Dr. James McCune Smith’s Brooklyn Burial Plot in Use for One Hundred and Seventy Years

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New York City native Dr. James McCune Smith (1813-1865) was a noted black activist, abolitionist and the first black physician to hold a medical degree in the United States. While Smith was active in his community, he was also making smart real estate deals. For example, he purchased in 1865 a house on Third Street in Brooklyn for $3250.1 His widow, Malvina (Barnett),2 made a tidy profit when she sold the property in 1868 for $7000.3 His shrewdest investment was possibly the family burial plot at Cypress Hills Cemetery in Brooklyn.

About Dr. James McCune Smith

In an era when men of color were not admitted to American universities, James McCune Smith left the United States in 1832 to attend the University of Glasgow, Scotland.4 He completed a medical degree in 1837, returning to the United States in the same year as the first person of color to hold a medial degree in the United States.5

Dr. Smith’s accomplishments were not limited to medicine. He was one of the most accomplished men of color in New York City before the Civil War. In 1838 he was a speaker at  a meeting of the Anti-Slavery Society with New York abolitionists such as Gerrit Smith and Rev. Edward Beecher, brother of Harriet Beecher Stowe.6 In 1845 he submitted an essay titled “The Influence of Climate on Longevity” to the Boylston Medical Committee of Harvard University.7 He served as the doctor at the Colored Orphans Asylum in New York City.8 He was chairman of the nominations committee at the 1853 National Colored Convention.9 He ran for New York Secretary of State in 1857.10 He wrote the introduction to Frederick Douglass’ second book, My Bondage and My Freedom, published in 1855.11

Cypress Hills Cemetery

Cypress Hills was the first commercial cemetery in New York City. The cemetery was dedicated in 1848. The site offered an idyllic setting for burials among trees and parkland in contrast to the crowded church and city cemeteries in Manhattan. Burial at Cypress Hills secured a peaceful final resting place that would not be under the threat of Manhattan development.

In 1849 Dr. Smith purchased the burial plot at lot 130, section 2 for $25.12 Brooklyn was remote. Before construction of the Brooklyn Bridge, it is likely visits from Manhattan were made by ferry. Burial at this garden-like location showed status befitting a doctor and his family.

Figure 1: Dr. James McCune Smith Burial Plot

Vanessa Wood, photograph, Dr. James McCune Smith Burial Plot, 29 May 2021, Cypress Hills Cemetery, Brooklyn, NY.

Twenty-Six Souls

Dr. Smith died on 13 November 1865, but he was not the first burial and he was not the last to be buried at his plot at Cypress Hills.13 Cypress Hills recorded twenty-six burials at the Smith plot.14 The plot is divided into three rows of three graves each. Over time multiple burials have occurred in graves. By the twentieth century many of the burials, like Dr. Smith’s, were unmarked. Through inheritance, the plot remains in use by Smith’s descendants. The burials span one-hundred and seventy years and six generations. The plot is the final resting place of a woman born into slavery, and men and women who only knew independence. The young and old and a British immigrant are buried in the Smith plot.

The First Five Burials

Due to disease and the high child mortality rates in the nineteenth century, the first five burials were Dr. Smith’s children. It is plausible the death of his daughter Amy, age five, on 26 December 1849 was the impetus for Dr. Smith’s purchase of the plot.15 His son Henry, age five, was buried in 1853.16 Three more of the Smith children—Anna Gertrude, Frederick Douglas, and Peter Williams—were buried in the summer of 1854.17 Anna died of Scarlet Fever, Frederick, a four-month-old infant, died of Whooping Cough, and Peter died of Cholera. There are no grave markers for these five burials (see Figure 4).

Smith’s Immediate Family

Dr. Smith’s mother, Lavina Smith, was buried at Cypress Hills in 1863.18 She was seventy-fiver in 1860, born in about 1785, in South Carolina (see Figure 2). Dr. Smith described himself as a “son of a slave.” and said he was of mixed race ancestry, “having kindred in a Southern state, some of them slaveholders, others slaves.”19.

Three of Dr. Smith’s adult children were buried in the family plot: John Murray Smith, a printer, died in 1922;20 Donald Barnett Smith, a lawyer, died in 1927;21 and Maud Mary Smith, a public-school teacher, died in 1931.22

Figure 2: Dr. James McCune Smith Household, 1850, 1855, and 1860 Census Enumerations

1850 U. S. Censusa1855 New York State Censusb1860 U. S. Censusc
name, age, place of birthname, age, relationship,
place of birth		name, age, place of birth
Lavinia Smith, 67, SCLavina Smith, 65, mother, SCLavina Smith, 75, SC
Sarah Williams, 57, NYJames McCune Smith, 42, NYJas. M. Smith, 47, NY
Mary Hewlett, 53, NYMalvina Smith, 30, wife, NYMalvina Smith, 35, NY
James McCune Smith, 37, NYJames W. Smith, 9, son, NYJames Smith, 14, NY
Malvina Smith, 25, NY Mary Smith, 4, NY
James W. Smith, 5, NY Donald Smith, 2, NY
Henry M.  Smith, 3, NY John Smith, 2/12, NY
Amy G. Smith, 6/12, NY Catherine Gedis, 23, servant, Ireland
     a. 1850 U.S. census, New York County, NY, pop. sch., New York City, ward 5, p. 62a (stamped), dw. 544, fam. 885, James McCune Smith household; digital images, FamilySearch.org (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:S3HT-DZY3-858); citing NARA microfilm publication M432, roll 537.          
     b. The census divides the dwelling into two families: the Smith’s as family 19 and Sarah Williams, Mary A. Herman, Matilda Hamilton, Mary Hewlett, Sarah Hamilton, Harriet Hamilton, Wm Douglas Hewlet as family 20. 1855 New York census, New York County, NY, pop. sch., New York City, ward 5, unpaginated, dw. 10, fam. 19, line 35, James McCune Smith household; digital images, Ancestry.com (https://www.ancestry.com : accessed 19 May 2020); image 28 of 50.          
     c. The census divides the dwelling into two families: the Smith’s as family 339 and Sarah Williams and Mary Hewlett as family 340. 1860 U.S. census, New York County, NY, pop. sch., dist. 1, ward 5, p. 585a (pencil), dw. 198, fam. 339, James McCune Smith household; digital images, FamilySearch.org (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:33SQ-GBSZ-9WZX); citing NARA microfilm pub. M653, roll 790.  

“As a Member of His Family”

Dr. Smith likely passed on his benevolence to his son John. Henry Wickham Hore, a native of Hastings, England, became a permanent resident of John’s family.23 Hore’s uncle, Edward Hore, was the business partner of Dr. Smith’s brother-in-law, James P. Barnett.24 In his will Hore bequeathed his possessions to John and John’s children because he had lived in John’s household for thirty years “as a member of his family.”25 Hore was buried in the Smith plot in 1914.26

Seven Married Couples

In 1881 Malvina (Barnett) Smith was buried next to Dr. Smith, her husband (see Figure 4). Six additional married couples are buried in the Smith plot:

  • Paul B. Smith and his wife Mary (Buehler)27
  • Ruth (Smith) Gerlitz and her husband Theodore Gerlitz28
  • John M. Smith and his wife Annie L. (Shroy). In 1860 John was enumerated in Dr. Smith’s household.(see Figure 2).29
  • Jay Smith and his wife Rose (Larm)30
  • Henry W. Smith and his wife Lillian (Smith)31
  • Mary Smith and her husband Joseph Nieroda; and their son Joseph Nieroda.32

The Smith Plot in This Century

The plot has been passed down through the line of Dr. Smith’s son John. The burials of six generations of the Dr. Smith’s line include his mother Lavina Smith and his great-great grandson Joseph Nieroda, the last burial in 2020. After becoming aware there was no marker to memorialize Dr. Smith, in 2010 some of Smith’s descendants joined together to remedy this situation, placing a new marker at Smith’s gravesite.33 Markers exist for eleven burials (see Figure 4). The grave location of the first six burials––five of Smith’s children and his mother Lavina––were not recorded in the cemetery records and no markers exist today. Plausibly Dr. Smith and Lavina were buried next to one another in the center of the plot.

Figure 3: Dr. James McCune Smith Grave Marker

Vanessa Wood, photograph, Dr. James McCune Smith Grave Marker, 29 May 2021, Cypress Hills Cemetery, Brooklyn, NY. The marker is inscribed with a quote attributed to Dr. Smith, “The worst of our institutions, in its worst aspect, cannot keep down energy, truthfulness, and earnest struggle for the right.”

Figure 4: Estimated Position of Burials at Dr. James McCune Smith Plot (Grave Numbers and Location of Grave Markers)

CLICK ON IMAGE TO VIEW LARGER

Vanessa Wood, Estimated Position of Markers At Dr. James McCune Smith Burial Plot, viewed 29 May 2021, Cypress Hills Cemetery, Brooklyn, NY. + used to indicate grave marker is present and corresponds with the plot number listed by Cypress Hills. The plot was originally divided into small graves for children, so adult burials cover two of these graves. Figure created with aid from the “List of Burials at Lot 2, Section 130 At Cypress Hills Cemetery,” by archivist at Cypress Hills Cemetery, Brooklyn, NY, 14 July 2020 and notes from telephone conversation on 6 August 2021with Cypress Hills Cemetery administrative office.
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Visiting the gravesite one may see stones atop Dr. Smith’s marker, a sign of respect for this man who was a noteworthy figure in the Black community in Manhattan and Brooklyn. The burial site is not just a location of historical importance, it is also a unique Brooklyn burial plot that over a century and a half has been the final resting place of six generations of the Smith family and their descendants.

FEATURED IMAGE: Vanessa Wood, back of grave marker, Cypress Hills Cemetery, Brooklyn, New York, 29 May 2021 (author’s collection).

  1. New York City, Deeds, 662:462-5, James J. Glover to James McCune Smith; 28 Apr. 1865.
  2. Amy Cools, PhD, “Tracing the Family History of James McCune and Malvina Barnett Smith, 1783-1937,” Journal of the Afro-American Historical & Genealogical Society 37 (2020): parts 1-3.
  3. New York City, Deeds, 869:412, Malvina Smith to Solomon Schwartz, 28 Mar. 1868.
  4. “The Nuisances,” The Liberator (Boston, Mass.), 26 May 1837, p. 4, col. 2; digital images, Newspapers.com (https://www.newspapers.com/image/34584821).
  5. “James McCune Smith” para. 1; database, University of Glasgow (https://www.universitystory.gla.ac.uk) >About Us>University of Glasgow Story>University People>Search People. Dr. Smith’s eminent return announced in the press by Rev. Peter Williams of St. Philip’s Episcopal Church, “Reception of Dr. Smith,” The Colored American (New York, N.Y.), 28 Oct. 1837; scanned copy, State University of New York Buffalo, Special Collections. “The Nuisances,” The Liberator (Boston, Mass.), 26 May 1837, p. 4, col. 2; digital images, Newspapers.com (https://www.newspapers.com/image/34584821).
  6. Josephine C. Frost and William Constantine Beecher, Ancestors of Henry Ward Beecher and his wife Eunice White Bullard, (Brooklyn, N.Y.: Mrs. Samuel Knapp Frost, 1927), 9.
  7. Freeman Hunt, editor, The Merchant’s Magazine, and Commercial Review, 14:319 and 329, Jan. to June 1846, N.Y., 1846.
  8. School Directory of the City of New York, 1856, p. 118, printed by Wm. C. Bryant & Co., 1856, Dr. James McCune Smith, 15 North Moore Street.
  9. “From Frederick Douglass’s Paper: National Colored Convention,” The Liberator (Boston, Mass.), 22 July 1853, p. 1, col.  5; digital images, Newspapers.com (https://www.newspapers.com/image/34588983).
  10. “Abolition Ticket,” The Baltimore Sun (Baltimore, Md.), 5 Oct. 1857, unpaginated, col. 1; digital images, Newspapers.com (https://www.newspapers.com/image/372497294); image 2.
  11. James McCune Smith introduction to My Bondage and My Freedom by Frederick Douglass, (New York City: Miller, Orton, & Mulligan, 1855), pp. xvii-xxxi.
  12. Kings County, N.Y., Deeds, 208:445-7, Cypress Hills Cemetery to James McCune Smith, lot 130, section, 2, recorded 15 Jan. 1850.
  13. Brooklyn, New York City, NY, death certificate, no. 7346, James McCune Smith, MD, 17 Nov. 1865.
  14. The author’s research file contains a list of burials from archivist at Cypress Hills Cemetery in Lot 2, Section 130 at Cypress Hills Cemetery, 833 Jamaica Ave, Brooklyn, N. Y. 11208.
  15. On 6 Feb. 1850 Dr. Smith wrote to Gerrit Smith his first-born child, Amy, died on Christmas Eve, five days before her sixth birthday. John Stauffer, ed., The Works of James McCune Smith: Black Intellectual and Abolitionist, (New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 2006), 314.
  16. “New York, New York City Municipal Deaths, 1795-1949,” Liber 19, certificate no. 18/22, Henry M. Smith, 18 May 1853; database, FamilySearch.org (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:F6MR-M2N); Family History Library film #447555; indicating age 5.
  17. Department of Health, City of New York, N. Y., Borough of Manhattan, Register of Deaths, Liber 21, 1854 to 12 Jan. 1855, page entries Robt Shea to Rossana (–?–), Ann G. Smith, died 19 Aug. 1854.Department of Health, City of New York, N. Y., Borough of Manhattan, Register of Deaths, Liber 21, 1854 to 12 Jan. 1855, page entries Walburga Straube to Anthony Slater, Frederick D. Smith, died 13 Aug. 1854. Department of Health, City of New York, NY, Borough of Manhattan, Register of Deaths, Liber 21, 1854 to 12 Jan. 1855, page entries Eliza S(?)ender to Wm H Stewart, Peter Wm Smith, age 2 years, 5 months, died 29 Aug. 1854.
  18. The author’s research file contains a list of burials from archivist at Cypress Hills Cemetery in Lot 2, Section 130 at Cypress Hills Cemetery, 833 Jamaica Ave, Brooklyn, N. Y. 11208.
  19. James McCune Smith, “Freedom and Slavery for Africans,” letter, The Liberator (Boston, Massachusetts), 16 Feb. 1844, p. 1, col. 3, digital images, Newspapers.com (https://www.newspapers.com/image/34610162).
  20. Department of Health of The City of N.Y., Brooklyn, N.Y., Standard Certificate of Death, no. 10426, John Murray Smith, 9 May 1922.
  21. Department of Health of The City of New York, Queens County, N.Y., Certificate of Death, no. 5545, Donald B. Smith, 27 Oct. 1927.
  22. Department of Health of The City of New York, Brooklyn, N.Y., Certificate of Death, no. 13551, Maude Mary Smith, 9 Jun. 1931.
  23. St. Clement’s Church, Hastings, Sussex, England, Parish Baptismal Register, 1829-47, p. 13, Henry Wickham Hore son of William and Sarah Hore, 26 Feb. 1830. Department of Health of The City of NY, Brooklyn, NY, Standard Certificate of Death, no. 6857, Henry Wickham Hore, died 28 Mar. 1914.
  24. 1855 New York state census, Kings Co., pop. sch., Brooklyn, ward, 4, Elect. Dist. 3, unpaginated, Henry Wickham Hore in Edward Hore household. “Copartnership Notices,” James P. Barnett and Edward Hore, Truth (New York, NY), 5 August 1882, p. 4, col 3.
  25. Kings Co., NY, Surrogate’s Court, wills, 474:212-4, Henry Wickham Hore, 23 Mar. 1914.
  26. Department of Health of The City of NY, Brooklyn, NY, Standard Certificate of Death, no. 6857, Henry Wickham Hore, died 28 Mar. 1914.
  27. State of New York, Department of Health, Certificate and Record of Marriage, no. 2246, Paul Barnet Smith and Marie Buehler, 16 Feb. 1914. Identifying Paul’s parents John M. Smith and Annie Shory [sic].
  28. N.Y. State Department of Health, Marriage License, Kings County (Brooklyn), no. 19334, Ruth Marie Smith and Theodore Henry Gerlitz, issued 14 Sept. 1942, married 18 Oct. 1942; digital images, New York Department of Records and Information Services (https://a860-historicalvitalrecords.nyc.gov). Identifying Ruth’s parents as Paul Barnett Smith and Marie Buehler.
  29. Lake County, Fla., Marriage Licenses, Book 1, p. 39, John M. Smith and Miss Annie L. Shroy, married 22 Aug. 1888; digital images, FamilySearch.org (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QSQ-G9V4-Z6MN).
  30. New York City Department of Health, Certificate and Record of Marriage, Kings County (Brooklyn), no. 1614, Jay Smith and Rose Larm, 6 February 1915; digital images, New York Department of Records and Information Services (https://a860-historicalvitalrecords.nyc.gov). Identifying Jay’s parents as John [Smith] and Annie Shroy, Rose’s parents as Gustavus Larm and Hattie Weissmuller.
  31. New York City Health Department, Certificate and Record of Marriage, Kings County (Brooklyn), no. 11886, Henry W. Smith and Lillian C. Smith, married 8 Nov. 1910; digital images, New York Department of Records and Information Services (https://a860-historicalvitalrecords.nyc.gov), identifying Henry’s parents as John M. [Smith] and Annie L. Shroy.
  32. . Mary was enumerated as a daughter in Jay and Rose (Larm) Smith’s household in 1910 through 1930: 1910 U.S. census, Kings County, N.Y., pop. sch., Brooklyn, 22nd ward, ED 567, p. 6-B (pencil), dw. 49, fam. 143, John M. Smith household; digital images, FamilySearch.org (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:33SQ-GRVT-3GW). 1920 U.S. census, Kings County, N.Y., pop. sch., Brooklyn, ED 178, p. 4-B (pencil), dw. 10, fam. 76, Jay Smith household; digital images, FamilySearch.org (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:33S7-9RFS-G7V). 1930 U.S. census, Kings County, N.Y., pop. sch., Brooklyn, ED 24-993, pp. 4-B to 5-A (pencil), dw. 13, fam. 48, Jay Smith household; digital images, FamilySearch.org (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:33SQ-GRCJ-FB5). Kings County, NY, Surrogate’s Court, Affidavit of Heirship, Estate of Joseph Nieroda AKA Joseph Nieroda Jr., page 2 of 4, 6 April 2021. Identifying his parents Mary Smith Nieroda, died 16 October 1987; and Joseph Nieroda, died 19 June 1996. Mary and Joseph (Sr.) were also the parents of Robert Nieroda buried in the Smith Plot; the family was enumerated in 1950. 1950 U.S. census, Kings Co., NY, ED 24-2521, sheet 4, household 2948 (Joseph Nieroda), line 7-11; digital images, NARA.gov.
  33. “Conn. Descendants of First African American Doctor Finally Mark Relative’s Grave in New York,” blog post, 27 Sept. 2010, The Middletown Press (https://www.middletownpress.com/news/article/Conn-descendants-of-first-African-American-11860342.php), para. 5.
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About Author

Vanessa Wood is located in Connecticut. She writes on genealogical topics. She enjoys researching families in California, Tennessee, and Virginia. She is a DAR member and a member of the California and Tennessee genealogical societies. Vanessa is the author of the book Pryor Wives: Stories of Family, Fortune, and Fiasco. Her books are available on Amazon.com.

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