Historic cemetery cleanup brings town’s forgotten history to light

In August of 2017, a group of volunteers took on the task of cleaning up the space, a task evident in the large pile of branches and cuttings now in a ditch on the side of the road. While volunteers refer to the historic area as the Union Cemetery Annex, the space is actually several historic cemeteries that together occupy three acres between Union Cemetery and Buell Avenue Grave markers span from several centuries to just a few years ago as some of the graves lie in family plots still in use today.

“Most people didn’t even know there was a cemetery here. They thought a new plat was going up when we started cleaning,” said Christine MacWilliams, a volunteer from Woonsocket who began working on the space with Keene and other volunteers last year.

While the group has grown to about 60 volunteers and covered most of the three-acre space, their work has just begun. With the brush cleared, Keene said the group’s next task is to raise fallen headstones and locate graves that have become buried over the centuries. Some of these graves, he explained, can only be found using ground-penetrating radar.

“There’s probably dozens more graves that are underground that we haven’t found yet,” he said.

Even more difficult is locating the approximately 60 historic cemeteries scattered throughout town. While most of these cemeteries have been logged in records over the years, some are tucked into private properties or remote areas and have been forgotten to public knowledge. Denis Chamberland, another volunteer, described a small private plot off Iron Mine Hill Road that features headstones dating back to the 1670s.

“They all died of smallpox, so they had to bury them quite quickly,” he explained.

Keene estimates about 15 historic cemeteries have yet to be discovered by the group, though they’ve been written about in books and public records. As they identify new areas, the volunteers expand their efforts to other cemeteries around town, including the Quaker Cemetery located beside the Smithfield Friends Meeting House across the street. That cemetery features graves scattered across a sloping hillside, with many still obscured by overgrown brush and trees.

“When all the families die off, there’s no one to advocate for them,” said MacWilliams.

Earlier this summer, the group, led by Keene, began offering tours of the town’s historic cemeteries on Saturday mornings at 9 a.m. The twice-monthly tours feature a different historic cemetery at each event and are open to any individuals wishing to learn more about the town’s history. The next tour will be offered this Saturday, Aug. 18, and feature the Iron Mine Hill Road plot along with cemeteries along Old Smithfield Road and Sayles Hill Road.

Keene is hoping that by publicizing the group’s work and the rich history located in the town’s hidden plots, they may gain a few more helpers in their efforts to keep the memory of these cemeteries alive. While the idea of maintaining 60 historic cemeteries against vandalism and the elements might seem unattainable for a small group of volunteers, Keene envisions a system where each town resident would adopt a single grave and maintain it throughout the year.

“It’s easy for people to get overwhelmed when they come in and they look around,” he said.

Bob Morris, president of the Friends of Smithfield Cemeteries and one of the volunteers who helps out in North Smithfield, said part of the difficulty is most cemetery volunteers are retirees, some of them unable to do the hard physical labor that comes with clearing an outdoor space. With a lack of younger volunteers, memory of the state’s 3,200 historical cemeteries continues to fade as those devoted to them are unable to continue the work.

“There’s so much history in Rhode Island. I think people just forget,” he said.

One story not quite yet forgotten is that of Simon Whipple, the youngest son of Col. Dexter Aldrich. The grave, explained Keene, attracts a small but steady following of vampire aficionados to a family plot at the back of the Union Cemetery Annex due to a curious poem engraved across the stone.

“Altho consumption’s vampire grasp had seized thy mortal frame, thy ardent and inspiring mind, untouched, remained the same,” reads the stone, revealing young Simon likely died of tuberculosis.

Nearby, the residents of graves marked by fieldstones have not been so lucky. The fieldstones are among the oldest graves in the cemetery and bear no markings, leaving no clues as to who is buried beneath them.

With cemetery tours continuing into the fall, Keene is hoping more residents will become interested in their town’s local history and volunteer their time to a historic cemetery in their neighborhood. With the exception of a $250 annual supply budget from the North Smithfield Heritage Association, the initiative relies solely on the efforts of volunteers and the knowledge of longtime residents and local history buffs. But he warns potential new volunteers, once a person joins the effort to find and maintain all 60 of the town’s historic cemeteries, it can be difficult to give it up.

“It kind of gets in your blood, you know?” he said.

Anyone interested in joining a historic cemetery tour can contact Richard Keene at rfkeene6@gmail.com or 401-447-6394.