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[Page 288]
THE
WILCOX CHURCH -
THE
FRIENDS' SOCIETY
RIVER BEND
CEMETERY - This cemetery
is beautifully situated on the left bank of the
Pawcatuck river, a little more than a mile south
of the village of Westerly. The grounds
embraced about twenty acres, artiscally laid out
and tastefully ornamented. it was
dedicated in 1852. For many years after
the dedication it was under the superintendence
of Reverend John Taylor. Following him
came other superintendents, and lastly Joseph
G. Pendleton, who took charge April 1st
1874.
Since Mr. Pendleton's superintende3ncy the
cemetery has undergone a marked change.
New grounds have been purchased, on which a
great amount of labor has been expended.
After the large bounders had been blasted and
removed, beautiful avenues
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and labyrinthian walks were laid out, and the
place is now one of the handsomest of the kind
in the country, owning largely to the fact that
Mr. Pendleton is adapted particularly by
inventive genius for the work. He is a
native of Westerly and is a stone mason by
trade. His house was built in 1887.
The names of the present officers are as
follows: President, George S. Greenman;
secretary and treasurer, Harvey Campbell;
trustees, Orlando Smith, James W. Pollette,
John E. Brown and Joseph G. Pendleton.
In addition to the ornamental work done on monuments in
this yard, and which will compare favorably with
the best in the country, mention should be made
of some of the beautiful statues, that are not
only beautiful in themselves but also very
instructive. They may be enumerated by
name as follows: 1. Time; 2. Meditation;
3. Hope; 4. Faith; 5. Virgin Mary; 6. A Little
Cherub; 7. Instruction, etc., etc., each in
itself representing some great truth.
GRAVE-YARDS
- Among the sacred witnesses of the town of
Westerly are the many ancient grave-yards.
The mere mention of these, giving the locality,
will be sufficient.
Allen Ground contains the remains of
Captain Samuel Allen, wife, and members of
his family. It is about thirty rods south
of the old post road, on the farm of Saunders
Gavitt. The graves are in a corner of
a meadow uninclosed.
Austin Ground contains the remains of
Jedediah Austin, and probably others of the
name. It may be found in an old orchard,
on the grounds of J. Thompson. The
little headstones, now sunk deeply down, are
evidently very old.
Babcock Ground (1) is south of Mastuxet
brook, on the slope of a hill east of the
highway leading to Lottery village. this
contains the dust of John Babcock and his
wife Mary, and many of their descendants.
Captain James Babcock was buried here in
1736-7.
Babcock Ground (2) is in an open pasture
about two hundred yards south of the residence
of William Robinson Frazier, not far from
the railroad. The bodies of elder
Elkany Babcock and his wife lie here.
The former was buried in 1821, in his 84th year.
Burdick Ground is on the border of the
village of Westerly in the rear of the house and
garden of Joseph H. Potter, on High
street. John Burdick and his wife
Betsey lie buried here. He died in
January, 1802.
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Barber Ground (1). This is on
the so-called Case Chapman farm, and
contains the remains of Nathan Barber
(who was buried here in June, 1816), his wife
Thankful, and other members of his family.
Barber Ground (2) is in a meadow
uninclosed, about thirty rods south of Mr.
Joshua Barber's residence. Mrs.
Hannah Barber, wife of Benjamin P. Barber,
and others of that name lie here.
Bliven Ground (1) is on land of Henry
Bliven, nearly a half mile from the Post
road on the west side of the cross road that
leads to Dorrville. Major William
Bliven was buried here in January, 1834, in
his eighty-ninth year. Here were buried
John Barker and his wife, and Edward
Bliven 1st, 2d and 3d. These were the
early owners of this farm. Edward
Bliven, 3d, died on board the notorious
prison ship ""Jersey."
Blivin Ground (2) is in the eastern part
of the town on lands of Samuel Saunders, Sen.
Here lie the remains of persons of various
names, but all members of the Bliven family.
Brumbly Ground. - William
Brumbly (died in October, 1775), his wife,
Elizabeth, and others were buried here.
This neglected yard is in a pasture now owned by
MR. James Babcock, Sen.
Carr
Ground is north of the railroad near John
Macomber's bluff of ledges in an open
pasture ground. Here are about thirty
graves. Some of the Vincent family
lie here.
Champlin Ground is south of the Shore
road on the old Noyes farm and contains
the remains of Mr. William Champlin (who
died in October, 1798), his widow, Mrs. Sarah
Champlin, and others.
Chapman Ground (1), on the north border
of Chapman's pond, is where Mr. Sumner
Chapman was buried in December, 1812.
Chapman Ground (2) on the land of G.
W. Cottrell, is where Joseph Chapman
(died in June, 1856) and others of his family
lie buried.
Chapman Ground (3) lies on Samuel
Chapman's estate, west of the Pound road.
Samuel Chapman (died in June, 1838), his
daughter Frances and others of that a
family lie here.
Chapman Ground (4) is on Daniel
Chapman's estate on the west side of Pound
road. George C. Chapman's estate on
the west side of the Pound road. George
C. Chapman and others of more recent times
lie buried here.
Chapman Ground (5) is on top of the
rocky, sandy ridge on the old Chapman farm.
Israel Chapman and many others of that name
lie there.
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Chase Ground (1) is a little below
Westerly on the old Lewis farm, afterward
known as the Kenyon farm, and contains
the remains of some of the Chase family.
Chase Ground (2) is near the
residence of Mr. Nathaniel J. L. Chase,
in a meadow by the roadside. Maxson
Chase and his wife Polly lie here.
Children's Ground is a few rods west of the
old farm northeast of White Rock village, on
land owned by White Rock Company. This
yard contains the graves of a dozen children; no
adults are buried here.\
Church Yard. - The graves here are very
numerous. It stands near where the first
Sabbatarian meeting house of Westerly stood, now
in the town of Hopkinton.
Citizen's Ground is a small burial place
inclosed by a picket fence on a knoll, a few
rods north of the residence of the late Aaron
Pierce.
Clarke Ground (1) is an ancient
burial ground on the left bank of the Pawcatuck
on the curve above the Meeting House bridge, and
a few rods east of the Pound road. Here
lie the remains of Reverend John Maxson,
the first male child born on the island of
Rhode Island. He was born in the
spring of 1638, was ordained pastor of the
Sabbatarian church in Westerly in 1708, and died
Dec. 17th, 1720, in the 83d year of his age.
Joseph Clarke, the brother of Doctor
John Clarke, the first settler of Newport,
is also buried here. It is also stated
that the remains of Tobias Saunders, one
of the first settlers and magistrates of this
town lie in this yard.
Clarke
Ground (2) is southeast from the Rhodes
ground in the adjoining field, and about five
rods west from the Potter Hill road. The
plow has invaded these sacred remains, and
nothing now but a few stones are seen.
Clark
Ground (3) lies in the eastern portion of
the town on the estate of Mr. Arnold
Saunders. Ichabod Clark
and his father, also the remains of his wife
Polly, and his son Ichabod Clark
and his wife Mary, lie in this yard.
Clark Ground (4) is situated in the
northern portion of the town on the estate of
Weeden Clark. William Clark and
a number by the name of Clark lie buried
here.
Other burial places are the Cottrell Ground
on the former estate of Russell Cottrell;
the Cordner Ground on the land of
Mr. Joseph Hiscox in Dorrville; the
Crandall Ground (1) in the south-
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eastern part of the town; the Crandall
Ground (2) west of the residence of
Charles Crandall; Crandall Ground
(3) on the eastern side of the town farm;
the Davis Ground on the farm of
Mr. Oliver Davis; the Denison
Ground on lands of Burrell Thompson;
the Dixon GroundI a few
rods southwest of the Dixon mansion; the
Dodge Ground on lands of the late
Henry C. Gavitt; the Dunn Ground
on the farm of John K. Dunn; the
Dunham Ground not farm from the
residence of Joshua Barber; the
Foster Ground on the farm belonging to
Edward F. Vose; the Frazier
Ground on the farm of William Robinson
Frazier; the Peabody Ground on
the farm of Oliver Davis; the
Friends' Ground on the old post road
leading to Charleston; the Gavitt
Grounds (1) (2) (3) (4), on Green
Ground; the Hall grounds (1) (2) (3), the
Hardy ground on the west margin of Burden's
Pond; the Hazard Ground; the
Hiscox grounds (1) (2); the Indian
grounds (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7) (8) (9) (10)
(11), situated in different portions of the
town and containing mostly the remains of the
red race; the Knowles Ground in
the village of Dorrville; the Lanphear
Grounds (1) (2) (3), the Larkin
Ground in the northern portion of the town
west of Dorrville (formerly the Larkin farm);
the Lewis Ground (1) on lands
owned by George D. Cross on the east side
of the highway leading to Lottery village, and
where seven generations of Lewises are
said to have been buried; the Lewis
Ground (2) on the crest of a gravel hill
south of the house of Pardon Lewis; the
Noyes Ground on the old Noyes
farm, and where lie Colonel Joseph Noyes
and his son Colonel Thomas Noyes ; the Nye
ground, a few rods west of the cross road
between the post road and Dorrville, near where
the Pound road begins; the Park Ground,
a few rods east of the residence of
Christopher Rathbun, where lies
Edwin D. Gavitt of the Fourth Rhode Island
regiment, who was wounded at Newbern, N. C., and
died in a hospital in New York; the
Peckham Ground on the farm of Samuel
Peckham farm; the Peckham Ground
(3) in the northeastern part of the town; the
town; the Pendleton Ground, on
Grave's Neck, where lie the first generation of
the Pendletons; the Pendleton
Ground (2) near the Citizen's ground,
and wherein also lies a long remembered slave
woman and faithful servant, Phillis Jumbo,
who died at the age of about 100 years; the
Rathbun Ground, on the old Samuel
Champlin farm; Rathbun Ground (2),
on the old Ross estate; the Ray
Ground on the old Ray estate or
Guinea Hollow, in honor of
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the country of the mother of the family,
who was colored (she was the mother of Thomas
Ray, and came from Guinea, and was landed on
block Island form the famous ship "Palatine."
falling into the hands of Colonel Ray Sands
of Block Island, she adopted the name of Ray,
which was accepted by her children.
Thomas Ray, her son, lived to be very aged,
and saw four generations of his descendants.
His grandson, Reverend Charles Ray has
been for many years an able Methodist minister
in New York. Gideon Ray, his
brother was drowned at the beach of Worden's
Pond. The family was highly esteemed
throughout the town); the Rhodes
Ground, on the farm of Joshua
Thompson, some twenty rods west of the
Potter Hill; the Saunders Grounds (1),
(2), (3), (4); the Sheffield
Ground; the Sims Ground, the
Sissons Grounds (1), (2); the
Slaves' Ground, about four rods east of the
Denison and Champlin Grounds,
where were buried slaves belonging to Samuel
Thompson; the Stetson Ground,
on lands of Samuel Peckham, east of the
road leading into Charlestown; the
Stillman Ground, where lie the remains
of William S. Peckham, who served six
years in the revolution, and who died April
30th, 1822, aged 84 years, and his son,
William S. Peckham, Jr., a soldier in the
war of 1812, who fell in the battle of Lake
Erie, under Commodore Perry, being
killed in a boat by the side of his commander;
the Thompson Ground, on lands of
Isaac L. Edwards; the Vars
Ground, on the farm of Isaac Vars;
the Vose Ground, now the Town
Farm; the Ward Ground, on the
ancient Ward farm; the White
Ground, a mile and a half west of Dorrville,
where Major Walter White was buried; the
Wilcox Ground, on the ancient
Wilcox farm; the York Ground,
in the thirteenth school district.
The above, together with fifteen other grave yards that
have no names, constitute the grounds in which
the remains of the respective families lie
buried. Many of these yards have but a
half dozen or so graves. Their number
sometimes runs up to forty or fifty. Many
of them are unenclosed, and in another century
the people will be as ignorant of these resting
places as they now are of the red men's graves.
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