Arranging a Burial

If you need to purchase cemetery lots, please see our separate article "Purchasing Cemetery Lots".

Whenever possible, the Cemetery Commission encourages families to arrange burials through a funeral home.  Funeral homes will take care of many of the arrangements such as contacting someone to open the grave, someone to provide the vault/liner, arranging for tents and chairs for graveside services, etc.  Having this professional assistance is often especially important as Freetown does not have staff available to provide these services like other, larger communities.

If you are arranging a burial for someone who has been cremated, particularly if time has passed and you are no longer using the services of a funeral home, you can contact the Cemetery Commission for help and guidance.  We can provide you with the names and contact information of people permitted to open graves and hopefully be able to answer many other questions for you.

When arranging a burial at the Assonet Burying Ground, make note that no graveside services are permitted to begin after 11:00 a.m. on July 3rd nor before 1:00 p.m. on July 4th.  Services on July 3rd must be completed, and all visitors must exit the cemetery, by 12:00 noon.  These times are strictly enforced.

Please note, we cannot help you with arrangements at the Chace Cemetery, Rounsevell Cemetery, or White Cemetery, all of which are private cemeteries in East Freetown.  These cemeteries are administered by their own associations with their own rules and procedures.