Some Very Special Volunteers You Probably Never Knew About, But You Might Have Benefitted From Their Work And Not Even Known It

Susan (Walker) Tew (1828-1893)

Susan (Walker) Tew is my 2X great grandmother.  She is also the 2X great aunt of my cousin Bill Newcomb.

On April 16th of this year I received an email from Bill alerting me to the sad news that Susan's gravestone had been seriously damaged in a violent storm that swept through the Rice City area of Rhode Island where Susan is interred in a family burial ground.  Eerily, of the numerous graves and headstones, only Susan's headstone was damaged.

Susan had a rather difficult life.  She was the eldest of the ten children of Nathan Walker and Polly (Wells) Walker.  She had two younger sisters and seven younger brothers.  Susan was 17 years old when she married Adam Tew (age 20), in January 1846.  Less than seven months later she and Adam had their first of six children and almost a year to the day later her mother died leaving at least five minor children under 15 years old motherless.  Susan, who was married with an infant daughter, was unable to assist her father with the raising of her siblings and so they were farmed out to others willing to help.  When Susan was nearly 60 years old, she and her husband Adam separated and Adam remarried in April 1887.  He was 62 years old and his new wife was 43.  Adam Tew was her fifth husband.

When Bill sent me the news about Susan's damaged headstone, he and I communicated about what might be done to repair it.  Bill said he was going to reach out to the historical cemetery community and that reminded me that back in the fall of 2015, I was contacted by Diane Boumenot of the outstanding blog, One Rhode Island Family.  Diane shared the photo (below) of a damaged headstone in Cumberland Cemetery that was being repaired by volunteers who devoted their time, energy, and resources to caring for historic and often neglected and damaged cemeteries.  It turned out the the headstone was that of my 4X great uncle, Aurin Miller, brother of my 3X great grandfather, Eber Miller.  Eber was one of the incorporators of Cumberland Cemetery and he and his brother are both interred there.

I told Bill that I would try reaching out to Ken Postle and Robert Butler who were involved in the River Road, Blackstone River and Canal Group that did the above headstone repair at Cumberland Cemetery.  I would see if their group perchance knew of a similar group that cared for historic cemeteries in the Coventry, RI area or if their group did such work outside of Providence County.  Before I was able to make the inquiry, Bill found the volunteer group known as the Pawtuxet Valley Preservation and Historical Society (PVPHS).

PVPHS is located in the historic former Crompton Library in W. Warwick, RI.  In 2011 the Cemetery Committee of PVPHS became the fifth organization in Rhode Island to repair and preserve tombstones and burial sites.  The Cemetery Committee also joined a network consortium with the National Park Service in the Blackstone Valley in northern Rhode Island.

Within days of Bill making contact with the PVPHS, volunteers made the trip to Rice City and made repairs to Susan Tew's damaged headstone.  A description of the repairs and photographs by the volunteers below tell the story of the wonderful efforts by this group of dedicated volunteers.

          "This stone belongs to Susan (Walker) Tew and was brought to our attention by

           her second great nephew, William Newcomb. The stone had deteriorated around

          the pins causing multiple fractures. This, combined with a settling base, led to

          the breakage and falling seen here.

          The first step was to epoxy the stone fragment back in place.  Once this was

          cured, the remaining cracks will be filled to prevent water from freezing inside

          them, further damaging the stone.

          Next, the base had to be leveled.  Upon lifting the base, it can be seen that there

          was concrete used to help support it and prevent settling. Additionally,

          fragments of marble stone, one of them carved with a date, were used for

          support. This was almost certainly a discarded fragment from the stone carver's

          shop used instead of field stone for a foundation.

          The intermediate base with the pins was then epoxied to the lower base to be

          completely level in preparation for the next visit, after the epoxy has cured."

        

Once the epoxy cured on all the repairs described and pictured above, the dedicated volunteers of the PVPHS Cemetery Committee returned to the cemetery and restored the mended headstone of Susan A. (Walker) Tew to its full upright position on a secured and leveled foundation.  The completed repairs are shown below in a photo by Bill Newcomb.

Bill Newcomb and I are very grateful for the altruistic volunteer efforts of the members of the Cemetery Committee of the PVPHS in repairing the damaged headstone of our family member.  It is comforting to know that there are such selfless people devoted to doing whatever they can to preserve, protect, and repair the final resting place of forebears–many of whom must be complete strangers.  They deserve our gratitude and our support whenever possible.

I am not sure how many states have organizations and volunteers that watch over historic and often forgotten cemeteries, but Rhode Island is fortunate indeed to have at least five including the Pawtuxet Valley Preservation and Historical Society and the River Road, Blackstone River and Canal Group.  They are due much praise and credit for the work they do in preserving a major resource for genealogists and historians!

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Photograph of Susan A. (Walker) Tew from the personal collection of the author.

Photograph of the initial damage to Susan's headstone and of the completd repairs courtesy of  William "Bill" Newcomb.

Description of the repairs and photographs of the repair process from the PVPHS. 

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Copyright 2020, John D. Tew

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