Edgell Grove Cemetery

RICH IN HISTORY AND BEAUTY

HISTORY of the Revolutionary American Movement

It is part of the history of the revolutionary American movement of the rural cemetery.  Inspired by English gardens, the design weaves the beauty of the land with its rolling hills and the celebration of life to create a park-like atmosphere, rather than the traditional churchyard cemetery.  The rural cemetery movement preserved the beauty of the landscape and symbolized an ethereal resting place. The American movement of the rural cemetery was led by the Mount Auburn cemetery in 1831.

In 1846, Colonel Moses Edgell donated his Grove Street land to a Framingham committee seeking a new place for a cemetery.  The committee, so impressed by the revolutionary rural design of the new Mt. Auburn Cemetery, sought the services of its designer, General Henry A.S. Dearborn, founder of the Massachusetts Horticultural Society and pioneer of the rural or garden cemetery.  He charged $5.50 to design the site.   Warren Nixon worked as a surveyor and Nathaniel Swift Bennett supervised the workmen.

CONSECRATION of Edgell Grove

The consecration of the Edgell Grove was held on Friday, October 13, 1848, and performed by the Reverend Tarbox.  The first interment was the wife of David Eames on October 22, 1848.  Town Meeting voted that the new cemetery be named the Edgell Grove Cemetery on November 13, 1848.

In 1875, the handsome gateway of granite was erected from the design of Alexander R. Esty and is just the beginning of the historical attractions. On either side of the entrance and exit drive is a large metal urn purchased in 1883 by the ladies of Edgell Grove Cemetery Association.

Today, Edgell Grove Cemetery, consisting of about 50 acres is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and still retains its gravel roads and its simplicity is its greatest asset.  It was designed to unite and shape the rolling landscapes into a country cemetery for the living and a reminder of the pastoral landscapes of Framingham Centre. 

Location: 53 Grove Street, Framingham, MA 01701

To date there are over 13,000 residents of Framingham interred within this rural, garden-type cemetery made popular in the nineteenth century. There are four public-facing buildings in the cemetery the Chapel, the Tomb House, the Mausoleum, and the office. They all can be seen from Grove Street, but the office is slightly set apart from the cluster of the other three. The Chapel and the Tomb House were built in 1885. They are built in the High Victorian Gothic architectural style. The Chapel was built with money bequeathed by a prominent Framingham citizen, Moses Edgell, who was a landowner, served in the militia, and was president of one of the first banks in Framingham. 

The cemetery was designed by General Henry A.S. Dearborn, founder of the Massachusetts Horticultural Society and pioneer of the rural or garden cemetery, which used the power of Nature to help with the healing process of those grieving. This idea is based on the Transcendental movement of the 1840s made popular by Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau. Dearborn charged $5.50 to design the site. Warren Nixon worked as a surveyor and Nathaniel Swift Bennett supervised the workmen. 

During the Civil War, the Framingham Selectmen directed the Trustees of the Edgell Grove Cemetery to set aside a lot suitable for the remains of soldiers “who may have died or shall hereafter die in the service of the country” and they decreed the “expenses of which to be borne by the town.” This area was called the “Soldier’s Lot is prominently positioned near the west gate. The most notable soldier buried there is Major General George Gordon, a Framingham resident before and after the Civil War which he commanded the Second Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry, arguably the first three-year volunteer infantry regiment in the Union Army.

In 1875, the handsome gateway of granite was erected from the design of Alexander R. Esty and is just the beginning of the historical attractions. On either side of the entrance and exit drive is a large metal urn purchased in 1883 by the ladies of Edgell Grove Cemetery Association. 

The Massachusetts Historical Commission refers to this cemetery in its MACRIS database as FRM.801Edgell Grove Cemetery. The cemetery and its buildings are part of the Framingham Centre Common Historical District (FRM.A and FRM.P) which was added to the National Registry of Historical Places in the 1990s.

The cemetery offers in-ground full casket and urn burials, while the Mausoleum provides an indoor option. Whether indoor or outdoor, the most important thing is to help provide the deceased’s loved ones with a peaceful, rural garden atmosphere, with winding roads, ornate headstones, and a Chapel to offer comfort.