New York has always been known for its growing population- both alive and dead. Following the first Dutch settlement in the 1600s, the city of New York grew as the years passed by and as the population increased, so did diseases like yellow fever, typhoid and cholera which presented New Yorkers with a staggering number of dead bodies to bury in churchyards. In 1822, the city of Manhattan experienced a burial crisis. With a growing number of bodies and not enough space to bury them, Manhattan’s lurking issue could not be avoided any longer– too many dead people with nowhere to go. In 1823, Manhattan forbade new burials south of Canal Street with the hopes of clearing out the air and all of the issues that come with a flood of decomposing bodies. In addition to the growing number of bodies, there was a public health crisis on the rise as a result of poor burial maintenance of the overcrowded graveyards leading to serious health issues.
Prior to this resolution in 1823, which prohibited further digging of graves south of Canal Street, the stench of the decomposing bodies began to completely overwhelm the neighborhood and residents surrounding the graveyards. As the summer heat kicked in, so did the miasma of hundreds of decaying bodies. The burial crisis of 1822 led to a health crisis where there were correlations between the location of graveyards and those developing yellow fever and other illnesses. The August of 1822 was the straw that broke the camels back and forced public officials to implement the no burial line for the sake of the living population in New York. The harmful effects of miasma attributed to the graveyard, which is the polluted air that might arise from decaying bodies, were taking over the city and urging public officials to take action to resolve these issues. Certain areas of the city, like those falling below Canal Street, were home to graveyards like that of Trinity Church which were burying copious amounts of bodies at staggering rates.
Trinity Church, located in the heart of Wall Street, is one of the churchyards that is associated with the 1823 resolution as it is a graveyard that falls below Canal Street. If you walk through the area now, you’re presented with the headstones of well known Americans including Alexander Hamilton. But if you were to walk through there during August of 1822, who was buried there wouldn’t impress you much as you would be more concerned and stunned by the foul odor that was saturating the air of Wall Street. The Trinity churchyard cemetery first began burying bodies in the 17th century. But from the time it was created until 1822, Manhattan’s population grew twenty-five fold. At this time that the No Burial Line was implemented, there were upwards of 125,000 packed into the churchyard like sardines. By taking one glance at this churchyard, you would see that 125,000 dead bodies couldn’t fit in this space. And what was once a contained city was growing exponentially with immigrants arriving into the area and in particular, Wall Street and lower Manhattan. The odor of these poorly buried bodies was enough to cause panic amongst those who encountered these scents every day. At this point in history, people were beginning to make connections between the odors and diseases being churned up from the ground and the illnesses that people who came in contact with them were contracting.
When the yellow fever outbreak of 1822 hit downtown Manhattan, those being buried in Trinity Church’s graveyard were hitting record numbers and causing public officials in Manhattan to reevaluate burials and how they were impacting the lives of those coming into contact with them. In addition to the record number of people being buried there, the way their graves were dug also came into question. With the stench of decomposing bodies, it was evident that the burial process was not working. There were many reports of shallow graves and even caskets that were not properly contained. As mentioned above, the concept of miasma was becoming more widely known and doctors and the public were developing their own theories of polluted air due to bodies. It was becoming cyclical. There were people dying from these diseases, then being buried in poor conditions which the public was being exposed to, then they developed the diseases as well. There was a growing link between those developing cholera and yellow fever and those living nearby or interacting daily with the graveyards.
The no burial line of 1823 set a future precedent for graveyards in Manhattan. In 1852, all burials on Manhattan were prohibited. With the ever-growing number of people we have on this island today, it’s hard to imagine if this resolution was never passed. This island is simply too small to keep up with the copious amount of bodies piling up. Although miasma from the graveyards is not the cause of all deaths, it is hard to deny any connection. It is for the best of the health of the public and respect for the dead that those who have died are not able to be buried on the island on Manhattan.