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San Juan County New Mexico Cemeteries |
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The largest cemetery in San Juan County is Greenlawn in Farmington. Greenlawn was established in 1903 although the dates of death on several markers go back as far as 1896. These entombments were moved from Farmington's first cemetery which was located at the corner of Apache and Butler Streets where a football field now stands. There are approximately 2500 graves in Greenlawn Cemetery with about 300 unidentified. As the site of the first cemetery was enlarged, unmarked graves were found and the remains were taken to Greenlawn Cemetery for reburial. One grave was found on the property of Orval Ricketts by workers who were laying new utility lines in the late 1940's. Upon finding a coffin Mr. Ricketts was notified. He knew nothing about the grave but he assisted with the excavation. The coffin lid was removed and a body so perfectly preserved was found that it could have been a recent burial. Mr. Ricketts described the beautiful brown tweed suit and new boots, all in an excellent state of preservation. The face was pillowed in an entanglement of brown hair and beard but was recognizable to old-timers as that of Alvin Barker, who died as a result of gun play with the Tom Nance Gang in the 1880's. It took several hours for identification to be made and a grave prepared at Greenlawn. In that short time of exposure to the air, the body and the clothing of Alvin Barker disintegrated into an ash-like substance. The name of Barker is well-known in the San Juan area. Barker Dome has been the site of much of the oil and gas drilling in this petroleum rich basin. There are several old cemeteries in San Juan County which have almost been forgotten with the passing of time. One of these is near Jackson Lake northwest of Farmington. It is the burial place of some of the early Norman settlers. Another group of Mormans settled in the Bloomfield area and started the Hammond Cemetery which is still occasionally used for burials by the Morman families of Bloomfield. There are separate Catholic cemeteries at La Plata and Bloomfield. A group of early Catholic settlers near Kirtland established their own cemetery on what is called 'Kentucky Mesa'. One of the earliest burial places in the county, excluding Indians, is Graveyard Mesa on the south side of the Animas River between Aztec and Farmington. It contains about 20 graves, however only two are marked. There are several graves at Cedar Hill about three-fourths of a mile south of the present cemetery. None of these graves are marked. The investigation of cemeteries in this area has been accompanied by a disclosure of local history. The first grave in the Aztec cemetery was that of Edgar Koonz, the two-year old grandson of John A. Koonz. The town of Aztec is built upon the homestead lands of John A. Koonz. The Aztec cemetery also contains two tombstones with dates to indicate that the environment of the San Juan Basin promotes longevity, Mrs. Jane Maddox, Nov. 18, 1823 - March 28, 1924 and James Jarvis, 1798 to 1903. How many people do you know who can boast with 'Uncle Jimmy' of having lived in three centuries? [Source: NMG, Vol 1, No. 1, Oct. 1962 - Submitted by K. Torp]
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