2,973 Confederate soldiers who died at the Elmira prison camp are buried here in rows documented by John W. Jones — a man who had escaped slavery in Virginia and, as cemetery sexton, kept records so precise only seven of the nearly 3,000 dead are unknown.
1825 Davis St, Elmira, NY 14901
Research updated June 2026
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Free; national cemetery with open public access during daylight hours.
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Flat national cemetery grounds with paved roads; some sections accessible by car
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Est. 1864 · 2,973 Confederate POWs from Elmira Prison Camp Interred Here · John W. Jones (formerly enslaved) Kept Meticulous Burial Records · Only 7 of Nearly 3,000 Burials Are Unknown · National Cemetery Maintained by Department of Veterans Affairs · Jones Himself Buried at Woodlawn
The Elmira prison camp, which operated from July 1864 to July 1865, confined over 12,000 Confederate prisoners of war on a 40-acre site along the Chemung River. Overcrowding, contaminated water, inadequate shelter, and below-standard rations produced a mortality rate approaching 25 percent — 2,973 men died within the camp's single year of operation. Survivors called it 'Hellmira.'
As each prisoner died, the body was transported from the camp to Woodlawn Cemetery on the east side of Elmira. John W. Jones, the cemetery sexton, received every corpse and recorded in meticulous handwritten ledgers the name, unit, date of death, and burial location of each man. Jones had been born into slavery in Leesburg, Virginia and escaped in 1844, making his way north via the Underground Railroad to Elmira, where he became an active conductor helping other freedom-seekers north. He took the job of cemetery sexton in 1852 and held it for decades.
Union policy at the time provided no formal mechanism for tracking Confederate dead. Jones kept the records entirely through his own initiative. His ledgers survive and have allowed researchers, descendants, and the Department of Veterans Affairs to account for 2,966 of the 2,973 burials — an accuracy rate extraordinary by any standard of the period. The Department of Veterans Affairs maintains Woodlawn National Cemetery today; the Confederate section is clearly marked and accessible to visitors.
John W. Jones died in 1900 and is buried at Woodlawn. An interpretive marker at the cemetery and materials at the Elmira Civil War Round Table site document his role. A marker from the VA's interpretive sign program specifically documents the Confederate burials and Jones's record-keeping. The nearby Elmira Civil War Prison Camp site at 645 Winsor Avenue (the Hellmira museum) provides the complementary history of the camp itself.
Sources
The Confederate section of Woodlawn National Cemetery draws a particular kind of visitor attention given the density of its history: 2,973 men, buried in rows documented by a formerly enslaved sexton, in a northern city that still carries the memory of 'Hellmira.' The emotional weight of the place generates a specific set of atmospheric accounts.
Regional paranormal sources document cold spots throughout the Confederate burial section, described as localized and inconsistent with ambient weather conditions. A figure in period dress — described in at least one account as wearing a gray uniform consistent with Confederate attire — has been reported near the burial rows at dusk, visible at a distance and gone when approached. Visitors describe a consistent feeling of being watched while walking the Confederate section in ways they distinguish from other parts of the cemetery.
Ghost tour operators have included the cemetery in Elmira-area itineraries. The cemetery's combination of mass death, the precise documentation of each man's identity by Jones, and the historical irony of a formerly enslaved man giving Confederate soldiers the dignity of named burial creates a site that registers on visitors in ways that are difficult to disentangle from its documented history.
The cemetery is active and administered by the VA; organized nighttime investigations are not permitted. The accounts here are drawn from regional paranormal media and visitor reviews rather than formal investigations.
Walk the Confederate burial section of Woodlawn National Cemetery, where 2,973 soldiers who died at the Elmira prison camp lie in the rows documented by sexton John W. Jones. Jones's meticulous records — kept at a time when Union policy provided no formal mechanism for recording Confederate dead — mean that only seven of the nearly 3,000 graves are listed as unknown. Jones himself is buried at Woodlawn.
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Aerial survey · USDA NAIPElmira, NY
Woodlawn Cemetery in Elmira is a Victorian civilian cemetery best known as the burial place of Mark Twain (Samuel Clemens) and his family. It is distinct from the adjacent Woodlawn National Cemetery, which holds Confederate prisoners who died at the Elmira prison camp.
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Spring Forest Cemetery opened in 1849 as a park-like rural-movement cemetery in Binghamton. Its iron gates were designed by Binghamton architect Isaac Perry, who is also buried on the grounds. Interments include Binghamton founder Joshua Whitney, numerous Civil War veterans, and Medal of Honor recipient General John C. Robinson.
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