USA > Massachusetts > Suffolk County > Boston > Topographical and historical description of Boston > Part 18
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DESCRIPTION OF BOSTON.
tunities for pleasant promenades, which are by no means neglected. The effects of the same busy hands, which so ridiculously arranged, or rather disarranged, the gravestones in the Chapel Burying-Ground, are also visible on Copp's Hill; and perhaps the same mischiev- ous hand which altered the date on the gravestone of Mr. John Thwing in the former burial enclosure, so as to have it appear that he died on the sixth of Septem- ber, 1620, three months before the pilgrims landed at Plymouth, instead of 1690, may also have perpetrated the same folly upon the memorial stone erected to the memory of goodwife Grace Berry, who died on the seventeenth of May, 1695, and not in 1625, more than five years before the settlement of Boston, as the rude jack-knife sculptor would make the unwary believe. Several other inscriptions have been similarly mutilated. This sacrilegious act is not peculiar to the Boston grave- yards; in the venerable old cemetery upon Burying Hill in Plymouth, where so many of the forefathers of New England are reposing from their labors, and in the old graveyard in the City of Charlestown, similar ruthless hands have also been mischievously busy. During the siege of Boston, in the early days of the Revolutionary War, the British soldiers amused themselves by firing bullets against the gravestones, many proofs of which can be seen at the present day, on careful inspection of the memorials of noted persons in this and other burial enclosures.
The visitor to Copp's Hill can almost always find the gates on Charter and Hull streets open, and an attentive and respectable person present to point out the objects of interest in the yard. He will notice there many monu- mental slabs having armorial devices cut upon them in
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the most exquisite style. Among the most remarkable of these may be mentioned that of Dr. John Clark, one of the noted family which gave seven generations of physicians in a direct line, bearing the same name, and that of Hon. William Clarke, both remarkable as works of art. The carved tablets over the tombs of the dis- tinguished families of Hutchinson, Mountfort, Gee, Lee, Martyn and others are well executed, and attract the attention very forcibly.
Copp's Hill is not famous for its monuments, there being only a few erected within the enclosure. Of these, the principal ones are that erected to the memory of Dr. Charles Jarvis, a noted politician, who died on the fifteenth of November, 1807, aged fifty-nine years, and those over the tombs of the well-known families of Ellis, Goodrich, Greenwood, Grant, Shaw, and a few others.
The most ancient of the tombs were built on the Hull street side not long after the purchase of the Sewall Pasture in 1711; those on Snowhill street in 1805, and those on the Charter street side in 1807. An infants' tomb has been built by the city authorities near the westerly corner of the yard, and near it is the mariners' tomb, a spacious vault diverted to its present purpose not many years ago.
Near the centre of the enclosure is a conspicuous building, erected a few years since as a chapel, but now used as a tool house. Just east of this, and running parallel to Charter street is the principal path on the hill. This indicates very well the line which separates the original purchase of 1660 from the more modern pur- chase of 1711. It may be a matter of interest to some to know that the town was desirous of enlarging this burial-ground some time before it was effected, and
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chose a committee for the purpose; but nothing being done, the committee was discharged and another, con- sisting of Timothy Thornton, Hon. Thomas Hutchin- son, and Edward Martyn, was appointed, and the duty was speedily performed. About this time the Hutchin- son tomb was built, wherein were gathered the father and grandfather of Governor Hutchinson, two of the most public-spirited inhabitants of the town, to the for- mer of whom, Hon. Thomas Hutchinson, the North End is indebted for its first school-house, for he first proposed the idea, then managed the business in town meetings, and finally paid for the building from his own funds. How ungrateful are republics! the house now erected on the same lot is called the Eliot School, in honor of an excellent former pastor of the New North Church, though Mr. Hutchinson died on the third of December, 1739, a very long time before his unhappy son, the faithful historian of Massachusetts, became a tory gov- ernor, and fled his country to avoid the wrath to come. This tomb had upon it a slab which contained a most exquisitely chiselled coat of arms of the family; but the stranger looks for it almost in vain, for no one would sup- pose that any one would cut out the Hutchinson name, and insert another, that of one who could scatter the dust of the honored dead to the four winds of heaven, and occupy the confiscated relic as a last place of re- pose, if the dead can rest with such a wrong unrighted.
In the southeast corner of the enclosure, within an iron fence, may be seen the tomb of the Mathers - In- crease, Cotton and Samuel - three distinguished doctors of theology, and preachers to the Northenders of the olden time. The inscription on the horizontal slab is as follows:
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The Reverend Doctors INCREASE, COTTON, & SAMUEL MATHER were interred in this vault. 'Tis the Tomb of our Fathers, MATHER CROCKER'S.
I. died AUGT. 27TH, 1723, Æ 84.
C. died FEB. 13TII, 1727, Æ 65.
S. died JUNE 27TH, 1785, Æ 79.
In the centre of the burial-ground, a few feet south of the tool-house, may also be seen the large triple gravestone of the three Worthylakes, George in his forty-fifth year, his wife Ann in her fortieth, and their daughter Ruth. Mr. Worthylake was the first keeper of the Boston Lighthouse, known as the Outer Light. Coming up to town on Monday, the third of November, 1718, the three were drowned, the sad event giving an opportunity to the youthful Franklin to write a ballad, which he designated as the "Lighthouse Tragedy," and which he printed and sold about the streets, his earliest poetic effusion. Not a word of this ballad is remembered; but it was undoubtedly in a different strain from that which may be seen on the gravestone of Mrs. Hunt:
Here lyes Ye Body of Mrs. AMMEY HUNT Wife of Mr. BENJAMIN HUNT Who died Nov. 26, 1769. Aged 40 Years. A Sister of Sarah Lucus lieth here, Whom I did Love most Dear, And now her Soul hath took its Flight And bid her Spightful Foes good Night.
Nobody now knows the point of these lines, but many persons ask for the reason of spelling the word " spightful " so strongly. The putative author, Mrs.
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DESCRIPTION OF BOSTON.
Sarah Lucas, wife of Captain Roger, survived her sister two and a half years, and was buried near her, but with- out any rhymes. Another affectionate inscription is worth preserving in print. It tells its own story:
In memory of BETSEY, Wife of David Darling, died March 23d, 1809, ÆE. 43. She was the Mother of 17 Children, and around her lies 12 of them, and 2 were lost at Sea. Brother Sextons please to leave a clear birth for me near by this Stone.
Mr. Darling was sexton of the North Church and dwelt in Salem street; he died on the tenth of Septem- ber, 1820, and his wishes were disregarded, as he was buried in a tomb in the same yard, and no one raised a memorial to his memory.
The following pathetic lines are appended to an in- scription which tells the passer by that Miss Hannah Langford died on the nineteenth of November, 1796, aged fifteen years and six months:
Nor youth, nor innocence could save Hannah from the insatiate grave; But cease our tears, no longer weep; The little maid doth only sleep. Anon she'll wake and rise again, And in her Saviour's arms remain.
Mr. Peter Gilman, who died within the present cen- tury, allows us to read the following brief lecture:
Stop, my friends, and in a mirror see What you, though e'er so healthy, soon must be, Beauty, with all her rosebuds, paints each face; Approaching death will strip you of each grace.
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Poor Robert Caddall, who lost his wife Jerusha on the fourteenth of November, 1771, in her thirtieth year, thus laments and consoles himself :
O cruel Death, that would not to us spare A loving wife, a kind companion dear; Great grief it is to friends that's left behind, But she, we hope, eternal joys did find.
The following inscription, of much more happy con- ception, is on the gravestone of the wife of a well- known Boston silversmith:
Death with his dart hath pierced my heart, While I was in my prime; When this you see, grieve not for me, 'Twas God's appointed time.
The gravestone which attracts the greatest attention of visitors is that of Captain Daniel Malcom, a mer- chant, who made himself quite noted for his opposition to the unjust and oppressive revenue acts of the Eng- lish government. In February, 1768, he had a schooner arrive in the harbor laden with a valuable cargo of wines, which he was determined should escape the un- popular duties. Consequently, the vessel was detained and anchored about five miles from the town, among the islands in the harbor, and the wine, contained in about sixty casks, was brought up under the cover of night, guarded by parties of men armed with clubs, and deposited in various parts of the town. A meeting of the merchants and traders was subsequently held, at which the captain presided, and it was determined by them not to import any English commodities, except such as should be required for the fisheries, for eighteen
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months. This incensed the officers and menials of the government very much; but it was persisted in, and hence the remarkable inscription which was placed a little over a year afterwards upon the large memorial stone erected over his grave. This stone particularly attracted the attention of the British soldiery, and the marks of their bullets are very perceptible on its face. The inscription is as follows:
Here lies buried in a Stone Grave 10 feet deep Capt DANIEL MALCOM Mercht Who departed this Life October 23d 1769 Aged 44 Years. a true son of Liberty a Friend to the Publick an Enemy to oppression and one of the foremost in opposing the Revenue Acts on America.
When the grave was repaired a short time ago, the stone grave turned out to be built of brick. Its mouth was sealed and closed, probably forever. Perhaps if Deacon Boutcher had written the epitaph, he would have said something like what he did on the death of his daughter Mary, in 1767:
Some hearty friend may drop a tear, On these dry bones and say, These limbs were active once like thine, But thine must be as they.
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CHAPTER XIV.
GRANARY BURYING-GROUND.
Granary Burying-Ground, formerly the South Burying-Ground, and sometimes the Common (or Middle) Burying-Ground . . . Burial Districts . . . Bounda- ries of the Granary Burying-Ground . . . Established in 1660 . . . Enlarged on the South and East . .. Date of the Tombs . . . Hancock Tomb . . . Surround- ing Streets . . . Unfortunate Selection of the Lot ... Governor Bellingham, and his Tomb and Young Wife . . . Drains . . . Great Number of Burials . .. Trees and Paths . . . Franklin Obelisk . . . Franklin's Parents, and Uncle Ben- jamin · · · Oldest Gravestone .. . Heraldic Devices, and Monuments . . . Elisha Brown's Gravestone . . . Grave of Benjamin Woodbridge . .. French Protes- tants, and their First Minister, Peter Daille . . . Noted Burials . . . Victims to the Boston Massacre . . . Joseph Warren . .. The Oldest Tombstone . . . Verses on the Tomb of Mrs. Hannah Allen.
THE Granary Burying-Ground, situated west of Tre- mont street, is the third place of burial that was estab- lished in Boston, and bears date as early as the year 1660. It owes its origin to the scanty provision that had originally been made in selecting the site of the first cemetery, King's Chapel Burying-Ground, and because the population of the peninsula had begun to increase quite sensibly at what was then known as the southerly part of the town. In its earlier years, this graveyard was known as the South Burying-Ground, a name which it retained until about the year 1737, when it began to be called the Granary Burying-Ground, because the old Granary building, which had before that time stood near the head of Park street, had been
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DESCRIPTION OF BOSTON.
removed that year to the present site of Park street meeting-house. From that date, the cemetery bore both names, and at a later period, after the establishment of that upon Boylston street, it was sometimes called the Common Burying-Ground, and sometimes the Middle Burying-Ground, because it was situated in what was designated the Middle Burial District, Copp's Hill yard forming the North, and the Boylston Street (or Com- mon) Burying-Ground the South. In May, 1830, when the trees were set out, which so much improve its pres- ent appearance, an attempt was made to give this old yard the name "Franklin Cemetery." But the project failed, and the Burying-Ground was allowed to com- memorate one of the active benevolences of our philan- thropic predecessors, the Granary.
The Granary Burying-Ground was originally part of the Common, which extended north as far as Beacon street, embracing the whole square now bounded by Tremont, Beacon, and Park streets. About the year 1660, the graveyard was established; and in 1662 the portion of land southwest of it was taken for the public buildings that were subsequently erected there, and which were known as the Bridewell, Almshouse, House of Correction and Granary; and the land at the north and northwest of it was early granted for household accommodations. The burying-ground is now bounded about three hundred and twenty-seven feet southeasterly on Tremont street; about two hundred and ninety- seven feet southwesterly on the rear of the houses front- ing on Park street; about two hundred and ten feet northwesterly on the Athenæum and the estates front- ing on Beacon street; and about two hundred and six- ty-two feet on its northeastern side. The small garden
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belonging to the Tremont House makes a boundary at its northeast corner of thirty-seven feet on the easterly side and twenty feet on the northerly side, near Tremont street.
Originally the graves were only made at the wes- terly and northerly part of the yard, and the approaches to the enclosure, after the fence was erected, were by two gates, one at the extreme southerly corner near the meeting-house, and the other about 40 feet south of the Tremont House garden. The oldest tombs were built near the back part of the yard, and with the contiguous graves occupy about one-quarter of the burial-ground.
On the fifteenth of May, 1717, a vote was passed by the townsmen " to enlarge the South Burying Ground by taking in part of the highway on the easterly side thereof, so as that thereby ye said Highway be not thereby too much straitened," leaving the details of the matter to the discretion of the Selectmen; and on the nineteenth of April, 1719, it was "ordered, that the South Burying Place should be enlarged next the Com- mon or Training Field." This last vote was carried out in 1720, and fifteen tombs were built, which the next year were assigned to Jonathan Belcher, Thomas Cush- ing, James Bowdoin, George Bethune, Adino Bulfinch, Joshua Henshaw and others. These were near the ex- treme southwest corner of the yard, and extended in a line on the south side. In 1722 six tombs were built on the same line, extending easterly; the first of which (numbered 16), became the property of Hon. Thomas Hancock, and is the place of deposit of the remains of his distinguished nephew, John, the first governor of the Commonwealth under the Constitution, and the writer of the remarkable autograph first penned upon
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DESCRIPTION OF BOSTON.
the Declaration of Independence. No monument has been erected to the memory of these worthies, a white marble slab with the simple inscription, "No. 16. TOMB OF HANCOCK," only indicating the family tomb, although a small stone in the yard informs us that " Frank, ser- vant to John Hancock, Esq., lies interred here, who died 23d Jan'y, 1771, ætatis 8." Hon. Thomas Hancock, the uncle, died on the first of August, 1764, aged sixty-two years, and John, the nephew and governor, died on the eighth of October, 1793, aged fifty-six years. The other tombs on the southerly side, fifteen in number, were built during the years 1723, 1724 and 1725; the first thirty on the easterly side, in the years 1726, 1727 and 1728, and the northerly thirteen in 1736; of those on the northerly side, the first five in 1738, and the re- maining twenty-six in 1810; and twenty-six on the westerly side, during the same and next three years. There are sixty other tombs within the yard, which do not border upon either of its sides, one of which, be- longing to the city, has been appropriated for children.
The Highway, as it was anciently called (although a century ago it bore the name of Long Acre, and more recently has at times been known as Common street and Tremount street, and has finally taken the name of Tremont street), was always open ground to our fathers. The portion of Beacon street at the north of the Tremont House was laid out by an order of the townsmen passed the thirtieth of March, 1640; and the street now known as Park street, but formerly as Centry (or Sentry) street and sometimes misspelled Century street, is of comparatively modern origin, not being de- lineated on any of the maps more than eighty years old, and first appearing on Norman's Map, printed in 1789.
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In one respect the selection of the site for this ceme- tery was particularly unfortunate. The soil was springy and exceedingly damp, and therefore required drainage. It is said that when Judge Sullivan, at the close of the last century, repaired the Bellingham tomb, near the west- erly wall, he found the coffin and remains of the old Gov- ernor - who died on the seventh of December, 1672, in the eighty-first year of his age - floating around in the ancient vault. One hundred and ten years form a long period for such a kind of navigation; but when we re- member that the Governor outlived all the other original Patentees under the First, or Colonial Charter, and was almost an exception to all rules in his day and genera- tion, some credit may be given to the story. Mr. Bell- ingham was a queer man, as the following incident in his life will exemplify. The record comes from Governor Winthrop's Journal, and was written when Bellingham was Governor, and the writer senior member of the Board of Assistants. Nov. 9, 1641. "The Governour, Mr. Bellingham, was married, (I would not mention such ordinary matters in our history, but by occasion of some remarkable accidents.) The young gentlewoman was ready to be contracted to a friend of his, who lodged in his house, and by his consent had proceeded so far with her, when on the sudden the Governour treated with her, and obtained her for himself. He excused it by strength of his affection, and that she was not abso- lutely promised to the other gentleman. Two errors more he committed upon it. 1. That he would not have his contract published where he dwelt, contrary to an order of Court. 2. That he married himself contrary to the common practice of the country. The great in- quest presented him for breach of the order of Court
!
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and at the Court following, in the 4th month, the Sec- retary called him to answer the prosecution. But he not going off the bench, as the manner was, and but few of the magistrates present, he put it off to another time, intending to speak with him privately, and with the rest of the magistrates about the case, and accordingly he told him the reason why he did not proceed, viz., being unwilling to command him publicly to go off the bench, and yet not thinking it fit he should sit as a judge, when he was by law to answer as an offender. This he took ill, and said he would not go off the bench, except he were commanded." And so the matter was dropped. The young lady was Penelope, sister of Herbert Pel- ham, one of the most influential of the early settlers of the Massachusetts colony. She was twenty-two years old, and the Governor fifty, when they were married; and she survived him about thirty years, and died on the twenty-eighth of May, 1702, aged eighty-three years.
On the removal of the Granary Building to its new position, in 1737, the drain which had formerly been dis- charged upon the Common was stopped, and the tombs thereby filled with water; and a new drain was laid com- . municating with the common sewer, which emptied itself at the dock near the head of Bull's Wharf; and conse- quently the tombs were in a degree relieved from the excessive accumulation of water. In the summer of 1868, when workmen were engaged digging for the foundation for the Brewer fountain, remains of the old drain were discovered and laid open to view. Water was first played from this beautiful fountain on the third of June, 1868.
In 1740, " a petition of John Chambers and others, gravediggers, presented to the selectmen, representing
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that the old and South Burying Places are so filled with Dead Bodies, they are obliged oft times to bury them four deep, praying it may be laid before the Town, for their consideration," was referred to the selectmen, and resulted in 1756 in the establishment of the burial- ground on Boylston street.
The trees in the grounds were set out in the spring of 1830, chiefly obtained by subscription; and the iron fence on Tremont street was put up in 1840, the cost being about $5,000, half of which was defrayed by the city. The paths have mostly been laid out since the last date ; and an addition is made from time to time to the trees and shrubs which shade and ornament them. Every Sunday afternoon, a few hours before sunset, the gate is opened and the public admitted to the enclosure.
The old trees of Paddock's Mall, with their thickly set leaves, produce a most grateful shade in front of this old grave-yard; and, while they protect from the burning summer's sun the passenger, who stops awhile to survey the quaint old gravestones and the more pretentious sculptured tablets that designate the pro- prietors of the tombs, add much to the picturesque appearance of the spot.
This old burying-ground is rich with memories of the past; and has connected with it historical reminis- cences inferior in point of interest to that of no other cemetery in Massachusetts. Within the walls of this enclosure lie many of the most notable of the worthies of Boston. No yard here has given rest to the mortal remains of more distinguished persons than this. One cannot pass around its modern walks-laid out with the same disregard to ancient memorials as are those of the other burial-grounds on the peninsula- without
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DESCRIPTION OF BOSTON.
noticing the names of persons noted for the well-re- membered parts they have taken in the affairs of the town, commonwealth and country. The mention of a few of these memorials may awaken recollections of the past, and point out to some future pilgrim objects which in a few short years may be forgotten.
On entering the cemetery by the main gate which fronts Bromfield street, the visitor first notices a neat granite obelisk, standing nearly in the centre of the yard. This is the monument raised over the tomb in which re- pose the parents and other relatives of Franklin. It was erected in 1827 by a few citizens of Boston, to ren- der more conspicuous a much revered spot. The corner- stone of the structure was laid by Hon. Charles Wells, with an appropriate address and becoming ceremonies, on the fifteenth of June, in the presence of the Governor of the Commonwealth and the officers and members of the Massachusetts Charitable Mechanic Association. The obelisk is constructed of five massive ashlars of Quincy granite, taken from the Bunker Hill Monument quarry; and is twenty-one feet in height, and stands upon a rectangular base two feet high, and measuring seven feet on each of its four sides. On the easterly side of the monument the name of Franklin is cut in bold re- lief in large letters, and a short space beneath this is a bronze tablet, about thirty-two inches long and sixteen wide, set into the stone, and containing, in the following words, the original inscription, composed by Franklin, with an additional paragraph by the liberal citizens who, out of profound regard and veneration for the memory of the illustrious son, and desirous of reminding suc- ceeding generations that he was of Boston birth and origin, erected the obelisk in its present excellent and
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permanent form, and laid beneath it the original tablet which had been placed there in filial duty:
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