Historic Town Cemeteries

Below are links to each of the Historic Town Cemeteries. Each page contains pairs of spreadsheets which give the names and relative locations of the deceased buried in Town cemeteries. The index spreadsheet contains the row and column number in the layout spreadsheet for the deceased. Every attempt was made to discern the full name as it appears on each stone in the cemetery.

In general, in the name index spreadsheet, the last name appears in full CAPITAL LETTERS on the Name Index and the Layout. Names appearing in RED on the Layout indicate that the stone is damaged. QUESTION MARKS on the Layout indicate the location of a stone with no apparent inscription or an indecipherable inscription.

The Name Index is sorted first by last name, then by first name and then by middle name or middle initial. Several stones were inscribed with initials only. These were entered in the last name column of the Name Index. Some stones were inscribed with just a first name. These appear at the end of the Name Index.

Titles and honorifics such as “Capt.,” “Mr.,” “Mrs.,” “Miss,” “Jr.,” and “Father” that appeared as part of the name on the stones were entered after the first name in the first name column of the Name Index. They appear on the Layout as they appear on the stones. In a few instances, a married woman’s maiden name was indicated on the stone but not as part of her name. The maiden name was entered in the middle name column of the Name Index and appears next to her first name in the Layout. In a very few cases an “ſ,” the archaic long or medial “s,” appears in a name on a stone; these names have been entered using “s” in the Name Index and on the Layout.

The location references in the Name Index refer to the lettered columns and numbered lines of the grid on the Layout. Multiple entries next to a name indicate that the name appears on more than one stone. These entries appear as letters separated by commas for the column and numbers separated by commas for the lines. For example, the entries “S, AD” and “47, 77” appearing after a name indicate that the name appears on line 47 of column S and line 77 of column AD on the Layout.

Thanks to Raymond G. LeBeau, the undersigned’s father, for sharing his interest in genealogy. Had he not, this modest project would not have been attempted.

—Paul D. LeBeau, May 2012

EXAMPLE: For the Central Burying Ground, open the Index, look for ADAMS, Abby B. The location code is AW123. Open the layout spreadsheet, go across the top to column AW, scroll down the rows to row 123. This is Abby’s relative location in the cemetery. She is approximately 1/3 of the way from the Town Hall ramp (at the east side of building) and 1/5 of the way back from Washington Street.

FOR SMARTPHONE USERS: We have condensed the information into a smaller file which is viewable from a small screen device. We have divided the cemetery up into a 5×5 grid. Locations are like on a map. The letters are left/right, the numbers are back/front. You are starting at the left back corner (A1).

The Holliston Historical Society wishes to thank Mr. Paul LeBeau for graciously allowing his data to be posted on our website. This data is provided as-is and while the Society will make every effort to post a current copy of the data, we cannot make any guarantees or warranties as to its accuracy.

Addendum September 10, 2012
The name index for the Central Burying Ground was updated by visiting the cemetery and reading the markers. In general, only information found on the gravestone was included. In cases where the stone was not easily readable some information from the Holliston Vital Records to 1850 was included. We are grateful to Ms. Susan Heavner and Ms. Mary Curran for performing the field work and providing this first-hand data.

Addendum June 28, 2012
We are pleased to post information for the Braggville Cemetery on Rockland Street in Holliston, MA. Information for the Bragg Family Cemetery was obtained from Ms. Lena Bragg and compiled by Ms. Carol Kosicki. As the cemetery is small, there is not a layout spreadsheet containing the row and column number for each stone. Instead there is one spread sheet listing in alphabetical order the names on the stones. A second file contains the gravestone inscriptions and it is organized by the locations of the stones and monuments within the family lots. Most everyone buried in this cemetery is a Bragg and the cemetery is located in what is called Braggville, an area around the current Rt 16 Holliston/Milford border.

Back to the Collections & Research Page.

Central Burying Ground

East Holliston Cemetery

Old North Cemetery

Braggville Cemetery