Citizens of Albany, Children of God

These are the stories of Moses Washington and Parcella Post. They are buried in Graceland Cemetery. The circumstances surrounding both of their deaths remains a mystery.

On November 22, 1922 a dark headed, teenage girl brought a package to the Post Office to be mailed. The destination was close and the postal worker asked her why not just walk it there. She said she was in a hurry and it was just some laundry. The package was delivered to A. B. Kiernan, an undertaker. Upon opening the package, Mr. Kiernan and his wife found a dead newborn and a $5.00 bill. It was a girl, approximately three days old. An autopsy showed the child had been born healthy but was smothered to death, probably by a pillow. The Times Union reported on November 23, 1922 that "The tenderest treatment is being afforded this tiny atom of humanity. It's little body reposes in a tiny white casket especially made by Mr. Kiernan and the wee form is clothed in immaculate white, which Mrs. Kiernan made with her own hands for this forsaken and cruelly murdered baby." Given the baby's unknown identity and the need for a name on the gravestone, the City Coroner, John Mullen named her Parcella Post, for the way the baby had been delivered to the funeral home. No identity was ever found for the little girl. In 1965 a car drove into the Graceland and asked where her stone was. They left flowers on the gravesite, but no one thought to question the occupants in the car until after they were gone. People still adorn her grave site with toys, flowers and notes. Currently a faded blue bag hangs from the top of the mostly illegible headstone. If she were alive today, she would be 88 years old. What would she have done with her life?

Moses Washington was found in a flower bed at the base of the Moses Statue in Washington Park on September 7, 1997. He was 12 hours old and was found swaddled in a burned pillowcase. The baby's back was also burned. Moses was 9lbs, 3oz and was alive at birth. The Albany Police never located his mother or family and the case is still open. There was no cause of death found. The Capital District Funeral Directors Association paid for the burial. Ben was just a baby at the time, but we attended the Graveside Service. I don't remember much about it except it was a sunny morning, there was a large police presence and Ben was fascinated by the police horses. The baby was named Moses Washington for the location where his body was found. Last week when I went to the Grave site to take a picture, the stone had rosary beads wrapped around the lamb on top of the stone and a plastic toy car at the base. Both looked weathered, dirty and had been there a while. The police no longer monitor the grave looking for family members. His stone is about ten feet in front of Parcella's. The inscription is still legible, but if you didn't know where to look for the site, it would be easy to miss. If alive today, he would be in 8Th grade.

So why is it so important to still remember them? Because just like their graves, if you don't want to see suffering, struggling children, you won't. Most of us do not notice how many at risk children there are in the city. When a child gets shot and killed on the South End it makes all the news, but when a child goes hungry or is homeless, we don't see it unless we look. There are many children in the city that need our help. It's still pertinent, because those two babies died on the city's watch, and there are many more that need help. We can't keep failing our children and we can't continue to not notice.

This post is the first of several about homeless, at risk,and forgotten children in Albany. It is not meant to judge, but to enlighten us and possibly inspire us to help.