NASHUA – Many memorials to the dead who rest in the Old South Burial Ground, read “Remember you must die.”

However, most modern onlookers are shielded from this message carved on the ancient gravestones because it is inscribed in Latin as Memento Mori. Whether interpreted as a grim message or as a call to live an honorable life, the May 3 cemetery tour, presented by the Nashua Historical Society, is a special opportunity to hear the history of the early inhabitants who are buried in the Old Dunstable Burying Ground, otherwise known as The Old South Burial Ground.

During the cemetery tour, guests will be invited to travel from grave to grave and listen to more than a dozen reenactors dressed in period-appropriate attire.

Timed vignettes presented by the reenactors include stories of French and Indian War soldiers, Revolutionary War heroes, a minister, a stonecutter, and a surveyor. The Nashua Historical Society in collaboration with The Kings Daughters Benevolent Association is pleased the red brick 1841 Suburban Schoolhouse No. 1, located on the cemetery grounds, will also be open to ticket holders. A schoolmaster and schoolmarm along with a small group of school-age children will greet visitors who enter the historic schoolhouse restored in 1976.

“Late in the summer of 1839, Henry David Thoreau walked through this very cemetery and wrote of the ‘early remains of ancient inhabitants of Dunstable,’ and we invite the public to join us in exploring these same stones and stories,” said Paula Lochhead, chairwoman of the Cemetery Tour Committee at The Nashua Historical Society.

Lochhead and her team have designed a cemetery tour memorable for history enthusiasts, but artists and curious minds too. The artwork on the stones is varied and speaks to an earlier time when symbolism included skulls, bones, angels, fruits, vines and flowers. Each grave is aligned on an east-west axis, with the person’s feet facing eastward, a practice aligned with early Christian beliefs, especially of New England Puritans.

The open-format tour will run twice from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. and from 1:30 to 3 p.m. Tickets are $20 and can be purchased online at: https://www.nashuahistoricalsociety.org/event-details/old-souls-of-the-old-south-burial-ground-cemetery-tour. Tickets can also be purchased at the Florence H. Speare Museum, 5 Abbott St.

The tour is appropriate for ages 10 and up, as there are no walkways and many of the gravestones are hundreds of years old. The oldest stone in the Old South Burial Ground is dated 1687.

To best enjoy the tour, guests must be able to walk on uneven ground as well as be able to stand for an hour or more. The tour is not wheelchair accessible. Guests are encouraged to wear weather-appropriate clothing and proper footwear. A port-a-potty will be located nearby for guests.

Guests should come directly to the Old South Burial Ground, 217 Daniel Webster Hwy., at least 15 minutes before their tour begins. The cemetery is located at the entrance to the Royal Ridge Mall across from the BJ’s gas station. Parking is available adjacent to the burial ground at Walgreens and Bank of America.