Encyclopedia Dubuque
"Encyclopedia Dubuque is the online authority for all things Dubuque, written by the people who know the city best.”
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Affiliated with the Local History Network of the State Historical Society of Iowa, and the Iowa Museum Association.
WELLINGTON'S BOULDER
WELLINGTON'S BOULDER. One of the many unique grave markers in LINWOOD CEMETERY, "Wellington's Boulder" marks the grave of William E. WELLINGTON, a prominent Dubuque businessman.
Wellington's desire to have a unique marker for his grave eventually took him to Thornton, Iowa a small town south of Mason City. On a farm known as the Wooden Shoe Stock Farm, he found a granite boulder he liked.
Hiring four men, Wellington had the stone excavated. It was 13 feet long, 7 feet in diameter at its thickest point, and weighed more than 28 tons. The stone was transported to Dubuque by railroad flat car and then moved to Linwood over a period of four days. Three days were needed to then move the stone to the Wellington plot. The stone, mounted on a railroad handcar, was pulled up by cable. It remains in its original condition except for the name "Wellington" carved into it.
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Source:
Kruse, Len. "Wellington's Boulder," My Old Dubuque, Center for Dubuque History, Loras College, 2000, p. 193-194