Mount Olivet Cemetery is a

cemetery A cemetery, burial ground, gravesite or graveyard is a place where the remains of dead people are buried or otherwise interred. The word ''cemetery'' (from Greek , "sleeping place") implies that the land is specifically designated as a buri ...

Frederick, Maryland Frederick is a city in and the county seat of Frederick County, Maryland. It is part of the Baltimore–Washington Metropolitan Area. Frederick has long been an important crossroads, located at the intersection of a major north–south Native ...

. The cemetery is located at 515 South Market Street and is operated by the Mount Olivet Cemetery Company, Inc.

History

On October 4, 1852, a group of Maryland citizens, including then-lawyer Charles Edward Trail, founded the Mount Olivet Cemetery Company. The company purchased 32 acres of land, which was designed by James Belden to incorporate walkways and driveways throughout the grounds. The cemetery was conceived primarily to provide several of the downtown Frederick churches more room for interments, after their cemeteries became full. Over time some of these smaller cemeteries were also relocated to Mount Olivet. One of the landmarks of Frederick, the episcopal graveyard, a family burying ground of some of the most famous personages of Maryland, was yesterday sold to G. L. Hughes. The plot where until about two years ago the first Governor of Maryland, Governor Thomas Johnson, rested, will soon be utilized for commercial purposes. All bodies were moved from the graveyard nearly two years ago to Mt. Olivet Cemetery.<"FNP 11/23/1915" /> Initial shares were sold for US$20 with the intention that after the cemetery was laid out that each share would be exchanged for 12 grave lots. The cemetery was formally established (chartered) in 1854. Mrs. Ann Crawford was the first interment at the cemetery; she was buried on May 28, 1854.

Notable monuments and markers

Mount Olivet Cemetery has had many monuments constructed on the grounds since its establishment. These monuments honor significant historical people, events and the men and women who fought in many of the military conflicts the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

has been involved in.

Monument to the Unknown Confederate Soldiers

On August 7, 1879, a meeting was held to organize a group called the Ladies Monumental Association of Frederick County, whose purpose it was to raise the funds needed to erect a monument to the 408 ‘unknown’ deceased Confederate soldiers interred at Mount Olivet Cemetery. The monument was unveiled on June 2, 1881, to honor the soldiers of the Confederate army who fell in battles of the

Civil War A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...

and who are buried at Mount Olivet Cemetery. The monument was 15 feet tall. The statue of the Confederate soldier was created in Italy of Carrara marble and stood upon a base made of granite. The inscriptions read as follows: The statue was toppled, beheaded and splattered in red paint in June 2020. At the time caretakers said it was unlikely they'd be able to repair it. A week earlier, the cemetery had removed the Confederate flag that flew next to it.

United States Civil War Children’s Memorial

Children played a large role in the civil war as soldiers, drummers, scouts and nurses among other things. It has been estimated that 5% of the soldiers who fought in the

were under the age of 18. This marker, erected in 1881, is "dedicated to the memory of the children who served and died in the civil war 1861-1865".

Francis Scott Key Memorial Monument

The

Francis Scott Key Francis Scott Key (August 1, 1779January 11, 1843) was an American lawyer, author, and amateur poet from Frederick, Maryland, who wrote the lyrics for the American national anthem "The Star-Spangled Banner". Key observed the British bombardment ...

Memorial Association commissioned the American sculptor Alexander Doyle to create a monument suitable for the author of the

national anthem A national anthem is a patriotic musical composition symbolizing and evoking eulogies of the history and traditions of a country or nation. The majority of national anthems are marches or hymns in style. American, Central Asian, and European n ...

of the United States. On August 9, 1898, Julia McHenry Howard unveiled the monument of her grandfather and author of the "

Star Spangled Banner "The Star-Spangled Banner" is the national anthem of the United States. The lyrics come from the "Defence of Fort M'Henry", a poem written on September 14, 1814, by 35-year-old lawyer and amateur poet Francis Scott Key after witnessing the bo ...

", Francis Scott Key. Key and his wife, Mary Taylor Key, were relocated from the Key family plot, also at Mount Olivet Cemetery, to a crypt located in the foundation of the monument. Key is represented in a 9-foot bronze statue atop a 15-foot pedestal. A statue of Columbia, the goddess of patriotism, is located on the front of the pedestal. Columbia is flanked by an adolescent boy representing war on her left, and a young boy representing music on her right. This representation depicts the moment that inspired the poem "

Defence of Fort McHenry "The Star-Spangled Banner" is the national anthem of the United States. The lyrics come from the "Defence of Fort M'Henry", a poem written on September 14, 1814, by 35-year-old lawyer and amateur poet Francis Scott Key after witnessing the b ...

" which he wrote after witnessing the bombardment of

Fort McHenry Fort McHenry is a historical American coastal pentagonal bastion fort on Locust Point, now a neighborhood of Baltimore, Maryland. It is best known for its role in the War of 1812, when it successfully defended Baltimore Harbor from an attack b ...

by the British Royal Navy ships in

Chesapeake Bay The Chesapeake Bay ( ) is the largest estuary in the United States. The Bay is located in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region and is primarily separated from the Atlantic Ocean by the Delmarva Peninsula (including the parts: the ...

during the

Battle of Fort McHenry The Battle of Baltimore (September 12–15, 1814) was a sea/land battle fought between British invaders and American defenders in the War of 1812. American forces repulsed sea and land invasions off the busy port city of Baltimore, Maryland ...

in the

War of 1812 The War of 1812 (18 June 1812 – 17 February 1815) was fought by the United States of America and its indigenous allies against the United Kingdom and its allies in British North America, with limited participation by Spain in Florida. It bega ...

. The poem would eventually be set to the tune of "

To Anacreon in Heaven "The Anacreontic Song", also known by its incipit "To Anacreon in Heaven", was the official song of the Anacreontic Society, an 18th-century gentlemen's club of amateur musicians in London. Composed by John Stafford Smith, the tune was later used ...

" and become the national anthem of the United States.

Barbara Fritchie Memorial

Erected by the Barbara Fritchie Memorial Association in September 1914, it was unveiled as part of the ceremonies of the Star Spangled Banner Centenary. The monument is a large

granite Granite () is a coarse-grained (phaneritic) intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly cools and solidifies undergro ...

obelisk An obelisk (; from grc, ὀβελίσκος ; diminutive of ''obelos'', " spit, nail, pointed pillar") is a tall, four-sided, narrow tapering monument which ends in a pyramid-like shape or pyramidion at the top. Originally constructed by Anc ...

bearing a tablet containing

John Greenleaf Whittier John Greenleaf Whittier (December 17, 1807 – September 7, 1892) was an American Quaker poet and advocate of the abolition of slavery in the United States. Frequently listed as one of the fireside poets, he was influenced by the Scottish poet ...

's 1863 poem "Barbara Fritchie". Above the tablet is a medallion created by the

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

sculptor Sculpture is the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimensions. Sculpture is the three-dimensional art work which is physically presented in the dimensions of height, width and depth. It is one of the plastic arts. Durable sc ...

James E. Kelly that depicts Fritchies profile, executed from an old time photograph, in front of a waving American flag. Fritchie, the subject of

’s poem, patriotically defied

Stonewall Jackson Thomas Jonathan "Stonewall" Jackson (January 21, 1824 – May 10, 1863) was a Confederate general during the American Civil War, considered one of the best-known Confederate commanders, after Robert E. Lee. He played a prominent role in nearl ...

and his

Confederate Army The Confederate States Army, also called the Confederate Army or the Southern Army, was the military land force of the Confederate States of America (commonly referred to as the Confederacy) during the American Civil War (1861–1865), fighting ...

as they marched past her Frederick home on September 10, 1862. The poem was very popular in the north but she would never know the notoriety she had achieved, because she had died a year earlier at the age of 96.

Other notable monuments

* Frederick County Confederates Tablet – erected 1933, defaced in 2020. * Frederick County World War II Memorial – erected 1947 * Veterans Monument * Fire Fighters Memorial – erected in the memory of the fallen firefighters of Frederick County. * Fire and Rescue Memorial – dedicated to the deceased members of the Frederick County Fire and Rescue services.

Notable interments

George Baer Jr. George Baer Jr. (1763April 3, 1834) was a slave owner and United States Representative from the fourth district of Maryland, serving from 1797 to 1801 and from 1815 to 1817. Baer attended the common schools as a child, and later engaged in me ...

, (1763–1834),

U.S. Congressman The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they ...

for Maryland's 4th District, 1797–1801 and 1815–1817. * Francis Brengle (1807–1846), a member of the

Maryland House of Delegates The Maryland House of Delegates is the lower house of the legislature of the State of Maryland. It consists of 141 delegates elected from 47 districts. The House of Delegates Chamber is in the Maryland State House on State Circle in Annapolis, ...

in 1832, 1834, and 1836, and was elected as a Whig to the Twenty-eighth

United States Congress The United States Congress is the legislature of the federal government of the United States. It is bicameral, composed of a lower body, the House of Representatives, and an upper body, the Senate. It meets in the U.S. Capitol in Washing ...

, serving from March 4, 1843, to March 3, 1845. * James Cooper (1810–1863),

and

Senator A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

from

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

Union Army During the American Civil War, the Union Army, also known as the Federal Army and the Northern Army, referring to the United States Army, was the land force that fought to preserve the Union (American Civil War), Union of the collective U.S. st ...

general. * Robert L. Downing (1857–1944), American Shakespearean stage actor and later preacher *

Barbara Fritchie Barbara Fritchie (née Hauer; December 3, 1766 – December 18, 1862), also known as Barbara Frietchie, and sometimes spelled Frietschie, was a Unionist during the Civil War. She became part of American folklore in part from a popular poem ...

(1766–1862), American patriot during the

and the subject of

's 1864 poem, ''Barbara Frietchie''. *

Samuel Hinks Samuel Hinks (May 1, 1815 – November 30, 1887) was Mayor of Baltimore, Maryland, from 1854 to 1856. He was a member of the Know Nothing party. He was succeeded in 1856 by fellow Know Nothing Thomas Swann. Early life Samuel Hinks was born in ...

(1815–1887), Mayor of Baltimore * Thomas Johnson (1732–1819), the first

Governor of Maryland The Governor of the State of Maryland is the head of government of Maryland, and is the commander-in-chief of the state's National Guard units. The Governor is the highest-ranking official in the state and has a broad range of appointive powers ...

, a delegate to the

Continental Congress The Continental Congress was a series of legislative bodies, with some executive function, for thirteen of Britain's colonies in North America, and the newly declared United States just before, during, and after the American Revolutionary War. ...

and an

Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States An associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States is any member of the Supreme Court of the United States other than the chief justice of the United States. The number of associate justices is eight, as set by the Judiciary Act of 18 ...

. *

(1779–1843), author of "

The Star-Spangled Banner "The Star-Spangled Banner" is the national anthem of the United States. The lyrics come from the "Defence of Fort M'Henry", a poem written on September 14, 1814, by 35-year-old lawyer and amateur poet Francis Scott Key after witnessing the b ...

" the national anthem of the United States. Members of the Key family are interred in the Key family plot in the cemetery. *

John Ross Key John Ross Key (September 19, 1754 – October 11, 1821) was a lawyer, a commissioned officer in the Continental Army, a judge, and the father of writer Francis Scott Key. Early life Key was born in Redland, Frederick County, Maryland, t ...

(1754–1821) commissioned officer in the

Continental Army The Continental Army was the army of the United Colonies (the Thirteen Colonies) in the Revolutionary-era United States. It was formed by the Second Continental Congress after the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War, and was establis ...

, judge, lawyer and the father of

. * Jacob Michael Kunkel (1822–1870), served in the

Maryland State Senate The Maryland Senate, sometimes referred to as the Maryland State Senate, is the upper house of the General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Maryland. Composed of 47 senators elected from an equal number of constituent single- ...

from 1850–1856 and was elected as a

Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (United States) (D) **Democratic ...

to the Thirty-fifth and Thirty-sixth Congresses (1857–1861). * Charles McCurdy "Mac" Mathias Jr. (1922–2010), served in the

US Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage of ...

and became a Captain in the Navy Reserve, was Frederick's city Attorney (1954–1959), member of the

(1959–1960), Represented Maryland's 6th district in the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the Lower house, lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the United States Senate, Senate being ...

(1961–1969) and was a

United States senator The United States Senate is the Upper house, upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the United States House of Representatives, House of Representatives being the Lower house, lower chamber. Together they compose the national Bica ...

(1969–1987). *

Roger Nelson Roger Nelson may refer to: *Roger Nelson (politician) (1759–1815), represented Maryland in the United States House of Representatives *Roger Nelson (skydiver) (1955–2003), founder of Skydive Chicago *Roger Nelson (Canadian football) (1932–199 ...

(1759–1815),was an American politician who represented the fourth district of Maryland in the United States House of Representatives from 1804 to 1810. * John Ritchie (1831–1887),

Brevet

Brigadier General Brigadier general or Brigade general is a military rank used in many countries. It is the lowest ranking general officer in some countries. The rank is usually above a colonel, and below a major general or divisional general. When appointed ...

and United States Congressman (1871–1873). * Milton George Urner (1839–1926), was a United States Congressman from the sixth district of Maryland (1879–1883). * Charlotte Louise Berry Winters (1897–2007), the last surviving female American veteran of the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. *

Thomas Contee Worthington Thomas Contee Worthington (November 25, 1782 – April 12, 1847) was an American politician who served as a United States House of Representatives, U.S. Representative from Maryland. Early life Thomas Contee Worthington was born on Nov ...

(1782–1847), served as a captain in the

and was a

United States representative The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they ...

from Maryland. The nephew of

Benjamin Contee Benjamin Contee (1755 – November 30, 1815) was an American Episcopal priest and statesman from Maryland. He was an officer in the American Revolutionary War, a delegate to the Confederation Congress, and member of the first United States ...

References

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