Bethel Burying Ground Project

Twenty-year-old Elizabeth Brown died this date, June 12th, in 1846 of Tuberculosis and was buried at Bethel Burying Ground. She died at the house of her parents, Marcus (66 y/o) and Louisa Brown (59 y/o). She is also survived by her brothers Lewis (23 y/o) and John (18 y/o) who also lived with their parents. Marcus was a retired shoemaker who passed the business on to his sons who ran the business from their home in the 900 block of Bonsall Street (now Rodman) near the intersection of 9th and South Streets in the south area of the city of Philadelphia. Louisa Brown worked as a domestic as a younger woman according to Federal and local census records. 

In the Fall of 1860, Frederick Douglass visited Philadelphia and was taken on a tour of the many neighborhoods populated by African Americans. He visited the specific block that the Browns had lived on in 1846 and wrote this in an article for his October 1860 edition of his newspaper the “Douglass’ Monthly.” The city directory for 1860 does not list the Browns living on Rodman Street at the time of the article.

We passed with our guide up South Street to Ninth, and thence to Rodman street— Several fine dwellings. of three and four stories, fronted with white marble, and having doors of carved stone were exhibited upon those avenues. Rodman Street runs parallel with South Street, one-half square above it. It is peopled almost entirely by colored families.— We gazed with curiosity at its rows of tall, beautiful houses, and saw, with some interest, the clean pavements and street. In some places, fine ornamental trees stood upon the sidewalks, and in the doorways, the families of colored men are seated. By the imperfect moonlight, they seemed to be neatly dressed. There was no loud laughing or talking; in fact, it seemed to us that we had not remarked for the early evening such general decorum in any street in the city.

These photographs were taken in 1964 of the block that the Brown family lived on at the time of young Elizabeth’s death. The first photo is of 904 Rodman and the second is of 912 Rodman. The Browns lived at 906 according to the 1846 city directory. By 1964 it appears that address had been demolished. 

Fourteen-year-old John Fletcher was a waiter on the Delaware River steamboat New Philadelphia. On the 3rd of June in 1852, he went missing while the steamboat was docked at Bordentown, New Jersey. His body was discovered in the river on June 7th and transported to Philadelphia where the coroner ruled the death an accidental drowning on June 9th. He was subsequently interred at Bethel Burying Ground.

 During the work week, the steamboat ferried customers to railroad connections in Trenton and the Upper Delaware River. During the weekend the vessel was an excursion boat that took passengers on day trips to picnic locations such as Burlington and Bristol, both in Pennsylvania. The boat had a lively music band and refreshments were provided including ice cream that the young Mr. Fletcher would serve.

Mr. Fletcher lived at no. 28 Stanley Street which was a short thoroughfare between 3rd and 4th Streets just south of Bainbridge Street in the old Southward District of South Philadelphia.  It is not conclusive although it appears that John was an orphan adopted by Anthony Fletcher (drayman) and his spouse a laundress (name not recorded) according to the 1847 African American Census.

Nineteenth century African American teenager

Fifty-eight-year-old Rebecca Boardley died this date, May 21th, in 1848 of Cancer and was buried at Bethel Burying Ground. “Rheumatic Metastasis” is an archaic term no longer used. It most commonly meant cancer of the brain but could also mean cancer of the heart. 

When Ms. Boardley was forty-seven-years-old, eleven years previous, she reported her occupation as the proprietress of a clothing store according to the 1838 African American Census. Additionally, it records that she was not born into enslavement and owned $1,000 in personal property or approximately $5,000 in today’s currency. It is likely she was born in Delaware.

In the 1847 African American Census, Ms. Boardley reported her occupation as dressmaker and tailoress. She resided at 361 Lombard Street Alley near the intersection of Lombard Street and South 10th Street in the Cedar District of center city Philadelphia. 

Unidentified 19th Century African American woman

Ms. Boardley was a widow and the matriarch of a large industrious family. Her seven adult children and their spouses lived with her and were employed as a lathe turner & wood carver, a tailor, two waiters and two who worked as domestics. All could read and write and attended religious services at Bethel A.M.E. Church (now Mother Bethel).

Approximate location of the Boardley household. 

Twenty-four-year-old Thomas Houghten died this date, May 6th*, in 1852 of Small Pox and was buried at Bethel Burying Ground. I am unable to locate any additional information on Mr. Houghten or by using variations of his last name. Dr. Ashton, who has signed many of the death certificates for those buried at Bethel Burying Ground, lived in center city Philadelphia and also practiced in the city’s dispensaries or clinics on south 5th Street and Shippen Street (now Bainbridge). 

What we do know about Mr. Houghten is that he died because he was Black and poor. Vaccine for Small Pox had been around for decades and had been used successfully if administered correctly. The wealthy rarely died of the disease because they had private physicians who followed the appropriate protocols. The Philadelphia Board of Heath was responsible for vaccinating the city’s citizens and fatally failed the poorest among them. It was not until thousands had died that the Board established a free public vaccination program (1853-54). Other major cities had established this type of program years before. It was not always the Board’s fault. The City Council would either fail to allocate funding or approve only a fraction of what it would take to run an efficient program. ** 

Deaths in Philadelphia due to Small Pox***

1851 – 216

1852 – 427

1853 – 57

1854 – 40

Mr. Houghton was not to be one of the last victims of a corrupt and incompetent public health system in Philadelphia. After the threat of the disease diminished the City Council cut funding to the program which caused the disease to come back with a fury and cause the needless deaths of thousands of the city’s poorest citizens.  

The cause of death due to Small Pox can be from heart failure, dramatic loss of fluids, sepsis (blood poisoning) or pneumonia. Death from ordinary Small Pox usually occurs after bitter suffering between the 10th and 16th days of the illness. In early hemorrhagic Small Pox, death occurs about six days after the fever develops. 

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For further reading on the subject, I suggest Smallpox: The Death of a Disease – The Inside Story of Eradicating a Worldwide Killer by Henderson and Preston. 

*It appears that Dr. Ashton wrote the wrong month. This death certificate was filed by the Health Department with thousands of other that were dated the first week of May 1852. Regardless it stands as the sole documentation of Mr. Houghten’s life.

**Philadelphia Board Annual Reports for 1851, 1852 and 1853.

*** The Swift Progress of Population, Susan E. Klepp. 

Sixteen-year-old Joshua Morris died this date, April 20th, in 1846 of accidental drowning and was buried at Bethel Burying Ground. The young man was fishing off of Bolton’s Wharf* and fell in the Schuylkill River on a Friday afternoon and drowned. His body was found the next day with his fishing line still “clenched” in his hand. His body was transported to the City Coroner’s Office where it was determined that his death was an accident. Drownings in Philadelphia were very common in the 18th and 19th centuries. As early as 1774 there was a call for guardians to be more aware of their children’s whereabouts because of the high rate of deaths.** Children would routinely bath and swim in the Schuylkill and Delaware Rivers and men working on the docks, wharves and ships would fall into the swift waters and drown. In addition, suicide by drowning was also a common occurrence. In the year that young Joshua died, he was one of 50 recorded deaths by drowning in Philadelphia. For the period 1845-1847, there was a total of 175 deaths. 

Public Ledger April 21, 1846

This is a depiction of the Spruce Street Wharf during the same period. It would have been very close to what Bolton’s Wharf would have looked like.

*Bolton’s Wharf was the third wharf above Market Street and before Arch Street.

**The Pennsylvania Packet, May 9, 1774.