Point of Graves Burial Ground

Point of Graves Burial Ground is a small historic cemetery in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, dating to the 17th century.[1] It was the final resting place for many of Portsmouth's prominent residents including the Wentworth family, the Vaughan family,[upper-alpha 1] the Rogers, and the Lears. It is the oldest known surviving cemetery in Portsmouth, and one of the oldest in the state.[upper-alpha 2][4][5] It has about 125 gravestones.[2][3] Previously neglected,[3][6] it is now well maintained by the Mayor's Committee and the city.[4][6] The cemetery plot was on a point of land that directly overlooked the Piscataqua River in earlier times.[upper-alpha 3]

View of burial ground

History
John Jackson headstone

Captain John Pickering II agreed to let the town have half an acre "upon the neck of land on which he liveth, where the people have been wont to be buried, which land shall be impropriated forever unto the use of a burying place." The earliest legible gravestone is dated 1682.

There are ghost stories related about the cemetery.[8][9][10][11] Putative hauntings are part of tourist appeal.[12]

It is believed that the area was used as a cemetery prior to its formal dedication. However, because Pickering retained use of the site for cattle grazing, many earlier stones were destroyed or damaged.[4][7]

The cemetery has many fine examples of gravestone carvings by talented and noted New England carvers.[upper-alpha 4] Because of its extended use, there are many examples illustrating the fashionable evolution of headstone symbolism, iconography, imagery and monumental inscription.[3][4][7]

Elizabeth Elatson (d. 1704–05), a house fire victim, is buried there. The report in The Boston News-Letter was the first published account of a house fire in America.[upper-alpha 5]

It is one of six cemeteries owned and maintained by the City of Portsmouth, which is working under a comprehensive maintenance and restoration program. It is supported via the Historic Cemeteries Trust Fund.[15]

Location

It is located on the south side of Mechanic Street opposite Prescott Park, between Marcy Street and the Peirce Island Bridge.[6] The area around it was once a center of coastal trade and warehouses.[16]

Tours of the graveyard are offered by local author Roxie Zwicker.[17] Yankee Magazine named it to the top five "best cemetery tours in New England" in 2017.[17][18] That evaluation seems to depend both on the cemetery, and the identity of the knowledgeable and amusing docent, who opines that "cemeteries are art museums," is paired with a claimed spectral sidekick, and has visited over 400 New England burial grounds.[18]

See also

References

Notes
  1. Which has a large and ornate crypt with a stairway beneath leading to 28 unidentified skeletons within.[2]
  2. An older cemetery was located near a mansion at Odiorne Point. It was said to be walled. However, the precise location was long ago lost to history.[3] See Pannaway Plantation and Odiorne Point State Park
  3. "Point of Graves is aptly named, because at one time it sat almost directly on a point of land that looked directly at the Piscataqua River."[7]
  4. Including Nathaniel Emmes; James Foster; John Hartshorne; John Homer; Joseph Mullicken; William Mumford, a Bostonian Quaker; someone designated only by the initials "JN" (maybe silversmith John Noyes); perhaps master carver Joseph Lamson of Charlestown and his two sons, Caleb and Nathaniel.[4][7][13]
  5. "Elizabeth Elatson d.1704-05 helped rescue someone but died from her injuries two months later. The news reported in the Boston News-Letter was the first published account of a house fire in America."[4][14]

Citations
  1. "Point of Graves – Portsmouth, New Hampshire – American Guide Series on Waymarking.com". www.waymarking.com.
  2. Ganley, Rick; McIntyre, Mary (October 31, 2018). "Radio Field Trip: Exploring Portsmouth's Haunted History" (Slideshow). NHPR.
  3. Aldrich 1893, pp. 30–32.
  4. "Point of Graves Burial Ground Walking Tour" (PDF). Portsmouth Historic Graves. The Mayor's Blue Ribbon Cemetery Committee. Retrieved November 1, 2018. With the first burial here occurring in 1669, to being formally established in 1671,...
  5. Robinson, J. Dennis (2006). "WHAT'S NEW? Historic Portsmouth Cemeteries". Retrieved November 2, 2018. ... and contain some of New England's most dramatic grave carvings.
  6. Campbell, Ron (27 October 2011). "Walk Portsmouth: Point of Graves".
  7. Knoblock 2005, pp. 29–36.
  8. Zwicker 2007.
  9. Zwicker 2011.
  10. Zwicker 2012.
  11. D'Agostino & Nicholson 2006, pp. 132–148.
  12. Burch, Kelly A. (May 13, 2016). "7 Disturbing Cemeteries in New Hampshire That Will Give You Goosebumps". Retrieved November 2, 2018.
  13. "Point of Graves". HMdb Historical Markers. Retrieved December 15, 2018.
  14. Milbouer, Stacy; Lon, Tom (October 2015). "Fall Foliage Tour: This tour of historical and beautiful graveyards from around the state combines the spirit of the Halloween season with some of the best places to view fall foliage". New Hampshire Magazine. Retrieved December 15, 2018.
  15. "Portsmouth's Historic Cemeteries". City of Portsmouth, Department of Public Works. Retrieved November 2, 2018.
  16. Federal Writers Project 1938, pp. 232–233.
  17. Palma, Krista (October 25, 2018). "5 New England graveyards you can visit and tour this month". www.boston.com.
  18. Beckius, Kim Knox (October 4, 2017). "The Best 5 Cemetery Tours In New England These spirited outings shine a light on life (and death) in early New England". Yankee Magazine. Retrieved November 2, 2018.

Bibliography
  • Aldrich, Thomas Bailey (1893) [1883]. An Old Town by the Sea (2nd ed.). Cambridge, Massachusetts: Riverside Press, H.O. Houghton & Co. pp. 30, 32.
  • D'Agostino, Thomas; Nicholson, Arlene (2006). Haunted New Hampshire. Atglen, Pennsylvania: Schiffer Books. pp. 132–148. ISBN 9780764325731.
  • Federal Writers Project (January 1, 1938). New Hampshire: A Guide to the Granite State, Portsmouth section. Somerset Publishers. pp. 232–233.
  • Knoblock, Glenn A. (2005). Portsmouth Cemeteries. Images of America. Charleston, South Carolina: Arcadia Publishing. pp. 29–40. ISBN 9781439632321.
  • Zwicker, Roxie (July 1, 2007). Haunted Portsmouth: Spirits and Shadows of the Past. Charleston South Carolina: Haunted America. ISBN 9781596292338.
  • Zwicker, Roxie (2011). Haunted Cemeteries of New England: Stories. City: PublishingWorks. ISBN 9781283305525.
  • Zwicker, Roxie (2012). New Hampshire Book of the Dead: Graveyard Legends and Lore. Charleston, South Carolina: The History Press. ISBN 978-1-609-49756-9.

43.0754°N 70.7509°W / 43.0754; -70.7509

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