Since our chartering in 1845, Spring Grove has grown to become one of the largest nonprofit cemeteries in the country. Over the years, we’ve laid to rest many important Cincinnati figures here at our cemetery. It’s a great privilege to honor the legacy of individuals who have sacrificed so much for our community and our nation. Sharing their stories is one way we honor the important roles each of these men played in Cincinnati's history.
Judge Jacob Burnet (1770-1853)
Jacob Burnet was a New Jersey native who made his name after moving to Cincinnati as a young man in 1796. Bearing a law degree from the College of New Jersey, Burnet served in the Ohio State House from 1814-1816. He became known as the “father of the Ohio constitution” and served as an associate justice on the Ohio Supreme Court from 1821 to 1828 when he became a U.S. senator. Upon leaving the Senate in 1831, Burnet returned to practicing law and served as president of Cincinnati College and the Medical College of Ohio. Upon his death in 1853, Burnet was buried in a plot at Spring Grove. His wife later arranged to have Burnet reinterred in the recently completed Burnet mausoleum which he now shares with her and their son.
Salmon P. Chase (1808-1873)
Salmon Portland Chase was born in New Hampshire and moved to Ohio to practice law in 1830. Chase later served as the 23rd Governor of Ohio and represented the state in the U.S. Senate. Abraham Lincoln appointed Chase the 25th U.S. Secretary of the Treasury, and he later became the sixth chief justice of the Supreme Court, making him one of the few American politicians to serve in all three branches of the federal government. Chase was a staunch abolitionist. He played an important role in the establishment of U.S. banks and was responsible for the inclusion of “In God We Trust” on U.S. coins. Chase ran for president in 1868 and 1872 unsuccessfully. Upon his death in 1873, he was buried in Oak Hill Cemetery in Washington, D.C. before being reinterred at Spring Grove in 1886.
Major General Joseph Hooker (1814-1879)
Though Joseph Hooker hailed from Massachusetts, his life intersected with Cincinnati in a meaningful way. As American Civil War general for the Union, he was headquartered in the city from 1864 until the end of the war. His most impressive Civil War achievement was reorganizing the Army of the Potomac the previous year. Previously he served in the Seminole Wars and the Mexican American War and received awards for outstanding service. During his time in Cincinnati, he married Olivia Groesbeck, a Cincinnati native. Upon his death in 1879, he was buried at Spring Grove.
Charles Dexter (1830-1893)
Charles Dexter was born in Cincinnati to a wealthy liquor baron and native German named Edmund Dexter. Dexter carried on his father’s legacy as a liquor merchant and eventually purchased a large estate in Cincinnati’s suburbs where he lived with his wife and four daughters. Dexter had literary interests and wrote poetry and translated French literature. He often vacationed in Paris and even moved his family there for a couple of years in the mid-1870s. Dexter died in 1893 four years after his wife. His cremated remains are interred in the Dexter mausoleum at Spring Grove.
If you’d like to see the resting places of these significant Cincinnati figures you can view a 360 degree ground view using our locate a loved one feature. To learn more about the many Hamilton County notables laid to rest here at Spring Grove, contact our knowledgeable staff today.