Logo Main   Maps   On Facebook   Volunteer work   History   Veterans   Records   Potter's Field   Obscure locations   Flower Pipes/Holders   Concrete Headstones   Graves Without Headstones   Contact

Block A: Potter's Field

The entire western half of the cemetery appears empty on the surface.  In the southwest corner, at least, is evidence of a few graves.

I think that this is the location of "Block A" that appears as grave locations in the Cemetery Register.  It is also occasionally described as the "public" area or "Potter's Field" in the Register.

This is where they buried people that needed to be buried when there was no one available (or willing), to pay for a burial.  In the old days (early 20th century), embalmers probably were not common in rural Canada, so it was necessary to bury bodies as soon as possible.

If these graves ever had markers, like wooden ones, they're long gone.  Only a single small engraved white stone remains, but it's now too weathered to read.

Click photos to see them full-sized in a new tab.     Block A-Potter's Field in the Empress Cemetery
Block A sunken spots looking east Block A sunken spots 1, 2, and stone, looking west Potter's Field in the Empress Cemetery Block A sunken spot 3, looking west

The burials in the records for "Block A", that I've found so far.

If there is a detail page for them yet, their name is linked to it.

 Given Names  Surname  Death Date Burial Location, note
EdBeckman1925-Jun-19A-2
Gloria BerniceBrehm1940-Jan-20A-7, Newborn
WilliamBuchanan1927-Oct-21A-3
ThomasDellahan1917-Jun-22A-sth 50
ThomasDillchau1917-Jul-22A-50
Harold DanielErner1921-Nov-11A-?
Harold VernonFischbuch1933-Feb-12A-5
WilliamFoster1933-Jul-07A-6
WooKee1919-May-13A-49
CharlieKrunbrink1940-Sep-09A-48
W.R.MonahanA-1
GeorgeNickolou1918-Nov-21A-1
GustavSchultz1932-Jul-26A-4
RodgerScully1940-Nov-21A-47
LydiaSeift1924-Jun-13A-2
JosephVas1-Public
 
Unknown burial locations, maybe Block A
BabySawyer1921-Mar-22Unknown
TanjiroTanaka1916-Jun-21 "8 feet from East line"
Ellen (Coil)Wagner1915-May-06Unknown

"8 feet from East line" was given for the location of the first 6 burials in the Burial Register.  5 of those are in various known locations on the east side of the cemetery, with nothing consistent about their distance in any direction.  Tanjiro Tanaka was a foreigner with no family here, so was most likely buried in Block A.



Bruce A. Johnson - Volunteer caretaker & record keeper for the Empress Cemetery.
Empress, Alberta, Canada           0002