1861-01 Favorite Share Flag textsAnnual Report of the Trustees of the Cemetery of Mount Auburn, Together with the Reports of the Treasurer and Superintendent. January, 1861.

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ANNUAL REPORT

OF THE

TRUSTEES

OF THE

Cemetery of Mount Auburn,

TOGETHER WITH

THE REPORST

OF THE

TREASURER AND SUPERINTENDENT,

JANUARY, 1861.

BOSTON: 1861.

J. H. EASTBURN’S PRESS.

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MOUNT AUBURN CEMETERY.

During the last year a number of improvements have been commenced at Mount Auburn, and are now in an advanced state of progress, though few of them as yet, are completed.

The introduction into the grounds of fresh running water, and the construction of fountains in suitable parts of the Cemetery, has long been thought a desirable object by the Trustees, and as they believe, by a majority of the Proprietors. Such fountains exist in various Cemeteries in the United States, and are among the highest ornaments in landscape gardening. In the early part of the last year the Trustees made appropriations for such an object, amounting in all to eight thousand dollars, and appointed a committee with authority “to construct one or more fountain jets at Mount Auburn.” The Horticultural Society also, with a liberality which reflects on them great honor, voted to contribute fifteen hundred dollars to the same object. After these provisions, the work was began, and is now in a good state of forwardness. There being no natural head of water to be obtained in the place, a well 26 feet deep and 24 feet in diameter has been dug in the lowest part of the ground, on the eastern side, and secured with a brick curb. It is believed capable of furnishing any amount of water which may be required for the fountains. A reservoir 13 feet deep by 30 feet wide has been constructed on the highest hill near the Tower, about 100 feet above the level of Auburn Lake. A communicating pipe 1740 feet in length, and 8 inches in diameter, made of iron and cement by the Jersey City Water Pipe Company, has been laid about 43 feet under ground, extending from the well to the reservoir, through Magnolia and Mountain Avenues. An engine-house of brick, 28 feet by 22, has been built near the well. A steam engine and pump, capable of easily raismg 300 or 400 gallons per minute, and equal and similar to that now used in Greenwood Cemetery, is about being contracted for from Mr. H. R. Worthington, of New York, to be set up and in operation early in the coming season. The water after beimg conveyed through the reservoir and fountains, will be returned to the well from which it is taken, and thus a constant supply will be kept up, deducting only the small loss by evaporation and soakage, which the springs in the bottom of the well are more than sufficient to supply. It is proposed

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to place the first fountain in the middle of Auburn Lake, and piles are driven for that purpose.

A catacomb, or large receiving tomb, with columbaria forming tight insulated compartments in its sides, is in process of construction under Indian Ridge Path. ‘The stone for its ornamental front is under contract, to be furnished this season. The two granite tombs with hermetic compartments, which were built in Hazel Dell, having been sold, the Corporation proceeded to erect two more of a similar kind, which now remain for sale.

A drain has been completed from Garden Pond into Auburn Lake, 900 feet in length, and 3 1/2 feet in diameter, formed of heavy block stones, and covered with granite. It is a continuation of the drain which has been for many years in process of construction from the Watertown road west of the gate, through the lawn and under Culvert Avenue, and of which 1,250 feet have been laid at different times. The effect of this drain is to prevent inundation, and eventually to redeem for the Cemetery, several acres of central and valuable land.

The Trustees have voted to enclose the two recesses adjacent to the lodges on each side of the gate, with a roof and front of granite, looking toward the Cemetery, and furnished with Egyptian columns in keeping with the rest of the gate. This will afford temporary shelter to persons detained at the entrance in unfavorable weather. The cost of the stone, by contract, is to be $1,600.

An iron covering has been placed over the ‘Tower stairs in lieu of the wooden one, which had been damaged by the knives of visitors. Some expense has been incurred at the Chapel in cleansing the walls from lime wash, and pointing the joints for future security. An entire new floor has been laid of English encaustic tiles, which are harder than marble, and add much to the beauty and permanency of the interior. The statue of John Adams, which was lost at sea, has been replaced by Mr. Rogers, with a successful duplicate. It now fills the only corner which remained vacant, and completes the intended series.

The area in front of the Chapel, heretofore used as a flower-bed, is to be inclosed with a border edging of hammered stone, sufficiently high to keep off carriage wheels. In this area are two trees, a purple beech and a Virgilia, which were planted by the Prince of Wales, on his visit to Mount Auburn, October 19th, 1860.

A topographical survey, on a large scale, of the whole Cemetery, has
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of this survey, among other things, is to define accutately the intermediate spaces for the convenience of those Proprietors who may wish to purchase them at the present fractional prices.

A number of quarter lots, measuring about 10 feet by 74, have been this year laid out on Spruce Avenue, at the western side of the Cemetery. The price of these small lots is at present $50.

A new edition, of 3,000 copies, of the Catalogue and By-Laws, has been published and distributed to Proprietors, so far as their addresses could be ascertained. It contains the names of 3,017 Proprietors. A duplicate list of all interments since the beginning, has been prepared by the Secretary, for security in case of the loss or destruction of one of the copies.

Mr. Anthony Apple having resigned his place as Gardener to the Cemetery, the Trustees have appointed Mr. William H. Spooner, Jr., as his successor. His experience and character for punctuality and economy, will make it for the interest of Proprietors to employ him to take care of and embellish their lots. It is earnestly hoped that Proprietors will confine their cultivation to flowers and shrubs, and that as few trees as possible will be planted in the grounds. The dense and increasing foliage of the forest already existing there, in many places excludes the sun, and destroys the grass and the plants cultivated in its shade. Fir trees and other ever-greens are particularly objectionable on this account, and many of those ‘already existing will, at some future day, require to be removed. The Superintendent, if requested, will remove without expense objectionable trees from the lots of Proprietors.

By the Treasurer’s Report, it will be seen that the Permanent Fund, instituted four years ago, for the future and perpetual support of the Cemetery, already amounts to $20,040, besides which the balance in cash and invested productive property remaining to the credit of the Corporation is $29,315.89. Much of this, however, may be considered as pledged to the extinguishing of existing contracts and future necessary liabilities, some of which were noticed in the last year’s Report.

The present price of a common-sized lot in Mount Auburn is $150, or fifty cents for a square foot, being two and a half times the original price, which was $60 for a lot. This sum is less than the cost, with interest, to original Proprietors. But there is still another consideration which demonstrates the extreme cheapness of lots at their present price. The number of Proprietors, by the Catalogue, but little exceeds 3,000. ‘The amount which has been expended during thirty years, for

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the improvement and preservation of Mount Auburn, cannot be less than three hundred thousand dollars, and probably is nearer four. A new Proprietor then obtains not only the land which he purchases, but also acquires an undivided three-thousandth part of all the property of the Corporation. This property includes the unsold land, the iron fence, and other securities of the place, the stone structures and works of art, the roads, paths, and excavations, the artificial water works, the treasury surplus, and the permanent fund for the future preservation of the whole Cemetery. The value of this property at its cost is more than $100 to every Proprietor, and reduces his actual land, as it would be if independent of the rest of the Cemetery, to less than $50 per lot. It is not difficult to foresee that the value and price of land in Mount Auburn must rise hereafter with a rapidity proportionate to its improvement and scarcity.

In Behalf of the Trustees, JACOB BIGELOW, President.

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