Forest Hill Cemetery is located in

Madison, Wisconsin Madison is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Wisconsin. It is the List of municipalities in Wisconsin by population, second-most populous city in the state, with a population of 269,840 at the 2020 Uni ...

, and was one of the first U.S. National Cemeteries established in Wisconsin.

Founding of cemetery

After the first permanent European-American settlers arrived in Madison in the 1830s, the first non-native burials occurred on the current

University of Wisconsin–Madison The University of Wisconsin–Madison (University of Wisconsin, Wisconsin, UW, UW–Madison, or simply Madison) is a public land-grant research university in Madison, Wisconsin, United States. It was founded in 1848 when Wisconsin achieved st ...

campus, near

Bascom Hill Bascom Hill is the iconic main Quadrangle (architecture), quadrangle that forms the historic core of the University of Wisconsin–Madison campus. It is located on the opposite end of State Street from the Wisconsin State Capitol, and is named a ...

. In the following years other areas within the area were established as informal burying grounds and the first official village cemetery was established in 1847 near what is now Orton Park. In the mid-1850s, a committee was formed to search for another appropriate site in the area to form an official Madison cemetery. The committee members chose the current site, then on the far west side of the city and subsequently bought the original of land for $10,000 from John and Mary Wright. The Wrights had obtained the land from land speculator

James Duane Doty James Duane Doty (November 5, 1799 – June 13, 1865) was an American land speculator, politician, and pioneer. He served as the 2nd Governor of Wisconsin, governor (1841–1844) of the Wisconsin Territory and 5th Governor of Utah, governor ...

, who had obtained it from Alanson Sweet, a territorial council member from

Milwaukee Milwaukee is the List of cities in Wisconsin, most populous city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. Located on the western shore of Lake Michigan, it is the List of United States cities by population, 31st-most populous city in the United States ...

. In 1863 the city sold a portion of land from the original purchase to the Roman Catholic Societies for $170. They in turn developed that property into a Catholic cemetery, now known as Resurrection Cemetery. In the 1860s a receiving vault was built on site. During and following the Civil War, the Soldiers Lot and Confederate Lot were created and in 1865 a well was dug near the plot of Governor Harvey and a windmill was erected over it. In 1878 a chapel was built following a contribution by the family of John Catlin.

Expansion

In 1928, another were purchased, 60 of which are part of the Glenway Golf Course directly behind the present cemetery.

Effigy mounds

The cemetery protects seven precontact

effigy mounds An effigy mound is a raised pile of earth built in the shape of a stylized animal, symbol, religious figure, human, or other figure. The Effigy Moundbuilder culture is primarily associated with the years 550–1200 CE during the Late Woodland Pe ...

, dating from 700 to 1200 CE. The earthworks are shaped like a goose flying down a slope toward Lake Wingra, two panthers, and a linear shape. Three more linear mounds have been destroyed by cemetery development and the goose's head was destroyed by grading for the railroad. The mound group is listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

in 1974.

Confederate Rest

A section of the cemetery is known as Confederate Rest. On it lie about 140 Confederate prisoners of war who died while in confinement in a Union camp in Madison, Camp Randall, in 1862. A stone marker or cenotaph lists the names of 132 of the prisoners who died in custody. In October 2018, the Madison City Council voted 16 to 2 to remove the marker with the list of buried prisoners, overturning the Landmarks Commission, which had denied a permit to remove the marker, which was built in 1906. The eradication of the cenotaph was seen by some in city government as a "reparation," and was supported by the Equal Opportunities Commission of the city government. The removal of the cenotaph was opposed by the Dane County Historical Society. The editorial board of the

Wisconsin State Journal The ''Wisconsin State Journal'' is a daily newspaper published in Madison, Wisconsin by Lee Enterprises. The newspaper, the second largest in Wisconsin, is primarily distributed in a 19 county region in south-central Wisconsin. As of Septembe ...

, noting Confederate Rest is the northernmost Confederate graveyard in the nation, also opposed the removal.

Notable interments

* Henry Cullen Adams (1850–1906), member of the

U.S. House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Article One of th ...

* David Atwood (1815–1889), member of the U.S. House of Representatives * Theodore W. Brazeau (1873–1965), member of the

Wisconsin State Senate The Wisconsin Senate is the upper house of the Wisconsin State Legislature. Together with the Wisconsin State Assembly they constitute the legislative branch of the state of Wisconsin. The powers of the Wisconsin Senate are modeled after those o ...

and lawyer *

Storm Bull Storm Bull (October 13, 1913 – July 22, 2007) was an American musician, composer and educator. He was Professor Emeritus at the College of Music, University of Colorado at Boulder and Head of the Division of Piano. Background Storm Bull, the ...

(1856–1907), 33rd mayor of Madison, University of Wisconsin professor * Romanzo Bunn (1829–1909),

United States district judge The United States district courts are the trial courts of the U.S. federal judiciary. There is one district court for each federal judicial district. Each district covers one U.S. state or a portion of a state. There is at least one feder ...

for the Western District of Wisconsin * John B. Cassoday (1830–1907), 9th Chief Justice of the

Wisconsin Supreme Court The Wisconsin Supreme Court is the Supreme court, highest and final court of appeals in the state judicial system of the U.S. state of Wisconsin. In addition to hearing appeals of lower Wisconsin court decisions, the Wisconsin Supreme Court also ...

, 27th Speaker of the

Wisconsin State Assembly The Wisconsin State Assembly is the lower house of the Wisconsin Legislature. Together with the smaller Wisconsin Senate, the two constitute the legislative branch of the U.S. state of Wisconsin. The Assembly is controlled by the Republican ...

* Orsamus Cole (1819–1903), 6th Chief Justice of the Wisconsin Supreme Court * Charles H. Crownhart (1863–1930), justice of the Wisconsin Supreme Court * Roland B. Day (1919–2008), 24th Chief Justice of the Wisconsin Supreme Court * Luther S. Dixon (1825–1891), 4th Chief Justice of the Wisconsin Supreme Court * Lyman C. Draper (1815–1891), 5th Wisconsin Superintendent of Public Instruction, secretary of the

Wisconsin Historical Society The Wisconsin Historical Society (officially the State Historical Society of Wisconsin) is simultaneously a state agency and a private membership organization whose purpose is to maintain, promote and spread knowledge relating to the history of ...

* Ben C. Eastman (1812–1856), member of the U.S. House of Representatives * Cassius Fairchild (1829–1868), Union Army officer, wounded at Shiloh, member of the Wisconsin State Assembly * Jairus C. Fairchild (1801–1862), first State Treasurer of Wisconsin, first Mayor of Madison * Lucius Fairchild (1831–1896), 10th

Governor of Wisconsin The governor of Wisconsin is the head of government of Wisconsin and the commander-in-chief of the state's Wisconsin Army National Guard, army and Wisconsin Air National Guard, air forces. The governor has a duty to enforce state laws, and the ...

, U.S. Minister to Spain, Union Army officer, wounded at Gettysburg * Frank L. Gilbert (1864–1930), 19th Attorney General of Wisconsin * Charles R. Gill (1830–1883), 9th Attorney General of Wisconsin, Union Army officer *

Harry Harlow Harry Frederick Harlow (October 31, 1905 – December 6, 1981) was an American psychologist best known for his maternal-separation, dependency needs, and social isolation experiments on rhesus monkeys, which manifested the importance of caregivi ...

(1905–1981), psychologist * Louis P. Harvey (1820–1862), 7th Governor of Wisconsin, died in office * Nils P. Haugen (1849–1931), U.S. Representative from Wisconsin * Nathan Heffernan (1920–2007), 23rd Chief Justice of the Wisconsin Supreme Court * Benjamin F. Hopkins (1829–1870), member of the U.S. House of Representatives, died in office * James C. Hopkins (1819–1877),

for the Western District of Wisconsin *

John Wayles Jefferson John Wayles Jefferson (born John Wayles Hemings; May 8, 1835June 12, 1892), was an American businessman and Union Army officer in the American Civil War. He is believed to be a grandson of Thomas Jefferson; his paternal grandmother is Sarah (Sa ...

(1835–1892), Union Army officer, grandson of

Sally Hemings Sarah "Sally" Hemings ( 1773 – 1835) was a Black people, black woman Slavery in the United States, enslaved to the third President of the United States Thomas Jefferson, inherited among many others from his father-in-law, John Wayles. Hemi ...

and ( likely)

Thomas Jefferson Thomas Jefferson (, 1743July 4, 1826) was an American Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father and the third president of the United States from 1801 to 1809. He was the primary author of the United States Declaration of Indepe ...

* Eston Hemings Jefferson (1808–1856), Son of

and

* Burr W. Jones (1846–1935), Justice of the Wisconsin Supreme Court, member of the U.S. House of Representatives * Belle Case La Follette (1859–1931), activist for

Women's suffrage Women's suffrage is the women's rights, right of women to Suffrage, vote in elections. Several instances occurred in recent centuries where women were selectively given, then stripped of, the right to vote. In Sweden, conditional women's suffra ...

, peace, and civil rights. Wife of Governor Robert M. La Follette, Sr. *

Philip La Follette Philip Fox La Follette (May 8, 1897August 18, 1965) was an American politician who served during the 1930s as the 27th and 29th governor of Wisconsin. La Follette first served as a Republican from 1931 until 1933, where he lost renomination in ...

(1897–1965), 27th and 29th Governor of Wisconsin, co-founder of the Wisconsin Progressive Party * Robert M. La Follette Jr. (1895–1953)

United States Senator The United States Senate consists of 100 members, two from each of the 50 U.S. state, states. This list includes all senators serving in the 119th United States Congress. Party affiliation Independent Senators Angus King of Maine and Berni ...

, co-founder of the Wisconsin Progressive Party * Robert M. La Follette Sr. (1855–1925) 20th Governor of Wisconsin, United States Senator, founder of the Progressive Party, candidate for

President of the United States The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president directs the Federal government of the United States#Executive branch, executive branch of the Federal government of t ...

1924 Events January * January 12 – Gopinath Saha shoots Ernest Day, whom he has mistaken for Sir Charles Tegart, the police commissioner of Calcutta, and is arrested soon after. * January 20–January 30, 30 – Kuomintang in Ch ...

* Alexander S. McDill (1822–1875), physician and U.S. congressman * John M. Nelson (1870–1955), U.S. Representative from Wisconsin * Phyllis Ntantala-Jordan (1920–2016), South African anti-

apartheid Apartheid ( , especially South African English: , ; , ) was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. It was characterised by an ...

activist and author *

Byron Paine Byron Paine (October 10, 1827January 13, 1871) was an American lawyer, judge, and Wisconsin pioneer. He was a justice of the Wisconsin Supreme Court from 1867 until his death in 1871, and also served on the court from 1859 to 1864, interrupting ...

(1827–1871), Justice of the Wisconsin Supreme Court, as a lawyer he successfully argued the 1866 case of ''Gillespie v. Palmer'' which established

voting rights Suffrage, political franchise, or simply franchise is the right to vote in representative democracy, public, political elections and referendums (although the term is sometimes used for any right to vote). In some languages, and occasionally in ...

in Wisconsin for African Americans * Silas U. Pinney (1833–1899), mayor of Madison, 1874–76, justice of the Wisconsin Supreme Court, 1892–98 * Frederic E. Risser (1900–1971) Wisconsin state senator * Alden Sprague Sanborn (1820–1885), 7th mayor of Madison * Arthur Loomis Sanborn (1850–1920), United States District Judge for the Western District of Wisconsin * Harry Sauthoff (1879–1966), lawyer, Wisconsin state senator, and U.S. Representative from Wisconsin * Albert G. Schmedeman (1864–1946), 28th governor of Wisconsin, 41st mayor of Madison, U.S. minister to Norway * Robert G. Siebecker (1854–1922), 11th Chief Justice of the Wisconsin Supreme Court, died in office * George Baldwin Smith (1823–1879), 4th Attorney General of Wisconsin, 3rd and 16th Mayor of Madison *

John Coit Spooner John Coit Spooner (January 6, 1843June 11, 1919) was an American lawyer and Republican politician from Hudson, Wisconsin. He represented Wisconsin as a United States Senator from 1885 to 1891, then again from 1897 to 1907. In his latter stint ...

(1843–1919), Wisconsin state assemblyman and U.S. Senator from Wisconsin * William Robert Taylor (1820–1909), 12th Governor of Wisconsin * William Freeman Vilas (1840–1908), U.S. Senator, U.S. Secretary of the Interior and Postmaster General * Aad J. Vinje (1857–1929), 12th Chief Justice of the Wisconsin Supreme Court, died in office * Ernest Warner (1868–1930), Wisconsin legislator, namesake of Madison's Warner Park * Thomas T. Whittlesey (1798–1868), U.S. Representative from Connecticut * Emmert L. Wingert (1899–1971), Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice

Notes

References

External links

* *
Forest Hill Cemetery: A Guide
– An introduction to various aspects of the cemetery, including its history and ecology; the symbols used on gravestones and the geology of those stones; the religious traditions and rituals represented; the effigy mounds constructed on the site long before it became a modern cemetery; and the geography and business of death. * {{Coord, 43.0633773, -89.4320049, type:landmark_region:US-WI_source:GNIS, display=title Cemeteries in Wisconsin Geography of Madison, Wisconsin Historic American Landscapes Survey in Wisconsin Tourist attractions in Madison, Wisconsin Protected areas of Dane County, Wisconsin *