1835

On June 12, 1823, the Third General Assembly, meeting in the newly formed city of Vandalia, conveyed one and one-half acres of land to the city of Vandalia, with the proviso that the land be used as a burial ground. This is the location of that original cemetery property. One-half acre was reserved for members of the legislature who might die while serving at the capital. During this time period, weather conditions could prevent the transfer of a body home for burial. The body could easily decompose in the withering summer heat - or suffer further indignities from the crude forms of transportation currently available. The most humane and practical solution, then, was to bury the body as quickly as possible on nearby land. In point of fact, churches and cemeteries were some of the first landmarks to appear in the recently settled villages and towns on the Illinois prairie. Life and death existed side by side in this oftentimes harsh and demanding environment.

Four legislators and one Federal judge were buried at this cemetery in Vandalia. Abraham Lincoln attended funerals for two of his fellow legislators who died while serving here. Abraham Lincoln, like most of his peers and neighbors, was certainly no stranger to death. At any [sic - an] early age, Lincoln's mother died, and as a young man he experienced the death of his sister and his sweetheart, Ann Rutledge. After his marriage to Mary Todd, he suffered the loss of two sons, Edward in 1850, and William in 1862. During the 1850's and 1860's, sprawling, park-like cemeteries were built throughout the country, particularly in the northeast. Lincoln gave one of his most famous speeches at one of these new cemeteries in Pennsylvania - the Gettysburg Address.

On January 10, 1836 Abraham Lincoln attended the funeral of Representative Benjamin A. Clark from Wayne County. On January 11, 1836 all members of the House voted to donate their day's pay to Clark's wife and children. The state officials' tombstone in South Hill Cemetery in Vandalia, shown above, memorializes the four state officials who died here other than Benjamin Clark. Their remains were moved to that cemetery in 1871.

On February 3, 1835, Major William McHenry, from White County passed away. A memorial service was conducted in the House Chambers for Representative McHenry. Representative Webb of White County delivered the eulogy. The eulogy read in part: "Sir, he was among the most prominent of those bold and enterprising pioneers?.who first disputed the mastery over these fair plains?.with the ferocious beast of prey, and still more ferocious savage." Lincoln attended this funeral, among many others. This obituary ran in the February 5, 1835 issue of the Illinois Advocate and State Register that was published in Vandalia.

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Show me all markers in:  Vandalia, IL  |  Fayette County  |  62471  |  Illinois  |  United States of America

William C. Greenup
Ferdinand Ernst
Robert Blackwell
George Leidig
James W. Berry
Elijah Conway Berry
Charles Prentice
Mary Hall and son James
Frederick Remann
Government Officials Buried in the Old State Cemetery

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