Warwick man has cemetery moved off his property

The directors of the Warwick Mills knew the convenience of building a side track off the main railroad line, which would lead directly to their facilities. Loading and unloading goods would be much easier with the spur track and, in 1896, it was decided to be done.

The sole problem was that the company would need to purchase additional land in order to complete the construction. The land they needed access to was that belonging to Joseph Carpenter.

Carpenter agreed to the deal, realizing something would have to be done with the cemetery that would be in the way of the proposed track. Known as Centerville Cemetery, it contained 22 burials, members of families with such surnames as Bowman, Gardiner, Fones, Fuller, Sheir, Dean, Fiske, Parker, Frink and Cottrell.

Located beside the depot along the main track, the cemetery was badly neglected and enclosed by poorly maintained fencing. Carpenter appealed to the Town Council, asking permission to disinter and relocate the bodies in another place. He promised he would have the burials moved, the stones reset properly and the new lot safely en-closed.

Carpenter was informed that he would be allowed to move the bodies under the direction of Dr. Charles Emile Chagnon, a 33-year-old native of Quebec who practiced medicine locally, ran “Chagnon’s Family Drug Store”, served as the area’s health officer and had previously served on the council.

When Charles Bowman of Black Rock heard about the plan, he immediately contacted Carpenter. He was irate that no one had told him about the removal of the cemetery, as several generations of his family lay within it. He asked Carpenter where he intended to relocate the bodies. Carpenter did not yet have an answer and argued with Bowman that unless he wished to handle the removal himself, he would go about things as he wished.

Bowman informed Carpenter that he would speak to the other members of his family to gain their opinions on the matter and would get back to him in a few days. But Carpenter didn’t wait. The very next day, at least 12 bodies were dug up and transported down the road to Small Maple Root Cemetery, on the corner of Hill Farm Road and Harkney Hill Road in Coventry. Among those moved, with the oldest death date being 1824 and the newest being 1878, were Thomas Bowman, Lydia Bowman, two Christopher Bowmans, Mary Bowman, William Bowman, Elizabeth Bowman, Jeremiah Fiske, Sarah Dean, Hannah Cottrell, Waity Fones and Czarina Parker.

When Bowman learned the move had already been made without his permission or input, he was furious. He claimed that all the disinterred remains had been deposited into unmarked pine boxes, placed in a long trench and covered over with dirt, leaving no way to identify the exact location where any individual lay.

Some of the stones from the old cemetery were moved and reset but Bowman claimed that others had been broken and simply thrown aside. In his fury, Bowman charged that Carpenter did not own the cemetery and had no legal right to have the graves disturbed and moved. He promised to fight the matter to the bitter end, however no further legal arguments have been located.

Kelly Sullivan is a Rhode Island columnist, lecturer and author.