Cemeteries

King’s Chapel Burying Ground, Boston

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The scene in the King’s Chapel Burying Ground in Boston, around the 1920s. Image courtesy of the Boston Public Library.

The scene in 2021:

King’s Chapel Burying Ground is the oldest cemetery in Boston, dating back to the very beginning of the European colonization of the area. According to tradition, the first burial here was Isaac Johnson, one of the wealthiest and most influential of the original settlers of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. He had extensive landholdings, but he died in September 1630, only a few months after his arrival in the New World. As the story goes, Johnson was buried on his property in Boston, and as other people died in the coming months and years, they were likewise buried here.

In reality, there is no contemporary evidence to indicate that Johnson was even buried in Boston, let alone in this specific plot of land. The earliest account of this story was written nearly 50 years after the fact, in the diary of Judge Samuel Sewall. But, one way or another, this site became a burial ground very early in Boston’s history, although the exact date is uncertain. It would remain the town’s only cemetery until 1659, when Copp’s Hill Burying Ground was established in the North End.

There are no surviving gravestones from the early burials here. The oldest is dated 1658, for William Paddy, although this stone had an interesting history. Paddy was presumably buried here at King’s Chapel, but the gravestone itself was discovered buried under the street next to the Old State House in 1830. It seems highly unlikely that Paddy would have been buried there, and there were no human remains in the vicinity, so the stone was probably removed from the burying ground at some point, perhaps in the 1700s, and repurposed as something else. In any case, it was safely returned here after its discovery in 1830, and has remained here ever since.

Gravestones became more common here during the late 1600s and early 1700s, often with highly ornate, intricate carvings decorated with images of skulls and other symbols of death. Perhaps most notable among them is the gravestone of Joseph Tapping, a large slate stone that stands at the entrance to the graveyard. It is dated 1678, and it features a scroll pediment at the top, and beneath it is a large hourglass atop a winged skull. Beneath the skull is a striking image of a skeleton, likely symbolizing death, trying to extinguish a candle while Father Time tries to restrain him. Another notable gravestone is that of Elizabeth Pain, dated 1704. It likewise features a skull and hourglass, but it also has a large coat of arms carved into it. This design somewhat resembles a capital “A,” which has led some to speculate that this gravestone inspired Nathaniel Hawthorne to write The Scarlet Letter.

In the meantime, in 1688 King’s Chapel was built on the southern portion of the graveyard. It was the first Anglican church in a town that was otherwise dominated by Puritanism, and this was the only land that the church officials were able to acquire. It was originally built of wood, although it was later rebuilt with stone in 1754, as shown in these two photos. The church was not at all affiliated with the graveyard, but, because of its proximity, it came to be known as King’s Chapel Burying Ground, and the name has stuck ever since.

The graveyard continued to be used throughout the 18th and into the early 19th centuries. However, by that point Boston was growing rapidly, and the old burial grounds such as this one were becoming overcrowded and, in the minds of many, posed health risks. So, in 1831 the Mount Auburn Cemetery was established in Cambridge and Watertown, in the suburbs of Boston. In contrast to the crowded, urban setting here, this new cemetery would be laid out like a rural park. And, while the old graveyards featured gravestones with grim, Puritan-era reminders of death, Mount Auburn would have monuments that were generally more neoclassical in style.

By the time the first photo was taken around the 1920s, King’s Chapel Burying Ground had not been used as an active cemetery for many decades. And, in the meantime, many of the old gravestones had been rearranged during the 19th century, evidently to create more orderly rows of stones. As a result, the location of many of the stones no longer corresponded to the site of the remains that they were intended to mark. This practice continued after the first photo was taken, and today the arrangement of the stones is very different from a century ago, as shown in the present-day photo.

Today, King’s Chapel Burying ground is a popular stop on the Freedom Trail, and a nice summer day will find many tourists circulating through the old graveyard. None of the particularly famous gravestones are readily visible in this scene, although the obelisk in the center of the photo stands out amid the otherwise relatively small colonial-era stones. It marks the gravesite of Thomas Dawes, a builder and architect who was also a militia colonel during the American Revolution. Just beyond the obelisk is a tomb that was long believed to have been the final resting place of William Dawes Jr., Thomas’s cousin. He had been one of the riders who, along with Paul Revere, warned of the advancing British redcoats before the Battles of Lexington and Concord. However, it appears that he is actually buried at the Forest Hills Cemetery in Jamaica Plain.

Aside from the graveyard itself, a few of the surrounding buildings are still standing from the first photo. Most notably is King’s Chapel itself, which remains an active church, although it has been a Unitarian congregation—rather than Anglican—ever since the end of the American Revolution. Further in the distance, on the right side of the scene, the other survivor from the first photo is the Tremont Building. Constructed in 1895, this office building still stands at the southwest corner of Tremont and Beacon Streets, and it is currently part of the Suffolk University campus.

Bigelow Chapel, Watertown, Mass (2)

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The Bigelow Chapel at Mount Auburn Cemetery in Watertown, around 1865-1885. Image courtesy of the New York Public Library.

The chapel in 2021:

These two photos show a closer view of the Bigelow Chapel, which was featured in the previous post. The Gothic Revival-style chapel was originally built in 1846, and it was designed by noted architect Gridley J. F. Bryant, along with one of the founders of Mount Auburn Cemetery, Dr. Jacob Bigelow. However, while the design was sound, the construction work was shoddy, including the use of poor-quality stone. As a result, the chapel was in danger of collapse within less than a decade, and had to be deconstructed and rebuilt.

This work was completed in 1856, and the first photo was taken around a decade or two later. The building would continue to be used as the cemetery’s chapel until 1898, when a larger one was built near the entrance to the cemetery. The old chapel then became the first crematorium in the state, and over the years the interior was renovated several times, although the exterior has remained well-preserved in its original appearance.

In 1936, the old chapel was named in honor of Dr. Bigelow, and in 1970 it was expanded with a new wing, which now houses the crematorium. The newer chapel, now named the Story Chapel, remains the primary chapel here at Mount Auburn, although the Bigelow Chapel is still used as a meeting space for a variety of events.

Bigelow Chapel, Watertown, Mass

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The Bigelow Chapel at Mount Auburn Cemetery in Watertown, around 1865-1885. Image courtesy of the New York Public Library.

The scene in 2021:

As explained in an earlier post, Mount Auburn Cemetery was established in 1831 as an alternative to the small, overcrowded colonial-era burial grounds in the center of Boston. By contrast, Mount Auburn cemetery was to feature winding paths, careful landscaping, and other features that made it not only a quiet final resting place for the dead, but also a pleasant place for the living to visit.

One of the leading figures in creating and subsequently managing the cemetery was Dr. Jacob Bigelow, a physician from Boston. He was involved in the cemetery throughout its early history, including the process of designing and building a chapel here in the cemetery. Working with noted architect Gridley J. F. Bryant, Dr. Bigelow helped to design the chapel. It featured a Gothic Revival design, which was particularly popular for churches and public buildings during this period, and it was completed in 1846.

However, problems soon emerged with the chapel. The contractors had submitted a bid of $19,623 for the project, but they evidently discovered, partway through construction, that this was too low. As a result, they hired less reputable subcontractors to do some of the work, with predictable results. The most significant problem was with the stonework. They used many poor-quality stones, and many of these were not cut to the proper dimensions, which allowed water to enter between the stones. Repeated freeze-thaw cycles in the winter months soon resulted in cracks in the stones, which threatened the structural integrity of the chapel.

To fix the problem, the building had to be demolished and reconstructed, with new stones to replace the defective ones. The work was completed in 1856, resulting in a building that looked essentially the same as the original one. The first photo was probably taken within a decade or two after this, showing a large gathering in front of the main entrance to the chapel.  It would remain in use as the cemetery’s chapel until 1898, when a larger one, which was later named the Story Chapel, opened at the main entrance to the cemetery.

The older chapel, which was formally named in honor of Jacob Bigelow in 1936, then became a crematorium. It was the first of its kind in the state, and is first cremation was in 1900. Since then, the interior has been significantly renovated several times, and the building was expanded with an addition in 1970. This wing now houses the crematorium, and the old chapel continues to be used as a meeting space for various events. Overall, despite these many changes, the view of the chapel from this angle has remained largely unchanged since the first photo was taken, and it stands as an excellent example of Gothic Revival architecture.

Nathaniel Bowditch Statue, Watertown, Mass

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The Nathaniel Bowditch statue in Mount Auburn Cemetery, around the 1860s or 1870s. Image courtesy of the Boston Public Library.

The scene in 2022:

Mount Auburn Cemetery is the final resting place for many prominent figures from the Boston area during the 19th century. Among them is Nathaniel Bowditch, who is commemorated by this life-sized statue. It does not actually mark his gravesite, as he is buried elsewhere in the cemetery, but it has long been a distinctive landmark here at Mount Auburn.

Nathaniel Bowditch was born in Salem in 1773. His formal education ended early, and as a teenager he apprenticed as a bookkeeper with a ship chandler. However, throughout this time he continued his studies on his own, eventually teaching himself calculus, French, and Latin. By the time he was in his 20s, Bowditch was one of the leading mathematicians and astronomers in the country, with a particular focus on improving maritime navigation. In 1802, he published the American Practical Navigator. This book quickly became an invaluable resource for sailors, and it remains in print today, more than 200 years later.

Bowditch died in 1838, and he was buried in the newly-established Mount Auburn Cemetery. His grave would be marked by a large brownstone monument, but within weeks of his death the prominent individuals of Boston and Salem were already planning their own memorial to Bowditch. As Alexander Young described in an 1838 eulogy for Bowditch,

[T]he public gratitude is raising an appropriate monument to his memory, at Mount Auburn, expressive of the simple grandeur of his genius and fame, which will arrest the attention of every traveler to that sacred and beautiful retreat of the dead, and enkindle his love of excellence, while he pauses to contemplate the profound philosopher, the christian philanthropist, the man of pure and illustrious virtue.

Sculptor Robert Ball Hughes received the commission for this project. Born and educated in Britain, Hughes had subsequently emigrated to America, where he eventually settled in Boston. He completed the model of the statue in 1843, but it was not until 1847 that the bronze statue was cast. This work was done in the foundry of Gooding & Gavett in Boston, and it was said to have been the first life-size bronze statue to be cast in the United States.

The statue was installed here at Mount Auburn on May 22, 1847, with contemporary newspapers providing glowing reviews of the monument. Writing two days later, the Boston Daily Evening Transcript provided the following description:

The bronze statue of Dr. Bowditch, just finished by Ball Hughes, is indeed a chef d’œuvre of art, and we congratulate the Committee and Directors of Mount Auburn for the admirable situation they have chosen for it. It was safely placed on the pedestal previously prepared for it on Saturday afternoon, and as we looked on it and it reflected back the rays of that sun which is to rise and set on it for centuries, were happy in thinking that “Time, the great destroyer,” cannot impair and will but add new beauty to it.

Another description, which was printed a few days later in the Congregational Journal of Concord, New Hampshire, it provided more details about the process of making the statue:

A bronze statue of the late Dr. Nathaniel Bowditch, (whose “Practical Navigator” has bothered so many college students, and saved so many ships and sailors) has just been cast by Messrs. Goodin & Gavett, of this city…. The work commenced about eight months ago, and has been prosecuted at odd hours of the day, and partly during the hours of night, so as not to interfere with the regular business of the manufacturers, whose chief occupation is the making of lamps. But two or three of the workmen in their employ, have been let into the knowledge of the method adopted in casting this statue. The entire execution of the work is worthy of all praise, and reflects the highest honor upon the mechanical skill and taste of all the operatives engaged in it. The weight of the statue is twenty-five hundred pounds. The metal is composed of one part of tin, and seven parts of copper from the mines of Lake Superior, and it somewhat harder than gun metal. It improves by exposure to atmospheric action. It was cast in two pieces and afterwards fused together.

The article then goes on to describe the design of the statue:

The statue is hollow and is in an easy sitting posture, adorned with graceful drapery,—a large book held in the right hand,—a celestial globe, quadrant, compass, and other emblems of the philosopher and the man of mathematical science are admirably arranged, so as to give the while a natural appearance. The effect upon the mind of the beholder is in the highest degree pleasing, and one almost involuntarily gives utterance to his feelings of admiration as he examines this beautiful ,and enduring work of art which is intended as a monument to one of the greatest scholars and one of the best and most useful men that America ever produced.

However, despite the confident assertions by these articles that the statue would be immune to “Time, the great destroyer,” and that it would only improve when exposed to the elements, this proved to not be the case. Just six years later, in 1853, the statue was already deteriorating. Dr. Jacob Bigelow, one of the cemetery trustees, was part of a committee to repair the statue, and an article in the Boston Recorder described his findings

Dr. J. Bigelow…submitted a report in which he says that he has examined the said statue, with the assistance of competent mechanics, that he finds the whole in a bad and almost worthless state, being apparently made of base metal and full of holes, which were concealed by cement in the original casting, but are now open, not only to disfiguring the statue, but admitting the rain, which, by freezing in Winter, has caused several cracks from six to nine inches in length; that the statue is now in process of destruction, and is not worth any more expensive repair than a coat of putty and paint, which may keep it together a few years longer.

As it turned out, the statue would last for a few more decades. But, by the 1880s it had deteriorated to the point where it had to be re-cast. This work was done in Paris, and the new statue was reinstalled here in 1887. The first photo is not dated, but it is from a stereocard that was likely published in the late 1860s or 1870s. If that is the case, then it would show the original statue, before it was re-cast.

Since then, not much has changed in this scene. The statue remains a major landmark in the cemetery, and the cemetery retains the same well-landscaped, park-like setting that its founders had envisioned nearly 200 years ago. The re-cast statue has weathered much better than the original, and in 2011 it underwent a major restoration and cleaning, returning it to its original appearance when it was first installed here.

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow Gravesite, Watertown, Mass

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The gravesite of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow in Mount Auburn Cemetery, around 1900-1910. Image courtesy of the Boston Public Library.

The scene in 2021:

These two photos show the final resting place of prominent 19th century poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow and his family. Born in Portland in 1807, he later attended Bowdoin College, became a professor there, traveled abroad in Europe, and then eventually ended up in Cambridge as a Harvard professor in 1836. In the meantime, he had married his first wife, Mary, in 1831, but she died in Europe in 1835 as a result of complications from a miscarriage, and her body was returned here for burial in the newly-established Mount Auburn Cemetery.

When he moved to Cambridge after her death, he rented a room in a mansion that, more than 60 years earlier, had been George Washington’s headquarters during the Siege of Boston. He eventually purchased this house, and he lived there for the rest of his life. He remarried in 1843, to Frances Appleton, and they had six children together, one of whom died in infancy and was buried here. Unfortunately, Frances also died under tragic circumstances, when her dress caught fire while she was trying to melt wax to seal envelopes. Longfellow himself was also badly burned while trying to put out the flames, which led him to grow his beard to hide the scars.

Throughout his time in Cambridge, Longfellow was the most celebrated poet in America. Some of his most popular works included long epic poems such as Evangeline and The Song of Hiawatha, along with shorter poems, such as “The Courtship of Miles Standish,” “Paul Revere’s Ride,” and “The Village Blacksmith.” His poems often told highly romanticized versions of historical events, in many cases focusing on the colonial or Revolutionary eras.

Longfellow died in 1882 at the age of 75, and he was buried here in the family plot in Mount Auburn Cemetery, alongside his two wives and infant daughter. The first photo was taken a couple decades later, showing the family monument. It was carved out of Indiana limestone by Longfellow’s nephew, William Pitt Preble Longfellow, and on the side it features a symbol in the form of a circle with an X over it. The X is inscribed with “Dux,” “Lex,” “Lux,” and “Rex,” and the words are arranged so that they all share a small X in the center of the larger X. This Latin inscription translates to “Leader,” “Law,” “Light,” and “King.”

By the time the first photo was taken, Longfellow’s oldest child, Charles, had also been buried here. His other four children were still living at the time, but his son Ernest died in 1921, and his daughter Alice in 1928, and both were subsequently buried in the family plot. Aside from these additional interments, the only changes here have been the landscaping. The family plot is no longer covered in grass, and the trees in the distance on the hillside have grown in, but otherwise this scene is still easily recognizable more than a century after the first photo was taken.

Auburn Lake, Watertown, Mass

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Auburn Lake in Mount Auburn Cemetery, around the 1870s or 1880s. Image courtesy of the New York Public Library.

The scene in 2021:

As discussed in the previous post, Mount Auburn Cemetery was established in 1831 as the first rural cemetery in the United States. Up until this point, Boston-area graveyards typically occupied small plots of land near town centers. They were a practical necessity as a place to bury the dead, with little emphasis on landscaping. Even the gravestones themselves, while often elaborately carved, served a purpose by reminding people of death and mortality.

However, by the early 19th century many of these graveyards were becoming overcrowded, especially in fast-growing places like Boston. Motivated by concerns about public health, along with shifting societal attitudes regarding death, proponents such as Dr. Jacob Bigelow advocated for a new, expansive   cemetery on the outskirts of Boston. The result was Mount Auburn Cemetery, which was laid out on the north side of the Charles River, on the border of Cambridge and Watertown,

Unlike the purely functional colonial-era graveyards, Mount Auburn was designed to be both a quiet resting place for the dead, and also a peaceful place for the living to visit in the days before public parks were common. It was carefully landscaped, with burial plots situated along winding paths, and  grounds that were interspersed with trees, hills, and ponds. Overall, the effect was a park-like setting that, to many, may have helped to soften the harsh realities of death.

These two photos show Auburn Lake, one of the three ponds in the cemetery. It was once known as Meadow Pond, but in the late 1850s it was renamed Auburn Lake. This appears to have occurred around the same time that the ponder underwent improvements, including lining the banks with stone. By the time the first photo was taken around the 1870s, Auburn Lake featured a bridge, which crossed the narrow portion between the northern and southern halves of the pond, and it also had a swan house in the center, with at least one swan visible in the photo.

Today, about 150 years after the first photo was taken, not much has changed in this scene. The swan house is long gone, but otherwise Auburn Lake looks much the same as it did in the first photo. This is due, in part, to an extensive restoration project that occurred in 1998, involving draining and dredging it, and then replanting the areas along the banks. Overall, as is the case with Auburn Lake, the cemetery still has the same park-like environment that its founders had envisioned, and it remains a quiet place in the midst of the busy inner suburbs of Boston.