This is a photograph of Tom and Jim Walden visiting the graves of some of their family members who were buried at the old Fairview cemetery in 1893.

I was recently contacted by Tom Walden from Idaho and his brother Jim, from Alaska.  They were in Oliver researching their family history and they wanted to visit the old Fairview cemetery.  I was able to make the arrangements and take them to the cemetery. Their great grandfather, John Nicholas (Nick) Tholl and his wife Margaret (Maggie) were living in Fairview and operating the Miners Rest Saloon and Boarding House in the Reed Creek gulch,  when four of their children died in a diphtheria (some sources say Typhoid) outbreak.  Their graves are the only ones that can still be identified as the parents had a small iron fence erected around their gravesites.  The children were Anna Pearl Tholl Sept. 11, 1887 – Sept 1893, Clarence Raymond Tholl Jan 21, 1891 – Sept 3, 1893, Peter Tholl July 7, 1876 – August 1893 and William Franklin (Frankie) Tholl Feb. 23, 1889 – Sept 1, 1893.

These deaths were apparently the first deaths at Fairview handled by Dr. Boyce an 1892 McGill University graduate who was brought to Fairview by the Strathyre Mining Company.  He was succeeded in 1897 by Dr. R.B. White.  Both Drs. were by all accounts, very highly respected in the area.

Maggie Tholl was pregnant with Myrtle (1894-1971), Tom and Jim’s grandmother, when these deaths occurred.  The family moved to Camp McKinney and Anaconda (near Greenwood) shortly after this tragedy and eventually to Idaho.  We do not know if Myrtle was born in Fairview.  It is interesting because there does not seem to be any official record of Myrtle’s birth but there are records of two additional Tholl siblings.  Their births were registered in Greenwood in 1896 and 1898.

The last burial in the cemetery we are aware of was Arthur Madden in 1921.  He was apparently found frozen, upright in a sleigh.  Arthur’s brother, James Madden, who had a small ranch in the Fairview area, died in 1928 aged 79 and is buried in the Oliver cemetery.

The cause of the deaths varies tremendously.   Some were of natural causes like heart failure, Bright’s disease or miner’s consumption, and typhoid while others were by wide variety of accidents.  One individual slid off a load of hay and died of injuries after being trampled by a horse, several died as a result of fires, one by drowning and one appears to have been starvation.

Currently, the Historical Society is reviewing existing information and searching for additional information related to this cemetery.  Information is available from Provincial Government archives, newspapers of the time and old historical reports.  We would appreciate any additional information people may have relating to this cemetery, so that we can include it with our records.

We believe that there were over fifty interments between 1892 and 1921.   The Community of Oliver was developing in the early 1920’s and along with that came the current Oliver cemetery located off Rockcliffe Rd.  The original Fairview cemetery was no longer used.

The cemetery has been fenced to keep cattle from grazing on it and a stone cairn with an inscription honouring the pioneers interned there was constructed jointly by the Oliver Osoyoos Branch of the Okanagan Historical Society and the Oliver and District Heritage Society in 1992.

Please note that there is no public access to the cemetery and it is important that private property rights in the area be respected.

Larry Shannon
Oliver Osoyoos Branch
Okanagan Historical Society