Complaints about operations

Although Graceland Cemetery was intended to be a rural cemetery, well away from development, housing, and other buildings were soon built around it. As early as June 1873, a three-story, 25-room hotel was constructed across the street from Graceland.^[20] By January 1878, a large number of new homes had been constructed near the burying ground. The stench of decomposing bodies and the smell and foul taste of burials left in the local water supply greatly alarmed local residents, who suffered an outbreak of typhoid in 1877. The D.C. Board of Public Health was worried, too, and it commissioned a study of the cemetery in late 1877 to study the issue. Although the Board found in January 1878 that the cemetery was not responsible for the typhoid outbreak, it expressed its concern that a major burying ground was so near to homes.^[9]

The complaints did not end, however. In April 1892, a large number of local residents as well as physicians complained about the foul-tasting and smelling water in the vicinity of Graceland Cemetery. More than 200 local residents signed a petition asking the Board of Public Health to close it.^[21] Another typhoid outbreak in the summer of 1892 intensified the pressure to close Graceland.^[22] Investigation by city health officials found that the soil in the southern part of the cemetery was so marshy that graves often filled with water when dug (and had to be bailed out before a coffin could be lowered). Officials asserted that the graves were also dug too close to one another so that the walls between graves often collapsed—allowing germs and disease from a nearby decomposing body to wash into the new, open grave. Eventually, pressure to close the cemetery became so strong that legislation was introduced in the waning days of the 52nd United States Congress to close the cemetery. The D.C. City Commissioners supported the bill, H.B. 9874,^[19] which was introduced by Senator Jacob Harold Gallinger (R-New Hampshire) and Representative John J. Hemphill (D-South Carolina). Even The Washington Post editorialized in favor of the bill.^[22] The legislation was strongly opposed by Frank Presbrey, the president of Graceland Cemetery,^[19] and the Graceland board of directors.^[23] The bill died when Congress adjourned on March 3, 1893.

With congressional action having, for the time being, failed, city residents pressured the city to act under power granted to the District of Columbia under Joint Resolution 4 of 1892. Section 2 of the Joint Resolution gave the city commissioners broad power to make "police regulations".^{[lower-alpha 6][24]} But questions were raised as to whether the Joint Resolution actually conferred the power to close Graceland Cemetery (e.g., was closure a police power?)^[5][25] In late March 1893, the D.C. Assistant Attorney said he doubted that closure fell under the general police regulatory power.^[5][25]

Lawsuit

The disinterment process was not without controversy. On July 1, 1895, a group of lot holders (most of them black) met to protest the removal of bodies from Graceland Cemetery. The meeting was chaired by H.D. Davis, and W.P. Hall was elected secretary. The lotholders had a number of grievances. Many wanted to see Graceland subdivided into building lots rather than sold as a large parcel, for subdivided land would sell at a higher cost. Others did not want to see their loved ones buried at Woodlawn Cemetery (which was denigrated as "unenclosed forest and a truck garden"), and preferred to receive money from the sale of Graceland now and make the choice of burial location themselves. J. Harry Smith, a local attorney, addressed the lotholders and urged them to sue to protect their rights. The lotholders voted to form the "Protective Association of the Lot and Site Owners of Graceland Cemetery", and elected Dr. John R. Frances president of the new organization.^[17] At a second meeting, held July 9, more than 400 lotholders appeared to support the nascent group.^[37]

At a second meeting on July 23, the Protective Association voiced its concerns in greater depth. Lotholders had not been given a choice in the selection of a site for the new cemetery, they said. The Graceland board of trustees had merely chosen the cheapest site they could find, cleared only five of the site's 30 acres (120,000 m²), laid out two incomplete roads through the site, and refused to build a receiving vault.^[38][39] Lotholders also complained that Graceland Cemetery had not notified them when bodies were to be disinterred, and refused to tell them where the bodies were being buried at Woodlawn.^[38] One lotholder who visited Woodlawn Cemetery claimed that bodies were being interred at a rate of 12 a day there,^[38] with graves just 8 to 9 inches (20 to 23 cm) apart (side by side and head to foot).^[38] Dr. Francis resigned as president of the Protective Association, and Mr. H.A. Davis was elected president.^[38] The lotholders adopted a constitution for their association, voted to sue the cemetery, and began raising funds for their lawsuit. The goal of the group was to construct a new cemetery, one ideally located and in a desirable area.^[40]

The lotholders' lawsuit was initially successful. On August 26, 1895, Judge Louis E. McComas of the D.C. Superior Court issued a temporary injunction against the Graceland Cemetery Association, barring further disinterments. The court gave the association until September 9 to reply to the injunction. The Protective Association alleged in its pleading that some members of the Board of Directors of Graceland had, without the consent or authority of either the lotholders or board of directors, had joined with others to form the Woodlawn Cemetery Association and purchase 30 acres (120,000 m²) of land for a new cemetery. The Protective Association also claimed that the Graceland Cemetery Association was removing bodies from Graceland Cemetery without the consent of the lotholders, and without providing them with information on where their loved ones were being reburied. Finally, the Protective Association challenged the Act of August 3, 1894, as an unconstitutional violation of the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution.^[6][41]

Because of District regulations prohibiting the removal of bodies during summer months and the impact of injunction, only 400 bodies had been disinterred from Graceland Cemetery by September 23.^[42][43]

The Graceland Cemetery Association replied to the injunction in late September. The cemetery's attorneys asserted before the court that the lotholders did not, in fact, have fee simple title to burial lots,^[42] and denied that lotholders were not told when loved ones were disinterred.^[42][43] They acknowledged that some lotholders wanted their family members removed to a burial ground other than Woodlawn Cemetery. They said they were willing to reimburse they lotholders for reasonable disinterment and reinterment costs.^[42]

The Graceland Cemetery Association won the day, and on October 12, 1895, Edward Franklin Bingham, Chief Justice of the D.C. Supreme Court, dissolved the temporary injunction.^[44]

Completion of disinterments

As disinterments accelerated through late 1895 and early 1896, Graceland Cemetery began to incur substantial expenses. By the end of 1896, the cemetery had disinterred 637 bodies at a cost of $5,002.57.^[45]

By January 1897, the cemetery was close to running out of money to continue the process.^[45][46] The cemetery sought to mortgage its property to raise the necessary funds, but lacked the legal authority to do so. It sought the assistance of Congress, and in January 1897 Senator James McMillan^[45] and Representative Joseph W. Babcock (R-Wisconsin)^[47] sponsored legislation to permit the cemetery to mortgage its land.^[45][46] The House and Senate quickly passed the legislation, and President Grover Cleveland signed it into law on March 3, 1897 (his last day in office).^[48]

With funds secured, Graceland Cemetery rapidly disinterred the remaining bodies. By early November 1897, nearly all the graves had been emptied. Cemetery officials estimated that disinterals would be finished by January 1, 1898.^[49]

Disbursement of funds

The Graceland Cemetery Association put the cemetery up for sale on June 14, 1899.^[50] But there were no immediate offers for the land. Some individuals who made down payments on burial plots at Graceland Cemetery were still demanding their money back. But Benjamin Meeds, the cemetery association's secretary, pointed out that the congressional legislation only allowed payments to be made to lot holders—not those who had made down payments but had never finished purchasing their lots. Meeds said he regretted that these individuals, many of them poor, would lose their down payments. But the law did not permit otherwise.^[51]

Identifying lotholders proved to be a difficult and time-consuming process. It was not until January 9, 1913, that the board of directors first advertised their willingness to distribute the proceeds from the sale of land to the lot holders.^[52] But there was still concern that not all lot holders had been identified. Board members Seymour W. Tullock, Benjamin N. Meeds, Clarence J. Norment, William Tindall, and Odell S. Smith^[53] asked Justice Job Barnard of the D.C. Supreme Court for help. The trustees, they said, had made an effort to distribute the proceeds, but were unable to determine who the $115,248.65 should go to.^[54] Justice Barnard appointed an auditor to receive claims and make the disbursements.^[53]

With the cemetery's affairs in the hands of the auditor, the board of directors dissolved.

Post-cemetery use

As expected, the City of Washington pushed several street extensions through the former Graceland Cemetery tract. The most important of these was Maryland Avenue NE. In May 1895, the D.C. city commissioners announced plans to extend Maryland Avenue NE through the former grounds of the burial ground.^[55] The city in 1901 asked the cemetery to donate 53 percent of its land for the construction of Maryland Avenue and other streets. But the cemetery refused, arguing that federal law permitted only land sales. The city then offered the cemetery $75,000 to buy the needed land, but the Graceland Cemetery board declined the offer—arguing the land was worth close to $200,000.^[56] It was not until 1936, however, that Maryland Avenue was extended through the property. The city paid $317,500 for land to extend not only Maryland Avenue but also 17th Street and H Street NE. The extension was complete by June 1937.^[57]

There was also a major effort made to seize the former Graceland Cemetery for use as a public park. In July 1895, the Northeast Citizens Association, an organization of local residents in the area near the cemetery, asked the city to purchase the burying ground and convert it into a public park.^[58] Six years later, the citizens' group was still pushing for a park.^[59] Movement on a park finally occurred in 1907. H.B. 7354 provided $150,000 to purchase the cemetery for use as a city park. But the city commissioners opposed the plan, arguing that there wasn't enough residential development in the area to justify the move.^[60] The bill died at the end of the 59th United States Congress on March 3, 1907. Senator Nathan B. Scott (R-West Virginia) introduced a new bill in the 60th United States Congress.^[61] The bill passed the Senate,^[62] but died at the end of the 60th Congress on March 3, 1909. The Northeast Citizens Association continued to press for a park in 1909,^[63] and Senator Scott introduced a new bill (S.B. 158) in February 1910 in the 61st United States Congress.^[64] The Senate approved the bill, which still provided $150,000 for land purchases, in February 1911.^[65] But once more, the legislation died when Congress adjourned on March 3, 1911.

The final disposition of Graceland Cemetery (and the source of the $115,248.65 disbursed to lot holders) came in 1901. In December, the Washington Railway and Electric Company purchased 40,090 square feet (3,724 m²) of land for $26,000. This included a 100-foot (30 m) long section of land on 15th Street NE and a 400-foot (120 m) long section of land on H Street NE to accommodate a streetcar line extension.^[66] The square footage reported by The Evening Star newspaper was not the whole story, however. In fact, the railway had purchased the entire property. Only the reported acreage was to be used for streetcar tracks. The rest was to be used for the construction of an electric powerhouse, carhouse, maintenance shop, storehouse, and storage yard. The price paid by the railway totaled $116,155.80.^[67] By 1917, the value of the land had risen to $227,466.^[68]

The Washington Railway and Electric Company spun off its power operations into a new company, Pepco, which continued to hold title to the land. In 1978, Pepco sold the now-unused land to the Hechinger Company, which built Hechinger Mall on the site in 1979.^[69]