Cemeteries are places for mourning, healing, and learning. There’s a solemn peacefulness that comes with spending time among the deceased and rich histories that can be uncovered if you dare to do some (metaphorical) digging.
Two of Madison's main cemeteries, Forest Hill and Resurrection, sit directly across from each other on the near-West Side Speedway Road. These spaces are the final resting places for many of the people who helped shape Madison into the city we know and love today.
More than 100 Civil War soldiers are buried at Forest Hills Cemetery. (Hayley Sperling)
In 1857, the City of Madison purchased a plot of land that would become the 140-acre Forest Hill Cemetery. As one of the first U.S. National Cemeteries in Wisconsin, Forest Hill hosts two plots for Civil War soldiers, one for Union fighters and one for Confederate soldiers, some of whom died while being held prisoner at the nearby Camp Randall. In 2018, the city voted to remove confederate monuments at the cemetery, resulting in a lawsuit, which was ultimately dismissed.
Much of Forest Hill Cemetery is filled with familiar names of families whose impact is still felt in Madison today. That includes the La Follette family. Robert Marion LaFollette (1855-1925), known as “Fighting Bob,” was a progressive member of Congress, Wisconsin governor, and United States senator. Buried next to him is his wife, Belle Case LaFollette (1859-1931), who was the first woman to graduate from the UW Law School.
Forest Hill Cemetery is also the final resting place of Eston Hemings Jefferson, the son of Thomas Jefferson and the enslaved Sally Hemings.
Other familiar names found at Forest Hills Cemetery include Breese Stevens (1834-1903), a former mayor, UW regent, and curator of the State Historical Society; Daniel Tenney (1834-1915), who was one of UW’s first students and went on to donate the land that would become Tenney Park; and William Vilas (1840-1908), who was a major figure in the Wisconsin Democratic Party and former U.S. senator. He gifted Vilas Park to the city in memory of his son, Henry.
Long before the cemetery was founded, Wisconsin’s indigenous peoples used the site as a burial ground, evidenced by effigy mound groupings, where noble warriors are said to be buried.
Chris Farley (right) died at the age of 33 of a drug overdose. (Getty Images)
Across the street from Forest Hill is Resurrection Catholic Cemetery. Founded in 1949, it combined two existing, adjoining cemeteries – Holy Cross and Calvary, which first opened in the 1800s to serve Madison’s Catholic population.
Buried at Resurrection Catholic Cemetery is one of the most famous names to come out of Madison, Chris Farley (1964-1997). A beloved comedian and actor, Farley was a cast member of “Saturday Night Live” and grew up in Maple Bluff.
Also buried at the cemetery is seven-year-old Annie Lemberger (1904-1911), whose murder remains a mystery to this day.
