USA > New York > New York City > Exposition of the plan and objects of the Green-Wood Cemetery : an incorporated trust, chartered by the Legislature of the State of New York > Part 2
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It will be seen that this plan of laying out and distributing the ground into family burying lots, is without regard, so far as the Cemetery corporation is concerned, to the interior relations of congregations and churches. It is presumed that in most cases, the pew-holders and parishioners of churches would prefer a general right of selection over the whole ground, to a more limited arrangement by parishes ; but if in any instance the latter should be preferred, a right of pre-emption may be equitably secured within certain limits, without varying the gen- eral system. In this way, the members of a particular church or parish, while as lot holders they would stand in the same relation to the Cemetery corporation as others, might be lo- cally grouped together in the choice of their lots, and make arrangements in common, for the embellishment of their par- ticular precinct, without separating it by any party enclo- sure from the rest of the grounds, or holding it exempt in any respect, from the general regulations of the place.
For the internal arrangement of the grounds according to these views, and making the necessary improvements thereon, of course, no funds are available from the institution itself, in its present form, till the sale of lots is commenced ; through the kind favor of some of the friends of the institution however, relying upon its ultimate success, a small amount has been advanced for these purposes in anticipation of the sales ; and by this means, the grounds have been partially opened for the inspection of the public.
The professional work of surveying and laying out, was commenced during the last winter,-that of actual construc-
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tion only as early as the latter part of May-since when, a small corps of laborers and gardeners have been engaged, under proper directions, in opening roads and avenues through the premises, clearing off the grounds, and trimming the shrub- bery and woods. Already, about four miles of avenue have ·been completed in a general circuit round the grounds, and visiters begin to be attracted from the city in considerable numbers daily.
It is the desire of the Trustees to encourage these visits ; at a future time, when the ground is in actual use for inter- ment, it may be necessary to regulate them with regard to those who are not owners of lots, but in the mean time, the premises are open (except to sportsmen) without reservation, and the public are respectfully invited to visit and view them at their pleasure. The institution is fairly before the commu- nity, to be judged of in all respects according to its merits, and the fullest information on all subjects connected with it, will be frankly and cheerfully given at all times.
Simultaneously with the issuing of this pamphlet, notice is given in the city papers of the opening of books of subscrip- tion to Cemetery lots. In the early stage of proceeding, it was intended to solicit the public spirited friends and patrons of the institution, to subscribe for large numbers of lots with a view to sustain and promote its pecuniary interest ; but such has been the encouragement received since the open- ing of the grounds, that no fears are now entertained on this point, and no one is expected to subscribe for more than he may choose to hold for bona-fide use. A due regard for the wants of future generations, and the golden rule of doing for them, as we should desire under like circumstances, our ancestors to have done for us, will doubtless prompt many, as above suggested, to take at least four, in some instances perhaps eight or ten lots each ; but more than this, or such number as may be determined upon this principle, the Trus- tees, on their part do not urge any one to subscribe for.
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The price of lots, embracing the right of selection, will be in the first instance, one hunderd dollars each,* of which a fair proportion will be payable at the time of subscribing. At this rate the books will be kept open till about the 1st of November next, and then closed until all the parties then having subscribed, shall have made their selections ; and the Trustees reserve to themselves the right of increa- sing, reasonably, the price of the lots whenever the books shall be re-opened for further subscriptions.
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The proceeds of the first sales will be appropriated as far as possible (probably more than half ) to the extinguishment of the land debt, and it is believed that the whole of this debt may be paid off without interfering with the ordinary care and improvement of the ground, in less than five years. A surplus may then be accumulated, -as ALL the proceeds are thenceforth to be expended in the preservation and em- bellishment of the premises,-for the erection of substantial and permanent improvements, such as inclosure an.l terrace- walls of masonry round the entire precinct ; a porter's lodge, gate-way, and flag tower ; a Chapel ; one or more distinctive monuments ; and eventually, without doubt, a succession of monuments commemorative of the distinguished charac- ters and events of national history It will be recollected that the Trustees in addition to their own resources, for these objects, are empowered under their charter, to hold and apply any endowments which may be committed to them for the erection of monuments, &c., and may become, there- fore, not only a Cemetery corporation, but virtually a Na- tional Monument Association.
* This is the same as the present price of lots-including right of choice -in the Mount Auburn Cemetery, notwithstanding the difference in the first cost of the land; and the same also as in the Green-mount Cemetery at Baltimore. In the Laurel Hill Cemetery at Philadelphia, the lots are sold at 50 cents per square foot, or 150 dollars per lot of 300 hundred square feet.
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In presenting these remarks, explanatory of the character, constitution, and objects of the Green-wood Cemetery, the Trustees have not thought it necessary, thus far, to touch upon the previous question of the necessity and importance of such an institution in the neighbourhood of these cities. It is probable that to most of our citizens, this necessity is in some degree apparent ; but that it may be viewed in its true and proper light, and as it will be seen by the annexed memorials to the Legislature of the State and to the Com- mon Council of Brooklyn, that it was the chief considera- tion in the minds of the projectors of the present enterprise, a brief notice of it will not be out of place in concluding these remarks.
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The older grave yards of the city were in most instances mere parish burying grounds of very moderate extent, laid off around the different churches, at a time when the whole population of the city did not exceed a few thousand ; and when no one could have anticipated the increase which has since been realized. These, of course, as the population increased, were soon found insufficient, and would long since have been filled to overflowing, and abandoned from the ne- cessity of the case, if they had not been closed in conside- ration of the health of the city, by the Municipal authorities. At a later period, other grounds of somewhat greater extent, were laid out beyond the limits of the (then existing) dense population ; but in an interval of time scarcely appre- ciable, these in their turn are overtaken by the increment of the city, and already surrounded and hemmed in with com- pact masses of buildings, so that at no distant period a fur- ther change, from the like considerations, will be equally ne- cessary. In the mean time the whole island-generally believed to be unfavourable for such a purpose in point of soil,-has been laid out and is rapidly improving without re- ference to any thing of the kind, and there seems now no reason to expect that a proper area for a permanent arrange-
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ment on the plan of Mount Auburn could be obtained in any part of it.
Many of the grave yards referred to,-already teeming with dead bodies,-are at the same time exposed to viola- tion in the opening of streets, and other city improvements, having no vested.security against such invasions ; and the dis- gusting spectacles to which they give rise-not to speak of the incidental and almost necessary exhumation and expo- sure of the dead, in the daily use of these crowded cemete- ries,-are things of common occurrence.
The population of the city has now increased to about three hundred thousand inhabitants, and the burials to nearly nine thousand per annum. Many thousand families are wholly unprovided with proper places of burial in or near the city, and are obliged at great cost and inconvenience to convey the remains of their deceased friends to their original places of residence in the neighbouring states, and some have even taken lots in Mount Auburn.
No one who duly regards the subject can fail to perceive that such a state of things, independently of all its intrinsic evils, is diametrically opposed to the formation of local at- tachments and local interests. One of the most sacred and enduring of human ties, is that by which the hearts of men are bound to the burial places of their departed friends ; and no residence can be permanently regarded as HOME, which is not also identified, prospectively or actually, with the memory of those we love. It is the part of patriotism, therefore, as well as of humanity, to apply an effectual and speedy remedy to the evils of which we have spoken, and it is for the public to decide whether the projectors of the GREEN-WOOD CEME- TERY are, or are not entitled to the merit of this consideration. All which is respectfully submitted.
By order of the Trustees.
D. B. DOUGLASS, President.
New York, Sept. 14th, 1839.
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APPENDIX A.
FIRST MEMORIAL TO THE LEGISLATURE, SUBMITTED JANUARY, 1838.
To the Honorable, the Legislature of the State of New York: The MEMORIAL of the undersigned, Inhabitants of New York and Brooklyn, respectfully sheweth,
THAT in the rapid extension of these cities, and among all the various improvements which of late years have been introduced therein, both as to matters of taste, and with a view to the more substantial considerations of health and comfort, no adequate provi- sion has yet been made for an object of paramount importance in both respects-THE BURIAL OF THE DEAD.
Boston, Philadelphia, and some other cities of our country, emu- lating the taste of the celebrated Pere la Chaise, have had for some time, one or more spacious precincts set apart and properly arranged for this purpose; Mount Auburn at the former place, and Laurel Hill and the Monument Cemetery at the latter, are already flourish- ing Institutions, which, while they set forth the memory of the de- parted dead, are equally honourable to the pious benevolence and philanthropy of the living.
New York and Brooklyn, with a population of more than three hundred thousand inhabitants, singular as it may appear, have no corresponding arrangement, nor indeed any provision of any kind, adapted to the wants of this great and rapidly increasing community.
In an early state of these Cities, while the population was yet small, and no expectation entertained of such an increase as has since been realized, the grave yards attached to the different Church- es were deemed abundantly sufficient; many of these, however, had become crowded to an inconvenient degree, when they were closed by the Municipal authority of the city, from considerations of health, and other situations chosen in lieu of them, beyond the (then exerting) limits of the dense population. But in process of time, and after the lapse of a very few years, these also have been overtaken by the increment of population, and are now in their turn surrounded and hemmed in by the encroachment of buildings, so that at no distant time a new change will become necessary, and the desecration of the present grounds follows almost as a matter of course. In the mean time the whole Island has been laid out, and is every where rapidly improving without reference to this ob- ject, and there seems now no reason to expect that a situation suit- able in point of soil, and of sufficient extent for a permanent arrange- ment, could be obtained in any part of it, and such is the appre- hension on this subject, that many of our citizens send the bodies of their deceased friends to remote country places in New York
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and New England, for sepulture; and several have taken lots in the Cemetery at Mount Auburn.
Your memorialists have therefore been induced to look to the vicinity of Brooklyn as the only place within a moderate distance of both cities, where such a design could be carried out, upon a scale commensurate with its importance, and with the assurance of its being preserved for any length of time, inviolate.
They urge the subject the more especially upon the attention of your honorable bodies, as it is understood that the city of Brooklyn is now also in the hands of Commissioners, about to be laid out un- der a law of the State; that this laying out is already nearly com- , pleted, and will be entirely matured and recorded in the course of the ensuing season, and if so completed without reference to the objects which your memorialists have in view, it will be very diffi- cult if not impossible ever to accomplish them hereafter.
With these sentiments, your memorialists respectfully offer for the consideration of your honorable body, the annexed bill, contain- ing the smallest amount of Corporate power, with the other provi- sions necessary for carrying out the objects contemplated.
And as in duty bound will ever pray, g.c.
B. AN ACT TO INCORPORATE THE GREEN-WOOD CEMETERY.
PASSED APRIL 18, 1838. [Repealed so far as regards the joint Stock principle-by Act of Ap. 11, 1839.] The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows:
SECTION 1. All persons who shall become Stockholders pursuant to this Act, are hereby constituted a body Corporate, by the name of "The Greenwood Cemetery," for the purpose of establishing a Pub- lic Burial Ground in the City of Brooklyn.
SEC. 2. The Capital Stock of the said Corporation shall be three hundred thousand dollars, which shall be divided into shares of one hundred dollars each, and shall be deemed personal property, and be transferable on the books of the Corporation in such manner as the said Corporation shall by its by-laws direct.
SEC. 3. The said Corporation may, by and with the consent of the Mayor and Common Council of the City of Brooklyn, first had and obtained, acquire, take and hold a lot or tract of land within the City of Brooklyn, not exceeding two hundred acres, and may sell or otherwise dispose of such land, to be used exclusively as a Ceme- tery, or place for the burial of the dead ; but all monies received for or on account of the said Capital Stock, shall be first applied by the said Corporation to the payment of the purchase money of the land acquired by the said Corporation, and the residue thereof, together with at least one half of the monies obtained for such sales of the
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said lots or plats, shall be applied to improving or embellishing such land as a Cemetery or Burial Ground.
SEC. 4. The Commissioners appointed under and by virtue of an Act, entitled "An Act authorizing the appointment of Commission- ers to lay out streets, avenues and squares in the City of Brooklyn," passed April 23, 1835, are hereby authorized to designate on the map of the said City in and by the said Act directed to be made and filed by said Commissioners, the lot or tract of land so acquired by the said Corporation, and to terminate any or all of the streets or avenues, at the outer boundaries thereof.
SEC. 5. The real estate of the said Corporation, and the said lots or plats, when conveyed by said Corporation to individual pro- prietors, shall be exempt from assessment, and not liable to be sold on Execution, or to be applied to the payment of debts by assign- ment under any insolvent law.
SEC. 6. Samuel Ward, John P. Stagg, Charles King, D. B. Douglass, Russell Stebbins, Joseph A. Perry, Henry E. Pierrepont, and Pliny Freeman, shall be Commissioners to receive subscriptions for the said Capital Stock. They shall appoint a day and place in the Cities of New York and Brooklyn, or either, to receive the same. They shall prescribe the form and rules of said subscriptions, and cause at least fifteen days notice thereof, to be given in one or more of the newspapers printed in the said cities respectively, and at such time and place receive subscriptions therefor. And also, in case more than the whole amount is subscribed, they shall have power to apportion the stock as they shall think proper, among the said subscribers. And also, in case the whole stock is not then sub- scribed, to receive subscriptions therefor, until the whole is taken; and when thirty thousand dollars of said Capital Stock shall have been paid in, said Commissioners shall give a like notice for a meet- ing of the Stockholders at such time and place as the said Commis- sioners shall appoint, to choose from among the said Stockholders, fifteen Directors. And such election shall be then and there made by such of the Stockholders as shall attend for that purpose, either in person or by lawful proxy, each share of the Capital Stock entitling a Stockholder to one vote. And the said Commissioners, or any three of them, shall be Inspectors of the first Election of Directors of the said Corporation, and shall certify under their hands the names of those duly elected, and deliver over the subscription books, monies and property of said Corporation to the said Directors. The Directors first chosen, shall fix upon the time and place of holding the first meeting of the Directors. A new election of Directors, be- ing Stockholders, shall be made annually, at such time and place as the Board of Directors shall appoint.
SEC. 7. It shall be lawful for the Directors, or a majority of them, to require payments of the sums to be subscribed to the Capital Stock, at such times, and in such payments, and on such conditions, as they, or a majority of them shall deem fit, under the penalty of the forfeiture of all previous payments thereon, and shall give notice of the payments thus required, and of the place and time when the same are to be paid, at least thirty days previous to the payment of the same, in at least two public newspapers, one published in the said city of New York, and one in the said city of Brooklyn.
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SEC. 8. The said Corporation shall possess the powers, and be subject to the provisions contained in Chapter Eighteenth of the first part of the Revised Statutes. SEC. 9. This Act shall take effect immediately.
STATE OF NEW YORK, SECRETARY'S OFFICE.
I have compared the preceding with on original Act of the Legisla- ture of this State, on file in this office, and do certify that the same is a correct transcript therefrom, and of the whole of said original.
ARCH'D CAMPBELL, Dep. Secretary.
Albany, April 25, 1838.
C.
MEMORIAL TO THE COMMON COUNCIL OF BROOKLYN.
To the Honorable, the Mayor and Common Council of the City of Brooklyn: The MEMORIAL of the undersigned, citizens of New York and Brooklyn, respectfully sheweth,
THAT at the late session of the Legislature of this State, an Act was passed incorporating a certain Company by the name of " The Green- wood Cemetery," with power to purchase, "with the consent of the Common Council of Brooklyn, first had and obtained," a tract of two hundred acres of land in said city, and to lay out, improve and em- bellish the same in a permanent and tasteful manner, as a Rural Burying Ground.
And your Memorialists further represent, that Samuel Ward, Russell Stebbins, Jno. P. Stagg, Charles King, A. G. Hammond, and others, with the undersigned, are Commissioners for organizing said Company, and that since the passage of the Act, certain of their number, unconnected with any local interests, have been en- gaged in exploring the outer wards of the city, with a view to deter- mine the most fit and proper location for the said Cemetery. That after the most mature and careful examination, it is reported-and in this report the undersigned fully concur-that a location of ex- traordinary beauty and capability, and in their opinion superior to any other within the city bounds, may be found on the summits of the Gowannus Hills, in the 8th Ward of the city, within a district bor- dering upon the city line, and limited on other sides as follows, that is to say, northerly by 18th street, southerly by 34th street, and wes- terly by a line mid-way between the 5th and 6th Avenues.
The views by which your Memorialists have been induced to act in this matter, and which they respectfully beg leave to urge upon the attention of your honorable bodies, may be stated as follows, viz; In the two great communities of New York and Brooklyn, comprising at this time a population of at least three hundred thousand inhabit- ants, no adequate provision has yet been made in the local arrange- ments of either place, for the burial of the dead. The whole island of New York has been laid out without reference to it, and the an- cient burial places of that city, however appropriate they may have
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been at the time of their location, would now be wholly inadequate, even if they had not been closed as a measure of health police, by the authority of the city ; while those more recently chosen in situa-, tions comparatively remote are already overtaken and hemmed in by the dense population, and must soon become in like manner, either insufficient or unavailable.
The remarks will undoubtedly apply to the older burying grounds in the city of Brooklyn, and such is the uncertainty in the minds of a large portion of our community, that the remains of deceased friends are constantly being sent at great cost and inconvenience to remote places in the country, and several of our citizens have even purchased lots in the Cemetery of Mount Auburn.
The evil has become one of great and urgent solicitude, inas- much as there are estimated to be not less than eight or ten thousand families in New York and Brooklyn, who are either unprovided, or very imperfectly provided with any safe and appropriate place for the disposal of their dead, and this number is said to be daily in- creasing.
Your honors will not fail to perceive that this circumstance must. greatly impede the formation of local attachments and local interests. No tie is more strong than that by which the hearts of men are bound to the burial places of their departed friends, and it is the part of patriotism therefore as well as of humanity, to make liberal pro vision for this imperative want in a place where nearly nine thou- sand burials take place per annum.
Other cities have been more attentive to this consideration : Bos- ton is justly proud of its Mount Auburn ; Philadelphia not less so of its Laurel Hill ; Baltimore has recently laid out a princely do- main for the same purpose, and who has not heard of the celebrated Cemetery of Pere la Chaise?
Your Memorialists believe that the location to which they have referred, in the variety and beauty of its picturesque scenery, and in its capabilities for picturesque improvement, is at least equal, if not superior to any spot similarly appropriated, in the world ; and they doubt not if it should be set apart and properly improved for this purpose, it will soon become one of the most interesting objects of taste and feeling in this vicinity.
With these sentiments, they respectfully move your honors to give the consent of the Common Council, as required by the Act.
And as in duty bound, f.c., fc.
D. B. DOUGLASS, H. E. PIERREPONT, R. STEBBINS.
Brooklyn, 6th of August, 1838.
D.
Extract from the minutes of the Common Council of Brooklyn, meeting August 6th, 1838-certified by Theodore Eames, Cl'k.
"The petition of D. B. Douglass and others, Commissioners of the Green-wood Cemetery, for the consent of the Common Council
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to locate their Cemetery, was presented and read by Alderman Per- ry. After some deliberation on the subject, the following resolution was offered by Alderman Perry, viz: Resolved, That the prayer of the Memorialists be granted; and that the Commissioners of the Green-wood Cemetery be hereby authorized to purchase and lay out for the purposes of a Cemetery, the ground required for such pur- poses, not exceeding two hundred acres, within the limits designa- ted in the memorial. On motion, it was voted, that the above reso- lution be adopted, and that the memorial and the resolution append- ed, be printed at the expense of the Common Council."
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Extract from the Oficial Report of the Commissioners for laying out the City of Brooklyn, under an Act passed 23d of April, 1835.
"Green-wood Cemetery is laid out in compliance with a law pas- ed at the last session of the Legislature of this State, incorporating the Green-wood Cemetery Company, and is bounded as follows : be- ginning at the intersection of 21st street and the 10th Avenue, at the south-westerly corner of the same; thence running westerly, along the south side of 21st street to a point 100 feet west of the 7th Avenue; thence southerly, in a line parallel to the 7th Avenue, to a point 100 feet southerly of 23d street; thence westerly, in a line parallel to 23d street, to a point 300 feet westerly of the 7th Avenue; thence southerly, in a line parallel to the 7th Avenue, to the westerly side of 25th street; thence westerly, along the southerly side of 25th street, to a point mid-way between the 5th and 6th Av- enues; thence southerly, in a line parallel to those Avenues, to a point 100 feet southerly of 33d street; thence parallel to 33d street, easterly to 7th Avenue; thence northerly, along the westerly side of the 7th Avenue 260 feet, to a point mid-way between 32d and 33d streets; thence easterly, on a line parallel to those streets, to the boundary of the city ; thence along said city boundary northerly, to the 10th Avenue; and thence along the westerly side of the 10th Avenue, to the place of beginning. And all streets and Avenues which have been described as running through the above ground, are to terminate at its line with the exception of Hammond Avenue. * * * * * * *
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