USA > Massachusetts > Worcester County > Worcester > Proceedings of the Worcester Society of Antiquity, 1877, Volume I-5 > Part 9
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After this, the town seems to have given very lit- tle attention to burials on the Common, although interments were made there for some years after-
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wards, which caused the town, at a meeting held Aug. 23d, 1824, to pass a " vote that no more interments should be made in the burying ground near the Common or South Meeting-house in said town." Thus the grounds remained in a partially neglected state until the year 1850, when a proposition was made in the city council, contemplating the removal of the remains of those buried in the old cemetery, and the grading of the east side of the old Com- mon, in accordance with the best judgment of a committee to be appointed by that body. So many serious objections were raised against that project by interested persons, that it became neces- sary to present a new plan for consideration, and Aug. 22d, 1853, the city council adopted the follow- ing order " That Aldermen Charles White and Moses D. Phillips, Councilmen James S. Woodworth, Chas. Washburn and Samuel B. Dennis be a committee to cause a careful and accurate survey to be made of the Old Burying Ground upon the Common, and to cause a plan or map of the same to be drawn, upon which shall be delineated every grave, properly marked or numbered; that they then cause substan- tial bounds to be set at every angle, and in such other places as they may think proper or necessary, the inscriptions of every stone or monument now standing to be copied and preserved, and then to bury all the stones at least twelve inches under the surface of the ground upon the graves, where they now stand ; that they then cause the surface of the ground to be smoothed over, not changing the grade in any place so as to injure any trees that shall be
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left standing ; that they then cause all the under- brush to be removed, and as many of the trees as they shall deem proper, (the trees to be removed at a suitable season of the year for transplanting,) without, however, impairing the beauty of the grove." This order was carefully executed by the committee, Gill Valentine, Esq., being employed to prepare the map and list of inscriptions, the same being duly placed in the hands of the City Clerk.
Thus closes our brief sketch of the history of the Burial Place on the Common. Nothing now re- mains above the sod to mark the sacred spot, where so long ago mourning relatives and friends per- formed the last solemn rite due to humanity. The monument erected to the memory of Col. Timothy Bigelow by his grandson, Col. Timothy Bigelow Lawrence, son of Abbott Lawrence of Boston, was placed over his grave in 1861. The dedication ex- ercises took place April 19th, just eighty-six years from the day Col. Bigelow led the minute men who marched from Worcester for Lexington.
The new burying ground, before mentioned, or what is now called the Mechanic Street Burial Ground, was originally a portion of what was term- ed the ministerial and school lands, granted by the General Court to Worcester, on the organization of the town. At a meeting held March 20th, 1786, the town having previously been granted the right by the General Court, " voted to sell the ministerial and school lands, lying east and near Capt. Palmer Goulding's, and that it be sold at Public Vendue." Timothy Paine, Esq., Capt. Samuel Brooks, Col.
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Timothy Bigelow, Joseph Wheeler, Esq., and Dr. Elijah Dix were chosen a committee to sell the same, and were empowered to give and execute good and sufficient deed or deeds to the purchasers." There were other lands embraced in the ministerial and school grant; but this parcel as surveyed out by Capt. John Pierce, May 5th, 1786, contained thir- teen and one-quarter acres and twenty-three rods, and the burial ground lot was selected near the cen- ter of the plot, its shape being much the same then as now. In the meantime, death had robbed the committee of their chairman, Timothy Paine, Esq., but November 3d, 1794, the following report stands recorded on the town book. "The committee chosen March 20th, 1786, to sell the ministerial and school land lying cast and near Palmer Goulding's, would report that they had caused a survey thereof to be made by Capt. John Pierce, a plan of which is here- with exhibited, and after duly notifying the time and place of sale, proceeded to sell the same at Public Vendue at the house of Mr. Ephraim Mower, Inn- holder in said Worcester,* at two several times, and then and there sold the following lots to the follow- ing persons, they being the highest bidders, viz .: Lot, No. I, containing I 3-4 acres and sum rods, sold to Daniel Goulding for the sum of 20 pounds ; lot, No. 2, containing 121 rods, sold to Silas Har- rington for the sum of 19 pounds, 10 shillings, and by him released to Jnº Jacob Wagoner who sold ye same to Jacob Miller, ye present possessor ; lot, No.
* This hotel stood on Main street near the corner of Mechanic, on the site now occupied by Clark's block.
2
.
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3, containing 110 rods, sold to Benj. Converse for the sum of 20 pounds, 9 shillings, which his guard- ean has since sold to Ignatius Goulding; lot, No. 4, containing 82 rods, sold to Nathan Patch who for- fited his earnest money, and the same has since been sold to William Goulding for the sum of 15 pounds, 10 shillings; lot, No. 5, containing 5 3-4 acres and 14 rods, sold to Jonathan Gates who for- fited his earnest money, and the same has since been sold to Abel Stowell for the sum of 27 pounds, 15 shillings; lot, No. 6, containing 2 acres and 58 rods, sold to Ignatius Goulding for the sum of 42 pounds, 10 shillings." This sale left the new burial ground bounded, as follows: on the north and east by land of Abel Stowell, on the south by a road* separating it from the lots belonging to Ignatius Goulding and Jacob Miller, on the west by land of Ignatius Goulding.
The fourth article in the call for a town meeting to be held May 6th, 1795, was " To see if the town will take any measures for repairing the fence on the old burial ground, and to view the new one, and to report at next town meeting what kind of fence will be proper, and when to be built." As before mentioned, the committee chosen to perform this duty, was Samuel Brazer and Charles Stearns, and they presented the following report at the town meeting held October 19, 1795 : "That they are of the opinion that the new burying ground should have a wall on three sides of common stone, but the front side of stone from the mill stone hill, and that
* Now Mechanic street.
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a committee be chosen to procure the said stones the coming winter, and have the wall built soon as may be next spring, also to grant money for the said purpose. Samuel Brazer and Charles Stearns committee."
The report was accepted, and they were empow- ered to execute the work according to their report. At a meeting held April 4, 1796, the town " voted that the committee chosen for fencing the new bury- ing ground be authorized and empowered to pur- chase any lands which they may suppose necessary for the purpose of accommodating the same, and to exchange any part of the same for any ground which they may suppose proper, and make and ex- ecute a deed or deeds thereof." The action of the town at the last meeting would rather indicate that some little changes in the shape of the grounds were in contemplation. September 24th, 1798, the town voted " to choose a committee to survey the New Burying Ground, and lay the same out into proper squares or lots, and lay a plan before the town, at the adjournment of the meeting, Mr. David Andrews, Mr. William Trobridge and Mr. Samuel Brazer were chosen a committee for said purpose." This committee made a report at a town meeting held Oct. 8th, 1798, showing the shape of the ground to have been slightly changed from the original plot of 1786. The town voted to accept the report, and also to instruct the same committee to "stake out the ground according to their plan, and that they lodge a plan with the town clerk to be recorded in the town book, and that they leave an-
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other plan with the sexton, that he may dig the graves for the future agreeable to said plan." May 14th, 1799, that committee reported that " they had attended to that province, and have numbered said lots, and entered the names of the heads of such families as have taken up any of said lots on the plan in the hands of the sexton, and requested him to give the same to the town clerk that he may en- ter the same on the plan in his possession, and would recommend that when any inhabitant has any occasion for taking a lot, he may apply to the town clerk, and whatever lot he chooses to take may be reserved for his family, and entered on the afore- said plan. David Andrews per Order."
The only means of access to the New Burial Ground in 1786 was by a town road, located May 5th, 1786, at the time the plot was made by Capt. John Pierce, recommended by the selectmen, and adopted by a vote of the town, March 12th, 1787. It was about forty feet in width, " beginning at the town road, leading by Capt. Palmer Goulding's to Grafton (now Front street) at a stake and heap of stones placed eleven and one half rods west of the bridge over Mill Brook, thence running north 5 1-23 east through said ministerial lands, so called, 17 1-2 rods, then turning and running west 26° north, un- til it met with the town road (Main street) lately laid through said land up to the southeast corner lot of a lot of said ministerial land, sold to Joseph Allen, Esq. Nathan Perry, John Chamberlin, Jesse Taft, selectmen." That portion of the town road just described as running nearly east and west is a part
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of what is now called Mechanic street, and the por- tion described as running north, the part of what is now Bridge street lying between Front and Mechan- ic streets. In 1835, at the time of the construction of the Boston and Worcester railroad along the northern border of this burial ground, it was found necessary to clip off the east and west corners a few feet, so that the northerly line now forms a slight curve. Perhaps no other change has been made from the plan as it was surveyed and divided into lots, October 2d, 1798. The first body deposited here is said to be that of Leonard Worcester, Jr., infant son of the Rev. Leonard Worcester, who for several years was associated with Isaiah Thomas in the editorial management of the Worcester SPY from 1791 to 1797. Interments continued to be made here until 1859, although there were but few made after 1830. April 30th, 1827, Austin Denny, Lewis Bigelow, Silas Brooks, Enoch Flagg, Thomas Cham- berlin, Samuel Terry, Fred. William Paine, Ebene- zer Mower, Otis Corbett and Samuel Ward were chosen by a vote of the town to constitute, a com- mittee for the purpose of considering the subject of a new burial ground, and to report at the next town meeting. March 3d, 1828, that committee made a report, and " the same was recommitted to said com- mittee." Again at a meeting, May 5, 1828, their re- port was recommitted, and at a meeting held May Ioth, the committee was discharged, and the select- men were empowered to purchase a lot of land not to exceed eight acres of Mr. Samuel Hathaway, the price not to be more than one hundred dollars
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per acre ; and the town also voted to fence the same providing the said lot be obtained.
This land thus procured by the selectmen of the town has been known as the " Pine Meadow Burial Ground," and was in use for some years. Quite a large number of interments were made there, but the remains have nearly all been taken up, and the remainder are now being removed, to make room in order to satisfy the demands made by the Boston and Albany Railroad Company for more ground on which to construct tracks and build- ings for the accommodation of their largely increas- ing business.
INSCRIPTIONS
FROM THE
OLD BURIAL GROUND
ON THE COMMON.
Adams.
1. In memory of Mr. Charles Adams. He died Nov* ye 3d, 1773 in the 86th year of his age.
As living men my Tomb do view Remember well her's Room for you.
2. Here lies buried the Body of Mrs Eunice Adams, wife of Mr. Nathaniel Adams. Decd July 27th, 1747 in ye 32d year of her age.
3. Mrs. Hannah Adams.
(The name only was found upon a foot-stone.)
4. In memory of Mrs Mary, wife of Mr. Samuel Adams, & the mother of Mr. Nathaniel Adams. She died March ye 5th 1772 in ye 85th year of her age.
5. Mr. Nathaniel Adams Dec'd 1776. 1 Mrs. Lucy Adams Dec'd 1776.
Mr. Adams was one of the " 52 protesters" who in the year 1 774 en- tered on our town records their royalist declaration and protest against the then revolutionary proceedings in this place. The town afterwards voted that the signers of that protest be deemed " unworthy of
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holding any town office or honor" until satisfaction made, and that their recorded protest be entirely obliterated. Satisfaction was ac- cordingly made by most of the protesters, and the record (as may be seen at the Clerk's office ) was made completely illegible. His name also occurs in the list of persons disarmed by order of the Commit- tee of Correspondence in May, 1775, and forbidden to depart the town on account of sympathy for the royal cause.
Andrew.
6. Elizabeth Andrew, Dau. of Samuel, born 1752, died 1753 .*
7. Samuel Andrew, Died Sept. 24, 1760, a. 46.
8. Samuel Andrew, Jr., son of Samuel, b. March, 1748, d. Feb. 6, 1750.
Andrews.
9. Henry Andrews, s. of Benjamin and Sally, Died Mar. 10, 1795, a 5 y. 9 m.
IO. James Andrews s of Benjamin and Sally, d. Aug. 28, 1795, a. 8 y. 6 m.
II. Sally Andrews, w of Lieut. Beniamin, d. Nov. 9, 1796, a 34.
Ball.
12. Here lies buried the Body of Mr. John Ball who died Janry ye rith 1756 in the 59th year of his age.
Barber.
13. Erected in memory of Mr James Barber who died March 30th 1812 Aet 85.
14. Here lyes buried the Body of Mrs Martha Barber, wife of Mr Joseph Barber, who died April 7th 1781, Aged 39 years S months and 22 days.
* All similar brief inscriptions are copied verbatim from the record made by Gill Valen- tine in 18;2. W. S. B.
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15. In memory of Mrs Mary Ann Barber, wife of Mr. James Barber who died Oct. 11, 1802 in the 67th year of her age.
16. Here lyes the Bodys of Nancy & Mary, Daughters to Mr. Robert & Mrs Sarah Barber. Nancy died Sept. 27th in the 22d year of her age. Mary died Sept. 26th in ye 20th year of her age, 1756.
(Upon the foot-stone the following inscription : )
Take notice man what here dost see, As thou art now so once were we, And as we'r now, so shalt thou be, Remember man that thou must die.
17. Here lyes Buried the Body of Mr. Robert Barber who died Sept. 27th 1769 in the 69th year of his age.
He came from Weston to Worcester in 1730, and was a descend- ant of the emigrant, Thomas Barber, who came to this country in 1635, and settled at Windsor, Conn. This Robert Barber had brothers, Hezekiah who settled at Weston, and Mathew who located at Westfield. They were children of Thomas, Jr., of Charlestown.
18. In memory of Mrs Sarah Barber, widow of of Mr Robert Barber. She died June 9th 1790 Aged 86 years.
Wife of Robert Barber ; was Sarah Gray, dau. of one of the Scotch Presbyterian Emigrants.
Barnard. My Glass is run.
19. Erected in memory of Isaac Barnard, Esqr. who departed this life March ye 18th 1788. Aged 86 years.
Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord, from henceforth, Yea,-saith the spirit, -that they may rest from their labors, and their works do follow them. Rev. XIV. 13.
A Royalist Protester of 1774. Disarmed by order of the Com- mittee of Correspondence in May, 1775.
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20. Erected in memory of Mrs. Sarah Barnard, relict of Isaac Barnard, Esqr. who died April 9, 1806 Aet. 97.
Bigelow.
21. In memory of Mr Daniel Bigelow who died August 29 1776, in his 48 year of his age.
A brother of the distinguished Col. Timothy Bigelow and father of Daniel Bigelow 3rd, who in 1776 formed connection with William Stearns, Esq. in the publication of the SPY, and afterwards studied law and practiced in Petersham. Daniel Bigelow 3rd was at differ- ent times representative, senator, member of the executive council and county attorney.
22. In memory of Timothy Bigelow, Esq. Com- mander of the 15th Massachusetts Regt. in the Re- volutionary War with Great Britain. Born Aug. 12 1739. He died Apr. 4, 1790 Aged 50 years. Here lie his remains.
Born in Worcester, was son of Daniel Bigelow and Elizabeth (Whitney) Bigelow who came to Worcester from Watertown. He was a descendant of John Bigelow the emigrant, who was a son of Randall Bigelow of Wrentham, County of Suffolk, England. This John was in Watertown as early as 1636, and married, 1642, Mary Warren, also born in England.
Col. Bigelow was one of the prime movers in the provincial cause in the revolutionary war, being associated with Warren, Otis and other leading spirits. In March, 1773, he was elected a mem- ber of the local Committee of Correspondence and continued a mem- ber until called into active service in April, 1775. He was active in the organization of the American Political Society in December, 1773, comprising the leading patriots of the town, and meetings of the Society were frequently held at his house. He was an influen- tial member of many revolutionary committees. Was a delegate from this town at the first and second sessions of the Provincial Congress in 1774 and 1775.
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In the spring of 1775, Mr. Isaiah Thomas, the publisher of the Massachusetts SpY, printed in Boston, was placed by the British au- thorities on the list of suspicious persons, and his paper was pro- scribed. Joseph Warren and Timothy Bigelow advised his removal with his press and types to Worcester. Although an affair of some difficulty and requiring great caution, Capt. Bigelow undertook the task, and selecting a dark night, he with others succeeded in convey- ing the press and types to Barton's Point, and ferrying them to Charlestown, and from thence transporting them to Worcester to the basement of his own house, where the press was set up ready for use.
He organized and commanded the company of minute men which marched from Worcester on the alarm at Lexington, April 19, 1775, and on the organization of the army at Cambridge, was appoint- ed major in the regiment of which Jonathan Ward was colonel. He took part in the ill-fated expedition against Quebec in the fall of 1775, was taken prisoner and confined nearly a year, when he was paroled and afterwards exchanged, and was soon in active service as Lieut .- Colonel. Feb. 8, 1777, he received a commission as Col- onel, and was appointed to the command of the 15th Massachusetts regiment in the Continental army, then forming principally of men from Worcester county. On the completion of the regimental organ- ization he marched with his command to join the northern army un- der Gen. Schuyler, arriving in season to assist in the capture of Burgoyne by Gen. Gates at Saratoga. He was also in service in Rhode Island, Verplanck's Point, Robinson's Farms, N. J., Peekskill, Monmouth, Valley Forge, West Point and Yorktown. At the close of the war, he was stationed for a time at West Point, and afterwards assigned to the command of the arsenal at Springfield. On relinquish- ing his military duties, he returned to Worcester, and engaged in his old occupation as a blacksmith. In 1780, he with others obtained a grant of 23,040 acres of land in Vermont, upon which he founded a town, giving it the name of Montpelier, now the capital of the State. He is described as having been a man of fine personal appear- ance, tall and erect, and possessed of a martial bearing. He married Anna Andrews, July 7, 1762.
In 1861, the remains of Col. Bigelow were exhumed, incased in a metallic casket, and placed in a receptacle beneath the base of the monument, erected by his great-grandson, Col. Timothy Bigelow Lawrence of Boston.
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Blair.
23. Sacred to the memory of Mr. Increase Blair who deceased Novr. IIth 1797 Aged 40 years. of Huldah his wife, who died July 9, 1798 aged 38 years, and of two of their children, viz: Nancy who died April 11th 1794 Aged 11 months, and Alex- ander who died March 5, 1796 Aged 5.
This monumental memorial of this group of victims to mortality demands the passenger's tear- ful Remembrance.
Parents & babes together lie Till Jesus call them to the sky.
Memento mori. 24. In memory of Charles, son of Mr. Joseph & Mrs. Mary Blair who died May ye 28th 1775 in the 24th year of his age.
Time shall be slain, all nature destroy'd Nor leave an atom in mighty void.
25. Here lyes interr'd the remains of Mrs. Isabel Blair wife of Mr. Robert Blair who died Februry Ioth 1765 Aged 82 years.
Memento mori. 26. In memory of Mr. Robert Blair who died Octr ye 14 AD 1774 in the 91 year of his age.
How great, how firm, how sacred all appears, How worthy an immortal round of years, Yet all must drop as Autumn's ripest grain, And Earth and Firmament be sought in vain.
Son of Abraham Blair who distinguished himself in the famous siege of Londonderry, A. D. 1689. In recognition of his services, he was made free of taxation throughout the British Provinces.
Bowles. 27. Sarah Bowles, Dau. of Dea. William and Sarah. Died June 3, 1790 a. 21.
The sweet remembrance of the Just, Shall flourish when they sleep in Dust.
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28. Susanna Bowles Dau. of Dea. William and Sarah. Died June 6, 1790 a 8.
Bonden.
29. In memory of Mary, Daut of Mr. Daniel Boyden & Mrs. Mehitabel, his wife, died March Ist 1755 in ye 4th year of her age.
30. Arad Brown son of Lieut Samuel and Abi- gail : Died Aug. 31, 1782, a 7 m 25 da.
31. In memory of Mrs Elizabeth Lydia Brown, wife of Lieut Luke Brown, who decd Aug. 11, 1751 Aged about 27 years.
Reader, behold as you pass by, As you are liveing so was I. As I am now so you must be Prepare for death and follow me
32. In memory of Elizabeth Brown daughter of Mr. Samuel & Abigail Brown. She deceased June ye 22ª 1776, in the tenth year of her age.
She often made our hearts for to rejoice, her pleasant nature, arts & chearful voice But God had Right to call for what he lent, her glass is run & all her days are spent
33. Here lyes inter'd the remains of Mr. James Brown who departed this life January IIth, 1778, in the 67th year of his age.
Now I behold with sweet delight The Blessed Three in one And stronge affections fix my sight On God's incarnate son.
34. Here lyes the remains of Mr. Luke Brown, Jun' who died Novr. 6th, 1776 in the 31 year of his age.
Reader, Remember death.
He kept the public house known as the Hancock Arms Tavern, the principal rendezvous of the patriots in the early days of the Revolu-
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tion. This tavern was situated on what is now Lincoln street nearly opposite the old gas works. He was son of Lieut. Luke Brown, who was formerly an opulent citizen of this place, and came here from the town of Sudbury, probably several years preceding the year 1750, and kept the public house which was burned Christmas Eve, 1824, and which stood near the ancient first jail. He acquired considerable wealth by speculating in public lands. It was while on a journey to New York for the purpose of purchasing the town now called Newfane in Vermont that he caught the small pox. His dis- order disclosed itself soon after his return to Worcester and carried him off in a few days. His body was buried on the north side of the lane (Jo Bill Road,) leading west from what is now Salisbury street. Report says that he had few friends, was avaricious, and procured his property not perhaps by the most honorable means. The monument erected to his memory was in 1827 to be seen lying on the surface of the ground near where his body was interred. It was much defaced, being broken in the middle, and some parts of the inscription hardly legible. The epitaph is as follows :
Here lie buried the remains of Lieut. Luke Brown, who having taken the infection of the small pox at New York, and died of the same after his return home, viz: April 14, 1772, Aged 58. Buried here to prevent the spreading of the infection.
In the French war, Luke Brown, sen., was lieutenant of a detach- ment of men from Col. John Chandler's regiment under Capt. John Curtis that marched to the relief of Fort William Henry in 1759.
His son Luke Brown, Jr. succeeded him in this tavern, but soon became intemperate, and died as stated on the monument over his grave, Nov. 6, 1776, aged 31.
35. Molley Brown wife of John Brown and dau of Ignatius and Elizabeth Goulding, d. Feb. 13, 1787 a 20 yrs,-m and 13 da.
Life is short, but Death is sure Sin is the wound & Christ is the cure Of fallen man,-Salvation sure.
36. Here lies buried the body of Mrs Rebekah Brown, ye wife of Mr. James Brown. Died Febry 26th 1756 in ye 42 year of her age
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37. Erected in memory of Lieut Samuel Brown who departed this life May ye 25th A. D. 1785 in the 42ª year of his age.
Death steady to his purpose from ye womb, Pursues till we are driven to the tomb O-reader-wisely lay this thought to heart And seek an interest in the better part Then when you close in death your mortel eyes Your soul may rise & reign above the skies
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