Henry Evelyn Pierrepont

Henry Evelyn Pierrepont, The Father of Green-Wood Cemetery

• Find A Grave Memorial ID # 29723708
• Henry Evelyn Pierrepont, Green-Wood Cemetery

Pierrepont was known as the “first citizen” of Brooklyn for good reason. He, along with his father Hezekiah B. and mother Anna Maria before him, played a significant role in the planning of Brooklyn as a physical city, its crucial ferry services to New York, and the establishment of Green-Wood Cemetery itself. He is considered by some to be one of the first “city planners” in the United States, a logical evolution from his father’s status as the first important suburban (Brooklyn Heights) real-estate developer in American History. Pierrepont Street in the Heights commemorates the family to this day.

Following the incorporation of the City of Brooklyn in 1834, Henry was made Chairman of the Commission to lay out the streets of the city. The plan would include sites for eleven public parks, and set aside the hilly terminal glacial moraines above Gowanus Creek as the potential location for a large landscaped cemetery.

During his travels to France and Italy, Pierrepont was impressed with the historic cemeteries he visited. In 1832 he was to see Mount Auburn Cemetery in Cambridge, Massachusetts, outside of Boston, the first “rural” cemetery in America. These experiences would lead directly to his helping to establish Green-Wood Cemetery, which would become one of the largest and most beautiful scenic cemeteries in the world.

On the crest of a hillock site in Green-Wood stands the handsome brownstone Gothic Revival pavilion dedicated to Anna Maria Pierrepont, the matriarch of the family and Hazekieh Beers Pierrepont, its patriarch. Within the pavilion a stone sarcophagus bears their names, dates of birth, and dates of death. Anna was the daughter of the Constable Family, who in the early 19th century were the largest landowners in New York State.

The monument was designed by Richard Upjohn. His original design drawings for the structure have only recently been rediscovered. The Upjohn firm was also responsible for Green-Wood’s unique Main Entrance Gate, the Eastern Entrance Cottages and other wooden structures originally located in the Cemetery. New York City has a number of fine churches and buildings, including Trinity Church in Manhattan, designed by Richard Upjohn and Son.