
The Old Village Cemetery is an historic
cemetery
A cemetery, burial ground, gravesite or graveyard is a place where the remains of dead people are buried or otherwise interred. The word ''cemetery'' (from Greek , "sleeping place") implies that the land is specifically designated as a bu ...
in
Dedham, Massachusetts
Dedham ( ) is a town in and the county seat of Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 25,364 at the 2020 census. It is located on Boston's southwest border. On the northwest it is bordered by Needham, on the southwest b ...
.
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History
The first portion of the cemetery was set apart at the first recorded meeting of the settlers of Dedham on August 18, 1636, with land taken from Nicholas Phillips and Joseph Kingsbury. The original boundaries were roughly Village Avenue on the north, St. Paul's Church in the east, land later added by Dr. Edward Stimson in the south, and the main driveway off Village Avenue in the west. It remained the only cemetery in Dedham for nearly 250 years until Brookdale Cemetery
Brookdale Cemetery is an historic cemetery in Dedham, Massachusetts. More than 28,000 people are buried there. Mother Brook runs behind it.
History
For nearly 250 years after it was established, Old Village Cemetery was the only cemetery in Dedha ...
was established.
Many of the early ministers and founders of the town are buried there, including John Allen, Joseph Belcher Joseph Belcher (May 14, 1669 – April 27, 1723) was a minister at the First Church in Dedham, Massachusetts.
Personal life
Belcher was born on May 14, 1669, in Milton, Massachusetts and was graduated from Harvard College in 1690. After his parent ...
, Samuel Dexter
Samuel Dexter (May 14, 1761May 4, 1816) was an early American statesman who served both in Congress and in the Presidential Cabinets of John Adams and Thomas Jefferson.
A native of Boston, Massachusetts, Dexter was an 1881 graduate of Harvar ...
, Edward Alleyn
Edward "Ned" Alleyn (; 1 September 156621 November 1626) was an English actor who was a major figure of the Elizabethan theatre and founder of the College of God's Gift in Dulwich.
Early life
Alleyn was born on 1 September 1566 in Bish ...
, and Eleazer Lusher
Major Eleazer Lusher (died 1672) was a politician and military leader from Dedham, Massachusetts.
Political career
Lusher had unmatched political influence in Dedham and was one of the most powerful men in the Massachusetts Bay Colony. He was on ...
.[ A road, today known as Bullard Street, was established in 1664 between the ]First Church and Parish in Dedham
First or 1st is the ordinal form of the number one (#1).
First or 1st may also refer to:
*World record, specifically the first instance of a particular achievement
Arts and media Music
* 1$T, American rapper, singer-songwriter, DJ, and reco ...
to the cemetery. Graves were dug six feet deep and due east to west, with the feet placed at the eastern end in preparation for the final judgement
The Last Judgment, Final Judgment, Day of Reckoning, Day of Judgment, Judgment Day, Doomsday, Day of Resurrection or The Day of the Lord (; ar, یوم القيامة, translit=Yawm al-Qiyāmah or ar, یوم الدین, translit=Yawm ad-Dīn, ...
with Christ coming from the east.
John Fisher's was the first recorded death in Dedham on the "5th of ye 5 mo 1637," but the oldest gravestone still standing is from Hannah Dyar, who died September 15, 1678. The cemetery also holds the remains of Civil War soldiers who died at Camp Meigs
Camp Meigs is a former American Civil War training camp that existed from 1862 to 1865 in Readville, Massachusetts. It was combined from the former Camp Brigham (formed to train the 18th Regiment Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry) and Camp Massaso ...
.[ Additionally, 15 soldiers who died in the war are buried there. There is another monument to the ship '' Maritana'' which sank off the coast of Nahant.][ The captain, G.W. Williams, had family in Dedham and his funeral was held from there.][
Few tombs exist in the cemetery: one built by Timothy Dwight around 1700, one by Daniel Fisher, one by ]Samuel Dexter
Samuel Dexter (May 14, 1761May 4, 1816) was an early American statesman who served both in Congress and in the Presidential Cabinets of John Adams and Thomas Jefferson.
A native of Boston, Massachusetts, Dexter was an 1881 graduate of Harvar ...
after the death of his father, the minister of the same name, and Edward Dowse
Edward Dowse (October 22, 1756 – September 3, 1828) was a U.S. Representative from Massachusetts. Born in Charlestown in the Province of Massachusetts Bay, Dowse moved to Dedham in March 1798 to escape the yellow fever epidemic in Boston. H ...
. The parish tomb was built in 1816, and a number of tombs have been added to it in the years since.
Additions
In 1800, another acre was added through purchase. In 1859, Stimson purchased land that was originally part of an old Dedham High School's grounds for $1,000. In 1861, he divided the land into burial plots and his son conveyed the land to the Town in 1881.
Restoration efforts
The cemetery is part of the Dedham Village Historic District. In 2017, an effort was undertaken to raise $1,000,000 to restore the cemetery by the Dedham Village Preservation Association.[ The Association, along with the Town, selected Boston's Halvorson Design Partnership to undertake the project.][ The phased renovations and improvements will include landscaping and hardscaping, including paths, steps, and ironwork fencing, and future improvements to the cemetery grounds.][ In 2019, the appropriated $150,000 towards the effort.][
In 1842, a fair was held by the ladies of the Society for the Improvement of the Burial Ground". They raised $234.
]
Notes
References
Works cited
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External links
List of burials
{{coord, 42.247, -71.179, type:landmark_region:US-MA, display=title
1636 establishments in Massachusetts
Buildings and structures in Dedham, Massachusetts
Cemeteries in Norfolk County, Massachusetts
Burials at Old Village Cemetery
Historic district contributing properties in Massachusetts
National Register of Historic Places in Norfolk County, Massachusetts
Cemeteries established in the 17th century