Hutchinson Cemetery and Springfield High School - Springfield, Illinois
Posted by: 
BruceS
N 39° 48.057 W 089° 39.600
16S E 272269 N 4409051
Historical marker giving history of early cemetery now the site of the high school in Springfield, Illinois.
Waymark Code: WM8X5E
Location: Illinois, United States
Date Posted: 05/24/2010
Views: 2
Text of marker:
Hutchinson Cemetery
& Springfield High School
On this site in 1843, John Hutchinson, undertaker, cabinetmaker, and businessman. Established the first private burial ground in Springfield. Located on the western edge of the then-newly-incorporated city. Hutchinson Cemetery operated for several decades and recieved the remains of more than 700 of Springfield's earliest and most respected citizens, including land developer Pascal P. Enoes, Rev. Charles Dresser, and early Springfield merchant Robert Irwin. Edward Barker "Eddie" Lincoln, the three year old son of Abraham and Mary Lincoln, was buried here in Freburary 1850, as were many other Springfield children wo scucumbed to infections and diseases no longer considered life-threatening by modern medical standards. The cemetery continued to receive burials through the Civil War, but in 1874 a city ordinance closed Hutchinson. Evenutally most of the bodies were exhumed and removed to Oak Ridge Cemetery on Springfield's north side.
The Springfield School District acquired the former cemetery and constructed the present and fourth Springfield High School here in 1917. Built in the Beaux Arts style, the school was considered at the time the most modern public educational facitly in the state. Most of the original exterior architectural details and mosaics remian intact. Notable graduates include: Poet Vachel Lindsay; Homer translator Robert Fitzgerald; educator Susan Wilcox; scientist and presidential advisor Dr. J. Lee Westrate; World Bank director e. Patrick Coady; and Medal of Honor winner Brigadier General Edward J. McClernand.
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