The Montgomery advertiser., 1902-07-06
(py wm. J. conniff.)


 northeastern part of Montgomery, is one of the most historic spots in the State of Alabama.
 There under the shades of it's spreading oaks and tapering ceders, rest many of Alabama's most honored dead. Nor is the historic interest of the cemetery confined to this State. for within its limits are buried many heroes of Con- federate fame.
 The site of oakwod Cemetery is as beautiful as its dead are famous. Its area extends over two gracefully sloping hills. and meandering valley. The brow and inclines of these hills are dot ted here and there with oaks. magnolias, hickories and cedars and their presence add naturalness to the beauty of the scenery.
 On a winters afternoon, just before sunset. when the parting rays from the setting sun are falling obliquely. upon the monuments and grave stones on the eastern hill, one may stand upon the brow of the western hill, and view a grand spectacle.
 The day star has then sunk too low to strike any except the monumental shafts the brow of the eastern hill, and so one looking then from the top of the western hill towards the east, sees valley, fast covering with the mantle of night, and suggesting impressively ''The Valley of the Shadow"
 Up the gradually sloping elevation the duskiness diminishes by imperceptible de- grees. The monuments and headstones on the brow of the eastern hill, stand against the dark horizon in the east and the suns rays fall upon them and upon them alone, intensifying their whiteness. The glare from them is so great indeed .s.-t.A As.1 taA monuments and headstones to seemingly be moving like spirits of the pure and snless marching out of the pales ''of the Valley of the Shadow of Death"
 To the memory of most of the dead are erected magnificent shafts of marble or granite, which seem to stand as sentinels over the resting places of the deceased. As one walks through the main >en- trance of Oakwood Cemetery, he sees on his right monument erected to the memory of Henry Washington Hilliard It Is a cylindrical shaft set upon a square foundation, with a globe placed upon the top of the round column. The globe is partially covered by a mantle thrown over the upper part of the monument. Henry W. Hilliard wrote his own. cpl taph. It gives the history of his whole life in few lines:
 Minister to Belgium. Representative in Congress from the Montgomery Dis trict, Minister to Brazil and author of letter in behalf of the emancipation of the slaves in that empire. author of De- Vane and Politics and Pen Pictures at Homo and Abroad. A Friend of Liberty all over the World A Christian"
 Henry w. Hilliard has four sons and two daughters buried by his side. and to the memory of each a monument has been erected.
 It has been written of HiIliard:
 He was known as a polished and graceful elocutlonist and an adroit de batter. By his scholarly attachments. vast information and brilliant talents. he gained Tor himself wide reputation Few men have attained so much unaided by wealth or family influence"
 Walking on down from the main en- trance. and turning to the right the tomb of William Lcwndes Yancey may be seen. It Is a large structure. built on d square foundation, from which a cylin drical column arises. the top of which is capped with a crown.
 This inscription Is on Yancey's monu- r1ent:
 Sacred
 to the memory of
 William Lowndes Yancey born
 at Shoals of Ogeechee.
 Warren Co. Ga,
 Augt i0. 1874,
 died
 near Montgomery, Ala,
 July q, 1883.
 Believing in God, He trusted in Christ, and the ferVent prayer of his life grow ing to it's fuller years ever was that faith, hope and charity. humanly three. divinely one might have his heart as their hallowed home"
 Someone has said of Yancey:
 But of all the Alabamians whose tall ents and opinions have made them erni- nent in civil affairs, William LOwndes Yancey's fame is most vivid and wide spread. His reputation as an orator has not been surpassed in the State, and prob ably not in the South His voice was very clear and his sentences we'll round- ed. and his gesticulations neither fre- quent nor violent"
 for Alabama. President Davis offered him any position within the gift of the Executive, and he accepted the mission to Great Britain. where he tried to get a recognition of the Confederate States by the European powers. He was spared the pain of witnessing the humiliation of the South.
 Just to the east of Yanceys tomb is the last resting place of Col. Tennent Lomax who was killed in the battle of Seven Pines. May 3l. 1862, in the Ath year of his age. On his monument is inscribed: He lived and died an honest man; he was noble. generous and kind; de-