Forest Hill Cemetery (Madison, Wisconsin)

After the first permanent European-American settlers arrived in Madison in the 1830s, the first non-native burials occurred on the current University of Wisconsin–Madison campus, near Bascom Hill. In the following years other areas within the area were established as informal burying grounds and the first official village cemetery was established in 1847 near what is now Orton Park.

In the mid-1850s, a committee was formed to search for another appropriate site in the area to form an official Madison cemetery. The committee members chose the current site, then on the far west side of the city and subsequently bought the original {{convert|80|acre|m2}} of land for $10,000 from John and Mary Wright. The Wrights had obtained the land from land speculator James Duane Doty, who had obtained it from Alanson Sweet, a territorial council member from Milwaukee.

In 1863 the city sold a portion of land from the original purchase to the Roman Catholic Societies for $170. They in turn developed that property into a Catholic cemetery, now known as Resurrection Cemetery.

In the 1860s a receiving vault was built on site. During and following the Civil War, the Soldiers Lot{{cite gnis|2775464|Forest Hill Cemetery Soldiers' Lot}} and Confederate Lot were created and in 1865 a well was dug near the plot of Governor Harvey and a windmill was erected over it. In 1878 a chapel was built following a contribution by the family of John Catlin.

In 1928, another {{convert|80|acre|m2}} were purchased, 60 of which are part of the Glenway Golf Course directly behind the present cemetery.

File:Forest Hill Cemetery effigy mound.jpg

The cemetery protects seven precontact effigy mounds, dating from 700 to 1200 CE. The earthworks are shaped like a goose flying down a slope toward Lake Wingra, two panthers, and a linear shape. Three more linear mounds have been destroyed by cemetery development and the goose's head was destroyed by grading for the railroad.{{cite book |last=Birmingham |first=Robert A. |title=Spirits of Earth: The Effigy Mound Landscape of Madison and the Four Lakes |date=2010 |publisher=University of Wisconsin Press |location=Madison |isbn=978-0-299-23264-1|pages=209–210}} The mound group is listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1974.{{cite web|title=Forest Hill Cemetery Native American Mound Group|url=http://www.cityofmadison.com/parks/historicalfeature/|website=Play Madison Parks: Historical Features|publisher=City of Madison|access-date=9 January 2016}}

{{main|Confederate Rest}}

A section of the cemetery is known as Confederate Rest. On it lie about 140 Confederate prisoners of war who died while in confinement in a Union camp in Madison, Camp Randall,{{cite news |title=Advice for Confederate sign: Condemn the sin, if not the long-gone sinners |url=https://madison.com/wsj/news/local/govt-and-politics/advice-for-confederate-sign-condemn-the-sin-if-not-the/article_52784335-acee-5d26-8013-ca533c7402f3.html |access-date=8 October 2018 |work=Wisconsin State Journal |date=9 April 2018 |quote=Historian Carolyn Mattern notes in her 1981 history of Civil War-era Camp Randall, "Soldiers When They Go," that "many prisoners had received poor treatment in transit, and although conditions were much improved at Camp Randall, a high rate of mortality prevailed."}} in 1862.{{cite news |last1=Abigail Becker |title=Madison City Council votes to remove Confederate marker rather than add an interpretive sign |url=https://madison.com/ct/news/local/govt-and-politics/madison-city-council-votes-to-remove-confederate-marker-rather-than/article_ff733899-4aba-562d-bf51-0c1c84c5a7fe.html |access-date=8 October 2018 |work=The Cap Times |date=11 April 2018 |quote=In April 1862, about 1,200 captured Confederate soldiers were moved to the Union Army stockade at Camp Randall. Though the majority of prisoners were relocated later that year, 140 soldiers died in Madison.}} A stone marker or cenotaph lists the names of 132{{cite news |last1=Rickert|first1=Chris |title=Removal of Confederate graveyard monument requires more than city council's OK |url=https://madison.com/wsj/news/local/govt-and-politics/removal-of-confederate-graveyard-monument-requires-more-than-city-council/article_4ed3e0ae-aa12-5c2d-8334-ad1a5e825c18.html |access-date=8 October 2018 |work=Wisconsin State Journal |date=5 May 2018 |quote=the monument featuring 132 of the names of the Confederate soldiers buried in the Confederate Rest}} of the prisoners who died in custody. In October 2018, the Madison City Council voted 16 to 2 to remove the marker with the list of buried prisoners, overturning the Landmarks Commission, which had denied a permit to remove the marker,{{cite news |last1=Wroge|first1=Logan |title=Madison commission rejects request to remove Confederate monument in Forest Hill Cemetery |url=https://madison.com/wsj/news/local/govt-and-politics/madison-commission-rejects-request-to-remove-confederate-monument-in-forest/article_1126f729-06e0-5ae3-9a57-bb2c45baed8c.html |access-date=8 October 2018 |date=28 August 2018 |quote="We can move it, but personally to me as someone who is interested in telling history on the basis of physical things, that changes what histories people can tell in the future," said commission member Anna Andrzejewski, adding that she views the stone as a “historic communal marker” and not a monument.}} which was built in 1906.{{cite news |last1=Wroge |first1=Logan|title=Madison City Council overturns Confederate monument decision, supports removal |url=https://madison.com/wsj/news/local/govt-and-politics/madison-city-council-overturns-confederate-monument-decision-supports-removal/article_e788d9ef-7123-5fb0-acae-cd477fb78dd0.html |access-date=8 October 2018 |work=Wisconsin State Journal |date=3 October 2018 |quote="You don’t have discussion in a cemetery. You have reflection, and you have memories, and this (monument) brings up memories that are not so pleasant in our history," said Council Vice President Sheri Carter.}} The eradication of the cenotaph was seen by some in city government as a "reparation,"{{cite news |last1=Wroge |first1=Logan|title=Madison commission punts on whether to remove Confederate monument |url=https://madison.com/wsj/news/local/govt-and-politics/madison-commission-punts-on-whether-to-remove-confederate-monument/article_b046e84f-98af-54b1-a38e-b29d6a3df9cc.html |access-date=8 October 2018 |work=Wisconsin State Journal |date=23 July 2018 |quote=Rummel said getting rid of the monument installed in 1906 [...] is not about disregarding history, but is a small act of reparation.}} and was supported by the Equal Opportunities Commission of the city government.{{cite news |last1=Wroge |first1=Logan |title= Madison City Council votes to remove Confederate monument at Forest Hill Cemetery |url=https://madison.com/wsj/news/local/govt-and-politics/madison-city-council-votes-to-remove-confederate-monument-at-forest/article_23bb9ab1-eb46-526d-8bbc-88a25f8a9c00.html |access-date=8 October 2018 |work=Wisconsin State Journal |date=11 April 2018 |quote=the council decided to go in the direction of the Equal Opportunities Commission, which had recommended removing the cenotaph}}

The removal of the cenotaph was opposed by the Dane County Historical Society.{{cite news |last1=Novak |first1=Bill|title=Don't remove Confederate monument, Dane County Historical Society says |url=https://madison.com/wsj/news/local/govt-and-politics/don-t-remove-confederate-monument-dane-county-historical-society-says/article_a3086ed6-0e3d-585d-b817-468a538f19b1.html |access-date=8 October 2018 |work=Wisconsin State Journal |date=18 June 2018 |quote="Despite being born in states which seceded from the Union, the names of those soldiers should not be removed or hidden," the letter says. "They (the Confederate soldiers) should not be forgotten, as those men lived and died and were interred in Madison."}} The editorial board of the Wisconsin State Journal, noting Confederate Rest is the northernmost Confederate graveyard in the nation, also opposed the removal.{{cite news |author1=Editorial Board Wisconsin State Journal |title=Landmarks Commission right to keep Confederate marker in Madison |url=https://madison.com/wsj/opinion/editorial/landmarks-commission-right-to-keep-confederate-marker-in-madison/article_f81ec0de-3002-5ea3-a595-d9d7adbca08b.html |access-date=8 October 2018 |work=Wisconsin State Journal |date=29 August 2018 |quote=Some of the individual headstones of the Southern soldiers who died here are so worn they are unreadable. So the 4-foot stone monument helps identify who is buried at the “Confederate Rest,” the northernmost Confederate graveyard in the nation.}}

• Henry Cullen Adams (1850–1906), member of the U.S. House of Representatives
• David Atwood (1815–1889), member of the U.S. House of Representatives
• Theodore W. Brazeau (1873–1965), member of the Wisconsin State Senate and lawyer{{Cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/54638637/t-w-brazeau-veteran-local-attorney/ |title=T. W. Brazeau, Veteran Local Attorney, Dies |newspaper=Wisconsin Rapids Daily Tribune |page=1 |date=1965-10-13 |access-date=2020-07-03 |via=Newspapers.com}} {{Open access}}
• Storm Bull (1856–1907), 33rd mayor of Madison, University of Wisconsin professor
• Romanzo Bunn (1829–1909), United States district judge for the Western District of Wisconsin
• John B. Cassoday (1830–1907), 9th Chief Justice of the Wisconsin Supreme Court, 27th Speaker of the Wisconsin State Assembly
• Orsamus Cole (1819–1903), 6th Chief Justice of the Wisconsin Supreme Court
• Charles H. Crownhart (1863–1930), justice of the Wisconsin Supreme Court
• Roland B. Day (1919–2008), 24th Chief Justice of the Wisconsin Supreme Court
• Luther S. Dixon (1825–1891), 4th Chief Justice of the Wisconsin Supreme Court
• Lyman C. Draper (1815–1891), 5th Wisconsin Superintendent of Public Instruction, secretary of the Wisconsin Historical Society
• Ben C. Eastman (1812–1856), member of the U.S. House of Representatives
• Cassius Fairchild (1829–1868), Union Army officer, wounded at Shiloh, member of the Wisconsin State Assembly
• Jairus C. Fairchild (1801–1862), first State Treasurer of Wisconsin, first Mayor of Madison
• Lucius Fairchild (1831–1896), 10th Governor of Wisconsin, U.S. Minister to Spain, Union Army officer, wounded at Gettysburg
• Frank L. Gilbert (1864–1930), 19th Attorney General of Wisconsin
• Charles R. Gill (1830–1883), 9th Attorney General of Wisconsin, Union Army officer
• Harry Harlow (1905–1981), psychologist
• Louis P. Harvey (1820–1862), 7th Governor of Wisconsin, died in office
• Nils P. Haugen (1849–1931), U.S. Representative from Wisconsin{{Cite web |url=https://bioguide.congress.gov/search/bio/H000351 |title=Haugen, Nils Pederson |work=Biographical Directory of the United States Congress |access-date=2022-10-07}}
• Nathan Heffernan (1920–2007), 23rd Chief Justice of the Wisconsin Supreme Court
• Benjamin F. Hopkins (1829–1870), member of the U.S. House of Representatives, died in office
• James C. Hopkins (1819–1877), United States district judge for the Western District of Wisconsin
• John Wayles Jefferson (1835–1892), Union Army officer, grandson of Sally Hemings and (likely) Thomas Jefferson
• Eston Hemings Jefferson (1808–1856), Son of Sally Hemings and Thomas Jefferson
• Burr W. Jones (1846–1935), Justice of the Wisconsin Supreme Court, member of the U.S. House of Representatives
• Belle Case La Follette (1859–1931), activist for Women's suffrage, peace, and civil rights. Wife of Governor Robert M. La Follette, Sr.
• Philip La Follette (1897–1965), 27th and 29th Governor of Wisconsin, co-founder of the Wisconsin Progressive Party
• Robert M. La Follette Jr. (1895–1953) United States Senator, co-founder of the Wisconsin Progressive Party
• Robert M. La Follette Sr. (1855–1925) 20th Governor of Wisconsin, United States Senator, founder of the Progressive Party, candidate for President of the United States in 1924
• Alexander S. McDill (1822–1875), physician and U.S. congressman{{Cite web |url=https://bioguide.congress.gov/search/bio/M000406 |title=McDill, Alexander Stuart |work=Biographical Directory of the United States Congress |access-date=2022-10-07}}
• John M. Nelson (1870–1955), U.S. Representative from Wisconsin{{Cite web |url=https://bioguide.congress.gov/search/bio/N000039 |title=Nelson, John Mandt |work=Biographical Directory of the United States Congress |access-date=2022-10-07}}
• Phyllis Ntantala-Jordan (1920–2016), South African anti-apartheid activist and author
• Byron Paine (1827–1871), Justice of the Wisconsin Supreme Court, as a lawyer he successfully argued the 1866 case of Gillespie v. Palmer which established voting rights in Wisconsin for African Americans
• Silas U. Pinney (1833–1899), mayor of Madison, 1874–76, justice of the Wisconsin Supreme Court, 1892–98{{Cite web|title=The Political Graveyard: Index to Politicians: Pink to Pittoni|url=https://politicalgraveyard.com/bio/pinkerton-pittoni.html|access-date=2021-06-25|website=politicalgraveyard.com}}
• Frederic E. Risser (1900–1971) Wisconsin state senator
• Alden Sprague Sanborn (1820–1885), 7th mayor of Madison
• Arthur Loomis Sanborn (1850–1920), United States District Judge for the Western District of Wisconsin
• Harry Sauthoff (1879–1966), lawyer, Wisconsin state senator, and U.S. Representative from Wisconsin{{Cite web |url=https://bioguide.congress.gov/search/bio/S000079 |title=Sauthoff, Harry |work=Biographical Directory of the United States Congress |access-date=2022-10-07}}
• Albert G. Schmedeman (1864–1946), 28th governor of Wisconsin, 41st mayor of Madison, U.S. minister to Norway
• Robert G. Siebecker (1854–1922), 11th Chief Justice of the Wisconsin Supreme Court, died in office
• George Baldwin Smith (1823–1879), 4th Attorney General of Wisconsin, 3rd and 16th Mayor of Madison
• John Coit Spooner (1843–1919), Wisconsin state assemblyman and U.S. Senator from Wisconsin{{Cite web |url=https://bioguide.congress.gov/search/bio/S000741 |title=Spooner, John Coit |work=Biographical Directory of the United States Congress |access-date=2022-10-07}}
• William Robert Taylor (1820–1909), 12th Governor of Wisconsin
• William Freeman Vilas (1840–1908), U.S. Senator, U.S. Secretary of the Interior and Postmaster General{{Cite web |url=https://bioguide.congress.gov/search/bio/V000099 |title=Vilas, William Freeman |work=Biographical Directory of the United States Congress |access-date=2022-10-07}}
• Aad J. Vinje (1857–1929), 12th Chief Justice of the Wisconsin Supreme Court, died in office
• Ernest Warner (1868–1930), Wisconsin legislator, namesake of Madison's Warner Park
• Thomas T. Whittlesey (1798–1868), U.S. Representative from Connecticut{{Cite web |url=https://bioguide.congress.gov/search/bio/W000433 |title=Whittlesey, Thomas Tucker |work=Biographical Directory of the United States Congress |access-date=2022-10-07}}
• Emmert L. Wingert (1899–1971), Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice

{{Reflist}}

• {{Cite book |author=Forest Hill Cemetery Committee |title=A Biographical Guide to Forest Hill Cemetery, Vol. II: The Ordinary and Famous Women and Men Who Shaped Madison and the World |edition=1st |location=Madison, Wis. |publisher=Historic Madison, Inc. |year=2002}}

{{commons}}

• {{Official}}
• {{HALS |survey=WI-1-A |id=wi0668 |title=Forest Hill Cemetery, Soldiers Lot, 1 Speedway Road, Madison, Dane County, WI |photos=7 |cap=1}}
• [http://foresthill.williamcronon.net/ Forest Hill Cemetery: A Guide] – An introduction to various aspects of the cemetery, including its history and ecology; the symbols used on gravestones and the geology of those stones; the religious traditions and rituals represented; the effigy mounds constructed on the site long before it became a modern cemetery; and the geography and business of death.
• {{Find a Grave cemetery}}

{{Coord|43.0633773|-89.4320049|type:landmark_region:US-WI_source:GNIS|display=title}}

Category:Cemeteries in Wisconsin

Category:Geography of Madison, Wisconsin

Category:Historic American Landscapes Survey in Wisconsin

Category:Tourist attractions in Madison, Wisconsin

Category:Protected areas of Dane County, Wisconsin

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