The daily Gate City. [volume] (Keokuk, Iowa) 1855-1916, 1912-07-15
strangest and Most interesting Grave
yard Ia the State Il at Peoria
and oates Have Now
Been Closed.
TEN NAMED JOHN DOE
Eight Hundred and slxty-one Graves
Of People Who Have no one
to Mourn Their
Death.

to Mourn Their
Death.
The story Of the strangest and most
interesting graveyard in Illinois; per
haps in all the United States, is con
tanned in the second annual report or
the state charities commission, now
in press.
/ It is the story OF the human ele-
ment IN the place OF the dead. 1t Is
the story Of tragedy that produced
a graveyard and it is the story of a
tragedy that awakened whole state
to Its duty to its unfortunate anu
revealed to its eyes the frightful in
teriors Of Illinois almhouses.
The graveyard Is located at the
Peoria state hospital, and It's history
has been written by A. i. Bowen,
executive secretary Of the state chas-
tiles commission. and incorporated
in the annual report for permanent
preservation, The account begins:
Another chapter In the grea,
story of the migration Of pauper in.
sane from the county farms OF I'LL
nois to state care has been closed at
the Peoria state hospital.
i Regiment Of Derelicts.
az 81.
On the brow Of a hill overlook
/, ing the valley Of the Illinois river
/ and the bluffs and hills Of the Taxe-
well shore repose all that is mortal
Of the first regiment Of nameiess,
unknown and abandoned derelicts.
who were led in that movement from
their miserable habitant among the
roor farms to the tender arms Of the
state.
The last body has been laid to
rest in this cemetery. It's gates have
been closed and It's records sealed.
I'm the ten years Of the history Of
the Peoria state hospital this little
patch OF Gods acre has increased
rapidly until S61 have found the
: eternal peace and rest OF death be.
| meath tiny mounds within it's borders
What story OF human misery
these graves conceal! Could the wells
all be drawn aside from the lives OF
these s61 men and women there is
no fiction in the worlds literature
that would begin to approach in in.
tensity and Interest the tragedies
and romances of their existence.
There lie ten John Does They
/ were admitted to the hospital with.
out name, residence or friend They
lived and died in the hospital and
they were buried in this picturesque
spot under this numerical appella.
ton.
Mo Tears at Death.
mo one came to see them. NJ
one inquired OF them in life or shed
a tear for them in death. No ons
ever delved into their past. No one
knows whence they came. They
/ could give no account OF themselves
4 whether they travelled through
life unmarked and unknown, OF
! whether in the past they wrought
and left an impression, we do no
4 know their storms and Gains, theil
ambitions and disappointn1ents theil
! hopes and their despair, their joys
and sorrows, make up story whose
4 contents have been sealed from Nv
ing eye by kind decree of immu,
able fate.
Whether they entered the wor1e
ilby the unmatched door OF obscurit,
and poverty or we're acclaimed b,
music and wealth, is now immaterial
but that they departed unrecorded ane
unmourned in It's annals, their graves
with mute cement posts bearing theil
number, attest in the language Of
silent woe too deep to be sounded.
There is another grave, that o.
Christine. Christine CAME to the Pc
oria hospital from the Kane county
farm in 1904. That was her name a,
the county farm. Authorities Their,
knew nothing of her history. Under
that name she entered the Peoria in
, stitution, and from it she was buriet
as Christine upon the hillside.
One Woman's Monument.
"Dhoda Derry is buried here il
grave PIT To her memory Is cus
an enduring monument, for 1t wa,
her mute misery and understandable
. condition OF woe that aroused the con
science of great state to its duty tt
!, it's insane
d "Dr. Zeller in his report character
, ICES hers as the most remarkable
| case that came to his institution from
!, the county farms. He doubts that ths
entire community could produce hel
!, equal
"At the age Of % she was beau
) tiful young woman. Witchcraft un
balanced her mind. She was i'm