Effort to fix birth date on Vallejo's tomb
For those with a keen knowledge of Sonoma history, Gen. Mariano Vallejo's tombstone in Mountain Cemetery has been a long-standing point of contention. The reason: The general's birth date is incorrect on the large slab of marble.
Now a collection of interested citizens is working with the living descendants of Vallejo to attempt to get this error fixed.
"We can actually set the date straight," said Martha McGettigan, great-great-granddaughter of Vallejo. "I think it's an honor to be the ones to correct it."
By most accounts, the error was first publicized in 1959, when J.N. Bowman, a historian with the California State Archives, looked up Vallejo's baptismal record from the Archives of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Monterey, where the general was born.
The record clearly stated he was born July 4, 1807, not July 7, 1808, as the tombstone reads. Bowman released his findings in an article published in 1959 titled "Vallejo's Birth Date."
"The family, for years now, has tried to correct it," said Paula Vinson, who's aiding in the effort to correct the tombstone.
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Now a collection of interested citizens is working with the living descendants of Vallejo to attempt to get this error fixed.
"We can actually set the date straight," said Martha McGettigan, great-great-granddaughter of Vallejo. "I think it's an honor to be the ones to correct it."
By most accounts, the error was first publicized in 1959, when J.N. Bowman, a historian with the California State Archives, looked up Vallejo's baptismal record from the Archives of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Monterey, where the general was born.
The record clearly stated he was born July 4, 1807, not July 7, 1808, as the tombstone reads. Bowman released his findings in an article published in 1959 titled "Vallejo's Birth Date."
"The family, for years now, has tried to correct it," said Paula Vinson, who's aiding in the effort to correct the tombstone.