Founding Document: Copy of an Old Report for Laying out Sweet Auburn as a Cemetery, 1831.010.002

It is proposed that a lot of ground in the vicinity of Boston, ^^{comprising 70 acres, and including the wood} commonly known by the name of Sweet Auburn, shall be set apart, and appropriated to the^^exclusive purposes of an ornamental cemetery & and an experimental garden for the Horticultural society.

That for this object, it shall be laid out in a suitable manner, and intersected with walks or avenues at convenient distances, such as the face of the ground & the growth of wood now upon it, may be thought to require

That lots of ground containing 200 square feet, also larger lots containing 400 square feet shall be laid out by a committee appointed for the purpose and that these lots shall be ^^{conditionally} sold to persons desirous of becoming proprietors, the larger lots for 100 dollars & the smaller for 50 dollars, ^^{the choice to be bidden for,} the sales to ^{on a day appointed by the subscribers} be obligatory on both parties as soon as a sufficient sum shall be raised by them, to pay for the land.

That the lots then sold shall be conveyed to the purchasers, their heirs &c forever, subject to the condition that they shall never be occupied for any other purposes than those of sepulture, and of appropriate ornament to approved by a superintending committee, that no structure erected on them shall ever be inhabited except by consent of such committee, and that the remains deposited in them shall never be disturbed,

It is presumed that the laws recently enacted by the legislature of the commonwealth afford decisive protection to all cemeteries against the chance of violation, and that on this ground the proposed establishment will be as well secured as any other. But for the further perfect assurance of any persons who may feel timidity on this score, a ^^strong receiving tomb shall be provided in the city & another at the grounds, in which bodies ^^{if requested} may be deposited for a time, until they shall cease to be objects of anatomical research

The Lots already procured contain land adapted to an Experimental Garden for the Horticultural Society - which will be conveyed to the Society as soon as may be required. after the cost of the whole is subscribed for.

Copy of an old Report for laying out Sweet Auburn as a Cemetery