Monument
In memory of Seventy two seamen who perished in Plymouth harbour on the 26 and 27 days of December 1778, on board the private armed Brig, Gen. Arnold, of twenty guns, James Magee of Boston, Commander, sixty of whom were buried on this spot.
(On the northwesterly side.)
Capt. James Magee died in Roxbury, February 4, 1801; aged 51 years.
Note: This monument was erected by Stephen Gale of Portland, Maine, a stranger to them, as a memorial to their sufferings and death.
One of the most recent burials here was that of Judge Thomas Russell who was buried here at his special request.
Judge Russell was a native of Plymouth, the son of Thomas and Mary Ann (Goodwin) Russell. He was a noted jurist, was appointed by President Grant United States Minister to Venezuela and was President of the Pilgrim Society on the occasion of General Grant’s visit to Plymouth. His stone of native granite bears the inscription: Thomas Russell, born Sept. 26, 1825, Died Feb. 9, 1887.
The brass cannons shown above are on the east side of Burial Hill near the site of the old fort. They were presented to the Town of Plymouth by the British Government as an expression of Good Will during the Tercentenary period and were transmitted through the Ancient and Honourable Artillery Company of London to the Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company of Massachusetts. On the right is a “Minion.” On the left a “Sakeret,” both of the mid-16th century era. They were formerly in the collection of the British National Artillery Museum and are similar to the cannons mounted on the first fort to protect the colony from attack of Indians.
PILGRIMS PROGRESS, presented each Friday in August by the Plymouth Antiquarian Society. This is a colorful event, impressive and inspirational in its simplicity.