Quaker Cemetery

Among the first Quakers in Leicester were the Ralph Earle family and the John Potter family. Ralph Earle moved to Leicester around 1717. Although he was probably the son of Quaker parents, he did not publicly declare himself Quaker until 1732 when the declaration allowed him to avoid a parish tax. His homestead and main farm lay on both sides of Mulberry Street in Leicester and included the slope where the Friends' meetinghouse and cemetery would be located.{{Cite book |last=Sanborn |first=Franklin Benjamin |title=Memoirs of Pliny Earle, M.D. |year=1898 |publisher=Damrell and Upham |location=Boston |pages=2-3}}

The first burial, that of John Potter, was in 1740.{{Cite book |last=Denny |first=Christopher |title=Cemeteries of Leicester, Massachusetts |date=1955 |publisher=New York Genealogical and Biographical Society: Hartman Collection |editor-last=Warren |editor-first=Dorothy |location=New York |pages=11–15 | url=https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=nyp.33433085431314&seq=31}} A small meetinghouse was built on the property in 1741.{{Cite book |last=Sanborn |first=Franklin Benjamin |title=Memoirs of Pliny Earle, M.D. |date=1898 |publisher=Damrell & Upham |location=Boston |pages=3–4}} It was replaced with a larger meetinghouse in 1791. At that time, the original meetinghouse was sold to Luther Ward, who moved it to another location (the intersection of Rutland Road and what was once called Tea Lane) and fitted it out for his residence. The more recent meetinghouse was still standing among the graves in 1860 but was no longer in use at that time as most of the Quakers had moved away, many to Worcester.{{Cite book |last=Washburn |first=Emory |title=Historical Sketches of the Town of Leicester, Massachusetts |date=1860 |publisher=John Wilson and Son |location=Boston |pages=116–117}}

The first Southwick, Amasa, didn't arrive in Leicester until 1800 and had nothing to do with the founding of the cemetery in 1740. The Southwick family probably joined in 1810 or thereabouts and became one of the largest groups to be buried in the cemetery. The Leicester Quakers closed the meeting around 1850 and transferred it to the Worcester meeting.

File:Leicester Friends Cemetery - gate construction (1892-1894).jpg

The stone precinct wall, granite posts, and iron gates (since removed) were installed under the terms of a bequest made in 1892 by Dr. Pliny Earle, whose parents and other family members were buried there.{{Cite book |last=Sanborn |first=Franklin Benjamin |title=Memoirs of Pliny Earle, M.D. |date=1898 |publisher=Damrell & Upham |location=Boston |pages=392}} The design of the gates was originally meant to represent the rays of the sun, but because of their fancied resemblance to a spider's web, the cemetery is sometimes referred to as the Spider Gates cemetery.{{Cite book|title=Leicester |series=Images of America |last=Leicester Historical Society and Leicester Historical Commission |location=Charleston, SC |publisher=Arcadia Publishing |date=2003 |page=73 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=m1Xe8BIiEx4C&pg=PA73}}

The cemetery is still in use and is currently maintained by the Worcester Friends Meeting.{{cite web |url=https://www.worcesterfriendsmeeting.org/cemetery-guidelines |title=Cemetery Guidelines | website=Worcester Friends Meeting}}

{{Reflist}}

• [https://www.worcesterfriendsmeeting.org Worcester Friends Meeting]
• [https://www.findagrave.com/cemetery/91488/memorial-search?firstname=&middlename=&lastname=&cemeteryName=Quaker+Cemetery&birthyear=&birthyearfilter=&deathyear=&deathyearfilter=&bio=&linkedToName=&plot=&memorialid=&mcid=&datefilter=&orderby=n&page=1#sr-154438147 Quaker Cemetery Memorials on Find A Grave]

Category:Leicester, Massachusetts

Category:Cemeteries in Worcester County, Massachusetts

Category:Quaker cemeteries

Category:1740 establishments in the Province of Massachusetts Bay

Category:Cemeteries established in the 18th century

Category:Historic sites in Massachusetts