Twin box tomb lids link Pickman family in two Salem, Massachusetts, burial grounds

In 1938, the Works Progress Administration (WPA) completed several projects in Salem, Massachusetts, including a map of veterans’ graves at Broad Street Cemetery. Laid out in 1655, the burial ground contains just over one hundred military graves from the Revolution, the War of 1812, the Civil War, and the Spanish-American War.

Curiously, the map mislabels the Pickman box tomb (B-8) as Col. Timothy Pickering’s burial site. His box tomb, however, is located on the hill (C-10) overlooking the 17th-century Pickering House. My theory is that “Pick” was legible on the Pickman lid but not much else, leading to the misidentification. If so, that tells me the early 20th-century-style slate lid on the Pickman box tomb was placed after 1938.

The Pickman lid at Broad Street has a twin at the Charter Street Cemetery/Old Burying Point. It's the same early 20th-century-style slate, with a family crest in the top left corner, for the Barton-Toppan-Pickman box tomb. 

Below, I've provided the text from each tomb lid, then generational family groupings with names in bold for people who are buried in the tomb. Photos of the lids are at the end.

Pickman crest at Broad St.

Broad Street Cemetery: Pickman

Here Lie Buried

Benjamin Pickman Esq. died Dec ye 1st 1708 aged 65 years

and his relict Elizabeth Hardy died December ye 19th 1727 aged 77 years

Benjamin Pickman Esq. died April ye 26th 1719 aged 46 years

Abigail Lindall his relict died March ye 24th 1738 aged 56 years

Judith Pickman died Jan. 21st 1736/37 aged 9 months

Caleb Pickman Esq. killed by lightning June ye 1st 1737 aged 22 years

Judith wife of Dr. E. A. Holyoke died November ye 19th 1756 aged 19 years

Elizabeth wife of Samuel Pickman Esq. died Dec. ye 16th 1761 aged 47 years

William Eppes Esq died October ye 1st 1765 aged 39 years

The Hon. Benjamin Pickman Esq. died Aug. ye 20th 1773 aged 65 years

Madam Love Rawlins his relict died June ye 9th 1787 aged 77 years

Clark Gayton Pickman Esq. died Dec. ye 2nd 1781 aged 36 years

Sarah Orne his relict died September ye 28th 1812 aged 61 years

William Pickman Esq. H.C. 1766 died Nov. ye 3d 1815 aged 67 years

Elizabeth Leavitt his wife died Oct. ye 20th 1782 aged 23 years

Pickman Family

• Benjamin Pickman (1645-1708) m. 1667 Elizabeth Hardy (1650-1727)
• Benjamin Pickman (1672-1719) m2. 1704 Abigail Lindall (1681-1738)
• Benjamin Pickman (1708-1773) m. Love Rawlins (1709-1786)
• Abigail Pickman (1733-1780) m1. 1750 William Eppes (1726-1765)
• Judith Pickman (1736-1737)
• Judith Pickman II (1737-1756) m. 1755 Dr. E. A. Holyoke (1728-1829)
• Clark Gayton Pickman (1746-1781) m. 1770 Sarah Orne (1752-1812)
• William Pickman (1747-1815) m. 1776 Elizabeth Leavitt (1759-1782)
• Samuel Pickman (1712-1772) m. Elizabeth Pasca (1714-1761)
• Caleb Pickman (1715-1737)

Barton-Toppan-Pickman crest

Charter Street Cemetery: Barton-Toppan-Pickman

Here Lie Buried

Dr. Thomas Barton died April ye 28th 1751 aged 71 years

And his relict Mary Willoughby died January ye 3d 1758 aged 82 years

John Barton Esq. H.C. 1730 died December ye 21 1774 aged 63 years

Mary Willoughby Barton widow of Dr. Bazaleel Toppan died June 1776 aged 61 years

Dr. Bazaleel Toppan H.C. 1722 died August ye 8th 1762 aged 57 years

Thomas Toppan Esq. H.C. 1757 died April ye 23 1758 aged 20 years

Sarah Toppan died October ye 17th 1759 aged 19 years

Willoughby Toppan Esq. died May ye 6th 1760 aged 25 years

Anne Toppan died January ye 13th 1778 aged 21 years

Mary Toppan wife of Colonel Benjamin Pickman died October ye 28th 1817 aged 73 years

Col. Benjamin Pickman H.C. 1759 died May 13th 1819 aged 79 years

Mary Anne Pickman died January ye 2nd 1809 aged 9 years

Hasket Derby Pickman H.C. 1815 died Oct. ye 22nd 1815 aged 19 years

Daughter and Son of Benjamin Pickman Esq. H.C. 1784 and His Wife Anstiss Derby

Barton-Toppan-Pickman Family

• Dr. Thomas Barton (1680-1751) m. 1710 Mary Willoughby (1676-1758)
• John Barton (1711-1774)
• Mary Willoughby Barton (1715-1776) m. 1734 Dr. Bazaleel Toppan (1705-1762)
• Willoughby Toppan (1735-1760)
• Thomas Toppan (1738-1758)
• Sarah Toppan (1740-1759)
• Mary Toppan (1744-1817) m. 1762 Benjamin Pickman (1740-1819)
• Benjamin Pickman (1763-1843) m. 1789 Anstiss Derby (1769-1836)
• Hasket Derby Pickman (1796-1815)
• Mary Anne Pickman (1800-1809)
• Anne Toppan (1757-1778)

Broad Street Cemetery

Caleb Pickman, who was killed by lightning, is mentioned on the Broad Street lid but his headstone is at Charter Street.

Benjamin Pickman (1763-1843) and his wife Anstiss Derby (1769-1836), whose children are mentioned on the Charter Street lid, have a white obelisk in Broad Street Cemetery near the Summer Street entrance.

H.C. refers to Harvard College, followed by graduation date.

Click on photo to enlarge it.

Map references for Broad Street Cemetery are the same as the 2021 Preservation Plan for the cemetery.

Charter Street Cemetery