This cemetery is the oldest in Salem, one of the oldest in the United States (1637), and is often referred to as the Charter Street Burial Ground. Buried here are many of Salem’s early settlers and prominent citizens. Housed in the cemetery is a memorial to the men and women killed during the Salem Witch Trials. None of the actual bodies are buried here; throughout history, it’s common practice to bury people suspected of practicing witchcraft (and criminals too) in unmarked graves away from the rest of the townsfolk.
One of the most visited headstones is that of Captain Richard More (photo #5), who has (I think) the most heart-wrenching story from the Mayflower. He and his three young siblings were kidnapped by their father Samuel More and put onto the Mayflower in 1620 because their father was in the midst of a bitter custody fight with his wife Katherine (a descendent of Edward III). He suspected his wife of adultery, though the children weren’t his, and subsequently vowed to get rid of them. What mystifies me is that no one in the community tried to stop him from sending 4 children (aged 8, 7, 6 and 4) on what was considered a death voyage.
For years their mother continued to petition the court for knowledge of her children’s whereabouts; it’s likely she died without knowing that all three of Richard’s siblings passed away during the voyage/first winter, or that Richard grew up to become a well-known sea captain and world traveller. One thing to note: the dates on Richard’s headstone are thought to be incorrect and were added early in the 20th Century.
Beyond all this history, we have our own funny story about this cemetery. We met a couple at another museum who visited the Old Burying Point Cemetery on their way to the House of Seven Gables from the Salem Witch Museum. They proceeded to tell us that they were extremely disappointed because none of the gravestones in the cemetery were readable… all but one headstone was completely blank. For a long time, they went on to speculate as to why this was the case and then came up with: “the salt in the air” wearing the stones down and the “effects of vandalism over the years” as their top reasons.
So, when la Niña and I visited the site, we expected to not be able to read anything on the stones.
However, what we found is a graveyard full of headstones rich with detail, New England designs, and funny epitaphs. Then we wondered if we were somehow in the wrong graveyard and had missed the Burying Point Cemetery. We speculated that Salem probably had multiple gravesites and this was one of the many. But, after some investigation, grave finding, and sign reading we realized that we were in the right place (and later discovered that the town only has two graveyards).
So, why did this couple think that none of the gravestones in the cemetery were readable?
At one point we realized that if you enter the graveyard from the Liberty Street entrance and walk straight towards the Charter Street entrance without stopping or looking backwards, then you will see nothing except the slate backs of headstones; all stones on this path are facing West. The one headstone that was the exception to this rule was halfway between the two entrances.
We now think that the couple did a quick walkthrough and did not look backwards at any point, because if they had, they would have seen a wealth of detail.
