View source for Trinity Church Cemetery

{{Short description|Cemeteries in Manhattan, New York}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=December 2023}}
{{Infobox NRHP
| name = The Trinity Church Downtown Churchyards & Uptown Cemetery
| nrhp_type =
| image = Trinity Church Cemetery NYC 9109.JPG
| caption = Trinity Churchyard at [[Broadway (Manhattan)|Broadway]] and [[Wall Street]]
| location = '''Trinity Church (shown):''' <br>74 [[Church Street and Trinity Place|Trinity Place]]<br> ''Trinity Church Cemetery and Mausoleum'' 770 Riverside Drive<br> '''St. Paul's Chapel:''' 209 [[Broadway (Manhattan)|Broadway]]<br>[[Manhattan]], New York, U.S.
| coordinates = {{coord|40|42|30|N|74|00|42|W|display=inline,title}}
| district_map = {{Maplink|frame=yes|plain=yes|frame-align=center|frame-width=300|frame-height=300|zoom=14|type=point|marker=|title=Trinity Church Cemetery (Trinity Place location)}}
| area =
| built = 1697
| architect =
| architecture =
| added =
| refnum = 80002677
}}
The parish of [[Trinity Church (Manhattan)|Trinity Church]] has three separate [[cemetery|burial grounds]] associated with it in the [[New York City]] borough of [[Manhattan]]. The first, '''Trinity Churchyard''', is located in [[Lower Manhattan]] at 74 Trinity Place, near [[Wall Street]] and [[Broadway (Manhattan)|Broadway]]. [[Alexander Hamilton]] and his wife [[Elizabeth Schuyler Hamilton]], [[Albert Gallatin]], and [[Robert Fulton]] are buried in the downtown Trinity Churchyard.<ref>{{Cite web|title=History of Trinity Church and Churchyard|url=https://trinitywallstreet.org/visit/trinity-church/history-church-churchyard|access-date=July 19, 2021|website=Trinity Church Wall Street|language=en}}</ref>

The second Trinity parish burial ground is the '''[[St. Paul's Chapel]] Churchyard''', which is also located in lower Manhattan, six blocks (roughly {{convert|440|yd}}) north of Trinity Church. It was established in 1766. Both of these churchyards are closed to new burials.

Trinity's third place of burial, '''Trinity Church Cemetery and Mausoleum''', located in [[Hamilton Heights, Manhattan|Hamilton Heights]] in [[Upper Manhattan]], is one of the few active burial sites in Manhattan.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Uptown Manhattan Trinity Cemetery & Mausoleum|url=https://trinitywallstreet.org/cemetery-mausoleum|access-date=July 19, 2021|website=Trinity Church Wall Street|language=en}}</ref> Trinity Church Cemetery and Mausoleum is listed on the [[National Register of Historic Places]] and is the burial place of notable people including [[John James Audubon]], [[John Jacob Astor IV]], Mayor [[Ed Koch|Edward I. Koch]], Governor [[John Adams Dix]], [[Ralph Ellison]], and [[Eliza Jumel]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=Overview and History|url=https://trinitywallstreet.org/cemetery-mausoleum/overview-and-history|access-date=July 19, 2021|website=Trinity Church Wall Street|language=en}}</ref> In 1823, all burials south of Canal Street became forbidden by New York City due to city crowding, yellow fever, and other public health fears.<ref name=nyt150206/>

After considering locations in the Bronx and portions of the then-new [[Green-Wood Cemetery]], in 1842 Trinity Parish purchased the plot of land now bordered by 153rd Street, 155th Street, Amsterdam Avenue, and Riverside Drive to establish the Trinity Church Cemetery and Mausoleum. The cemetery is located beside the [[Church of the Intercession (Manhattan)|Chapel of the Intercession]] that Audubon co-founded in 1846, but this chapel is no longer part of Trinity parish.<ref name=nyt150206>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/08/nyregion/the-trinity-church-cemetery-in-washington-heights-holds-plenty-of-history.html?_r=0|title=Resting Place for the High and the Low: The Trinity Church Cemetery in Washington Heights Holds Plenty of History|date=February 6, 2015|work=New York Times|author=Julie Besonen}}</ref> [[James Renwick Jr.|James Renwick, Jr.]], is the architect of Trinity Church Cemetery and further updates were made by [[Calvert Vaux]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://trinitywallstreet.org/sites/default/files/2021-03/200617_cemetery_walking_tour_final.pdf|title=Trinity Cemetery Walking Tour Guide}}</ref> The uptown cemetery is also the center of the [[Heritage Rose District of New York City|Heritage Rose District]] of New York City.

A no-longer-extant Trinity Parish burial ground was the Old [[Saint John's Burying Ground]] for St. John's Chapel. This location is bounded by Hudson, Leroy and Clarkson streets near [[Hudson Square]]. It was in use from 1806 to 1852 with over 10,000 burials, mostly poor and young. In 1897, it was turned into St. John's Park, with most of the burials left in place. The park was later renamed Hudson Park, and is now [[James J. Walker Park]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://nycemetery.wordpress.com/2011/01/04/st-johns-cemetery/|title=St. John's Cemetery|first=Mary|last=French|date=January 5, 2011|access-date=June 10, 2019}}</ref>  (This park is different from a separate [[St. John's Park]], a former private park and residential block approximately one mile to the south that now serves as part of the Holland Tunnel access.)

==Notable burials==
[[Image:Robert Fulton Grave.jpg|thumb|upright|right|A [[cenotaph]] marker erected by the [[American Society of Mechanical Engineers]] honoring Robert Fulton at the Trinity Churchyard.]]

[[Image:Alexander Hamilton Grave.JPG|thumb|upright|right|A gravemarker erected by the Corporation of Trinity Church for [[Alexander Hamilton]].]]

===Trinity Churchyard (Broadway and Wall Street)===
* [[William Alexander, Lord Stirling]] (1726–1783), Continental Army major general during the [[American Revolution]]
* [[John Alsop]] (1724–1794), [[Continental Congress]] delegate
* [[William Bayard Jr.]] (1761–1826), banker
* [[William Berczy]] (1744–1813), [[Canadian]] painter and pioneer buried in unmarked grave and name recorded as William Burksay
* [[William Bradford (1663–1752)|William Bradford]] (1660–1752), colonial American printer
* Richard Churcher (1676–1681), a child whose grave is marked with the oldest carved [[gravestone]] in New York City
* [[Angelica Schuyler Church]] (1756–1814), daughter of [[Philip Schuyler]], sister of [[Elizabeth Schuyler Hamilton]] and  [[Margarita Schuyler Van Rensselaer]]
* [[Michael Cresap]] (1742–1775), frontiersman
* [[James De Lancey]] (1703–1760), Colonial Governor of New York
* [[John R. Fellows]] (1832–1896), U.S. representative
* [[Robert Fulton]] (1765–1815), inventor of the first commercially successful steamboat
* [[Albert Gallatin]] (1761–1849), U.S. congressman, [[Secretary of the Treasury]], founder of [[New York University]]
* [[Horatio Gates]] (1727–1806), Continental Army general during the American Revolution
* [[James Gordon (British Army officer, died 1783)|James Gordon]] (1735–1783), 80th Regiment of Foot (Royal Edinburgh Volunteers) Lieutenant Colonel
* [[Aaron Hackley, Jr.]] (1783–1868), U.S. representative
* [[Alexander Hamilton]] (1755/57–1804), American revolutionary patriot and  [[Founding Fathers of the United States|Founding Father]]; first U.S. [[Secretary of the Treasury]], and a signer of the [[United States Constitution]], husband of [[Elizabeth Schuyler Hamilton]]
* [[Elizabeth Schuyler Hamilton]] (1757–1854), co-founder and deputy director of New York's first private orphanage,<ref>Chernow, Ron (March 29, 2005). "Epilogue". Alexander Hamilton. Penguin. {{ISBN|9781101200858}}.</ref> now [[Graham Windham]]
* [[Philip Hamilton]] (1782–1801), first son of [[Elizabeth Schuyler Hamilton]] and [[Alexander Hamilton]], grandson of U.S. General [[Philip Schuyler]], nephew of [[Angelica Schuyler Church]] and [[Margarita Schuyler Van Rensselaer]]
* [[John Sloss Hobart]] (1738–1805), U.S. senator
* [[William Hogan (New York)|William Hogan]] (1792–1874), U.S. congressman
* [[James Lawrence]] (1781–1813), naval hero during the [[War of 1812]]
* [[Francis Lewis]] (1713–1802), signer of the Declaration of Independence
* [[Walter Livingston]] (1740–1797), delegate to the Continental Congress
* [[Luther Martin]] (1744–1826), delegate to the Continental Congress
* [[Charles McKnight]] (1750–1791), [[Continental Army]] surgeon
* [[John Jordan Morgan]] (1770–1849), U.S. representative
* [[Hercules Mulligan]] (1740–1825), spy during the American Revolution, friend of Alexander Hamilton
* [[Thomas Jackson Oakley]] (1783–1857), U.S. representative
* [[John Morin Scott]] (1730–1784), Continental Congress delegate, [[American Revolutionary War|Revolutionary War]] general, first [[secretary of state of New York]]
* [[George Templeton Strong]] (1820–1875), diarist, abolitionist, lawyer
* [[Robert Swartwout]] (1779–1848), brigadier general, [[Quartermaster general]] of the [[War of 1812]]
* [[Silas Talbot]] (1750–1813), U.S. Navy commodore, second captain of the [[USS Constitution|USS ''Constitution'']]
* [[John Watts (New York politician)|John Watts]] (1749–1836), U.S. representative
* [[Franklin Wharton]] (1767–1818),  [[Commandant of the United States Marine Corps|Commandant of the Marine Corps]], 1804–1818
* [[Hugh Williamson]] (1735–1802), American politician, signer of the [[Constitution of the United States]]
* [[John Peter Zenger]] (1697–1746), newspaper publisher whose libel trial helped establish the right to a free press

In the northeast corner stands the '''Soldiers' Monument''', with a plaque reading: "At a meeting of Citizens held at the City Hall of the City of New York June 8, 1852: It was resolved That the Erection of a becoming Monument with appropriate inscriptions by Trinity Church to the Memory of those great and good Men who died whilst in Captivity in the old [[Sugar house prisons in New York City|Sugar House]] and were interred in Trinity Church Yard in this City will be an act gratifying not only to the attendants of this Meeting but to Every American Citizen."<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.flickr.com/photos/sheenachi/3310662772/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191216233703/https://www.flickr.com/photos/sheenachi/3310662772/ |archive-date=December 16, 2019 |url-status=live |date=December 15, 2008 |author-first=Sheena |author-last=Chi |title=Trinity Church—Soldiers' Monument—Memorial for Unknown Revolutionary War Heroes |access-date=December 16, 2019}} This inscription is on the south side. An inscription on the east side is more general: "Sacred to the memory of those brave and good Men who died whilst imprisoned in this City for their devotion to the cause of American independence." (Burrows, cited below, p. 230 (caption); photos at Find a Grave, cited below)</ref>

The claim those prisoners are buried in Trinity Churchyard is disputed by Charles I. Bushnell, who argued in 1863 that Trinity Church would not have accepted them because it supported Great Britain.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://archive.org/stream/narrativeoflifea00bush?ref=ol#page/n9/mode/2up |title=A Narrative of the Life and Adventures of Levi Hanford, a Soldier of the Revolution |first=Charles I. |last=Bushnell |year=1863 |place=New York |publisher=[privately printed] |pages=66–70 (note 27)}} This note was also published separately as a pamphlet with its own title: {{cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/claimoftrinitych00bush/page/n6 |title=The Claim of Trinity Church to Having Furnished Burial Places For Some of the American Prisoners, Who Died in the Old Sugar House Prison, in Liberty Street, During the Revolution, Examined and Refuted |first=Charles Ira |last=Bushnell |year=1863 |place=New York |publisher=[privately published]}}</ref> Historian [[Edwin G. Burrows]] explains how the controversy related to a proposal to build a public street through the churchyard.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wRypKrzKxA0C |title=Forgotten Patriots |isbn=978-0-465-00835-3 |year=2008 |publisher=Basic Books |first=Edwin G. |last=Burrows |author-link=Edwin G. Burrows |place=New York |pages=228–30}}</ref>

===Trinity Church Cemetery and Mausoleum (770 Riverside Drive)===
[[File:Audubon Cross.jpg|alt=Cross erected in 1893 by the New York Academy of Sciences in honor of John James Audubon.|thumb|Cross erected in 1893 by the [[New York Academy of Sciences]] in honor of [[John James Audubon]].]]
[[File:Sands and The Bridge4.jpg|alt=A present-day view of the cemetery with the George Washington Bridge visible in the background.|thumb|A present-day view of the cemetery with the [[George Washington Bridge]] visible in the background.]]
[[Image:Alfred-Dickens-grave1.jpg|thumb|right|The grave of [[Alfred D'Orsay Tennyson Dickens|Alfred Dickens]] in Trinity Church Cemetery and Mausoleum ]]
* [[Amsale Aberra]] (1954–2018), Ethiopian-American fashion designer and entrepreneur
* [[Mercedes de Acosta]] (1893–1968), writer, socialite
* [[Rita de Acosta Lydig]] (1876–1929), socialite
* [[Caroline Schermerhorn Astor|Caroline Webster Schermerhorn Astor]] (1830–1908), socialite, doyenne of [[Gilded Age]] New York society
* [[John Jacob Astor]] (1763–1848) business magnate, progenitor of the [[Astor family]] of New York
* [[John Jacob Astor III]] (1822–1890), financier and philanthropist
* [[John Jacob Astor IV]] (1864–1912), millionaire killed in the sinking of the ''[[RMS Titanic|Titanic]]''
* [[John Jacob Astor VI]] (1912–1992), shipping magnate
* [[William Backhouse Astor, Sr.]] (1792–1875), real estate businessman
* [[William Backhouse Astor, Jr.]] (1829–1892), businessman and race horse breeder/owner
* [[John James Audubon]] (1785–1851), ornithologist and naturalist
* [[Will Barnet]] (1911–2012), artist
* [[Estelle Bennett]] (1941–2009), member of the 1960s girl group [[The Ronettes]]
* [[John Romeyn Brodhead]] (1814–1873), historian of early colonial New York
* [[John J. Cisco]] (1806–1884), Assistant Treasurer of the United States under presidents Franklin Pierce, James Buchanan, and Abraham Lincoln
* [[John Winthrop Chanler]] (1826–1877), United States Congressman
* [[Robert Winthrop Chanler]] (1872–1930), muralist and designer
* [[William A. Chanler|William Astor Chanler]] (1867–1934), United States Congressman
* [[Cadwallader D. Colden]] (1769–1834), abolitionist ([[New York Manumission Society]]) (1806–1834);  Mayor of New York City (1818–1821)
* [[William Augustus Darling]] (1817–1895), United States Congressman
* [[Alfred D'Orsay Tennyson Dickens]] (1845–1912), lecturer on the life of his father, [[Charles Dickens]]
* [[John Adams Dix]] (1798–1879), soldier, United States Senator, Secretary of the Treasury, Governor of New York, statesman
* [[Ralph Waldo Ellison|Ralph Ellison]], (1914–1994), novelist, critic, and educator, author of ''Invisible Man''
* [[Henry Erben]] (1832–1909), rear admiral of the United States Navy, serving in the American Civil War and Spanish-American War
* [[Herman D. Farrell Jr.]] (1932–2018), New York State Assembly member
* [[Madeleine Astor|Madeleine Talmage Force]] (1893–1940), socialite, ''[[RMS Titanic|Titanic]]'' survivor, second wife of John Jacob Astor IV
* [[Bertram Goodhue]] (1869–1924), American architect and typeface designer, designed the Rockefeller Chapel at the University of Chicago
* [[Cuba Gooding Sr.]] (1944–2017), singer and actor
* [[Edward Haight (politician)|Edward Haight]] (1817–1885), United States Congressman
* [[Katherine Corri Harris]] (1890–1927), American silent film actor
* [[A. Oakey Hall|Abraham Oakey Hall]] (1826–1898), Mayor of New York City
* [[Anthony Heinrich|Anthony Philip Heinrich]] (1781–1861), American composer and founding chair of the New York Philharmonic Society
* [[Geoffrey Holder|Geoffrey Lamont Holder]] (1930–2014), Trinidadian-American actor, dancer, and choreographer, principal actor for the Metropolitan Opera Ballet in New York City, portrayed Baron Samedi in ''Live and Let Die''
* [[David Hosack]] (1769–1835), physician, botanist, educator, tended to Alexander Hamilton's mortal wound
* [[Charles C. Ingham]] (1797–1863), Irish-American portraitist
* [[Eliza Jumel]] (1775–1865), second wife of [[Aaron Burr]]
* [[Dita Hopkins Kinney]] (1855–1921), first superintendent of [[United States Army Nurse Corps]] (1901–1909)
* [[Edward I. Koch]] (1924–2013), Mayor of New York City (1978–1989)<ref name="Koch">{{cite news|first=Mary Frances|last=Schjonberg|date=February 4, 2013|title=Former New York Mayor Ed Koch laid to rest in Trinity plot|work=Episcopal News Service|url=http://episcopaldigitalnetwork.com/ens/2013/02/04/new-york-mayor-ed-koch-laid-to-rest-in-trinity-plot/|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130206233110/http://episcopaldigitalnetwork.com/ens/2013/02/04/new-york-mayor-ed-koch-laid-to-rest-in-trinity-plot/|archive-date=February 6, 2013}}</ref>
* [[John Lewis (pianist)|John Lewis]] (1920–2001), American jazz pianist and founder of the Modern Jazz Quartet
* [[Robert O. Lowery]] (1916–2001), first African-American New York City Fire Commissioner (1966–1973)
* [[George Malloy]] (1920–2008), pianist, accompanied [[Camilla Williams]] singing "[[The Star-Spangled Banner]]", preceding [[Martin Luther King Jr.]] delivering his "[[I Have a Dream]]" speech, during the August 1963 [[March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom]]
* [[Robert Bowne Minturn]] (1805–1866), prominent New York merchant, philanthropist; shipper owner of [[Flying Cloud (clipper)|Flying Cloud]]
* [[James Monroe (New York politician)|James Monroe]] (1799–1870), U.S. Congressman
* [[Clement Clarke Moore]] (1779–1863), clergyman, attributed author of Christmas poem ''[[A Visit from St. Nicholas]]''
* [[Jerry Orbach]] (1935–2004), actor, singer<ref name=Gilvey>{{cite book|last=Gilvey|first=John Anthony|date=May 1, 2011|title=Jerry Orbach: Prince of the City – His Way From The Fantasticks to Law & Order|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kCGxXNWdZmAC&q=gilvey+law+and+order|publisher=Applause Theatre & Cinema Books|location=Milwaukee, Wisc.|isbn=978-1-42348-845-3|page=152}}</ref>
* [[Samuel B. Ruggles]] (1799–1881), politician, member of the New York State Assembly, donated land used to create Gramercy Park in New York City
* [[Francis Shubael Smith]] (1819–1887), co-founder of [[Street & Smith]] publishing
* [[Thomas Fielding Scott]] (1807–1867), first missionary Episcopal Bishop of Washington and Oregon
* [[Samuel Seabury (judge)|Samuel Seabury]] (1873–1958), New York City judge, not to be confused with [[Samuel Seabury|the known rival]] of [[Alexander Hamilton]]
* [[Frederick Clarke Withers]] (1828–1901), English-American architect in the High Victorian Gothic style
* [[Fernando Wood]] (1812–1881), Mayor of New York City
[[File:St. Paul's Chapel, Manhattan (WTM by official-ly cool 037).jpg|thumb|upright|Gravestones in [[St. Paul's Chapel]] churchyard]]

===St. Paul's Chapel Churchyard (Broadway at Fulton Street)===
* [[George Frederick Cooke]] (1756–1812), actor
* [[Richard Coote, 1st Earl of Bellomont]] (1636–1701), British colonial governor
* [[John Holt (publisher)|John Holt]] (1721–1784), publisher
* [[William Houstoun (lawyer)|William Houstoun]] (1755–1813), Continental Congress delegate for whom [[Houston Street]] was named
* [[Richard Montgomery]] (1738–1775) Major General in the Continental Army during the American Revolution
* [[Stephen Rochefontaine]] (1755–1814), Continental Army officer during the American Revolution

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
{{Commons category}}
* {{Official website}}
* At Find a Grave:
** [http://www.findagrave.com/php/famous.php?page=cem&FScemeteryid=230947 Trinity Churchyard]
** [https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/27347431/revolutionary_war_soldiers_monument Trinity Churchyard Soldier's Monument]
** [http://www.findagrave.com/php/famous.php?page=cem&FScemeteryid=1653368 Trinity Church Cemetery and Mausoleum]
** [http://www.findagrave.com/php/famous.php?page=cem&FScemeteryid=641172 Saint Paul's Chapel and Churchyard]
* [http://boldt.us/places/nyc/trinity/ Hi-Res Photo Gallery] of the Trinity Church Cemetery.
* [https://www.flickr.com/photos/75469677@N00/sets/72157623759218959/ Trinity Tombstone & Churchyard Gallery]
* [http://www.trinitywallstreet.org/about/history/guide-to-archives/trinity-church-cemetery Trinity Church Cemetery and Mausoleum records at Trinity Wall Street Archives]

{{National Register of Historic Places in Manhattan}}
{{Broadway (Manhattan)}}
{{Alexander Hamilton}}

[[Category:Anglican cemeteries in the United States]]
[[Category:Broadway (Manhattan)]]
[[Category:Burials at Trinity Church Cemetery| ]]
[[Category:Cemeteries established in the 17th century]]
[[Category:Cemeteries on the National Register of Historic Places in Manhattan]]
[[Category:Financial District, Manhattan]]
[[Category:Hudson Square]]