| Prospect Hill Cemetery | |
| Established: | 1856 |
| Country: |  United States |
| Location: | Omaha, Nebraska |
| Type: | Public |
| Owner: | Prospect Hill Cemetery Historical Site Development Foundation |
| Graves: | 15,000 |
| Findagraveid: | 101200 |
The Prospect Hill Cemetery, located at 3202 Parker Street in the Prospect Hill neighborhood of North Omaha, Nebraska, United States, is believed to be the oldest pioneer cemetery in Omaha. It is between 31st and 33rd Streets and Parker and Grant Streets.
While laying out "Shinn's Addition" northwest of Omaha in 1856, Moses F. Shinn set aside 10acres for a cemetery on land where Native Americans and Mormons had reportedly been buried earlier.[1] The location was reportedly one mile from the Mormon Trail. That year he sold the land to Byron Reed, an early Omaha real estate broker.[2] Jesse Lowe, the first mayor of Omaha, set aside those 10acres of land for burial purposes in 1858. The new cemetery included a variety of lands, including the city original cemeteries called Cedar Hills and Omaha City Cemeteries. Parts of those cemeteries are still in Prospect Hill boundaries.[3]
The cemetery's first official burial was in June 1858. Alonzo F. Salisbury, Omaha pioneer and member of the Nebraska Territorial Legislature, was the first person buried there. Early Omaha real estate agent Byron Reed ran the cemetery early, and sold it with the establishment of the Prospect Hill Cemetery Association in 1858. The next year, 1859, the cemetery grew to 20acres. The site of the Cemetery was further made available after the 1870 trial of Baker v. Morton, in which courts ruled against Omaha's land barons and the city's claim club. The land was enlarged again in 1890, when the Prospect Hill Cemetery Association was founded. Soon Prospect Hill was 35acres.
Many of Omaha's early business leaders and politicians are buried in the cemetery.[4] There were approximately 15,000 burials recorded at Prospect Hill, including those of many Omaha pioneers, including influential developers, religious leaders, mayors, judges, and benefactors, for whom Omaha streets, parks and schools were named.[5] The cemetery has many interesting monuments and a special section for soldiers from Fort Omaha, and it also has graves for at least 360 early African American Omahans.[6]
In the 1880s the Forest Lawn Cemetery opened 7miles from Prospect Hill, and eventually Reed sold Prospect Hill to the Forest Lawn Cemetery Association.
Prospect Hill was designated a landmark by the City of Omaha in 1979. There is a chapel constructed of rough brick and accented in stone, and a Tudor-Revival gatehouse located on Parker Street. The cemetery was designated as a local landmark in 1979.[7]
Many of Omaha's pioneer families are buried at Prospect Hill. Some of the family names include Deuel, Gaylord, Hall, Hanscom, Kennard, Krug, Lake, Lowe, McCague, Metz, Redick, and Reed. There are also many other notable people interred at Prospect Hill. There are also monuments to Spanish–American War veterans and the gravesite of at least one Buffalo Soldier, Sergeant Allen McClare.
| Name | Place of birth | Date of birth | Occupation | Place of death | Date of death | Notes and References |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dan Allen | New York | 1832 | Gambler, businessman | Omaha | April 1884 | |
| George P. Anthes | Frankfurt, Germany | October 30, 1856 | Candidate in primary for Nebraska state auditor, 1908 | Omaha | June 15, 1936 | |
| George Robert Armstrong | August 1, 1819 | Mayor of Omaha, 1858–59, 1861–62 | Omaha | April 20, 1896 | ||
| William M. Brewer | Mayor of Omaha, 1873–74 | Omaha | September 12, 1921 | |||
| Clinton Briggs | October 17, 1828 | Member of Nebraska territorial House of Representatives, 1858; mayor of Omaha, 1860–61; delegate to Nebraska state constitutional convention, 1875. | Iowa | December 19, 1882 | Hit by a train and died. | |
| Smith Samuel Caldwell | September 4, 1834 | Mayor of Omaha, 1871–72 | Omaha | June 26, 1884 | ||
| Champion S. Chase | Cornish, New Hampshire | March 20, 1820 | Lawyer; Member of the Wisconsin State Senate, 1857–58; Mayor of Omaha, Nebraska, 1874–77, 1878–81, 1883–84; 1st Attorney General of Nebraska, 1867–68 | Omaha, Nebraska | November 3, 1898 | Chase County, Nebraska, and the unincorporated community of Champion in Chase County, are named after him[8] |
| William James Connell | Cowansville, Quebec | July 6, 1846 | U.S. Representative from Nebraska's 1st congressional district, 1889–91 | Atlantic City, New Jersey | August 16, 1924 | |
| Thomas B. Cuming | Secretary of Nebraska Territory, 1854–58; Governor of Nebraska Territory, 1854–55, 1857–58. | Omaha | March 23, 1858 | Original interment at a private or family graveyard, Douglas County, Neb.; subsequent interment at Prospect Hill Cemetery; re-interment at Holy Sepulchre Cemetery. Cuming County, Nebraska is named for him. | ||
| Augustus Hall | Batavia, New York | April 29, 1814 | Lawyer; U.S. Representative from Iowa 1st District, 1855–57; justice of Nebraska territorial supreme court, 1858–61; chief justice of Nebraska territorial supreme court, 1858–61 | Bellevue, Nebraska | February 1, 1861 | Died in office; Hall County, Nebraska is named for him. |
| John B. Hawley | Hawleyville, Connecticut | February 9, 1831 | U.S. Representative from Illinois, 1869–75 (4th District 1869–73, 6th District 1873–75) | Died May 24, 1895. | Omaha | |
| Phineas Hitchcock | New Lebanon, New York | November 30, 1831 | Delegate to Republican National Convention from Nebraska, 1860; Delegate to U.S. Congress from Nebraska Territory, 1865–67; U.S. Senator from Nebraska, 1871–77 | Omaha | July 10, 1881 | Hitchcock County, Nebraska is named for him. |
| Frederick Krug | Germany | 1855 | Founder, Krug Brewery | Omaha | November 18, 1930 | |
| Charles O. Lobeck | Andover, Illinois | April 6, 1852 | Member of Nebraska state senate, 1893; Presidential Elector for Nebraska, 1900; U.S. Representative from Nebraska 2nd District, 1911–19. | Omaha | January 30, 1920 | |
| Jesse Lowe | March 11, 1814 | Mayor of Omaha, 1857–58. | Omaha | April 3, 1868 | Original interment at Cedar Hill Cemetery (which no longer exists); re-interment in 1891 at Forest Lawn Cemetery; cenotaph at Prospect Hill Cemetery. | |
| Frederick Metz | Germany | Founder, Metz Brewery; member of Nebraska state senate, 1871–72, 1885–86 | Omaha | 1901 | ||
| Ezra Millard | February 2, 1833 | Mayor of Omaha, 1869–71 | Omaha | August 20, 1886 | ||
| Joseph Millard | Hamilton, Ontario | April 20, 1836 | Mayor of Omaha, 1872–73; U.S. Senator from Nebraska, 1901–07 | Omaha | January 13, 1922 | |
| Algernon Paddock | Glens Falls, New York | November 9, 1830 | Delegate to Republican National Convention from Nebraska, 1860; secretary of Nebraska Territory, 1861–67; acting Governor of Nebraska Territory, 1861; U.S. Senator from Nebraska, 1875–81, 1887–93. | Beatrice, Nebraska | October 17, 1897 | |
| John T. Paulsen | Ockholm, Germany | April 25, 1837 | Member of Nebraska state senate, 1889 | Omaha | September 3, 1889 | |
| Andrew Jackson Poppleton | July 24, 1830 | Mayor of Omaha, 1858 | Omaha | September 24, 1896 | ||
| Byron Reed | Darien, New York | March 12, 1829 | Real estate businessman | Omaha | June 6, 1891 | |
| Origen D. Richardson | Vermont | July 20, 1795 | Fourth Lieutenant Governor of Michigan | Omaha | November 29, 1876 | [9] |
| Alonzo F. Salisbury | Vermont | Stagecoach driver; miller; member of Nebraska territorial House of Representatives, 1856. | Omaha | October 4, 1858 | First burial in Prospect Hill Cemetery | |
| John Taffe | Indianapolis, Indiana | January 30, 1827 | Newspaper editor; member of Nebraska territorial House of Representatives, 1858–59; member Nebraska territorial council, 1860–61; major in the Union Army during the Civil War; U.S. Representative from Nebraska at-large, 1867–73 | North Platte, Nebraska | March 14, 1884 | Founder, Omaha Public Library |
| Eleazer Wakeley | Homer, New York | June 15, 1822 | Lawyer; member of Wisconsin territorial House of Representatives, 1847–48; member of Wisconsin Senate, 1851–55; justice of Nebraska territorial supreme court, 1857–61; delegate to Nebraska state constitutional convention, 1871; district judge in Nebraska 3rd District, 1883–92; appointed 1883 | Omaha | November 21, 1912 | |
| Reuben H. Wilbur | April 26, 1825 | Mayor of Omaha, 1877–79 | Omaha | April 4, 1896 | ||
| Anna Wilson | May 27, 1835 | Brothel owner | Omaha | October 27, 1911 | A polished stone in the dimensions of a king-size bed with four posts rests over the double graves of Wilson and Dan Allen. | |
