Elkhart Cemetery

Illinois · United States · Cemetery

Governor Oglesby is buried here. His wife is seen sitting outside his tomb until a group of Native figures comes and drives her off across the bridge.

Elkhart Cemetery in Illinois holds the tomb of Richard Oglesby, three times governor of this state, a Union general, and the man who gave Abraham Lincoln the name Rail Splitter.

His wife is described sitting outside the tomb for a few minutes at a time.

What happens then is the strange part. A group of Native figures comes up and drives her away, across the bridge that carries the road by the cemetery.

It is unusual for an account to contain a conflict between two sets of figures, and unusual again for the local dead to be cast as intruders on their own ground. Elkhart Hill was a landmark and a camping place on the prairie long before the cemetery, and the burials on this hill did not begin with the Oglesbys.

In the woods at the back of the cemetery there is a fence, and it has its own accounts.

The cemetery is public.

FAQ

Where is Elkhart Cemetery located?

Elkhart Cemetery is in Illinois, United States.