The Wakefield Old Burying Ground is beside Lake Quannapowitt in Wakefield, Massachusetts. (There is nice information about this cemetery posted on FindAGrave, see the end of this post.) My last visit was in 2000 to find my ancestor's tombstone. On this recent May 2nd beautiful spring day, everybody was out walking and enjoying the day. Fortunately, I didn't have to look too long before I found two stones I was looking for. My Ancestor's stone was easy to spot, five others were not. A list of those relatives is listed below. FindAGrave has photos, even with pictures, I couldn't find them in person.
"The gravestones in this semi-circle were originally located in the town's first Burying Ground, near the present site of the Bandstand.
These stones represent some of the oldest expressions of Puritan gravestone art in New England."
Another sign provides this information.
"The earliest settlers in this town were Puritans from Lynn, who began making their home here in 1639. The slate gravestones in the Old Burying Ground represent our truest link with those first settlers.
The first stone in this line is that of my 9th great-grandfather, Jonathan Poole. The second photo shows his footstone.
Jonathan Poole
Born: Abt. 1634, Middlesex Co., Massachusetts
Died: December 24, 1678, Reading (now Wakefield), Middlesex Co., Massachusetts
Jonathan Poole married Judith Jacobs
They were my 9th great-grandparents.
See my post of March 23, 2010 showing a little sharper image of my photo taken in 2000.
When I saw this Wheelock family stone broken and on the ground, I took an interest because I have the Wheelock and Newhall surnames. I believe this was the first time I purposely took a photo of an upsidedown stone. Why? Because I finally realized I could rotate the photo at home. Why didn't I figure that out years ago?
Delorma B. Wheelock
1818 -- 1896
Mary S. Newhall
His Wife.
1824 -- 1900
Albert A. Wheelock, M. D.
1866 -- 1949
(My 8th great-granduncle was located, as was his wife.)
Here Lyes Buried
ye Body of Deacon
Thomas Nickols
Who Haveing Served ye?
Church of Christ in
Reading 25, Years Departed
this life Febr 9th 1736 in
ye 82nd Year of His Age.
Body of Mrs. Rebecka (Eaton)
Nickols Wife to Deacon
Thomas Nickols
Who Died October
17th 1732 in her? 68th
Year of her Age.
ye Memory of ye Just is Blessed
I couldn't these stones, but they are posted on FindAGrave:
Capt. Thomas Poole died Dec. 26, 1732 (8th great-grand uncle)
Thomas Wiley died Feb. 16, 1780 (7th great-grand uncle)
Benjamin Pool died Dec. 17, 1732 (5th great-grand uncle)
John Nickols, Sr. died Dec. 16, 1721 (8th great-grand uncle)
Benjamin Fitch died March 12, 1712 (7th great-grandfather)
Old Burying Ground
Also known as First Congregational Churchyard
| LOCATION | Church Street Wakefield, Middlesex County, Massachusetts, 01880 USA Show Map |
|---|---|
| PHONE | 781-246-6300 |
| WEBSITE | www.wakefield.ma.us/cemetery-division |
| MEMORIALS | 971 added (62% photographed) |
| CEMETERY ID | 91376 |
This is actually the second burial ground of the First parish church. The first was further east in what is now the park about where the bandstand is located. Its stones were moved to this burial ground when it was begun around 1688-9. It was the main burial ground for the town for about 150 years. It contains the graves of many of the towns early settlers and early families including Rev. Richard Brown (1732), Rev. Mr. Wm. Hobby (1765) and Rev. Caleb Prentiss (1803) all of whom served the First Parish.
In 1846 the burial ground was recognized as being too small for the growing town and a number of citizens formed the Lakeside Cemetery as a private cemetery further north and west on Lake Quannapowitt.
There are approximately 600 headstones. The earliest death date is 1681, the latest 1926.
The Massachusetts Historical Commission refers to this cemetery in MACRIS as WAK.801 Old Burial Ground.
This cemetery is referred to as GR1 Old Cemetery, formerly Town Burying Ground in the "Vital Records of Wakefield Massachusetts to the end of the year 1849."
From the town of Wakefield website:
How do I find information about family plots, lot location, or genealogy?
Cemetery records are available in the Public Works office at Town Hall, located at 1 Lafayette Street.
Phone:
(781) 246-6301 x 4
Address:
Town Hall
1 Lafayette Street
Wakefield, MA 01880