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The Granary Burial Ground

The Granary is an example of an early urban churchyard. It was built to accommodate the overflow from the nearby King's Chapel burial ground. Today the Granary has approximately 2300 headstones, but it has been suggested that as many as 8000 people are buried there. The grave-markings were typically simple stone slabs, frequently showing a skull and bones with wings attached - the puritanical symbol of a soul flying off to heaven. In the middle stands a tall obelisk, dedicated to the memory of Benjamin Franklin's parents. This obelisk symbolized a newfound interest in showing American pride in its historic heroes through monumemts. As a method of contextualizing, at this time the conversation was more centered on public rights vs individual rights, but either way was very human focused. There were what we might consider "environmental reformers" - Benjamin Franklin is a good example - of people who were beginning to make linkages between the quality of the environment in the city and human health. But still the efforts placed into cleaning up the environment were for protecting the inhabitants and not with a deeper understanding of nature in the city. In this context, cemetery reform was inevitable.

"Established in 1660, the Granary is notable as the resting place of Boston’s most famous sons. Named for the 12,000 bushel grain storage building that was next door, the graveyard has 2,345 markers. Some say as a many as 8,000 people were buried here.

The Infant’s Tomb #203 where an estimated 500 children have been interred is located near the central obelisk that marks the graves of Benjamin Franklin’s parents. Alongside the far wall to the southwest is the elaborately embellished marker of John Hancock’s tomb. Toward the rear Paul Revere is buried; a larger marker placed in the 19th Century stands by a small slate marker that dates from Revere’s burial. Bookend monuments in the two front corners of the burial ground represent patriots James Otis and Samuel Adams. Sam Adams had the Boston Massacre victims interred in his family tomb, and so beside the marker of that tomb is one for the victims: Crispus Attucks, Samuel Gray, Samuel Maverick, James Caldwell, and Patrick Carr. On the right hand wall is a plaque marking the tomb of Robert Treat Paine. He along with Sam Adams and John Hancock brings the number of signers of the Declaration of Independence buried in Granary to three."

http://www.thefreedomtrail.org/visitor/granary.html