Cranston Historical Cemeteries Commission

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The Cranston Historical Cemeteries Commission was established by the Cranston City Council and is a group of volunteers, appointed by the city, to locate, assess, document, and provide signage for Cranston’s historic cemeteries. Documentation of these cemeteries includes physical location, GPS Coordinates, cemetery description and condition, and gravestone information in photographic, electronic a

nd hard format. All data will be compatible with the software and methods used by the Rhode Island Historical Cemetery Commission. The Commission will provide leadership for all volunteer citizens who wish to work with the commission in carrying out the maintenance and documentation of our historical cemeteries. The Commission will attempt to answer any questions from Cranston Citizens and others regarding the cemeteries and those buried within them. The Commission, with the help of volunteers, will strive to provide maintenance of the grounds, the repair and restoration of stones, walls, and fences as resources become available. We formally meet on the second Tuesday of each month (March thru November) at 6:30 p.m. at the Sprague Mansion located at 1351 Cranston Street. These meetings are open to the public for those who wish to bring an issue of concern to the Commission, to learn more about what we do, or to become more involved. Attendance at meetings is not necessary to volunteer with our group. It is only with the assistance of volunteers in our community that we can achieve our goals. We would like to thank everyone who has contributed their time and treasure to assist us and are excited to continue working with Cranston’s citizens in doing great work to improve our many historical cemeteries. If you are interested in volunteering with us, require community service hours, would like to learn more about Cranston’s cemeteries, or if you have any questions or concerns regarding Cranston cemeteries, please feel free to contact us by phone or e-mail. Thanks for your interest

THAT WAS THEN....THIS IS NOWCR030KING-RANDALL LOTEZEKIEL STREET OFF OAKLAWN AVENUEPlease take a moment to compare and co...
05/31/2026

THAT WAS THEN....THIS IS NOW
CR030
KING-RANDALL LOT
EZEKIEL STREET OFF OAKLAWN AVENUE

Please take a moment to compare and contrast these two photos. The top photo was taken in July 2019 a short time before CHCC conducted a cleanup there. It was at about this time that Dave Guiot got involved with CHCC, Ultimately, Dave would "adopt" this cemetery and he has been taking great care of it ever since. A few months later he became a commissioner.

The bottom photo was taken at a CHCC stone-cleaning workshop in June 2024. About 15 people showed up that day. Over the past several years almost every stone here has been cleaned and the lot continues to be meticulously maintained by Dave.

****************

About CR030.....

Located 15 feet north of Ezekiel St., 150 ft. west of Oakland Ave. and 150 ft. east of the Washington Secondary Trail. James Arnold recorded this lot 15 Mar 1891 (Vol 4, pg 648) Between the railroad and the public road on the Oaklawn Road near the Turner's Mill estate a burial yard well protected and some care has lately been bestowed upon its preservation. Charles and Martha Benns recorded it in 1931, their #86.

For more information on CR030 click on the link below:
https://rihistoriccemeteries.org/newsearchcemeterydetail.aspx?ceme_no=CR030

--July 2019 and June 2024 CHCC photos

DR. LESTER SENECA HILLCIVIL WAR PHYSICIAN/SURGEONSPANISH-AMERICAN WAR1843-1907CR002POCASSET CEMETERYDYER AVENUE Dr. Lest...
05/30/2026

DR. LESTER SENECA HILL
CIVIL WAR PHYSICIAN/SURGEON
SPANISH-AMERICAN WAR
1843-1907
CR002
POCASSET CEMETERY
DYER AVENUE

Dr. Lester Seneca Hill was born in Foster, Rhode Island on December 18, 1843. He was the son of Jerah H. Hill and Amey Whipple (Ormsbee) Hill and had five siblings. Dr. Hill descends from the ancient Rhode Island family founded by Jonathan Hill, one of the numerous pioneers of this family in New England prior to 1660. But little is known of Jonathan Hill further than that he lived in Portsmouth, Warwick, and elsewhere in Rhode Island, and that he died in 1690, leaving sons: Robert, Jonathan, Henry and others...

Dr. Hill was a veteran of two wars. He served four years in the Civil War with both light and heavy Rhode Island batteries, and in after years served his fellowmen as an agent of healing instead of destruction. His career as a physician was a long and honorable one, and he was held in the highest esteem. He also served his country as a Major & Surgeon in 1st RI V.I. during the Spanish-American War in 1898.

Dr. Hill was a prominent member of the Grand Army of the Republic, and through his patriotic ancestry gained admission to the Sons of the American Revolution and other societies in which war service or Colonial ancestry is the basis of membership. iN 1872, Dr. Lester Seneca Hill married Elfrida Elnora Re*****on of the prominent Rhode Island family.

It is also worth noting that Dr. Hill served as the Assistant Surgeon General for the State of Rhode Island from 1894-1907. Lester Seneca Hill died on September 9, 1907 in Providence at the age of 63 and was buried at Pocasset Cemetery in Cranston.

INSCRIPTION:

Veteran of two wars.
Private Battery E 1st R.I.L.A.,
Lieut. Co. F 14th R.I.H.A.,
Civil War 1861-1865.
Major and Surgeon, 1st R.I.V.I.,
Spanish American War 1898.
Asst. Surgeon General, R.I. '84-'07

MISS ESTHER MANTON KNIGHT1806-1846CR020KNIGHTSVILLE MEETINGHOUSE LOTCOLWELL STREET/SOPRANO CIRCLE Esther Manton Knight w...
05/28/2026

MISS ESTHER MANTON KNIGHT
1806-1846
CR020
KNIGHTSVILLE MEETINGHOUSE LOT
COLWELL STREET/SOPRANO CIRCLE

Esther Manton Knight was born in Cranston in 1806. She was the second daughter of Colonel Earle Knight (1783-1862) and Elizabeth "Betsey" (Waterman) Knight (1786-1846).

Esther had four siblings (one sister and three brothers) including Elizabeth Frances (Knight) Proctor (1804-1848), Andrew Waterman Knight (1808-1834), Resolved Waterman Knight (1810-1836) and Benoni Knight (1813-1877).

Esther would never marry. She passed away in Phillipston, Massachusetts (near Worcester) on August 20, 1846 at the age of 40. She was laid to rest in the Knightsville Meetinghouse Lot in Cranston.

INSCRIPTION:

She sleeps in death, nor wakes again
Life's joys or ills to share,
Her spirit ranges o'er the plains
of bliss and triumphs share.

Stone engraved with A.T. & Co at the bottom.

--December 2025 CHCC photo

LANCE CORPORAL ROBERT W. COTTENIERUNITED STATES MARINE CORPS.K.I.A.--VIETNAM WAR 1946-1967CR002POCASSET CEMETERY DYER AV...
05/26/2026

LANCE CORPORAL ROBERT W. COTTENIER
UNITED STATES MARINE CORPS.
K.I.A.--VIETNAM WAR
1946-1967
CR002
POCASSET CEMETERY
DYER AVENUE

Lance Corporal Robert William Cottenier was born on September 18, 1946, in Warwick, R.I. He was the son of Marcel F. Cottenier (1922–2013) and Mildred E. Landry (1923–1984). Robert grew up in Warwick and was a graduate of Warwick Veterans Memorial High School.

LCPL Cottenier was a U.S. Marine Corps. rifleman who served with the Headquarters and Service Company, 1st Battalion, 5th Marines, 1st Marine Division, Third Marine Amphibious Force in Vietnam He was killed in action on September 4, 1967 in Quang Nam Province, South Vietnam, from ground casualties caused by small arms fire. He was two weeks shy of his 21st birthday when he died.

Robert W. Cottonier was laid to rest at Pocasset Cemetery in Cranston.

A DIFFERENT KIND OF HISTORICAL CEMETERY....7TH CAVALRY HORSE CEMETERY LITTLE BIGHORN BATTLEFIELD NATIONAL MONUMENTCROW A...
05/25/2026

A DIFFERENT KIND OF HISTORICAL CEMETERY....
7TH CAVALRY HORSE CEMETERY
LITTLE BIGHORN BATTLEFIELD NATIONAL MONUMENT
CROW AGENCY, MT

After the battle, 39 cavalry horses that had been shot for breastworks during Custer’s Last Stand, were found among the dead on Last Stand Hill. In 1879, a temporary cordwood monument was erected by the Army on the crest of the hill. The area, strewn with cavalry horse skeletons, was policed and the remains of the horses placed inside the cordwood monument. In July 1881, Lt. Charles F. Roe and a detail from the Second Cavalry replaced the temporary monument with the present granite monument and interred the Seventh Cavalry casualties around the base. The 2nd Cavalrymen in fond reverence for the horses, re-interred them here, after the monument was erected, and lined the horse cemetery with cordwood from the original monument.

On April 9, 1941, maintenance workers discovered a horse cemetery here while digging a trench for a water reservoir drainage pipe. Among the artifacts recovered were partial human remains, cavalry boots, bullet-pierced hardtack cracker tins, and approximately 10 Horse skeletons. Further excavations was delayed until July 1946 when Lt. Col. Elwood L. Nye, U.S. Army Veterinarian continued the excavation work. Unfortunately, his report has not been located, nor what became of the horses uncovered.

In February 2002, the site was examined using ground penetrating radar, revealing soil anomalies in the area. National Park Service archeologists excavated the cemetery April 29 to May 1, 2002. Horse skeletal remains were found in two six-foot square areas just northeast of the Seventh Cavalry Monument. The remains included a vertebra, leg bones, shoulder bone, and rib bones. After thorough documentation, mapping, and photography, the horse cemetery (which was left in place for future reference) was covered with protective plastic sheeting and the site restored with backfill.

LOOKING BACK....MEET OUR NEWEST VOLUNTEER KELLSIE KINGURI CLASS OF 2022We are thrilled to introduce you to CHCC'S newest...
05/24/2026

LOOKING BACK....
MEET OUR NEWEST VOLUNTEER
KELLSIE KING
URI CLASS OF 2022

We are thrilled to introduce you to CHCC'S newest volunteer Kellsie King. Kellsie is a recent graduate of the University of Rhode Island and has a keen interest in the kind of work we do at CHCC. Much like current CHCC commissioner Nicole Johnson-Morais, Kellsie has a passion for cleaning headstones. She started this past weekend at an historical cemetery located near her home CR034 Thomas Andrews Lot on Oaklawn Avenue. She reports that she cleaned all of the stones in that lot! Great job, Kellsie!

It was quickly apparent to all of us that Kellsie was a highly-motivated individual who was extremely interested in becoming more involved with the Cranston Historical Cemeteries Commission. She immediately began to attend our monthly meetings. Several months later, in May 2023, Kellsie was appointed to a three-year term as a CHCC commissioner. She is great to work with and we are extremely happy to have her.

--September 2022 CHCC photo.

GEORGE LORENZO GREENECIVIL WAR SOLDIER1838-1908CR003OAKLAND CEMETERY BROAD STREETThanks so much to Elisha Dyer Camp No. ...
05/23/2026

GEORGE LORENZO GREENE
CIVIL WAR SOLDIER
1838-1908
CR003
OAKLAND CEMETERY
BROAD STREET

Thanks so much to Elisha Dyer Camp No. 7, Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War for sharing their post with us just in time for the Memorial Day Weekend.....

IMPORTANT HISTORY IN A 4"X 6" POSTCARD ROGER WILLIAMS PARK MAUSOLEUMPROVIDENCE, R.I.CIRCA 1926 We are pleased to present...
05/23/2026

IMPORTANT HISTORY IN A 4"X 6" POSTCARD
ROGER WILLIAMS PARK MAUSOLEUM
PROVIDENCE, R.I.
CIRCA 1926

We are pleased to present this historically significant postcard submitted to us by John Victoria Tibbitts of Plymouth, MA. John has visited the mausoleum on several occasions over the years and "wishes he lived closer & could do something to bring a solution to the current condition of the mausoleum.".

We presume that this postcard was issued around 1926 when the mausoleum first opened. If you are unfamiliar with the heartbreaking story of the Roger Williams Park Mausoleum click on the link below and you will find a fabulous story that will get you up to speed quickly.

https://www.mausoleums.com/roger-williams-park-mausoleum/ #:~:text=The%20mausoleum%20was%20built%20in%201926%20and%20held

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1351 Cranston Street
Cranston, RI
02920

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