King's Chapel Burying Ground

The King's Chapel Burying Ground 2006

The King's Chapel with the Burying Ground in 1833

The King's Chapel Burying Ground is the oldest cemetery in the city of Boston in the state of Massachusetts in the United States . It is named after the King's Chapel , which is on the same property on Tremont Street . Like the church, the cemetery is part of the Freedom Trail . Particularly noteworthy is the tombstone of Joseph Tapping , on which a skeleton and "Father Time" fight against the inevitability of death. For many, this is the most beautiful tombstone in the cemetery.

history

The King's Chapel Burying Ground was established as the city's first cemetery in 1630, making it as old as the city itself. It wasn't until 30 years later, in 1660, that the second cemetery was inaugurated. Since the local Anglican parish could not find another place, a section of the cemetery property was allocated to it in 1686 for the construction of its church building , the King's Chapel .

According to tradition, the original owner of the property, Isaac Johnson, was the first to be buried in the cemetery.

It is disputed whether the grave of William Dawes , a famous colleague of Paul Revere , is actually in the cemetery. While there is a tombstone with his name on it on the grounds of King's Chapel Burying Ground , it has been discovered more recently in Forest Hills Cemetery records that Dawes was buried there after he was relocated from Boylston Street Burying Ground , resulting in was by no means unusual at this time.

No further burials were permitted in the cemetery in 1796. In the early 19th century, many of the headstones were repositioned to form straight rows. It is therefore not possible to mark the actual resting place for everyone buried there.

Personalities

A multitude of famous personalities are buried at King's Chapel Burying Ground . These are:

• Charles Apthorp - merchant
• Mary Chilton - an immigrant from Plymouth and the first European woman in New England from aboard the Mayflower went
• Roger Clapp - Member of the Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company of Massachusetts , died February 2, 1691. His son Desire is also buried nearby.
• John Cotton - Puritan theologian
• John Davenport - Puritan theologian
• William Dawes (controversial) - hero of the American Revolution
• William Emerson - (father of Ralph Waldo Emerson )
• Robert Keayne - First Captain of the Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company of Massachusetts
• John Oxenbridge - Puritan theologian
• Elizabeth Pain - her tombstone is said to have been the model for that of Hester Prynne in the film The Scarlet Letter .
• Comfort Starr - Formerly a medical doctor at Cambridge and a founder of Harvard College . His daughter Hannah was the wife of the first President of New Hampshire Province, John Cutt .
• John Winthrop - first Puritan governor of Massachusetts

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b c d} King’s Chapel Burying Ground. In: The Freedom Trail.org. Archived from the original on January 29, 2007 ; accessed on November 13, 2011 . 
2. ^ King's Chapel & Burying Ground. In: Celebrate Boston.com. Retrieved November 13, 2011 . 
3. ^ Henry W. Foote, Henry H. Edes, Winslow Warren: Annals of King's chapel from the Puritan age of New England to the present day . tape 2 . Little, Brown and Co., Boston 1896, OCLC 11275909 ( limited preview in Google Book search).
4. ^ Ebenezer Clapp: The Clapp memorial: record of the Clapp family in America . Containing sketches of the original six emigrants, and a genealogy of their descendants bearing the name: with a supplement and the proceedings at two family meetings. David Clapp & Son, Boston 1876, OCLC 37236006 ( online in Google Book Search).
5. ^ Henry Fitz-Gilbert Water: Dr. Comfort Starr, and Cranbrook, Kent . In: New England Historic Genealogical Society (Ed.): The New England historical and genealogical register . tape LXIV . New England Historic Genealogical Society, 1910, ISSN  0028-4785 , p. 73 f . ( archive.org ).

Web links

Commons : King's Chapel Burying Ground  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• King's Chapel and Burying Ground. In: City of Boston.gov. Retrieved on November 13, 2011 (opening times etc.). 
• Seanna Mullen: The Governor and the Adulteress - The Final Resting Place. Archived from the original on September 18, 2006 ; accessed on November 13, 2011 . 
• King's Chapel Burying Ground. In: Find A Grave. Retrieved on November 13, 2011 (list of known grave sites, with brief descriptions and links). 

Coordinates: 42 ° 21 '28.9 "  N , 71 ° 3' 36.6"  W.