The Ancient Burying Ground is the final resting place of generations of rich and poor, free and enslaved, powerful and humble, famous and obscure who died in Hartford between 1640 until approximately 1815 (see also: the Uncovering Their History: African, African American, Native American Burials website). It is the oldest historic site in Hartford and the only one dating from the 1600s.
Beginning with its establishment just four years after the first English settlers arrived, as many as 6,000 people are believed to have been interred in the Ancient Burying Ground. More than 400 original gravestones dating from the 1600s, 1700s, and 1800s are still standing.
The graveyard bears unique witness to the lives of men and women, famous and obscure, who individually and in combination influenced the evolution of Hartford, Connecticut, and ultimately the United States itself. It is the perfect place to begin an exploration of Hartford’s historic resources.
The Founder’s Monument was first erected in 1837 by the “original” Ancient Burying Ground Association founded by Daniel Wadsworth. In 1964 the Founders Monument was restored by a committee of the Society of the Descendants of the Founders of Hartford (SDFH). The Founders Monument was completely replaced in 1986 by the SDFH to commemorate Hartford’s 350th anniversary. The monument was created out of solid pink granite from Stony Creek, CT.
Many of the names on the monument do not have a gravestone; Puritans did not create markers; early markers were made from wood or nonexistent; gravestone carvers settled in the area later; and families moved.
[N] 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
[E] 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
[S] 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
[W] 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
Learn more about the stories of people buried at the Ancient Burying Ground:
- Reverend Thomas Hooker and Government by the Consent of the People
- Nathaniel Willet and his role in Connecticut’s Witchcraft Trials
- Governor William Leete – Connecticut and New Haven Became One
- John Allyn, securing the Royal Charter and the Charter Oak
- Elizabeth Willson from Hartford as a successful Colonial Business And Commercial Center
- Col. Nathan Payson and Dr. Eliakim Fish, who served in the military in several Colonial Conflicts
- Richard Bernham and Ebenezer Watson in Connecticut’s Run-Up To Rebellion
- Captain Pownal Deming and Moses Dunbar – opposing roles in the American Revolution
- Jeremiah Wadsworth – Creating A New State And Nation
- Learn more about the People of Diverse Races and Ethnic Heritages found at the Ancient Burying Ground