Some Remarkable Women

It's something of a challenge to prepare a walk based on early Janesville area women. For one thing, there isn't as much written about them in old newspapers or in their obituaries, other than information about their spouses and children. I know of two women whose diaries have been published, Nellie Tallman and Mary Laurentine Beers, the latter having been a local teacher. Some of the wealthier women did church and charity work, such as Nellie Tallman, and also some no doubt influenced their husbands in terms of philanthropy.  Less well-to-do women worked in their own homes or in service to others, in factories or farms, became nurses or teachers.  It just isn't that easy to find quality information about many of them.

Some of the famous local women like Carrie Jacobs Bond, Frances Willard, or even Lavinia Goodell are not buried at Oak Hill.  But that isn't to say that one can't find interesting women who influenced the world for good right here in Janesville.  This walk could be a start.

Let me remind you again that a map is very useful. If you enjoy hunting for old stones, having a map can save you time and energy,  though you still will have to do some hunting. Stop by the cemetery office to get one for yourself, or look at my previous posts. It also wouldn't hurt to head to Find a Grave, and look at photos of the headstones, just so you know what you are looking for.

1.  Nellie Gregg Williams (block 52) Nellie's headstone, a small flat gray granite marker, is fairly easy to find.  If you turn right at the chapel and continue along the flat road, her grave is on the left on the side of the hill where the road curves a bit.

Nellie married a man a decade older than she was, and when he died they were childless.  All this was before World War I.  Nellie became interested in the young soldiers who were headed off to European battlefield from Company M.  She wrote them letters, sent cookies and candies, and in return they sent photos of themselves, their brides and babies.  She kept in touch after the war, and then did the same thing for soldiers going off to World War II.  In addition she  was active in other patriotic activities, like the annual Armistice Day dinner.  In 1934 she was concerned about soldiers who did not have family lots in which to be buried, so she donated nineteen lots from block 311 to be used exclusively for veterans.

2.  Emogene Davis Jacobs Minor (block 39) Further up the side of the hill from Nellie Williams you will see the large monument for the Bond family. There is a smaller monument, gray granite to James Benjamin Minor and Emogene Minor very nearby.

Pretty much everyone knows that the famous composer Carrie Jacobs Bond was from Janesville, but she is buried in California.  Emogene, known as Emma, was Carrie's mother. Daughter of Yankee pioneers of Rock county, she was married three times, first to Carrie's father, Dr. Hannibal Jacobs (who lost the family fortune and then died young), then to John Williams (briefly) and finally to James Minor (whom she divorced).  Mrs. Minor taught china painting for a time, and later was a seamstress in downtown Janesville.

3.  Sarah Copeland Fifield (block 19) You need to head south, and cross Center Dr., the road the head up the hill on the right the chapel, and walk across almost the other other road that also leads up the hill.  There is a monument to Elbridge and Sarah Fifield, gray granite, and Sarah also has her own headstone.

Old obituaries of pioneers can be fascinating.  According to Sarah Fifield's notice in the Janesville Gazette, she was born in Massachusetts in 1827, a direct descendant of Miles Standish, and came as a teen-aged girl to Jefferson county to keep house for her brothers.  There she met Elbridge Fifield and was united in marriage in 1853.  They lived for a time in Jefferson, but later moved to Janesville where she was described as a "leader in social life" and a devoted mother of of four children.

4.  Sarah Fifield Bull (block 19) If you found Sarah Fifield, Sarah Bull  is very nearby in the Fifield lot.

Sarah Fifield Bull was Sarah Fifield's sister-in-law.  The Fifield family made their money in lumber, and were respected members of the community. Sarah married Hiram Bull, and their only biological child died in infancy and is buried in this family lot.  They moved to Bull City, Kansas, where Sarah was appointed postmistress.  The Bulls adopted a daughter, Lenora, and then ten months later Hiram Bull was killed in a bizarre accident, attacked by a raging male elk.  Hiram had no will and many debts, which added to Sarah's difficulties.  But she persevered, getting some help from local businessmen with finances, running a general store.  Eventually she and her adopted daughter returned to Janesville, where she passed away in 1912.

5.  Laura Kendall Arms (block 82) Head back north until you return in Center Drive, the main road that heads up the hill.  Then turn left (west) and continue along the flatter part of the road.  Block eighty-two will be on the right, a way into the wooded area.  Laura's headstone is an upright marble tablet.

Laura Kendall lived to be one of the oldest pioneer women in Janesville. She arrived in 1838 with her husband, Theodore Kendall, whom she married in Lowell, Vermont, in 1836. They came with their team to Buffalo from Vermont, then on to Detroit by boat, then with others in an emigrant train to Janesville. Mr. Kendall bought a lot opposite the old Myers Hotel, and built a frame house. She and her husband donated money to build the Congregational parsonage and the Y.M.C.A. building.

6.  Frances Cornelia Norton Tallman, (block 89) Most people  have seen the Tallman family plot at the top of the hill.  The family monument is large and red granite, though the pretty marble monument of the lady pointing to heaven for Augusta Beach, the Tallman's daughter, will be the thing that catches your eye first.

I learned about Nellie Tallman by portraying her in cemetery walks sponsored by the Rock County Historical Society, and also by reading Julia Hornbostle's book about her, A Good and Caring Woman: The Life and Times of Nellie Tallman.  Hornbostle used Nellie's diaries and newspaper accounts of the time to tell the story of her life. Nellie was the daughter of Otis and Hannah Norton, born in New York, but living most of her life in Janesville.  The Nortons and the Tallman family were long time friends, so it was no surprise that Nellie married the younger Tallman son, Edgar.  She was also close friends with Edgar's sister Gussie Tallman Beach, who died a young wife in Chicago.  Nellie and Edgar raised two sons, Stanley who became a lawyer, and Charles who worked for the telephone company.  Nellie became the mistress of the Tallman home, now the Lincoln-Tallman Restorations.  The family was wealthy, but also civic minded, and Nellie spent her life running the household, which employed a number of servants, nursing her mother and father-in-law, and her parents until their deaths, raising her two sons, attending church and civic functions, and doing charity work. In particular she raised money for the first city hospital, and for a group called Associated Charities.

7.  Elizabeth Battle Bintliff (block 259) The good news is you don't really have to go looking for Mrs. Bintliff's marker at the back of the cemetery, and the bad news is because her grave is unmarked.  But she is worth considering for the skills and contributions.

 Lizzie Battle was the daughter of parents who started out in Massachusetts, spent time in Ohio, and ended up here in Janesville.  She lived at a time when most women made their mark as nurses or teachers.  She was a gifted pianist and organist, and taught music at Ripon College. She also was the first president of the Wisconsin State Federation of Music.  

8.  Angie Josephine King (block 180) I have to admit that the fact that Angie J. King has no stone to mark her final resting place annoys me.  She holds an important place in not only local history, but in Wisconsin history.  Still you will find no marker for her at Oak Hill.

Angie King was the daughter of Scottish immigrants, her father a wagon maker and her mother a baker.  Angie was born in Ohio, but then her parents came west to Wisconsin settling first in Grant county, and later coming to Janesville. Her father, John King eventually sold his wagon manufacturing business to Robert Hodge, and opened a popular hotel called The Janesville House.  Mr. King died a year later of cholera, and Mrs. King ran the hotel after that.  Angie went to school here in Janesville, and graduated from the Janesville Ladies' Academy in 1822.  Her brother John worked for the post office as a clerk, and Angie worked there as ell. In 1868 she put her name in for the position of postmaster, which was an elected post.  Angie won the election by 42 votes, but was not allowed to serve because she was a woman.  Soon afterward she was fired from her position at the post office.  In 1871 she entered the Chicago Law School, returning to Janesville after the great Chicago fire, and studying law at home.  She was admitted to the practice of law by the Circuit Court of Rock County, becoming the third female lawyer in the state of Wisconsin.  She was a champion of women's suffrage and a firm believer in the rights of women.

9.  Minerva Guernsey King (block 180) Minerva King shares a headstone that resembles an open book with her husband.  Block 180 is in the area between Western Avenue and Summit (both of which run north and south, at the highest part of the cemetery. 

Minnie was the daughter of pioneers settlers Orrin Guernsey and Sarah Cooley, who came to Rock county from New Hampshire. Minerva was one of seven children. She attended the Frances Willard School, and graduated from Boston College in 1879, after studying elocution and the stage.  She joined the then famous Booth and Barrett acting company and became a fine actress. She married Chicago neurologist Oscar King in 1887 and lived for a time in Chicago and also Lake Geneva, where her husband ran a sanatorium.  She was active in the Women's Christian Temperance Union, and is sometimes credited as being one of the founders of the Janesville Public Library (now the Hedberg Library) - though I am having difficulty verifying this.

10.  Julia Newell Jackson (block 185) Block 185 isn't far from the King marker, just closer to Western Avenue. The Newell family monument is an imposing gray granite obelisk, not difficult to spot.

 Julia Newell's parents were from Vermont, and settled in this area in 1846. In 1867 Julia read about a trip by steamer to Europe and the Holy Land, and she decided she would go.  The trip turned out to be an important one for her, since she met her future husband, Dr. Abraham Reeves Jackson, but also because of a fellow traveler whose acquaintance she made, Mr. Samuel Clemons, also known as Mark Twain.  She thought him to be rather handsome, but disliked his southern drawl. To read about the trip, just read a copy of Twain's book, The Innocents Abroad. Travel can be so interesting!

10. Janet Bell Day (block 176) The headstone you are seeking is in an area north of the wide grassy strip the runs up the hill, not far the the circular drive.  It's on the side of the hill, and you may have to search a bit for the flat gray headstone.

 Janet, known as Jennie, was born in Janesville in 1856, and spent much of her life here.  Following her marriage to John Day, she became interested in the subject of elocution, and became a faculty member of the University of Wisconsin in Madison, teaching this subject.  Locally she directed plays at the high school, and was a member of the school board.

Railroads, Reapers, Etc. - Two

As promised, here is the second part of a walk inspired by the late Maurice Montgomery's self-published book Memory Walks in Oak Hill, highlighting some interesting men and women buried here, emphasis on invention, business, and railroads.  If you want to see a photo of each individual headstone, go to Find a Grave Oak Hill Janesville, and type the name that you want in the search box.

1.  Azel Clarence Hough (block 407) You will easily spot the Hough family plot as you drive into the cemetery from Washington Avenue.  There is a large columned "doorway" on the right (the other side from the office) which leads to all the headstones for the Hough family.

Azel Hough, born in New York state was an inventive genius. He began his working life working for his father's general mercantile business, and soon began thinking of ways to make the business better and more efficient.  In 1893 he patented the Hough Cash Recorder, popular for many year.  Later in his home town of South Butler, he saw how an neighbor had used wooden slats from a local basket factory to put together homemade "bamboo" porch shades.  Hough thought he could develop machinery that could make similar wood slats in a cost effective way.  He did just that, and began manufacturing wood-slat roll-up porch shades using local wood.  He moved the operation to Janesville in 1902, since basswood was easily available here.  He continued to improve the streamline the business and soon began manufacturing other lines of shades for both homes and businesses. During World War II the company began manufacturing blackout shades. Hough died in 1946, but the business, now known as Hufcor, continues.

2.  Irving Crowe (block 151) As you come to the chapel, turn right/north on Main Drive until you are near the pole barn maintenance building. Then on the side of the hill, to your left, there is a large boulder inscribed with "Crowe."  This unmistakable monument marks the family lot of Irving Crowe (pictured above).

Irving attended local schools, served in World War I, and came home and went to work as a steeplejack.  That is, he used ropes and pulleys and went up high on churches and other tall buildings and did roofing and repair work.  Clearly he was not afraid of heights.  Steeplejacks were in demand around the state, and in 1923 Crowe was working around Medford.  The county fair was on, and there was a demonstration of barnstorming going on - fancy and dangerous trick flying in WWI biplanes.  Audience members were often offered rides for a small fee, and Irving was thrilled at the idea of going up into the sky with a veteran daredevil pilot.  He went up, but the thrill was short lived, as the plane crashed.  The pilot, "Dusty" Rhodes walked away from the accident, but Irving Crowe's life was ended.

3.  Elisabeth Strampe Meyer and family (block 174) Not too much further up the hill, you will see the large and lovely gray granite Meyer family monument, which features a floral arch, a resting angel, and the inscription "In God We Rest."

Mrs. Meyer and her husband William emigrated from Germany to Wisconsin in 1842, settling first in Reedsburg and later coming to Janesville.  The person in this family who fits best with the theme of invention and manufacturing is her daughter Emma, who married Otto Buchholz.  Otto operated a blacksmith shop on North Parker drive for many years, and also worked for his uncle, Herman Buchholz, pioneer carriage maker in Janesville, who was partner with Robert Hodge.  That business built carriages, farm wagons, hearses, and even circus wagons. The factory played a large role in Janesville's growth at the time.

4.  John C. Fox (block 186) If you keep heading west up the hill toward Western Avenue,  the large red granite monument to the Fox family isn't far from the intersection of Western Avenue and North 4th Street. North 4th runs parallel to the broad grassy area running east and west, up and down the hill.

John Fox was originally from England.  He is credited with bringing the first train to Janesville.  He was an engineer on the Milwaukee and St. Paul road, and later on as a master mechanic was foreman of the Janesville roundhouse.  When he retired after 58 years of service, he was the oldest living employe of the Chicago Milwaukee & St. Paul railroad.  His daughter Ida worked at the train yard in the offices.  She was tragically killed on day when she ran out to deliver a message to a worker, got her foot somehow tangled in a rail, and was killed by a freight train.

5.  William Riley Selleck (block 159)  The Selleck monument is a tall gray obelisk. You need to cross Western Avenue and continue west, toward the back of the cemetery, along North 5th Street. The monument will be on the right (you need a map to see this).

Riley's early career was spent opening train stations for the Chicago & Northwestern line in Illinois and Wisconsin.  Later on he was in the grain business. But what brought him is fortune was his inventive mechanical ability. He invented and patented an efficient wire grain binder.  Cyrus McCormick purchased that patent and adapted it into a popular twine binder.  When McCormick created the McCormick Harvester Machine Co. (later International Harvester), he brought William Selleck in as treasurer of the company, and later other positions of trust.  He invested well, and was involved in mining and other business ventures of the time.

6.  Allen Perry Lovejoy (block 275) From the Selleck monument walk west to Summit Avenue and turn left.  The large gray granite Lovejoy family monument, featuring four columns should be easy to spot.

Allen Lovejoy was originally from Maine, he taught school as a young man, and apprenticed as a carpenter and joiner. He headed west, settling first in Milwaukee, later Beloit, and finally Janesville, where he went into business for himself as a carpenter and builder. In 1860 he opened a lumber yard in this city, and expanded to Mt. Horeb, Dodgeville,  Blue Mounds, Stoughton, and New Glarus.  Over time he investing in lumber not only all over Wisconsin, but also in Oregon, California and Louisiana.  And he didn't restrict himself to lumbering - In 1875 he partnered with James Harris, at one point becoming president of the Janesville Machine Company. He also invested in the Janesville Cotton Company, McLean Manufacturing, and Monterey Flouring Mills.  He was involved in banking, for a time being director of the First National Bank, and being a stock holder in several other regional banks.  He was elected to both the state assembly and senate, and also elected 22nd mayor of Janesville.

7.  George Safford Parker (block 250) The modest red granite monument of George Parker and family is also on Summit Avenue - very near the tall cross marking the Richardsons.

George Safford Parker was originally from Shullsburg, Wisconsin.  Early in his working life he was a teacher at Valentine's school of telegraphy, and on the side he sold pens for the Holland Pen Company, out of Ohio. At that time fountain pens were messy affairs, often spitting out blobs of ink and smearing.  Parker invented a better pen with superior nibs and feeder tubes, which he called the Lucky Curve - and this began his lifetime in the manufacture of fine writing instruments. Parker Pen incorporated in 1892, and began manufacturing in the Myers Opera House block, frequently relocating as the company grew, eventually settling on East Court Street. He loved traveling and introduced his Parker pens wherever he went.  He continued to introduce innovations in pen design, and a non-smear ink called Quink, over the years.  He was known as a good man and a philanthropist, and was widely lamented when he died in 1937.

8.  Joseph A. Craig (block 202) If you turn right on North 11th Street, heading down the hill, you will find the Craig family lot, on the side of the hill.

I taught for a number of years at J.A. Craig High School, named for this man, but never knew much of anything about him. Craig was a farm boy born in Pennsylvania. He moved to Illinois and was for a time in the farm implement business there. He was a salesman for the Janesville Machine Company, which produced plows, cultivators, seeders, mowers and more, but soon moved up in the company when Allen Lovejoy invited him to come to Janesville and become part of management here. All this was at a time when all sorts of new horseless carriages (automobiles) were being manufactured for the first time, including General Motors.  W.C. Durant, head of GM, invited J.A. Craig to Detroit to offer him a position as head of Samson Tractor there.  Craig somehow convinced the GM folks in Michigan to come and take over the implement manufacturing part of Janesville Machine Company, and move the manufacture of Samson tractors here.  He brought GM to Janesville, and most likely had a role in GM's decision to transform the tractor company into one that built cars.

Later in his life he lived in the pretty house near the country club called Century Elms, and raised Holstein, Guernsey and Jersey cattle.  Always a staunch supporter of 4-H clubs, he was for a time president of the Rock County 4-H Club Livestock Association, and helped to organize the first Rock County 4-H fair.  At that time the Fair Association was in debt, so J.A. Craig and John McCann purchased the fairground land.  Part became Adams School, part residential lots, and part the land where the current fair is held each summer.

He did other generous deeds as well, purchased the old Lovejoy home and donating it to be used as the YWCA, and setting up a trust to help Rock county rural children be able to afford college.

Railroads, Reapers, Etc. - One

Most of the stops on this self-guided walk come from Maurice Montgomery's book Memory Walks in Oak Hill Cemetery, from the chapter he called Railroads, Reapers and Motor Cars.  I added a couple names that I thought fit the theme. There are too many stops in the chapter for a single hour-long walk, so I divided the stops into two separate walks, the next one coming soon.  If you are reading this in November, the weather is getting chilly in Wisconsin, so dress accordingly when you head out, and  bring along a map of the cemetery.  I include one at the end of this post, or get one from the cemetery office Monday through Friday, ten o'clock in the morning until two in the afternoon. Happy hunting!

1.  Pliny Norcross (block 20) If you follow the paved road that runs up the hill to the left of the chapel, you will find the Norcross monument and individual headstones.

I've always though Norcross was interesting. He was from Massachusetts, originally but came to southern Wisconsin when he was a teenager.  He was schooled at both Milton and Albion Academies, and spent time at the University of Wisconsin.  When the Civil war broke out he enlisted in the Governor's Guards, and later in Company K 13th Regiment Wisconsin Infantry, where he was captain.  After the war he married, took up the study of law, and went back east to New York.  But then he returned to Janesville in 1883, where he invested in business blocks downtown.  In 1885 he got into the electric power business, using the power provided by the Rock River to electrify businesses in the Norcross block, a business that manufactured shoes, printing plants, and a bindery.  In 1892 he bought the Fulton mill, torn it down, and built a power plant that began to run lights in Edgerton, as well as parts of Janesville.  Then he acquired the old mills at Indian Ford and created the Indian Ford electric power plant.  In the end he sold all these power plants to the Wisconsin Electric Company and became first president of the utility. He had an unfortunate ending. In July 1915 he was walking along the old raceway on the river in downtown Janesville when a gust of wind blew his straw hat from his head.  He grabbed for it, but slipped into the the river and drowned.  His body was located a couple days later, his pocket watch stopped at 2:12.

2.  William Rodney Hathaway (block 112) Keep heading up that same road to the top of the hill and then a bit further on until you reach a unpaved path that cuts across the wooded area over to the other paved road (called Center Avenue) to the right of the chapel.  About half way between the two paved roads, on the path, is the tablet headstone pictured above.  It leans, so you will need to squat down to see the image of the steam engine clearly.

At the time Hathaway was alive, railroads were sweeping the country, revolutionizing travel and providing a fast and efficient way to move manufactured and agricultural goods.  These were, of course, steam trains, which required a water filled boiler, which had to be stoked with wood or coal constantly.  It was the job of the train's fireman to keep the firebox filled with fuel, and also to oil the train's drive wheels.  It was dangerous.  Hathaway was a fireman, and he met a tragic end. He fell while shoveling to the engine and became tangled in the connecting rods which drove the engine's wheels.  It took about thirty minutes to extricate him, and by that time he had already died.

3.   Charles Baxter Withington (block 110) Continuing along the unpaved path the runs between the two paved roads you should be able to find the modest gray granite headstone for Withington.  It's off the path a bit toward the wooded back part of the cemetery.

Charles B. Withington was born in Ohio, but moved to Janesville and married Charlotte Brandt, and raised a large family. He is remembered today for his invention of a wire grain binder. The patent for this invention was bought by Cyrus McCormick, of the International Harvester fame, who perfected the technology, adapted it for twine binding, contributed to the industrialization of agriculture, and made a fortune.  C.B. Withington also owned a jewelry business for many years in Janesville.

4.  James B. Crosby (block 30) Keep going along that unpaved path, over to the paved road that runs to the right of the chapel. On the other side of the road near a very old oak tree you cannot miss the Crosby family monument, which is a maiden pointing to heaven atop a column, with a scroll and an anchor.

James Crosby personified the prosperous businessman.   Born in New York,he came to the area with his parents in 1852. His father built a large flouring mill  James ran a dray-goods store for a time, but soon after got into banking when the Rock County Bank was organized in 1855. Later he was manager of the Harris Manufacturing Company (James Harris is coming up later), after it was reorganized and called Janesville Machine Company.  Crosby lived in a beautiful Italianate villa on Sutherland Avenue. After he left Janesville for North Carolina, Dr. Judd and Dr. Henry Palmer bought the house and made it into the city's first hospital.


5.  Henry P. Culver and family (block 83) Walking west along that same paved road, heading toward the back of the cemetery, the Culver family monument will be on your right, back in a bit from the road.  It looks like a full sized tree, with limbs lopped off, encircled by ivy with a cross up toward the top.

Henry P. Culver was a native of Connecticut, born in 1793.   After marrying his wife Lamira, they moved to New York state, where he went into manufacturing with his grandfather. Later he opened a grist mill, and engaged in manufacturing barrels, sawing lumber, processing potash, and making plaster.  In 1842 he and his sons moved to Rock county, where he purchased a fine farm.  He engaged in farming until he died of a paralytic stroke in 1869.  He is remembered as being a pioneer of the area.

6.  Thomas J. Nichols (block 91) Keep heading west on Center Avenue, and the next two headstones are near the first cross paved road you reach. The Nichols headstone is an upright tablet, inscribed with the image of a railroad passenger car.

Another railroad related headstone here. Thomas Jefferson Nichols was a conductor for the Chicago and Northwestern railroad, which is a senior position, and well respected. No doubt he had worked his way up through other railroad jobs, such as doing routine maintenance, being a flagman, or brakeman.  By the time he was a conductor, he was in charge of his train cars, responsible for the safety of freight and or passengers, for selling and collecting tickets, keeping the train moving a time, and so on. Nichols was forty years old when he died of rheumatic fever. Ironically, Thomas's son Charles, who was a railroad brakeman, suddenly died of a hemorrhage only six months later.

7.  Charles A. Brown (block 91) Very nearby you can easily find another upright tablet, good-sized, topped with an urn and inscribed with the image of a broken column, a sprig of acacia, an urn, a kneeling woman, and Father Time with a sickle (pictured below)

Charles A. Brown was an engineer for the Chicago and Northwestern Road, and the engineer is also an important and respected job.  Brown didn't die in his engine, but rather on train related business in Chicago.  He and conductor Amassa Cobb were in Chicago, riding in a buggy near the Chicago and Northwestern freight house, when something frightened the horse, which bolted out of control.  Cobb jumped from the buggy and broke a leg, but when Brown jumped free he fell and cracked his skull on the pavement, and died a short time later.   His interesting and somewhat macabre looking monument is actually related to his being a Mason.  The image, called Father Time and the Weeping Virgin,  is supposed to symbolize that time, patience and perseverance will accomplish all things.

8.  James Harris (block 101) The Harris monument is directly across the road, a large gray granite block.

When James Harris died in 1912, the Janesville Gazette described him as a "Founder of Industry." Born in Canada, Harris had lived in Janesville more than fifty years, was president of the Janesville Barb Wire Company and vice president of the Janesville Machine Company.  Since he was trained as a machinist, be began in Janesville in partnership with some others in the manufacture of of farm implements, such as reapers. He was also involved in the Rock River Iron Works, which made castings and cast iron columns. The barb wire company, which he bought from a Illinois and brought north to Rock county, eventually became Janesville Fence and Post, and still later became Harris Ace Hardware.

Remembering Veterans - Two

 This is another walk featuring veterans, a continuation of the previous walk, offered here in remembrance of Veterans Day.  This walk will be a good workout, since it takes you from an area down fairly near the chapel up the hill and toward the back of the property.  It still shouldn't take much more than an hour, if you have a map.  Find a map at the end of this post, or get one from the cemetery office 10 A.M - 2 P.M. Monday through Friday.

1.  Nellie Gregg Williams (block 52) Find Nellie Willams' grave by going north on Main Dr. The small flat stone is on your left on the hillside.  While Nellie was never a solder, her service to veterans deserves to be noticed and remembered. Nellie was the wife of Louis Williams, who was ten years older than she was and who left her a widow in 1915 when she was in her forties.  They couple never had children.  At that time World War I had already begun, though the USA had not joined the conflict.  But as local young men in Company M were heading off to Europe, Nellie decided to do her part.  She wrote the soldiers letters, sent them homemade cookies and candy, and then kept in touch with them when they returned home.  She did the same thing during World War II.  After World War I she faithfully worked the local Armistice Day events, which involved community-wide dinners, speeches, music and patriotic readings.  Most remarkably, she was concerned about the lack of burial space for military veterans at Oak Hill. She purchased and donated19 lots of block 311, and intended them for the use of World War and other military veterans who had not family lot.  The military section can be found in the area adjacent to Mt. Olivet. This area has been the site of Memorial Day observations ever since.

2.  Edmund Kearny Tice (block 112) If you go up Center Ave., up the hill, there is a faint unpaved road on the left that cuts across to the road that runs parallel to the chain link fence at the edge of the cemetery property. He is remembered as a captain during the War of 1812.   Block 112 is in about the middle. Tice's' headstone is a small flat red granite one. By occupation Tice was a carpenter and builder, born in New Jersey in 1791.  He and his wife Jane moved here in 1850.  For a time he was City Marshall.

3.  James Bintliff (block 125) Follow the same faint path further along toward the road that runs parallel to the chain link fence.  Block 125 can be found on the right side of the path near the paved road. The monument is tall and square, topped with a finial shaped like an urn; unfortunately a tree fell on it this past summer and the tall family monument was knocked over.  James Bintliff's small headstone is still undamaged.  Bintliff was an English born newspaper editor from Monroe who rose from company captain to brigadier general during the Civil War.  According to the State Historical Society, in 1862 he recruited a company of Monroe soldiers as Company G., 22nd Wisconsin Infantry,  He was elected captain and over the following months they fought from Kentucky and into Tennessee. He was captured in Brentwood, TN, and was imprisoned at Libby prison. Bintliff continued to fight after his release, accepting several promotions. By 1865 he was a brigadier general, leading men in the Siege of Petersburg. After the war he lived in Janesville and for a time was editor of the Janesville Gazette.

4.  Edward Osgood Wright (block 99) Wright's grave is in block 99, not too far from the G.A.R. memorial section, on the left side of Center Ave, top of the hill where it is more flat.  I'm sorry to say that this historic stone fell over years ago and still is flat on the ground, with a good sized crack in it. Edward Wright was originally from New York state, though his family was living in Janesville at the beginning of the Civil War.  He enlisted in the 71st Regiment, New York State Militia in 1861. Wright fought bravely and rose through the ranks. In 1862 he was killed in battle. 

This is what the New York Times wrote in his obituary:

Edward O. Wright, Second Lieutenant in Company H. Fifth Regiment New-York State Volunteers, died in the Fairfax Seminary Hospital, near Alexandria, on Sept. 26, of a wound received in the second battle of Bull Run, Aug. 30. Lieut. Wright enlisted as a private in the Seventy-first Regiment, N.Y.S.M., on April 20, 1861, but as he was among those whom that corps was obliged to reject, because it was so full when it left this City for the seat of war, he enlisted, on April 22, in Duryea's Zouaves, which was then forming. During the stay of the regiment at Fort Schuyler, its encampment in the vicinity of Fortress Monroe, and at Fort Federal Hill, Baltimore, he discharged his duties with zeal and fidelity. In the battle of Big Bethel, on June 10, 1861, he bore himself with great bravery and coolness. Although he was always foremost in the succession of battles and skirmishes before Richmond in which the Zouaves won such distinction. Sgt. Wright, for his services in the ranks had been rewarded with promotion, escaped without a scratch, and for bravery displayed in the battle of Gaines' Mills he was made a Second Lieutenant. In the battle of Groveton, or Bull Run No. 2, which was fought on Aug. 30, he was wounded by a mini ball, which struck his left arm near the socket, passed through his lung and finally lodged between his shoulder blades. Could he have received immediate attention his life might have been spared, but he lay on the field until the afternoon of the next day, when the ball was extracted. After submitting to this operation he dragged himself to Centreville, where he was paroled, and thence was sent within the National lines. He was promptly taken to Fairfax Seminary Hospital, but the excellent care which he there received came too late to revive his failing energies, and he died as we have already stated, on Sept. 26. During all his sufferings, which were at times intense, he gave a striking example of patience to those around him. His company, which had become attached to him as few companies are to their commanders, will miss him in camp and on the battle-field,and a wide circle of friends in this City, who knew and appreciated his worth, mourn his loss. 

6. William Harrison Ash (block 277) You are headed west up Center Ave., way toward the wooded back edge of the property.  You'll turn right on Chestnut St., and block 277 will be on your right. Ash has a modern stone, low and flat. William Ash was originally from Champaign, Illinois. In 1862 he enlisted in the 81st Illinois Infantry . He served almost four years, and during that time spent secen months in the notorious prison camp, Andersonville.  After the war he married Mary Jane O'Dell and raided a family of five children. When they were older they moved to Janesville to live with their son Harry. Ash died in 1926. 

7. William Pearl (block 281) To find this block go as far west on Center Ave. as you can, toward the wooded back edge of the property. Turn right, and William Pearl's stone is in that wooded area. Similar to William Ash's stone, this is a modern headstone, low and flat. Pearl was eighteen years old in 1862 when he joined the army as a musician, a drummer,  of Company M, 22nd Wisconsin Volunteers.  His unit fought in battles at Unionville, Nashville, and Brentwood, Tennessee. Later the unit fought under General Joseph Hooker in Atlanta.  After the war he married Mary Jane Clough and raised five children in the Town of Harmony.

5. Rev. George Ward Dunbar (block 268) This large gray granite monument is located on Summit Ave., the highest part of the cemetery.  Going north on Summit, you will find the Dunbar plot on your left, and the woods is behind this block. Dunbar was a priest of the Episcopal church, born in New York state. He served i a number of parishes back east before coming to Christ Church in Janesville. He married twice, his first wife dying fairly young.  His second wife was Adelaide Ruger.  Adelaide's father was a military man, so perhaps he influenced Dunbar to become a chaplain in the army. At any rate, Dunbar had several interesting posts, where he usually went to postings to act as chaplain, but also functioned as postmaster, librarian and teacher. His first post was to Fort Concho, Texas, later he was sent to Fort Yates in Dakota territory, and the Presidio in San Francisco.  . Finally he was posted to Alcatraz, then a military fortification in San Francisco Bay.  He retired in 1897 and he and his wife returned to Janesville.  After his wife's death he moved to Washington D.C. where he died in 1914.

You can click on this map to enlarge it, and then print one for yourself. I am sorry this one doesn't have all the streets labeled.  I'll work on this later this winter.  Be aware that none of the street named in the cemetery are marked either - I wish I knew why not.

Remembering Veterans - One

This week we celebrate Veterans Day, so I thought I would suggest a couple walks that feature people who served their country through service in the military.  I know that technically Veterans Day is supposed to honor those who died while in military service, but I am not making that distinction with the people included here; all simply served with distinction. I struggle sometimes in trying to decide how to include service men and women in walks, since there are so many of them, and since military history is not my special area of knowledge.  That said, I don't want to ignore veterans.

All the folks featured in this walk, and the next one I will share, are featured in the book Memory Walks in Oak Hill, written in 2008 by local historian Maurice Montgomery.  Monty was an enthusiastic researcher, and wrote about each person in detail.  I only provide highlights here, so I recommend that you read his book if you want more.  In addition, you can visit Find a Grave, for additional information and some photographs.

As always, dress for the weather, and bring along your map (or get one from the cemetery office).

1.  George Morton Randall (block 20) George Randall's headstone is up the hill behind the chapel.  George was born in Ohio in 1841, and was about twenty when his family moved to Janesville. At the beginning of the Civil War he enlisted in the 4th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry as a private, and served with honor, advancing to lieutenant at the battle of Antietam. He stayed in the army and participated in the Indian wars after the Civil War, participating in military expeditions against the Indians at Big Horn, Powder River and Yellowstone. Eventually he was put in command of Fort Reno in the Oklahoma Territory. During the Spanish-American War he was stationed in Cuba, and later in 1900 he was sent by President McKinley to the Alaskan Territory, to help keep order during the gold rush. In 1903 he was sent to the Philippines to work on the pacification of the native people there.  He retired in 1905, and in 1918, he died in Colorado. 

2.  William H. Sargent (block 63) Look for a narrow stone tablet with an eagle and shield. Sargent was born in England in 1840, and emigrated with his father and siblings to this area about 1855. He served as a carrier for the Janesville Gazette, and volunteered for the local Water Witch Engine Company - the fire department.  In 1860 he married Clara F. Spencer, daughter of the local fire chief, and a year later the Civil War broke out.  Sargent became a member of Company G, 8th Regiment Wisconsin Volunteers. He saw much action in St. Louis, Cairo, Corinth, Vicksburg, and Nashville.  William Sargent was killed in the second day of fighting at Nashville, the Battle of Fort Negley, shot through the heart.

3.  Justus Perry Wheeler (block 81) You are looking for a gray obelisk; the section with Justus Wheeler's name has been damaged, though it is readable. Wheeler was born in 1782 in Massachusetts. He studied law, and while a young man served with honor in the War of 1812. After the war he moved to New York where he married Lucy Culver and raised a family of ten children. By 1840 they had moved to Rock County and owned a substantial farm in the town of La Prairie. In 1851 he was one of the organizers of the first Rock County fair, which showcased and promoted local agriculture.  Justus Wheeler died in 1872.

4.  George Bentley (block 91) At the crest of the hill there is a marble block with a slightly inclined top, a Union soldier's cap, drawn sword and shield. This is the monument to George Bentley, who died in battle Oct. 8, 1862.  He was born in Connecticut in 1831, so he was only 31 when he was killed at Perryville, Kentucky. He was a member of Company H, 21st Infantry Regiment of Wisconsin. According to the local newspaper, his funeral was large and elaborate, including a military escort, a band, clergy, representative of the railroad where he worked prior to the war, and many friends.

5.  James E. Croft: (block 99) Find the small gray granite headstone for James Croft very near the G.A.R. memorial section.  Croft was from Yorkshire, England, and came to Janesville as a young man. In 1862 he enlisted in the 12th Wisconsin Battery, Light Artillery, and was in many battles, especially in Tennessee and Georgia. He was awarded the Medal of Honor while serving at the rank of private for his bravery in action on October 5, 1864 at Allatoona, Georgia. His citation reads "Took the place of a gunner who had been shot down and inspired his comrades by his bravery and effective gunnery, which contributed largely to the defeat of the enemy."

6.  G.A.R. Memorial (block 99) The Grand Army of the Republic was a fraternal organization for Union soldiers, designed to benefit veterans in both political and social spheres - much as organizations such as the VFW and American Legion do today.  It encouraged "Decoration Day" events to remember fallen soldiers, established retirement homes and hospitals and their wives, cared for indigent soldiers and more.  Members had military style uniforms with badges, medals and ribbons.  There was a women's auxiliary group called the Woman's Relief Corp.  These woman are not buried here, bu many have distinctive flag holders near their headstones.

The local GAR post, called the W. H. Sargent Post 20, was established in 1881. Soon after organizing, the post bought 4 lots in block 99 at Oak Hill as a military burial park for Civil War soldiers.  If you look at burial dates, those that indicate death prior to 1883 are cenotaphs, that is there is no body. The stone is simply a memorial.  Burials after 1883 are traditional.  This area has been kept up nicely by volunteers, including the local D.A.R. It is interesting to note that the boundaries of the area are marked by posted created from cannon muzzles and balls. Be aware that this area only contains a small number of Civil War burials; other are scattered throughout the cemetery.

7.  Dr. Henry Palmer (block 51) Henry Palmer's headstone is on the side of the hill along the main road. You can see the Palmer monument from the road. Henry Palmer was one of the most respected and influential men in Janesville during his life. Born in New York in 1827 in a farming family, for a time he taught public school to earn money for his own medical school.  He became a skilled physician and surgeon, opening offices first in New York state, and later here in Janesville, where he joined Dr. Robert Treat. He enlisted as regiment surgeon for the 7th Wisconsin Infantry, the "Iron Brigade" when the Civil War broke out. Later he was posted to York Military hospital in Pennsylvania, where he instituted improvements in cleanliness, nutrition, and treatment that greatly reduced patient mortality.  At one point when the hospital was attacked by Confederate troops, Palmer hid the sickest and armed those able to fight to repel the attack.  He was captured, but escaped and returned to his duties at the hospital. After the war he was in charge of Camp Douglas in Chicago for a time, but finally returned to medical practice in Janesville.  He also served as mayor of the city.

Unfortunate Events - Four

October is swiftly coming to an end, and leaves are beginning to leave some of the trees bare.  There is still time for a walk highlighting some of the darker ends that befell some of the people buried at Oak Hill.  I have seldom gotten to lead people into the hillside area on the right side (facing up the hill) of the wide grassy strip.  This walk highlights a few people buried in this area.

So slip into a warm jacket, lace on your hiking shoes and try this final walk featuring some very unfortunate events, but pretty scenery.

1. Irving Crowe (block 151) Crowe's monument is one of a handful of boulders inscribed with names. You can see it in the photo above.  The young man had graduated from Janesville schools, worked as a printer, served in  World War I, and at the time of his death was working as a steeplejack - clearly he was not intimidated by heights.  In 1923 he had a job near Medford, and took a bit of time to go to the Taylor county fairgrounds to see barnstorming pilots do their thrilling aerial tricks. He paid a modest fee and was taken up in one of the old bi-planes.  Unfortunately, the airplane crashed, and though the pilot walked away, Irving did not.

2. Fred Bauch (block 155) It should be easy to find the gray granite Bauch family monument, and also Fred's small headstone inscribed with "our son." Fred was also a veteran of World War I, and at the time of his death he was employed at the Samson Tractor plant in Janesville.  Fred was instantly killed when the fly wheel and shaft of a 24 ton press fell down on him and crushed his skull. He was a Janesville native, married with a small son.

3. Herbert Brownell (block 160) Young Herbert's simple upright tablet headstone indicates he was nearly 18 years of age at the time of his death. The good looking young man had been employed in his uncle's grocery store, and helped with farming at home.  Unfortunately, he and some friends hitched a ride on a freight train, and Herbert slipped under the train's wheels and was run over.

4. Edward J. Brown (block 166) Look for a large red granite family monument with a palm frond wreath.  We have another railroad accident here. Edward Brown  and J. Seskind, both cattlemen,  were killed in a rear-end collision on the Central Vermont railway accident, and three others were injured. 

5. Max Pfennig (block 176) Look for a large gray granite family monument inscribed "Pfennig." Born in Germany, Pfennig changed his name when he came to the United States, and engaged in several jobs - hotel manager, proprietor of a saloon, real estate salesman, coroner.  In 1899, after some questions about the honesty of his real estate dealings, he took the Lake Michigan ferry to Luddington, and jumped overboard.  His body was never recovered, though some people claimed to have seem someone who looked like him afterward in Michigan.  This was never proven.

6. Ida Fox (block 186)The Fox family monument is impressive red granite - look for individual headstone around the family plot. Ida's parents were English, and involved in the railroads.  Her father, John was an engineer on the Milwaukee and St. Paul line and later was foreman at the roundhouse.  Ida worked in the train offices, and was hit by a train at five points when she tripped while delivering a note to a worker. 

7. Harvey Boettcher (block 195) Harvey's headstone is a small gray stone with the epitaph "He gave all for his country." The young World War I soldier was twenty-five years of age when he died of pneumonia after contracting the Spanish Influenza at Camp Grant in Illinois.

8. Edwin Disch (block 217) There is a medium sized upright family monument, and a small gray granite headstone for Edwin. John and Lena Disch, Edwin's parents, were immigrant farmers to Wisconsin from Switzerland. Their teenage son Edwin died when while riding his motorcycle he struck a dog, and the impact threw him into the path of an oncoming truck. Edwin's older brother, Herbert, was killed when he was struck by an express train between Doylestown and Fall River.  Unfortunate events struck this family twice.

Unfortunate Events - Three

Here in southern Wisconsin the hardwoods are reaching peak color, and although the weather is gradually getting more brisk each day, it is still a fine time to take a stroll at Oak Hill; just dress for the weather. This walk is in the same general area as the previous one, to the right of the large road running uphill to the right of the chapel.  All these folks also met quite unfortunate ends.  As you search for these stones, keep your eyes open for other interesting sights around you, other monuments, the colorful trees, and perhaps some deer, fox or turkeys.

1. Eunice Wilcox (block 73) You are looking for a red granite headstone. Eunice married four times, and her last husband, Charles Wilcox, was her undoing.  She had some money, and he wanted to borrow it for investing in a real estate deal downtown. When she refused there was a fight, and he strangled her. He stayed with her remains several days before drinking poison and turning on the illuminating gas.  He is buried in an unmarked grave in the area behind the chapel. She rests here with a previous husband.

2. Stephen Spaulding (block 75)Mr. Spaulding's final resting place is unmarked, but there are several other nice family monuments on the plot. I like the one featuring a shock of wheat. Stephen Spaulding was a jeweler who had a shop in Janesville a number of years.  He moved away, and after having suffered all manner of health and job difficulties, moved back to town.  He went to his daughter Clara's grave at Oak Hill and committed suicide.

3. Townsend Sager (block 78) The headstone you want in a small flat gray granite stone. Mr. Sager was driving north on Milton Avenue with a wagon load of fertilizer for his farm when he was stricken by a fatal heart attack and fell to the road.  Several people rushed to his aid, but were unable to save him.

4. David Burrus (block 78) The Burrus family monument is a good sized gray granite stone.  The boy's father was a local dentist and inventor, with a colorful personality.  But the family was visited by tragedy more than once. David's two sisters perished in a diphtheria epidemic, his older brother was convicted of killed two women and later drowned, and he was killed when he tried to catch a ride on a train with two of his friends, and was caught between the cars, and fatally injured.

5. Lucy Smith, Elizabeth Strunk Ripley, Lulu Hanson (block 82) Look for a tall gray granite obelisk under trees.  This story is well known by local residents.  Elizabeth Strunk drowned in the Rock River trying to save her cousin Lucy Smith and Lucy's young friend Lulu Hanson when they were caught in the river's currents.  All three are buried together in this family plot.

6. Charles Antisdel (block 82) Nearby you will find a slightly shorter gray monument to the Antisdel family. Charles has a smaller headstone as well. Many of the people buried at Oak Hill were the victims of train accidents, but railroad employees and other folks,  Charles died in Kempton, Wisconsin, the victim of a train wreck.

7. Thomas Bennett (block 91) The Bennett family monument is a newer red granite stone with three names engraved upon it. Thomas Bennett was a well-known conductor on the Chicago and North Western line. He was accidentally thrown from the train when the train slowed to cross the Fox River near Chicago, and cars bumped into one another.  His body was found in the river a day later, with bruises on the back of his head.

8. Edna Conrad (block 95) Edna's headstone is a low white marble block.  She was married to William Conrad, a well-known local grocer.  Her obituary says she was sick for three weeks before dying of ptomaine poisoning - what we think of today as food poisoning.

 

Unfortunate Events - Two

This is another walk that should take less than an hour that you can take to visit the final resting places of local residents who long ago met unfortunate ends.  All of these stops are located to the right of the road running up the hill by the chapel.  Some are on the side of the hill, others further on.  A map, either from this blog or from the cemetery office will be very helpful.  As you search for the stops, be sure to look around you.  There are many, many interesting headstones and monuments, and if you keep a sharp eye you'll see all sorts of birds (including turkeys) and animals, from woodchucks and fox to white tailed deer.

As always, watch your step, as there are uneven places and animal burrows, and don't lean or, sit on, or step on old stones. Safety first!

One quick note, my walks are mostly centered on folks who traveled "to the land beyond" a hundred years ago or more.  There are a couple reasons for this choice.  First off, the old monuments and headstones tend to be more interesting than modern markers.  But also I am interested in relating historical stories, and do not want to stir up any unhappiness in visitors who might remember the person buried beneath the stone.

1. Alice Crosby (block 30) It's impossible to miss the pretty marble column topped by a girl with a scroll and anchor, pointing (with a missing finger) toward heaven.  Alice was the daughter of a wealthy family, sent East to boarding school when she passed away after having contracted scarlet fever.

2. Forbice Simpson (block 31) The Simpson monument is an attractive red granite column, topped with a sphere. The Simpsons were from Scotland. She and her husband James were asphyxiated by fumes from their kitchen stove.

3. Albert Kalvelage (block 33) The Kalvalege monument is a large gray granite rectangle, topped with a shape that looks something like a roof. Albert studied law, and was the official court reporter in Janesville.  He apparently was distraught after the accidental death of his young daughter, and he took his own life by both jumping off a bridge into the Rock River and shooting himself.

4. James Monroe Edwards (block 33) The Edwards family monument is also a gray granite stone shaped a little like a house, and there is a palm leaf inscribed around the initial "E." James worked on the railroad. He slipped and fell between a caboose and a freight car on the Madison to Milwaukee line and later died of lock-jaw.

5. Dr. William Judd (block 38) The Judd family monument is still another good-sized gray granite rectangle with a slanting top.  Dr. William Judd, one of a family of several physicians, was accidentally killed in an automobile accident.  He was struck in the street by young Robert Bliss.

6. Rose Allen (block 40) Mrs. Allen's headstone is a small gray granite one.  She was killed in Solon Springs, hit by a train when she went to the station to meet her daughter. The newspaper said there were two trains coming, and when she stepped out of the way of one, she was hit by the other.

7. Ellen Addy (block 48) A large gray monument marks Ellen Addy's final resting place.  Her story is a sad one, and not the only one like it at Oak Hill.  The elderly woman was a widow, residing alone, her children all living out of town.  She was found on the floor in her night clothes, covered in coal dust.  She had been trying to rebuild her fire when she collapsed.  Though friends found her while she still lived, she died soon after.

8. Humphrey Roberts (block 60) Another gray granite monument, this one with a curved top, serves the Roberts family.  Humphrey was shot and killed in the farm of J.C. Jenkins.

9. Amy Yeo (block 64) This time you are looking for a narrow four-sided column, under some pine trees, not far from a road leading up the hill.  Mrs. Yeo, also a widow, was somehow injured on her foot, and died two months later of gangrene.

10. Benjamin Franklin Downing (block 65) The white marble Downing monument is nearby, on the side of the hill.  You will spot it easily, because the smaller monument to their young daughters has fallen off its base and is propped up. Downing, originally from Pennsylvania, was fatally injured on his farm during a wind storm.  The heavy door of his barn blew violently against him and fractured his skull. Years later his wife was seriously injured on a railroad accident, which left her an invalid, until she finally succumbed to the effects of a stroke.

Interested in learning more? Visit Find a Grave, Oak Hill, Janesville, and type the name of whoever you want in the search box.  All of these people have photos of headstones, and often more information.

Unfortunate Events Walk - One

Last week I led the first three twilight walks for the Rock County Historical Society, the ones that because of their nearness to Halloween are called Chill at Oak Hill.  The last three are later this week. The emphasis in this walk is on creepiness, and we walk to the monuments of people who expired from awful accidents or murder, or who claimed to have psychic powers, or who were in some way associated with local ghost stories.  As last year was popular, this year's tour is also drawing crowds, many of whom have never been on one of my walks, or even who had never set foot in Oak Hill before this tour.  I found myself using a phrase over and over, even though it was not originally in my script - I found myself describing a person's demise as "an unfortunate event."  Probably I just remember that popular series of spooky young adult novels whose titles include those words.

But it's true. While the majority of folks who "passed to the land beyond" died of ordinary causes, old age, diseases, infections, heart disease and strokes, some died in more unusual ways. Memorable ways. Unfortunate ways.

This month I plan to post some walks you can easily do at Oak Hill that feature people who suffered some very unfortunate events.  All my little tours can be done in an hour or so, and I have grouped the monuments and headstones together by area.

What You Need

Dress for the weather, including sensible shoes.  The pavement and the ground can be very uneven, and there are low spots and woodchuck holes that may be covered with fallen leaves.  Good shoes make you more sure-footed.

You also need a cemetery map to more easily find the blocks.  I posted one earlier that you can run off (use the search box), or get one at the cemetery.  The "Rules" sheet provided by the city has a map on the back, or you can stop by the office M-F, 10 a.m. until 2 p.m.

All the stops on this walk are in the section behind the chapel, the area between the roads that run up the steep hill.  If you want more information you can search for these people on Find a Grave.  Use this hyperlink, or  search for Find A Grave Oak Hill Janesville, then type the name in the search box.  There are photos of each stone on the website as well.

1. Bert Grodivant (block 6) Monument features the logo for Woodmen of the World. Bert died when his arm was torn off in a well-digging accident.

2. Sarah Bull (block 19) Sarah's stone is just a plain gray granite headstone, but her story is colorful. While postmistress in Kansas, she witnessed the death of her husband Hiram, when he was attacked by an elk.  Originally from Janesville, she returned afterward and lived here until her death.

3. Pliny Norcross (block 20) Norcross' family monument and his headstone are near the road that runs up behind the left side of the chapel, under the trees.  He was a distinguished Civil War veteran, local businessman, and former mayor of Janesville.  He died when his straw hat blew from his head when he was standing near the Rock River.  When he turned to reach for it he slipped and fell into the water and was swept away.

4. Stella Austin (block 24) Stella's small headstone features an artist's palette.  She was a fine painter, and died young, of bronchitis, soon after giving birth to a stillborn child.

5. Charles Bennett (block 27) You can find Charles' name on the pretty white marble Bennett family monument, beneath the names of his parents.  Charles was only thirteen when he drowned in the river while playing on the sandbars and attempting to loosen a log jam.  He was his family's only son.

6. Raymond Jones (block 100) Raymond's headstone is small and looks modern. He was one of a number of Rock county residents who perished in the 1918 epidemic of Spanish influenza. He brother, Willis, was fighting in France when Raymond was stricken.

7. William Rodney Hathaway (block 112) Hathaway's tilting marble tablet headstone features a train engine. Hathaway died when he slipped on the connecting rods of the engine on which he worked, and was entangled in the machinery.

8. Carl Miller (block 109) Miller has a polished red granite headstone.  Miller, an engineer on he Chicago and Northwestern line and veteran of the Spanish American war, died heroically near Green Bay, attempting stop a runaway train.  Miller and another man raced to stop the train, and both fell on the tracks.  Miller pulled his companion to safety, but was dismembered by the train himself.

9. Frank Sutherland (block 117) Sutherland was a well known and popular young man.  He was unmarried and lived with his parents on Dodge street.  One night he came home at 11 p.m., and somehow made a misstep on a narrow set of stairs, fell backward, and broke his neck.

1900 hearse, Spokane, Washington (My great grandfather's family ran a funeral home.)

Coming Up: Chill at Oak Hill Twilight Tour

Last year I offered, in connection with the Rock County Historical Society, for the first time, a twilight tour of Oak Hill.  Unlike my usual Saturday morning casual walks that emphasize early settlers and others who built up our town one way or another, I lead these late afternoon walks in costume, and the emphasis here is on the eerie. Think horrific accidental deaths, murder, and folks who claimed to be clairvoyants and mediums.  I guess I shouldn't be surprised at having local mediums, since Janesville is fairly close to Whitewater, which was at one time headquarters of the Morris Pratt Institute, a school for spiritualists. Last year the tours were very popular and more folks wanted to attend than I could accommodate.

This year I will again be leading tours, this time six of them, and I hope there is enough interest to make the extra walks worthwhile.  There is a minimal charge of $5 that goes to support the RCHS, and tickets can be ordered here.

The tours are Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday the first two weeks of October. Each tour starts at the chapel, and lasts just under an hour, from five o'clock in the afternoon until six.  People who attend should dress for the weather, which can be a little chilly in October, and wear sensible footwear.  Also, be aware that there are no bathroom facilities at the cemetery.

That said, people last year seemed to enjoy the tour, both the stories and the shadowy atmosphere of Oak Hill at that time of day.  We never saw the Lady in White last year, but this year, who knows?

Headstone Walk

I have been leading informal walks through Oak Hill for several years, and the tour I like to lead at least once each year is the one that shows off interesting headstones.  This tour emphasizes the variety of different sorts of monuments and discusses some of the symbolism included on the stones.  There are several site on the internet that do a good job of describing headstone symbolism, so I won't do that here. This is a good one.

Oak Hill was established in 1851 as a garden style cemetery, with meandering roads, lots of decorative trees and flowering bushes, and lovely old Victorian monuments and headstones.  It does not resemble modern memorial parks with their markers flush to the ground for easy mowing, arranged in neat and tidy rows.

There are two kinds of markers to look for, family monuments, which tend to be large, sort of billboards advertising the final resting place of a family, and then individual headstones.  Often the monument is in the middle of the family plot, and the individual headstones arranged around the central monument. Sometime the headstones only have initials, or a general indication of the person, like "Mother" or "Papa."  Sometimes there is a raised curb around the entire plot - something the parks department mowers do not especially like today.

Here is a walk you can try on your own.  There are lots more interesting stones to see besides these, but if you want to walk this route you will get a nice sampling, and it shouldn't take more than an hour.  To begin, get a map from the office, or download the one from one of my earlier posts. It seriously helps to have a map of the blocks.  Then dress sensibly for the weather and uneven terrain. Watch where you step because the ground can be uneven and I promise you, there are woodchuck holes.

1. Ithamar Conkey Sloan vault - part way up the hall near the chapel.  This is the family vault of a politician from Abraham Lincoln's cabinet.  It was faced with marble originally, with all the names engraved.  That has fallen away.

2. Dearborn family (block 16) A life-sized tree with twining ivy, cross. The Culvers also have a tree monument in block 83.

3. Morris Carter Smith (block 17) The monument of a child, it is a broken column with a wreath.

4. John Griffiths (block 12) An obelisk with a crown and hand pointing toward heaven.

5. Gerald "Dad" Braisher (block 23) - Helmet, the Packer "G" logo, which Braiser designed.

6. Odd Fellows area - near Gerald Braisher - Obelisk with Odd Fellows symbol of interlocking rings.

7. Jennie Coryell Weiglef (block 28) - Tablet with floral wreath

8. Alice Crosby (block 30) - Tall column topped with the statue of a woman pointing to heaven, scroll, anchor, doves.

9. Sergeant Henry Whittier (block 96) Eagle and shield, Hands and Bibles, Doves on an obelisk

10. Julia Fuller (block 97) Draped Box

11 Josie Kimball Conant (block 97) Rusticated monument with rocks, ivy, lilies, and an area designed to be a small garden.

12. John and Esther McMartin (block 112) Hand reaching down, broken chain, weeping willow

13. Kerr family - Bible, rose, hand pointing to heaven, Masonic symbol of square and compass

14. G.A.R section - Standardized government stone for Union soldiers from the Civil War, the corner markers of the section are cannon muzzles and balls.

15. Gaylord Griswold (block 94) Draped urn on a column

16. Eliza Ellis (block 80) Clasped hands and floral wreath on a tablet

17. Alden children (block 81) Small obelisk with floral wreath

18. Capt. William Macloon (block 94) Obelisk with three-masted ship with furled sails

19. Emma Matilda DeBaun (block91) Scroll, book, lamb

20. Captain George Bentley (block 91) Sword and shield, Union cap

21. Thomas Jefferson Nichols (block 91) Railroad car

22. Charles Brown (block 91) Father Time and the weeping virgin (Masonic imagery) on upright tablet with urn

23. Diademia and Frances Childs (block 69) Rusticated monument with stones, tree, ivy, roses, knotted rope

24. James and Melvina Biddles (block 69) Truncated obelisk with draped pall, clasped hands

25. Stephen Spaulding (block 75) Shock of wheat

Sad Sight

One of the things I can't help noticing while walking around Oak Hill is the sad sight of broken headstones and toppled monuments. I'm not even going to mention those stones and monuments that are so weathered or covered with moss and lichens that they have become unreadable.

People on my tours often assume that broken and toppled stones are the result of vandalism or damage by mowers, and while malicious or careless damage does occasionally happen, most of the causes are natural.  Here in Wisconsin, with annual freezing and thawing cycles, headstones shift a bit every year.  Blame part of the problem on winter.  Then there are those shady mature oak, hickory, maple trees whose roots interfere with headstones, sometimes whose trunks actually encase small stones.  Not so long ago I saw a monument toppled after a summer storm broke a large tree limb free, and it fell on one of those old vertical stones.  Some of the stones are not set on secure bases, so they gradually shift. In the oldest parts of the cemetery, where  burials did not involve a cement vault, the wooden coffins deteriorate, the ground sinks, and the stones move.  This is especially true at Oak Hill, where many burials are set into the side of the hill. Then there are burrowing critters, mostly woodchucks, but also skunks and foxes, who destabilize the ground.

The cemetery, which is now run by the City of Janesville Parks department, is not responsible for repairing or resetting old stones, which are the property of the grave site owners.  Unfortunately, often there are no living family members to assume responsibility for the fallen or broken headstones.  Technically plot owners are also responsible to keep old stones from being dangerous.  A quick Google search will illustrate accidents where both adults and children were killed by falling monuments.  One wonders about liability in such cases. Some of the old tall stones at Oak Hill lean perilously, and I wouldn't want to stand under them too long for fear of staying permanently.

 I think the caretaker occasionally works with local monument seller/installers to right historic stones, and I have spoken to people who have hired the work done, though it is not inexpensive. I don't know what the solution is to this problem.  Perhaps there could be a friends group who adopts a block and helps to do or finance expert repairs, or perhaps there are grants for such things. 

 But it is sad.