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User:Shortiefourten/Wesley Everest Gravesite

Coordinates: 46°44′11″N 122°58′51″W / 46.73639°N 122.98083°W / 46.73639; -122.98083 (Everest, Wesley, Gravesite)
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Wesley Everest Gravesite
Wesley Everest Gravesite, 2012
Wesley Everest Gravesite is located in Washington (state)
Wesley Everest Gravesite
Wesley Everest Gravesite
LocationSticklin—Greenwood Memorial Park, 1905 Johnson Road, Centralia, Washington
Coordinates46°44′11″N 122°58′51″W / 46.73639°N 122.98083°W / 46.73639; -122.98083 (Everest, Wesley, Gravesite)
Arealess than one acre
Built1932 (1932)
Built byCarl J. Setterberg
MPSProperties Associated with Centralia Armistice Day, 1919
NRHP reference No.91001781[1]
Added to NRHPDecember 17, 1991

The Wesley Everest Gravesite is a historic landmark located in a memorial park cemetery in Centralia, Washington and has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places since 1991.[2]

History

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Wesley Everest

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Everest in uniform, 1919
Main article: Wesley Everest

Wesley Everest was born near Newberg, Oregon in 1890, becoming a farm worker in his adolescence. Everest began working in the timber and railroad industry in his late teenage years. Factual evidence of Wesley Everest's life before his lynching is scarce, but he was described as "gutsy" but silent, yet passionate about the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW). The earliest mention of Everest's involvement with the IWW was noted in 1913. He was considered a strike leader and was jailed for vagrancy after an IWW organizing effort in Marshfield, Oregon. Everest was taken out of his cell by a mob, forced to kneel and kiss an American flag, and run out of town.[2]

Everest was drafted in 1917 during World War I but his service record is scant. He most likely served in a U.S. Army logging unit known as the Spruce Production Division but stories suggest he was a sharpshooter and saw combat in Europe during the Great War.[2] Reports mention that he was opposed to the war and spent time in a military stockade as he often refused to salute the American flag.[3] He was discharged from military service in March 1919 and although eligible for membership with the American Legion, he rejoined the IWW, becoming an organizer after moving to Centralia, Washington.[2]

In the immediate years after Everest's death, he was written about or shown artistically as a martyr.[4] A mural featuring several symbolic features of the IWW, known as The Resurrection of Nathaniel Wesley Everest, was created in 1997 by Wobblies at the Centralia Square Antique Mall, a former Elks lodge, opposite the George Washington Park and its accompanying tributes to the Centralia Tragedy.[5][6][7] Myths and legends grew as the decades went on with embellishments to Everest's personal and military life, such as being labeled as a war hero and as a prominent member and organizer of the IWW.[2]

Death and burial

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During the events of the Centralia Massacre on November 11, 1919, Everest was captured after he and his fellow Wobblies[a] retreated from the Roderick Hotel in the city's downtown district. Taking a different route than his other IWW members, he ran towards the Skookumchuck River and after a brief exchange of gunfire where Everest wounded two pursuers, killing one,[b] he was dragged through the streets of Centralia. Everest was momentarily thought to be the local IWW leader. An attempt to lynch Everest from a telephone pole was aborted and he was held at the city jail.[10][4]

That evening, a main switch outside the jail was closed creating a power outage. A crowd entered the jail and took Everest by automobile to the Mellen Street Bridge west of the city. With a rope around his neck that was attached to a cross beam, he was pushed over and was hanged.[10][11] Everest, from reporting in newspapers favorable to the IWW cause, did not cry out in pain during the events, and made mention that he may have bayoneted. His remains hung for hours and onlookers turned on headlights of their automobiles as the day turned to night.[12] His body, filled with possibly as many as 20 bullets, was removed the next day and left in the Chehalis River.[10][11] His corpse was recovered, reported as dragged through the streets, paraded in front of his fellow prisoners, and placed on the floor of the jail cell,[c] still occupied by his fellow Wobblies, until his burial.[14] No person involved with his hanging was ever charged nor brought to trial.[4]

Everest burial

Everest's funeral and burial, held on November 13, 1919,[11] was without ceremony; the attendance of family members and a formal funeral service were disallowed.[13] Four of the incarcerated Wobblies built a simple wood coffin and perhaps up to six IWW prisoners dug the grave at Greenwood Park Cemetery.[14] The funeral was attended by a limited few, including the coroner, several news reporters, and by members of a National Guard squad who were on-site after being called in after the November 11th events. His grave was at first unmarked, thought to be a means to prevent vandalism. On Memorial Day, 1921, a small ceremony at the gravesite was organized by the Centralia IWW to honor Everest. The original gravestone was not added until the late 1930s.[2]

Myths and legends of Everest's death grew immedidately after the lynching. Reports suggest that Everest, either on his way to his lynching or at the Mellen Street Bridge, was castrated, but no evidence has ever been found to verify these accounts.[10][4] A narrative, despite evidence, exists that Everest's body was dragged behind a horse while being transported to his grave.[15]

Geography

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The gravesite is located in Centralia's Sticklin-Greenwood Memorial Park, a pubic cemetery situated southeast of Ford's Prairie and northwest of the city's downtown core. The rail station known as Blakeslee Junction is immediately to the east. The grounds are considered a pauper's cemetery[4] and the gravesite is near the intersection of Reynolds Avenue and Johnson Road,[3] in a section of the cemetery known as the Garden of Freedom.[2]

Appearance and site features

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The grave of Wesley Everest is a small rectangular parcel unconnected by the NRHP to any other monument or site in the cemetery. The grave is marked by a granite headstone behind a concrete flower box. The 12 in × 24 in (300 mm × 610 mm) headstone, considered simple, contains a carved IWW emblem and the following epitaph:[2]

In memory of

Wesley Everest
Killed Nov. 11, 1919

Age 32

The headstone lacks the customary date of birth, manner of death, or mentions of family. A discrepancy in his birth year, often cited as 1890, and his age listed on the marker, is noted in the NRHP form.[2]

The grave marker was most likely carved by Carl J. Setterberg, a carver employed by the Centralia Monumental Works between 1937 and 1939. Records that indicate who ordered the headstone have not been found. The flower box, which rests on a concrete base, is considered part of the overall NRHP listing, and contains fluted, dentil-style carvings. At the time of the NRHP nomination, the site was reported as being mostly unaltered except for a slight chip of the granite headstone, thought to be accidental and not an act of vandalism.[2]

A marble, U.S. Army military headstone was added approximately in 2002 after a request the prior year from the owner of the cemetery at the time.[16][3]

Significance

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Added to the National Register of Historic Places on December 17, 1991, the Wesley Everest Gravesite was noted as being the only existing site that told an IWW version of the Centralia Massacre. Locations such as the IWW Hall at the Roderick Hotel, the city jail that held Wobbly suspects, and the Mellen Street "Hangman's" Bridge,[5] had all been replaced or torn down. No known location connected to Everest's life has been found.[2] His lynching is thought to be the last known type in Washington state.[4]

The nomination noted the symbolic issues of the time and its connection to the union movement of the era. While most grave sites are not often eligible for listing on the NRHP, the Everest gravesite was an exception based on two themes - events of the 1919 Centralia Armistice Day violence and the martyred death of Everest. Additional historical and political context, as well as the lack of other properties directly connected to the 1919 events, where contributing factors for the NRHP listing. The headstone's ornate IWW emblem is considered highly unusual, often not seen on the markers of other notable Wobblies.[2]

Annually on Labor Day, pro-union messages are often left at the grave.[4] A memorial service, marking the 100th anniversary of the Centralia Massacre, was held at the gravesite in November 2019.[17]

Notes

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  1. ^ "Wobblies" is a nickname for members of the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW). The origin of the moniker remains uncertain.[8]
  2. ^ Sources vary on whether both men Everest shot were killed.[9]
  3. ^ Undertakers and the city coroner refused to handle Everest's body.[11][13]

Bibliography

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  • Copeland, Tom (1986). "Wesley Everest, IWW Martyr". The Pacific Northwest Quarterly. 77 (4): 122–129. Retrieved January 6, 2025.

References

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  1. ^ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. November 2, 2013.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l "National Register of Historic Places Inventory/Nomination: Everest, Wesley, Gravesite". National Park Service. Retrieved December 17, 2024. With accompanying picturesPublic Domain This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  3. ^ a b c Mittge, Brian (April 29, 2005). "Centralia's 1919 'massacre' still fascinates folks". The Chronicle. p. 58. Retrieved January 6, 2025.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g Knute Berger; Stephen Hegg (April 10, 2020). "Mossback's Northwest: Tragedy and terror in 1919 Centralia". Cascade PBS. Retrieved January 2, 2025.
  5. ^ a b McClurg, Dian (November 16, 2009). "Walking Tour Commemorates Tragedy of 1919". The Chronicle. Retrieved January 6, 2025.
  6. ^ The Chronicle staff (May 23, 2006). "Clues linger to 1919 massacre". The Chronicle. Retrieved January 6, 2025.
  7. ^ "Mural depicting 1919 massacre, vigilante lynching awakens dispute". Walla Walla Union-Bulletin. Associated Press. December 23, 1997. p. 12. Retrieved January 6, 2025.
  8. ^ "What is the Origin of the Term Wobbly?". Industrial Workers of the World. Retrieved January 2, 2025.
  9. ^ VanTuyl, Aaron (January 19, 2006). "Would-be filmmaker seeks 'The Ghost of Hangman's Bridge'". The Chronicle. Retrieved January 6, 2025.
  10. ^ a b c d Burrows, Alyssa (November 6, 2003). "Four men die in the Centralia Massacre on November 11, 1919". HistoryLink. Retrieved January 6, 2025.
  11. ^ a b c d "Wobblies Bury Their Comrade". The Chehalis Bee-Nugget. November 14, 1919. p. 5. Retrieved January 6, 2025.
  12. ^ "Wesley Everest Died Like A Man". The Butte Bulletin. March 2, 1920. p. 4. Retrieved January 6, 2025.
  13. ^ a b Sexton, Owen (October 7, 2022). "Industrial Workers of the World to Ask Centralia City Council for Centralia Tragedy of 1919 Memorial Plaque". The Chronicle. Retrieved January 6, 2025.
  14. ^ a b "Red Sought By Citizen Posse Free". The Capital Journal. November 13, 1919. p. 1. Retrieved January 6, 2025.
  15. ^ The Chronicle staff (April 27, 2007). "1919 Centralia Massacre Gives Tourists, Locals Dose of History". The Chronicle. p. 64. Retrieved January 6, 2025.
  16. ^ Mittge, Brian (September 3, 2002). "1919 massacre remembered". The Chronicle. pp. A1, A11. Retrieved January 6, 2025.
  17. ^ Nailon, Jordan (November 4, 2019). "Smattering of Events Set to Mark Centennial Anniversary of Centralia Massacre". The Chronicle. Retrieved January 6, 2025.
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