Semi-weekly Windham County reformer. (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1897-1901, 1901-07-09

ton That We're Set Apart For the
| Free Interment of CoEErcSsIuea
Dying Away From Home.
On thu eastern outskirts of Washing
! ton, wl,rr, the city, struggling, over the
commons and vacant squares, halts at
| the edge OF the marshes of the Ana
! costa river. stands the old Congress
| tlonal cemetery. with its cightscore
cenotaphs, memorials OF departed
| statesmen. Years ago the tide OF pop
ulalion surgsd westward and north
ward, oyerrunning the salunrious high
lands of those sections and establish
lng its burial grounds in the new re-
gions. But this little city Of the dead
with the jail, the almhousc and the
work for neighbors.
In it are 100 cenotaphs to dead con-
grcssmen, stretching in monotonous
rows through the cemetery, n! OF them.
with two exceptions, of a uniform
shape and size, and erected at govern
ment expense to the memory of the
governments dead representatives.
Same of the stones mark the actual
brryinr Dlnce of the lcf,lnct states
men, but Others like those CCmmem-
oratlye of Henry Clay. John Quincy
Adams, Thaddeus stevens and others,
merely stand in honor Of those dis
unGuished names. Since 1876 the prac-
yicr Of orcctinc cenOtaDhS. begun in
l79G. has been abandoned.
When the cemetery was established
In 1905, it; projectors thought il would
be n successful idea 10 secure the inter
mont i'm the ,,ew cemetery of congress-
mon who pass,.l away while serving
their country in the then malarial eli
mate of Washington and that it would
give this mortuary site distinction
above ordinary burying grounds.
So 400 burial sites were set apart for
tba free intcrmeut of congressman dy-
ing away from home and the place
WAS named thcCongressional cemetery.
In those DAYS il WAS impossible to
TRANSPORT a body long distances with
on great EXPENSE and trouble, and the
purchasing OF burial lots was expen-
siye. SO the privilege thus extended
was readily accented. The funerals
were contlucted with imposlng ccrelno-
MICS and the Gcparted solons were laid
away with poinp and circumstance in
the snoccs snccially allotted and set
anort for thon.
As mcthods of TRANSFORMATION improv-
cd however. with the wears. and the
families Of thn deceased found oppor-
tunity In taEe the bodies home for in
thn rroctrrr foil into dtsuse.
md uItimatcIv u law WAS enacted pro
yidipr TINT n cenotaph should be erect.
nd in tho cnnoter,. to every cgu..rcss-
man who died i'm tle harness and :or
II uumhur of ycors tlls custom was fol-
lowed so that many of the monuments
stand In memory of the CON
rreSsnen without actually marking the
burial sites.
In 1876 law was enacted providing
that no cenotaph sAoula be erected I'M
less interment was made in tie ceA!e-
terry, and there has not been a burial
of Il congressman in the plot since that
gear.
The CenotaphS are plain blocks OF
masonry, covered with cement to with
stand the rayaccs Of the elements.
Each is Inscribed with the tame Of the
lead man, the state he represented In
the house or senate and the date Of his
ieath Some of the inscriptions are
now iliegihle. but the Oldest one do |
,ipherabla is ON cenotaph in memory |
If Andrew +. Butler, senator from |
he state of South Carolina. who died |
n 1896. AS stated, all the ccnotaphs |
ire of uniform size and shape, except |
Il two instances. one is marble mon
lment to Elbridce Gerry of MaSsachu-
;etts, at one time vice president Of the
United States and famous in Rcvolu-
ionary history. 1t is a pyramid shaped
pi,c Of marble about twice the height
# the other ceuotapls. surmounted by
IN Urn containing n representation of !,
n E,dviui, aan1 Tho other Is n mon
mont to Goor1a CIinto, of New York
,lso ,.ico ,rasidont ~ tbe I-ni.ad stotns
md ,c+ivn in rho war of 1870
,r,op, tho conotonhs Il ono 70 Push
no.to.ho Cboctow chief who tho |