Stories at the Cemetery 2012 (Pt. 2)

One of the most charismatic actors of the evening was Richard Benevides. He portrayed Cecil Wells – an Alaskan businessman and entrepreneur in the first-half of the 20th century. Wells was one of the first car salesmen in the Alaskan territory, finding success by importing cars to Anchorage so that customers could actually see and touch the vehicles before driving them, rather than purchasing them out of a catalog. His Wells Garage was later sold by one of his ex-wives and became Alaska Sales and Service – a well-known (and apparently long-lived) local car dealership which still exists today.

Lucky in business but unlucky in love, Wells was murdered in 1953; presumably by his young (4th) wife and her lover. Benevides/Wells was quick to point out that the lover was “A musician. A DRUMMER. A JAZZ DRUMMER!” and warned the girls in the audience to stay far away from those sorts.

Linda Benson’s portrayal of Ella Romig was also a real standout. Romig is one of those mysterious historical local names – there’s a Romig Middle School in Anchorage, but I couldn’t tell you who it was named after. It turns out it was Joseph Romig, Ella’s husband. She told the story of how she and Joseph came to Bethel, AK as newlyweds – and as a doctor and a registered nurse – in 1896. It was a shock for a young woman from Pennsylvania to suddenly find herself in a remote native village, caring for people of a culture she had no comprehension of. She spoke of her initial horror at the filthy living conditions of the Aleuts. To call the adjustment difficult would probably be a gigantic understatement, but after a time she found herself learning the Yup’ik language, loving the people, and loving the life they had made there. The family (now with three children) returned briefly to the Lower 48 to live in San Francisco, but the 1906 San Francisco earthquake was all the convincing they needed that Alaska was their real home, and that’s where they wanted to stay. They moved back to Alaska, this time settling in Anchorage, where Joseph eventually became mayor for a term.