Historical California Stone Carvers, Stone Cutters, & Monument Dealers
Nelson thru Nunan
L. E. NELSON, Columbia, Tuolumne County, California.
The following information is from a presentation by Mary-ellen Jones to the Contra Costa County Genealogical Society in 1996. (from “Tombstones, and the Men who created them,” in the Diablo Descendants Newsletter, November 1996, Vol. 11, No. 11, pp. 89, 91.)
L. E. Nelson was one of the stone carvers who advertised in some of the old city directories who produced cemetery stones during the Gold Rush era.
The Howard Cemetery Stone. This cemetery stone is located in the Columbia Cemetery, Columbia, Tuolumne County, California. (Photographed July 1998) |
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Sacred to the memory of Martha Caroline Howard…. Signed: L. E. Nelson, Columbia |
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The Griffith Cemetery Stone. This cemetery stone is located in the Columbia Cemetery, Columbia, Tuolumne County, California. (Photographed July 1998) |
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William son of … Griffiths, Died April 11, 1860, Aged 2 Yrs. and 6 Mo. Signed: L. E. Nelson, Columbia |
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L. A. NESLER, Mother Lode Stone Shop, Jamestown, California.
L. A. Nesler’s Business Card – Contributed by Shawna Nesler Lewis, his great granddaughter.
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L. A. Nesler’s Business Card Mother Lode Stone Shop, Jamestown, Calif. (circa 1911) |
About L. A. Nesler, Shawna Nesler Lewis writes:
“My Great Grandfather was L.A. Nesler and owned Mother Lode Stone. He did beautiful work and one of his trademarks was a tree stump in various positions and sizes…He did the statue in Sonora and he lived close by in Tuolumne for a while. I know that he traveled up and down California.”
The Armstrong Cemetery Stone. This cemetery stone is located in the Union Cemetery, Brentwood, Contra Costa County, California. (Photographed 1997) |
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Violet E. Armstrong, Born July 8, 1910, Died April 21, 1911. Signed: A. Nesler |
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NEWMAN & WING, Napa, Napa County, California.
The Cooper Cemetery Stone. This cemetery stone is located in the Middletown Cemetery, Middletown, Lake County, California. (Photographed 1997) |
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Margaret C. Wife of S. V. R. Cooper, Born in Illinois June 5, 1843, Died July 8, 1878 Signed: Newman & Wing, Napa City |
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The Coulthard Cemetery Stone. This cemetery stone is located in the Middletown Cemetery, Middletown, Lake County, California. (Photographed 1997) |
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Minerva Wife of C. Coulthard, Gone But Not Forgotten (The rest of the text is not readable.) Signed: Newman & Wing, Napa. |
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J. J. NUNAN,
Oakland, Alameda
County, California.
(Marble Works)
1880-1881 - The following excerpt is from Pacific Coast Directory, for 1880-81...of California, Nevada, Oregon, Washington, Utah, Montana, Idaho, Arizona, and British Columbia, L. M. McKenney & Co., Publishers, San Francisco, Cal., presented on the Golden Nugget Library web site, by Nancy Pratt Melton.
(pp. 679) “Nunan, J J, marble works - 1417 San Pablo Ave.”
(pp. 688) (Advertisement)
J. J. Nunan, Marble Works
West Side San Pablo Ave., Near Eightieth Street, Oakland, Cal.
All kinds of Mantel Work, Plumbers’ Slabs, Monuments, gravestones and Granite Work. All work executed in a workmanlike manner at low rates.
Commercial use of material within this site is strictly prohibited. It is not to be captured, reworked, and placed inside another web site ©. All rights reserved. Peggy B. and George (Pat) Perazzo.