Friends Cemetery sign - mock-up DRAFT The Friends Burying Ground Is Salem's Third Oldest And Smallest Cemetery.
Its Earliest Gravestone Dated 1702 Is That Of Crestofor Foster.
The Second Quaker Meeting House Built On This Site In 1716 Was
Used For Approximately 100 Years.
Salem's Earliest Quakers Arrived In The Early 1650s, Suffered Persecution And Exile
Under The Laws Of The Massachusetts Bay Colony's General Court.
Members Of The Local Well-Known Southwick Family Are Buried Here.
The Peaceful And Simple Landscape Of The Cemetery Reflects Its Quaker Heritage.
ESTABLISHED 1702
Friends Cemetery
Established 1702
The Friends Burying Ground is Salem's third oldest and its smallest cemetery. The earliest
existing gravestone is dated 1702 for Crestofor Foster and members of the locally well-known
Southwick family are also buried here. On this site in 1718,the Religious Society of Friends
(Quakers) constructed their second meeting house to replace an earlier meeting house
constructed further east on Essex Street. The second meeting house was removed about 1832.
During the 171h & 18th centuries, Salem was a center of New England Quakerism. The earliest
Quakers arrived in Salem in the 1650s, suffered persecution and were exiled under the laws of
the Massachusetts Bay Colony's General Court. The simple headstones and peaceful landscape
of the cemetery reflect its Quaker heritage.
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