Bristol County, Massachusetts - Chapter 63, 1883

Chapter 63

The oldest burying-ground in the city is that at the Neck of Land. Here doubtless " the rude forefathers of the hamlet sleep," the graves of many of them now unmarked by any stone. There is no record of the laying out or of its boundaries. It is probable that at first it extended across the present street before the building of Neck of Land bridge and the opening of the road to it; and this may account for the fact that the graves of those who first died cannot be found. The burying-grounds in Taunton and vicinity have been carefully explored, and the inscriptions on the stones faithfully copied by Deacon Edgar H. Reed, and by his kind permission some of the oldest among them will be here given, commencing with the above-named burying-ground:

The Walker burying-ground, on Somerset Avenue near Dighton, contains the gravestone having the oldest legible inscription of any in town, marking the grave of Elizabeth, the wife of the first James Walker. This and other of the older ones are given below :

" In memory of Mrs. Elizabeth Baylies, wife of Mr. Nicholas Baylies, who died Feb. ye 8, 1791, in ye 75th year of her age. " The best of wives And the best of mothers."

"In memory of Mrs. Hannah, widow of Capt. Nathaniel Gilbert, who died Jan'y ye 28th, 1772, in ye 82d year of her age." " O the frailty of man.

Taunton

" In memory of Ins" Nathaniel Burt, who died Nov. ye 12, 1765, in ye 74th year of his age. ' He was one of ye first erectors of ye Church of St. Thomas in Taunton. '"

" In memory of Mr. Nathaniel Ogden, A.B., of Fairfield, New Jersey, Preacher of the Gospel, who died July 11, 1796, iE. 28. He had preached only seven Lord's days, when our high expectations of his future usefulness were suddenly blasted.

"In memory of John Reed, who was born March 29, 1752, and died Feb. 24, 1841, the son of John Reed, who was born in 1722,and died Dec. 1788. the son of William Reed, who died about 1734, the son of John Reed, who was born in 1648 or 1649, came to this town about 1680, and died in Dighton Jan. 13, 1720-1, probably the son of William Reade, who was an inhabitant of Weymouth in 1636."

"Eliphalet Williams, 1778 (footstone). In memory of Mr. Samuel Williams, who died Sept. ye 7, a.d. 1777, in ye 72d year of his age. "Waiting the resurrection of the just."

The Plain, or, as it is now mostly called, the North burying-ground, was given to the town by the proprietors in 1748, as the following votes show :

" At a meeting of Proprietors, 20th June, 1748, Voted, To ye inhabitants of ye old township of Taunton, ten acres of land, etc., for a Burying-place where Samuel Danforth is buried.

After the laying out of this ground most of the burials from the central portion of the to'wn were made there, and it has continued to be used until within a few years, when it became so crowded that. a large tract of land at Mayflower Hill was purchased and laid out as a public cemetery. The oldest inscription found in the North burying-ground is the following:

Rev. Samuel Danforth died in 1727, and was there buried. The remains of Elizabeth Pool were removed there In 1771, as already narrated. Rev. Josiah Crocker and Rev. Chester Isham were buried there. The families of Leonard, Fales, Padelford, Crocker, and others who were distinguished in public affairs the latter part of the last and the early part of the present centuries rest there. As it is so near the centre of the town, and so well cared for by the public authorities, there is not the same need of copying the inscriptions as in the case of the older and more distant burying-grounds, besides the graves are so numerous that it would be impracticable. A few only are selected, as follows :

"In^eventeen Hundred aud Fifty-Five, Relentless Death Did us Deprive of a very Useful Life to Neighbor, Friend, to child and wife, He safely Did Administer As a Physician,

Consulting more his patient's health Than all extorted gain. We that do love his memory Would like him live, y» when we die We may enjoy felicity." " Here lies ye body of Mrs. Elizabeth McKinstry, basely murthered, by a negro boy June ye 4, 1763, aged 28.

" Watch, for ye know not the manner uorthe moment of your death." "Sacred to the memory of Mrs. Elizabeth, relict of the late Rev. Samuel Hopkins, D.D., of Newport, R. I., who died April 9, 1814, aged 75.

In the list of burying-grounds thus far noticed those opened since 1800 are not included. They are as follows: The Westville burying-ground, the Mount Pleasant Cemetery, the cemetery at the Weir, in the rear of Plain Street, Mayflower Hill Cemetery, the Catholic cemeteries, and probably some others in private grounds. It is not proposed to notice them further.

1670. - William Harvey, James Walker, selectmen. (No other names given in the record ; probably an omission in the record.) William Harvey, James Walker, deputies; Nathaniel Williams, constable. (No surveyors named).

During the usurpation of Andros the Plymouth government was suspended, and no record of officers is to be found during those years, 1687-88.

The names of Henry Hodges and William Harvey as selectmen for both those years are ascertained from the proprietors' records ; the names of their associates do not appear.