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Concord, Massachusetts, Henry David Thoreau, Tombstone and Grave, Sleepy Hollow Cemetery, photo

oncord, Massachusetts, Henry David Thoreau, Tombstone and Grave, Sleepy Hollow Cemetery, photo

The family burial plot and tombstone of the Thoreau family which includes the grave of the author, philosopher and abolitionist, Henry David Thoreau. Thoreau was born on July 12, 1817 in Concord, Massachusetts as David Henry Thoreau; he reversed his first and middle name as adult. The tombstone includes his mother and father, John and Cynthia Thoreau, his two sisters, Helen and Sophia, and his brother, John. The name of Henry David Thoreau is the second from the bottom.

Thoreau is most well known for his book, Walden, or Life in the Woods which is the result of the two years (1845-47) he lived upon a portion of Walden Pond which was owned by his friend, Ralph Waldo Emerson. His 1849 essay, Resistance to Civil Government (later more commonly known by the title of Civil Disobedience) was also widely influential and continues to draw attention and is credited with giving inspiration to a wide range of individuals including Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King.

Henry David Thoreau died on May 6, 1862, at the age of 44 and is buried on Author's Ridge in the Sleepy Hollow Cemetery at Concord. Near the grave of Emerson are also the graves of other authors including the Alcott's (Louisa May Alcott and Bronson Alcott), Ralph Waldo Emerson and Nathaniel Hawthorne.

Walden Pond located in Concord, Massachusetts is now a Massachusetts State Park known as Walden Pond State Reservation.

Walden Pond located in Concord, Massachusetts and is now a Massachusetts state park known as Walden Pond State Reservation. It was here that Thoreau lived from 1845-47 and inspired his book, Walden, or Life in the Woods.

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