Thursday, July 31, 2014

Ancient Little Neck Cemetery

Ancient Little Neck Cemetery in East Providence, RI


Ancient Little Neck Cemetery in Rhode Island,  11 Oct 2004
I located this cemetery by accidentally mentioning to my husband that Elizabeth Tilley, wife of John Howland is actually buried in Rhode Island. When I told him the name of the cemetery, he said, "Oh, that's on the paper route I used to have as a kid! We can go there on Columbus Day when we visit my parents." Yes, it is listed as being in Swansea, MA in some records. 

We were just learning to use the mirror to take gravestone photos and it shows in this photo as it was hard to get the angle right. It is a big (6.2 acres) cemetery and I knew to look for the Brown surname as Elizabeth's daughter married a Brown and when John Howland died, she went to live with their daughter Lydia, wife of John James Brown It took us a while to find the "Brown Path" so I didn't take any more photos. It has been 10 years and we never went back. My in-laws moved to a retirement-nursing home and sold their house and after a few years have passed away. 

Using the finding aid of the Rhode Island Historical Commission, I found out the this is EP005 and I was delighted to see a history of the cemetery and have found out there are a thousand burials. 

Proving your Mayflower ancestry is a big challenge but it taught me so many skills as a genealogist.

3 comments:

CarmenMJ said...

Elizabeth Tilley is one of my ancestors...if memory serves it is the same line as yours...at least to the Gallups! I assume that stone is much newer stone than what it would have been from the 1600's. Any idea who placed it and when?

Midge Frazel said...

Yes she is as all Gallups are descended from John Howland. Stone for her and the one for John Howland at burial hill were placed there by a society in the 1930s.

John Howland's matching stone:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/midgefrazel/1615296484/

According to sources I have read; John is buried on his land at Rocky Nook in Kingston, MA (not far from Plymouth) without a marker.

Elizabeth went to live with her daughter who married a Brown and that is why she is buried in that plot. Also, without a stone.

Midge Frazel said...

That should have said, all OUR Gallups are descended from the Howland family.