Mysteries in Small Town Cemeteries

I have always been drawn to cemeteries. Even as a child I was fascinated to read the names of those who lie sleeping under the stones which proclaimed the days of their lives. Years ago I remember wishing that it was possible to know more about the lives of the departed buried beneath.

My initiation into the wonders that cemeteries hold came at Pocasset Hill Cemetery in Tiverton, Rhode Island where I lived. This burial ground sat high on a hill with a view of the Sakonnet River and the Mount Hope Bridge, which resembles a small version of the Golden Gate Bridge.  It is a beautiful place to be, where thoughts of death are softer as you look at the loveliness all around, at the bottom of the hill, and in the distance.

Pocasset has two plots that are occupied by the deceased members from the paternal side of my family. It is also the final resting place of my parents. Whenever I am in Rhode Island I visit this place. I go there to remember my father and mother as well as relatives, who were a part of my childhood. 

A few plots to the left of our main plot there is an area where a family, whose name I have forgotten, is buried. There is the mother and the father who are listed on the big memorial stone. In front of that there are five or six flat stones that mark the burial place of their children.

I am not sure if the dates are authentic, but the information does pique my curiosity. Several of these children all passed away when they were about one and a half years old. The deaths occurred over several years, but it had happened on the same month and day for each child. Several questions come to mind. Was this just a horrible coincidence? Was there someone, who was afflicted by mental illness, who did something to his or her children? Did they not record the date. Were the stones delayed?  If so, when they did place the stones years later, did they just pick a date and put it on each little stone? It is somewhat of a mystery that goes unanswered.

In Little Compton, Rhode Island, where we lived after we moved from Tiverton, there is a cemetery beside the United Congregational Church. Betsy Ross, who made the first flag of the country, is buried there. Elizabeth Alden Pabody, who was the first white child born in colonies and whose parents, John and Priscilla Alden, came over on the Mayflower, was also laid to rest in this cemetery.

There is also mystery to be found in the Congregational Cemetery on strangely inscribed stones. One stone reads Simeon Palmer and the dates of his life. There is a stone with the name of Lidia Palmer, also inscribed as “Simeon’s wife,” who died in 1754. The other stone has the name Elizabeth with no last name. The inscription on Elizabeth’s marker is, “Elizabeth…Who should have been the wife of Simeon Palmer.” No one now alive knows the history of this story. What happened as faded into history, but one can only imagine. Many still puzzle over these unusual captions.

The cemetery that brought me to the point of writing this essay is in Rockport, Maine. We went there to find the gravestone of the great great grandfather of the friend I was visiting. He had been a sea captain in the mid 1800’s. We found his stone and then started walking around the cemetery reading stones. In a far corner at the back of the cemetery we noticed lonely stone and went to read it. 

The inscription was as follows: 

UNKNOWN
UNWANTED
 BABY BOY…
BODY FOUND IN
ROCKPORT QUARRY
APRIL 20, 1940
AGE ABOUT FIVE MONTHS

At one side of the tomb stone is a cross. A small angel statue sits as a guardian on the other side. In front of the stone are many toys that people have left for this little boy who never got a chance to play with stuffed animals, toy cars, and trucks. The police investigated, but the identity of the baby was never discovered.

There are many stories and mysteries to be found in old cemeteries. There are grave stones of people whose lives have value in history or accomplishment. Some inscriptions do tell a story that is easily explained. Some of the engravings have no explanation. Some are legend for the comedy they present. Then some of the mysteries to be found are heartbreaking. The dedication on the tomb of the unknown baby boy is one of mysteries that raises questions and touches the hearts of all who see 

Corinne Mustafa