over the graves. The community center was taken down due to it's structure mysteriously falling apart (Poltergeist, anyone ?). The parking lot only remains over the many graves in that area. Still desecrating the souls buried there.