Missouri Valley times. [volume] (Missouri Valley, Iowa) 1874-1931, 1901-08-01
a QUAINT CEMETERY.
WHERE OVER 100 OF THE couNTRY,s
+ EARLY LEGlsLAToRs SLEEP.

EARLY lEGlSLATORS SLEEP.
, Burinl Sitcn Il, Suburbs OF Washing.
. ton 'shnt We're Set Apart Gor th.
Free Intcrnacnt of Coai.s >,ss;ncI
Dyinr Away From Home.
} On the eastern outskirts of Washing
ton, where the city, Struggling over til,
commons and vacant squares, halts ii
the edge of the marshes OF the Ana
costa river stands the old Congress
sioial cemetery. With its cghtscor,
ccnotaphs, memorials of departed
statesmen Years ago the tide Of pop
ulalion surgca westward and north
ward, ovcrrunlling the salubrious high
lands of those sections and establish
ln. its burial grounds in the now re
sions. But this little city of the dead
WAS left alone in the deserted quarter
With the Jail, the almllousc and the
WorkhouSe for neishbors.
/ In it are 100 ccnotaphs to dead con-
Eressmcli, stretching in mouotonols
rows through the cemetery, all of them
with two exceptions, of II uniform,
shape and size, and erected at govern
ment expense TO the memory of the
governments dead representatives.
Some OF the stones mark the actual
blirying place OF the dcfunct states
men, but Others, like those comlnenl-
orative OF Henry Clay, John Quincy
Adams, Thaddcus Stevens and others,
merely stand in honor of those dis
tlnguished names. Since 1876 the pl;lc-
tlce OF erecting cenotaphs, bcgur al
113G, has been abandoned.
When the cemetery was ss','llshed
in 1SOS its projectors ''ousi'e ~ would
be Il successful j. : W. secure 'lie inter-
mon W., PASSED away while serving
th.. % Country in The then malarial cli.
y .';'te OF Washington and that it would
give this mortuary site distinction
above ordinary burying grounds.
so loo burial sites We're set apart for
inc Tree intermcnt of congressman dy-
ing away from home, and the plnco
was named theCongrcssional cemetery
IN those days it was impossible to
transport a body long distances With
out great expense and trouble, and tl,c
purchasing of burial lots was eNpcn-
slve, so the privilege thus extended
was readily accepted. The funnrn,s
We're conducted with imposing cerelno-
mes, and the departed solons were loid
away with pomp and circumstance in
tle spaces specially allotted and set
apart for them.
t.,
-As methods of transportation improy-
cd, however, With the Years. and thc
families of the deceased found onnor.
tuhlty to take the bodies home for i'm.
~. ,.'.inatclT /. Ia X N,., nliarlrst go.
viding that Il ccnotaph should he erect
ed in the cemetery to every congress
man who died in the harness, and for
a number of years this custom WAS fol-
lowed, so that many of the monuments
merely stand in memory OF the con-
sresslnen without actually marking the
burial sites.
In 1876 Il law was enacted providing
that 10 ccnotaph should be erected ,,n-
less interlnent was made in the ccmc-
terry, and there has not l,een Il burial
OF Il congressman in the plot since that |
year.
The cenotaphs are plain blocks of /
covered With cement to with |
stand the ravagcs of The clcmeims |
Each is inscribed with the name of the
dead man, the state he represented in
the house or senate and the datc at his
death. Some of the Inscriptions arc
now illegiblc, but the oldest ore de- |
clpierahlc Is on q cciotaph in mlclIory
OF Andrew II. Butler. II %c"ator from
the state Of South Carolina. who died
In 1896. AS stated, all the ceiio,.lp,la !
are of uniform size and shape, except |
III two Instances, One IL I; marble mon
ument 10 Ellridsc Gerry of Mass#chu- /
Cnited States and famous in l.evu!u-
ticnarH history IL is Il pyramid shaped
pile OF Elarl,e about twice the height
of the other ccnotapll;. sI.rmouMtcd by
AN urn containing Il representation of
an undying ilslinc. THO other Is Il mon
uaient to George Clinton of Now York,
also vicc president of the United States
and active in the war OF 1912.
Among the ccEotaphs is one to Push
ma-talla. Il Cloctaw chief, who the
states. died Gf Group in the
sNticth Ncar OF his age while visiting
Washington in 1921. Beneath this In
scripton is tho statement that the red
chicftain in his last breath desired tho
big guns to be fired over him. He had
the salute ho desired.
1T might be economy II the govern
ment We're content nowadays merely
to honor the departed congressman
with q cenotaph, for the 1GO memorials
probably did not cost as much as half Il
dozen modern funerals of defunct
statesmen. Congressional funerals now
arc elaborate affairs. There must be
iunllct With every ceremony. The
body is transported to the home of the
deceased in special car, accompanied
by one or two pullmans, containing a
more or less sorrowins congressional
escort, with we'll stocked commits
sary, of course. There are carriages
and flowers and mourning and dis
play of white sashes quite imposing.
Then some day special services are
held in the house and senate, and the
family of the deceased is present to
hear him eulogized and endowed with
more virtues than ever they dreamed
in his lifetime that he possessed. The
culogies are attcrward printed in mo-
rocco covered volumes and distributed
among the friends and constituents,
after which congress, deeming that it
has performed its duty, dries its eyes
and proceeds again to busncss.-Wash.
ington Letter in Los Angeles Times.