Maybe it is just that they didn't have the money to give her a proper burial. Even a dollar back in those days could mean the difference between having food and going hungry. I know that in my family we started off in the 1700s with beautiful grave stones and as the years went on they got smaller and smaller until finally there wasn't money to buy any stone. I would like to put up some small ones to mark where I know they are buried. ----- Original Message ----- From: "Marsha" <meocain@att.net> To: <RIGENWEB-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Saturday, July 01, 2006 10:57 AM Subject: Re: [RIGENWEB] Cranston--State Farm & burials > Thanks for this story. My 3rd great grandmother, Irene Tennant, died in > the Cranston State Hospital, 21 Jan 1893, and was buried on the grounds. > I heard that her body was removed from the cemetery on August 17, 1898 and > buried somewhere else on the grounds. I have often wondered why her > children never cared for her after death with a proper burial. That is > one of the mysteries of this family that some day I hope to solve. Also > finding her maiden name would be nice. > > Marsha > > > __________________________________ > At 07:25 AM 7/1/2006, you wrote: >>Wish to thank Gloria for this story. >>It truly makes you count your blessings to read this. Jude >>----- Original Message ----- From: "Gloria" <gjs11054@cox.net> >>To: <RIGENWEB-L@rootsweb.com> >>Sent: Friday, June 30, 2006 4:54 PM >>Subject: [RIGENWEB] LOST & FORGOTTEN SOULS >> >> >>>FROM PROJO.COM TODAY: >>>Lost for decades, the remains of the forgotten are found >>> >>>01:00 AM EDT on Friday, June 30, 2006 >>>BY BARBARA POLICHETTI >>>Journal Staff Writer >>> >>> >>>CRANSTON -- They were forgotten in life and forgotten in death. >>> >>>They were paupers and petty criminals. They were old or just infirm. Some >>>of them were deemed "incurably insane." >>> >>>The one thing they had in common, at the turn of the 20th century, was >>>that they had no place to live except the gloomy State Farm, with its >>>barn-like dormitories off Pontiac Avenue. And when they died, many were >>>given a no better resting place than an unmarked grave in one of the >>>state potter's fields. >>> >>>Apparently one of these burial grounds was forgotten even by the state. >>>It was rediscovered only last week when someone on a lunchtime stroll >>>came upon human bones in a weed-choked field behind the former Davol >>>building, on Sockanosset Cross Road. The remains had been unearthed by >>>the recent harsh rains. >>> >>>The site was secured by the police as a potential crime scene until >>>experts were able to determine that the bones dated back to the early >>>1900s. >>> >>>Now, leading Rhode Island archaeologists say the bones came from a >>>onetime three-quarter-acre state cemetery for the indigent that now lies >>>squarely under state Route 37. Michael Hebert, archaeologist for the >>>state Department of Transportation, said records show that the graveyard >>>is not far from one on state land close to the highway. >>> >>>Hebert said he is scouring through old records trying to determine what >>>happened. Thus far, he said, all documents indicate that the state did >>>not identify the graveyard when Route 37 was built in the mid-1960s and >>>that no bodies were removed. >>> >>>Given the sad lives of the people who lived at the State Farm, Hebert >>>said it is ironic that the portion of the highway that passes over the >>>cemetery was built just before regulations were put in place that require >>>an archaeological survey before land is disturbed for a major state >>>project. >>> >>>If such research had been done, "they would have found this," he said >>>yesterday, gesturing to old maps and state death records spread out in >>>his office, across from the State House in Providence. >>> >>>It appears that the cemetery was used by the State Farm from 1875 until >>>1916, he said. It is impossible to know exactly how many people were >>>buried there, he said, because some people who inhabited the farm's work >>>house, almshouse, prison and insane asylum were claimed by family members >>>upon their death. >>> >>>Using estimates from the State Farm's handwritten ledgers, Hebert said >>>nearly 500 people died there every year at the turn of the century, >>>falling victim to diseases such as pneumonia, tuberculosis or "senile >>>dementia arteriosclerosis." A quarter or more of those were left to be >>>buried by the state, he said, so there could be anywhere from several >>>hundred to 1,000 graves under the highway. >>> >>>"At the time of construction they probably didn't even know the cemetery >>>was there, otherwise they would have relocated it," Hebert said. It is >>>likely that there was nothing to distinguish the property as a cemetery, >>>he said, and that the graves were either unmarked or designated with >>>wooden markers that rotted away. >>> >>>At this point, he said, all the state can do is recover any remains that >>>are in danger of being dislodged by further erosion and quickly address >>>the drainage problems that sent the bones tumbling down the highway >>>embankment. >>> >>>Hebert and Paul Robinson, principal archaeologist for the state, have >>>spent this week working with Public Archaeology Laboratory, of Pawtucket, >>>as they carefully dig with small shovels to find the grave sites. >>> >>>As of yesterday, eight complete or partial skeletons had been unearthed, >>>Hebert said, and the archeologists can clearly see the outlines of the >>>rectangular, closely spaced graves. The wood from the coffins now >>>resembles shredded bark, and the bones are the color of the surrounding >>>soil. >>> >>>Three nameplates made of lead, one of them still affixed to a coffin, >>>have also been found. They are all dated 1916, the last year the cemetery >>>was in use. Hebert said the date leads him to believe that the remains >>>being found are from the graves of people who were interred in the >>>outermost row of the cemetery and that the rest remain under the highway. >>> >>>Once the recovery work is finished, the state will have to decide where >>>to give the remains a proper burial, Hebert said. His office is hopeful >>>that relatives of the three people whose nameplates were found will come >>>forward to share information. >>> >>>The names are Elizabeth Anderton, from England; Dominico DePetrilio, from >>>Italy, and Minnie Frawley, from Warren, R.I. All lived in the Almshouse. >>> >>>Because Hebert's own great-grandfather was sent to the State Farm >>>workhouse -- for failure to make child-support payments -- the >>>archaeologist said he has empathy for those in the cemetery and he >>>searched City of Cranston death records to learn more about them. >>> >>>The records show, he said, that Frawley was 53 when she died of >>>tuberculosis, DePetrilio was 47 when he died of "dementia paralytica" and >>>Anderton died at age 76 from senility and stomach problems. >>> >>>The death register for the State Farm reads in part like a ledger from >>>Ellis Island, listing places of birth including Canada, Ireland, Sweden, >>>England, Italy, Russia and Turkey. The few other details logged in >>>rounded penmanship are Dickensian, showing that many of the people at the >>>Almshouse were working people such as mill workers, servants, stone >>>cutters and housewives. >>> >>>Sometimes whole families were sent to the poor house and sometimes >>>children were born there. Hebert pointed to some entries that chronicled >>>babies of unwed mothers dying shortly after birth of "premature >>>exhaustion." >>> >>>"There were lot of poorhouses in cities and towns throughout the state so >>>there were a lot of cemeteries like these," said Robinson. "What's >>>unusual is that is not often that we find a line of grave sites like >>>this. ... >>> >>>"... It is compelling. It makes you wonder, who were these people? And as >>>one of Cranston's [police] detectives put it so well, if we don't protect >>>them now, who will?" >>> >>>Hebert said that perhaps the most telling detail of these people's lives >>>is what was not found in the graves. >>> >>>There were no wedding rings, no jewelry, no hair ornaments, no rosary >>>beads. >>> >>>Twere only glass buttons and brass safety pins. >>> >>> >>>==== RIGENWEB Mailing List ==== >>>Newport County RIGenWeb http://www.rootsweb.com/~rinewpor/ >>>To unsubscribe: >>>http://www.rootsweb.com/~rigenweb/mailist.html#unsubscribe >>> >> >> >> >>==== RIGENWEB Mailing List ==== >>Search the RIGenWeb Mailing List >>http://www.rootsweb.com/~rigenweb/mailsrch.html >>RIGenWeb Surname And Query List >>http://www.rootsweb.com/~riwashin/state/qryindex.htm > > > ==== RIGENWEB Mailing List ==== > Bristol County RIGenWeb http://www.rootsweb.com/~ribristo/ > RI Cemeteries Index http://www.rootsweb.com/~rigenweb/cemetery/ > >