During our recent cemetery tour, several folks noticed the the Evans grave marker was inscribed with Lola M as the father and Jesse B as the Mother. It also says “He was construction foreman on the Panama Canal 1907-1911.” Seemed confusing since Lola seemed like the obvious female name. The Find a Grave research web site referenced Jesse as the husband and Lola as the wife, as well. A web search of Panama Canal records turned up only 1 Jesse Evans, who was from Jamaica and worked on the canal earlier in the construction process. As a long shot we decided to search those same records for Lola M Evans. Within less that 5 minutes of searching, we found the Service Record for L. M. Evans (Lola Montez) from Loveland, Colo, working during the correct time as indicated on the grave marker.
History sometimes presents us with a mystery, tempting us to dig a little deeper when we find conflicting information. There is always a bit of a thrill in finding these old hand-written records.
More than 70 people joined the 1st annual Eaton Cemetery tour. Many thanks to Georgia Inloes for doing all the research and putting the tour together.
Ever wonder about the first pioneers or are there famous people buried there? Beautiful, old tombstones tell the stories.
Eaton Area Historical Society 