The body of Congresswoman Julia Carson was carried to the Indiana Statehouse with a horse-drawn military caisson this morning.

Behind the military caisson there was a procession of friends, family and other mourners which accompanied the well known Congresswoman on her last road. The procession started from her home on the near north side of Indianapolis and continued for a couple of miles to the capitol, where Republican Governor Mitch Daniels and Lieutenant Governor Becky Skillman was waiting for them.

The corpse of Julia Carson was carried by a military honor guard up the north steps of the Statehouse to the rotunda, where it will lie in repose today.

A memorial service is planned for 6 p.m., with public visitation continuing until 10 p.m.
The funeral will be held tomorrow at Eastern Star Church and the burial at Crown Hill Cemetery.

Republican Julia May Carson was the first African American and first woman to represent the city of Indianapolis in Congress. She was battling lung cancer and was diagnosed last month as having reached the terminal phase of the disease.

Carson had announced it and added that she would not run next year to represent Indianapolis for the seventh term. She served in the Indiana General Assembly and was the Center Township Trustee.

Carson was diagnosed with terminal lung cancer on November 25, 2007, when the Indianapolis Star reported the bad news. The cancer at her lungs was discovered by her doctors as they were treating her for her leg infection.

The Congresswoman had battled the cancer before, but it had gone into remission. In a statement, Carson said she was ready to return to Washington before "the second shoe fell - heavily."