Huguenot Cemetery

Posted: 02.18.2025 | Updated: 02.18.2025

Today, St. Augustine is a gem of Florida’s tourism, drawing in visitors with its towering lighthouse and rich historic downtown. Its modern, vibrant aura starkly contrasts the dark cloud that once hung overhead the coastal settlement. A relic of the centuries-old region, the Huguenot Cemetery, is dotted with graves that whisper one of St. Augustine’s more horrid tales.

The worst of the territory’s afflictions came shortly after its cessation into the United States. An outbreak of yellow fever cursed its new settlers, quickly taking the lives of many. As the body count rose, the Protestant settlers were forced to establish what would become the first public burial ground in St. Augustine since the cessation: the Huguenot Cemetery.

Also known as the St. Augustine Public Burying Ground, the cemetery became an important piece of the region’s history. Gravesites weren’t the only thing spinning yarn about the plague that struck the coastal settlement. Spirits roam the burial site, offering a direct connection to the past. 

With a St. Augustine ghost tour from Old City Ghosts, curious travelers are offered a glimpse into the territory’s past as told by those who wander the consecrated grounds.

Is The Huguenot Cemetery in St. Augustine Haunted?

More than 400 bodies are buried in the soil of the Huguenot Cemetery. Many are tied to a tragic end that anchored them to the historic grounds. While not all have reemerged from their plots, visitors should expect to see the ethereal forms of some of the eternal residents. 

Among the more notable is Judge John Buffington Stickney’s specter. The former State’s Attorney for the 6th Judicial District of Florida is said to have remained behind to find the gold teeth stolen during his exhumation. 

Quick Facts:

• Added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2021
• Established as the first non-Catholic cemetery in St. Augustine
• Named for the French Huguenots, though no members of the sect are buried here

A Brief History of St. Augustine’s First Public Cemetery

Centuries before the colonies took control of the coastal settlement of St. Augustine, the Spanish controlled the land. For nearly 20 years in the mid-to late-18th century, it fell under British control. 

The contention between the British and the Spanish continued until, eventually, in 1821, St. Augustine was absorbed into the newly formed United States. The Adams-Onis Treaty shaped the American Southeastern borders, with both East and West Florida leaving Spanish control.

But, the states didn’t get to enjoy the newly acquired coastline for long before tragedy struck. 

Mere weeks after St. Augustine became American property, bouts of yellow fever swept across the nation. An outbreak spread throughout the city as if serving as an omen of the conflict that would soon divide the nation. 

While the number of St. Augustine residents lost to yellow fever was comparatively smaller than what cities in the north were facing, it was enough to warrant the development of a new cemetery. 

Why St. Augustine Needed the Huguenot Cemetery

Surely, the Spanish would have implemented some form of burial ground for its people. So, why was it so necessary for a new St. Augustine

cemetery to be built in the 19th century? Especially considering that yellow fever is believed only to have claimed the lives of some 50 people.

Before a political divide led to the Civil War, the nation had already suffered from a theological rift. The Tolomato Cemetery, established in the 1700s by the Spanish, may have had a diversity of ethnicities within its grounds. However, they all had ties to Catholicism. 

The Huguenot Cemetery was established for the Protestants who had come to St. Augustine after being acquired by the United States.

For a period after the yellow fever scare struck St. Augustine, the Huguenot Cemetery remained a public cemetery. Then, in the 1830s, Reverend Thomas Alexander acquired it and sold it to the Presbyterian Church, briefly making it private. 

For 52 years, this St. Augustine cemetery welcomed Protestant burials before its closure in 1884. 

The Notable Graves of the Huguenot Cemetery

Over its 63 years as an active cemetery, the Huguenot Cemetery was open to many walks of life. While most of the interred are unknown to all but those closest to them, the grounds did welcome several notable figures.

Among them were Florida politicians Charles Downing, Sr. and Judge John Buffington Stickney and famed Spanish translator Buckingham Smith. 

However, only one, Judge Stickney, seems to have remained tied to his mortal coil, forced to roam the grounds until a piece of him has been returned.

Judge John Stickney’s Eternal Turmoil

Judge John Stickney had a rather productive life, eventually leading him to Florida.

After fighting in the Civil War—rising to the rank of Captain—he found his home in the southern state. Upon his death at 50, he was interred at the Huguenot Cemetery. However, his family in the nation’s capital wished to have him closer to home. 

During his exhumation from the St. Augustine Cemtery, lore states that the gravediggers took a break in the Florida heat. In their absence, grave robbers made their move and stole gold teeth from the judge’s body. 

Could the theft of the judge’s personal property be why he severed from his body and remained behind in St. Augustine? If so, it’s unfortunate to think that he may never find peace in the afterlife, forever left to scour the grounds for what was taken from him.

The Ghosts of the Huguenot Cemetery

While Judge Stickney is the cemetery’s most recognizable haunt, his immaterial figure isn’t the only one spotted on the burial grounds. 

Yellow fever is a horrible way to die. The infection spreads through the host’s body, causing cell death, an uncontrollable fever, and liver and kidney failure. The trauma of slowly rotting away would explain some of the anomalies spotted at Huguenot, such as the poor 13-year-old girl who succumbed to the illness. 

Often referred to as Elizabeth, the young girl, like Judge Stickney, appears trapped within the cemetery grounds. Seeking relief from her painful death, she continues to face the natural horrors that befell her body in 1821.

There are other iterations that state Elizabeth was the daughter of a Spanish guard. How she died or why she would be anchored to the Huguenot Cemetery remains untold. Whatever truth binds her to our realm, she has seen no respite from her untimely demise.

Visit Haunted St. Augustine

Being among the oldest cities in the United States, it comes as no surprise that St. Augustine is as haunted. From its famed lighthouse to the specters roaming the Huguenot Cemetery, the city uniquely attracts those looking to connect with entities from the other side.

A ghost tour of St. Augustine is the best way to explore the haunts that manifest in the historic cemetery, including Judge Stickney and poor Elizabeth. It may even uncover more specters waiting for their stories to be told. 

Book your St. Augustine ghost tour with Old City Ghosts today, and prepare yourself to walk the line that divides our realm from that of the dead. Brush up on your haunted St. Augustine history by checking out our blog and following us on Facebook, TikTok, and Instagram.

Source:

• https://www.staugustine.com/story/news/history/2021/07/18/order-control-epidemic-among-first-decrees-american-florida-susan-parker-column/7995966002
• https://www.americanhistorycentral.com/entries/adams-onis-treaty-1819/
• https://www.staugustine.com/story/news/local/2020/04/11/susan-parker-st-augustines-history-full-of-epidemics/1371026007
• http://www.tolomatocemetery.com/
• https://www.haunted-places-to-go.com/haunted-st-augustine.html