Unmarked graves: Hero #13, Deputy Sheriff Andrew W. Lindquist
In late 1908 or early 1909, the citizens of the town of Ocean View (later to become Albany) petitioned Frank Barnet, the Sheriff of Alameda County for a deputy to patrol that area. Andrew W. Lindquist, 28, was appointed as a deputy sheriff to serve without pay and was assigned as a night watchman. As a night watchman, he would have been paid by the merchants for his services. His duties included making the rounds of the cafes, saloons and other open businesses to conduct security checks. He likely was also hired to monitor the town's border with Berkeley due to an ongoing dispute over garbage dumping. (1) Over the course of the next year Lindquist gained a reputation as "a man of enormous proportions and herculean strength, (and) he has gained considerable fame as a dispenser of justice without the aid of weapon or club..." wrote the San Francisco Call.
In the early morning of January 12th, 1910 Lindquist stopped in at Moore's Saloon located on San Pablo near Dartmouth (see map below) and stood by as Al Moore prepared to close. Lindquist stood to one side of the bar as Moore tended to the register. The front door suddenly opened and a man rushed in and quickly made his way to the bar. He was dressed in a long overcoat, hat, and a red bandana handkerchief across his face that was knotted at the back of his neck. Pointing a revolver, he commanded of Moore, "Hands up!" As Moore complied, Lindquist, who had gone unseen by the robber, struck the robber with an umbrella in an attempt to disarm him. The move failed and the robber spun toward Lindquist. He fired one shot that struck Lindquist in the right shoulder. The bandit made his way to the door and before fleeing, fired a second round at Lindquist which hit him in the abdomen. Moore retrieved a weapon of his own and fired at the perpetrator as he fled, but to no avail as the robber made good his escape. Lindquist died from his injuries the following day. Sheriff Barnet offered a $100 reward for the capture of the murderer, an amount matched by the Albany city council. Read an account of the incident from the San Francisco Call here.
What in fact may have cost him his life was noted in the following reflection from the Oakland Tribune: "...though frequently called upon to make arrests, he never, according to his friends, carried a gun". The suspect was caught several months later and charged with several other murders, including a Santa Clara county deputy sheriff. As has happened on many an occasion in the history of criminals, the capture of the suspect was aided by a scorned lover.
During our research we discovered that deputy sheriff Andrew W. Lindquist was in an unmarked grave at Sunset View cemetery in El Cerrito. We found the cemetery record reflects the then mayor of Albany, Frank J. Roberts, paid $60 for Lindquist's gravesite. This project saw to it that Deputy Lindquist now has a grave marker that properly honors his sacrifice .
Scott Pennington, the General Manager of Sunset View cemetery in El Cerrito, points to the unmarked grave of Andrew W. Lindquist
(1) Ocean View incorporated in September of 1908, having previously been an unnamed, unincorporated area of Alameda County's Oakland Township. Residents had an ongoing dispute with the city of Berkeley because the city "scavengers" (garbage crew) were dumping the city's garbage along the waterfront north of where Golden Gate fields is today. The "garbage wars" culminated in April of 1908 with a high profile standoff where 20 women armed with shotguns blocked Berkeley's garbage wagons from traveling to the dumping area. Ocean View incorporated as a town for the initial sole purpose of creating laws forbidding Berkeley from dumping garbage there. About a year later the name of the town was changed to Albany.
