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| Photo Credit: @BenBerkowitz |
The New Haven Green was first used as a cemetery, until James Hillhouse decided that it wasn't the best place for kids to run around. He decided to remove the tombstones, which were relocated into the nearby Grove Street Cemetery, where they still remain. It's said that at the time, it was becoming a problem having the tombstones there.
If you ever want to see what the original burial ground looked like, just check out this recent video from March 2012, when Robert S. Greenberg spread the message to Occupy New Haven that they were occupying sacred ground.
Video of last night's event will eventually be assembled into a documentary about New Haven. In the meantime, here are a few photos to get you in a Halloween state of mind. It's likely that the body exhumed died from disease or natural causes. The prominent diseases at the time were smallpox and yellow fever. The body was buried underneath the tree, which had been planted in commemoration of Abraham Lincoln at the beginning of the 20th Century. Therefore it was no mystery to the police that clearly the cold case was closed. The meticulous efforts of the workers (an archaeologist from Yale, a forensics expert from the State of Connecticut, and police personnel to provide lighting assistance and crowd control), made for an interesting experience.
Scientist depicted is Gary Aronsen ’04PhD,manager of the Yale Biological Anthropology Laboratories.
This is the most likely path that James Hillhouse chose, when moving the headstones from the New Haven Green (lower icon) to the Grove Street Cemetery. No one is certain how ceremonious this was, but there is sure to be folklore surrounding this event for at least 100 years.
