Harvey J. Stackhouse - Benton Avenue Cemetery - Helena, Montana - Zinc Headstones on Waymarking.com

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Harvey J. Stackhouse - Benton Avenue Cemetery - Helena, Montana

in Zinc Headstones

Posted by:  T0SHEA

12T E 420229 N 5161838

The oldest cemetery in Helena, Benton Avenue Cemetery actually contains burials from the earlier mining camp cemetery which had to be relocated when Central School was built over it.

BENTON AVENUE CEMETERY

Gold discoveries at Last Chance Gulch in 1864 brought a diverse population to the booming settlement of Helena. In 1870, Lewis and Clark County Commissioners established this ten-acre cemetery to serve the growing population.

The first interments date to 1870. The historic road that borders the cemetery's east side, known as Benton Avenue, brought mourners and funeral processions from town.

Four simple quadrants divide the cemetery. Its central driveway is the original wagon road that led into the burial ground. Family plots dominate the southern half, outlined in stone curbing or wrought iron fencing. In 1872, the Masons purchased the northeast quadrant and most burials there have Masonic affiliations. The northwest quadrant includes many unmarked graves, some of them unidentified re-interments from the city's first cemetery. Lewis and Clark County operated the cemetery from 1870 to 1922 when the Benton Avenue Cemetery Association incorporated and acquired the deed from the county.

Within the Benton Avenue Cemetery are several small zinc headstones. These zinc headstone are quite small about 18 to 24 inches in height and about 12 to 15 inches in width. All are mounted on a two tier concrete base. Considering all of these zinc headstones were placed round 1880, approximately 140 years ago, they are still in very nice condition.

Though Harvey J. Stackhouse birth date is unknown, he was born approximately in 1841.

One of these zinc headstones is for Harvey J. Stackhouse;

Harvey J. Stackhouse
BIRTH: unknown
DEATH: August 2, 1870 (age 29 years)

Morning Star Lodge

No. 6 A.F. & A.M.
Harvey J. Stackhouse
Died
August 2, 1870
Aged 29 years