Librarian shares historical details related to recent human remains

SCHNECTADY, N.Y. (NEWS10) – We got a Schenectady history lesson on Wednesday, after human remains from the 1800s were unearthed in the Electric City on Monday. NEWS10 has more on the neighborhood’s history from the Schenectady County Historical Society.

Librarian and Archivist Marietta Carr said that section of Hamilton Hill was a cemetery, and it’s been well documented. She shared who potentially could have been buried there. 

Schenectady County Historical Society has been documenting the city’s history for more than a century. The old cemetery was attached to the Almshouse, also known as the Poorhouse. Carr explains who lived there.

“They’d been deemed unable to support themselves and wards of the county or wards of the city. They were gathered together and put into this institution of the Almshouse. They were the poorest residents of the city, and they couldn’t afford to have a burial separately as well. So when they passed away, the Poorhouse buried them in the cemetery attached to the Poorhouse farm,” said Carr.

She said, this area used to be the edge of town, a wooded area with some structures. 

“It was predominantly a black neighborhood. There were also immigrants in that area. So, again, being able to say for certain who exactly is buried, it’s very difficult to say because it could be African-Americans, it could be Eastern European immigrants. It was a lot of poorer individuals who were living on the edge of town,” said Carr. 

Or it could be church goers, Carr said, because the church had a cemetery on the edge of the town. The city grew and by the 1870s that section of Hamilton Hill became a residential area. 

Carr said it’s unclear when the old cemetery was no longer utilized but speculated the city’s growth, coupled with filled burial grounds, contributed to the closure. She said it’s not surprising that, on Monday, human remains were unearthed. Although not uncommon, iron caskets match the frame.

“Most caskets would have been made out of wood. Iron caskets do match up with the time period that we’re looking at. And it could also indicate that the person who passed away either had money to purchase the casket or had been a victim of a disease that people were concerned about,” said Carr. 

Westover Place was originally called Cemetery Street. Records indicate the name changed in 1905. Carr showed us where the old cemetery was located – between, what’s known today as, Westover Place and Hamilton, stretching from Paige to Georgetta Dix. The historical maps are all documented on History Forge. 

“The historic maps can be layered up so that you can see how a street has changed over time. And then we can add in other information like photos and documents and create a more complete picture and a more understandable picture by using the geographic references,” said Carr. 

They’re working on documenting the most recent findings for the city.

“And one of the things that this episode does is remind us that we are very connected to our past and we need to know what happened in our past. We need to recognize how our neighborhoods have grown and changed over time so that we can continue to grow and change as a community,” said Carr.