Proprietors of the Cemetery of Mount Auburn

Proprietors of the Cemetery of Mount Auburn. The Proprietors of the Cemetery of Mount Auburn are the founding corporate body responsible for the creation and perpetual oversight of Mount Auburn Cemetery in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Incorporated in 1831, this private association of shareholders was formed to establish America's first large-scale designed, rural, or garden cemetery, a revolutionary concept that transformed American funerary art and landscape architecture. The Proprietors' innovative vision blended horticulture, sculpture, and landscape gardening to create a sacred, park-like space that served both as a burial ground and a public pleasure ground, influencing subsequent developments like Laurel Hill Cemetery in Philadelphia and Green-Wood Cemetery in Brooklyn.

History and founding

The association was formally incorporated by an act of the Massachusetts General Court on March 9, 1831, following years of advocacy by prominent Boston citizens concerned with overcrowded and unsanitary urban burial grounds. The driving intellectual force was Jacob Bigelow, a Harvard Medical School professor and botanist, who first proposed the idea of a rural cemetery. He was joined by influential figures like United States Supreme Court Justice Joseph Story, who served as the first president, and Massachusetts Horticultural Society president Henry Dearborn. The Proprietors purchased 72 acres of land from the Brighton estate of George Washington Brimmer, situated on the border of Cambridge and Watertown. The cemetery was consecrated on September 24, 1831, with an address by Justice Story, an event covered by publications like the North American Review.

Organization and governance

The Proprietors operate as a non-profit, non-sectarian corporation governed by a board of trustees elected from among the shareholders, or lot owners. This structure, detailed in its original charter and bylaws, ensures the cemetery's financial and administrative independence. The trustees oversee all operations, including lot sales, perpetual care funds, and the enforcement of strict regulations to maintain the cemetery's aesthetic and solemn character. Key early administrative roles were held by individuals like Nathaniel Dearborn, who served as superintendent. This governance model, separating the ownership and management from municipal or church control, became a template for subsequent garden cemeteries across the United States and influenced the later public park movement.

Role in cemetery development and design

The Proprietors commissioned the initial design from Henry Dearborn, who laid out winding paths, ornamental plantings, and picturesque vistas inspired by English landscape garden principles and the work of designers like Humphry Repton. They later engaged renowned architects and artists to enhance the grounds, including Jacob Bigelow's design for Bigelow Chapel and the commissioning of monuments from sculptors like Thomas Crawford and Martin Milmore. The Proprietors mandated a landscape that integrated art and nature, prohibiting fences around individual lots and promoting the use of tasteful funerary monuments. Their stewardship led to the establishment of the cemetery as an important arboretum and a catalyst for the American Renaissance in sculpture and design.

Notable proprietors and members

The original and early Proprietors comprised a who's who of New England's political, intellectual, and commercial elite. Founding members included Justice Joseph Story, Jacob Bigelow, and General Henry Dearborn, a veteran of the War of 1812. Other notable early lot owners and supporters were Daniel Webster, the famed orator and United States Secretary of State; Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, the poet; Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr.; and Charles Sumner, the senator and abolitionist. Later, figures like Mary Baker Eddy, founder of the Church of Christ, Scientist, and Winslow Homer, the artist, became associated with the cemetery, either as lot owners or through interment.

Cultural and historical significance

The Proprietors' creation of Mount Auburn Cemetery marked a profound shift in American culture, establishing a new model for burial that emphasized beauty, contemplation, and civic pride. It became an immediate tourist attraction, inspiring visitors like Andrew Jackson Downing and influencing the designs of Central Park by Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux. The cemetery served as an open-air museum of funerary art and a sanctuary for public recreation and birdwatching, directly contributing to the City Beautiful movement. As the final resting place for thousands of significant individuals, from the American Civil War general Charles Pomeroy Stone to artists like Buckminster Fuller, the institution founded by the Proprietors stands as a nationally significant National Historic Landmark and a testament to a transformative 19th-century ideal.

Category:Organizations based in Massachusetts Category:Mount Auburn Cemetery Category:History of Cambridge, Massachusetts