USA > Massachusetts > Suffolk County > Roxbury > Forest Hills cemetery: its establishment, progress, scenery, monuments, etc. > Part 10
USA > Massachusetts > Suffolk County > Boston > Forest Hills cemetery: its establishment, progress, scenery, monuments, etc > Part 10
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As late therefore as 1812, and after the expi- ration of eight years from the foundation of the cemetery, only about one hundred monuments had been reared; but the following year an ardent zeal began to be evinced for venerating the mem- ory of departed friends in the night of the tomb. The commanding site of Pere la Chaise, and the natural advantages which it combined, with the salutary measures and great efforts which were made to render it interesting and available for all the purposes for which it had been established, attracted the attention of all ranks of the people. A manufactory of every kind of funereal monu- ments was included within the grounds, which was supplied with granite, marble, freestone and other requisite materials ; the most perfect and admira- ble models, and workmen of the first talent to execute all orders with promptness and skill in the best manner, as well as bronze and iron pal- ings of various beautiful patterns for protecting the sepulchres from outrage. The porter prepar- ed wreaths and crowns, and daily supplied freshly gathered flowers for relatives and friends to de- corate the tombs of the deceased members of their families.
In 1814, the number of monuments was increas- ed to five hundred, and in 1827 there were three
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thousand, and there had been deposited in all the compartments, including that appropriated to those persons who were so poor as not to be able to purchase perpetual graves, one hundred and sixty-six thousand eight hundred bodies.
Marshals Messena, Ney, Lefevre, and other re- nowned military chieftains, who were well known to all Europe by their brilliant achievements, there found the term of their glory, but not of their fame; the companions of their victories were emulous to continue their homage in the eclipse of the sepulchre.
Perpetual tombs having been ultimately forbid- den in the other public and private burial-places in Paris, and the doors of the Pantheon, which had been dedicated for the reception of the ashes of illustrious men, at last closed against the grand dignitaries of a government which no longer cx- isted, the cemetery of Pere la Chaise became the place of rendezvous for all the great and opulent personages of the city; for the distinguished in letters, science and the arts; for men celebrated as active participants in remarkable political events or official stations ; with the successful in the hazardous career of commercial adventure, and all the branches of national industry. The spoils of the dead were there collected, families were re-united, all opinions were confounded, and strangers from all parts of the carth mingled their ashes with those of the inhabitants of France. Each signalized his piety by monuments propor- tioned to his pecuniary means. No one was will- ing to be considered wanting in gratitude, but rather to evince an emulous disposition to present memorials of an elevated conception of duty, and
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a profound respect for his departed kindred. Universal admiration was the natural appendage of good hearts, whose sensibility ceased not to offer a sincere homage to the manes of their friends by embellishing their monuments and crowning them with immortelles .* The multitudc imitated them by cultivating plants on the graves of their relatives, and bringing wreaths and gar- lands from a distance to ornament them. To devote a connection to oblivion became an op- probrium.
In wandering over the grounds of Pere la Chaise, where repose so many persons of all countries in the long sleep of death, may be seen every variety of monument used among all the nations of the earth, from the pyramid raised by Egyptian pride, to the basket of flowers, under which the Turk and the Persian await the moment of being awak- ened to everlasting life. Near each other are beheld the sarcophagus of the Thebans, the stele and cenotaphs of the Greeks, the antique bourn of the Romans, the mausoleums of Asia Minor, the columbariums of the ancients, mortuary chapels, the architecture of Athens near that of the Arabs, the cinerary urn, the sable wing of the edifices on the banks of the Nile, the reversed flambeaux, the bird of death, crosses of every form, crowns of oak and myrtle, rose-buds, the turf-covered mound at the base of a lofty column, and the humble grave-stone near the marble statue of some illus- trious man.
Foreigners, who beheld this revolution in the customs and manners of a whole people, were
* Peculiar-formed chaplets made of flowers.
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anxious to verify it by visiting Pere la Chaise, and were filled with wonder and admiration on finding in a burial-place, whatever there was in nature which could give satisfaction to the mind, and everything in the arts which could gratify a refined taste, as well as the most impressive les- sons of an exalted appreciation of the dictates of philosophy, religion, morality and patriotism. All extolled it as a phenomenon, and in a few years it not only acquired an European distinction, but became celebrated round the globe.
The admirable example thus presented by France, of an ancient Necropolis,* was soon fol- lowed in England and other portions of Europe, and in 1831 the cemetery of Mount Auburn was consecrated. The cemetery contains one hun- dred and ten acres.
Within the brief period of sixteen years there have been sold 1402 cemetery lots, in which more than three thousand persons have been buried, and upwards of five hundred monuments erected, of the most appropriate forms and materials which ancient and modern artists have devised or employed, from a plain block of granite, bearing merely a name, to the lofty obelisk, sculptured column, richly-embellished marble temple, and colossal bronze statue. A large portion of the burial lots are surrounded with decorated iron fences, and on the borders of them are cultivated trees, shrubs and flower plants.
The land was first enclosed with a wooden fence, but that has been replaced on the whole front by one of iron, of the most substantial and
* City of the Dead.
Q*
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beautiful kind ever built in the United States, and a granite gateway, with a porter's lodge and office annexed, of the Egyptian style of architecture, at an expense of $24,000. A superb Gothic chapel has just been completed, which cost nearly $30,000. In the purchase of the land, laying out the ave- nues and paths, building a cottage for the super- intendent, and all other work, there has been expended about $110,000, and there remains in the treasury about $30,000. There has. besides, been paid to the Horticultural Society $20,000. The whole of the funds to meet this large expend- iture, except donations to the amount of $7,000, have been derived from the sale of burial lots ; and not more than a quarter of the whole number which can be formed, have been disposed of.
All the income derivable from the sale of lots is to be expended upon the cemetery, in the exca- vation of small lakes, the establishment of foun- tains, extending the iron fence on the three other sides of the grounds, the erection of a grand cenotaph to Washington, on the summit of the highest hill, in the form of the Chorogic monu- ment, the Temple of the Winds, or some other celebrated Grecian edifice, and extensive improve- ments both for convenience and embellishment.
Since the cemetery of Mount Auburn was com- menced, like rural cemeteries have been ·estab- lished at Salem, Worcester, Springfield, Philadel- phia, on Long Island, and in many other parts of the Union. Our Committee are of opinion that the period has arrived when Roxbury should hasten to find a burial-place that shall be as cred- itable to the city, as any which have been estab- lished in this country, when the limited means at
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its command, for the accomplishment of such a work, are taken into consideration, with the pres- ent limited amount of population. The Committee, therefore, have made extensive reconnoissances during the past summer, for the purpose of dis- covering a site that would the most perfectly combine all the requisite qualities in natural features, capabilities of improvement, and a cen- tral position, so far as it was possible to do so ; and they confidently believe that they have been fortunate by being able to select a tract of land, which not only includes most of the important elements for the fulfilment of those conditions ; but which can be obtained on terms that may be deemed favorable.
This site is the Seaverns Farm, which fronts on Canterbury street; there is also a small tract of about seven acres that is owned by Dr. Warren, which it is desirable should be obtained, and it is believed ultimately may be, for the purpose of opening an avenue into Walk Hill street. The whole farm contains about eighty-five acres, an outline plan of which, and the adjacent estates in part, accompanies this report, for the purpose of presenting the exact position of the land and its sub-divisions.
The Warren lot, with a portion of the tract which includes about fifty-five acres and is defined in the plan, has been selected for the cemetery. The price demanded is three hundred and fifty dollars per acre, for the payment of which the notes of the city, redeemable in ten years and bearing an interest of six per cent., will be taken ; The Committee therefore recommend that the purchase be immediately made. The remainder
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of the farm, which contains thirty acres, it is con- sidered by several members of the Committee important to purchase; but as it includes the dwelling-house, barns and other edifices, the or- chard, garden, and the most valuable part of the cultivated land, the price asked is six hundred dollars per acre; the Committee, therefore, have not been willing to take the responsibility of urg- ing the purchase, but submit the subject to the deliberation and decision of the City Council.
By the annexed statement it will appear, that if the cemetery should contain sixty-two acres, it will form 6,751 burial lots of 300 square feet each, after deducting one quarter of the land for carriage avenues and footpaths. If, then, one- fourth of the number of lots be sold for fifty dollars, and the remainder at the average price of one hundred dollars, they will produce an in- come of $590,750, which can be gradually appro- priated for the erection of an iron fence, a granite gateway, a chapel, a cottage for the superintend- ent, and other appropriate and necessary struc- tures, and leave a fund, the interest of which will keep the grounds in the best possible condition forever.
Although the cost of the land will amount to about twenty-two thousand dollars, the sale of four hundred and forty lots will afford a sum more than sufficient to liquidate the debt incurred in its purchase, and the income from an annual sale of twenty-seven lots will pay the interest.
Should it be considered expedient to purchase the whole farm, the portion which may be appro- priated for a cemetery could be better located, if not augmented to advantage, and the entrance to
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it from Canterbury street be more conveniently and symmetrically arranged, while the remainder of the land, not included in the cemetery, can be laid out into cottage lots, in such a manner as to render them interesting and valuable as places of residence, from the spacious extent of open grounds in their immediate vicinity, which will be embellished with forest trees, shrubs and flowering plants, and thus rendered an important and diver- sified feature in the surrounding landscape.
Even if the additional land cannot be obtained for less than six hundred dollars per acre, it is highly probable that in less than five years the house-lots can be sold for more than double their cost to the city, if the causes that have so remark- ably tended to increase the business, population, and resources of Boston and the surrounding towns during the last ten years should continue. Three cents per square foot would amount to over thirteen hundred dollars per acre; and it is to be remembered, that all the land in this city must necessarily be enhanced in value, in a ratio equal, at least, to that of the population, com- merce, manufactures, the mechanic arts, and all other branches of industry and trade in the capi- tal of the State.
*
* * *
There can be no danger of erring in our course, for it is only necessary to take a retrospective view of past ages to attain a knowledge of the future, since there, as in a vast mirror, are shad- owed forth "coming events," in all their startling palpability and grandeur. Induction and demon- stration, aided by arithmetical demonstration ; with well-authenticated statistical facts, are the
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ample elements for reducing conjectures to cer- tainty, and changing apparent chimerical predic- tions into veritable prophecy. With such means should we ever endeavor to rightly direct our march in the research for truth and the verifica- tion of fact.
Now is the favorable time to act with prompt- ness, decision and energy, for the benefit of the present and all succeeding generations, and ena- ble all classes of people to indulge in the outpour- ings of their sorrows, and a generous expression of their gratitude and veneration for those who were most beloved and honored upon the earth, by assigning to them a resting-place from all the ills to which man is subjected during the pilgrim- age of life, in the quiet and holy shade of a rural cemetery.
So universal is the inherent desire of an earth- ly immortality, that every human being is anxious to be remembered here, and to have his name perpetuated through all time. To pass from among the living, without the probability of the spot where one is laid being known, or the name ever again repeated-to be forgotten forever, are reflections bordering upon that which the thought of utter annihilation would produce in the mind of the dying, whether virtuous or vicious, rich or poor, debased or exalted, young or old. It is not sufficient that the Son of God has assured us that the soul is immortal; but there is an un- obliterable sentiment, a deep and strong solicitude that our brief and eventful life should be eternally perpetuated among the living; and is it not as much a duty in a parent, child or friend, to aid in the attempt to meet that demand upon their sym-
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pathies and their conscience, as it is productive of moral, religious and patriotic influences ? The scarred and rigid features of the aged Indian chieftain are lighted up with a smile of pride and ambition, in the belief that each passing warrior of his tribe will drop a pebble upon his grave. The expiring mariner is consoled by the assurance that funereal rites will be observed as his lifeless body is plunged into the ocean, and slowly sinks into the abyss of waters. The soldier's last mo- ments of life are cheered by the reflection that he shall be buried with military honors.
Such is human nature; and why should we not follow the dictates of the heart, and act from the impressive teachings of the soul, which are derived from a source far higher and more holy than man can comprehend; yet he doubts not they are as imperative upon him as the precepts and injunc- tions recorded in the sacred scriptures, for they have been written upon the tablets of the mind, and inscribed upon the sanctuary of the heart by the hand of the Almighty.
The pyramids of Gizeh, many of the splendid architectural structures of Athens, the triumphal arches of Rome, the column of Austerlitz in Paris, the obelisk of Bunker Hill, and the colossal statue of Washington in the capital of this republic, are but so many majestic monuments to commemorate the names and services of the distinguished patri- ots of the ages and nations in which they were reared; and may be as appropriately considered funereal as the rudest head-stone that designates the humble grave of " some village Hampden," or that where " some mute, inglorious Milton rests," in the rustic church-yard of his native hamlet.
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Let us then emulate the enlightened and pious, the good and great, the affectionate and generous, the kind and magnanimous of all other nations and ages, that were most distinguished for their advancement in civilization, and enable our fellow- citizens to pay all possible respect and honor to the remains of those whom they loved and revered when living.
H. A. S. DEARBORN, Chairman. City of Roxbury, Sept. 6, 1847.
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STATEMENT OF THE INCOME THAT MAY BE DE- RIVED FROM THE SALE OF CEMETERY LOTS.
There are 43,560 square feet in an acre.
In 62 acres there are · 2,700,720 sq. feet.
Deduct 1-4 for avenues and paths, 675,180 66
Leaving for burial lots, 2,025,540 sq. feet.
Lots 15 by 20 contain 300 square feet each, = 6,751 lots. A quarter of the number, viz., 1,687, being sold at fifty dol- lars each, will yield $84,350. The remaining 5,064 lots, being sold at an average price of one hundred dollars each, will yield $506,400 ; making the total amount for all the lots $590,750. Cost of 62 acres of land at $350 per acre, is $21,700. Interest on the cost of the land $1,302.
The annual sale of 27 lots will pay the interest of the cost of the land. The sale of 440 lots, at fifty dollars each, will pay the cost of the land.
APPENDIX.
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3.
ORDER for the first purchase of the Seaverns land, passed by both branches of the City Council, Nov. 9, 1847.
Ordered, That the joint standing committee on Burial-Grounds be, and they hereby are author- ized to purchase of Joel Seaverns, for a Rural Cemetery, a tract of land called the Seaverns Farm, containing fifty-five acres, more or less, at three hundred and fifty dollars per acre ; and the city treasurer is hereby authorized and required to give the note of the city for the amount of the purchase-money of said land, payable in ten years from the first day of August, A. D. 1847, with in- terest at the rate of six per cent. per annum, pay- able annually.
Ordered, further, That a joint special commit- tee of five be appointed to apply to the General Court, for an amendment to the City Charter, authorizing the city council to choose commis- sioners, or trustees, not exceeding five, who shall have the sole care, superintendence, and manage- ment of said Cemetery, and report thereon, annu- ally, to the city council : one of whom, after five years, shall go out of office each year, and one member of said board of commissioners, or trus- tees, chosen annually thereafter in the month of April : said amendment to provide further, that a portion of said Cemetery be set apart or appro- priated for public burial, free of charge, and also that the proceeds of sales of lots or rights of burial in said Cemetery, shall be devoted to the liquidation of the debt incurred in the purchase
R
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of the land, and to the improvement and embel- lishment of the Cemetery, under the direction of said commissioners, or trustees, and that no mo- neys shall be appropriated from the city treasury by the city council, for such improvement and em- bellishment, together with such other provisions as said committee may deem proper, and for the interest of said Cemetery and of the city.
ORDER for the purchase of land of John Parkinson, passed by the City Council, June 26, 1848.
Ordered, That the commissioners of the Rural Cemetery of the city of Roxbury be, and they are hereby authorized to purchase of John Parkinson, Esq., a tract of land as drawn by Mr. Henry Onion, on a plan dated May 22d, and June 2d, 1848, con- taining, according to said plan, twelve acres and 20,898 square feet, and lying northeasterly from, and contiguous to, land bought by the city of Rox- bury of Joel Seaverns, Esq., and that the same be included as part of the Rural Cemetery of the city of Roxbury, and to be under the sole care, superintendence and management of the commis- sioners of the Rural or Public Cemetery of the city of Roxbury, and they shall lay out said land in suitable lots or other subdivisions, for family or other burying-places, with all the necessary paths and avenues, and shall have authority to grant and convey to any person or persons, by deed duly executed, the sole and exclusive right of bu- rial, and of erecting tombs, cenotaphs, and other monuments in any of the designated lots or sub- divisions ; and shall have all the authority and do
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all the things in relation to said land which they are empowered and required to do by an act of the Legislature relating to a public Cemetery in the city of Roxbury, passed March 24, 1848, that they would have had if said land had been pur- chased and united with the land bought of Joel Scaverns, Esq., as a part of the Cemetery grounds previous to the act of the Legislature :
And that the city treasurer be authorized and directed, whenever a deed of said land shall be furnished to the city, with a satisfactory title to the same, to give the note or the notes of the city for a sum not exceeding six thousand seven hun- dred and thirty-one dollars ($6,731), payable in six years from the first day of July, 1848, with interest annually.
ORDER for the purchase of additional land of Joel Seaverns, passed by the City Council, Sept. 27, 1852.
Ordered, That the commissioners of Forest Hills Cemetery be, and they are hereby authorized to purchase of Joel Scaverns, Esq., a tract of land with the buildings thereon, as drawn by Charles H. Pool on a plan dated Sept. 25th, 1852, con- taining, according to said plan, thirty-two acres two yards thirty-six rods, lying southerly of and adjoining the cemetery land, and that the same be included as part of Forest Hills Cemetery, and they shall lay out said land in suitable lots, or other subdivisions, for family or other burying- places, with all the necessary avenues and paths, and shall have authority to grant and convey to any person or persons, by decd duly executed, the
·
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sole and exclusive right of burial, and erecting tombs, cenotaphs and other monuments. in any of the designated lots, or subdivisions; and shall have all the authority and do all the things in re- lation to said land which they are empowered and required to do by an act of the Legislature relat- ing to a public Cemetery in the city of Roxbury, passed March, 1848, that they would have had if said land had been purchased and united with the land bought of Joel Seaverns, Esq., previous to the act of the Legislature of March, 1848, as a part of the Cemetery grounds; and that the city treasurer be, and he is hereby authorized and di- rected to issue the scrip of the city for an amount not exceeding the sum of $9,000, in such sums and on such time as shall be deemed expedient by the commissioners of Forest Hills Cemetery, not, how- ever, to exceed ten years from the first day of October next.
4.
AN ACT relating to a Public Cemetery in the City of Roxbury.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Repre- sentatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows :
SECT. 1. The city council of Roxbury is hereby authorized to elect, by joint ballot in convention. a board of five commissioners, for the term of five years, who shall have the sole care, superintend-
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ence and management of the Rural Cemetery, established by said city council ; one member of which board shall go out of office each year, and one member shall be chosen annually in the month of March ; but said board, or either member thereof, after having had an opportunity to be heard in his or their defence, may be removed at any time, by a concurrent vote of two-thirds of each branch of the city council, and in case of a vacancy in said board of commissioners by death, resignation, removal, or otherwise, such vacancy shall be filled by the choice of another commis- sioner in the manner aforesaid, who shall hold his office for the residue of the term for which such member, so deceased, resigned or removed, would have held the same. Said board may be organ- ized by the choice of a chairman and secretary from their own number, and a major part of said board shall constitute a quorum for the exercise of the powers and the performance of the duties of the said office. And the term for which the seve- ral members of the first board of commissioners shall hold their office, shall be determined by the city council as follows: The commissioner first chosen shall hold his office for five years; the commissioner next chosen, shall hold his office for four years; the commissioner next chosen, shall hold his office for three years; the commissioner next chosen, shall hold his office for two years ; and the commissioner next chosen, shall hold his office for one year.
SECT. 2. The said board of commissioners shall set apart and appropriate a portion of said Cem- etery as a public burial-place for the use of the inhabitants of the city of Roxbury, free of any R*
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