Garden Cemeteries of New England

Garden Cemeteries of New England
Author: Trudy Irene Scee
Publisher: Down East Books
Total Pages: 340
Release: 2019-08-22
Genre: History
ISBN: 1608939081

In 1831 a new entity appeared on the American landscape: the garden cemetery. Meant to be places where the living could enjoy peace, tranquility and beauty, as well as to provide a final resting place for the dead, the garden cemeteries would forever change the culture of death and burial in the United States. The ideal cemetery would become one in which ornamental trees, bushes, flowers, and waterways graced the ever more artistic (for those who could afford them) monuments to the dead. Previous to the 1830s, the deceased were buried in church lots, in small and soon overcrowded public lots, and even, occasionally in backyards and fields. Graves were often untended, weeds and decay soon took over, and the frequently used wooden grave markers rotted away. Some turned to a movement emerging in Europe, in which horticulture was starting to become a factor in cemetery planning, at a time in which cemetery planning itself was a novel idea. New England was the first region in America to take up the new ideals. The first such cemetery, Mt. Auburn, opened in Cambridge, Massachusetts, in 1831, and Mount Hope Cemetery, in Bangor, Maine, followed in 1834. Today, these cemeteries are both beautiful places to visit and important historical sites. The author takes readers on a historical tour of eighteen of the Northeast's garden cemeteries, exploring the landscape architecture, the stunning beauty, and delving into the rich history of both the sites and of those who are buried there.

Stones and Bones of New England

Stones and Bones of New England
Author: Lisa Rogak
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
Total Pages: 249
Release: 2016-05-15
Genre: History
ISBN: 1493023802

Whether it's for their solace and beauty or for the sense of history that seeps from the ground, cemeteries are fascinating places to visit, this guide shows where to find the most interesting and unusual ones in all of New England. Some have headstones that are fine art, others are associated with notorious events, and others are the final resting place of famous poets, soldiers, and statesmen. Included are large public facilities as well as the small family burying grounds hidden away behind crumbling stone walls and along once-cultivated farmland. A sampling of cemeteries profiled: *Hope Cemetery in Barre, Vermont, where lifelike sculptures of angels and Greek goddesses stand next to a stone soccer ball and Shell Oil truck gravemarker, all elaborately carved from local granite by immigrant Italian stonecutters. *Spider Gates Cemetery, in Leicester, Massachusetts, a notorious Quaker burying ground famed for its frequent ghost sightings and still in use today. *A cemetery situated on the raised median of the Interstate in Warner, New Hampshire,which was preserved in 1970 by highway planners, who constructed the roadway around it. *Evergreen Cemetery in New Haven, Vermont, final resting place of Timothy Clark Smith, whose 1893 crypt includes a window to help him escape in case he was buried alive. Driving directions are provided for each cemetery, and detailed maps show the location of the more obscure graveyards. This unique guide offers an intriguing way to learn about the history and culture of New England.

Reading the Gravestones of Old New England

Reading the Gravestones of Old New England
Author: John G.S. Hanson
Publisher: McFarland
Total Pages: 255
Release: 2021-11-15
Genre: History
ISBN: 1476643296

The graveyards of old New England hold an incredible range of poetic messages in the epitaphs etched into the gravestones, each a profound expression of emotion, culture, religion, and literature. These epitaphs are old, but their themes are timeless: mourning and faith, grief and hope, loss, and memory. This book tells the story of a years-long walk among gravestones and shares insights gained along the way. It identifies the source texts and authors chosen for these stones; interprets something of the tastes and beliefs of the people who did the choosing; offers some hypotheses on the various ways these texts were accessible to readers in remote towns and villages; gives a brief summary of the religious context of the times; and reflects on how the language and literature chosen for these epitaphs express these peoples' conflicted and evolving attitudes towards life, death, and eternity.

Graven Images

Graven Images
Author: Allan I. Ludwig
Publisher:
Total Pages: 526
Release: 1966
Genre: Crafts & Hobbies
ISBN:

In Puritan New England, with its abiding concern for things not of this world and its distrust of forms and ceremonies, one art flourished: the symbolic art of mortuary monument stonecarvers. This carefully researched, beautifully illustrated work was the first to consider this art in depth as a meaningful aesthetic-spiritual expression. It is reissued for today's readers, with a new preface outlining changes in the field since the book appeared in 1966.

Massachusetts Book of the Dead

Massachusetts Book of the Dead
Author: Roxie J. Zwicker
Publisher: Arcadia Publishing
Total Pages: 164
Release: 2009-02-11
Genre: Body, Mind & Spirit
ISBN: 1614237379

A historical tour of the Bay State’s oldest burial grounds—and the sometimes-spooky stories behind them. Massachusetts's historic graveyards are the final resting places for tales of the strange and supernatural. From Newburyport to Truro, these graveyards often frighten the living, but the dead who rest within them have stories to share with the world they left behind. While Giles Corey is said to haunt the Howard Street Cemetery in Salem, cursing those involved in the infamous witch trials, visitors to the Forest Hills Cemetery in Jamaica Plain enjoy an arboretum and a burial ground with Victorian-era memorials. One of the oldest cemeteries in Massachusetts, Old Burial Hill in Marblehead, has been the final resting place for residents for nearly 375 years. Author Roxie Zwicker tours the Bay State's oldest burial grounds, exploring the stones, stories and supernatural lore of these hallowed places. Includes photos

Our History in Stone

Our History in Stone
Author: Christina Eriquez
Publisher: Lulu.com
Total Pages: 186
Release: 2010-01-27
Genre: History
ISBN: 0557241693

For more than 350 years New England has been known as one of the foundations of American arts and culture. Some of our countries greatest artists have left their mark in small towns from Maine to Connecticut, and some of the most important artwork is forever on display in the most inconspicuous of places, carved into our history for future generations to see. A simple flower, a morbid skeleton or an ornate sailboat, mysterious symbols from the past, but what do they mean? Unlock the meanings behind these symbols and discover the world of the artists who carved them. This comprehensive visual guide is packed with 300 pictures from cemeteries located all over New England. Superstitious? Learn about the historic superstitions of old New Englanders. Is that cricket chirping just a soothing sound, or an eerie foreshadowing of death? This is Our History In Stone, The New England Cemetery Dictionary.

African American Historic Burial Grounds and Gravesites of New England

African American Historic Burial Grounds and Gravesites of New England
Author: Glenn A. Knoblock
Publisher: McFarland
Total Pages: 333
Release: 2015-12-14
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 1476620423

Evidence of the early history of African Americans in New England is found in the many old cemeteries and burial grounds in the region, often in hidden or largely forgotten locations. This unique work covers the burial sites of African Americans--both enslaved and free--in each of the New England states, and uncovers how they came to their final resting places. The lives of well known early African Americans are discussed, including Venture Smith and Elizabeth Freeman, as well as the lives of many ordinary individuals--military veterans, business men and women, common laborers and children. The author's examination of burial sites and grave markers reveals clues that help document the lives of black New Englanders from the 1640s to the early 1900s.

Yankee's New England Adventures

Yankee's New England Adventures
Author: Editors of Yankee Magazine
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
Total Pages: 233
Release: 2018-05-01
Genre: Travel
ISBN: 1493034146

The experts at New England’s iconic Yankee magazine have distilled nearly a century of experience and knowledge into the guide you have been waiting for. Yankee’s New England Adventures is the go-to source for in-depth travel information, with the same stunning photography and practical know-how they bring to you every month. Whether you are interested in exploring the vibrant culture of tiny villages or big cities, eating outstanding meals in colonial inns or vintage diners, rambling through art museums or up steep wooded hills, this is the guide for you. An island stuck in the 19th century? A walk-in, stained-glass globe? A place where you can eat Thanksgiving dinner every day of the year? From the golden dunes of Nantucket to the alpine tundra of the White Mountains, from the blue waters of Lake Champlain to the green grass of Boston Common, travelers and residents alike will find over 400 local secrets, out-of-the-way places, and unique experiences in all six states of this remarkable region of America. Live the Yankee lifestyle and get on the road with Yankee’s New England Adventures.