Joseph Fuller Buchanan ¹⁷⁹⁷

  Research Notes:

BUCHANAN CEMETERY – Volume XI
Buchanan Cemetery is located about 1/2 mile north and 1/4 mile west of the fire hall at Agate Bay (Sec 24, R3E T38N). There is no public access to what remains of this cemetery. The late W. W. ALTMAN contibuted to this history and burials. The cemetery was set aside in 1890 (originally 40 acres) by Joseph F. BUCHANAN, a homesteader, upon the death of his son, Henry. It was a private cemetery first used by the family, but soon opened to any settler, and entirely unregulated by state or county. The Whatcom County Bureau of Vital Statistics has no record of this cemetery or of any of the people buried here. Through the years about 25 (some say as many as 50) people were buried here, including five Buchanans. By 1917 no further burials were permitted, but as it had always been Joseph Buchanan’s wish to be buried with the other members of his family, his desire was honored by the interment of his ashes at the grave of his wife, Sophia Jane.
By 1974, the cemetery was reduced in size to about 100 feet by 100 feet. A few grave depressions could still be found then but none of the wooden markers were left. This cemetery was sometimes referred to as "Woodlawn Cemetery" because the Agate Bay region was originally called Woodlawn. ¹⁸⁰⁴

Joseph married Sophia Jane Truitt, daughter of James Isaac Truitt and Elizabeth Ann Bowen, in 1856.¹⁷⁹⁷ (Sophia Jane Truitt was born on 12 Oct 1837 in Ohio, USA,¹⁶⁹³ died on 8 Jul 1912 ¹⁷⁹⁷ and was buried on 10 Jul 1912 in Buchanan Cemetery (Whatcom County, Washington, USA) ¹⁷⁹⁷.). The cause of her death was Rheumathoid Arthritis, Heart Disease.