Burying Grounds

Along the Freedom trail are several burying grounds. I don't know why they are not called cemeteries. Perhaps that will be a post for my research blog. My family have been to a number of cemeteries. Just as any of my siblings about the trip to Boot Hill. As a kid i never really found them if much interest. I have much more interest in them now, although i must say that after visiting three in one day they started to look the same. It was still interesting to see what differences they had and I tried to find new ways at looking at them. First I was able to explore the Granary burying ground. This is where John Hancock, Paul Revere, and Benjamin Franklin's parents are buried alone with other notables. I just didn't get pictures of those other notables. 

That's Franklin's parents memorial in the center. You can see how many graves there are. They're quite worn down but it is still impressive. As I was leaving I saw Samuel Adams. It was interesting to see the dates going back to the 1600s. The earliest death dates I'm used to are late 1700s. 

The next stop alone the trail was another burying ground. This one next to the King's Chapel. Originally the two were not affiliated the burying ground being there before the church. I tried to grab pictures of some of the art on the grave stones. Here's a side note, there are about 550 grave stones and about 1000 dead. What blows my mind is that the space is so small. There are a couple of family tombs that actually extend below he sidewalk.

Sorry about the bad exposure on that second picture. It's of a headstone featuring a skeleton and a young women. You'll notice the a kill with the wings in the top photo. That was a very, very common engraving on grave stones. It is a symbol of death and the freedom of he soul. I overheard that from a class group that came through Park church burying ground. I ran into them a number of times along the trail. Final thought on King's church burying ground - I don't envy the angels who will have to open this tomb. 

The last burying ground kind of sneaked up on me. It's know as Copp's Hill burying ground. It was by far the largest of the three and had a look over the river. At this point o the day I had been on the move for several hours and was anxious to get to the USS Constitution so I really didn't stay long. I did get some decent shots of the trees though. Anyone who is familiar with Veggitales may know the song, "the Pirates who don't do Anything." The final phrase in each verse is, "And I've never been to Boston in the fall." I'm glad I came here in he fall because it is rather beautiful.