Omaha daily bee., 1896-07-19
WHERE LIE A CITY'S DEAD
Burial Grounds Of Omaha in the Past and
Present,
SOME HAVE PASSED OUT OF MEMORY
beautiful MonumcntS Mark The Rest
Ing Place of Many Who Did Much
10 Wake Omnhn-ncnutiruL
"cII-Cnrcd-For spots.

ings, the parks and the habitations Of the
living, but seldom. If ever, are they taken
to view the habitations of the dead. In
iact, as a general thing the residents seldom
visit those places themselves, EXCEPT on the
sad mission of placing therein the remains
OF some relative or friend. For all that,
there is not n spot around the city which
receives such careful attention or on which
is spent so much money to render it beauti-
full and attractive as the modern cemetery.
Among Omaha cemeteries which are now in
use are the following: Forest Lawn, Holy
Sepulchre, Prospect Hill, Pleasant Hill,
Mount Hope, the Bohemian, German Cath
Ollie, Russian I~sraelite, Springwell, Danish,
the old cemetery at Florence which was
green. formerly Pickard's, located out be-
You'd Ruser's park, and st. Mary's, Laurel
iill and the German Catholic, the latter
three being in South Omaha.
OF these the oldest is the Prospect Hill,
which was laid out in 1865 by the late Byron
Reed, who was finally laid to rest within its
confines. The latest to be started of the
leading ones is Forest Lawn. which will in
all probability be the principal Protestant
cemetery in the years to come.
Or the early burial places all of them
have long ceased to be used as such, and
in fact the graves have all been removed
and their location is unknown to
a large majority of the citizens of Omaha.
The first interment within the present con-
fines of the city of Omaha conducted by
white men took place on the site of the
present Turner hall. The body was that of
an Otoe Indian squaw. She had been aban-
doned by her people and left TO die. DR..
George l.. Miller was called to attend her,
but medical skill was of no avail. The
grave was dug by william p. Snowden, who
is still living and has made this city his
home ever since.
EARLY BURIAL PLACES.
One of the earliest cemeteries in the city,
If not the first one. was established by the
German Lutherans and was located on the
block at present occupied by the Shiverick
building and the Willard hotel. 1t was
abandoned many years ago and the bodies
removed to some of the more modern burial
grounds.
Another of the old cemeteries was in the
church yard of st. Philomena's cathedral.
This was used by the Catholics and has also
been abandoned and the bodies removed
elsewhere.
Another of the old cemeteries was also
Catholic, being located back of the former
convent on st. Mary's avenue. This is also
a thing of the past and nothing now remains
to remind the people of the present day OF
the uses to which the ground had once been
put.
Still another OF the cemeteries which has
cttSSu 10 We was located lnIee or -FOUR DOCKS
northeast of the present Hanscom park, in
what is now known as Shull S addition to
Omaha.
In these cemeteries were buried many of
the pioneers, not only of Omaha, but of
TINS section of the state, as we'll as many of
those restless spirits who in life had no
regular abiding place, but wandered through |
out the entire western wilderness where
ever the spirit of adventure or
chances of gain led them. The
names even of the majority Of
them have been forgotten by the few
survivors of those days who still remain
among us. Though forgotten, they blazed
the way for the civilization of the present
and made it possible to erect here in the
then wilderness a great commonwealth,
with cities, prosperous towns and thousands
of beautiful farms.
Of the very old burial places which are !
still in use there remain two-the one at
Florence and the one on the Pickard farm
beyond Ruser's park. The one at Florence
was established by the Mormons and within
its confines are buried many of the first
settlers of this section of the state, and its !
gravestones represent several generations.
The Pickard cemetery. at present known as
is now used to a limited extent.
principally by families who had repre-
buried there in the earlier days.
MEN WHO MADE HISTORY.
The Oldest of our present large burial
grounds is Prospect Hill, in the central
western part of the city. Located on the
side of a prominent hill overlooking the
city which many of its present tenants did
so much to build, with it's trees and greer
sward kept carefully trimmed, it is a
beautiful place, its sylvan quiet a fitting
for the men and women who in their
life witnessed so many stirring scenes and
so many hard struggles in building up a
great city and a great state from a wilder
ness once classed on the maps as a part of
the great American desert. The monuments
and humble stones within it's borders recall
to the mind Of the old settlers as they pass
through its walks the early history of this
section, and remind them that in the
natural course of events it will not be long
until the pioneer OF Omaha will soon be a
hard thing to find among the living
of the city.
Over the graves of many of those who have
passed to the other side have been erected
stately monuments, but over others, scarcely
conspicuous in the early history of the
city, there are only plain slabs, silent re-
minders of the fact that in the race for
wealth in the new community they fell be-
hind their fellows.
One of the first monuments which greets
the eye on entering is that of a family which
has been and is still conspicuous in the af-
fairs of this city. 1t is a tall, plain shaft
the name of Miliard. A little further
along and to the east is a tall monument
marking the last resting place of ex-senator
Another OF the old-timers who
influential in shaping the future OF the
CITY Is URN ". RlCnafus0n, latnef or Lyman
Richardson. Others whose graves ale APP
prOpriately marked by conspicuous stones
are the Kountzes, Redicks, Byron Reed,
Caldwell, Isorbach, Doane, Judge Clinton
John T. Paulson, Baldwin, Royd,
Gilbert Collins, John Campbell, Barker and
John NJ. Clark and wife. On the east sid,
of the cemetery stands the large vault which
the remains of the late George 7.
Mills and wife and Richard Mccormick and
wife. 4 modest stone marks the last resting
place of Peter Hugus, one Of the pioneers OF
the city. Many of these monuments are
very ornate and are surrounded by well kept
plats Of ground which attest tEc fact that
one has not forgotten the men aud
women who are Sleeping benel'b the sod.
RECALLS A TRAGEDY.
Some of these stones recall to tie people
Of this city ana the entire west. IN fact.
tragic scenes. In the northern portion Of
the grounds rises a plain shaft bearing the
of Watson b. smith, the victim Of a
tragedy yet d mystery, lhougA fifteen years
have passed away since Omaha people were
by the finding of his dead body In
the corridors of the federal building. All
efforts to solve the mystery of his taking of
proved futile and after a time II came to be
'egarded as one of those affairs which will
1nly be cleared up the other side of the
IRA "