Sarah Norton's grave, Somersville

California · USA · Execution site

Sarah Norton was a midwife who died when her carriage overturned on the way to a birth. She had told her children she wanted no funeral. The town tried.

Sarah Norton lived at Somersville, one of the coal mining towns in what is now the Black Diamond Mines regional preserve in California. She was a midwife and delivered a great many of the town's children.

She died on the way to a birth, when her carriage overturned.

She was not a religious woman and had told her children plainly that she wanted no funeral. The people of Somersville felt otherwise and set out to give her one.

The first attempt was broken up by a fierce storm that came in over the hills and drove everyone off.

What happened at the second attempt is the part everyone in Contra Costa County knows.

The mining towns are gone and the preserve is open to the public. Rose Hill Cemetery, where she lies, is one of the most visited and most vandalised burial grounds in northern California.

FAQ

Hvor ligger Sarah Norton's grave, Somersville?

Sarah Norton's grave, Somersville ligger i California, USA.

Image: MARELBU / CC BY 3.0 / Wikimedia Commons