The Putnam Cemetery is a small family cemetery on Maple Street in Danvers, Massachusetts. The graveyard is 16,000 square feet and is located in a secluded, hard-to-find location off Maple Street.
The cemetery is located on the former farm of Revolutionary War hero General Israel Putnam and is the resting place of his descendants.
At the northern end of the cemetery is a small mound that contains several unmarked graves believed to be the graves of afflicted girl Ann Putnam Jr and her parents, Thomas Putnam and Ann Putnam Sr.
Thomas and Ann Putnam Sr. died of an unknown illness within two weeks of each other in 1699, at ages 46 and 37, and Ann Putnam Jr died in 1716 at age 37.
There are a total of 91 headstones in the cemetery. Many of the marble headstones are worn and illegible. The earliest headstone is dated to 1775, and the latest is 1990.
Some of the more legible headstones in the cemetery are:
- David Putnam, died 4/17/1775, 6 months old
- David Putnam, died 6/22/1776, 7 weeks old
- Meely Putnam, died 12/24/1797, 17 years old
- Katherine Putnam, died 6/21/1791, 4 weeks old
- Ruth Putnam, died 12/9/1806, 57 years old
- Ebenezer Brown, died 4/21/1812, 78 years old
- Deacon Joseph Putnam, died 4/9/1818, 79 years old
- Israel Putnam, died 4/23/1825, 82 years old
The cemetery is one of a handful of historic cemeteries in Danvers. The others include the Danvers State Hospital Cemetery, the 1789 Holten’s Burying Ground, Porter’s Burial Grounds, the Old Settler’s Cemetery, the Rebecca Nurse Burying Ground, the Wadsworth Cemetery, and the Walnut Grove Cemetery.
Sources:
“Cemeteries.” Town of Danvers Massachusetts, danversma.gov/481/Cemeteries
“Historic Burial Ground Detail: DAN.808 Putnam Cemetery.” MACRIS, mhc-macris.net/details?mhcid=DAN.808