1882 Scrapbook of Newspaper Clippings Vo 1 036

23

[engraving drawing with caption:
LAKE HIBISCUS, WITH CHADWICK TOMB ON LEFT. FOREST HILLS.]

CEMETERIES ARE NEGLECTED
Chairman J. Albert Brackett of the
Cemetery Committee Says That They
are Dangerous for Visitors - Recom-
mends That Some Be Opened Daily to
the Public - Relic Hunters the Worst
Foes.

Possibly the most interesting article in
the third number of the City Record pub-
lished today, is a communication from
Chairmain J. Albert Brackett of the Ceme-
tery Committee, who calls attention to the
condition of the burial grounds of the city,
now under the control of the Cemetery
Committee, and urges an immediate appro-
priation in order to restore them to a re-
spectable condition. For many years they
have suffered from neglect, owing to lack
of appropriations to keep the property in
a decent condition.

"The older burial - grounds," says the
communication, "are the resting places of
many of our illustrious dead. Visitors in
times past have noted with wonder the ne-
glect of these grounds. The city´s relation
to the burial-grounds is in every instance
peculiar. The city has the care and custody
of the grounds, while private owners claim
the lots. The old form of graves consisted
of a trench, in which the casket was placed,
planks were laid over it, and the earth put
on the planking and graded. Because of
the rotting away of the planking, the visi-
tor to the older burial-grounds is in danger
at any moment of breaking through and
incurring injury. Inasmuch as paths have
been made and from time to time closed
and then reopened again, in various por-
tions of the cemeteries, it is impossible,
owing to the displacement of headstones
and markers, to say whether or not any
particular spot in any cemetery is safe.
For this reason, the department has felt it
necessary to keep the gates of many of the
older cemeteries closed to visitors except
on special application, when an explana-
tion is given the visitor before entering the
ground of the danger he is likely to en-
counter. During the past summer, owing
to this precaution, no accidents of any mo-
ment have occured.

"Plans of some of the older cemeteries
exist, but they are of litle value, for the
reason that they were not prepared till
long after interments had begun in the
cemeteries and that they have not been
added to or corrected since they were
originally prepared. In some instances the
proprietors of graves and tombs are
known, and their names recorded in this
office, but the owners of the greater num-
ber of the graves and tombs are unknown.
In many instances the tomb doors, original-
ly of wood, have rotted away and fallen in,
and the city has been obliged to seal them
up. The older headstones are of slate, and
time and weather have obliterated the let-
tering upon them. It would be well to have
some of these stones recut because of
their historical interest. The board has
felt for some time that the burial-ground
on the Common, and the King´s Chapel and
the Granary burial-grounds, should be open
daily to the public. But for reasons al-
ready stated, it is not safe to open them,
nor will it be safe until proper soundings
have been made and proper paths laid out.

"This board recognizes the need of a
record or catalogue of the various tombs,
headstones and interments in the older
cemeteries, accordingly it has collected
much information. Such a record, how-
ever, cannot be accurate, as it is impossible
to locate interments where headstones
have disappeared. In the older days it was
a family custom to remove the coffin-plate,
hence many of the caskets and tombs are
without any mark to identify the remains
which they cover. This record, incomplete as
it is in many ways, will give to the pub-
lic everything that can be found out at the
present day in relation to the older ceme-
teries. Work on this record was begun
early last summer, and is being pushed as
fast as the funds of the department allow.
We have found that a suprisingly large
per cent of visitors to the city are inter-
ested in the older cemeteries, and during
the summer a great many applications
were received and granted to visit them.
This board is of the opinion that all of the
older cemeteries should be enclosed by
proper walls and iron fences, not only for
the sake of appearances, but for the pro-
tection of the property. Relic hunters are
the worst foes that we have to contend
with, as they do not hesitate to deface
property and break monuments. For this
reason it has been deemed advisable to sta-
tion someone in the burial-grounds when
visitors are present.