Loudon Park Cemetery

The 420 acre (1.3 km²) Loudon Park Cemetery was incorporated in 1853 on the site of "Loudon," the estate of James Carey, a Baltimore merchant, city councilman, and founder of the Maryland National Bank. With a spacious Roman entry-arch on Frederick Avenue, it was built on an elevated plateau in the current Baltimore neighborhood of Irvington. Remains were transferred from city cemeteries, notably old St. Peter's, Whatcoat, and Zion graveyards, taken over by urban construction. The Federal government purchased land on the eastern edge after the Civil War, eventually acquiring the entire cemetery. It was re-designated the Loudon Park National Cemetery about the time of World War I. Highly accessible, it received remains transported by rail over the Pennsylvania Railway, or on the "Delores," a hearse trolley car on city lines. The Delores delivered caskets to the Frederick Avenue gate that were then transferred by horse carriage or along the cemetery's own trolley line from the Frederick to the Wilkens side of the cemetery.

* The Federal Government only owns a very small part of the eastern corner of the cemetery - which is named Loudon National Cemetery which is accessible from Frederick Avenue. Loudon Park Cemetery was purchased and is still owned by Stewart Enterprises, Inc. The entrance for Loudon Park Cemetery is located at 3620 Wilkens Avenue.

Veterans' graves distinguish Loudon Park. "Government Lot" was acquired by the Federal Government in 1861 for the remains of Union soldiers, 2300 eventually being buried there. An army sergeant domiciled in a cemetery cottage kept watch over the plot for many years. Some 275 Confederate soldiers were buried in a section designated "Confederate Hill." Burials began when lot holders donated plots in 1862, midway through the Civil War, the Cemetery subsequently exchanging these plots to insure a uniform section. The statue of a Confederate soldier guarded by two angels with wreath and torch was sculpted on the plot in 1870 by Adalsbert J. Volck. A monument to mothers and widows was eventually erected by The Ladies Confederate Memorial and Aid Society. Veterans' organizations held ceremonies and picnics at the "Hill" on Confederate Memorial Day, June 6, until the early 1930s.

There are over 600 Confederate soldiers buried on Confederate Hill. Confederate Memorial Day is still celebrated every year on the first Saturday of June. The ceremonies are open to the public every year.

William Wilkens, Mary Pickersgill, flag-maker of the banner hoisted over Fort McHenry in 1812, H.L. Mencken, and Ensign C. Markland Kelly, Jr., the World War II hero shot down while piloting a single-seat plane in the Battle of Midway, are also buried here. Notable monuments included the Ottmar Mergenthaler Monument for the German-born Baltimore inventor of the Linotype.

Source: City of Baltimore

Persons of note interred

* Thomas Beck (December 29, 1909 – September 23, 1995), Actor
* Charles Joseph Bonaparte (June 9, 1851 – June 28, 1921), Former United States Attorney General, former United States Secretary of the Navy, founder of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
* Jerome Napoleon Bonaparte (July 7, 1805 – June 1, 1870), son of Jérôme Bonaparte, nephew of Emperor Napoleon I, father of Charles Joseph Bonaparte, born in England.
* William Samuel Booze (January 9, 1862 – December 6, 1933, Former Congressman from Maryland.
* Abel G. Cadwallader (1841 – July 6, 1907), Civil War Medal of Honor Recipient.
* Jack L. Chalker (December 17, 1944 – February 11, 2005), author
* Barnes Compton (November 16, 1830 – December 2, 1898), Former Congressman and Maryland State Treasurer.
* Frederick Nicholls Crouch (July 30, 1808 – August 18, 1896), Composer
* Charles W. Field (April 6, 1828 – April 9, 1892), Military officer in the United States, Confederate and Egyptian armies
* John T. Ford (April 16, 1829 – March 14, 1894), operator of Ford's Theater
* James Albert Gary (October 22, 1833 – October 31, 1920), Former United States Postmaster General.
* Harry Gilmor (January 24, 1838 – March 4, 1883), Confederate cavalry officer and Baltimore City Police Commissioner.
* William Kimmel, August 15, 1812 – December 28, 1886, U.S. Congressman for Maryland's 3rd District, 1877-1881.
* William W. McIntire, (June 30, 1850 – March 30, 1912), U.S. Congressman for Maryland's 3rd District, 1897-1899.
* H. L. Mencken (September 12, 1880 – January 29, 1956), Journalist, critic, author, and essayist.
* Ottmar Mergenthaler (May 11, 1854 – October 28, 1899), Inventor of the Linotype.
* Mary Young Pickersgill (1776 – 1857), Flag-maker of the banner hoisted over Fort McHenry during the Battle of Baltimore.
* Robert John Reynolds (March 17, 1838 – June 10, 1909), Former Governor of Delaware.

External links

* [http://www.mdscv.org/1388/confhill.htm "Confederate Hill"] (includes Roster)
* [http://politicalgraveyard.com/geo/MD/ba5.html#R9T0XKE1Q "Loudon Park" Political Graveyard]
* [http://www.mdscv.org/1388/adopt-a-confederate/ "Adopt a Confederate Project"] (Includes an updated roster, on-line archive of research on individual veterans interred on "Confederate Hill."