USA > Rhode Island > Newport County > Newport > Newport cemeteries > Part 3
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" Confident of awakening here reposeth John Callender" is the epitaph of another early pastor, who died in 1748. Besides tnese tombs there are also the graves of Rev. Erasmus Kelly, A B., died 1784, and of Rev. Michael Eddy, of whom it was once said "no worthier man ever discoursed of heavenly themes."
CLIFTON BURVING GROUND
On the corner of Thomas and Go.den Hill streets is the Clifton burying ground, so called from the original owner of the land. This was used for many years as a burial place by the Society of Friends' In 1700 about one half of the inhabitants of Newport were Quakers and the leading men of the colony were of this faith. In after years the " Monthly Meeting of Friends " gave over the care of the ceme. tery to the city and at present it is kept in order by the Park Commis- sion.
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Here is the family vault of Governor Joseph Wanton, built at the expense of Joseph Wanton and William Wanton in 1771. "To this new vault were removed the bodies of the wife and son of Joseph Wanton, Senior, and the wife and children of Joseph Wanton, Jr. Oct 18, 1771. Also other bones of any others of the Wanton family which were in this old vault being built by our grandfather, dug up some from the common ground, some from Bristol."
Many of the stones date back to the last quarter of the seventeenth century. The oldest is of the year 1670. For the most part the in- scriptions are of the simplest kind, but a few have tributes, either in prose or verse, to the departed.
The Clifton, Thomas and Golden Hill Streets.
On the grave of " Mary ye wife of Captain Nathaniel Sheffield," who died in 1707, we find the following :
" Here lyeth one bereft of life A tender mother and a loving wife Her loss is ours, death is her gain Her soul at rest & free from paine."
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Of " Katharine Sheffield, who died in ye 83d year of her age," it is written :
" And now for rest she has flown No tongue could tell her troubles But her own."
These lines are taken from the stone of Thomas Coleman, who died in 1718:
" Kind traveller make here a stop And thy own end consider Consider thou art born to dye And cannot live forever And for eternall happiness In health thyself prepare For here lyes one that was evident His strength Death would not spare."
A few other epitaphs of interest are added : " Memento mori Fugit Hora. John Thurston Aged 26 years. Dec'd Oct'br ye 22 1690."
" Here lieth intered two innocents Whose souls are gone for recompence To dwell with him who'll surely give A glorious crown to them that live Their infinite souls ascend on high To live in Heaven there is rest With ye angels ever blest."
" The bodys of Mother and daughter here interred doth rest Whose precious souls without any doubt are forever blest."
Here lyeth interred Mary late ye wife of Samuel Cranston, Esq. gover of this colony who dec cest ye 7th day of ye 4 mo. Sepbr in ye 48th year of her age 1710
(Under the same stone as Mary Cranston) " Here lyeth intered Freelove late ye wife of Walter Clarke, Esq. late
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gov'r & dep'ty gov'r of the colony who decest ye 10th day of ye 11 mo. cal'd January in ye 73 year of her age 1710.'
Freelove Clarke was a daughter of Roger Williams. Her husband, governor Walter Clarke, is also buried in this ground. "He decest this life the 22d day of May Anno Dom 1714"
On other stones may be read the names of Captain Pardon Til- linghast and Clarke Rodman, Physician.
The epitaph of Sarah, wife of Mr. Samuel Johnston, eldest daugh- ter of Mr. Thomas Teackle Taylor, is, with a few slight changes in spelling, the same as that on the tomb of Abigail, wife of George Wanton, already given in the description of the Old cemetery. But as the date of this stone is 1700, while that of the Wanton stone is 1726, we probably have here the earlier form of the verses.
On the tombstone of Captain Thomas Teackle Taylor himself are the following lines :
" The just expectation of a happy hereafter To the deceased Husband and Parent whose Upright conduct through life has merited The universal approbation of all mankind Affords the most solid consolation to The surviving relatives for their grievous and afflicting loss. Yet virtue still against decay can aim And ever lend Mortality a claim."
THE QUAKER GROUND
Another burial place used by the Society of Friends in early days is situated on Edward street. Within this enclosure are some graves dating back to the first half of the eighteenth century, but by far the greater number are of more recent years. The stones are all simple head stones, of slate, granite or marble, usually about 21 inches in height, and the records upon them are confined to the name and date of death. It is said that in early times it was against the strict rules of the society to designate graves of the dead by any visible token or inscription, but later head stones, with the restrictions already men- tioned, were allowed.
One curbed plat in this ground contains eight stones of the Feke and Brinley families. Charles Feke, who died in 1822, was a well known apothecary in early Newport and from him the street at the south of this burial ground takes its name.
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On Edward Street.
Samuel Elam, who was for many years president of the Rhode Island Union Bank and who laid the corner stone of the first stone bridge built at Tiverton, is buried in this ground, as are also members of the Gould, Stanton, Rodman, Buffum and other prominent Quaker families.
THE COGGESHALL FAMILY LOT
Of the cemeteries set apart for private family use, the one of the Coggeshall family on Coggeshall avenue is well worth a visit. The centre of the ground is occupied by a granite obelisk, the base of which is inscribed :
" In Memory of John Coggeshall Esq He died First President of this Colony Nov. 27, 1647 Aged 57 years."
This monument was " erected by a lineal descendant," as is stated in the inscription. The opposite side bears the name of Mary, the wife
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of John Coggeshall, who died in 1684. In the corner of the lot are the two original slate stones that mark the resting place of John Coggeshall and his wife.
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The Coggeshall, on Coggeshall Avenue.
In this ground is the tomb of Abraham Redwood, the founder of the Redwood Library, who married a member of the Coggeshall family. It is a high slate slab with the inscription :
" In" Memory of Abraham Redwood Esquire Who deceased 8th of March A. D. 1788 In the 79th year of his age And Martha Redwood his wife who deceased the 8th of May A. D. 1760 in the 51st year of her age."
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A Newport paper of 1788, the year of Mr. Redwood's death, said of him that " he was blessed with a liberal spirit which prompted him to encourage useful learning and relieve the distresses of mankind."
Mehetable, the daughter of Abraham Redwood and wife of Ben- jamin Ellery, Esq., who died in 1797, is also buried here. The tomb of husband and wife is a raised marble slab, and upon it are the lines :
" By their deaths a veil was drawn Over bright scenes of Social converse, friendship and charity But the sleeping dust shall be reanimated and the righteous shall inherit Unfading glory and blessedness."
Many other members of the Coggeshall family are here interred " John Coggeshall Senior, Major who deceast Octbr ye 1 1708 in ye 90th yeare of his age," and Captain John Coggeshall, " a patriot of the Revolution, an enterprising merchant and an honorable man."
On one stone we find the words : "Sweet Jesus Christ send thy guardian angel to conduct my soul to thy precious arms."
Although of a much later date, the tomb of Russell Coggeshall, who gave to the city of Newport the Coggeshall poor fund, deserves mention. It is a high slab of white marble, with marble sides, and the inscription records that " He was largely and successfully concerned in the whaling business for many years and at his death bequeathed Fifty thousand dollars to the aged poor of the city. The residue of his property to eighty three persons."
SMALLER GROUNDS
Other family grounds still preserved are those of the Easton and Arnold families. On a driveway leading from Annandale road to the Gammell property is a small walled enclosure, originally part of the old Easton farm, containing the graves of members of the Easton family.
What remains of the family burial ground of the Arnold family may be seen in the little enclosed space, with its few stones, now fenced off in the rear of the Van Zandt house (now occupied by Mr. Burlingham), on Pelham street. There were buried Governor Arnold, died in 1678; " Benedict Arnold gentlem in." died 1727, with his wife and children, as well as other members of the family. Later burials were those of Thomas Pelham and John Banister.
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The Arnold, Off Pelham Street.
In the cemetery attached to the church on Mill street, where he preached, Rev. Samuel Hopkins was originally buried. His present grave is in the yard of the Congregational Church on Spring street, marked by an old-fashioned flat slate slab, with the following inscrip- tion :
" In memory of Samuel Hopkins D. D. Pastor of the First Congregational Church In Newport Who departed this life Decr 20 A. D. 1803 In the 83d year of his age. Whose faithful attention to the duties Of his pastoral office and Whose valuable writings Will recommend his character When this Monument Erected by his Bereaved Flock Shall with the precious dust it covers Cease to be distinguished."
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Close by this stone rises the granite monument in memory of Rev. William Patten, D. D., " Pastor of the Second Congregational Church at Newport for 49 years," who died at Hartford, Conn., in 1839. Many interesting anecdotes of these two clergymen are given by Mr. George Channing in his " Early Recollections of Newport."
PATTEN
Graves of Dr. Hopkins and Dr. Patten, Spring Street
It is gratifying to know that the old cemeteries of Newport are so well cared for and preserved. All the smaller ones are kept in order by the denominations owning them or by the city authorities, and something has already been done in the Old Cemetery in the case of the Ward ground. It is to be hoped that this care may be extended to other sections of the Old burial ground and that these memorials of the dead of bygone days may be well preserved to furnish future gen- erations a means of studying the history of early Newport.
Oliver Hazard Perry Monument.
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