“Query? Have the trustees of that church or any of the other Catholic churches in this city the right to act definitely upon this general subject without previously ascertaining the opinion and obtaining the consent of the heads of families belonging to this Catholic community?
CAPT. MARTIN L. CRIMMINS.
Sixteenth U. S. Infantry, formerly of the Nineteenth Infantry.
MEMBER OF THE SOCIETY.
A Son of the Hon. John D. Crimmins, New York City.
“This question ought to be fairly discussed before any final decision is made on the location of the contemplated cemetery; and I hope the columns of your widely circulated paper will be always open for the discussion of this point of general interest.
“This affair, in the humble opinion of the writer, ought to be managed by a separate board, composed of the Right Rev. Bishop of the diocese and two members from each congregation, duly elected by the pewholders of the several Catholic churches of this city, with power to select the ground, the location, to make regulations, etc., etc. This suggestion is made with the view of ascertaining the sense of the Catholics of this city (who have very liberally contributed to the support of their several churches and charitable institutions) respecting this interesting question which agitates their minds.
“Very respectfully, your obt. serv’t,
“A Subscriber.
“And a Catholic resident of the city of New York.”
At the meeting of the trustees on March 6, 1833, every member present pledged himself to use his utmost endeavor “in finding and prosecuting the invaders of the vault out of town,” which seems to indicate that the opposition to the up-town movement had taken a very radical turn. Previous to this, however, the idea of locating the graveyard there was abandoned, and on August 29, 1832, a committee of five trustees appointed to provide “a good and convenient location for a new graveyard,” paid $37,050 to Alderman Charles Henry Hall for the block bounded by East Eleventh and Twelfth streets, First Avenue and Avenue A.
It is related that Mr. Hall soon after repented of his bargain and offered to pay $50,000 if the block were deeded back to him. The offer was refused, but 100 feet in depth on three sides of the plot was sold to lighten the debt and the rest of the land, 413x206 feet, was devoted to cemetery purposes. Permission for the first interment was given on March 13, 1833, and from that date until the old Eleventh Street burial ground was officially closed in August, 1848, the total number of interments made in its limits was 41,016. As has been stated, the interments in St. Patrick’s graveyard, from May 25, 1813, to March, 1833, were 32,153, so that in these two old downtown graveyards in thirty-five years, a total of 73,169 Catholics were buried. These figures are taken from Archbishop Corrigan’s paper on “The Catholic Cemeteries of New York” and are therefore official. The Avenue A end of the Eleventh Street plot was originally a hollow and had to be filled in about eighteen feet above the level at the time of its purchase.