Book on Oak Ridge Cemetery

[Rob Wick]

First, here is a map that I imagine you've looked at, but it will help you with the other materials I will make reference to.

The majority of people who knew Lincoln or were alive when he was in Springfield are buried in the northeastern section of the cemetery. Herndon, for example, is buried in Block 14. Although not a contemporary of Lincoln, the poet Vachel Lindsay is also buried in that section. Many of Springfield's prominent residents (those who lived in the Old Aristocracy Hill neighborhood, for example) are buried in the older section of the cemetery.

Three names well known to Lincoln students are buried in Block 32 (the section to the right as you would look at the front of Lincoln's tomb). Oliver Barrett, Benjamin P. Thomas and Harry E. Pratt are all buried within sight of each other and in the shadow of the man whose story they helped bring to the nation.

Finally, the Illinois Digital Archives has the interment records of Oak Ridge Cemetery online. You can take the aforementioned map and see the general area where anyone is buried.

Best
Rob