History of Friends Burying Ground

FRIENDSí BURYING GROUND, 1771-present

Location: Route 28A, around and behind Quaker Meeting House, south of Blacksmith Shop Road, and across Route 28A from the West Falmouth Falmouth Library.

In 1720 Falmouth Friends built their new meeting house on the bay side of present Route 28A, near Blacksmith Shop Road. In 1771, they erected a new, larger meeting house on the same site, and in 1841, as their community continued to grow, they constructed a still larger building.  In 1894 they further enlarged that structure.

      This is the present Meeting Hours and still in use.

The present Friendsí Burying Ground has been in continual use since the early 1770ís, when they built the second meeting house. The first burial, located in the northwest corner of the original burial area, may have been that of Benjamin Swift.

Even in the new Friendsí Burying Ground, many of the graves were not marked, according to Quaker custom, although burials were included in the Quaker record book. No information on dates of birth and death was included in the book.

In 1889, with his gift of $300, D. Wheeler Swift initiated subscriptions to a perpetual care fund that provided money for reconditioning and grading the ground, rebuilding fences, and replacing boulders, traditionally used as markers, with conventional markers.

How to Read the Individual Record

Friends Burying Ground

Information added in this color denotes the information was obtained from The Town of Falmouth, Vital Records to 1850, (out of print) and/or The Town of Falmouth, Vital Records to 1872 (unpublished) by Col. Oliver Brown.

Information from the cemetery records and Quimby 1992 are in this color.
 

Harriet B. Quimby compiled a listing of persons buried in the West Falmouth Friends Meeting Burial Ground in 1992. This is an unpublished work.

Information added in this color denotes the information was obtained from The Town of Falmouth Annual Reports from 1870 through 1930.

Grave ID #: This number indicates the section SS= South Section, followed by the two digit row number , - then the grave number within that specific row.

Name of the Deceased: The name of the person buried, or memorialized, in that gravesite.
NOTE: if a name appears under the name of the deceased and is in blue and underlines that is an e-mail link to others searching for this person in their genealogy.

Photo of the Gravestone: This is a thumbnail. If you click on the thumbnail the photo will enlarge. If you want to keep a copy of the gravestone photo, Right Click the photo and select Copy.

Inscription: A slash (/) denotes the next line on the gravestone. A (?) means the letters or words can not be read. A series of dots (.....) also indicates not readable. Below the inscription is additional information about this person, if you see more.. click and you will be taken to additional information about this person.

There are two ways to enter the cemetery and find the Individual Record.
Click on ALPHA INDEX which lists all persons buried in the the Friends Burying Ground
OR
Click on MAP and select a grave.

A Closer Look at a Quaker Wedding Certificate

Cape Cod Gravestones 17th, 18th & 19th Century Gravestones Dated 1683 - 1860 in Barnstable County, Massachusetts Friends Burying Ground

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