Queer Places:
48 Morton Street, 10014, NYC, NY, USA
Bellefontaine Cemetery, 4947 W Florissant Ave, St. Louis, MO 63115
David Kammerer (September 2, 1911 – August 14, 1944) was a Beat Generation figure. Kammerer's death was
one of the most gruesome historical milestones in the history of the Beat
Generation. He was stabbed to death with a Boy Scout knife by his friend
Lucien Carr. After stabbing him twice, Carr disposed of the body by weighting
it down with rocks and pushing it into the Hudson River. The following day, he
disposed of the knife by throwing it into a sewer and buried Kammerer's
eyeglasses in Morningside Park.
According to Carr, Kammerer had made unwanted
sexual advances towards him. The relationship between the two had begun five
years earlier in St. Louis when Kammerer led a group of Boy Scouts on weekly
nature walks. He became infatuated with the young Boy Scout Carr. When Carr
went to New York to attend Columbia University, Kammerer followed him. While
in New York, Kammerer lived near another Beat Generation figure,
William
Burroughs, who also knew Carr. As part of the St. Louis contingent, Kammerer
became associated with the early members of the Beat Generation such as
Jack Kerouac,
Allen Ginsberg and
Herbert Huncke.
On the night of Kammerer's death,
Carr was drinking with friends (including Kerouac and Ginsberg). Kammerer went
to the bar to see Carr and they left together early in the morning. That was
the last time anyone saw David Kammerer alive. After disposing of the body,
Carr went to Burroughs' apartment. He advised Carr to get a lawyer and turn
himself in to the police. Instead, Carr went to see Jack Kerouac and they
spent the next day disposing of the knife and Kammerer's glasses. On the
following day, Carr turned himself in to the police. Carr confessed to the
crime and was held without bail. He later pleaded "guilty" to manslaughter and
was sentenced to two years detention at the Elmira Reformatory. Kerouac,
Burroughs and Ginsberg all later wrote about this tragedy.
48 Morton Street
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White Horse Tavern, New York City
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- https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/8300045/david-eames-kammerer