Calvary Cemetery, Queens
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Calvary Cemetery is located at 4902 Laurel Hill Blvd. in Woodside in the New York City borough of Queens, New York.
In 1847, faced with cholera epidemics and a shortage of burial grounds in Manhattan, the New York State Legislature passed the Rural Cemetery Act authorizing nonprofit corporations to operate commercial cemeteries. Old St. Patrick's Cathedral trustees had purchased land in Maspeth in 1846, and the first burial in Calvary Cemetery there was in 1848. By 1852 there were 50 burials a day, half of them the Irish poor under seven years of age. By the 1990s there were nearly 3 million graves in Calvary Cemetery.
The cemetery is managed by the Trustees of St. Patrick's Cathedral, New York. It is one of the largest cemeteries in the United States.[citation needed]
Contents |
[edit] Notable burials
[edit] Organized crime
- Vito Bonventre (1875-1930), mobster
- Anthony Carfano (1898-1959), mobster aka "Little Augie Pisano"
- Gandolfo "Frankie Marlow" Curto (1890-1929)
- Joe Diamond (Natale Evola) (1907-1973)
- Stefano Ferrigno (1900-1930)
- Joseph Lanza (1904-1968), racketeer; mobster
- Thomas Lucchese (1899-1967), mobster
- Ignatius "Lupo the Wolf" Lupo (1877-1947)
- Joe Masseria (1879-1931)
- Peter Morello (1870-1930)
- Dominick Napolitano (1930-1982), mobster
- Bonaventura "Joseph" Pinzolo (1887-1930)
- Benjamino "Lefty Guns" Ruggiero (1926-1994)
[edit] Entertainers
- Nancy Carroll (1903-1965), actress
- Lorenzo da Ponte (1749-1838), opera librettist
- Tess Gardella (1897-1950), actress who played Aunt Jemima
- Patrick Gilmore (1829-1882), "Father of the American Band"
- Texas Guinan (1884-1933), actress and saloon-keeper
- Robert Harron (1893-1920), actor
- Patsy Kelly (1910-1981), actress
- James Murray (1901-1936), actor
- Nita Naldi (1897-1961), actress
- Arthur O'Connell (1908-1981), actor
- Una O'Connor (1880-1959), actress
- Wini Shaw (1910-1982), actress
- Joe Spinell (1936-1989), actor
[edit] Military figures
- Michael Corcoran (1827-1863), American Civil War Colonel of 69th New York Irish Volunteers
- Thomas E. Corcoran (1838-1904), American Civil War Sailor and Medal of Honor recipient
- Francis J. Herron (1837-1902), American Civil War Union Army Major General and Medal of Honor recipient
- Patrick Kelly (d.1864), American Civil War Colonel of 88th New York Volunteer Infantry, and commander of the Irish Brigade
- Thomas Patrick Noonan, Jr. (1943-1969) Vietnam War Medal of Honor Recipient
- Eliakim Parker Scammon (1816-1894) American Civil War Union Army Brigadier General (grave unmarked)
- Robert Augustus Sweeney (1853-1890) United States Navy Sailor and Double Medal of Honor Recipient.
[edit] Politicians
- Alfred E. Smith (1873-1944), Governor of New York State and 1928 U.S. Presidential candidate
- Robert Ferdinand Wagner (1877-1953), U.S. Senator from New York State
- Robert F. Wagner, Jr. (1910-1991), Mayor of New York City
- Robert Wagner III (1944-1993), president of the New York City Board of Education, son of Mayor Robert Wagner, Jr., and grandson of Governor Robert Wagner
[edit] Sports
- Willie Keeler (1872-1923), Hall of Fame baseball player
- Joseph Scoini (1904-1925), professional boxer, Harlem Welterweight champion
- Martin Sheridan (1881-1918), four-time Olympic gold medalist in the discus and shot put
[edit] Others
- Steve Brodie (1863-1901), Brooklyn bookmaker, claimed to survive Brooklyn Bridge jump
- Mary Laetatia Martin (1815-1850) (see Martyn), heiress, novelist
- Edward McGlynn (1837-1900), reformist Catholic priest
- Claude McKay (1890-1948), poet, journalist, novelist
- Joseph Petrosino (1860-1909), NYPD's first Italian-American detective, founded the Bomb Squad
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
- The Cemetery Belt: Why does Queens have so many cemeteries?
- Calvary Cemetery burial records (partial)
- New York Cemeteries