Headstone outside of Moraga’s History Center reunited with its owner
By Vera Kochan
Anyone that’s walked past the windows of the Moraga History Center, at 1500 St. Mary’s Road, for approximately the past 15 years has probably noticed a headstone located at the foot of the redwood trees. The 15-½ inch horizontal x 12 inch vertical x 6-½ inch thick stone reads: “Elisa J. Berry, Native of Detroit, Mich. Died July 31, 1876 Aged 28 yrs. May her soul rest in peace, Amen”.
Written details were first given to Moraga Historical Society members in a 2022 First Quarter newsletter article, Eliza J. Berry Headstone in Moraga written by Research Director Susan Skilton.
Elisa/Eliza passed away in San Francisco from puerperal fever (postpartum infection) after giving birth to a son (Franklin Berry) who is listed as born on July 22, 1876. Sadly, the baby died shortly after his mother’s death on Aug. 22 from marasmus (nutrient deficiency or malnutrition).
Elisa was buried in San Francisco’s Calvary Cemetery, however, her remains were moved in 1940 when San Francisco began digging up thousands of graves in order to make room for the city’s expansion. Many relatives or friends could not pay the hefty fee of approximately $30 ($685 in today’s money) for the accompanying headstones to be moved with the remains, so instead the unclaimed headstones were sold for public works purposes. Somehow, Elisa’s headstone made it all the way to the Valle Vista subdivision in Moraga and was eventually placed in front of the History Center.
John J. Berry, Elisa’s husband, was born in 1841 in Buffalo, New York. He was a bookkeeper before enlisting in San Francisco for the Union Army during the Civil War. Given the circumstances of his death, it would appear that John was away working in Sacramento at the time of Elisa’s death as records show he attempted to find her grave.
The San Francisco Examiner, on Nov. 8, 1876, included the following article: “FOLLOWED HER HOME. A heart-broken husband kills himself at his wife’s grave. About 3 o’clock, yesterday afternoon, the body of a man with a bullet-hole through his head was found on one of the graves in Calvary Cemetery. The deceased was recognized as a man who, a short time before, had inquired of one of the workmen in the cemetery the place where single interments were made three months ago. He was given the desired information. It appears that after receiving this information he went to a grave on the head-board of which is the name ‘Eliza J. Berry’, stood over it and shot himself through the forehead with a Smith & Wesson revolver. Near his body was found a Catholic prayer-book, containing the picture of a young woman. On the fly-leaf of the book is written: ‘It is with me insanity or death, and in my weak judgment I prefer the latter. God help my baby and forgive me.’ The Coroner was notified, and he took charge of the body. The deceased was identified as John J. Berry, who had been employed in the general freight office of the Central Pacific Railroad. He was 35 years of age. A few months ago, he lost his wife, grieved very much, and yesterday shot himself over her grave.”
John was initially buried in San Francisco’s Odd Fellows Cemetery before being moved in 1933 to San Francisco National Cemetery (Presidio).
Every time I passed Elisa’s headstone lying unclaimed at the History Center, I felt a sadness that wherever she was interred her grave was unmarked, as if she never existed. I had read an October 2023, San Francisco Chronicle article about a book titled, “San Francisco’s Forgotten Cemeteries” by Beth Winegarner. Hoping that Winegarner could help me locate Elisa’s whereabouts, I emailed her in November of that year, and we hit pay dirt. Through her connections she was able to discover that Holy Cross Cemetery had the remains.
I then contacted Holy Cross, giving them Elisa’s Calvary Cemetery burial plot information with the hope that they could use it to cross-reference where she was located today. I was put in touch with Archdiocese of San Francisco, Holy Cross General Manager John Bermudez who, after hearing Elisa’s back-story, was more than happy to help. She was indeed buried at Holy Cross in an area that held the remains of Calvary’s transfers (all of which had no headstones). Bermudez graciously agreed to accept the long-lost headstone for placement as near to Elisa’s grave as was manageable (near a monument about twenty feet away).
On June 5, 2024, MHS President Susan Sperry and myself drove out to Colma with the headstone to meet Winegarner (who wanted to witness the transfer) and Bermudez. His staff expertly cleaned away years of dirt and stains before reverently placing Elisa’s headstone into a pre-fabricated cement casing. Both Sperry and myself were so moved by the care and treatment of the solemn event. It was as if she was being buried for the first time. Winegarner even brought flowers from her garden to place alongside the grave.
A few days later, I received an email from Bermudez, “It was a pleasure meeting you and the other ladies last Wednesday. I feel that your actions gave peace to a lot of souls. I thought I would pass on some interesting information regarding Elisa Berry. As you had mentioned to me that Elisa passed while giving birth, and her child passed a few weeks later, I had one of our archivists research the child. We have the following information to report — the child’s name was Franklin S. Berry. Born July 22, 1876. Passed Aug. 22, 1876. He is interred with his mother Elisa. Just thought that you would like to know.”
Rest in peace, Elisa.
