F 439 .U7 U7 Copy 1 REPORT OF THE TRUSTEES ■A p '/ #ak fah Cemeterj TO THE MAYOR AND TRUSTEES O 1' THE. COEPOEATION OF UEBANA, AND TO T H K TRUSTEES OF URBANA TOWNSHIP, ENCLOSINfi THE REPORT OF THE ENGINEER, MAPS, RULES, REGULATIONS, DEDICATORY SERVICES, AND THE ADDRESS OF REV. JAMES F. CHALFANT. URBAN A : PRINTED BY C. B. FLOOD 1856. REPORT OF THE TRUSTEES #ali Mult €tmtltx^ TO THE MAYOR AND TRUSTEES OF THE COEPOEATION OF UEBANA, AND TO THE TRUSTEES OF URBANA TOWNSHIP, BNCLOSING THE REPORT OF THE ENGINEER, MAPS, RULES, REGULATIONS, DEDICATORY SERVICES, AND TliE ADDRESS OF REV. JAMES F. CHALFANT. f URBANA: PRl^TKD BY C. B. FLOOD 1 85 G . I- 4-1^ REPORT OF THE TRUSTEES. To the Council of the Incorporated Village of Urbana, and the Trustees of Urbana Toicnship: The Trustees of ''Oak Dale Cemetery" here-^vith .^submit the following report of their prnceedings and acts in relation to the Cemetery Grounds committed to their care. Immediately after their appointment, (hey entered upon the dis- charge of the duties of their office, and have pursued their labors to the present time, with all the energy and zeal the means at their command would permit. When the grounds were first committed to our care, they were densely covered with a heavy growth of foi'est trees and underbrush. Great care and judgment were therefore requisite, in clearing the grounds, to divest it of nothing which might contribute to its beauty and ornament, and also in subdividing it into such convenient-sized lots as would be best suited to the varied wants of the community without marring the natural and beautiful surface of the grounds. The Trustees were fortunate in securing the services of J. Shoebridge Williams, Esq., an Engineer whose great experience and skill in his profession contributed very greatly to diminish their labor. His report, which is herewith submitted, contains a detailed statement of the progress and present condition of the work upon the ground. A, plat of the grounds is also here- with submitted. From these you will discover that the grounds are now ready for sepulture. And although much work yet remains to be done on the grounds, to carry out the original design, that can now be done without materially interfering with the burial of the dead. Respectfully submitted on behalf of the Trustees, LEMUEL WEAVER, President. W. .F MosGRovE, Secretary. REPORT OF THE ENGINEER. Contents. — Nothing Roconiuieiidud in a Spirit of Dictation — Suneys — Maps — Areas of Lots — Position of Stakes— How the Work was Done — System of Numbering— Unavoidable Anomalies — Location of Avenues, Ways, &c. — Location of Lots — Suitableness of Ground — Its Shape, Elevation, &c. — Grade of Avenues — Clearing — Trees Left — Thrift of Evergreeiis — No Danger to Monuments — Mapping Ornamental Grounds — Entrances to Them — Blunders Supposed — Soil of Oak Dale — Water of Spring Lake — Decomposed Animal Matter Rises — Distribution of First Purchases — A Part of Township Grounds — Distributio-n of Successive Interments — Condition of Long-Interred Remains — Present Grave Yard — What Urbana May Be — Sale of Township Ground — Mode of Selling Lots — Prices Increase Regularly — Different Modes of Sepulture — Family Vaults or Tombs — Desecration of Remains in Vaults — Receiving Vault or Tomb Necessary — Chapel — Bell — Funerals — Mode of Prevent- ing Premature Interments — Fencing the Grounds — Graveling Avenues — Drainage — Im- provement of Family Lots — How to Define the Limits of Lots Properly — Selfish Influence — Reservations — By-Laws— Register— Conelusion. Urbana, 0., July 3, 1856. To the Trustees of Oak Dale Cemetery: Gentlemen — The operations by you confided to my care, as Cemetery Engineer, have so far progressed as to render it proper that I should make a full and detailed report upon them, with some intimation of my views of the present state of the Cemetery, and of the best future policy to be adopted in its progress and government. In respect to this last remark, I bespeak your particular observance, that, however freely and confidently I may express my opinion, no- thing will be so expressed in a spirit of dictation, but merely as sug- gestions, to pass with you for no more than yourselves may conceive to be their value. The surveys, as you know, were commenced on the 10th of No- vember last. They, with work appertaining to them, have been as- siduously continued from day to day, Sundays excepted, without the intermission of a single day. The ground has been laid off in sixty-four quadrangular sections, one only excepted, and they have been subdivided into 1,768 burial lots, of such a great variety of shapes and sizes, as will likely REPORT OF^ ENGINEER. he sufficient to meet the demands of all the varied necessities, abili- ties, and taste of lot-purchasers ; and every one of them is accessible by avenues, of twenty-four feet in breadth, ways of fifteen feet, lanes of ten feet, or allies of five feet in width. These sections and lots have each been furnished with a large stake, well driven in one cor- ner, having been made of such a shape as to designate which corner they are in. Upon these stakes, in very legible inch figures, the re- spective number of every section and lot was previously branded. A map of the whole ground, and of every avenue, way, lane, alley, vista, section, and lot, upon a small scale, giving a satisfactory and full view of the whole, is herewith presented. A portfolio of maps of each section, with the lots thereon, embracing a skeleton vicinity of each, the location of avenues, &c., upon a large scale, intended for the use of your Secretary, is also presented. A book of canvased charts of every section, with skeleton vicinities, upon a smaller scale, intended for the use of your Superintendent on the ground, is also herewith presented. The maps of both the portfolio and the charts comprise not only the avenues, ways, lanes, alleys, vistas, and lots, embraced by each section, but also the length of every line, the position of every stake, amounting to thousands in the aggregate, and also the number of every lot, with its area in square feet, each and all unmistakeably conspicuous, in ink of different colors. To the above may be added a map of the Avhole, comprising six sheets, which may be of some service, as it contains, like the other maps, the shapes of lots, localities of avenues, ways, &c., with the length of lines, numbers of lots, positions of stakes, &c. It is, however, but a rough sketch, the aggregate of continued daily, or better said, nightly test plattings of field notes, as the operations proceeded, and is tolerably accurate. It may be said to lack nothing material of the portfolio and charts but the superficial areas of the lots. To say that the entire work has been done under my personal su- pervision, is scarcely enough. To say that it has been done by my individual hands, might not be consididered very hyperbolical, when I remind you that, by reference to your Secretaries' accounts, you will find that all the assistance I have wished for or received, has not cost yoji_thirteen dollars, as I preferred driving stakes myself, to the presence of any mental disturbance in laying out the lots, alleys, &c. I except, in relation to the cost above, the making of stakes, the G OAK DALE CEMETERY. branding and driving of the 1,832 stakes, done under my own eye, and by my personal directions. I except, also, the magnetic survey of the outside boundary lines, done before I came to the ground. I therefore feel responsible in respect to the accuracy or inaccuracy of the whole Avork of laying out, mapping, &c., except, as above the outside lines, of which I have no right to complain. Placing yourselves in front of, or on the north of the Cemetery, or of the various maps and charts, you will observe that the numeral order of the sections is arranged in columns, as in a newspaper, and as in it, these columns commence on the left, and proceed toward the right. That in each section the numeral order of the lots, unless necessarily made to deviate, read from left to right and from top to bottom, as lines in a column. You may observe, also, that the de- signating monument or stake of each section, is invariabl]/ jAaced in the lower left-hand or northeast corner of the sections, while those of the lots generally are to be found in the upper left-hand or sowiA- east corners respectively, unless controlled by more important con- siderations. It is easy to understand that facing lots toward contin- ually winding and various avenues, ways, &c., will carry them out of their cardinal positions, and render it impracticable to make the lot lines all correspond with the cardinal sides of the sections, and that some lots lie necessarily in part or wholly outside of tlie regular bounds of the sections in which they are enumerated. It was found best, by local considerations, not invariably to place the designating stakes in the southeast corners of the lots ; but as the facts on the ground, and their representations on the maps, are believed to agree perfectly in these particulars, no serious detriment need be appre- hended to arise from those anomalies. In respect to the manner in which the work has been executed, after the many expressions of the entire satisfaction you have coUec- (ivel)'^ and individually made, as the work progressed, I need make these general observations only. The avenues have been laid in the lowest and lower grounds generally. That designated as Urbana Avenue is, throughout its entire length, along the principal water course which divides your grounds so equally and so beautifully ; and, for the conveyance of water, three feet have been, on each side, added to its width. Township Avenue was laid on the line dividing the township from the corporation grounds. The other aA^enues, REPORT OF ENGINEER. 7 with small and necessary exceptions, were laid in branch ravines or depressions. With few necessary variations, the avenues are all composed of long and graceful curvilinear lines or sweeps, that, if well followed, will add much beauty to your grounds. The vistas have been laid so as to afford pleasing, but contracted views of dis- tant parts, in and outside of the grounds. Where these pass over or near individual or society lots, they will add much to the beauty of the locality, without any sort of detriment, excepting the care and control of the Trustees, necessary to prevent visual obstructions, be counted such. Great care has also been taken to render every part conveniently accessible to hearses, by lanes, if by no wider passages, and every lot approachable by alleys, to prevent all necessary intru- sions on private property, as the maps conspicuously show. The larger lots have been, almost without exceptions, laid fronting upon avenues, ways and lanes, lower than they, from which they rise from front to rear, so as, in the most graceful manner, to present advantageous views of monuments and other ornamental improve- ments on them, to passing visitors. A chapel, to accomodate funeral services, with a capacious receiving vault or tomb for temporary de- posits under it, has been projected and located in a spot of rare relative beauty, and of singular appropriateness for such a combined structure, and the grounds in the vicinity laid out in reference to it; In the yards of these structures, have been laid systems of small lots, to accommodate cenotaph monuments, and mural tablets, com- memorating the existence and virtues of the distant deceased, either as to time or space. Those, for instance, who died long ago, at sea, in distant lands, or otherwise, rendering the interment of their re- mains in Oak Dale impracticable. These lots, though small, are large enough to be disposed of for such purposes, in halves or quar- ters if necessary, and when thus improved, will render your chapel grounds, historically considered, the most interesting point in the Cemetery. It has been conceded by many, if not by all, who have visited these grounds, since my acquaintance with them, that a better selec- tion for, and location of a Cemetery, could not be made in Cham- paign county ; and I may add my testimony, that after having visited the most celebrated Cemeteries from Maine to the District of Colum- bia, and including both, and some of them frequently, as well as 8 OAK DALE CEMETERY. those of the West, I know of no spot, selected or unselected, that I consider, either in natural shape of surface or quality of soil, supe- rior for the purposes of sepulture. And when we add to this its ac- cessibility from Urbana, by a level road of scarcely one mile, cross- ing neither railway nor other traveled road, the choice may be con- sidered truly felicitous. It is needless to tell you that the ground is beautifully rolling and undulating ; but it may not be amiss just to say that, by not very, but sufficiently precise levelings, it has been ascertained that the Chapel floor will be twenty-two feet above a base mark instituted at South entrance on the lowest point of ground, six feet above the water of Spring Lake. Reference being had to base mark, the ele- vation of South entrance is found to be plus 28, or 6 feet higher than the Chapel floor. The northeast corner, or section 7, is the highest part of the Cemetery — being ^^Zws 32. Lots 7 and 8 of section 59, 1 and 2 of section 4, 4 and 5 of section 5, and most of section 8, are all about 30 plus. Kenton square, 27. Lot 27, in section 55, is 25. Poet's Bower, 24; 10 and 11, in section 28, are 22 plus. No. 1 in sections 42 and 49 are 18, and 1 and 4 in section 56 are I'iplus. These are all prominences, mostly with depressions or valleys between them. The ascent of Urbana Avenue from base mark is about one-half of one degree, with little variation. That of other avenues will be steeper, but all gentle slopes. If we except the descent of Town- ship into Urbana Avenue, not over three degrees for a few poles. Chapel Avenue will be the steepest in the ground, which, for two- thirds of its length, will be nearly, but not exceeding, two degrees of ascent toward South entrance. The avenues, and some of the vistas, are grubbed out and cleared of wood ; but they and the whole ground are as yet otherwise in their unimproved and naturally rough state, incidental to forest land, but which approaches as near to a high degeee of graduation as can be found any where in wood land. The Superintendent of the clearing and grubbing operations has, agreeably to your order, trimmed all the trees twenty feet up from the ground, grubbed out and disposed of all the largest, most of the larger and much of the smaller growth, and burnt the chips, brush and leaves. This was done by your request, under my general su- pervision and counsel. We left many or most of the smaller and some of the larger trees standing, all which we believe to be sound and thrifty. They are ornamental as well as useful ; but as some, if REPORT (JF ENGINEER. 9 not most of the good folks of Urbana think, as I understand, that wc have left too many, I beg leave to dilate a little upon that subject here. Our reasons for leaving those we have left, were in part to save present time and expense — both pressing considerations just now — and because in doubtful cases we thought it would be easier hereafter to displace a score of trees that might be found to be cumbersome and useless, than to replace one that might be needed, and had been removed. Because, also, experience shows that evergreens, which we hope will be abundantly introduced, will not flourish well, espe- cially in gravelly soils, unless they be protected from the effects of hot sunshine. The natural thrift of evergreens is either in thick clusters, wherein they shade each other, or under the shadows of clifts or deciduous trees. We have no doubt but the superior growth of our worthy President's evergreen shrubbery, over that of the yard of his next-door neighbor, is mainly, if not entirely, owing to the protection afforded to them by his mansion standing south of them, and the apple trees among which they were introduced. Evergreens cannot thrive with their roots enveloped in hot soil, and to prevent this, they instinctively shoot out limbs close to the ground for the purpose of protection, as little barefoot girls have been seen to spread their aprons over their feet in the scorching rays of a summer's sun, and we could have wept when we have seen the Van- dal hands of ignorance depriving those instinctive, interesting, help- less beauties of their self-provided protections, without the furnish- ing of any other. A good layer of tangled straw, weighted down with small stones, over their tender, but sensitive fibrils, is about the best. To which, when small, in hot weather, in day time, add head- less barrels, to shade their tops. We left more of the natural growth upon your grounds, under the conviction that a few months of experience and proper consideration of what is really ornamental and necessary, will do much to convince the doubtful, that, with further and necessary trimming and topping, there has been no superabundance left. Some seem, by what they say, to fear that monuments will be destroyed by falling trees ; but, really, it is hard to believe them to be otherwise than ironically joking others respecting the whole matter. If such fears really exist, they might subside at least till monuments are there, and shown to 10 OAK DALE CEMETERY. be in danger, winch is the course pursed in other Cemeteries. The largest trees are, at any time, by machinery, easily controlled in any precise direction, and just when and where desired. In Oak Dale, however, there are scarce a dozen Jrees that could injure a good monument by falling on it, otherwise than merely tumbling it over, even could we suppose the almost unsupposable concatenation of cir- cumstances necessary to cause one to be touched by a falUng tree, and that it is common to see young oaks, hickories, and sassa- fras, all healthy, blown over by a storm that might arise. It is more easy to conceive of monuments themselves overturned, than saplings uprooted by a storm. We recommend those who are the most confi- dent that we are wrong in this, to take a trip to the best Cemeteries of the Atlantic cities, and see the trees permitted — jes, encouraged — to grow in them, as Avell as in the best in the West ; or, in defa\ilt of such a trip, get a very useful work. Greenwood and Mount Auburn Illustrated, and see the thick groves of trees far outmeasuring ours, represented on the finest steel engravings. One word here on laying out and mapping ornamental grounds in general, and this Cemetery in particular. Whenever localities will admit of it, the principal entrance to ornamental grounds and rural Cemeteries should be at the lowest point, so that visitors may, on entering, be saluted by the elevation of grounds above them. That entrance should be in front of the grounds, of course, but not in the center of the boundary, nor directly opposed to the most conspicuous object in it, unless that object be Avholly or in great part excluded by intervening obstacles, but, if convenient, at the right hand corner, or near it, rather than at the left, for few people of correct taste like to enter an enclosure directly in the front gaze of the inmates of a fine mansion, or public resort. Visitors prefer also to have such objects to their right rather than on their left, as they approach. The front boundary should also be more picturesque or varied than the back, if the back be at all in view. The front should bind oli an open ground, and not on forest, if possible ; that is, the front of the picture should be the most conspicuous to public and outside obser- vation, and should occupy one of the longest sides of the plat, if boundaries are visible. The principal ornaments should be placed in the front of ornamented grounds, and not at the back of lar^e enclo- sures, where they cannot be seen at all, or with great difficulty, and REPORT OF ENGINEER. 11 indistinctly. To fill each, all, and every one of these rare accom- plishmenst, Oak Dale is qualified in a most remarkable degree. The principal entrance will be at the lowest point, and at the right- hand corner, supposing the ground to front the cleared land and turnpike to the north of it, and with an unsurpassed foreground of slopes and trees. It will also be an exit from the grounds exactly toward Urbana, and in full view of it, say at a mile of distance. No locality could combine more of the requisites of a high improve- ment. To make the soundness of the above landscape doctrine a little more conspicuous, let us look for a moment at the picture reversed. Suppose the south side, instead of the north, were conceived to be the front of the ground. The principal entrance would in that case be at the left-hand corner of the hack of the Cemetery! Urbana, the open ground and the turnpike, would then all be back of the ground, and dense forest bounding the entire front ! ! The most pic- turesque ground, as well as boundary, would then have been back of the ground, and the most monotonous ground and boundary in front. The Township ground, with its more monotonous surface and system of lots, and more sparing ornaments, would be in front of the ground, and the corporation grounds, with their adjuncts, their monuments, their chapel, cenotaphs, and Spring Lake, would be back in the rear ! The south entrance in this case, would truly be at one corner of the front, but to the left and not to the right of it. Look on this picture, then on that. What, then, would be the duty of any competent Engineer, in lay- ing out this ground ? Should he place the ground on his maps as facing the spectator who might stand on the north of it, or on the south of it 1 On the north of it, surely ; for the maps will control the ideal direction of the ground eventually, in spite of every other circumstance. Who but a mere novice ever thought of taking a stand on the back of a landscape to make a drawing of it or to view it ? Who ever, but such as know little or nothing of laying out ornamental grounds, would ever have conceived that Oak Dale should have been mapped with its North boundary at the top of the maps, in compli- ance with school -boys' first lessons, to plat farms and wood-lands in that way ? We confidently say, none. An interment (the first) in Oak Dale, on 15th ultimo, was made 12 OAK DALE CEMETERY. on section 39, lot 27, near Vista Way, and on very nearly the highest ground in tlie vicinity, say plus 22 feet. The grave was dug to the depth of six feet, through gravelly loam into a stratum of sand and gravel. Many experiments made and indications observed, testify this to be the almost invariable character of the ground. It is ad- mirable and preferable in the minds of almost every one for the pur- poses of interment in the free soil. Little or no apprehension need be entertained, under a system of proper dressing, that one drop of water will ever reach any remains deposited in Oak Dale. Water is often &, great preserver of animal matter under ground, depriving it of its oils and gases, protecting it from the action of the atmosphere, and rendering it adipose and almost indestructible in its watery, soak- ing abodes ! To prevent this, as well as premature interments, the horrors of a dissecting room, and the real or supposed unhealthines s of grave-yards, some advocate the burning of the bodies of their de- ceased friends, as being preferable to the real or imaginary dread of circumstances of ordinary sepulture. With the proper care and atten- tion of your Board, of the officers of the Cemetery, and the friends of the deceased buried in the free soil of Oak Dale, such fears may at once subside. This is one inestimable privilege which may result to this town and township from your laudable enterprise. It has been feared that the excellently fine water of Spring Lake, that is presumed, in a gravelly stratum, to underlie the entire Cemetery, will be injured, at least for drinking purposes, by numerous interments in the free soil above it. In respect to this important consideration, I beg leave to offer a few observations and suggestions. It is hard to conceive of the method or circumstances that could materially injure such a reservoir of spring water, which, as you know, propels heavy machinery all seasons of the year in town, and within half a mile of the first day -light appearance of it. But then, as this may not satisfy doubtful minds in respect to the water of Spring Lake, in which they may be more particularly and personally interested, we will observe further — It has been found, says Loudon, that " six feet of earth will absorb the whole decaying substance of a human body," or words to that eflfect. Let it be considered, then, that animal matter, decomposed under ground, and absorbed by the earth, must and will inevitably rise to the surface, tending invariably upward, and not downward. REPORT OF ENGINEER. 13 The atmosphere is the natural depository of all such things as nourish vegetation. Odors of all kinds, even rising from manures, testify this ; and that they rise in and from the earth, the disagree- able smells of badly managed grave-yards, and the frequent appear- ance of ignis fatuii about them, positively prove. Unless streams of water, running or soaking down through the earth, actually carry decayed animal matter with them, you cannot find animal decompo- sitions descending through the earth. Even water itself is in the constant effort of rising from the interior to the surface of the earth, where it takes its flight in the atmosphere, to fall in dews and show- ers on distant lands. The heaving up of frost under leaves in the woods, and all evaporation from the surface of the earth and seas, prove the tendency of water to mount and fly, carrying vegetable nourishment with it everywhere. No fears need be entertained that one particle of the remains of any well dressed grave, will ever pene- trate downwards half the distance of six feet below those of any single body, much less that they will ever touch, still less injure, the water of Spring Lake. The fine water at the entrance of Greenwood, New York, has not, I understand, been injured one iota, by the in- terment of the tens of thousands of bodies, and all on a higher level. But to render security doubly sure, in this respect, as well as greatly to benefit the Cemetery in respect of healthiness of atmosphere, and diffusion of ornaments, I most seriously re- commend to lot buyers to distribute their first purchases as far throughout the entire ground offered, as may at all comport with their views of convenience. Then, in order to render their own par- ticular lots more healthy and pleasant, as places of rural retirement and meditation, let them make each successive interment as far from the next preceding, as their space and sense of propriety will admit. It will be from quickly successive deposits of bodies subject to putre- faction, in close juxtaposition only, that any fears of injuring the soil, the water or the atmosphere of the Cemetery, need be apprehended. Large accumulations of putrid matter must penetrate proportionably far in every direction from the source of it. In this connection, I ask you to set apart a certain and reasonably large portion of the township grounds, for present single and chari- table interments, and by an order, cause the first interment to be 14 OAK DALE CEMETERY. made in a designated corner, or other part of one lot, designated by its number, then let the second interment be in the same part of the lot with the same number, in the next section ; then the third inter- ment in like part of the third section, and so on, until every section in the part upon which such interments are allowed to be made, has in it one interment. Then let the next interment take place in another part of the same lot with the first interment, and as far from it as the bounds of the lot and the interments on contiguous lots will admit, so as to diffuse the graves as nearly equi-distant over the whole ground as circumstances will admit. By pursuing this method, before it will be necessary to place interments within the influence of each other, the decomposable matter of the first interred bodies will have been blown to the winds, and coffin may be laid alongside of coffin, requiring but twelve instead of about double that number of square feet each, which is usually allowed for adult interments, and grave digging be much less laborious. I have exhumed remains from dry graves, that I am sensible not a drop of water had ever touched during the sixteen or seventeen years they had lain there. There was not the least perceptibly dis- agreeable smell in the graves, or about the remains, although buried in progressive rows in the Friends' style, about the worst that could be adopted. How long these subjects had been reft of putrid matter, I know not ; but I exhumed from a dry vault a subject at nine years, in much the same condition. The hair on these remains was all as sound, and of the same color precisely, as that retained by the rela- tives at death ! The bones were in appearance and texture much like skeleton limestone from which all the caustic and phosphorescent qualities of the lime had departed, and in confirmation of Mr. Lou- don's opinion, as indestructible. I see no reason to doubt this, as the bones are the rocks of the body, and doubtless very similar in their uses and purposes to those of the earth. "With such precautionary regulations, and with graves well dressed, as decency and health dictate, there will not be one-tenth of the dan- ger that the water of Spring Lake will ever receive one particle of the remains deposited above it, as there is that the water in the wells of Urbana has been, and in some degree continue to be, affected by drainage of the sunken graves in the present grave -yard in town, from which not a drop of water can run off, but all that falls must REPORT OF ENGINEER. 15 sink into the sunken graves, and running successively through the remains below, inevitably carries their putrid substances wherever it goes. Here is the danger of ill health and wide-spread nuisance, as the consequence of crowding interments into compact groups, and by quick successions, so that the soil cannot free itself of its pestifer- ous burthen, and then by neglecting graves till they become sink- holes, which render all slopes of surface useless as a means of draining the grounds. ■ Although I am not a citizen of Champaign county, and of course what I might say on the subject might be considered gratuitous and out of place, yet, on the score of the interest I feel in the welfare of common humanity, if on no other, allow me merely to suggest the early removal of all the remains in the present crowded grave-yard to more roomy quarters, and that the ground they now occupy be graded, shaded, grassed, and otherwise ornamented, as a public, a convenient, healthy, well governed and necessary promenade. That done, Oak Dale properly cared for, your fine groves, your rich and beautiful alluvial plains and your mineral waters properly noticed, and some other evidently necessary improvements made, together with your rapid elevation of schools of learning, and I could truly say, I know of no city, town or village, East or West, North or South, in which it would be more pleasant to live, or at which it woidd be more desirable to die, than Urbana. In conection with the utility of a wide distribution of closely suc- cessive interments, and also to accommodate those of small means, or having penurious minds, with as good ground for the interment of their families, as their more favored or lofty-minded neighbors can dare to boast of, I suggest that you set apart sections one, eight, fif- teen, sixteen, twenty-two, twenty-three, thirty and sixty-four, for present interments on the Township grounds, reserving the entire balance for a beautiful and health-inspiring grove without graves until actually needed for sepulture. And further, that for the benefit of the township, and improvement of its grounds, as well as the good keeping and repair of the same, let me advise the sale, at a low price, of every alternate lot in the seven sections first enumerated, and under the restrictions that the first purchaser should take lot one or two in section one ; the second purchaser to take lot one or two in section eight, and so on, till one lot be sold in each of the seven sec- IG OAK DALE CEMETERY. tious. Then begin again disposing of lot three or four in section one, and thus go over and over the seven sections with your sales, until every alternate lot in the seven sections be sold. Section 64, agree- ably to the original design, should be at the disposal of the Coroner, in the interment of subjects by deaths from accidents, violence, and causes unknown, and he should be restricted to the laying of his sub- jects one in each lot, in the order of their numbers, until all the forty lots were occupied by one ; and then the second in each lot at the greatest distance from other graves, &c., &c. Appropriate the re- maining alternate lots in the seven sections, from which you sell fam- ily lots, to the uses of the overseers of the poor, excepting one lot in each section, to be sold very low, by single graves, but in the suc- cessive order of the first sale, the first interment being on section one, and so on through. The overseers of the poor, also, to make the first of their charitable interments in a certain lot on section one, their second on section two, &c., &c. In accordance with the wise suggestions and practice of John W. Van Cleve,Esc[.,founder and Superintendent of the Dayton Cemetery — who, to distribute them, appropriates one lot to single interments and fills it, then appropriates another — I suggest that you improve his method by now setting apart lot number ten, or any other, the same number of lot in every section in the corporation grounds to be sold out by single graves. By appropriating a lot with a certain number in each section at once for that purpose, you avoid every suspicion of partiality in favor of classes and kinds of interments, and by distrib- uting single interments all over the ground, one in each section first, &c., you not only prevent the necessary, injurious consequences of crowded fresh interments, but you prevent (which is the aim of Mr. Van Cleve) appearance of partiality and the existence of large un- broken spaces, without ornament, clothed with a tiresome, monoto- nous appearance, the greatest blemishes of most, if not all, our otherwise best and most ornamented Cemeteries. A consummation devoutly to be wished. Of the manner of selling lots in Oak Dale, and the prices at which it will be right to sell them, being clearly out of the engineering range, but as you request me to leave with you as much information and facilities of progress as I can, I shall say a little on that subject, to inform you what I know of the customs of Cemetery Trustees in REPORT OF ENGINEER. 17 other places. In some of the best Cemeteries, the price of the ground is made to vary, somewhat, with the locality, the proximity to car- riage ways, goodness of soil, beauty of shape, ALK CEMETERY. closed, and the vault would be immediately cleared. Thus may be combined convenience, cleanliness, health and beauty of ornament, for one tithe of the cost of the cheapest plan mentioned by Mr. Loudon. Drawings of the Chapel, the towers, flue, grating, &c., with explanations of the necessary lowering machines, are herewith presented. A bell was mentioned. That would seem to be an almost indis- pensable requisite of any good Cemetery. It would be almost shocking to anticipate the lasting necessary dependence of those beautiful slopes for solemn knells upon the bells in town. The bell should be pitched on E J or B b, and sufficiently large to be heard distinctly two or three miles. The bell should be hung near its center of gravity, so as easily to turn over, and not imder, that it may be arrested, receive the stroke, and remain in a horizontal position du- ring an entire interval of say 30 seconds. The clapper should be furnished with recoiling springs, to prevent its jingle against the lower side of the bell's mouth. Drawings of these fixtures are pre- sented. I mentioned the subject of premature interments, a thought at which even the base and depraved shudder. And who knows but that he or she may be a subject of its horrors ? I cannot pass this opportunity without endeavoring to lessen, if not entirely do away all danger of such an awful occurrence in Oak Dale. I there- fore, among others, present drawings of a plan by which the least motion, in either the head or hands of any one of any number of subjects left in the Chapel or vault, will cause an alarm of any de- sired force to be sounded on the bell in the tower. One person saved in one, or in ten centuries, would be worth more than all the cost. Let all be done that can be done to rid sepulture of its gloom and horrors, and the living and the dying, the healthy and the sickly, will begin to make it more and more a subject of contemplation. Superstition will vanish, thoughtlessness will diminish, the dread of death will be in a measure dissipated, and the race will have more time for free and unrestrained devotion which alone improves the heart. In regard to permanently fencing the ground, it may not be amiss to mention that hedging for an outside defense is yet a mode of doubtful utility in this country, especially in woodland, as much of REPORT OK ENGINEER. 21 yours must necessarily be. All sorts of wooden fencing in shade you will find but temporary in usefulness. Stone would be very ex- pensive with you, and hence a good fence, such as all Cemeteries ought by all means to have, presents to you one of the greatest, if not the very greatest, diflBiculties you will have to surmount. The kind you are now putting iip, composed of tapering pickets, is as good as any you can now command, and will last until new modes may be presented, or some of the old ones improved, so that you can consistently make choice of one better than now. As I have more experience in road-making than perhaps any other man in the country, it might be reasonably expected that I ghould not leave you without a few words on the improvement of your avenues. Were they to be roads for wagons, loaded with four to six tons, or bridges with fifty to two hundred feet span, as the Maysville and other roads of my building have, I should then feel fully competent and at home ; but upon your miniature turnpikes, I confess I hardly know Avhat to say. Certain I am, however, that you have plenty of the finest material to make them, or even the heaviest turnpike, and much I believe sufficiently clear of sand and loam to sustain the travel of your Cemetery without screening. In your contemplated and sur- veyed excavation of Spring Lake, (a drawing of which I leave with you,) you will remove three feet of gravelly loam very suitable for the bed of your road. Then, in deepening the lake, you will get gravel clear enough for the upper face, laid four to six inches thick on a bed of the first eight or nine inches in thickness. Fine materials abound ; but the difficulty is, cut where you may, you are deranging handsome surface, that must be restored, or the beauty of the ground will be marred. In respect to drainage, very little will be needed. The soil of Oak Dale is so pervious that rains soon evaporate, leaving it pleasant and dry aijain. In the bottom of the main stream I have seen water enter a hole in considerable quantities, and disappear. A few excavations on each side of Urbana Avenue, filled with coarse gravel, will, in my opinion, let all the water of the Cemetery disappear into the gravel beneath. A few words respecting the improvement of family lots, may not be out of place here. A good landscape gardener would say, "Near the back of your lot, on a foundation laid as deep as the graves near by are 22 OAK DALE CEMETERY. dug, place your principal monument, of any varied size or shapes, ex- cepting successive and disgusting imitations of others. Let your monu- ment be backed by dark-leaved, thickly set evergreens, having a more sparing, light-colored foreground. The interments of adults should be made more especially in reference to the principal monument. Smaller monuments and graves might be in other parts of the lot, but all in some relation to the principal, like children to parents. It might be pleasing to have the names of all the family on the princi- pal monument, while the names of each individual might be on a small monument at the head, or neat mural tablet laid over the breast of each, bearing his or her name, and encircled with flowers. This would be far preferable to the mounds or ridges usually raised over graves, now going out of repute — the even and well improved sur- face being more pleasing to the eye, easier kept in order, and the bet- ter protection from wet. The lower edges of the ridges are usually soft and pervious, allowing the water to insinuate itself at the junc- tion of horizontal with the vertical sodding. It may also be observed that the cardinal points of the horizon are seldom, if ever, observed w^here it is the object to display a correct taste, which is certainly of more importance. Why prefer the west for the head of a grave ? In respect to fencing individual family lots, when a Cemetery has a good outside fence, a watchful police, and a community of any dis- cretion, may be pronounced as useless, expensive of construction, selfish in appearance, and unsightly encumbrances to grave diggers and funerals, and with but a good outside fence and no police ought to be dispensed with altogether. They afford no protection from the ruthless, if we could imagine any in a Cemetery. To admire a lot fence, you must contract the sight of your eyes, and ideas of j'our mind, and fix them solely on some ginger-bread Avork, displayed on some part of the fence. Whereas, in Cemeteries, such useless work of mere trades, and repetitions of the same patterns, ought to be re- moved, when there, to protect residences, and those of the arts' and variety introduced, so that the beauties of nature and art may bear a strict and pleasing relation, before the expanded sight of your eyes and ideas of your mind. Monuments and shrubbery are both pleas- ing and useful, if they represent art in its higher perfections and na- ture in its natural dress. Hedges around lots, excluding both light and air, from both within nnd without, are worse than open fences. REPORT OF ENGINEER. 23 They look still more selfish. The shrubbery which forms them, is forced out of its natural beauty, and becomes a burlesque upon both nature and the lot owner, as well as a drawback upon the restincr- places of our friends. I have seen fences costing, say four times the prices of the lots they enclose, and all the monuments and other improvements on them. I see neither religion, morality nor good taste in lot fences. How much bettei- would it have been to put all that spare cash out of the way of the grave digger and the scythe, as well as funerals, in an elegant monument and other useful improvements, ornamental to the whole grounds, or in building an impregnable iron fence around the whole domain ! Metal and rustic seats are pretty and useful appen- dages to lots, as well as the finer kinds of trellis work for trainino- creeping and flowering shrubs Upon. But seats inside of a lot fenced up, looks too selfish to be thought of, saying to the thoughtful, " You may faint of fatigue, but you must not sit on me. Avaunt ! you are no kin to our folks." Beautiful works of art and flowers inside of a lot fence, say to me, ''You are a Vandal, my master thinks. You have not good sense. Were you to come near enough to us to catch our odor, or see our beautiful petals, and observe our fine natural shapes with a good look, we know you would clutch us and ruin us, and hence our master puts a jail wall between you and us, with locks and bolts, to keep 3'ou out. You have no business with a good view of master's finery, though the walks to us inside of the lot are all shells or gravel, for favored feet alone, and as useless as the ideas that suggest them." It might not be amiss to mark the shape and size of lots with a curbing of stone, or, better still, a hedge of dwarf box, lilies, dafodils or pinks. Lots thus surrounded would not be trespassed upon half so much as those under lock and key ; for there is a disposition in the human constitution to disobey useless resti-ictions. It has been sensibly remarked, that the usual repetition of fence posts in some Cemeteries, looks, at a little distance, as if there had been a great pestilence among the little ones. They look like the rule of such places, and the Cemetery built for their accommodation, while the monuments and other improvements are the exceptions in appear- ance, the mere accidents and adjuncts. With the pious labors of the talented and accomplished landscape 24 OAK DALE CEMETERY. gardener of Spring Grove, near Cincinnati, lot fencing is going fast out of repute there. It is, however, feared that the selfish interests of the iron mongers and hedgers will long protect the absurd and useless practice. I own a lot in a badly fenced and worse managed Cemetery at Cincinnati, older than Spring Grove. I spent much time in trying to mend the rotten fence to keep the hogs out, and at last was compelled in self-defense to fence a part of it, to protect the remains of seven loved ones lying there, trusting the unoccupied part to improvement in the economy of the Association. In addition to the foregoing recommendations, I would suggest that for the present, you reserve from sale, except in groups to Societies, all the societary lots and four sctions at each entrance, viz : 50, 51, 67, and 68, at South Entrance, and 55, 56, 62, and 63, at North Entrance, keeping them (until they shall be actually needed for se- pulture) as lawns, groves and meadows of beauty and usefulness. I also propose the reservation of lots 28 in section 26, 14 in section 39, and 19 in section 40, for purposes specified on the maps and charts, and that they be furnished suitably thereto. Also, that Monument Dell be surrounded with an evergreen hedge, to seclude it from the surrounding grounds and ways, and the center furnished suitably to the design intimated. Also, that section 64 be surrounded with a thorn hedge, to separate it from other grounds, and devoted to the Coroner's use. Having examined many sets of rules and by-laws for the regula- tion of Cemeteries, their owners and visitors, I find them much alike in the different Cemeteries, and that those adopted in the Hamilton Cemetery, in the hands of your Secretary, are about as good as any I have seen. Let me say, it will be well for you to enact no laws but such as are needed, and which you intend shall be carried out unwaveringly. Enact none in the wiry edge of patriotism, to fall dead on your statute books, to the weakening of your power to en- force others that ought to be observed. I have ever found rules re- quiring visitors to purchase entrance tickets pefectly nugatory, as very little experience proves that persons decidedly improper as vis- itors usually prefer grog-shops and places of sport, to annoying those who, for higher motives, visit Cemeteries. I recommend that a reg- ister be kept at the gate, in which each visitor may be expected to enter his or her name and residence before entering the Cemetery. /' HEPORT OF ENGINEER. ZO It remains now for me, in conclusion, to assure you of my contin- ued desires and prayers for your individual and combined pros- perity, in the good work of refining the taste, elevating the standard of morality, and exalting the religious feeling of community — bene- fiting the living, and doing justice to departed worth. May the souls of every one whose tabernacle of clay shall be laid in Oak Dale, ap- proach their change in brilliant hopes, and be found at last at the right hand of their Judge and in bliss, glorifying his name forever ! Yours, truly, J. SHOEBRIDGE WILLIAMS. RULES MD REGULATIONS MADE BY THE TRUSTEES OF OAK DALE CEMETERY. ' Enclosure of Lots. — The Trustors do not recommend the enclosure of lots, but will allow it, provided they are not stone or brick walls, or wooden fences ; and if a railing of iron, or posts and chains, or a hedge, it must be placed on the lot itself, and must not exceed three feet in height. 2. Vaults and tombs are not recommended, but will be allowed, subject to such additional charge and rules and regulations for the same, to prevent nui- sance, as may be determined upon by the Trustees. 3. All graves for adults must be dug at least five and a half feet deep, and for children at least four feet deep. 4. Interments will not be allowed without a permit from the Secretary, to whom payment for the digging of the grave shall be made when the permit is issued. 5. The foundations of monuments that may be erected on lots, shall be at least as deep as the graves. 6. If any monument, vault, tomb, effigy, railing or other structure, or any inscription be placed in or upon any lot, which the Trustees shall deem offen- sive or improper, they shall have the right, and, after notice given, it shall be their duty, to enter upon said lot and cause such improper objects to be re- moved. 7. In the erection of monuments, vaults, tombs, railings, or other struc- tures, a place will be designated by the Superintendent for the deposit of stones, brick, or other materials, which shall not remain longer on the ground than is necessary for the construction of the proposed structure or improvement. The materials must be taken to and the rubbish removed from the place of using the same, in such manner as to do no injuiy to other lots, or to the walks and avenues. 8. All graves shall be dug by the Superintendent, or workmen under his employment. 9. It shall be the duty of each proprietor to put up, and keep in permanent repair, land marks of the boundaries of his or her lot or lots, under the direc- tion of the Superintendent. It shall also be the duty of each proprietor to keep in reasonable and fair order, his lot, and the improvements thereon ; including trees, shrubs, walks, grass plat, railing, hedge or other enclosing structure, and tombs, vaults, and monuments. If grossly neglected after notice, he shall be liable for any expense incurred in keeping the same respectable. RULES AND REGULATIONS. 27 10. If any tree or shrub, situated on any lot, shall, by means of its roots, branches, or otherwise, become, in the opinion of a majority of the Trustees, detrimental, dangerous or inconvenient to adjacent lots, -walks, or avenues, the said Trustees shall have the right, and it shall be their duty, to cause such detriment to be removed. 11. The Superintendent is expected to attend every interment, and see that the rules, regulations and strict proprieties of the place be observed. 12. In all cases of interment, a statement, giving the name, place of nativity, residence, age, disease and occupation, of the perso^i to be interred, together with such remarks as shall be deserved, shall be handed to the Secretary, whose duty it shall be to record the same. 13. Charges. — All interments will be subject to the following charges, for the services of the Superintendent in digging the grave and attending at the interment : Opening and closing graves five feet long and upwards $2 50 Opening and closing graves under five feet 2 00 For every foot of depth exceeding rule 3, per foot extra 50 Opening eacii vault or tomb for interment 2 50 Opening and closing receiving vault each time 50 One dollar per month, and the same for any fractional part of a month, will be charged for each coffin deposited in the receiving vault. For single interments, in grounds appropriated for that purpose, $5 for adults, and for children under twelve years of age, $3 ; which includes digging the grave and dressing the same. 14. No coffin shall remain in the receiving vault more than two months, unless by special permission of the Trustees, and, in all cases where required, satisfactory security must be given for the removal of the bodies. 15. Horses must not be left loose, nor must they be fastened to trees. They must be either held, or fastened to posts provided for that purpose. IG. No running, jumping, or other sports or levities, or any thing incompati- ble with the proprieties of a Cemetery, will be, in any case, allowed. 17. No person will be allowed to drive or ride over, in any way, any parts of the grounds, excepting the avenues and such parts as may be designated for such exercise. 18. The use of fire arms will not be allowed in the Cemetery. RESOLUTIONS. 1. Rksolved, That we reserve from sale all the lots on sections 50, 51, 57, 58, 55, 56, G2, and 63, until needed for interments, excepting Kenton Square, and tbe societarj- group on section 56. 2. Resolved, That we reserve all the lots within the circle of Kenton Square, and all the societary groups, from separate sale for the term of ten years. 3. Resolved, That we reserve from sale lot 28 in section 26, lot 14 in sec- tion 39, lot 19 in section 40, and the central circle in Monumental Dell, for pur- poses designated on the maps and charts. 4. Resolved, That we reserve the cenotaph lots in the Chapel and vault yards, for monuments and mural tablets, commemorative of such as may not have their remains deposited in Oak Dale. 5. Resolved, That we set apart sections two and three, bounded on the west by Urbana Avenue, and on the north by Eastern Avenue, for the inter- ments of and sale to colored persons exclusively, and that no other lots be sold to them. 6. Resolved, That we reserve from sale and set apart lots No. 5, 10 and 15, in sections 2 and 3, and lot No. 10 in every other section of the corporation grounds, for the purposes of sale for single interments, unless the same is herein otherwise disposed of. For the purposes of distributing successive interments apart, agreeably to the principles set forth in the Engineer's report, we resolve, and hereby direct, that the first single interment of a colored person be on lot 5, section 2, and the second on lot 10 of section 2, thus placing one interment upon each of the six lots reserved for that purpose ; and that the first single interment of a white person be on lot No. 10, of section 4, the second on lot No. 10, on section 6, and so on, till each lot so reserved shall have one inter- ment. The second interments in these respective lots to commence and pro- ceed over the entire respective grounds, in like manner and for the same pur- pose of the first, and so on with the third, &c. 7. Resolved, That we set apart section 64 for the Coroner's uses, in the in- terment of the subjects of death by accident, by violence, and by causes un- RESOLUTIONS. 29 known, uuder the injunction that the first interment be in lot No. 1, the second in lot No. 2,