Saint Paul’s Lutheran Cemetery in Druid Hill Park
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The land for Saint Paul’s Lutheran Cemetery was purchased for $3000.00 by the 2nd Evangelical Lutheran Congregation of Baltimore on October 25, 1854. The obscure location is west of the Jones Falls across from the neighborhood of Hampden. In 1860 the countryside surrounding the 4.5 acre cemetery was purchased by City Council under the guidance of Mayor Thomas Swann and turned into Druid Hill Park, the third oldest landscaped public park in America.
In 1868 the 2nd Evangelical Lutheran Church divided into three separate congregations: Saint Paul Evangelical Lutheran, Immanuel Evangelical Lutheran and Martini Lutheran Church. An agreement was reached to jointly maintain the burial ground thereafter. One stipulation of the agreement was that no lot owners could bury blatant blasphemers. During this transitional period the City of Baltimore bought 2.25 acres reducing the cemetery’s size by half.
The burial site was severely vandalized in 1986 leaving many of the markers tipped over and broken. A pile of stones remains at the base of an old growth tree. Today Saint Paul’s Lutheran Cemetery is solely owned and operated by Martini Lutheran Church with the Friends of Druid Hill Park adding assistance. The two groups have made vast improvements to the yard. A stone-worker is repairing neglected memorials and someone is keeping the grass trimmed.
The peculiar family plot of Gottlieb Taubert lies unmarked in Saint Paul’s Lutheran Cemetery. Lincoln conspirator George Atzerodt is supposedly buried with the Tauberts, secretly interred here by his mother and father sometime after 1869. Victoria and John Atzerodt went to Washington to retrieve their son’s remains when President Andrew Johnson pardoned those involved with the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. They brought their son to Baltimore.
Upon reviewing the cemetery’s burial records at the Maryland Historical Society Library I noticed that a Viktoria Asserat (Victoria Atzerodt) was placed to rest in the Taubert lot in 1886. It’s my belief, and others, that George Atzerodt is buried anomalously along with his mother in the Gottlieb Taubert family plot, Lot 90 near the center of Saint Paul’s Lutheran Cemetery in Druid Hill Park.
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Hi,
I am the historian for Martini Lutheran church who now owns St. Paul’s Cemetery in Druid Hill Park. Although we have a Gottleib Taubert in our cemetery, it is not the one who was involved in the plot to kill Lincoln. That one is buried in Old St. Paul’s Cemetery off of Martin Luther King Boulvard.
Sandy Harper
22 Feb 12 at 5:42 am
Hi, thanks for commenting. I actually went to Old Saint Paul’s Cemetery and talked to the staff and there is no Taubert buried there. In fact there are very few, if any, German names. Old Saint Paul’s is a Catholic Church with English roots.
Also, if you look at the burial records of your cemetery, Saint Paul’s Lutheran in Druid Hill, you’ll see that George Atzerodt’s mother, Victoria, is buried along with the Taubert family. No record of George’s burial is available as it was most certainly done in secret. Thanks again.
monumentcity
22 Feb 12 at 9:29 am
Ok,now you are making me a crazy historian. Gottleib Taubert was born in Altenburg, and married to Maria Atzroth and a member of Second German Evangelical Lutheran Church, St. Paul. When the mother church was disbaned, he was a member of Martini Lutheran Church. I have ballots for church council elections with his name on it. His name appears in minutes of our church. I can look to see if and when he was buried, cause now I am very curious. A history, mystery. Only Lutherans belonging to the mother or sister church were supposed to be buried in this cemetery. So Interesting.
Sandy Harper
23 Feb 12 at 10:46 am
Ok, Gottleib Taubert’s wife’s maiden name was Atzrott, close enough to say she was related to George. Victoria, you say his mother, is buried in the Taubert lot. Gottleib died 1925 at 89 and his wife, Maria died Sept. 1928 at 86 ( both in Martini’s church records). Don’t know if they snuck George in the family plot or not, but it could have happened. Thanks for your input.
Sandy Harper
23 Feb 12 at 2:36 pm
Thanks for the information. I’ll dig further and see what I can come up with.
monumentcity
24 Feb 12 at 8:31 pm