Holmead's Burying Ground

Founding Holmead's Burying Ground Holmead's Burying Ground was built on land originally owned by Anthony Holmead, a tobacco farmer who lived in Prince George's County in the Province of Maryland in the early and mid 1700s. In 1718 or 1726, Holmead purchased of land in the northern section of what was known as the "Widow's Mite" tract in what would later become the District of Columbia. Holmead died intestate in 1750, and his nephew, a 22-year-old from Devon, England, also named Anthony Holmead, inherited the estate and emigrated to America to take ownership of it. Upon his arrival in Maryland, the younger Holmead purchased two additional land patents (Beall's Plains and Lamar's Outlet) along Rock Creek north of Widow's Mite. The younger Holmead wanted to build a burying ground on part of the Widow's Mite tract. It is unclear whether he actually established a family burial plot there by 1791, or merely contemplated one, but the intended location was a space on the southwest corner of what is now 19th and T Streets NW. (The long edge was along 19th Street.) the federal government at last determined the exact locations of 19th and T Streets and the boundaries of Square 109 and permitted Holmead to purchase his plot of land. Founding the Western Burial Ground The City of Washington designated the entirety Square 109 as a public burying ground on February 28, 1798, Unfortunately, the Western Burial Ground was not as ideally sited as Holmead's Burying Ground. The southern end of the cemetery was just a few feet above the water table, which meant that coffins could be buried only down, and erosion often exposed burials in this section. ==Operation==

Even though technically within the boundary of the city, for most of its history Holmead's was essentially in a rural area of forest with heavy undergrowth. There were almost no buildings around it, and the cemetery could only be reached by 20th Street—which could be distinguished from the surrounding forest only because the trees along the route had (mostly) been cut down and there was a rutted wagon track to follow. The site was so rural that, for many years, the track followed by the northbound mail stagecoach ran through the center of Square 109. Early burials Burials at Holmead's began even before the Holmead purchased his land. The first recorded burial occurred on May 29, 1794, when Robert Smith of Boston was interred in the far northeast corner of the burying ground. The deterioration at Holmead's Burying Ground was accelerated as the cemetery was filled beyond its capacity in the 1860s and 1870s. Burial plots often contained three or four bodies, one on top of the other, with the uppermost coffin just a foot or two below the surface. which dropped the street some below the surface of the cemetery. But no retaining walls were constructed, leaving the earthen banks prone to erosion. Coffins next to Boundary Street sometimes became exposed, and some even fell into the street. ==Closure==

1871 attempted closure In August 1871, the D.C. Board of Public Health declared Holmead's Burying Ground a public nuisance. The cemetery was in significant disrepair, and it was overgrown with shrubs, vines, and weeds. Noxious odors and fluids emanated from recent graves, which were too near the surface. Extensive development, primarily housing, had occurred in the area, exposing the public to these problems. but the order was not enforced. By this time, the cemetery contained more than 9,000 official burials, with unofficial burials bring the total to more than 10,000. 1874 closure and the beginning of disinterments The resurrectionist activity spurred the city to act. It ordered all burials at the cemetery to cease on March 6, 1874, and it began strictly enforcing its order. The law also granted the city permission to begin disinterments, and contained a provision to reimburse lotholders for reinterment costs. The city commissioners said in July that they would approve disinterments without question in order to speed the process. and announced a deadline for removals of December 10, 1880. The federal funds ran out in 1881, so another $3,000 was appropriated to continue the removals. The city awarded a contract to a local firm about January 1882 to begin mass disinterment of the remaining burials. Final removals and sale As the city cleared Holmead's Burying Ground and readied it for sale, city attorneys discovered that the 1879 law gave the city title to the land—but did not give it any right to sell or convey the land. The city desperately wanted to sell it: There was strong private interest in the land, and the city said that if it received the right to sell the property it would place the square on the market as fast as it could. Congressional action was once again needed to rectify the problem. On June 24, 1884, the House of Representatives took up the conference report for the District of Columbia appropriations bill for fiscal 1885 (July 1, 1884 to June 30, 1885). During floor debate, the conference report was amended to give the city the authority to sell Holmead's Burying Ground so long as the proceeds were used to fund the D.C. public schools. The Senate agreed to the House's amended conference report (23 Stat. 130) on July 5, 1884. Although removals were still occurring at Holmead's, work halted at the start of October 1884 as warm weather made the stench from decomposing bodies too noisome for work to continue. The work crew of 70 men resumed disinterments on October 28, and by late November a total of 3,000 bodies had been removed from Holmead's. Workers anticipated that the cemetery would be empty by mid to late December. The Evening Star newspaper reported in January 1885 that, during this final phase of disinterment, a total of 1,246 bodies had been moved to a mass grave at Graceland Cemetery, 1,665 bodies had been moved to a mass grave at Rock Creek Cemetery, and 958 bodies had been moved by family members. On December 22, 1884, the city sold the entirety of Square 109 () to John Roll McLean, publisher of The Washington Post, for $52,000. In doing so, the city confirmed that it had removed all bodies from the site. The remaining $48,000 went to the construction and maintenance of city public schools. McLean built Holmead Park on a portion of the former Holmead's Burying Ground. In 1905, he erected the Cordova Apartments (now the President Madison Apartments) on the northwest corner of the square. ==About the cemetery==

Holmead's Burying Ground was a typical urban cemetery. The pathways through the cemetery were straight, and most graves were marked with upright sandstone slabs. Some family plots were marked by large, above-ground monuments and ringed with iron fences. Burial plots were small, and graves were closely packed. Landscaping was minimal, and consisted of short cedar trees. For most of its history, a solid wooden wall enclosed the cemetery on all sides. The northeast quarter of the site (which included the original Holmead's burial plot) was reserved for Caucasians. The cemetery was racially segregated, and the southwest quarter of the square (which was somewhat separate from the rest of the site by a ravine) served as the burial ground for African Americans. The southeast section was generally reserved for military personnel. Most of the burials here were soldiers who fought in the War of 1812, and nearly all of them came from Camp Hill (a United States Army encampment located where the United States Naval Observatory now exists). At one point before 1879, a portion of the military section was illegally sold to a local African American association which had formed to create a cemetery for colored people. The sale was discovered and situation rectified. Until the end of the 1850s, Holmead's Burying Ground was one of the two most prominent cemeteries in the District of Columbia, and until Glenwood Cemetery and Oak Hill Cemetery opened, Holmead's Burying Ground was thronged with visitors each Sunday. ==Notable interments==

Holmead's Burying Ground was one of the most prominent cemeteries in Washington, D.C., from its inception until about 1850. Many locally famous people and locally prominent families were buried there. • William Winston Seaton (1785–1866), journalist and newspaper editor (removed at an unknown date to Congressional Cemetery) • Andrew Way, noted printer of Congressional documents (before the establishment of the United States Government Printing Office) in the District of Columbia ==See also==