USA > Massachusetts > Suffolk County > Roxbury > Forest Hills cemetery: its establishment, progress, scenery, monuments, etc. > Part 6
USA > Massachusetts > Suffolk County > Boston > Forest Hills cemetery: its establishment, progress, scenery, monuments, etc > Part 6
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* Imported from England in the spring of 1855.
LAKE HIBISCUS.
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SCENERY AND BEAUTIES.
quite ready to meet their visitors, and receive food from their hands. From them the other island, which is larger than that containing the spring, takes its name, and to their use it is to be appropriated. It is near what will be the middle of the pond when completed.
The supply of water in this little lake is very abundant, and there is no danger that it will be- come a stagnant pool, or expose a dry basin even in the seasons of great drought. The pond is so excavated and walled up to the grassy banks that it will show a clear expanse of water, and when it is completed will be as beautiful a little lake as could be desired. Besides being an attractive feature in the scenery, and affording a relief to the eye, after dwelling on the dark-green foliage of tree and shrub in other parts of the cemetery, it happily disposes of a portion of the grounds that could not otherwise be well improved.
The low, meadow land extends some distance north of Lake Hibiscus, towards Consecration Hill. The original plan was to excavate one or more small ponds here ; but the making of Lake Hibiscus so large has modified the plan, and this ground will probably be laid out in a different manner. That portion between the water-course and the avenues at the foot of Mount Warren and
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FOREST HILLS CEMETERY.
Mount Dearborn, it is proposed to appropriate to the purposes of a garden, which is highly desira- ble for the cultivation of plants for the borders in the cemetery. This land could not well be used for burial purposes, but is finely adapted for a garden; and though it could not be laid out as a pleasure-ground, if cultivated and kept with the care and taste which characterize the other parts of the grounds, it will be an attractive feature in the scenery.
The numerous boulders which are scattered over some parts of the cemetery, have not only added to the picturesque character of its scenery, but have afforded an opportunity for rustic orna- ment in laying out the grounds. Some of the most striking and picturesque rocks have been suffered to remain in their natural state, the labor of art going only so far as more clearly to devel- ope their beauty and to adorn the grounds around. One of the most picturesque groups of these rocks is on the lot of Gen. William H. Sumner, called Sumner Hill, on the western slope of Mount War- ren. They have not suffered by the hand of art, and the lot is one of the most beautiful and appropriate in the whole cemetery. Some other more noticeable boulders have already been men- tioned, and they will be seen in various parts of
SUMNER HILL.
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SCENERY AND BEAUTIES.
the cemetery by those who have a taste for such objects.
A portion of these stones, which it was found necessary or desirable to remove, have been used for the construction of terrace walls on the sides of some of the lots; others have been laid as a rustic border about the angles formed at the intersection of avenues or paths, and around those beautiful compartments which are profusely planted with flowering shrubs. Over some of the stones grow beautiful creeping plants or mosses, which add very much to the minor beauties of the place.
One of the attractive features at Forest Hills is the profusion of flowers which bloom in some parts of it, making it in truth a garden cemetery. In most of the borders attached to the lots there are flowers in more or less abundance, besides which there are numerous triangles formed by the intersection of avenues or paths, and other spots not quite adapted to burial lots, which are pre- pared as flower borders, or are planted with various flowering shrubs. Then, again, within many of the lots affection has planted beautiful flowers over the grave ;" so that the bloom of the garden may be considered as one of the charac- teristics of the grounds, a beauty which meets I*
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the eye on all sides, and lends a peculiar charm to the place.
Such is a brief outline of some of the scenery and beauties of Forest Hills, designed to lead the reader to those places where the beauties may be seen, rather than to describe them. The eye of taste will find much to observe that has not here been mentioned, and in nearly all parts of the cemetery objects and views which will attract and delight. Time, too, must create much that will add to the attractions of the place. But, even now, it needs only a visit to see and to feel that Forest Hills, in their natural and artificial beauty and fitness, are not surpassed by any other rural or garden cemetery .*
* A Virginia clergyman, who visited the North during the present season (1855), writing for a Richmond newspaper, thus gives his impressions of a visit to Forest Hills :
" 'Forest Hills Cemetery ' -what a sweet name -is in a rural retreat. It is far superior, in point of location, to Mount Auburn. It has been opened but a very few years, and yet it already begins to vie with the most attractive cemeteries of this country. There are deep and quiet dells, and woody hill-tops, with a variety of sweet and fragrant flowers scattered in endless profusion along the winding ways, called by pretty names. The specimens of monu- mental sculpture are in exquisite taste, and many of the epitaphs, simple, brief and touching, speak to the heart."
Monuments.
THE number of Monuments at Forest Hills, compared with the number of lots which have been taken, is small. In this respect it presents a contrast with Mount Auburn, when that ceme- tery was in the carly period of its existence. There, monuments were erected on a large pro- portion of the lots first taken; in many cases before the lots were enclosed, and before inter- ments had been made in them. At Forest Hills, from the first, the erection of monuments scems to have been the exception rather than the rule. A large number of the lots are enclosed, and the name of the proprietor is borne upon the gate, without any monumental structure or stone. Even where interments have been made, the grave is in many cases adorned with flowers, or is marked by a simple slab or scroll, but has no more ostentatious stone to bear the inscriptions
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FOREST HILLS CEMETERY.
which sorrow sometimes places over the beloved and the good. It is a simpler custom, perhaps less attractive to the eye of some observers, but quite as impressive to the heart of him
-" who wanders through these solitudes In mood contemplative ;"
and as a matter of taste is much to be preferred to a universal display of monumental stones, among which so few possess the merit either of beauty or fitness.
An entire absence of monuments would be a marked deficiency in grounds like these, hardly less to be regretted than an excess of such stones in which bad taste prevailed. There is a mean between these extremes which better pleases the eye of taste, where occasional monuments, beauti- ful in their simplicity or appropriateness, meet the view, scattered among the trees and shrubs, and gleaming through the foliage. Forest Hills, at present, hardly transcend this happy mean in the number of monuments, at least ; and though true taste may find something to condemn, and perceive the want of something more and different in this respect, yet as a whole the mon- uments erected there are open to few objections. Most of them are simple and unostentatious, and more appropriate, therefore, and better adapted
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MONUMENTS.
to the scene than would be the costly mausoleums which pomp and wealth sometimes erect, to show rather the pride of the living than the virtues of the dead.
Of eminent persons this cemetery can boast of few names in the record of its tenants. The sacred shades of Mount Auburn have offered a resting-place to many such, both on account of its celebrity and its long establishment; and it has thus become a more sacred spot in the eyes of the world, for the visitor there makes a pilgrim- age to the tombs of the illustrious dead, whose names were widely known and honored while living. As time passes, Forest Hills will become the resting-place of many more who have been eminent for their services or their virtues, and to those unconnected with the cemetery by closer associations it will thus become more sacred and beautiful. Yet it is not, surely, the names of an illustrious few which consecrate such grounds. The virtues of those unknown save in the quiet circle where they lived and loved, their modest worth, benevolence, or piety, and all those ele- ments of character which endeared them to the hearts of friends and associates-these it is which more truly consecrate the burial place. And as circle after circle is thus brought to mourn over their lost, the ground which holds
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FOREST HILLS CEMETERY.
the sacred remains becomes hallowed to many hearts.
It is not the design of these pages to form a record of private sorrows as they have found expression over the graves of the loved and revered ; nor yet to present a catalogue of those whose names or epitaphs are borne upon the votive stone. There are some monuments and hallowed spots which claim more than a passing glance from the visitor, and of which notice may be taken without trespassing on the sacred rights of bereaved affection. But, in general, it is simply our purpose to direct attention to some of the more noticeable monuments in the cemetery, with- out giving the inscriptions which they may bear.
One of the most beautiful and appropriate monuments is that of Edmund Dwight, on Walnut Avenue, at the southern base of Snowflake Cliff. The spot where it is erected is a sheltered nook with a pleasant sunny aspect, and back of it rises the steep, high rock, its summit crowned with shrubs. The monument is an octagonal pointed Gothic structure, of dark sandstone, elaborate in design and finely wrought. On each of the faces are panels with pointed arches, above which rises a spire or pinnacle ornamented with crockets and
VIEW SOUTH OF SNOWFLAKE CLIFF.
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MONUMENTS.
surmounted by a small cross. In front of the monument are Gothic head-stones of the same material, of different forms, and bearing the names of those interred, with appropriate, in- scriptions. At the sides the lot is enclosed by thickly-growing pines, and in front there is a heavy and beautiful balustrade of stone and bronze, corresponding in style to the monument and head-stones. Although the work is somewhat elaborate in its details, the various parts are so well adapted to each other and to the place, that the whole has the appearance of simplicity and perfect fitness. On either side of Mr. Dwight's lot are those of Samuel May and James S. Amory. Neither of these are enclosed or have monuments upon them, but they are beautiful in their situ- ation, and are ornamented with a profusion of flowers in their borders.
On the summit of Consecration Hill are two monuments, erected on the only lots which have there been taken. One of them is that of Robert B. Forbes. It is a granite base, with marble panels, surmounted by a granite obelisk- a sim- ple and massive monument. A horizontal marble slab, handsomely wrought, and bearing a touching inscription, is placed over the grave of an infant. The lot is a beautiful one in its situation, and
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FOREST HILLS CEMETERY.
commands a view of the hills of Milton and the intervening valley and slopes, a scene of beauty and quiet which seems to impress the beholder with a sense of the fitness of the spot for a burial place.
The other monument on this hill is that of Wil- liam P. Mackay, a Gothic pedestal surmounted by an urn. It is of the Nova Scotia gray sandstone, which seems well adapted to monumental sculp- ture, and in its color blends finely with rural scenery.
Not far from the foot of Consecration Hill, standing alone in a part of the cemetery which is yet almost in its natural state, is a monument erected over the remains of the late Major Town- send, of the army. It is a plain marble pedestal, on which rests a well-sculptured eagle with out- spread wings. On the front of the pedestal is the following inscription :
" Major David S. Townsend, Paymaster U. S. Army.
Born in Boston, Mass., April 19, 1790; Severely wounded At Chrystler's Field, Nov. 11, 1813, Died Jan. 28, 1853. Suaviter in modo, fortiter in re."
Returning to Snowflake Cliff, and passing on towards Mount Warren, we see on the right of
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MONUMENTS.
Mount Warren Avenue, near Sumner Hill, one of those simple and appropriate little monuments, which are found in many parts of the cemetery over the graves of children. It is a plain block of white marble, on which is a dove with wings spread as if just ready to fly. On the block is the inscription " Angel Ella," with a verse. At the foot of the grave is a marble cross, and flowers are planted on the little mound. The lot bears the name of G. H. Mowe.
A little farther towards Mount Warren is a monument bearing the name of Worthington - a high pedestal of white marble with a large funeral urn, over which hangs a scroll, inscribed, " There is rest in Heaven." On the pedestal are inscrib- ed the names of the dead.
Passing on to the open table land of Mount Warren, the monument of William F. Weld at- tracts the eye. It is of white marble, of pointed Gothic style, similar in design to that of Mr. Dwight, but more elaborate in its ornaments, and not so massive. At the base, on each of the eight faces of the turret, is a shield for inscriptions. The spire is surmounted with a large Gothic cross. The design is rich and beautiful, but the execution of the work is not of equal excellence. In the open ground, where it stands, this monument is a
K
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FOREST HILLS CEMETERY.
conspicuous object, and it is an ornament to the place.
Further eastward, towards the summit of the hill, there are a number of monuments, most of them simple and unpretending. Among the more beautiful will be noticed that on the lot of J. A. Hanson, a handsome white marble pedestal, with raised tablets on the sides for inscriptions, and on the top an urn ornamented with sculptured flow- ers. The front tablet bears the name of one much lamented, and lines descriptive of the last hour.
In the lot of Adams Bailey, on Laurel Path, are two Gothic tablets, one of which is inscribed : " Here repose the remains of Captain Adams Bai- ley, an officer of the Revolutionary Army. Born Jan. 27, 1749, Obt. July 26, 1824, Ætat. 75 years."
On a lot, bearing the name of Foster, is a gray sandstone pedestal, surmounted by an urn. A large leaf bends over the tops of the panels on the sides, giving a peculiar form to the monument. Not far distant, on Mount Warren Avenue, is the lot of the late Reuben Richards, on which is a handsome marble monument, consisting of a pe- destal bearing an obelisk ornamented with ivy leaves and surmounted by an urn. Further up the hill are two plain slabs, one of which is in-
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MONUMENTS.
scribed, "Joseph Harrington. Born Jan. 27, 1791 ; died Dec. 7, 1852," - and the other, " Rev. Joseph Harrington, Pastor of the First Unitarian Church in San Francisco ; died in that city Nov. 2, 1852, aged 39 years."
On the summit of the hill are the united lots of the Warren family, to which allusion has been made in another place. On one side of this lot is a stone bearing the name of Dwight. It is a marble block, on the front of which is a beautiful alto-relievo of Christ blessing little children - wrought in Rome by an Italian artist. On the reverse is a cypher and inscription. It is an un- pretending monument, devoid of ornament, apart from the relief, but it is a most appropriate and beautiful one; and though, as a work of art, per- haps open to criticism, as a piece of monumental sculpture it is far above the more ostentatious and costly structures which prevail in some ceme- teries, and much more worthy of contemplation. On different parts of the lot are small iron crosses on which to hang wreaths of flowers or evergreen.
Just at the commencement of the southern descent of Mount Warren, on Mount Warren Avenue, is another highly finished and beautiful monument bearing the name of White. It is a marble sarcophagus, finely wrought, with an ivy wreath in the centre of the top and ivy twining
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FOREST HILLS CEMETERY.
along the verge. The cornice is supported by richly-sculptured brackets of Italian marble. It is one of the most highly finished and beautiful monuments in the cemetery, and the lot is evi- dently kept with much care, and blooms with many flowers. Near this, on Kalmia Path, is a square pedestal, perfectly plain, bearing the name of Thomas D. Quincy.
On the northern side of the hill, not far distant from each other, are two marble scrolls, similar in design, on each of which a lamb is reclining, and each bears on the front the name " Carrie "- simple and fitting mouments for innocence and youth which there repose. On the reverse of one of the scrolls is a portion of the dirge written by Mrs. Hemans :
" Calm on the bosom of thy God, Young spirit ! rest thee now ! Ev'n while with us thy footsteps trod, His seal was on thy brow."
By the side of Grape Path, in this vicinity, in the lot of David A. Simmons, will be observed a marble vase on a pedestal of gray sandstone, which bears an inscription. In the adjoining lot of Thomas Simmons is a large Gothic tablet, a simple but tasteful monument.
On Linden Avenue, in the lot of J. S. Eldridge,
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MONUMENTS.
is a marble block with a scroll, on which rests a lamb. The scroll is inscribed, " Our darling May," and "She is not dead, but sleepeth." On the same avenue, at the western end of the table land, is the monument of William Varnum -a white marble base and small shaft bearing an urn, of Norman style.
At the junction of Mount Warren and Pine avenues, and bordering also on Azalea Path, is a shadowy nook embowered in the foliage of vari- ous trees, among which the magnolia mingles its broad leaves and beautiful blossoms. On Azalea Path is a profusion of flowers, through which a way leads, under a Gothic iron arch clad with creeping plants, to the enclosed lot of E. D. Peters and J. P. Ellicott. There is also an entrance from Pine Avenue. In the lot, almost hidden by the thick foliage of trees and shrubs, are several mon- uments, - on one side, a rustic cross of sandstone and an urn of the same material; and on the other a white marble pedestal with Gothic panels, sur- mounted by an urn. The name of one deceased is inscribed within a circle upon the latter. A white marble cross, bearing an inscription, is placed over a grave in the front part of the lot.
Next to this lot, on Pine Avenue, is another large and beautiful one, bearing the name of Per- kins. The lot is enclosed by a hedge of arbor K*
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FOREST HILLS CEMETERY.
vitæ, within which are walks and flower borders, and in the rear, under the rock which forms the back part of the lot, and shaded by evergreens, is a secluded nook, for a chair. The centre of the lot is again enclosed by an iron paling, within which is a monument of polished granite. It con- sists of a massive base, or pedestal, on two sides of which, in basso relievo, are winged heads sur- rounded with clouds, and on another side an inscription. The base is heavily moulded and is admirably wrought. On it stands a large, plain cross. The design is simple, but elegant and costly, and in point of taste and execution this monument is excelled by none in the cemetery. .
Opposite the last-named lot is that of Messrs. Perrin. Besides a plain obelisk of white marble, this lot contains a medallion tablet or shield, on which, in basso relievo, is an angel descending with a wreath, and underneath the name, "Corne- lia." There are also scrolls, with broken flowers, over the graves of children.
-
On Clematis Path, at the head of the dell which lies west of Mount Warren, will be observed the lot of John C. Park. The monument is a sand- stone block, on the front of which is a large scroll which bears an inscription. There are also two crosses at the heads of graves, and a vase. A .
·
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MONUMENTS.
garden chair is placed in the lot, and vines are trained upon the terrace-wall at the back.
South, and near the foot of Mount Warren, at the junction of Mount Warren and Red Oak ave- nues, is a monument erected to the memory of William B. Tappan, known as a poet, and for his interest in Sabbath Schools. It is of sandstone, and consists of a simple base and obelisk, and bears the following inscription :
" Here rest, in glorious hope, the mortal remains of William B. Tappan, Who died June 19, 1849; aged 54. Farewell! we meet in Heaven. Erected by Sabbath School Children of New England."
In the lot of R. D. Goodnow, on White Oak Avenue, a short distance from the last-named monument, are a vase and a rustic cross, of mar- ble, inscribed " Our Harry."
Passing on towards Mount Dearborn, on Cow- slip Path, will be observed a monument to Rev. Samuel D. Dexter. It is a Gothic tablet of dark sandstone, surmounted by a cross. At the top of the panel is the word "Excelsior," and underneath a hand pointing upward. On the base is a wreath of flowers surrounding a cypher. In the panel is the following inscription :
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FOREST HILLS CEMETERY.
" Samuel D. Dexter, Born in Boston, Oct. 3d, 1825. Was ordained junior Pastor of the Second Church in Exeter, N. H., December 2, 1847. Died in Roxbury April 20, 1850.
' Lord, I believe. I shall be satisfied when I awake with thy likeness.' And when he had said this he fell asleep."
Not far from this, on Holly Path, is a Gothic tablet of marble, on the front of which is a shield bearing an appropriate inscription to the memory of Andrew S. March, who died Dec. 22, 1854, aged 43.
Farther on, by the side of Violet Path, which leads toward the summit of Mount Dearborn from Red Oak Avenue, will be seen the monuments of Read Taft and Charles M. Taft. The former is of white marble, a tablet with sculpture at the top representing two angels kneeling before an urn. The latter is a massive sandstone pedestal, ornamented with scroll work and surmounted by an urn.
Further up the hill, on Sweet-Brier Path, is the lot in which Gen. Dearborn is interred. On it is a handsome marble vase, bearing the name, "H. A. S. Dearborn," and on the base which sup- ports it is the inscription :
" Erected by the workmen of Forest Hills Cemetery to commemorate his many virtues."
UU.M.V. A. VOREW IN
THE DEARBORN MONUMENT.
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MONUMENTS.
This inscription tells the story of the monument in a simple and appropriate manner, and the flow- ers with which the vase is supplied testify to the sincerity of the tribute.
On the summit of the hill, but a few steps from this lot, is the Dearborn monument, erected by his friends and fellow-citizens. It is an elegant Corinthian column, of white marble, on a base which extends by scrolls on each side to smaller pedestals bearing funeral urns. The shaft is of convex flutings, the capital is elaborately and well wrought, and is surmounted by a funeral urn with flame. On the front of the base is a raised tablet inscribed as follows :
"H. A. S. Dearborn, Obiit Julii 29, 1851, Ætat. 67."
On the opposite side, in a panel, is the brief, but expressive Latin inscription,
" Ossa in terra quam dilexit, coluit, ornavit, cives et amici mærentes condimus."
The monument is appropriate to the character and tastes of him in whose honor it is erected. It is in a lovely spot, not only bearing his name, and near the burial-place of his kindred, but which
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FOREST HILLS CEMETERY.
was with him a place of frequent resort while he was spared to watch the progress of the cemetery,
As the most distinguished person whose re- mains were originally interred at Forest Hills, and as the designer of the cemetery, if not its originator, it is proper that Gen. Dearborn should receive more than a passing notice in these pages.
General Dearborn was born in Exeter, New Hampshire, March 3d, 1783. Soon after, his pa- rents removed to Maine, where his boyhood was passed. At an early age he entered Williams' College, where he spent two years, and after- wards he entered William and Mary's College, in Virginia, where he was graduated in 1803. He pursued the study of the law for three years at the South, and subsequently for one year in the office of the late Judge Story. He practised law but a short time, the profession being distasteful to him, and he then entered the public service, in which, in some position, he continued for most of the time until his death. He was first appointed superintendent of the erection of forts in Portland harbor. Afterwards he held an office in the Bos- ton custom-house, where his father was collector ; and the latter having been appointed to the com- mand of the Northern Army, in the war of 1812, Gen. Dearborn succeeded him as collector. In
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MONUMENTS.
this office he remained until 1829, when he was removed. During the war of 1812 he was a Gen- eral of the Massachusetts militia, and had com- mand of the troops in Boston harbor. After his removal from the office of collector, he was rep- resentative, senator, and executive councillor in the State Government, a representative in Con- gress one term, and adjutant-general of Massachu- setts for a number of years. In 1847 he became Mayor of Roxbury, to which office he was four times re-elected, and held it at the time of his death.
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