By Karen Frantz
Emma Brown was 7 when she was struck with rheumatism in the late 1800s. One night, she woke in terrible pain, crying that she was being murdered, then fell still back onto the bed. A doctor pronounced her dead and her body was prepared for burial.
But two days later a woman and a young boy who were holding vigil with the body heard a rattling noise coming from the small child’s throat. The woman held up a mirror to the girl’s nose and claimed she saw condensation form from the child’s breath.
But because Emma’s mother could not afford to pay a doctor to come back and examine her daughter, the girl was buried anyway — though many wondered later if she had been buried alive.
“The corpse was buried … in Maple Grove Cemetery,” said Carl Ballenas, president of the Friends of Maple Grove Cemetery.
This story and others were recounted on Victoriana Day at the cemetery’s center, at 127-15 Kew Gardens Road in Kew Gardens, at an event exploring Victorian Era rituals surrounding death, funerals, burial and mourning.
The program included a lecture that delved into topics such as the traditional mourning dress of the Victorian Era, superstitions about death, the lore surrounding stories of people being buried alive and the practice of taking photos of the dead.
Ballenas also told participants about traditions specific to the cemetery, which dates back to the Victorian Era. Ballenas said a bell would ring at the nearby Long Island Rail Road station to signal to the caretaker to get the horses and carriage and come to the station to pick up bodies.
“The number of bells determined the number of corpses,” he said, which was met with gasps from the audience.
Participants were also led on a walking tour of the cemetery, and later treated to a traditional Victorian funeral tea, which included samples of raisin pie and prune cakes, dishes served during funerals in that era.
Victoriana Day is not the only event held at the cemetery. Other programs include musical concerts, workshops and holiday celebrations.
Queens resident Roslyn Powell said she likes the programs offered at the cemetery and loved the grounds. Her husband, Lindwood, is buried in the Victorian section of the cemetery, and she said she tries to come to all the programs held there.
“The cemetery becomes a living place,” she said. “It gives me a reason to come here and smile.”
“It embraces and honors the dead, but also embraces and honors life,” she added.
Reach reporter Karen Frantz by e-mail at kfrantz@cnglocal.com or by phone at 718-260-4538.
