John Jones and Woodlawn Cemetery

Burial Details: John W. Jones and Woodlawn National Cemetery

Anticipating some deaths among the prisoners at the newly opened prison camp, in July 1864 the military agreed to lease a half-acre of land at Woodlawn, Elmira’s municipal cemetery. John W. Jones, the cemetery’s sexton, was hired to bury the dead. Under his original agreement, Jones was to be paid $40 a month, but as the death toll rose, he renegotiated his payment to $2.50 per burial. By January of 1865, so many had died at the prison camp that the military was forced to lease an additional half-acre from the cemetery. In the end, Jones buried 2,973 Confederate prisoners at Woodlawn Cemetery.

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Confederate Prison Camp

John W. Jones John W. Jones was an escaped slave and conductor on the Underground Railroad. His work burying the Confederate dead made him one of the wealthiest African-Americans in Upstate New York.	John Jones's home John W. Jones earned a total of $7,432 for his work burying the Confederate dead. He used some of it to purchase a farm on Davis Street in Elmira.
Woodlawn Cemetery Originally, each Confederate grave was marked with a wooden marker baring the name, rank and unit of each soldier.	In 1877, the Confederate Section of Woodlawn became Woodlawn National Cemetery. In 1907, the government replaced the original markers with marble headstones.

Burial Details: John W. Jones and Woodlawn National Cemetery

John W. Jones

John W. Jones was an escaped slave and conductor on the Underground Railroad. His work burying the Confederate dead made him one of the wealthiest African-Americans in Upstate New York.

John Jones's home

John W. Jones earned a total of $7,432 for his work burying the Confederate dead. He used some of it to purchase a farm on Davis Street in Elmira.

Woodlawn Cemetery

Originally, each Confederate grave was marked with a wooden marker baring the name, rank and unit of each soldier.

In 1877, the Confederate Section of Woodlawn became Woodlawn National Cemetery. In 1907, the government replaced the original markers with marble headstones.