Forest Hill Cemetery (Madison, Wisconsin)
| Forest Hill Cemetery | |
|---|---|
 Soldiers Lot in Forest Hill Cemetery | |
 | |
| Details | |
| Established | 1850s |
| Location | |
| Find a Grave | Forest Hill Cemetery |
Forest Hill Cemetery is located in Madison, Wisconsin, and was one of the first U.S. National Cemeteries established in Wisconsin.[1][2]
Founding of cemetery
[edit]After the first permanent European-American settlers arrived in Madison in the 1830s, the first non-native burials occurred on the current University of Wisconsin–Madison campus, near Bascom Hill. In the following years other areas within the area were established as informal burying grounds and the first official village cemetery was established in 1847 near what is now Orton Park.
In the mid-1850s, a committee was formed to search for another appropriate site in the area to form an official Madison cemetery. The committee members chose the current site, then on the far west side of the city and subsequently bought the original 80 acres (320,000 m2) of land for $10,000 from John and Mary Wright. The Wrights had obtained the land from land speculator James Duane Doty, who had obtained it from Alanson Sweet, a territorial council member from Milwaukee.
In 1863 the city sold a portion of land from the original purchase to the Roman Catholic Societies for $170. They in turn developed that property into a Catholic cemetery, now known as Resurrection Cemetery.
In the 1860s a receiving vault was built on site. During and following the Civil War, the Soldiers Lot[3] and Confederate Lot were created and in 1865 a well was dug near the plot of Governor Harvey and a windmill was erected over it. In 1878 a chapel was built following a contribution by the family of John Catlin.
Expansion
[edit]In 1928, another 80 acres (320,000 m2) were purchased, 60 of which are part of the Glenway Golf Course directly behind the present cemetery.
Effigy mounds
[edit]
The cemetery protects seven precontact effigy mounds, dating from 700 to 1200 CE. The earthworks are shaped like a goose flying down a slope toward Lake Wingra, two panthers, and a linear shape. Three more linear mounds have been destroyed by cemetery development and the goose's head was destroyed by grading for the railroad.[4] The mound group is listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1974.[5]
Confederate Rest
[edit]A section of the cemetery is known as Confederate Rest. On it lie about 140 Confederate prisoners of war who died while in confinement in a Union camp in Madison, Camp Randall,[6] in 1862.[7] A stone marker or cenotaph lists the names of 132[8] of the prisoners who died in custody. In October 2018, the Madison City Council voted 16 to 2 to remove the marker with the list of buried prisoners, overturning the Landmarks Commission, which had denied a permit to remove the marker,[9] which was built in 1906.[10] The eradication of the cenotaph was seen by some in city government as a "reparation,"[11] and was supported by the Equal Opportunities Commission of the city government.[12]
The removal of the cenotaph was opposed by the Dane County Historical Society.[13] The editorial board of the Wisconsin State Journal, noting Confederate Rest is the northernmost Confederate graveyard in the nation, also opposed the removal.[14]
Notable interments
[edit]- Henry Cullen Adams (1850–1906), member of the U.S. House of Representatives
- David Atwood (1815–1889), member of the U.S. House of Representatives
- Theodore W. Brazeau (1873–1965), member of the Wisconsin State Senate and lawyer[15]
- Storm Bull (1856–1907), 33rd mayor of Madison, University of Wisconsin professor
- Romanzo Bunn (1829–1909), United States district judge for the Western District of Wisconsin
- John B. Cassoday (1830–1907), 9th Chief Justice of the Wisconsin Supreme Court, 27th Speaker of the Wisconsin State Assembly
- Orsamus Cole (1819–1903), 6th Chief Justice of the Wisconsin Supreme Court
- Charles H. Crownhart (1863–1930), justice of the Wisconsin Supreme Court
- Roland B. Day (1919–2008), 24th Chief Justice of the Wisconsin Supreme Court
- Luther S. Dixon (1825–1891), 4th Chief Justice of the Wisconsin Supreme Court
- Lyman C. Draper (1815–1891), 5th Wisconsin Superintendent of Public Instruction, secretary of the Wisconsin Historical Society
- Ben C. Eastman (1812–1856), member of the U.S. House of Representatives
- Cassius Fairchild (1829–1868), Union Army officer, wounded at Shiloh, member of the Wisconsin State Assembly
- Jairus C. Fairchild (1801–1862), first State Treasurer of Wisconsin, first Mayor of Madison
- Lucius Fairchild (1831–1896), 10th Governor of Wisconsin, U.S. Minister to Spain, Union Army officer, wounded at Gettysburg
- Frank L. Gilbert (1864–1930), 19th Attorney General of Wisconsin
- Charles R. Gill (1830–1883), 9th Attorney General of Wisconsin, Union Army officer
- Harry Harlow (1905–1981), psychologist
- Louis P. Harvey (1820–1862), 7th Governor of Wisconsin, died in office
- Nils P. Haugen (1849–1931), U.S. Representative from Wisconsin[16]
- Nathan Heffernan (1920–2007), 23rd Chief Justice of the Wisconsin Supreme Court
- Benjamin F. Hopkins (1829–1870), member of the U.S. House of Representatives, died in office
- James C. Hopkins (1819–1877), United States district judge for the Western District of Wisconsin
- John Wayles Jefferson (1835–1892), Union Army officer, grandson of Sally Hemings and (likely) Thomas Jefferson
- Eston Hemings Jefferson (1808–1856), Son of Sally Hemings and Thomas Jefferson
- Burr W. Jones (1846–1935), Justice of the Wisconsin Supreme Court, member of the U.S. House of Representatives
- Belle Case La Follette (1859–1931), activist for Women's suffrage, peace, and civil rights. Wife of Governor Robert M. La Follette, Sr.
- Philip La Follette (1897–1965), 27th and 29th Governor of Wisconsin, co-founder of the Wisconsin Progressive Party
- Robert M. La Follette Jr. (1895–1953) United States Senator, co-founder of the Wisconsin Progressive Party
- Robert M. La Follette Sr. (1855–1925) 20th Governor of Wisconsin, United States Senator, founder of the Progressive Party, candidate for President of the United States in 1924
- Alexander S. McDill (1822–1875), physician and U.S. congressman[17]
- John M. Nelson (1870–1955), U.S. Representative from Wisconsin[18]
- Phyllis Ntantala-Jordan (1920–2016), South African anti-apartheid activist and author
- Byron Paine (1827–1871), Justice of the Wisconsin Supreme Court, as a lawyer he successfully argued the 1866 case of Gillespie v. Palmer which established voting rights in Wisconsin for African Americans
- Silas U. Pinney (1833–1899), mayor of Madison, 1874–76, justice of the Wisconsin Supreme Court, 1892–98[19]
- Frederic E. Risser (1900–1971) Wisconsin state senator
- Alden Sprague Sanborn (1820–1885), 7th mayor of Madison
- Arthur Loomis Sanborn (1850–1920), United States District Judge for the Western District of Wisconsin
- Harry Sauthoff (1879–1966), lawyer, Wisconsin state senator, and U.S. Representative from Wisconsin[20]
- Albert G. Schmedeman (1864–1946), 28th governor of Wisconsin, 41st mayor of Madison, U.S. minister to Norway
- Robert G. Siebecker (1854–1922), 11th Chief Justice of the Wisconsin Supreme Court, died in office
- George Baldwin Smith (1823–1879), 4th Attorney General of Wisconsin, 3rd and 16th Mayor of Madison
- John Coit Spooner (1843–1919), Wisconsin state assemblyman and U.S. Senator from Wisconsin[21]
- William Robert Taylor (1820–1909), 12th Governor of Wisconsin
- William Freeman Vilas (1840–1908), U.S. Senator, U.S. Secretary of the Interior and Postmaster General[22]
- Aad J. Vinje (1857–1929), 12th Chief Justice of the Wisconsin Supreme Court, died in office
- Ernest Warner (1868–1930), Wisconsin legislator, namesake of Madison's Warner Park
- Thomas T. Whittlesey (1798–1868), U.S. Representative from Connecticut[23]
- Emmert L. Wingert (1899–1971), Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice
Notes
[edit]- ^ "Forest Hill Cemetery Dane County, Wisconsin)". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey, United States Department of the Interior.
- ^ City of Madison Parks: Forest Hill Cemetery
- ^ "Forest Hill Cemetery Soldiers' Lot". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey, United States Department of the Interior.
- ^ Birmingham, Robert A. (2010). Spirits of Earth: The Effigy Mound Landscape of Madison and the Four Lakes. Madison: University of Wisconsin Press. pp. 209–210. ISBN 978-0-299-23264-1.
- ^ "Forest Hill Cemetery Native American Mound Group". Play Madison Parks: Historical Features. City of Madison. Retrieved January 9, 2016.
- ^ "Advice for Confederate sign: Condemn the sin, if not the long-gone sinners". Wisconsin State Journal. April 9, 2018. Retrieved October 8, 2018.
Historian Carolyn Mattern notes in her 1981 history of Civil War-era Camp Randall, "Soldiers When They Go," that "many prisoners had received poor treatment in transit, and although conditions were much improved at Camp Randall, a high rate of mortality prevailed."
- ^ Abigail Becker (April 11, 2018). "Madison City Council votes to remove Confederate marker rather than add an interpretive sign". The Cap Times. Retrieved October 8, 2018.
In April 1862, about 1,200 captured Confederate soldiers were moved to the Union Army stockade at Camp Randall. Though the majority of prisoners were relocated later that year, 140 soldiers died in Madison.
- ^ Rickert, Chris (May 5, 2018). "Removal of Confederate graveyard monument requires more than city council's OK". Wisconsin State Journal. Retrieved October 8, 2018.
the monument featuring 132 of the names of the Confederate soldiers buried in the Confederate Rest
- ^ Wroge, Logan (August 28, 2018). "Madison commission rejects request to remove Confederate monument in Forest Hill Cemetery". Retrieved October 8, 2018.
"We can move it, but personally to me as someone who is interested in telling history on the basis of physical things, that changes what histories people can tell in the future," said commission member Anna Andrzejewski, adding that she views the stone as a "historic communal marker" and not a monument.
- ^ Wroge, Logan (October 3, 2018). "Madison City Council overturns Confederate monument decision, supports removal". Wisconsin State Journal. Retrieved October 8, 2018.
"You don't have discussion in a cemetery. You have reflection, and you have memories, and this (monument) brings up memories that are not so pleasant in our history," said Council Vice President Sheri Carter.
- ^ Wroge, Logan (July 23, 2018). "Madison commission punts on whether to remove Confederate monument". Wisconsin State Journal. Retrieved October 8, 2018.
Rummel said getting rid of the monument installed in 1906 [...] is not about disregarding history, but is a small act of reparation.
- ^ Wroge, Logan (April 11, 2018). "Madison City Council votes to remove Confederate monument at Forest Hill Cemetery". Wisconsin State Journal. Retrieved October 8, 2018.
the council decided to go in the direction of the Equal Opportunities Commission, which had recommended removing the cenotaph
- ^ Novak, Bill (June 18, 2018). "Don't remove Confederate monument, Dane County Historical Society says". Wisconsin State Journal. Retrieved October 8, 2018.
Despite being born in states which seceded from the Union, the names of those soldiers should not be removed or hidden," the letter says. "They (the Confederate soldiers) should not be forgotten, as those men lived and died and were interred in Madison.
- ^ Editorial Board Wisconsin State Journal (August 29, 2018). "Landmarks Commission right to keep Confederate marker in Madison". Wisconsin State Journal. Retrieved October 8, 2018.
Some of the individual headstones of the Southern soldiers who died here are so worn they are unreadable. So the 4-foot stone monument helps identify who is buried at the "Confederate Rest," the northernmost Confederate graveyard in the nation.
- ^ "T. W. Brazeau, Veteran Local Attorney, Dies". Wisconsin Rapids Daily Tribune. October 13, 1965. p. 1. Retrieved July 3, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Haugen, Nils Pederson". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. Retrieved October 7, 2022.
- ^ "McDill, Alexander Stuart". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. Retrieved October 7, 2022.
- ^ "Nelson, John Mandt". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. Retrieved October 7, 2022.
- ^ "The Political Graveyard: Index to Politicians: Pink to Pittoni". politicalgraveyard.com. Retrieved June 25, 2021.
- ^ "Sauthoff, Harry". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. Retrieved October 7, 2022.
- ^ "Spooner, John Coit". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. Retrieved October 7, 2022.
- ^ "Vilas, William Freeman". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. Retrieved October 7, 2022.
- ^ "Whittlesey, Thomas Tucker". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. Retrieved October 7, 2022.
References
[edit]- Forest Hill Cemetery Committee (2002). A Biographical Guide to Forest Hill Cemetery, Vol. II: The Ordinary and Famous Women and Men Who Shaped Madison and the World (1st ed.). Madison, Wis.: Historic Madison, Inc.
External links
[edit]
- Official website
- Historic American Landscapes Survey (HALS) No. WI-1-A, "Forest Hill Cemetery, Soldiers Lot, 1 Speedway Road, Madison, Dane County, WI", 7 photos, 1 photo caption page
- Forest Hill Cemetery: A Guide – An introduction to various aspects of the cemetery, including its history and ecology; the symbols used on gravestones and the geology of those stones; the religious traditions and rituals represented; the effigy mounds constructed on the site long before it became a modern cemetery; and the geography and business of death.
- Forest Hill Cemetery at Find a Grave
