Tolomato Cemetery: One Acre With Centuries of History

Tolomato was in use as a cemetery from the 18th century until 1884, when all of the old cemeteries in St. Augustine were closed and new cemeteries were established. It is the final resting place of approximately 1,000 St. Augustine residents, including many people important to the history of Florida and the United States.

The cemetery is located on the site of what was once an early 18th century Franciscan  Indian Mission, Our Lady of Guadalupe of Tolomato. The Indian group was made up of Guale Indians from Georgia. Tolomato was the name of a place, potentially a river, where they lived before they came to St. Augustine during the 16th century after attacks from hostile tribes. They moved to the current site during attacks by British forces from South Carolina and Georgia that destroyed the Florida Missions in the 1700s.

When the Minorcans arrived in 1777 after their rebellion in New Smyrna, they brought their priest, Fr. Camps with them. Patrick Tonyn, the British governor of St. Augustine at the time, granted Fr. Camps permission to bury the deceased members of his parish in the "old Catholic cemetery" of Tolomato. This was the beginning of the use of the grounds solely as a cemetery.

The Minorcans buried in Tolomato are the ancestors of many St. Augustine residents, and there are large numbers of documented burials from the 18th and 18th centuries. All burials in the cemetery ceased in 1884, when all cemeteries within the city limits were closed, one of the reasons being the fear that they assisted in the spread of Yellow Fever.

Of course cemeteries had little to do with the spreading epidemic, but no one knew that until 1905 when Dr. Walter Reed identified the mosquito as the source.

The cemetery is the resting place of people from all the diverse groups that created St. Augustine, including Spanish, Minorcan, Irish, African, Greek, Italian, and 19th century Southern and Eastern Americans.

For over 100 years, Tolomato Cemetery was the parish cemetery for what is now known as the Cathedral Basilica of St. Augustine, located about a half mile away on the plaza.

Although there are over 1,000 known burials in the cemetery, there are little over 100 markers. Our present day knowledge of the burials comes from the parish death records, most of which are held in the Diocesan Archives on Aviles Street.

The cemetery is still owned by the Cathedral Parish and the Diocese of St. Augustine, and they have maintained and protected it over the years. 

There are a number of historically important burials on the grounds, including the graves of the Sisters of St. Joseph, veterans from both sides of the Civil War, and Freedmen who fought with the Union.

It is also the burial site of important religious and political leaders; including the Second Spanish Period Governor, Enrique White; General Georges Biassou of Haiti; the first Bishop of St. Augustine, Bishop Agustin Verot; and Father Felix Varela of Cuba, whose canonization process is underway.

The small white chapel, the distinctive feature of Tolomato, was built to hold his remains by some Cubans who had been students of Father Varela in the seminary in Havana along with some of his friends in New York City.

Tolomato also holds the oldest extant marked burial in the state of Florida, the above ground vault of 16 year old Elizabeth Forrester, who died and was buried in 1798.

Over the centuries, the inscriptions and features on many of the stones have worn away, but those that can be read have been preserved. The cemetery owns historical photos of markers that have been gone since before the memories of anyone currently associated with the cemetery.

Although the cemetery officially closed to burials in 1884, the last actual burial on the grounds took place in 1892. Two such unauthorized burials, one in 1886 and the second in 1892, caused the families of the deceased to incur fines of $25 each for violating the law.

The cemetery opens to the public for tours on the third Saturday of each month, and private tours can be arranged with two weeks prior notice with donations requested for private tours.

Tolomato is one of the regular stops on the St. Augustine ghost tours, of course. My favorite ghost story about the cemetery is the story of Little James, who enjoyed climbing the ancient live oak just inside the cemetery gates. In November 1877, just ten days after his 5th birthday, he slipped and fell while climbing the old tree, snapping his neck and dying instantly. 

James is buried in Tolomato under the oak he loved, and although his family owned additional plots for themselves, they were so devastated by his loss that they moved away from St. Augustine and never returned. 

The spirit of Little James himself is believed to remain within the cemetery, having been spotted by children and adults alike playing within the cemetery grounds as well as perched high in the branches of his favorite old live oak.

There are other stories about hauntings at the Tolomato Cemetery, but I'll leave them out of my story here in the hopes that you'll choose to participate in one of the many fun and educational tours available in St. Augustine that includes a stop outside the Tolomato Gates.

Tolomato Cemetery

14 Cordova Street

St. Augustine, FL  32084

904-257-3273