FORM E - bURIAL GROUND Assessor's number USGS Quad Area(s) Form Number

Massachusetts Historical Commission I Marlborough I E 807

80 Bovlston Street
'"3osto~, Massachusetts 02116

Town MarlboroJl~h

ighbothood or village) _

Beach Street

Immaculate Conce tion Cerneter

[X] private [] public

late number of stones 35004-

1858

present

e Architect none known

"ketch Map Condition laroely

D • good' well-maintained .
.naw or duplicate a map showing the property's lo-
cation in relation to geographic features and nearby with granite markers jn good condition
streets. Indicate all buildings or features within and
surrounding the inventoried property. Indicate the Many marble markers effaced: some broken
nearest intersection (s). Indicate north.

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~~ Acreage 13 78 acres
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Setting Southwest of Crescent St on sOJlth

slope of 1\1t pleasant Hill. jn area of primarily

late-19th and early-70th-centm), hOlIses

/~. Recorded by Anne Forbes

Organization for MarJborol!~b Hist Comm

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FollowMassachusetts Historical Commission Slm'e" Manulll instructiions for completing this [orm.
BURIAL GROUND

VISUAl)DESIGN ASSESSMENT [X] see continuation sheet

Describe landscape features, gravestone materials, designs, motifs, and symbols that are either
common or unusual. Note any known carvers.

The 13.78-acre Immaculate Conception Cemetery occupies most of the open area along the curving
south slope of Mount Pleasant Hill. It extends south from the end of Crescent Street to Beach
Street, and includes a separate modern .7-acre section across the road. It is laced with asphalt drives
paralleling the hill slope, with two entrances on Beach Street, one on Crescent, and one at the east
end, at West Street. Plantings here are generally informal, with single deciduous and coniferous
trees scattered throughout the section north of Beach, and some low shrubs placed adjacent to grave ~,
markers. The only evidence of planned plantings is a row of tall old regularly-spaced sugar maples j
along Beach Street, and a line of assorted trees along the chain-link fence that marks the cemetery's
,,
northwestern boundary.

Consistent with the large number of graves here from the period from the latter part of the
nineteenth century through the present time, most of the grave markers are made of granite. Many
are polished, and most are simply-shaped, rectangular slabs. Typical of a Catholic cemetery, many
are topped with crosses. Taller monuments here include several elaborate gothic examples, a few
Celtic crosses, and a few marble obelisks. A memorial to the Rev. J.B. Donegan is a large marble
monument with gothic ornamentation and a steeple. A simple granite art deco war memorial was
erected by the Marlborough Patriotic League in 1924. On its main face are bronze plaques
commmemorating soldiers who died in the Spanish-American and First and Second World Wars.
(The latter, which was added later, bears an inscription that honors fifteen men "whose bones were -'
never returned.") (Cont.) JI
\

HISTORICAL NARRATIVE [X] see continuation sheet

Explain religious affiliations, major period of use, and evaluate historical association of this burial ground
with the community.

The Immaculate Conception Cemetery is the second-largest graveyard in Marlborough, and the
earlier of the city's two Catholic cemeteries. The first section was the 2.6-acre area at its eastern
end, which was purchased in 1856 under the Rev. John Walsh, pastor at Saxonville (in Framingham).
A year earlier, the first Church of the Immaculate Conception had been dedicated on Mount
Pleasant Hill near the end of today's Charles Street. Marlborough did not have a resident Catholic
pastor, however, until after it had been established as a separate parish in 1864. (See Form #98,
Immaculate Conception Church.) It was probably shortly thereafter that what had been known as
"the Catholic Cemetery" was officially designated the Immaculate Conception Cemetery.

Over the years parcels on both sides of Beach Street were acquired, until the cemetery reached its
present total size of nearly fourteen acres. In the 1870's, S1,Mary's Cemetery (informally called the
"French" Cemetery.) was laid out abutting the western edge this one. (See Form #808). With the
small Brigham Cemetery (Form #806) at its northwest end, its establishment made the south slope
of Mount Pleasant Hill one large, continuous burial ground. (Cont.)

BIBLIOGRAPHY and/or REFERENCES [ ] see continuation sheet

Hudson, Charles. History of the Town of Marlborough. 1862.

Drake, Samuel. History of Middlesex County, Mass. 1880.
Maps and Atlases: Walling: 1857; Beers: 1875; Bailey & Hazen: 1878; Walker: 1889; Sanborns.
McCarthy, Claudia. "Our Immaculate Conception Parish .....a History, 1850-1976.
Marlborough Directories.

[ X] Recommended for listing in the National Register of Historic Places. If checked, a completed
National Register Criteria Statement form is attached.
INVENTORY FORM CONTINUATION SHEET Community Property

Marlborough Immaculate Conception

Cemetery

Massachusetts Historical Commission

80 Boylston Street Area(s) Form No.
Boston, Massachusetts 02116 E 807

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INVENTORY FORM CONTINUATION SHEET Community Property

Marlborough Immaculate Conception

Cemetery
Massachusetts Historical Commission
80 Boylston Street Area(s) Form No.
Boston, Massachusetts 02116 E 807

VISUAljDESIGN ASSESSMENT, cont.

There are only a few examples of statuary here. One small marble statue of Christ is missing its
head, but a granite statue of the Virgin, erected in honor of the Rev. T.B. Lowney, who died in 1929,
stands as the focal point just inside the Crescent Street entrance to the cemetery.

The small wood or metal crosses that are such poignant indicators of poverty in some immigrant
cemeteries are missing in Marlborough's graveyards; only one iron cross marker was observed--that
is a wrought-iron cross about three feet high, embellished with simple curlicues.

In the earliest, eastern section of the cemetery are a few family plots, some with low granite
curbstones. This area, especially, contains many marble markers, some dating to the Civil War era.
Many are effaced, but much ornamentation, such as carved crosses and floral and foliate designs,
such as those on the memorial to the Creamer children, remains.

One building, a modern brick and concrete storage building with iron door, stands in this cemetery.

HISTORICAL NARRATIVE, cont.

The oldest marked grave here is apparently the memorial to John Brady, "a native of the Parish of
Abbey, County Longford, Ireland," who died in 1858. Many of the graves here, in fact, belong to
the families of Marlborough's sizeable Irish-born population. Among the prominent names here are
the O'Connells, Burkes, Quirks, Hurleys, McDonalds, Fays, Ryans, McCarthys, and Cosgroves.

Today the largest ethnic group represented here, as in the Immaculate Conception Parish as a whole,
is still the Irish-Americans. In the southeast section, however, is a large cluster of graves of families
of Italian origin. A few early French-language markers, such as that to the five Arsenault children,
the first of whom died in 1865, also indicate that the earliest of the French-Canadian families to
come to Marlborough were buried here before St. Mary's Cemetery was opened.

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Massachusetts Historical Commission Community Property Address
80 Boylston Street
Boston, Massachusetts 02116 Marlborough Beach Street

Area(s) Form No(s).

E 807

National Register of Historic Places Criteria Statement Form

Check all that apply:

[x] Individually eligible [ ] Eligible only in a historic district

[ ] Contributing to a potential historic district [] Potential historic district

Criteria: [x] A [] B [] C [] D

Criteria Considerations: [] A [] B [] C [x] D [] E [] F [] G

Statement of Significance by _---"'F~orb~e~s'-'/_S

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uIe_r _
The criteria that are checked in the above sections must be justified here.

The Immaculate Conception Cemetery meets Criterion A of the National Register. The first
Catholic cemetery in Marlborough, and the largest, it is important for its illustration of the
immigrant workers who were well established in Marlborough by the late 1850s. Most of those
buried at Immaculate Conception are of Irish descent. The designs of markers illustrate in part
the backgrounds of some of those interred including their Irish heritage, and those who served
in the military. The cemetery retains integrity of location, design, setting, materials,
workmanship, feeling, and association.
INVENTORY FORM CONTINUATION SHEET Community Property

Marlborough Immaculate Conception

Cemetery
Massachusetts Historical Commission
80 Boylston Street Area(s) Form No.
Boston, Massachusetts 02116 E 807
BURIAL GROUND

VISUAL/DESIGN ASSESSMENT [X J see continuation sheet

Describe landscape features, gravestone materials, designs, motijs, and symbols that are either
common or unusual. Note any known carvers.

St. Mary's Cemetery, along with two others, the larger Immaculate Conception Cemetery (MHC#
807) and the tiny Brigham Cemetery (MHC# 306), occupies much of the south/southwest slope of
Mt. Pleasant Hill. Its main four-acre section extends down the hill from Crescent to Beach Streets
along the northwestern edge of the Immaculate Conception. The one-acre rectangle of the Brigham
Cemetery juts into St. Mary's from the northwest. A second, three-acre section of St. Mary's south
of Beach Street abutting Clover Hill Street was added in this century, and is still open.

'The central axis of the main part of the cemetery is defined by a single asphalt drive running down
the hill from Crescent to Beach Street. Half-way down the hill it is crossed by a second major drive.
Like the others, St. Mary's Cemetery has no formal plantings. A line of deciduous trees and a chain-
link fence mark its eastern boundary with the Immaculate Conception. and more decidous trees line
a continuation of the fence along Beach Street, where tall granite posts mark the corner bounds and
the center drive. Individual shrubs, 1110stadjacent to grave markers, are scattered throughout the
grounds.

As is the case with the Immaculate Conception Cemetery, most of the grave markers here are made
of granite. Many are polished. and most are simply-shaped, rectangular slabs. Some stones and
monuments are topped with urns, many with crosses. Missing here, however, are the Celtic crosses
that so vividly indicate the Immaculate Conception Cemetery's connection with Marlborough's Irish-
American community. Instead, the French-Canadian origin of many of the families buried here is
apparent in the predominance of French inscriptions on the earlier markers. (Cont.)

HISTORICAL NARRATIVE [] see continuation sheet

Explain religious affiliations, major period of use, and evaluate historical association ojthis burial ground
with the community.

Further research will be required to determine the exact date of the establishment of St. Mary's
Cemetery, but parish research and map evidence indicate that it was opened in about 1879, under
the third pastor of St. Mary's Parish, the Rev. J .Z. Durnontier. This is the second Catholic cemetery
in Marlborough, (the Immaculate Conception Cemetery was opened in the late 1850's), and for years
it was known simply as the "French" or "French Catholic" Cemetery, (St. Mary's Parish had been
formed as Marlborough's second Catholic parish in 1870, largely to serve the burgeoning French-
Canadian population of the town, which had grown to a substantial size over the 1860's. Its church
was completed on lower Broad Street a year later. [See Form #96].)

Although one gravestone bears a date of 1876, it is commonly acknowledged that the first person
to be buried here was Xavier Morin, in 1879. His grave marker reads 'This monument was donated
by the French congregation in remembrance of the first body interred in this cemetery."

The oriainal cemeterv here was about an acre in size, and was situated between the Brigham and
Immaculate Conception Cemeteries. Over the years several more parcels were added, until it
reached its present size of nearly eight acres.

BIBLIOGRAPHY and/or REFERENCES [ ] see continuation sheet

Bigelow, Ella. Historical J\eminiscences .Qf MarlborQ!:.l,gh. Mass. 1910.
r&Dtennial. Anniversarv of $1. Man"s Par~b.h. 1970
Drake, Samuel. History of Middlesex Count\'. 1'\'1as5. 1830.
Maps and Atlases: \VaTker: 1889; Sallb()llls. .-
Marlborough Directories.

rX
:.. 1 Recommended
. i for listins in the National Rezister of Historic Places.
National Register Criteria Statement [om: L, attached.
FORM E - BURIAL GROUND Assessor's number USGS Quad Area(s) Form Number

Massachusetts Historical Commission 1 81-100-A I Marlborough I I E I

L 808 --.J
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80 Boylston Street 81-31
Boston, Massachusetts 02116

Marlboro)]::h

thborhood or village) _

MOJlnt Pleao;:ant Hill

Beach Street

S1, Mary's Cemetery

[X] private [ ] public

ate number of stones 1"00

1879

present

e Architect Done known

Sketch Map Condition largely good' well-maintained,

Draw or duplicate a map showing the property's 10-
cation in relation to geographic [eatures and nearby with granite markers in ~ood condition
streets. Indicate all buildings or features within and
surrounding the inventoried property, Indicate the Soine marble markers effaced' some broken
nearest intersection (s). Indicate north,

Acreage 78 acres

Setting SOHth af Crrscent Sf on 5011t],

slope of roAr Pleasant Hill, in area of primarily

late-12th and earl}/- ?,Otb-ccntmy hOJlSes

Recorded by Anue Forbt'o;:

Orzanization
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for MarlboroJlcrh Hist Comm

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Follow Massachusetts tisforical Commission SWW\' Maliiwl instructiions for completing this [arm.
INVENTORY FORM CONTINUATION SHEET Community Property

Marlborough St. Mary's Cemetery

Massachusetts Historical Commission

80 Boylston Street Area(s) Form No.
Boston, Massachusetts 02116 E 808

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INVENTORY FORM CONTINUATION SHEET Community Property

Marlborough St. Mary's Cemetery

Massachusetts Historical Commission

80 Boylston Street Area(s) Form No.
Boston, Massachusetts 02116 E 808

VISUAL/DESIGN ASSESSMENT, cont.

The largest structures here include 1\\'0 above-ground, gable-roofed tombs. The Gauvin family tomb,
cont.aining interments from 1893 to 1958, has rock-faced granite-block walls, and flat, chamfered
granite pilasters flanking the former gable-end entry, which is now filled with concrete. A concrete
cornice forms a transition to a grass-covered roof. The other tomb, of the Patoel family, is a classic
Greek Revival type, with molded cornice and pediment, wide frieze, and flat Doric pilasters, all
executed in concrete instead of granite. It has a four-panel iron door, and granite appears in the
name plaque over the door and in the cross at the gable peak. A nearly identical, but slightly larger,
structure standing a short distance to its east is not a tomb, but a utility shed.

The grandest structure in this cemetery, which stands in a circle of grass ill the upper section of t.he
central drive, is a tall, elaborate marble gothic monument to three priests, two of whom served as
pastor or assistant of St. Mary's Parish: the Rev.s J.Z. Dumontier (1829-1889), Elphege Cloutier, (d.
1918), and J.E. Fredette (1900-1937). Just inside the Crescent Street boundary is a granite Art
Deco war memorial identical to that in the Immaculate Conception Cemetery. Both were erected
by the Marlborough Patriotic League in 1924, and are faced with bronze plaques commemorating
soldiers who died in the Spanish-American, and First and Second World Wars,

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Massachusetts Historical Commission Community Property Address
80 Boylston Street
Boston, Massachusetts 02116 Marlborough Beach Street

Area(s) Form No(s).

E 808

National Register of Historic Places Criteria Statement Form

Check all that apply:

[x] Individually eligible [ ] Eligible only in a historic district

[ ] Contributing to a potential historic district [] Potential historic district

Criteria: [x] A [] B [] C [] D

Criteria Considerations: [] A [] B [] C [x] D [] E [] F [] G

Statement of Significance by _~F~o~rb~e_s~/_S~c_h_u_Ie_r _

The criteria that are checked in the above sections must be justified here.

The St. Mary's Cemetery meets Criterion A of the National Register. This Catholic cemetery
was not established until 1879, soon after St. Mary's parish had been formed to selVe the
burgeoning French Canadian population in town. Thus the cemetery is illustrative of the social
and economic development of the community. French inscriptions and the lack of Celtic
crosses demonstrate the patterns of development. The cemetery retains integrity of location,
design, setting, materials, workmanship, feeling, and association.