Oak Hill Cemetery Newburyport

Historic Cemetery Tours

The late Todd C. Woodworth, local funeral director and historian, began “Tiptoe through the Tombstone” cemetery tours in 1988. Over the years he entertained participants with tales of the sea captains, former Newburyport mayors, photographers, authors and poets, and a Hollywood actress who are buried here.

A twelfth-generation descendant of Newbury first settler Robert Adams, Todd’s daughter, Ghlee E. Woodworth, took over the tours in 2006. To complement her tour narratives, she researched over one hundred individuals who lived in the nineteenth century and are buried in Oak Hill Cemetery. Ghlee is currently working on a forthcoming book, “Tiptoe through the Tombstones, Oak Hill Cemetery, Volume I.” The book is expected to be available in local bookstores in December 2008.

In addition to Oak Hill Cemetery, Ghlee leads tours at the Old Hill Burying Ground and Highland Cemetery adjacent to the Bartlett Mall. Tours are free, and donations are accepted for cemetery projects.

Explore the treasures of Newburyport history revealed behind the gravestones at Oak Hill Cemetery. Buried here are

Captain William (1798-1873) and Martha Wheelwright (1804-1888): Captain Wheelwright built railroads and steamships in South America. The family established the Wheelwright House, a home for elderly women, and the Wheelwright Scholarship . . .

Nick and Mary Alice Arakelian: benefactors of the Arakelian Foundation that continues to make significant contributions in the community . . .

Joseph Wilson (1779-1857): a ship carver who also carved Lord Timothy Dexter’s statues in the front yard of the Dexter mansion on High Street and a St. Paul’s Church artifact, the wood finial that topped the church bell tower . . .

The Grosvenor family: descendants of the first president of the National Geographic Society . . .

Steve and Hannah Fowles: founder of Fowles Newstand 1852. . .

Dr. Henry Coit Perkins (1804-1873): medical doctor and one of the first photographers in the United States . . .

Harriet Prescott Spofford (1835-1921): author and poet . . .

Elissa Landi (1904-1948): Hollywood actress in the 1930s . . .

Anna Jaques (1801-1885): benefactor of the hospital in Newburyport . .