Issue link: https://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/884685
"In the name of the good people of this commonwealth, we solemnly protest against the contemplated removal of his remains from our territory." 10 Moving Washington's bones to the tomb in the Cap- itol was meant to inspire patriotism and unity among citizens, but the issue was deeply intertwined with the polarizing sectionalism that had engulfed American pol- itics and society. Representatives of the national govern- ment and the state of Virginia both claimed Washington for themselves, but only the Washington family could decide which political entity to side with in the mat- ter. Even within the Washington family there was no clear consensus on the proper means of action. George Washington Parke Custis, Washington's step-grandson and postmortem publicist, gave his "most hearty con- sent to the removal of the remains." It was, however, John Augustine's decision as owner of Mount Vernon. Responding on 15 February 1832, John Augustine thanked Congress for its desire to celebrate his ancestor but denied their request based on the wording of Washington's will and the family's recent construction of a new vault. "In respect to the disposition of his remains," he wrote, they "now repose in perfect tranquility, surrounded by those of other endeared members of the family." By denying the federal government's application for Washington's remains, John Augustine defused a politically volatile situation. He also ensured that the tomb in the Capitol would remain empty. 11 With the Rotunda floor sealed and the Washingtons staying put at Mount Vernon, Americans quickly forgot about the 1799 pledge made by Congress. A star-shaped light was later added to the space to mark the burial spot, and a crypt-keeper continued to guard the vacant tomb. Over the next 30 years the country grew more litigious and divided; Congress kept the nation together with a variety of compromises and bargains, but eventu- ally the cries for war grew louder. During the Civil War, supplies and provisions were stacked above the tomb and below Union troops, fresh off the Ohio and Balti- more Railroad and temporarily housed inside the Capi- tol. As these soldiers looked up at Brumidi's unfinished fresco of Washington, they were reminded of what they were willing to die for: the defense of the Constitution and the preservation of the Union. While Washington's body was 15 miles away in neutral territory, his spirit, captured in these iconic images, gave hope and courage to the men serving the Union. 12 Although the Capitol's tomb would never hold the remains of George and Martha Washington, it did become a sacred depository of another relic. After the assassination and funeral of President Abraham Lincoln, the catafalque used to support Lincoln's casket was moved down to the empty chamber at the request of the Commissioner of the Public Build- ings Benjamin French (see Fig. 2). The bier was later used for the funeral ceremonies of presidents, generals and admirals, Supreme Court justices, unknown sol- diers of the major wars, prominent public servants, and private citizens. Today the Lincoln catafalque contin- ues to bear the bodily remains of our nation's heroes in the Rotunda, but the story of Washington's tomb and its lack of contents tell us how Americans struggled to determine whether hero worship should revolve around the body or the memory of the figure in question. While Federalists favored entombing Washington and vener- ating his remains in the Capitol or possibly a mauso- leum, others rejected such regality and excess, arguing for a more democratic form of commemoration that celebrated the contributions of all Americans to inde- pendence. The empty sepulcher has and will always be emblematic of our revolutionary heritage and our rejec- tion of Old World political traditions. But it also repre- sents a longstanding struggle between Americans over our nation's history, as we continue to battle over the possession and the power to interpret the past. 13 MATTHEW COSTELLO currently serves as Senior Historian for the White House Historical Association. He received his Ph.D. in American history from Marquette University, specializing in the early Republic, memory studies, and nationalism. 9 THE CAPITOL DOME