The spirit of democracy. [volume] (Woodsfield, Ohio) 1844-1994, 1866-02-21
Tlle Pauper's Graveyard.

nllo me DOuleS OF Tue wealthy OF UlQ-
ding classes are tremendously deposited
within the narrow chambers of a%rtisti-
cally wrought tombs, or beneath single
graye,stones, according to the social
standing Of the deceased when in life, the
friendless pauper is tumbled into a hole
without ceremony and without witnesses,
save the grave-digger and his assistant.
As in life, SO is it in d~eath-honor and
grandeur for the ~af1uent, but cold con-
tempt for the unfortunate lowly,
Potter's Field, as is well known, is the
place of interment for friendless emf
grants, raj .gatherers, abandoned persons
Of both sexes-in fact, it is!the pauper's
graveyard. 2 Immediately after death, the
bodies of the unfortunate wretches are
tumbled into an anplaned pine coffin, and
are sent to Potter's Field, where a gaping
trench receives the unexpected remains
Of him or her whom chance, or perhaps
inclination, marked for the lowest grade
Of human existence. fal III
Not every person, even in this vicinity,
is aware that the Potters Field for New
York city is located on Wards Island,
above Blackwell's, on the East River
The Golgotha proper overlooks the sunk
en- rocks Of He'll Gate, being situated on.
a rise Of ground about three hundred
yards distant. Near the celebrated whirl-l
pool there is a small pier, and at its ter
minus a rude structure, which can only
be described as a shanty. This cabin,
with its solitary window, is known as the
"dead house, receptacle for the dead
bodies ON their arrival at the Island
These bodies are generally brought over
to the Island in the night time. In the
morning. they are placed in carts, and ia
ken to the field for interment, where ten
or fifteen laborers are continually en-
ployed digging trenches, twenty feet deep,
in which the collins are piled according
to their numbers, about six inches Of dirt
being thrown over each layer of collins,
the whole pile being surmounted by a
foot or more of loan. These trenches
are infested with rats of immense size,
and of uncommon ferocity. Every coffin
is numbered prior to burial, and the num-
Der transferred to a book, together with
the name of the person, if known; if un-
known, his hight and general appearance,
with the particulars of his death, are
given. At the entrance of the field is a
vault with drawers for the dead, in which
persons Of presumptive wealth are de-
llposited, to await the reclamation Of anx-
ious relatives. az
Il 1t Fhas often been surmised that Pot
ter's Field is often the great depot of
supply for the medical colleges of the
city and vicinity, and an opinion prevails
that the outside receipts of the Superin-
tendent average $50, 1000 a year. That
such a nefarious traffic is carried on, we
are not positive; but one thing is certain
the situation of the dead house renders
the delivery of "stiffs' comparatively easy.
During the dark hours of the night sun
dry boats may creep up to the little
wharf, and receive their CHASTITY freight,
after which the empty collins may be
again taken to the field and buried in the
trenches.
A great many poor emigrants die in
the hospitals on the Island. These hos
pitfalls are filled with young medical stu
dents from the city, seeking a practical
education. A sick pauper is hardly dead
before these medical vermin pitch into
him with their scalpels, Ike a mess of
young sharks, for the purpose of ascer-
tanning the nature Of the disease, and it
is not an sight to see the dead
cart dripping with human gore, rumbling
to the fed from these hospitals with a
load Of half-cofined matiEations. In
stances have. occurred in which persons Of
the highest social rank have been buried
in the Potter's Field, owing to the pecu-
liar circumstances attending their de-.
cease. a2@s7 = 90
In the spring of 1856 a young stran-
ger died in a sailors boarding house in
Cherry street. He appeared to be en-
tirely destitute, and his body was turned
over to the authorities for interment in
the Potter's field. In the following July,
a party Of distinguished strangers ami
to this city in search Of the eldest son Of
the Italian Count Ierna Lavejos, heir to
nearly SIS, 600, 900 in real estate and per-
sonal property, who had ran away from
his fathers castle, and shipped before
the mast on a merchant vessel trading be-
tween New York and Leghorn, Through
the aid of detectives it was ascertained
beyond a doubt that the. destitute young
stranger buried in the iPotteris Field and
the young Count were the same. His
parents offered $4,000 for the recovery
Of his body, but the hot air Of July had
thrown the pile Of rotten corpses into
such en- odious state Of putrefaction that
its recovery was impossible, the corpse
being on one of the lowest tiers. It
would have required the removal Of over
a thousand fostering bodies to have reach
cd that Of the young Count, surprising it
to have escaped the dissecting knife. A
handsome marble tablet was erected to
the memory Of the young man, and his
friends returned to Italy in sadness.
During the cholera season of 1919, the
bodies of the dead were buried at Ran
dafl's Island, above Wards. On pitch
ing one of the cofiins ashore from the
lighter during one Of the warpest days,
the head of the box struck a stone and
was ''mashed in" whereupon the Hiber,
MAN corpse i%nclosed "bust' its %cerements,
rose to its feet, and, Furnishing a pick-ax
over its head, threatened death to grave
iiggers in general. This story is true,
and the man has been employed in sub
ordinate. positions on Wards Island for
many years. He had been in a trance,
which was broken by the rude shock CIV
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