Confederate Cemetery
Located on Rozier Street in North Alton.
See History of the Alton Military Prison
The Confederate Cemetery, established during the Civil War, is located in North Alton on Rozier Street. The two acres of ground contain the remains of soldiers who died while imprisoned in the military prison in Alton. Some of the undertakers who had a contract for providing coffins and burying the dead were James Althoff, H. W. Hart, and John Hoffman. Several years after the Civil War, the government contracted with Captain Tallon of St. Louis to erect tombstones over the Confederate graves. This was done under the superintendence of Captain P. J. Melling of North Alton. Throughout the years the fence around the cemetery rotted away, the tombstones fell down and were scattered, cattle roamed over the cemetery, and it was entirely neglected. In the early 1900s, the cemetery was improved and a fence erected. H. J. Bowman took great interest in the preservation of the cemetery, and organized the planting of trees and caring for the property. The Daughters of the Confederacy sent flowers to decorate the gravesites of the fallen. In 1909 a monument was erected on the property, in memory of those buried there. There is at least one Confederate woman buried there.
SOUTHERN BELLE DIES IN ALTON PRISON – About 1863
Source: The Diary of an Old Lawyer, Or, Scenes Behind the Curtain,
1895, by Attorney John Hallum
The affianced of a young Confederate officer, living near
Collierville (whose name now escapes me, because my record in which
it was kept was long since lost) came to Memphis and purchased from
a large dry goods firm, cloth and trimmings to make the dashing
young officer a uniform. To obtain this favor, she pledged her
honor, that in case of detection she would not disclose the name of
the merchants. It was in the winter of 1863-4. She wrapped the cloth
around her person and proceeded out on the Germantown road to the
exit through the lines. On that day for the first time, tents had
been erected, and ladies put in charge, to search the wearing
apparel and persons of all their sex passing out of the line. Our
little heroine, who belonged to the middle classes, was the first
caught at that station. She was handed over to the guards and
conveyed to the "Irving Block," that Bastille of the revolution,
situated on Second Street opposite the northeast corner of Court
Square. Ladies confined there were always placed in the upper story,
without fire in the most inclement weather, and no bedding whatever,
except a mass of straw thrown loosely on the bare floor, and without
a chair, table, box, or anything on which to sit. For a cultured and
refined lady, this was hard, as was the prison fare of coffee, cold
potatoes, salt pork, and hard crackers. To a gentleman, who loved to
honor and preserve untarnished the uniform and arms of the country
he bore, it was simply revolting, especially so because in the heart
of a city overflowing with all the luxuries the arts and commerce of
the age commanded.
This young lady, whose innocent and pure, yet exalted love was her
death, sent for me [Attorney John Hallum]. I found her in that cold
and cheerless room alone, sitting in the corner on a bed of loose
straw, cold and shivering in the pitiless air; her large blue eyes
swimming in tears, which stirred up the fountains of my own. She
told me the details already stated, the merchant from whom she
purchased the cloth, after my assurance that I would not betray
them. The merchants who trusted her had a stock of goods worth two
hundred thousand dollars, which would have been confiscated had that
suffering girl told them where she obtained the goods. This girl was
in the incipient stages of consumption, aggravated greatly by
exposure in that cold, damp, fireless and bedless room. Already the
arrows and seeds of death gave voice to their presence. After a
confinement of three weeks in that Bastille, she was sent to the
Alton prison, where she died keeping her faith.
NOTES:
I don’t have any further information on this young woman who died in
the Alton prisoner, or what her name was. This story was told by
Attorney John Hallum in 1895, who visited her in the prison. There
was another woman who died in the Alton prison during the Civil War
– Barbara Ann Dunavan. Barbara was a poor and illiterate Tennessee
woman, who was court-martialed for smuggling revolvers to the
Confederate army. Convicted, she was sent to Alton, where she died
of smallpox. She is buried in the North Alton Confederate Cemetery
on Rozier Street. Are these women one of the same? I don’t know. I
have researched the Civil War era - reading each and every Alton
newspaper during that time period. There has been no mention of
either women. Were their deaths hidden and kept from the public?
Possibly. Whatever the case, it is sad to think that this poor,
young woman died – all for her love of her fiancé, and wanting to
make him a new uniform.
The author of this story, Attorney John Hallum, was born January 16,
1833, in Tennessee. He was considered a prodigy in his youth, and by
the age of six he could read and spell every word in Webster’s
Spelling Book. He studied at home and read classical literature,
qualifying himself to enter college. At the age of fifteen, he was
offered a scholarship, but rejected it to become a lawyer. He worked
on his father’s farm while educating himself, and after passing the
bar, he opened a law office in Memphis. Among his clients, was Sam
Houston, who hired him to investigate land titles for his brother’s
widow. Although strongly opposed to secession, he believed in the
patriotism of the South, and entered the Confederate Army as a
Lieutenant, and was assigned to the staff of General Pillow. He was
discharged after two years because of illness. In 1864, he wrote a
severe criticism of the corrupt Union army, and without any charge,
trial, or hearing, he was ordered to be confined sixty days in a
blockhouse at Fort Pickering, and to pay a thousand dollar fine. In
the prison, he wrote of the conditions of prison life, where vermin
and smallpox were common. Coffee was made in the same vessel that
served for washing. After the close of the war, Hallum was attorney
for the Knights of the Golden Circle. In 1870 Hallum moved to St.
Louis to practice law. He later moved to Colorado and then Arkansas.
He died in 1907.
CONFEDERATE CEMETERY NEGLECTED
Source: Alton Telegraph, September 16, 1897
From Upper Alton – The Secretary of the Daughters of the Confederacy
has written to a citizen of Upper Alton, making inquiries about the
Confederate graveyard at this place. For the benefit of those who
would like to know, it can be said that seldom is a place of this
kind made use of as the cemetery mentioned. At present, it is used
for a cow pasture, and not a slab remains to indicate the spot where
some mother’s son lies resting in his neglected grave, save the
depression in the ground where he was hurriedly buried in a plain
wooden box. What a pity it is that someone did not take steps to
protect his grave before. Although it cannot be distinguished from
others, yet it would be satisfying to surviving relatives to know
that the place is protected and respected, instead of neglected.
CONFEDERATE GRAVES
Source: Alton Telegraph, October 28, 1897
The graves of the Confederate dead, who died in prisons in the
North, will be marked at a near date. The committee having in charge
the work of raising the money has issued an appeal addressed to
Confederate Veterans, Sons of Veterans, Daughters of the
Confederacy, and all others who cherish an affection for the lost
cause to contribute toward the work. Scattered through the North,
there were thirteen prisons where Confederates were confined, and
where many died. One of these prisons was in our own city, and the
dad were interred in what is now known as the Confederate Cemetery
at North Alton, in ground bought by the government for the purpose.
These are some of the graves that are to be marked, and for the
purpose a fund has been created to be known as the “Monument Fund of
Confederate Prisons Buried in Northern Graves,” of which Colonel
James T. Gray of Richmond, Virginia is treasurer. Contributions are
to be sent to him by persons who are interested. When next spring
comes, whatever money may be on hand at that time will be divided
into thirteen equal parts, and each part devoted to placing a marble
shaft in the city of the dead. Alton’s cemetery will be one of those
whose graves will be marked and future generations will know where
sleep the heroes of the lost cause.
TO HONOR SOUTHERN DEAD
Source: Alton Evening Telegraph, May 08, 1900
The graves of the Confederate dead in the burying ground at North
Alton will be strewn with Magnolia and Cape Jessamine buds this
year, to be sent here by the Confederate veterans of the South. Mr.
H. J. Bowman received a letter from W. H. Catts of Granbury, Texas
yesterday, saying that a movement has been started this year to
again send flowers from Texas, and subscriptions may be taken up to
lay the cornerstone of a monument that will be erected some place in
this city by the G. A. R. and the Confederate veterans of the
country, in memory of the men who died in the Alton prison during
the war. Mr. Catts brought with him $100 last year, which is
deposited in the Alton National bank as the nucleus of a fund to be
raised for the building of a monument. Mr. Catts suggested that the
cornerstone of the monument be laid on Memorial Day, and that the
Daughters of the Confederacy of St. Louis be invited to participate.
It is probable that the decoration of the Confederate graves will be
deferred to the day following Memorial Day, and that a flag pole be
erected in the cemetery on that day. Mr. Bowman said he will call a
meeting of the committees interested in the work to make
preparations for decorating the cemetery. A wire fence has been
built around the cemetery by the government, neat gates have been
put up, and a man is employed by the war department to keep the
grass cut since the cemetery was made national property after many
years of neglect.
THE BLUE AND GRAY MONUMENT
Source: Alton Evening Telegraph, May 22, 1901
The plan to erect a monument in Alton to the memory of the Blue and
the Gray, to be constructed of granite blocks of blue and gray, to
be contributed by G. A. R. posts and Confederate veterans' posts, is
being taken up with vigor by southern people. A letter has been
received by A. S. Marland, who drew a plan for the monument, asking
that photographs of the plans be sent to various Texas cities for
use in showing the southern people what is being planned. It is said
that subscriptions will be taken up then at many places in the South
to apply on the monument fund. The site that is favored is on the
bluffs at the end of Prospect Street.
H. J. BOWMAN WILL BEAUTIFY CONFEDERATE BURYING GROUND
Source: Alton Evening Telegraph, May 13, 1902
Mr. H. J. Bowman, who has taken an active interest in beautifying
the Confederate burying ground at North Alton, is planning to
decorate the graves in the cemetery this year as has been done for
several years past. He has plans for planting trees in the cemetery
to transform the ground into a place of beauty. The committee having
charge of the ground is planning also to place contribution boxes on
the grounds of the World's Fair in St. Louis in 1904 for the purpose
of receiving contributions for the proposed Confederate monument
which it is desired to erect in Alton.
WILL STREW CAPE JASMINES OVER THE GRAVES OF CONFEDERATES
Source: Alton Evening Telegraph, May 28, 1902
Mr. H. J. Bowman today received a letter from Hon. W. H. Catts of
Granbury, Texas, formerly of Alton, saying that 1,000 bulbs of the
Cape Jasmine will be sent to Alton and will arrive Thursday. The
buds were collected in Texas by Mr. Catts to be strewed over the
graves of the Confederate dead at the North Alton Federal burying
ground. Mr. Bowman has turned the letter over to the members of
Alton Post, G. A. R., and that body will have charge of the
ceremonies at the Confederate burying ground. Mr. Catts has been
untiring in his efforts to raise funds for the proposed Blue and
Gray monument at Alton. He writes that he will take up the matter
anew, and will make fresh efforts to raise the fund, or to interest
all the Confederate veterans and the Union soldiers' posts with the
Daughters of the Confederacy and the Women's Relief corps. He
proposes that the shaft be made 150 feet high, surmounted by an
appropriate figure. The shaft, he is planning, will be made of
alternate blocks of granite to be given and inscribed with the names
of the contributing G. A. R., Confederate Veterans Posts, and the
women's organizations. He further suggests that the shaft be
surmounted by an electric light to be maintained at government
expense.
PROTEST OF AN OLD SOLDIER AGAINST A "BLUE AND GRAY" MONUMENT
Source: Alton Evening Telegraph, June 07, 1902
Editor Telegraph: It is with deep regret that I notice a movement is
inaugurated for the erection of a soldiers' monument to the Blue and
the Gray in Alton. In 1861 and 1865, the boys who were uniformed in
gray and butternut held in utter detestation the hated blue of the
Yankee army, while the gray uniforms that blended so harmoniously
with the undergrowth of the Southern swamps and forests, were as
bitterly hated by the boys who wore the blue. The fight was to the
bitter end. The brave rebels, Confederates if you please, fought
until exhausted in men and money. Those who gave up their lives gave
them in the hope of securing an independent confederacy. On the
other hand, the soldiers of the Union died in the hope of preserving
the Union of States as one country. Why then insult the memory of
those men of the South or the North by the erection of monuments
that are a lie against as brave men as ever were opposed to one
another. Why falsify history and give to coming generations the
impression that the war for the union was only a disagreement, when
no walking delegate was at hand to settle the difficulty? Erect
shafts of gray if you will, to the memory of the brave Confederates,
but as well might you twine the Stars and Bars and St. Andrew's
Cross with the Stars and Stripes as, under the influence of this
hypnotic charlatanism to go building monuments that are a lie
against men who deserve better, for it was no light matter to stand
with breast exposed to the bullets of so eminent foes. The living
soldiers of the Civil War need no artist to mix their colors. They
have nothing to forgive; nothing they wish to forget. It was war,
and they simply shot their hate away; buried it in old rows of corn
or cotton fields, or starved it in prisons. If the dead soldiers of
the South and North could speak, they would say, do not do this
thing. But if you will do it, why then, they are dead and cannot
help themselves. From An Old Soldier.
ALTON PEOPLE RECEIVE THANKS FOR GRAVE DECORATIONS
Source: Alton Evening Telegraph, June 20, 1902
Mr. H. J. Bowman has received from W. H. Catts a copy of some
resolutions of thanks tendered by the members of the camp to the
citizens of Alton and the members of Alton Post, G. A. R., for
decorating the graves in the Confederate cemetery at North Alton.
The communication extending the sincere thanks of the Southern
people, extended by the members of Granbury camp, Confederate
Veterans, is as follows:
Granbury, Texas, June 17, 1902. Devoutly Honored Members of G. A.
R., Alton, Illinois:
"We, as old Confederate Soldiers take special pleasure in thanking
the old soldiers, the citizens of Alton, and especially the ladies
for their remembrance to our unknown dead on Decoration Day. It is a
special pleasure for us to do this at this day, when the realization
of the past, the accomplishment of a work of the present, and the
needs of the future are passing in review - in recognition of the
founders of this organization. We feel our feebleness to express our
heartfelt thanks. Words are inadequate to express our pent-up
emotions in gratitude to those angels of mercy in remembering our
unknown dead. J. R. Morris, Acting Adjutant Granbury Camp, No. 67."
CONFEDERATE GRAVEYARD ATTRACTS ATTENTION AGAIN
Source: Alton Evening Telegraph, December 09, 1902
The St. Louis Post Dispatch of Sunday has the following item a part
of which is inaccurate: "An hour's ride from St. Louis near Alton,
there is a burial ground with unmarked graves of 1,600 American
soldiers. There is no monument, nothing whatever to identify this
sacred spot. It has been a common cattle pasture land for more than
30 years, and hoofs of animals and time have leveled down all the
little grass-grown mounds that once marked the graves of the brave
Confederate dead who died in Alton prison during the Civil War.
Women's sympathy has at last been enlisted in a manner that promises
to rectify the neglect that has nearly trodden the old cemetery out
of sight. A few weeks since, a party of noble women - Mrs. John A.
Lee, Mrs. William G. Moore, Mrs. Celeste Pim, and Mrs. Phil Chew,
constituting a committee of the St. Louis Chapter, Daughters of the
Confederacy - went to Alton, and after much difficulty in finding
the place, located and visited the grounds. Since then the site has
been enclosed with a temporary fence, and through an application to
be presented to Congress by Senator Cockrell and the Illinois
Senators, it is proposed to have the cemetery properly cared for. To
that end, the ladies of the St. Louis Chapter of the Daughters of
the Confederacy intend to devote the entire receipts of their annual
ball, to be held in the Masonic Hall in the Odeon building, Grand
and Finney avenues, Thursday evening, December 18."
The cemetery has been fenced for years, and there is certainly no
difficulty whatever in locating it. The dead in the cemetery are
remembered annually also, but the remembrance is manifested by
Republican gentlemen of Alton and Texas, and by the Alton G. A. R.
and W. R. C. All Altonians will remember the enthusiasm of H. J.
Bowman and his earnest efforts annual in this respect, and of the
cheerfulness with which ladies of the W. R. C. and G. A. R. braved
rain and other storms on Memorial days to visit the cemetery and
scatter flowers, many of which were sent from Texas by Hon. William
Catts, another Union soldier, for the purpose. The Government
reclaimed the cemetery and fixed the fences almost 10 years ago,
after an agitation started by the Alton Telegraph, and for which the
editor was abused and the North Alton correspondent pretty nearly
got a licking. It is time the Daughters of the Confederacy and the
sons of it too, were doing something in memory of their own dead. So
far all that has been done has been accomplished by Union people and
anti-secessionists.
DANCE HELD FOR CONFEDERATE CEMETERY MONUMENT
Source: Alton Evening Telegraph, December 15, 1902
A ball is to be given in St. Louis Thursday by the Daughters of the
Confederacy, and the proceeds devoted exclusively to beautifying the
Confederate Cemetery at North Alton. Mr. H. J. Bowman of this city
[Alton], who has been active in the work of interesting the public
in a plan of erecting a memorial monument at Alton to the wearers of
the Blue and Gray in the civil strife, has suggested a plan for
raising funds for the proposed monument at Alton, which may be taken
up by the members of the St. Louis chapter of the Daughters of the
Confederacy. The St. Louis members of the Daughters of the
Confederacy have taken interest in the plan to erect a monument, and
through them it is proposed to do most of the work of raising the
necessary fund, with the assistance of Alton people. Mr. Bowman
proposes that as the old Confederate Cemetery at North Alton was
neglected so long, the graves have been lost track of, that the
ground which constituted the old burying ground for Confederate
prisoners who died in the Alton prison be converted into a national
park, to be maintained as a site for a monument for the dead. It is
proposed to place in various parts of the country and on the grounds
of the Louisiana purchase exposition boxes to receive contributions
toward the fund to be raised. It is suggested that the monument be
built of alternate blue and gray blocks of granite, to be
contributed by the Confederate veterans and the G. A. R. posts
throughout the country and by other kindred organizations.
MORE CEMETERY HISTORY
Source: Alton Evening Telegraph, December 16, 1902
North Alton News - An Alton paper the other evening said that
between 200 and 300 Confederate dead are buried in North Alton. That
number is more than 1,000 short. Thirteen hundred and four were
interred here. Captain H. W. Hart of Alton had the contract for
burying the Confederate dead, and he had to keep an account of the
number. Michael Gleason, the well known Irishman, who up to a few
years ago lived on Piasa Street in Alton, was the sexton who did the
actual work of burying. He is yet living in St. Louis. Among those
buried here was a woman, Barbara Ann Donavan, whose sex was
discovered only after her death. Mr. Gleason could readily point out
the spot where her remains rest. H. J. Bowman of Alton was largely
instrumental in arousing the attention of the government to the
condition of the cemetery and its subsequent reclamation. He had a
plat of the cemetery made in 1899 at his own expense, which he
furnished the government, and Quartermaster Henry Nichols then of
St. Louis, succeeded shortly in having the grounds cleaned up and a
fence built. Mrs. Moore of St. Louis, President of the Daughters of
the Confederacy of Missouri, is still in correspondence with Mr.
Bowman and is receiving valuable aid and information from him.
SON OF CONFEDERATE DEAD WANTS TO FIND FATHER'S RESTING PLACE
Source: Alton Evening Telegraph, January 12, 1903
Mr. H. J. Bowman Monday received a letter from J. T. Ferguson, an
official of the Cotton Belt railroad at Shreveport, La., in which
the latter thanks Mr. Bowman for the great interest taken by him in
the Confederate Cemetery at North Alton. The writer's father, J. T.
Ferguson, died in the Alton prison in 1864, and investigation of the
roster here shows that "James Ferguson" died January 8, 1864. The
writer is anxious to know if his father's resting place can be
found. He adds that he expects to be in St. Louis within the next
month and will come to Alton and look over the Confederate Cemetery,
and closes by saying: "I have a great many friends who have
relatives buried in that cemetery, and will communicate with them in
order that they may learn of your kind and generous remembrance of
the Southern men who are buried there. We had been led to believe
that the resting places of our relatives had been entirely
obliterated and were told the river had cut through and washed away
many of the graves, and we are delighted beyond measure to learn
that such is not the case." Mr. Bowman will answer the letter at
once, and all persons having relatives buried here be notified of
the true condition of the cemetery.
IF CONFEDERATE GRAVE APPROPRIATION PASSES, NORTH ALTON CEMETERY
WILL BE ENTITLED TO $4,500
Source: Alton Evening Telegraph, January 17, 1903
If the bill appropriating a $100,000, introduced by Senator Foraker,
to provide for the appropriate marking of the graves of soldiers of
the Confederate army and navy, and directing the Secretary of War to
ascertain the localities and conditions of the graves of such
soldiers who died in the Federal prisons and military hospitals in
the north during the Civil War, and who were buried near the place
of confinement becomes a law, the cemetery at North Alton will be
entitled to about $4,500 of it. There are more than 1300
Confederates buried there, and it is proposed by the bill that $3.38
be expended to procure a suitable headstone for each grave. In the
case of the North Alton cemetery, it will be impossible to locate
individual graves notwithstanding the names of the dead are of
record, and the headstones at each grave would be of no use in
identifying the body below. The appropriation of $4,500 however,
when added to the amounts procured in other ways, such as suggested
by Mr. H. J. Bowman and the Daughters of the Confederacy, would
build a splendid monument besides furnishing the means of placing
the cemetery in first-class condition.
LETTER RECEIVED FROM PRESIDENT OF ST. LOUIS CHAPTER OF DAUGHTERS
OF THE CONFEDERACY
Source: Alton Evening Telegraph, January 20, 1903
Mr. H. J. Bowman is in receipt of a letter from Mrs. Eiolia T.
Moore, President of the St. Louis Chapter Daughters of the
Confederacy, in which she states that it is necessary to receive
permission from Congress before anything can be done toward
beautifying the Confederate Cemetery at North Alton. She says she
has written Congressmen Joy and Bartholdt of St. Louis, asking them
to secure the necessary consent so that work can begin at once, and
she requests Mr. Bowman to supplement her requests by personal
letters from Alton from the G. A. R. and W. R. C., and from himself.
She states that they have more than a thousand dollars in the
cemetery fund available now, and are very anxious to have
congressional action hastened in order that repair and decorative
work may begin in the early spring. Mr. Bowman, in addition to
writing as requested to Congressmen Joy and Bartholdt, has also
written to Senators Cullom and Mason and to Congressman Rodenberg,
requesting their cooperation and urging that they do all in their
power to hasten congressional consent.
TEXAS ENCAMPMENT G. A. R. ENDORSES MOVEMENT TO ERECT A BLUE AND
GRAY MONUMENT IN ALTON
Source: Alton Evening Telegraph, May 15, 1903
Mr. H. J. Bowman is in receipt of a letter from Granbury, Texas,
dated May 11, and written by Hon. W. H. Catts, in which the latter
states that he had ordered that day 1,500 Cape Jessamine buds be
sent to Mr. Bowman for use in decorating the graves in the
Confederate Cemetery in North Alton. Mr. Catts also writes that the
matter of erecting a blue and gray granite monument upon the site of
the old prison at Alton was unanimously approved by the Texas
Encampment G. A. R. held last week, and that department pledges its
support and encouragement to the movement to erect such a monument
as "typifying the fraternal relations now existing between old
soldiers of the north and south." Mr. Catts says he also requested
the Illinois Encampment G. A. R. at East St. Louis last week to
endorse the movement, but he failed to receive an answer from the
commander there and doesn't know what action was taken.
DAUGHTERS OF CONFEDERACY WILL ATTEND
Source: Alton Evening Telegraph, May 19, 1903
Mr. H. J. Bowman has received information that the St. Louis
chapter, Daughters of the Confederacy, will assist in decorating the
graves of the Confederate dead in North Alton. Mr. Bowman has held a
conference with members of the society, and they will hold a meeting
May 26, at which they will make arrangement for coming to Alton on
that day and strewing the flowers sent by Texas people for the
Confederate graves.
CONFEDERATE DEAD REMEMBERED
Source: Alton Evening Telegraph, June 03, 1903
Ceremonies in memory of the Confederate dead buried in the old
cemetery at North Alton were held Wednesday afternoon. Veterans of
the G. A. R., ladies and gentlemen of Alton and North Alton, a squad
of Naval Militia, including the gun crew, attended the ceremonies.
The Naval Militia, under command of Ensign Sam Darnell, fired the
salute to the dead. On a pyramid of rock a white cross was erected,
and the cross was garlanded with green by ladies of Alton. The
monument was erected on a hilltop where the graves were thickest.
There the audience gathered to listen to the program and to decorate
the monument, which was symbolic of "The Rock of Ages." The
attendance at the ceremonies was large, notwithstanding threatened
rain and the fact that the St. Louis delegation failed to arrive.
The monument presented a very pretty appearance when the decoration
was finished. The following program was given:
Singing - "Nearer My God to Thee"
Prayer - Rev. Dr. D. E. Bushnell
Address - Rev. H. M. Chittenden
Salute to the Dead
Address - Rev. M. H. Ewers
Address - Hon. W. H. Catts
Address - John Armstrong
DAUGHTERS OF CONFEDERACY ORGANIZED - FIRST ONE IN THE STATE OF
ILLINOIS
Source: Alton Evening Telegraph, June 20, 1904
Illinois has not, hitherto, proved good ground for the flourishing
of the Society of the Daughters of the Confederacy, but a chapter
has been organized in Alton which is the first chapter of the
society in this State. The charter issued by the head council of the
society at Nashville bears the name Alton Chapter, but there is a
probability the name will be changed to commemorate the deeds of
some Confederates here of the members. The officers elected are:
Mrs. John N. Drummond, president; Mrs. Mary Bulkley and Mrs. Charles
Collins, vice-presidents; Mrs. S. H. Gregory, secretary; Mrs. Anna
Hill Cunningham, treasurer. A meeting will be held July 1 at the
home of Captain G. W. Hill, when the society will adjourn for the
summer. The purpose of the ladies is to provide for the care of the
Confederate burying ground at North Alton.
DISTINGUISHED SOUTHERN PEOPLE TO VISIT CONFEDERATE CEMETERY
Source: Alton Evening Telegraph, June 21, 1904
A party of distinguished Texans, numbering about twenty, and
including Frances R. Lubbock, aged 94, the first president of the
Texas republic; Roger Q. Mills of Austin, Texas; Col. William Farley
of Ft. Worth; General Alexander M. Wharton of Paris; and others,
will be in Alton tomorrow to visit the old Confederate burying
ground at North Alton. Ex-President Lubbock is a venerable gentleman
who is in St. Louis with fifteen members of the Texas delegation to
the Democratic National convention and to visit the World's Fair.
While in St. Louis they decided to make a trip to Alton, and Gen.
Wharton was in Alton today to see Mr. H. J. Bowman and to make
arrangements for the party here. Gen. Wharton went to Godfrey to
visit his niece, who is staying at Monticello Seminary. Ex-President
Lubbock is one of the distinguished men in the State of Texas. He is
looked upon as the father of the Democratic party there, and was
brought to St. Louis by his enthusiastic friends who promised to
take good care of him and to return the highly esteemed citizen of
the state. He was chosen president of Texas in 1839, serving one
year, after which Gen. Sam Houston was chosen president and filled
the office until Texas entered the union in 1845. Gen. Wharton had
heard of Mr. H. J. Bowman in connection with his efforts in behalf
of the Confederate Cemetery at North Alton being reclaimed and he
said that he made the trip to Alton to grasp Mr. Bowman's hand. All
the other members of the party are much interested in what the Alton
people have been doing in behalf of the beautifying and reclamation
of the abandoned burying ground, and for that reason Alton will be
honored with the visit of the distinguished Texans tomorrow, if the
weather is favorable.
VISITED CONFEDERATE GRAVES
Source: Alton Evening Telegraph, June 27, 1904
D. C. Long, a distinguished looking southerner who is doing the
World's Fair, came up to Alton yesterday for the purpose of visiting
the Confederate Cemetery at North Alton, and he was placed in charge
of Henry Mayo, who acted as guide. Mr. Long did not say he had any
relatives buried here, but he spent several hours in the cemetery
and was very anxious to learn all that he could of those buried
there. He returned to St. Louis last evening after calling on Mr. H.
J. Bowman and thanking him for the very active part that gentleman
has always taken in the reclamation of the cemetery.
GLEASON, MICHAEL/Source: Alton Evening Telegraph, August 02, 1904
Man Who Buried Confederate Prisoners of War in North Alton Passes
Away
Michael Gleason, who for more than sixty years was a well known
figure about Alton, died Monday evening in St. Louis, aged 92 years.
He and his wife left Alton, where they yet own considerable
property, for St. Louis to make their home with their daughters
about six years ago. All of the oldest citizens knew and liked
"Mike" Gleason. He was genial, good-natured, accommodating and
industrious, with no enemies, and when he was far past 80 years of
age he did a fairly good day's work with his shovel on the streets.
Mr. Gleason was the sexton of the Confederate Cemetery during the
War of the Rebellion, having been engaged by the late Captain H. W.
Hart, who had the contract for burying all of the prisoners of war
who died in the Alton prison. The actual burying was done by Mr.
Gleason, and he was assisted in digging the graves by the late James
Hannigan, father of Mrs. Mary Quinn of this city. He was probably
the only one who knew the exact spot in the cemetery where lies the
remains of the Confederate prisoner of war, who after death was
discovered to be a woman, and Captain Hart used to relate how Mr.
Gleason rebelled at burying her among the men in the "rebel"
grounds, his idea being that because she was of the sex of his
mother, she should be buried in consecrated ground, and for years it
is said after the war he saw that her grave was not neglected, and
up to the time he left Alton he frequently went to the cemetery to
strew flowers over the place he placed her body so many years
before. The place may be identified by this very practice of Mr.
Gleason, as the North Alton children sometimes accompanied him on
his visits, and it is stated that one of them, now a business man of
this city, does remember the spot well. A movement was started
several months ago by those interested to have Mr. Gleason come up
from St. Louis and locate the grave so that it could be properly
cared for in future, but the matter was neglected until now it is
too late. Mr. Gleason leaves his wife and two daughters, Mrs. Mary
Gerrity and Miss B. Gleason of St. Louis. The funeral will be from
the Cathedral Wednesday at 10 o'clock a.m., the body arriving from
St. Louis a short time before that hour.
MANY DAUGHTERS OF THE CONFEDERACY VISIT ALTON BURYING GROUND
Source: Alton Evening Telegraph, June 03, 1905
There was a large attendance of St. Louis ladies at the decoration
of the old Confederate burying ground in North Alton this afternoon.
The ladies arrived in Alton on the noon C. & A. train from St. Louis
and went to the home of Capt. G. W. Hill, where luncheon was served
to them by the ladies of the Alton chapter of the Daughters of the
Confederacy. The visitors paraded the streets for a short distance
carrying an old Confederate banner, probably the first such flag
ever seen by many Alton people of the younger generation. Many
beautiful flowers were received from southern chapters of the
Daughters of the Confederacy, and there was enough flowers to make a
good showing in the old cemetery. Today was adopted by the ladies as
decoration day because of it being the anniversary of the birth of
Jefferson Davis. A good program had been prepared for the occasion
and it was carried out as planned. The party of visitors numbered
about 85 persons, and about 75 percent of them were women, members
of the Daughters of the Confederacy. At the cemetery a large number
of Alton people had gathered, among the number being many Union
veterans who carried bouquets of flowers and listened attentively to
the address of Capt. Frank Gaiennie of St. Louis. Miss Slifer gave
several recitations, the naval militia gun crew fired a salute and
the audience sang "America." The Colonial band furnished the music.
The Alton ladies were disappointed in the amount of southern flowers
sent for the decoration day ceremonies, but some of the southern
chapters sent contributions of money with which flowers were bought.
The ladies were delighted with this, the first decoration day, that
the St. Louis ladies could participate in the ceremonies.
DAUGHTERS OF CONFEDERACY GETS CUSTODY OF CEMETERY
Source: Alton Evening Telegraph, September 29, 1905
Mrs. S. H. Gregory of the Sam Davis Chapter, Daughters of the
Confederacy, has received word from the U. S. Quartermaster's
department that the request of the Sam Davis Chapter that they be
given custody of the old Confederate burying ground at North Alton
has been granted. The Quartermaster's department grants the request
with the full belief that the ladies of the chapter will be able to
take better care of the grounds than could be done under government
supervision alone. The allowance from the government for caring for
the grounds will be doubled this year, and the ladies will be
allowed to pick the superintendent of the grounds and supervise the
work. A committee to have charge of this work will be appointed, and
they will assume responsibility at once for the expenditure of the
money allowed by the government to keep the grounds in good
condition.
ONE HUNDRED TREES PLANTED ON CONFEDERATE BURYING GROUND
Source: Alton Evening Telegraph, April 10, 1906
About one hundred trees were planted yesterday on the Confederate
burying ground at North Alton, under the direction of the Daughters
of the Confederacy. The trees were sold by William Jackson of
Godfrey. They are weeping willows, maples, elms and other fast
growing trees which will soon change the place into a shaded grove.
STEALING SOD FROM GOVERNMENT CEMETERY AT NORTH ALTON
Source: Alton Evening Telegraph, May 02, 1906
Someone who does not realize that Uncle Sam is the proprietor of the
cemetery at North Alton where the Confederate dead are buried has
been stealing sod from the cemetery. It is thought that about three
loads have been taken from the premises to the injury of the
grounds. No one has any right to take either sod or shrubbery
therefrom, and the penalty is not light for such an act. It is
probably doubtful as to whether the parties who cut this sod from
the grounds are aware of what a relentless prosecutor Uncle Sam is.
They will no doubt be more intelligent on this subject in a short
time, as the United States Quartermaster at St. Louis, who is in
charge of the cemetery, has been informed of the vandalism. The
ladies of Alton and St. Louis who have been authorized by the U. S.
authorities to care for the cemetery have been making an endeavor to
beautify the grounds and have started this spring to add trees and
shrubs and to cut the grass. It was while attending to this duty
that the theft of the sod was discovered. The parties who took the
sod can probably make their punishment lighter by quietly returning
other sod and placing it on the denuded spots.
CONFEDERATE MEMORIAL EXERCISES AT CEMETERY
Source: Alton Evening Telegraph, June 01, 1906
The members of Sam Davis chapter, United Daughters of the
Confederacy, will observe tomorrow as Memorial Day. The birthday
anniversary of Robert E. Lee, usually observed as Confederate
Memorial Day, falls on Sunday, so the Alton ladies will go to the
cemetery at North Alton on Saturday afternoon and there strew
flowers. The ladies are saving the money they have to spend it in
making improvements on the old burying ground and get it in first
class condition. The ladies have requested any persons who care to
give flowers to leave them at police headquarters by 2 o'clock
Saturday afternoon. The cars will leave for the cemetery at 2:30
o'clock tomorrow afternoon carrying those who desire to do. Services
will be brief, but everyone is invited to attend.
ALTON DAUGHTERS OF CONFEDERACY WILL LEAD IN WORK TO MARK GRAVES
OF DEAD CONFEDERATES
Source: Alton Evening Telegraph, November 28, 1906
Mrs. G. J. Grommet has arrived home from Gulfport, Mississippi,
where she attended the meeting of the United Daughters of the
Confederacy, and she brought back word that the Alton Chapter will
take the lead in forming an Illinois division embracing the three
chapters of the state, of which the Alton chapter is the first and
oldest. Mrs. Grommet said that the matter of putting the Alton
Confederate burying ground in good condition was taken up by the
United Daughters of Confederacy, and that it was decided to ask
Congress for a special appropriation. There is an appropriation for
making the graves of Confederate dead in the north, but as the
graves at Alton cannot be identified it will hardly be possible to
get the Alton cemetery in on the division of this fund, so the
society will ask Congress to make a special appropriation for that
purpose. The Alton chapter will meet next Tuesday with Mrs. Grommet
at her home, Fifteenth and Henry streets, and will at that meeting
consider conferring crosses of honor on three Confederate veterans
who have made application for them, which will be done January 19.
The Alton chapter of the U. D. C. will not make any move toward
fixing up the Confederate burying ground until the commissioner in
charge of the fund for marking graves of Confederate dead visits
Alton to look over the burying ground and get an idea of the
situation here.
FEDERAL OFFICER HERE TO MARK GRAVES
Complete Roster of all Prisoners Who Were Buried at Alton Found in
War Department
Source: Alton Evening Telegraph, June 22, 1907
Hon. William Elliott, a United States Commissioner appointed to
carry out the provisions of an act of Congress passed one year ago,
appropriating $200,000 for the purpose of marking the graves of
Confederate soldiers who died in United States prison during the
Civil War, arrived in Alton this morning, accompanied by his clerk,
L. F. Nye. Mr. Elliott was a member of Congress for fourteen years,
representing the Charleston district, but his home is now at
Columbia, South Carolina. When seen at the Madison Hotel today, Mr.
Elliott was ill, but he expected to be able to get out in a few days
and will begin making an investigation which he believes will result
in the identification of every grave in the old Confederate burial
ground in this city, and he will then authorize the placing of
marble headstones at each grave, with the name of the person buried
there, and the number of his company and regiment. Mr. Elliott made
the statement that since the passage of the act appropriating the
money to pay for the headstones, two big volumes were found in the
war department, records of the Commissary General of Prisons, giving
the names, the company and regiment of every Confederate prisoner of
war who died and war buried at Alton. It was not known that these
volumes were in existence. Mr. Elliott said that he will rely upon
this record to give the names of the dead, and taking this clue and
with the assistance of Alton people, and especially the members of
the Sam Davis chapter, United Daughters of Confederacy, he will
succeed in his work. He expects to be here for some time. It is
desired by Mr. Elliott that all old citizens of Alton who know
anything of the burial of the dead in the Confederate cemetery give
what information they have. It is believed that it will be possible
to identify the dead by finding out where a beginning was made and
then by proceeding along the rows, mark each grave in order. There
are sixty of these Confederate burial grounds in the country,
scattered from Boston to New Mexico. The Alton burial ground is one
of the largest. Mr. Elliott, who was a confederate soldier, was
appointed commissioner because it was believed he would take a great
interest in the work. He has just completed marking graves at
Elmira, N. Y. The Alton cemetery is the first he will visit in
Illinois. Others will be visited at Springfield, Chicago and other
places. Mr. Elliott's headquarters will be at the Madison hotel, and
he desires to meet any persons there who can give him information.
He conferred this morning with officers of Sam Davis chapter, United
Daughters of the Confederacy. Mr. Nye visited the old burial ground
this afternoon to make a preliminary survey of the ground.
MONUMENT TO BE ERECTED IN CONFEDERATE CEMETERY
Source: Alton Evening Telegraph, January 09, 1909
The United States government will erect at Alton a monument to mark
the resting place of the ____ [unreadable] confederate soldiers and
sailors who died in the prison at Alton between the years 1862-65.
Postmaster Henry Brueggemann today received a circular from the
Commissioner for Marking Confederate Graves, asking him to post the
circular in the post office, in which the commissioner makes known
the plan and purpose of the proposed monument and calls for bids for
the same. The circular states that the monument is to be a marker
for the graves of the 1353 Confederate soldiers and sailors who died
in the Alton prison and were buried in the old burying ground,
reclaimed a few years ago by the War Department from a cow pasture.
The notice says the monument is to be 20 to 30 feet in height, and
is to be constructed of crystalline marble or granite. It is not
decided whether the names of the Confederates will be carved in the
marble or cast in bronze, but it is specified that the lettering
shall be large enough to be plainly legible at a reasonable
distance. The names and the rank, if other than privates, of the
persons buried there will be inscribed, together with the company
and regiment. There will be an appropriate inscription or an
architrave, in larger letters, setting forth the fact that the
monument is erected to mark properly the resting place of the
soldiers who died as prisoners of war at Alton. The names are to be
carved on four sides of the monument. The cost is not to exceed
$5,500. The bidder must submit a design for the monument. It is
further specified that the contractor may employ no convict labor,
nor shall the men work more than eight hours a day in its
construction. No sub-contractors will be recognized. The bids will
be opened February 15th by W. C. Oates, the commissioner at
Washington D. C. This monument will mark the place which the
Telegraph first called attention to as one which should be rescued
from its use as a pasture at that time. Subsequently interest was
taken by Alton people in the project, and a former Union soldier and
former resident of Alton, William Catts of Granbury, Texas,
interested southern people in the cemetery. Members of Alton post,
G. A. R., first helped to decorate the cemetery, under the direction
of Mrs. S. Demuth, who is the wife of a Union soldier. Recently the
property was turned over to the members of Sam Davis chapter, United
Daughters of the Confederacy. Over a year ago the city was visited
by the commissioner for marking Confederate graves, and he found the
names of the persons buried there in an old book in the archives of
the War Department. These names will be carved on the monument.
WILL ERECT FENCE AROUND BURYING GROUND
Source: Alton Evening Telegraph, May 24, 1909
The Telegraph has received from William C. Cates, commissioner for
marking graves, a circular announcing that bids will be received by
him at Washington, D. C., up to June 21, for the building of an iron
fence around the Confederate burying ground at Alton, which has been
reclaimed as a Federal cemetery. The fence is to be 1, 460 feet long
and will be wrought iron, the bidders to furnish a design of the
fence. The specifications require that the fence shall be five feet
in height, with pointed pickets of iron, five-eights of an inch in
diameter. The post are to be set in concrete. A gate 10 feet in
width will be made also. The contract has been awarded, it will be
remembered, for building a monument to cost not over $5,000, on
which will be inscribed the name and rank of all the Confederate
prisoners who died at Alton and were buried in the cemetery. So far
as known, the plan of identifying the graves has been given up as
impracticable. The contractor for the monument is having the stone
for constructing it prepared, and as soon as material arrives, which
must be properly carved or inscribed in stone or bronze, the work of
erecting the monument will be begun.
REMAINS OF CONFEDERATE DEAD RE-INTERRED IN COFFINS IN FOUNDATION
OF MONUMENT, AFTER BEING FOUND WRAPPED IN BLANKETS IN SHALLOW GRAVE
Source: Alton Evening Telegraph, August 12, 1909
Work of excavating for the foundation for the monument to be erected
for the Confederate dead in the North Side cemetery was started
yesterday by the contracting firm, the Van Amringe Granite Co. of
Boston. Members of Sam Davis chapter, U. D. C. of Alton, went to the
burying ground to look after the locating of the monument, and after
it was staked out and excavations started, the workmen dug up the
remains of two Confederate soldiers buried only 2 1/2 feet in the
ground. The skeletons were still wrapped in the blankets in which
they were interred, and the blankets were in good condition,
considering they had been in the ground forty-five years. There were
still remnants of the cedar coffins in which the bodies had been
buried. The remains were gathered up, and today were reinterred
under the direction of the members of Sam Davis Chapter, Mrs. G. J.
Grommet being in charge. The monument, designed by the contractor,
will consist mainly of a granite column and will be 57 feet in
height. At the base will be four wing walls on the face of which
will be affixed bronze tablets bearing the names of the 2,600
Confederates who were buried in the cemetery, with the rank of each
of the dead. The base of the monument will be 13 feet 6 inches
square, and the foundations will be of concrete. The materials for
erecting the monument have been prepared at Boston, and were shipped
from there August 3. They will arrive here in a few days and it is
expected that the monument will be completed in thirty days. The
members of Sam Davis chapter, U. D. C. have raised a fund to pay for
a stone entrance to the grounds, and they expect to have the formal
ceremony of unveiling the monument and unveiling the entrance at the
same time. The government will also build an iron fence around the
property. Today, the Daughters of the Confederacy had the bones of
the two soldiers put in a walnut case and interred in the
foundations of the monument, together with some matters of
historical interest and some relics. Mrs. G. J. Grommet today
confirmed the story that in the burial ground is interred a woman
who enlisted as a confederate soldier, was captured and confined as
a man in the Alton prison and died there. Her name was Barbara Ann
Duravan, and her sex was discovered only at the time of her death.
Her home is not known, nor is the place of her interment. The ladies
have been very desirous of finding the place of her burial, as they
would be glad to make some mark of distinction for her, but so far
they have been unsuccessful. A. E. Amedon represents the
contractors, the Van Amringe Granite Co. of Boston. He said today
that the monument would consist of a granite obelisk 57 feet from
tip of cap to the ground. The base of the principal column will be 4
feet, 4 inches square, and will sit on a series of four bases and a
plinth arranged in step form. There will be eight bronze tablets,
each 3 feet 6 inches by 5 feet, on the base, and an inscription
tablet on the face which will look toward the east.
NOTE: According to the book "They Fought Like Demons: Women Soldiers
in the American Civil War," by De Anne Blanton & Lauren M. Cook, pg.
188, "a civilian female inmate who died at Alton Military Prison was
posthumously promoted into the soldier ranks in 1909, when a
newspaper article about a proposed monument at the prison site in
Alton chronicled the sad story of "Barbara Duravan," [sic] a woman
so "strong in the belief of the Southern cause" that she served as a
private in the Army of Northern Virginia. In reality, Barbara Ann
Dunavan was a poor and illiterate Tennessee woman who was
court-martialed for smuggling revolvers to the Confederate army.
Convicted of the charge, she was sent to Alton, where she died of
smallpox."
BUILDERS OF CONFEDERATE MONUMENT UNEARTH LOT OF BONES, INCLUDING
FIVE OR SIX SKULLS
Source: Alton Evening Telegraph, August 19, 1909
The men in charge of erecting the monument to the memory of the
Confederate dead, who were buried in the old military prison at
North Alton, are making excellent progress now with the job. The
concrete foundation is being put in and a derrick has been rigged up
and placed over the excavation preparatory to erecting the granite
superstructure. The superintendent in charge has a force of eight or
ten men at work today, and it is expected that this will be
increased as needed. The monument will be a very pretty one it is
said, and when the system of improvements planned for the cemetery
is completed, the favorable difference in the looks of things and in
fact over the old way will be so distinct that everybody will be
pleased. Tuesday in completing the excavation for the base of the
monument the excavators encountered the remains of five or six more
of the dead soldiers, the skulls being in the best condition.
Particles of blankets in which the bodies had been wrapped,
evidently, were found also, and everything was gathered up carefully
and placed in a box to be re-interred later. The site of the
monument is on the highest point in the cemetery and must have been
the burial place of the soldiers dying last, according to old
residents who say the first interments were made in other parts of
the burial plot - - parts furthest removed from the then entrance to
the "city of the dead." The monument will be plainly seen from State
street, and the Daughters of the Confederacy are planning to get
permanently an entrance to the grounds over private property to
avoid going down in the valley for a gateway, where the entrance
would be obscured by a dip of the ground.
CONFEDERATE MONUMENT BUILDING STARTED - BOX IMBEDDED IN CONCRETE
BASE CONTAINING ARTICLES OF MEMORIAL NATURE
Source: Alton Evening Telegraph, August 23, 1909
Work of laying the foundation for the Confederate monument in the
North Side Confederate burying ground was started today. The
contractors who are erecting the monument have been delayed in
getting to work by a failure of the contractors for the crushed
stone to furnish it. Today, Mr. Amedon, who represents the
contracting firm, notified the members of Sam Davis chapter, U. C.
D., that if they desired to put a metallic box in the concrete
foundations they might do so. The ladies procured various articles
of a memorial nature, among them copies of the daily newspapers of
current date, the constitution of Sam Davis chapter, and other
things that may be interesting in the future. These were put in a
box and the whole was buried in the concrete. The material for
erecting the monument above the surface of the ground in coming in
and no more time will be lost. Within a few weeks, the contractor
thinks, he ought to be able to have the monument finished.
CONFEDERATE MONUMENT COMPLETED
Source: Alton Evening Telegraph, September 17, 1909
The Confederate monument in the old burying ground in the North Side
has been completed by the contractors. All that remains to be
finished now is tidying up the grounds, laying sod around the
monument and putting on the finishing touches. The monument is a
handsome ornament to the old cemetery. The material of which the
monument is consulted [sic] is granite. The column is made of
granite blocks which have an iron pipe through the middle for an air
shaft. This was done for the reason that a hollow shaft is much more
durable than a solid one, and will be less likely to be injured by
windstorms, having a better chance to vibrate. The column is 57 feet
in height four wing walls at the base on which are placed the bronze
tablets bearing the names of the Confederate soldiers who were
buried there. There is another tablet on the ____ that tells for
what purpose the monument was erected. The monument will be a
lasting one, as the materials used are the very best. In joining the
blocks of granite, cement was used as it has been found impractical
to use lead. It is said that in case of lightning striking the
monument, as past experience has shown, the lead would be blasted
out of the crevices by a bolt of lightning. Mr. Amedon,
superintendent for the contracting firm, says he saw such an
occurrence on the battlefield of Gettysburg, where there was not an
ounce of lead left in a monument that was hit by lightning. The iron
fence contracted for, will be put around the cemetery in a short
time, and then the members of Sam Davis chapter, U. D. C., will
begin the erection of the stone gateway they have planned.
WOMEN'S NAMES DO NOT APPEAR ON BRONZE TABLETS IN CONFEDERATE
CEMETERY
Source: Alton Evening Telegraph, December 27, 1909
The work of setting up the seven bronze tablets on the Confederate
monument in the North Side was started today. August Donler, of
Indianapolis, who was employed by the Van Amringe company to finish
the monument by putting on the bronze tablets, arrived yesterday and
started his task this morning. It is a cold, difficult job. The
ground, covered with snow, afforded some assistance in moving the
tablets around, but the cold, biting wind that was blowing made it
very difficult to work. It is necessary to drill 56 holes in the
granite blocks which will carry the tablets. There will be one
tablet on the east and one of the west side of the base, and two
each on the north and south sides, and one tablet to be set higher
up, telling for what purpose the monument was erected. The tablet
says that the monument is erected to mark the burial place of 1,354
Confederate soldiers who died at the Alton prison and at the
smallpox hospital across the river on McPike's island, whose places
of burial cannot be identified. The names of the dead are cast in
relief in letters a half an inch in height and are easily legible.
The rank and the company and regiment of each of the dead is given.
A Telegraph representative was on the ground and inspected the
tablets closely, but so far as could be ascertained, the names of
neither of the two women who were reported to have died in the
prison were distinguished on the tablets. If the names appear there,
they are disguised by using only initials of the given names, and
therefore it cannot be definitely known whether or not they were
included in the list of whose names are put there. Some confusion as
to their proper names has arisen, and this may account for the
failure to identify them. According to the tradition, two women who
enlisted as men in the Confederate army were captured and died at
Alton. If this is true, it is evidently no part of the record from
which the names were taken, or they were not marked as women.
WAR DEPARTMENT WILL LEVEL GRAVES IN CEMETERY
Source: Alton Evening Telegraph, February 06, 1911
The Telegraph has received a notice which will be given to
interested bidders, that the Confederate Cemetery will be graded,
the depressions over the graves leveled off, and the surface of the
cemetery smoothed so no outlines of graves will be visible. A large
quantity of tiling will be laid to drain the ground properly. The
place where grading will be done will be sodded or planted in grass.
Bids will be opened February 23 at Washington, D. C., by the
Commissioner for Marking Graves of Confederate Dead.
SOUTHERN STATES WOULD SEND CARLOAD OF FLOWERS HERE
Source: Alton Evening Telegraph, February 7, 1911
C. W. Milnor, police commissioner, has received a letter and some
newspapers from Abilene, Texas, indicating that a movement is on
foot in the south to have a formal dedication of the new monument
and the reclaimed burial grounds at the old Confederate Cemetery in
the North Side. The resolutions adopted at a Confederate camp
meeting at Abilene last Sunday were to the effect that a carload of
flowers be sent to Alton to decorate the cemetery, and that a
delegation be appointed to accompany them and co-operate with the
Alton Daughters of the Confederacy and Alton citizens, in having a
proper observance at the dedication of the monument and grounds. The
Confederate camps will ask the state of Texas to appropriate a sum
of money to pay the expenses, and Oklahoma, Arkansas, Louisiana and
other southern states are expected to co-operate. Mr. Milnor, some
time ago, sent to Mr. [Morris R.] Locke, a former resident of Jersey
county and a newspaper writer, a picture of the Confederate monument
at Alton, and related some of the history of its being there. Mr.
Locke had been interested long ago in having the cemetery reclaimed,
and did much by his writings in the St. Louis Republic while he was
a resident of Jerseyville. He succeeded in getting an investigation
made, but the plan was deemed impractical at that time, owing to the
fact that beside the Confederate prisoners, there were convicts,
political and other prisoners buried in the cemetery. Another reason
was that the burying ground on McPike Island, where part of the
prisoners were buried, has been almost washed away. Mr. Locke was
delighted to know his pet project of years ago had been realized,
and that it would be possible to have a formal dedication of the
cemetery. The local chapter of the Daughters of the Confederacy may
communicate with Mr. Locke at Abilene, Texas, where he is president
of the Colorado, Texas and Mexico railroad company.
TEXAS WOMAN AND SON LEARN THE FATE OF HUSBAND/FATHER AFTER NEARLY
A HALF CENTURY
Source: Alton Evening Telegraph, April 03, 1911
In Putnam, Tex., a wife now knows that she is a widow, after nearly
half a century of wondering and waiting. She has found that her
husband's body is buried at Alton, but for many years she did not
know what had become of him. Doubtless there never entered her mind
a thought that her husband had been faithless to her and had
abandoned her, although that might have been a conclusion she could
have reached. Her husband was a Confederate soldier, and was among
those who were buried in the old burying ground in Alton. Some time
ago the Telegraph told of some correspondence between C. W. Milnor
and Morris R. Locke of Abilene, Tex. Mr. Milnor had written to Mr.
Locke, a former Jersey county resident and newspaper man, concerning
the Confederate monument erected here by the Government. Mr. Locke
immediately started a movement to have a big observance of the
dedication of the monument at Alton, June 3, and through his efforts
considerable interest was aroused. Mr. Milnor, at Mr. Locke's
request, went to the burying ground one cold day, and copied off the
bronze tablets the names of the Texas soldiers buried in the
cemetery. This list he sent to Mr. Lock, who had it published in the
Dallas News. Mr. Milnor has received a communication from Mr. Locke,
inclosing a very interesting letter that was sent to him by J. F.
Stephens of Putnam, Tex., which Mr. Milnor was requested by Mr.
Locke to have published in the Telegraph. The letter telling its own
story of long waiting with no tidings, and finally the long delayed
news of the death of a husband and father being received is as
follows:
Morris R. Locke, Abilene, Tex. Dear Sir: I write you to let you know
that through your communication with C. W. Milnor of Alton, Ill., I
have found out the whereabouts of my father, Henry M. Stephens,
whose name appears in the list of dead soldiers (buried at Alton).
My father was a volunteer from Kaufman county, Tex. He was detailed
to take care of a sick man in Louisiana and started to the company,
but was never heard from again. His absence has always been a source
of sadness to my mother, who is still alive and in her 76th year. I
never remember seeing my father, as I was born in 1861. I certainly
wish I could make the trip and be with them on June 3, next, for I
have wondered many times what became of my father. Yours truly, J.
F. Stephens.
WILLIAM D. MILLER
Custodian of Confederate Cemetery for 50 Years
Source: Alton Evening Telegraph, June 16, 1915
William D. Miller was born August 14, 1871, in Alton. In the early
years of his life, he worked with his father, Daniel Miller, at the
carriage factory on Belle Street. Upon his father’s death, he took
over the business until it was closed due to the introduction of the
automobile. He became associated with the McKee Brothers in a feed
store on Belle Street, and then was in the poultry and egg business.
He opened an automobile storage garage where his father’s carriage
factory had been. After he closed the garage down [the building no
longer exists], at the age of 81 he became supervisor of a used car
lot.
William also was the custodian for 50 years of the Confederate
Cemetery on Rozier Street in North Alton. He took over the care of
the cemetery from the Daughters of the Confederacy, of which his
mother was an active member. He also aided in supervising the moving
of soldiers’ bodies to the National Cemetery when it was established
about 1936. After he retired from this position in 1957, he was
given a government citation from the U.S. Army Cemetery Division.
William Miller died May 29, 1961, and was buried in the Upper Alton
Oakwood Cemetery.