Fordham University Cemetery is a

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

cemetery on the campus of

Fordham University Fordham University is a Private university, private Society of Jesus, Jesuit research university in New York City, United States. Established in 1841, it is named after the Fordham, Bronx, Fordham neighborhood of the Bronx in which its origina ...

the Bronx The Bronx ( ) is the northernmost of the five Boroughs of New York City, boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. It shares a land border with Westchester County, New York, West ...

. Established in 1847, it was moved to its current location in 1890. The last burial occurred in 1909. The cemetery holds 138 graves, 124 of which contain the remains of

Jesuits The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...

. The remainder were others associated with Fordham University or the Jesuit order.

History

A cemetery was established on the eastern part of the campus of St. John's College (later Fordham University), with the first burial in the cemetery occurring on July 11, 1847. This part of the campus was seized in 1889 by the City of New York under the New Parks Act to create the

New York Botanical Garden The New York Botanical Garden (NYBG) is a botanical garden at Bronx Park in the Bronx, New York City. Established in 1891, it is located on a site that contains a landscape with over one million living plants; the Enid A. Haupt Conservatory, ...

. The three

buried there were removed to a vault in Saint Raymond's Cemetery. In 1890, a new cemetery was established within the campus

vineyard A vineyard ( , ) is a plantation of grape-bearing vines. Many vineyards exist for winemaking; others for the production of raisins, table grapes, and non-alcoholic grape juice. The science, practice and study of vineyard production is kno ...

, next to the college church (later Fordham University Church). Seventy-five remains were transferred there, 61 of them Jesuits, nine students, three

seminarians A seminary, school of theology, theological college, or divinity school is an educational institution for educating students (sometimes called seminarians) in scripture and theology, generally to prepare them for ordination to serve as clerg ...

, and two workmen. The last burial in the cemetery occurred in 1909. St. John's College officially became Fordham University in 1907. In the early 1950s, the gate to the cemetery was moved from the southern side to the northern, and a brick wall was built to enclose the southern side. In 1959, the remains of 38 Jesuits were relocated within the cemetery to allow for the construction of Faber Hall to the southeast. Eventually, the original

marble Marble is a metamorphic rock consisting of carbonate minerals (most commonly calcite (CaCO3) or Dolomite (mineral), dolomite (CaMg(CO3)2) that have recrystallized under the influence of heat and pressure. It has a crystalline texture, and is ty ...

gravestones had deteriorated, and the cemetery had become an eyesore. Some students erroneously believed that the cemetery was a "phantom cemetery" that contained no graves. In 1999, the gravestones were replaced with low-profile

granite Granite ( ) is a coarse-grained (phanerite, phaneritic) intrusive rock, intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly coo ...

markers. In 2000, a commemorative plaque was erected at the cemetery. It reads:

Notable interments

* Patrick F. Dealy, 11th president of St. John's College * Alphonsus J. Donlon, 36th president of

Georgetown University Georgetown University is a private university, private Jesuit research university in Washington, D.C., United States. Founded by Bishop John Carroll (archbishop of Baltimore), John Carroll in 1789, it is the oldest Catholic higher education, Ca ...

* William Moylan, 9th president of St. John's College * Samuel Mulledy, 21st president of Georgetown University * Augustus Thébaud, 5th and first Jesuit president of St. John's College

References

{{Authority control Cemeteries in the Bronx Roman Catholic cemeteries in New York (state) Buildings at Fordham University 1847 establishments in New York (state) Society of Jesus in the United States Burials at the Fordham University Cemetery Cemeteries established in the 1840s Society of Jesus in New York (state)

History

Notable interments

See also

References