Sleepy Hollow Cemetery is a

rural cemetery A rural cemetery or garden cemetery is a style of cemetery that became popular in the United States and Europe in the mid-19th century due to the overcrowding and health concerns of urban cemeteries, which tended to be churchyards. Rural cemeter ...

located on Bedford Street near the center of

Concord, Massachusetts Concord () is a town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. In the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the town population was 18,491. The United States Census Bureau considers Concord part of Greater Boston. The town center is n ...

. The cemetery is the burial site of a number of famous Concordians, including some of the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

' greatest authors and thinkers, especially on a hill known as "Author's Ridge."

History

Sleepy Hollow was designed in 1855 by noted landscape architects Cleveland and Copeland, and has been in use ever since. It was dedicated on September 29, 1855;

Ralph Waldo Emerson Ralph Waldo Emerson (May 25, 1803April 27, 1882), who went by his middle name Waldo, was an American essayist, lecturer, philosopher, minister, abolitionism, abolitionist, and poet who led the Transcendentalism, Transcendentalist movement of th ...

gave a dedication speech and would be buried there decades later. Both designers of the cemetery had decades-long friendships with many leaders of the

Transcendentalism Transcendentalism is a philosophical, spiritual, and literary movement that developed in the late 1820s and 1830s in the New England region of the United States. "Transcendentalism is an American literary, political, and philosophical movement of ...

movement which is reflected in their design. "Sleepy Hollow was an early natural garden designed in keeping with Emerson's aesthetic principles," writes Joachim Wolschke-Bulmahn in his ''Nature and Ideology''. In 1855, landscape designer Robert Morris Copeland delivered an address he entitled ''The Usefull icand The Beautiful'', tying his principles of naturalistic, organic garden design to Emerson's Transcendentalist principles. Shortly afterward, Copeland and his partner were retained by the Concord Cemetery Committee, of which Emerson was an active member, to design a cemetery for the growing community. On September 29, 1855, Emerson delivered the opening address of the cemetery's consecration. In it he lauded the designers' work. "The garden of the living," said Emerson, was as much for the benefit for the living, to communicate their relationship to the natural world, as it was to honor the dead. By situating the monuments to the dead within a

natural landscape A natural landscape is the original landscape that exists before it is acted upon by human culture. The natural landscape and the cultural landscape are separate parts of the landscape. However, in the 21st century, landscapes that are totally ...

, the architects conveyed their message, said Emerson. A cemetery could not "jealously guard a few atoms under immense marbles, selfishly and impossibly sequestering

hem A hem in sewing is a garment finishing method, where the edge of a piece of cloth is folded and sewn to prevent unravelling of the fabric and to adjust the length of the piece in garments, such as at the end of the sleeve or the bottom of the ga ...

from the vast circulations of nature

hich Ij () is a village in Golabar Rural District of the Central District in Ijrud County, Zanjan province, Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq ...

recompenses for new life ach decomposingparticle." Known as Sleepy Hollow for some 20 years prior to its use as a cemetery, Emerson told his audience at the consecration ceremony that September day in Concord, "When these acorns, that are falling at our feet, are oaks overshadowing our children in a remote century, this mute green bank will be full of history: the good, the wise, and the great will have left their names and virtues on the trees... will have made the air tuneable and articulate." To realize their vision, Emerson noted that the cemetery's designers had fitted the walks and drives into the site's natural amphitheater. They also left much of the original natural vegetation in place, instead of removing it and replanting with ornamental shrubs, as was often the case. Several years after Emerson's address, a visitor to the new cemetery noted the abundance of wild plants such as woodbine, raspberry, and goldenrod, as well as the natural moss and roots of pine trees which were left

in situ is a Latin phrase meaning 'in place' or 'on site', derived from ' ('in') and ' ( ablative of ''situs'', ). The term typically refers to the examination or occurrence of a process within its original context, without relocation. The term is use ...

by the designers. The Melvin Memorial, also known as Mourning Victory, sculpted by

Daniel Chester French Daniel Chester French (April 20, 1850 – October 7, 1931) was an American sculpture, sculptor in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. His works include ''The Minute Man'', an 1874 statue in Concord, Massachusetts, and his Statue of Abr ...

marks the grave of three brothers killed in the Civil War. Several notable literary figures are buried on "Author's Ridge". People are still being buried in Sleepy Hollow. The back of the newer portion of the cemetery leads to a path system which connects to the Great Meadows National Wildlife Refuge.

Notable burials

*The Alcott family, including

Amos Bronson Alcott Amos Bronson Alcott (; November 29, 1799 – March 4, 1888) was an American teacher, writer, philosopher, and reformer. As an educator, Alcott pioneered new ways of interacting with young students, focusing on a conversational style, and av ...

( Transcendentalist, philosopher, educator), his wife Abby May (social worker, abolitionist), and 3 of their daughters: Anna Alcott Pratt,

Louisa May Alcott Louisa May Alcott (; November 29, 1832March 6, 1888) was an American novelist, short story writer, and poet best known for writing the novel ''Little Women'' (1868) and its sequels ''Good Wives'' (1869), ''Little Men'' (1871), and ''Jo's Boys'' ...

(author of ''

Little Women ''Little Women'' is a coming-of-age novel written by American novelist Louisa May Alcott, originally published in two volumes, in 1868 and 1869. The story follows the lives of the four March sisters— Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy—and details th ...

'' and others) and Elizabeth Sewall Alcott as well as Anna's husband

John Bridge Pratt John Bridge Pratt (June 16, 1833 — November 27, 1870) was the husband of Anna Bronson Alcott Pratt, the elder sister of novelist Louisa May Alcott. He inspired the fictional character John Brooke in his sister-in-law Louisa May Alcott's best know ...

and their sons, John Sewall Alcott Pratt and Frederick Alcott Pratt with their spouses and Frederick's children * Charles A.P. Bartlett (WWI Army captain and Pennsylvania State Senator) * Ephraim Wales Bull (creator of the Concord Grape) *

William Ellery Channing William Ellery Channing (April 7, 1780 – October 2, 1842) was the foremost Unitarianism, Unitarian preacher in the United States in the early nineteenth century and, along with Andrews Norton (1786–1853), one of Unitarianism's leading theolo ...

( Transcendentalist and poet) * James Underwood Crockett (gardener and host of '' The Victory Garden'') * Marc Daniels (pioneer television director of ''I Love Lucy'' and the original ''Star Trek'' series) *

Katherine Kennicott Davis Katherine Kennicott Davis (June 25, 1892 – April 20, 1980) was an American composer, pianist, arranger, and teacher, whose most well-known composition is the Christmas song "Carol of the Drum," later known as " The Little Drummer Boy". Life a ...

(composer of

The Little Drummer Boy "The Little Drummer Boy" (originally known as "Carol of the Drum") is a popular Christmas song written by American composer Katherine Kennicott Davis in 1941. First recorded in 1951 by the Austrian Trapp Family, the song was further popularized ...

) * Mary Moody Emerson (diarist and letter writer; aunt of Ralph Waldo Emerson) *

(American Transcendentalist, essayist, lecturer, and poet) *

(sculptor of the

Lincoln Memorial The Lincoln Memorial is a List of national memorials of the United States, U.S. national memorial honoring Abraham Lincoln, the List of presidents of the United States, 16th president of the United States, located on the western end of the Nati ...

) *

Nathaniel Hawthorne Nathaniel Hawthorne (né Hathorne; July 4, 1804 – May 19, 1864) was an American novelist and short story writer. His works often focus on history, morality, and religion. He was born in 1804 in Salem, Massachusetts, from a family long associat ...

(author of ''

The Scarlet Letter ''The Scarlet Letter: A Romance'' is a historical novel by American author Nathaniel Hawthorne, published in 1850. Set in the Puritan Massachusetts Bay Colony during the years 1642 to 1649, the novel tells the story of Hester Prynne, who concei ...

'' and others) *

Sophia Hawthorne Sophia Amelia Hawthorne ( Peabody; September 21, 1809 – February 26, 1871) was an American painter and illustrator as well as the wife of author Nathaniel Hawthorne. She also published her journals and various articles. Life Early life S ...

(American painter and illustrator) * Frederick Heyliger (Officer with Easy Company, 2nd Battalion, 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment) * Ebenezer R. Hoar (19th-century politician) *

George Frisbie Hoar George Frisbie Hoar (August 29, 1826 – September 30, 1904) was an American attorney and politician, represented Massachusetts in the United States Senate from 1877 until his death in 1904. He belonged to an extended family that became politic ...

(19th-century politician) * George Washington Hosmer (Unitarian minister and President of Antioch College) *

Ralph Hosmer Ralph Sheldon Hosmer (March 4, 1874 - July 20, 1963) was Hawaii's first territorial forester, a contemporary of Gifford Pinchot who was among the group of educated American foresters that organized what is now the United States Forest Service. Hos ...

(first territorial forester of Hawaii) * Edward Holton James (socialist) * Harriett M. Lothrop (founder of Children of the American Revolution, author of children's books, widow of publisher Daniel Lothrop, friend of

Julia Ward Howe Julia Ward Howe ( ; May 27, 1819 – October 17, 1910) was an American author and poet, known for writing the "Battle Hymn of the Republic" as new lyrics to an existing song, and the original 1870 pacifist Mothers' Day Proclamation. She w ...

and the Alcott family) * Richard Marius (

Reformation The Reformation, also known as the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation, was a time of major Theology, theological movement in Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the p ...

historian and Southern novelist) *

Robin Moore Robert Lowell Moore Jr. (October 31, 1925 – February 21, 2008) was an American writer who wrote '' The Green Berets'', '' The French Connection: A True Account of Cops, Narcotics, and International Conspiracy'', and with Xaviera Hollander and ...

(author of '' The Green Berets'', '' The French Connection'' and other books) * Ralph Munroe (yacht designer and pioneer of South

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

) *

Elizabeth Peabody Elizabeth Palmer Peabody (May 16, 1804January 3, 1894) was an American educator who opened the first English-language kindergarten in the United States. Long before most educators, Peabody embraced the premise that children's play has intrinsic d ...

(education reformer) *

Franklin Benjamin Sanborn Franklin Benjamin Sanborn (December 15, 1831 – February 24, 1917) was an American journalist, teacher, author, reformer, and Abolitionism in the United States, abolitionist. Sanborn was a social scientist and memorialist of American transcend ...

(author and social reformer) * Harriette Lucy Robinson Shattuck (author, writer on parliamentary law, suffragist) *

Henry David Thoreau Henry David Thoreau (born David Henry Thoreau; July 12, 1817May 6, 1862) was an American naturalist, essayist, poet, and philosopher. A leading Transcendentalism, transcendentalist, he is best known for his book ''Walden'', a reflection upon sim ...

(American Transcendentalist, philosopher, essayist, and lecturer) The family plot includes his parents, brother John Jr., and sisters Helen Thoreau and

Sophia Thoreau Sophia Elizabeth Thoreau (June 24, 1819 – October 7, 1876) was an American editor. As the sister of Henry David Thoreau and his close collaborator, she was responsible for the posthumous publication of many of his well-known works. Life Soph ...

. * Mary Lemist Titcomb (founder of the Bookmobile) * Mary Colman Wheeler (founder of the Wheeler School) * George Washington Wright (California's first representative in Congress)

References

External links

*
Sleepy Hollow Cemetery websiteFriends of Sleepy Hollow website
{{Authority control Buildings and structures in Concord, Massachusetts Cemeteries on the National Register of Historic Places in Massachusetts Cemeteries in Middlesex County, Massachusetts Tourist attractions in Concord, Massachusetts National Register of Historic Places in Concord, Massachusetts Historic districts on the National Register of Historic Places in Massachusetts Rural cemeteries Cemeteries established in the 1820s 1823 establishments in Massachusetts

History

Notable burials

See also

References

External links