Harper's Weekly 28 Jan 1882 Chinese Burial at Lone Mountain |
The article goes on to describe the ceremonial rites on the annual propitiation of the spirits of the dead. It is an interesting insight into not only the that ceremony but also the desire to convey the bones of the dead back to their homes in China.
Like all cemeteries in San Francisco, the chinese sections of Lone Mountain were closed to further burials and bodies were eventually re interred in cemeteries in Colma and Daly City. Russ Brabec's Daly City's Cemeteries gives some of the background for the chinese cemeteries, including Tung Sen which purchased land in 1936.
In the early 21st century a "Benevolent" Association was formed, but searches for the webpages they had developed in an effort to share information on the Loong Du historical roots leads only to broken links. The cemetery, however, is maintained by the Tung Sen Association, alternately called in some listings the Tung Sen Cemetery Association. I did not call asking for records, but I would think that they would be maintained in the San Francisco office.
The cemetery is located in Daly City at the end of Longford Ave, off Hickey.
Further research and reading....
- Tung Sen Cemetery on FindAGrave
- Daly City's Cemeteries
- Chinese Consolidated Benevolent Association (Chinese Six Companies)
- Reburial: Exhuming the Dead and Returning Them to China
- Chinese American Death Rituals by Sue Fawn Chung, Priscilla Wegars
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