One day this week a State Register reporter, while strolling out Adams Street (Springfield, IL), and nonchalantly inhaling the summer ozone, found himself in the midst of an open area or common that bore evidence of having once been a public burying ground. The piece of ground is located at the western terminus of Adams Street, and is open facing the east and the north. As a cemetery it has been abandoned for a number of years, and all whose remains were interred there within the past quarter or half century have been removed by surviving relatives and friends to the Oak Ridge Cemetery (Springfield).
Toward the southwest corner of the ground the attention of the reporter was attracted by a pile of marble slabs, headstones and markers, all thrown together indiscriminately in a vast heap. On most of the stones the inscriptions were partially, if not entirely, obliterated by the ravages of time. Some of the inscriptions were still legible, however, and there was one in particular that arrested the reporter's attention. It was a plain marble shaft, with the lettering partially effaced, and had once marked the resting place of one Henry Bitterman, a locomative engineer. A design of a locamotive was carved near the top of the stone, and under it was the inscription shown on this site as the "inscription".
From a former co-employee of the Great Western RailRoad, now (1891) well advanced in years, the circumstances of Bitterman's untimely death were learned. Previous to his death for a number of years the engine on which he ran, the "New England" was known to the employees and officers of the road to be unsafe but the road was not in a nourishing financial condition, the management refused to replace it.
On the morning of Dec 31, the day of the ill fated trip, Bitterman was awaiting orders to start from the Springfield depot when the gentleman who relates the circumstances stepped upon the footboard of the engine, and remarked as to the unsafe appearance of its condition. Bitterman replied that the trip at hand would be his last before running the engine into the shop for the much needed repairs, and a few minutes after, pulled out of the depot for Decatur.
His promise to make no more trips until the engine was repaired proved a prophetic one, for when making the little station of Lanesville, about 10 miles out of Springfield, it suddenly exploded, blowing out under the fire box, completely demolishing it and turning it over, end for end on the track. Bitterman was taken out from under the wreck horribly mangled, and died shortly afterward. His fireman sustained injuries which rendered him a cripple for life. The remains of the dead engineer were brought to Springfield for interment.
His funeral was one of the largest that had ever taken place here, being attended by all the employees and officials of the road.
Bitterman, during his life, was well known among railroad men. He ran the first engine on the road-the "Morgan" into Springfield soon after the road was completed. There were but two other engines in the service, one run by Zanes Bromwell and the other by Mat Dougherty. Bitterman was afterwards master mechanic of the road, but threw up the position to again go on an engine. He was deservedly popular among all classes of the road's employees, and it was by a popular subscription that the marble shaft was erected to his memory that has now been thrown so rudely aside to decay at the old abandoned burying ground.
The State Register gives the matter the above extended notice in justice to a memory deserving of preservation. The reporter's informant says that he will contibute toward a subscription for removing the remains and erecting a suitable monument over them in the Oak Ridge Cemetery. The idea is a worthy one, and the motive prompting certainly a generouos one, and deserves the cooperation of railway imployees as well as the encouragement of all citizens having a former recollection or acquaintance of the departed engineer.
Taken from the Decatur, Illinois Morning Review, Sunday, June 7, 1891.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
There are two Henry Bitterman's buried together, or very close to each other in Oak Ridge. The tall obelisk was originally made for Henry senior to commemorate his death in service on the Great Western RailRoad. Young Henry's name is inscribed at the bottom of the monument, near the base. It is still readable but it won't last too many more years. If you don't know it's there, you almost cannot see it. You can see "June" for his birth month but that's about it.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Per an article in the Decatur Morning Review, June 7, 1891, Henry was originally buried in the Hutchinson Cemetery at the west end of Adams Street, Springfield, Illinois. The cemetery was closed around 1890. At that time, July 1890, his remains were exhumed and buried in the Oak Ridge Cemetery, Springfield, Sangamon, Illinois. His original stone was also relocated from Hutchinson to Oak Ridge at that time. The old Hutchinson Cemetery was bought as a parcel of land by the Springfield public school system. It is now, 2011, still part of the school system.
Here is the writeup on the Hutchinson Cemetery:Cemetery notes and/or description:
On May 14, 1856, the Springfield City Council passed an ordinance forbidding burials within the city limits. Because of this, Oak Ridge Cemetery was founded in 1855 by the Springfield City Council (Barringer 4). The cemetery was officially dedicated on May 24, 1860 (State Register Nov. 8, 1931). It is reported that Abraham Lincoln and his wife were present at the dedication of the cemetery (Barringer 4). Oak Ridge Cemetery is owned by the City of Springfield. It is supported out of trust fund revenues and fees (State Register Mar. 12, 1958).
Another cemetery that was moved to Oak Ridge was known as Hutchinson Cemetery. It was a private cemetery that was located just west of the Old City Graveyard (State Register Nov. 8, 1931). At the suggestion of the Oak Ridge Cemetery board, the Hutchinson family agreed to exchange lots for burial lots in Oak Ridge Cemetery. A total of 600 bodies were removed from Hutchinson Cemetery and reburied at Oak Ridge Cemetery (State Journal May 30, 1945).
Toward the southwest corner of the ground the attention of the reporter was attracted by a pile of marble slabs, headstones and markers, all thrown together indiscriminately in a vast heap. On most of the stones the inscriptions were partially, if not entirely, obliterated by the ravages of time. Some of the inscriptions were still legible, however, and there was one in particular that arrested the reporter's attention. It was a plain marble shaft, with the lettering partially effaced, and had once marked the resting place of one Henry Bitterman, a locomative engineer. A design of a locamotive was carved near the top of the stone, and under it was the inscription shown on this site as the "inscription".
From a former co-employee of the Great Western RailRoad, now (1891) well advanced in years, the circumstances of Bitterman's untimely death were learned. Previous to his death for a number of years the engine on which he ran, the "New England" was known to the employees and officers of the road to be unsafe but the road was not in a nourishing financial condition, the management refused to replace it.
On the morning of Dec 31, the day of the ill fated trip, Bitterman was awaiting orders to start from the Springfield depot when the gentleman who relates the circumstances stepped upon the footboard of the engine, and remarked as to the unsafe appearance of its condition. Bitterman replied that the trip at hand would be his last before running the engine into the shop for the much needed repairs, and a few minutes after, pulled out of the depot for Decatur.
His promise to make no more trips until the engine was repaired proved a prophetic one, for when making the little station of Lanesville, about 10 miles out of Springfield, it suddenly exploded, blowing out under the fire box, completely demolishing it and turning it over, end for end on the track. Bitterman was taken out from under the wreck horribly mangled, and died shortly afterward. His fireman sustained injuries which rendered him a cripple for life. The remains of the dead engineer were brought to Springfield for interment.
His funeral was one of the largest that had ever taken place here, being attended by all the employees and officials of the road.
Bitterman, during his life, was well known among railroad men. He ran the first engine on the road-the "Morgan" into Springfield soon after the road was completed. There were but two other engines in the service, one run by Zanes Bromwell and the other by Mat Dougherty. Bitterman was afterwards master mechanic of the road, but threw up the position to again go on an engine. He was deservedly popular among all classes of the road's employees, and it was by a popular subscription that the marble shaft was erected to his memory that has now been thrown so rudely aside to decay at the old abandoned burying ground.
The State Register gives the matter the above extended notice in justice to a memory deserving of preservation. The reporter's informant says that he will contibute toward a subscription for removing the remains and erecting a suitable monument over them in the Oak Ridge Cemetery. The idea is a worthy one, and the motive prompting certainly a generouos one, and deserves the cooperation of railway imployees as well as the encouragement of all citizens having a former recollection or acquaintance of the departed engineer.
Taken from the Decatur, Illinois Morning Review, Sunday, June 7, 1891.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
There are two Henry Bitterman's buried together, or very close to each other in Oak Ridge. The tall obelisk was originally made for Henry senior to commemorate his death in service on the Great Western RailRoad. Young Henry's name is inscribed at the bottom of the monument, near the base. It is still readable but it won't last too many more years. If you don't know it's there, you almost cannot see it. You can see "June" for his birth month but that's about it.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Per an article in the Decatur Morning Review, June 7, 1891, Henry was originally buried in the Hutchinson Cemetery at the west end of Adams Street, Springfield, Illinois. The cemetery was closed around 1890. At that time, July 1890, his remains were exhumed and buried in the Oak Ridge Cemetery, Springfield, Sangamon, Illinois. His original stone was also relocated from Hutchinson to Oak Ridge at that time. The old Hutchinson Cemetery was bought as a parcel of land by the Springfield public school system. It is now, 2011, still part of the school system.
Here is the writeup on the Hutchinson Cemetery:Cemetery notes and/or description:
On May 14, 1856, the Springfield City Council passed an ordinance forbidding burials within the city limits. Because of this, Oak Ridge Cemetery was founded in 1855 by the Springfield City Council (Barringer 4). The cemetery was officially dedicated on May 24, 1860 (State Register Nov. 8, 1931). It is reported that Abraham Lincoln and his wife were present at the dedication of the cemetery (Barringer 4). Oak Ridge Cemetery is owned by the City of Springfield. It is supported out of trust fund revenues and fees (State Register Mar. 12, 1958).
Another cemetery that was moved to Oak Ridge was known as Hutchinson Cemetery. It was a private cemetery that was located just west of the Old City Graveyard (State Register Nov. 8, 1931). At the suggestion of the Oak Ridge Cemetery board, the Hutchinson family agreed to exchange lots for burial lots in Oak Ridge Cemetery. A total of 600 bodies were removed from Hutchinson Cemetery and reburied at Oak Ridge Cemetery (State Journal May 30, 1945).
One day this week a State Register reporter, while strolling out Adams Street (Springfield, IL), and nonchalantly inhaling the summer ozone, found himself in the midst of an open area or common that bore evidence of having once been a public burying ground. The piece of ground is located at the western terminus of Adams Street, and is open facing the east and the north. As a cemetery it has been abandoned for a number of years, and all whose remains were interred there within the past quarter or half century have been removed by surviving relatives and friends to the Oak Ridge Cemetery (Springfield).
Toward the southwest corner of the ground the attention of the reporter was attracted by a pile of marble slabs, headstones and markers, all thrown together indiscriminately in a vast heap. On most of the stones the inscriptions were partially, if not entirely, obliterated by the ravages of time. Some of the inscriptions were still legible, however, and there was one in particular that arrested the reporter's attention. It was a plain marble shaft, with the lettering partially effaced, and had once marked the resting place of one Henry Bitterman, a locomative engineer. A design of a locamotive was carved near the top of the stone, and under it was the inscription shown on this site as the "inscription".
From a former co-employee of the Great Western RailRoad, now (1891) well advanced in years, the circumstances of Bitterman's untimely death were learned. Previous to his death for a number of years the engine on which he ran, the "New England" was known to the employees and officers of the road to be unsafe but the road was not in a nourishing financial condition, the management refused to replace it.
On the morning of Dec 31, the day of the ill fated trip, Bitterman was awaiting orders to start from the Springfield depot when the gentleman who relates the circumstances stepped upon the footboard of the engine, and remarked as to the unsafe appearance of its condition. Bitterman replied that the trip at hand would be his last before running the engine into the shop for the much needed repairs, and a few minutes after, pulled out of the depot for Decatur.
His promise to make no more trips until the engine was repaired proved a prophetic one, for when making the little station of Lanesville, about 10 miles out of Springfield, it suddenly exploded, blowing out under the fire box, completely demolishing it and turning it over, end for end on the track. Bitterman was taken out from under the wreck horribly mangled, and died shortly afterward. His fireman sustained injuries which rendered him a cripple for life. The remains of the dead engineer were brought to Springfield for interment.
His funeral was one of the largest that had ever taken place here, being attended by all the employees and officials of the road.
Bitterman, during his life, was well known among railroad men. He ran the first engine on the road-the "Morgan" into Springfield soon after the road was completed. There were but two other engines in the service, one run by Zanes Bromwell and the other by Mat Dougherty. Bitterman was afterwards master mechanic of the road, but threw up the position to again go on an engine. He was deservedly popular among all classes of the road's employees, and it was by a popular subscription that the marble shaft was erected to his memory that has now been thrown so rudely aside to decay at the old abandoned burying ground.
The State Register gives the matter the above extended notice in justice to a memory deserving of preservation. The reporter's informant says that he will contibute toward a subscription for removing the remains and erecting a suitable monument over them in the Oak Ridge Cemetery. The idea is a worthy one, and the motive prompting certainly a generouos one, and deserves the cooperation of railway imployees as well as the encouragement of all citizens having a former recollection or acquaintance of the departed engineer.
Taken from the Decatur, Illinois Morning Review, Sunday, June 7, 1891.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
There are two Henry Bitterman's buried together, or very close to each other in Oak Ridge. The tall obelisk was originally made for Henry senior to commemorate his death in service on the Great Western RailRoad. Young Henry's name is inscribed at the bottom of the monument, near the base. It is still readable but it won't last too many more years. If you don't know it's there, you almost cannot see it. You can see "June" for his birth month but that's about it.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Per an article in the Decatur Morning Review, June 7, 1891, Henry was originally buried in the Hutchinson Cemetery at the west end of Adams Street, Springfield, Illinois. The cemetery was closed around 1890. At that time, July 1890, his remains were exhumed and buried in the Oak Ridge Cemetery, Springfield, Sangamon, Illinois. His original stone was also relocated from Hutchinson to Oak Ridge at that time. The old Hutchinson Cemetery was bought as a parcel of land by the Springfield public school system. It is now, 2011, still part of the school system.
Here is the writeup on the Hutchinson Cemetery:Cemetery notes and/or description:
On May 14, 1856, the Springfield City Council passed an ordinance forbidding burials within the city limits. Because of this, Oak Ridge Cemetery was founded in 1855 by the Springfield City Council (Barringer 4). The cemetery was officially dedicated on May 24, 1860 (State Register Nov. 8, 1931). It is reported that Abraham Lincoln and his wife were present at the dedication of the cemetery (Barringer 4). Oak Ridge Cemetery is owned by the City of Springfield. It is supported out of trust fund revenues and fees (State Register Mar. 12, 1958).
Another cemetery that was moved to Oak Ridge was known as Hutchinson Cemetery. It was a private cemetery that was located just west of the Old City Graveyard (State Register Nov. 8, 1931). At the suggestion of the Oak Ridge Cemetery board, the Hutchinson family agreed to exchange lots for burial lots in Oak Ridge Cemetery. A total of 600 bodies were removed from Hutchinson Cemetery and reburied at Oak Ridge Cemetery (State Journal May 30, 1945).
Toward the southwest corner of the ground the attention of the reporter was attracted by a pile of marble slabs, headstones and markers, all thrown together indiscriminately in a vast heap. On most of the stones the inscriptions were partially, if not entirely, obliterated by the ravages of time. Some of the inscriptions were still legible, however, and there was one in particular that arrested the reporter's attention. It was a plain marble shaft, with the lettering partially effaced, and had once marked the resting place of one Henry Bitterman, a locomative engineer. A design of a locamotive was carved near the top of the stone, and under it was the inscription shown on this site as the "inscription".
From a former co-employee of the Great Western RailRoad, now (1891) well advanced in years, the circumstances of Bitterman's untimely death were learned. Previous to his death for a number of years the engine on which he ran, the "New England" was known to the employees and officers of the road to be unsafe but the road was not in a nourishing financial condition, the management refused to replace it.
On the morning of Dec 31, the day of the ill fated trip, Bitterman was awaiting orders to start from the Springfield depot when the gentleman who relates the circumstances stepped upon the footboard of the engine, and remarked as to the unsafe appearance of its condition. Bitterman replied that the trip at hand would be his last before running the engine into the shop for the much needed repairs, and a few minutes after, pulled out of the depot for Decatur.
His promise to make no more trips until the engine was repaired proved a prophetic one, for when making the little station of Lanesville, about 10 miles out of Springfield, it suddenly exploded, blowing out under the fire box, completely demolishing it and turning it over, end for end on the track. Bitterman was taken out from under the wreck horribly mangled, and died shortly afterward. His fireman sustained injuries which rendered him a cripple for life. The remains of the dead engineer were brought to Springfield for interment.
His funeral was one of the largest that had ever taken place here, being attended by all the employees and officials of the road.
Bitterman, during his life, was well known among railroad men. He ran the first engine on the road-the "Morgan" into Springfield soon after the road was completed. There were but two other engines in the service, one run by Zanes Bromwell and the other by Mat Dougherty. Bitterman was afterwards master mechanic of the road, but threw up the position to again go on an engine. He was deservedly popular among all classes of the road's employees, and it was by a popular subscription that the marble shaft was erected to his memory that has now been thrown so rudely aside to decay at the old abandoned burying ground.
The State Register gives the matter the above extended notice in justice to a memory deserving of preservation. The reporter's informant says that he will contibute toward a subscription for removing the remains and erecting a suitable monument over them in the Oak Ridge Cemetery. The idea is a worthy one, and the motive prompting certainly a generouos one, and deserves the cooperation of railway imployees as well as the encouragement of all citizens having a former recollection or acquaintance of the departed engineer.
Taken from the Decatur, Illinois Morning Review, Sunday, June 7, 1891.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
There are two Henry Bitterman's buried together, or very close to each other in Oak Ridge. The tall obelisk was originally made for Henry senior to commemorate his death in service on the Great Western RailRoad. Young Henry's name is inscribed at the bottom of the monument, near the base. It is still readable but it won't last too many more years. If you don't know it's there, you almost cannot see it. You can see "June" for his birth month but that's about it.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Per an article in the Decatur Morning Review, June 7, 1891, Henry was originally buried in the Hutchinson Cemetery at the west end of Adams Street, Springfield, Illinois. The cemetery was closed around 1890. At that time, July 1890, his remains were exhumed and buried in the Oak Ridge Cemetery, Springfield, Sangamon, Illinois. His original stone was also relocated from Hutchinson to Oak Ridge at that time. The old Hutchinson Cemetery was bought as a parcel of land by the Springfield public school system. It is now, 2011, still part of the school system.
Here is the writeup on the Hutchinson Cemetery:Cemetery notes and/or description:
On May 14, 1856, the Springfield City Council passed an ordinance forbidding burials within the city limits. Because of this, Oak Ridge Cemetery was founded in 1855 by the Springfield City Council (Barringer 4). The cemetery was officially dedicated on May 24, 1860 (State Register Nov. 8, 1931). It is reported that Abraham Lincoln and his wife were present at the dedication of the cemetery (Barringer 4). Oak Ridge Cemetery is owned by the City of Springfield. It is supported out of trust fund revenues and fees (State Register Mar. 12, 1958).
Another cemetery that was moved to Oak Ridge was known as Hutchinson Cemetery. It was a private cemetery that was located just west of the Old City Graveyard (State Register Nov. 8, 1931). At the suggestion of the Oak Ridge Cemetery board, the Hutchinson family agreed to exchange lots for burial lots in Oak Ridge Cemetery. A total of 600 bodies were removed from Hutchinson Cemetery and reburied at Oak Ridge Cemetery (State Journal May 30, 1945).
Inscription
"Henry Bitterman, engineer, killed Dec 21, A.D. 1854, by an explosion of the engine boiler on the G.W.R.R., aged 28 years, 5 months, 18 days.-Prompted by the grateful feelings inspired by his many sacred qualities this moniment is erected to his memory by his fellow workmen"
"Life's railway o'er, each station past
and calm in death he sleeps at last"
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