07/03/2026
Stop by the Revolutionary War Cemetery this week and see the new kiosk! The kiosk provides detailed information on the cemetery.
Established in 1716 as the Burying Place, the Revolutionary War Cemetery is the oldest burying ground in Sudbury. The oldest surviving stone marks Sarah Noyes, who died in 1727, and the last recorded burial was Eunice Haynes in 1895. The exact number of those laid to rest here remains uncertain. While 509 names have been documented, this figure does not account for the many whose names have been lost to time. In 2012, ground-penetrating radar revealed the likely presence of 976 burial sites and approximately 70 buried headstones.
While associated with the Revolutionary War, most buried here were everyday townspeople, shopkeepers, farmers, mothers, fathers, sons, and daughters. The gravestones themselves reflect early New England beliefs. Made from slate, limestone, and granite, they feature symbols such as winged faces, skulls, willow trees, and pinwheels. Inscriptions often quote the Bible, reminding the living of mortality, repentance, and the hope of the afterlife.
The cemetery also holds Revolutionary War patriots. Most notable is Deacon Josiah Haynes, who in his seventy-ninth year, was killed on April 19, 1775, while marching to Concord. He was Sudbury’s first soldier to die in the Revolution. Other patriots include Corporal Jonathan Fairbank, Captain Jonathan Bent, Colonel Ezekiel How, and Captain Daniel Bowker.
In 2022, Sudbury Historical Society board member Ed Kreutz identified 61 marked graves of Revolutionary soldiers, with many more believed to rest in unmarked sites. Each year on April 19th, the Sudbury Companies of Militia and Minute honor these patriots with a musket salute before marching to Concord’s North Bridge.
Three of Sudbury’s ministers are also buried here: Reverend Israel Loring (1745-1772), Reverend Jacob Bigelow (1742-1818), and Reverend Rufus Hurlbut (1787-1839). A notable underground tomb, inscribed “HOPESTILL BROWN, ESQ., TOMBE. 1731,” contains descendants of Deacon William Brown as well as Reverend Loring and his wife, Mary.
Today, the Revolutionary War Cemetery stands as a link to Sudbury’s past. It honors Sudbury’s early settlers, community leaders, their families, and the men who took part in the struggle for independence.
The Sudbury Historical Society has researched those buried here. Visit our website for more details: https://sudbury01776.org/cemetery2.html
