Join us Thursday, August 7th at 6:00 pm for Cedar Hill's Sunset Tour. During this tour, attendees will have the opportunity to learn more about some of Cedar Hill's most notable residents as the sun sets behind Cedar Mountain. This tour offers some of the most breathtaking views of the Cemetery at sunset. Wear comfortable shoes as this tour will take us traversing through the historic sections. The full tour is expected to take an hour and a half. This tour is free for CHCF members and $5.00 for nonmembers. For more information, please call 860-956-3311, ext. 13.
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
Cedar Hill Sunset Tour
Join us Thursday, August 7th at 6:00 pm for Cedar Hill's Sunset Tour. During this tour, attendees will have the opportunity to learn more about some of Cedar Hill's most notable residents as the sun sets behind Cedar Mountain. This tour offers some of the most breathtaking views of the Cemetery at sunset. Wear comfortable shoes as this tour will take us traversing through the historic sections. The full tour is expected to take an hour and a half. This tour is free for CHCF members and $5.00 for nonmembers. For more information, please call 860-956-3311, ext. 13.
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
LGH Hosts Summer Social at Cedar Hill Cemetery
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Leadership Greater Hartford (LGH) recently held their Annual Summer Social at Cedar Hill Cemetery. LGH invited leaders of today to enjoy Cedar Hill's art, history and beauty amongst the leaders of the past at this unique summer celebration.)
Attendees enjoyed hors-d'oeuvres, cocktails, dinner, live music, a scavenger hunt, a caricature artist and games from the 1800s. Several attendees took the opportunity to tour the historic grounds and visit the final resting places of Hartford notables such as J.P. Morgan, George Beach and Katharine Hepburn. From infants to retired adults, everyone enjoyed this outdoor event.Cedar Hill Cemetery & Foundation welcome groups who want to use the grounds for recreational and educational purposes. Designed in a park-like manner, Cedar Hill Cemetery was once the place for families to go for picnics and leisure activities. Furthermore, many of Cedar Hill's notables are linked to businesses that still exist throughout Greater Hartford today. To learn more about scheduling a private tour or event at Cedar Hill Cemetery, call 860-956-3311, ext. 13.
Thursday, July 17, 2008
Cedar Hill Legacy Society
Cedar Hill Cemetery Foundation recently received a generous bequest from a long-time supporter of the Foundation. These funds will be used to preserve and protect the art, history and natural resources of Hartford's historic Cedar Hill Cemetery in perpetuity. Supporting the Foundation through a bequest is a meaningful way to ensure Cedar Hill remains a welcoming and beautiful place for future generations to visit their loved ones.
Several people have already joined the Cedar Hill Legacy Society by informing the Foundation of their intent to leave a bequest in their estate plans. Each of these gifts is vital to supporting the Foundation's mission in perpetuity.
If you have included Cedar Hill Cemetery Foundation in your estate plans, please contact us so we may include you as a Cedar Hill Legacy Society member. If you have not included Cedar Hill Cemetery Foundation in your estate plans but would like to learn more about doing so, please call 860-956-3311, ext. 13. There is no small act of kindness, and we thank everyone who supports the Foundation's efforts to preserve and protect Cedar Hill's unique and beautiful memorial grounds in perpetuity.
Several people have already joined the Cedar Hill Legacy Society by informing the Foundation of their intent to leave a bequest in their estate plans. Each of these gifts is vital to supporting the Foundation's mission in perpetuity.
If you have included Cedar Hill Cemetery Foundation in your estate plans, please contact us so we may include you as a Cedar Hill Legacy Society member. If you have not included Cedar Hill Cemetery Foundation in your estate plans but would like to learn more about doing so, please call 860-956-3311, ext. 13. There is no small act of kindness, and we thank everyone who supports the Foundation's efforts to preserve and protect Cedar Hill's unique and beautiful memorial grounds in perpetuity.
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
Cedar Hill Sunset Tour - August 7
Mark your calendars now to join us Thursday, August 7 at 6:00 pm for the Cedar Hill Sunset Tour. Learn about Gideon Welles, the Secretary of the Navy under Abraham Lincoln; Joseph Hopkins Twichell, Asylum Hill Congregational Church's pastor for 47 years and very good friend of Mark Twain; Horace Wells, Hartford dentist and discoverer of anesthesia; and many more Hartford notables. We will traverse the historic sections while taking in some of the most breathtaking views of the Cemetery as the sun sets over Cedar Mountain.
Wear comfortable walking shoes for this hour and a half tour. Cedar Hill Cemetery Foundation members are free and non-members are $5.00.
Wear comfortable walking shoes for this hour and a half tour. Cedar Hill Cemetery Foundation members are free and non-members are $5.00.
Wednesday, July 9, 2008
Cedar Hill Notables Tour July 15
Cedar Hill is the final resting place for many Hartford notables, including Dr. Horace Wells, Samuel and Elizabeth Colt, J.P. Morgan and Katharine Hepburn. Learn about these and other notables who helped to shape the world in which we live at our next Notables Tour on Tuesday, July 15 at 10:00 am. This tour is free for CHCF members and $5.00 for nonmembers. If you would like to attend, please RSVP by noon on Monday, July 14 by calling 860-956-3311, ext. 13. For more information about this event or for the complete 2008 Tours and Events schedule, visit www.cedarhillcemetery.org.
Tuesday, July 1, 2008
Gideon Welles is Born 206 Years Ago
July 1 marks the birthdate of Cedar Hill Cemetery resident Gideon Welles. Gideon Welles was born July 1, 1802 in Glastonbury, Connecticut. He earned his degree from Norwich University, became a lawyer by “reading the law,” and became founder and editor of the Hartford Times in 1826.
Welles became active politically. He started his political career as a Democrat and served in the Connecticut State Legislature. In 1854, Welles joined the newly-established Republican party and founded the Hartford Evening Post in 1856. Welles had strong anti-slavery views and was an avid supporter of Abraham Lincoln. When Lincoln became President, he named Gideon Welles Secretary of the Navy.
While the navy was in complete disarray when he took office, Welles is credited with establishing order and implementing some of the founding principals upon which the navy still functions today. During his tenure, he and his wife became quite close to the Lincoln family. In fact, Welles was in the room with President Lincoln as he lay dying from his gunshot wound. Of this experience, Welles wrote the following in his diary on April 15, 1865:
“…About 6 a.m. I experienced a feeling of faintness and, for the first time after entering the room, a little past eleven, I left it and the house, and took a short walk in the open air. It was a dark and gloomy morning, and rain set in before I returned to the house, some fifteen minutes later. Large groups of people were gathered every few yards, all anxious and solicitous. Some one or more from each group stepped forward as I passed to inquire into the condition of the President and to ask if there was no hope. Intense grief was on every countenance when I replied that the President could survive but a short time. The colored people especially – and there were at this time more of them, perhaps, than of whites – were overwhelmed with grief.
A little before seven. I went into the room where the dying president was rapidly drawing near the closing moments. His wife soon after made last visit to him. The death struggle had begun. Robert, his son, stood with several others at the head of his bed. He bore himself well, but on two occasions gave way to overpowering grief and sobbed aloud, turning his head and leaning on the shoulder of Senator Sumner. The respiration of the President became suspended at intervals and at last entirely ceased at twenty-two minutes past seven.”
Welles was an accomplished as well as, at times, a controversial figure. Welles had been known for purchasing the freedom of slaves and employing them and other previous slaves in his home. Henry Greene was one of his employees who had previously been a slave and during his tenure with the family, he became very close to the Welles’. In fact, when Welles completed his government service, Henry Greene returned with the Welles family to Hartford. Gideon Welles died in 1878 and Henry continued to work for the family until he died in 1911. In his will, Gideon Welles had expressed his wish for Henry Greene to be buried at the Welles lot at Cedar Hill Cemetery. On June 17, 1811, the Hartford Times covered the burial of Henry Greene at Hartford’s elitist Cedar Hill Cemetery on its front page. Many were upset to find that a former slave had been interred at Cedar Hill Cemetery. Henry Greene is still buried at Cedar Hill, and we are honored to have the task of keeping his memory alive.
Welles became active politically. He started his political career as a Democrat and served in the Connecticut State Legislature. In 1854, Welles joined the newly-established Republican party and founded the Hartford Evening Post in 1856. Welles had strong anti-slavery views and was an avid supporter of Abraham Lincoln. When Lincoln became President, he named Gideon Welles Secretary of the Navy.
While the navy was in complete disarray when he took office, Welles is credited with establishing order and implementing some of the founding principals upon which the navy still functions today. During his tenure, he and his wife became quite close to the Lincoln family. In fact, Welles was in the room with President Lincoln as he lay dying from his gunshot wound. Of this experience, Welles wrote the following in his diary on April 15, 1865:
“…About 6 a.m. I experienced a feeling of faintness and, for the first time after entering the room, a little past eleven, I left it and the house, and took a short walk in the open air. It was a dark and gloomy morning, and rain set in before I returned to the house, some fifteen minutes later. Large groups of people were gathered every few yards, all anxious and solicitous. Some one or more from each group stepped forward as I passed to inquire into the condition of the President and to ask if there was no hope. Intense grief was on every countenance when I replied that the President could survive but a short time. The colored people especially – and there were at this time more of them, perhaps, than of whites – were overwhelmed with grief.
A little before seven. I went into the room where the dying president was rapidly drawing near the closing moments. His wife soon after made last visit to him. The death struggle had begun. Robert, his son, stood with several others at the head of his bed. He bore himself well, but on two occasions gave way to overpowering grief and sobbed aloud, turning his head and leaning on the shoulder of Senator Sumner. The respiration of the President became suspended at intervals and at last entirely ceased at twenty-two minutes past seven.”
Welles was an accomplished as well as, at times, a controversial figure. Welles had been known for purchasing the freedom of slaves and employing them and other previous slaves in his home. Henry Greene was one of his employees who had previously been a slave and during his tenure with the family, he became very close to the Welles’. In fact, when Welles completed his government service, Henry Greene returned with the Welles family to Hartford. Gideon Welles died in 1878 and Henry continued to work for the family until he died in 1911. In his will, Gideon Welles had expressed his wish for Henry Greene to be buried at the Welles lot at Cedar Hill Cemetery. On June 17, 1811, the Hartford Times covered the burial of Henry Greene at Hartford’s elitist Cedar Hill Cemetery on its front page. Many were upset to find that a former slave had been interred at Cedar Hill Cemetery. Henry Greene is still buried at Cedar Hill, and we are honored to have the task of keeping his memory alive.
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