Calvary Cemetery- Seattle

The Seattle McGinnis's & Fitzpatricks- Where they rest, side by side.

By using internet resources a genealogy oriented individual was found to photograph cemetery headstones in Seattle. She did an excellent job and e-mailed photos the very same day. Her rush to complete the task was motivated by the fact that it was a sunny day and she wanted to take advantage of the weather. Something we can all relate to in one way or another.

So after checking with the office and trotting off with a small map locating the graves she sought out all the family graves. My current interest was in the Fitzpatricks and the McGinnis brothers, two separate families in all.

The Fitzpatrick plat contains the majority of all these relatives, namely, Sarah and Patrick Fitzpatrick, their son John that died young, Margaret McCarron, John and Patrick McGinnis.

Sadly, only one marker remains in place, that for Sarah and Patrick. What happened to the other markers one can only wonder about. It is possible that all the markers were flat surface type of stones that eventually became overgrown. The photo of the one marker tends to validate that fact when one examines the photo the marker appears to be somewhat sunken as if the adjacent sod has thickened resulting in the illusion that the marker is sinking. Personally I believe the sod is building up instead and all the other markers may very well still be in place only covered with sod.

The above photo shows where they all rest. The bare patch of grass between the two markers contains three additional graves. The far marker is not a family member. Located next to that far marker is the grave of John McGinnis, Date of Burial, Oct 27, 1922, age 65. Next comes Patrick McGinnis, DOB, May 2, 1922, age 70 and next to him lies Margaret (McCarron) McGinnis, born in Ireland, DOB Dec 1903, age 80. The remaining marker is for Sarah, DOB, May 20, 1936, age 70 and her husband Patrick, DOB March 1, 1920. Their first born, John, died at the age of 9 and was buried May 4, 1895. The cemetery record lists him as being buried beside his father also without a marker.

The ages of Sarah and Patrick seem to be different in any existing record, primarily census data. Not so unusual in census records but Sarah's age appears to become younger in each record over the years bringing great suspicion of a touch of vanity. I have settled on 1855 as her year of birth making her age at time of death more like 81 years.