BUT THERE IS MORE ABOUT VANDALIA'S CAPITOL DAYS THAN JUST A STATEHOUSE.
A GOOD PLACE TO LEARN MORE ABOUT
THOSE DAYS AND ABOUT SOME OF THE
PEOPLE WHO WORKED IN THIS
BUILDING IS AT THE OLD CEMETERY.
>>WE HAVE A LOT OF ILLINOIS
EARLY HISTORY HERE.
ONE OF THE FORMER EDITORS OF THE
NEWSPAPER SAID VANDALIA IS THE
CRADLE IN WHICH ILLINOIS WAS
ROCKED.
I THINK THAT PRETTY MUCH TELLS
US HOW IMPORTANT VANDALIA IS TO
ILLINOIS.
WHICH WILLIAN GREENUP, NOT ONLY
WAS HE KNOWN FOR HIS WORK AS
SUPERINTENDENT OF THE BUILDING,
HE IS ONE OF THE COMMISSIONERS
THAT WAS SENT FORTH FROM
KASKASKIA TO LOCATE THE NEW
CAPITOL.
HE WAS TOLD YOU CAN GO THIS FAR
NORTH BECAUSE THE INDIANS HAD
NOT SUITED LAND FARTHER THAN
VANDALIA, WHAT IS NOW VANDALIA,
THEY WANTED HIM ON THE THIRD
PRINCIPAL MERIDIAN, AND THIS WAS
AS FAR NORTH AS HE COULD COME.
BEHIND ME IS THE MARKER OF MARY
POSEY HALL, WIFE OF THE JAMES
HALL.
THEY CAME IN 1827 FROM SHAWNEE
TOWN. HER HUSBAND WAS AN
ATTORNEY DOWN THERE BE AND HE
LATER BECAME A JUDGE. HE WAS
ELECTED STATE TREASURER.
SHE DIED EARLY IN CHILDBIRTH,
AND BECAUSE JAMES HALL WAS ONE
OF THE FOUR MOST EARLY RIDERS OF
ILLINOIS, HE WAS THE FIRST TO
EVER PUBLISH APPEARED CAL, THIS
FAR WEST.
HE WAS AN EDITOR.
HE WROTE HER EPITHET.
HER EPITHET HE WROTE, SINCE SHE
WAS VERY LOVELY, AND GREATLY
BELOVED, SILLY OLD PIETY TOWARD
GOD AND BENEVOLENCE MARKED HER
WHOLE LIFE AND THE PEACE WHICH
PASSED ALL UNDERSTANDING BLESSED
HER DYING HOUR.
YALE JONATHAN WARD IS ONE OF THE FEW BLACKS THAT ARE BORIDE HERE WITH A STONE.
HIS DAUGHTER AND SON-IN-LAW ARE
BURIED BESIDE HIM.
WE KNOW THAT JONATHAN, BY CENSUS
AND BY HIS WILL, OPERATE A
GROUND PASS.
HE DID VERY WELL.
HE WAS A LANDOWNER.
ALTHOUGH JONATHAN WAS A FREE
MAN, HE HAD TO CARRY HIS FREE
PAPERS WITH HIM AT ALL TIMES.
I CAN FIND THIS MY COURTHOUSE
RECORDS THAT QUITE OFTEN, EVERY
SIX MONTHS OR SO, HE WOULD BE
STOPPED AND FOUND NOT TO HAVE
HIS PAPERS AND HE WOULD BE
ARRESTED UNTIL HE COULD PROVE HE
WAS A FREE MAN.
JAMES BERRY CAME HERE FROM KASKASKIA WHEN HIS FATHER ELIJAH WAS ELECTED AS THE FIRST STATE
AUDITOR.
HE WAS ABOUT 12 YEARS OLD WHEN
THEY CAME HERE.
HE WAS WHAT IS RECOGNIZED AS
SELF-TAUGHT ARTIST.
HE HELD DIFFERENT OFFICES IN
ADDITION TO BEING CIRCUIT CLERK
OF FAYETTE COUNTY, VERY EARLY IN
THE 18 20'S.
HE WAS ALSO ADJUTANT GENERAL OF
ILLINOIS.
IT WAS ABOUT 1836, HE WAS DOING
CORPORATE'S FOR PEOPLE IN THE
CAPITOL, AND HE DID SUCH A GOOD
JOB THAT HE WAS COMMISSIONED BY
THE STATE GOVERNMENT TO GO TO
WASHINGTON AND TO COPY THE FULL
LENGTH PORTRAITS OF WASHINGTON
AND LA FAYETTE THAT HUNG IN THE
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES ROOM
AND BRING THEM BACK TO OUR STATE
CAPITOL.
THEY HANG IN SPRINGFIELD TODAY.
IN 1976, THE HISTORICAL SOCIETY THOUGHT IMPORTANT TO SET THIS LARGE PLAQUE THAT DENOTES THE
BURIAL PLACE OF FIVE
LEGISLATORS, ONE WAS A JUDGE WHO
DIED HERE WHILE WE WERE THE
CAPITOL.
WHEN WE LOOK AT THE DEATH DATES,
THEY DIED IN FEBRUARY OR JANUARY
WHEN THE BODIES COULDN'T BE
TRANSPORTED HOME.
ONE WAS JOHN B EMMANUEL CANAL
WHO WAS A REPRESENTATIVE FROM
MADISON COUNTY.
HE WAS BORN IN BALTIMORE.
WILLIAM McHENRY OF WHITE
COUNTY.
BENJAMIN CLARK OF WAYNE COUNTY
ILLINOIS, JOHN THOMPSON OF
RANDOLPH COUNTY.
HE DIED THIS THE WINTER SESSION
OF 1836, AND JUDGE AF GRANT, HE
WAS FROM INVERNESS, SCOTLAND.
HE WAS A JUDGE ON THE BENCH AT
VANDALIA WHEN HE DIED HERE AS A
PRETTY YOUNG MAN ACTUALLY.
ONLY STAT WARY WEAVE IN THIS CEMETERY IS FOR WILLIAM LEE. HE WAS THE FIRST ONE TO BUILD
FLAT BOATS TO TAKE TO NEW
ORLEANS.
ON ONE SUCH OCCASION, THEY
WAITED FOR THE SPRING WATER WAT,
ARRIVE, HE TOLD HIS MEN TO BAIL
WATER AS FAST AS YOU CAN.
I WANT TO FIND A BUYER, I DON'T
WANT TO LOSE MY MONEY INVESTED
ON THIS.
WHEN YOU SEE ME COMING WITH A
BUYER, YOU STOP BALING.
HE FOUND A BUYER AND SOLD THE
FLATBOAT AND EVERYTHING FOR $450
THEY HEADED ONTO NEW ORLEANS.
HE SAID IN A STORY THAT HE HEARD
WITHIN TWO HOURS, THE WHOLE
THING SUNK TO THE BOTTOM AND HE
FELT KIND OF BAD ABOUT IT R, BUT
HE GOT HIS MONEY OUT OF HIS
LOAD!
(LAUGHING)
THESE OLD CEMETERIES ARE HISTORY. ON MANY OF THESE STONES, NOT
JUST THE TYPE OF STONE WE HAVE.
WE HAVE A STORY.
THIS IS A LIVING HISTORY THAT
WAS LEFT FOR US.
THERE IS A SELF GUIDED TOUR OF THE CEMETERY AVAIL TROUBLE THE FAYETTE COUNTY HISTORICAL
SOCIETY LOCATED JUST BEHIND THE
OLD STATE CAPITOL.
EACH YEAR THERE IS CEMETERY WALK
WHERE ACTORS PORTRAY HISTORIC
FIGURES.
SPEAKING OF MARKERS, BEHIND ME
IS ONE THAT MARKED THE TERMINUS
OF THE NATIONAL ROW, AN
AMBITIOUS PROJECT BEGUN IN 1806
TO LINK THE EAST WITH THE
WESTERN FRONTIER, CREATING A
CONDUIT FOR SETTLERS AND
PRODUCE.
DURING THE 19 20'S, THE
DAUGHTERS OF THE AMERICAN
REVOLUTION PLACED ONE OF THESE
STATUES IN EACH OF THE STATES
THAT THE ROAD TRAVERSED.
ROAD WAS TO HAVE ENDED IN ST.
LOUIS, BUT DUE TO LACK OF FUNDS
AND OTHER CONTROVERSY, IT WAS
NEVER COMPLETED FURTHER WEST.