I'm a longtime historical researcher in Boulder County, Colorado, with an interest in mining history, especially involving Cornish miners. My husband and I visited Cornwall several years ago and would love to go back. Currently, I'm working with others to raise awareness about a small, neglected mountain cemetery near the former mining community of Caribou, at 10,000 feet in Boulder County. Our goal is to bring dignity and respect to the burials that include miners and their families –– many of whom immigrated to the community from Cornwall to mine silver in the 1870s and 1880s. We could use your help... see cariboucemetery.com.
Attached are two photos of the grave site of Margaret Perkins. The first is the way it looks now. The fence is still there, but, sadly, the gravestone and ALL of the other gravestones are now gone. The second photo is from the 1950s and shows the beautiful stone that once memorialized her grave. We are, however, anxious to at least mark these Cornish graves and put up fencing and interpretive signs.
I'm also exploring the possibility of starting a Special Interest Group on Cornish cemeteries (and/or those with Cornish burials) in the U.S. Please let me know if you are aware of any Cornish burials in your area –– especially those that need care.
Thank you, Silvia Pettem, cariboucemetery.com
It's been several months since I posted, but the "Friends of Caribou Cemetery" in Boulder County, Colorado, are moving forward in our preservation of the Caribou Cemetery. As previously mentioned, this was a silver mining town at 10,000 feet, with much of its population from Cornwall. Here's info on our recent "work day," https://www.themtnear.com/articles/cleaning-up-and-preserving-the-caribou-cemetery/ For more info on the cemetery, see http://cariboucemetery.com
Below is a photo of the long-gone gravestone of Mary Webster. Mary, her husband Joseph, and their three children initially immigrated to Morris County, New Jersey, where Joseph found work in an iron mine. Then, in the mid-1870s, after Mary gave birth to two more children, the family made their way to Caribou, Colorado –– to a log cabin at 10,000 feet in the Rocky Mountains.
While Joseph worked in Caribou's silver mines, Mary's life centered around activities in the town's one-room school, as well as the church, whose the mostly Methodist congregation was regularly visited by a circuit-riding preacher. Likely, his message touched on the community’s biggest fears –– mine accidents, fire, and disease.
Mary died during a diphtheria epidemic, on July 1, 1879, at the age of 39.