Mapping the Historic Bennington Street Cemetery

In the latest post from the Historic Burying Grounds Initiative, we explore the journey of uncovering the history of Bennington Street Cemetery through detailed mapping and research.

In the 1980s, the Historic Burying Grounds Initiative (HBGI) undertook a survey of all 16 of the burying grounds in the HBGI program. A survey sheet was created for each gravestone that recorded important details about the marker and assigned a location number to it. Site maps were created using the location numbers. Although a survey took place in Bennington Street Cemetery in 1987, a map based on this survey was never created. An older, undated map for this cemetery does exist, indicating some burials from the 19^th century and early 20^th century, but this map is difficult to read and does not include all of the headstones. None of the burials on that map are marked with location numbers.

It was clear a new map, keyed to the location numbers from the site survey, was necessary. The maps created in the 1980s for the other sites are based on site maps made by the City of Boston Engineering Department in the early 1900s. The new location numbers were written onto copies of the old maps. However, no such Engineering Department map exists for Bennington Street Cemetery. I used an aerial photograph of the site for the footprint of the map. The aerial photos are detailed enough to be able to see the exact location of many headstones (but not detailed enough to identify them). Since the site contains many trees, I selected an aerial view taken when the trees were bare; otherwise, gravestones near them would not be visible.

I opened this photo as the base layer in Adobe Illustrator. Working with Tanaja Graham-Cole, the administrative assistant in the Design and Construction unit, we inserted small green rectangles on top of every gravestone we could make out in the base photograph. Initially, I tried sizing each rectangle individually, but they ended up slightly different in size. I did not want map users to infer that the variations in rectangle size related to differences in the size of the headstones, so I opted to copy the same rectangle every time so all the rectangles would be identical.

In order to figure out which gravestone was which, it was necessary to do site work and identify every stone. There are approximately 450 grave markers in the site. I was fortunate to have a volunteer, Emma Jansen, to help me. In the site survey, the cemetery is divided up into four quadrants (A, B, C, and D) and each location number includes the site abbreviation (BS), the quadrant letter, and the gravestone number within that quadrant (i.e. BS-C-44). I divided the aerial map into the four quadrants and printed each section on 11” x 17” paper. We photographed each gravestone to upload the images to the online database; the photos also helped me identify difficult-to-read gravestones later in the office. Working section by section, we wrote the location number of each stone we could identify on the paper map. On the first attempt, we could identify about 75% of the gravestones.

To help us identify the gravestones we used data from the grave marker survey done in 1987. The gravestone survey sheet has a form on the front side of the page listing the location number, name of the deceased, date of death, type of stone, measurements, motifs, degree of legibility, and other details. The back of page contains the epitaph and sometimes a sketch of the gravestone. This information had been compiled into lists of all grave markers in the site, organized in three ways: alphabetically by last name, chronologically by date of death, and spatially according to location number. Even though all three lists contain the same information, they were all helpful in correctly identifying the gravestones. 

​​​​​

 

 

There are several factors which make the gravestones difficult to identify. The first problem is the unsuitability of marble for use as gravestones in the New England climate. This site was established in 1838, and at that time slate was falling out of fashion as the traditional material for gravestones and was being replaced by white marble. The epitaphs carved into the marble headstones have degraded significantly over time and many of the epitaphs are partially or completely illegible. By the late 19th century, granite became a popular choice for headstones due to its hardness and durability, and its epitaphs remain easily readable today. The second problem in gravestone identification is the haphazard positioning of the gravestones. Although the location numbers are numerical, the gravestones are not set in straight rows, so as an example the gravestone at BS-D-58 is not necessarily right next to either BS-D-57 or BS-D-59. Being able to identify a gravestone by its neighbors is very helpful if the gravestone in question is illegible, but that is not always the case here.

In each section there were many gravestones that we could not immediately identify. Some epitaphs were only partially legible, some were very faded all over, and some were completely illegible. When we could not identify a stone based on its epitaph, other details recorded on the survey sheets could provide clues. As an example, the name and date of death on stone BS-B-30 are too faded to read. However a small portion of the epitaph is legible and reads: “Et. 34 yrs”. There is also a decorative carving at the top of the stone that is asymmetrical and a bit squiggly, so it is probably a plant or animal. In order to see if I could find more information I consulted the survey sheets, which are paper copies in a three-ring binder organized by location number. I guessed at the approximate location of the headstone based on the location of other gravestones near it and then I leafed through the pages looking for a description or sketch of a stone that resembled that headstone. This partial information enabled me to identify the gravestone as BS-B-30. 

After many site visits I reached the point where I had identified as many gravestones as I thought was possible. I had to accept that some gravestones were too far gone to be identified. Tanaja helped to type the location numbers on the map as well as to enter the identifying information about each photograph into the online database.

For the final version of the map, I removed the aerial photograph. I did not use it as the base map because, even without leaves, tree trunks cast confusing shadows, making gravestone locations difficult to determine. Also the trees are not reliable references to find the gravestones because we have been planting many trees at Bennington Street Cemetery, and some dying or diseased trees will be cut down. I drew in the remaining features in the site like the above-ground tombs and the cruciform pathways. I added the street names, indicated the entrance gate, and created a map label in the lower right hand corner that was similar in style to the other site maps.

The online database that contains the photos and survey sheets for Bennington Street Cemetery can be found here. Users should select “Option 2: Survey Sheet Search (includes epitaph).” It is important to read the information about using the database, since the correct syntax must be used for the database to function. The new site map can also be found on that webpage.