Saint Elizabeths Hospital East and West Cemeteries
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Saint Elizabeths Hospital East and West Cemeteries | |
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Details | |
Established | 1856 |
Location | |
Country | United States |
Coordinates | 38°51′17″N 77°00′13″W / 38.854827°N 77.003513°W |
Type | public |
Owned by | US Public Health Service |
Size | 10 acres (40,000 m2) |
Find a Grave | Saint Elizabeths Hospital East and West Cemeteries |
St. Elizabeths Hospital East and West Cemeteries are two historic cemeteries located on the grounds of St. Elizabeths Hospital.
The West cemetery has burials from the Civil War and hospital patients. Most of the veterans buried in the West Campus cemetery were patients of the hospital and not causalities of the war. [1]. A burial ledger of hospital patients between 1917-1983 was transcribed and published in 2008[2].
On the East Campus is the John Howard Cemetery, this cemetery has burials of veterans of multiple conflicts including the Civil War, Spanish American War, World War I and II, a lone veteran of the War of 1812, and a Black Seminole Scout from the Seminole War.
History
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/cc/NARA76028857.jpg/220px-NARA76028857.jpg)
A plaque on a wall of the West cemetery states[3]:
Founded during the Civil War for wounded soldiers that died on the St Elizabeths Campus during and after the Civil War. This small cemetery houses the remains of some 300 Civil War dead, both Confederate and Union, Black and White. When the foliage of the local forest subsides in the winter, the cemetery is visible from a considerable distance, since the white headstones are placed in the form of a cross.
When the West cemetery was deemed full in 1873, an East cemetery was created. The East cemetery grew over the following 120 years into a nine acre cemetery, with over five thousand burials - over 2,050 military and over 3,000 civilian.
In 2016, a new headstone was added to recognize Medal of Honor recipient Joseph B. Noil, burried in 1882, whose previous headstone has misspelled his surname and had no acknowledgement of his award.[4]
References
- ^ "Saint Elizabeths Hospital Cemeteries - Cemeteries on Saint Elizabeths' West and East campuses offer an important window into the hospital's history". DC Historic Sites.
- ^ Sluby, Sr., Paul E (2008). Burial Ledger of St. Elizabeths Hospital, Washington, D. C., July 5, 1917 - August 30, 1983. Heritage Books.
- ^ St. Elizabeths Hospital Civil War Cemetery.
- ^ "Family adds Medal of Honor to their pride and legacy - Joseph B. Noil's bravery is remembered in ceremony". US Dept of Veterans Affairs.