Eastern Cemetery Tours!
July 3 – October 13
Wednesdays 1:30 pm, Saturdays 10:30 am & Sundays 1:30 pm
A tour group following Doug down Funeral Lane. Photo by H. Doggett
This year Spirits Alive is offering tours 3 days a week! Come take a stroll with us through the 6-acre site. Learn about those interred, the art on their stones, and the city in which they died. Tours last 1-1/2 hours and are weather-dependent. Please be a little early so that guides can make change for you. Tickets are $7 adults, $4 students and seniors, and free for children 12 and under. We are excited to see you!
Stone Conservation Workdays
Saturdays: July 6, July 27 & August 17, 2013
9:00 am – 12:00 PM & 12:00 PM – 4:00 pm
Martha, Ron, & Nikki prepare to move Huldah Warren's stone into place. Photo by H. Doggett
This year we will be beautifying the area around the tombs of the captains of the 1813 fight between the Boxer and the Enterprise. Learn about the proper techniques for resetting and cleaning fragile historic stones while preparing the area for their September anniversary. If you only want to come for a morning or an afternoon, please do! Wear appropriate get-dirty clothes. Layers, gardening gloves, and good shoes are suggested. We often work in wet conditions. Marvel at all of the things we accomplished at our workday on June 15 to get a good idea of what goes on during the conservation workdays and how you could learn!
Subterranean Celebrity: Priscilla Slater
May 26, 1806
Aged 22 years
Priscilla was born in 1784 to Ruth, who died giving birth to her, and Joseph Roberts, a shipbuilder. In 1804, she married sailor James Slater, a native of the Shetland Islands who came to the United States at age 12 in 1788. A year and a half into the marriage, Priscilla herself died in childbirth at age 22.
Carved by Bartlett Adams, her pretty slate stone includes a portrait of her standing next to an anchor engraved “hope.” Although this is likely to reflect her father and husband's connections to the sea, it also symbolizes her strong faith and eternal life.
Softly her dying head she lay,
Upon her Maker's breast;
Her maker call'd her soul;
And here's her flesh at rest.
Special thanks to Ron Romano for providing the details of Priscilla Slater's biography.
Photo from Farber Gravestone Collection. More images are available.
$5 Friendships!
Support the Eastern Cemetery with your giving
For only $5, you can help Spirits Alive keep the Eastern Cemetery alive for generations to come and join as a Friend. Through your support, you can help us, an ALL-VOLUNTEER organization, to continue to:
- Keep the gates open – encouraging the community to explore its open and safe green space
- Offer education about the cemetery and its residents to the public – through tours, lectures, and events
- Encourage and support the city in keeping the site clean and safe for visitors of all ages
- Preserve this incredible outdoor museum and sacred historic landscape
Go to: www.spiritsalive.org/join to take advantage of this offer today!
