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.