I I I Marlborough I

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1 FORM E - BURIAL GROUND Assessor's number USGS Quad I I I I Arca(s) Fonl1 Number I - Town. ",-" Place (neighborhood or village) _ Wilson Street Name Ownership: [] private [X] public Approximate number of stones ca 250 Earliest death date 1764 Latest death date 1985 Landscape Architect none ~ketch Map raw or duplicate a map showing the property's location in relation to geographic features and nearby streets. Indicate all buildings or features within and surrounding the inventoried property. Indicate the nearest intersection (s). Indicate north. Condition fair to good- grounds maintained, but severa] markers leaning or out of position; a few broken Many marbles heavuy weathered or effaced; some lichen growth on slates. Acreage ] 22 acres Setting On east side of residential area of Wilson Street, in corner of 10-acre Evergreen Cemetery Recorded by -An_D_e_E_o_r_b_e_s _ Organization for Hist Comm Date 707/95 Follow Survey Manunl instructiions for completing this form.

BURIAL GROUND VISUAL/DESIGN ASSESSMENT [X] see continuation sheet Describe landscape features, gravestone materials, designs, motifs, and symbols that are either common or unusual.

2 BURIAL GROUND VISUAL/DESIGN ASSESSMENT [X] see continuation sheet Describe landscape features, gravestone materials, designs, motifs, and symbols that are either common or unusual. Note any known carvers. As is characteristic of a burial ground that was in use from the eighteenth through most of the twentieth centuries, the has no formal design or landscaping, but displays a broad range and variety in the design and materials of its markers. A roughly trapezoidal plot adjacent to Wilson Street, it is abutted on two sides by the large, modern Evergreen Cemetery. A line of tall cedars along its southern edge provides some screening from Evergreen, but a large aluminum utility shed abutting its eastern rear border forms an unfortunate backdrop for the old stones. Another harsh intrusion is a line of utility poles and wires that runs down the center of the cemetery. The plot's northern edge, at least, is heavily wooded with tall trees, and a fieldstone wall across part of the rear, and along the rising ground at the north side, dates to the nineteenth century. A mortared stone wall with two free-standing posts across the west front, although modem, contributes to some sense of privacy from the street. This cemetery has only one underground vault. Located in the hillside at the north edge of the plot, its face is un coursed granite with a brick center section and bricked-in entrance. Its marble plaque reads "Robert Eames , Soldier of the Revolution." The burial markers here are arranged in rough rows facing west toward Wilson Street, divided by a long grassed path down the center. The earliest section of the cemetery is the northwest quadrant, where most of the older slate markers are located. As usual, most of these are very well-preserved, though some are cracked or broken, and there is some lichen growth apparent. (Cont.) ( ( J, I ; HISTORICAL NARRATIVE [X] see continuation sheet Explain religious affiliations, major period of use, and evaluate historical association of this burial ground with the community. In addition to the seven cemeteries in the center of the city, has three small historic neighborhood/family burial grounds located in the outlying farming districts--the Robin Hill, Weeks, and Wilson Cemeteries, of which the Wilson is the oldest. The Robin Hill Cemetery in the west part of town and the Weeks Cemetery in the northeast were laid out in the early part of the nineteenth century. The, however, the only one of the three that is larger than an acre, was in existence well before the Revolution. Its earliest known grave is that of Dorothy How, who died of smallpox in 1764, although there may be more, earlier graves here that were unmarked or which have lost their markers. All three outlying burial grounds served as the resting places for the residents of the surrounding farms. In the case of this cemetery, that meant primarily the families that lived in the section of called the "Farmfs)", part of a large tract which had originally belonged to Dr. John Alcock in the mid-1600's. (For generations this was actually called "the Farm Cemetery", and at times the "Morse Cemetery), before it was named the after Wilson Street and the adjacent Wilson Farm.) (cont.) BIBLIOGRAPHY and/or REFERENCES [ ] see continuation sheet Hudson, Charles. History of the Town of Maps and Atlases: 1830, 1835, , 1875, 1889, "Cemetery Records for the Weeks, Wilson, and Robin Hill Cemeteries". Society: Marlboro Historical [ X] Recommended for listing in the National Register of Historic Places. If checked, a completed National Register Criteria Statement form is attached.

3 INVENTORY FORM CONTINUATION SHEET Community Property VISUAL/DESIGN ASSESSMENT, cont. A few slates from the 1760's display the motifs typical of that time: the earliest known marker, for Dorothy, the wife of Cyprian How, who died in 1764 at the age of 35, has a winged effigy at the top and foliate designs at the edges. A very similar stone is that of Lt. Thomas Bigelow, (written "Biglo"), who died in Many tall, well-preserved slate markers here date to the 1820's through '40's. These are nearly all round-topped narrow stones with urn-and-willow motifs; they have sharp-edged, deeply-cut geometric bands or borders, incised background patterns, and tend to have long, sentimental inscriptions. Some display the names and dates within a cartouche, and some are of the "architectural" type, with a depiction of columns and entablatures around and above the inscriptions. A few slates are signed. The gravestone of Mary Howe, who died in 1848, is signed ilj.o.c', and at least two slates of the Wilson family--william, age 60, and Charles Freeman, age 13, (both d. 1833)--are signed "W.W.W." Several others, including some of the Parmenter family, look very similar to the Wilson markers, and may have been done by the same carver. Many simple, relatively unadorned marble markers, most with round or shallow-peaked tops, date to the mid- to late-nineteenth century. Many are in various stages of effacement, but a few are remarkably well-preserved. One of the clearest is the gravestone of the young Joseph Morse ( ), son of Stephen and Elizabeth, which has an incised border and a relief motif of an oval chain. This stone is signed by "A. Cary, Boston." The very similar stone of Joseph's sister, Elizabeth, who died in 1851 at the age of 23, depicts a mourning maiden with urn. According to a survey of , the stone of Leonard Wilson of ca is also signed ItA. Cary." A few late-nineteenth-century monuments stand in this cemetery, memorials to the Parmenter, Arnold, and Hager families. All are tapered square columns of polished and unpolished granite, with pointed-gothic tops. A line of large rectangular early-twentieth-century granite family memorials is arranged along the southern edge of the cemetery. Most exploit the contrast between very smooth and high-relief granite surfaces--cf. the Seely marker, which depicts a scroll and lilies in high relief. HISTORICAL NARRATIVE, cont. The early names on the stones here thus include the Morses, Arnolds, Barnes, Dadmuns, Haydens, Harringtons, Newtons, and Parmenters--all residents of Farm and Broadmeadow Roads, Parmenter Street and the section of Boston Post Road (now Route 20) that was part of the "Farm". Also buried here are other venerable families, including the Hagers, who for generations ran the sawmill on Hager Pond, the Wilsons, and the Darlings, who had farms along the eastern section of the Boston Post Road. Even after a state law of 1855 outlawed further burials in private, family cemeteries and the Wilson and other outlying cemeteries were acquired by the town, the people buried here were nearly all residents of the surrounding area. Later markers, such as those of the Autzens and Hansons, who first came to from Scandinavia in the late nineteenth century, are just as indicative of the development of the "Farm" as are the earlier gravestones.

4 INVENTORY FORM CONTINUATION SHEET Community Property

5 INVENTORY FORM CONTINUATION SHEET Community Property

6 INVENTORY FORM CONTINUATION SHEET Community Property Are a (s)

7 INVENTORY FORM CONTINUATION SHEET Community Property

8 Community Property Address Wilson Street Form No(s). National Register of Historic Places Criteria Statement Form Check all that apply: [x] Individually eligible [ ] Eligible only in a historic district [ ] Contributing to a potential historic district [] Potential historic district Criteria: [x] A [] B [x] C [] D Criteria Considerations: [] A [] B [] C [x] D [] E [] F [] G Statement of Significance by An_n_e_F_o_rb_e_s _ The criteria that are checked in the above sections must be justified here. The meets Criteria A and C ofthe National Register. First established in the third quarter of the eighteenth century as a family/neighborhood burial ground and acquired by the town in about 1860, it presents a panorama of the lives and beliefs of the residents of east, especially the large, cohesive "Farm" district, over the course of over 150 years. It is thus illustrative of the social and economic development of this outlying rural section of, fulfilling Criterion A. The markers and monuments from the eighteenth through early twentieth century, several of them signed by their sculptors, demonstrate a continuum of artistic tastes and folk art traditions, and thus meet Criterion C. The Wilson Cemtery and association. retains integrity of location, design, setting, materials, workmanship, feeling,

MASSACHUSETTSHISTORICAL COMMISSION Office of the Secretary, State House, Boston. 1. Town Marlborough. Name Josiah Stow Homestead.

FORM B - BUILDING In Area no. Form no. MASSACHUSETTSHISTORICAL COMMISSION Office of the Secretary, State House, Boston / ;;L. 1. Town Address Spoonhill Ave. Name Josiah Stow Homestead 2. Present use Residence