Veterans Highlighted on Self-Guided Walking Tour
Historic Fairview Cemetery was established in Albuquerque in 1881, the year the railroad came to town. Located at 700 Yale Blvd. SE, when the cemetery was started, this area on the sandy East Mesa was barren land without much built nearby. The University of New Mexico was founded north of the cemetery on February 28, 1889. The cemetery has 12,000 burials within 17.5 acres.
There are two sections dedicated to veteran burials, and numerous other veterans are buried throughout the grounds. American Legion #1 has 94 veteran burials from 1926 to 1941. American Legion #2 has 205 veteran burials from 1941 to 1988. There are approximately 250 other veterans buried in plots throughout the cemetery.
This walking tour includes veterans from the Mexican-American War (1846-1848), American Civil War (1861-1865), Spanish-American War (1898), American-Indian Wars (post-Civil War), and World War II. The order of grave visits follows a path that starts in American Legion #2, goes west toward the gates at Yale Boulevard, heads east to the center, and ends near the entrance to the cemetery. Look for a small white flag near the road and the memorial marker. The numbers correspond to the map numbers.
- Thornton Taylor
- Gov. Edmund G. Ross
- Chaplain Ted Howden Jr.
- James L. “Santiago” Hubbell
- Charles E. Passmore
- U.S. Rep. Francisco Perea
- Buffalo Soldiers Oscar Warner and Henry Winstead
Three rows west of the flagpole in American Legion #2, you will find Thornton Taylor’s headstone with a patriotic wreath on the back.
1. Thornton Taylor (1896-1953)
Thornton Taylor, served in the U.S. Army for 30 years, retiring in 1944 as a chief warrant officer. He served in both World War I and II. He was born in Tallulah, Louisiana and entered the Army at Jackson Barracks, Louisiana on April 24, 1917.
He was the commander of the first African-American American Legion Post in Albuquerque, William-Mason Post # 95, founded in 1947. The post was named for heroes of World Wars I and II. D.T. Mason of Albuquerque was killed in World War II and was selected to represent the younger heroes.
The American Legion was chartered and incorporated by Congress in 1919 as a patriotic veterans’ organization devoted to mutual helpfulness. It is the nation’s largest wartime veterans service organization, committed to mentoring youth and sponsorship of wholesome programs in our communities, advocating patriotism and honor, promoting strong national security, and continued devotion to fellow service members and veterans.
Taylor died in 1953 at the age of 57 after a long illness. He had lived in Albuquerque for 23 years. He was survived by his wife Margaret, a stepson, Captain Lynwood Young, commander of C Battery in the 351st Field Artillery in Germany, three brothers and one sister. He previously lived in Fort Riley, Kansas and Fort Clark, Texas.
Proceed south and slightly west on DeTullio Road to find the Ross Family plot at the intersection with Gov. E.G. Ross Road.
2. Governor Edmund Gibson Ross (1826-1907)
Edmund G. Ross was born in Ohio, third of fourteen children. At eleven he began an apprenticeship with the Huron (Ohio) Commercial Advertiser newspaper. Ross married Fannie Lathrop Ross in 1948, and in 1949, the couple moved to Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where he worked for the Milwaukee Daily Sentinel and the Milwaukee Free Democrat.
An abolitionist who abhorred slavery, Ross moved to Kansas in 1856 to ensure it remained a free state. He became interested in politics and switched to the Republican Party. He was delegate to the Wyandotte Constitutional Convention in 1859. He was part owner of the Kansas Tribune and founded the Kansas State Record.
Ross joined the Union Army as a private in 1862. He was commissioned as a captain in command of Company E, 11th Kansas Volunteer Cavalry Regiment. The regiment took part in several battles in the southwestern and western United States, including Second Battle of Lexington, Battle of Little Blue River, Second Battle of Independence, Battle of Byram’s Ford, Battle of Westport, Battle of Mine Creek, and Battle of Platte Bridge Station/Battle of Red Buttes. He was promoted to major during the war and was mustered out after the surrender of the Confederacy in 1865. The regiment lost a total of 173 men during service; 61 enlisted men killed or mortally wounded, 2 officers and 110 enlisted men died of disease.
Gov. Edmund Gibson Ross
Ross was appointed to the U.S. Senate in 1866, to fill the seat of deceased Kansas Senator James Lane, who died by suicide. There was a political campaign in 1868 to impeach Democratic President Andrew Johnson. Senator Ross cast the deciding vote for acquittal. Johnson’s presidency was saved, and the stature of the presidency was preserved. Ross became a pariah, was heavily criticized, and felt pressured to leave the Republican Party.
He returned to his newspaper interest in 1871. A tornado destroyed his newspaper building and home. In 1882 he came to New Mexico as a political exile. He was immediately given a position with the Albuquerque Morning Journal by editor, W.S. Burke.
Senator Ross was appointed Territorial Governor of New Mexico by President Grover Cleveland in 1885 and served until 1889. Before leaving office, he signed the bill creating the University of New Mexico, New Mexico State University, and the School of Mines in Socorro.
Governor Ross learned before his death that Kansas had forgiven him, and his name was no longer blemished. He was alleged to have said, “I will be a bigger man dead than I have been alive.” Ross was featured in John F. Kennedy’s 1956 Pulitzer Prize winning book, Profiles in Courage. The book profiles senators who defied the opinions of their party and constituents to do what they felt was right and suffered severe criticism and losses because of their actions.
Proceed west on DeTullio Road toward the cemetery gates. The Howden family plot is the second one south of the gates.
3. Chaplain Ted Howden Jr. (1902-1945)
Frederick Bingham ‘Ted’ Howden, Jr. was the son of Rev. Frederick B. Howden, Sr., Bishop of the Missionary District of New Mexico and Southwest Texas. The younger Howden had been the Rector at St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church in Roswell, New Mexico prior to shipping overseas with the 200th Coast Artillery as its Regimental Chaplain.
Captain Howden had the opportunity to leave Bataan when injured personnel were evacuated to Australia, but he refused to go, saying, “They are my boys and I’ll stay with them.” When Bataan was surrendered, Chaplain Howden was forced to endure the March of Death. He died at Davao Penal Colony on the island of Mindanao in the Philippines.
Suffering from pellagra and dysentery, Chaplain Howden had repeatedly given his meager rations to other starving prisoners of war, bringing about his own demise. His old friend, Father Albert Braun, a Catholic priest serving with the 91st Coast Artillery prior to capture, who had served for many years on the Mescalero Apache reservation about 70 miles west of Roswell, ministered to Chaplain Howden in his final days. After the war, Reverend Howden’s remains were returned to New Mexico and laid to their final rest in the Howden family plot in Albuquerque, New Mexico on August 31, 1948.
December 11th is the date of the annual commemoration of the life and work of the Rev. Frederick B. “Ted” Howden in the liturgical calendar of the Diocese of the Rio Grande and in the calendar of Lesser Feasts & Fasts of the American Church.
Proceed east on DeTullio Road and continue to the right on Gov. E.G. Ross Road. The Hubbell marker will be on the left, a few family plots west of Elks Rest Lane.
4. James Lawrence “Santiago” Hubbell (1824-1885)
James Lawrence “Santiago” Hubbell was born in Connecticut May 26, 1824, to an Anglo father and a Spanish mother. Santiago is James in Spanish. He came to New Mexico in 1848 as a trader. He married Julianita (a.k.a. Juliana) Gutierrez in 1849 when she was 16 and he was 25. He died February 5, 1885 and is buried in Historic Fairview Cemetery. She died in 1898 and is buried in Parajito Cemetery.
At the age of 21, Hubbell served as a lieutenant and captain under General Stephen Watts Kearny in the U.S. Army during the Mexican-American War (1846-1848).
When the Civil War began, Hubbell organized a company of volunteers for the Union called Hubbell’s Cavalry Company, with himself in command. The company saw some hard fighting and only a few returned. At the war’s end, he returned to his family and ranches in New Mexico.
Santiago, Juliana and their 12 children built a hacienda in the South Valley that became a stagecoach stop, trading post and a post office. The Gutierrez-Hubbell House is listed on the State of New Mexico Register of Cultural Properties and the National Register of Historic Places. It is managed by the National Park Service.
Walk east on Gov. E.G. Ross Road across Elks Rest Lane toward the International Order of Oddfellows section. Passmore’s marker is to the north near the center of the section.
5. Charles E. Passmore (1856-1922) and the Spanish-American War
There are 42 Spanish-American War veterans in Historic Fairview Cemetery, of which 17 are Rough Riders who served with Theodore Roosevelt in the 1st U.S. Volunteer Cavalry. The markers for veterans of this era are distinguished by a badge outline around the information on the stones.
Why was the United States in the Philippines for the Spanish-American War? In Paris on December 10, 1898, the United States paid Spain $20 million to annex the entire Philippine archipelago. The outraged Filipinos, led by Emilio Aguinaldo, prepared for war. General Douglas MacArthur led American forces in quashing the rebellion.
One veteran of the Spanish-American War is Charles E. Passmore. He was born October 30, 1856, and died in Albuquerque October 9, 1922, at the age of 66. He was a Past Grand (presiding officer) of the International Order of Oddfellows (IOOF) Harmony Lodge No. 1 in Albuquerque and is buried in the IOOF burial area of Historic Fairview Cemetery.
Passmore was a personal bodyguard for General Frederick Funston in the Spanish-American War in the Philippines Manila Campaign, February 4 to March 17, 1899. He was instrumental in the capture of the insurgent leader Emilio Aguinaldo. A personal letter from General Funston praising him for his assistance in the capture of Aguinaldo was among Passmore’s treasured possessions.
While he was declared a “war invalid” in 1906, he worked as a contractor/builder in Albuquerque. After his death, his widow Amanda and daughter Alice became charter members of the Max Luna Auxiliary I, United Spanish War Veterans. From a newspaper article, “Object of the auxiliary is to co-operate with United Spanish War Veterans in their work and social functions and to promote patriotism, love of country, humanity and good citizenship.” Amanda was a member until her death in 1952, and Alice until the organization was disbanded in 1967. Sadly, Alice was brutally assaulted and murdered in 1985 at the age of 78 in her home that her father built, 1115 Forrester NW in the North Valley.
Return to Elks Rest Lane and walk south to U.S. Rep. Perea Road, head east. Perea’s grave is on the south side of the road.
6. U.S. Territorial Representative Francisco Perea (1830-1913)
Francisco Perea was born to the influential Juan Perea and Josefa Chavez de Perea in 1830. He attended Albuquerque and Santa Fe schools in his young years, a Jesuit college in St. Louis, Missouri from 1843-1845, and New York City’s Bank Street Academy in 1847 – 1849. Pursuing a career in New Mexico imports of manufactured goods and exports of sheep to California, Perea invested in the Atlantic and Pacific Railroad.
Perea, a staunch Republican, was elected to New Mexico’s Eighth Legislative Assembly in 1858. Perea advocated for New Mexico to remain in the Union. In 1861, at his own expense, he organized a volunteer battalion. He was commissioned as a regimental lieutenant colonel. “Perea’s Battalion” was stationed near Albuquerque where he led campaigns against the Apache and Navajo Indians believing that the two cultures could not coexist. He resigned his commission in 1862 and returned to civilian life.
Still interested in a political career, Perea won the Republican nomination for the position of Territorial Delegate to the U. S. House in the 38th Congress (1863-1865). His platform was to remove the Indians to reservations which would open more land to settlers and allow exploitation of New Mexico mineral resources. He was re-elected in 1865 on the same platform. Perea’s continued political influence won him election to the Territory’s Sixteenth and Twenty-Sixth Legislative Assemblies (1866–1867, 1886-1887) representing Bernalillo County. In addition to his political career, he owned a resort hotel (1881) and served as postmaster in Jemez Springs (1894-1905).
After being introduced to President Abraham Lincoln, by New Mexico Territorial Delegate John Watts, Perea became close friends with the President. He claims that while in office, he met with the president many times. Perea was at the theater sitting in the pit directly below President Lincoln on the night of April 14, 1865. He heard the shot fired by John Wilkes Booth that fatally wounded the President.
Continue east on U.S. Rep. Perea Road. These two Buffalo Soldiers are on the right side of the road.
7. Buffalo Soldiers Oscar Warner and Henry Winstead
There are 14 Buffalo Soldiers, African-American soldiers who served on the Western frontier following the Civil War, buried throughout Historic Fairview Cemetery. Near the entrance road, Entrada Lane, you’ll find two of them: Oscar Warner and Henry Winstead.
Oscar Warner was born March 6, 1886, in Trinidad, Spain to Sam and Mary Warner. He immigrated to the United States in 1912 and became a naturalized citizen in 1918. Private Warner served as a Tailor Merchant in Company A, 564th Engineers from 1916 to 1919 at Camp Furlong, located east of Columbus, New Mexico. He also served with the 1st Battalion of the 24th Infantry from 1919 to 1922. He died at age 40 in March, 1926 in Albuquerque, survived by his wife and mother-in-law.
Camp Furlong listed 3,225 African-American soldiers stationed there from its construction in 1916 through its downgrading at the end of 1926. It is believed the camp’s name came from its location 220 yards from the Mexican border, the distance of a furlong. Camp Furlong was a supply base during the time the U.S. Army transitioned from using horses to motorized trucks.
Private Henry Winstead was born July 12, 1844 in North Carolina. He enlisted in the 57th Infantry, Company I. The 1885 New Mexico Territorial Census indicated he was living in Deming, NM and worked in a restaurant. An Albuquerque Journal story in 1898 indicated he “has charge of the cuisine” at several restaurants in Albuquerque, including the San Felipe and the Midland Dining Parlors. His first wife was named Annie, and his second marriage to Phoebe Chavez took place in 1899. She was 32 years younger than her husband. Only one of their four children survived childhood. He died February 19, 1926.
About Historic Fairview Cemetery
Historic Fairview Cemetery is owned by a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that is dedicated to restoring and maintaining the grounds and sharing the history of Albuquerque and New Mexico through the lives of the people buried there.
Before becoming a nonprofit, ownership of the cemetery changed several times over the past 50 years. The grounds fell into disrepair, the irrigation system failed, headstones were vandalized, and homeless and drug users camped out in the cemetery. The nonprofit is working to restore markers and improve the high desert landscape with low water use plantings.
Click here to make a tax-deductible donation to help support the cemetery! Join the Meetup Group to be kept apprised of events.