CUSTER NATIONAL CEMETERY

This week's Cemetery Traveler blog is the second in a two-part series that was guest written by my friend Teresa Lambert. Part one was entitled, “LITTLE BIGHORN BATTLEFIELD NATIONAL MONUMENT,” and can be viewed at the link at the end. Teresa’s fascination and curiosity epitomize the reasons some of us go out of our way to visit cemeteries. Enjoy! - Ed Snyder, the "Cemetery Traveler." 

CUSTER NATIONAL CEMETERY

By Teresa Straley Lambert

 
I love cemeteries! What’s more, I love NATIONAL cemeteries. Stately rows of white marble or granite. Monuments commemorating people and events. Columbaria enshrining cremains. Statues bowing to military personnel and spouses. There is something oh, so, solemn and profound about these cemeteries. And so many stories just waiting to be told.

One of many national cemeteries I visited this year on a 6000-mile trek around the U. S. in our VW camper (“Our Blue Heaven”) was the Custer National Cemetery on the grounds of the Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument.

Custer National Cemetery

Following the Battle of Little Bighorn, June 25-26, 1876, the Indians involved in the fight removed and took care of their dead in traditional ways: placing them in tipis and on scaffolds and hillsides. But George Armstrong Custer and his fallen soldiers of the 7^th Cavalry were at first buried in shallow graves near where they fell on the battlefield. Later many of these remains were taken to eastern cemeteries for burial and the rest were buried in a mass grave around a granite memorial near the top of “Last Stand Hill.”

In 1879, a national cemetery was established at this site to protect the graves of the 7^th Cavalry who fell at the Battle of Little Bighorn. Later, in 1886, President Grover Cleveland issued an executive order to set aside a larger area for “military purposes,” so that those who perished at many of the outposts and forts throughout Montana, Wyoming, and the Dakotas could be moved there.

Custer National Cemetery

Most interesting to me in this cemetery, however, were those who had “unusual” stories to tell. For example, Mrs. Julia Roach is said to have been the first woman murdered in the Montana Territory. 

First woman murdered in the Montana Territory

According to a national park service pamphlet, Mrs. Roach had the “fastest, sharpest tongue in the west.” Her seemingly mild-mannered husband, Corporal John Doyle, thought he was rid of her when he enlisted in the army under an assumed name. His wife, though, apparently followed him westward with at least one child (and perhaps other children) in tow, working as a laundrywoman at several forts along the way. At Fort C. F. Smith, about 40 miles from Little Bighorn, their final confrontation ended with Mrs. Roach remarking about her husband’s fathering skills. He then “shot her dead.” Put under house arrest, with the closest magistrate hundreds of miles away, Doyle was soon released. He deserted shortly thereafter and was never seen again. Mrs. Roach (Doyle),on the other hand, was interred with 16 others who died violent or natural deaths while at the fort, their remains eventually being moved to Custer National Cemetery.

Hayfield Memorial

Also related to Fort Smith is a monument called “Hayfield Fight.” This cenotaph drew my attention for two reasons: 1) my daughter’s married name is Hayfield, and 2) the monument looked like it had been used for target practice. Upon researching it, I discovered that in 1867, six civilians and 19 soldiers from Ft. Smith were cutting hay and were attacked by Lakota Indians. Having recently received Springfield rifles to replace their old muzzleloaders, this small faction of men was able to fend off the Lakota, suffering minimal casualties. People of the fort erected a monument as a memorial to those fighters, but when the fort was abandoned, the memorial stayed behind. It is said that Indians took potshots at it. It was moved to Custer National Cemetery, and those whose names are on the monument are buried in individual graves near it.

Margaret Littlejohn

Julia Roach is not the only laundrywoman buried in Custer Cemetery. Laundresses on Army posts were the only women to receive official recognition from the Army. Not even the wives of the officers had any official status. Laundresses were given many things in addition to the money they earned for their job: fuel, housing, medical services. But they also helped in other capacities, such as nursing the sick. One such woman, Margaret J. Littlejohn, who died at age 36 in the Dakota Territories was admired by the men there. On her headstone they even inscribed, “Laundress of Co. 1, 6^th U.S. Inft.”

Crow Scout Goes Ahead and his wife Pretty Shield

Curly, Custer Scout

Several Crow Indians served as scouts for Custer and Major Marcus Reno. Curly, Goes Ahead (and his wife Pretty Shield), White Man Runs Him, and White Swan, are buried in Section A of this cemetery.  Curly and Goes Ahead were assigned to General Custer, while White Man Runs Him and White Swan joined Major Reno’s battalion. Many historians believe that Curly watched the Battle of Little Bighorn from atop a remote ridge, eventually descending to the Little Bighorn River, where he was able to inform men on the supply steamer Far West about Custer’s loss. According to legend, Curly was viewed by the other scouts as an attention-seeker. They shunned him, and he chose to live out his life in a cabin near Crow Agency, dying in 1923. Goes Ahead also scouted for Custer, Reno, and Col. John Gibbon. He had been released by Custer and joined Reno’s command in a hilltop fight and then joined Gibbon’s column. He died in 1919 and his wife, Pretty Shield, lived to the ripe old age of 92. Both are buried here.

 

Crow scout, White Man Runs Him

Another Crow scout, White Man Runs Him, survived the valley fight as well as a battle on a hilltop with Reno’s and Benteen’s forces, later joining Gibbon’s column. He spent the rest of his life in Crow Agency, dying in 1929.

White Swan

Although he suffered wounds on his wrist and thigh (one hand was almost shot off!), White Swan was able to escape across the river and make it up the bluffs where Reno’s men were, with help from another scout, Half Yellow Face.  White Swan, who was deaf, either from a blow from a club or a rifle shot too near his ear, later communicated his thoughts and feelings about the battle through “ledger art.” His artwork now appears in many prominent galleries, including the Smithsonian. He died at Crow Agency in 1904.

Major Marcus A. Reno

During the Civil War, William Tecumseh Sherman is quoted as saying, “War is hell.” Major Marcus Reno most likely would have agreed. Second in command to Custer, Reno is often blamed for Custer’s defeat. Charged with cowardice, dereliction of duty, and disobeying orders, he was exonerated but could never escape the suspicions. His life went from bad to worse: his wife died, leaving him with a son who eventually moved far away, a second marriage ended in divorce, he was dishonorably discharged from the Army on a trumped up charge, and he died of cancer and was buried in a pauper’s grave in Washington, D.C. But owing to the efforts of descendants, the charges were dropped, Reno was given an honorable discharge, and his body exhumed and moved to Custer National Cemetery, making him the highest ranking person and the only 7^th Cavalry officer buried there.

Dr. Thomas Marquis

During the 1920s and early 1930s, Dr. Thomas Marquis (1869-1935), a physician to the northern Cheyennes, realized as he listened to stories from the old warriors who had been at the Battle of Little Bighorn that he had a wealth of information in the form of oral history. He even moved to the Indian Reservation to interview old scouts, who trusted him, and to envision what the battlefield must have been like in 1876. He wrote several books and pamphlets, some of which included photographs he had taken of the warriors. One book that he is especially known for is Wooden Leg: A Warrior Who Fought Custer.

Oxasehe Cut Belly

One Cheyenne Indian with a red granite marker in Custer Cemetery is Oxasehe Cut Belly. His headstone, like other Cheyenne stones, is engraved with, “A Cheyenne warrior fell here on June 25, 1876 while defending the Cheyenne way of life.” Other Indian markers can be seen near “Last Stand Hill,” the “Deep Ravine,” and the Reno-Benteen Entrenchment.

Although the simple, white granite markers lure me into national cemeteries, and researching the more famous or infamous to discover their stories fuels my desire to continue cemetery-hopping, coming across those stones that are just a bit different also intrigue me.

A poignant “Unknown Infant,” stone, a lamb for someone who died too young, a carving to remember a “comerade,” a band musician in the infantry, and a Medal of Honor recipient. All have stories to tell, I’m sure. And I will keep “digging” to discover those tales.

"Comerade," Band Musician, Medal of Honor Recipient: Custer National Cemetery

Read Part 1 of Teresa Lambert's odyssey:

"LITTLE BIGHORN BATTLEFIELD NATIONAL MONUMENT"

Teresa Straley Lambert, a teacher of academically gifted students for nearly thirty years, discovered upon retiring in 2011 that her hobbies of photography, travel, writing, and genealogy have turned into a second career. Last year she published The ABCs of Gravestone Symbols, an alphabet book using her photos of gravestone symbols as well as verses she wrote to help explain possible meanings to those symbols. She has also created many photo books of her travels and of cemeteries.

She is a member of the artists’ co-op “Gaslight Gallery” in Findlay, Ohio, where she displays her travel photos, greeting cards, calendars, and books with photographs from places such as England, France, Canada, Peru, and all over the United States. 

      More about Teresa Straley Lambert at the following websites:

•       lambertphotosandmore.vpweb.com
•       thegaslightgallery.org
•       fineartamerica.com (search “Teresa Lambert”)
•       abcsofgravestonesymbols.com (author/book page)
•       blurb.com (search “Dead Ends Cemetery Photos”) 
•        Dead Ends – Teresa Straley Lambert (Facebook page)

Teresa Straley Lambert

Mount Moriah Cemetery - 2013: The Year in Review

This is just a quick, end-of-the-year blog posting to fill you in on the state of Mount Moriah Cemetery in West Philadelphia. As you may know, I’m chair of the Communications and Technology Committee for the non-profit Friends of Mount Moriah Cemetery, Inc. (FOMMCI), and I’d like to thank everyone for the tremendous effort put forth this past year in the preservation efforts for the cemetery.

This includes not just physical labor and the loaning of equipment by hundreds of individuals, but for all who believe in the power of civic engagement in bringing a community together. We’ve had multiple colleges, fraternal organizations, and corporations participate in both large and small cleanup (or “restoration”) events. We welcome all. If you’re wondering why people get involved and what they do, please see the video link, “In Memoriam,” at end for a wonderful mini-documentary made this past fall by cinema students of Temple University.

Villanova University students being oriented to their tasks on a volunteer cleanup day

In my role on the FOMMCI Board of Directors I’m responsible for updating the website and sending out the monthly newsletter. It occurs to me now that some of my Cemetery Traveler readers have not seen either, so here’s the link to the FOMMCI website and if you’d like to subscribe to the newsletter, just send us your email address (to: info@fommci.org) and we’ll put you on the list. You’ll learn about the latest news, updates, announcements, cleanup days, and the cemetery’s legal situation.

So many things happened with Mount Moriah this past year that it is challenging to list them all. Probably most substantially, the FOMMCI organization was granted 501(3)c status by the United States government so that it is legally recognized as a non-profit entity.  Tax-deductible contributions can be made directly to the FOMMCI via our new on-line “Fundrazr” site. We also gladly accept checks sent to us at: 

Friends of Mount Moriah Cemetery, Inc.
P. O. Box 5321
Philadelphia, PA 19142

Greater revenue equates to better equipment with which to care for the cemetery grounds. It also helps provide additional resources to help with locating graves, major deforestation projects, and analysis of burial records.

Tending to Betsy Ross' Plot

Never been to Mount Moriah Cemetery?

The winter months give one the opportunity to see clearly the potential of this vast (estimated 380 acres) green space spanning Philadelphia and Delaware counties (street address is 6201 Kingsessing Avenue, Philadelphia, PA, 19142). Winter quite literally allows us to see clearly through the trees – we can more easily appreciate the expansive beauty of the Victorian-era sculpture garden. One can more easily visualize a full restoration of this serenely landscaped masterpiece with its proud monuments to our city’s forefathers (and foremothers, as Betsy Ross is buried here too!)

The beauty of nature is evident at Mount Moriah. Aside from the architecture and landscaping, wildlife inhabits this luxurious green space in the middle of the city. On December 27, 2013, I saw my first heron feeding on fish in Cobbs Creek, the dividing line between the Philadelphia and Yeadon sides of the cemetery. On the same day, two deer ran into view in Section 102 on the Yeadon side.

What’s happened in 2013?
We’ve had literally hundreds of volunteers work on countless cleanup days and have successfully cleared (and kept clear!) many areas of the cemetery. This has allowed many visitors to access their ancestral graves and provided many with first-hand experience delving into the types of historic research and education which only a cemetery can provide. Individuals prefer to join the large groups to tend their own ancestors’ graves on the scheduled cleanup days when (typically) dozens of other people will be are to help. Section maps are posted on our website. For help locating a grave, please contact us at this email address: info@fommci.org. You can also write to us at:

Friends of Mount Moriah Cemetery, Inc.
P. O. Box 5321
Philadelphia, PA 19142

Landscaping Maps

Color-coded landscape map indicates cleared (green) areas

We’ve been publishing maps on the FOMMCI Facebook Group Page showing the various states of foliage clearance. An outcome of all this work is that we now publish a landscaping map, of sorts, on Facebook to indicate cleared areas of Mount Moriah so that visitors can see if their section of interest is cleared.

Organizational Sponsors

In the past year, Mount Moriah has hosted student volunteers and employees of many corporate national and international organizations like Virgin Airlines, Comcast, Asplundh, Comcast, and Verizon. Large or small – if your group or organization is willing to donate physical labor, please contact us at: info@fommci.org. Our scheduled restoration events are listed here, but we can usually accommodate requests for groups to work on other days.

Volunteers needed!

We are always looking for volunteers to help us in a variety of endeavors, ranging from marketing, website design, and guiding tours to the hard labor of grass cutting and deforestation. Please let us know if you can donate any amount of time and practical experience!

Drexel University student volunteers clearing graves

Recent “News and Events” from the FOMMCI website:     

      

Historic cemetery reveals Medal of Honor recipients

Philadelphia Inquirer article (Sept. 26, 2013): Read about the Naval Asylum Plot on the Yeadon side of Mount Moriah Cemetery through an interview with Sam Ricks, FOMMCI Board Member and historian. “Its 21 medal honorees may be the most buried in any cemetery in the country, according to a military expert.“

“In Memoriam,” A mini-documentary released in fall, 2013, by Temple University film students. Through interviews, the history and current state of this massive, formerly abandoned cemetery are examined. The dramatic efforts by hundreds of volunteers to revitalize it are addressed.

CNN newscast of Nov. 5, 2013: Veterans Taking Care of Their Own

CNN posted on November 5, 2013, “Taking care of sacred spaces.” Photojournalist Effie Nidam introduces us to an Air Force Vet who is preserving the past. This wonderful “Veterans Day” newscast features Philadelphia’s Mount Moriah Cemetery and Ken Smith, Treasurer on the Board of The Friends of Mount Moriah Cemetery, Inc. Many of us who volunteer time and energy to keep Mount Moriah from being overgrown with trees and weeds have our own very personal reasons for doing so. We invite you to discover Ken’s.

Civil War Veterans plot at Mount Moriah Cemetery

New fundraiser campaign established by the Friends of Mount Moriah Cemetery, Inc.

The accomplishments of the FOMMCI have grown substantially over the past year and the cemetery has benefited immensely. The organization has been granted 501(3)c status by the United States government so that it is legally recognized as a non-profit entity. We are dedicated to the preservation and promotion of the Mount Moriah Cemetery by honoring the memory of those interred in her folds through restoration, historic research, and education. Greater revenue equates to better equipment with which to care for the cemetery grounds, to improve access to burial records, and to educate the community as to the value of the site ( which is included in the Philadelphia Register of Historic Places).

FOMMCI Board treasurer Ken Smith cuts through weeds

It's not too late to make your 100% (2013) tax deductible donation to The Friends of Mount Moriah Cemetery, Inc. If you already have, thank you so very much!

We recognize that not everyone can contribute physical labor to the upkeep of the grounds, so monetary contributions are a valuable way to help! Please consider making an end-of-the-year tax-deductible charitable contribution. Thank you and Happy Holidays! 

(Please click this link to help Mount Moriah!)

Art and Architecture Tour in progress at 1855 gatehouse (photo frank Rausch)

Looking to the future:

In December of 2012, Yeadon Borough and Philadelphia established the Mount Moriah Cemetery Preservation Corporation. This not-for-profit organization will likely become the Receiver of the property whereby it will be authorized to act on behalf of the Court for the Mount Moriah Cemetery Association in specified areas of business operations.

References and Further Information:

Visit the Friends of Mount Moriah Cemetery, Inc. website

and
Keep up to date with us on Facebook!

"Remembering Gettysburg" at Mount Moriah Cemetery, Park Day 2013

Last year (2012), I believe I blogged about Park Day at Mount Moriah Cemetery after the fact. This year, I’m giving you fair warning. Saturday April 6, 2013 will be the big day, so please plan to help out at the cemetery if you can! No pain, no gain! (And hopefully, no rain; if there is, the date will move to April 13.)

The Civil War Trust (a non-profit organization), The History Channel, and the National Park Service together sponsor this annual, nationwide event. Its purpose is to provide a hands-on volunteer opportunity to help preserve Civil War battlefields and related historic sites. Mount Moriah falls into the latter category in that many Civil War veterans are buried here, in the Civil War Soldiers’ Plot and the Naval Asylum Plot. (The term ‘asylum,’ by the way, is an old term for ‘hospital.’)

Purchase a "Gatehouse T-shirt" here!

Registration for the event begins at 8:00 a.m. Saturday, April 6, 2013, at the cemetery main gate, 6201 Kingsessing Avenue (Click link for map). This is just down the block from the old brownstone, incredibly photogenic gatehouse (shown above). (The gatehouse, by the way, was designed in 1855 by Stephen Decatur Button, the architect who designed the gatehouse of Gettysburg's Evergreen Cemetery. Evergreen’s gatehouse had direct involvement in the Civil War, having served as a Union Army headquarters during the battle.)

An additional registration area will be set up at the Cobbs Creek Parkway side of the cemetery. Lunch will be served at 11:30 a.m. to registered volunteers, with the clean-up event wrapping up at 1 pm. Free Park Day T-shirts and patches will be provided. Please come prepared to do dirty work! No matter how nice the day might turn out to be, wear long pants, heavy shoes, and long sleeved shirts. Bring work gloves and any garden tools (such as weed clippers) you’d like to use (some rakes and long-handled clippers will be provided). Small and large maintenance projects will be taken on.

Volunteers raking cut weeds from Mount Moriah hillside

A pair of tours is planned as well, each being held twice during the day (10:30 a.m. and 1 pm). One tour will focus on Civil War medicine, and the types of medical problems seen among the soldiers and sailors. Various graves will be visited during the tours, including that of the first recipient of the Congressional Medal of Honor (1863), John Williams, Captain of the Main Top, US Navy. Williams’ grave was missing (“lost to history”) for a century, having recently been rediscovered at Mount Moriah.

Mount Moriah Cemetery contains the graves of over 5,000 veterans dating from the French and Indian/Revolutionary Wars to the current conflicts. The cemetery’s Naval Asylum and Civil War Soldiers Plots, owned by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, are part of the National Park Service’s Civil War Era National Cemeteries Shared Heritage Trail. On Park Day, we will have mini-tours for our volunteers led by experienced tour guides through each of these historic plots.

Guided tour of Mount Moriah Cemetery

From the Civil War Trust website:

“Our Mission: The Civil War Trust is America's largest non-profit organization (501-C3) devoted to the preservation of our nation's endangered Civil War battlefields. The Trust also promotes educational programs and heritage tourism initiatives to inform the public of the war's history and the fundamental conflicts that sparked it.

Park Day 2013 is scheduled for April 6. Since 1996, the Civil War Trust has sponsored Park Day, an annual hands-on preservation event to help Civil War battlefields and historic sites take on maintenance projects large and small. Activities are chosen by each participating site to meet their own particular needs and can range from raking leaves and hauling trash to painting signs and trail buildings.

This annual event sponsored by the Civil War Trust and History™ is an excellent opportunity to bring Civil War enthusiasts together in an effort to help keep our nation’s Civil War heritage not only preserved, but pristine."

The Civil War Trust website has a link for Park Day 2013, which shows, by state, all the areas which are scheduled as official volunteer clean-up destinations. Pennsylvania only has three: Gettysburg National Park, Mount Moriah Cemetery, and Highland Cemetery in Lock Haven, Pennsylvania. My friend Dave Wallace is the President of the Highland Cemetery Board of Directors and would certainly welcome any volunteers, if you happen to favor the central Pennsylvania region. (He can be reached at 570-748-5080, or dwallace@kcnet.org.)

To pre-register for the Mount Moriah Cemetery “Remembering Gettysburg” Park Day event, please email the Friends of Mount Moriah Cemetery at info@fommc.org.

References and Further Information:
Surprising facts about the congressional Medal of Honor
The Friends of Mount Moriah Cemetery website
Mount Moriah Cemetery Section map