The Civil War Graves at Hope Cemetery
What can we see? Who can we see?
There are a total of 13 Union soldiers graves arranged in a row. These are the graves of Melanthon Wall, John Gordon, John Ingram, James Richardson, Nels Swanson, Willam H. Flower, Rufus H. Moore, Dwight H. Dennis, John Rich, and finally 4 unknown soldiers.
Image showing what the graves are facing
The graves have an unobstructed view of the rainroad track, they are at the edge of the cemetery.
Image showing the position within the cemetery
The graves are placed next to the mausoleum. The mausoleum used to be the entrance of the cemetery before a bridge was built over the train track.
What do the Civil War graves in Hope Cemetery tell us about Galesburg?
The presence of these Civil War graves in Galesburg’s Hope Cemetery helps the town remember that they fought during the Civil War. Likewise, the Civil War graves are only those of Union Soldiers, this specifically shows Galesburg's identity of being a very anti-slavery town.
Anthropologically speaking, physical objects can perpetuate and support the identities of places or individuals (Auslander 2011, 137). This is because objects possess a relative immortality allowing them to tell us inflexible stories about the past. Objects such as gravestones specifically tell us stories about the person’s past, and in this case, the Civil War graves first tell the public that the people of Galesburg fought and died for their country but also that they fought and died for an important cause to them, the abolition of slavery. An anti-slavery identity is a core component of the Galesburg identity. Firstly the city of Galesburg was founded by George Washington Gale who himself was very anti-slavery. Secondly, the town wanted to be seen as an anti-slave town so much that they even hosted one of the historic Lincoln-Douglas debates a few years before the Civil War even started and where Lincoln argued the moral iniquity of slavery.
All in all, the presence of 13 Union Soldier gravestones located in Galesburg’s Hope Cemetery which is close to the center of town perpetuates the town’s anti-slavery identity by showing their history; that their citizens fought for the Union States against slavery during the American Civil War.
Bibliography:
Auslander, Mark. The Accidental Slaveowner: Revisiting a Myth of Race and Finding an American Family. Athens: University of Georgia Press, 2011