Massachusetts

Samuel Adams

(1722-1803)

Politician/Founding Father

Fame-O-Meter-8/10

Resting Place-Granary Burying Ground, Boston

GPS Coordinates-

42°21'26.8"N, 71°03'40.5"W

Sam Adams, Founding Father, was a signer of the Declaration of Independence and Governor of Massachusetts. He openly led resistance to many of the Acts that Britain attempted to put on the colonies as taxes. He was a member of the First and Second Continental Congress.

Crispus Attucks

(1723-1770)

Victim

Fame-O-Meter-3/10

Resting Place-Granary Burying Ground, Boston

GPS Coordinates-

42°21'27.1"N, 71°03'40.4"W

Crispus Attucks was the first person to give his life for the American Revolution. He and many others stood protesting the British in Boston when the British opened fire. The cause of the first shot is not widely agreed upon. However, five Boston residents were killed in what would be known as the Boston Massacre. Crispus Attucks was the first to die in the affair.

Mary Chilton Winslow

(1607-1679)

Historical Figure

Fame-O-Meter-1/10

Resting Place-King's Chapel Burying Ground, Boston

GPS Coordinates-

42°21'30.3"N, 71°03'35.9"W

Save for Neil Armstrong, not many people are known for taking a single step. Yet that is what brings Mary Chilton Winslow into fame. At at 13 she boarded a ship known as the Mayflower and headed across the ocean in hopes of a better life with her parents. While she faced a tough life and the loss of both parents, she is legendarily the first person to step onto Plymouth Rock and into our history books.

Elizabeth "Mother" Goose

(1665-1757)

Literary Figure

Fame-O-Meter-3/10

Resting Place-Granary Burying Ground, Boston

GPS Coordinates-

42°21'26.4"N, 71°03'42.9"W

The origin of "Mother Goose" is lost to historical records, but Elizabeth Goose of Boston is one possible explanation for the legend.  A mother to six and stepmother to ten more, Elizabeth Goose told tales to entertain the children. Her husband gathered her tales into a small book titled  Songs for the Nursery; or, Mother Goose's Melodies for Children. There are no known copies of this book left in publication. The mystery of "Mother Goose" endures.

John Hancock

(1737-1793)

Businessman/Politician/Patriot

Fame-O-Meter-9/10

Resting Place-Granary Burying Ground, Boston

GPS Coordinates-

42°21'25.9"N, 71°03'43.5"W

To this day to sign your "John Hancock" means to sign your name. Hancock was one of the businessmen who took offense at the British taxes early in the colonies' history. He was a member of the Continental Congress and was the first person to sign the Declaration of Independence.

Cotton Mather

(1639-1723)

Author/Judge

Fame-O-Meter-3/10

Resting Place-Copp's Hill Burying Ground, Boston

GPS Coordinates-

42°22'01.2"N, 71°03'21.9"W

Cotton Mather was a well-educated man in Massachusetts, but is best-known for his role in the the Salem Witch Trials. Mather wrote two pieces of literature on the matter Memorable Providences, Relating to Witchcraft and Possessions and Wonders of the Invisible World. It is not entirely clear just how directly involved Mather was with the twenty people who died as a result of being named a witch, but he was certainly involved in the Trials themselves. 

Increase Mather

(1639-1723)

Religious Leader

Fame-O-Meter-1/10

Resting Place-Copp's Hill Burying Ground, Boston

GPS Coordinates-

42°22'01.2"N, 71°03'21.9"W

Reverend Increase Mather was the first president of Harvard College. He was a leading Puritan minister in the Massachusetts Bay Colony.  He was later brought on to observe the Salem Witch Trials along with his son Cotton. Though he had doubts over the accusations, he didn't immediately want to contradict his friends who were presiding over the trial. He later wrote that he regretted that.

Samuel Nicholson

(1743-1811)

Navy Officer

Fame-O-Meter-2/10

Resting Place-Christ Church Cemetery

GPS Coordinates-

42°21'58.9"N, 71°03'16.9"W

Samuel Nicholson is buried beneath the Old North Church in a crypt. He was a naval officer to oversaw the construction of the U.S.S. Constitution aka "Old Ironsides". He also captained the ship during its first mission, protecting the Atlantic Coast from French boats after the Revolutionary War.

Robert Treat Paine

(1731-1814)

Lawyer/Politician

Fame-O-Meter-2/10

Resting Place-Granary Burying Ground, Boston

GPS Coordinates-

42°21'27.8"N, 71°03'41.1"W

Robert Treat Paine was a Boston-based lawyer who was asked to prosecute the soldiers who fired upon colonists in the Boston Massacre. He was known for being against the Tax Acts that were being placed upon the colonists of the time. Elected to the Second Continental Congress, Paine would go on to be one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence for the state of Massachusetts.

John Pitcairn

(1722-1775)

Military Figure

Fame-O-Meter-2/10

Resting Place-Christ Church Cemetery, Boston

GPS Coordinates-

42°21'58.6"N, 71°03'16.6"W

Major John Pitcairn was a British officer wo fought against the Americans in the war for independence. Killed at the Battle of Bunker Hill, Pitcairn was laid to rest under the Old North Church out of respect for the man from both sides in the war.  His wife requested his body be returned to England later. It was. Only the wrong body was sent. Pitcairn remains in the city where he fell.

Paul Revere

(1735-1818)

Patriot/Silversmith

Fame-O-Meter-9/10

Resting Place-Granary Burying Ground, Boston

GPS Coordinates-

42°21'26.4"N, 71°03'42.4"W

"Listen, my children, and you shall hear. Of the midnight ride of Paul Revere..." Paul Revere made arguably the most famous ride in American history by warning the American colonial patriots of the British approach. He did so to protect Sam Adams and John Hancock, two of the leaders of the American independence movement.  

Samuel Sewall

(1652-1730)

Judge/Author

Fame-O-Meter-2/10

Resting Place-Granary Burying Ground, Boston

GPS Coordinates-

42°21'27.1"N, 71°03'43.3"W

Samuel Sewall living a long life for someone born in the 1650s. He left behind a complicated legacy in the New World. On the one hand, he was a fierce abolitionist hundreds of years before the practice would stop in America. However, he was also one of the judges who presided over the Salem Witch Trials that sent 19 innocent men and women to their death his home colony. 

John Winthrop

(1588-1649)

Governor/Politician

Fame-O-Meter-4/10

Resting Place-King's Chapel Burying Ground, Boston

GPS Coordinates-

42°21'30.5"N, 71°03'35.1"W

The second major settlement in New England was the Massachusetts Bay Colony, and their leader was John Winthrop. He was an early leader in the American colonies and also was known for forging complex relationship with native Americans that ranged from friendly to outright war. He also was a prolific theologist and historian and his detailed writings serve as some of the best and earliest accounts from the New World.