Nomination for Hancock Cemetery

From the form

The catalogue entry the section above was filed under.

FHR-8-300 (11-78) United States Department of the Interior Heritage Conservation and Recreation Service National Register of Historic Places Inventory - Nomination Form See instructions in How to Complete National Register Forms Type all entries - complete applicable sections 1. Name For HCRS use only received DEC 2 9 1981 date entered JAN 281982 historic Hancock Cemetery Same and/or common 2. Location street & number Hancock Street in Quincy Square - not for publication city, town Quinçy state Massachusetts 3.

Classification vicinity of code 025 county 4:congressional district Norfolk 11th code 021 Category district building(s) structure site object Ownership X public - private both Public Acquisition in process - being considered Status X occupied - unoccupied work in progress Accessible yes: restricted yes: unrestricted no Present Use agriculture commercial educational entertainment - government industrial. military museum park private residence religious scientific transportation X other: cemetery 4. Owner of Property name City of Quincy street & number Public Burial Places, 20 Sea Street city, town Quincy Massachusetts vicinityof state 5. Location of Legal Description Suffolk County Registry of Deeds/Norfolk County Registry courthouse, registry of deeds, etc. street & number Pemberton Square/650 High Street city, town Boston state Massachusetts 6.

Representation in Existing Surveys Inventory of the Historic Assets title ofthe Commonwealth has this property been determined elegible? - yes 1971 x no date _ federal - state _ county _ local depository for survey records Massachusetts Historical Commission city, town Boston state Massachusetts 02108 7. Description Condition _ excellent good .fair deteriorated ruins unexposed Check one X unaltered - altered Check one X original site _moved date Describe the present and original (if known) physical appearance

Description of the property

The Hancock Cemetery is a grassy,. wooded plot of slightly more than two acres in the civic and commerical center of Quincy. It lies west of Hancock Street and east of the former 0ld Colony Railroad line. The Quincy City Hall (NR 1980) forms its northern bound while the First Parish Church Unitarian (NHL, 1970) stands across the street. The site is trapezoidal in plan with a 225' frontage on Hancock Street which is marked by an ornamental mid-19th century cast iron fence set on a low cut granite retaining wall. This is interrupted bytwo-symmetrically placed entrances consisting of granite posts which support cast iron arches bearing gold leafed mottos.

The southerly entrance reads "Dust Thou Art And Unto Dust Thy Shall Return"while that to the north reads "This Mortal Shall Put On Immortality." Mature hardwood trees along with a variety of flowering shrubs are clustered throughout the ground which 1s crisscrossed by wandering asphalt covered paths. Stones, dating from the I/th, l8th, and 19th centuries are laid out at random; the earliest are generally of slate while those built dating after 1820 are usually marble or granite. Family tombs which are built into the banked sides of the cemetery,date primarily from the early 19th century.

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The catalogue entry the section above was filed under.

Significance Period prehistoric 1400-1499 1500-1599 X 1600-1699 - 1700-1799 _1800-1899 1900- Areas of SignificanceCheck and justify below - archeology-prehistoric - community planning archeology-historic _ conservation agriculture economics architecture education X art engineering commerce X exploration/settlement communications _industry -invention _ landscape architecture . law literature military music philosophy X politics/government Specific dates about 1640 Builder

Statement of significance

/Architect religion - science - sculpture social/ humanitarian theater transportation - other (specify) HISTORY Statement of Significance (in one paragraph) The Hancock Cemetery possesses integrity of location, design, materials, and workmanship as well as important historical associations with the seventeenth century origins of Quincy Center, with families of local, state, and national repute, and with the early development of gravestone art in New England. and Randolph. The present Quincy center served as the focus of this larger community and It is believed that there were burials on this site from the time of the earliest settlement but there was no formal mention of this use until after 1640 when the surrounding land was acquired by Captain William Tynge, a prominent citizen, large landowner, and second commander of the local militia company.

The burying ground remained on private lands until the town took official custody in 1809. From the distribution of early graves, it appears that its area was always close to its present 2 acres; the only addition was a strip at the south end in 1819 when the townhouse was built on the adjoining lot (north) and land was made available for tombs. The ornamental 1819 w%en ose towhouse was bui1 tence the fence which presently fronts Hancock Street was put up under the auspices of the Ladies of the Church in 1844, the year in which the present City Hall (NR) was erected. The oldest identified grave is that of Henry Adams, progenitor of the famous family, who died here in 1646. The monument now marking the grave was placed here by his great, great grandson, President John Adams, who similarly honored his father, grandfather, and great grandfather.

These monuments have recently been restored by the family. Here, too, is the Adams family tomb in which the Presidents and their wives rested until moved across street tothe crypt beneath the church, and here today lie the other members of the presidential family. The prominent Quincy family from early colonial days had this as their burial place. Famous members here include Josiah Quincy, the Patriot and great orator of the Revolution; and Col. John Quincy, prominent leader in the Province of Massachusetts and grandfather of Abigail Adams, for whom both John Quincy Adams and the Town of Quincy were named. In one uincy stone is a recess from which the lead plaque bearing the family coat of arms was pried and melted into bullets after the battle of Lexington. The oldest surviving stone is that of the Rev. William Tompson, the first minister of the town, who died in 1666.

The first teacher and second minister, Henry Flynt, lies nearby. In the ministers' tomb is the Rev. John Hancock, father of the Patriot, for whom the third meeting house and the Hancock Cemetery were named. The poem inscribed on the minister's tomb was written in 1708 by Benjamin Tompson, son of the Rev. William, who is considered to have been America's first native-born poet.

The rest of the file

Bibliography, boundary description, and the people who prepared and reviewed the nomination.

Major Bibliographical References Pattee, William S., A History of old Braintree and Quincy, 18/0 Sprague, Waldo C. (ed.) Cemetery Inscriptions of Old Braintree. Sargent, Ezekiel C., Quincy Land Record Studies, Quincy Historical Society. Quincy Town Records 10. Geographical Data Acreage of nominated property 88,382 sq. ft. Quadrangle name Boston South UMT References AORENGE WUL VENTE Quadrangle scale 1:25000 AL119/ L3|315/31410/ 1416|71931110 B Zone Easting Northing 1LILL Zone Easting Northing dulhlyuililu ELULLILL LULLL GLULLILL LILL FLU LLILLL HLU LLIL Verbal boundary description and justification See attached Quincy Engineering Department Plan #1149-1150. This is a 1933 plan.

The names of abutting property owners have changed but the boundaries of Hancock Cemetery are unchanged List all states and counties for properties overlapping state or county boundaries state code county code state code county code 11. Form Prepared By name/title Candace Jenkins, Registration Director w/ N. Hobart Holly, Quincy Historical Society organization Massachusetts Historical Commission date September, 1981 street & number 294 Washington Street telephone (617) 727-8470 city or town Boston state Massachusetts 02108 12.

State Historic Preservation Officer Certification The evaluated significance of this property within the state is: national _state - local As the designated State Historic Preservation Officer for the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966 (Public Law 89 665), I hereby nominate this property for inclusion in the National Register and certify that it has been evaluated according to the criteriaand proceduresset forth bythe Heritage Conservation and Recreation Service. State Historic Preservation Officer signature atun hWerlouki title Executive Director, Massachusetts Historical Commission date 12/15/81 For HCRS use only I herebycertify that this property is included in the National Register Xli lour

Entered National Keeper of the National Register er date 1/25/82 Attest: Chief of Registration date GPO 938 835 FHR-8-300 (11-78) United States Department of the Interior Heritage Conservation and Recreation Service National Register of Historic Places Inventory - Nomination Form For HCRS use only received DEC 2 9 1981 date enteregAN 2 8 1982 2 Continuation sheet Item number 8 Page There is an impressive monument to Dr. Leonard Hoard, the colorful third President of Harvard College. The large number of Revolutionary War soldiers buried here are commemor- ated by a modern monument bearing their names. While a wide range of eschatological motifs are represented on the stones in Hancock Cemetery, the most artistically significant is the Cleaverly marker of 1703.

This is one of the relatively sophisticated late 17th-century and early 18th-century stones located on the south banks of the Charles River which were initialed J.N. by their carver. appears to have used refine engravings rather than rough woodcuts as his artistic models and was creative enough to introduce a number of new devices such as peacocks (appearing on the Cleaverly stone), gadrooned urns, inhabited zoomorphic scrolls, and the Dagons and Tritions which ornament his most representative stones. Other J.N. stones are located in Marshfield, Duxbury, Roxbury, and Newton. FHR-8-300 (11-78) United States Department of the Interior Heritage Conservation and Recreation Service National Register of Historic Places Inventory - Nomination Form Continuation sheet Item number 9 MAJOR BIBLIOGRAPHICAL REFERENCES For HCRS use only received DEC 291981 date entered Page 28499 2 Ludwig, Allan I.

"Graven Images" Wesleyan University Press, Middletown, Connecticut, 1966. DUE 1/28/82 - 2/12/82 Name Hancoc State, County MA Working Number L2 Nomination _ Determination of Eligiblity On Nomination Form: Cemetery- Nor folr 29-81/532 Maps o Photos - Nomination prepared by: State Staff - Local Other dnr-3 Fed Nom or Request-Agency Federal Register Date 2-7.83 Bldg(s) Within: Site Object _Multiple Resource Area - Thematic Group - Structure - - District Entered,in the Action: atiot Register LACCEPT I/2s/82 RETURN -REJECT - Check if Appropriate: State Reguest for Review -Keeper's Decision to Review - 2nd Return - I. Evaluation of Resource (cont. on back if necessary) II. Evaluation of Nomination Good | Adequate /Poor Comments 1. Descriptive Statement Short Format _ Yes _No 2. Significance Statement Short Format _ Yes _ No 3. Concepts/integrity 4. Concepts/Criteria 5. Concepts/Boundaries 6.

Contextual Evaluation General Comments (cont. on back if necessary): Reviewer/Date National Park Ser vice See Attached _ U.S. Department of the Interior QUINCY, MA Hancock Cemetery Looking northeast Photo by N. Hobart Holly, 1981 Negative at Quincy Historical Society Photo 1 of 2 DEC 2 9 1981 JAN 28 1982 QUINCY, MA Hancock Cemetery Looking northwest Photo by N. Hobart Holly, 1981 Negative at Quincy Photo Histgriça} Society DEC 2 8 1981 JAN 28 1982 2861 8? NYC INOELVN AONINO - 1S SEE PLAN 1148 1866 030 SEC PLAN 1140 CHESTNUT ST. 1149-1150 RAILROAD NEW YORK. NEW City of Quincy CEMETERY 88,382 1 Nationa/ Mt MMeoton/ H. M.Paxen SEE PLAN 1162 & HARTFORD RAILROAD CO. (LESSEE) Harry E Ross (6057deed) city of Qu CITY HALL 10680 Plot3 HANCOCK SEE PLAN 1135 SEE PLAN 136 Lodaa IRVING PL. Old Colony Kailroad Co. 2157 Plot 2 1150 Henry M. Foxon 29:19 Ploy WASHINGTON ST.

SEE PLAN 1164 SEE PLAN 1151 ST SEE PLAN 1130 1149-1150 MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION 15 December 1981 COMMONWEALTH OF MASSACHUSETTS Office of the Secretary of State 294 Washington Street Boston, Massachusetts 02108 - 617-727-8470 MICHAEL JOSEPH CONNOLLY Secretary of State Ms. Carol Shull, Acting Keeper National Register of Historic Places National Park Service Department of the Interior Washington, D.C. 20243 Dear Ms. Shull, Enclosed you will find the following nomination forms: Quincy: Hancock Cemetery (national) North Attleborough: Falls Fire Station (local) Adams: Park Street Fire House (local) Al1 have been voted eligible by the State Review Board and have been signed by the State Historic Preservation Officer. Sincerely, Candace Jenkins Candace.

Jenkins Registration Director ENTRIES IN THE NATIONAL REGISTER Date Entered STATE MASSACHUSETTS JAN 2 8 1982 Name Hancock Cemetery Location Quincy Nosfolk County Park Street Firehouse Adams Berkshire County Fire Barn Nosth Attleborough Bristol County Also Notified Honorable Paul E. Isongas Honozable Edward M. Kennedy Honorable Brian J. Donnelly Honorable Silvio 0. Conte Honorable Nargaret M. Heckler Mid-Atlantic Region, NPS North Atlantic Region, NPS NR Eady/mc State Historic Preservation 0fficer Mxs. Patricia L, Weslowski Executive Director, Massachusetts Historical Couniasion 294 Washington Street Boston, Massachusetts 02108 2/10/82 272-3504 For further information, please call the National Register at (202) 343 6407.