Hamilton Cemetery 1890

"The effects of time and the chemical action of the atmosphere are generally more visible in an old cemetery than in any other place. Burlington cemetery, however, cannot be called a very old one, though the deterioration of property there through the effects of frost and the weather amounts up into the thousands. It was first opened  about the year 1850, and now all the older sections of the cemetery show visible signs of decay and destruction”

“Burlington Cemetery : Its Present     and Prospective Condition – The Spoilations of Time”

       In March, 1888, a petition was circulated among the citizens of Hamilton requesting that the management of the city’s cemetery be taken out of the hands of city council and placed under the control of an independent commission.

          It was felt that the city council had been too parsimonious respecting the upkeep of the cemetery grounds :

          “each year the chairman of the Finance committee is under strong pressure to find money for public works in various parts of the city, and at the same time desires to keep taxation down to the lowest possible sum. It seems that if he can get a small sum from the cemetery, or at least spend nothing but its own revenue upon it, he will have more money to spare for streets and sidewalks without raising the rate.”

                             “The City Cemetery”

                             Spectator. March 24, 1888.

          Many citizens felt that the management of the cemetery should involve more than receiving revenue from the sale of plots :

           “it is a beautiful spot for a graveyard; but its present condition is not all to so large and so progressive a city as Hamilton. The person in charge of the cemetery does all in his power with the means at hand to keep the place in order; but he cannot improve the appearance of the cemetery without the expenditure of money.”

                                                          “The Cemetery”

                                                Spectator. March 28, 1888

          As a result of the petition and other representations by citizens interested in the reform of the cemetery’s management, it was decided that members of the council’s parks would visit the cemetery in order to make a thorough inspection of the grounds.

          At 4 p.m.. Saturday afternoon, May 12, 1888, two aldermen ad a reporter for the Spectator gathered at the cemetery grounds for the official tour of inspection. While no official report was put together as a result of the inspection, the Spectator reporter’s observations were published in the following Monday’s newspaper :

          “In the past there has been a thorough lack of system in the erection of monuments and tombstones, as well as in the fencing off of the plots. This is particularly noticeable  in the older sections of the cemetery, where hedges have partially died, and where fallen and broken slabs are strewn in many directions. In some places valuable monuments have been thrown out of plumb by the effects of frost and the weather on flimsy foundations, and the least thing will topple them over and destroy them. In other places, unassuming slabs have been broken off by force, either from the effects of a devilish spirit or the rough horse play of rowdy visitors…

          “The cholera section of the Episcopal department of the cemetery looks very much neglected, and many slabs have fallen over or been broken in this neighbourhood. Of course, it is one of the oldest sections of the cemetery…

          “All through the cemetery, the perishable and ungalvinized iron chains and bars surrounding plots have fallen or been broken, and in many places the corner posts holding them have been displaced or thrown out of line by frost. In many places, where beautiful hedges had been trimmed for years, the relatives have died out or moved away and now they are ragged, with gaps between, or, as in some cases, the hedge has been completely destroyed by frost, or drought, and there is no protection whatever to the plot.”

                                                “Burlington Cemetery : Its Present and Prospective condition – The Spoliations of Time”

                                                Spectator. May 14, 1888.

          Except for the effects of time on the headstones and hedges around the individual plots, the cemetery was found to be in very good condition. Mr. Craig, the sexton, was particularly attentive to the requests of citizens trying to locate particular graves.

          The cemetery had recently been enlarged by about twelve acres by the clearing away of the woods and stumps in the area known as Potters’ field :

          “About an acre is filled with the poor immigrants who died of cholera in 1854 as well as the poor of the hospital and the house of refuge. Here, too, the dead patients from the asylum are buried.

          “It was noticed that in some of the cholera graves where two or three coffins had been placed on top of each other, the soil had fallen in and left holes a foot or eighteen inches deep. There must be four or five hundred graves here and they were all the result of one month – July, 1854”

                   Spectator. May 14, 1888

          The dirt roadways around the cemetery were in need of attention, particularly during wet weather when they were virtually impassable because of the mud. It was suggested that since a gravel bed was nearby, it would not be overly expensive to have the roadways gravelled.

          After the May, 1888 tour of inspection, the Spectator reporter who accompanied the aldermen came to the conclusion that it would be necessary for the city council to spend some of the people’s tax money in order to improve the cemetery :

          “Beneath the verdant and flowery sods, and surrounded by the waving foliage and the tranquil shades of the newly budding trees – where wild birds warble and nature weeps – repose those of who we hold cherished memories, and it is only right that an effort be made to beautify the place, and stay the ravages of decay”

          Spectator. May 14, 1888

          Two years later, the cemetery on Burlington Heights was still in virtually the same condition. By this time, Hamilton had a third daily newspaper, the Hamilton Herald. This newcomer to the Hamilton newspaper wars prided itself on its campaigns for the reform of municipal institutions. In June, 1890, the Herald turned its attention to the problems at Hamilton’s largest cemetery.

          A reporter for the Herald on a hot June afternoon, took a  street car our York street to investigate the condition of the cemetery.

          The first thing which the reporter felt could be improved was the shabby, unsightly enclosure which surrounded the burial grounds :

          “Instead of a neat, light fence, there is an ugly dilapidated wooden one, which would be a disgrace to any well-to-do citizen’s garden. How much more is it to the city’s wherein are planted mortal germs for the resurrection day!”

          “Where the Dead Rest : A Meditative Afternoon in God’s Acre”

                             Hamilton Herald. June 28, 1890.

          As well as the unsightly fence around the cemetery, there were also ramshackle buildings on the York street side of the grounds:

          “Right in the foreground of the cemetery lot adjoining the roadway is a cojeries of old sheds, stables, a couple of one-storey frame tenements and a tavern. Not only do these obstruct the view of the grounds, but they are totally out of keeping with the associations of ‘God’s Acre.’

          “It is the worst of taste to allow them to remain. The citizens’ cry should be the historical one : ‘Raze them, raise them, even to the ground.’ That they have been allowed to cumber the ground so long is no justification for their continuance but all the more reason for their speedy demolition. To allow them to remain is a blot upon the taste of Hamilton’s citizens and a reproach to the management of the cemetery.”

          Once inside the grounds, the reporter noted that the cemetery was of irregular shape, long and very narrow with the rear of the grounds overlooking Coote’s Paradise. It was felt that there was some danger to the public because there was no fence at the rear of the cemetery:

           “Here there is a precipitous descent to a wooded valley, through which the gleaming waters of the canal are seen. The prospect is pretty but there is danger nigh. There is no fence to prevent adventurous children walking to and over the precipice, and a stumble by an adult might lead to fatal consequences.”

          The Herald reporter felt that the grounds were badly in need of the talents of a landscape gardener:

           “The cemetery is well wooded, the ground is undulating, the air was redolent with the aroma of clover and new mown hay. The birds sang sweetly and there seemed to be no lack of the lazy turtle. But the general aspect of the place was not particularly neat. The paths were in bad condition, ankle deep in mud; the grass was rank and studded with weeds, and there were but few beds of choice flowers. A wonderful transformation could be made at little expense. Art and nature should combine to make Hamilton’s cemetery as pleasant a breathing spot and resting place as are the tasteful burial grounds of other cities.”

          The man from the Herald was also of the opinion that provision should be made for police patrols of the cemetery grounds:

          “There is no one now to prevent graves being rifled and robbed of their flowers, unless it be the presence of an occasional workmen near by, and the complaints made almost daily of the way in which graves are despoiled by young hoodlums and silly girls who make a pleasure resort of God’s ground, show the necessity of a strict watch being kept for flower thieves.”

          In conclusion, the Herald reporter felt the cemetery reform was an urgent matter so that the cemetery on Burlington Heights could be transformed into a popular location for a quiet stroll and peaceful meditation:

          “It behoves those who have management and care of this beautiful spot to make it as attractive as possible – a place worthy of its hallowed associations and a credit to the Ambitious City”