HONORING THE DEPARTED SINCE 1841 | |
AN ACTIVE BURIAL PLACE RICH IN HISTORY | |
|
Hello Michael,
Welcome to the Summer 2024 Edition of The Epitaph, Lowell Cemetery’s seasonal newsletter.
Summer is a wonderful time to explore the beautiful and historic grounds at Lowell Cemetery, the fourth oldest “Garden Style” cemetery in the country. Established in 1841 by forward-thinking members of the local citizenry, the Cemetery has remained a place of natural beauty that provides a quiet refuge from the everyday hustle and bustle of commerce and industry.
A walking tour of Lowell Cemetery is a trip through the area’s most impressive collection of funereal monuments and sculptured stones, some carved by artists with statewide, national, and in some cases, international notoriety. The best-known monument in Lowell Cemetery is the famous “Ayer Lion,” that lies atop the grave of James C. Ayer, one the nation’s most successful patent medicine manufacturers. Learn more about James C. Ayer and the lion in an article by Cemetery Trustee, Lew Karabatsos.
Another frequently visited stop within the Cemetery grounds is the Talbot Memorial Chapel, designed in stone with a slate roof by Lowell-born architect Frederick Stickney. Built on the site of a smaller wooden chapel, the Talbot one was commissioned in 1885 by Harriet Rogers Talbot in memory of her late husband, Charles. Frederick Stickney was an accomplished architect with a wide portfolio of work in Lowell and across the Northeast. Look for more information about Frederick Stickney in an article by Lowell/Belvidere native Joe Orphant. Lowell Cemetery News.
The Trustees are pleased to welcome Jane Calvin as our newest member of the Board. Jane is the longtime Executive Director of the Lowell Parks and Conservation Trust. She was elected at our quarterly meeting in March. Congratulations to Lowell Cemetery Trustee Susu Wong, owner of Lowell-based marketing firm Tomo360, and her spouse, UMass Lowell Chancellor Julie Chen, for their appearance on the cover of the May/June issue of “Spirit Magazine.”
The Cemetery has added a new service for Proprietors who wish to have their loved ones’ gravestones and monuments cleaned up from naturally occurring lichens, dirt, and grime. Learn more below.
We have some exciting events coming up. Check them out in the “Save the Date” section of this newsletter.
I hope you enjoy this summer edition of our “Epitaph” newsletter.
Sincerely,
Alex Wilson, President
Lowell Cemetery Board of Trustees
|  | | | |
|
Tree Identification Walk in Partnership with Lowell Parks and Conservation Trust
Lowell Cemetery
Thursday, August 1, 2024, 6:00 p.m. – 7:30 p.m.
Tour will start at the Lawrence St. Gate. Admission is free.
Tour may be rescheduled if there if there is a thunderstorm predicted. Check lowellcemetery.com for updates.
The Lowell Cemetery is one of the first garden cemeteries in America. Its natural setting is enhanced by a canopy of oak, beech, maple, and ash trees. Join Jane Calvin, Lowell Cemetery Trustee and Executive Director of the Lowell Parks and Conservation Trust, for a guided tour highlighting some of the Lowell Cemetery’s most notable trees.
| |
|
|
Who is Frederick W. Stickney?
By Joe Orfant
Frederick W. Stickney, Fred to his friends, was Lowell’s first professionally trained architect. Although his career would be strongly rooted in his hometown, the work of his Lowell and Boston offices would extend across New England and as far afield as Chicago, Cincinnati and Topeka. He designed elegant private homes for Lowell’s notables as well as Robert Isham—the Chicago law partner of Robert Todd Lincoln; resort hotels, including the original Woodstock Inn (VT); hospitals in Lowell and Manchester, NH; and quotidian schools and engine houses.
The 1871 Lowell High School graduate entered MIT in 1873 as a special student in architecture, likely after studying in Lowell’s Evening Drawing School with Channing Whittaker. (Fred would take charge of the evening school in 1880.) At MIT he won one of the two Boston Society of Architects prizes for outstanding students.
| |
|
|
Did You Know?
The Lowell Cemetery’s first chapel was built in 1848 and was unusual in both design and construction. It was an octagonal wooden building surrounded by a veranda with eight iron columns supporting an oriental style metal roof that covered the porch as well as the building. LC records do not indicate who designed the building or when it was removed, but they do show that it cost $750.
There are only three known views of the chapel. The stereopticon cards shown here are two of only three known views of the chapel.
| | | |
The Lion in Winter
The Ayer Lion is arguably the most recognized monument in the Lowell Cemetery. He’s a favorite of photographers, artists of all media, and visitors. Is it his majestic pose? His sad look? His crossed paws? It doesn’t matter. He’s a beautiful, life-sized sculpture not only representing the beauty of the burial ground, but also commemorating the memory and final resting place of James Cook Ayer, patent medicine magnate and marketing genius.
Ayer was born in Connecticut in 1818, and moved to Lowell with his mother and stepfather in 1835. He graduated from Lowell High School in 1838 and became an apprentice to Lowell druggist, J. C. Robbins. During this time, he attended and graduated from University of Pennsylvania’s medical school. He bought the drugstore from Robbins in 1841. Although trained, he never practiced medicine but preferred, instead, to focus on pharmaceutical chemistry.
| | | |
Did You Know?
“The Lowell Review” is an annual magazine edited by Lowell Cemetery Trustee Richard Howe, Jr. and Paul Marion. Each edition includes essays, poems, criticisms, opinion, and visual art from the Lowell region and beyond. The cover art of the current issue features a painting of the Ayer Lion by Sonia Dickson. A Lowell resident, Sonia graduated with a BFA from UMass Lowell and teaches Design and Visual Communications at Greater Lowell Technical High School. The cover is taken from Sonia’s sketchbook.
Copies of “The Lowell Review” can be ordered here!
| |
|
|
Lowell Cemetery Monument
Cleaning Service
| |
|
The Lowell Cemetery has a new Monument Cleaning Service for our lot owners. As monuments age, lichen and grime appear on the stone surfaces, sometimes obscuring the names and dates of the individuals interred in the lot. The Lowell Cemetery has a new service to clean the stones of those individuals who wish to restore their monuments to a brighter and cleaner appearance. Prices start at $150.00 and up, depending on the size of the monument and the extent of cleaning required.
If you would like your family monument cleaned, please contact the Cemetery office at: 978-454-5191 or through email at: Staff@lowelllcemetery.com.
| |
|
Portrait & Mausoleum Tour
Lowell Cemetery
Sunday, September 15, 2024
10:00 a.m. – noon
Self-guided tours will start at the Knapp Ave. Entrance. Admission is free. Rain or shine.
Come to the Lowell Cemetery and take a self-guided tour (map provided) of more than two dozen grave sites and several of the rarely accessible mausolea. Do you know about the Atkinson or Birmingham families? How about the Lawsons, the Stickneys, the Parkers, the Stones (no, not the Rolling ones!) or the Mitchells? Each stop will not only have an interpreter to provide background on each person at rest, but also include an image to put “faces to the names.”
Event is in partnership with the Lowell Historical Society, the Pollard Memorial Library and the Whistler House Museum of Art.
Volunteers are needed to assist in the interpretation of the many mausoleum and notable portraits that will be highlighted during the self-guided tours.
| |  |
|
Fall Walking Tours
Lowell Cemetery
Saturday, October 5 & Sunday, October 6
10:00 a.m. - noon
Tours will start at the Knapp Ave. Gate rain or shine. Admission is free.
Established in 1841, Lowell Cemetery is a final resting place for generations of educators, businessmen and women, artists, writers, social reformers, scholars, veterans, politicians, athletes, and inventors. Lowell Cemetery Trustee Richard Howe, Jr. will lead a 90-minute tour highlighting the lives and ideas of some of the fascinating people buried here.
| | |
|
Volunteer With Us!
Every volunteer makes a powerful impact. Join us and be part of something truly meaningful. There are many opportunities to participate. There are no requirements or time commitments.
The Cemetery will notify you of an opportunity based on your interest, and you can decide whether or not you’ve got the time to participate. Click here to read more.
| | | |
|
Address:
77 Knapp Avenue
Lowell, MA 01852
Phone:
978-454-5191
| |
| | | |
