Tombstone Tuesday: Over State Lines

Photo by Midge Frazel, 26 Sept 2009, Newman Cemetery

Lived, died and buried in Massachusetts
Now it's Rhode Island!

The Newman Congregational Church, in Rumford, (East Providence), Rhode Island is surrounded by cemeteries. When many of the people were buried in the Newman Cemetery, the land belonged to Massachusetts but now it is land that belongs to Rhode Island. (A good explanation of which areas were once Massachusetts and are now Rhode Island is here.) 

The Newman (EP003 Cemetery) and the Hunt (EP008) cemetery share the same land with no line of demarcation between them.

If it wasn't for my friend Charlie Carpenter, I would not know that William Carpenter is buried here, his grave marked by a fieldstone (WC).  Additional post here.

Randy Seaver (the famous Geneablogger) and I are both descended from William Carpenter and Randy is descended from Edmund Rice who is my husband's ancestor. It makes me sort of famous, doesn't it?

According to the Rhode Island Historic Cemetery Commission, there are 75 fieldstones in the combined cemetery. It looked like more but many do have some sort of marking on them. I hope in September to return to this cemetery and take some additional photos. The Rhode Island Genealogical Society meets in the church that month. 

Some of the gravestones that I took in 2009 are very interesting. Let's take a look at them in the next few posts.