History of Cemeteries in America

In this StoryMap, you will learn about different types of cemeteries in the United States. You will learn why cemeteries are important to understanding the history of an area.  

Figure 2: Watch the video to the right to learn about why we study cemeteries.

When possible, we will use example from Central Aroostook County cemeteries. Remember that there are much older cemeteries than the ones in Aroostook County.

Cemeteries are important  primary   sources of information about local history,  genealogy  (family history), art, and architecture. Every cemetery reflects the community it serves. A cemetery is like a timeline telling us about a community’s history. Gravestones tell us the names of the people buried there, their births, deaths, marriages, wars, and epidemics. Thanks to DNA testing, the bodies of people buried in cemeteries are primary sources also. DNA testing can help law enforcement officers solve  crimes  and  genealogists  answer questions. 

When you consider the whole cemetery, you can learn much about the community’s experiences. Gravestones tell us about disasters, epidemics, accidents and so much more. It does not matter if the cemetery is old or new; cemeteries are important resources for everyone.

A gravestone marks the burial spot of a person or group of people. Not all burial places have gravestones. Sometimes gravestones are called headstones or tombstones. Sometimes there will also be a footstone marking the bottom of a grave. Gravestones may be made from just about anything. Fieldstone, wood, slate, sandstone, marble, granite, cast zinc, limestone, cement, and PVC piping have all been used as grave markers. Not everyone can afford an expensive grave marker. Sometimes they are homemade expressions of love rather than money.

Figure 4: This homemade stone has been hand carved. Notice the lines that the person created to make sure, he carved the lines straight. The stones says Myrtle E., wife of Stanley L. Ryder. Born July 11, 1877. Died November 29, 1929. Age 43 years, 1 month & 12 days. The stone also speaks to the socio-economic status of the person who made it. The person most likely could not afford a stone carver to carve a stone or marble or granite for the stone. Also the person writes the letter "N" backwards which most likely reflects his ability to write.

Headstones and footstones hold important biographical information. Headstones give us the full names of people buried there, their birth dates, death dates, and the person’s age at death is sometimes listed also. Information about marriages, occupations, social standing, and religious beliefs are often included too. Footstones typically tell us the family role of the buried person such as “Mother,” “Father,” “Brother,” or “Sister.” If that person had a nickname, it is often on the footstone. 

Some gravestones have epitaphs inscribed on them. An epitaph is a brief saying or note on a gravestone about the person buried there. Sometimes an epitaph is written by the deceased person before his or her death. Epitaphs tell us much about the personalities and life experiences of the people they represent. A good epitaph gives us a glimpse of their personality and may even reflect a person’s sense of humor or lack of one. 

A taphophile is a person who enjoys reading tombstones and being in cemeteries, finding everything about them interesting. Taphophiles think of cemeteries as cultural artifacts. I became a taphophile thanks to a great epitaph on an old gravestone. This is what my first interesting epitaph said:

I will always remember that epitaph. I do not remember the person’s name or the dates on that gravestone. It was on a gravestone in an old graveyard beside a little abandoned church. Rambling vines and trees grew over that old churchyard in the middle of a deep forest in Pocomoke, Maryland. 

Taphophiles always hope to find interesting epitaphs when visiting cemeteries. Not all epitaphs are angry like the old gravestone in the forest. Sometimes gravestones have meaningful epitaphs. They might be funny, sad, or strange. This funny epitaph is on a gravestone in Woodland, Maine. 

Another interesting epitaph is in Johnson Cemetery in Presque Isle. It says, "oh passer by, pray for the soul of Abdul Abulbul Amir." At first glance, a visitor to this gravestone might scratch his or her head and wonder what this is about. The epitaph is actually part of a song about a late 19th century war between the Ottoman Empire (The Turks) and Russia. In the song a Russian soldier and a Turkish soldier fight and the Turkish soldier who is Abdul Abulbul Amir is killed. The question is why did this person put this on his gravestone? He died in the 1970s almost one hundred years after the war was fought The lyrics of the song can be heard by  clicking here.  The actual song can be heard by  clicking here .

Besides having interesting epitaphs, gravestones can be very beautiful. Some graves have stones carved with words and symbols; other graves are marked with sculptures. . Visiting cemeteries can be an adventure. Each grave has a unique personality. You never know what you’re going to see when visiting a cemetery.

As we look at the history of gravestones in America, you will see gravestones change with the times and reflect the lives of the people who are buried beneath them.  You will also see how the cemeteries in Central Aroostook County fit into this larger national history of cemeteries.

A graveyard is a burial ground beside (or behind) a church. In early America people buried their dead in burial grounds, churchyards, and graveyards. Those are still the correct terms for a burial ground associated with a church. A cemetery is a burial ground not on a church’s property. The word “cemetery” was not used before the late 1700s.

There are many different types of burial grounds. There are: churchyards, graveyards, public cemeteries, private cemeteries, family cemeteries, rural/garden cemeteries, military cemeteries, ethnic cemeteries, lodge cemeteries, lawn cemeteries, mass graves, pet cemeteries, scattering grounds, mausoleums, and eco- cemeteries. This lesson covers the types of cemeteries you are most likely to encounter. We will look at cemeteries in Central Aroostook County and other areas as well.

Figure 7: The video to the right discusses the history of American Cemeteries.

In the early Massachusetts Bay Colony, stone cutters were in short supply in the colonies and gravestones were imported from England by those who could afford it. By the middle of the 1600s, the earliest settlers were joined by more people, including some stone cutters, who brought their skills with them and carved beautiful headstones.  By the middle of the 1600s, hand-chiseled slate and sandstone gravestones were in use in burial grounds around New England.

The first community buildings early colonists constructed were meeting houses which served as places for civic gatherings as well as church gatherings. Land behind or beside meeting houses was set aside for burials. The meeting house yards became burial grounds for the community’s dead. As the colonies grew, churches were built and burial grounds were more often located next to or behind churches. 

You will find the earliest examples of colonial tombstones at Burial Hill in Plymouth, Massachusetts, which was established as a Christian burial ground in 1621. The second oldest burial ground in New England is the Old Burying Point which was established in 1637 in Salem, Massachusetts. Both burial grounds hold great examples of grimly carved slate gravestones.

Eventually it was acceptable to put decorative images on gravestones. Messages and images on tombstones were grim. Images of spooky-looking skulls and skeletons were designed to remind the living of their mortality. By 1650, the “death’s head” was being carved on tombstones. The death’s head is a skull with wings attached. This image represents the soul of the dead person. It is commonly seen on early New England grave markers. 

Much of the land we know as Maine was considered part of Massachusetts until 1820; in many ways, Maine was treated like a colony by Massachusetts. In the late 1600s, second and third generation settlers of Massachusetts moved into Maine along the coast. Until the mid-1700s, wars between the British and the French kept disrupting these early settlements. However, the earliest cemetery in Maine is in Portland and its oldest stone dates to 1717.

Figure 10: The video to the right discusses one of Maine's oldest cemeteries, Eastern Cemetery in Portland, ME.

As the populations in cities grew in the United States, some towns and cities started purchasing land outside of the towns and cities for burying purposes. A shortage of space was the biggest problem facing cemeteries in early American cities. Those early burial grounds around meeting houses and churches rapidly reached capacity long before the colonies became a nation. New burial grounds were established as cemeteries filled up. The land in towns and cities became more valuable so in town cemeteries were sometimes moved. Cities would establish burial grounds on the outskirts of town, but they would rapidly fill up. Towns were always growing so cemeteries once out of town would become surrounded by a growing city. This was an ongoing issue for city planners. 

By the late 1700s/early 1800s, Americans knew they needed to find land for burial grounds in rural places nearby. The population continued growing and death rates remained high. People believed graveyards emitted bad air that could make them ill and were afraid of epidemics spreading from burial grounds. Americans knew about the cemetery problems in Paris, France.  In Paris, cemeteries were so full, their walls burst, and dead bodies spilled into the streets. The French Emperor Napoleon, in 1804 ordered the establishment of a new cemetery well outside of the city limits. The result was  Pere La Chaise , the world’s first garden cemetery. 

American cities were also experiencing overcrowding in their cemeteries. Looking to France for solutions, American’s decided to establish large burial grounds outside of cities in the countryside. Boston, Massachusetts was the first city to establish a rural-garden cemetery outside of the city. City officials and business leaders worked together to establish the cemetery. They raised money, purchased land outside of Boston, and hired a landscape planner to design the new burial grounds. They called it Mount Auburn Cemetery. Today it lies within the town limits of Cambridge, Massachusetts.  Mount Auburn was just the beginning of a new type of cemetery: the planned garden cemetery.

While some settlers were in Central Aroostook County in the 1820s, large numbers of settlers did not arrive until the 1840s. The reason for this was that the border between Maine and New Brunswick was not settled until 1842. As a result, there are no examples of Colonial Burial Grounds and Early American Burying Grounds in the area. To find examples of Colonial Burial Grounds and Early American Burying Grounds in Maine, you would have to look in Bangor, Augusta Portland and coastal towns. However, there are examples of garden cemeteries in Presque Isle and Caribou which will be discussed in the next section.

During the Victorian Era, cemetery planners created garden cemeteries where people would enjoy nature while visiting the graves of their loved ones. The word “cemetery” instead of burying grounds became popular in the 1830s. “Cemetery” is from a Greek word meaning “sleeping chamber.” The plan was to make death less gloomy, and it worked!

Garden cemeteries became so popular by the middle of the 1800s, some of them were tourist destinations! With the age of railroads came greater variety in materials for tombstones. Granite became available in a variety of colors. People had more choices than ever before in grave decoration options. Grave decorations are objects placed at a grave site to beautify it. Grave decorations include flowers and plants, metal markers, marble statuary, ledger stones, benches, lanterns, and fencing. Garden cemeteries gave people a chance to memorialize their loved ones, express their tastes, and show off their wealth. 

In major cities, garden cemeteries were planned by landscape architects. In more rural areas, they may not have been. Either way, most garden cemeteries have winding roads and rolling hills. The grounds are planted with a variety of trees, bushes, and flowering plants. Sometimes there are water features such as fountains and ponds. They have benches and nice shady spots inviting you to sit and stay for a while.  

While following a path in any garden cemetery, visitors saw and still see works of art and architecture all along the way. The best part of garden cemeteries is all of the wonderful ways people chose to remember their loved ones or be remembered themselves. Each grave is as unique as the person who is buried there. Cemeteries reflect the styles of the times, as a result you will see a wide variety of design and architectural styles in a rural-garden cemetery. In most of these cemeteries there are tombstones and mausoleums in Greek Revival, Egyptian Revival, Gothic Revival, and Art Deco architectural styles.           

Most cemeteries have plenty of family plots sectioned off within them. A family plot often has one large monument with the surname or last name on it and the names of the people in the family. Sometimes, the main monument would be a marble obelisk which is a tall monument usually having a point at its top and four sides. Different family members would be memorialized on each side. Smaller stones around the larger family monument marked individual family members’ graves. These smaller stones usually had first or explained the role of the person in the family. For example, many of these small stones around the large family monuments, said mother or father.

Garden cemeteries were very popular with the public. People went to garden cemeteries for fresh air and exercise in order to get away from industrialized cities. Families would arrive with picnic lunches packed for a day spent in the cemetery. The garden cemetery was a social place for relaxation and exercise and to visit deceased loved ones. These cemeteries continued to be popular destinations until the mid-to-late 1800s when the first public parks were established. In fact, landscape designer  Frederick Olmstead  took many of his ideas from the garden cemeteries when he created the plan for New York City’s Central Park.

Evergreen Cemetery in Caribou and Fairmount in Presque Isle are the closest examples of garden cemeteries in the Central Aroostook area. It is not known if they were designed by landscape architects but they have winding roads, many trees and even some rolling hills.

Fairmount Cemetery was created in 1864 and is home to many Presque Isle men who were casualties of the Civil War. Other cemeteries in the area also have Civil War casualties. Many of the stones of these Civil War soldiers are cenotaphs. Cenotaphs are gravestones that are in remembrance of a person even though the person is not actually buried there. Many Civil War soldiers from this area are buried in National Cemeteries in southern states. It was too expensive to return the deceased to the area at that time.

Figure 15: The map to the right is of Fairmount Cemetery in Presque Isle. You should use it to explore the photos of the stones in this garden cemetery. The oldest section is in the northern part of the cemetery. Zoom in on the map until each square is very clearly a square. You can zoom in with your mouse or with the plus sign on the left side of the map. Then click on the individual boxes. The red box will turn blue and you will see the name. Then click the arrow to the right. Then click on the thumbnail to see the photo. You can also click on the spy glass to search by name. You can make the map bigger by clicking the box with the arrow in the upper right corner. This map was a project created by Dr. Chunzeng Wang.

There are many interesting gravestones in Fairmount. There is one obelisk stone that tells the accomplishments of the man who is buried there. There is also the stone of Morton Zahler who represents the Jewish community that was once present in Presque Isle. The gravestone of Sheriff Granville Hayden, who was killed by  Jim Cullen , is in Fairmount Cemetery too.

Evergreen Cemetery in Caribou was created around the same time as Fairmount Cemetery in Presque Isle. It too has Civil War Veterans in it. It has the most gravestones of World War II veterans who were killed in action than any other cemetery in Central Aroostook County.

There are gravestones of generations of Lebanese families who arrived in Caribou in the early 1900s. There is the family plot of Samuel W. Collins who was the first of the Collins family to settle in the area and whose legacy is S.W. Collins and Senator Susan Collins. Interestingly enough, Samuel Collins lost five children under the age of 10 in a short period of time in the last half of the 1800s. There is a Bronze Star recipient and a general too in Evergreen. In addition, there are over 40 graves of babies born between 1950 and 1970, most likely to service men and their wives who worked at Loring Air Force Base or its precursor.

The Civil War, which started in 1861, brought big changes to our nation. Our nation’s cemeteries changed as well. The total number of people who lost their lives in the Civil War is 620,00. Many thousands of soldiers were killed in battles or died in field hospitals far away from home. Their families were not close by so were unable to care for the soldiers’ bodies. Undertakers, funeral homes, and other aspects of death were handled by strangers instead of family.

The first military cemeteries were established on or near battle sites. Gettysburg National Cemetery in Pennsylvania was established in 1863; it received its first burials in 1870. Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia was established and received its first burials in 1864. Throughout the Civil War, most soldiers from both sides were buried on the battlefield where they died, often in mass graves. After the war, people in the north and south worked to relocate soldiers buried on battlefields to military cemeteries nearby. Confederate soldiers were not admitted for burial in federal cemeteries until 1906. Before that, southern soldiers who died in the North were left in their original burial places, usually mass graves. In the American South cemeteries for Confederate soldiers were established by local people while Union soldiers were buried in the newly established National cemeteries.   

As previously mentioned, when soldiers were buried far away from their homes their families or communities remembered them with cenotaphs. A cenotaph is a tombstone or memorial for a person who is buried somewhere else or has been declared dead but there is no body to bury. You will find many cenotaphs for soldiers in Aroostook’s cemeteries. Transporting a soldier’s body home was too expensive and the trip too long for a decaying body. Embalming techniques were improving during the War between the States but the average family could not afford it. 

Figure 18: The photo to the right is one of a cenotaph in Union Cemetery, Fort Fairfield. William Henry Merchant died at Ship Island, Mississippi on May 22, 1862. He was buried in Chalmette National Cemetery in Louisiana.

Visiting a military cemetery is a unique experience. You will see rows of bright white stones standing on well-manicured lawns.  The government-issued markers in military cemeteries look identical at first glance. There are some differences including names, birth and death dates, rank and military service. A religious emblem may be carved on the tombstones. The War Department issued the first military tombstones in 1873. Military stones have evolved over the years and so have the emblems allowed on them. The tall gravestones used todays were issued after World War II. Unknown soldiers, who used to receive a small cube-like marker with a number on it, now receive the same stones as other soldiers. 

Veterans are not required to be buried in military cemeteries. You will find many veterans buried in other cemeteries because they want to be with their families. Government-issued metal markers placed beside headstones or footstones help identify a veteran’s service in non-military cemeteries.

Decoration Day, called Homecoming Day in some places, began a few years after the Civil War ended. It was a day of remembering the people who died in the Civil War. Communities cleaned up cemeteries and decorated veterans’ graves. It was a social event with prayer times, picnics, parades, and festivals to honor fallen soldiers. Decoration Day became Memorial Day in the 20th century. We now remember all soldiers who died serving this country.

In Central Aroostook County, Caribou is home to the Northern Maine Veterans' Cemetery. The plans for this cemetery were presented to Governor Angus King in 1998. In 1999, the Maine Legislature passed an act to create the cemetery. The building of the cemetery started in 2002 and a year later it was dedicated. If you would like to know more about the history of this cemetery, click here to go to the Northern Maine Veteran Cemetery Corporation's website.

There are other veteran cemeteries in the state of Maine with the biggest one being Togus National Cemetery near Augusta, Maine. Many non-veteran cemeteries have veterans buried there and like in other places, their graves are marked with special footstones and American Legion or Veterans of Foreign Wars flag holders.

In organized cemeteries, like the ones previously discussed, there are family plots. Family plots are areas that have been purchased by families so that the whole family can be buried in the same place. Many family plots have a large stone with the family's last name on the one side and the names of the family members on the other side. Sometimes, there are individual stones for each person as well.

Family cemeteries are very different from family plots. Family cemeteries are associated with rural farming areas. Landowners, especially farmers, set aside part of their property for family burial grounds. They are for family members; sometimes close friends and neighbors may be invited to be buried there.  The Lovely Cemetery in Fort Fairfield, ME is an example of one of these family cemeteries. John Lovely set aside part of his farm to bury his family members, neighbors, and even an African American laborer. There are also small children and babies buried there.

Figure 22: The photograph to the right is that of Dudley Cemetery in the middle of a field off of Dudley Road between Mapleton and Castle Hill, Maine.

There are many small family cemeteries throughout Central Aroostook County. They are connected to farms that no longer exist. After World War II, many small farmers sold their farms to larger farms that eventually consolidated more and more farmland. As the small farmers sold off their land, the family cemeteries were acknowledged in the deeds of sale. This meant that the cemeteries were to remain as well as access to them. However, as family members died or moved away, there are fewer people, if any, to care for the cemeteries.

There are some that have people that care for them such as the Walton Cemetery on Route 161 between Caribou and Fort Fairfield, Maine. In the past, this cemetery had become grown over with trees and shrubs. Then one person decided to clear the cemetery and has kept the grass mowed for quite a while.

In addition to existing family members and individuals, Boy Scout Troops have restored some of these family cemeteries. One cemetery that was restored by a Boy Scout in 1995 is on Conant Road in Presque Isle.

The Roy Bean family cemetery in Presque Isle, Maine was recently restored in fall 2022. Troy O'Bar, cemetery restorationist, with help from the people involved in The History In Stones project restored the cemetery. Prior to the restoration of this cemetery, the stones were fallen over and broken into pieces. In fact, many people did not realize the cemetery even existed. Sadly, the farm had been sold and either the family had moved away or died so there was no one left to care for the cemetery. It is important to note that it is the family's responsibility to care for family cemeteries.

Some family cemeteries have not fared as the examples given thus far. The Thompson Cemetery in Caribou, Maine is an example of a family cemetery that has been taken over by nature. This is most likely due to the fact that there are no family members left to care for it.