Her Name was Mary, and Hers was Clara
Grave stone of Mary, Mrs. J.E. Townsend, Mammoth Lakes, CA. When I lived in the town of Mammoth Lakes, CA, high in the Eastern Sierra Nevada mountains, I came across this lone grave nestled amongst the pine trees up off the road on the way to the lakes basin. It was near an area called the old Mill site, an area that once hosted a large mining operation in the late 1870's. Intrigued as to why this young woman was buried by herself on the side of a mountain I decided to do some digging, and no not literally but rather into her history. It saddened me too that she was only referred to as "Mrs. J.E. Townsend:," I needed to know her name. There is power in your name and she was obviously a strong woman if she found her self in these remote and high mountains in the 1880's. In a book that I picked up from a local antique store called "A Child Goes Forth" (now known as "Doctor Nellie" published in 1934) I came across the story of Mrs. Townsend