In our previous column we began the tale of death and burial on the early Peninsula with the stories of homesteaders Joseph Oakes of Rosedale and John Giblin of Gig Harbor. We will conclude this topic with an almost-homesteader, John Farrague, also of Gig Harbor. He filed a homestead claim, and it was eventually granted, but not until several years after his death. It played a major part in his estate just the same, however.
Farrague was one of the earliest settlers in Gig Harbor, being one of Samuel Jeresich’s business and investment partners.
But before we conclude the topic with John Farrague’s story, there are a few corrections to be made concerning John Giblin.
Not lost after all
In spite of John Giblin not being on the burial list of the Gig Harbor Cemetery, he has not been entirely lost, as I mistakenly concluded in the previous Gig Harbor Now and Then column. A very thoughtful reader came to the Harbor History Museum on the Wednesday following the publication of the column, and informed me of Giblin’s location. I visited the site within the hour. As I had speculated, his grave has been overtaken by a second-growth forest. His marker has not toppled over and has not been swallowed into the topsoil, however. This is it:
Pretty cool, huh?…