Hart Island's History

Hart Island Lighthouse, by Dennis Jarvis, CC By-SA 2.0

Hart Island is located at the western end of Long Island Sound to the east of City Island, in Bronx, New York City. It's not large, only 1 mile long by .33 miles wide. However, its ground has been broken many times and used for many purposes and perhaps the most touching, and haunting purpose is a potter's field. 

In 1870 victims of Yellow Fever were quarantined on Hart's Island. In 1885, a building to house Tuberculosis victims was built. In 1895, a workhouse for men was established followed by a workhouse for boys in 1905. Also in the early 1900s Hart Island housed a prison until approximately 1966 when penial code changed.  In 1967 a drug rehabilitation center was opened called "Phoenix House" It grew to houses, 350 residents. The center hosted festivals, published a newsletter, had a garden, and hosted baseball games. The center remained on Hart Island until the late 70s when it moved to a building in Manhattan.

A Trench at the potter's field on Hart Island, circa 1890 by Jacob Riss

Those buildings are now decaying in the background as bodies are committed to the ground. According to Wikipedia.com, the first to be buried on the island were Union Army soldiers during the Civil War. After New York City purchased the island in 1868, city burials began on the island. There are now over one million people buried on Hart Island. People buried on the island are unknown, unclaimed or indigent people. Many buried on Hart Island couldn't afford a private funeral and were not claimed by their relatives.  According to reuters.com, "about a thousand people are now buried on Hart Island each year." 

During the height of the AIDS crisis starting in the late 80s, more than 100,000 people died in NY of AIDS. There was fear that the victims of the virus would contaminate others so hundreds, perhaps thousands, of people infected were buried on Heart Island. The first child victim of AIDS who died in NYC is buried on Heart Island with a marker that reads simply "SC (Special Child) B1 (Baby 1) 1985."

Due to the taxpayer expense, the burials are now conducted by inmates. Instead of being housed on Hart Island like in the past, prisoners now help to bury the dead. They are paid 50¢/hr. 

The only way to Hart Island is by ferry. Much like the ferryman boating the dead across the river Styx in Greek Mythology, many of NYC's dead are now ferried across Long Island Sound to Hart Island. Ferries go to the Island from Fordham Street Pier located on City Island.

All burial records are kept within the prison system, making it difficult for the public to get information about their loved ones. The Hart Island Project, a nonprofit charitable organization since 1994, has helped family members obtain burial records of their loved ones.

There are frequent disinterments when families of someone previously unknown buried on Hart Island are identified through DNA, photos, or fingerprints which are kept on file at the Medical Examiner's Office.

In 2013 legislation was passed requiring the Department of Corrections to make public an online database of the burials on the island, which has over 66,000 entires.

Visitation to Hart Island is restricted and NY City Department of Corrections schedules any visits family members wish to have. They have to have proof that their family member is buried on the island. Currently, no one is allowed on the island without prior approval from the Department of Corrections.

However, November 2019, a bill was passed that transferred jurisdiction of Hart's Island from the Department of Corrections to NYC Depart of Parks and Recreation ultimately making it easier for the loves of the dead buried on Hart's Island to visit their graves.

Hart Island's soil is full of history. It's hollowed ground, especially to those who have loved ones buried on the island. With all the mass graves, violence and sickness Heart Island has seen through the centuries, it no doubt, paints a picture of Hart Island being a cold, desolate, and haunting place. 

The Most Beautiful Suicide

Her legs are crossed, one ankle resting on the other. Her hands are clasped near her head. One hand is clutching her pearl neckless. Her head is tilted up and her mouth is slightly open. It's as if she fell asleep looking up at the sky, daydreaming. The scene at first glance seems to be peaceful, tranquil. However, it is anything but tranquil. The woman in the picture is dead. Her name is Evelyn McHale and she jumped to her death from the Empire State Building. The force of the collision is evident in the crumpled roof that molded around her body.

On May 12th, 1947 Evelyn climbed 1,576 steps 1 to the 86th-floor observatory of the Empire State Building. Once there, she folded her coat and laid it over the observation deck wall. 2 She then jumped off the building to her death, landing 1,050 feet below. 3 Her body landed on the roof of a limousine on 34th ave.

A young photographer named Robert Wiles, was across the street when he heard what sounded like an explosion, he ran over as a crowd was gathering around the crushed car and quickly snapped a photograph of Evelyn's body on the hood.

Detective Frank Murray found the suicide note she left, along with with her coat, and makeup kit.

"I don't want anyone in or out of my family to see any part of me. Could you destroy my body by cremation? I beg of you and my family, don't have any service for me or remembrance for me."

The following part of the suicide note was crossed out:
"My fiance asked me to marry him in June. I don't think I would make a good wife for anybody. He is much better off without me."

The note continued:
"Tell my father, I have too many of my mother's tendencies."

Evelyn was born in 1923 in Berkeley, California to the parents of Vincent and Helen McHale. Evelyn's parents divorced sometime around 1940 and Evelyn and her siblings lived with their Father.

Evelyn McHale | Photo: Geni.com

After high school, Evelyn joined the Women's, Army Corps. In 1944 she moved to Long Island, NY and started work as a bookkeeper in Manhattan. It was there, in New York that she met an Air Force navigator named Barry Rhodes. They became engaged. 4

The photo was subsequently published in Time Magazine on a full page in May 1947 and dubbed it "The Most Beautiful Suicide." The famous artist Andy Warhol used the photo in his prints entitled "Suicide (Fallen Body)". 5 It's ironic, that her wish was to not have her body viewed when the result of her suicide became so public, macabre as it is.

Evelyn's solution to her problems was permanent and tragic. No one really knows why Evelyn felt like she needed to end her life. Outwardly she seemed to have all the makings of happiness, a fiancee, a job, and a family. It's said that her mother, suffered from depression and Evelyn, obviously did too. I hope she has found some peace that she wasn't able to find in life.

Due to the nature of this blog post, I feel compelled to say that if you are contemplating suicide or know someone who is suicidal please reach out for help!

National Suicide Help Line
1-800-273-8255

Crisis Text Line
Text CONNECT to 741741

Ways In Which We Care For Our Dead

The most popular method of handling the dead in modern society is having a traditional funeral at a mortuary and earth burial in a cemetery.

When a person dies, assuming it was a natural death, not needing a corner or autopsy, a funeral director is called and the body is taken by the funeral home to the mortuary to be prepared, in most cases, for viewing, then a funeral.  The body is cleaned, embalmed, dressed, and placed in a casket.

According to the Federal Trade Commission's Guidelines for Funeral Service Providers (The Funeral Rule) "Except in certain special cases, embalming is not required by law. Embalming may be necessary, however, if you select certain funeral arrangements, such as a funeral with viewing. If you do not want to embalm, you usually have the right to choose an arrangement that does not require you to pay for it, such as direct cremation or immediate burial. Embalming is the process of removing blood and gases in the body and replacing them with a strong disinfectant and preservative."

"Embalming may be necessary, if you select certain funeral arrangements, such as a funeral with viewing. If you do not want to embalm, you usually have the right to choose an arrangement that does not require you to pay for it, such as direct cremation or immediate burial." 

The casket is then buried in a cemetery with a vault. A vault is basically a concrete or metal box that houses the casket. The vault is used to keep the ground from caving in during the time. Burial vaults have started to now serve the function of protecting the casket. This type of vaults is much more expensive than a regular concrete vault. They are hermetically sealed and covered with a veneer either made of bronze, granite or marble.

However, embalming and protective burial vaults are only meant to deter the process of composition. Eventually, the body will decay, and it's illegal for a funeral director to tell you otherwise. Burial vaults are required by most cemeteries to keep the ground from settling in above the casket. This helps with the maintenance of the cemetery lawn.

Cremation

 

Setting a corpse on fire has been a method of disposing of a body since pre-antiquity.
It is gaining popularity in the U.S. According to The National Funeral Directors Association and its 2018 Cremation & Burial Report: "This year the cremation rate is predicted to reach 53.5 percent, with a forecast that the national cremation rate will now reach 80% by 2035 crematory." 
[Source: Marsden, Sara J. “What Is the 2018 Cremation Rate in the US? And How Is This Affecting the Death Industry?” What Is the 2018 Cremation Rate in the US? And How Is This Affecting the Death, 8 July 2018, www.us-funerals.com/funeral-articles/2018-US-Cremation-Rate.html]

Modern cremation is often done in a crematory, a building equipped with a cremator, a furnace that can generate temperatures up to 1,800 °F. Cremating an average person takes 2 to 2 1/2 hours. The body is either cremated within a casket or a simple cardboard box. You do not need to purchase a casket in order to be cremated.

The organic material of the body is completely burned after the 2 1/2 hours and all that is left is bone fragments. The cremated remains are removed. Any metal such as joint replacements is removed with a magnet. The remains are then put into a processor and crushed into a fine powder material, giving the remains the appearance of baby powder.

There are many options to then "house" the cremated remains. The most common methods are in an Urn either placed in a niche in a mausoleum, buried in a cemetery, scattered, or just left in an urn in possession with the family. The selection of urns available is numerous. There are many options to complement the personality of the deceased.

In some places around the world, such as India. The body is cremated in the open air. Indians believe that touching a dead body is highly taboo, and only members of the lower cast are allowed to do this. The body is placed upon a funeral pyre, made out of logs, and sticks. The pyre is placed next to the Ganges River which is considered holy.

There are other less common methods such as making the ashes into diamonds, sending them into space, placing them in a locket or a pendant, burying them in an underwater reef, and having them turned into ink and incorporation into a tattoo.

For more information on Cremation please visit:

The Cremation Association of North America
The Internet Cremation Society
Celestis, Inc. - Post-Cremation Memorial Spaceflights
LifeGem -Ashes To Diamonds
Eternal Reefs -Ashes Into Reefs
Cremation In India -Short Online National Geographic Video

Caskets & Coffins

 

Coffins and caskets have become interchangeable words in modern society both essentially meaning the same thing. However, there are differences between the two.

A coffin is a six-sided box made out of wood. It fits the shape of a body. Coffins are often associated with vampire movies.

Coffin

A casket is a 4 sided box that can either be made out of wood or metal. It has a split top to allow viewing of the upper half of the body. The inside is padded with the material, and gives the illusion of being "comfortable" and "restful". It is thought by historians that morticians started selling caskets instead of coffins thinking that a casket would be more pleasing to families of the deceased. A casket looks more like a bed then simple a box to put a body in.

Casket

Today, the most popular option of disposing of a dead body is traditional earth burial but that cremation will likely become the most popular method in the near future.

Batesville Casket Company headquartered in Indiana is one of the biggest companies to manufacture caskets.

Caskets can be individualized according to the family's wishes.
Caskets are most often purchased through a funeral home, but one can also buy directly through a company, such as Walmart, and have the casket shipped to the funeral home.

For more information on traditional funerals and burials please visit:

National Funeral Director Association
Batesville Casket Company
Funeral Service Foundation
Natural Museum of Funeral History- Houston, Texas

Mausoleums

 

The most famous mausoleums around the world, include the Taj Mahal in India, The Pyramids in Egypt, and the Lenin Mausoleum in Russia.

 "A mausoleum is an external free-standing building constructed as a monument enclosing the interment space or burial chamber of a deceased person or people" [Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mausoleum]

Mausoleums became quite popular at the end of the 19th century in America. America's industrial elite such as Cornelius Vanderbilt, railroad tycoon, Frank W. Woolworth, founder of Woolworth Company, Charles H. Schwab, American steel magnate, Charles G. Dawes, vice president under Calvin Coolidge, Aaron Montgomery Ward, famous for the Montgomery Ward Catalog, and Richard W. Sears, founder of Sears, Roebuck and Company, all chose this method of burial. It was a way to leave a legacy. A reminder of their wealth, and status. When the Depression hit mausoleums became a less popular option for interment. However, they are now starting to become more common. Companies such as American Mausoleums are making some beautiful mausoleums that are equal to their earlier counterparts, in elegance and status.

For more information on Mausoleums please visit:

Mausoleums.com - A provider of custom private mausoleums throughout the United States
The Taj Mahal
Lenin Mausoleum
Cornelius Vanderbilt Mausoleum - Youtube
Frank Woolworth Mausoleum -Scouting New York blog
Richard W. Sears Mausoleum - Graveyards of Chicago website

Mausoleum Photo:  Tamanoeconomico, Joseph Kinney Mausoleum (2), CC BY-SA 4.0

Green Funerals

 

Green or Natural burial had been in place for thousands of years. Families of the dead would wash, dress, and bury the body themselves.

It wasn't until the Civil War that the practice of taking care of your dead began to change.  The families of the dead soldiers wanted the solider's body shipped back home. With so many decaying bodies a way to stop the decomposition needed to be implemented. The modern practice of embalming and preparing the dead for burial was born. President Abraham Lincoln was one of the first people whose body was preserved with the new technique of embalming.

[Source: Naegele, Ken. “History of Funerals in the U.S.” U.S. Funeral History- North American Funerals: The Funeral Source, thefuneralsource.org/hi0301.html.]

Green or Natural Burial is the process of burying a body in the earth without a traditional coffin or a vault. The idea is to have the body have contact with the Earth and decay naturally and be recycled or returned to the Earth. The body is not embalmed or injected with chemical preserving agents. The body is most often put in a simple shroud before being placed in the Earth. However, the body may be placed in a biodegradable coffin.

A green funeral is also attractive to people who are looking to lessen their environmental impact on the Earth. In addition to recycling, driving electric cars, and buying organic and free-range produce and meat, people are also wanting their funerals and burials to be green.

The disuse of chemicals to preserve the body, and cutting down trees to build a wooden coffin is attractive to this type of consumer. They want their body to be returned back to the Earth, and not have their body's decomposition deterred.

There are natural burial sites around the world that look more like a simple field or forest than a cemetery. There are no traditional gravestones or monuments. Natural landscaping such as boulders, rocks, and trees are the only ornaments. Bodies can be buried with GPS locators to mark the place of burial. "The United States now has about a dozen green cemeteries, while Great Britain has about 200. While more than 70 percent of Americans polled by AARP prefer green burials, most funeral homes and directors don't offer this service to the environmentally-conscious consumer." [Source: Trimarchi, Maria.  "How Natural Burial Works"  15 January 2009.  HowStuffWorks.com.  13 April 2014]

For more information on green/natural funerals and burials, please visit:

Green Burial Council
A Greener Funeral
The Natural Burial Company
Final Footprint

Cryonics

 

Cryonic Storage Tanks

Cryonics is the practice of storing a body in extremely low temperatures in the hopes of reviving the person one day when modern science has the ability to cure the disease the person died from.

In cryonics, there are two terms that are used often and the difference between the two is important to understand:
Legal Death, and Total Death.

People who undergo cryonics must be legally dead, that is their heart must have stopped beating. Total death is the when brain function stops. Cryonic scientists say that without total death the brain still has cellular function. They state that a person can be resurrected as long as they are not in "Total Death".

A person's body isn't simply frozen to preserve it. If you froze a body the water within the cells of the body would form ice crystals which would destroy the cells, making the ability to resurrect a person completely impossible. The water from your cells is replaced with something called a cryoprotectant, a glycerol-based chemical that protects the cells and tissues from forming ice crystals. Vitrification is the process of cooling the body at extremely low temperatures without freezing it.

Neuro suspension is the process of removing the head of a body instead of whole-body cryogenic preservation. The thought behind this is the brain is the only organ that is essential to restore a person back to "who" they once were, with their thoughts, and mind. The hope is that the science of the future will give the ability for a body clone or some sort of robotic body will be available to attach the head to.

The body or head is then stored in a tank filled with liquid nitrogen, for the inevitable future. You often have "roommates". These tanks can store up to four bodies and six heads.

Cryonics definitely isn't cheap. It can cost up to $150,000 for whole-body preservation and up to $50,000 for just your head. [Source: Watson, Stephanie.  "How Cryonics Works"  05 January 2005.  HowStuffWorks.com.]

Photo:  Dan, Cryonics Institute, CC BY-SA 4.0

For more information on Cryonics please visit:
Cryonics Institute
Alcor Life Extension Foundation

The Madness of Obsession

Elena Milagro Hoyos | Wikimedia Commons

Elena Hoyos was young and beautiful. She was born July 31, 1909, to Francisco "Pancho" Hoyos, and Aurora Milagro. She had two older sisters, Florinda "Nana", and Celia. However, Elena's life tragically ended too soon. She died on October 25, 1931, from Tuberculosis. Unfortunately, most of Elena's immediate family also succumbed to the disease, including her sister, Florinda, and her father, Francisco.

Elena's Father Francisco worked in a factor in Key West, Florida rolling cigars. The working conditions of a cigar factory at the time, were overcrowded, with large numbers of workers sitting in rows rolling tobacco leaves. The air humid, and filled with dust. This was the perfect environment for disease to spread, especially Tuberculosis. Tuberculosis is caused by bacteria that attack the lungs of the victim. When someone who is infected coughs or sneezes the bacteria are expelled into the air. Anyone in the vicinity that breathes in this same air can contract the disease.

Elena's mother, Aurora, took Elena to Marine Hospital in Key West hoping to find treatment. It was there that Elena and Aurora met a man going by the name of Dr. Carl von Cosel.

Carl Von Cosel | Wikimedia Commons

Unknown to Elena or Aurora, Von Cosel's real name was Georg Karl Tänzler and he wasn't a doctor at all. He was born as Georg Karl Tänzler on February 8, 1877, in Dresden, Germany. He married a woman around 1920 named Doris Shafer, and they had two children who later died of diphtheria. In 1926 he immigrated to Havana, Cuba, and then moved to Florida. While in Florida he took a job as an x-ray technician at Marine Hospital in Key West under the name Dr. Carl von Cosel.

Von Cosel claimed to have visions of who he claimed was his ancestor, named Countess Anna Constantia von Cosel. He said that the Countess told Carl his true love would be a woman with dark hair. When he met Elena with her dark hair and beautiful face, he was convinced that Elena was the woman the Countess was talking about. Von Cosel became obsessed, giving  Elena gifts of jewelry, flowers, and clothing. However, there is no evidence showing that Elena returned Von Cosel's feelings.

Elena's Mausoleum 

When Elena died Von Cosel was devastated. With the family's permission, he had an above-ground mausoleum built to house her body in a local cemetery. He also had Elena's body placed in an airtight casket and had formaldehyde gas continuously pumped into the coffin to preserve her body.

Von Cosel visited her mausoleum every night. He claimed the spirit of Elena would come to him singing a Spanish song, begging him to bring her home. So in April of 1933 Von Cosel entered the cemetery under the cover of darkness and removed Elena's body from the mausoleum and carried it home.

Von Cosel then got to work trying to stop the decomposition of Elena's body. He replaced her decaying skin with waxed silk. He tied her bones together with wire from coat hangers. He replaced her eyes with glass ones. He made a wig out of Elena's own hair and put it back on her skull. As her face became sunken and the eyes shriveled he placed a handmade mask out of plaster to place over Elena's face. He treated the body with formaldehyde, perfume, and various chemical preservatives to help stop the decay, and combat the smell. It's said he even inserted a tube into Elena's vagina so he could have sex with her.

Elena's Body on Display at Dean-Lopez Funeral Home

Elena's sister, Florinda had heard rumors that Von Cosel had stolen Elena's body from the cemetery. Florinda confronted Von Cosel at his house. There Florinda found her sister's body in the upstairs bed room looking more like a dummy than a human being.

Von Cosel was arrested and was put on trial for the charge of "wantonly and maliciously destroying a grave and removing a body without authorization". On October 9, 1940 he testified declaring his love for Elena, and his reasoning for what he did. He was declared sane enough for trial. However, the case was eventually dropped due to the statute of limitations.

On October 9, 1940, he testified declaring his love for Elena, and his reasoning for what he did. He was declared sane enough for trial. However, the case was eventually dropped due to the statute of limitations.

Elena's Body on Display at Dean-Lopez Funeral Home

Elena's body was examined by pathologists and put on public display at Dean-Lopez Funeral Home, where over 6,000 people filled past to see Carl's obsession. Her body was later returned to Key West Cemetery and buried in a secret location so she would not be disturbed again.

Von Cosel with a picture of Elena

Citations:

Brewer, Isaac W. “‘City Life in Relation to Tuberculosis: a Plea for Better Surroundings for Factories and Better Homes for the Working Classes." American Journal of Public Health 3, No. 9 (1913): 903-914.” American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, Mar. 2010, www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2820065/.

 "Autopsy 6: Secrets of the Dead - The Strange Obsession of Dr. Carl Von Cosel". HBO.com. 2005.

“Carl Tanzler.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 7 Aug. 2019, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carl_Tanzler#cite_note-Swicegood-1.
Boese, Ann. “A Key to History.” Cigar Aficionado, Cigar Aficionado, 31 July 2017, www.cigaraficionado.com/article/a-key-to-history-7461.

State Library. “Photographs - The Cigar Industry in Florida.” Florida Memory, www.floridamemory.com/onlineclassroom/cigar-industry/photos/.

“Tuberculosis.” MedlinePlus, U.S. National Library of Medicine, 15 Feb. 2019, medlineplus.gov/tuberculosis.html.

“Elena Hoyos (1909-1931) - Find A Grave Memorial.” Find A Grave, 26 Nov. 2007, www.findagrave.com/memorial/23114033/elena-hoyos.

“Carl Tanzler (1877-1952) - Find A Grave Memorial.” Find A Grave, 22 Dec. 2010, www.findagrave.com/memorial/63240551/carl-tanzler.