Lowell Cemetery

Lowell Cemetery Official page of the Proprietors of the Lowell Cemetery. A Garden Style Cemetery listed on the Natio

Happy Birthday to Louisa Whittemore Bradley who was born in Cambridge, MA, on this day, in 1792. She married Peleg Bradl...
02/22/2026

Happy Birthday to Louisa Whittemore Bradley who was born in Cambridge, MA, on this day, in 1792. She married Peleg Bradley in Dracut, MA, on May 29, 1817. Their names are inscribed on the same headstone, but their information is in different fonts. Peleg Bradley, M.D., died in 1848, and Louisa died in 1866. Five of their six children are buried in the family plot, off Snowberry Path, adjacent to the Shedd Receiving Tomb.

Frank Whitehouse Howe was born in Lowell, MA, on June 3, 1859. He graduated from Phillips Exeter Academy, Exeter, NH, an...
02/20/2026

Frank Whitehouse Howe was born in Lowell, MA, on June 3, 1859. He graduated from Phillips Exeter Academy, Exeter, NH, and then attended Harvard College for one year before joining his father’s company, Howe Brothers Lumber. In February, 1882, he and 19 other prominent young men in Lowell, MA, formed the Yorick Club, a private, men-only, social association in the city. Frank was also a member of the Algonquin Club of Boston.

Frank was the Director and President of the Lowell Baseball Club when they won the New England Assoc. pennant in 1887. He served on the Lowell City Council in 1885 and, in 1888, he was a member of the Mass. State Senate. In 1887, he married Jeanne Appleton Stott in Lowell, on December 14th. Frank and Jeanne spent their summers on Boar’s Head, North Hampton, NH, and their winters in Santa Barbara, CA. He died on February 23, 1923, in Los Angeles, CA.

Frank and Jeanne are buried near the intersection of Washington and Wilberforce Aves. The gray of the Howe monument is in beautiful contrast to the snow in this winter scene.
Source: “The Lowell Courier-Citizen,” February 27, 1923.

Happy Birthday to Alfred Bateman, born in Maine on this day in 1842. Alfred served in both Company D. 4th Maine Regimen...
02/19/2026

Happy Birthday to Alfred Bateman, born in Maine on this day in 1842. Alfred served in both Company D. 4th Maine Regiment, and in Company C. 20th Maine Regiment during the Civil War. The 4th Maine was organized in Rockland, Maine, in May 1861, while the 20th Maine was organized in the summer of 1862. Like many Civil War soldiers, Alfred had his portrait taken. Notice that his jacket is half unbuttoned. Was this done for comfort or was it a fashion statement? Alfred and his wife, Mary, lived on Smith St., in Lowell’s Lower Highlands neighborhood. He died on February 18, 1898, and is buried with Mary on Whipple Ave.

Their monument, a series of decorative blocks incorporating pilasters and a meander or Greek key pattern, includes a plinth. This is a block of stone placed between the lower base and an upright tablet. These words are inscribed on the Bateman plinth: “He That Keepeth Thee Will Not Slumber.”

Robert LeRoy Jones was born in Nobleboro, ME, on this day in 1885. He graduated from Jefferson Medical College, Philadel...
02/18/2026

Robert LeRoy Jones was born in Nobleboro, ME, on this day in 1885. He graduated from Jefferson Medical College, Philadelphia, PA, in 1910, and came to Lowell, MA, two years later to establish his practice. He became a well-known physician and surgeon. During WWI, he served with the Army Medical Corps in France and was honorably discharged with the rank of Major. Dr. Jones died on May 14, 1950 and is buried on Coburn Ave. His funeral was well-attended by staff from Lowell General, St. John’s and St. Joseph’s Hospitals. There were also delegations from Vesper Country Club and the Yorick Club. The traffic was so heavy for his wake at the Morse Funeral Home that the three officers on duty were named in an article covering the funeral. Source: “The Lowell Sun,” Monday, May 15, 1950.

Luther S. Cheney died on this day in 1862 as a result of a fatal accident. Here’s the account as it appeared on that day...
02/17/2026

Luther S. Cheney died on this day in 1862 as a result of a fatal accident. Here’s the account as it appeared on that day in “The Lowell Daily Citizen:”

“This morning about 8 o’clock, as Mr. Luther S. Cheney was in the act of taking a loaded gun from a closet in the house of Mr. Charles Courser, on Pine Street, the hammer caught against a cleat in the closet sufficient to raise it, and the gun was discharged, the whole charge of shot entering the left thigh of Mr. Cheney and cutting off the main artery. He walked towards the door and asked to have a doctor sent for, and then fell from weakness. Drs. Bass and Dickey came in about half an hour, but he bled to death before their arrival. The deceased lives on Middlesex Street, and was going to-day with some companions on a gunning excursion, of which sport he was very fond. He was 40 years of age and leaves a wife and four children.”

At the time of his death, “Lowell Vital Records” lists Luther’s profession as victualer, a term used to describe a person possessing a license to provide alcoholic beverages. Luther is buried on Washington Ave. His headstone incorrectly has 1861 as the year of his death.

John Brooks Pilling was born in Salem, NH, on this day in 1863. He was the Superintendent of Pilling Shoe on Shaffer St....
02/16/2026

John Brooks Pilling was born in Salem, NH, on this day in 1863. He was the Superintendent of Pilling Shoe on Shaffer St., in the Acre neighborhood of Lowell, MA.

In the late-19th century, several Haverhill, MA, shoe manufacturers relocated to Lowell in search of more favorable labor conditions. John B. Pilling’s father was the first to move his shoe company to Lowell in 1887. He first started a factory on Worthen St. and named his son, John, Superintendent. John moved the company to Shaffer St., in the Acre neighborhood a few years later. It became a thriving operation and required further expansion. The opening of a new wing on June 25, 1909 was celebrated with a big party. Refreshments were served on the first floor with the second floor set aside for dancing.

The Pilling Shoe Co. suffered economic reversals during the Depression, but remained in business until 1954. John died on April 25, 1924 and is buried with his wife Delia on Shedd Ave. Source: https://lowellhistarch.omeka.net/items/show/815

Born in New Hampshire in 1832, John Chandler died in Lowell, MA, on this day in 1865. His headstone is in the elegant sh...
02/15/2026

Born in New Hampshire in 1832, John Chandler died in Lowell, MA, on this day in 1865. His headstone is in the elegant shape of a pointed trefoil arch. A Masonic square and compass in the center is Freemasonry’s most recognized symbol. It can be seen on many Lowell Cemetery headstones and represents morality, judgment and self-discipline.

The Trustees and Staff of the Lowell Cemetery wish everyone a Happy Valentine’s Day.
02/14/2026

The Trustees and Staff of the Lowell Cemetery wish everyone a Happy Valentine’s Day.

Lucius A. Derby was born in Orford, NH, on January 25, 1852. In the 1870s, he was hired by the new Lowell District Telep...
02/13/2026

Lucius A. Derby was born in Orford, NH, on January 25, 1852. In the 1870s, he was hired by the new Lowell District Telephone Co. and learned the electrical trade. When the company decided to move their central office to Boston, Lucius decided to remain in Lowell and started his own electrical business, L.A. Derby & Co., at 60-64 Middle St. He was a pioneer—the first to install an electric arc lamp in Putnam & Sons Clothing Store, 166-168 Central St; and the first to install an electric lamp on a Lowell street. Prior to the 1880s, Lowell’s street lights were tended to by lamplighters who used by kerosene and gas. Thanks to Derby’s initiative, Lowell had 119 electric lights in place by 1888.

In the early 1900s, many cities, including Lowell, adopted the term "Great White Way" (originally coined for Broadway in New York City) to describe their main streets after they installed dazzling, modern white electric streetlights. This was a symbol of civic pride and technological progress, showcasing the city's energy and modernity by illuminating the street brightly at night.

The company expanded its business to include the repair of motors and Lucius changed its name to Derby Electric Motors Co. He served six years as a member of Lowell’s Board of Alderman and spent 50 winters in San Mateo, FL, where he owned an orange grove. He died on February 13, 1942 in San Mateo and is buried on Coburn Ave. Sources: Lamplighter courtesy of Lowell Historical Society; Postcard from JP Lewis Downtown Lowell FB post July 24, 2019; “History of Lowell,” Coburn, pg. 327, The Lewis Historical Publishing Co., 1920; “The Lowell Sun,” February 16, 1942.

James E. Hughes was born on July 5, 1889, in Dover, NH. In the “MA State Vital Records, 1841-1920,” he is listed as a ve...
02/13/2026

James E. Hughes was born on July 5, 1889, in Dover, NH. In the “MA State Vital Records, 1841-1920,” he is listed as a velvet toolmaker, when he married Violet Davis in Lowell, MA, on November 22, 1917. He died on this February 11, 1920, and is buried on Coburn Ave. Violet later married William Davis who died in 1958 and is buried in the same lot with James. Violet lived until 1982, dying at 99 years of age, outliving both her husbands by many years. She is buried in Oriskany Cemetery in Oneida County, NY. The Hughes/Davis monument appears to combine an angel from an earlier memorial with a mid-20th-century style stone.

Betsey Prescott was born on May 10, 1797, in Westford, MA. On April 26, 1818, she married Asa Reed and they had two chil...
02/08/2026

Betsey Prescott was born on May 10, 1797, in Westford, MA. On April 26, 1818, she married Asa Reed and they had two children, both born in Westford. Asa died in 1826 and Betsey married Elijah Read in Lowell, MA, on August 23, 1833. Betsey died on February 13, 1879 and is buried on Washington Ave. Curious coincidence of her married names – Reed to Read!

Happy Birthday to Martha Goward who was born in Mansfield, MA, on this day in 1821. In 1862, Martha and her husband, Zep...
02/06/2026

Happy Birthday to Martha Goward who was born in Mansfield, MA, on this day in 1821. In 1862, Martha and her husband, Zephania, built an 11-room house at 274 Appleton St. across from the South Common. Her portrait by an itinerant artist was donated to the Lowell Historical Society. According to family records, the portrait was badly damaged during the tornado of June 9, 1953 that blew through Shrewsbury. The family had it restored by specialists at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.

Martha and her husband are buried on Wilberford Ave. Their epitaph reads: Death Is But The Gate To Immortality.

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77 Knapp Avenue
Lowell, MA
01852

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Monday 7:30am - 4pm
Tuesday 7:30am - 4pm
Wednesday 7:30am - 4pm
Thursday 7:30am - 4pm
Friday 7:30am - 4pm
Saturday 7:30am - 4pm
Sunday 7:30am - 4pm

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