Topographical Map of the Original District of Columbia and Environs Showing the Fortifications Around the City of Washington (Library of Congress)

Fall brings changing leaves and, for some, an appetite for visiting graveyards. Holidays like Halloween and Day of the Dead inspire us to walk among these final resting places.

Clara Barton passed away in her Glen Echo, Maryland, home on April 12, 1912. Her body was transported to North Oxford, Massachusetts, where she was buried in the Barton family plot at North Cemetery (498 MA-12, Oxford, MA 01540).

While we could not make it to North Oxford to visit her this month, many of Clara’s friends, companions, and contemporaries are buried in the cemeteries of the Washington, D.C.-area. In the spirit of the season, we’ve left the museum to visit some of them. If you follow the Clara Barton Missing Soldiers Office Museum on social media, you may have seen our weekly posts in October. If not, you can catch up:

here,

here,

here,

and here!

Glenwood Cemetery
Address: 2219 Lincoln Rd NE, Washington, DC 20002
Graves of interest: Almira Fales, Alexander Gardner, Constantino Brumidi

Gravesite of Alexander Gardner (Madeleine Thompson)

Glenwood Cemetery is located in Washington’s Edgewood neighborhood in Northwest D.C. Opened in 1854, the cemetery predates the Civil War by several years. Glenwood is the only cemetery in Washington, D.C., to have been part of a Supreme Court Case. In 1883, Close v. Glenwood Cemetery, a dispute between the original 12 investors was settled by the nation’s highest court in favor of the other 11.

Congressional Cemetery
Address: 1801 E Street, Southeast, Washington, DC 20003
Graves of Interest: Dr. Richard Henry Coolidge, Mathew Brady, Goldsmith Bailey.

Since April 4, 1807, Congressional Cemetery has served as a burial ground for Washington, D.C. More than 70,000 individuals are buried or memorialized at the cemetery, including many who helped form the nation and Washington, D.C., in the early 19th century. When the historic cemetery fell into disrepair in the 20th century, neighborhood dog-walkers organized to save and restore it. Dog are welcome here and frequently spotted.

Gravesite of Mathew Brady (Roy Blumenfeld)

Rock Creek Cemetery
Address: 201 Allison St NW, Washington, DC 20011
Graves of Interest: Edward Shaw, Montgomery Blair, Edward Townsend

Rock Creek Cemetery is the city’s oldest and predates the existence of the United States! It was opened in 1719 for the British colony of Maryland. It was designated as a public cemetery in 1840. The cemetery’s iron gate may look familiar; it was replicated in the 1970s for use in the garden behind the Smithsonian Castle.

Gravesite of Edward Shaw (Madeleine Thompson)

Arlington National Cemetery
Address: 1 Memorial Avenue, Fort Myer, VA 22211
Graves of Interest: Daniel H. Rucker, Samuel D. Sturgis, Dr. Thomas McParlin, James M. Moore, Dr. William Hammond, Montgomery Meigs, Juliet Opie Hopkins, Anita Newcomb McGee, Jonathan Letterman, Section 27, Civil War Unknowns, Tomb of the Unknown Soldier

Arlington National Cemetery was established during the Civil War on May 13, 1864. The ground, located just across the river from Washington, D.C. on Arlington Heights, was chosen by Quartermaster Montgomery Meigs. Unlike other places we’ve visited, Arlington National Cemetery is a military cemetery and contains more than 400,000 graves.

More people from Clara’s orbit are buried here than anywhere else in the area. That should come as no surprise, given all the people she met during her involvement in the war effort.

Gravesite of Jonathan Letterman (Madeleine Thompson)

About the Authors

Roy Blumenfeld is a history enthusiast and volunteer docent at the Clara Barton Missing Soldiers Office Museum. He holds a BS in Political Science from Appalachian State University.

Madeleine Thompson is the Site Administrator of the Clara Barton Missing Soldiers Office Museum. She holds a BA in Political Science from West Virginia University and a MA in Sexual Dissidence from the University of Sussex.

Sources

Books

1. Oates, Stephen B. Woman of Valor: Clara Barton and the Civil War. Kent State University Press, 1996.

Websites

1.  (Various Grave Locations), Find a Grave FindAGrave.com
2. “About Us”, Glenwood Cemetery https://www.theglenwoodcemetery.com/about-us/
3. “Cemetery History”, Rock Creek Cemetery https://rockcreekcemetery.org/cemetery-history/
4. “A Brief History of Congressional Cemetery”, Congressional Cemetery https://congressionalcemetery.org/history/
5. “About”, Arlington National Cemetery https://www.arlingtoncemetery.mil/about