Bainbridge Grave Folk by Ashley Riley

10/21/2025

Scenes of fall at Port Blakely Cemetery 🍂

10/16/2025

One year-old Waldemar Rudolph Freeman's headstone stands at the far back of Kane Cemetery on Bainbridge Island, near where the edge of the cemetery falls sharply down to the shores of Port Madison Bay. A little lamb, laying down to sleep, is carved into the arched top of his moss-covered stone. Lambs were often used in cemeteries during the Victorian era to symbolize innocence, purity and gentleness, and were most often used for the final resting places of children. The lettering on Waldemar's stone is written in German, the only one of is kind within the cemetery. In between dates it reads, "geborn den" ("born the") and "gestorben den" ("died the").

Waldemar was born on September 19, 1879 to Frederic Freeman and Anna Gutenberg, both immigrants from Germany. He was most likely born in Port Blakely on Bainbridge Island, where his father worked as a laborer at the Port Blakely Mill. Waldemar was only 16 months old when he died on February 22, 1881. No record of his death or obituary exists to tell us exactly where or how he died, although it was most likely in Port Blakely. As to why he was buried at Kane Cemetery on Port Madison, as opposed to the closer Port Blakely Cemetery, suggests that his father may have been associated with the Freemasons, who have owned Kane Cemetery since its inception.

Nothing more can be found about Waldemar's parents, Frederic and Anna. We don't know if they had any more children after Waldemar's death, if they returned to Germany or stayed in America, or where they are buried. In the upcoming spring, Waldemar's headstone will be cleaned and restored, honoring his short but forever-remembered life.

10/10/2025

Seize The Moment 🔱 In celebration of the Mariners being home in Seattle for Game 5 of the ALDS tonight, here’s a look at a few of our Bainbridge Island baseball players of yesteryear. Below we have the Bainbridge High School baseball team of 1947.

Back Row: Coach Knoell, Bill Yeo, Larry Holms, Noel Jernigan, Bob Woodman, Clarence Osbjornson, Selmer-Mickelson, Bob Kutz, Alvin Nyhus, Bob Dixon, Pete Uglesich, Ed McGifford, Don Beach.

Second Row: Pete Shepherd (Mgr.), Don Dunn, Larry Morril, Tom Beach, Bill Scullion, Don Berg, Don Beck, Doug Nichols, Reid Hansen, To, Woodman, Laird Anderson, Teruo Taniguchi, Bud Lundgren, Dick Sands (Mgr.)

Front Row: Wayne Smith (Mgr.), Dan Stanley, Murray Kleist, Bob Sigle, Don Nadeau, Brien Stafford, Edward Hefty, Truman Black, David Coe, Dale Wallace, Shannon Stafford, Roy Lowrie, Don Barnes, Tom Regan.

10/08/2025

One of the oldest headstones in Kane Cemetery belongs to John Barker, a Skagit River trader found murdered in his own store. Born in Norway around 1839, no additional information can be confirmed about his life before coming to Washington state. John was one of the first settlers to arrive in the area that became Skagit City, a town located near the northeastern corner of Fir Island, on the shores of Puget Sound's Skagit Bay. Settlers in the 1860's found that the 10,000 acre island was fertile farmland.

John arrived in Skagit City in 1868 and built himself a "shake shanty" at the south fork of the Skagit River on Fir Island. It was in this building that he established the Barker Trading Post in 1869, where he sold goods and merchandise. John also sold whiskey, his most popular product, to both settlers and Native Americans. The store quickly attracted more pioneers to the area, which rapidly established the town as a commercial center with a hotel, church, school, and steamboat routes connecting inhabitants to the rest of Puget Sound. It also attracted fraternal organizations like the Masonic Fraternity of Washington Territory, of which John Barker was a member.

On the afternoon of Thursday, December 9th, 1869, a friend of John, named B.F. Quimby, arrived at the trading post. He found shot and to***co laying just outside the front door, and the door locked with the key gone. He later reported that Barker had previously given him a spare key, to use if he ever arrived at the store and needed to let himself inside. Quimby reported using this key to open the door, upon where he found Barker laying face-down on the floor, having been fatally struck with a buckshot through the back left shoulder and heart. The back of Barker's vest was burned, indicating the shooting had occurred at close range, and his pockets were turned out, suggesting that he had been robbed while preparing to go to Seattle to obtain more goods for the store. First reports indicated that only money was taken from the store, but later reports suggested that several additional goods were also taken by the perpetrator(s).

The death of Barker, who had been a much beloved and respected citizen, shook the small community. Neighbors and fraternity members formed a mob that vowed to find Barker's killer(s). A diligent search was undertaken but by the end of December there was little progress. Newspapers initially reported that "it is thought the deed was done by Indians...the settlers are determined to hunt them up, and extract immediate revenge." Later newspaper reports stated "it is not improbable that the deed was perpetuated by a white man."

Given the circumstances, their latter suspicion was most likely correct. Members of the Masons continued the search for three years, with no definitive answer as to who murdered John Barker. During the initial search, two Native American men were questioned and threatened with hanging if they did not divulge what they knew about Barker's murder. What resulted was most likely a coerced false confession, which resulted in the two men being hung anyway.

Notably absent from the search was John's close friend, Quimby, who fled the region shortly after the murder. A short time before the murder took place, Quimby sought to "purchase" himself a Native American woman, who asked for thirty dollars that Quimby did not have. Coincidentally, Quimby was able to find that money shortly after his friend was murdered, which he then used to make the purchase and leave.

As a member of Kane Lodge No. 8, John Barker was buried under the auspices of the fraternity at Kane Cemetery in Port Madison on Bainbridge Island. However, he was most likely first buried at Dead Man's Island in Port Madison harbor, which was used as burial grounds before Kane Cemetery was established around 1880. Skagit City is now a historic ghost town, with nothing much left to show it existed except for the building foundations of the trading post, union hall and post office.

10/06/2025

"Far away in bay waters so blue on an Isle,
Where my small cottage stands by the way,
So deserted it looks in an unkept yard,
And a field where withered grass lay,
Where the unpainted barn with its clap-board sides,
Is losing the smell of the past,
And the five willow trees are losing their leaves
Reminding us time flies so fast."

This portion of a poem was written by Bainbridge Islander George Bucklin Oliver (1912-1978) and published in the Bainbridge Review on Christmas Eve in 1942. George was serving overseas during World War II when he sent this poem as part of a letter to friends in Rolling Bay, who felt "it should see printer's ink...because it so clearly tells what is in the hearts of all America's fighting men, stationed so far from home this holiday season."

In the picture below, this 1936 Ford has found its final resting place in the woods near Bucklin Hill. Legend has it that it died trying to drive up Blakely Avenue.

[Photo: Ashley Riley]

10/01/2025

Check out my episode for Bainbridge Grave Folk on the latest BIStander Podcast! 🪦

Today we welcome Graveyard Gossiper & Obituary opportunist Thank you for your support!  is a listener supported show, please consider subscribing.   BE A FRIEND OF PODCASTVILLE AND TELL A FRIEND   NOW ALSO in  Editing by

09/30/2025

Then and Now: Port Madison, Bainbridge Island. 153 years have passed since this original photograph was taken of Port Madison from the water in 1872. At the time, the Port Madison Mill was just past its heyday and located to the right of view, along with the home of mill founder George Anson Meigs. Notice the docks along Euclid Avenue, and the home owned by Capt. John Farnham, located center-right next to the white picket fence that lines steeply-sloped Meigs Road. To the very far left, covered in shadows, is the Port Madison Hotel, and in between were the homes of the Primrose, Kiddie and Mathiesen families. Newspapers in the late 19th century described Port Madison as a picturesque little town, elegantly dotted with beautiful white mill company cottages.

Upper photograph courtesy of University of Washington Libraries

09/29/2025

Yesterday we observed Gold Star Mother's and Family Day, which began in 1936 to honor mothers who lost a child in military service. Here on Bainbridge Island, one Gold Star Mother made it her life's mission to honor her son's ultimate sacrifice in World War I. That mother was Annie Bucklin Hyde, daughter of island pioneers Nathan and Marian Bucklin, and her son was Pvt. Colin Campbell Hyde. Colin served in the United States Army's Motor Transport Corps, and succumbed to illness on September 28, 1918 while stationed in Paris, France. He was buried at Suresnes American Cemetery in Suresnes, France. In 1930, Annie Bucklin Hyde made a trip with the Gold Star Mothers to visit her son's grave, where this picture was taken. Back on Bainbridge Island, across the street from the Bucklin homestead where Colin was born, located on Bucklin Hill near Eagle Harbor, is the American Legion Colin Hyde Post 172. In the years that followed, thanks in great part to Annie's efforts, Colin's memory would remain forever intertwined with the history of Bainbridge Island.

Photo courtesy of Bainbridge History Museum

More information:
American Gold Star Mothers, National (Official)
American Battle Monuments Commission
Colin Hyde Post 172 of the American Legion

09/27/2025

Before and After: the headstone of William Baldwin Taft at Kane Cemetery, located in Bainbridge Island's Port Madison community.

With cooler, rainy weather on the way this coming week, headstone cleaning season is coming to a close. Thankfully, dozens of headstones at Kane Cemetery were cleaned over the last several months, along with many others at Island Center Cemetery, Port Blakely Cemetery, and Seabold Cemetery.

The winter will be a great time to work on projects of a different nature, including documenting the details of every veteran burial on Bainbridge Island. Eventually this will also weave into a project that documents the details of every Japanese American and Filipino American burial on Bainbridge Island, as well as veteran burials at Suquamish Cemetery. The goal is to share this compiled information with local organizations, such as the American Legion or Boy Scouts, who place flags on veteran graves throughout the island on Memorial Day. Also to share this information with other organizations like the Bainbridge History Museum and BIJAC, so they may have this documentation as a resource for island history.

Read more about William Baldwin Taft here:
https://www.facebook.com/share/p/17CisUd7NW/?mibextid=wwXIfr

09/24/2025

Tucked away in the far corner of Port Blakely Cemetery on Bainbridge Island is the simple granite headstone for Samuel and Tereza Kostrencich, a young married couple from Croatia. While only a few facts are relayed on their headstone, two immediately stand out: the young ages at which they died, and that they both died in the same year. What emerged from the details was a heartbreaking story.

Terezija "Tereza" Drǎcić was born on October 16, 1892 in Crikvenica, Primorje-Gorski Kotar, Croatia. She was the first of nine children born to Petar "Peter" Drǎcić (1873-1931) and Philomena "Filomena" Škomerža (1871-1953).

Crikvenica is located in the Kvarner Bay of the Adriatic Sea along the Croatian coast, where Peter worked as a fisherman. In the late 1800s, Crikvenica began to transform into a health resort town due to the natural healing properties believed to be in the Riviera. Tourists flocked to the Hotel Therapia and a Hydrotherapy Institute to reap the benefits.

In 1897, Peter left Croatia and arrived alone in the United States, where he continued to work as a fisherman on the Bering Sea, using a small skiff with oars to make his catches. Filomena and their children remained in Croatia, until 1910 when their oldest son, Nick, joined Peter in the United States. Three years later in November 1913, Peter traveled back to Croatia to help bring the rest of his family to America. They arrived in New York and then traveled by train to Seattle, Washington, where they made their home on 24th Avenue along the shores of Salmon Bay.

Not long after their arrival, Tereza married a neighbor named Samuel Simon "Sam" Kostrenčić on January 25, 1914 at Sacred Heart Parish in Seattle. Sam was a fisherman like her father and also from the same town in Croatia.

Sam was born November 17, 1886 in Crikvenica, Primorje-Gorski Kotar, Croatia. He was the son of Simon Samuel Kostrenčić and Ursula Ivančić, and had at least two brothers. Not much can be found about his early life or exactly when he came to the United States, but it was around this time that Sam began spelling his last name as "Kostrencich."

Tereza and Sam moved to Eagledale on Bainbridge Island, where almost exactly ten months later Tereza gave birth to their first child, Petra Pyerina "Pearl Henrietta." Sam continued to work as a fisherman in Eagle Harbor near where the family made their home. It was here that two more children were born within the few years that followed: Mary Ursula in 1915 and Angelina Filomena in 1917.

Sam and Tereza's fourth, and what would sadly be their last, child Francisko Matea “Frank Matthew” was born January 9, 1919 in Port Blakely. It may have been around this time, or very shortly thereafter, that the family became gravely ill. This was during the third wave of the influenza outbreak that would become known as the Pandemic of 1918, or more commonly, the "Spanish Flu."

Dr. Frank Shepard, who just days before had attended the birth of her son, was now attending to Tereza on her death bed. Tereza died on January 29, 1919 in Eagledale from influenza and lobar pneumonia when she was 26 years old. She was buried two days later at Port Blakely Cemetery.

Sadly, the family's losses were far from over. Just two weeks after the death of his wife, Sam died on February 12, 1919 in Eagledale from influenza and bronchopneumonia when he was 32 years old. Dr. Shepard once again attended to him, and had to watch helplessly as the four children he had helped deliver into the world were quickly orphaned. Sam was buried at Port Blakely Cemetery next to his wife two days later.

In the years that followed, Sam and Tereza's four children were raised by Tereza's parents, Peter and Filomena. They continued to live in Eagledale with their grandparents and five of their younger aunts and uncles. They presumably resided in the same home in an effort to keep the children's lives as normal as possible. As the children grew up, married and had children of their own, most relocated to Southern California, where Peter and Filomena spent the last several years of their lives.

09/20/2025

Autumn symbols abound. Just as we can find symbolism carved into gravestones, we can also find it within nature at cemeteries. With every passing fall visit at Port Blakely Cemetery, I've noticed this Sweetspire plant growing out from the top of one of the weathered wooden posts that outline the Jewish burial section. As evidenced by its determination to grow regardless of where it's planted, it is a symbol of endurance. It flourishes in the face of adversity, tenaciously continuing to grow despite the odds, and thriving as a symbol of perseverance and strength. Just like the cemeteries themselves preserve the stories of those who came before us and contain the last traces of vanished towns. Headstones stand as testament to those who have been loved immensely; they are the physical embodiment of how humanity has always sought to find meaning in the face of its own mortality. Some people visit a cemetery and feel sadness. While it is a place where grief and loss is openly displayed, it is also a place where we can actually witness love's transformation. The endurance of love despite death. It truly is the physical representation of how the human spirit fights to perservere. Just as headstones endure the elements and become weathered with every passing season, the stones show their strength against time like love continues to do after death.

09/16/2025

Then and Now: the Eley Family headstone, Kitsap County pioneers, at Kane Cemetery.

While we don't have a picture of what the original Eley Family headstone looked like, thanks to family descendants we have an idea! The first picture was taken around 1990, when Eley Family descendants replaced and rededicated the headstone with a replica. The second picture was taken within the last year, showing the headstone covered with mold, moss and lichen. The third picture was taken just a couple weeks ago, after the headstone received a thorough and much needed cleaning.

Read more about the Eley family here in a past post:
https://www.facebook.com/share/p/14GabbLZFPW/?mibextid=wwXIfr