North Smithfield resident Tim Coloumbe, left, recently discovered burial sites in his yard; with him is Bob Mowry, of the North Smithfield Heritage Association.
North Smithfield resident Tim Coloumbe, left, recently discovered burial sites in his yard; with him is Bob Mowry, of the North Smithfield Heritage Association.
NORTH SMITHFIELD – Tim Coulombe was hunting when he came across three unmarked burial stones in his back yard. Coulombe, who lives on Iron Mine Hill Road, said he had no idea they were there until he went exploring that day.
Coulombe, a long-time resident of North Smithfield, contacted Rich Keene of the North Smithfield Heritage Association, who visited to examine the stones as well as foundations from two old farm homesteads behind Coulombe’s house.
The foundations may be from the 18th century, according to the Heritage Association. The three burials are marked with simple fieldstone markers.
“We’ve been looking for that cemetery for five years,” Keene told The Breeze.
According to Keene, the Heritage Association had come across a letter in their work that was written by a well-known resident of the town by the name of Donald Beauregard to Doris Mowry. Beauregard, who was also known as “Spike,” was a former owner of the property. Mowry is the former president of the Heritage Association.
“In the note to Doris, he told her about this cemetery he found, he surmised in it that it belonged to the Brown family,” said Keene.
Keene said he doesn’t know what led Beauregard to come to that conclusion, and the Heritage Association will have to analyze land evidence to confirm that. He said he knows of a Brown descendant who’s currently buried in town, and the graves in Coulombe’s yard could belong to the rest of the family.
For now, while they wait to analyze evidence, the Heritage Association will designate the grave site as NS64 Brown family.
“It’s kind of weird because they’re a foot out of the ground and they’re all in rows,” said Coloumbe.
He said that though he only recently discovered the burials, he knows they’ve been there for a long time.
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