The 1830’s became a turning point in Chelsea history. The
population of Chelsea inclusive of Revere, Winthrop, and the
panhandle, was recorded at 770. Of that population thirty people
lived in the Village {Chelsea today}. In 1831 Francis B. Fay with a
group of others, acting under the name of the Winnisimmet Company,
purchased the one-hundred thirty acre Williams farm. The Williams
Farm and the Ferry were purchased at a price of $22,500 plus $5,000
paid to Boston for a release of claim to landing in Boston. On March
27, 1833, the Winnisimmet Company received it’s charter. The
Shurtleff Farm consisting of two hundred and twenty acres was
purchased by the Winnisimmet Company in 1835, for $50,000. All the
marsh land west of Walnut Street, including the dyke, was purchased
from Thomas Furber in 1846, for $13,300. The dyke and other
improvements made after purchase, brought the total cost of the
Furber land to $27,000. After each land purchase, streets were laid
out and plans for home and building lots were drawn. Within the first
year of the purchase of the Shurtleff Farm, one-sixth was sold in
lots with a profit of $26,581.11 above the initial purchase.
The Village hit a growth surge, home and building construction was
taking place throughout. The population in the village grew rapidly,
exceeding the Center {Revere}. The center of community life shifted
to the village. At this time, the villagers made note of the fact
that there was no graveyard to accommodate them. The nearest burial
ground was the Rumney Marsh Burial Grounds near the Center. A meeting
was held in Slade’s Hall for the establishment of a “convenient
and suitable location for a burial place for the inhabitants of
Winnisimmet Village.” At a second meeting held on August 9,
1841, the Garden Cemetery Corporation was formed. A committee of
eight men was appointed to select and purchase a site for a burial
ground. The committee made their report at a public meeting in the
vestry of the Methodist Church, on August 30, 1841.
The first location proposed was on the land of Mr. Joshua Carter,
between County Road and Mr. Furber’s marsh. The lot consisted of over
7.1 acres for $13,440.84, of which only three acres was sufficiently
dry enough to use.
Mr. Edward Pratt offered to sell a piece of land in the Pratt
neighborhood, but the distance from the village and any public road
put it out of the question.
Mr. Patrick Carbury offered twenty acres in the same neighborhood
but only about five acres were suitable quality for a cemetery.
A small triangular piece of land, offered by the Winnisimmet
Company, on Broadway near the Cary farm was of insufficient size.
The next location proposed was the Winnisimmet Academy land,
containing 3.1 acres. It was bordered by Central and Chester Avenue,
Shawmut Street and Winnisimmet Company property.
The Winnisimmet Academy land was chosen by the Garden Cemetery
Corporation, and dedicated November 4, 1841. The Garden Cemetery
Corporation operated the Cemetery until it was acquired by the City
of Chelsea in 1905. The first person buried in the cemetery was an
aged gentleman by the name of Daniel Ballard.
At the entrance to the cemetery stands a monument erected to the
memory of the founders of the Garden Cemetery Corporation.
A soldier’s lot was purchased by the City of Chelsea to the war
dead of the Civil War. A monument was also erected by the City with
the inscription: A memorial in honor of the citizen soldiers of
Chelsea who at the call of their country and in defence of freedom
and the American Union, sacrificed their lives in the Civil War 1861
– 1865.
The “Friends of Garden Cemetery” a volunteer group of
citizens, spend countless hours clearing and cleaning the cemetery
each year, maintaining the deserved respect to those put to eternal
rest in these grounds.