1835 Trustees Meeting Minutes, Volume 1, 1831.005.001

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Commonwealth of Massachusetts

In the year of our Lord, One thousand eight hundred and thirty-five

An Act to incorporate the Proprietors of the Cemetery of Mount Auburn.

Section 1^st. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled and by the authority of the same, That Joseph Story, John Davis, Jacob Bigelow, Isaac Parker, George Bond, and Charles P Curtis, together with such other persons as are Proprietors of Lots in the Cemetery at Mount Auburn in the towns of Cambridge and Watertown in the County of Middlesex, and who shall in writing signify their assent to this Act, their successors and assigns be, and they hereby are created a Corporation by the name of the Proprietors of the Cemetery of Mount Auburn, and they shall have all the powers and privileges contained in the Statute of the year One thousand eight hundred and thirty three. Chapter Eighty three.

Section 2^nd. Be it further enacted, That the said Corporation may take and hold in fee simple the Garden and Cemetery at Mount Auburn, now held by the Massachusetts Horticultural Society, and any other lands adjacent thereto, not exceeding fifty acres in addition to said Garden and Cemetery upon the same trusts and for the same purposes and with the same powers and privileges as the said Massachusetts Horticultural Society now hold the same by virtue of the Statute of the year One thousand eight hundred and thirty one, Chapter Sixty nine; and may also take and hold any personal estate not exceeding in value, Fifty thousand Dollars to be applied to purposes connected with and appropriate to the objects of said establishment.

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Section 3^rd. Be it further enacted, That all persons who shall hereafter become Proprietors of Lots in said Cemetery of a size not less, each, than three hundred square feet, shall thereby become members of the said Corporation.

Section 4^th. Be it further enacted, That the Officers of the said Corporation shall consist of not less than seven nor more than Twelve Trustees, a Treasurer, Secretary, and such other Officers as they may direct. The Trustees shall be elected annually at the annual meeting, and shall hold their offices until others are chosen, And they shall choose one of their number to be President, who shall be also President of the Corporation, and they shall also choose the Secretary and Treasurer either from their own body or at large. And the said Trustees shall have the general management, superintendence and care of the property, expenditures, business and prudential concerns of the Corporation, and of the sales of lots in the said Cemetery, and they shall make a report of their doings to the Corporation at their annual meeting. The Treasurer shall give bonds for the faithful discharge of the duties of his office, and shall have the superintendence, and management of the fiscal concerns of the Corporation, subject to the revision and control of the Trustees, to whom he shall make an Annual Report, which shall be laid before the Corporation at their annual meeting, And the Secretary shall be under oath for the faithful performance of the duties of his office, and shall record the doings at all meetings of the Corporation and of the Trustees.

Section 5^th. Be it further enacted, That the annual meetings of said Corporation shall be holden at such time and place as the Bye Laws shall direct, and the Secretary shall give notice thereof in one or more newspapers, printed in Boston seven days at least before the time of meeting,

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And special meetings may be called by the Trustees in the same manner unless otherwise directed by the Bye Laws; or by the Secretary, in the same manner upon the written request of twenty members of the Corporation. At all meetings a quorum for business shall consist of not less than seven members; and any business may be transacted of which notice shall be given in the advertisements for the meeting and all questions shall be decided by a majority of the members present, and voting either in person or by proxy.

Section 6^th. Be it further enacted, That as soon as the said Corporation shall have received from the Massachusetts Horticultural Society a legal conveyance of the said Garden and Cemetery at Mount Auburn, the Massachusetts Horticultural Society shall cease to have any rights, powers and authorities, ^over the same, and all the rights, powers and authorities, trusts, immunities, and privileges conferred upon the said Society, and upon the Proprietors of Lots in the said Cemetery in and by virtue of the first section of the Statute of the year One thousand eight hundred and thirty one, Chapter Sixty nine, shall be transferred to and exercised by the Corporation created by this Act, and the same shall to all intents and purposes apply to the said Corporation, and all Proprietors of Lots in the said Cemetery with the same force and effect as if the same were herein specially enacted, and the said Corporation substituted for the Massachusetts Horticultural Society hereby.

Section 7^th. Be it further enacted, That any person who shall wilfully destroy, mutilate, deface, injure or remove any tomb, monument, gravestone or other structure placed in the Cemetery aforesaid, or any fence, railing or other work for the protection or ornament of any tomb, monument, grave-stone or other structure aforesaid, or of any Cemetery lot, within the limits of the Garden & Cemetery aforesaid, or shall wilfully destroy, remove, cut, break or injure any tree, shrub, or plant within the limits of the said

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Garden and Cemetery, or shall shoot or discharge any gun or other fire-arm within the said limits, shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and shall, upon conviction thereof before any Justice of the Peace or other Court of competent jurisdiction within the County of Middlesex, be punished by a fine not less than five dollars nor more than fifty dollars, according to the nature and aggravation of the offence; and such offender shall also be liable, in an action of trespass to be brought against him in any Count of competent jurisdiction in the name of the Proprietors of the Cemetery of Mount Auburn, to pay all such damages as shall have been occasioned by his unlawful act or acts, which money when recovered shall be applied by the said Corporation under the direction of the Board of Trustees to the reparation and restoration of the property destroyed or injured as above, and members of the said Corporation shall be competent witnesses in such suits.

Section 8^th. Be it further enacted, That the Lots in said Cemetery shall be indivisible, and upon the death of any Proprietor of any Lot in the said Cemetery, containing not less than three hundred square feet, the devisee of such Lot, or the heir at law, as the case may be, shall be entitled to all the privileges of membership as aforesaid, and if there be more than one devisee or heir at law of each Lot, the Board of Trustees for the time being shall designate, which of the said devisees or heirs at Law shall represent the said Lot, and vote in the meetings of the Corporation, which designation shall continue in force, until by death, removal or other sufficient cause, another designation shall become necessary, and in making such designation the Trustees shall, as far as they conveniently may, give the preference to males over females, and to proximity of blood and priority of age having due regard, however, to proximity of residence.

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Section 9^th. Be it further enacted, That it shall be lawful for the said Corporation to take and hold any grant, donation or bequest of property upon trust to apply the income thereof under the direction of the Board of Trustees for the improvement or embellishment of the said Cemetery or of the Garden adjacent thereto, or of any buildings, structures or fences erected or to be erected upon the lands of the said Corporation or of any individual Proprietor of a Lot in the Cemetery, or for the repair, preservation, or renewal of any tomb, monument, grave-stone, fence or railing or other erection in or around any Cemetery Lot, or for the planting and cultivation of trees, shrubs, flowers or plants in or around any Cemetery Lot. according to the terms of such grant, donation or bequest, and the Supreme Judicial Court in this Commonwealth, or any other court therein having equity jurisdiction, shall have full power and jurisdiction, to compel the due performance of the said trusts or any of them, upon a bill filed by a Proprietor of any lot in the said Cemetery for that purpose.

Section 10^th. Be it further enacted as follows, First, That the present Proprietors of Lots in the said Cemetery, who shall become members of the Corporation created by this Act, shall thenceforth cease to be members of the said Horticultural Society, so far as their membership therein depends on their being Proprietors of Lots in the said Cemetery; Secondly, That the sales of the Cemetery Lots shall continue to be made as fast as it is practicable by the Corporation created by this Act at a price not less than the sum of Sixty dollars for every Lot containing three hundred square feet, and so in proportion for any greater or less quantity unless the said Horticultural Society and the Corporation created by this Act, shall mutually ^^agree to sell the same at a less price; Thirdly, That the proceeds of the first sales of such Lots after deducting the annual expenses of the Cemetery establishment, shall be applied to the extinguishment