IV 
110TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. RES. 698 
Commemorating the 200th anniversary of Congressional Cemetery. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
OCTOBER 1, 2007 
Mr. WALSH of New York (for himself and Mr. FARR) submitted the following 
resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Natural Resources 
RESOLUTION 
Commemorating the 200th anniversary of Congressional 
Cemetery. 
Whereas 2007 is the 200th anniversary of the founding of 
Congressional Cemetery; 
Whereas Congressional Cemetery, first called the Washington 
Parish Burial Ground, was founded in 1807 near the 
banks of the Anacostia River in the District of Columbia 
and served the new federal city and a young America as 
its first unofficial national cemetery, predating Arlington 
National Cemetery by 70 years; 
Whereas Congress was the primary developer of the cemetery 
through appropriations for road grading, fencing, build-
ing of the Public Vault and its Slate Path, and construc-
tion of the original Gatehouse, and Congress ultimately 
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•HRES 698 IH 
attached its name to the burial ground as early as the 
1830’s, referring to it as Congressional Cemetery; 
Whereas within months of the establishment of the cemetery, 
the first burial of a Member of Congress took place when 
Senator Uriah Tracey (CT) died in Washington on July 
19, 1807, and was interred the following day; 
Whereas there are 19 Senators and 71 Representatives in-
terred at Congressional Cemetery, and its cenotaphs, de-
signed by second Architect of the Capitol Benjamin La-
trobe, mark 165 sites to honor Members of Congress who 
died in office; 
Whereas Congressional Cemetery holds more than 55,000 in-
dividuals in 30,000 burial sites marked by 14,000 
headstones; 
Whereas among those who have been buried at Congressional 
Cemetery are Vice Presidents George Clinton and El-
bridge Gerry; Tobias Lear, personal secretary to George 
Washington; Commodore Thomas Tingey, first com-
mandant of the Washington Navy Yard; William Wirt 
and William Pinckney, Attorneys General of the United 
States; Generals Jacob J. Brown and Alexander Macomb 
of the U.S. Army; General Archibald Henderson, longest- 
serving Commandant of the Marine Corps; Dr. William 
Thornton, who originally designed the United States Cap-
itol and was the first Architect of the Capitol; George 
Watterston, third Librarian of Congress; Robert Mills, 
architect of the Washington Monument, the Department 
of Treasury Building, the Old Post Office, and the origi-
nal U.S. Patent Office Building (current home of the Na-
tional Museum of American Art and National Portrait 
Gallery); Philip P. Barbour, Speaker of the House of 
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•HRES 698 IH 
Representatives and Associate Justice of the Supreme 
Court; and 10 mayors of the City of Washington; 
Whereas several prominent Native Americans who died while 
in Washington were buried at Congressional Cemetery, 
including Push-Ma-Ta-Ha, Chief of the Choctaws and a 
Brigadier General of the U.S. Army, and Kan Ya Tu 
Duta (or Scarlet Crow), a delegate of the Dakota Sioux; 
Whereas among other significant figures in American history 
who are interred at Congressional Cemetery are Belva 
Lockwood, the first woman to practice law before the Su-
preme Court; conductor and composer John Philip Sousa; 
Adelaide Johnson, suffragette and sculptor of the ‘‘Por-
trait Monument’’ to Lucretia Mott, Elizabeth Cady Stan-
ton, and Susan B. Anthony in the Rotunda of the Cap-
itol; Civil War photographer Matthew Brady; silent film 
star Mary Fuller; and FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover; 
Whereas the Congressional Cemetery was placed on the Na-
tional Register of Historic Places on June 23, 1969; 
Whereas the National Trust for Historic Preservation named 
Congressional Cemetery one of the 11 most endangered 
historical sites in America on June 16, 1997; 
Whereas for over 30 years the cemetery has been managed 
by the nonprofit Association for the Preservation of His-
toric Congressional Cemetery, whose mission is to pre-
serve, interpret, and honor this national treasure, signifi-
cant District of Columbia landmark, and unique Capitol 
Hill asset; and 
Whereas by working with community volunteers such as the 
Congressional Cemetery Dogwalkers Club, as well as with 
the Department of Veterans Affairs, the National Park 
Service, the Navy, and the Joint Military District of 
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•HRES 698 IH 
Washington, the Association for the Preservation of His-
toric Congressional Cemetery has made significant im-
provements to the cemetery: Now, therefore, be it 
Resolved, That on the 200th anniversary of the found-
ing of Congressional Cemetery, the House of Representa-
tives recognizes and honors the cultural and historical im-
portance of Congressional Cemetery and the value of pro-
tecting and restoring this national treasure. 
Æ 
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