Bethel Burying Ground Project

The two-year-old unnamed daughter of Patrick Butler died this date, October 4th, in 1848 of an intestinal disorder and was buried at Bethel Burying Ground. The first name of the child’s mother is unavailable. Although the Butlers are recorded in the 1837 and 1847 Philadelphia African American Census, they are not recorded in the Federal Census of 1850 or beyond where Ms. Butler’s first name would have been reported.

The red arrow indicates the location of Emeline Street (now Kater). The purple arrow indicates the location of the Bethel Burying Ground.

It appears from the 1847 Census that the Butlers had another daughter in addition to the deceased child. She was listed as being under the age of five years old. Mr. Butler was employed as a porter/laborer earning $4 a week and Ms. Butler worked as a laundress. They lived in a room at 8 Emeline Street for which they paid $5.60 a month in rent.

Mr. and Ms. Butler reported to the 1837 census taker that they both were formerly enslaved and that they gained their freedom because they were “freed by the law.” In 1780, the Pennsylvania legislature passed the first state Abolition Act. It ended slavery through gradual emancipation. The law provided for the children of enslaved mothers to be born free. The Butlers appear to have been in this category.

The Butlers’ daughter was interred on a fair day in October with no prospect of rain. The temperature at dawn was 56 degrees, rising to 66 degrees by noon. 

Six-year-old Charles Edwards died this date, September 27th, in 1847 of Marasmus and was buried at Bethel Burying Ground. Marasmus is caused by starvation or a diet totally absent from necessary nutrition. Apart from weight loss, long-term effects of Marasmus in children include repeated infections. Diarrhea, measles, or respiratory infections are serious complications that can be fatal in a child with this illness.

The child’s parents were Ann  (32 years old) and Peter (37 years old). She was employed as a day worker and he was not employed at the time of his son’s death. Three years later in 1850, Mr. Edwards reported he then worked as a waiter. The Edwards also had a thirteen-year-old daughter, Maria, who assisted at home, according to the 1850 United States Census. The entire family lived in 9’x9′ room on School Avenue for which they paid $0.62 a week in rent, according to the 1847 Philadelphia African American Census. The degree of the family’s poverty is evident in that the Edwards owned only $15 in personal property, per the 1847 Census.

The Edwards’ home was near the intersection of 2nd and Spruce Streets, not far from the Delaware River wharves.

At the time of the internment of the Edwards’ child, Bethel Burying Ground was in bad shape. On November 10, 1847, the officials of the Philadelphia Board of Health agreed to notify Bethel Church officials that BBG was a public nuisance following complaints by neighbors and an inspection by Board members. “You are hereby notified, that in all future interments made therein, each body shall be deposited in the grave six feet in depth, and filled up with earth to a level with the proper surface of the ground; and that nobody shall be kept upon any part of the said grounds, or in any place appertinent and thereto, for a longer period than two hours previous to it being interred as above directed.” * It is difficult to explain the terrible condition of the small cemetery with the local AME bishop living across the street.**

Six-year-old Charles Edwards was buried on a clear September day where the temperature only reached 60 degrees by the late afternoon.

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Note – an “Ann Edwards,” a Black woman, delivered a stillborn child on September 26, 1844. The child was buried in the “Colored” section of Union Baptist Cemetery, two blocks from BBG. I am unable to definitively determine if this is the woman that was also the mother of Charles.

*Philadelphia Board of Health Minutes for November 10, 1847.

**African Methodist Episcopal Bishop Morris Brown lived at 154 Queen Street the 1847 Philadelphia African American Census.

Fifty-one-year-old Robert Vezey* died this date, September 25th, in 1852 of “Debility” and was buried at Bethel Burying Ground. Mr. Vezey died in the hospital of the Philadelphia Almshouse. The poorhouse medical facility served the destitute who were homeless and who had no resources to support themselves. His cause of death was “Debility” which only described his current physical state. Starvation, living outside in the elements, alcoholism and venereal disease commonly accounted for this condition. 

“In 1835, the overcrowded Philadelphia Almshouse moved to Blockley Township in West Philadelphia, an area once known as “Blockley Farm,” now between 34th Street and University Avenue. Built to house a variety of Philadelphia’s indigent population, the facility consisted of a quadrangle of four sizable buildings including a poorhouse, a hospital, an orphanage, and an insane asylum. Construction of the first building had begun in 1830.” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blockley_Almshouse

The red pin indicates the location of the Blockley Almshouse and Hospital.

The fact that Mr. Vesey was buried in a private cemetery, as opposed to the city’s potter’s field, indicates that he probably had family already buried at Bethel Burying Ground. I have been unable to positively identify any family members. The 1837 Philadelphia African American Census reports Mr. Vesey as married and employed as a porter. His unnamed spouse worked as a laundress. There are seven men, women and children interred at BBG with the last name of Vesey or with a very close spelling. (See below)

In the week that Mr. Vesey died, there were a total of 22 deaths at Blockley. According to the Board of Health – “People of color, 19. From the Country, 2.” (emphasis added)

*Others buried at Bethel Burying Ground that could have been related to Mr. Vesey:

• Cassandra Veazy: 24 years old; 18 Jan 1829
• Unspecified Veazy: 2 months old; 22 Nov 1828; father, Robert Veazy
• Ann Vesey: 43 years old; 3 Oct 1844
• George Vesy: 40 years old; 11 July 1843
• Mary Ann Vesy: 2 years old; 5 May 1821
• Emily Vizy: 7 months old; 4 Aug 1828
• Thomas Vizy: 10 months old; 24 April 1827

Nine-year-old Simon Carson died this date, September 16th, in 1841 of an “Inflammation of the Brain” and was buried at Bethel Burying Ground. The child’s father was Robert Carson, a porter, who died six months before Simon passed away. Mr. Carson died on March 26, 1841 of a “Lumbar Abscess” at thirty-one years old. He was also buried at Bethel Burying Ground.

The identity of the child’s mother is not definitive. Records suggest the child’s mother was Hannah Carson who was employed as a dressmaker, according to the 1847 Philadelphia African American Census. She was thirty-six years old at the time of her son’s death. She had another son, Joseph, who was six years old at the time of his brother’s death. Both children attended the Raspberry Alley School.

At the time of the son’s death, the family lived in one room on Paper Alley, only two blocks north of what is now Philadelphia City Hall in the center of the city. The narrow alley, now known as Cuthbert Street, was an unpaved dirt backstreet that flooded when it rained and iced over in the winter, making it difficult to navigate. The Carsons paid about $2.75 a month in rent, according to the 1847 Census. The red pin in the map below shows the location of the Carson home.

Shepard Gibbs was the gravedigger for the Bethel Burying Ground at this time. He likely reopened the grave of Mr. Carson and interred Simon with his father. This was not an unusual practice for cemeteries during this era.

Leah, approximately twenty-years-old, died this date, September 13th, in 1811 of Typhus Fever and was buried at Bethel Burying Ground. The reason why no last name is recorded is a mystery. In addition, the change of her occupation on her death certificate from “Servant” to “Domestic” is unusual. Was she initially an indentured servant and then hired by the family as a free woman? Her residence at 47 Penn Street is a clue. It was the address of a wealthy merchant, Jehu Hollingsworth, who was “engaged in the West India trade.” Ms. Leah was also described as a temperate woman who was born in the United States.

In 1811 Ms. Leah lived within sight of the wharves that serviced the sailing ships which delivered goods from all over the world. The neighborhood was infected with rats from these vessels. It was the fleas and lice from these vermin that bite Ms. Leah and gave her the deadly Typhus Fever. Death was not immediate and the victim would suffer for weeks with a painful body rash, an excruciating headache, vomiting, diarrhea, delirium, rotting of the tongue, mouth, and nose. She suffered also with bleeding from all orifices, wracked by high fevers, alternating with shivering cold. The young woman would be blind and deaf when death came mercifully after weeks of suffering. It would be another 120 years before the development of a vaccine.

Ms. Leah was one of forty-three Philadelphians to die of Typhus Fever in 1811, according to the official Board of Health records. Approximately 60% of those who contracted the illness survived. Between 1836-1837, over 400 citizens were fatal victims of the disease.

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Note: Typhoid Fever is an entirely different disease than Typhus. Typhoid is caused by the ingesting of fecal material through contaminated water, milk or food. 

The unnamed two-year-old son of Charles Savage died this date, September 1st, in 1847 of a chronic stomach inflammation and was buried at Bethel Burying Ground. The name of the child’s mother was not recorded. Mr. and Ms. Savage had three other children – one under five years old and two between the ages of five and fifteen years old, according to the 1847 Philadelphia African American Census. There was also another unidentified female adult who was part of the family. Mr. Savage was employed as a driver of a furniture cart, earning $5 a week. Ms. Savage was a homemaker. The three adults were not born in Pennsylvania, while all the children were native of the state.

The family of six lived in a 12’x12′ room in Church Alley, a short narrow back street near the Delaware River. They paid $4 a month for the small, poorly ventilated space. The children in the Savage family attended Jonathan Tudas’ private school on Hurst Street, several blocks from their home, according to the 1847 Census.

The Savages’ two-year-old son was buried on a humid, rainy day in September of 1847. The 1850 Federal Census has no mention of a “Charles Savage” in Philadelphia that fits the information in the 1847 Census. 

Fourteen-month-old Patience Medab* died this date, August 30th, in 1849, of a respiratory infection and was buried at Bethel Burying Ground (BBG). Her parents were Mary, thirty-two-years-old, and George, thirty-nine-years-old. Both were born in Virginia, according to the 1850 Federal Census. He was employed as a shoemaker and Ms. Medab as a laundress. It appears the family tragically lost another daughter, two-year-old Elizabeth, in September of 1847. She also was buried at BBG. Sixty-eight-year-old Patience Medab, whom I believe was the baby’s namesake and paternal grandmother, died from complications of a stroke in April in 1843 and was buried at BBG.

The Medab family lived in a 10’x10′ room at 41 Quince Street for which they paid $4 a month. Mr. and Ms. Medab attended church services, belonged to a beneficial society and claimed to own only $100 in personal property, according to the 1847 Philadelphia African American Census. 

The Medad family lived on Quince Street between Spruce and Locust Streets and 11th and 12th Streets. In 1847, there were forty-two Black families on the busy street that had a total of ninety-two family members including the Medads.

“The Shoemaker”, Watercolor Painting by Jacob Lawrence (1945)

Shoemaking was a skill that enslaved Black men were allowed to learn and practice on plantations in the North and South. It was also a trade that could be easily passed down from father to son. According to city directories, Quince Street was home to several  Black men who reported their occupation as shoemaking. It was faster to learn than other occupations such as clockmaking or silversmithing and the tools necessary were relatively inexpensive. However, the cost of establishing a shop, purchasing leather, and waiting to establish the clientele while maintaining a family at the same time was beyond the reach of most Black men in Philadelphia during the 1840s. Therefore, most Black shoemakers did “piece work” and they only were paid for making one pair of boots or shoes at a time. 

Fourteen-month-old Patience Medab was laid to rest in the family plot on a day when the morning was covered in a “dense fog” that eventually burned off to become a “warm and sultry” afternoon with the temperature reaching 82 degrees.

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*Other spellings of the family name include “Medad” and “Meadab.”