Beaman Cemetery

The Beaman Cemetery, a small rectangular plot shaded by a grove of trees, is a distinctive feature of the Mount Vernon Cemetery.  The Beaman Cemetery was originally located in the West Boylston Lower Village area which was targeted to be flooded by the Wachusett Reservoir. In May 1904, some sixty remains were excavated, boxed in coffins and transported in the town hearse to the newly prepared cemetery lot in the Mount Vernon Cemetery. Within the rectangle, 77 slate and mable gravestones are arranged in a horseshoe pattern.

The Beaman monument, a marble obelisk standing on a tall, square marble base, surrounded by a sizeable urn, commemorates the Beamans, early settlers of West Boylston.  Mr. Jabez Beaman, the keeper of the well-known Beaman Tavern, died of smallpox in 1757 and was the first family member buried in Beaman Cemetery.  The great force behind in the incorporation of the town, Major Ezra Beaman, Esq. was buried here after his death in 1811.  A fervent patriot who served in the Revolutionary War, Ezra Beaman served ten years as selectman of the North Parish of Shrewsbury (before West Boylston was incorporated.)  At the first town meeting of the newly incorporated West Boylston, he was chosen selectman, treasurer and state representative to the General Court.  He was the wealthiest man in West Boylston and owned the vast Beaman Manufacturing Company, the first cotton mill in the area.  He also continued to operate the famous Beaman Tavern.