Parsons-SchuylerGravestone
In 1878, one of the worst yellow fever epidemics in the history of our country swept through Memphis, killing thousands and forcing thousands more to flee the city, many of them never to return here. In the April issue of Memphis magazine, which salutes the 200th anniversary of our city, we tell about the horrors of that epidemic, paying special attention to "The Martyrs of Memphis" — the four sisters of St. Mary's Cathedral who died while treating the sick.
We included a photograph of their graves at Elmwood, buried under a single stone marker in the central section of the cemetery, along with a lovely stained-glass window that salutes their braved deeds, which was installed in All Saints Chapel at the University of the South in Sewanee.
Space prevented us, however, from showing the last resting place of other victims of the 1878 epidemic. Two priests at St. Mary's — Charles Parsons and Louis Schuyler — also perished. They share a gravestone (above) in the Howard Association section of Elmwood Cemetery, just to the east of the old caretaker's cottage that serves as the cemetery offices.
Across the road from their marker is an open field, (below) and it marks the final resting place of thousands of yellow fever victims who were never identified, and had to be buried in mass, unmarked graves. A single marker, erected many years later, indicates this area is called "No Man's Land."
Also in the Howard Section are other heroes of the epidemic, such as the members of the Howard Association, a group of brave volunteers who stayed behind while everyone else ran away, and died at their posts, as they went from house to house, bringing food, medicine, and whatever comfort they could provide.
Nearby are the gravestones of two physicians. The half-buried marker of William Lowry, head of the city's health department, reads: "Dr. William R. Lowry, of South Carolina. For a number of years, a resident physician of Memphis, passing through all the epidemics visited upon this city. He at last, while in the discharge of his duty, fell a victim to ..." And here, the rest of the stone has settled below ground level, but we can finish that: He fell victim to the 1878 epidemic.
Next to him lies the mortal remains of another physician, and his stone, erected in 2005 by the Bluff City Medical Society, tells this remarkable story: "Dr. R.H. Tate, 1815-1878. Hero of the yellow fever epidemic of 1878. The first African-American professional to practice in Memphis. He answered the call of the Howard Association with seven other Cincinnati physicians. Three weeks later he died of the plague."
Dr. Tate surely knew he had little chance of surviving this epidemic, at a time when nobody knew the cause, or the cure, of yellow fever. But he came here anyway.
Many other cemeteries and smaller graveyards throughout Memphis and Shelby County have gravestones carved with the 1878 year of death, showing just how many people died during one of the darkest periods in our city's history.
