AKA: How to Write a Book When You Don't Know How to Write

by Karen Burzdak, NVGS Member

Episode One (The Pilot)

Serendipity: I looked it up to be sure it was serendipity that led me to write a book about Napa County cemeteries. This is the long version of my story.

I decided that being a single mother of three daughters, Napa would be a better place to raise my family than Marin County. But why Napa? I had discovered Napa when we spent a weekend at my (ex) in-laws’ temporary home in the Redwood Village area. My father-in-law, a second-generation San Rafael physician, decided he wanted to work an internship at Napa State Hospital. After their house on Palomino Way was completed, the Redwood Village house was sold to their son, my ex-brother-in-law. I bought a house on a parallel street. I had transferred from a part-time job at Kaiser Hospital in San Rafael to a full-time position at Vallejo Kaiser Hospital. Though they were my ex-in-laws, we all remained family. This all happened about 1972.

Timeout: 

Do you know why your parents chose to move from X City/Country to Y City? I don’t. I don’t know why my grandparents moved from Belfast, Ireland, to Vancouver in 1916. Or why my mother, on her own, decided to move to San Francisco when she was 18. Or why my father’s family moved from Minot, North Dakota, to Edmonton, Alberta. Even more puzzling is why my father’s mother moved to San Francisco, either as a divorcee or widow (depending on the document), with four young children in tow.

I hope you have written these stories down for your children, your grandchildren, all of them who will later want to know.

Fast-forward from 1972 - about 15 years - after I had remarried and taken on a job in the Recorder’s office. One day, I just happened to be standing at the recording counter (I was not a Recorder) when a man came in with his deed to record. The address (found in the upper-left-hand corner) was my father-in-law’s house on Young Avenue. I chatted with the gentleman, probably giving him a rundown of my life. Fast-forward again to membership at a local gym where friends coffee’d in the morning. Gentleman told me he was related to Reason Tucker! If that name means nothing to you, think captain of the first Donner Party relief, which included Reason’s son George. Naturally, I had to work on Gentleman’s genealogy, which was through his mother, since his surname is decidedly Italian. BTW, new Friend’s family also goes back to Napa County's early history through his father, circa 1860. If I remember correctly, his naturalization papers are on file with our court.

After completing Friend’s genealogy and a Pioneer File, he suggested that I write a book about Napa County cemeteries. I ruminated for a few weeks and decided to move forward with his suggestion. Little did I realize that it would take years to complete. I anticipate another year.

Where did you start, you ask?

I can recall about 3 tasks to start. I found only two books about California cemeteries: one about those in Sonoma County, the other from another county. I tried to contact the author of the other county but did not get a response. The cemeteries of Sonoma County were, more or less, simply a list and a location. I found that to be dull. My book would include the cemetery's location, history, pioneers, pictures, and visitor access. I used the internet to find a list of cemeteries in Napa County, but not all lists included the same ones. I eliminated family burial grounds of fewer than six people, which complies with the State’s definition of a cemetery. And, naturally, I purchased a DVD of the cemeteries that had been “walked” by NVGS members in the late 1980s or early 1990s.

Partrick Cemetery was chosen first. Many of the records were written under the name Patrick, by the way. The second cemetery I researched was Stephen Broadhurst’s Cemetery, now known as Dry Creek Cemetery. I encountered the same snag in efforts to walk the grounds. Partrick Cemetery is landlocked. There is no easement from a public road. Using the Assessor’s public records, I learned the name and mailing address of the people who owned the surrounding plot. They ghosted me, concerned about the ReBobs. Using the Secretary of State’s website, (bizfileonline.sos.ca.gov/search/business), I found the agent for service of process, the person who could grant me permission to walk the Dry Creek Cemetery. Not living in Napa County, she agreed to contact me when she visited Napa. Once again, there was no follow-up.

To be continued…with facts, advice, great reading, rabbit holes, and contending with Co-pilot.