Southern California Genealogical Society's 2010 Jamboree: Day Two (Friday) - Part I

My Day Two was Jamboree's Official Opening Day. I started out by boarding the tour bus for Evergreen Cemetery in East Los Angeles at 8:15 AM. On the bus were Canadian geneablogger Joan Kerr Miller of Luxegen and her husband, Reg, although we didn't actually get introduced until the next day. I sat next to a sweet, older woman by the name of Nancy Griffin. It was her first time at Jamboree, too, although unlike myself, she is fairly new to genealogical research. A local resident, she answered my many questions about the beautiful flowering shrubs and trees in the area. I was especially interested in the Jacaranda, a gorgeous lavender-colored flowering tree, with a heavy fragrance similar to a lilac.

It took about a half an hour to reach Evergreen from Burbank. The oldest cemetery in the city, it is the final resting place for local founding fathers, Japanese-ancestored Congressional Medal of Honor awardees of the 442nd Infantry Regiment, other ethnic minorities (including celebrities and civil rights workers) who were denied burial in other cemeteries, and my husband's great-great-grandfather, Pleasant Clark TOLLIVER (1861 - 1918), my main reason for taking the tour.

The tour was led by Steve Goldstein (author of the recently-published Beneath Los Angeles) and Joe Walker (a Crime Analyst with the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department) of The Studio for Southern California History, and it was absolutely fascinating! One of the first photos I took was of the grave of Eddie Anderson, who played the character of Rochester in the Jack Benny Show, one of my husband's favorites. I texted him from the cemetery with this information, and even he, the eye-rolling non-genealogist, was excited!

About 40 minutes into the tour, I tore myself away to go to the cemetery office to get a map and directions so I could locate the TOLLIVER grave. Nancy was very kind to go with me and help me look for the gravestone. I found it without too much trouble, and she snapped the photo!

Of course, I had to call my husband's sister in Portland, Oregon to tell her about my find. She is a huge FindAGrave fan and contributor and she was as thrilled as I was.

After the tour concluded, we stopped as planned for lunch at the famous Philippe's, home of the French-dipped sandwich. I ordered a beef roast sandwich, coleslaw (well-made) and a soda, and chatted with some of the other members of the tour. We returned to Burbank via the Pasadena Freeway, the first one built in the US. We got back to the Marriott a little later than expected, due to a traffic slowdown from a burning car along the way.

Day One
Day Two - Part II
Day Three
Day Four
Day Five