Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1891-05-03

heart of the business part of the city, and
some idea of the value of the land can be
obtained from the statement of a leading
real estate dealer who recently said that he
would give So, 600, 600 for that piece Of land,
| and then would be able to clear 81, ,000, 900
| more on the transaction. It has been pro-
posed for great central station, where all
Of the steam railroads centering in Boston
! might have IN underground terminus right
in the very heart of the city; it has been pro-
posed as grand location for q street rail-
| way terminus; it has been suggested as q
site for the City Hall of the future, while
there is probably not hotel man in Boston
who has not looked upon it as the ideal To-
cation for great caravansary similar to
those recently erected in New York, and
which have long been a fixed feature Of
some of the thriving Western cities.
The Granary Burial Ground.
The old Granary Burial Ground was first
used as a place of interment some 80 or 40
years after the settlement OF the town OF
Boston, in 1880. 1t was simply corner of
the Common, and as near as known the first
interments were made near where the
fremont House now stands. The aims
house was built upon this land about the
year 1852, and fronted on Beacon street, near
Park. Some years later q house of correc-
tion was built on the upper part of Park
street, and in 1913 workhouse and a pound
were added. Then the Granary, from which
the ground takes its name, was built on the
present site of the Park Street Church, and
graves were made on what is now a part of
the Common.
The records of the ground are very imper-
feet, and no case has ever arisen in which
the rights OF the heirs were involved, so that
the courts have never been called to pass
upon that question. There was an old by
law that when tombs became dilapidated
the town might repair them, and assign
them to other parties, and this was done
after the Revolution, when the families of
former owners had left the country. The
consent of all of the descendants of the
original grantee would undoubtedly be held
to he necessary for the sale of tomb to-day,
but the search for title would be long and
probably unsuccessful one in nearly every
case.
Some of the Illustrious Dead.
Among those whose remains are int erred
in this little piece of land are Samuel Gray,
Crispus Attucks, James Caldwell. Samuel
Maverick and Patrick Carr, victims of the
Boston Massacre of March S, 1770; Chris
tophe Snider, the first victim Of the struggle
between colonists and the crown; John Han.
cock, Samuel Adams and Robert Treat
Paine, signers OF the Declaration OF Inde-
pendence; Peter Faneuil, the benefactor of
Boston; Paul Revere, the revolutionary
patriot; Josiah Franklin and wife, parents
of Benjamin Franklin, the patriot-philosc-
pher; Governors Richard Bellingham,
William Dummer, James Bowdoin, In
crease Sumner, james Sullivan and Chris
topher Gore; Lieutenant Governor Thomas
Gushing. Chief Justice Sewall, John Phil
lips, the first Mayor. and several of the early
ministers of Boston.
Upon entering the ground from fremont
street, the first thing to attract attention is
the severely plain granite obelisk, which
stands nearly in the center of the ground
and marks the last resting-place of the par
ents and relatives of Benjamin Franklin.
The monument consists of five massive
blocks of Quincy granite. taken from the