LINWOOD CEMETERY

LINWOOD CEMETERY. The first rural city owned cemetery in the Midwest. The first cemetery for the city of Dubuque was located in what is now called JACKSON PARK. As the community grew, residents in the area did not like the cemetery near their homes and the site was quickly becoming too small. City planners also wished to extend Iowa Street to 17th Street. The city condemned the cemetery and would not allow more graves to be dug.

In April 1865, the process of reinterring sixty graves from Jackson Square began with most of the work done in 1867. The sight of a cemetery in the developing neighborhood had been an irritation to the citizens. Although technically under the care of the City, Linwood was a scene of disorganization. There were no carriage or footpaths. Weeds and brush grew so dense it was said not even a rabbit could get through.

The sad state of affairs at the city cemetery, which by 1875 had grown to thirty-nine acres, led nineteen prominent citizens to form the Linwood Cemetery Association. Its president was John T. HANCOCK. This group called for a citywide vote in October 1875, to determine whether they should take over the care of the grounds. With only men allowed to vote, the City by a vote of 697 to 308 was removed from the cemetery business.

The Linwood Cemetery Association was legally established on August 28, 1875. The articles of incorporation stated that stockholders would receive six percent interest and gradually the return of their original investment. Surplus money from the sale of lots would then be used to beautify the grounds.

By 1907 the cemetery grounds expanded to 147 acres, and adult graves (lined in brick) sold for fifteen dollars. Previously graves had been priced by length and were eight to twenty dollars. Grass clipping cost two cents, and water hydrants for the use of the lot owner were available at two dollars.

Originally Linwood was known as the Protestant Cemetery. Today, with over sixty thousand persons buried there, the cemetery has served the needs of all faiths.

Linwood is unique because the city's CIVIL WAR Soldiers' Monument, dedicated on November 5,1893, after twelve years of fund-raising, stands in the cemetery instead of the town square where most cities placed such a monument. Another memorial is the elaborate gateway at the entrance to the cemetery. Dedicated on May 30, 1948, the gateway was constructed through the bequest of Mrs. Augusta Eighteen Clapp in memory of her father, Charles H. EIGHMEY, former president of the FIRST NATIONAL BANK.

Among the estimated fifty thousand people buried in Linwood are John Francis RAGUE, David B. HENDERSON, John T. ADAMS, Stephen P. HEMPSTEAD, George W. HEALEY, William B. ALLISON, and Mathias HAM.