The mystery of Hamilton’s cholera burial grounds
I was walking through Hamilton Cemetery the other day and came upon a newly planted flower bed of mostly white poppies with a wood chip walkway leading to a memorial stone in the centre.
The free-flowing garden at the municipal graveyard off York Boulevard remembers victims of cholera epidemics that swept through Hamilton in 1832 and 1854.
It gives an impression of a closure being reached from a horrific era of Hamilton history that led to the deaths of several hundred people.
But, when it comes to mass graves for cholera victims in Hamilton, there are more questions than answers.
The inscription on the stone at Hamilton Cemetery acknowledges former museum tour guide Gary Hill, who died in 1999, for his diligence" in disclosing the burial site of hundreds of dear souls young and old who died from the cholera epidemics."
But, it doesn't say any more about those buried at the site who died from the terrible infectious disease that is spread from contaminated water or food.
I reached out to the City of Hamilton's Superintendent of Cemeteries, John Perrotta, for some elaboration. He said records show there were 371 cholera victims interred in a mass grave in the Section J of the cemetery. They were immigrants, mainly from Germany, Scotland, England and Ireland. Very few from Canada and the United States," he said.
But, what about their names? Shouldn't they - or the ones known at least - be listed at the site? There are no plans to do that or add interpretive signage.
And what happened to the remains of more than 100 cholera victims who were to be reinterred at Hamilton Cemetery in 1962 because of Highway 403 construction below Burlington Heights? The original cholera pit got in the way of the roadwork, so the bodies were moved.
The disturbed mass grave was well known about at the time. But, where did the corpses end up at Hamilton Cemetery?
It turns out the folks who run the cemetery today don't know. They're not even sure if the bodies made the journey.
We have seen the speculation and investigated Section W in Hamilton Cemetery right by the driveway for some time, however we could not find any confirming entries in the registers," said Perrotta in an emailed response to questions.
Could ground-penetrating radar be used to help solve the mystery? Perrotta says there are no plans to do this.
But, there is an even more perplexing part of the cholera burial story: About 1 kilometres north on Burlington Heights, on the other side of the McQuesten High Level Bridge near RBG lands, there's a well-kept field with a raised section of ground with plaque on a big boulder.
It says: Guard this resting place of these unknown soldiers, immigrants and citizens. War of 1812-1814. Ship fever 1847-1848. Cholera 1854-1855.
The memorial was unveiled in 1926 by the wife of then Mayor Freeman Ferrier Treleaven. But, how many are buried there? No one has any idea.
According to the 2012 McMaster University anthropology department book Cholera: Hamilton's Forgotten Epidemics," edited by D. Ann Herring and Heather T. Battles: The mass grave is known as the cholera field' where the deceased were simply dumped, then covered in lime. Not only were there no coffins, but bodies in this location were buried without markers to identify them or as a sign of remembrance.
Obviously, the use of the segregated pit saved time, space and prevented contamination. At the same time, it should be remembered that this mass grave contained mostly immigrants; by not marking the area in any way, it was intentionally forgotten by the people of Hamilton," says the chapter of the book written by Rachel Duban, who was one of numerous McMaster anthropology students who worked on the cholera project.
We've heard a lot about ground-penetrating radar being used to disclose unmarked graves near deplorable Indigenous residential schools that operated for so long in Canada. Perhaps, the same technology could be used to shed light on people who were so unceremoniously and anonymously buried in haste during Hamilton's cholera epidemics.
The Burlington Heights cholera field, as well as suspected and known mass graves within Hamilton Cemetery, and elsewhere, could be examined to at least get some idea how many bodies are interred.
In addition to the cholera site, there is another burial location at the cemetery for Spanish flu pandemic victims from more than a century ago. Not much is known about those victims either, although there was an attempt at using ground penetrating radar with inconclusive results several years ago.
Maybe the time has come to use the technology, that has presumably improved, to try to gather information about so many who died so horribly, whose names have been lost, and were sadly forgotten about over the years.
What a perfect time to do that - while we are living through another pandemic. Perhaps with the acquired information, new memorials could be built to better tell the stories of how cholera, Spanish flu and other epidemics raged through our community.
And what about the hundreds who have died or will die from COVID-19 in Hamilton? There is no mass burial site for them as they have been buried or cremated on an individual basis at numerous locations.
Perhaps they should be remembered in a central place. There is a virtual memorial wall set up by the city, with less than 15 people acknowledged so far. But, shouldn't we build a more enduring monument in the real world to help pass on the story about COVID in Hamilton to future generations?
Cemetery walks
After a long hiatus because of COVID restrictions, Robin McKee's popular weekly cemetery tours have returned. They take place Saturdays at 11 a.m. Meet at the Hamilton Cemetery Gatehouse at 777 York Blvd.
Oct. 2 (Power of the City Tour)
Oct. 9 (Art Crawl Tour)
Oct. 16 (Women's Tour)
Oct. 23 (War of 1812 Tour)
Oct. 30 (Civil War Tour)
Nov. 6 (Veteran's Tour & Remembrance Event)
Nov. 13 (Veteran's Tour)
For further information go to: hamiltonhistory.ca