A Graver’s Journal

Shanna Riley February 19th, 2009

National Cemetery, Chalmette (New Orleans) La., originally uploaded by Casino Jones.

The War of 1812 essentially ended on January 8, 1815 with the Battle of New Orleans on Chalmette Battlefield in southern Louisiana.В  Four soldiers killed in that war were buried nearby on a large tract of land that would later become a national cemetery housing soldiers and veterans of every war from the Civil War to Vietnam - including the Spanish-American War and World Wars I and II.

It was during the Civil War, in May of 1864, that the 17.5 acre strip of land along the Mississippi River began being used as a burial ground for both the Confederate and Union dead in Louisiana.В  After the war, hastily buried soldiers around the state were moved to the more permanent national cemeteries.В  Over 12,000 of them found a final resting place in what is now Chalmette National Cemetery.В  In 1868, the 132 Confederate soldiers buried in the cemetery were moved by the Ladies Benevolent Association of New Orleans, with permission, to Cypress Grove Cemetery in New Orleans.В  In the following years, over 7,000 Union soldiers from around southern Louisiana and Mississippi were re-interred in the cemetery.В  While the cemetery is said to hold 12,000 Civil War dead, close to 7,000 of these are unknown soldiers.

Over the years, veterans and new casualties of war were buried in Chalmette National Cemetery; today, after a halt on new burials some time after the Vietnam war, the cemetery holds over 15,000 occupants.В  It is also the final resting place of many soldiers' wives and children.

A part of the Jean Lafitte National Historical Park and Preserve in Chalmette, Louisiana, it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on October 5, 1966 along with Chalmette Battlefield, which sits adjacent to it.В  A veritable treasure trove of history lies buried beneath the green grass of this national cemetery.

The cemetery holds 113 members of the Native Guard; the first African-American soldiers in the Union Army.В  On September 27, 1862, the 1st Regiment of the Louisiana Native Guards was sworn into service.В  Controversial as the militia unit was, they contributed greatly to the war effort and later focused their energies on Reconstruction and promoting black rights.

The story of the Native Guards began with their enrollment as part of the Louisiana militia and ended with their participation in the civil rights movement during Reconstruction. As a militia unit, the Native Guards paraded with Confederate troops and sought to contribute to the Southern cause in other ways. After the fall of New Orleans, many of the officers and some of the men embraced the Old Flag by forming the first officially-sanctioned black regiment in the Union Army. During the war, the Native Guards fought at Port Hudson, Mansura, and Mobile. They also guarded prisoners, built fortifications, and contributed to the Union war effort in numerous other ways. Their service in the Union Army was as honorable as it was controversial. When the war ended, veterans of the Native Guards entered a third phase of their unusual career when they took up the struggle for black civil rights.В  - from The Louisiana Native Guards

Another piece of buried history lay beneath the damp earth at plot 4066 in Section 52 and was not discovered until 1994 when some old papers were found, forgotten, in the attic of an old home in upstate New York.В  The grave, from 1864, reads Lyons Wakeman, but the lost papers proved the grave's occupant was actually named Sarah.В  Nineteen year-old Sarah Rosetta Wakeman - known as Rosetta - found that posing as a man got her better paying jobs, and when the prospect of making $13/month as a soldier came up, Sarah jumped at the chance.В  She saw action as Private Lyons Wakeman of the 53rd Regiment, New York State Volunteers, but succubmed to dysentery in a New Orleans hospital on June 19, 1864.В  The book An Uncommon Soldier: The Civil War Letters of Sarah Rosetta Wakeman, alias Pvt. Lyons Wakeman, 153rd Regiment, New York State Volunteers, 1862-1864 details Rosetta's experiences in the Union Army during the Civil War from the complete collection of her letters home.

The cemetery was greatly damaged when Hurricane Katrina's path of destruction passed over the old burial grounds.В  Particularly damaged was the historical red brick fences around the cemetery.В  A wonderful article that appeared in NOLA.com details the reconstruction the cemetery has undergone and the work that still needs to be done:

The vast majority of the gravestones have been patched together, but other contractors are working to rebuild the two red-brick walls lining the graves, some of which date back to 1870.
The $3.7 million wall restoration is the most expensive post-Katrina project undertaken in Jean Lafitte National Historical Park, which includes the Barataria Preserve on the West Bank of Jefferson Parish.В  - from NOLA.com Historic Chalmette National Cemetery returning to life by Chris Kirkham

I highly recommend giving Historic Chalmette National Cemetery returning to lifea read, as it details not only work being on the cemetery at present, but some interesting tidbits about the cemetery's colorful history.

I never realized this important cemetery was so close to home, or so close to New Orleans (only about 6 miles away from the heart of the French Quarter).В  It's absolutely on the top of my list of cemeteries I want to visit now; though I intend to wait until reconstruction is complete.В  It's a graver's dream to stumble upon something so full of history so close to home, and I believe I've done just that with Chalmette National Cemetery.

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Shanna Riley November 5th, 2008

I almost missed the grave of Katie Lane when I dropped in on Harelson Cemetery for an impromptu graving trip.В  It was against a fence; deep within a thick mess of underbrush.В  You had to fight your way in just to get to where she was buried - if that is even the original spot of her headstone.

Katie, barely nineteen years-old when she died in 1903, is one of those "forgotten" graves - and persons - that are so important to me in my hobby and research.В  It saddens me to think that she is not remembered, not looked for, and never commemorated.В  Flowers have probably not been put on her grave in close to a century; eyes have probably not been laid upon her headstone a dozen times in the last ten years.

No one thinks to remember young Katie; there is no one left to care that she lived or died.

The best that I can do for her is memorialize her here.В  All I could find, so far, was mention of her living with her family in the 1900 U.S. Census.

Katie L. Lane lived in what was then East Baton Rouge parish, Police Jury Ward 7, with her parents Joseph and Emma Lane.В  I believe this area is now considered part of Iberville parish.

Her father, sixty-two years of age at the time, was from New York and a carpenter.В  Her mother, whose surname I only know begins with a "G", was a Louisiana native and was fifty-one in 1900.В  Katie was fifteen at the time.

She lived with a bevy of siblings:

• Mary Bell, 27
• Maud D., 25
• Pearl E., 21
• Ethel, 18
• Carlile A., 11
• Leslie B., 7

From the 1920 Census, I see her parents still living and all of her siblings, even her older sisters now in their forties, single and living with them.

This is all I could find - so far - on poor, forgotten Katie L. Lane.В  It is my hope that she will be remembered or perhaps someone will stumble across this post and recognize her as an ancestor.В  Until then, rest in peace, Katie; you are not forgotten.

• Sepulcher , The Dead
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Shanna Riley October 29th, 2008

Though we are all aware of the disastrous effects hurricanes cause persons and property, not a great deal has been written about the effect of hurricanes on cemeteries.  One might think that the dead, buried deep in the ground or snugly nestled in a mausoleum or crypt, would have naught to worry about from high winds and falling trees. In fact, cemeteries can – and do – suffer quite a bit of damage from the powerful storms.

It was 1992 when Hurricane Andrew decimated southern Florida and then swung on up to inflict its disastrous death knell in southwest Louisiana. I was fourteen years-old, yet I have many distinct memories of that time.

The most vivid of those memories actually occurred in the local cemetery of my hometown, the Immaculate Heart of Mary Catholic Cemetery in Maringouin, Louisiana.

After the storm had passed, and only gusty winds and drizzling rain remained, my mother took us children across town to our grandparents' house to see how they had fared.В  We decided to take a drive around town and survey the damage - which was fairly extensive.В  My grandfather wanted to ride with us, and - just before we decided to head back home - suggested we stop at the cemetery.В  A family member had recently died and he was curious to see if the headstone, which he had ordered, had been placed on the grave yet.

While at my grandparents', I had walked around the neighborhood snapping photos - and had gotten throughly soaked in the process.В  Since I was cold and wet, wrapped in a huge towel, I opted to stay in the car while they trekked over to the grave in question.В  As I was sitting there, looking out the window, I saw something that didn't seem quite right.В  The more I looked, the more I was sure of what I was seeing...a floating coffin.

I got out and called my family over.В  Sure enough, a grave had filled with water during the storm forcing the coffin to the surface.В  It sat there, bobbing ever so slightly in its grave, with the concrete slab resting firmly on top of it.В  The coffin was over ten years ago, I noted, reading the headstone of the grave's unfortunate occupant.

I will admit that it was eerie seeing a coffin that had been underground for over ten years unearthed and before my eyes.В  I remember the little white porcelain accents on the sides, with delicate purple blossoms painted on the smooth surface.В  I recall the coffin looking quite well for the wear, only slightly aged and rusted.

When we returned a few days later, a mound of dirt was piled atop the grave; she had been properly reburied, it would appear.

That moment has stayed stark in my mind all of these years.В  So it is with great interest that I research present-day instances where a hurricane caused damage in a cemetery, disrupting the peaceful slumber of the dead.

As it would happen, our recent brushes with nature's powerhouse (Hurricane Gustav and Hurricane Ike) did indeed cause damage to local burial grounds; including broken graves, uprooted and floating coffins, and severe property damage to the cemeteries themselves.

High winds can often cause trees to uproot - if those tree roots are embedded in any nearby graves they, too, will be uprooted. These winds can also topple some headstones or smaller grave markers.В  Falling trees can crack or break gravestones, and gusting winds can completely cover them with dirt or debris.

Flooding, however, is the main cause of damage to cemeteries.В  When the water penetrates and seeps down into the ground it can fill up the cement vault and push the casket to the surface.В  As I can attest, the concrete slab atop a grave will do little to keep a floating coffin down.

If further flooding occurs, these coffins can be swept away to land somewhere else far away from the cemetery.В  This happened in Cameron and Calcasieu parishes during Hurricane Ike.В  The coffins had to be retrieved and placed back in their graves; something that can be so complicated as to necessitate DNA testing of the body to ensure it is restored to its proper place.

As you can see, hurricanes - with high winds and flooding - can be extremely damaging to a cemetery.В  The clean-up of debris alone is no easy feat after such a storm has passed.В  People rarely think about their deceased loved ones or local graveyards being harmed or even affected by hurricanes, but it is something to always keep in mind.

After a hurricane has passed and you, your family and property, are safe and taken care of, it would not be a bad idea to call your local cemetery's office and offer your services with cleanup.В  At the very least, travel there and tidy up the area around your loved ones' graves.В  Honoring our dead and respecting their final resting place is something we should all strive to do and helping to cleanup after a major storm is one small way you can accomplish this.

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