The History of LA’s Rosedale Cemetery

Feb 16, 2011 by Lisa Newton

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Yesterday, I talked about a remarkable woman named Hattie McDaniel. She’s one of many famous–and not so famous–people buried in Rosedale Cemetery.

Today, it’s hard to imagine Los Angeles with a population of only 28,000 people, but that was the population when Rosedale Cemetery was originally founded in 1884.

Sitting on 65 acres, located in the heart of the historic West Adams area, Rosedale was the first cemetery in Los Angeles open to all races and religions (Although, from my research, the Chinese were not allowed in Rosedale, do in part to the Chinese Exclusion Act, until many years later).

But now, all you have to do is stroll the grassy hills to see names from many nationalities; Latino, African American, Asian and Caucasian.

Rosedale was also the first cemetery in Los Angeles to embrace the idea of the design called lawn cemeteries–where instead of having bodies stacked on top of each other, cemeteries were more park-like, with trees, shrubs, flowers and monumental art.

In addition, Rosedale is home to the second crematory in the United States and the first west of the Rockies. Built in 1887, by 1913, 2,392 cremations were performed at Rosedale.

Today, Rosedale is owned by the Angelus Funeral Home, who purchased the cemetery in 1993, hence the name change to Angelus Rosedale Cemetery.

Many of Los Angeles’ early politician and pioneers are buried here, including Hattie McDaniel.

Here’s a short list:

George Alexander (1839–1923), politician, 38th Mayor of Los Angeles
Allen Allensworth (1842–1914), Lt. Colonel of the U.S. Army, founder of Allensworth, California
Ivie Anderson (1905–1949), jazz singer and actress
Henry Armstrong (1912–1988) champion boxer

Edward L. Baker, Jr. (1865–1913), U.S. Army officer, Medal of Honor recipient during Spanish-American War
Phineas Banning (1830–1885), financier, known as the "Father of the Port of Los Angeles"
David S. Barmore (1832–1905), wealthy steamboat builder, helped make the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers famous
Emmer Bowen (1830–1912), Medal of Honor recipient during the Confederate War
Tod Browning (1880–1962), movie director, screenwriter, known as "The Master of the Macabre"
David Burbank (1821–1895), dentist, businessman and landholder, Burbank, California, was named for him
Betty Burbridge (1895–1987), actress

Eric Campbell (1879–1917), actor
Rita Carewe (1909–1955), actress
Harry Carr (1877–1936), writer, newspaper columnist and editor
Frank Chance (1877–1924), Hall of Fame baseball player
Trustrim Connell (1834–1937), Union Army officer, Medal of Honor recipient during the Confederate War

Eric Dolphy (1928–1964), American jazz musician

Jessie Benton Frémont (1824–1902), writer, wife of Lieut.-Col. John C. Frémont

John Reynolds Gardiner (1944–2006), author
William Thornton Glassell (1831–1879), Confederate Naval officer, granduncle of George S. Patton
Louise Glaum (1888–1970), actress, silent screen "Vamp"
George Goodfellow (1855–1910), physician, medical pioneer, known as the "Gunfighter’s Surgeon"

Arthur C. Harper (1866–1948), politician, 36th Mayor of Los Angeles
Theresa Harris (1909–1985), actress
Eliza Poor Donner Houghton (1843–1922), Donner Party survivor, writer, second wife of Sherman Otis Houghton
Sherman Otis Houghton (1828–1914), lawyer, politician

Harry Kellar (1849–1922), American magician who influenced Harry Houdini

Fernando Lamas (1915–1982), Argentinian-born actor/director, husband of Esther Williams, was cremated at Rosedale
Benjamin Chambers Ludlow (1831–1898), Union officer during the Confederate War

John Mansfield (1822–1896), politician, Lieutenant Governor of California from 1880 to 1883
Joe Marshall (1876–1931), Major League Baseball player
William B. Mayes (1837–1900), Union Army soldier, Medal of Honor recipient
Owen McAleer (1858–1944), politician, Canadian-born 35th Mayor of Los Angeles
Hattie McDaniel (1895–1952), actress, first black person to win an Academy Award, which she received for her performance as Mammy in Gone with the Wind
Spencer G. Millard (1856–1895), politician, 20th Lieutenant Governor of California, died in office within his first year
Mable Monohan (1888–1953), murder victim, her death sent Barbara Graham, Emmet Perkins and Jack Santo to the gas chamber
Gideon C. Moody (1832–1904), American politician, Congressman/Senator
Tim Moore (1887–1958), vaudevillian, comic actor, appeared in the TV version of Amos ‘n’ Andy

Remi Nadeau (1819–1887), French Canadian pioneer who arrived in Los Angeles in 1861
Marshall Neilan (1891–1958), director, actor, motion picture pioneer
John R. Newberry (1850–1933), businessman, pioneer grocer, founded J.R. Newberry and Company, one of the first chain grocery stores in Los Angeles
John G. Nichols (1813–1898), 3rd and 10th Mayor of Los Angeles

Henry Z. Osborne (1848–1923), politician, served in the House of Representatives from California

John Henry Patterson (1867–1947), Anglo-Irish soldier/officer in the British Army, hunter, author and Christian Zionist, best known for his book The Man-Eaters of Tsavo (1907), which details his experiences while building a railway in Kenya, East Africa. In the 1996 film The Ghost and the Darkness (which focuses on his experiences during this time) he was portrayed by actor Val Kilmer.
Louise Peete (1883–1947), notorious multiple murderess, executed in the gas chamber at San Quentin
Stanley Price (1892–1955), actor

Frank Rader (1848–1897), politician, 31st Mayor of Los Angeles
Andy Razaf (1895–1973), lyricist, composer, wrote "Ain’t Misbehavin’" and "Honeysuckle Rose"
Frederick H. Rindge (1857–1905), American businessman, philanthropist and writer
Anthony A.C. Rogers (1821–1899), politician, served in the House of Representatives from Arkansas
Maria Rasputin (1889–1977), daughter of Russia’s notorious "mad monk," Grigori Rasputin

Monroe Salisbury (1876–1935), actor
Caroline Severance (1820–1914), social reformer, suffragette
James S. Slauson (1865–1922), Southland pioneer, citrus grower and former president of the Chamber of Commerce, prominent in civic affairs
Everett Sloane (1909–1965), actor, was in Orson Welles’ Mercury Theatre, played Mr. Bernstein in Citizen Kane
William Stephens (1859–1944), 24th California Governor

Art Tatum (1909–1956), jazz pianist (has cenotaph; originally interred here, he was removed to Forest Lawn Cemetery, Glendale)
William I. Traeger (1880–1935), lawman, politician, football coach, sheriff of Los Angeles County from 1921 to 1932, served term in the House of Representatives from California
John Q. Tufts (1840–1908), politician, served in the House of Representatives from Iowa

Ernestine Wade (1906–1983), actress, played Sapphire Stevens on radio and TV’s Amos ‘n’ Andy
Olin Wellborn (1843–1921), politician, served in House of Representatives from Texas
Franz Werfel (1890–1945), Austrian writer (transferred in 1975 to the Zentralfriedhof, Vienna)
Ernest Whitman (1893–1954), actor, played the Carpetbagger’s friend in Gone with the Wind
Robert M. Widney (1838–1929), American lawyer, judge, a founder of the University of Southern California
Harvey H. Wilcox (1832–1891), owned a ranch northwest of the City of Los Angeles, which his wife, Daeida, named Hollywood. Originally interred in Rosedale, alongside his mother, Azubah (Mark) Wilcox (c. 1804–1888); he was removed to Hollywood Cemetery in 1922
Dooley Wilson (1886–1953), actor, musician, played Sam in Casablanca
Anna May Wong (1905–1961), actress, the first Chinese American movie star
Frederick T. Woodman (1872–1949), politician, 41st mayor of Los Angeles
Honorable Wu (1896–1945), actor