The Raysors in Sacramento

Jeff and I took a field trip to Sacramento today to get photos of the Raysors buried in the IOOF Cemetery on Riverside Dr in Sacramento. (The cemetery and Carl's house were both conveniently within 3 miles of both the church we go to in Sacto and Jimboy's Tacos.)

The three interred in this cemetery are Carl's first wife, Alice (who died of tuberculosis in 1925), and their two children, Frances and Carl Jr. (both of whom died of tubercular meningitis). It's a nice cemetery, well-maintained, with mature trees throughout. Alice is buried beneath a pine tree. The children are in an infants section. The headstones are made of cast cement, similar to many of the headstones we saw here. I'm not sure why these three are all buried in the IOOF cemetery. Frances, who was the first to die, is laid in a plot owned by a "Mrs Johnson." I have no information on who that is; none of Alice's sisters married a Johnson, so she is likely a family friend (Alice's family were long-time Sacramento residents). The IOOF did traditionally provide burial services for the indigent. Carl was not indigent, but perhaps money was tight, and a family friend offered a plot. (Or maybe he was an IOOF member at that time.) Carl is listed as the owner of the plots for Carl Jr and Alice. Another possibility for the choice of cemetery may be simply the proximity to Carl's home on W. St.

Carl's son, Carl Jr:

His wife, Alice:


His daughter, Frances Harriet Raysor:Frances' headstone is worn -- I'll take a rubbing the next time I visit.


Here's the home at 905 W St., where Carl and his family lived in Sacramento:

This is his listed address at least as early as 1916, up until Alice's death in 1925.

The house on W street is only a couple of blocks from the cemetery, and it parallels the freeway. It was probably a fairly nice house in its day.

Carl Raysor: When was the top photo taken?

This is the photo with the mystery date:In the photo above (you can click to enlarge and view details), Carl is on the far right. His collar suggests that the photo was taken before 1915, I think. Arden thinks it was taken in the mid-to-late 1920s. However, compare it to the following photo taken in the summer of 1930:

Although Arden thinks the top photo was taken between 1926 and 1930, it seems to me that, fashion aside, Carl looks significantly older in the bottom photo. His face has filled out, and seems to reflect the tragedies he's experienced in the previous 15 years. In the top photo he looks young, fresh-faced, full of promise.

I'm doing more fashion research to more accurately place the top photo, but my initial guess is that it was taken between 1910 and 1915. I'd love your input!

Carl Raysor's Family Who Came Before

Carl Raysor was married with a family prior to meeting and marrying Helen Maltesta. The only thing we knew about this was from what Helen told Arden after Carl's death: Carl was married before and had a family, but they all died. Arden thought they'd died in a fire, but couldn't recall clearly, and she said she was so shocked by the news that she never asked her mother another thing about it.

Last Fall I was able to locate what I thought were the records of his first wife and two children. I've finally received the documentation supporting those findings, in the form of death certficates and cemetery records.

Carl's first wife was Alice Frances Clifford of Sacramento. They married in 1913. In 1916, their first child, Frances Harriet Raysor, was born. She died in 1917 of tubercular meningitis. In 1921, a son, Carl Raymond Raysor, was born. He died in 1922 when he was about 9 months old, also of tubercular meningitis. In 1925, Alice died of pulmonary tuberculosis. She'd had it for seven years. All three are buried in Sacramento's IOOF Cemetery.

Arden's Departure for Hawaii + Carl's Obit

Here is the whole newspaper page (Oak Tribune, Thursday 26 Mar 1953), announcing Arden's Hawaii trip.

I also found Carl's Obit:



... and lastly, Arden and Bill's Wedding Announcement (click to enlarge):