What happened to Americans who died building the Panama Canal?

Question

Brief story: My half great-great uncle went to San Juan del Norte, Nicaragua, Jan 8, 1892, presumably to help build the Nicaragua Canal, which never materialized. I have his emergency passport application dated March 29, 1902, in which he said he would return to the US in 3 years. I assume he went to work on the Panama Canal. I have nothing after that on him and he was not buried in Ogdensburg, NY with his mother and siblings.

There is a ton of info on the web, too much for me to wade through right now. Has anyone researched this and found out what would have happened to Americans who died while building the Panama Canal, or Americans temporarily residing in Nicaragua?

After five years of looking for him, I finally found out today where he was then because Ancestry.com just released US Passport Applications this morning. So you can imagine how happy I am to have broken this brick wall, but now have another.

His name was Emery Leveille but he changed it to Emery Lowery. B. 8/1861 NY

Answer 1

I don't know if this will help, but there appear to be 2 major cemeteries with American remains in the Canal Zone. I do not know if this includes the very early 20th century or not. They seem to have some burials for Spanish-American War soldiers, though.

Go to: http://www.thepanamanews.com/pn/v_12/issue_10/letters_01.html

"To find out if an ancestor or loved one is buried in the American part of the Corozal Cemetery, go to http://www.abmc.gov/cemeteries/cemeteries/cz.php and click on the information link. The American cemetery maintains a list of people buried there, which is not online but which the folks at the commission that maintains the site will consult if you contact them by email or phone. If the person for whom you are looking for is in the American cemetery, you can be confident that the grave will be maintained and won't be dug up."

Read about the Corozal Cemetery and the Mount Hope (Monte Esperanza) Cemetery on the first website address given above. (There was/is, also, an Ancon Cemetery which seems to have been the first one - http://www.czbrats.com/Builders/FRCanal/frenchera.htm - look at photos toward the bottom of this site.)There is contact info. and if the person answering the phone can't find your relative maybe he/she can direct you to a better source for locating burials at the time of the buildng of the canal itself.

I do remember reading that one of the doctors? and his wife had coffins built and brought with them when they went to Panama to help on the canal. I guess they were thinking ahead.

If he did become ill in Panama, this is what the procedures were... http://www.czbrats.com/Builders/FRCanal/failure.htm
Scroll down "The Sick Poorly Cared For" - very brief excerpt...."A large proportion of the sick did not enter the hospitals, as the contractors were charged one dollar a day for skilled medical treatment of employees."

Answer 2

in 1892 the French were doing the building and didn't really know what they were doing. Thousands of people died of malaria and yellow fever at that time. I would assume they would bury them somewhere in Panama because of the threat of passing on the diseases. Then in 1904 the US took over after the row with Colombia and started working on it. The reason they decided against Nicaragua was because a man (can't remember his name) lobbied against it because he said there was an active volcano there and too dangerous. Possibly somewhere they have a listing of names of people who died there, but I wouldn't hold out for it because back then they really didn't have good records.

Answer 3

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