WALKING A CEMETERY - II

When I came home from Istanbul 2 years later one of the first things I wanted to do was to see if any of the local newspapers carried a story about Gary Bouldin's death. I found the Los Angeles Times did:

Los Angeles Times - Sunday, December 29, 1968

ISTANBUL (AP) - A Californian killed three men, wounded four and finally was shot fatally in a wild gunfight with Turkish police Saturday, Istanbul police said.

Police said security men had taken Gary Ralph Bouldin, 35, and a woman identified as Patricia Ann Seeds, 20, both of Los Angeles, for questioning to a police building where a bureau of the Treasury Police, which usually deals with smuggling and narcotics, is located.

During questioning, Bouldin opened fire on police officials, fatally wounding two of them, police said. Then he fled to a restaurant downstairs and continued to shoot it out with policemen.

Police said Bouldin died while being taken to a hospital. His companion, who was not involved in the shooting, was taken to police headquarters for further investigation. Police did not disclose why Bouldin was being questioned.

(The girl’s father, Norton H. Seeds, said he had not heard from his daughter for a month since she took time off from her studies at San Jose State College to travel in Europe with a girlfriend, United Press International reported.)

But the search of the index also brought up an earlier article on Bouldin:

Los Angeles Times - May 27, 1960
SAN BERNARDINO KITCHEN BLAST INJURES MAN

SAN BERNARDINO (California) May 26 – Chemicals being mixed on a kitchen stove exploded tonight,seriously injuring a San Bernardino Valley College Student. Gary Bouldin, 25, a social sciences major,was seriously burned about the neck and face. His left hand was badly injured.

MIXING ON STOVE
Police said Bouldin was mixing chemicals he had taken home from his college chemistry course to unclog a kitchen sink. The explosion occurred as he heated the mixture on the stove, police reported. Bouldin was taken to San Bernardino County Hospital for emergency surgery. His wife, Beverly, and the couple’s eight-month-old son arrived home shortly after the explosion occurred.

My goal when I started work in the Ferikoy Protestant cemetery was to find out as much as I could about why those people were buried there and not sent back to the United States, what they were doing in Istanbul, where they came from in the States, and who their family might be. What I found on Gary was as much as I thought appropriate for inclusion in the data I was collecting.

As noted yesterday, I eventually put it into book form and a few years later I posted the names and basic vital statistics as I found them on the tombstones onto a website. I mentioned that I had further information on many of these people and gave my e-mail address to contact if the reader wished.

In the meantime, as I have heard from relatives I have added their information to my paper files, so that if further inquiries come I can provide people with everything I know.

So, you ask, why have I chosen to single out this fellow for a blog? Of course, his most interesting story is one reason. The Turkish newspaper called him a "Texas Gangster" and that is a second reason, for using him as an illustration of what kind of misinformation one can find in research. But the most important reason is that earlier this week, I got an e-mail from Paul Garrity, a friend who is posting information on www.findagrave.com. He knew I had lived in Istanbul and thought I might be interested to know that in Montecito Cemetery in Colton, California, there is a tombstone that says the deceased died in Istanbul. The name on the stone? Yep. Gary Ralph Bouldin.

All I can say is: research never ends.

WALKING A CEMETERY

When Jerry and I moved to Istanbul in 1991, I had to leave my own genealogy research behind. Little did I know, however, that I would find in Istanbul a project that would take close to five years to complete but then continue via the internet to this day. That it impacted my life and my research is an understatement.

We arrived in Istanbul in June, and in September I was at a meeting where the American Consul General gave a talk in which he mentioned what he called "the American Cemetery." My genealogical antennae stood straight up, and I later found out from him that it really was the "Protestant" cemetery that in 1857 had been given by the Sultan to the 7 existing protestant powers - Prussia, Great Britain, the US, Netherlands, Sweden, Norway, Denmark and the Hanseatic Cities. Each of these nations had a section of the cemetery. Upon going to see the American Section of this cemetery and finding absolutely amazing information written on many of the stones, I decided that while I couldn't do my own research, I surely could copy all the information from these tombstones and put it in some kind of form where it wouldn't be lost.

That form ended up being a book, shown above, which I donated to various major repositories that genealogical researchers might look in, as well as posting it on the Internet. In the years since that time, I've been contacted by many people who have discovered their ancestors in that cemetery. And still, I probably receive one request every two months for additional information.

When I made known to the American community in Istanbul what I would be doing, all the long-term residents asked me to keep my eye out for information on the American Hippy who was killed in a shoot-out with the Turkish police. I did not find a tombstone for this fellow, but eventually I found an entry in the Record book at the Union Church (Dutch Chapel) that told a story and started me off on a fascinating discovery. I think it will take me two days worth of blogs to tell this most interesting story.

First, from the Record book:

BOULDIN, GARY RALPH
“b 1935, California. Buried 3 Jan 1969. An alleged “gangster” and smuggler who was being questioned about a stolen car in which he and his girl companion were driving. Dope and LSD were found in their possession. Gary decided to break away and in doing so shot and killed two policemen and two civilians. He was then gunned down after a chase. Brief ceremony of committal was held Friday, 3 Jan 1969 at Protestant Cemetery, Feriköy, Istanbul. Dr. Perry Avery presided and four consular officials from the American Consulate were present.”

Next, gathered from the Turkish newspaper Hurriyet, December 29, 1968.

The article in Turkish newspaper reports that on the day previous (Dec. 28), Bouldin was arrested near Taksim driving a car with Milan, Italy license plates. With him was his girlfriend, Patricia Ann Seeds. He was taken to the police station in Karaköy next to the Liman Lokantasi (Restaurant) to be interrogated. Since it was a Saturday, a full complement of police officers was not on duty. Bouldin drew a gun and shot two policemen. He then ran into a lavatory, locked the door behind him and jumped through the window, landing on the terrace of the restaurant. He entered the kitchen, and after confronting an employee, shot him. In the meantime, the injured policeman were taken to the hospital. Other police were called in and they surrounded the restaurant. The newspaper reported that 1,000 policemen were on site. Upon learning that one of the injured policemen had died, they swore to capture Bouldin. The ensuing shoot-out in the restaurant ended with five dead, including Bouldin, policemen and restaurant patrons. Three were injured.

Immediately after the shoot-out ended, anger ran so high that the police determined to lynch the girlfriend. However, after acknowledging that she had no part in the shooting, they desisted. Officials from the American Consul were called in, along with some American detectives who had been on Bouldin’s trail. It was learned that Bouldin was from Los Angeles, California and had an ex-wife and two sons living there. The body was unclaimed and it was buried at the Protestant Cemetery.

TO BE CONTINUED