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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How Can An Eminent Domain Road Widening Be A Source For Genealogy Research? (March 29, 2020)

As a self-confessed packrat I more than occasionally come across items that I never knew (or totally forgot) I had.  This is exactly what happened a few days ago--but a brief detour for some background photos is necessary.

My maternal grandparents, Everett and Ruth Carpenter, lived in a house in Cumberland, Rhode Island that was inherited by my grandfather.  The house had been in the Miller/Carpenter family since about 1767 when it was built by Peter Miller, my 5X great grandfather.  My mother and her two siblings grew to adulthood in the house and I have good memories of the house and property from my many visits during my youth.

Below are photographs of what the Miller/Carpenter homestead looked like at various stages before 1957.  Notice the trees that are located in front of the house in all the photos, which pre-date 1957.  After a road widening project in 1957-58, those trees and the picket fencing no longer existed.  Also, the first three photos show a tall chimney at the back of the house which is where the kitchen was located.  In the fourth photo, taken from the rear of the house, the chimney is missing because it blew down in the infamous 1938 hurricane.  Only the third photo gives a glimpse of the barn, which is the structure in the background behind the kitchen of the house.  The barn survived the 1938 hurricane, but it was a lot worse for the wear by that terrible storm and as children my siblings and I were not allowed onto the upper floor or even into the barn without and adult with us.  The house and barn and the few acres they sat on were located at what was known as 551 High Street in Cumberland. [See, "This Old House" Feb. 8, 2013]

On August 21, 1957, the Director of Public Works (Joseph M. Vallone) wrote on behalf of the State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations to give legal notice that the State Properties Committee had authorized by condemnation the acquisition of some of my grandparents' property.  The acquisition was one of many such condemnations and acquisitions along High Street between Abbott Street and Blackstone Street for the purpose of widening and improving High Street.

On December 27, 1957, a letter from the Rhode Island Department of Public Works, Division of Roads and Bridges, was addressed to Sarah E. Carpenter, the mother of my grandfather, Everett S. Carpenter.  The letter from Joseph S. Garside, Right-of-Way Engineer, was intended to inform my great grandmother that a portion of her property at 551 High Street was being taken for highway purposes and that it had been appraised at $213.00 to fully settle all claims she might have.  [There clearly had been some error in the land records search, however, because Sarah E. Carpenter (1858 - 1945) had been dead for more than twelve years as of the date of the letter.]

By August 13, 1958, the correct ownership of 551 High Street had been resolved and the consideration for the condemnation of a portion of my grandfather's property at 551 High Street had been settled for the appraised value of $213.00.  Both my grandfather and my grandmother  signed a modified release (including any right to dower in the condemned property my grandmother may have had).  The release was witnessed by D. Thomas Auello.

So, all of the above might be very interesting for the parties involved, including the state officials named in the various documents, but what does this really have to do with genealogy other than for the Carpenter family and perhaps the families of the named state officials?  Well, when a condemnation of private property occurs for a public use there needs to be just compensation for the property taken and it is based on an appraisal process.  When a large number of properties are affected there is almost always a plat done to show the location and extent of the subject property(s) and the portion(s) to be taken.  As the initial notice of the legal taking shown above indicates, the notice to all affected property owners had a plat that accompanied the notice.  

For the entire highway improvement project on High Street from Abbott Street north to Blackstone Street six plats were required to show the entire route and the properties affected by the takings and improvements.  The plat that was sent to my grandparents and to eighteen other land owners in the immediate neighborhood was Plat No. 1014 (which was the sixth of the six plats showing the project along High Street from Abbott to Blackstone).  The scale of the plat is 40 feet per inch and for each individual property shown the dimensions of the property being condemned and taken for public use is given along with the name(s) of the property owner(s).  The portion of Plat 1014 that shows the Carpenter property is provided immediately below.  

The Carpenter property was the larget property of all the properties shown for the section of High Street covered by Plat 1014.  The Carpenter property was designated as Parcel 124 and the plat shows that the strip of Carpenter land fronting High Street that was to be taken was 540 ft. more or less.  The above portion of Plat 1014 also shows the location of Parcels 122 and 123 across High Street from the Carpenter property and it indicates who the owners of the property were--John Tyson for Parcel 22 and Andrew J. & Jane B. Pascale for Parcel 123. 

The remaining properties on Plat 1014 are shown below and the names of the owners and the square footage of the land being taken by the condemnation is provided for each property shown.

Sixty-three years after the takings along High Street in Cumberland there are probably very few property owners who are the same owners (or descendants of the 1957 owners) and so the plats for the highway improvements done along High Street going on seven decades ago can be considered source information for genealogical purposes.  And to that end, and because the printing in the above images may be somewhat dificult to make out, a full list of the property owners on Plat 1014 is shown below in the hope that it might be of some use for those researching ancestors who lived in Cumberland in the late 1950s.  

The list of property owners shown on Plat 1014 begins at the intersection of High and Blackstone Streets just north of the Carpenter property and proceeds on the eastern side of High Street  southward and then lists property owners on the west side of HighStreet beginning at the south end of the plat proceeding northward back to Blackstone Street.

East Side of High St. South of Blackstone St.

Parcel No. 125 -- Chester T. Pollett et al.

Parcel No. 124 -- Sarah E. Carpenter

Parcel No. 121 -- William Ball

Parcel No. 120 -- Wallace & Elsie Driesner

Parcel No. 115 -- Simon P. & Alice G. Breen

Parcel No. 114 -- Wallace & Elsie Driesner

Parcel No. 113 -- Hugh Ward

Parcel No. 112 -- Wilfred O. & Alice Sylvestre

Parcel No. 108 -- James A. & Alice T.E. Broadbent

[A dwelling marked #487, owner(s) and parcel number must be on Plat 5 of 6] 

West Side of High St. North to Blackstone St.

Parcel No. 105 -- Joseph & Florence Rentes

Parcel No. 109 -- Antonio P. Rezendes

Parcel No. 110 -- Manuel F. & Maria F. Martins

Parcel No. 111 -- Walter & Nancy Cowdell

Parcel No. 116 -- Francis J. & Elizabeth A. Burns

Parcel No. 117 -- Robert & Mary I. Rayley

Parcel No. 118 -- Ida M. & Joseph P. Bradley

Parcel No. 119 -- Daniel E. & Mary Corcoran

Parcel No. 122 -- John Tyson

Parcel No. 123 -- Andrew J. & Jane B. Pascale.

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Eminent domain image from Debate.org at https://www.debate.org/opinions/is-eminent-domain-a-fringe-upon-rights.

All other images from original documents in the collection of the author.

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Copyright 2020, John D. Tew

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Rhode Island Historical Cemetery, Cumberland 3 (October 12, 2016) -- Part VI

In this sixth and final post of the Cumberland 3 Cemetery series, I am presenting the last of the documents found in the Cemetery file that was kept by my maternal grandfather, Everett S. Carpenter, and subsequently passed down to me.

Among the last seven miscellaneous documents found in the Cumberland Cemetery file are: five customer copies of "personal service checks" drawn on the Pawtucket Institution For Savings in the years 1955 and 1956; a business card of John P. Cannon, Right of Way Agent with the Rhode Island Division of Roads and Bridges; and a 4 in. x 6 in. piece of notepaper with penciled notes about a "Mrs. Alexander Dale," "Martha A. Kendrick," and a "C. Babbitt, Jr." I present these items below in the hope that they might be of some assistance to others who are interested in piecing together more of the history of Cumberland Cemetery 3, or who might find the information and names of some use in tracking down ancestors or relatives.

The above business card appeared loose in the manilla envelope containing the Cumberland Cemetery 3 files. It was not attached to or seemingly associated with any other document in the files and there is no mention of, or explanation about, the card in the notes of the cemetery corporation.

A "Right of Way Agent" is an official who performs various duties with respect to real estate, but the main purpose and duty of such an official may be the securing of property rights for another. This can include private third parties or government agencies. The Right of Way Agent will often have to identify land owners who might be affected by a planned project; obtain accurate appraisals of subject land; establish a face-to-face meeting with landowners to establish a relationship and discuss a planned project; perhaps negotiate a sale of subject property; and --in the event of damages resulting from the implementation of a project -- work to settle damage disputes.

It is unknown if there were any state-involved projects that would have required discussion, negotiation, or perhaps sale of any of the property owned by the Cumberland Cemetery, Inc., but it is possible that a project related to improvement to Dexter Street brought Right of Way Agent John Cannon calling on my grandfather or other representatives of Cumberland Cemetery, Inc.  The answer might lie in the historical records of the Division of Roads and Bridges.

The next miscellaneous items in the Cumberland Cemetery file are the five personal service checks shown above.

The first check is made out to Amos Egerton in the amount of $17.00 on March 15, 1955. This is apparently for Mr. Egerton's periodic care and maintenance of certain funded gravesites in Cumberland Cemetery. This check is in exactly the same amount ($17.00) as itemized in his invoice/receipt dated December 22, 1954, which is depicted in Part V of this series.

The other four checks are all written in series (Nos. 53857 - 53860) on the same date -- January 31, 1956. The last in the series is written to the Secretary of State of Rhode Island for $2.00 and is most likely the annual corporate registration fee. Another of the checks is again written to Amos Egerton in the same amount as before -- $17.00. A fourth check is made out to "George Savage" for $18.00. What this payment was for and who Mr. Savage was is unknown at this time. The final check dated January 31, 1956 (No. 53859) is made out to my grandfather, Everett S. Carpenter, in the amount of $25.00. Unlike all the other checks (which are signed by my grandfather as Treasurer for Cumberland Cemetery), this check has a notation under the signature line that might indicate what the payment was for, but unfortunately it is illegible.

Finally, there is the note shown immediately above. It contains three names and a reference to the northeast corner of the Carpenter lot in the cemetery.  The names might be persons who purchased or wanted to purchase lots in the cemetery, but the note and names could just as well have some other purpose.  The actual purpose of the note is probably now lost in time. The three names are . . . 

               Mrs. Alexander Dale

               1662 Lonsdale Ave.

               Lonsdale, RI

               Martha A. Kendrick (Stone)

               C. Babbitt, Jr.

               Crowell St.

None of the surnames mentioned in the note shown above are listed in the records of plot purchasers or Cemetery officers (see previous posts in this series -- especially Part III). The reference under Martha A. Kendrick (Stone) to the northeast corner of the Carpenter lot probably relates to an interest in purchasing a lot located there, but here is no record in the Cemetery files I have of a Kendrick or Stone lot being purchased. Perhaps additional research in the future by me or someone else can help identify who Mrs. Alexander Dale, Martha Kendrick, and C. Babbitt, Jr. were.

So what do all these lost and newly discovered documents about Cumberland Cemetery 3 indicate?

To begin with, the documents include what are probably two previously unknown early plats of the property that is now Cumberland Cemetery 3.  Notations on the plats together with minutes by the Cemetery trustees provide new supporting evidence for the belief that the property was a burial ground before the time of the 1870 incorporation of Cumberland Cemetery, Inc.

It is also very clear in a review of these documents that the cemetery was overseen by generations of volunteers who were left to solicit and cajole owners of lots and their relatives and descendants to either care for and maintain the lots in the cemetery, or contribute voluntarily money and/or labor to keep the cemetery from falling into disrepair.  Since none of the lots were endowed with funds for future care and maintenance (save for the Howe and Dana lots funded with bequests -- see Part IV), the trustees had very limited funds to invest and use for general cemetery care and maintenance or for perpetual care of the individual, unfunded lots. 

The sale of the cemetery lots without any requirement for care and maintenance financing for future gravesite and cemetery upkeep, proved eventually to be a fatal flaw for the viability of the cemetery. The trustees/officers were reduced to issuing pleas for funds and/or volunteer labor, but apparently the calls were largely ignored or wholly inadequate to the needs of the cemetery as it aged from the 19th century into the 20th century. Relatives and descendants gradually moved away or lost the family memory of those interred in Cumberland Cemetery 3 . . . and the cemetery fell into disrepair through neglect and the aging and death of the original trustees and their interested descendants. 

Te sad story of Cumberland Cemetery 3 is quite likely a story that was repeated throughout Rhode Island in the case of private cemeteries. While many of these cemeteries have been identified and marked as historic sites, it is only through the efforts of dedicated, selfless volunteers such as Ken Postle and his many assistants with River Road and Blackstone River Valley Cemeteries that continued discovery and restoration of these sites is underway today. 

It is sincerely hoped that the discovery and publication of the documents related to Cumberland Cemetery 3 in the six parts of this series will be of some assistance to Ken and his wonderful volunteers AND to folks who might be looking for ancestors or relatives with connections to Cumberland and its immediate environs. I would be thrilled if this series and the documents presented led anyone to the discovery of the final resting place of a lost family member or members!

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All photographic images in this series are by the author. All document images are from originals in the file inherited from the author's maternal grandfather, Everett S. Carpenter, and are now in the author's personal collection. 

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Copyright 2016, John D. Tew

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Rhode Island Historical Cemetery, Cumberland 3 (August 26, 2016) -- Part V

Ater 1941, the records for Cumberland Cemetery go silent until 1947 when Everett S. Carpenter received an inquiry from a woman in Wisconsin about any record of a George Lapham being buried in the cemetery sometime between 1828 and 1860. The typed inquiry letter, dated 2-19-47 in someone's handwriting, is shown immediately above.

On March 31, 1947, Everett Carpenter (my maternal grandfather) replied to Miss Olene Lapham to inform her that he had no record of the burial of a George Lapham in Cumberland Cemetery. He also told her that he had personally walked the cemetery to inspect all the remaining headstones, but could not find one with the name George Lapham on it.  As he explained to Miss Lapham, "[T]he old records for this cemetery have been lost, and the present members of the corporation are badly handicapped in trying to dig out any ancient history." Given that Miss Lapham could only date the death of her George Lapham sometime in a 32-year period between 1828 and 1860 (well before the incorporation of the Cumberland Cemetery in 1870), Everett must have been referring to burials in the area of the Cumberland Cemetery prior to lot sales that began in the 1870s. This inquiry and the response supply more evidence to support the belief that property within or adjacent to what is Cumberland Cemetery had been used as a burial ground for many years before the incorporation of Cumberland Cemetery and probably relates to the mention of "disused burying grounds east of the tombs" and other such references in the Trustee minutes and other documents previously posted in this series.

Another gap in the documents relating to Cumberland Cemetery occurred from 1947 until an undated, handwritten letter from a Mrs. Henry Barlow of 14 Grove street in Lonsdale, RI and a reply letter to her from Frank O. Lind, Jr., Town Solicitor for the Town of Cumberland, appeared in January 1952.

As shown immediately below, Mrs. Barlow had written a "Mr. Powers" at the Town of Cumberland regarding the care of various private cemeteries in the Town. The Town Solicitor had been instructed to investigate the Town's responsibility for such cemeteries and found that the Town had no funds for such activities and he referred Mrs. Barlow to my grandfather, Everett Carpenter, at his home address inasmuch as he was identified as an officer of the cemetery she was particularly interested in -- Cumberland Cemetery.

Sometime after January 23, 1952, Mrs. Barlow wrote to Everett Carpenter as suggested by Mr. Lind, the Cumberland Town Solicitor. Her letter was handwritten and she used the blank side of Mr. Lind's reply letter to her as a means of copying Everett with the nature of her inquiry.[1]  Mrs. Barlow's letter is shown below and is followed by a typed transcription to assist the reader.

                                                                                                        Mrs. Henry Barlow

                                                                                                              14 Grove St.

                                                                                                                Lonsdale, RI.

               Mr. Everett Carpenter

                    Dear Sir for the last two years I have been trying to interest some one in the

               condition of the Cumberland Cemetery it is a disgrace to any Town I am a shut

               in and unable to get out the last time I was in the cemetery I counted 30 flags for

               GAR men which could hardly be seen for the weeds and growth stones down either

               from vandalism or age or the weather fences burned and broken I was always of

               the opinion there was a fund left to care for it and perhaps you could tell me about

               it the other cemeteries of the Town have been well taken care of by the Town men

               but but you know the reason why the older ones buried there were once big tax

               payers in the Town if only in respect for those who fought in the Civil War I think

               something should be done about it and hope to interest you in it.

                                                                         Sincerely Mrs. H. Barlow

                                                                                          14 Grove St.

                                                                                                         Lonsdale

                                                                                                                  RI

Myra Barlow was a very determined woman and she wrote to several others in 1952 seeking assistance to clean and care for the Cumberland Cemetery. On January 29, 1952, she wrote to Chester W. Williams, Division Chief of the State Division of Soldiers Welfare in Providence. She had recently read about the work Mr. Williams and Robert Scott were doing for cemeteries in which war veterans were buried. Mrs. Barlow drew their attention to Cumberland Cemetery and noted that "more than 30 graves" there had flag markings and most were for Civil War veterans.  She asked for their assistance in rectifying the conditions at the cemetery where flag markers had been broken, plants had become overgrown, etc.

Sometime prior to May 15, 1952, Myra Barlow wrote to Amos Egerton regarding the conditions at Cumberland Cemetery. Her hand written letter is undated, but it was specifically responded to by Everett Carpenter on behalf of the cemetery corporation on May 15, 1952. Mrs. Barlow's two-page letter with a transcription for the reader follows . . . 

                                                                                                                 Mrs. Henry Barlow

                                                                                                                      14 Grove St.

                                                                                                                Lonsdale

                                                                                                                       R.I. 

               Mr Amos Egerton [sic]

               Dear Sir I am trying to find out something about Cumberland Cemetery as they tell

               me you used to work there some times and I remember that they used to say there

               was a fund for the care of it if you did who paid you I tried three years ago [circa 

               1948?, see Everett Carpenter reply ltr. of May 15, 1952] to get the Cumberland

               Official to have the Town men clean it up but no results and I saw a piece in Sunday

               Journal about them buying bonds to get more money to pay care takers but it did not

               mention that cemetery it is a disgrace to any Town to have such a looking place

               where all the family has died or moved away as the ones buried there paid takes [sic]

               many years I am a shut in confined to a wheel chair and unable to get out but my

               folks are buried there and I wish something could be done about it so if you know

               anything if there was a fund or not will you please let me know I am one of the

               Mowrys and I will thank you very much, and will try and write to the towns people      

                                                                                                and oblige

                                                                                                       Mrs. Barlow

On May 15, 1952,Everett Carpenter, Secretary for Cumberland Cemetery, Inc., replied to Mrs. Barlow's handwritten letter to Amos Egerton (shown above) and in essence informed her that there were "no funds  whatever belonging to the corporation" and that it receives "no financial aid from the Town of Cumberland." Everett detailed some history of the corporation and the cemetery explaining that the Cumberland Cemetery was incorporated in 1870, but that there existed a burial ground at the site "for many years prior to that date." He further elaborated and mentioned how membership in the corporation had gradually dwindled due to death until only one member survived and then in 1939 the corporation was "reorganized" under new members. At that time,  two bequests under two different wills were received by the corporation, but only "for the perpetual care of two private plots." The upkeep of all other individual plots was left "wholly the responsibility of the owners" and "[a]s long as there were interested survivors of those buried there, individual lots were kept in good condition and the general appearance of the cemetery remained good." In sum, Mr. Carpenter agreed that while cemetery had "deteriorated badly over a number of years," the corporation [was] powerless to make any improvements without any money."

Mr. Carpenter did, however, end on a hopeful note stating,

               There is but one course open. Membership in the corporation is open to any

               original owner of a lot or his heirs or assigns. With a large membership and

               the willingness of these members to each do a small amount of manual labor,

               the whole area can be put in good condition and so maintained. 

Amos Egerton did indeed work at Cumberland Cemetery and was paid from corporation funds received from bequests to care for specific individual plots in the cemetery. [See, Part IV of this series for the details.] As shown below in Mr. Egerton's invoice/receipt dated December 22, 1954, he provided care for the graves of Dr. Howe and Mrs. Dana as well as that of James C. Dexter. 

The  intrepid Mrs. Barlow was undeterred by the unfortunate news from Everett Carpenter and the Cumberland Cemetery and on May 19, 1952 she wrote again to Chester W. Williams who served as Division Chief of the Rhode Island Division of Soldiers Welfare and was a member of the Graves Registration Committee within that Division. She reminded him of her letter to him in January of that year and stated she had not as yet received a reply. As Memorial Day approached, she once again outlined the situation at Cumberland Cemetery and pleaded the case for providing improvement and care of the cemetery where so many veterans were buried. She offered whatever assistance she could provide.

On May 26, 1952, Chester Williams replied to the two letters from Myra Barlow. Unfortunately, Mr. Williams could only inform Mrs. Barlow that the Rhode Island Graves Registration Committee chaired by Ralph S. Mohr was embarked on a project to "locate and map all of the cemeteries in the State of Rhode Island" and that they would get to "your neighborhood" when the ongoing work in Coventry, East and West Greenwich, Scituate, and towns in that area was completed. He summed up his response by stating, 

               Our ultimate objective is to see that these cemeteries, especially where there 

               are veterans buried, are kept in a decent and respectable condition. It will take

               some time, of course, for all of this to be accomplished, but I can assure you

               that there [is] something definite being done about it and when

               our engineer and field men get to your territory, we will certainly have them

               call on you for any assistance that you may wish to give.

There is also among the records a handwritten letter from Myra Barlow to Nathaniel Brown.  The letter is undated, but from its content it appears it may have been written after her letters to Chester Williams and particularly after his reply of May 26, 1952. She refers in her letter to a meeting of "the Cemetery Committee" and notes that she has "tried for the last three years to get some one interested in [the Cumberland Cemetery] without results."  By the time of this letter, Mrs. Barlow was no longer living at 14 Grove St. in Lonsdale, but had moved to 417 Front St. in Saylesville, R.I. She once again notes that she is confined to a wheel chair and states that she had not been to the Cumberland Cemetery in 9 years. A copy of what appears to be the last correspondence from Myra Barlow follows (with a transcription to assist the reader) -- and it is there that the undaunted efforts of Myra Barlow to obtain care and maintenance of the Cumberland Cemetery comes to a close (probably around 1955). 

                                                                                                    417 Front St

                                                                                                          Saylersville R.I.

               Mr Nathaniel Brown [2]

                    Friend Nat

               I am writing this in regard too the meeting of the Cemetery Committee I have tried

               for the last three years to get some one interested in that cemetery without

               results it is a disgrace to any Town the conditions it is in I wrote to Everett

               Carpenter and he wrote back and said he believed there was a sum left for it

               keeps but he believed it had all been used up I have not been ____ there in 9 years

               as I am confined to a wheel chair the vandals have taken about every thing they

               could move I am enclosing a letter I wrote to them and was hoping that they would

               get around to doing something about it I hope you are able to do something about it

               as it is a disgrace I even wrote to the Town Council to see if they could do something

               and clean it up some but not on the right side of the fence 

                    Here hoping you can do something

               I remain sincerely

                                     Mrs H Barlow

                                        417 Front St

                                              Saylesville R.I.

The last post in this series, Part VI, will provide images of some miscellaneous documents in the Cumberland Cemetery records I have inherited and I will attempt to summarize my thoughts on the history of this historic burial ground.

   

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All images are scanned from original documents in the collection of the author.

[1]  As can be seen in the image of the typed reply letter from the Town Solicitor -- and from the handwritten, undated letter to Everett Carpenter -- there are ghost images of the reverse side of each letter showing how Mrs. Barlow used the back side of Mr. Lind's reply to write to Everett Carpenter.

[2] Nathaniel Brown might be Nathaniel Dana Brown born in 1872 and died January 30, 1962. He is buried in Swan Point cemetery in Providence. Susie [Dana] Smith, daughter of Samuel P. Dana, is one of the two testators who left bequests for care of specific plots in the Cumberland Cemetery.  In her case, the bequest was for "upkeep of the Samuel Dana lot, so-called, and of the adjoining Howe lot, and to use, in [the cemetery corporatin's] discretion, any balance thereof for the general care and upkeep of the whole cemetery." [See, Part IV of this series.]  Might Nathaniel Brown be Nathaniel Dana Brown and if so, was he of the same Dana family as Susie Dana Smith? According to the 1910 Census, Nathaniel D. Brown lived in Cumberland, Rhode Island and was employed as an insurance agent. He and his wife, Nellie A. [Bills] Brown, had one child at the time (Earl age 11) and they lived at 237 High Street, which is just down High Street from my grandparents home at 551 High Street and not far from Cumberland Cemetery on Dexter Street. By the time of the 1940 Census, Nathaniel and Nellie lived at 21 Abbott Street  (which they owned) in Cumberland with their 23-year old daughter Natalie D. Brown. It appears that Nathaniel was the son of Moses and Abby Brown of Cumberland, but no connection to the Dana family has been found as yet.

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Copyright 2016, John D. Tew
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