- Burial Hill
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Burial Hill is a hill containing a historic cemetery (burying ground) in Plymouth, Massachusetts. The burial ground is the burial site of several Pilgrims. The cemetery was founded in the 17th century and is located off Leyden Street, the first street in Plymouth.
Contents
History
The first Pilgrim burial ground was on nearby Cole's Hill in 1620-21.[1] Originally, the Pilgrims constructed a fort on top of Burial Hill in 1621-22 (a reconstruction exists in nearby Plimoth Plantation).[2] The Burial Hill fort also served as a meeting house for the colony and for First Parish Church in Plymouth until 1677.[3] According to tradition, the first grave on Burial Hill was Pilgrim John Howland's.[4] However, he did not die until 1672; other people claimed to be buried there died considerably earlier.[5]
First Parish's congregation currently meets in an 1899 church building at the base of Burial Hill on the town square, near where it first met in 1621.[6]
Notable burials and cenotaphs
- Mary Allerton, Pilgrim, last surviving passenger
- William Bradford, Pilgrim, Governor
- John Howland, Pilgrim
- Adoniram Judson, Christian missionary to Asia
- Thomas Prence, Colonial Governor
- Zabdiel Sampson, Congressman
- James Warren, Patriot leader
- Mercy Otis Warren, author
- William Brewster (Pilgrim), Church Elder
- Squanto, Patuxet guide and interpreter (unmarked grave)
References
- ^ Frank Herman Perkins, Handbook of old Burial Hill, Plymouth, Massachusetts: Its history, its famous dead, and its quaint epitaphs (A.S. Burbank, 1896), pg. 11
- ^ Frank Herman Perkins, Handbook of old Burial Hill, Plymouth, Massachusetts: Its history, its famous dead, and its quaint epitaphs (A.S. Burbank, 1896), pg. 8-10
- ^ Frank Herman Perkins, Handbook of old Burial Hill, Plymouth, Massachusetts: Its history, its famous dead, and its quaint epitaphs (A.S. Burbank, 1896), pg. 8-10
- ^ Frank Herman Perkins, Handbook of old Burial Hill, Plymouth, Massachusetts: Its history, its famous dead, and its quaint epitaphs (A.S. Burbank, 1896), pg. 13
- ^ E.g., Squanto.
- ^ Frank Herman Perkins, Handbook of old Burial Hill, Plymouth, Massachusetts: Its history, its famous dead, and its quaint epitaphs (A.S. Burbank, 1896), pg. 7
Images
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John Howland's grave
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Harlow Old Fort House in Plymouth made of timbers from the Burial Hill Fort
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recreation of original Burial Hill fort/meeting house at Plimoth Plantation
See also
- Myles Standish Burial Ground
- Cole's Hill
- Plymouth Rock
- Town Brook
Categories:- Plymouth Colony
- Buildings and structures in Plymouth, Massachusetts
- Cemeteries in Plymouth County, Massachusetts
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