First Burial Ground Commemorative Plaques

Woburn’s First Burial Ground dates to approximately 1642 and is the final resting place for many of the City’s early residents. This includes Daniel Thompson and Asahel Porter, two Woburnites who were killed during the Battles of Lexington and Concord on April 19, 1775, and Colonel Loammi Baldwin, a commander of the Woburn militia.

In 2017, the cemetery was rededicated for the City’s 375th anniversary. Two plaques were placed honoring the cemetery’s history.

The smaller plaque reads:

FIRST BURIAL GROUND
1642 UNTIL 1794

DANIEL THOMPSON AND ASAHEL PORTER,
BOTH CASUALTIES OF THE BATTLES OF
LEXINGTON AND CONCORD
LIE INTERRED HERE AND MANY
IMPORTANT EARLY WOBURNITES

Another, larger plaque reads:

First Burial Ground
1642-1794

This ancient burial ground holds the remains of
Woburn's earliest citizens. They were brave men, women
and children who went into the wilderness looking
to fulfill their dreams of a new and better life.

They were our founding families, named Johnson,
Richardson, Brooks, Convers, Carter, Fowle, Pierce, Reed
and Wyman. These ministers, soldiers, farmers, doctors
and statesmen established a strong and vibrant town.

Among the distinguished dead that are interred here
are the ancestors of eight United States Presidents,
military leader Colonel Loammi Baldwin and
Daniel Thompson, the first Woburn soldier killed
in the Revolutionary War.

We honor their determination and courage.
May it always be remembered by future generations.

The First Burial Ground is on the National Historic Register.

Dedicated on the 375th Anniversary of Woburn
May 29, 2017
Mayor Scott D. Galvin
Woburn Cemetery Commission
Alfred Autenzio           John M. Sawyer          Christopher Kisiel
Joseph McDonough           Catherine B. Shaughnessy