1870-01 Annual Report of the Trustees of the Cemetery of Mount Auburn, Together with the Reports of the Treasurer and Superintendent. January, 1870.

ANNUAL REPORT

OF THE

TRUSTEES

OF THE

Cemetry of Mount Auburn

TOGETHER WITH THE

REPORTS

OF THE

TREASURER AND SUPERINTENDENT.

JANUARY, 1870.

BOSTON: 1870.

BARKER, COTTER & CO., PRINTERS, 14 State Street

TRUSTEES’ REPORT.

At the Annual Meeting of the Proprietors of the Cemetery of Mount Auburn, holden in Boston, February 1, 1869, measures were taken to cause a petition to be presented to the Legislature of the Commonwealth asking for amendments in the Charter of this Corporation relating to the election of Trustees, and to certain other matters.

In pursuance of votes taken at different times by this Corporation, a petition has been duly presented to the Legislature, and an Act has been passed by them, of which a copy is here subjoined : —

AN ACT IN ADDITION TO AN Act To INCORPORATE THE PROPRIETORS OF THE CEMETERY OF MOUNT AUBURN.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives, in General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows :

Section 1. The authority conferred upon any cemetery corporation organized under the provisions of Section two of Chapter twenty-eight of the General Statutes, to take and hold so much real and personal estate as may be necessary for the objects of its organization, is hereby vested in the Proprietors of the Cemetery of Mount Auburn.

Sect. 2. No member of the said Corporation shall, in his individual right, be entitled to more than one vote at the meetings of said Corporation.

Sect. 3. The officers of the said Corporation shall consist of twelve Trustees, a Treasurer, Secretary, and such other officers as the Trustees may direct. The twelve persons who now constitute the Board of Trustees shall be divided by lot, or otherwise, as they themselves may determine, into six classes of two each; and the persons of the first class shall go out of office on the day of the next annual meeting; and the persons of the second, third, fourth, fifth, and sixth classes shall 20 out of office, respectively, on the day of each succeeding annual election in the years eighteen hundred seventy-one, eighteen hundred seventy-two, eighteen hundred seventy-three, eighteen hundred seventy-four, and eighteen hundred seventy-five ; and the two Trustees who shall be chosen at the annual meeting in the year eighteen hundred and seventy, and in each succeeding year, shall continue in office, respectively for the term of six years. In case of the death or resignation of any Trustee, the

3 vacancy shall be filled by the Proprietors at the next annual meeting succeeding such death or resignation. Nothing herein contained shall prevent any person whose term of office shall have expired from being re-eligible.

SECT. 4. The Secretary shall give notice of annual and special meetings of said Corporation by sending by mail or otherwise, to each member of the Corporation whose place of residence or business shall be known to him, a printed notice thereof, seven days before the time of such meeting, and by publication of such notice in one or more newspapers printed in Boston, seven days before the time of such meeting. At all meetings a quorum for business shall consist of not less than twenty-five members.

SECT. 5. Such parts of Sections two, three, four, and five of Chapter ninety-six of the Acts of the year eighteen hundred and thirty-five, or of any Act in addition thereto, which may be inconsistent with the provisions of this Act, are hereby repealed.

Approved April 17, 1869.

In compliance with the foregoing Act of the Legislature, the Trustees at their meeting held December 14, 1869, voted to proceed to divide their board into six classes, and to decide by lot at what time the period of service of each of the present incumbents should expire. The lots being drawn,. the result was declared as follows, (the name of Mr. CHARLES C. LITTLE, deceased, being omitted,) -

To go out of office at the Annual Meeting 1870, JAMES READ.

1870} JAMES READ 1871,} PAUL ADAMS, }EDWARD S. RAND. 1872} J. INGERSOLL BOWDITCH }LOYAL LOVEJOY. 1873} EDWARD AUSTIN }JACPB BIGELOW 1874} ISAAC LIVERMORE, }JACOB SLEEPER. 1875} JAMES CHEEVER }ORTIS NORCROSS During the past year many trees, constituting nearly half the whole number standing at the beginning of the year, have been culled out and removed, greatly improving the light and the general features of the landscape.

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The gale of September 8 broke or blew down a considerable number of trees, but did little damage to fences and monuments. A large importation of ornamental flowering shrubs and small trees, ordered last year, has been safely planted in various parts of the Cemetery.

A reception-house has been commenced on the Wyeth estate, opposite the front gate of Mount Auburn, for the accommodation and shelter of visitors, and with a cellar for the protection in winter of tender plants or trees.

A lawsuit, which has been pending for several years between this Corporation and the Granite Railway Company, at Quincy, has been settled by a reference, so that the remainder of the stone is to be delivered, and the Receiving Tomb, which was begun some years ago, may now be completed.

An amendment to Article II of the By-Laws was adopted January 11, 1870, as follows: The words, “The Trustees for the ensuing year shall be elected by ballot,” shall be stricken out, and the following inserted in the same place, “The vacancies in the Board of Trustees caused by death, resignation, or by expiration of the term for which any Trustees were elected, shall be filled by ballot.”

The following amendment to Article VII has also been passed : ‘‘ He (the Superintendent) shall not receive from any proprietor, or contractor for work or materials, any commission or fees, or any compensation for any service rendered by him, except as hereinafter provided. The Superintendent shall be allowed to render special services in the laying out and ornamentation of any lot, upon the request of the proprietor thereof, such proprietor first obtaining a permit in writing from the Secretary ; and the Superintendent shall be allowed to charge such compensation for the services so rendered as the Committee on lots shall approve, and shall once in six months render to the Trustees an account in detail of the sums so received.”

By the Treasurer’s Report, it appears that the Permanent Fund, for the future support and preservation of the Cemetery, now amounts to $102,466.97 The Repair Fund is now $61,088.86 ; and the estimated balance in cash and invested disposable property is $50,916.21, exclusive of the real estate owned by the Corporation outside of the Cemetery.

For the Trustees,

JACOB BIGELOW, President.

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SUPERINTENDENT’S REPORT.

To the Trustees of Mount Auburn Cemetery, GENTLEMEN,—

In accordance with the requirements of the Trustees, I herewith transmit the Annual Report of the Superintendent, for the year ending December 31st, 1869, as per account of his department.

IMPROVEMENTS.

Number of New Lots graded and bounded with Granite Posts, 63 Number of Old Lots improved by being newly graded and sodded, 184 Number of Old Lots bounded with Granite Posts, 21 Number of Lots enclosed with Granite, 79 Number of Irons erected 3 Number of Tombs built, 3 Number of Monuments erected, 35 Number of Linear feet of Gutters paved, 647 Number of Linear feet of Gutters repaved 542

INTERMENT RECORD. Total number of Interments 15,372 as per last report, Number of Original Interments for year ending December 31, 1869, 519 Number of Removals from other Cemeteries, 91 Total number of Interments for the year, 610 Tota; number of Cemeteries 15,982 Of the above, there were Deposits in Receiving Tomb, 38 Interments in Public Lots, 35

THE REMOVALS IN AND FROM THE CEMETERY WERE AS FOLLOWS:

To the-Receiving Tomb 2 To the Receiving Tomb Lot, 0 To the Public Lots, 8 To the Private Lots, 105 115 From Cemetry 30 Total number of Removals 145

Respectfully submitted, DANIEL L. WINSOR, Superintendent of Mount Auburn Cemetery Mount Auburn, December 31, 1869