Prospect Hill Cemetery (North Omaha, Nebraska)


The Prospect Hill Cemetery, located at 3202 Parker Street in the Prospect Hill neighborhood of North Omaha, Nebraska, United States, is believed to be the oldest pioneer cemetery in Omaha. It is between 31st and 33rd Streets and Parker and Grant Streets.

History

While laying out "Shinn's Addition" northwest of Omaha in 1856, Moses F. Shinn set aside for a cemetery on land where Native Americans and Mormons had reportedly been buried earlier. The location was reportedly one mile from the Mormon Trail. That year he sold the land to Byron Reed, an early Omaha real estate broker. Jesse Lowe, the first mayor of Omaha, set aside those of land for burial purposes in 1858. The new cemetery included a variety of lands, including the city original cemeteries called Cedar Hills and Omaha City Cemeteries. Parts of those cemeteries are still in Prospect Hill boundaries.
The cemetery's first official burial was in June 1858. Alonzo F. Salisbury, Omaha pioneer and member of the Nebraska Territorial Legislature, was the first person buried there. Early Omaha real estate agent Byron Reed ran the cemetery early, and sold it with the establishment of the Prospect Hill Cemetery Association in 1858. The next year, 1859, the cemetery grew to. The site of the Cemetery was further made available after the 1870 trial of Baker v. Morton, in which courts ruled against Omaha's land barons and the city's claim club. The land was enlarged again in 1890, when the Prospect Hill Cemetery Association was founded. Soon Prospect Hill was.
Many of Omaha's early business leaders and politicians are buried in the cemetery. There were approximately 15,000 burials recorded at Prospect Hill, including those of many Omaha pioneers, including influential developers, religious leaders, mayors, judges, and benefactors, for whom Omaha streets, parks and schools were named. The cemetery has many interesting monuments and a special section for soldiers from Fort Omaha, and it also has graves for at least 360 early African American Omahans.
In the 1880s the Forest Lawn Cemetery opened seven miles from Prospect Hill, and eventually Reed sold Prospect Hill to the Forest Lawn Cemetery Association.
Prospect Hill was designated a landmark by the City of Omaha in 1979. There is a chapel constructed of rough brick and accented in stone, and a Tudor-Revival gatehouse located on Parker Street. The cemetery was designated as a local landmark in 1979.

Notable interments

Many of Omaha's pioneer families are buried at Prospect Hill. Some of the family names include Deuel, Gaylord, Hall, Hanscom, Kennard, Krug, Lake, Lowe, McCague, Metz, Redick, and Reed. There are also many other notable people interred at Prospect Hill. There are also monuments to Spanish–American War veterans and the gravesite of at least one Buffalo Soldier, Sergeant Allen McClare.
NamePlace of birthDate of birthOccupationPlace of deathDate of deathNotes and References
Dan AllenNew York1832Gambler, businessmanOmahaApril 1884
George P. AnthesFrankfurt, GermanyOctober 30, 1856Candidate in primary for Nebraska state auditor, 1908OmahaJune 15, 1936
George Robert ArmstrongAugust 1, 1819Mayor of Omaha, 1858–59, 1861–62OmahaApril 20, 1896
William M. BrewerMayor of Omaha, 1873–74OmahaSeptember 12, 1921
Clinton BriggsOctober 17, 1828Member of Nebraska territorial House of Representatives, 1858; mayor of Omaha, 1860–61; delegate to Nebraska state constitutional convention, 1875.IowaDecember 19, 1882Hit by a train and died.
Smith Samuel CaldwellSeptember 4, 1834Mayor of Omaha, 1871–72OmahaJune 26, 1884
Champion S. ChaseCornish, New HampshireMarch 20, 1820Lawyer; Member of the Wisconsin State Senate, 1857–58; Mayor of Omaha, Nebraska, 1874–77, 1878–81, 1883–84; 1st Attorney General of Nebraska, 1867–68Omaha, NebraskaNovember 3, 1898Chase County, Nebraska, and the unincorporated community of Champion in Chase County, are named after him
William James ConnellCowansville, QuebecJuly 6, 1846U.S. Representative from Nebraska's 1st congressional district, 1889–91Atlantic City, New JerseyAugust 16, 1924
Thomas B. CumingSecretary of Nebraska Territory, 1854–58; Governor of Nebraska Territory, 1854–55, 1857–58.OmahaMarch 23, 1858Original interment at a private or family graveyard, Douglas County, Neb.; subsequent interment at Prospect Hill Cemetery; re-interment at Holy Sepulchre Cemetery. Cuming County, Nebraska is named for him.
Augustus HallBatavia, New YorkApril 29, 1814Lawyer; U.S. Representative from Iowa 1st District, 1855–57; justice of Nebraska territorial supreme court, 1858–61; chief justice of Nebraska territorial supreme court, 1858–61Bellevue, NebraskaFebruary 1, 1861Died in office; Hall County, Nebraska is named for him.
John B. HawleyHawleyville, ConnecticutFebruary 9, 1831U.S. Representative from Illinois, 1869–75 Died May 24, 1895.Omaha
Phineas HitchcockNew Lebanon, New YorkNovember 30, 1831Delegate to Republican National Convention from Nebraska, 1860; Delegate to U.S. Congress from Nebraska Territory, 1865–67; U.S. Senator from Nebraska, 1871–77OmahaJuly 10, 1881Hitchcock County, Nebraska is named for him.
Frederick KrugGermany1855Founder, Krug BreweryOmahaNovember 18, 1930
Charles O. LobeckAndover, IllinoisApril 6, 1852Member of Nebraska state senate, 1893; Presidential Elector for Nebraska, 1900; U.S. Representative from Nebraska 2nd District, 1911–19.OmahaJanuary 30, 1920
Jesse LoweMarch 11, 1814Mayor of Omaha, 1857–58.OmahaApril 3, 1868Original interment at Cedar Hill Cemetery ; re-interment in 1891 at Forest Lawn Cemetery; cenotaph at Prospect Hill Cemetery.
Frederick MetzGermanyFounder, Metz Brewery; member of Nebraska state senate, 1871–72, 1885–86Omaha1901
Ezra MillardFebruary 2, 1833Mayor of Omaha, 1869–71OmahaAugust 20, 1886
Joseph MillardHamilton, OntarioApril 20, 1836Mayor of Omaha, 1872–73; U.S. Senator from Nebraska, 1901–07OmahaJanuary 13, 1922
Algernon PaddockGlens Falls, New YorkNovember 9, 1830Delegate to Republican National Convention from Nebraska, 1860; secretary of Nebraska Territory, 1861–67; acting Governor of Nebraska Territory, 1861; U.S. Senator from Nebraska, 1875–81, 1887–93.Beatrice, NebraskaOctober 17, 1897
John T. PaulsenOckholm, GermanyApril 25, 1837Member of Nebraska state senate, 1889OmahaSeptember 3, 1889
Andrew Jackson PoppletonJuly 24, 1830Mayor of Omaha, 1858OmahaSeptember 24, 1896
Byron ReedDarien, New YorkMarch 12, 1829Real estate businessmanOmahaJune 6, 1891
Origen D. RichardsonVermontJuly 20, 1795Fourth Lieutenant Governor of MichiganOmahaNovember 29, 1876
Alonzo F. SalisburyVermontStagecoach driver; miller; member of Nebraska territorial House of Representatives, 1856.OmahaOctober 4, 1858First burial in Prospect Hill Cemetery
John TaffeIndianapolis, IndianaJanuary 30, 1827Newspaper editor; member of Nebraska territorial House of Representatives, 1858–59; member Nebraska territorial council, 1860–61; major in the Union Army during the Civil War; U.S. Representative from Nebraska at-large, 1867–73North Platte, NebraskaMarch 14, 1884Founder, Omaha Public Library
Eleazer WakeleyHomer, New YorkJune 15, 1822Lawyer; member of Wisconsin territorial House of Representatives, 1847–48; member of Wisconsin Senate, 1851–55; justice of Nebraska territorial supreme court, 1857–61; delegate to Nebraska state constitutional convention, 1871; district judge in Nebraska 3rd District, 1883–92; appointed 1883OmahaNovember 21, 1912
Reuben H. WilburApril 26, 1825Mayor of Omaha, 1877–79OmahaApril 4, 1896
Anna WilsonMay 27, 1835Brothel ownerOmahaOctober 27, 1911A polished stone in the dimensions of a king-size bed with four posts rests over the double graves of Wilson and Dan Allen.