Belding banner. (Belding, Mich.) 1889-1918, 1901-08-08
lA0UAIN1r CEMETERY.
WHERE OVER 100 OF THE couNrRYs
EARLY LEGISLATORS SLEEP.
burial Sizes In suburbs of Washing
ton That We're Set Apart For the
Free Interment of Congrcssmen
living Away From Home.

|
the edge Of the marshes of the Ana
costa river, stands the old Congress
sional cemetery with its eightscore
cenotaphs, memorials of departed
statesmen. Years ago the tide of pop
ulatlon surged westward and north
ward. oyerrunnlng the salubrious high
lands of those sections and establish
ing its lsral grounds in the new re-
gions. But this little city of the dead
wns left alone in the deserted quarter,
with the Jail, the almhouse and the
workhous- for neighbors.
In II are 100 cenotaphs to dead con-
gressmen. stretching in monotonous
rows through the cemetery, all of them,
with two exceptions, of n 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
burying place of the defunct states
men. but others. like those comment
orative of Henry Clay, John Quincy
Adams, Thaddeus Stevens and others,
merely stand in honor of those dis
. |
tice of erecting cenotaphs, begun in
1916. has been abandoned.
When the cemetery was established
I'm 1905. its projectors thought it would
be q successful idea to secure the inter
ment i'm the new cemetery of congress
men who passed 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
the free interment of congressman dy-
ing away from home, and the place
was named the Congressional cemetery.
In those days il was impossible to
transport a body long distances with
out great expense and trouble, and the
purchasing of burial lots was eXpen-
sive, so the privilege thus extended
was readily accepted. The funerals
were conducted with imposing ceremo-
MES, and the departed solons were laid
away with pomp and circumstance in
the spaces specially allotted and set
apart for them.
AS methods of transportation improv-
ed however. with the years, and the
families of the deceased found oppor-
tunity TO take the bodies home for in
terment. the practice fell into disuse,
and ultimately law was enacted pro
vding that cenotaph should be erect
ed in the cemetery to every congress
man who died i'm the harness, and for
number of years this custom was fol-
lowed. so that many of the monuments
merely stand in memory of the con-
greSsmen without actually marking the
burial sites.
J I'm 1876 law was enacted providing
that no cenotaph should be erected un-
less interment was made in the Gene
terry. and there has not been n burial
of congressman i'm the plot since that
year.
The cenotaphs are plain blocks of
masonry, covered with cement to with
stand the ravages of the elements.
Each is Inscribed with the name of the
dead man. the state he represented in
the house or senate and the date of his
death Some of the inscriptions are
now illegible. but the oldest one de-
cipherable is on a cenotaph i'm memory
of Andrew Il. Butler. Il senator from
the state of South Carolina who died
in 1906 As stated. all the cenotaphs
are OF uniform size and shape. except
i'm two instances. One is a marble mon
ument to Elbridge Gerry of Massachu-
sets, mt one time vice president Of the
United States and famous i'm Revolu-
tionary history. 1t is Il pyramid shaped
pile Of marble about twice the height
OF the other cenotaphs, surmounted by
an urn containing Il representation Of
an undying flame. The other is a mon
ument to George Clinton of New York,
also Vice president of the United States
and active in the war of 1912.
Among the cenotaphs is one to Push
malta ha. n Choctaw chief, who. the
inscription states. died of Group in the
sixtieth year of his age while visiting
Washington I'm 1924. Beneath this in
scription is the statement that the red
cheftain i'm his last breath desired the
big guns to be fred over him. He had
the salute he desired.
1t might be economy If the govern
ment were content nowadays merely
TO honor the departed congressman
with a cenotaph. for the 100 memorials
probably did not cost as much rs half n
dozen modern funerals of defunct
statesmen. Congressional funerals now
are elaborate affairs. There must be
a junket with every ceremony. The
body Is transported to the home of the
deceased in special car, accompanied
by one or two Pullmans, containing n
more or less Borrowing 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 i'm 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
eulogies are afterward printed in mo-
rocco covered volumes and distributed
among the friends and constituents.