The Carolina Spartan. [volume] (Spartanburg, S.C.) 1852-1896, 1856-05-01
Congressional Burial Ground.

correspondent of the Pennsylvania In
quirer lately paid a visi, TO this city of the
dead at Washington, and furnishes brief
Innings of the most prominent monuments
erected to perpetua,e the memory of public
men who have departed from among the
living. We select from this catalogue the
following as possessing the most general
interest.
The Congressional Burial Ground at
Washington does not compare favorably
with the cemeteries of note in various parts
OF the country. 1t lies near the Eastern
Branch Of the Potomac, rather more than
mile east Of the Capitol, and contains
about ten acres of ground. 1t dates back
10 the year 1907. Its surface is convent.
emily arranged for burial purposes, but it
presents none of that diversity of hill and
dale, and variega,ei scenery, which render
Mount Auburn and Greenwood SO a,trac.
tive. lis chief merit is its sequestercd 10.
cation, rendering any future disturbance OF
its sleeping tenants improbable.
The fi,s. Objects that attract the eve of a
visitor, are the small plain cenotaphs erect.
ed IN memory OF those members of Con-
gress who have died at Washington. These
are arranged in double rows, aud number
one hundred and twenty eight in all. In
some Instances the graves beneath them
are tenantless, as in the cases of Henry
Clay, John Quincy Adams, and others but
most of them have not been disturbed since
the remains OF the great men of the nation
were deposited there. The inscriptions on
these cenotaphs are uniform, and give sim
ply The names of the dead, the States from
which they came, and the dates Of their
deaths.
Elbridge Gerry, formerly Vice President,
who died in 1914, AT the age of 10, while
on his way to the Capitol, to take his seat
as President Of the Senate, has "A richly or.
naanented monument, in the old style,
which was erected by order Of Congress.
lie realized his own memorable words,
which constitute the epitaph engraved on
his tomb, and were as follows: at is the
duty OF every citizen, though he may have
but one day to live, to devote that day to
the good of his country"
Near by is another, erected to the memo.
ry OF George Clinton. also once Vice Presi-
dent IL consists of massive granite pc.
destal and obelisk, surmounted by an iron
torch holder, the taste displayed in which
is to be doubted.
Push-ma.ta-ha, Choctaw chief, who
died at Washington in 1924, las plain
granite cenotaph, erected by his brother
chiefs.
The celebrated eccentric Lorenzo Dow is
said TO have been buried here, but am una.
BILE to find any clue to his resting place.
The remains of Henry Stephen Fox,
nephew of the celebrated Charles James
Fox, and for many years British Minister
to this Government, are enclosed in q plain
massive marble sarcophagus, near to the
Congressional cenotaphs.
The monument erected 10 the memory
Of Major General Alexander Macomb con
sists of beautiful marble shaft, with ap.
propriate military emblems, surmounted by
a helmet with the vizor down. The epi
taph is from the General Orders of the War
Department, and is most expressive. 1t
reads as follows: at were but small tri.
bute to his memory to say, that in youth
and manhood he served his country in tho
profession in which he died, during pc
rod OF more than forty years, without stain
or blemish upon his escntcheon."
plain but graceful granite shaft marks