Citrus Heights man’s search leads to unnamed grave site receiving proper headstone

By Mike Hazlip—
A century-old unnamed grave marker for a pioneer woman now has a headstone bearing her name, thanks to the research and dedication of her great-great-grandson.

Citrus Heights resident Forrest Allen has been researching the mother’s side of his family history for decades. About two years ago, he came across information that pinpointed a grave in Lodi where his great-great-grandmother, Sarah McKindley, was buried. Allen took a trip out to the cemetery, only to discover the grave site was solely marked with a brick labeled “burial.”

“All it was, was one brick when I got there,” Allen said of seeing the grave for the first time. “It said burial, and that was it. It was a real disappointment.”

When Allen saw the unnamed marker, he became determined to start work on a proper headstone. After contacting family members, he was able to raise enough money for the project.

“I got ahold of them, and they helped pitch in the money to pay for the headstone,” Allen said.

Once the new headstone was placed, most of his extended family joined Allen at the cemetery for a celebration of life ceremony, with one family member coming from Hawaii. Allen even invited the Citrus Heights police chief.

A report about the event from Lodi News said several McKindley descendants attended the event and then gathered for a family picnic in nearby Clements.

McKindley was born in 1828, Allen’s family records show. Hers was a life out of the history books, crossing the country from Missouri to California with her first husband, Alexander McKindley, in search of gold, Allen says. When her first husband died in 1861, she married William Strickland.

She eventually settled in central California to work a farm. When she died in 1905, Strickland had her buried at Lodi Memorial Park, according to Lodi News.

Finally putting a name to the grave is Allen’s way of honoring the memory of his ancestors, he says. McKindley’s grave is in a section of Lodi Memorial Park set aside for pioneer families. Now one of those pioneer women has a name to mark her final resting place, something Allen says is meaningful for him.

“It means a whole lot, because nobody knew of her being in that [cemetery] before,” Allen said. “Now people know that she is there.”