Although I am more than satisfied with the response this blog has received since debuting on the City-County Observer last week, I am also a little perplexed at one of the responses that was posted on the CCO.
Despite just about every single poster being in favor of rebuilding both Oak Hill and Locust Hill Cemeteries, there was one person who felt like we should not worry about these areas because they are "not Arlington Cemetery."
Obviously, only Arlington Cemetery can be Arlington Cemetery (which is having problems even worse than what we have), but I don't think that is what the poster was alluding to. Rather, it appears to me that this poster is claiming that Oak Hill and Locust Hill are nothing special and thus should be left as is.
There is one problem though with this belief- it isn't true. Both cemeteries, especially Oak Hill, ARE Evansville's version of Arlington Cemetery.
Locust Hill houses a resident who has a title that no one in the United States can lay claim to. James Bethel Gresham was the first American to die in WWI. Although his mom's house can be found next to Garvin Park (let's make sure we stay on the Parks Dept to get this house in pristine condition), Mr. Gresham himself is buried at Locust Hill and is surrounded by many other veterans from WWI and WWII.
As for Oak Hill, who can you expect to see there (besides my favorite mayor Hank Roberts)?
http://www.waymarking.com/waymarks/WMCFM7_Oak_Hill_Cemetery_Evansville_IN
"Oak Hill Cemetery property was first developed in 1853. Originally, there was 80 acres. Currently, the cemetery contains 175 acres.
The first burial in the cemetery was 2 year old, Ellen Johnson. Since, many famous and known Evansvillians have been buried here. There is a "family-sized" mosuleum area in the cemetery for these prominent citizens, including Mead Johnson, founder of Mead Johnson & Company Pharmaceuticals, which sits on an island in the cemetery's south side. There is a section of the cemetery dedicated and containing the interred bodies of Civil War vets, both from the North and the South in separate plots.
Other notable interments at Oak Hill include
*Conrad Baker - Indiana's 15th Governor from 1867 to 1873
*George Buckner - first black US Diplomat to foriegn country (Liberia)
*Charles Denby - Civil War Union Army Officer
*George Denton - US Congressman from Indiana 1st District from 1917 to 1919
*Winfield Denton - US Congressman from Indiana's 8th District and son of George Denton
*John Foster - Civil War Union Army Officer
*John Foster - US Congressman from Indiana's 1st District from 1905 to 1909
*William Heilman - US Congressman from Indiana's 1st District from 1879 to 1883
*Edward Mead Johnson - CoFounder of Johnson and Johnson
*James Lockhart - US Congressman
*William Parrett - US Congressman from Indiana's 1st District from 1889 to 1893
*William Wilson - US Congressman from Indiana's 1st District from 1923 to 1925
There are approximately 5,000 graves in the cemetery"
Basically, anybody that accomplished anything in Evansville in the late 1800s/early to mid 1900s is buried at one of these two cemeteries. If you get a chance, take a stroll through one of these cemeteries. You will find a legend around every corner. Shouldn't we treat them like legends?
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