Utah Mining Tour

2024 Mining History Association

Walking Tour of the Glenwood Cemetery

Leader, Diane Knispel, Director of Education,

Park City Historical Society and Museum

Park City, Utah

June 5, 2024

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This introduction to the Glenwood Cemetery is an excerpt from background material provided by our Tour Leader, Diane Knispel.

“Welcome to Glenwood Cemetery. Imagine this setting without a building or machine of any kind within sight or hearing distance. Only the birds, the babbling creek, the rustle of leaves are there to disturb the silence. This peaceful spot is the final resting place for pioneers who carved out lives in the Wasatch beginning a century and a half ago. Of course, in those days, these acres were far from the hustle and bustle of Main Street. You could call the Glenwood, Park City’s storybook. Of the 949 pioneers and others buried here, each could tell their own story of life in a booming mining town of the 1870s, 1880s, and beyond.

“This cemetery was a partnership of the fraternal organizations active in Park City at the time. In 1885, they acquired this aspen grove and made it their own. Each organization had a section where members and their families could be buried. It consists of five acres containing plots for nearly 5,000 burials. Today, this ground is owned by the Park City Museum and Historical Society and has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places since 1981. It adheres to historic cemetery guidelines, which preserves the cemetery along with the natural vegetation, allowing it to grow all season and create a wildflower sanctuary among the headstones. The one mowing each year waits until the native vegetation has seeded.

“Park City was a silver mining town before it became the major ski resort destination that it is today. Miners came from all over the world to mine here since jobs in their countries may have been difficult to find or the miners decided they wanted an adventure and moved to America. Many miners thought they would be here a short time, make some money, and go home. But most decided to stay. Because the miners were coming to Park City, Main Street in town became a hub of activity. Stores were designed so that miners and their families could buy mining supplies, food, furniture, and other things they needed. Theaters, candy shops and dance halls were created for entertainment. The City Hall, police department, and fire department were built when the city was incorporated in 1884. Many bars were opened for drinking and socializing, and each culture had their own bar (i.e. German bar for Germans, Italian bar for Italians, etc.) where miners could interact with people from home.

“Because Park City was a mining town, many of the miners died of miner’s consumption which is a lung disease that made breathing difficult. This was because of the amount of dirt and dust that would get into their lungs while mining. Many of the miners who are buried here at Glenwood Cemetery died of miner’s consumption, pneumonia (no antibiotics back then), or deaths from injuries, falls, accidents, or explosions in the mines. As we walk through the cemetery, we will learn more about this through their stories. You will also hear about some of the miners or their family members who died from other diseases, accidents unrelated to mining, childbirth, or even murder (as it was the wild west!).

“Fraternal organizations were extremely important to miners and their families. Miners joined for the brotherhood, social interaction, code of conduct, and most importantly, the health and life insurance they provided, which the mines did not. Active in Park City were: The Masonic Order; The Ancient Order of United Workmen; The Knights of Pythias; The Loyal Order of Moose; The Independent Order of Oddfellows; The Modern Woodmen of America; The Woodmen of the World; and The Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks.

“Many of the early markers were made of wood and have totally deteriorated. Only one wooden marker remains. Those who could afford it used granite or marble markers. The volunteer association replaced many of the deteriorating markers with simple sandstone markers. Some of the graves share common symbols: many of the children’s graves are marked by a statue or etching of a lamb; a draped shroud represents a person leaving behind their earthly presence for heaven; and symbols of the various fraternal organizations are seen throughout.

“Medical knowledge, expertise, science, and technology back then were not what we have today. It wasn’t understood how and why people got sick or died. It was thought diseases came from “miasmas” or bad air or vapors. Illnesses like pneumonia, the flu, diarrhea, and typhus were common but not the knowledge of how to avoid or treat them. Many mothers died during childbirth, and their babies sometimes died too. If a child or adult got sick, the doctors treated them with care, made them comfortable, and did the best they could under the circumstances, but many times the person died anyway. Here are some statistics about the age at time of death: 154 died at less than 1 year-old (either stillborn or premature); 118 died over 1 year-old and less than 6 years (mostly typhoid, scarlet fever, diphtheria, flu and pneumonia); 28% of burials were children under 6 years; and 334 died under age 18. Out of the 949 people in the cemetery, 692 (or 73%) were 60 years old or younger when they died. The oldest person at death buried in the cemetery was Elizabeth Williams – 97 years old, buried in 1943.

“You may be asking how we know these stats and where we get some of the information about the families. The Glenwood Cemetery Committee has put together information about those buried at Glenwood. We call it “The Book of the Dead.” We also may have more information about the deceased at the Park City Museum if anyone is looking into family history. The Book of the Dead includes where the person is buried, the fraternal organization belonged to if known, place of birth, date of birth, date of death, age at death, cause of death, and who the deceased is related to so that questions could be asked if needed. If the information is not listed, it was not given at the time. Park City Museum staff and volunteers are currently updating the information as we look more into the deceased. [Web Note: Another source of information on the Glenwood burials is FindAGrave.com.]

“The stones we will pass tell stories of immigrants who left their home countries seeking better lives. They tell of illness, accident, despair, violence, and fortunately, often of long lives, well-lived. The fraternal organizations maintained the upkeep of the Glenwood for decades, but as mining died out and lodges disbanded, the cemetery was neglected and vandalized. Headstones were defaced, broken, or overturned, and the heads of the lambs knocked off. In 1980, a committee met to discuss the problem, and the result was a Glenwood Cemetery Restoration Project. Today, the cemetery is owned by the Park City Museum and Historical Society and depends upon public contributions and grants. Donations and grants have helped erect a fence, remove dead trees, provide headstones to graves where they were missing or destroyed, and preserve the historic headstones. This elegant entry gate was built in memory of Blanche Wiest Fletcher whose descendants still live in Park City today.

“You can come take a walk in this peaceful place any time and learn the history in the carvings on the stones here at the Glenwood – Park City’s storybook.”

(Above) Our Leader for the cemetery tour, Diane Knispel, Director of Education for the Park City Historical Society and Museum, welcomes the MHAers to the Glenwood Cemetery and explains its history.

(Right) Diane explains the layout of the cemetery. Time constraints required the MHAers to form two groups, each of which covered different halves of the cemetery.

(Above) The grave of Thomas Henry Paull (1868-1946), age 78. Partially obscured by the vegetation, this is the last remaining wooden grave marker in the cemetery.

(Right) Nearly one third of the burials in the Glenwood Cemetery are children under 6 years old. Albert Louis Brunyer (1903-1903), the young son of miner, Frank, and Hannah Brunyer, died of spinal meningitis at the age of 3 months.

The lamb motif typically marks the grave of a child. Lena Grace Safford (1892-1896) died at age 3. She was the daughter of George and Hattie Safford.

John Nimmo (1860-1911) was Foreman at Daly West Mine at time of the explosion in 1902 which killed 32 mine workers and rescuers. He was a member of the Free and Accepted Order of Masons.

William Brigham Jones (1860-1900) died at the age of 39. His unique gravestone with tools of the woodsman’s trade, notes that he was a member of the Woodman of the World.

Many “Cousin Jacks” found their way to Park City from Cornwall, England. Phillip Spargo (1865-1913) was born in Cornwall. He emigrated in 1887 to the Ishpeming, Michigan iron mines. He came to Park City in 1888. He worked in South African mines from 1896 to 1899 and returned to Park City. He died of silicosis (miner’s consumption). He was a member of the Odd Fellows.

Fannie Arthur Williams (1855-1917) was born in Wales. Husband Morgan Williams, also a Welshman, was a machinist.

The grave of Annie Gidley (1864-1903) and Robert Lee Gidley (1902-1904), wife and son of William Gidley (1855-1924). Annie was born in Salt Lake City. William was born in Grass Valley, CA. Robert died at age 2 of scarlet fever.