Mount Auburn Cemetery- America’s First and Finest

In Cambridge, Mass. is a vast and beautiful park that happens to be a cemetery. 

It is called Mount Auburn and has the distinction of being the first of its kind in America: a landscaped rural garden Victorian cemetery. 

Mount Auburn opened in 1831. Today it encompasses 170 acres in Cambridge and also parts of neighboring Watertown. More than 100,000 people are buried here. 

Wow! 

More on Mount Auburn's history here. 

The impressive entrance near Harvard University was built in 1842 of locally- quarried Quincy granite. The wings at the top are of ancient Egyptian influence symbolizing the sun and therefore power, according to cemetery material.

The inscription under the rings says the following: 

“Then shall the dust return to the Earth as it was and the Spirit shall return unto God who gave it.” Ecclesiastes 12:7” 

Credit for founding this Garden of Eden of burial grounds is Dr. Jacob Bigelow (1787-1879), a Boston physician, botanist and Harvard professor. Bigelow chapel, (right) located near the entrance, was named in his honor. The grand Gothic Revival edifice, built in 1844 and rebuilt in 1855 (also of Quincy granite) emulates the style of cathedrals built in England, France and Germany in the 1200s or 1300s, a cemetery publication says. 

The chapel was not open when we walked by. It opened later in the day. It is used for funerals and other services. There are plans to add a new crematory to better serve people of the Hindu and Buddhist faiths. The expansion must be delayed or possibly canceled because online you can see (yuck!) how the new glassed wing would look. 

Dr. Bigelow had a vision! In 1825 he called a group of civic leaders to his house and “proposed that they establish a new kind of cemetery” (National Park Service website on Mount Auburn). He said this was needed because crowded cemeteries in congested urban areas might promote the spread of contagious diseases. 

England and France had started cemeteries in outlying areas for similar concerns (see my 2017 post on Paris' Pere Lachaise Cemetery and Montparnasse Cemetery).

The newly formed Massachusetts Horticultural Society located a 72-acre farm that seemed ideal for such a planned garden cemetery. 

The planners saw an enticing part of the property, a 125-foot hill that offered views of Cambridge and Boston. 

This 62-foot-tall observation site, called Washington Tower for the first U.S. president, was erected in 1852. 

The view at the top is expansive. The tower is not open year round, only April through October. 

Also visible from Washington Tower was this Dick’s Sporting Goods blimp. We weren’t sure what it was doing on this Sunday morning, maybe the Red Sox had a home game at Fenway Park. There was also a big music festival going on in the Boston area that weekend. 

You can see the blimp between the pair of obelisks. The Boston skyline is in the background. 

A cemetery with an observation tower- another first for me. Mount Auburn is a place of many firsts in America. It inspired the rural cemetery movement in the U.S. This included the opening of Charleston's Magnolia Cemetery in 1850. 

Mount Auburn also influenced the development of more public parks in America. 

Now here’s an eye-catching monument! It is called, not surprisingly, The Sphinx. No one is buried in it or underneath it. Installed in 1872, The Sphinx was commissioned by cemetery founder Jacob Bigelow and carved in Hallowell granite by Martin Millmore. The sculpture’s purpose commemorates the end of slavery in the U.S., according to a cemetery publication geared toward children. 

So I guess you could say that slavery is buried below the half-human half-lion creature. 

To me, it’s curious that a cemetery would be the site of such a symbol and statement. 

Online can be found a site that says Bigelow wanted The Sphinx to honor Union soldiers who died in the Civil War. One wonders why the Mount Auburn children’s handout doesn’t say that. 

The Sphinx was one of the first sites we visited after arriving at Mount Auburn on a quiet Sunday morning (May 26) in Cambridge. We got there before 9:30 and would stay for about two hours. I could have spent twice as long but we needed to get back to the hotel in Cambridge to gather our things to move to our hotel in Boston. 

It really was both serendipitous and fortuitous that Alesia booked a hotel for us in Cambridge that first night. She did not know about Mount Auburn Cemetery, that it was nearby, and I did not make the connection until a few weeks before our visit when at home I heard a guest on “The Ordinary, Extraordinary Cemetery” podcast mention Mount Auburn in Cambridge. (Check out my June 2024 appearance on this cool podcast).

We enjoyed a leisurely walk around the grounds covering maybe half the 170 acres but enough to be very impressed. My expectations were exceeded by the overall beauty, the flora and fauna, and the remarkable variety of gravestones, large and small. 

The cemetery features many large and ornate mausoleums. This one was built for Ralph Huntington White (1841-1917) who was a successful owner of his longtime namesake R.H. White department store in Boston. 

There are likely several other family members interred here. 

Another impressive mausoleum is this one with the surname Wainwright above the metal door. Large urns flank the entrance. The Wainwright name is associated with a prominent Boston investment firm, H.C. Wainwright & Co. founded in 1868 and exists to this day. 

The trees, shrubs and flowers around this mausoleum are lovely. 

This mausoleum was built into a hill. Look how it naturally fits into the environment. That is the Mount Auburn style. The concept and field of landscape architecture in America began with these rural garden cemeteries. 

On the two doors are the names J. Boles and A.G. Peck. Must be a duplex! The number 2498 is above the doors, indicating the address, just like a house would have. 

Robert C. Winthrop and several family members (presumably) reside in this mausoleum. Winthrop (1809-1894) was from a prominent Boston family. A lawyer, we served in the U.S. House of Representatives (becoming Speaker of the House) and U.S. Senate. Below his name (above) lists several of his attributes (orator, statesman, philanthropist) then end with “Above All A Christian.” I like that! 

Mount Auburn has quite the mausoleum row that blends into the greenery over and around it.

In the Monopoly board game this would be the high-end Boardwalk and Park Place properties. 

I like the Edward H. Sanford mausoleum. You can look inside through the cross etched into the door. 

Sanford was just 40 years old when he died in 1865. 

This is an interesting capture I made inside the Sanford mausoleum. Edward has several relatives in there with him. If you make the photo larger you may be able to make out some of the names. Edward’s niche or shelf is second row from the right, third one down. 

The green something on the right wall is creepy but kind of cool-looking too. 

How lovely is this setting! The detailing is exceptional of the grieving woman sculpted in marble. 

Interred in the ground around the large monument are Isaac H. Russell (1822-1895), Mary Scott (1790-1878) and Mary A. Shaw (1815-1836)- just 21 when she passed. Other names are inscribed on the pedestal’s other sides. 

A similar female figure adorned the pedestal of this Dutton family monument. 

I like the star on her head. Stars can represent divine guidance in cemetery iconology. If the star has five points, as does this one, it represents the Star of Bethlehem. If a star has six points, it would mean the power of God’s creation. 

What powerful imagery and symbolism does this monument project! And an intriguing name on it too: Chickering (of Chickering & Sons Pianos- keep reading). 

The green surroundings seem to have imbued the pedestal and its sculptures. 

It is fairly rare to have two full-sized figures like this. The woman is on her knees mourning, clutching a cross to her heart, as she gazes to the heavens. An angel stands above her. The inverted torch in his (I believe this is a male angel) left hand symbolizes the end of life but also the hope of life everlasting in Heaven. In his right hand, he seems to be pulling a blanket or garment over the woman's head and face as if she is passing from life to death to life everlasting. 

Below the figures, a Bible passage reads as follows: “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen” (Hebrews 11:1). 

Also on this Chickering monument we have another sorrowful figure with her head bowed, holding a musical instrument, a lyre. Perhaps she is Erato, the Greek Muse who was the inspirational goddess of literature, science and arts. Perhaps the image also represents that the music is over for the Chickering family members interred below. A musical connection would be appropriate for “piano magnate” (Find a Grave description) Jonas Pickering (1798-1853) who built a successful piano-making business in Boston. His company built 12,000 pianos by the time Jonas died. 

Just about every direction you look here offers fabulous examples of gravestone artistry.

Sheaves of wheat can symbolize the divine harvest. They can also connote a long life. But that wasn’t necessarily the case for Thomas L. Smith who was 58 when he passed in 1892. 

An angel pointing to Heaven ready to transport more Christian souls to the afterlife. This massive monument marks of the burial site of Charles Whitney (1828-1887), who was a manufacturer of woolen equipment, and his wife Sarah (1827-1889). 

A cherub angel is an icon shared by the Christian, Jewish and Islam religions that represents innocence and spiritual resurrection. 

Another female figure amid smaller headstones and other grave marker types. Note the lush landscape- green trees and grass and a lovely blue-white sky. 

Gravestone students note that women figures like these, during the Victorian era, are usually allegorical, meaning they convey a moral or hidden meaning such as grief, hope or faith. The woman on the pedestal usually is not meant to depict the departed. 

Male figures, on the other hand, more often do depict the departed, such as this prominent minister, Hosea Ballou (1771-1852) 

Rev. Ballou was an influential advocate of universal salvation and was the longtime pastor of Boston’s Second Universalist Church. 

A dog has a prominent spot in this elaborate columned memorial. The word Charity is engraved at the top. 

William Frederick Harnden (1812-1845) died young, just 31, but accomplished big things in the business world. He founded an "express" company that facilitated faster deliveries by rail between major American cities, then eventually European ports such as Liverpool. 

The choice of including a hound dog is an interesting one. A dog can be part of a grave marker to “express” fidelity and/or as a sign of love and family affection. 

I could not find the cause of Harnden’s death, only that his health failed and he died. 

His short life is a lesson in vision in that for five years he worked as a conductor and passenger clerk on the Boston and Worcester railroad before coming up with his plan to make rail shipments faster from one point to the other. 

A dog is also central to this Perkins plot. It holds the eternal remains of four family members who died between 1854-1889. The loyal dog, perhaps the likeness of a loyal pet who will protect the family for eternity. 

Civil War deaths always catch my eye and interest. I’m used to seeing those who fell for the Confederacy, so it is different here in the North seeing Union casualties. 

The most notable at Mount Auburn May be the grave of and monument for Robert Gould Shaw who as a Union colonel formed and lead the 54th Massachusetts Infantry Regiment that consisted of Black soldiers. 

A Boston native and son of prominent abolitionists, Shaw was killed with many of his troops in the July 1863 Union assault on Battery Wagner, a fortified Confederate position on Morris Island near Charleston, S.C. Matthew Broderick portrayed Col. Shaw in the popular 1989 film  “Glory” that also starred Denzel Washington. In my "Boston- The Cradle of Liberty" post about our recent visit, I have photos of a large 54th Massachusetts memorial in Boston Common. 

Three more Union officer deaths follow. I’m sure this cemetery has many more. 

Capt. Charles Duncan Lamb of the 56th Regiment Massachusetts Volunteers died in 1871 “of consequence of a wound received at the Battle of Weldon Railroad (near Petersburg, Va.) August 19, 1864.” He was 30 years old when he died.

His headstone is in a fenced Lamb family plot filled with daisies.

Col. P.S. Davis of the 39th Regiment Massachusetts Volunteers was “killed in front of Petersburg, Va., July 11, 1864” at age 46. That's a reference to the protracted Union army siege of Petersburg, Va.

Irish-born Col. Thomas Cass died earlier in the war. He was leading Massachusetts’ 9th Infantry Regiment when he was “mortally wounded” at the Battle of Malvern Hill on July 1, 1862. He was able to be brought home to Boston but died of his wound on July 12. He was 39 or 40. 

Mount Auburn has the flora in spades and it also fauna to boot. 

Chipmunks reside here and aren’t they cute? 

Cute is not the word I’d use to describe this frog. After doing a little research, I believe this is not a frog but an American Toad. 

No offense froggy (or toady)! OK, you’re kind of cute too. 

I was excited to score a first-time “lifer” bird at the cemetery. This is a House Wren. It does resemble the state bird of South Carolina, the Carolina Wren. 

And here we have an Eastern Phoebe. I have previously photographed this species of the Tyrant Flycatchers (sounds dramatic!) in my backyard and a few other places in the Charleston area. Check out my Eastern Phoebe post from way back in 2012. 

 

BEST of the REST

To wrap up this lengthy post I want to include more photos from my momentous Mount Auburn visit. On a pretty spring day, it was a pleasure to see America's first rural garden Victorian cemetery in person! 

Thank you to my dear Alesia who made our Boston trip possible and to her and Joseph (and Mount Auburn) for making it all so fun and memorable. 

Alesia and I rest at the base of the Washington Tower. Here is my final salvo of pictures I took in no particular order. 

A tabletop grave marker in excellent condition. These are fairly rare, especially ones in such good shape. 

Two slate headstones. Usually these were made in the 1600s and 1700s. These are for people who died in the early 1900s who must have wanted the old school look of the black stone and distinctive print. I like it too! 

Hats off to the grounds staff at Mount Auburn! They do an amazing job of keeping the grass cut and maintaining the exquisite look of this early 19th-century necropolis. 

Another bucket list item checked! Hope to return- while I’m still alive of course 😀.