Around Town

Civil War Clergy at Mount Auburn Cemetery: Rev. John Pierpont

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John Pierpont

(NOTE: The story was updated on May 27, 2023)

By Bill McEvoy

In honor of Memorial Day, local historian Bill McEvoy has compiled histories of some of the Civil War clergy who are buried at Mount Auburn Cemetery. This is part eight of 15. Reverend John Pierpont was born on April 6, 1785, at Litchfield, Connecticut. He died on August 27, 1866, at Medford, Massachusetts, from heart disease. He graduated from Yale in 1805 and went to South Carolina and acted as a private tutor to the family of Colonel William Allston.

Around Town

Civil War Clergy at Mount Auburn Cemetery: William Augustus Start

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Rev. William Augustus Start

By Bill McEvoy

In honor of Memorial Day, local historian Bill McEvoy has compiled histories of some of the Civil War clergy who are buried at Mount Auburn Cemetery. This is part seven of 15. Reverend William Augustus Start was born on March 1, 1837, in Camden, Maine. He died, on March 4, 1897, in Boston Massachusetts, from multiple injuries caused by a gas explosion at the intersection of Tremont and Boylston Streets. 

He was a passenger on a horse-drawn trolley. The explosion came from below the Streets where the new underground electric trolley tunnel was being constructed.

Around Town

Film About Women Who Keep Haitian Markets Running to be Shown at Watertown Library

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A film about the women who worked to keep markets in Haiti stocked and operating will be show followed by a Q&A at the Watertown Free Public Library on Saturday, May 27, at 4:30 p.m.

The documentary, Madan Sara, was created by Haitian journalist Etant Dupain to highlight the lives and struggles the Madan Saras face in Haiti. The film’s director and one of the co-producers will be on hand to speak with attendees of the screening. The event announcement said:

The women known as Madan Sara in Haiti work tirelessly to buy, distribute, and sell food and other essentials in markets through the country. The documentary tells the stories of these indefatigable women who work at the margins to make Haiti’s economy run. Join co-executive producer Lulaine Childs and director Etant Dupain following the film!

Around Town

Civil War Clergy at Mount Auburn Cemetery: Samuel Higginson

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Samuel Storow Higginson

By Bill McEvoy

In honor of Memorial Day, local historian Bill McEvoy has compiled histories of some of the Civil War clergy who are buried at Mount Auburn Cemetery. This is part six of 15. Samuel Storrow Higginson was born March 22, 1841, in Roxbury, Massachusetts. He died on April 10, 1907, of myocardial degeneration, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. 

He graduated from Harvard College with a Bachelor of Arts in 1863, and a Master of Arts in 1866. Higginson studied under Henry David Thoreau.

Around Town

Civil War Clergy at Mount Auburn Cemetery: James Kimball

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By Bill McEvoy

In honor of Memorial Day, local historian Bill McEvoy has compiled histories of some of the Civil War clergy who are buried at Mount Auburn Cemetery. This is part five of 15. James Sherman Kimball was born, on January 26, 1844, in Boston. He died on December 16, 1864, in Nashville, Tennessee, from a fever. He was the son of James W. and Mary Tappan Kimball.

Around Town

Former Recreation Director Tom Sullivan Has Left His Mark on Watertown’s Parks and Youth

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Charlie BreitroseRecreation Department staff current and past: (from left) current Director Peter Centola, Assistant Director Ernie Thebado and former Director Tom Sullivan. From a young age, Tom Sullivan had an interest in parks, athletic fields and gyms. He even took detours on trips to get a closer look at something at a park in another community that caught his eye. On May 3, 1973, Sullivan walked into his office on the top floor of Town Hall (where the Planning Department is now), to start his career as Watertown Recreation Director. He served in that position for 36 years, and continues to lend a hand and provide advice 50 years later. Sullivan had worked for three years at what was known as the Waltham Boys Club prior to taking the job in Watertown.

Around Town

Civil War Clergy at Mount Auburn Cemetery: Jotham Horton

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By Bill McEvoy

In honor of Memorial Day, local historian Bill McEvoy has compiled histories of some of the Civil War clergy who are buried at Mount Auburn Cemetery. This is part four of 15. Reverend Jotham Warren Horton was born in Nantucket, Massachusetts, in April 28, 1826. He was a descendant of General Joseph Warren who fell during the Battle of Bunker Hill. Reverend Horton died August 5th, 1865, in New Orleans, Louisiana, killed, by a mob, praying, on his knees. He was attempting to quell a Pro-Slavery riot.

Around Town

Civil War Clergy at Mount Auburn Cemetery: Rev. William Channing

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William Henry Channing

By Bill McEvoy

In honor of Memorial Day, local historian Bill McEvoy has compiled histories of some of the Civil War clergy who are buried at Mount Auburn Cemetery. This is part three of 15. Reverend William Henry Channing was born May 25, 1810, in Boston. He died December 24, 1884, in London, England. Dorothea Dix lived with the William Ellery Channing family for six months, traveling with them and tutoring the Channing children. Reverend Channing graduated from Harvard College in 1829, and at the  Cambridge divinity school in 1833. 

After preaching in several places for brief periods, and spending a year in Europe, he was a minister-at-large in New York during the year 1837.