Heritage Gazette

ASSOCIATION FOR THE PRESERVATION OF HISTORIC CONGRESSIONAL CEMETERY •WINTER 2009

Arsenal Monument Wraps up NPS Activity BY MOSS RUDLEY, E XHIBIT SPECIALIST, NPS, HISTORIC PRESERVATION TRAINING CENTER

he team from the National Park 1870. Designed by architect Ben- Service’s Historic Preservation jamin Henry Latrobe, who was Training Center arrived on the working on the new south wing grounds October 1, 2006. Our of the Capitol, these identical mission was to conserve, preserve Aquia Creek sandstone cenotaphs Tor replace components of the 166 reflect the classical inspiration cenotaphs that honor members of that was shaping the city plan and Congress who died in office its new Capitol building. between the years 1807 and Continued on page 6 Slight Mishap Will Reshape Entrance to Historic Congressional Cemetery lthough the dump truck coming attached for 85 years, moved for- in the front gates to pick up dirt ward with the truck. excavated by Imperial Paving The National Park Service was only going 3 miles an hour, stonemasons who were working Aits big side mirror caught on the Arsenal Monument between rungs of the wrought judged the injuries to the col- iron gate. The gate and the brick umn fatal. Ed Wood of Woody’s column, to which it had been Continued on page 9

WHAT DO YOU KNOW! Construction work is often the impetus that makes archeological work happen. Sometimes you attend to what you know is there and should be saved; other times you discover what you didn’t know. Our road construc- Arsenal Monument photo by tion has brought us one of each. Stories on page 10 and 11. Moss Rudley

WWW.CONGRESSIONALCEMETERY.ORG HERITAGE GAZETTE / WINTER 2009 1 Letter from the Chair

EXPERIENCE BUILDS CHARACTER

Historic preservation often return to the earth, dust to focuses on a place where a dust, the ground settles back ASSOCIATION FOR THE PRESERVATION OF famous person spent some down to close the final chapter HISTORIC CONGRESSIONAL CEMETERY quality time — George Wash- of that life. It is a profound Community • Leadership • Discovery ington slept here! Or where thing that has happened and BOARD OF DIRECTORS important things happened: a the texture of the ground is Patrick Crowley, Chair Joyce Palmer Linda Harper, Vice Chair Jan Gaudio battle waged, a treaty signed, a what tells us it has happened. John Gillespie, Treasurer Emily Crandall village established. It’s generally The experience of the land Alice Norris, Secretary Ted Bechtel not about the land itself but itself speaks to us as forcefully Clyde Henderson C. Dudley Brown Patti Martin about the things that happened as the old tablet upon which Frederick Davis Uwe Brandes on the land. the name and dates have been Scott Kibler Rhonda Sincavage Certainly, an historic ceme- inscribed. FUNDRAISING COMMITTEE Linda Harper tery celebrates the people who One of the important mis- Clyde Henderson are spending quality time on, sions of an historic site is to HORTICULTURE COMMITTEE or rather in, the land. But an call upon us to examine our Emily Crandall, Fine Gardening Ted Bechtol, Lawn Care historic cemetery also cele- own lives, to apply the lessons EDUCATION & OUTREACH COMMITTEE brates what has happened to of what happened here to our- Joyce Palmer, Music & Docents the land itself. The texture of selves. Are we rising to the Sandy Schmidt, Web Master Patrick Crowley, Newsletter the land, the gentle undulations challenges of our life, are we ARCHIVES & GENEALOGY COMMITTEE of the sod above its old graves making our communities bet- Sandy Schmidt & Dayle Dooley speak to us of the journey the ter places? The character of an PLANNING COMMITTEE Uwe Brandes land itself has taken. historic graveyard raises these Jan Gaudio If you visit an old burial questions in a profound yet EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR ground in the early evening, subliminal manner. When a Cindy Hays CEMETERY MANAGER you will experience the land in shallow depression is all that’s Alan Davis a way most historic sites can- left, we can’t help but pause to STAFF Mary Wright not ever hope to share. As the consider what mark we will Barry Hayman sun sets beyond the horizon, leave after we have passed this HERITAGE GAZETTE: W INTER 2009 shadows gently rise up to claim way. © 2009. Association for the Preservation of His- toric Congressional Cemetery, a non profit the shallow depressions, leaving Preservation of an historic 501(c)(3) organization. All donations are fully tax- no doubt as to what the place burial ground isn’t just about deductible according federal tax laws. Funding for the preservation and maintenance of Historic is all about. Even if you took the old buildings and tomb Congressional Cemetery is provided (in part) by the Congressional Cemetery Endowment, which away all the headstones, you stones; it’s also about the char- was created with matching funds provided by the wouldn’t need an interpretive acter of the place. And charac- U.S. Congress and administered by the National sign to tell you it’s a graveyard. ter is acquired through experi- Trust for Historic Preservation. Postal Service, send address changes to: At each of several thousand ence. For an historic cemetery, THE ASSOCIATION FOR THE PRESERVATION OF three-by-eight foot plots the preserving the character of the HISTORIC CONGRESSIONAL CEMETERY 1801 E Street, Southeast earth has been disturbed, land is as important as preserv- Washington, DC 20003 opened up to accept someone ing the things on the land. 202-543-0539 • 202-543-5966 (fax) www.congressionalcemetery.org to his or her final resting place. [email protected] ATRICK CROWLEY The Association for the Preservation of Historic And as those mortal remains ~ P Congressional Cemetery is a 501(c)3 organization. All donations are tax deductible.

2 HERITAGE GAZETTE / WINTER 2009 WWW.CONGRESSIONALCEMETERY.ORG MEET OUR NEW From the Executive Director CEMETERY MANAGER After a three month search, Con- gressional Cemetery has a new his has been a busy fall. The new allowing a visitor to view a copy Cemetery Manager. Son of a roads are coming along well. of old documents executed by career Army officer, Alan Davis When I stand at the chapel and their relatives many years ago. grew up all over the world look down Ingle Street it is like Thank you very much to those including a three year residency Iseeing Dorothy’s Yellow Brick who have sent contributions for in Japan and another in Germany. Road — not really yellow, but the archival materials we are When time for college, he came very majestic in appearance. Our using. to Washington to attend Howard Board Chairman, Patrick Crow- We have contributed to an University and has been here ley, was convinced there were endowment set up for us by since. In 1990, Alan joined MCI old cobblestone swales under the Congress and held by the which was then a start-up com- munications company. In his 14 years of built-up dirt on several National Trust for Historic years with the company until its of our shorter streets. Since they Preservation since 1999. Our bankruptcy, he advanced from a are part of our history, he took a annual disbursements currently computer operator to Interna- shovel and dug up a corner to pay for contract maintenance. tional Marketing manager. prove it. The swales on Whitting- Fortunately there was enough He joined Stewart Enterprises, ham (21st) Street, have now been money this year to work on our the second largest American excavated and an “historic” road trees. Over the past five years, cemetery management company, that will look like it did in 1850’s 100 dead or dying trees were and was assigned to National will replace the broken asphalt. removed while 300 trees were Harmony Memorial Park. Har- We have really moved ahead planted. This year we lost one mony was founded in 1825 in in our archiving work under the tree to a storm, removed several NE Washington. Although it supervision of Historian Sandy others, and pruned the old trees. moved to Landover, MD in Schmidt. Dayle Dooley, one of We have developed a wonderful 1960, there are generations of the Dozen Decent Docents, is relationship with certified family members just like in Con- heading up the preservation and arborist Bill Shelton and his crew gressional. At Harmony, Alan filing of hundreds of thousands from Capitol Tree Care. His men recruited and managed the sales force, monitored the physical of pieces of paper that concern a are professional and respectful of condition and appearance of the site in the cemetery. She and the our grounds. property, and developed a other volunteers are protecting And a sad note is the depar- genealogy program. the old records in plastic sleeves ture of Moss Rudley and his Alan was an early resident of and making files for each site. wonderful team from the the Car Barn and knows Capitol The only problem with this job National Park Service Historic Hill. His experience in develop- is that some of the letters are so Preservation Training Center. ing and implementing strategic interesting that it takes a long They have been with us for two business marketing plans and time to get them filed. Some day years, and have become friends industry research with MCI will we hope to scan the documents, to us, and certainly to our stones. benefit the development of a new and add a link to our website ~ CINDY HAYS cemetery business plan to expand the number and variety of sites available for sale. He is already developing a property survey to PLEASE NOTE ~ Our image of Joseph Gales in the Summer 2008 confirm what sites are still avail- Heritage Gazette should have included an attribution to the artist able, and his respect for family George Peter Alexander Healy and the U.S. Senate art collection, and community history is a real where the original painting resides. benefit for the Congressional Cemetery community.

WWW.CONGRESSIONALCEMETERY.ORG HERITAGE GAZETTE / WINTER 2009 3 Around the Gatehouse

CHAPEL WINDOWS installed new flooring, stripped REPAIRED the brick and painted bright yel- In the midst of all the dust, low walls, installed water con- dump trucks, and cement mixers, serving fixtures, added a battery Tech Painting arrived October operated hand dryer, and made 2nd to begin the repair and the door self-closing. painting of the chapel windows. A SPIFFY NEW COAT To protect the 105 year old After the Gatehouse roof was eliminate this is the future, but stained glass, Washington Art repaired by Corley Roofing, the doors must be replaced to Glass designed a low-profile alu- Tech Painting closed the gable prevent further damage to the minum framing system that raises eves using the same bead board interior floor of the chapel. like a storm window. The plastic that would have been there material is Lexan, a clear, high when the new Gatehouse was SWAYING IN THE BREEZE impact, flame retardant product built in 1923, and gave the porch After last year’s near miss when made by General Electric and a fresh coat of paint. In prepara- the big Buckeye crashed near the guaranteed for clarity for 20 tion for the new Cemetery Park Service crew and the crash years. The funding for the project Man a ger’s arrival, Tech also re- of the oak tree south of the was spearheaded by Toni Burn- paired the extensive plaster dam- chapel this summer, the Associa- ham and Patti Martin who col- age and painted the back office. tion decided to take preventive lected many donations among To protect our valuable and action rather than risk a potential the dogwalkers. historic cemetery records, the disaster. Thanks to our Congres- office vault was scraped, sealed sional/National Trust endow- with a special water/mold resist- ment payment this year, we have ant product and painted. The been able to hire a Capital Tree humidity is being tested and if it Care company. Owner and certi- is safe, the records will be fied arborist, Bill Shelton, returned to it. inspected a number of our older trees and recommended serious THE DIAGNOSIS IS TERMINAL pruning and a few removals After three professional opinions, before winter snow and ice. the unfortunate verdict for the Board Member, Ted Bechtol, and exterior of the chapel doors is the chief arborist of the US that the years of wood rot cannot Capitol concurred with his diag- Chapel Bay Window Courtesy be repaired. It is possible that the nosis, and Capital Tree Care Patrick Crowley, APHCC frame of the doors may be origi- started their work. FLUSH AWAY, F LUSH AWAY, nal, but the bead board and the We’ve been fortunate that the ornate hinges were added later. big trees have caused relatively FLUSH AWAY ALL The base of the doors have suf- minor stone damage and so far The outside public restroom fered from many years of stand- no injuries to visitors or work received a total renovation this ing in water during heavy rains. crews, and with the help of the fall. General contractor Tom We are building a new drainage Capital Tree Care team, we hope Young removed the old and system around the chapel to to retain that clean record.

4 HERITAGE GAZETTE / WINTER 2009 WWW.CONGRESSIONALCEMETERY.ORG DOZEN DECENT DOCENTS statue in the Capitol and is The DDD, headed by Board developing a new cell phone Member Joyce Palmer, have tour about her. been busy this fall. After wel- The DDD’s new shirts carry coming over two hundred peo- on the tongue-in-cheek tradition ple to the Cemetery for Cultural with this year’s motto “We will Tourism DC “Walking Town” in talk about you after you’re gone.” September, they provided the regular Saturday public tours and a number of private tours to Dan Pensyl, Imperial Paving Com- family members, organizations pany Supervisor places the first and the public. The Committee paver. Photo courtesy Bruce Watson has established a new fund to finance a Docent’s Garden and other projects. Board Member and Fine Gardening Chairman, Emily Crandall, has reached ARCHIVISTS out to the Botanic Gardens, the Over the past 201 years, hun- Arboretum and others who have dreds of thousands documents already contributed. have been produced for site pur- In recognition chases, interments, disinterments, of his outstand- perpetual endowments, transfers, Equipment mobilization before exca- ing research, and other business of the ceme- vation monthly Civil tery. They have been stored in War tours and envelopes, card files, boxes, and ROAD PROGRESS PHOTOS other work, other unique methods of storage. The eyesore that was Congres- Steve Ham- Now we are bringing them all sional Cemetery’s roadways is mond was awarded the Connol- together and putting them into quickly being replaced by new, ly-Didden Docent of the Year individual file folders — one per safe, and long-lasting concrete Award, named in honor of burial site. This is a huge project pavers that mimic the historic Gerry and Marian Connolly and is being carried out under asphalt block of Congress and and George (Sunny) Didden, the leadership of Sandy Schmidt Ingle Streets on the west side of the original signers and pioneers and Dayle Dooley, and volun- the cemetery. Crews from Impe- of "the Committee for the teers from our dogwalking com- rial Paving and Chevy Chase Preservation of Congressional mittee. Professional archivist Concrete excavated the first old Cemetery. Leslie Swift has developed a asphalt on July 15. Over half of After losing Eric Summers best practice procedure for our the roads were completed before to a posting in Sicily, To m my work and volunteers working are they stopped for the cold weath- Arrasmith has been welcomed Ruth Arzonetti, Barbara All- er, but they will return to com- to the training portion of the houser-Hacker, Ada Bosque, plete their job in the spring. Docents program. Its hard work Patsy Sims, and Anne Oman. learning about all the personali- To finish our tasks – in less than AND THANKS TO YOU. ties. 15 years — we need more vol- We are moving ahead quickly, Lynne Boyle has developed a unteers to work at the Gate- and we appreciate all the new history of the sculptress house, the National Archives or patience from our visitors and Adelaide Johnson who created from your own computer. the contributions from so many the "Suffragettes Monument" friends who have made these improvements possible.

WWW.CONGRESSIONALCEMETERY.ORG HERITAGE GAZETTE / WINTER 2009 5 ARSENAL MONUMENT WORK continued from page 1

deteriorated portion of the plete restoration of the below masonry. The “Dutchman” grade vault and monument of repairs take time, patience General Alexander Macomb this and skills of craftsman. summer, the team began their Cracks, small voids and final task, the Arsenal Monu- other isolated areas of ment. Stone conservation is a deterioration were pre- science as well as an art, and a pared and then filled brand new technique was with a JAHN com- employed. Once the marble was posite mortar. consolidated (sealed) with HCT, After com- a cleaning system was set up. This system is constructed with a “misting” sprinkler set 6 inches apart and 4-6 inches from the surface of the marble. When it was set in place, the 26 feet tall Monument looked like Christ- mas tree. The cleaning process is 24 hour cycle of 20 seconds misting and 5 minutes off. The first 24 hours of cleaning with water, the second 24 hour cycle is with a D-2 Antimicrobial solution which cleans and removes any biological growth present on the surface of the marble. The pur- pose of the misting system is to gently agitate the soiling to remove it. The entire project has been a large undertaking, stretching over two years and involving countless After 150 years the ceno- man hours of hard, intricate taphs were showing damage work but over the process the and wear. Those beyond National Park Service been repair were replaced or proud to be a part of catalyst that components were replaced. has begun to save on of Ameri- When sections of the stone ca’s historic treasures. were broken or missing, The VA’s National Cemetery “Dutchman” patches of Administration contracted new Aquia Creek sand- with NPS to perform the stone are carefully shaped fit the Statue of “Grief” photo by Moss work under a $1,750,000 void created by removing the Rudley contract.

6 HERITAGE GAZETTE / WINTER 2009 WWW.CONGRESSIONALCEMETERY.ORG American Heritage Section The Arsenal Monument AMANDA RAZIANO

ongressional Cemetery’s tallest by a band, ninety pall bearers and public to pay for its creation. monument towers over the west two thousand mourners. The Local sculptor, Lot Flannery, cre- side of the grounds in silent trib- outpouring from the community ated the memorial that includes a ute to a mostly forgotten tragedy was so large that newspapers relief illustration of the explo- Cthat took the lives of 21 young reported that every cab (hack) in sion, a grape vine symbolizing women who died in an explo- the city was in use. Fifteen of the sacrifice and winged hourglasses sion at the Washington Arsenal women are buried here below symbolizing that their time has while serving the Nation during the memorial, two others are flown. the height of the Civil War on buried in family plots elsewhere Newspaper accounts of the June 17, 1864. in Congressional Cemetery, and incident, including additional The Arsenal was located near four are buried at Mt. Olivet details of the tragedy, as well as the present day Fort McNair. On Cemetery in Northeast DC. The many others related to the histo- the day of the explosion, the funeral expenses were paid by ry of this Cemetery, are available women were working to provide the Department of War. on Congressional Cemetery’s munitions for the Union army. On the Monday after the website at Just before noon, a large quantity funeral, arsenal employees voted www.congressionalcemetery.org of fireworks drying outside the to have a monument erected and under the section called “HCC arsenal building caught fire from sought contributions from the Archives.”
the hot sun. A spark flew into the gunpowder inside the build- ing causing a major explosion. In all, 21 women were killed, many burned so badly that they could not be identified by family or friends. The papers reported that many other young ladies were saved by the “heroism of some persons present” that threw burning victims into the nearby river and tore off burning cloth- ing, injuring themselves. The funeral consumed the entire city. The funeral began at the Arsenal, and “several thou- sand” pushed onto the grounds to attend. President Lincoln and The Washington Arenal, circa 1863 the Secretary of War led the cortege to the cemetery followed

WWW.CONGRESSIONALCEMETERY.ORG HERITAGE GAZETTE / WINTER 2009 7 Woody’s been a member for many years and is always ready to From the Ground Up swing by to repair a gate or heft fallen tree limbs. This summer we replaced a chain link fence K-9 COMMITTEE STRIPS 27th to beautify Capitol Hill by with a steel fence appropriate to October weekends found our selling spring flowering bulbs. the historic nature of Congres- dogwalker volunteers working The Fine Gardening committee sional. Woody and his helpers, hard with iron brushes and sand- under Board member Emily Anthony Jones and Rodney paper. The dozen old cast iron Crandall’s direction packaged a Banks, like the idea that their benches were still structurally colorful blend of red, white, and work will be part of the historic sound and had attractive lines, blue tulips — the Patriot Gar- fabric at Congressional for the but after 20 or so years standing den! — for sale at the annual next hundred years. outside in the elements, they Festival on Eighth Street. One of require some work. Missey the fastest selling items was Toni Tisott divided her volunteers Burnham’s jars of honey from into stripping, priming, or fine her own bees. Kudos to the painting committees. What a many volunteers who helped beautiful site to see the red, yel- package, transport, and staff the low, green, black and white booth. benches adorn the cemetery. WOODY LEAVES HIS MARK PATRIOTS BULBS @ Association member Ed Wood BARRACKS ROW of Woody’s Welding on Capitol The Association returned for the Hill has left his mark at Con- second year to the great Barracks gressional in the form of a new Anthony Jones, Ed Wood, & Rodney Row OctoberFest on September steel security fence along the Banks, photo courtesy Patrick Crow- back of the mausoleum row. ley, APHCC

Patriot Bulb label, courtesy of Gene Kim Graphics

8 HERITAGE GAZETTE / WINTER 2009 WWW.CONGRESSIONALCEMETERY.ORG SLIGHT MISHAP which was impressed into serv- tracting with an historic archi- Continued from page 1 ice to remove the arch aerially. tect. These new main gates were To help us in the redesign of not in the plan or the budget, the main entrance to the prop- but they will give us a fresh Welding came immediately, and erty, hopefully more in the style “old” look for the next 100 with the help of Grounds Man- of the 1832 gate, we are con- years.
ager Barry Hayman, detached the 16- x 7-foot cast iron Con- gressional Cemetery arch before the column fell. Capitol Tree Care’s staff had been pruning our Association Activities big oaks with a bucket truck, Last fall saw the departure of Board member Reverend Dr. Judith Davis. After serving as Rector of Christ Church + Washington Parish for 12 years, Judith answered the call and accepted a new assignment as Rector of Christ Church in Harwich Port, MA. Several members of her former church, including Board Member Alice Norris, traveled to Cape Cod in September to attend Judith’s first Sunday service. The Association was represented at the annual Washington Studies Conference sponsored by the Historical Society of Washington. Alice Norris took the lead by providing informational materials about the Cemetery and its important part in Washington DC history to all attendees.

SOUSA BIRTHDAY CELEBRATION For the 54th year, on November 6th, the U.S. Marine Corps Band traveled the 18 blocks from the Marine Barracks to the graveside of John Philip Sousa, the 17th Director of the Band. Under the direc- tion of Drum Major William L. Brown, and Assistant Director Michelle A. Rak- ers, the band played a musical tribute to Sousa on the occasion of his 154th birth- day, and laid a wreath at his grave to the delight of over 100 neigh- bors, Association members and school children. The Association also marks the celebration of Sousa’s birth by recognizing those people who have given extraordinary service to the preservation of the Cemetery and its history. The award recipi- ents were: The John Philip Sousa Distinguished Public Service Award to Dele- gate Eleanor Norton Holmes for her strong support of the Ceme- tery and her efforts to secure Congressional funding to repair the drainage system and historic pathways. The Benjamin B. French Masonic Lodge Volunteer Award to volun- teer Sandra Schmidt for her 10 years of research into the lives and writings of over 22,000 of the famous, infamous, and ordinary “res- idents” of Historical Congressional Cemetery which are available to all researchers on congressionalcemetery.org.

WWW.CONGRESSIONALCEMETERY.ORG HERITAGE GAZETTE / WINTER 2009 9 Conservation/Restoration Cobblestone Swales PATRICK CROWLEY

ongressional Cemetery’s east side crosses over Pinkney and Wit- tingham Streets (20th and 21st Streets), both of which were laid Cout over 150 years ago. Follow- ing typical road construction practices of the day, cobblestone swales were constructed along the side of the street to lead rain water toward the river. Similar water management techniques can be found at Mount Vernon, Oak Hill Cemetery, and Lincoln Cottage. (See photo at right.) The swales are made of elon- gated river rocks (cobbles) insert- ed length-wise into the ditch dug along the road. (See lower left photo.) Over the decades, silt from our grounds has filtered toward the swales and gradually filled them with six inches of great topsoil, which has hidden them from view for many, many years. We suspected the cobble- stone swales existed but had not investigated until reconstruction of the roads began in July. Sure enough they are there and are in surprisingly good condition. The build-up of the land new cobblestone swales above (think 150 years of grass clip- them. It’s an expensive alterna- pings) has left the swales well tive. below current grade level, which As a first step we took advan- presents some engineering chal- tage of some great volunteers to lenges if we are to preserve the uncover the swales to find out swales as swales. The Lincoln whether they are sufficiently Cottage faced a similar issue and intact to recover or repair. St. as part of a project that chose to preserve their swales by Manassas Scout Troop 670 exca- earned Nathan Beuttler his Eagle reburying them and building vated the swales on Willingham Badge.

10 HERITAGE GAZETTE / WINTER 2009 WWW.CONGRESSIONALCEMETERY.ORG Granite Pavers Suggest Old Wharf Road PATRICK CROWLEY

ld maps of Capitol Hill’s east end include the land known as Reservation 13, a place that was used by the government for Oevery undesirable public need: the prison, small pox hospital, crematorium, and a paupers grave yard, just to name a few. If you were taken to Reservation 13 for any reason in the early 1800, your chances of leaving Reserva- tion 13 were not good. Among the structures found on these old maps is a reference to a powder magazine at the intersection of G Street and 23rd Street. That little piece of history provided a clue to what we found during our road construction last month. (Remember our motto? Com- munity, Leadership, Discovery!) Old Pavers, courtesy of Patrick Crowley, APHCC Congressional Cemetery’s east end was created largely by a land of the 15 to 20 pound blocks but ships that used to ply the Ana- fill project undertaken in the sure that we wanted to hold on costia River up to the port of 1820s. Ingle Street, labeled G to them, we put out a call to our Bladensburg. When the ships Street on city maps, once led all dogwalking community to help arrived in DC, the blocks were the way to the Anacostia River’s us pull them from the road bed jettisoned to make room for edge. As a low-lying stretch of before they were to be removed cargo, and then used to build the land consisting to a large extent by the construction crew. Being wharf road to the powder maga- of putty-like clay, the ground the great volunteers they are, zine. The pavers ended just about would have made a poor surface over 50 individuals made the where that intersection would for any road way used for heavy trek to the east end to join in have been. carts and wagons. In fact those the exhausting hand by hand sal- Although squarish in shape, same conditions have caused vage effort over one weekend. the blocks are not quite plumb delays in our current road re- Several thousand blocks were enough for most construction paving work. The 1800s solution saved, each with a value of about uses. While we explore ways to appears to have been an inlay of $9 — a forty to fifty thousand use them we want to thank all thousands of granite pavers to dollar salvage effort. Bravo! the volunteers who went home firm up the cart path. The exis- Why did they end up where with sore backs and aching arms. tence of this material was they did? We’ll probably never Your stewardship helps make unknown until we began excava- know for sure but we suspect the both Congressional Cemetery tion to build our new roads. granite blocks were used as bal- and Capitol Hill a great commu- Not sure at first what to make last by the ocean going sailing nity.

WWW.CONGRESSIONALCEMETERY.ORG HERITAGE GAZETTE / WINTER 2009 11 NON-PROFIT Yes! U.S. POSTAGE I want to help preserve and restore Congressional Cemetery PAID with a tax-deductible donation. LAUREL, MD □ $50 □ $75 □ $100 □ $250 □ Other______PERMIT NO. 6326 □Check enclosed, made payable to Congressional Cemetery □ □ □ Please charge my credit card Visa Mastercard 1801 E Street, Southeast Washington, DC 20003 Card # ______www.congressionalcemetery.org Cardmember Name ______Exp______Signature ______Name ______Address ______City ______State______Zip______Phone/s______Email______

□ My employer makes matching contributions. Please send me the matching gift form. Thank you! Please mail with your donation to the return address on the mailing panel or use the envelope inside this newsletter.

Wrapping up 2008

Senator Mark Begich stops at his father’s Roberts Walk brick Marine Corps Drum Freshly painted Chapel cenotaph before swearing in ceremony. walkway re-laid Major windows with Lexan protective sheets

12 HERITAGE GAZETTE / WINTER 2009 WWW.CONGRESSIONALCEMETERY.ORG