Howard Street Burial Ground
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Howard Street Burial Ground

Also known as Howard Street Cemetery

Salem, Essex County, Massachusetts, USA

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Howard Street Cemetery, laid out in 1801, is Salem's fourth oldest burying ground. (Charter Street Cemetery was established in 1637, Broad Street Cemetery in 1655, Friends Cemetery in 1702, Green Lawn Cemetery in 1807 and Harmony Grove (not a City cemetery) in 1839.)

In 1795, William Bentley wrote in his well known diary that the town was looking for a new Burying Ground and suggested Windmill Point at the foot of Northey Street. The town established Howard Street Burying Ground in 1801 but not at the location suggested by Bentley. Osgood and Batchelder wrote in their Historical Sketch of Salem 1626-1879 (1879, p. 265): "A part of it was originally reserved for colored people, and apart for strangers." The cemetery has been called Howard Street Cemetery since before 1872. Occasionally it is referred to as "St. Peter's Burial Ground."

The first burial on August 5, 1801 was second mate Benjamin Ropes, who had a tragic accident aboard the ship Belisarius. He has since been moved to Harmony Grove Cemetery. Other early burials bore family names as Boden, Very, Ashby, Carlton, Lander, Shepard and Stodder. As the cemetery grew, members of well-known Salem families were buried in Howard Street Cemetery. The cemetery also has burials of citizens who immigrated to Salem, particularly from Ireland, such as Thomas Kanely, from the county of Kilkaney (d. 1827).

Revolutionary War veterans buried in Howard Street Cemetery include: Colonel Samuel Carleton (1731-1804), who "raised a company and marched to Ticonderoga" and also was with Washington at Valley Forge, Capt. John Collins (d.1824), Capt. George Crowninshield, Jr., Ebenezer Burrill, Benjamin Henderson, Captain Jonathan Millet (d.1804), Charles Richardson (1756-1836) and Stephen Wood (d. 1841).

Seventeen ship captains are buried here including Captain William Browne (d. 1802), commander of the Crowninshield's ship Brutus, who perished when the ship wrecked off Cape Code in 1802 when he perished.

The cemetery sits on 2.5 acres. There are approximately 1100 headstones. The earliest death date is 1801, the latest 1950s.

This cemetery is referred to as GR8 Howard Street Cemetery in the "Vital Records of Salem Massachusetts to the end of the year 1849, Volume V - Deaths."

The Massachusetts Historical Commission refers to this cemetery in MACRIS as SAL.807 Howard Street Burying Ground.













Howard Street Cemetery, laid out in 1801, is Salem's fourth oldest burying ground. (Charter Street Cemetery was established in 1637, Broad Street Cemetery in 1655, Friends Cemetery in 1702, Green Lawn Cemetery in 1807 and Harmony Grove (not a City cemetery) in 1839.)

In 1795, William Bentley wrote in his well known diary that the town was looking for a new Burying Ground and suggested Windmill Point at the foot of Northey Street. The town established Howard Street Burying Ground in 1801 but not at the location suggested by Bentley. Osgood and Batchelder wrote in their Historical Sketch of Salem 1626-1879 (1879, p. 265): "A part of it was originally reserved for colored people, and apart for strangers." The cemetery has been called Howard Street Cemetery since before 1872. Occasionally it is referred to as "St. Peter's Burial Ground."

The first burial on August 5, 1801 was second mate Benjamin Ropes, who had a tragic accident aboard the ship Belisarius. He has since been moved to Harmony Grove Cemetery. Other early burials bore family names as Boden, Very, Ashby, Carlton, Lander, Shepard and Stodder. As the cemetery grew, members of well-known Salem families were buried in Howard Street Cemetery. The cemetery also has burials of citizens who immigrated to Salem, particularly from Ireland, such as Thomas Kanely, from the county of Kilkaney (d. 1827).

Revolutionary War veterans buried in Howard Street Cemetery include: Colonel Samuel Carleton (1731-1804), who "raised a company and marched to Ticonderoga" and also was with Washington at Valley Forge, Capt. John Collins (d.1824), Capt. George Crowninshield, Jr., Ebenezer Burrill, Benjamin Henderson, Captain Jonathan Millet (d.1804), Charles Richardson (1756-1836) and Stephen Wood (d. 1841).

Seventeen ship captains are buried here including Captain William Browne (d. 1802), commander of the Crowninshield's ship Brutus, who perished when the ship wrecked off Cape Code in 1802 when he perished.

The cemetery sits on 2.5 acres. There are approximately 1100 headstones. The earliest death date is 1801, the latest 1950s.

This cemetery is referred to as GR8 Howard Street Cemetery in the "Vital Records of Salem Massachusetts to the end of the year 1849, Volume V - Deaths."

The Massachusetts Historical Commission refers to this cemetery in MACRIS as SAL.807 Howard Street Burying Ground.













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