Calvary Cemetery, Queens

Calvary Cemetery is located at 49-02 Laurel Hill Blvd. in Woodside in the New York City borough of Queens, New York. The cemetery is managed by the Trustees of St. Patrick's Cathedral, New York. It is one of the oldest and largest cemeteries in the United States. [ [http://www.interment.net/data/us/ny/queens/calvary_cemetery.htm Interment.net] ]

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.

Notable burials

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)

Entertainers

* Lionel Barrymore (1878-1954), actor
* 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
* James Hayden (1953-1983), actor
* Joseph E. Howard (1878-1961), American composer ("Emerson and Howard")
* 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
* William J. Scanlan (1856-1898), Singer
* Wini Shaw (1910-1982), actress
* Joe Spinell (1936-1989), actor

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.

Politicians

* John Fox (1835-1914), U.S. Representative from New York and member of the New York City Council
* 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 Senator Robert Wagner
*Timothy Sullivan, U.S. Representative in Congress (1903-1906; 1912); long-term member of New York State Legislature and sponsor of the Sullivan Act which sought to curtail illegal gun possession.

ports

* 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
* Mickey Welch (1859-1941), Hall of Fame baseball player

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

References

* Hubert Treacy Sr. NYC Fire Dept. Chief
* Hubert Treacy Jr. FBI 2nd to die in line of fire

ee also

*List of United States cemeteries
*List of famous cemeteries

External links

* [http://www.newsday.com/community/guide/lihistory/ny-history-hs517a,0,7026627.story The Cemetery Belt: Why does Queens have so many cemeteries?]
* [http://www.interment.net/data/us/ny/queens/calvary_cemetery.htm Calvary Cemetery burial records (partial)]
* [http://citizene.com/us/cny.htm New York Cemeteries]