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Tag Archives: Oakdale cemetery
Captain J.S. Slaymaker
Jonathan Smith Slaymaker was born in York, Pennsylvania on March 31, 1835. He worked as a civil engineer for the railroad. He came to Davenport and lived with his uncle Henry on Brady Street, between 14th & 15th. On April … Continue reading
The Mysterious Orphaned Limb of Oakdale Memorial Gardens
There are many mysteries to be found and puzzled over in our local cemeteries. The one that we are asked about most often is a simple headstone found at the end of a very long row in the Iowa Soldiers’ … Continue reading
Guess who’s on the Network to Freedom?
We always knew Oakdale Cemetery was a special place, but it took students from Nebraska to prove it to the National Park Service. A while back, a group of Arlington High School honor students came to Davenport to research the … Continue reading
Posted in Local History
Tagged Local History, Milton Howard, Network to Freedom, Oakdale cemetery, Underground Railroad
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The Mystery of the Orphans’ Monument
Standing like a sentinel over the headstones in the Orphans’ Section in Oakdale Memorial Gardens Cemetery is a large granite monument, surrounded by mystery. Starting in November of 1865, Orphans from the Iowa Soldiers’ Orphans Home (later renamed the Annie … Continue reading
A Hero of the Iowa 7th: Lieutenant Colonel Augustus Wentz
Wednesday, November 13, 1861 was a day of mourning for the citizens of Davenport, Iowa. Lieutenant Colonel Augustus Wentz would be buried on that crisp Autumn day. Only a few weeks before local residents had cheered as Wentz and members … Continue reading
A Cemetery by Any Other Name
In July of 1900, the West Davenport Cemetery Association was looking for a new name for the cemetery. They were worried that it was too easily confused with Davenport’s City Cemetery, which was also located on the west part of … Continue reading
Ode to Oakdale
One of the difficulties in locating death records in Iowa is that they did not exist prior to 1880.* This means that roughly fifty years worth of ancestors passed away in our state without leaving behind that vital (if you’ll pardon … Continue reading
The Orphans of Oakdale Cemetery
One of the most persistent local legends in Davenport centers on Oakdale Cemetery on Eastern Avenue. In this cemetery is a special section where children from the Iowa Solders’ Orphans’ Home*, standing just across Eastern Avenue, were buried. And it is said that if you … Continue reading
A Double-Bix Weekend!
Bix Beiderbecke, for those of you who don’t know, was a jazz genius, a coronet player who jammed with the likes of Hoagy Carmichael and played with the Jean GoldKette Orchestra and the Paul Whitman Band. When he died on … Continue reading
