Walking Tour of Medical Pioneer Gravesites

According to the burial records at the cemetery, about 55 persons with a designation of M.D. or "Doctor" are interred in the City Cemetery. This number does not include 16 out of 17 physicians who died of cholera while caring for the victims of the 1850 epidemic. Only one of the 17 is buried in this cemetery and is included in this tour. Records indicate that the other 16 physicians are buried under the City Cemetery, but the location is unknown. Perhaps they are buried under Broadway since a part of the cemetery was taken to widen the street.

Of the 55 doctors buried here, six (11 percent) are women. Most practiced in or near Sacramento sometime between 1849 and 1900. Some of these female pioneer physicians held political offices, some were active in establishing the public school system, while others began the public health agencies for the city and state.

Of the twelve founding members of the Sacramento Society for Medical Improvement, eight are buried in this cemetery. This society, now known as the Sacramento-El Dorado Medical Society, was incorporated March 17, 1868, and is the oldest continuously operating county medical society in the state.

Memorial for Victims of the 1850 Cholera Epidemic
One of the worst epidemics of Asiatic cholera anywhere occurred in Sacramento in 1850. At that time, no one knew what caused cholera or how it was transferred, but there was no mistaking what it was. A victim would be well, then suddenly collapse with abrupt onset of profuse watery diarrhea followed by death in a few hours from dehydration and acidosis.

On October 8, a passenger on a ship docked in Sacramento emerged and collapsed on the wharf, sparking an epidemic that killed 800-1000 people in less than three weeks. Thousands fled in panic, leaving the stricken behind, but the physicians remained, working day and night to care for the sick and dying. Of the 40-80 physicians practicing in Sacramento at the time, 17 died, making the highest mortality on record for physicians caring for victims of an epidemic.

In order to understand the impact of this epidemic, consider what it would be like if a similar event fell on Sacramento today. It would mean about 30,000 deaths in three weeks, including at least 200 of the city's physicians. An additional 30,000 would be stricken but survive.

With few exceptions, victims were buried in mass graves. There were several, the largest at the New Helvetia cemetery. Because of mass flooding, these burials were transferred to the City Cemetery where they are believed to be under military graves. The monument was erected in 1852.