Crown Hill Cemetery and Funeral Home Serving The Indianapolis Indiana Area

THE PEOPLE OF CROWN HILL

The most important people buried in any cemetery are the ones you knew and loved. With over 185,000 burials, Crown Hill contains a lot of love and many, many stories.

But Crown Hill also contains hundreds of men and women who became well known in politics, literature, the arts, sports, or in some other way. The following is a sample of those buried here.

*Lyman S. Ayres, 1824-1896, Section 11, Lot 11
	Founded L.S. Ayres department stores in 1874. The first store was at the southwest corner of Washington and Meridian Streets.

Edward "Cannonball" Baker, 1882-1960, Section 60, Lot 150
	Won the first race at the Speedway, drove in the first Indy 500. In the early years of automobiles, he held many speed records.

Albert J. Beveridge, 1862-1927, Section 45, Lot 22. U.S. Senator, 1899-1911
	Biographer

James Baskett, 1904-1948, Section 37, Lot 602.
	Black actor, best known for role of Uncle Remus in Disney's song of the South.

Edward Black, 1853-1872, Section 16, Lot 148.
	Drummer Boy and youngest U.S. Army soldier at the age of 8 1/2.

Sarah Bolton, 1814-1893, Section 5, Lot 17.
	"The first singer in a new land." First Hoosier poet, her poem "Paddle Your Own Canoe" was known all around the world.

Dr. John S. Bobbs, 1809-1870, Section 7, Lot 53.
	Founder of Indiana Medical College. In 1867 he performed the first gall bladder surgery in the country.

*Ovid Butler, 1806-1881, Section 6, Lot 14.
	Early Indianapolis attorney; founded the school now named after him, Butler University, in 1854.

*Edward R.S Canby, 1817-1872, Section 9, Lot 1.
	Civil War general; killed by Modoc Indian chief during peace negotiations.

Homer Capehart, 1897-1979, Section 46, Lot 241.
	U.S. Senator, 1945-1963.

*Larry Conrad, 1935-1990, Section 88, Lot 5.
	Indiana Sec. of State, 1971-1979, State Democratic leader of the 1970s and 80s; author of the 25th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

Jacob Cox, 1810-1892, Section 33, Lot 142.
	First professional artist in Indianapolis

*Jefferson C. Davis, 1828-1879, Section 29, Lot 1.
	Civil War General, killed his own commanding officer, but was quickly restored to his own command.

John Dillinger, 1903-1934, Section 44, Lot 94.
	Notorious bank robber during the depression era, his escapades somehow caught the general public's imagination.

*William H. English, 1822-1896.
	Section 1, Lot 72. Banker, built English Hotel and Theater, which was on Monument Circle. Democratic U.S. vice Presidential Candidate in 1880.

*Charles Fairbanks, 1852-1918, Section 24, Lot 3.
	U.S. Senator, 1897-1904, U.S. Vice President, 1905-1909. Fairbanks, Alaska is named after him.

*Carl Fisher, 1874-1934, Section 13, Lot 42.
	Co-Founder of Indianapolis Motor Speedway; developer of Miami Beach, Florida.

*Calvin Fletcher, 1789-1866, Section 7, Lot 9.
	Began law practice in Indianapolis in 1821; one of our leading citizens for over forty years. Left a nine volume diary.

*Dr. Richard J. Gatling, 1818-1903, Section 3, Lot 9.
	Inventor of the Gatling Gun.

*Benjamin Harrison, 1833-1901, Section 13,
	Lot 57. U.S. Senator, 23rd U.S. President 1889-1893.

Caroline Harrison, 1832-1892, Section 13, Lot 57
	First President General of DAR, First Lady of U.S.

*Thomas A. Hendricks, 1819-1885, Section 29, Lot 2.
	U.S. Senator, 1863-1869; Governor, 1873-1877, U.S. Vice Presidential Candidate, 1876, U.S. Vice President, 1885.

Kin Hubbard, 1868-1930, Mausoleum C-6-GG.
	Newspaper cartoonist; creator of Abe Martin.

*Robert Irsay, 1923-1997, Section 88, Lot 5.
	Owner of the Indianapolis Colts/NFL team.

George Washington Julian, 1817-1899, Section 27, Lot 196.
	Congressman, 1849-1851 and 1861-1871; Candidate for U.S. Vice President, 1852. Outspoken abolitionist and advocate of woman's rights.

John Worth Kern, 1849-1917, Section 104, Lot 237.
	Democratic U.S. Vice Presidential Candidate, 1908; U.S. Senator, 1911-1917; Senate Majority Leader.

Etheridge Knight, 1931-1991, Section 62, Lot 173.
	A leading Black poet of the 1970s and 80s

* Col. Eli Lilly, 1844-1898. Section 13, Lot 19.
	Founder of Eli Lilly & Company.

Thomas Marshall, 1854-1925, Section 72, Lot 1.
	Governor 1909-1913; U.S. Vice President, 1913-1921.

*Mary Ella McGinnis, 1869-1875, Section 16, Lot 23.
	Young girl memorialized on Crown Hill's best known statue.

Catharine Merrill, 1824-1900, Section 7, Lot 16.
	Civil War nurse and author, 1st female professor at Butler.

*Thomas Morris, 1811-1904, Section 6, Lot 1.
	Chief engineer of portion of National Road, Indianapolis Canal, numerous railroad projects, also a Civil War general.

*John Morrow, 1760-1835, Section 9, Lot 14.
	Revolutionary War Soldier and Methodist minister.

*Oliver P. Morton, 1823-1877, Section 9, Lot 37.
	Indiana's powerful Civil War governor.

*Meredith Nicholson, 1866-1947, Section 4, Lot 6.
	A best selling author in the early 1900s.

*Noah Noble, 1794-1844, Section 1, Lot 13.
	Governor, 1831-1837.

Robert D. Orr, 1917-2004, Section 24, Lot 63
	Indiana Governor, 1981-89; U.S. Ambassador to Singapore, 1989-92

*Alexander Ralston, 1771-1827, Section 3, Lot 30.
	Surveyor who platted Indianapolis in 1821.

*James Whitcomb Riley, 1849-1916, Section 61, Lot 1.
	Famous Hoosier Poet.

*Samuel St. George Rogers, 1832-1880. Section 3, Lot 22.
	Confederate soldier and congressman from Florida. Over 1,600 Confederate POWs are also buried at Crown Hill.

Mozel Sanders, 1924-1988, Mausoleum D-13-2A.
	Black Minister and founder of annual Thanksgiving outreach.

*Lucy Ann Seaton, 1831-1864, Section 4, Lot 28.
	First Crown Hill burial, June 2, 1864.

Oliver Hampton Smith, 1794-1858, Section 12, Lot 9.
	Congressman, 1827-1829; U.S. Senator 1837-1843.

Otto Stark, 1858-1926, Section 62, Lot 1083.
	With T.C. Steele, one of the leading artists of the Hoosier Group. (Steele's first wife is buried at Crown Hill.)

*Abel Streight, 1826-1892, Section 29, Lot 72.
	Civil War General, staged escape from military prison that freed over 100 Union officers.

*Thomas Taggart, 1856-1929, Section 30, Lot 3.
	Mayor 1895-1901, National Democratic Chairman early 1900s; U.S. Senator, 1917. Developed French Lick Springs Resort and Spa.

*Booth Tarkington, 1869-1946, Section 13, Lot 56.
	Author/playwright, winner of two Pulitzers.

David Turpie, 1828-1909, Section 25, Lot 164.
	U.S. Senator, 1863, 1887-1899.

*Bernard Vonnegut, 1855-1908, Section 6, Lot 4.
	Architect of L.S. Ayres Building, Athenaeum, Shortridge High School, and Herron Art School; grandfather of author Kurt Vonnegut Jr.

*David Wallace, 1799-1859, Section 3, Lot 10.
	Governor, 1837-1840; father of Lew Wallace, author of Ben Hur. *James Whitcomb, 1795-1852, Section 9, Lot 38. Governor 1843-1848; U.S. Senator 1849-1852.

* Can be included in a Crown Hill Heritage Tour. Be sure to let your guide know any special interests.

Suggested Activities

1) Further information about many of the above individuals can be found in various references works. Students could be assigned to do reports on those individuals either before or after a cemetery visit.

2) During a cemetery visit, have the students pick out a name from any monument, noting the dates the person lived. Afterwards, have them make up a story about this person, trying to set it in the time in which the person lived. Other than the name and time period, they do not need to know anything about the actual person buried there.

Sometimes though, the monument may give you clues about the person's life. For example, Rev. M.G. Stern's monument is a stone pulpit with an open marble Bible lying on top, and the painter John Love's monument includes an artist's palette.

3) Same as above, but instead of a story, have the students write poetry. You could even make a Crown Hill Anthology patterned after the Spoon River Anthology of Edgar Lee Masters.

4) Have the students gather stories from their own older relatives. What do those relatives remember of their own grandparents? Does anyone in the family have pictures of any family members three or four generations back? Does anyone know when and how the family first arrived in Indiana? In the United States?

5) Have the students write their own autobiography. Like John Love and his artist's palette, what objects are most important to them?

6) English was not the native language of many people buried in Crown Hill. German is especially common on the monuments in the older sections, and there are newer monuments that include Chinese and Arabic. Some of those in English refer to the person's birth in Ireland, Scotland or elsewhere. As you tour the grounds, keep an eye open for such monuments. What would the students think of moving to another country to start a new life? Perhaps some of their own parents have done just that.

E-mail us: info@crownhill.org

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