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This is also part of the South Hadley Heritage tour. Navigate back to the tour page HERE.

The Old Meeting House is the first one in what would become South Hadley. It is still there and all the other meeting houses built after that are gone. It is now used as a restaurant.

LOCATION

The Maple Grove Cemetery in Chicopee is the third oldest cemetery in the city. Take this walking tour to view this great cemetery.

Cemeteries of Chicopee

stop 1 – cemetery gates

When this cemetery started in 1836 it was called the Cabotville Burial Ground. In 1878 it changed to Maple Grove Cemetery. The Grape Street Primary School is seen at the top of Auburn Street. It was built in 1861. FINDAGRAVE

The Mosman family lived at 119, 122, and 123 Grape Street.

To family historians, the town and city of Chicopee used MG to denote burials within this cemetery from the inception of Chicopee in 1848 onwards. MG means Maple Grove Cemetery. Thus Maple Grove Cemetery has had this name in an unofficial form for much longer than the timeframe that I have given above.

stop 2 – Elisha Bullens

Notice the very many family plots in this cemetery. Many have raised ground around the family plot. Also many have iron railings around the family plot. There is a good chance that the many iron railings are due to the Ames Mill being nearby. The Bullens family plot is a good example of the use of the iron railings. Note also the raised ground around many of the family plots. This might be a nice touch but after a century it will lead to many overturned gravestones due to increased solifluction in the soil. In 1978 about 60 thousand dollars was spent on fixing the cemetery but now it is getting back to its former state. FINDAGRAVE

stop 3 – Mosman family

The Mosman family lived in the two homes on Grape Street directly behind the gravestone. They also lived in the house directly across Grape Street from there two houses. Silas was a blacksmith at the Ames Mill. His grandson Melzar Mosman made Civil War monuments around Massachusetts. FINDAGRAVE

stop 4 – James Ames

James Ames and his brother Nathan brought the Ames Company to Chicopee. FINDAGRAVE

The Valentine School and the Robinson School are directly behind the James Ames gravestone.

stop 5 – Mary Bates

Mary Bates has her gravestone embedded into a tree. Fine example of what NOT to do to keep a cemetery looking good. This is however what happens to items left near trees for a long time. FINDAGRAVE Trees grow from its top tip and all end of branches and also grow outward in the trunk and branches, but they never grow up and out at the same time from any given area. Thus this stone will never be lifted.

stop 6 – Le Roy

Not much is known about this plot. It seems to be for a single burial and at that for a person named Le Roy. The name Le Roy appears on the front bottom, the front middle, and the back middle. FINDAGRAVE

The iron fencing is very close to the burial. The fence being around a single burial is a sign that they were attempting to stop graves robbers. See this LINK for a wonderful story on grave robbing. I do not know of any medical schools that were nearby so it is not known why this is so closely guarded.

6A-B – Old Burials and the Town Cemetery

Potters Field in the Maple Grove Cemetery in Chicopee

stop 7 – John Chase

John Chase the Canal Builder

stop 8 – Alton Phillips

Alton Phillips was a Civil War soldier from the North who died during the course of the war from his injuries. He died the 4th of May 1863 in Culpeper, Virginia. FINDAGRAVE

Nearby is George Croshier who also died during the course of the war from his injuries. FINDAGRAVE

stop 9 – Chapin

Look at the burial location of the Chapin stone. Thus this is a cenotaph. FINDAGRAVE

stop 10 – John Spier

John Spier is buried in the SE section of the cemetery. There are three repaired stones in this fashion in this cemetery. FINDAGRAVE

stop 11 – Nathan Ames

The brothers Nathan and James Ames came to Chicopee to start their factory. The Ames Mill produced cannons and swords. FINDAGRAVE

Some of the other families that have fence around their lots are Wardwell, Streeter, Smith, Howard and Ball, Cutler and Brown and Meade, Miller, Burnett, Charter, Merrick, Brigham, Taylor, Babcock and Jacobs, Phillips, and Denison.

stop 12 – neighborhood

This cemetery is near Springfield Street which is a very historic street in Chicopee. Follow my other tours in this area of Chicopee.

Chicopee Canal

Holy Name Church and other churches

stop X – Angelina Worswick

FINDAGRAVE – Angelina started the temperance movement in Holyoke

Sanborn map analysis:

Sanborn 1896 map

Sanborn 1902 map

Sanborn 1910 map shows the Grape Street School along with the Robinson School and Valentine School

Sanborn 1915 map

Burial Grounds of Chicopee throughout its History is a presentation format of the cemeteries of Chicopee. Before 1851 the Catholics of Chicopee would have been buried in Saint Matthew’s Cemetery of Springfield. Before 1739 the Protestants of Chicopee would have been buried in Springfield Cemetery of Springfield.

LINK to my Patreon video for the Catholic cemeteries of Chicopee.

LINK to my Patreon video for the Protestant cemeteries of Chicopee.

To find a burial site of a person, use the town copy of the death records on ancestry. From 1848 to 1881 the cemetery is listed.

	cemetery	link	religion	ethnicity	type	year
1	Calvary Cemetery	link	Catholic	for all Western Massachusetts Catholics	lawn	1851
2	Sainte Rose de Lima Cemetery	link	Catholic	Quebec	lawn	1910
3	Saint Stanislaus Cemetery	link	Catholic	Polish	lawn	1924
4	Saint Patrick’s Cemetery	link	Catholic	for all Chicopee Falls Catholics	lawn	1873
5	Sons of Zion Cemetery	link	Jewish	for Holyoke	lawn	1897
6	Rodphey Sholom Cemetery	link	Jewish	for Holyoke	lawn	1923
7	Chicopee Street Burying Ground	link	Protestant	Congregational	churchyard	1739
8	East Street Cemetery	link	Protestant	Chicopee Falls	lawn	1825
9	Maple Grove Cemetery	link	Protestant	Chicopee Center	lawn	1832
10	Fairview Cemetery	link	Protestant	all	rural	1870
11	Holy Mother of the Rosary Cemetery	link	National Catholic	Polish	rural	1897
12	Holy Name of Jesus Churchyard	link	Catholic	pastors	churchyard	1889
X	Town Farm at the Chicopee Almshouse	link	none	none	none	1848
Y	Native American Burial Grounds	link	none	none	none	unknown
	OUTSIDE
13	Pine Grove Cemetery	link	Baptist	was in both in South Hadley and Chicopee	churchyard	1788
14	Saint Rose Cemetery	link	Catholics of Saint Anne Church	South Hadley	lawn	1884
15	Saint Matthew Cemetery	link	Catholic	Springfield	lawn	1845
16	Saint Augustine Cemetery	link	Catholic	Boston	churchyard	1818
17	Temple Ohabei Shalom Cemetery	link	Jewish	Boston	lawn	1844
18	Old Springfield Burial Ground	link	Protestant	Springfield	churchyard	1600s
19	South Hadley Falls Cemetery	link	Protestant	South Hadley	lawn	1839
20	Notre Dame Cemetery	link	Catholic	South Hadley	lawn	1891
21	Native American	link

LOCATION

Holy Name of Jesus Church and the 3 neighborhood churches is a walking tour of the Springfield Street area in Chicopee Massachusetts.

stop 1 – Sacred Heart of Mary Convent LINK

stop 2 – Holy Name Girls’ School LINK

stop 3 – Patrick Healy Gravestone

Holy Name of Jesus Churchyard

stop 4 – Holy Name of Jesus Church LINK

stop 5 – Henry Lorenzo Robinson Gravestone LINK

stop 6 – Rectory MY LINK

(LOCATION)

pastor	starts	ends	burial	burial
John D Brady	1840	1847	burial	St Augustine in Boston
James Strain	1847	1849	burial	St Mary’s in Lynn
William Aloysius Blenkinsop	1849	1864	burial	St Augustine in Boston
Patrick Healy	1864	1889	burial	this churchyard
Henry Robinson	1889	1894	burial	this churchyard
John J McCoy	1894	1905	burial	St Jerome’s in Holyoke
John F Conlin	1905	1953	burial	Calvary in Chicopee
Joseph Ryan	1953	1963	burial	St Jerome’s in Holyoke
Thomas Shea	1963		burial	unknown

stop 7 – Chapel LINK

stop 8 – Boys’ School LINK

stop 9 – Monastery

The Holy Name Monastary was made in 1881 in the back of the boys’ school. At first there were only two brothers here but it grew from that point.

stop 10 – Science School LINK

stop 11 – Cemeteries of Holy Name of Jesus

Notice at first the two priests that are buried on the campus. They are mentioned above. From 1845 to 1910s the churchgoers of this church used the Saint Matthews Cemetery of Springfield. John Brady the priest bought this land in Springfield (about a football field length south of the present Calvary Cemetery). The parish used this cemetery until it was mostly filled up. From the 1920s until now, the Calvary Cemetery of Chicopee was heavily used. Calvary Cemetery was a Springfield Catholic Diocese cemetery started in 1852. In 1868 Father Healey had purchased the cemetery from the diocese to have it has a parish cemetery.

For the remainder of the tour go to this LINK.

Cemeteries of Chicopee

Sanborn map analysis

Sanborn 1885 map

Sanborn 1896 map

Sanborn 1902 map

Sanborn 1910 map

Sanborn 1915 map

The nuns of Holyoke are varied since there are so many ethnic groups within the city. Below is a rundown of the orders and when and where they served.

order	location	years in Holyoke	local burial locations	motherhouse	external link to their history
Notre Dame	Notre Dame School	1869 -1910	Saint Jerome Cemetery in Holyoke	Waltham Massachusetts	HISTORY
Sisters of Saint Joseph	St Jerome – Rosary (1920 on) – Sacred Heart	1886 – today	St Michael’s Cemetery of Springfield and Mont Marie Cemetery of Holyoke	Springfield	HISTORY
Franciscan Sisters of Saint Joseph	Mater Dolorosa	1906 – 1994			HISTORY
Sisters of Sainte Anne	Precious Blood	1888 – 1971		Nicolet of Quebec Canada	HISTORY
Sisters of the Presentation of Mary	LINK Immaculate Conception – Perpetual Help	1891 – 1979			HISTORY
Sisters of Providence	LINK	November 1873 – today	Calvary Cemetery of the Sisters of Providence in Holyoke	Holyoke	HISTORY

Quebec ethnicity military men from Holyoke that died during the course of World War 1 are honored on plaques in Notre Dame Cemetery in South Hadley.

name	birth date	birthplace	death date	deathplace	burial
Arthur Joseph Perreault	5 Oct 1890	Holyoke	7 March 1918	Issoudun	FINDAGRAVE
Emile Jacob Henrye	28 Sept 1893	Fitchburg	8 July 1918	Brest	FINDAGRAVE
Georges Trembly	11 August 1896	Holyoke	16 June 1918	Royaumeix	FINDAGRAVE
Leon Bourgeois	10 Feb 1898	Springfield	5 July 1918	Belleauwood France	FINDAGRAVE
Ernest Arthur Parent	31 Dec 1898	Holyoke	15 March 1918	France	FINDAGRAVE
Narcisse A De Roy					FINDAGRAVE
Emile Bruder	7 Jan 1887	Hericourt France	8 June 1918	France	FINDAGRAVE
Wilfred W Paradis					FINDAGRAVE
Joseph Couture					FINDAGRAVE
William O Guillette	7 July 1894	Biddeford Maine	28 September 1918	Massachusetts	FINDAGRAVE
Albert J Ouimet	Oct 1895	Holyoke	22 July 1918	Epieds	FINDAGRAVE
Albert Rousseau					FINDAGRAVE
Avila Nolin	6 Dec 1894	Holyoke	1 Nov 1918	Alliepont	FINDAGRAVE
Albert Gendron			25 August 1917	France	FINDAGRAVE
Nazaire Demers					FINDAGRAVE
Louis Croteau					FINDAGRAVE
Emile Dagenais					FINDAGRAVE
Frank J Fortier					FINDAGRAVE
Edmond J Marion					FINDAGRAVE
Arthur A Goulet					FINDAGRAVE
Emile Colin					FINDAGRAVE
Joseph H Larivee					FINDAGRAVE
Ralph J Willemain					FINDAGRAVE
Joseph A Provost					FINDAGRAVE
Charles Verheyn					FINDAGRAVE
Herve P Guertin					FINDAGRAVE
Omer R Beauchamp					FINDAGRAVE
Desire A Joyal					FINDAGRAVE

The Spanish American War was fought from 1898 to 1899. Eight men from Holyoke lost their lives in the battles.

name	enlistment date	rank and notes	death date and age	death location	burial
Joseph Bonneville	3 May 1898	private	9 Aug 1898	Santiago de Cuba, Cuba	FINDAGRAVE
James Brady			27 Sept 1898 at 19
George Collier	3 May 1898	sergeant	23 Sep 1898 at 26	Holyoke, MA	FINDAGRAVE
Anatole Dugas	3 May 1898	private	2 Jul 1898 at 28	Santiago de Cuba, Cuba	FINDAGRAVE
William Dugas	14 July 1899	captured and murdered by insurgents	26 Sept 1900	Calmog Philippines	FINDAGRAVE
Patrick Fallon		malaria and pneumonia	5 January 1900		FINDAGRAVE
Frank G Mattice		sergeant	15 September 1898	Holyoke	FINDAGRAVE
Edgar R Train		quartermaster sergeant / malaria	27 August 1898	Montaul Point New York	FINDAGRAVE

• This is one of many Olmsted designs in Holyoke. Read about the rest at this LINK.
• Parks of Holyoke
• Private GROUP TOUR (COSTS) is two hours long for this Elmwood Park and Neighborhood walking tour. Also a one hour indoor presentation can be given.
• A free public tour comes up every five years.
• A self-tour is available for anyone using the maps and text seen below. – LOCATION
• A booklet is available for this tour in either B & W or color, go HERE for the information needed to buy it.

Elmwood Park of Holyoke is called the park that disappeared. Still if one looks they will see its remnants everywhere. Its land was purchased by the city over decades to make a unified park and then soon afterward it started to be divided up again.

• Park at the Fitzpatrick’s Ice Rink

stop	name	notes	LINK
1	Fitzpatrick’s Ice Rink	recreation	LINK
2	Ross Street and the Dingle	street	LINK
3	Sheard Park	park	LINK
4	Churchill	neighborhood	LINK
5	Roberts Sports Field	recreation	LINK
6	John Young Field	recreation	LINK
7	Oakdale	neighborhood	LINK
8	MacKenzie Field	recreation	LINK
9	Holyoke High School	school	LINK
10	Holyoke Medical Center	hospital	LINK
11	Yankee Peddlar	house	LINK
12	Crosier Field	recreation	LINK
13	Carlton Street School	school	LINK
14	Peck School	school	LINK
15	Elmwood	neighborhood	LINK
16	Parkview Street	street	LINK

The first mention that I can find of Elmwood Park in the annual city registers is that of the year 1899. In that year, the edge of the park along Jackson Street was graded, a walk built, and a tree belt seeded. Before that from 1895 to 1899, it is called Dingle Park in the city annual register. They are both fine names – there were 5 dingles in Elmwood Park at its height but only one in its infancy. The 1894 Richards map also has the park but without a name. This is the earliest ever reference to the park. The Holyoke TT references the park in 1895 and then onward more often.

In 1901, 100 trees, 500 shrubs, and new flower beds were added to the park. A new rustic bridge was added across the ravine. The Maple Street entrance was graded more. New walks and new settees were added.

From 1901 to 1909 design plans were drawn up for the park by the Olmsted Brothers of Brookline. These PLANS were extensive. The first image at the link is the 1902 look of the park before the design and any work was done.

In 1935, Elmwood Park received a beautification effort. The Beech Street Park portion of Elmwood Park got lily ponds, a rustic bridge, a stone lookout, steps, and a wall.

Hurricane Diane of 1955 caused major damage to Elmwood Park. The entire Dingle Drive was washed out and MacKenzie Field was entirely gone.

Movie Theaters of Holyoke

The Majestic Theater was a theater in Holyoke from 10 March 1913 to 1956. It was at 207 Main Street (store fronts from 205 to 209 Main). The EXTERIOR is viewable here. It is no longer there since it burned in a large fire in 1960. It held about 1000 people.

Sanborn map analysis:

Sanborn 1895 map shows it as a photographer’s studio

Sanborn 1915 map shows it as a one floor structure

Sanborn 1949 map

Sanborn 1956 map

The Saint Patrick’s Church of South Hadley is the first Catholic church in South Hadley. It opened at 7 Crescent Lane in 1867.

stop 1 – Rectory

	name	years	image	burial
1	Patrick Harkins	1867-1878		Saint Jerome Cemetery (Holyoke)
2	David McGrath	July 18 1878 to 1882		Saint Mary’s Cemetery (Milford, Massachusetts)
3	Lawrence Dervin	1882 to 1885		Saint John’s Cemetery of Lancaster	1895	22 of Nov
4	Eugene Toher	1885 to 1901		Saint Leo Cemetery (Leominster)	1930	7th of Feb
5	John Conway	1901 to 1913		Saint Rose Cemetery (South Hadley)	1913	1st of March
6	Dennis Sullivan	1913 to 1913
7	Humphrey Wren	1913 to 1933
8	James Casey	1933 to 1944
9	Martin Tracey	1944 to 1950
10	John Engstrom	1950 to 1969		Saint John’s Cemetery (Worcester)	1969	Sept 25
11	Thomas Price	1969 to 1982			1982	2nd of June
12	Brian Boland	1982 to 1994		Gate of Heaven Cemetery (Springfield)	1994	3rd of March
13	Richard M Turner	1994 to 2001
14	John Sheaffer	2001 to 2002
15	William Rousseau	2002 to 2003
16	Thomas Shea	2003 to 2015
17	James Nolte	2016

stop 2 – Saint Rose Cemetery

stop 3 – church

stop 4 – chapel

stop 5 – social center

stop 6 – statues

stop 7 – neighborhood

stop 8 – Crescent Street church