Hey Chuck, Do we know anything about this cemetery? Dick Stewart

For a picture of the "old" Bryce Cemetery (front of), see http://www.rootsweb.com/~albibb/cemeteries/oldcembrice.htm This is also an interesting site which might give us some answers on a possible list of those interred there. http://www.adap.net/air0402.pdf I printed off a history of the cemetery back in October, but now I cannot find it. Basically, it said: "Old Bryce Hospital Cemetery is located on the north side of Jack Warner Parkway (formerly River Road) and McFarland Blvd. near the University of Alabama. Currently, Bryce has 3 cemeteries. You have to make an appointment and be escorted when you go as these are private cemeteries, not open to the general public. The newer Bryce cemetery is located on the south side of Jack Warner Parkway (formerly River Road) beyind Bryce Hospital. It has been used since the 1920's. Patients that died at Bryce while a patient and did not have another place for burial or no family members that would claim the departed were buried there. In the early years of Bryce Hospital, the white patients' markers were made of wood and the black patients' of concrete. For many, the wood deteriorated and the blacks' markers were the only ones which lasted. The markers placed on the patients' graves are just small stones about 5" x 5" with a number on it; e.g., 1399 which can be cross-referenced back to a patient's name. Many of the old gravesites were marked with an iron cross and patient number. Today only about 200 crosses remain out of 1,000 graves in that part of the cemetery. The crosses still bear the initials A.I.H. for Alabama Hospital of the Insane. About 1970 part of the old Bryce Cemetery was moved to make rom for River Road. The section of the cemetery nearest the river still remains as it was, the rest of the cemetery was moved nearer to the hospital. When the part of the cemetery was moved, many graves were bull-dozed and pieces of bone as well as casket fragments wer found. During the move that created River Road, each grave found was documented. In the earlier days, the state put people that could not afford other care. Many of the graves would be of those that nobody claimed their body, were so old that they had nobody else, or couldn't afford burial. About 1993 there was a planned survey of Bryce Cemetery and the place near there where they reburied the patients after the road was cut through. It has been a problem for researchers in that the records are not readily available like other cemetery books. ......officials are very cautious about giving out information on deceased individuals. To conduct research at Bryce Cemetery, you will need a DOD and death certificate. ....the death certificate should show that the person died at Bryce and was buried there... To contact Bryce Hospital: 200 University Blvd., Tuscaloosa, AL, 35401 (205) 759-0799. Julie DS <[email protected]> wrote: Hey Chuck, Do we know anything about this cemetery? Dick Stewart ==== ALTUSCAL Mailing List ==== Tuscaloosa, Alabama AlGenWeb Page http://www.rootsweb.com/~altuscal send comments to [email protected] ============================== Gain access to over two billion names including the new Immigration Collection with an Ancestry.com free trial. Click to learn more. http://www.ancestry.com/rd/redir.asp?targetid=4930&sourceid=1237 --------------------------------- Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! SiteBuilder - Free web site building tool. Try it!