Massachusetts Genealogy

SOUTH SIDE CEMETERY INSCRIPTIONS

COPIED BY GEORGE WARREN TOWNE

TOPSFIELD HISTORICAL SOCIETY COLLECTIONS

  History of the South Side Cemetery

  Table of Names

  Inscriptions - mostly in alphabetical order

HISTORY OF THE SOUTH SIDE CEMETERY

The South Side Cemetery is situated in the southern part of the town, on the highway leading to Danvers and not far from the "Copper Mine Lot." It is upon a hill and somewhat removed from the travelled road.  A time-stained wall of stone, encloses about an acre of green-sward "where heaves the earth in many a mouldering heap."

The great beauty of the spot is found in the trees planted by the different generations of men who have loved this "acre" well.  There are the usual native varieties, but one forgets all save the towering pines that whisper messages of rest and peace.

In 1740, Joseph Herrick, who lived on the farm at present owned by William L. Batchelder, "in consideration of love, goodwill and affection I bear towards" David Cummings, John Cummings, Joseph Towne, Nathaniel Porter, Thomas Dwinell, Benjamin Towne, Samuel Curtis, Aaron Estey, Gideon Towne, Nathaniel Porter, jr., Amos Dorman, Thomas Dorman, Israel Towne, Daniel Robinson and Joseph Hobbs, deeded to them "one-half acre of land in Topsfield on the south side of Ipswich River, known as a burying place, inclosed with a stone wall, to be used as a burying place forever.  I furthermore grant a priviledge for said persons to pass and repass across my land (Herrick's) to bury their dead."

Dated Mar. 13, 1739-40.

Joseph Hobbs lived on the Wm. Peabody farm just over the line, in Middleton, and John Cummings lived on the Porter Gould place, also in Middleton.

It will be noted that the deed says "known as the burial place," proving that the spot must have been used for burial purposes before 1740.  There are no stones to mark the earliest graves and the resting places of only a few of the many Revolutionary soldiers here buried can be identified.  There is the grave of Mrs. Esther Estey, who lived to be over a hundred years old, and off in a corner, separated from the other mounds, where the grass seems longer and thicker, is a grave with a large tree at its head, as if Nature was trying to be especially kind to the lonely sleeper.  There are two traditions relating to this mound, one, that it is the grave of a salve once the property of the Cummings family, another, that it is the grave of an Indian woman named Sarah Tutoo.  the late John H. Gould believed in the latter story.

Judge Cummings, having lost his wife Sally, in 1814, persuaded his father to enlarge the Cemetery by the gift of about half as much land as it then contained, the boundary of the old ground being between the "Herrick row" and the lot of the late David Towne.  The land added in 1814 is now occupied by lots of David and Lorenzo Towne, and the Peterson, Johnson, Cummings, Batchelder and Rea families.

The Cummings family built the wall, and it is said, planted the larches and many of the other trees.  "Master Sam" Cummings cared for the ground as long as he lived, and after his death, David Towne collected money by subscription and repaired the wall, purchased new gates (the stone gate posts were given by Lorenzo P. Towne) and put the ground in good order.  After his death the burial ground became neglected, until in 1893, the neighborhood, to the number of thirty, devoted a day to clearing away the undergrowth.  A subscription paper was again circulated and the sum of $262.00 was contributed and accepted by the town in town meeting assembled, as a permanent fund, the income of which forever should be expended in the care of the "South Side Cemetery", a designated adopted at that time.

TABLE OF NAMES

Below is a table of names listed in the inscriptions of the South Side Cemetery.  Some of these names represent those buried in the cemetery; others are parents or spouses listed on the stones.  A few of the names represent more than one individual bearing the same name, i.e., a father and son bearing the same name.

INSCRIPTIONS

I have photographed many of the stones in this cemetery.
Click on the hyperlinks below to view the stones in a new window.