Woodlawn Cemetery is an American rural cemetery in Everett, Massachusetts. It is the third-oldest rural cemetery in Greater Boston.[1]
History
On August 31, 1850, the Woodlawn Cemetery corporation was organized to purchase land for and establish a cemetery. In 1851, the corporation purchased an 80-acre parcel of land that was primarily situated in Malden, Massachusetts, but also included a portion in the town of North Chelsea (now known as Revere, Massachusetts).[2] In 1870, a part of Malden which included Woodlawn Cemetery was set off from the town and incorporated into as town of Everett.[3]
The cemetery was inspired by Mount Auburn Cemetery and many of Woodlawn's founding directors also served on the Mount Auburn board. Henry Weld Fuller, a member of the Massachusetts Horticultural Society, was cemetery's chief designer.[4] The cemetery featured extensive rockwork, rustic work, and plantings, and included a gatehouse, well-house, rustic archway, receiving tombs, artificial pond, and a 30-foot tall great tower.[2] In 1998, the cemetery had 200 varieties of trees and 124,000 plants on the graves and the traffic islands.[5]
Woodlawn Cemetery was consecrated on July 2, 1851. The exercises consisted of a chant of Psalm 23, a reading of the scriptures by Rev. J. P. Langworthy of Chelsea, a prayer by William Ives Budington, an original hymn by Rev. J. H. Clinch of Boston, an address by George Edward Ellis, a hymn by H. W. Fuller, and a prayer and benediction by Rev. Levi Tucker of Boston.[2][6] The first person buried in Woodlawn Cemetery was Augustus F. Bowen, who was interred on July 3, 1851.[2]
By June 1, 1856, Woodlawn Cemetery had 948 interments.[2] By 1868, half of Woodlawn's burial plots had been sold, so the cemetery expanded by acquired an adjoining 75-acre property. A greenhouse was constructed on this lot and the house on this property was repaired and used as a residence for the cemetery's gardener.[3] In 1905, the Woodlawn Cemetery corporation purchased a 1.5 acre property on Elm Street to complete its frontage on Woodlawn Square.[7]
In 1910, construction began on a new chapel at the entrance to the cemetery. The concrete and granite Gothic revival building was designed by Loring & Phipps.[8] The children of Elisha S. Converse, a former president of the corporation, donated $15,000 of the $25,000 needed for the construction. The remaining $10,000 came from contributions from around 700 other lot owners. The chapel was dedicated on September 16, 1911[9]
In 1998, Woodlawn Cemetery completed a major capital improvement program, which included the construction of its new reception area, Patton Hall, and the refurbishment of the chapel.[5]
Notable burials
- John L. Bates, Governor of Massachusetts (1903–1905)
- James Benson, one of five Medal of Honor winners buried in Woodlawn Cemetery[5]
- Howard Adams Carson, civil engineer and pioneer of tunnel construction
- Leonard B. Chandler, businessman and politician
- Eunice Hale Cobb, writer, public speaker, and activist
- Elisha S. Converse, businessman, philanthropist, and the first mayor of Malden, Massachusetts
- Mary Parker Converse, philanthropist and the first woman to be commissioned by the United States Merchant Marine
- Joseph DiCarlo, politician
- Mary Elvira Elliott, writer, lecturer
- Russell C. Elliott, Medal of Honor winner
- Francis B. Fay, member of the United States House of Representatives (1852–1853) and first mayor of Chelsea, Massachusetts (1857)
- Rufus S. Frost, member of the United States House of Representatives (1875–1876)
- Freeman Gill, Medal of Honor winner
- Edward W. Hathaway, Medal of Honor winner
- Harriet Hayden, Black abolitionist
- Lewis Hayden, Black abolitionist, member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives
- William H. Howe, Medal of Honor winner
- Hester C. Jeffrey, African-American activist, suffragist, and community organizer in Rochester, New York, and New York City
- Hermon Atkins MacNeil, sculptor
- Mary Eliza Mahoney, first African-American to study and work as a professionally trained nurse in the United States
- Hugh J. McLaughlin, mayor of Chelsea, Massachusetts (1956–1959)
- Paul McCullough, comedian
- Ann Frasier Norton, U.S. Navy sailor during World War I. First woman to be buried with full military honors
- Henry Oxley, baseball player
- Emily Rebecca Page, poet and editor
- Mary Ann Brown Patten, first female commander of an American merchant vessel
- Nancy Gardner Prince, author
- William Matthew Prior, folk artist
- Andrew P. Quigley, newspaper publisher and politician
- Ernest W. Roberts, member of the United States House of Representatives (1899–1917)
- John Rock, abolitionist
- Edward J. Voke, mayor of Chelsea, Massachusetts (1936–1941)
- Joseph Frank Wehner, World War I flying ace
References
- ^ Hengen, Elizabeth Durfee; Cheek, Richard (2001). Life Everlasting: The History, Art and People of Woodlawn Cemetery, 1850-2000, Everett, Massachusetts. Woodlawn Cemetery.
- ^ a b c d e The Woodlawn Cemetery in North Chelsea and Malden. Boston: Higgins and Bradley. 1856. Retrieved 3 November 2023.
- ^ a b "Woodlawn Cemetery vs. Inhabitants of Everett". Massachusetts Reports 118. Houghton, Mifflin and Company: 854–863. 1876. Retrieved 3 November 2023.
- ^ Carso, Kerry Dean (2021). Follies in America: A History of Garden and Park Architecture. Cornell University Press.
- ^ a b c McCabe, Kathy (September 20, 1998). "Everett's Woodlawn Cemetery opens gates to visitors". The Boston Globe.
- ^ An Address Delivered at the Consecration of the Woodlawn Cemetery In Chelsea and Malden : on July 2, 1851. Boston: John Wilson and Son. 1851. Retrieved 3 November 2023.
- ^ "Old Everett House to Go". The Boston Globe. April 4, 1905.
- ^ "New Chapel for Woodlawn Cemetery, Everett". The Boston Globe. September 28, 1910.
- ^ "Cemetery Notes". Park and Cemetery and Landscape Gardening. XXII (1). Chicago: R. H. Haight: 52. March 1912. Retrieved 3 November 2023.