The History of the U.S. National Cemetery System

President Lincoln

Arlington National Cemetery

The National Cemetery System was developed as a way to provide a respectable and honored burial location for Civil War soldiers killed defending the Union.  In the Act of July 17, 1862, Congress authorized President Abraham Lincoln "to purchase cemetery grounds ... to be used as a national cemetery for soldiers who shall have died in the service of the country."  This was the first U.S. legislation to set in motion the concept of a national cemetery.

Civil War Graves

Burying the Dead

Before the national cemeteries were developed, soldiers were buried where they fell, at military posts, or the body was sent back to the family for a private burial.  A headboard was usually placed at the grave with the soldier’s name and information either painted or written on in chalk.  Since the wooden markers could not withstand the elements, the boards deteriorated rapidly and burial sites were lost.

Gettysburg National Cemetery

Civil War Battlefields

In July of 1862, the Army’s Quartermaster Department was assigned the task of establishing and maintaining the national cemeteries. After the end of the Civil War in 1865, the program began in earnest – to search for, locate, recover, and identify the remains of all Union soldiers, before re-interment in a national cemetery.  By June 1866, over 1 million dollars had been spent re-interring the war dead.  The Quartermaster General estimated that over $2.6 million would be the ''total cost of national cemeteries, and collection, transfer and re-interment of remains of loyal soldiers.'' The average cost of re-interment for each body was $9.75.

National Cemetery Act

The first National Cemetery Act was passed on February 22, 1867.  It provided funding in the amount of $750-thousand for the construction of national cemeteries, including the purchase of land, fencing and head stones.  The act also set some rules into place regarding conduct in a national cemetery stating, “Any person who shall willfully destroy, mutilate, deface, injure, or remove any monument, gravestone . . . or shrub within the limits of any said national cemetery” would be arrested and found guilty of a misdemeanor.

Headstones with Shield Design

U.S. Colored Troops

The headstone design was subject to several years ofdebates.  Many materials were suggested for use, including cast iron.  Final approval and the appropriation of 1-million dollars was given by Congress, in March 1873 for the erection of a marble or granite headstone, measuring 12 inches high by 10 inches wide by 4 inches thick, with a slightly rounded top.  Name, rank or affiliation was placed in a federal shield carved into the stone.  Headstones for the regular Army soldiers were marked as “USA.”  Stones for the U.S. Colored Troops were marked as “USCT.”  Stones for ‘contrabands’ and civilians were not allowed.

Unknown

Marble or granite headstones for those whose remains were unidentified measured 6 inches high by 6 inches wide and 30 inches deep.  They were marked only with a number and/or by the words “Unknown U.S. Soldier.” Forty-two percent of the bodies and remains recovered were never identified.

Gen. Meigs

It took eight years for the interment of nearly almost 300,000 Union remains into designated national cemetery grounds.  Of those, over one hundred thousand were not identifiable. In 1870, General Montgomery Meigs declared the reburial project to be completed with a total of seventy-three national cemeteries created.  However, more would need to be started in the West where fallen soldiers had been abandoned at their frontier posts.

During the 1870’s several amendments were added to the National Cemetery Act of 1867 to allow the burial of Union veterans in national cemeteries.  In 1872, an amendment was passed to allow “all soldiers and sailors honorably discharged from the service of the United States who may die in a destitute condition, shall be allowed burial in the national cemeteries of the United States.”

Mexico's U.S. National Cemetery

Danville, KY National Cemetery

As a result of the amendments, many national cemeteries were located throughout the country – not just at the site of Civil War battles.   National cemeteries were set up in New Mexico, Nevada, California, and Mexico City, Mexico for those slain in the Mexican War.

Fredrick Olmsted

Landscape architect, Fredrick Law Olmsted was called in to offer his opinion on the appearance of the national cemeteries.  Olmsted advised, “The main object should be to establish permanent dignity and tranquility ... sacredness being expressed in the enclosing wall and in the perfect tranquility of the trees within.”   

Oak Hill Cemetery - Evansville, IN

As a result, trees and shrubs were added to the national cemeteries, flowers were planted, and stone, brick or iron fences enclosed the grounds.  Many times cannons and other artillery were added as cemetery monuments.

Tomb of the Unknown

Arlington National Cemetery

In June of 1881, General Meigs issued a recommendation that “Arlington Cemetery, … be declared and constituted by law the official national cemetery of the government, and that its space, not needed for the interment of soldiers, be used for the burial of officers of the United States legislative, judicial, civil, and military, who may die at the seat of government or whose friends may desire their interment in a public national cemetery.”

Confederate Monument

Unknown Confederate Soldier

In 1906, over forty years after the war, legislation passed that allowed the re-interment of Confederate soldiers in national cemeteries.

Cave Hill National Cemetery

There are now 146 national cemeteries located throughout the United States and Puerto Rico which bear the title of National Cemetery.  Many are on or near Civil War battlefields, or troop concentration points such as military hospitals and campsites. 

The original fourteen national cemeteries, created in 1862 are –

Alexandria National Cemetery, Alexandria, Virginia

Annapolis National Cemetery, Annapolis, Maryland

Antietam National Cemetery, Sharpsburg, Maryland

Camp Butler National Cemetery, Springfield, Illinois

Cypress Hills National Cemetery, Brooklyn, New York

Danville National Cemetery, Danville, Kentucky

Fort Leavenworth National Cemetery, Ft. Leavenworth, Kansas

Fort Scott National Cemetery, Fort Scott, Kansas

Keokuk National Cemetery, Keokuk, Iowa

Loudon Park National Cemetery, Baltimore, Maryland

Mill Springs National Cemetery, Nancy, Kentucky

New Albany National Cemetery, New Albany, Indiana

Philadelphia National Cemetery, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Soldier’s Home National Cemetery, Washington, D.C.

Since 1862, more than 3-million burials have occurred in national cemeteries.  The purpose of the National Cemetery System remains the same as it did 151 years ago; to provide a proper burial service, headstone, and interment in hallowed ground for veterans, those on active duty, reservists and National Guard members who have, or continue to, serve and defend our country.

~ Joy

Jack the Ripper - 125 Years Later - A Look Back at the Final Murder

Whitechapel

Lord Mayor's Day

It had been a chilly night in Whitechapel but the day promised to be fair and full of fun. After all, it was November 9^th the day of the annual Lord Mayor’s celebrations. But the day would not bode well for some.

Thomas Bowyer

Window to Kelly's Room

Just before 11 a.m., Thomas Bowyer knocked on the door of 13 Miller’s Court, the flat where Mary Jane Kelly lived. He had been sent to pick up the rent money she was six weeks behind on. When there was no answer, Bowyer peered in a window - and discovered Kelly’s mutilated corpse lying on her bed. She would be the final victim of England’s notorious Jack the Ripper.

Mine Explosion

Limerick, Ireland

Mary Jane Kelly or Marie Jeanette, as she was sometimes called, was born in Limerick, Ireland in the early 1860s of well-to-do people, or so she said. Nothing is really known of her family or upbringing. She married a coal miner named Davies around 1879 but he died in a mine explosion a couple of years later.

Joseph Barnett

Kelly claimed to have lived with family until she began working as a prostitute in the early 1880s. She told of being taken to France to live as a courtesan but said she did not like the country and returned to England. She lived with several men in the East End before moving in with Joseph Barnett in 1887.

Billingsgate Fish Market

Barnett worked at Billingsgate Fish Market for a time, but when he lost his job, Kelly began to turn tricks again. After an argument about another prostitute staying with them, Barnett moved out of the room they shared in Miller’s Court on October 30^th, just ten days before her body would be discovered there.

Mary Jane Kelly

Mary Jane was a quiet woman when she was sober. She could sometimes be heard singing Irish ballads, but when she was drunk she could become quarrelsome, even violent. 

George Hutchinson

On the night of November 8^th, Kelly was seen taking a man into her room around midnight. Then about 2 a.m. local laborer George Hutchinson met her coming down the street. She asked him for a loan of sixpence. He refused, telling her that he was broke. Hutchinson watched as she approached another man, one he described as being of “Jewish appearance.”  He followed them to Kelly’s room and stood watch until almost 3:00 a.m.

Kelly and a Stranger

Three days after Kelly’s murder, Hutchinson provided police with a very detailed description of the man he had seen her with – down to the color of his eyelashes – although it had been a dark winter night.

Abberline

The police were divided on whether Hutchinson could be the Ripper. Inspector Fredrick Abberline questioned him and felt he was telling the truth.

Anderson

Assistant Commissioner Robert Anderson believed that Hutchinson knew too much about what had happened and considered him a suspect. Many believed Hutchinson had made up his story and description just to get attention, and possibly be paid for his story by the press.

Two women living in the house reported hearing a faint cry of “Murder” around 4 a.m., but being that they were in Whitechapel, neither investigated it.

13 Miller's Court

Police finally broke into her room at 1:30 p.m. and discovered the true extent of the mutilations. The abdominal cavity had been emptied, the breasts sliced off, and the face hacked up beyond recognition. Blood was everywhere. The remains of a fire that had melted solder on a pot still smoldered in the fireplace.

Mary Jane Kelly

Mary Jane’s body was taken to a mortuary in Shoreditch where Dr. Thomas Bond and Dr. George Bagster Phillips examined it. The time of death was said to have occurred between 2 a.m. and 8 a.m. Phillips said that the mutilations took about two hours to perform. 

Barnett identified her by recognizing “the ear and the eyes.”

Shoreditch Town Hall

An inquest was held on November 12 at Shoreditch Town Hall and lasted one day. 

Dr. Bond

Phillips stated that she was killed by a slash to the throat and was cut up afterwards. According to Dr. Bond the murder was not committed by someone with any medical skills, “In each case the mutilation was inflicted by a person who had no scientific nor anatomical knowledge. In my opinion he does not even possess the technical knowledge of a butcher or horse slaughterer or a person accustomed to cut up dead animals.”

Mary Jane Kelly was buried on November 19, 1888 at St Patrick’s Roman Catholic Cemetery in public grave number 66, row 66, plot 10. Joseph Barnett and her landlord John McCarthy attended the funeral. In the 1950s, Mary Jane Kelly’s grave was reclaimed. A plain marker was put in the vicinity of the grave in the 1990s.

Suspects

This ended the murder spree of Jack the Ripper. It has been 125 years since that terrible autumn of 1888. Although many suspects have been identified,  no one has ever been undeniably determined to be Jack the Ripper, Britain’s most notorious serial killer.

~ Joy

Haunted Towns in the Midwest - Evansville, Indiana

Haunted Evansville, Indiana and the Willard Library

Once again, the month of October has come and gone…. a time for hauntings, Halloween - and all things spooky.  Yes, I know, October was officially over yesterday, but I couldn’t close our look at haunted locations in the Midwest, without an overnight visit to Willard Library. And, maybe, just maybe, catch a glimpse of the Grey Lady…

Willard Library By Moonlight

   

On a cool October night, with a full moon looming above the Gothic library, I met with the Willard Library Ghost Chatters group (WLGC) for their annual paranormal investigation of "their" library.

WLGC Investigate

WLGC https://www.facebook.com/groups/119934544279/

has been meeting here every year in October since 2000 when founder Maer Mack suggested that a few chat room friends interested in paranormal and the Grey Lady (the resident spirit of the library) meet at Willard Library once a year to investigate. One thing has led to another over the years and now the group comes from all over the country, and Canada, prepared to search for ghosts, while getting caught up with each other during their weekend reunion in Evansville.

In the Stacks

EVP Session in the Children's Room

Everyone has a story to tell - of orbs bouncing between the book stacks; books sailing off of shelves and even striking people; water turning on and off at the janitor’s sink; shadows passing up the stairs; cold spots moving through the rooms… EVPs (electronic voice phenomenon) are prevalent in the library: a little boy’s voice, a woman’s, and sometime a man's can be heard.

Paranormal Investigator Tim Harte

How many spirits abide at Willard? Hard to say – WLGC estimate that there are at least eight entities here. Tim Harte with Mesa Project http://www.mesaproject.com has been researching the paranormal for decades. Each year he brings his equipment to the library and sets up in a room, measuring a variety of energies that are associated with paranormal phenomena.

Ghostly Activity

Tim Updates the WLGC's

Harte’s equipment collects data on visible, incident infrared, and ultraviolet light intensities: “natural and artificially generated electromagnetic fields, gamma ray radiation, galvanic skin response of a human subject, infrasound, and vibration." On this night, he picks up some activity in the Bayard Room, a known “haunt” of the Grey Lady’s.

 

Willard Carpenter

Willard Library

It all began when Willard Carpenter, a well-known businessman in the Evansville community, decided to build a library that would be “for the use of people of all classes and sexes, free of charge, forever.” Willard Library opened in 1885, housed in a 3-story Victorian Gothic style building. It is the oldest public library in Indiana.

Dark Shadow (Circled)

The first report of the library being haunted occurred in the winter of 1937. The library janitor was stoking the basement furnace in the early morning hours when he came face-to-face with a woman dressed in grey. When he asked what she wanted, she simply faded away. That was the last time the janitor was in the building; he quit the next morning.

Louise Carpenter

Investigating the Children's Room

The Grey Lady has been rumored to be Louise Carpenter, Willard’s daughter. Unhappy with her inheritance, she is said to haunt the library, which received the bulk of her father’s money. But many say that just doesn’t feel right. They believe the Grey Lady may be the spirit of a former librarian. Especially since the spirit seems to like being in the children’s section in the basement.

Grey Lady on Stairs

Bayard Room

The Grey Lady is known to move furniture around, push books off shelves, or move them forward to the edge of the shelves. Footsteps can be heard when no one else is on the floor in question, and the scent of lilac or lavender perfume is sometimes noticed. She has been seen on the main staircase and has been felt as a cold spot. She also likes to touch female patrons hair or earrings – and this I can vouch for; it’s happened to me in the Bayard Room.

Moonlight Through a Window

City police take it in stride when motion sensors set off the alarm system at the library at night. Once a policeman, stationed outside during an alarm, saw a woman standing in the window of the Bayard Room. When he asked if they had apprehended her, he was told that the police could find no one in the room, or

the building…

Basement Hallway

Janitor's Sink

Sightings have continued to this day, and not just of

the Grey Lady. There is also a young boy, known as “Billy” who plays tricks on staff and patrons. Could he be the spirit that turns on faucets at a janitor's sink on the first floor, knocks or throws books off shelves, and operates the elevator for unseen patrons? There is also a male apparition called “Frank” that is

sometimes seen in the basement. And, there are also others...unnamed.

Library Director Greg Hager

Willard Library has been featured on paranormal programs broadcast on the Discover Channel, the Sci-Fi channel, CNN, and the Travel Channel, just to name a few. According to Library Director, Greg Hager, there is currently a waiting list for paranormal groups who would like to do an overnight investigation here; the next available night will be in October 2031! But the door is always open to the WLGC - the group that started the search.

Louise is Ready for Halloween

As for those just wanting to learn more about the paranormal activity here, the library offers free Grey Lady tours on select evenings in October, but reservations are strongly recommended.

The Witching Hour at the Library

Although it’s too late to catch an evening tour this year, check with the library about free tours held year-round during the daylight hours. And if you’re still wanting to see what happens in the library at the witching hour, check out the Library Ghost Cams at Library Ghost http://www.libraryghost.com and Willard Library Ghost Cams http://www.willardghost.com/

Down the Staircase

Reading Room

Willard Library is like a step back in time, full of beautiful wooden trim, long library tables with individual reading lamps, and a helpful staff that won’t look askance when you ask, “Who was that woman who just touched my hair?” 

The Grey Lady...

“Why the Grey Lady, of course,” will most likely be the reply.

~ Joy