#CAST DOWN FROM THINE DARK CRYPT CRACKED#

One of the StrangersвЂ™ TombвЂ™s stranger occupants is a man by the name of Chevalier de Saint Sauveur. Sometimes the congregation would take the poor under their wing and then bury them here.вЂќ When the crypt was in use, coffins would be carried from the church around to the side of the building, and then the cryptвЂ™s iron gate would be opened, says Theresa Cooney (GRSвЂ™15). Rather вЂњit could mean stranger to each other, or stranger to the church. The use of the word вЂњstrangerвЂќ doesnвЂ™t mean unknown, notes Cooney. Some remains can be found in the back of the crypt in what is called the StrangersвЂ™ Tomb itвЂ™s estimated that between 30 and 50 souls are spending their eternal lives here. вЂњWhat we do know is that most of them were privately owned by wealthy members of the congregation,вЂќ Cooney says, like the resident in tomb number two-Frances вЂњFrannyвЂќ Apthorp, who bore a child by her sisterвЂ™s husband, and poisoned herself shortly after. The 21 tombs here were installed in 1760, although spotty record-keeping means no one knows for sure who the first denizen was. The burying ground can be visited separately at no cost.ДЄs you enter the crypt, the first things you notice are the shadows and the bricked, barrel-vaulted tombs. вЂњBurying ground actually means a nonreligious burial,вЂќ says Griswold, who studied archaeology at BU. Tours of the chapel do not include a visit to KingвЂ™s Chapel Burying Ground next door-dating back to 1636, it is the oldest burial ground in the city. (It was the last bell the silversmith and Revolutionary war patriot ever cast.) The 2,437-pound bell is still rung today, using a long rope.

#CAST DOWN FROM THINE DARK CRYPT CRACKED#

The original bell became cracked in 1814, and two years later Paul Revere cast its replacement. Tour visitors can climb the rickety original 18th-century steps to the chapelвЂ™s bell tower. The colonial-revival-style church has a soaring ceiling, wood carvings, and a large brass chandelier. ItвЂ™s hard to imagine the space below as you enter the 260-year-old building from the street level.

And while I havenвЂ™t had a ghost experience, would I want to hang out in the crypt alone at midnight? No way.вЂќ Only 3 of the 21 tombs have monuments with the familiesвЂ™ names inscribed on them. вЂњThere are a lot of people buried here who have had crazy lives. вЂњThe building is ambient, the electricity flickers, thereвЂ™s always rumbling from a train,вЂќ says Cooney, a PhD candidate in the Graduate Division of Religious Studies. This Halloween weekend, KingвЂ™s Chapel, one of 16 stops along the Freedom Trail, will offer special nighttime tours inside one of BostonвЂ™s eeriest and oldest sites. Throughout its history, many members of the congregation chose to be buried on site in the chapelвЂ™s crypt.Д«U Today recently took a tour of the crypt, led by KingвЂ™s Chapel tour guides Theresa Cooney (GRSвЂ™15) and Lucas Griswold (CASвЂ™11). When KingвЂ™s Chapel reopened after the war, in 1785, it was the countryвЂ™s first Unitarian church and today boasts an active congregation.

The present-day chapel was completed in 1754, and it was the place of worship for British Loyalists during the American Revolution. Somewhere between 100 and 150 people are buried beneath the floorboards of the historic chapel, the first Anglican church in New England when it was consecrated in 1689. The path leads to a large iron gate, and behind that gate lies one of BostonвЂ™s most fascinating historical artifacts-a crypt containing, among others, a French knight and a poisoned adulteress. Walking past the granite faГ§ade of KingвЂ™s Chapel on Tremont Street, itвЂ™s easy to miss the narrow, dark path that snakes around the building.

Cast down from thine dark crypt