Non-human remains in the public cemetery?

In my eighteen years working on this project, I have always been certain that Hart Island was used exclusively for burying human remains. I am no longer certain.

Today, I came across an entry for "non human remains." The entry is listed as Grave 17, Plot 224, Section III buried April 14, 1992. It is clearly written. I am wondering how this can be possible since Potter's Field is for unclaimed and unidentified people.

Censorship

Last Sunday, September 13, 2009 the New York Post published a story, Field of Baby Sorrows, about two women in search of stillborn infants buried in the public cemetery on Hart Island. These women are among many who contact me to find out what happened to the body of a child they lost in New York City. They have often been searching for a very long time. Most were told "the city will take care of it" and nothing else.

Within 12 hours, my website, which hosts a digital database of burial records obtained through New York State Freedom of Information Law, was hacked and shut down. This is the second cyber attack in the past six months in response to media coverage. Engineers got the site functioning again in a day. However, women who may have read the article were again denied access to public information.

The posthumous blog, which appears as someone enters the database, has now become plagued with robots and spiders that saps its memory. This is truly old testament style retaliation in opposition to having people find their family and friends.

So, I have decided to start this "off-site" blog as a way to preserve stories of people located through the Hart Island Project.