Copp's Hill Burying Ground

It is unknown how many African Americans are buried in the Copp’s Hill Burying Ground.  Up until the 1830’s, it was common practice for people who died in Boston to be buried in a local burying ground such as Copp’s Hill. Consistent with this practice, local African Americans were buried in Copp’s Hill, although there is debate on the exact number. Records from the late 1800’s provide some of the oldest documentations of African Americans being buried in Copp’s Hill (2, 7). While there is no number of African American burials established in these records, they do refer to the presence of the ‘New Guinea’ colony and indicate that the southeasterly side of the Snow Hill Street section of the cemetery was used for the burials of slaves and free African Americans (7). This location in the cemetery was most likely the least desirable because it was located on the outside boundary of the cemetery by the original main entrance at Charter Street. In 1900, an official study was conducted of the cemeteries in Boston, and while African Americans are mentioned as living in the “first colored colony, then called New Guinea” and being buried in the Snow Hill Street section of Copp’s Hill, the study does not identify the number of African Americans buried there (4). A much later study, the Report and Inventory prepared by the Historic Burying Grounds Initiative in 1986, states that more than 1,000 African Americans are buried in Copp’s Hill, but an exact number is still unknown (8). It is now speculated that between 1,000 and 1,100 African Americans are buried in the Copp’s Hill Burying Ground.

Although most graves of African Americans in Copp’s Hill are unmarked, or the grave markers have been stolen or decayed over time, we have knowledge of a few African Americans who were buried in Copp’s Hill based on the remaining headstones. For example, some African American servants were buried with their masters, including Mary Ball, who was a servant to Robert Ball. A notable African American historical figure buried in Copp’s Hill is Prince Hall, who was the founder of the African Lodge of the Honorable Society of Free and Accepted Masons of Boston, which was the world’s first lodge of black Freemasonry. During his lifetime, Hall advocated for black rights, in particular equal education. Another African American historical figure buried in Copp’s Hill is Abel Barbadoes, who served in the Revolutionary War and later contributed to the construction of the African Meeting House. There is also speculation that Phillis Wheatley, a famous African American poet, may be buried in Copp’s Hill as well. Conflicting sources debate whether Wheatley was buried in the Granary Burying Ground or in Copp’s Hill Burying Ground (1).

It is not surprising that the number of African Americans buried in Copp’s Hill is unknown because we do not have any information about most of the people, whether white or African American, who were buried at Copp’s Hill. There were no formal records kept of who was buried there, with much of the information being gleaned from grave markers such as engraved headstones and tombs. During this time, the Puritan religion dominated Boston, which meant that many people believed in predestination, or in other words that God had already selected each person’s fate after death, and there was nothing one could do to influence that fate during his or her lifetime. In return, this belief made death a frightening concept, and therefore, cemeteries were not treated the same way as they are now. Many people could not afford headstones, as they were imported from England and very expensive. In addition, little thought was placed into the actual arrangement of people in the graveyard, and people may have been buried on top of one another. Because people did not visit their loved ones after death, Copp’s Hill was not well maintained and was even used as a grazing field for cattle. So, while there are an estimated 10,000 people in total buried in Copp’s Hill, the actual number of people buried there whose identity is known is approximately 2,000 (1).

In the late 1700’s, there was a change in religion known as the Great Awakening. As a result of this change, there was a movement to make cemeteries more visually appealing and open to the public. The Rural Cemetery movement occurred in the early 1800’s, beginning with the opening of the Mount Auburn Cemetery in Cambridge. The Mount Auburn Cemetery, which has walking pathways, trees, and a grid design, altered the public perception of what a burial place (now called a cemetery) should look like (1). In response, headstones in Copp’s Hill were moved to be in straight rows, walking pathways were installed over grave sites, and trees were planted. Although this movement initiated the recording of burials, it also made discovering who was actually buried in the Copp’s Hill Burying Ground, regardless of race, even more challenging (9).