The Burying Ground was established in 1785, about 20 years after the parish and there are 24 tombs here. The Burying Ground is situated in an area that was included in Rev. Eliot’s original land grant and so the church had to pay rent to the Eliot School for the use of the land. Burials here largely ceased by 1850 after Forest Hills Cemetery was established. There are two minutemen from the muster of the Third Parish buried here: Capt. Lemuel May and Lt. Eleazor Weld. Both fought at the Battle of Lexington and Concord on April 19,1775.
The tombs include one for Benjamin Bussey (whose land is now the Arnold Arboretum) and one for David Stoddard Greenough II whose home we started our tour at. He is next to his good friend Rev. Dr Thomas Gray second minister of this congregation.