Jonathan Edwards & Bridge Street Cemetery

Photograph of the Bridge Street Cemetery. Old gravestones can be seen scattered around the grounds. Orange and yellow leaves are on the grass. An off-white, cream colored mausoleum is in view, engraved with the name "BATES." — Photograph of the Bridge Street Cemetery, Northampton, Mass.

The Bridge Street Cemetery is located on Bridge Street (Route 9), heading northeast from downtown Northampton towards Hadley and Amherst past Historic Northampton. The entrance is near the end of the cemetery along Parsons Street.

Photograph of one of the Edwards epitaphs in the Bridge Street Cemetery. The engraving has the birth and death dates for Jonathan Edwards, Sarah Pierpont, and more that are not fully legible on the side. — Photograph of the Edwards cenotaph in Bridge Street Cemetery.

Inside the Bridge Street Cemetery are two cenotaphs dedicated to Jonathan Edwards. A cenotaph is a monument erected in honor of a person buried elsewhere. The cemetery also contains the gravesites of Edwards’ parents – Reverend Solomon and Esther Stoddard, Edwards’ daughter, Jerusha Edwards, and David Brainerd.

In January 1758, Edward accepted the presidency of the College of New Jersey, now Princeton University. He was officially installed as president on February 16th. Smallpox was prevalent in the area. After consultation and advice, Edwards underwent a smallpox inoculation on February 23rd. Days after, Edwards contracted smallpox. After four weeks of illness, Edwards died on March 22, 1758. His wife, Sarah, died of dysentery six months later on October 2, 1758. Jonathan and Sarah Edwards are buried in Princeton Cemetery in New Jersey.

In May 1747, the missionary David Brainerd, suffering from illness, traveled to Northampton and stayed at the Edwards home. Edwards’ second child, Jerusha, attended to him and accompanied him on a horseback trip to Boston, intended to improve his health. In late July, they left Boston for Northampton. On October 9, 1747, Brainerd died from tuberculosis at age 29 and was buried in the Bridge Street Cemetery. Jerusha died four months later and was buried beside him. Read more about Bridge Street Cemetery.