The Central Burying Ground is a

cemetery A cemetery, burial ground, gravesite, graveyard, or a green space called a memorial park or memorial garden, is a place where the remains of many death, dead people are burial, buried or otherwise entombed. The word ''cemetery'' (from Greek ...

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

Massachusetts Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...

, United States. It was established on

Boston Common The Boston Common is a public park in downtown Boston, Massachusetts. It is the oldest city park in the United States. Boston Common consists of of land bounded by five major Boston streets: Tremont Street, Park Street, Beacon Street, Charl ...

in 1756. It is located on

Boylston Street Boylston Street is a major east–west thoroughfare in the city of Boston, Massachusetts, and its western suburbs. The street begins in Boston's Chinatown, Boston, Chinatown neighborhood, forms the southern border of the Public Garden (Boston) ...

between

Tremont Street Tremont Street is a major thoroughfare in Boston, Massachusetts. Tremont Street begins at Government Center, Boston, Massachusetts, Government Center in Boston's city center as a continuation of Cambridge Street, and forms the eastern edge of ...

and Charles Street. Famous burials there include the artist

Gilbert Stuart Gilbert Stuart ( Stewart; December 3, 1755 – July 9, 1828) was an American painter born in the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, Rhode Island Colony who is widely considered one of America's foremost portraitists. His best-k ...

, painter of the famed portraits of

George Washington George Washington (, 1799) was a Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father and the first president of the United States, serving from 1789 to 1797. As commander of the Continental Army, Washington led Patriot (American Revoluti ...

and

Martha Washington Martha Dandridge Custis Washington (June 2, 1731 Old Style, O.S. – May 22, 1802) was the wife of George Washington, who was the first president of the United States. Although the title was not coined until after her death, she served as the ...

, and the composer

William Billings William Billings (October 7, 1746 – September 26, 1800) was an American composer and is regarded as the first American choral composer and leading member of the First New England School. Life William Billings was born in Boston, Province ...

, who wrote the famous colonial hymn "Chester." Also buried there are Samuel Sprague and his son, Charles Sprague, one of America's earliest poets. Samuel Sprague was a participant in the

Boston Tea Party The Boston Tea Party was a seminal American protest, political and Mercantilism, mercantile protest on December 16, 1773, during the American Revolution. Initiated by Sons of Liberty activists in Boston in Province of Massachusetts Bay, colo ...

and fought in the

American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was the armed conflict that comprised the final eight years of the broader American Revolution, in which Am ...

. When the

Tremont Street subway The Tremont Street subway in Boston's MBTA subway system is the oldest subway tunnel in North America and the third-oldest still in use worldwide to exclusively use electric traction (after the City and South London Railway in 1890, and Line 1 ...

was under construction in the 1890s, burials were discovered in the area abutting the cemetery. These were reinterred in a mass grave within the bounds of the burying ground.

Notable burials

* "British soldiers who died of disease during the occupation of the city 775–1776 and those who died of wounds received at Bunker Hill"King's hand-book of Boston. 1889; p.240 *

(1746–1800), composer * Caleb Davis (1738–1797) * Stephen Higginson (1743–1828), American politician and merchant * John Baptiste Julien (d.1805), proprietor of

Julien's Restorator Julien's Restorator (1793–1823) was a restaurant in Boston, Massachusetts, established by French-born Jean Baptiste Gilbert Payplat dis Julien.Andrew F. Smith, ed. The Oxford companion to American food and drink. Oxford University Press US, 200 ...

(1755–1828)Bacon. Book of Boston: fifty years' recollections of the New England metropolis. 1916. * Charles Sprague (1791–1875)

Image gallery

Image:ChowManderien CentralBuryingGround 2008 BostonCommon 2952913054.jpg, Marker of Chow Manderien, died 1798 (photo from 2008) Image:WilliamRaymond CentralBuryingGround 2004 BostonCommon 2961221800.jpg, Marker of William Raymond (2004 photo) Image:1814 Common Boston map Hales.png, Detail of 1814 map of Boston, showing Central Burying Ground Image:Subway bodies 1895 CentralBuryingGround BostonCommon 3078646808.jpg, "Here were interred the remains of persons found under the Boylston St. Mall during the digging of the subway, 1895" (photo from 2008) Image:2008 CentralBuryingGround BostonCommon 3078646570.jpg, View of Boylston St., 2008 Image:Boston Common Central Burying Ground.jpg, 2008 Image:2008 CentralBuryingGround BostonCommon 2957264193.jpg, 2008 Image:Boston_Commons_Cemetery.JPG, 2005 File:USA-Boston Common Central Burying Ground0.jpg, Central Burying Ground

References

External links

* – City of Boston *
Google news archive
Articles about the Central Burying Ground {{Coord, 42.35276, -71.06597, display=title 1756 establishments in the Thirteen Colonies History of Boston Cemeteries in Boston Boston Theater District Boston Common Cemeteries established in the 18th century

Notable burials

See also

Image gallery

References

Further reading

External links