USA > Massachusetts > Suffolk County > Boston > Historical sketch and matters appertaining to the Copp's Hill Burial-Ground > Part 1
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Gc 974.402 B65bc 1419145
M. L.
GENEALOGY COLLECTION
Ex Libris CHARLES KNOWLES BOLTON ETHEL STANWOOD BOLTON
We grew beneath Tom Bewick's hands : But now, dear Reader, we do grace The antient mansion house that stands In Shirley town at Pound Hill Place.
ALLEN COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY 3 1833 00084 0899
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HISTORICAL SKETCH AND
MATTERS APPERTAINING
TO THE
COPP'S HILL BURIAL-GROUND.
HISTORICAL SKETCH
AND
MATTERS APPERTAINING
TO THE
COPP'S HILL BURIAL-GROUND
SIT DEU
SICUT
NOBIS
CIVIT
BOSTONIA CONDITA D. 1630.
AD.1822.
IM
D
Published by the Cemetery Department of the City of Boston
TRUSTEES
J. ALBERT BRACKETT, Chairman
JACOB MORSE
ALBERT W. HERSEY
WILLIAM J. FALLON
FREDERICK E. ATTEAUX
ALBERT E. SMITH. Secretary
BOSTON MUNICIPAL PRINTING OFFICE
1901
ATTO PRIMING TRADES UNION LABEL COUNCIL
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1419145
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HULL STREET ENTRANCE, COPP'S HILL BURIAL-GROUND
HISTORY OF COPP'S HILL.
In early days the well to do of Boston dwelt largely in the North End, a very pleasant and convenient part of the peninsula. Until the time just succeeding the Revolution, the North End retained its social prominence; then the notables and fashionables began to leave it. It was quite natural, there- fore, in accordance with the custom of the time, that the town should early provide a burial-ground in this comparatively well settled section. In 1659 there was bought a lot of land on the summit of Copp's Hill, which formed the nucleus of the present cemetery.
Copp's Hill was an eminently suitable spot for the purpose. Although lower than Beacon Hill and Fort Hill, it was scarcely less commanding and seemed, equally a topographical feature. The rectangular plateau on the summit easily lent itself to burial needs. Wood, among the first travellers to record his impressions of Boston, says in his "New England Prospect" (London, 1634) : " On the North side is another Hill, equall in bignesse (to Fort Hill), whereon stands a Winde-mill."
This was the first windmill erected in the colony. These old windmills, in the days when corn was legal tender, were useful servants to the community and were a feature of the landscape. Winthrop records a mill built on Windmill Point in 1636, and three others were put up by 1650. After Boston had become a city, the two last surviving windmills still stood on Windmill Point. On July 31, 1643, the town granted Henry Simons, John Button and others all the land between the Town Cove and the marshes beyond, on condition that they erect " one or more corne mills, and maynteyne the same forever." The " south " and "north " mills were accordingly constructed on the shore of the Mill Pond; and others gradually followed, including later a sawmill and a chocolate mill.
During the first century of its existence the burial ground was called the North Cemetery, this name giving way to that of the hill itself. On the hill, in turn, three names were succes- sively bestowed.
At first it was generally known as the Mill Hill, and the entire district about the hill was also known as the " Mylne Field " or " Mill-field," being frequently so named in grants and conveyances of land. The early settlers in Watertown had there built a windmill ; and Governor Winthrop notes in his diary that on August 14, 1632, "the windmill was brought downe to Boston, because (where it stoode neere Newtown)
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it would not grind but with a westerly winde." It was set up on the summit of Copp's Hill, where for years it ground corn for the settlers and served as a landmark to skippers working into the harbor. The windmill also gave its name to "ye Mylne Field."
As the old windmill thus lost its uniqueness, the name it had given the north hill also lost its hold, being supplanted by that of "Snow Hill." This title is now kept only in Snowhill street near by. The name may be due to the drifts that succes- sive northeasters left piled upon the hill late into the spring, but is more probably derived from a certain Snow Hill street in London.
In its turn this second name gave way to Copp's Hill, so called after William Copp, who from about the time of the settlement owned and dwelt upon a half-acre lot on the south- east corner, near Prince street. The possessions of William Copp, who was a worthy shoemaker and an elder in Dr. Mather's Church, as set forth in the Boston Book of Posses- sions, were : "One house & lott of halfe an Acre in the Mill field bounded with Thomas Buttolph southeast : John Button northeast : the marsh on the southwest: & the River on the Northwest." The date of this change in name is not precisely known. Some of the maps made at the time of the Revolution have the name Copp's Hill attached to that part of the hill north-west of Snowhill street, where Copp dwelt.
The present aspect of Copp's Hill and its surroundings differs considerably from that of the early days. Like the other two hills, Copp's Hill was quite bare, there being scarcely a tree on the peninsula. Dr. Snow, in his history of Boston, gives the following description of the hill as it appeared in the early days : "The hill at the north, rising to the height of about fifty feet above the sea, presented then on its north-west brow an abrupt declivity, long after known as Copp's Hill steeps. Its summit, almost level, extended between Prince and Charter streets towards Christ Church ; thence south a gentle slope led to the water, which washed the south side of Prince street below, and the north side above Thacher street as far as Salem ; eastward from the church, a gradual ascent led to the North Battery, which was considered the bottom of the hill. South- easterly the slope was still more gradual, and terminated at the foot of North square, leaving a knoll on the right, where at present stands the meeting-house of the Second Church."
"On the southerly slope of this hill," says Dr. Shurtleff in his "Topographical Description of Boston," "was Stanley's pasture, extending to Hanover street, and covering the large tract of land lying between Prince and Charter streets, the westerly end of Bennet street at its junction with Salem street being the centre of the lot." The owner, a tailor, who died in March, 1646, deserves to be remembered as the first person to bequeath the town property for the support of public schools,
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CHARTER STREET SIDE, COPP'S HILL BURIAL-GROUND.
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one of the items of his will reading, " I give to the maintenance of the free-schools of Boston a parcell of land lying neere to the waterside & foure roads in length backward."
In the early days, Copp's Ilill and the land around its base were formed almost into an island by the two coves running up into the peninsula, - Mill Cove or Pond, or North Cove, as it was first called, on the north, and Town Cove on the south. The North Cove stretched over to the point extending north-west from the Tramount, or Beacon Hill, and high tides often swept over the intervening lowlands. The Town Cove, on the other side, reached inland almost to the foot of Brattle street.
At the foot of the headland was a small stretch of beach, where Commercial street (formerly Lynn street) now runs, the material for the street being taken from the summit of the hill, where Snowhill street was cut across.
Three of the half-dozen points then prominent in the shore line were grouped in the Copp's Hill promontory. Where the gasometer now stands, Windmill, later Wheeler's Point, pro- jected. At the junction of Charter and Commercial streets was " Ye Mylne Point," so called in 1635, and later known as Hud- son's Point, whence Francis Hudson, the fisherman who became a ferry-man, ran his ferry to Charlestown and Chelsea. Merry's Point, whereon the famous North Battery was built, was situ- ated between the Winnisimmet Ferry and Battery Wharf, and was so called after Walter Merry, the first Boston shipwright, who there built his wharf a few years after the settlement.
Around these points gradually grew up a considerable ship- wrighting industry, many grants to " wharf out " being recorded by 1660. Most notable of the shipyards was that of Joshua Gee, as prominent a ship-builder in his day as later was "Billy" Gray. In 1698 Governor Bellomont said that Boston owned 194 good ships, or more than were possessed by all Scotland and Ireland.
A great change in the surroundings of Copp's Hill was inau- gurated by the chartering on March 9, 1804, of the Boston Mill Corporation, successors to Simons, Button, and others, for the purpose of filling up the Mill Pond. After 25 years' work, an area of 70 acres was thus added to the town. Beacon Hill was mainly resorted to for filling, but beginning with 1806 earth was also taken during several years from Copp's Hill, lowering its height about seven feet.
At the north-eastern base of the hill dwelt Boston's first col- ored colony, then called " New Guinea." Inland, as far as the neek crossed by the Mill Creek, ran the quaint, garden- fringed streets of the old North End, the good end of the town. It was then of limited area, containing, according to Shurtleff, but 680 houses at the beginning of its social decay at the end of the Revolution, and measuring but 803 yards in length and 726 yards in breadth. From this territory, during a century and a half, eame most of the tenants of Copp's Hill.
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The cemetery itself comprises four successively acquired parcels of land and is the largest in the City proper, the total area aggregating 88,800 square feet, or about two acres. It lies to-day between Hull, Snowhill, and Charter streets, the exact boundaries being as follows: On the north-east, about 314 feet by Charter street ; on the north-west, about 324 feet by Snowhill street, above which the cemetery rises twenty feet, being sup- ported by a granite wall; on the south-west, about 330 feet by Hull street; on the north-east again by Marshall place, about 120 feet by Marshall place and about 127 feet by private prop- erty ; and on the south-east, about 123 feet by private property and the Hull-street Primary School.
The land for the North Burying-Ground was purchased of John Baker and Daniel Turell, and in 1735 the transaction is recorded as follows, under date of February 20, 1659, in the Suffolk Deeds, lib. 53, fol. 153: "John Baker and Daniel Turell, sell to the Selectmen of Boston, a lot of land, 294 feet on the northerly side, 252 feet on the southerly side ; in breadth on the easterly end 126 feet. Butting on the way that leadeth from the new meeting-house in Boston towards Charlestown Ferry, on the north ; on the land of William Phillips, southerly; on the land of John Baker and Daniel Turell, easterly; and on the way that leadeth from Senter haven to Charlestown Ferry, westerly."
The North Burying-Ground is thus second in point of time to King's Chapel, although the Granary is practically contem- poraneous with it. Concerning the piece of land that had been bought, the town passed the following order November 5, 1660 : " Itt is ordered that the old burying place shall bee wholly deserted for some convenient season, and the new places ap- pointed for burying onely be made use of." The only entrance at the time was, from Charter street until the next addition was made, forty years later.
By the beginning of the eighteenth century, enlargement had become necessary, but, as was usual with the town cemeteries, was effected only with difficulty and when it could no longer be postponed by overcrowding the existing space. The town had voted for enlargement some time before it was accomplished, appointing a committee which seems rather to have neglected its duty. It was discharged and another appointed, consisting of Hon. Thomas Hutchinson, Timothy Thornton, and Edward Martyn, by whom the necessary land was promptly purchased, Jannary 7, 1708. It was sold to the town by Judge Samuel Sewall and his wife Hannah, and formed a corresponding section to the old ground on the south-west, fronting on Hull street. It was part of the pasture which Mrs. Sewall had inherited from her father, John Hull, master of the mint. The deed is dated December 17, 1711 (Suffolk Deeds, lib. 26, fol. 97). The tract thus added was nearly square in shape and on three sides was bounded by streets. It was included in the old
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CHARTER STREET SIDE COPP S HILL BURIAL-GRCUND.
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North Burying-Ground. The principal path on the east hill, east of the tool house and parallel to Charter street, follows approximately the boundary separating the Sewall purchase from the original burial-ground.
The traet long known as the New North Burying-Ground, and now called simply the Small Ground, was added by pur- chase in 1809. The deed is recorded as follows under date of December 18, 1809: "For $10,000, Benjamin Weld, and his wife Nabby, sold to the Town of Boston a parcel of land, bounded south-west on Hull street 148 feet ; north-west on the burial-ground, 148 feet and 6 inches; north-east on land of Goodwin and others, 153 feet; south-east on land of Jonathan Merry, 123 feet; being land conveyed to Weld by Merry, October 21, 1809, recorded lib. 230, fol. 191."
This lot also is nearly square and somewhat less than one- half the size of the old yard. It comprised part of Jonathan Merry's pasture, Merry selling it to Mr. Weld, who disposed of it to the town. It was long known as the New North Burying- Ground, and is now called the Small Ground.
In 1814 Hon. Charles Wells, later mayor of Boston, built 52 tombs around the sides of this enclosure; and in 1827 Edward Bell built 15 more on the site of the old gun-house of the Columbian artillery. The new ground was laid out sym- metrically in tiers and several bodies were interred in each grave. The first interment was that of John Richardson, July 6, 1810, who had been drowned a few days before.
Again, in 1819, Hon. Charles Wells became the owner of a small tract, usually called the Charter Street Burying-Ground, between the old and new grounds and Marshall place and fronting on Charter street. The purchase is recorded as fol- lows in Suffolk Deeds, lib. 262, fol. 296: " June 3, 1819, John Bishop, of Medford, sold to Charles Wells, for $1,051.30, land in Charter street, bounded north-east on said street 20 feet ; north-easterly on the burying-ground 20 feet wide; then con- tinuing westerly, 70 feet on the burying-ground 20 feet wide; then continuing 50 feet more, 28 feet wide ; south-west 28 feet on land formerly of Dr. Wm. Clark, but now a burying-ground ; then south-east 50 feet, 28 feet wide, then continuing 70 feet more 20 feet wide, on land formerly owned by William Fowle ; being the land which Stephen Gorham, as administrator of Nathaniel Holmes, sold to said Bishop, December 14, 1791, recorded lib. 184, fol. 59."
This small lot Mr. Wells had fenced in and upon it, with the consent of the town, he erected 34 tombs. The intervening fence was later removed, and the yard became part of the old cemetery.
In 1832 a final purchase was made by Mr. Jacob Hall and others of a strip of land adjoining the north-western side of the old burial-ground, which was given the title of " Hull- Street Cemetery." In 1853 this section was discontinued and
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the bodies it contained removed to Mt. Hope in February, 1861. This strip was on the present site of the gasometer and con- tained several rows of tombs. The proprietors at the same time relinquished certain rights of way to that part of Snow- hill street from Hull to Charter street, which had been merely a private foot-passage, and the City agreed to maintain here a public walk 33 feet wide.
A similar private burial-ground of much more ancient date and of smaller extent is still kept intact in the very centre of the cemetery. Judge Sewall and his wife on January 7, 1708, sold to Joshua Gee, the noted ship-builder, a small portion of their pasture "one rodd square, in consideration of two and thirty shillings paid them, being part of their pasture adjoin- ing to the north burying-place, in which parcel of ground Mrs. Mary Thacher now lyeth buried; bounded northerly by the said burying-ground and on all other sides by the land of the said Samuel and Hannah Sewall, with no right of way except through the old burying-place." Mr. Gee bought it at the urging of his wife, who did not care to be buried among the common multitude. The only restriction was that he should maintain one-half the fence. The Mrs. Thacher who lay buried therein was the wife of Judah Thacher of Yarmouth, and had died November 30, 1708, aged 68. Her gravestone is standing in the north-east corner of the little plot.
This enclosure later became the property of Deacon Moses Grant, one of the leaders of the Boston Tea Party. It is yet held in the family, being in possession of the heirs of the late Moses Grant, the temperance lecturer, and contains the remains of three generations. The spot is still private property, quite exempt from control of the cemetery authorities.
By 1840 burials on Copp's Hill had become comparatively infrequent, and there was no further need of expansion. Beside the changes during 180 years, there were minor alterations in the appearance of the cemetery.
When Snowhill street was cut through the edge of the old bluff and extended northerly to Charter street it encountered a row of old tombs, having a walk leading from end to end, with steps at each extremity. The entrances to these tombs and the tablets thereon were transferred within the fence. About 1837 the whole western slope beyond Snowhill street was dug away and the existing heavy granite wall erected to . protect the cemetery.
During the period from the Revolution to 1830 the cemetery began to be neglected, until on May 27, 1833, the City appro- priated $50 for the purchase of trees to ornament the grounds. To-day there are almost 200 trees in the cemetery. New walks were laid out in 1838, and many stones were then or since removed or altered in position with the same mistaken efforts at symmetry that have been remarked in the case of King's Chapel.
COPP S HILL BURIAL-GROUND. (NEW PART )
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By 1878 the hill had again fallen into decay, and become sub- jeet to all kinds of depredations. In that year the Board of Health appointed the present superintendent, Mr. E. MacDonald, by whose care the neglected tombs and paths have been re- stored to orderliness and many lost tombstones recovered.
Two hundred and twenty-seven tombs are contained within the cemetery. Two of the number belong to the City, one for adults near Charter street, and one for children near Hull street, built in June, 1833. Nearby is a large tomb, set aside about 1840 for mariners. The oldest tombs were built in 1717, shortly after the Sewall purchase, and front on Hull street. In 1722 a new range of tombs, running north, was started at the south-east corner on Hull street. The seleetmen's records down to 1806 contain numerous grants of permission to erect tombs, almost invariably with the provision that " the brick wall thereof be carried up so as to be a sufficient fence." In 1805 were con- structed the tombs on Snowhill street, and in 1807 those front- ing on Charter street. We have already recorded the later erection of tombs in 1814, 1819, 1827, and 1832. The latter date practically ends the growth of the cemetery.
During the century to 1760, it is estimated that one-fourth the population of the town was buried on Copp's Hill. The de- eaying stones form a rude epitome of most of the North End's history.
That part of the cemetery near Snowhill street was at first reserved for slaves and freedmen. The remainder contains gen- erations of the old North Enders, some of them famous in local history, others simple folk who have left merely a name.
The date of the first interment is unknown, although probably occurring around 1660, and there is some doubt as to the iden- tity of the oldest stone. Apparently it is that erected to the memory of Grace Berry, wife of Thomas Berry, who, according to the inscription, died May 17, 1625, or five years before Boston was settled. The stone is of old Welsh slate, well preserved and with the carving quite distinct ; the edges are ornamented with curves and at the top are carved two cherubs and the angel of death. There is also ent a shield, without quartering of arms. The marks of British bullets are visible, this stone, like many others on the hill, having been a target for the British soldiers during the siege of Boston.
It has generally been held that the true date on the Grace Berry stone is 1695, a boyish freak of Mr. George Darracott having led him to change the figure 9 with his jaek knife into the figure 2; in the same fashion the date on the stone of John Thwing in King's Chapel was altered from 1690 to 1620. In like manner the dates upon the stones of John White and of Joanna, the six-months-old daughter of William and Anne Copp, has been altered to 1625, and that of Abigail Everden's death to 1626. Like vandalism is evident in the old Charlestown ceme- tery.
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Custodian MacDonald, however, accepts the date of 1625, and supposes the stone one of the oldest in New England. He relates a visit to Copp's Hill, in July, 1878, of an old gentleman from the West, who produced a memorandum book, yellow with age, on the first page of which was a facsimile drawing of the stone with the coat of arms (without the bullet marks). On the first two pages was a footnote stating that the stone, together with the remains of Mrs. Berry, had been removed from Plym- outh in 1659. "No record of Grace Berry's death can be found at City Hall. - MACDONALD."
There is little likelihood that the trouble would be taken, in the early days of perilous traveling, to transport the remains of a person of no particular note over the long journey from Plym- outh to Boston, and at a date 35 years after interment. Beyond this, moreover, the fact is that Grace Berry, who was the daughter of Major John Jayman, a rope-maker, was living in the flesh with her husband, Thomas Berry, in their house near the Ship Tavern, at the junction of Ship (North) and Clark streets, very many years after her reputed death in 1625.
The oldest stone, accordingly, is one bearing the date of 1661, which was found buried beneath the surface in 1878. It stands near the Shaw monument, and preserves the memory of the grandchildren of William Copp in the following inscrip- tion :
DAVID SON TO DAVID COPP & OBEDIENCE HIS COPP & OBEDIENCE HIS WIFE AGED 2 YEARS & 3 QUARTERS DYED JULY YE 25 1678
WIFE AGED 2 WEEKS DYED DEC 22 1661
THOMAS, SON TO DAVID
Near the centre of the yard is erected the stone commemorat- ing the Kind children, long supposed the oldest stone, but really second in point of age by some six months. It was dug up in the 40's by Mr. Glidden, and reads :
MARY KIND WILLIAM KIND AGED AGED ABOUT 1 YEAR DYED
DIED YE 15 OF AUGUST YE 14 OF FEBRUARY
1662 1666
THE CHILDREN OF ARTHUR AND JANE KIND.
William Copp, who gave his name to the hill, is buried in the cemetery, but no stone to his memory is now extant, and not · much is known of him. In his will, dated Oct. 31, 1662, and proved April 27, 1670, made after he had become "sick and weak," he terms himself a cordwainer, or shoemaker, by trade, and leaves his property to his wife "Goodeth," or Judith. The inventory shows property of the respectable sum for those days of almost £110, including houses, outhouses, orchard, garden and land, to the value of £80.
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The stone erected in memory of his wife Judith may be found in the northern part of the yard, between the Shaw monument and the Grant tomb. It is small in size, and extends but a few inches above the ground.
Many of the name of Copp were buried here. Beside that of little Joanna Copp, however, and the two grandchildren men- tioned above, only eight stones still remain. David Copp was the most notable member of the family. He was an elder in Cotton Mather's Church, and of considerable prominence in the North End, dwelling in a brick house at the head of Hull street. He died November 20, 1713, aged 78. Amy, his second wife, died November 28, 1718, at the age of 82. The stone is left standing to record the name of his first wife, who was Obedience Topliff. At his funeral Judge Sewall notes that there was present a distinguished company, with "a pretty many Men, but few Women."
The Colony records show that William Copp was made a Freeman on June 2, 1641, and David on October 11, 1670. The other children of William Copp are recorded as follows : Jonathan, born August 23, 1640; Rebecca, May 6, 1641, and Ruth, September 24, 1643. In later days the Copp family removed to Connecticut.
A long list might be made of the tenants of Copp's Hill who possess claim to mention, as being at least of local note - divines, scholars, and patriots.
Doubtless the most famous tomb in the yard is that near the Charter-street gate, containing the remains of the Mathers, In- crease, Cotton and Samuel - the " Mather dynasty," comprising three generations of divines. The tomb is of brick, plainly built, and is surrounded by iron railings. A great slab of brownstone forms the lid, in which are set two squares of slate, of different dates. On the more ancient, in almost illegible let- tering, is carved the following inscription :
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