A forgotten mystery in St. Nicholas Cemetery

When I stopped at St Nicholas Russian Cemetery in the town of Aurelius, New York while scouting for places to shoot, I never dreamed I'd find monuments with inlaid photos and so many of them. I had never seen photos on stones before and I had to do a double-take before I became giddy with excitement at this discovery.

Bendali Dacy, Matilda Dacy and Basil Attal.

A story has slowly developed from my photos. As I looked at the faces, the dates, I knew I wanted to know about them. Why did they die the same year? Why were they all buried together? How were they related? Then someone on my Facebook site said "Hmm... 1925... Short hair... long beads... How DID Matilda die, anyway?" and regarding Bendali - "They died the same year? Siblings, or spouses? I don't mean to keep thinking up racy endings for dead people, but here we have two handsome young people with the same surname who died the same year. My over-active writer's mind is all a-tingle." Mine too! I had a mystery to solve - a long forgotten one that sat quietly in this old cemetery with just these stones as clues, teasing...waiting... for someone to find it. That someone was me.

Timeline of a Tragedy

• On November 4th, 1925 Matilda Dacy, 20 years old becomes ill.
  
  
• November 5th - one day later, Basil Attal, aged 57, who lives on a floor below Miss Dacy, also becomes ill.
   
• Matilda dies on Monday, November 9 - 4 days after becoming ill.
  
  
• On Tuesday, November 10, two more become critically ill - Bendali (Benjamin) Dacy, 25, the brother of Matilda Dacy, and Bertha, 9, daughter of Basil Attal. They enter the hospital with the same symptoms as the others which resemble typhoid - pains in the stomach and high fevers. Late arising symptoms leave the doctor attending to them unable to diagnose their illness.
  
  
• On Wednesday, November 11, 1925, Basil dies. An autopsy is ordered.
  
  
• November 12. The autopsy is inconclusive, but they know it is not Typhoid. An exhumation of Matilda is considered.
  
  
• On Sunday, November 15th, Bendali Dacy dies. Bertha Attal recovers slowly.
  

After a thorough investigation, it is found that the illness was caused from eating undercooked pork. All lived in the same building and had eaten the same sausage. Trichinosis.

Bendali and Matilda, brother and sister, children of Constantin Dacy (whose stone also had a photo) and Basil Attal,  dead from undercooked meat. All buried together as a family. I picture them - close-knit eastern European families from the building getting together as they had done a dozen times before - having a friendly, communal dinner...it turns out...their last.

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Matilda Dacy

Bendali Dacy

Basil Attal

**Special thanks to Old Fulton NY Postcards where I found all the newspapers. Without them there would be no story here.