Summer's End: Pine Grove Cemetery

Photos by Scott Bill Hirst,  used with permission

Pine Grove Cemetery
Hopkinton, Rhode Island

When I started taking gravestone photos, I began with the photos of my family that lived in Rhode Island so it is fitting that I end this summer series with a cemetery that I have never been to and am indebted to my cousin, native Rhode Islander and politically savvy, Scott Bill Hirst. 

Scott graciously photographed my family gravestone in the 1860 section of a cemetery, "B" in Hopkinton, Rhode Island. If anyone could find it in 2008, it was going to be Scott. He put them on a CD and mailed it to me with information on how to find the grave site. 

I wondered, as I stood in River Bend Cemetery in Westerly, where was my uncle Bill laid to rest in 1990. My father never told me where they buried him and I assumed it was in the Broadfoot section and perhaps they did not set a stone. After some discussion, I learned that his wonderful wife Hannah chose for him to be buried in HER family plot. She is still living.

I did a wide search at the Rhode Island Historical Cemetery's new Web site for my maiden surname and to my delight, I can say that I have found all of the gravestones listed. Uncle Bill and his wife are the only ones not buried at River Bend.

I learned that the grave has four names on it, it is in section "C" and that 54 Veterans are buried there. Scott's directions are good but I printed out a Goggle Map with step-by step directions for getting there. It is over an hour from my home to this cemetery.

This is the last post in this series. I hope you enjoyed this short, summer, Rhode Island Adventure.