Quincy Chinese Cemetery
移民先驅

We thank Elizabeth E. Bullard-Watson, County Coordinator, Plumas County GenWeb, for taking these photos and so kind to let us use it here. What follows is part of an email she wrote which gives some historic background to these markers.

The headstones are located at the Quincy Chinese Cemetery in Quincy, CA. I have no idea how old the stones are. As you can see, the writing on the bricks is maintained and kept clear by someone. I have no idea who. The cemetery itself is very small. There are just these 10 brick headstones, and 2 formal headstones. The formal headstones are for Gee Ching (1884-1963) and Bette Anne Wong Gumbiner (1949-2001).

Chinese people made up a significant segment of Plumas County's population from the early 1850's to 1900, and particularly during the 1880's. Many were laborers; others were miners. Local folklore tells us that many deceased Chinese men and women were shipped back to their homeland for formal burial. And, this may explain the lack of formal cemeteries for them in the Plumas County area. Others were buried in unmarked graves, or their graves were marked with wooden markers - now long-deteriorated. Other than the small Chinese cemetery at Quincy, there is unfortunately little evidence in modern times of their mass population here. Though, the Plumas County Museum, in Quincy, does have some artifacts in its holdings.

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