This is a comprehensive bike tour of eight towns in central Massachusetts, made to give people a way to enjoy the outdoors while honoring the region’s history, and educating themselves about the history of the towns of Barre, Princeton, Sterling, Oakham, Holden, Rutland, Paxton, and West Boylston. With over forty-five graveyards in total and three maps with ten routes to choose from, there is something for everybody. If you want to just visit the graveyards of famous figures and older, more historical graves, then the “Recommended Historical Graveyard Tour” is the route for you. For a long, one hundred ten mile bike ride comprising all forty-five graveyards, the “Full One Hundred Ten Mile Graveyard Tour” will provide you with a full route. Finally, for individual routes of each town, the “Graveyard Tour for Individual Towns” allows visitors to select their town of choice and visit the graveyards within that town’s limits.
Recommended Historical Graveyard Tour
Directions
Full One Hundred Ten Mile Graveyard Tour
Graveyard Tour for Individual Towns
Historical Figures
Helen Walker
Oak Hill Cemetery, Sterling, MA, Section A, Lot 40.
Robert Bailey Thomas
Legg Cemetery, Sterling, Massachusetts, Memorial ID 9023492
Ward Nicholas Boylston
Boylston Burial Ground, Princeton, Massachusetts, Memorial ID 105783028
Edward Savage
West Cemetery, Princeton, Massachusetts, Memorial ID 7762152
Quork Walker
Family Cemetery off Gilbert Road, Barre, Massachusetts
In 1781, Quork Walker (or Quock Walker) escaped from Nathaniel Jennison. Upon his recapture, he was severely beaten. Walker filed an assault and battery suit against Jennison. Over a series of three court cases, Walker was pronounced “a Freeman and not the proper Negro slave” of Jennison, and the Massachusetts Supreme Court decided that the 1780 state constitution provided rights that were not compatible with slavery, and thus the state would not support or defend the ownership of slaves. Walker was born in 1753, but his death date is unknown.
Jacob Riis
Riverside Cemetery, Barre, Massachusetts, Memorial ID 872
Richard J. Herrick
Rutland Rural Cemetery, Rutland, Massachusetts, Memorial ID 51386928
Putnam Family
Putnam Farm Cemetery, Rutland, Massachusetts
This page and tour were created by Boy Scout Kurt Maiser of Troop 182 Holden as his Eagle Project. Many thanks to those who have helped make this a reality.