Oregon Commission On Historic Cemeteries 2011 Grant Application Applicant Information Cheri Woods-Edwin Northwest Education Heritage Organization 1234 Anywhere Street Beaverton, Oregon 97006 503-555-5555 Fax: 503-555-5551 Email: NEHO.org Owner
Project Information Project Manager: Cheri Woods-Edwin Name of Cemetery: Phillips Cemetery Address of Cemetery: Old Cornelius Pass Road Hillsboro, Oregon 97124 Washington County
Nearest Community: Helvetia/Germantown Road Names of State Legislators: Senate: Merkley/Wyden House: Kotek
Proposed Project Type: Interpretive/Cemetery Records/Database
Project Costs Estimated total cost of project: $16,000 Amount of Grant Request: $2800 Match Amount: (1500 Volunteer hours at $8.40/hour) $12,600 Match Sources (Volunteer Hours) Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) David Hill Chapter; Helvetia Community Church; Liberty High School Volunteers; Descendants of Phillips of the families of Phillips Cemetery; Washington County Historical Society; Hillsboro Oregon Historical Society
Project Summary (80 words) The Phillips Cemetery is a small local cemetery off of Cornelius Pass Road in the Helvetia area. NEHO plans to preserve the history of the cemetery and provide a searchable database of historical, biographical and visual data. This database will be made available to multiple institutions. Furthermore, educational material about the cemetery and its history will be made available to the local schools and churches in the area in order to promote historic preservation through heritage appreciation.
Project Finances Professional Contractor or Consultant: Education (20 hours@$25/hour) $500 Volunteer Time ($8.40/hour): $12,600 Ancestry.com Membership: $299 Guidebook Layout and Design: 65 Page Guidebook/Educational supplements: $100.00 Template, $2.25 per page ($146.25), $135.00 cover, $5.00 per photo ($100), $2.26 per book (500 books, $1130) TOTAL: $1611.25 Photographer: (5 hours@$50/hour) $250 TOTAL COST OF PROJECT: $15260.25
Grant Narrative The Phillips Cemetery dates back to 1899 and is still currently used by descendants of the original settlers to the area. Once the land of the Atfalati native tribes, eventually the area was settled by Swiss-German immigrants during the pioneer era of Washington County. Named after the original settlement of Phillips, so named after Phillip Pezoldt, the cemetery is still in use, the most recent burial being in July of 2011. Many of the persons buried within the cemetery were influential in the settling of the Helvetia and Rock Creek areas of Hillsboro, Washington County, Oregon. The Helvetia and Rock Creek area is rich with local and regional history. In 1898 the sister settlements of Phillips and Helvetia each boasted their own church ministered by Rev. Henry Strauss. This is when
the Phillips Cemetery was founded and was used by the local townspeople. Sadly, the Phillips church was destroyed by arson in 1938 and was never rebuilt. However, the local families of the Phillips area still buried their loved ones in the Phillips cemetery. The families of many of these original pioneers still inhabit the area today, even maintaining the original farms built by their ancestors over a century ago. Therefore, it is imperative that the Phillips Cemetery and the story of its inhabitants be preserved through documentation, genealogical research, interpretation, and educational materials. Through the promotion of historic preservation and community involvement, it is hoped that a relationship with future generations will encourage further involvement of the preservation of the site.
Project Need and Value The Phillips Cemetery is in need of genealogical documentation, a small searchable database of its inhabitants and materials to engage and promote preservation of the historic site. Local involvement by volunteers from many historical organizations will aid in the process of preserving the role that the inhabitants of Phillips Cemetery played in the pioneering of the area. Of particular interest to educators and local historical organizations: the immigrant experience, early farming and agriculture, religion, and the formation and everyday life in a small community. A well-documented database will ensure that the stories of the inhabitants are made available to future researchers, schools, historical organizations and genealogists. In preserving the records of the Phillips Cemetery, valuable information will be made available for future generations, ensuring that the legacy of the cemetery will be protected and its significance in local, regional and state history not be forgotten.
Project Timeline Although relatively small in comparison to other cemeteries in the area, there are still approximately one hundred inhabitants buried on the plot of land. A thorough biographical investigation into each deceased individual, photographic documentation, and data entry will work out to approximately fifteen hours of work per plot. This works out to approximately 1500 hours of preservation time to ensure that the project is done correctly. As volunteers will do the majority of the work, it is assumed that approximately forty hours a week will be dedicated to the preservation of Phillips Cemetery. This works out to roughly forty weeks needed to complete the project.
Project Detail The Phillips Cemetery Preservation Project is an in-depth project looking to document the history of the cemetery as well as its inhabitants and the role that they played in the settling of the Helvetia/Rock Creek area of Hillsboro. The project will be divided into three main parts: historic research, implementation of collected data into a searchable database, and interpretative guides/educational material.
v Historical Research: This phase of the project will be primarily about documenting the history of the cemetery, the town of Phillips and the inhabitants buried in the Phillips Cemetery plot. Historical research will include: Ø Creating a comprehensive history of the Town of Phillips and its role in the settlement of the (Helvetia/Rock Creek area of Hillsboro, Oregon Ø Doing research on each individual buried in Phillips Cemetery Ø Taking the research of the town and the individuals and creating comprehensive biographies that not only tell the story of the individual, but also relates the individual to the history of the Town of Phillips and the settlement of the area Ø Creating an overall snapshot of the role of the inhabitants of the Town of Phillips and the Helvetia/Rock Creek area and their relationship to early Washington County and Oregon State history. Ø Creating a photographic history of the Phillips Cemetery and the individual headstones located within the plot. v Implementation of Collected Data into a Searchable Database: Once the biographical and historical data has been collected, the next phase of the project will be to implement the information into a searchable database and to submit the information to various historical and genealogical databases. The information will be organized with Family Tree Maker software. Sites for submission include, but are not limited to: Ø Ancestry.com Ø Find-a-grave.com Ø MyHeritage.com Ø FamilySearch.com Ø Genealogy.com v Interpretive Guides/Educational Material: In order to promote community awareness and future historic preservation, the project will create a small guidebook highlighting the history of the Town of Phillips and the Phillips Cemetery. This guidebook will be supplemented with educational material to encourage dialogue and interaction with the youth of the area with their local and regional history. The guidebook will be in booklet form (69 pages or less) and will be softcover. The guidebook will be made available to various historic preservation groups as well as historical organizations in the region. The educational material will be aligned with the Oregon educational standards in order to encourage the use of the material in the classroom to meet certain standards.
Ability to Complete Project With the volunteer hours of the willing participants from multiple historical organizations, the ability to complete this project is high. Many parties have an interest in preserving the history of this small cemetery and a desire to enrich the community with the local history. The proposed timeline is realistic and takes into account the nature of volunteer availability and commitment to the project.