Historic Liberty Cemetery conducts final burial

Bryce Woodson, 8, of Fairfield, stares down at a weather-beaten headstone before a short memorial for Lucile Woodson at the Liberty Cemetery on Saturday. (Dan Evans/News-Sentinel)

Historic Liberty Cemetery conducts final burial

By Ross Farrow
News-Sentinel Staff Writer

Monday, March 24, 2008 6:34 AM PDT

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GALT — Almost 500 people are buried at the historic Liberty Cemetery, and Saturday's burial of Lucile Woodson was the final interment.

Woodson, 101, who lived much of her life in the East Bay community of Martinez, died on March 8. Her late husband, Burquest "Buck" Woodson, grew up in the Acampo area. She now lies next to her husband, who died in 1963. Their son, Jeffrey, died in 1989 at the age of 49, and is also buried in the family plot.

Genie Olson, long-time member of the Galt Area Historical Society, confirmed that Lucile Woodson's burial will be the last at the pioneer five-acre cemetery, constructed in 1852. She is the 13th Woodson to be buried at Liberty Cemetery, according to records compiled by Barbara Filbin, a local historian from Acampo.

Family members attended a memorial service on Saturday morning in Martinez, where Lucile Woodson lived for many years, before arriving at Liberty Cemetery at about 2 p.m. for a brief graveside service conducted by Pastor Aaron Graves of Galt Bible Church.

The cemetery is located about a mile east of the town of Liberty, which was on Lower Sacramento Road, just south of the bridge crossing Dry Creek into Galt.

The cemetery was in disrepair for years until the Galt Area Historical Society acquired it in the late 1980s, Olson said. Galt Boy Scouts installed fencing and gates, and the late Verne Hoffman Jr., became its caretaker. Gary C. Berreth, of Galt, has mowed the lawn for the past three years as caretaker.

Gary C. Berreth, caretaker of Liberty Cemetery, fills in the shallow grave where the ashes of 101-year-old Lucile Woodson was buried Saturday. (Dan Evans/News-Sentinel)

Lucile's grandson, Tim Woodson, of Fairfield, says he comes to Galt twice a year to remove weeds from around the family plot. He contributed money — through his former employer who provided matching funds — to the historical society in order to maintain the plot. Tim Woodson has joined the historical society and makes it to one or two meetings a year.

"He's really been a doll," Olson said, referring to Tim Woodson's financial contributions and efforts to keep up the cemetery grounds.

Buck Woodson was born in 1901 on a farm near Galt, and the only record of his birth was in a family Bible, according to the Woodsons' daughter, Sigrid Snider, who lives in the East Bay.

At some point, she said, Buck Woodson's older sister, Enid Woodson Sullivan, had the appropriate pages copied, verified and notarized to prove Buck's American citizenship.

The Galt Area Historical Society kept the one plot open until Lucile Woodson passed away, since her husband, Buck, is already buried there. They are two of at least 13 Woodsons buried at Liberty Cemetery.

The Woodson family dates back to 1858, when Benjamin Woodson bought 160 acres near Jahant Road west of Highway 99 for $450, said Filbin, who is writing a book on everyone buried at Liberty Cemetery. Benjamin Woodson later bought large amounts of adjoining land in the area, enough that Woodson Road was named after him.

The life of Lucile Woodson

Born Lucile Titus in Cananea, Sonora, Mexico, to American parents on Feb. 15, 1907, Woodson lived in Mexico for seven years, where her father was a copper mine engineer. Her family eventually moved to Arizona.
She and her husband, Burquest "Buck" Woodson, moved to Martinez, where her husband — a descendant of the pioneer Woodson family in Acampo — worked at an oil refinery and played on the refinery's baseball team.
Lucile Woodson never lived in the Galt-Acampo area as her husband did. She was a teacher in the East Bay for many years and active in her churches. She had three grandchildren, eight great-grandchildren and 12 great-great-grandchildren.
— Source: Sigrid Snider, Lucile Woodson's daughter

His property was south of what was once the thriving town of Liberty, along the route stagecoach stop from San Jose to Sacramento, Filbin said. By 1858, there were three merchandise stores, a shoemaker, dentist, livery stable, two blacksmiths, a wagon maker, and founder Chism C. Fugitt's hotel, Filbin said.

Liberty became the hub for commerce and the major provider for goods and services for the travelers en route to Sacramento, Stockton, the gold and copper mines to the east and the ranchers and farmers in the surrounding areas, according to Filbin.

The town of Liberty was disbanded in 1869, when the Central Pacific Railroad went through what is now Oldtown Galt, between Third and Fourth streets. Several buildings in Liberty were moved to Galt, including Christian Church, which was moved to Seventh and B streets.

Contact reporter Ross Farrow at rossf@lodinews.com.

Reader Feedback

020347 wrote on Mar 26, 2008 12:49 PM:

" Very interesting story. I lived on Liberty Rd. for 18 years and know of the cemetery, but did not know that there was ever a town called Liberty. I grew up in Galt. I had Genie Olsen as a teacher in 2nd grade and Hi School It's nice to here of something like this instead of rape's or killings. Truth, you need to light-in up. Even though this involves a death, it was an interesting piece of history. "

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the truth wrote on Mar 24, 2008 12:09 PM:

" And people complain about how bad the crime is in lodi? This is front page, top of the fold, monday morning news, an old cemetery? What about the raping and killing that went on over the weekend? Oh that's right, this is a quiet safe town, i forgot. "

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joesr wrote on Mar 24, 2008 7:47 AM:

" Mr. Farrow,

I think this just might very well be the best story of yours I have ever read! Congratulations and thank you for brightening my Monday Morning with a very nice and well written story. "

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