Old Massachusetts Dirt: Forefathers Burying Ground


October 27, 2018 — Here are the relevant facts of Forefathers Burying Ground in Chelmsford, Massachusetts. It was established in 1655. It’s set on a large hill surrounded on all sides by the town, including two white, pointy-steepled churches of the type you hope for near old New England burial grounds. Some 1,500 headstones cover 4.8 acres of that hill. There’s an old red schoolhouse on the property. The oldest stone with a legible date goes back to 1690. And many of those stones have artwork on them that make them look more like props from a Halloween movie than historical artifacts.

Here are the relevant facts of my day in Forefathers Burying Ground in Chelmsford, Massachusetts. Yellow boughs backdropped the slate stones while blowing leaves scoured clean the chilly air. My kids played piggy-back along the rows, while my wife took photos. This graveyard merited her “special camera.” None of us cared that our exploits were basically visible to the whole town.

Here are the relevant photos.