The Burial Grounds in West Falmouth

West Falmouth Friends Cemetery
[Background by David Douglas, of the West Falmouth Freinds Meeting]

An earlier burial site exists at the site of the first Quaker meetinghouse (1720), situated in an easterly direction from the present house, up in the woods behind the hill. A square of ground is marked off by a fence, and here in about 1685 the first burial was made.  Record notes sixty-nine unmarked graves, earliest West Falmouth Quakers, the individual identities are unknown.

            The burial grounds now surrounding the present meetinghouse have been used since about 1775, when the second one of the three meetinghouses was built. Here the first grave is said to be that of Benjamin Swift, clerk of the meeting from 1745 – 1747. It is located in the far northwest corner of the original burial area. This original area is marked on the accompanying plot as Area I, and the “X” marks this first burial. The next space to be used was Area II to the south, then much later Area III to the north, and more recently, Area IV on the west. Each of these areas have been mapped out and are located here.

            According to old Quaker custom, many of the graves in the present burial grounds are unmarked, as can be particularly noted in Area II. In these instances the burials are listed in the record book, but no information given as to dates of birth or death. 

            In 1889 there was great concern on the part of D. Wheeler Swift that the fencing and grounds were in such poor and neglected condition. Consequently, he initiated a fund to recondition and grade the ground, and put all that in good order for the future. Fences were rebuilt; old boulders that had been used for markers were replaced by other conventional ones. Wheeler Swift encouraged contributions to this fund, which was held in trust for perpetual care.  This with many additional contributions over the years has been used to care for the property. Modern Quakers continue to use these grounds as space allows.

            The pleasant aspect of the site, with its prominent place on the main road, provides passers-by with a sense of West Falmouth’s historical Quaker beginnings, as well as it’s continuing Quaker presence.

Rough Drawing depicting layout of the new Friends Burial Ground