Club News

The Washington chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution met on Oct. 3 in the game room at Halcyon House in Washington.

Mike Kramme presented his program on Woodlawn Cemetery. The first burial in Woodlawn Cemetery was in 1840. Prior to 1917, there wasn?t a gate or a fence around the cemetery. Livestock wandering around the gravestones became a problem. The Washington Improvement League as a special project decided to erect a gate and a fence in 1917. The gate was built in the Egyptian Revival style. This was a very rare style, and unique. In 1926, the Washington Improvement League built the shelter. This building was used for families to rest in, and contained a restroom. The windows in the shelter have been covered with lumber. A sign on the shelter reads ?Woodlawn Haven.? The shelter is now used for storage.

Within the cemetery, two Civil War nurses are buried, Phoebe Allen and Julia Henry. They were assigned to Benton Barracks in Missouri, and both died of typhus.

John Graham is buried at Woodlawn. He was one of the wealthiest individuals in Washington, owning 15,000 acres of land. He built the Graham Opera House.

John Jackson is buried at Woodlawn. He was a Civil War soldier and very active in the Grand Army of the Republic.

All of the following are buried in Woodlawn: Charles Reynolds Brown, a prominent minister who became the dean of Yale School of Divinity; Edwin Blair, an early merchant, who built Blair House; Joseph Keck, an early banker, who built Keck House; Jonathan Wilson, who gave the land for Woodlawn; Edwin Eicher, a senator; Dr. Darius Scofield, Hiram Scofield, Cora Scofield ? who wrote a two-volume history of Edward VI ? and William Scofield. Samuel Hall, who was born a slave, was also buried in Woodlawn Cemetery, and Orville Elder wrote a book about him. Within Woodlawn was the ?Potter?s Field? for the poor; none of the graves are marked, and the number of those buried there is not known.

On some of the gravestones are metal markers made of bronze, tin and zinc. Some of these panels were hinged, and during Prohibition, bootleggers would hide bottles of alcohol within the columns behind the metal markers.

During the Victorian Age, people loved to use various symbols on gravestone. An empty shell meant the soul was gone. Grasped hands meant that spouses were welcoming each other. A torch meant the eternal flame of life. An open book meant eternal life, a closed book the end of life. A weeping willow meant sadness. A hand pointing up meant blessings from above. Lambs were used on children?s graves. A dove meant peace. A tree stump meant life is ended. An urn meant a place where life, or remains of life, were kept. Flowers were also used, and each flower had its own meaning: a lily meant purity and innocence; oak leaves meant strength; and a vine meant eternal life.

Along with his program, Mike Kramme had slides of Woodlawn Cemetery, the gates, the shelter, various graves and symbols.

If you are interested in joining the DAR, please contact Jeri Klein at 319-330-6010. The next meeting is at 1:30 p.m., Nov. 7, at the game room at Halcyon House. Dorothy Miller will present the program ?The History of Christmas and Christmas Cards.?