SIDEWALK SIGNATURES 
Edward E. Palmer

Long Beach’s sidewalks contain impressed “signatures” of many pavers who plied their trade in the city. If your ancestor owned a construction company or worked for one of those cement contractors, our “Sidewalk Signatures” series will be of interest to you.

photo: QHGS

Edward Ernest “E. E.” Palmer was born in England. He immigrated to the U.S. around 1886 and by 1914 he was laying cement in Long Beach. City directories list him and his family yearly, with the 1922 edition publishing this typical entry: “Palmer Edwd E (Minnie K) cement contr h 667 Termino av.” Your QHGS Blogger looked at entries for E. E. Palmer in census records and discovered that both of his sons were also cement contractors as adults. California marriage licenses for each son on FamilySearch gave Minnie K[ate]’s maiden name; and, Minnie K. Palmer’s date of death (husband’s initials EE) was easy to find in the California Death Index. Finally, an image of Minnie’s death certificate is online in the California County Birth and Death Records database at FamilySearch. It lists both of her parents’ names and tells us that she is buried in Sunnyside Cemetery here in Long Beach. Using Find A Grave, your Blogger discovered that both Minnie and Edward are buried in Sunnyside in the Daisy section, lot 94, grave 5.

RESEARCH NOTE: E. E. Palmer’s Find A Grave page is a very good example of genealogical information available on the website.