According to Lamson's History of Manchester, the oldest cemetery may have been a private burial ground behind the Congregational church,
near the present library site. Nothing is known of those buried there, nor is there anything known about those buried in the graveyard on the old
Magnolia Road, except that there was once a gravestone with the name of Abigail Gilbert on it, and some unmarked gravestones.
In 1661 the town records mention the setting aside of a burial ground on land belonging to Samuel Friend, in exchange for which he received
other land by 1668. This is the old cemetery at the corner of Washington and Summer streets. When Rev. Lamson wrote his book, the oldest gravestones
readable were dated 1714 - Joseph Woodbury and wife; 1717 - George Norton; 1720 - Elizabeth, wife of Thomas Lee, gent.; 1723 - Lieut. William Hilton.
As of my visit in 2002 Elizabeth Lee's gravestone was still legible to the author of this web page. I did not check for the other stones.
None of the cemeteries in Manchester maintain a web page. Below is a partial list of the cemeteries found.
- Old Cemetery 1661
(inactive)
Summer St
Manchester by the Sea, MA 01944
- Forster Cemetery was an old private burial ground.
-
- Pleasant Grove Cemetery on Pine St.
Manchester by the Sea, MA 01944
- Rosedale Cemetery - on School Street, also formed by a private association, in 1854, and transferred to the town in 1888. In this cemetery
are buried two relatives of Lincoln's assassin, John Wilkes Booth. John's relative, Junius Brutus Booth, owned the Masconomo House, a large
and elegant private resort hotel. GAR and American Legion monuments are found in this cemetery:
Rosedale Cemetery
School St
Manchester by the Sea, MA 01944
- Tappan Cemetery - another private family burial ground, was adjacent to the Old Cemetery.
Washington St
Manchester by the Sea, MA 01944
- Union Cemetery - a small burial ground on the east side of School Street, formed by a stock association
in 1845 and transferred to the town in 1888.
Union Cemetery
School St
Manchester by the Sea, MA 01944
- Magnolia Cemetery,established 1850, is not properly in Manchester, but is very close to the boundary between Manchester and Gloucester.
Magnolia Cemetery
61 Magnolia Ave.
Gloucester, MA 01930
508-283-3720
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