Since its establishment in 1640, the Ancient Burying Ground has been owned and maintained by the Town, and later the City of Hartford. By the time its 200th anniversary approached, it was clear that the municipality needed help in caring for the site and many of stones on it.
Efforts to preserve the Ancient Burying Ground began with an 1836 campaign spearheaded by Daniel Wadsworth of Hartford. His father, Jeremiah Wadsworth, a veteran of the American Revolution and leading figure in the post-war development of the national government, had died in 1804 and had been one of the last people buried here.
That pioneering project included construction in 1837 of a concrete obelisk faced with brownstone into which were carved the names of Hartford’s first settlers, earning it the name “Founders Monument.”

IN MEMORY OF THE FIRST / SETTLERS OF HARTFORD / JEREMY ADAMS / MATTHEW ALLYN / FRANCIS ANDREWS / WILLIAM ANDREWS / JOHN ARNOLD / ANDREW BACON / JOHN BARNARD / THOMAS BARNES / ROBERT BARTLETT / JOHN BAYSEY / THOMAS BEALE / NATHANIEL BEARDING / MARY BETTS / JOHN BIDWELL / RICHARD BILLING / THOMAS BIRCHWOOD / PETER BLACHFORD / THOMAS BLACKLEY / THOMAS BLISS SR. / THOMAS BLISS JR. / WILLIAM BLUMFIELD / JAMES BRIDGEMAN / JOHN BRONSON / RICHARD BRONSON / THOMAS BULL / THOMAS BUNCE / BENJAMIN BURR / RICHARD BUTLER / WILLIAM BUTLER / CLEMENT CHAPLIN / DOROTHY CHESTER / RICHARD CHURCH / JOHN CLARKE / NICHOLAS CLARKE / WILLIAM CLARKE / JAMES COLE / WILLIAM CORNWELL

THOMAS SCOTT / THOMAS SELDEN / RICHARD SEYMOUR / JOHN SKINNER / ARTHUR SMITH / GILES SMITH / THOMAS SPENCER / WILLIAM SPENCER / JOHN STANLEY / TIMOTHY STANLEY / THOMAS STANTON / EDWARD STEBBINS / GEORGE STEELE / JOHN STEELE / GEORGE STOCKING / JOHN STONE / SAMUEL STONE / JOHN TALCOTT / THOMAS THOMPSON / THOMAS UPSON / ROBERT WADE / WILLIAM WADSWORTH / HENRY WAKELEY / JAMES WAKELEY / SAMUEL WAKEMAN / NATHANIEL WARD / ANDREW WARNER / JOHN WARNER / RICHARD WATTS / RICHARD WEBB / JOHN WEBSTER / THOMAS WELLES / WILLIAM WESTLEY / WILLIAM WESTWOOD / JOHN WHITE / SAMEL WHITEHEAD / WILLIAM WHITING / JOHN WILCOCK / GREGORY WOLTERTON / THOMAS WOODFORD / GEORGE WYLLYS

JOHN CROW / JOHN CULLICK / PHILIP DAVIS / FULKE DAVY / ROBERT DAY / NICHOLAS DESBOROUGH / JOSEPH EASTON / WILLIAM EDWARDS / EDWARD ELMER / NATHANIEL ELY / JAMES ENSIGN / ZACHARY FIELD / THOMAS FISHER / JOHN FRIEND / SAMUEL GARDINER / DANIEL GARRET / JOHN GENNINGS / WILLIAM GIBBONS / RICHARD GOODMAN / OZIAS GOODWIN / SETH GRANT / GEORGE GRAVE / BARTHOLOMEW GREENE / SAMUEL GREENHILL / THOMAS GRIDLEY / SAMUEL HALE / THOMAS HALE / JOHN HALL / STEPHEN HART / WILLIAM HAYDEN / JOHN HIGGINSON / WILLIAM HILLS / JOHN HOLLOWAY / WILLIAM HOLTON / THOMAS HOOKER / EDWARD HOPKINS / JOHN HOPKINS / THOMAS HOSMER / GEORGE HUBBARD / THOMAS HUNGERFORD
![Founders Monument [East] IN MEMORY OF THE FIRST / SETTLERS OF HARTFORD / JEREMY ADAMS / MATTHEW ALLYN / FRANCIS ANDREWS / WILLIAM ANDREWS / JOHN ARNOLD / ANDREW BACON / JOHN BARNARD / THOMAS BARNES / ROBERT BARTLETT / JOHN BAYSEY / THOMAS BEALE / NATHANIEL BEARDING / MARY BETTS / JOHN BIDWELL / RICHARD BILLING / THOMAS BIRCHWOOD / PETER BLACHFORD / THOMAS BLACKLEY / THOMAS BLISS SR. / THOMAS BLISS JR. / WILLIAM BLUMFIELD / JAMES BRIDGEMAN / JOHN BRONSON / RICHARD BRONSON / THOMAS BULL / THOMAS BUNCE / BENJAMIN BURR / RICHARD BUTLER / WILLIAM BUTLER / CLEMENT CHAPLIN / DOROTHY CHESTER / RICHARD CHURCH / JOHN CLARKE / NICHOLAS CLARKE / WILLIAM CLARKE / JAMES COLE / WILLIAM CORNWELL](https://ancientburyingground.com/wp-content/uploads/222_mo_e-1-444x1024.jpg)
IN MEMORY OF THE FIRST / SETTLERS OF HARTFORD / JEREMY ADAMS / MATTHEW ALLYN / FRANCIS ANDREWS / WILLIAM ANDREWS / JOHN ARNOLD / ANDREW BACON / JOHN BARNARD / THOMAS BARNES / ROBERT BARTLETT / JOHN BAYSEY / THOMAS BEALE / NATHANIEL BEARDING / MARY BETTS / JOHN BIDWELL / RICHARD BILLING / THOMAS BIRCHWOOD / PETER BLACHFORD / THOMAS BLACKLEY / THOMAS BLISS SR. / THOMAS BLISS JR. / WILLIAM BLUMFIELD / JAMES BRIDGEMAN / JOHN BRONSON / RICHARD BRONSON / THOMAS BULL / THOMAS BUNCE / BENJAMIN BURR / RICHARD BUTLER / WILLIAM BUTLER / CLEMENT CHAPLIN / DOROTHY CHESTER / RICHARD CHURCH / JOHN CLARKE / NICHOLAS CLARKE / WILLIAM CLARKE / JAMES COLE / WILLIAM CORNWELL

WILLIAM HYDE / JONATHAN INCE / THOMAS JUDD / NATHANIEL KELLOGG / RALPH KEELER / WILLIAM KELSEY / EDWARD LAY / WILLIAM LEWIS SR. / RICHARD LORD / THOMAS LORD / THOMAS LORD JR. / RICHARD LYMAN / JOHN MARSH / MATTHEW MARVIN / REINOLD MARVIN / JOHN MAYNARD / JOHN MOODY / JOHN MORRIS / BENJAMIN MUNN / THOMAS MUNSON / JOSEPH MYGATT / THOMAS OLCOTT / JAMES OLMSTED / JOHN OLMSTED / RICHARD OLMSTED / WILLIAM PANTRY / WILLIAM PARKER / PAUL PECK / WILLIAM PHILLIPS / JOHN PIERCE / THOMAS PORTER / STEPHEN POST / JOHN PRATT / WILLIAM PRATT / JOHN PURCHAS / NATHANIEL RICHARDS / THOMAS RICHARDS / RICHARD RISLEY / THOMAS ROOT / NATHANIEL RUSCOE / WILLIAM RUSCOE / JOHN SABLE
In 1896 the Ruth Wyllys Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution significantly improved the site. They conserved about 90 of the deteriorating stones. They also arranged to have the Ancient Burying Ground enclosed with a wrought-iron fence designed by the renowned architectural firm of McKim, Mead, and White. Emily Seymour Goodwin Holcombe led the process, which included clearing away deteriorating buildings along Gold Street, then adjacent to the Ancient Burying Ground. “The Gold Street Lady,” as Mrs. Holcombe came to be known, was honored with the rare privilege of being laid to rest, along with her husband and daughter, in the Ancient Burying Ground.