Receiving Tomb

Pine Grove Cemetery has one receiving tomb, which sits on Pine Street. A receiving tomb was an important building in any graveyard that was subject to harsh winters. The bodies of those who died in the winter were stored in a receiving tomb, so that they could be buried in the spring when the ground was softer.

Silent City on a Hill, a book about Mount Auburn Cemetery near Boston, notes that receiving tombs had other uses as well. Bodies were stored there for short periods if the grave was not ready, or if a monument or tomb was not complete, or even if the body was to be shipped somewhere else. Storing a body in a receiving tomb had an added perk of preventing the "dead" from being buried alive, if in fact they were not dead. Check out an interesting article about the history of live burial--and the precautions taken to prevent it--here.

The receiving tomb at Pine Grove Cemetery, photographed in 1913 for The Brunswick Record.

The current receiving tomb at Pine Grove Cemetery was completed in late 1912/early 1913. On January 24, 1913, The Brunswick Record printed the following article about the new tomb:

"Handsome Structure Recently Built in Pine Grove Cemetery.

"The new receiving tomb at Pine Grove Cemetery recently completed by the Sanders Construction Co. of this town is probably the first tomb in this part of the country to be built of concrete. The structure was built from the plans drawn by E.E. Sanders. Although the trustees of Pine Grove Cemetery were advised by Massachusetts men not to build of concrete, the results have been so satisfactory that men are coming here from various places in Maine and Massachusetts to examine the new tomb.

"The building replaces the old mound tomb, and is situated in the southeast corner of the cemetery, near the Bath road. The outside dimensions are 18 x 23 feet; extreme height 14 feet. The inside measurements are 16 x 20 feet and its is designed to hold 34 caskets.

"The entire structure is of concrete, including the roof, which is made in one-piece construction, reinforced with steel. The concrete mixture was one part cement, two parts of sand and four parts of crushed granite. The wall, which is thirteen inches thick, embodies the new plan of making the tomb damp proof, the inside being constructed of gypsum tiles, with an inch air space between the concrete wall and the tiling. This plan obviates the dampness of ordinary concrete construction.

"The doors are of steel; the finished portions of the exterior have been rubbed with carborundum brick, and the panels were bush hammered to represent stone work.

"As will be noticed by the accompanying illustration, the architecture is plain Grecian, on the lines of the well-known Greek temple, giving a dignity and harmony that is unusual in such construction.

"The cost of the tomb was about $2500, and the work was done under the direction of a committee composed of E.H. Woodside, I.H. Danforth and J.S. Towne, trustees of Pine Grove Cemetery Association. They had good reason to feel proud of the structure, as it marks an important improvement in the cemetery, and adds beauty and dignity to the grounds.

"Mr. Sanders, head of the E.E. Sanders Construction Co., is receiving many compliments for his work. His company, which has recently been incorporated, makes a specialty of concrete and bridge work, and the plan is to have men of prominence in all branches of engineering included in the corporation."

The receiving tomb at Pine Grove Cemetery as it appears today.

Sources:
"Handsome Structure Recently Built in Pine Grove Cemetery." The Brunswick Record. 24 January 1913.
Linden, Blanche M. G. Silent City On a Hill: Picturesque Landscapes of Memory and Boston's Mount Auburn Cemetery. Library of American Landscape History, 2007.

Cemeteries & Public Health

What may seem like a silly question has actually been a matter of debate for at least a hundred years: can a cemetery kill you?

The issue revolves around concerns of public health and water contamination caused by cemeteries. In the crowded church and graveyards of Europe it became a particular concern, as early as the 1800s, but America has not been immune to the debate. In her famous book The American Way of Death Revisited, Jessica Mitford concludes that while the decomposing bodies of those who died "from typhoid, cholera, plague, and other enteric infections" could pose a danger to local drinking water, "the body of a person who has died of a noncommunicable illness, such as heart disease or cancer, presents no hazard whatsoever" (57).

American funeral directors have long advertised embalming as a way to prevent the spread of disease, an argument with which Mitford clearly disagrees. Interesting, at least one study seems to point to the dangers of embalming to public health. In their paper "Old Cemeteries, Arsenic, and Health Safety", John L. Konefes and Michael K. McGee describe the early history of embalming in America. Gaining popularity during the Civil War as a way to ship dead soldiers home, embalming preserved a body for travel. As Knoefes and McGee explain, many of the embalming solutions used from the Civil War in the 1860s until 1910 contained arsenic "because it effectively killed or halted the microorganisms responsible for decomposition" (15). According to their findings, water sources near cemeteries in use during this time period have occasionally been found to have elevated levels of arsenic.

Despite the findings of Konefes and McGee, the primary health concern related to cemeteries continues to be disease. Unfortunately, there is conflicting information on the subject. Though some bacteria can survive in soil for hundreds of years, the World Health Organization notes that there have been no clear cases of epidemics caused by cemetery seepage into groundwater. A British study found that bacteria from a cemetery's corpses were finding their way into the groundwater at the cemetery, but concluded that it was "unlikely the contamination would spread far from the cemetery before being rendered harmless."

Pine Grove Cemetery was not immune to concerns about the health of residents near or visiting the cemetery. In the 1860s, the Brunswick Telegraph reported that some Brunswick citizens were troubled by the number of the trees surrounding the cemetery. The trees shaded the cemetery, preventing the land from drying out and posing a health hazard, they argued. Interestingly, the World Health Organization recommends just the opposite to prevent the spread of disease: deep-rooted trees near and in cemeteries suck up contaminated ground water, purifying it. Twenty years later, the newspaper remained wary about the issue. In April 1886, the Brunswick Telegraph advised: "Let us give again, as we have given before several times, a hint not to drink the water from the pump which stands under the arbor [at Pine Grove Cemetery]. That water is simply saturated with poison from the decay of the bodies deposited in the ground." (emphasis in original)

Sources:
Calhoun, Charles C. A Small College in Maine: Two Hundred Years of Bowdoin. Brunswick: Bowdoin College, 1993.
"Cemetery." Brunswick Telegraph. 2 April 1886.
Gregory, David. "Water Tainted by Corpse Bacteria." BBC News website, 10 August 2001.
Knoefes, John L. & Michael K. McGee. "Old Cemeteries, Arsenic, and Health Safety."Cultural Resource Management (National Park Service), v. 9 no. 10, pages 15-18.
Mitford, Jessica. The American Way of Death Revisited. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1998.
Ucisik, Ahmet S. & Philip Rushbrook. "The Impact of Cemeteries on the Environment and Public Health: An Introductory Briefing." World Health Organization, 1998.

He's Number One!

We know relatively little about Major Lemuel Swift, and most of what we do know comes from Wheeler & Wheeler's History of Brunswick, Topsham and Harpswell. Born sometime in 1767, Swift "probably" descended from William Swift of Sandwich, England. (Wheeler & Wheeler, 856) According to the Wheelers, Lemuel Swift arrived in Brunswick in 1790 from New Bedford, Massachusetts. A year later, Swift had set up shop as a hatter on Maine Street, a profession he continued until his death.

The Swift-Forsaith House at 106 Maine Street, built for Lemuel Swift in 1794. This photo was taken in 1967, shortly before the building was razed. From the Pejepscot Historical Society, acc# OH 1851.

A document at the Pejepscot Historical Society (acc# 2000.68) indicates that in 1802, Lemuel Swift was appointed as a captain of the militia. Sometime between then and his death he was most likely promoted to the rank of Major, the title with which Wheeler and Wheeler frequently refer to him. Swift also seems to have been a popular Brunswick resident, as in July 1803 he was appointed postmaster. Apparently Swift was unaware that he was up for the position, because he turned down the job. Swift was also a charter member of the Universalist Society of Brunswick in January, 1812.

Top: The family gravestone of the Swifts, located in the second row from the right.
Bottom: Though Lemuel is listed on the northern side of the stone, it appears that his original, simpler stone was not removed when the obelisk was added (or perhaps this slate stone was at Swift's original grave at another cemetery, and when he was moved to Pine Grove his relatives paid for a larger monument). Swift's smaller gravestone is seen here, leaning against the larger monument.

Despite his apparently high position in town, Lemuel Swift's name lives on for two reasons that he had relatively little control over: his home and his death. In 1794, he built his home at 106 Maine Street. The house, which became known as the Swift-Forsaith house, was home to his descendants for more than 130 years. When it was torn down in 1967, it was the oldest house on Maine Street. Lemuel Swift died on June 30, 1820--he was the first person to be buried in Pine Grove Cemetery.

Sources:
Commission appointing Lemuel Swift captain of militia. 18 September 1902. Pejepscot Historical Society, acc# 2000.68.
Original Charter of the Universalist Society of Brunswick. 20 January 1812. Pejepscot Historical Society, acc# OH 109.
Shipman, William D. The Early Architecture of Bowdoin College and Brunswick, Maine. J.H. French & Son: 1985.
Wheeler, George Augustus & Henry Warren. History of Brunswick, Topsham, and Harpswell, Maine, Including the Ancient Territory Known as Pejepscot. Boston: Alfred Mudge & Son, 1878.

Special thanks to Ann Frey, who helped research Major Lemuel Swift.

Pine Grove Cemetery: An Introduction to the Dead

Pine Grove Cemetery, located just off Bath Road & Pine Street in Brunswick, Maine, is arguably the region’s most prominent cemetery. Men & women who have impacted the history of the United States, Maine and Brunswick all lay buried beneath the towering pines which lend the cemetery its name. Among these dead are a Civil War hero, Maine’s most famous botanist, a physician who developed vital forensic tests, the parents of a First Lady, two Maine governors, a slew of Bowdoin College presidents & professors (including the “Father of American Mineralogy”), librarians, Revolutionary War veterans, a former slave, sea captains, and the state’s first printer.

The cemetery is located on land which once belonged to Bowdoin College, which sits directly next to it. In 1821 Bowdoin’s trustees deeded the land to Pine Grove’s first proprietors, Robert Eastman, Nahum Houghton, Abner Bourne “and their associates, heirs, executors, administrators, or assigns”. The two acres were given with the stipulation that the college could take back the land if it were not used as a burying ground.

Painting of Bowdoin College, circa 1825. From the Pejepscot Historical Society collection, acc# 1992.112.84.

But there was no need for the college to worry about the fate of the land. In 1825 the cemetery land was cleared “carefully and selectively” as Teresa M. Flanagan, author of Mourning on the Pejepscot puts it, “not stripped clean as it had been for early town burial grounds.” Though this was six years before Mount Auburn Cemetery near Boston—“America’s first garden cemetery”—Pine Grove Cemetery might qualify as a part of the rural cemetery or “cemetery beautiful” movement if not for its location. Rural cemeteries were carefully landscaped and designed, intended to serve as parks do for communities today. Yet, unlike Pine Grove, rural cemeteries were intentionally placed on the outskirts of cities & towns where there was more room for expansion and the grounds were more rolling and picturesque. Pine Grove Cemetery is where it is because it was closer to Brunswick’s population center.

Before the 1820s, the town’s most prominent graveyard—the old First Parish Church Burying Ground—was located next to the meetinghouse on the 12 rod road (now Maine Street). When the church moved closer to downtown Brunswick (its current location) a new cemetery, closer to First Parish Church, was needed. The college stepped in, providing the land for the graveyard. Not only did the town’s most prominent cemetery move from the old First Parish Church Burying Ground to Pine Grove Cemetery, a few of the dead did as well. Bowdoin College’s first two presidents, Joseph McKeen and Jesse Appleton, had each died before Pine Grove Cemetery was established. After the new cemetery was laid out, the remains of both men were relocated to the new cemetery to rest on the land that had once belonged to the college they presided over.

Nearing its 200th birthday, Pine Grove Cemetery continues to hold an important place in Brunswick's past, present and future. According to a 2005 survey by Mark & Donald Cheetham, there are 2,491 marker stones in the cemetery and the earliest death recorded on a gravestone is 1794 (the same year Bowdoin College was founded). Yet, despite its age, the cemetery is active and continues to serve as the final resting place of the area's residents.

Sources:
Cheetham, Donald & Mark. Pine Grove Cemetery, Bath Road, Brunswick, Maine, volumes 1 & 2 (Pejepscot Historical Society, acc# 2006.7.1 & 2006.7.2), 2005.
Flanagan, Teresa M. Mourning on the Pejepscot. Lanham, Maryland: University Press of America, 1992.
Hatch, Louis C. The History of Bowdoin College. Portland, Maine: Loring, Short & Harmon, 1927.
Wheeler, George Augustus & Henry Warren. History of Brunswick, Topsham, and Harpswell, Maine, Including the Ancient Territory Known as Pejepscot. Boston: Alfred Mudge & Son, 1878.