Sorry I did not notice before I am not sure how it happened, but this is missing near the beginning of part one: Penny T ....bearing a date earlier than 1800, the older graves having disappeared. After 1803 the rapid increase in population, together with the inroads made by yellow fever and cholera, created a real municipal problem. New cemeteries were established and old ones enlarged to meet the situation. rigid regulations regarding  methods of burial were issued. Interment in the ground was forbidden, and brick tombs were required in all cemeteries, which were enclosed within high brick walls. The recurring epidemics of yellow fever, however, sent so many dead bodies to the cemeteries that these regulations could not always be carried out. At times the burial grounds were so over taxed that the only possible way of disposing of the dead was to bury them en masse in shallow trenches as on the field of battle. It is estimated that  more than 100,000 are buried in the old St Louis cemeteries on Basin and Claiborne Streets alone. ____________________________________________________________________________________ Be a better friend, newshound, and know-it-all with Yahoo! Mobile. Try it now. http://mobile.yahoo.com/;_ylt=Ahu06i62sR8HDtDypao8Wcj9tAcJ