The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1896-11-29
In Christ
JONI REID
Jeaus mercy.

That is all. No date, no characterization of
the dead man other than his name. Somehow,
In the very shortnesE and sharpness OF the in
s%cription one is impressed by a certain signif-
canoe. The last line has u tone of almost siren
uous appeal. Was John Reid the simplest Of
saints or the blacklist of sinners? Somewhere
In New York there may be those who knew:
men and women who followed him to his grave
In the old cemetery. but nona of them has come
forward yet To claim his bones.
Less room for conjecture is left in the case of
Bridget K-ane. wife OF James Keane de
ceased. a native OF Galway. lreland; died 70
March, 1923. aged 63 years" 1t is. perhaps, q
little unusual 10. find an Irish woman from
hut whatever may have been Mrs. Keane's re-,
lliIion. she at least left behind her II reputation
for having been a good mother. us is testified to
Nv the verse on her tom bstOne:
Maught on earth could keep me here
But Jesus calls my sout away:
'f fSia 'S soa al H iGSHef stay
Another tombstone adorned with poetry Is
that OF n + french woman. and the poetry is in
her native language; and Is. moreover, so time
Pains the rest of the inscription. which is also in
French. may lie made out. 1t is as follows:
Bg nS sS9 mSSm nIsS q Is sSai s, RTT !" M, LSsEays;, horn in
years. " "' 90
stone to Trinity churohyard. Not far from this
grave is the last resting place. 30 the quaint old
koiAo VI II NlellOT, Ot bbHn y tTul-
nand.. Baron Cnstelrottc, born in the Tyrol:
died in New York in 1897, aged 81 years.
seller in this city. tho departed this lite Oct. ..
1903; y native of Scotland for thirty years. or
him his headstone briefly states:
He was beloved by all who knew him.
Not a strikinGly original eu,ogy, perhaps,
even 10 far back as the beginning OF the cen
fury. but surely II very expressive ono. Several
Of three persons whose names are Dutch enough
for old Amsterdam. and II Spaniard. 1t is quito
which overlook the, cemetery. The oldest
tombstone 10 be found is that OF Mrs. Elizabeth
Lawrence. VIII" OF John Lawrence, merchant,
who died on the 10Th OF October. 1899.
aged 81 years. as Cun plainly. be read on
he stone. Probably the stone is older than
the grave. as the records show that John
Irving, IS years old. who died on Oct.
there. 1t is said that all those stones which
bear an eAfiier date than 1914 mark the abode
OF bodies removed from other cemeteries. which,
perhaps. were given over, generations ago. to
the use of succeeding generations, rs this bury
ing place y soon to be. TO find a tnal resting
place in New York city for ones bones would
seem Ia be at least problematiCal in view OF
these thing; and. no doubt, before the Ju1g-
ment day the bones Of many a lonG-dead New
Yorker viii have travelled over FAR more OF
Manhattan Island than did the living man.
Like that of Mrs. Elizabeth Wenman. many
OF the stones bear testimony to the rayages OF
yellow fever in 1909. Died of the Epidemic"
Is the legend over many graves. or Mrs. Wen
man AS ostune bnhOuHCeh 10 pOeterlly.
Fearless and calm she met the fntal blow
And lcft without \ sigh those scenes below.
Ana "p ssto 90 cS onyrySdI i her ta the G"r S 11 me a r%af
After a long and severe illness. which he
bore with Christian fortitude and resignation to
tie vii! Of the Almighty" Willium Bcrford
In stone that " For many years ne batlled
nravely, with the sea-" This was a sea Cap.
mains are to be taxi EN- to New LOndon for rein.
terment there. lie was killed fifty years ago in
dock here. Hno ottner stone to- sW WIKI sishhP MAY be- be-
moved is that oyer the grave OF four fire
msn who lost Their lives lives in the msrfolm;
handsome monument. near the GARRISON street
entrance. Only two OF the fremen are named
on the m2nulnent: Eugene underhill and Fred
eriok 4. Ward. who were killed in II fire on July
!, 1881. They were members of the Eagle No.
tho top engraved Eagle ~. l.. A. W" Two
other firemen of thi" company, II l. said BY sur
yivors Of the org4niza!ion. were killed two years
later and inferred in the same grave. but Tor
solne reason their names were never engraved
on the monument, some OF the volunteer fire.
the tomb remain as feature of tho, park.
i .his u not done the only marx Of y grave
head of the grave Of Harriet, wife of John i,
Loring, In SAG. The tree Is now two fcst In
grave, have loosened the gravestoIc and bent it
o enes ward rrare from tn, Mie, 5 ReT tPPnrrs1 IA ;b AZ tho
Many of them have outlivcd their original USE
fulness, as the beating OF rains has worn down
the Inscriptions into utter illegibility. Part leu
larry In this true OF the brOwn-stonB columns,
many OF which have Clipped and faxed away
until half Of the stoneI is gone; One shows u hole
through which a hand could be thrust.
Few II any nolables have been buried In old
81, Johns. The only widely known man for
whose body search has hecn made there is
William Il. Burton, the famous actor of fifty
years ago. A little old man, with an air OF
antiquity, came 10 81. Johns Il few days ago to
look for his grave. He walked with considerable
certainty across the best end of tho cemetery.
fence; then walked in three rows. There no
found evidences OF a recent disinterment.
taken the body away. Well, well; i'm glad of
that. | wouldn't have liked to sec his grave
lost, and him such u great actor, too.
Many's the time I've seen him down in tho
old Chambers street Theatre when j. w.
Wallack had II. Mrs. Raymond was there, and
Laura IKeano, and Mme. Bonfanti, who Kicked
up such a fuss among the young bloods. once OF
en- built a house for her up town. 1t was up
town then, but II amt now. Well, well; I'm
glad they took Burton's body away"
The old man left without telling who no was
He was wasting his time, any way, because
Burton Is buried IN Greenwood Cemetery.
From now until spring, when the work OF
making the cemetery into a park begins. persons
have the privilege OF removing the bodies.
AStonishingly few removals have been made
THUG far. A park policemen is on duty 10
receive visitors there, and ns he has had little To
occupy his time, he has made a thorough study
OF the place, with the result that he has become
q most efficient guide In assisting inuuirers TO
hnd what graves they are seeking. More than
come there quite n fund Of reminiscence and
AnegdOLe of n neriuQ long mast and ia. - ~.