The Old Dorchester North Burial Ground – one of the oldest cemeteries in the city – has been shrouded in mystery for many residents, but an afternoon tour on Sunday (Oct. 20) sought to correct that as the gates opened and hundreds poured into the grounds to bridge the gap spanning 300 years of local history.

Once set in the pastoral confines of a rural colonial settlement, the grounds, a peaceful tract of land that most have only seen from beyond the fences, are now situated on several acres of land beside the bustle of Columbia Road and Dudley and Stoughton streets.

In staging the tour, Dot resident Matthew Dickey set out to quell the questions he so often got as an employee of the Boston Preservation Alliance. “I cycle by this and walk by it every day because I live on Jones Hill,” said Dickey, who is a streetscape curator for the non-profit organization.

“It’s never open but it’s so full of Dorchester history,” he said. “If people don’t know what’s in here, they will not be able to connect with where they’re from or where they live…It’s sense of joy to see so many in here discovering the place. Many said they didn’t know they could come in here. I think being able to connect to this history is meaningful.”

Bobby MacEachern and Mike Stella said the afternoon program was one of the best in years.

The event, which was coordinated by the Alliance and the Dorchester Historical Society (DHS), saw close to 400 people visit throughout the afternoon in a program that concluded with a gathering at Comfort Kitchen, the award-winning restaurant next door. DHS President Earl Taylor said 300 people registered for the event, and added that they were very pleased with the crowds. He noted that it had been 7 to 10 years since they had an event inside, but others noted that it had been longer since that many people had visited.

“It’s probably been more than 50 years since anyone has seen this kind of interest and this many people in this old cemetery on one day,” remarked Bobby MacEachern, a board member of DHS.

Inside, the names on the tombstones were steeped in history, from pre-Colonial times to the Civil War, and virtually every name was also a street in the neighborhood – from Minot to Clapp to Pierce to Stoughton.

Above, talking over some of the new history they had learned were, from left, Karen Rave, Melissa Smith, and Cody Pajic. All three were some of the hundreds of visitors who attended a rare open house on Sunday at the Dorchester Old North Burial Ground in Uphams Corner – one of the oldest cemeteries in the city. Seth Daniel photo

The grounds have seen improvements and work in recent years, with the fence along Columbia Road restored last summer.

A blazing fall sun amplifying the old hardwood trees whose foliage was at peak color assisted in making the picturesque and pleasant afternoon even more so. There were 39 points of interest flagged in the program for visitors to learn about, with QR codes placed at each site so that people could use a phone to look up historic vignettes – much of which was brand new information for folks making their first visit.

Some of the stories are very compelling.

There was the story of First Parish Church Sexton David Davenport posted by his gravesite, a handsome slate with low relief carving affixed to the back of the auto body building abutting the cemetery.

Becoming the sexton, or caretaker of the church, included attending all funerals and digging all the graves for those in Dorchester. In fact, Davenport dug his own grave in 1833 and recorded the fact on his tombstone, while also noting that he had attended 1,135 funerals and dug 734 graves for Dorchester folks.

“In Sexton with my spade I learned to delve beneath the soul,” read the long inscription. “Where body to the earth returned. But spirit to its God. Years twenty seven this toil I bore. And midst deaths oft was spared. Seven hundred graves and thirty four I dug. Then mine prepared.”

Of great interest to many on the tour was John Moseley, who came from Lancashire, England to Dorchester in 1630 and died on Oct. 27, 1661, at age 55. Moseley came over as an indentured servant and gained his freedom on March 14, 1638. It is believed he may have arrived on the ship ‘Mary and John.’

The well-preserved slate gravestone of Isaac Davenport from 1799. Seth Daniel photo

The stories of four slaves buried in the grounds and brought from Antigua by Robert Oliver, a wealthy planter, in the 1730s also stuck out. The names of the slaves were Cambridge, Betty, Bristol, and a young girl (age 2) named Ann.

Their stories are largely unknown, but one historical record of how they worked remarked that they carried heavy loads on their heads as they weren’t aware of the “proper use of the Yankee wheelbarrow.” There are currently three slate stones circa the 1740s, though one is missing and a tree that was beside them for decades was hit by lightning and removed a few years ago.

A grave located on the Women’s History Trail was that of Lucy Anne Kirk, who was an early female doctor who earned her medical degree from Boston University in 1893. She established her homeopathic medical practice at 732 Dudley St., and lived at 677 Dudley St., passing away in 1947. She was known for giving lectures and talks to nurses and residents of Dorchester on the importance of hygiene for mothers.

Colonel Samuel Pierce, a Revolutionary War lieutenant-colonel, is also prominently remembered in the graveyard. The builder and resident of the Pierce House on Oakton Avenue, he helped fortify Dorchester Heights, was at Morristown in 1777, and commanded a regiment in Rhode Island in 1779.

Other prominent burials are Acting Gov. William Stoughton, Montana Gov. Henry Nichols Blake, James Blake (first owner of Blake House), Richard Mather (namesake of Mather School), and John Foster, who died in 1681 and was the first printer in Boston).

Dickey said he was thrilled about the day. “It was really an immediate reaction to the emails and social media posts I put out that people wanted to be here and wanted to see this place,” he said. “I’m excited that so many people came out.”

He and others said they hoped to make it an annual fall event.

Many trees in the old burial ground were at peak color. Seth Daniel photo