Volunteers for the Mental Health Association of Portland have started to clean up the newly identified gravestones of patients of the Oregon Insane Hospital (1859-1880) at Lone Fir Cemetery. Those gravestones were identified through a July 2022 report, which at the moment still unavailable, “Lone Fir Cemetery – Research Results for Burials of Patients of the Oregon Hospital for the Insane” (sic).

Commissioned by Metro from Dudek, the report states there are over 180 patients of Dr. Hawthorne buried at Lone Fir, and about 51 are identified as buried in Block 10 of the cemetery. For years the general understanding was that up to 250 patients of Dr. Hawthorne were buried in Block 14 of the cemetery, about a hundred yards from the area in Block 10. Other gravesites may be in other areas of the cemetery and remain un-located.

The report remains unavailable from Metro pending the release of a complimentary report on the burial of Chinese workers at Lone Fir. That report has no publication date as of now (October 2022).

Using the Dudek report, MHAP volunteers located a handful of gravestones in Block 10 and with a special permit from Metro have begun their excavation and cleaning. Work will continue as weather permits through the Fall and Winter of 2022/2023.

The organization requested in 2008 that Metro fund and build a suitable memorial for the patients of Dr. Hawthorne who are buried at Lone Fir. That request went unheeded until early in 2022 when Metro, flush with funds, agreed after being petitioned again by the Lone Fir Cemetery Foundation, of which MHAP is a member. Metro has agreed to spend up to $4.2 million on the memorial, which will also include recognition of the Chinese workers also buried at Lone Fir. That memorial is scheduled to be completed in 2025.

The gravestones below, of James Flynn, Daniel Peck, Frederic Aberly, and Margaret Bagley, would have been submerged under the turf and unfindable in just a few seasons.

Volunteers cut surrounding turf, brushed dirt and debris, and did some minor scrubbing with water to reveal William Fulton, Daniel Peck, Frederic Aberly, and John Gentle. Note the newer concrete which frames and intends to preserve some of the gravestones.

It may be there are more patient gravestones in the surrounding area fully submerged under the turf. Volunteers were able to easily find adjacent gravestones which were fully submerged – although not listed at OIH patients in the Dudek report. When the Fall rains soften the turf, volunteers will return to probe the soil and locate additional gravestones.