The parish of Trinity Church has three separate burial grounds associated with it in the

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

borough of

Manhattan Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...

. The first, Trinity Churchyard, is located in

Lower Manhattan Lower Manhattan, also known as Downtown Manhattan or Downtown New York City, is the southernmost part of the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of Manhattan. The neighborhood is History of New York City, the historical birthplace o ...

at 74 Trinity Place, near

Wall Street Wall Street is a street in the Financial District, Manhattan, Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. It runs eight city blocks between Broadway (Manhattan), Broadway in the west and South Street (Manhattan), South Str ...

and Broadway.

Alexander Hamilton Alexander Hamilton (January 11, 1755 or 1757July 12, 1804) was an American military officer, statesman, and Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father who served as the first U.S. secretary of the treasury from 1789 to 1795 dur ...

and his wife

Elizabeth Schuyler Hamilton Elizabeth Hamilton (née Schuyler ; August 9, 1757 – November 9, 1854) was an American socialite and philanthropist. She was the wife of Founding Fathers of the United States, American Founding Father Alexander Hamilton and was a passionat ...

Albert Gallatin Abraham Alfonse Albert Gallatin (January 29, 1761 – August 12, 1849) was a Genevan-American politician, diplomat, ethnologist, and linguist. Often described as "America's Swiss Founding Father", he was a leading figure in the early years ...

, and

Robert Fulton Robert Fulton (November 14, 1765 – February 24, 1815) was an American engineer and inventor who is widely credited with developing the world's first commercially successful steamboat, the (also known as ''Clermont''). In 1807, that steamboat ...

are buried in the downtown Trinity Churchyard. The second Trinity parish burial ground is the

St. Paul's Chapel St. Paul's Chapel is a chapel building of Trinity Church (Manhattan), Trinity Church, an Episcopal Church (United States), Episcopal parish, located at 209 Broadway (Manhattan), Broadway, between Fulton Street (Manhattan), Fulton Street and V ...

Churchyard, which is also located in lower Manhattan, six blocks (roughly ) north of Trinity Church. It was established in 1766. Both of these churchyards are closed to new burials. Trinity's third place of burial, Trinity Church Cemetery and Mausoleum, located in Hamilton Heights in

Upper Manhattan Upper Manhattan is the northern section of the New York City borough of Manhattan. Its southern boundary has been variously defined, but some of the most common usages are 96th Street, 110th Street (the northern boundary of Central Park), 1 ...

, is one of the few active burial sites in Manhattan. Trinity Church Cemetery and Mausoleum is listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

and is the burial place of notable people including

John James Audubon John James Audubon (born Jean-Jacques Rabin, April 26, 1785 – January 27, 1851) was a French-American Autodidacticism, self-trained artist, natural history, naturalist, and ornithology, ornithologist. His combined interests in art and ornitho ...

John Jacob Astor IV John Jacob Astor IV (July 13, 1864 – April 15, 1912) was an American business magnate, real estate developer, investor, writer, lieutenant colonel in the Spanish–American War, and a prominent member of the Astor family. He was among the most ...

, Mayor Edward I. Koch, Governor

John Adams Dix John Adams Dix (July 24, 1798 – April 21, 1879) was an American politician and military officer who was Secretary of the Treasury, Governor of New York and Union major general during the Civil War. He was notable for arresting the pro-Southe ...

Ralph Ellison Ralph Waldo Ellison (March 1, 1913 – April 16, 1994) was an American writer, literary critic, and scholar best known for his novel '' Invisible Man'', which won the National Book Award in 1953. Ellison wrote '' Shadow and Act'' (1964), a co ...

, and Eliza Jumel. In 1823, all burials south of Canal Street became forbidden by New York City due to city crowding, yellow fever, and other public health fears. After considering locations in the Bronx and portions of the then-new

Green-Wood Cemetery Green-Wood Cemetery is a cemetery in the western portion of Brooklyn, New York City. The cemetery is located between South Slope, Brooklyn, South Slope/Greenwood Heights, Brooklyn, Greenwood Heights, Park Slope, Windsor Terrace, Brooklyn, Win ...

, in 1842 Trinity Parish purchased the plot of land now bordered by 153rd Street, 155th Street, Amsterdam Avenue, and Riverside Drive to establish the Trinity Church Cemetery and Mausoleum. The cemetery is located beside the Chapel of the Intercession that Audubon co-founded in 1846, but this chapel is no longer part of Trinity parish. James Renwick, Jr., is the architect of Trinity Church Cemetery and further updates were made by

Calvert Vaux Calvert Vaux Fellow of the American Institute of Architects, FAIA (; December 20, 1824 – November 19, 1895) was an English-American architect and landscape architect, landscape designer. He and his protégé Frederick Law Olmsted designed park ...

. The uptown cemetery is also the center of the Heritage Rose District of New York City. A no-longer-extant Trinity Parish burial ground was the Old Saint John's Burying Ground for St. John's Chapel. This location is bounded by Hudson, Leroy and Clarkson streets near

Hudson Square Hudson Square is a neighborhood in Lower Manhattan in New York City. It is bounded approximately by Clarkson Street to the north, Canal Street (Manhattan), Canal Street to the south, Varick Street (Manhattan), Varick Street to the east, and ...

. It was in use from 1806 to 1852 with over 10,000 burials, mostly poor and young. In 1897, it was turned into St. John's Park, with most of the burials left in place. The park was later renamed Hudson Park, and is now James J. Walker Park. (This park is different from a separate St. John's Park, a former private park and residential block approximately one mile to the south that now serves as part of the Holland Tunnel access.)

Notable burials

Trinity Churchyard (Broadway and Wall Street)

William Alexander, Lord Stirling William Alexander, also known as Lord Stirling (December 27, 1725 – January 15, 1783), was a Scottish-American major general during the American Revolutionary War. He held a claim to be the male heir to the Scottish title of Earl of Stirl ...

(1726–1783), Continental Army major general during the

American Revolution The American Revolution (1765–1783) was a colonial rebellion and war of independence in which the Thirteen Colonies broke from British America, British rule to form the United States of America. The revolution culminated in the American ...

* John Alsop (1724–1794),

Continental Congress The Continental Congress was a series of legislature, legislative bodies, with some executive function, for the Thirteen Colonies of British America, Great Britain in North America, and the newly declared United States before, during, and after ...

delegate * William Bayard Jr. (1761–1826), banker * William Berczy (1744–1813),

Canadian Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...

painter and pioneer buried in unmarked grave and name recorded as William Burksay * William Bradford (1660–1752), colonial American printer * Richard Churcher (1676–1681), a child whose grave is marked with the oldest carved

gravestone A gravestone or tombstone is a marker, usually stone, that is placed over a grave. A marker set at the head of the grave may be called a headstone. An especially old or elaborate stone slab may be called a funeral stele, stela, or slab. The us ...

in New York City *

Angelica Schuyler Church Angelica Church (née Schuyler ; February 20, 1756 – March 6, 1814) was an American socialite. She was the eldest daughter of Continental Army General Philip Schuyler, and a sister of Elizabeth Schuyler Hamilton and sister-in-law of Alexand ...

(1756–1814), daughter of

Philip Schuyler Philip John Schuyler (; November 20, 1733 - November 18, 1804) was an American general in the American Revolutionary War, Revolutionary War and a United States Senate, United States Senator from New York (state), New York. He is usually known as ...

, sister of

and Margarita Schuyler Van Rensselaer * Michael Cresap (1742–1775), frontiersman * James De Lancey (1703–1760), Colonial Governor of New York * John R. Fellows (1832–1896), U.S. representative *

(1765–1815), inventor of the first commercially successful steamboat *

(1761–1849), U.S. congressman,

Secretary of the Treasury The United States secretary of the treasury is the head of the United States Department of the Treasury, and is the chief financial officer of the federal government of the United States. The secretary of the treasury serves as the principal a ...

, founder of

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private university, private research university in New York City, New York, United States. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded in 1832 by Albert Gallatin as a Nondenominational ...

Horatio Gates Horatio Lloyd Gates (July 26, 1727April 10, 1806) was a British-born American army officer who served as a general in the Continental Army during the early years of the American Revolutionary War, Revolutionary War. He took credit for the Ameri ...

(1727–1806), Continental Army general during the American Revolution * James Gordon (1735–1783), 80th Regiment of Foot (Royal Edinburgh Volunteers) Lieutenant Colonel *

Aaron Hackley, Jr. Aaron Hackley Jr. (May 6, 1783 – December 28, 1868) was a United States House of Representatives, U.S. Representative from New York (state), New York. Born in Wallingford, Connecticut, Hackley attended the public schools, and graduated from W ...

(1783–1868), U.S. representative *

(1755/57–1804), American revolutionary patriot and

Founding Father The following is a list of national founders of sovereign states who were credited with establishing a state. National founders are typically those who played an influential role in setting up the systems of governance, (i.e., political system ...

; first U.S.

, and a signer of the

United States Constitution The Constitution of the United States is the Supremacy Clause, supreme law of the United States, United States of America. It superseded the Articles of Confederation, the nation's first constitution, on March 4, 1789. Originally includi ...

, husband of

(1757–1854), co-founder and deputy director of New York's first private orphanage, now Graham Windham *

Philip Hamilton Philip Hamilton (January 22, 1782 – November 24, 1801) was the eldest child of Alexander Hamilton (the first United States Secretary of the Treasury, U.S. Secretary of the Treasury) and Elizabeth Schuyler Hamilton. He died at age 19, fatally ...

(1782–1801), first son of

and

, grandson of U.S. General

, nephew of

and Margarita Schuyler Van Rensselaer * John Sloss Hobart (1738–1805), U.S. senator * William Hogan (1792–1874), U.S. congressman * James Lawrence (1781–1813), naval hero during the

War of 1812 The War of 1812 was fought by the United States and its allies against the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United Kingdom and its allies in North America. It began when the United States United States declaration of war on the Uni ...

* Francis Lewis (1713–1802), signer of the Declaration of Independence * Walter Livingston (1740–1797), delegate to the Continental Congress * Luther Martin (1744–1826), delegate to the Continental Congress * Charles McKnight (1750–1791),

Continental Army The Continental Army was the army of the United Colonies representing the Thirteen Colonies and later the United States during the American Revolutionary War. It was formed on June 14, 1775, by a resolution passed by the Second Continental Co ...

surgeon * John Jordan Morgan (1770–1849), U.S. representative * Hercules Mulligan (1740–1825), spy during the American Revolution, friend of Alexander Hamilton * Thomas Jackson Oakley (1783–1857), U.S. representative * John Morin Scott (1730–1784), Continental Congress delegate, Revolutionary War general, first

secretary of state of New York The secretary of state of New York is a cabinet officer in the government of the U.S. state of New York who leads the Department of State (NYSDOS). The current secretary of state of New York is Walter T. Mosley, a Democrat. Duties The secr ...

* George Templeton Strong (1820–1875), diarist, abolitionist, lawyer * Robert Swartwout (1779–1848), brigadier general, Quartermaster general of the

* Silas Talbot (1750–1813), U.S. Navy commodore, second captain of the USS ''Constitution'' * John Watts (1749–1836), U.S. representative * Franklin Wharton (1767–1818),

Commandant of the Marine Corps Commandant of the Marine Corps may refer to: * Commandant of the Marine Corps (Indonesia) * Commandant of the Netherlands Marine Corps * Commandant of the Philippine Marine Corps * Commandant of the Republic of Korea Marine Corps * Commandant of th ...

, 1804–1818 *

Hugh Williamson Hugh Williamson (December 5, 1735 – May 22, 1819) was an American Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father, physician, and politician. He is best known as a Signature, signatory to the U.S. Constitution and for representing Nort ...

(1735–1802), American politician, signer of the

Constitution of the United States The Constitution of the United States is the Supremacy Clause, supreme law of the United States, United States of America. It superseded the Articles of Confederation, the nation's first constitution, on March 4, 1789. Originally includi ...

John Peter Zenger John Peter Zenger (October 26, 1697 – July 28, 1746) was a German printer and journalist in New York City. Zenger printed ''The New York Weekly Journal''. He was accused of Defamation, libel in 1734 by William Cosby, the royal governor of Pro ...

(1697–1746), newspaper publisher whose libel trial helped establish the right to a free press In the northeast corner stands the Soldiers' Monument, with a plaque reading: "At a meeting of Citizens held at the City Hall of the City of New York June 8, 1852: It was resolved That the Erection of a becoming Monument with appropriate inscriptions by Trinity Church to the Memory of those great and good Men who died whilst in Captivity in the old Sugar House and were interred in Trinity Church Yard in this City will be an act gratifying not only to the attendants of this Meeting but to Every American Citizen." The claim those prisoners are buried in Trinity Churchyard is disputed by Charles I. Bushnell, who argued in 1863 that Trinity Church would not have accepted them because it supported Great Britain. Historian Edwin G. Burrows explains how the controversy related to a proposal to build a public street through the churchyard.

Trinity Church Cemetery and Mausoleum (770 Riverside Drive)

* Amsale Aberra (1954–2018), Ethiopian-American fashion designer and entrepreneur *

Mercedes de Acosta Mercedes de Acosta (March 1, 1892 – May 9, 1968) was an American poet, playwright, and novelist. Although she failed to achieve artistic and professional distinction, de Acosta is known for her many lesbian affairs with celebrated Broadway and ...

(1893–1968), writer, socialite * Rita de Acosta Lydig (1876–1929), socialite * Caroline Webster Schermerhorn Astor (1830–1908), socialite, doyenne of

Gilded Age In History of the United States, United States history, the Gilded Age is the period from about the late 1870s to the late 1890s, which occurred between the Reconstruction era and the Progressive Era. It was named by 1920s historians after Mar ...

New York society *

John Jacob Astor John Jacob Astor (born Johann Jakob Astor; July 17, 1763 – March 29, 1848) was a German-born American businessman, merchant, real estate mogul, and investor. Astor made his fortune mainly in a fur trade monopoly, by exporting History of opiu ...

(1763–1848) business magnate, progenitor of the

Astor family The Astor family achieved prominence in business sector, business, Socialite, society, and politics in the United States and the United Kingdom during the 19th and 20th centuries. With Germans, German roots, some of their ancestry goes back to th ...

of New York * John Jacob Astor III (1822–1890), financier and philanthropist *

(1864–1912), millionaire killed in the sinking of the ''

Titanic RMS ''Titanic'' was a British ocean liner that sank in the early hours of 15 April 1912 as a result of striking an iceberg on her maiden voyage from Southampton, England, to New York City, United States. Of the estimated 2,224 passengers a ...

'' * John Jacob Astor VI (1912–1992), shipping magnate * William Backhouse Astor, Sr. (1792–1875), real estate businessman * William Backhouse Astor, Jr. (1829–1892), businessman and race horse breeder/owner *

(1785–1851), ornithologist and naturalist * Will Barnet (1911–2012), artist * Estelle Bennett (1941–2009), member of the 1960s girl group The Ronettes * John Romeyn Brodhead (1814–1873), historian of early colonial New York * John J. Cisco (1806–1884), Assistant Treasurer of the United States under presidents Franklin Pierce, James Buchanan, and Abraham Lincoln * John Winthrop Chanler (1826–1877), United States Congressman * Robert Winthrop Chanler (1872–1930), muralist and designer * William Astor Chanler (1867–1934), United States Congressman * Cadwallader D. Colden (1769–1834), abolitionist (

New York Manumission Society The New York Manumission Society was founded in 1785. The term "manumission" is from the Latin meaning "a hand lets go," inferring the idea of freeing a slave. John Jay, first Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States as well as stat ...

) (1806–1834); Mayor of New York City (1818–1821) * William Augustus Darling (1817–1895), United States Congressman * Alfred D'Orsay Tennyson Dickens (1845–1912), lecturer on the life of his father,

Charles Dickens Charles John Huffam Dickens (; 7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870) was an English novelist, journalist, short story writer and Social criticism, social critic. He created some of literature's best-known fictional characters, and is regarded by ...

(1798–1879), soldier, United States Senator, Secretary of the Treasury, Governor of New York, statesman *

, (1914–1994), novelist, critic, and educator, author of ''Invisible Man'' * Henry Erben (1832–1909), rear admiral of the United States Navy, serving in the American Civil War and Spanish-American War * Herman D. Farrell Jr. (1932–2018), New York State Assembly member * Madeleine Talmage Force (1893–1940), socialite, ''

'' survivor, second wife of John Jacob Astor IV * Bertram Goodhue (1869–1924), American architect and typeface designer, designed the Rockefeller Chapel at the University of Chicago * Cuba Gooding Sr. (1944–2017), singer and actor * Edward Haight (1817–1885), United States Congressman * Katherine Corri Harris (1890–1927), American silent film actor * Abraham Oakey Hall (1826–1898), Mayor of New York City * Anthony Philip Heinrich (1781–1861), American composer and founding chair of the New York Philharmonic Society * Geoffrey Lamont Holder (1930–2014), Trinidadian-American actor, dancer, and choreographer, principal actor for the Metropolitan Opera Ballet in New York City, portrayed Baron Samedi in ''Live and Let Die'' * David Hosack (1769–1835), physician, botanist, educator, tended to Alexander Hamilton's mortal wound * Charles C. Ingham (1797–1863), Irish-American portraitist * Eliza Jumel (1775–1865), second wife of

Aaron Burr Aaron Burr Jr. (February 6, 1756 – September 14, 1836) was an American politician, businessman, lawyer, and Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father who served as the third vice president of the United States from 1801 to 1805 d ...

* Dita Hopkins Kinney (1855–1921), first superintendent of

United States Army Nurse Corps The United States Army Nurse Corps (USANC) was formally established by the U.S. Congress in 1901. It is one of the six medical special branches (or "corps") of officers which – along with medical enlisted soldiers – comprise the Army Medica ...

(1901–1909) * Edward I. Koch (1924–2013), Mayor of New York City (1978–1989) *

John Lewis John Robert Lewis (February 21, 1940 – July 17, 2020) was an American civil rights activist and politician who served in the United States House of Representatives for from 1987 until his death in 2020. He participated in the 1960 Nashville ...

(1920–2001), American jazz pianist and founder of the Modern Jazz Quartet * Robert O. Lowery (1916–2001), first African-American New York City Fire Commissioner (1966–1973) * George Malloy (1920–2008), pianist, accompanied Camilla Williams singing "

The Star-Spangled Banner "The Star-Spangled Banner" is the national anthem of the United States. The lyrics come from the "Defence of Fort M'Henry", a poem written by American lawyer Francis Scott Key on September 14, 1814, after he witnessed the bombardment of Fort ...

", preceding

Martin Luther King Jr. Martin Luther King Jr. (born Michael King Jr.; January 15, 1929 – April 4, 1968) was an American Baptist minister, civil and political rights, civil rights activist and political philosopher who was a leader of the civil rights move ...

delivering his "

I Have a Dream "I Have a Dream" is a Public speaking, public speech that was delivered by American civil rights activist and Baptist minister Martin Luther King Jr. during the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom on August 28, 1963. In the speech, Kin ...

" speech, during the August 1963

March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom The March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom (commonly known as the March on Washington or the Great March on Washington) was held in Washington, D.C., on August 28, 1963. The purpose of the march was to advocate for the civil and economic righ ...

* Robert Bowne Minturn (1805–1866), prominent New York merchant, philanthropist; shipper owner of Flying Cloud *

James Monroe James Monroe ( ; April 28, 1758July 4, 1831) was an American Founding Father of the United States, Founding Father who served as the fifth president of the United States from 1817 to 1825. He was the last Founding Father to serve as presiden ...

(1799–1870), U.S. Congressman * Clement Clarke Moore (1779–1863), clergyman, attributed author of Christmas poem '' A Visit from St. Nicholas'' *

Jerry Orbach Jerome Bernard Orbach (October 20, 1935 – December 28, 2004) was an American actor and singer, described at the time of his death as "one of the last'' bona fide'' leading men of the Broadway theatre, Broadway musical and global celebrity on te ...

(1935–2004), actor, singer *

Samuel B. Ruggles Samuel Bulkley Ruggles (April 11, 1799 – August 28, 1881) was an American lawyer and politician from New York. He was a member of the New York State Assembly in 1838, and a Erie Canal Commission, Canal Commissioner from 1839 to 1842 and in 18 ...

(1799–1881), politician, member of the New York State Assembly, donated land used to create Gramercy Park in New York City * Francis Shubael Smith (1819–1887), co-founder of Street & Smith publishing * Thomas Fielding Scott (1807–1867), first missionary Episcopal Bishop of Washington and Oregon *

Samuel Seabury Samuel Seabury (November 30, 1729February 25, 1796) was the first American Episcopal bishop, the second Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church in the United States of America, and the first Bishop of Connecticut. He was a leading Loyalis ...

(1873–1958), New York City judge, not to be confused with the known rival of

* Frederick Clarke Withers (1828–1901), English-American architect in the High Victorian Gothic style *

Fernando Wood Fernando Wood (June 14, 1812 – February 13, 1881) was an American Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party politician, merchant, and real estate investor who served as the 73rd and 75th Mayor of New York, Mayor of New York City. ...

(1812–1881), Mayor of New York City

St. Paul's Chapel Churchyard (Broadway at Fulton Street)

* George Frederick Cooke (1756–1812), actor *

Richard Coote, 1st Earl of Bellomont Richard Coote, 1st Earl of Bellomont (1636 – 5 March 1700/01In the Julian calendar, then in use in England, the year began on 25 March. To avoid confusion with dates in the Gregorian calendar, then in use in other parts of Europe, d ...

(1636–1701), British colonial governor * John Holt (1721–1784), publisher * William Houstoun (1755–1813), Continental Congress delegate for whom

Houston Street Houston Street ( ) is a major east–west thoroughfare in Lower Manhattan in New York City, New York. It runs the full width of the island of Manhattan, from FDR Drive along the East River in the east to the West Side Highway along the Hudson ...

was named *

Richard Montgomery Richard Montgomery (2 December 1738 – 31 December 1775) was an Irish-born American military officer who first served in the British Army. He later became a major general in the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War, and ...

(1738–1775) Major General in the Continental Army during the American Revolution * Stephen Rochefontaine (1755–1814), Continental Army officer during the American Revolution

Notable burials

Trinity Churchyard (Broadway and Wall Street)

Trinity Church Cemetery and Mausoleum (770 Riverside Drive)

St. Paul's Chapel Churchyard (Broadway at Fulton Street)

References

External links