All My Ancestors

Martha Jane Ball Cromwell’s grave is unmarked. I feel fortunate to know her resting place because of a trip I took to California in 19??. I took my parents out there to visit my brother who then lived in Fresno, but we also visited Auntie in Buena Park. As in any worthwhile family visit, we went to Olive Lawn to see her mother’s grave, my great-grandmother Roxy Grace Cromwell Anderton. Then we drove to Rosemead to see where Roxy Grace’s mother, Martha Jane Ball Cromwell was buried in Savannah Memorial Park, aka El Monte.

Martha Jane, born 1858 in Iowa, survived the attack on the wagon train that killed her father and uncle in 1862, went on to Nevada with her mother who shortly remarried and then died, and by 1870 was back in Iowa to be reared by her grandparents, William G. and Elizabeth Charlton Ball in Warren County, Iowa. She subsequently moved to Arkansas, married Daniel W. Cromwell, reared 8 children in Texas, Missouri, Oklahoma, and Arkansas. Sometime after Daniel’s death in 1925, Martha Jane went to California where some of her children were living. [Daniel is buried in a country cemetery named Blue Mound in Beaver County, Oklahoma. His grave is marked by the funeral home marker set in concrete. You can see it here.]

Her grave is not marked. No other family members are buried in this cemetery. I have since confirmed with the Southern California Genealogical Society that this is the site of Martha Jane’s burial. You can see the placement of her grave on a map I’ve posted with her entry on the family website at www.allmyancestors.com. And I’ve finally made a call to Valley Monument Company in neighboring San Gabriel to see what it would cost to put a marker on her grave. Here’s what I found–we can order a small (12″ x 24″) dark gray or black granite marker for $260. The cemetery’s setting fee 4 years ago was $100–the person I spoke with is checking to see if it’s gone up. So for probably less than $400, we can mark her grave. What do you think?

It’s been almost 70 years since Martha Jane died. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if by the 70^th anniversary of her death on 21 April 2008 we could have a marker in place? You can use Paypal to make a donation using the button below or I will most definitely accept personal checks, money orders and particularly cold, hard cash. I’ll keep a running total available so you can see how close we are to reaching the goal. Please, if you are one of Martha Jane’s descendants, consider helping with a small donation to mark Martha Jane’s resting place.

For more information about using Paypal (it’s free), check out this link.