Pleasant Street

Pleasant Street. . , This burial ground was established in 1754 on land deeded to the town of Portsmouth by the Pickering family and situated in a waterfront area once known as "Pickering's Neck." It is the final resting place of many members of Portsmouth’s most prosperous families from the period 1770 to 1860, the town's golden age of mercantile and seafaring wealth. Of the approximately fifty known gravesites in this cemetery, at least twenty of the interred had strong seafaring ties. Several ship captains lie here alongside their wives, and a number of mariners' wives are buried along, their husbands presumably interred far from home or lost at sea. , Wendall Family Coat of Arms , The Wendall family lived in Portsmouth for many decades beginning in the mid-1700s. Privateering and various other shipping ventures and manufacturing successes made them powerful figures in Portsmouth's social and business life. Three of the Wendell homes are located in close proximity to this cemetery. , The John Wendell Family Tomb 1818 , This tomb, an above=ground brick and earthen structure, is largely unchanged from the way it looked in this nineteenth century photography. , Privateers , Privateers such as that depicted here were privately owned armed vessels officially authorized to prey on enemy shipping. While no privateer captains are known to rest here, the wives of three do: Satira Tullock, :the amiable Consort" of Capt. William Tullock; Lucy Salter, "consort" of Capt. Henry Salter; and Mary Manning, wife of Capt. Thomas Manning. , Jeremiah Barrell d. 1763 , This is the oldest extant gravestone in Pleasant Cemetery. It bears a distinctive male angelic face. The carver's identity is unknown, but the style is characteristic of that of Boston area stonecutters. , Mary Manning d. 1773 , Mary was the wife of the prominent captain, Thomas Manning. The image on her stone, carved by Bostonian John Homer, depicts a skeletal grim reaper next to a willow tree and urn. This unique gravestone is the only one of its kind in the area.