Map of The Green-Wood Cemetery, 1861.
By the 1860s, the Green-Wood Cemetery’s leaders sought to affirm the cemetery’s borders and create a truly grand entrance to the cemetery grounds. The purchase of the small Robert Martin parcel that was located at the cemetery’s northwestern corner (at Twenty-Third to Twenty-Fifth Streets and from Fifth to Sixth Avenues) gave the land necessary to construct the cemetery’s landmark arched gateway from 1861-1863 (Richman, ed., 2013, page 24). Richard Upjohn (1802-1878) and Richard Michell Upjohn (1828-1903) designed this entrance for the cemetery (Richman, ed., 2013, page 24). They were the members of the firm Richard Upjohn and Son, the architect of many Gothic Revival Churches, and Green-Wood’s entrance gate is a landmark example of this style (Richman, ed., 2013, page 62). Indeed it was beneficial for the cemetery to have a grand entrance to impress visitors, as by this point, Green-Wood was now a major tourist destination, attracting a half million visitors by 1860 (Richman, ed., 2013, page 91). By this period, the Green-Wood Cemetery was coming into its own as a not just one of New York’s premiere cemeteries, but also one of New York’s most popular tourist destinations.
Item #93: Two Statements: Both Are Signed by George Brown: Dated November 15, 1860 and November 10, 1860
Both of these statements are sworn statements. The first one from November 15, 1860, states that the architects Richard Upjohn & Son agrees to both obtain and set the materials required for building the new gateway at the Green-Wood Cemetery. The second statement claims that this same architecture firm swears that it will build the gateway for $28,597 with Dorchester or Middlesex Connecticut Stone or for $29,180 with Bellville Stone. These statements are important because they document that the architecture firm of Richard Upjohn & Son swore to finish the new gateway of the Green-Wood Cemetery. It is also interesting to note that they were given the choice of using two different types of stone for the job, indicating that the cemetery leadership had not decided firmly on using one type of stone over the other at the time.
Both of these statements are sworn statements. The first one from November 15, 1860, states that the architects Richard Upjohn & Son agrees to both obtain and set the materials required for building the new gateway at the Green-Wood Cemetery. The second statement claims that this same architecture firm swears that it will build the gateway for $28,597 with Dorchester or Middlesex Connecticut Stone or for $29,180 with Bellville Stone. These statements are important because they document that the architecture firm of Richard Upjohn & Son swore to finish the new gateway of the Green-Wood Cemetery. It is also interesting to note that they were given the choice of using two different types of stone for the job, indicating that the cemetery leadership had not decided firmly on using one type of stone over the other at the time.
Typed transcription of Item #93 (both the November 15 and 10, 1860 statements):
New York November 15th 1860
Mr. R. Upjohn & Son. I agree for my bid for Gateway and Lodges at Greenwood Cemetery to furnish all necessary materials and do all the backing up and setting all the cut stone work to your satisfaction and according to Plans & Specifications.
George Brown.
New York November 10th 1860
Mr. Richard Upjohn & Son. I do agree to furnish the cut stone work for Entrance Gateway for Greenwood Cemetery according to Plans & Specifications and to your Exceptance of Dorchester or Middlesex Connecticut Stone for the sum of Twenty Eight thousand five hundred & ninety seven dollars $28,597, if Belleville Stone—[$]29,180 all to cut in the most workmanlike manner and set complicit.
George Brown.
New York November 15th 1860
Mr. R. Upjohn & Son. I agree for my bid for Gateway and Lodges at Greenwood Cemetery to furnish all necessary materials and do all the backing up and setting all the cut stone work to your satisfaction and according to Plans & Specifications.
George Brown.
New York November 10th 1860
Mr. Richard Upjohn & Son. I do agree to furnish the cut stone work for Entrance Gateway for Greenwood Cemetery according to Plans & Specifications and to your Exceptance of Dorchester or Middlesex Connecticut Stone for the sum of Twenty Eight thousand five hundred & ninety seven dollars $28,597, if Belleville Stone—[$]29,180 all to cut in the most workmanlike manner and set complicit.
George Brown.
Item #94: Octwater Gaxtan to J. A. Perry, March 12, 1861
In this letter, Mr. Gaxtan explains that his company will put up an iron fence with two coats of paint according to plans along Fifth Avenue from the Green-Wood Cemetery. It also specifies a granite block eight feet by two feet, six inches to border the railings end and that the railing will cost a dollar a foot. This letter is important because it is correspondence that documents the first iron fence around the Green-Wood Cemetery, solidifying a definite boundary for the cemetery’s grounds. This palisade iron fence was built on the western boundary of the cemeteries grounds in 1861 (Cleaveland, 1866, page 93). The construction of a more permanent type of fence like this one had been previously prevented by both the shifting boundary line of the cemetery’s grounds and by the incomplete grading of the streets next to the cemetery’s borders (Cleaveland, 1866, page 93). The fence was built after the completion of Fifth Avenue, meaning there would be no further adjustments to the surface or boundaries at this location on the cemetery’s western side (Cleaveland, 1866, page 94). This fence was eight feet in height, and the iron used to built this fence was imported from England, by 1866, nearly a mile of the cemetery’s borders were bounded by this iron fence, with the expectation that this fence would enclose the entire boundaries of the cemetery (Cleaveland, 1866, page 94).
In this letter, Mr. Gaxtan explains that his company will put up an iron fence with two coats of paint according to plans along Fifth Avenue from the Green-Wood Cemetery. It also specifies a granite block eight feet by two feet, six inches to border the railings end and that the railing will cost a dollar a foot. This letter is important because it is correspondence that documents the first iron fence around the Green-Wood Cemetery, solidifying a definite boundary for the cemetery’s grounds. This palisade iron fence was built on the western boundary of the cemeteries grounds in 1861 (Cleaveland, 1866, page 93). The construction of a more permanent type of fence like this one had been previously prevented by both the shifting boundary line of the cemetery’s grounds and by the incomplete grading of the streets next to the cemetery’s borders (Cleaveland, 1866, page 93). The fence was built after the completion of Fifth Avenue, meaning there would be no further adjustments to the surface or boundaries at this location on the cemetery’s western side (Cleaveland, 1866, page 94). This fence was eight feet in height, and the iron used to built this fence was imported from England, by 1866, nearly a mile of the cemetery’s borders were bounded by this iron fence, with the expectation that this fence would enclose the entire boundaries of the cemetery (Cleaveland, 1866, page 94).
Typed transcription of Item #94:
Brooklyn March 12th, 1861
J. A. Perry,
Sir We propose to make & put up iron fence complete with two coats of paint according to plans along fifth av. for Greenwood Cemetery Including 1 Granite block 8 sqr. By about two feet 6 in. more or less long to bury ten feet of Railing for One dollar per foot the Company furnishing from cast posts & Cement for setting posts.
Yours Truly
Octwater Gaxtan.
Brooklyn March 12th, 1861
J. A. Perry,
Sir We propose to make & put up iron fence complete with two coats of paint according to plans along fifth av. for Greenwood Cemetery Including 1 Granite block 8 sqr. By about two feet 6 in. more or less long to bury ten feet of Railing for One dollar per foot the Company furnishing from cast posts & Cement for setting posts.
Yours Truly
Octwater Gaxtan.
Item #83: Agreement Between John Moffit and the Green-Wood Cemetery, August 1, 1861
This document is the agreement between the Green-Wood Cemetery Association and the sculptor John Moffit over his commission of four groups of statuary for the main gate of the Green-Wood Cemetery. This agreement mentions that the stone for the figures should come from quarries in Nova Scotia and should be delivered to the cemetery, with a cumulative price of no more than $1,500. The agreement also states that the subjects of these figure groups will be scenes from the life of Jesus Christ, his Entombment, Resurrection, the Raising of Lazarus, and the Raising of the widow’s son. In addition, the agreement specifies that the figures need to be life-sized and executed in conformity with the designs of the north gate by Richard Upjohn & Son. This document is important since it documents that John Moffitt sculpted the sculpture groups on the main north gate of the Green-Wood Cemetery. It also explains what the sculpture groups were planned to be and where the stone to make them came from.
This document is the agreement between the Green-Wood Cemetery Association and the sculptor John Moffit over his commission of four groups of statuary for the main gate of the Green-Wood Cemetery. This agreement mentions that the stone for the figures should come from quarries in Nova Scotia and should be delivered to the cemetery, with a cumulative price of no more than $1,500. The agreement also states that the subjects of these figure groups will be scenes from the life of Jesus Christ, his Entombment, Resurrection, the Raising of Lazarus, and the Raising of the widow’s son. In addition, the agreement specifies that the figures need to be life-sized and executed in conformity with the designs of the north gate by Richard Upjohn & Son. This document is important since it documents that John Moffitt sculpted the sculpture groups on the main north gate of the Green-Wood Cemetery. It also explains what the sculpture groups were planned to be and where the stone to make them came from.
Typed transcription of Item #83:
John Moffit
And
The Green-Wood
Cemetery
Agreements
The undersigned, John Moffit, agrees to execute for the Green-Wood Cemetery four groups of statuary to be placed in the panels over the gate-ways of their Northern Entrance upon the following terms, stipulations and Conditions
the Resurrection
the Raising of Lazarus
and the Raising of the Widows’ Son.
John Moffit
J. A. Perry
Comptroller
In consideration of the said Cemetery entering into the agreement above set forth, and of one dollar to us in hand, said, we hereby bind and obligate ourselves for the true full and faithful performance of said agreement by the above named John Moffit on his part, and we, promise and agree to pay all damages and indemnify said Green-Wood Cemetery from all loss from and by reason of now-fulfillment of said agreement by or on the part of said John Moffit.
Brown & Valentine.
John Moffit
And
The Green-Wood
Cemetery
Agreements
The undersigned, John Moffit, agrees to execute for the Green-Wood Cemetery four groups of statuary to be placed in the panels over the gate-ways of their Northern Entrance upon the following terms, stipulations and Conditions
- The stone to be from Nova Scotia quarries delivered at the Cemetery and paid for by the Cemetery at cost, but the cost not to exceed the sum of Fifteen Hundred dollars.
- The subjects illustrated to be
the Resurrection
the Raising of Lazarus
and the Raising of the Widows’ Son.
- The designs to be in conformity with the plans of the arches drawn by R. Upjohn & Son. The figures to be the size of life, and the subjects treated in strict conformity with the models approved by the committee of the Cemetery, now in my possession, unless the assent of said Committee be given to any proposed deviation of treatment.
- The margin around each panel to be cut by me and also carved foliage.
- The whole to be done in the most artistic and workmanlike manner, and to the entire satisfaction of the said Committee and the officers of the Cemetery.
- The whole to be completed on or before the first day of March 1862.
- The cost of the entire work, stone excepted as before stated, to be Three thousand dollars. The Cemetery, however, to be at the expense of raising the work to its place in the arches and setting the same, but I am to superintend the same without charge.
- The said Cemetery hereby agrees to pay on account of this contract as the work progresses, such sums as they may deem reasonable and proper, and to pay my balance of said sum of three thousand dollars then unpaid, at the completion and placing the same in its permanent position.
John Moffit
J. A. Perry
Comptroller
In consideration of the said Cemetery entering into the agreement above set forth, and of one dollar to us in hand, said, we hereby bind and obligate ourselves for the true full and faithful performance of said agreement by the above named John Moffit on his part, and we, promise and agree to pay all damages and indemnify said Green-Wood Cemetery from all loss from and by reason of now-fulfillment of said agreement by or on the part of said John Moffit.
Brown & Valentine.
Item #18: Certified Copy of An Act to Change the Commissioner’s Map of the City of Brooklyn, Passed April 17, 1862, with Three-Fifths Present
The passage of this Act resulted in the closing and discontinuation of the following sections of road in the City of Brooklyn: Twenty-Fourth Street east of Sixth Avenue; Twenty-Fifth Street east of Fifth Avenue; Twenty-Sixth Street east of Fifth Avenue; and Sixth Avenue on the southern side of Twenty-Fourth Street and the southern side of Twenty-Fifth Street. This document is significant because it shows how the Green-Wood Cemetery was starting to change the Map of Brooklyn itself at this time, with the closure and demolition of certain roads. The road closures in this Act were within a tract of land purchased from Mr. Robert Martin and added to the northwestern corner of the cemetery in 1862 (Cleaveland, 1866, page 97). The reason this land was needed was to give easy and direct access to the ground located east of it and served to straighten the boundary of the cemetery at this location and made it more symmetrical (Cleaveland, 1866, page 97). The closing of Twenty-Fifth Street and Sixth Avenue as a result of this purchase allowed choice land in this area to be turned into lots for burial purposes, and was considered at the time of its purchase as one of Green-Wood’s most valuable land acquisitions (Cleaveland, 1866, page 97).
The passage of this Act resulted in the closing and discontinuation of the following sections of road in the City of Brooklyn: Twenty-Fourth Street east of Sixth Avenue; Twenty-Fifth Street east of Fifth Avenue; Twenty-Sixth Street east of Fifth Avenue; and Sixth Avenue on the southern side of Twenty-Fourth Street and the southern side of Twenty-Fifth Street. This document is significant because it shows how the Green-Wood Cemetery was starting to change the Map of Brooklyn itself at this time, with the closure and demolition of certain roads. The road closures in this Act were within a tract of land purchased from Mr. Robert Martin and added to the northwestern corner of the cemetery in 1862 (Cleaveland, 1866, page 97). The reason this land was needed was to give easy and direct access to the ground located east of it and served to straighten the boundary of the cemetery at this location and made it more symmetrical (Cleaveland, 1866, page 97). The closing of Twenty-Fifth Street and Sixth Avenue as a result of this purchase allowed choice land in this area to be turned into lots for burial purposes, and was considered at the time of its purchase as one of Green-Wood’s most valuable land acquisitions (Cleaveland, 1866, page 97).
Typed transcript of Item #18:
Chapter 27b.
An Act to alter the Commissioner’s
Map of the City of Brooklyn,
Passed April 17, 1862 – three’ fifths being present.
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate under Assembly, do enact as follows:
Section 1. All that part of Twenty-fourth street, as laid down upon the map made by the Commissioners appointed to lay out streets, avenues and squares in the City of Brooklyn, lying east of the Sixth avenue, is hereby discontinued and closed.
S. 2. All that part of Twenty-fifth street, as the same is laid down upon said Commissioners Map, lying east of the Fifth avenue, is hereby discontinued and closed.
S. 3. All that part of Twenty-sixth street, as the same is laid down upon said Commissioners Map, lying east of the Fifth avenue, is hereby discontinued and closed.
S. 4. All that part of Sixth Avenue, as laid down upon said Commissioners Map, which lies between the southerly side of Twenty-fifth street, is hereby discontinued and closed.
S. 5. This act shall take effect immediately.
Chapter 27b.
An Act to alter the Commissioner’s
Map of the City of Brooklyn,
Passed April 17, 1862 – three’ fifths being present.
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate under Assembly, do enact as follows:
Section 1. All that part of Twenty-fourth street, as laid down upon the map made by the Commissioners appointed to lay out streets, avenues and squares in the City of Brooklyn, lying east of the Sixth avenue, is hereby discontinued and closed.
S. 2. All that part of Twenty-fifth street, as the same is laid down upon said Commissioners Map, lying east of the Fifth avenue, is hereby discontinued and closed.
S. 3. All that part of Twenty-sixth street, as the same is laid down upon said Commissioners Map, lying east of the Fifth avenue, is hereby discontinued and closed.
S. 4. All that part of Sixth Avenue, as laid down upon said Commissioners Map, which lies between the southerly side of Twenty-fifth street, is hereby discontinued and closed.
S. 5. This act shall take effect immediately.