Cemeteries Worth the Visit – Oak Hill Cemetery, Evansville, Indiana

Map of Evansville

Oak View Cemetery

Oak Hill Cemetery located in Evansville, Indiana began in 1853. Located along the curve of the Ohio River, this hilly, rural-style cemetery is made up of 175 acres. Although now located in a thriving section of the city, Oak Hill has retained its quiet, Victorian charm.

Map of Oak View in 1800's

Ellen Johnson

The land for the cemetery was originally purchased in 1852 and the first to be buried here was 2-year-old Ellen Johnson on February 18^th, 1853.  A local paper of the times described the land selection as “a “hillock, a wilderness of underbrush and briars, and called at that with a mantle of loess, underlain by sandstone.”

Mission Revival Gate

The cemetery entrance is located on Virginia Street and the drive up to the Mission Revival gate and brick-walled fence is 365 feet long.  Architects William Harris and Clifford Shopbell designed the entrance gate in 1901.

Craftsman Administration Building

Harris and Shopbell also designed the Craftsman style Administration Building in 1899.  It contained an office, waiting room and chapel. The building was remodeled in 1917.  It still contains the central bell tower and massive fireplace, with a 3-sided porch surrounding it.

Oak View Cemetery

Ginkgo Tree

The cemetery grounds are made up of numerous hills.  Most of the landscaping was done between 1853 and 1932 and has grown into a place of beauty and seasonal color.  The cemetery is a treasure-trove of trees, many native to the state of Indiana.   While pine, maple, willow, and oak abound; it was interesting to see several magnolias, and one of the largest ginkgo trees in the U.S. is located here.

Cemetery Lake

A large man-made lake is on the grounds, surrounded by mausoleums crafted from marble, limestone and granite.  Local architects designed many of the mausoleums and their intricately laced doors.  A stone pedestrian walking bridge crosses to a small island where the Mead family (of Mead-Johnson fame) is buried.

Annie F Johnson

 Also buried here is Annie Fellows Johnson, author of the over a dozen of the children’s Little Colonel book series. Born May 15, 1863 in Evansville, Johnson wrote for years about her Little Colonel, a “precocious young girl growing up in aristocratic Kentucky prone to bullying and temper tantrums.”  Over a million of the books were sold at the turn of the century.  The series of Little Colonel books inspired a movie by the same name, starring Shirley Temple and Lionel Barrymore.

Harrison Marker

Records also indicate the King and Queen of a tribe of Romany Gypsies are buried here.  Elizabeth Harrison, Queen of the Gypsies, died in November 1895, in either, Massachusetts, Mississippi, or Ohio.  Her body was shipped to Oak Hill Cemetery and held in the receiving vault until members of her camp could meet to attend her funeral. Services were finally held on April 1, 1896.  Over 6,000 people were on hand for the graveside services, fifty of them Gypsies.  It was the largest funeral ever held at the cemetery.

Gypsies Camp

On Christmas Eve, 1900, Harrison’s husband, Isaac was buried beside her.  Isaac Harrison, King of the Gypsies, had been killed by a bullet on December 1^st, in Alabama, in a fight between his sons.

Civil War Burial Ground

Oak Hill has a Civil War military cemetery section that includes over 500 Union soldiers and 24 Confederates.  Surrounded by heavy chains, with two Civil War cannons, it is a moving tribute to those fallen men.

Confederate Monument

A Confederate Solider stands at the intersection of two lanes, one that leads to the military section.  The statue was erected at the turn of the twentieth century by the Fitzhugh Lee Chapter of the Daughters of the Confederacy in remembrance of the 24 Confederate soldiers buried on Yankee soil.

Union Monument

A Union Soldier also stands in Oak View Cemetery as a reminder of the hundreds of local men and boys who died during the Civil War.

Governor Conrad Baker

Other notables interred here include over a half a dozen U.S. congressmen, along with several Civil War officers and Indiana’s 5^th Governor, Conrad Baker.

Autumn in the Cemetery

Assistance on genealogy research is available by contacting Cemetery Superintendent Chris Cooke at ccooke@evansvillegov.org or by calling (812) 435-6045.  For a list of many of those buried here, visit the Vanderburgh County, Indiana InGen Web Project http://www.ingenweb.org/invanderburgh/cemeteries/oakhillcem.htm

Ad Building in1910

Tree Stones

Oak Hill Cemetery is located at 1400 E. Virginia Street in 
Evansville, Indiana. Regular office hours are from 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday. 
Saturday the office is open from 9:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m.   At this time the cemetery has no web or Facebook presence.

Contemplation

Oak Hill continues to fulfill its purpose of being a place of relaxation and contemplation.  As first stated in the 1800’s, and still true today, Oak Hill is there for those who “become wearied with the sight of human faces, when the noise and bustle of the city grate harshly on the ear, when we feel an inward yearning for some quiet spot where we may rest in seclusion, undisturbed and alone.”

~ Joy

Public Enemy Number One – John Dillinger

John H. Dillinger

America’s number one gangster was killed on July 22, 1934 at the Biograph Theatre, betrayed by the infamous ‘Lady in Red.’  In the short period of time, from May 1933 to July 1934, Dillinger robbed over ten banks throughout the Midwest, killed 10 men, wounded seven and staged three jail breaks in which a sheriff was killed and two guards were injured.

He was born John Herbert Dillinger in the Oak Hill section of Indianapolis Indiana on June 22, 1903.  His parents were John Wilson Dillinger, a grocer, and Mollie Lancaster.  Dillinger’s mother died when he was three.  His father remarried when John was nine, but he bitterly resented his stepmother. 

Dillinger Farm - Mooresville, Indiana

At the age of sixteen, Dillinger dropped out of school and began working at a machine shop in Indianapolis. It was during this period that he fell in with the wrong crowd.  His father, worried that John was hanging with the wrong element, moved his family to a farm near Mooresville, Indiana.  The move did little to tame John’s nature and he was soon in trouble with the law.  He enlisted in the Navy, but ended up deserting.

Beryl Hovious

In 1924 he married 16-year-old Beryl Hovious.  They moved to Indianapolis where Dillinger searched but could not find work.  He again became involved with the criminal element.  He and another man were accused of robbing a grocer of $555.  Dillinger, following his father’s advice, pleaded guilty and was given the maximum sentence of 10 to 20 years in prison.  He was paroled almost nine years later, bearing a grudge against the law - and some in-prison training on the finer aspects of bank robbing from Walter Dietrich.

Indiana State Prison - 1927

Dillinger's Fingerprint Chart

Dillinger now had a score to settle with the cops.  He began robbing banks and taunting police.  He was arrested on September 22, 1933 in Dayton, Ohio and held in the county jail.  On October 12, four “guards” arrived at the jail in order to pick Dillinger up and return him to the Indiana State Prison.  When proof was requested, one of the “guards” pulled a gun, shot the sheriff, and locked the sheriff’s wife and deputy in a cell.  They then released Dillinger and all five made their getaway.

Dillinger and his gang began staging bank robberies throughout the Midwest.  The FBI became involved, due to the dangerous nature of Dillinger and his group.  Armed with machine guns, ammunition and bulletproof vests, Dillinger and his gang began knocking over banks in earnest.  They were apprehended on January 23, 1934, along with $25,000 in cash.

Dillinger with Gun

Dillinger was being held in the Crown Point, Indiana jail, awaiting trail, when he staged a notorious jailbreak, stole a sheriff’s car and drove to Chicago.  Once there, he hooked up with Homer Van Meter, Eddie Green, Tommy Carroll and Lester Gillis – better known as ‘Baby Face Nelson’   - the four comprising Dillinger’s gang.

The gang continued robbing banks, until FBI agents located where the Dillinger was staying.  When agents tried to arrest Dillinger, someone armed with a machine gun sprayed the hallway of the apartment building and Dillinger escaped, along with Van Meter. Green later died of his wounds.

Baby Face Nelson

Little Bohemia Lodge

Dillinger and Van Meter then robbed a police station in Warsaw, Indiana of guns and bulletproof vests.  They proceeded to a summer resort known as Little Bohemia Lodge, near Rhinelander, Wisconsin where they met up with Baby Face Nelson.  The FBI was in hot pursuit and cornered Nelson in a car where he was holding three local residents hostage at gunpoint.  When Nelson saw the police he opened fire on them, killing one and severely wounding two others.   Meanwhile, Dillinger had fled the lodge.

Melvin Purvis

J. Edgar Hoover

In Washington, FBI Director, J. Edgar Hoover became involved.  A special squad of agents, headed by Melvin Purvis, was set up, intent on the capture of John Dillinger, dead or alive. 

Wanted Poster

Dillinger was declared America’s first “Public Enemy Number One” and a reward of $10,000 dollars was offered for his capture.

Anna Sage

On July 21, 1934 Anna Sage (Ana Cumpanas) a Rumania immigrant and well-known brothel madam, contacted the police and offered to lead them to Dillinger in return for the prevention of her deportation and some cash.  Agents agreed.  She told them she would be wearing a red dress when she was with Dillinger. (It was actually an orange skirt and white blouse.)

Biography Theatre

On Sunday, July 22, at 8:30 P.M. Anna, Polly Hamilton and John Dillinger went to the Biograph Theatre in Chicago to see Manhattan Melodrama –a gangster film. 

Dillinger's Gun

At 10:30 P.M., Dillinger and his two companions exited the theatre.  Dillinger was able to pull his gun before being shot three times by FBI agents.  John Dillinger died at 10:50 p.m. at Alexin Brothers Hospital.

Crowd Viewing Body

Dillinger was taken to the funeral home in Mooresville, Indiana where close to 10,000 people viewed his body.  

Dillinger Family Stone

John Dillinger's Grave

He was then buried in Crown Hill Cemetery in Indianapolis, next to his parents.  He was 31 years old.

~ Joy

Cemeteries Worth A Visit - Crown Hill Cemetery in Indianapolis

At the beginning of each month we’ll take a look at one cemetery that is especially“Worth the Visit.”  This means that it offers something exceptional for the historian, genealogist and tombstone tourist.  It could be outstanding gravestones, interesting cemetery grounds, or just an exciting place to explore!  This month we will take a look at Crown Hill Cemetery, located in Indianapolis, Indiana.  This is a cemetery you could easily spend the day in.

On Top of the Crown

Lucy Ann Seaton

Crown Hill Cemetery was so named because of its location on the highest point in the city. Crown Hill was incorporated on September 25, 1863 and dedicated as a cemetery on June 1st, 1864.  The next day, June 2nd the first burial was held there for Lucy Ann Seaton, a 33 year-old mother who died of consumption - (tuberculosis.)  Her husband John, a Union Captain serving in the Civil War, had inscribed on her stone, “Lucy, God grant that I can meet you in heaven.”  Currently, over 190,000 people rest among its rolling 555 acres, the third largest non-government cemetery in the U.S.

Crown Hill National Cemetery

In the summer of 1866, the U.S. Government purchased 1.4 acres of land within Crown Hill for a National Cemetery.  Over 700 soldiers were interred there by November of that year.  In all, 2,135 soldiers are now buried there, representing every war in which the United States has taken part in up to and including the Viet Nam War.  The last burial was in 1969 for Air Force Major Robert W Hayes.

Confederate Mound

Another military burial ground, the Confederate Mound, is the final resting place of 1,616 Confederate Prisoners of the Civil War.  These southern soldiers died while being detained at Camp Morton from 1862 through 1865.  Most were originally buried at the City Cemetery, but were moved in 1931 by the War Department.

President Benjamin Harrison

Grave of President Harrison

Many notable and notorious people are buried at Crown Hill.  There is one U.S. President, Benjamin Harrison, three Vice Presidents and eleven Indiana Governors.

Grave of James Whitcomb Riley

James Whitcomb Riley

Hoosier Poet James Whitcomb Riley was the first person to be buried on top of the crown in 1917 – 18 months after his death.  From the top, or ‘crown’ of the hill you can see downtown Indianapolis, almost three miles away.

Mausoleum of Colonel Eli Lilly

Other well-known people interred here include Lyman Ayres, founder of L.S. Ayres Department stores.  Colonel Eli Lilly, Civil War Commander and pioneer pharmacist, who founded Eli Lilly Laboratory in Indianapolis.

Dr Richard Gatlin

John Dillinger

 Dr Richard Gatlin, inventor of the Gatlin gun is buried here, along with John Dillinger, the infamous 1930’s bank robber.

Grave of John Dillinger

Community Mausoleum

Gothic Chapel

Crown Hill also has thousands of statues, markers and stories.   There are twenty-five miles of paved road inside the cemetery gates, a community mausoleum, a funeral home and the Gothic Chapel, where weddings and events are held, year round.

The cemetery offers many resources for the family researcher, including an on-staff genealogist.  Information available may include burial permits, names of family members and funeral directors, along with burial plot and section numbers.  Requests may be made by email or phone.  A $5.00 research fee is required per name.

Gates to the Cemetery

Crown Hill Cemetery is located at 700 West 38th Street in Indianapolis, Indiana.  The phone number is (317) 925-8231 for general and genealogical information.  For more information, visit their web page at CrownHill.org. Or check out the Crown Hill Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/crownhill.org

A view of Indianapolis
from the "Crown"

If you plan to spend the weekend in Indianapolis, be sure to plan an afternoon, or better yet, a day at Crown Hill Cemetery.  It is a true Rural Cemetery that offers something for everyone, history, architecture, walking tours and genealogical research, all in a serene and beautiful setting.

~ James Whitcomb Riley

~ Joy