Tombstone Amnesty

Heinrich, Maria, and Paul Munk
	Historic Markers returned to Calistoga Cemetery On April 20, 2006, Tombstone Amnesty returned to the City of Calistoga three historic wooden headboards, which disappeared from the Calistoga Pioneer Cemetery many years ago. The headboards, made of painted Redwood, are for three members of the Munk family, German-born pioneers of Napa County. The ceremony and return was held at the April Meeting of the Napa Valley Genealogical and Biographical Society, Thursday, April 20, 2006, at the Senior Citizens Center,.Accepting on behalf of Calistoga was the City Manager, Jim McCann. The headboards were discovered in an old barn on the Russian River in Sonoma County and given to the retired Sonoma County employee, Sonoma County Historical Society board member, and long-time Russian River historian John Schubert, author of Guerneville Early Days. John passed the headboards on to Tombstone Amnesty for possible return. The origin of the headboards in Napa County was determined through research by Jeremy Nichols, chairman of Tombstone Amnesty.
The three headboards are for Heinrich Munk (1831-1885), his wife, Maria Munk (1839-1887), and their son, Paul Munk (1867-1891). According to genealogical records, the Munk family originated in Stuttgart, Germany. Mr. and Mrs. Munk had a total of twelve children, of which Paul was the seventh. The Munk family emigrated to America in the 1880s and came to California, where all of them apparently (records are incomplete) spent their lives. At least one other child is know to have been buried in Calistoga, with others in San Francisco and elsewhere in the state. Tombstone Amnesty, a new endeavor of the Sonoma County Historical Society, exists to return lost, strayed, or stolen tombstones to their rightful cemetery. Tombstone Amnesty will accept, no questions asked, tombstones that someone has at their home or where ever. If the possessor knows where the tombstone came from, so much the better. If not, we will figure it out and return the tombstone. Tombstone Amnesty is not a police organization. It is not our intention to go around questioning people as to the origin of the tombstone that happens to be in their back yard. We don't want people ratting on their neighbors. If someone has a tombstone and wants to keep it, fine. Tombstone Amnesty was created to take in unwanted tombstones, so they're not lost or destroyed forever. Read about the return of these headboards in this *Weekly Calistogan Article*

If you know of any unwanted tombstones, please let us know.
Send email to cemeterian@tombstoneamnesty.org.
Our web site: www.tombstoneamnesty.org,

Jeremy Dwight Nichols, Cemeterian
Sonoma County Historical Society