Part 1 Immigration - Quarantine in New York City 1799-1858 As you may be aware, the NYC Quarantine Hospital operated on Staten Island, New York from 1799 - 1858. Before Ellis Island there was Castle Gardens, before Castle Gardens there was the Quarantine Hospital on S.I. In 1858 a local angry mob burnt it down due to the ever present threat of disease. It is estimated that million(s) of people passed through Staten Island during those years. Processed through the S.I. Quarantine along with the emigrants were the ships crew(s) and residents of New York City. You may learn more of the troubled history of the Quarantine on S.I. through an Internet Google search. >From the beginning, the number of people that were processed through the Staten Island Quarantine Hospital far exceeded their expectations: It was reported 1801: The Staten Island Marine Hospital and Quarantine Station was planned for 200 patients, yet even before it was officially opened 945 patients were admitted between May and December 1801. For example, the ship Penelope arrived on June 10 with 262 persons with yellow and ship fever, smallpox, and dysentery, of whom 74 died. During the mid 1840's the height of emigration of the German and Irish, it was reported in 1847, that in an 85 day period 75,000 emigrants were processed through S.I. Quarantine. Belfast Mercury, April 19th 1851 reported (excerpt below): ....The Marine Hospital on S.I. is crowed to excess, the number of poor people from Ireland who are wandering through the streets, in a starving condition, is dreadful. Every night they go to the police station-houses for food and shelter. Last night, in the fourth-ward station-house, there were 80 poor people of this description, huddled together, and when food was laid before the children, they rushed at it, and devoured it like hungry wolves. As the immigrants waited for their family members to be discharged from the hospital, an Irish Shanty town developed less than a mile from the Quarantine Hospital at Broadway and Shore Road (now known as Richmond Terrace). During this time the local neighborhood cemetery, Staten Island Cemetery offered free burials for children under 2 years of age. A partial list of those that died while in quarantine (compiled by Jennifer Hyatt-Morgan): Name Age Cause of Death Days Ill Date of Death Adams, Margaret26Cholera54Jun-1849 Adderton, Thomas35Typhus7Jun-49 Ahearn, Michael50Typhus20Mar-50 Ahern, Thomas44Typhus4Jan-50 Allan, John20Typhus8Feb-50 Barron, Patrick19Illegible220Jan-50 Barrow, Mary31Dysentery45Jun-49 Barry, John B.35Paralysis48Feb-50 Battersby, Mary40Typhus2Feb-50 Bennett, Charles13Cholera4Oct-49 Bentley, Patrick25Typhus110Jun-49 Bernet, Jane30Typhus5Aug-49 Bogart, Hanora28Dysentery19Jul-49 Bogett, Cornelius35Typhus?Mar-50 To be continued....... Lynn A. Rogers Executive Director - 917-545-3309 Friends of Abandoned Cemeteries, Inc. Staten Island President: Rest in Peace Inc. President: Staten Island Cemetery Association Friends of Abandoned Cemeteries, Inc. S.I.