Ye Antientist Burial Ground is a cemetery in

New London, Connecticut New London is a seaport city and a port of entry on the northeast coast of the United States, located at the outlet of the Thames River (Connecticut), Thames River in New London County, Connecticut, which empties into Long Island Sound. The cit ...

, bounded by Hempstead Street on the west and Huntington Street on the east, running from Granite Street to approximately Bristol Street. It has been known by several names over the years, many spelling variations on Ancient Burial Ground. It is one of the earliest

graveyards 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 dead people are buried or otherwise entombed. The word ''cemetery'' (from Greek ) implies tha ...

New England New England is a region consisting of six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York (state), New York to the west and by the ...

and the oldest colonial cemetery in

New London County New London County is a county in the southeastern corner of Connecticut and comprises the Norwich-New London, Connecticut Metropolitan Statistical Area, which is also included in the Hartford-East Hartford, Connecticut Combined Statistical Are ...

. The hillside lot of 1.5 acres (6,000 m²) and adjoins the site of New London's first meeting house. The settlement at the time was called "

Pequot Plantation New London is a seaport city and a port of entry on the northeast coast of the United States, located at the outlet of the Thames River in New London County, Connecticut, which empties into Long Island Sound. The city is part of the Southeaste ...

" until the name changed in 1658. From the burial grounds, the visitor has a broad view to the east of the

Thames River The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the second-longest in the United Kingdom, after the ...

and, on the far shore, the heights of

Groton, Connecticut Groton ( ) is a town in New London County, Connecticut, United States, located on the Thames River (Connecticut), Thames River. It is the home of General Dynamics Electric Boat, which is the major contractor for submarine work for the United St ...

History

The lot had been reserved for a burying ground and recorded as such in the summer of 1645. The first decedent "of mature age" was duly interred there in 1652. But it is the ordinance of June 6, 1653 that legally sets the place apart and declares, "It shall ever bee for a Common Buriall place, and never be impropriated by any." A later record notes the appointment of the sexton:

Whose work is to order youth in the meeting-house, sweep the meeting-house, and beat out dogs, for which he is to have 40'' s.'' a year : he is also to make all graves ; for a man or woman he is to have 4''s.'', for children, 2''s.'' a grave, to be paid by survivors .

17th century New London was yet a rough and isolated corner of early colonial Connecticut. Private interments were not customary, and this was the only common burial place.

The dead were brought in from a distance of six or seven miles (11 km), either carried in
hurdles Hurdling is the act of jumping over an obstacle at a high speed or in a sprint. In the early 19th century, hurdlers ran at and jumped over each hurdle (sometimes known as 'burgles'), landing on both feet and checking their forward motion. Today ...
, or borne on a
bier A bier is a stand on which a corpse, coffin, or casket containing a corpse is placed to lie in state or to be carried to its final disposition.''The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language'' (American Heritage Publishing Co., In ...
upon men's shoulders; large companies assembling, and relieving each other at convenient distances .

Few of the early graves ever had inscribed markers. The New London of that time possessed no skilled stonecutters, and those early planters simply had not the means. A few surviving families did, however, seek to address the deficiency in later years. At least four stones dated in the 17th century have been found that could not have been placed before 1720 .

If the best man in the community was struck down, his companions could do no more to testify their regret, than to lay him reverently in the grave, and seal it with a rude granite ... broken with ponderous mallets from some neighboring ledge and wearily dragged with ropes to the place and laid over the remains to secure them from disturbance, and mark the spot where a brother was buried .

As time wore away the unadorned burial hillocks, the older were "covered over with fresh deposits of the dead, so that the numbers here cannot be estimated by the evidences that now remain. ... Yet here undoubtably were deposited nearly the whole generation of our first settlers" .

Gravestones

The oldest grave marker in the yard is dated 1662, and is a brownstone table slab by George Griswold of

Windsor, Connecticut Windsor is a New England town, town in Hartford County, Connecticut, United States, and was the first English settlement in the state. It lies on the northern border of Connecticut's capital, Hartford, Connecticut, Hartford. The town is part of ...

. The marker despite holding the distinction of being the oldest grave marker on the eastern side of the

Connecticut River The Connecticut River is the longest river in the New England region of the United States, flowing roughly southward for through four states. It rises 300 yards (270 m) south of the U.S. border with Quebec, Canada, and discharges into Long Isl ...

is in serious decay. During the early 1700s, Grave Carvers such as John Hartshorne who moved from Massachusetts to

Franklin, Connecticut Franklin is a New England town, town in New London County, Connecticut, New London County, Connecticut, United States. The town is part of the Southeastern Connecticut Planning Region, Connecticut, Southeastern Connecticut Planning Region. The pop ...

and James Stanclift of

Portland, Connecticut Portland ( ) is a New England town, town in Middlesex County, Connecticut, United States. The town is part of the Lower Connecticut River Valley Planning Region, Connecticut, Lower Connecticut River Valley Planning Region. The population was 9,38 ...

were carving quality grave markers that were placed in the yard. Many wealthy families purchased

slate Slate is a fine-grained, foliated, homogeneous, metamorphic rock derived from an original shale-type sedimentary rock composed of clay or volcanic ash through low-grade, regional metamorphism. It is the finest-grained foliated metamorphic ro ...

tombstones imported from the Boston area or coastal Rhode Island, delivered through the New London Port. The work of carvers such as the Lamsons of Charlestown Massachusetts,

the John Stevens Shop The John Stevens Shop, founded in 1705, is a stone carving business on Thames Street (Rhode Island), Thames Street in Newport, Rhode Island, that is one of the List of oldest companies in the United States, oldest continuously operating business ...

of Newport Rhode Island, William Codner of Boston, and George Allen of

Providence, Rhode Island Providence () is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Rhode Island, most populous city of the U.S. state of Rhode Island. The county seat of Providence County, Rhode Island, Providence County, it is o ...

can be found in this cemetery. Eastern Connecticut carvers such as Josiah Manning, David Lamb,

Gershom Bartlett Gershom Bartlett (February 19, 1723 – December 23, 1798) was a stone carver who carved tombstones in colonial Connecticut and Vermont. His carved gravestones are widespread in colonial burying grounds in eastern Connecticut as well as towns in ...

, and Johnathan Loomis carved stones of granite

schist Schist ( ) is a medium-grained metamorphic rock generally derived from fine-grained sedimentary rock, like shale. It shows pronounced ''schistosity'' (named for the rock). This means that the rock is composed of mineral grains easily seen with a l ...

and carvers from the Portland/Middletown region such as the Thomas Johnson Family and later generations of Stanclifts carved markers of

brownstone Brownstone is a brown Triassic–Jurassic sandstone that was historically a popular building material. The term is also used in the United States and Canada to refer to a townhouse clad in this or any other aesthetically similar material. Ty ...

that can be seen in the yard today. Around 1784 Chester Kimball trained by his father, moved to New London and quickly became the most popular gravestone carver around. His career extended into the 19th century, eventually shifting into the urn and willow style.

Notable burials

Note: There is no way of ascertaining which of the founding colonists might have unmarked graves in this burial ground. *

Sarah Kemble Knight Sarah Kemble Knight (April 19, 1666 – September 25, 1727) was an American teacher and businesswoman, who is remembered for a brief diary of a journey from Boston, Massachusetts Bay Colony, to New York City, Province of New York, in 1704–1705, ...

(1666–1727): Author (1704) of ''The Journal of Madame Knight.'' (). *

Gurdon Saltonstall Gurdon Saltonstall (27 March 1666 – 20 September 1724) was governor of the Colony of Connecticut from 1708 to 1724. He was born into a distinguished family and became an eminent Connecticut pastor and a close associate of Governor Fitz-John ...

(1666–1724): Governor of the Colony of Connecticut, 1708-1724. *Lucretia Harris Shaw (1737–1781): Wife of Captain Nathaniel Shaw, Jr. She turned her home into a hospital and nursed wounded and sick soldiers returning from the infamous British prison ships at

Wallabout Bay Wallabout Bay is a small body of water in Upper New York Bay along the northwest shore of the New York City borough of Brooklyn, between the present Williamsburg and Manhattan Bridges. It is located opposite Corlear's Hook in Manhattan, across ...

. As a result, she contracted the ''

Gaol Fever Typhus, also known as typhus fever, is a group of infectious diseases that include epidemic typhus, scrub typhus, and murine typhus. Common symptoms include fever, headache, and a rash. Typically these begin one to two weeks after exposure. ...

'' herself and succumbed. The New London chapter of the

Daughters of the American Revolution The National Society Daughters of the American Revolution (often abbreviated as DAR or NSDAR) is a lineage-based membership service organization for women who are directly descended from a patriot of the American Revolutionary War. A non-p ...

is named in her honor, and her house, the Shaw-Perkins Mansion, has been preserved as the headquarters of the New London County Historical Society since 1907 . *Thomas Short (1682–1712):Operated first printing press in Connecticut, 1709-1712
/ref> Printer (1710) of The Saybrook Platform.

Gallery

PostcardNewLondonCTAntientestBurialGround

File:YeAntientistBurialGround.jpg, View of the Burial Ground. File:GeorgeGriswoldWindsorConnecticutGravestoneCarverNewLondonColonial.jpg, The oldest gravestone in Eastern Connecticut. File:DavidLambStoneGraveNewLondonConnecticut.jpg, Gravestone dated 1764, carved by David Lamb of Norwich File:BrownstoneTombstoneYeAntientistBuryingGround.jpg, Brownstone gravestone carved by William Stanclift of Portland, dated 1718. File:LamsonFamilyStyleGraveNewLondonCT.jpg, Slate Gravestone carved by Nathaniel Lamson of Charlestown Mass File:YeAntientistCemeteryNewLondon.jpg, View of the rear part of the Burying Ground. File:StoneGraveHartshorneNEwLondon.jpg, Early schist grave marker carved by John Hartshorne File:JohnStevensShop.jpg, Slate marker carved by

of Newport

References

Notes Bibliography * * * — Mrs. Shaw. (See entry for April 9, 1776.) * * * * — Historical sketch. * — Early names of settlement and river. * * — Coordinates, elevation, and accepted place names. Further reading * * *

External links