Within the past year very many deaths have taken place in this locality and many of the early settlers and pioneers have passed away. The duty now devolves upon us to note the death of Charles Livingstone, one of the first if not the very first settlers of Redwood City. He died in San Francisco on Saturday last, after suffering terribly from an incurable disease for many months. The fact that his speedy dissolution was inevitable was made known to him some time previous to his death, and like a true philosopher, he looked calmly and contentedly upon that which must come to all that is and is to be. He made all business preparations, even to the minutest details, and when all had been done which he found necessary in order to leave his worldly affairs after his death in the same precise business-like condition that ever characerized him while in life, he rested and waited patiently and almost cheerfully for the hour which should sever the chord of life which makes existence mortal.

Of the early life of Mr Livingstone we know but little. He was born in Newburypoirt, Mass., in 1822 and came to California in 1850. He first located in Redwood in 1852, engaging in the mercantile business, which he followed successfully for many years. Since his retirement from active business, he has resided with his family at his pleasant home on Arguello Street, surrounded by friends who had known him long and well, and who had learned from an acquaintantship of years, that his friendship once gained was of the lasting kind.

At the request of Mr. Livingstone, the pomp and parade usually indulged in at funerals was done away with at his request. The coffin was taken from the 12 o’clock train on Monday, and taken to the cemetery, where Rev. Mr. Wooster of San Francisco, delivered a short sermon, which was followed by simply the Lord’s Prayer. The pall bearers who followed the hearse to the grave were, Wm. Holder, Theodore Finger, F.F. Cooper, Bent. Rankin, P.P. Chamberlain, and James Hilton. They were also without gloves or crepe upon their arms which was in accordance with the wishes of the deceased. It has been the custom from time in memorial to devote a great deal of space in eulogizing the character of the dead while in life, it has become such a universal custom that the omission of the form is conspicuously noticeable. But in this instance, a few words can tell all that could be told in volumes. The subject of this obituary was an honorable, conscientious man, a man of high principles, a man who had the intelligence to think for himself and to act in accordance with what he considered right and just; and the best evidence that he thought rightly and did rightly, is in the clean, unsullied, honorable name he leaves behind him.

Lot 132F

Send questions, comments, and feedback to ellen[at]HistoricUnionCemetery[dot]com