First, the Public Burying Ground:
PUBLIC BURYING GROUND
Location:St.
Augustine, vicinity of City Gate, on grounds County: St. Johns City: St. Augustine
Description: During the yellow fever epidemic of 1821, this half-acre plot was set aside as a public cemetery. Many Protestant pioneers to the new Florida Territory are buried here. Often such burials, make at public expense, went unmarked. The Presbyterian Church has owned and maintained the cemetery since 1832. Interments were discontinued in 1884.
Sponsors: St. Johns County Historical Commission

It is, as I mentioned, also known as the Huguenot Burying Grounds:
The Huguenot
Cemetery in St. Augustine, Florida located across
from the historic City Gate was a Protestant burial ground between the years
1821 and 1884. The Spanish colonial city of St. Augustine, along with the
entire Florida Territory became defacto American possessions
after the 1819 signing of the Adams-Onis
Treaty. The actual
physical occupation of the city and Florida territory occurred in 1821.
Prior to
American occupation the Spanish city of St. Augustine was predominately
Catholic and the only burial ground within the city, the Tolomato cemetery, was
reserved for Catholics. Recognizing a need for a formal Protestant burial
ground an area just outside the city gate was chosen by the new American
administration in St. Augustine. The first burials occurred in 1821 just prior
to a yellow
fever epidemic which claimed
the lives of a large numbers of the city's inhabitants.
The cemetery
until title to the cemetery property was acquired by the Rev. Thomas Alexander,
who then turned over it to the Presbyterian Church in 1832, burials continued until 1884
when both Huguenot and Tolomato cemeteries were closed. The cemetery is believed
to hold at least 436 burials according to city records. The cemetery although
named "Huguenot Cemetery" isn't believed to contain any
members of the Huguenots, a French
Protestant sect started in the 16th century in France.
Huguenot Cemetery, St. Augustine
A municipal cemetery established in
1821 for the burial of yellow fever victims and non-Catholics; owned by the
Presbyterian Church since 1832, clean-up and restoration efforts by concerned
citizens (1946) and the City of St. Augustine (1951); Cemetery Restoration
Committee of Memorial Presbyterian Church formed in 1989 ,members documented
gravemarkers, obtained historic preservation grant for preservation plan, began
restoration efforts; Friends of the Huguenot Cemetery Organization has
continued restoration, published history, developed tours of cemetery for
visitors.
Historical Summary: The Huguenot Cemetery was established soon after Florida
became a U. S. territory. The cemetery, located just outside St. Augustine's
north gate, was first used for the interment of victims of the 1821 yellow
fever epidemic and then for the burial of members of city's Protestant
population. The cemetery property was acquired by the Rev. Thomas Alexander and
then sold to the Presbyterian Church in 1832. By the late 19th century,
over-crowding of graves, and the resulting concerns for sanitation and public health,
required that the small public and religious burying grounds in St. Augustine
be closed. New cemeteries, such as San Lorenzo and Evergreen, were subsequently
opened to parishioners and the public.
The Huguenot Cemetery is significant
because it was the first cemetery in St. Augustine dedicated for Anglo-American
civilians. The burial traditions and funerary materials expressed at Huguenot,
compared with the nearby Tolomato Cemetery (established by the Catholic Church
in 1777), demonstrate both the differences and commonalties in funerary
practices and religious attitudes of two distinct groups residing in 19th
century St. Augustine. The gravemarkers at Huguenot Cemetery display a range of
funerary art popular in the 19th century, including false box tombs with
inscribed ledgers and finely carved headstones by highly skilled stone carvers
in vogue during the 1820s-40s, and the more elaborate monuments that were
favored during the Victorian period. The work of several important stone
carvers in the southeastern United States has been identified at the cemetery,
including Thomas Walker and members of the White family who had shops in
Charleston, South Carolina and Savannah, Georgia.
The Concerns: The Presbyterian Church has owned the Huguenot Cemetery since
1832. After the cemetery was closed to burials in 1884, the church continued
maintenance of the grounds, and some efforts of restoration were made in 1946
and again in 1951. However, it eventually became necessary to keep the entrance
gates locked and restrict visitation to the site. While the burial site was
relatively secure from vandalism and theft, natural weathering and
deterioration of the markers continued.
The Response: In 1989 the Cemetery Restoration Committee of Memorial
Presbyterian Church was formed. It initiated a program to document the Huguenot
Cemetery's gravemarkers and research genealogical information about those who
are buried there. In 1990, participants in the Preservation Institute:
Caribbean made measured drawings of the more significant gravestones and box
tombs at the cemetery. In 1991-92 the Restoration Committee was successful in
obtaining a survey & planning grant from the Bureau of Historic
Preservation, Division of Historical Resources to develop a master preservation
plan for the cemetery. The Plan's recommendations were adopted by the Committee
and, as funds could be raised, work began on those funerary markers determined
to have a high priority for restoration. The Friends of the Huguenot Cemetery
was formed, and the organization published Sacred to the Memory: A History of
the Huguenot Cemetery, 1821-1884, St. Augustine, Florida in 1998. The cemetery
is located in a high-traffic area between the Visitors Information Center and
the Old City Gate to St. Augustine's historic St. George Street. To prevent the
one-half acre site from being negatively impacted by large numbers of visitors,
members of the Friends group give guided tours of the cemetery at specified
times of the week. The resident and contact person for Friends of the Huguenot
Cemetery is Charles Tingley, who can be reached at the St. Augustine Historical
Society's Research Library, 904-825-2333.

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