NAVY YARD CEMETERY
There was an old cemetery connected with the Brooklyn Navy Yard years ago. Dead Man's Lane ran thru the Marine or Government Burial Ground. In 1869 the City of Bklyn ceded this lane, which had been a shortcut to Flushing Ave.to the U.S. Govn't and received in exchange the part of Washington Ave. which runs from Flushing to the bridge. Abt a yr later the govn't had a wall built around the burying grounds. The U.S. Government purchased the Naval Hospital from the widow and other heirs of Martin SCHENCK in 1824, 35 acres. The hospital occupies the hill section of the SCHENCK farm. The Naval Cemetery connected with the hospital is also along this tract. The register in 1892, showed 1,187 interments. (current 1999) Saturday's NEWSDAY (Queens Ed., page A08) has an article about how the remains of an unknown sailor were reinterred in an old graveyard at the Brooklyn Navy Yard Friday, setting the stage for formal preservation of the cemetery where black runaway slaves are believed to be buried. The bones of the unknown sailor were disinterred during an archeological investigation in July, 1997, to determine if more burials remained after 987 were exhumed in 1926 and reburied at : see Cypress Hills National Cemetery A Task of 'Pride and Honor' --By Merle English. STAFF WRITER The remains of an unknown sailor were reinterred in an old graveyard at the Brooklyn Navy Yard Friday, setting the stage for formal preservation of the cemetery where black runaway slaves are believed to be buried. In a five-minute ceremony, Lt. Cmdr. Aaron Jefferson, a Navy chaplain, and the Rev. Lawrence Lucas, a Catholic clergyman, said prayers over a cream-colored marble urn containing the remains before the urn was placed in a freshly dug grave three feet deep. "Our task is not a grievous one but one of pride and honor," said Jefferson. EDITION: QUEENS SECTION: News DATE: 09-18-1999 A08 Walter Greenspan Back to CEMETERY INDEX Back to BROOKLYN Page Main