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When the American Revolution broke out on April 19, 1775, the minutemen and militiamen who answered the call to arms were local farmers, artisans, and merchants from the communities nearby the first battle sites. Some of those men would die in battle just miles away from their hometowns. But even those who marched to New York and points south often returned to Massachusetts or New Hampshire to live out the rest of their days. As a result, the cemeteries throughout Freedom’s Way National Heritage Area are the final resting place for hundreds of soldiers who served in the American Revolution.

It’s perhaps unsurprising to find Patriot (and British) graves in communities like Arlington, Lexington, and Concord, which were so close to the heart of the fighting. But marked Patriot interments are widespread throughout the heritage area, with unexpected clusters in towns from Leominster, Massachusetts to Hollis, New Hampshire. Some cemeteries, like the Old South Burying Ground in Bolton, have honored their Revolutionary War Patriots with ornate memorials. Others, like Winchendon’s Old Centre Burial Ground, have had to reconcile with their initial treatment of Patriots of color. Bodies have been disinterred and reinterred, headstones have been weatherbeaten and restored — but over time, these cemeteries have come to paint a moving portrait of how we honor and remember Revolutionary War veterans.

This itinerary was compiled using information from the SAR Patriot Research System, a 1901 inventory of markers placed by the Massachusetts Society of the SAR, an inventory of the Revolutionary Graves of New Hampshire produced by the New Hampshire Society of the SAR, and other individual community resources when available. While the list is far from comprehensive, it is a good indicator of the cemeteries that feature a high number of Revolutionary War interments. We estimate nearly 100 cemeteries throughout Freedom’s Way National Heritage Area contain at least one Revolutionary War interment. For the sake of this itinerary, we have focused on the cemeteries known to contain ten or more interments.

Whenever possible, we have provided the names of the individuals known to be buried in each cemetery or town. Our own research has identified discrepancies in some of these lists and we welcome your feedback should you notice something that doesn’t seem right.

We look forward to expanding this information as new knowledge about our Patriots and our heritage area comes to light.

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