Theodore Judah's Grave

The Pierce family burial plot is located in the Federal Street Cemetery. Theodore Judah was born on March 4, 1826, and died on November 2, 1863, at the age of 37. As a boy, he studied civil engineering and became a railroad surveyor by age 18. While in Greenfield building bridges and receiving metal supplies through John Pierce, Theodore met Anna Pierce, John’s daughter. At the age of 21, Judah married Anna Pierce, who was born June 30, 1828, in Greenfield and died September 2, 1895, at age 67. 

While hiking the Donner Pass in California, Theodore Judah realized that the grade of the land would easily allow a steam train to pass over the Sierra Nevada Mountains which was previously impassible. This important discovery would eventually complete the Transcontinental Railroad.

Theodore Judah also designed a three-arch stone span bridge which is the only known surviving structure from the Early Industrial Period (1830-1870) in Bernardston. He was also responsible for bringing the railroad tracks to Greenfield.  

While in port in Panama on a business trip to secure financial backers to keep railroad construction going, Theodore Judah became ill with yellow fever. He made it back to New York where he died in the presence of his wife, Anna. Unfortunately, he never saw the completion of the Transcontinental Railroad.

Anna buried her husband in the Pierce family plot in the Federal Street Cemetery in Greenfield

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