King's Chapel Burying Ground
King's Chapel Burying Ground | |
 King's Chapel burial ground | |
| Location | Tremont and School Streets, Boston, MA |
|---|---|
| Part of | King's Chapel (ID74002045[1]) |
| Significant dates | |
| Added to NRHP | May 2, 1974 |
| Designated CP | October 9, 1960 |
King's Chapel Burying Ground is a historic cemetery at King's Chapel on Tremont Street in Boston, Massachusetts. It is the oldest cemetery in the city and is a site on the Freedom Trail.
King's Chapel Burying Ground was founded in 1630 as the first cemetery in the city of Boston. According to custom, the first interment was that of the land’s original owner, Isaac Johnson. It was Boston's only burial site for 30 years (1630-1660). After being unable to locate land elsewhere, in 1686 the local Anglican congregation was allotted land in the cemetery to build King's Chapel.
Notable burials
- Charles Apthorp, merchant[2]
- Mary Chilton, Plymouth Pilgrim, first European woman to step ashore in New England
- Captain Roger Clapp, member of the Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company of Massachusetts, died February 2, 1691, formerly lived at Dorchester[3] (Capt. Clapp's son Desire is also interred close by)
- John Cotton (minister), Puritan theologian
- John Davenport (minister), Puritan theologian
- William Dawes (disputed[4]), American Revolution hero
- William Emerson (father of Ralph Waldo Emerson)
- Robert Keayne, first captain of the Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company of Massachusetts
- John Lambert, pirate who sailed under John Quelch[5]
- John Oxenbridge, Puritan theologian
- Elizabeth Pain, whose headstone is claimed to be the inspiration for Hester Prynne's in The Scarlet Letter
- Dr. Comfort Starr, early Cambridge physician and a founder of Harvard College[6][7]
- Hezekiah Usher, first bookseller and book publisher in the British Colonies.
- John Wilson Puritan theologian
- John Winthrop, first Puritan governor of Massachusetts
References
Wikimedia Commons has media related to King's Chapel Burying Ground.
- ^ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. January 23, 2007.
- ^ Foote. Annals of King's Chapel. Boston: Little, Brown, 1896.
- ^ The Clapp Memorial: Record of the Clapp Family in America, Ebenezer Clapp, David Clapp & Son, Boston, 1876
- ^ Fletcher, Ron (2005-02-25). "Who's buried in Dawes's tomb?". Boston Globe.
- ^ Snow, Edward Rowe. Pirates and Buccaneers of the Atlantic Coast. Boston: Yankee Publishing Co., 1944.
- ^ The New England Historical and Genealogical Register, Vol. LXIV, The New England Historic Genealogical Society, Henry Fitz-Gilbert Waters, Published by the Society, Boston, 1910
- ^ Dr. Starr's daughter Hannah was the wife of John Cutt, the first President of the Province of New Hampshire.
Image gallery
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John Winthrop's Tomb (died 1649) -
Tombstone of Dr. Comfort Starr and wife Elizabeth. -
Mary Chilton Winslow's burial spot in the Winslow Tomb (died c. 1679) -
Elizabeth Pain marker (died 1704) -
William Dawes tomb (died 1799) -
King's Chapel (right) and Burying Ground (left), 19th century -
c. 1898, looking toward Tremont St.
