Our History: “The Old Folks’ Rest” and Other Watertown Cemeteries

Historic marker on the Mt. Auburn Street fence of the Arlington Street Cemetery (Photo courtesy of Joyce Kelly)

This article is part of a series on local history provided by the Historical Society of Watertown. The introduction to this article was written by Joyce Kelly, Board member of the Historical Society of Watertown. The articles were written by Historical Society President Rev. Edward Rand in 1902 and published in the local newspaper at that time. This was published in our January 2011 newsletter, “The Town Crier.”

Introduction

The following articles were written in 1902 by Rev. Edward A. Rand.

Civil War Clergy at Mount Auburn Cemetery: Rev. Joseph Thayer

Rev. Joseph Henry Thayer

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 15 of 15. Reverend Joseph Henry Thayer was born November 7, 1828, in Boston. He died on November 26, 1901, at Cambridge, from general sarcoma. He graduated from Harvard College in 1850.

Civil War Clergy at Mount Auburn Cemetery: Rev. George Oviatt

Rev. George Alexander Oviatt

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 14 of 15. Reverend George Alexander Oviatt was Born on April 11, 1811, in Bridgeport, Connecticut. He died June 1, 1887, in Sudbury, Massachusetts, from paralysis. Reverend Oviatt, graduated from Yale in 1835, and then its divinity school.

Civil War Clergy at Mount Auburn Cemetery: Rev. Charles Noyes

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 13 of 15. Reverend Charles Noyes was born October 26, 1835, in Petersham, Massachusetts, and died on May 23, 1916, in Norwich, Connecticut. He attended the Hopkins classical school in Cambridge, and later the Cambridge High School. He graduated from Harvard College in 1856 and from the Harvard Divinity School in 1859. 

In January 1860, he was installed as the pastor of the Unitarian society at Brighton, Massachusetts, from which he resigned in 1864 due to ill health.

Civil War Clergy at Mount Auburn Cemetery: Rev. Edward Hall

Rev. Edward Henry Hall

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 12 of 15. Reverend Edward Henry Hall was born on April 16, 1831, in Cincinnati, Ohio. He died February 22, 1912, from pneumonia, in Cambridge, Massachusetts. He attended High School in Providence, while his father was settled there as pastor of the First Congregational Church.

Civil War Clergy at Mount Auburn Cemetery: Rev. Eben Francis

Rev. Eben Francis

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 11 of 15. Reverend Eben Francis was born May 28th, 1819, in Boston. He died October 31, 1892, at Cambridge from atrophy, which is softening of the brain. On October 13th, 1841, he was ordained as a Unitarian Universalist Minister in Dover, New Hampshire.

Civil War Clergy at Mount Auburn Cemetery: Rev. John William Dadmum

Rev. John William Dadmum

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 1o of 15. Reverend John William Dadmun, was born December 20, 1819, at Hubbardston, Massachusetts. He died August 6, 1890, at Deer Island, Massachusetts, from Apoplexy. He received his early education at Wesleyan Academy, at Wilbraham, Mass.

Civil War Clergy at Mount Auburn Cemetery: Rev. Arthur Lawrence

Rev. Arthur Lawrence

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 nine of 15. Reverend. Arthur Lawrence was born on August 22, 1842, at Brookline, Massachusetts. He died September 20, 1909, in Ipswich, Massachusetts, of Meningitis.