Historic Hancock Cemetery; Quincy, MA

0: Samuel Brown Jr

1: Samuel Arnald

2: J. Q. Adams Tomb

3: Rev. William Thompson

4: Joanna Hoar, Bridget Hoar

5: Dr. Leonard Hoar

6: Rev. Henry Flynt, Margery Flynt

7: Dr. Elisha Savil

8: Col. John Quincy

(1767) One of the most successful political leaders in Massachusetts history, John Quincy served over 30 years in the colonial legislature, including 12 as speaker.  He protected American rights against royal perogatives and ardently defended freedom of conscience.  In 1792, the town of Quincy was named in his honor.  He is the grandfather of Abigail Adams.  Note the original (footstone?) marker to the right of the monumnet.

9: Josiah Quincy, Sr.

(1784)  Successful merchant and a strong patriot, Josiah built a handsome house which still stands on Muirhead Street in the Wollaston section of Quincy.  Note the embossed seal on the tomb slab.

10: Joanna Quincy

(1680)  Another of Joanna Hoar's children, she married the second Edmund Quincy and is an ancestor of Abigail Adams.

11: Edmund Quincy

(1698)  The son of Edmund who emigrated from England, Edmund did much to establish the family's prominence in the colony.  He built the original portion of the Quincy Homestead, which stands at the corner of Hancock Street and Butler Road.  According to tradition, the hollowed out space in the low headstone contained a lead engraving of the family seal that during the Revolution was removed and made into bullets.

12: Josiah Quincy, Jr.and Abigail Phillips Quincy

Josiah (1775) and Abigail (1798)  "...Barrister at law...Brilliant talents, uncommon eloquence, & indefatigable application/ Raised him to the highest eminence in his profession.  His early, enlightened inflexible attachment to/ The cause of his country/ Is attested by monuments more durable than this..."  A colleague of John Adams in the early patriot cause and his co-counsel in the Boston Massacre trial, Quincy died at the age of 30 while returning from pleading the American cause in England.  The Revolution thus lost a potentially great leader.  This monument to him and his wife, Abigail, was erected and composed by their son, the third Josiah, who---among his other accomplishments---was perhaps Boston's greatest mayor and the long-time president of Harvard College.

13: John Cleverly, Sarah Cleverly

John (1703), Sarah (1694)  These gravestones by Boston carver John Noyes, are two of the most striking designs in the cemetery.  John's is the earliest headstone in New England to represent birds.  The birds are alternately phoenixes (immortality) or peacocks (incorruptibility). 

14: Issac Newcomb

(1753)  An example of a child's gravestone, this small marker----carved by an anonymous artisan---is characterized by a bellflower design used only on children's graves.

15: William Saunders, Ann Saunders

William (1830), Ann (1826)  These two markers are excellent examples of the more genteel 19th-century style of decoration, with classical urns and weeping willows.

16: Henry Adams

(1646)  The cemetery's earliest identified grave is of John Adams' great-great-grandfather, who emigrated from England in the first years of the Massachusetts colony.  Later in life, John Adams erected new memorials over the four graves of his direct ancestors with inscriptions he composed himself.  His inscriptions here, emphasizing that Henry emigrated for reasons of conscience--as a Puritan fleeing religious persecution, is the most eloquent of the four memorials.

17: Joseph Adams, Abigail Baxter Adams

Joseph (1694), Abigail Baxter (1694)  John Adams' great-grandparents.  Note the original headstones in front of the memorial.

18: Rev. John Hancock

19: Joseph Adams II, Hannah Bass Adams

20: John Adams I, Susannah Boylston Adams

21: Sarah Glover

22: Joseph Penniman

23: John Briesler

24: Abner Packard