Richard Lewis Coulter was the sixth of 11 children of James Coulter & Cynthia Rose. He was a schoolteacher, a carpenter, and a farmer. He married 13 June 1857 to Mary Jane Stoughton (1832-1905), daughter of Samuel Stoughton & Catherine McCune; 6 children: Melvina, Eva, Inez, James, Norman, & Mildred Coulter.

About 1899, Richard & Mary Coulter moved from northwestern Pennsylvania to San Jose, California, where their son Norman had settled in 1898. They owned peach and plum orchards at Morgan Hill. Mary died 15 May 1905. A year later, on 18 April 1906, the great earthquake struck the San Francisco area. Richard Coulter was home alone, ill and bedfast at age 70. With each jolt of the quake, his treasured grandfather clock--which he had hauled all the way from Pennsylvania--"walked" across the room toward him. He feared the tall, heavy clock would fall over on top of him; but luckily it smashed to the floor before it advanced that far. Richard survived the quake, but died several weeks later, on 7 May--51 weeks after his wife's death. Their ashes, plus those of their children Eva, Inez, Norman, & Millie rest in the magnificent San Francisco Columbarium.

Also there are the cremains of their son-in-law Robert Ray "Ray" Davison 1876-1922 "A Hero", memorial #72915050. He was the husband of their daughter Mildred Metelle "Millie" Coulter. Millie & Ray had one son, Lowrie Imbert Davison, born January 6, 1906 in California; died July 4, 1995 in Los Angeles; buried Westwood Memorial Park, Los Angeles.

In Richard's photo, the celluloid portrait pin he's wearing on his lapel is of his late wife Mary.

The San Francisco Columbarium, containing over five thousand niches, was designed by British architect Bernard J. Cahill and opened in 1898. The copper-domed building survived the 1906 earthquake; but from 1934 to 1979, it was abandoned to raccoons and birds, mushrooms and fungus. The Neptune Society acquired the building in 1979 and over the years has performed a dazzling restoration. Looming over three acres of gardens, the building features inlaid marble floors, stained-glass windows, tiered circular balconies, and ceiling mosaics. It serves as a memorial chapel and hosts concerts and civic events. Free tours are available.