Forest Hills Cemetery Walking Tour

On Saturday I attended a walking tour of Forest Hills Cemetery with a group of genealogy friends and colleagues from the Boston University Genealogy program. Forest Hills is a garden cemetery, founded in 1848, situated along the "Emerald Necklace" green space parks of Boston. ¹ We began our tour at the main gate and visited the grave sites of many notable figures in American history on our two-hour tour.



Lysander Spooner (1808 - 1887) was a lawyer, Unitarian abolitionist and political philosopher. His American Letter Mail Company, which competed with the U.S. Post Office, was forced out of business by the U.S. Government.<sup>2

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Forest Hills Cemetery is the final resting place of two iconic figures of the American Revolution, William Dawes (1745 -1799) and Major General Joseph Warren (1741 – 1775). Dawes was one of the midnight riders spreading the news of the arrival of the British Regulars through Cambridge, Arlington, and Lexington. Dawes was originally buried at King's Chapel Burying Ground in Boston, where a memorial stone marks his burial spot. In honoring Dawes' final wishes his remains were later reinterred in an unmarked grave in the May family plot next to his wife, Mehitable May Dawes (1751 - 1793).<sup>4

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Major General Joseph Warren (1741 - 1775) was killed at the Battle of Bunker Hill on June 17, 1775 and was originally buried in the Granary Burial Ground in Boston. His remains were later removed to the Warren family plot on Mount Warren Avenue. <sup>6

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Marshall Pinckney Wilder (1798 - 1886) was a noted horticulturalist and president of the Massachusetts Horticultural Society and the American Pomological Society. He donated his entire collection of greenhouse and garden plants to the Boston Public Garden.<sup>9

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Sisters Anna Cabot Lowell (1808 - 1894) and Rebecca Amory Lowell (1794 - 1873) taught Sunday School at the First Church in Roxbury for fifty and forty years respectively.¹¹:

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Henry A. S. Dearborn (1783 - 1851), noted horticulturalist and landscape designer, was the founder and designer of Mount Auburn Cemetery in 1831 and Forest Hills Cemetery in 1848. Dearborn chose Forest Hills for his final resting place. <sup>13

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Printer Louis Prang (1824 – 1909) advanced the art of greeting cards through his contributions to the field of lithography.

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Poet E. E. Cummings (1894 - 1962) and his wife Marion Morehouse Cummings (1906 - 1969) are buried in an inconspicuous lot near the gravestone of Cummings’ great-grandfather John Jones Clarke, the first mayor of Roxbury.<sup>17

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Spiritualists Luther Colby (1814 - 1894), William Berry (1825 - 1862), and Charles H. Crowell(1826 - 1868), co-founders of the Banner of Light newspaper, are buried in adjacent plots.

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William Lloyd Garrison (1805 – 1879) was a noted journalist and social reformer who advanced the abolitionist movement as editor of the newspaper The Liberator. <sup>24

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The spectacular Fireman’s Memorial was dedicated on June 13, 1909 to the memory of deceased firefighters of the Boston Fire Department.<sup>26

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The Civil War Soldiers Monument by sculptor Martin Milmore was erected in 1867 in memory of the soldiers from Roxbury who died in the Civil War.

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A beautiful marble statue, by Sydney H. Morse, nicknamed "Little Gracie," adorns the grave of Grace Sherwood Allen (1876 - 1880), daughter of William and Emily Allen, who died of whooping cough prior to her fifth birthday.<sup>29

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Andrew Carney (1794 - 1864) was a noted philanthropist of many social institutions to aid the sick and the underprivileged in greater Boston. Among his many contributions to social welfare is Carney Hospital in Dorchester, Boston College, and the Immaculate Conception Church in Boston's South End. <sup>31

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The landscape of Forest Hills offers magnificent vistas, including these spectacular views from Mount Warren Avenue and of Lake Hibiscus in the heart of the cemetery.







Not to be outdone, the approach to the cemetery along Forest Hills Avenue affords scenic beauty.



Our wonderful tour guide Dee is a contributor to the Forest Hills Educational Trust blog. For additional information about Forest Hills Cemetery please visit the Forest Hills Cemetery website at http://www.foresthillscemetery.com and the Forest Hills Educational Trust blog at http://foresthillstrust.blogspot.com.

References:
¹"Forest Hills - A Special Place," About << Forest Hills Cemetery (http://www.foresthillscemetery.com/about/: 27 April 2014).
²"Lysander Spooner," Lysander Spooner - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lysander_Spooner: 27 April 2014).
³Forest Hills Cemetery (Boston, Suffolk County, Massachusetts), Lysander Spooner marker, Field of Ephron, photographed by Carol Swaine-Kuzel, 26 April 2014.
⁴The Freedom Trail Foundation, "King's Chapel Burying Ground," King's Chapel Burying Ground, Historic Cemetery, Kings Chapel Burying Ground Boston - TheFreedomTrail.org (http://www.thefreedomtrail.org/freedom-trail/kings-chapel-buring-ground.shtml: 27 April 2014).
⁵Forest Hills Cemetery, May Family plot, Walnut Avenue, photographed by Carol Swaine-Kuzel, 26 April 2014.
⁶The Freedom Trail Foundation, "King's Chapel Burying Ground," King's Chapel Burying Ground, Historic Cemetery, Kings Chapel Burying Ground Boston - TheFreedomTrail.org.
⁷Forest Hills Cemetery, Major General Joseph Warren marker, Mount Warren Avenue, photographed by Carol Swaine-Kuzel, 26 April 2014.
⁸Forest Hills Cemetery, Warren Family plot, Mount Warren Avenue, photographed by Carol Swaine-Kuzel, 26 April 2014.
⁹"Marshall Pinckney Wilder," Historic Forest Hills Cemetery (http://foresthillstrust.blogspot.com/2009/12/marshall-pinckney-wilder-1798-1886-was.html: 27 April 2014).
¹⁰Forest Hills Cemetery, Marshall Pinckney Wilder marker, Mount Warren Avenue, photographed by Carol Swaine-Kuzel, 26 April 2014.
¹¹Massachusetts Historical Society, "Collection Description," Lowell Family Papers, 1728-1898 (http://www.masshist.org/collection-guides/view/fa0285: 27 April 2014).
¹²Forest Hills Cemetery, Anna Cabot Lowell and Rebecca Amory Lowell markers, Laurel Path, photographed by Carol Swaine-Kuzel, 26 April 2014.
¹³ "September 2013," Historic Forest Hills Cemetery (http://foresthillstrust.blogspot.com/2013_09_01_archive.html: 27 April 2014).
¹⁴Forest Hills Cemetery, Henry A. S. Dearborn marker, Mount Dearborn, photographed by Carol Swaine-Kuzel, 26 April 2014.
¹⁵Forest Hills Cemetery, Dearborn Family monument, Mount Dearborn, photographed by Carol Swaine-Kuzel, 26 April 2014.
¹⁶Forest Hills Cemetery, Louis Prang marker, Mount Dearborn, photographed by Carol Swaine-Kuzel, 26 April 2014.
¹⁷ "e e cummings," Historic Forest Hills Cemetery: e e cummings (http://foresthillstrust.blogspot.com/2009/12/edward-estlin-cummings-more-popularly.html: 27 April 2014).
¹⁸Forest Hills Cemetery, E. E. Cummings marker, Althea Path, photographed by Carol Swaine-Kuzel, 26 April 2014.
¹⁹Forest Hills Cemetery, Marion Morehouse Cummings marker, Althea Path, photographed by Carol Swaine-Kuzel, 26 April 2014.
²⁰Forest Hills Cemetery, Luther Colby marker, Honeysuckle Path, photographed by Carol Swaine-Kuzel, 26 April 2014.
²¹Forest Hills Cemetery, William Berry marker, Honeysuckle Path, photographed by Carol Swaine-Kuzel, 26 April 2014.
²²Forest Hills Cemetery, Charles H. Crowell marker, Honeysuckle Path, photographed by Carol Swaine-Kuzel, 26 April 2014.
²³Forest Hills Cemetery, Spiritualists plot, Honeysuckle Path, photographed by Carol Swaine-Kuzel, 26 April 2014.
²⁴"He Who Would Be Heard," Historic Forest Hills Cemetery: He Who Would Be Heard (http://foresthillstrust.blogspot.com/2010/02/william-lloyd-garrison-1805-1879-was.html: 27 April 2014).
²⁵Forest Hills Cemetery, William Lloyd Garrison marker, Smilax Path, photographed by Carol Swaine-Kuzel, 26 April 2014.
²⁶"April 21, 2010," Historic Forest Hills Cemetery (http://foresthillstrust.blogspot.com/2010_04_01_archive.html: 27 April 2014).
²⁷Forest Hills Cemetery, Firemans'Memorial monument, Cypress and Poplar Avenues, photographed by Carol Swaine-Kuzel, 26 April 2014.
²⁸Forest Hills Cemetery, Civil War Soldiers monument, Poplar and Sycamore Avenues, photographed by Carol Swaine-Kuzel, 26 April 2014.
²⁹ "Little Grace Allen," Historic Forest Hills Cemetery: Little Grace Allen (http://foresthillstrust.blogspot.com/2010/02/little-grace-allen.html: 27 April 2014).
³⁰Forest Hills Cemetery, Grace Allen marker, Lobelia Path, photographed by Carol Swaine-Kuzel, 26 April 2014.
³¹"October 15, 2009," Historic Forest Hills Cemetery (http://foresthillstrust.blogspot.com/2009/10/andrew-carney-1794-1864-was-called-one.html: 27 April 2014).
³²Forest Hills Cemetery, Andrew Carney marker, Lake and Forest Avenues, photographed by Carol Swaine-Kuzel, 26 April 2014.