Evergreen Cemetery of Santa Cruz by Traci Bliss

Author:Traci Bliss
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Arcadia Publishing Inc.
Published: 2020-12-15T00:00:00+00:00

Former miner Ah Hoon accompanied the DeLamaters when they moved from the gold country town of Michigan Bar. In Santa Cruz, he lived with the family as their cook. Courtesy of Nancy Kilfoyl Campeau.

The DeLamater Eastlake-style house, including Swiss chalet trim, is seen here with its original three-story tower. It remained in the family for more than sixty years. Courtesy of Nancy Kilfoyl Campeau.

Alphabet, the name given GBV by locals, arrived in Santa Cruz in 1868 from Michigan Bar, a wealthy mining camp on the American River. Chinese servants were common in mining towns, and Alphabet brought with him Ah Hoon, who “was like one of the family.” Evidently, DeLamater and his friend Charley shared a mutual respect for the Chinese, as evidenced by Crocker giving public credit to the Chinese laborers for early completion of the Pacific Railway in 1869.

Once in Santa Cruz, Alphabet and his wife, Eliza Cope DeLamater, joined the Congregational Church and eagerly served in much-needed roles. His considerable experience selling dry goods in both Volcano and Michigan Bar led him to buy a lot on Pacific Avenue and construct a two-story brick building many considered the finest structure in town. DeLamater Dry Goods advertised groceries, cookware, hardware and clothing for all manner of men and boys, while the upstairs hall became a venue for theatrical productions and the meeting space for groups, most often his church. Gaining overnight name recognition, Alphabet became mayor in 1871 and used his one term to promote all aspects of Santa Cruz.

At the Evergreen family plot, he and Eliza reinterred their daughter, Maria Catalina, who died in Michigan Bar. Because easily accessible plots had already been spoken for, Alphabet purchased one straight up a hillside, next to the Heaths’ vault. The DeLamater burial site, even today, boasts the most consistent sunshine in a notoriously shady cemetery. The symbolism is noteworthy: Eliza and GBV’s daughter Grace, born in 1873, would become a shining light for the arts in Santa Cruz. But due to foul play, the teenage Grace saw her father only intermittently.

In the 1880s, Alphabet used proceeds from a life insurance policy to build the family’s Eastlake-style family home on Ocean View Avenue. According to the Surf:

Some malicious minded persons circulated the report that he was withdrawing money from his business for the home-building and certain creditors made sudden demands for payment which could not be met immediately. Mr. DeLamater was high minded, sensitive and the soul of honor, and instead of asking for any extensions or concessions he sold his [downtown] property at a ruinous sacrifice, paying every dollar of his indebtedness, and retired from business. Soon afterwards he entered the supply department of the Southern Pacific, and although the family home has been retained here, his citizenship was transferred to San Francisco to the distinct loss of Santa Cruz.101

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