October 30, 2015

The Burying Point (Salem, MA)

By New England Nomad

Nestled behind the Salem Witch Trials Memorial, is the final resting place for some of Salem’s earlier residents; the Burying Point.  Located among the bustling downtown Salem area, the Burying Point is the oldest cemetery in Salem, MA,

DSC_0193 DSC_0198 DSC_0190  DSC_0187 DSC_0186Tour groups and visitors from all over the country walk over sacred graves.  In fact, the Burying Point is one of the most popular attractions in Salem.

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The cemetery is well kept and the vast majority of the visitors are respectful of the tenants there.  The one thing I find to be a little weird, besides the obvious weirdness of walking around a cemetery as though it was an “attraction”, was the “haunted house” located feet away from the cemetery.  I’m generally not one to care either way, but it still felt odd hearing ghastly screams and people ordering hot apple cider while we stroll along the cemetery.

Although many headstones are difficult to read, it is worth observing that many of them show the female deceased as the “wife of…” Just another sign of the times.

While many of his relatives reside in the cemetery of the overly commercialized town of Salem, Nathaniel Hawthorne is not buried in Burying Point.  Instead he rests in Sleepy Hollow Cemetery in Concord, Massachusetts.

The storied feud of Nathaniel Hawthorne and his ancestors is of legend.  Just to recap, John Hathorne, a Salem magistrate, was appointed by the then Governor Sir William Phips to be a judge in the Salem Witch Trials.  However, during the trials, he acted more like a prosecutor than a judge.  He would often presume the guilt of an accused witch and demand they confess to witchcraft as well as pressuring accused witches to name other witches after they were inevitably found guilty or they confessed under pressure of Hathorne and his court.  He became known as a “hanging judge”.

In light of his ancestors misdeeds, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Judge Hathorne’s great grandson, would change his name by adding a “w” after the “Ha” in his last name and he would distance himself farther from Judge Hathorne by penning The Scarlet Letterand speaking out against the deeds of his ancestor.

Judge William Hathorne’s grave is on the left in this photo, next to his son’s much larger gravestone.  No one left anything on his gravestone.

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I wanted to thank everyone who reads, likes and leaves comments on my blogs.  It is appreciated.  I also wanted to mention that I have begun (resumed) blogging as Mr.Wayne after a fairly long hiatus.  I have always been a writer at heart and, after being inspired by so many wonderful blogs on wordpress, I have decided to resume my written blogs again, in addition to my photoblogs.  Please view my most recent post What Could Have Been.  Thank you.

About New England Nomad

Hi I'm Wayne. Welcome to my blog. I am a true New Englander through and through. I love everything about New England. I especially love discovering new places in New England and sharing my experiences with everyone. I tend to focus on the more unique and lesser known places and things in New England on my blog. Oh yeah, and I love dogs. I always try to include at least one dog in each of my blog posts. I discovered my love of photography a couple of years ago. I know, I got a late start. Now, I photograph anything that seems out of the ordinary, interesting, beautiful and/or unique. And I have noticed how every person, place or thing I photograph has a story behind it or him or her. I don't just photograph things or people or animals. I try to get their background, history or as much information as possible to give the subject more context and meaning. It's interesting how one simple photograph can evoke so much. I am currently using a Nikon D3200 "beginner's camera." Even though there are better cameras on the market, and I will upgrade some time, I love how it functions (usually) and it has served me well. The great thing about my blog is you don't have to be from New England, or even like New England to like my blog (although I've never met anyone who doesn't). All you have to like is to see and read about new or interesting places and things. Hopefully, you'll join me on my many adventures in New England! View all posts by New England Nomad
This entry was posted on Friday, October 30th, 2015 at 2:39 am and tagged with , , , , , , , , , , , , , and posted in Burying Point, cemetery, graves, gravestones, headdstones, historical, history, John Hathorne, massachusetts, Nathaniel Hawthorne, New England, photography, photos, Salem. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.

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