USA > Rhode Island > Providence County > Providence > The early records of the town of Providence, Vol. XVIII, 1600s > Part 19
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31
Sect. 6. The said commissioners are authorized to appoint one of their own number treasurer, who shall keep all books and accounts, which it may be necessary for said commissioners to have kept, relating to said burial grounds, draw all drafts upon the city treasurer for all moneys over which said commissioners have the control, and make up and render all reports required to be made and rendered by said com- missioners. The said treasurer shall receive an annual salary of three hundred dollars, payable quarterly from said north burial ground im- provement fund.
Sect. 7. The superintendent of the north burial ground shall be appointed by the commissioners of the north burial ground, and shall hold his office during the pleasure of said commissioners. He shall per- form such duties, in addition to those prescribed by the ordinances of the city, as said commissioners shall require, and shall receive such salary as said commissioners shall determine, not exceeding fifteen hun- dred dollars per annum, payable quarterly, from the said north burial ground improvement fund, in addition to house and garden rent.
Sect. S. The superintendent shall keep a record, in a book to be appropriated to that special purpose, of all burials which are made in
[ 237 ]
the said burial grounds, stating the name, residence, occupation, age, the date, and, as near as may be, the place of interment, of each person buried, with any other circumstances which said commissioners shall direct.
Sect. 9. The superintendent under the direction of said commis- sioners, shall keep the fences around the said burial grounds in proper repair, and the gates thereof locked ; he shall report to the chief of police every violation of this chapter, as soon as may be, that the same may be prosecuted ; and he shall act in conformity with the directions of said commissioners in all cases not otherwise specially provided for.
Sect. 10. The superintendent shall receive the fees for digging all graves dug in the said burial grounds, being the sum usually charged for such service ; and also the sum of one dollar for assisting in selecting and for marking out and granting a certificate for a deed of each lot in said burial grounds,-said fees to be paid by the parties for whom the service is rendered, and also the sum of twenty-five cents for every other certificate which he may give in his official capacity, and shall pay on the first Monday of each month all such fees into the city treasury.
Sect. 11. The superintendent shall keep an exact account of all tees received by him in pursuance of the provisions of this chapter, and shall on the first Monday of each month transmit a copy of the same to the city treasurer and to the treasurer of the commissioners of the north burial ground.
Sect. 12. No person shall take up, hold or own any lot within said burial grounds, except for the purpose of using the same in good faith for a burying lot ; nor shall transfer or sale of any lot therein be made without leave first had and obtained in writing from said commissioners.
Sect. 13. No person shall remove any stake, post, bound or fence placed around, within or upon said grounds under the direction or per- mission of said commissioners or of the superintendent, nor mutilate, detace or injure the same, or any monument, tree, shrub or other thing
[ 238 ]
intended for protection, improvement or ornament placed therein nor commit any trespass or injury within or upon said ground or any part thereof.
Sect. 14. No person shall erect or build any vault or tomb within the limits of said burial grounds, nor inclose any part or portion thereof, without leave first had and obtained from said commissioners which leave shall be first certified by said commissioners to the superintendent of said ground.
Sect. 15. No grave shall be dug nor any body buried in or upon any avenue, path or passage-way in the said burial grounds ; and any body so buried shall be removed by the superintendent or by said com- missioners, at the expense of the person or persons burying or procur- ing the same to be buried.
Sect. 16. No grave shall be dug, nor any body buried within said burial grounds, excepting in and upon lots of proprietors, unless the place of such grave or burial be located under the direction of said superintendent or of said commissioners.
Sect. 17. Any person who shall dig or commence or attempt to dig any grave in said burial grounds, except by authority of the super- intendent, shall pay a fine of five dollars for each offence.
Sect. 18. All graves within the north burial ground estate, includ- ing those within proprietors grounds shall be dug by the superintendent or his agents, except those for the poor from the Dexter Asylum, which shall be done at the expense and by the agents of the asylum, in that part of the ground appropriated for that purpose.
Sect. I'9. Every person who shall violate any of the provisions of this chapter, except those contained in the seventeenth section thereof, shall pay to the use of the city a fine of not less than ten nor more than twenty dollars ; and shall be personally liable in addition for any dam- age or injury done by him as a consequence of such violation to the said burial grounds or any of the lots therein or the appurtenances thereof.
[ 239 ]
Chapter XIII. Committees of the City Council.
Section [. There shall be annually appointed by the city council, immediately after the organization of the city government the following joint standing committees, who shall hold their offices until the expira- tion of the current municipal year, viz. : a committee on finance ; a committee on highways ; a committee on education ; a committee on fire department ; a committee on city property ; a committee on police ; a committee on ordinances; a committee on claims; a committee on printing ; a committee on parks, each of which committees shall con- sist of four members of the common council and one alderman ; also a committee on the north burial ground ; a committee on the harbor ; a committee on railroads ; a committee on sewers ; a committee on lamps, each of which shall consist of three members of the common council and one alderman ; a committee on water, to consist of four members of the common council and two aldermen ; also a committee on the city debt, which shall consist of the mayor, the president of the board of aldermen, the president of the common council, the chairman of the joint standing committee on finance, and one member of the common council, to be appointed by the president thereof ; and a committee on the city engineer's department, to consist of the mayor, the president of the board of aldermen, the president of the common council, the chair- man of the joint standing committee on highways and sewers, and one member of the common council, to be appointed by the president thercof.
Sect. 2. Joint committees whether standing or special shall have power to elect their own chairman, and in default of such election, the member first named on a committee shall be chairman thereof, and in case of his resignation or inability, the other members, in the order in which they are named, shall act as chairman.
Sect. 3. Joint standing committees shall cause a record of their proceedings to be kept in a book to be provided by the city for that
[ 240 ]
purpose, and no report shall be received unless agreed to in committee actually assembled.
Sect. 4. Every joint committee to whom any subject shall have been referred shall report thereon within four weeks, to the branch making such reference, or shall ask for further time.
Sect. 5. All reports and other papers submitted to the council shall be written in a fair hand, and on separate sheets of paper, and shall be suitably endorsed by the member presenting the same ; and no other indorsement or report of any kind shall be made on the reports, me- morials or other papers which may be referred to any joint committee, except such as may be made by the clerk of either board of the city council. All reports shall be signed by the writer thereof, unless other- wise ordered by the committee.
Sect. 6. No chairman of any joint committee shall audit or ap- prove any bill or account against the city for services or supplies unless the same shall have been ordered by the committee, nor shall he approve any bill or account except by vote of the committee.
Sect. 7. There shall be elected annually in the month of June, by ballot in each branch of the city council, a joint committee on accounts, to consist of two on the part of the board of aldermen, and five on the part of the common council, whose duty it shall be to meet once a month and as much oftener as they may deem expedient.
Chapter XIX. Finances.
Sect. 4. No money shall be paid out of the city treasury, except in the cases provided in this chapter, unless the expenditures or the terms of the contract shall be vouched by the head of the department, and the chairman of the committee or commission under whose authority the same has been authorized and made, nor unless the same shall have been examined by the city auditor, approved by the committee on ac- counts and drawn for by the mayor : provided that in all cases when it
[ 24] ]
is necessary for money to be paid in advance for contracts made or for work begun but not completed, the mayor may, upon being satisfied of such necessity, draw upon the city treasury for the amount thus required to be advanced, which draft shall be paid by the city treasurer provided the same shall be countersigned by the city auditor, and the city auditor shall countersign all such drafts to an amount not exceeding three hun- dred dollars in any one case, but the city auditor shall not countersign any such draft for any sum exceeding three hundred dollars without the direction of the committee on accounts.
Sect. 36. All balances of money remaining in the treasury from general appropriations, and all taxes unpaid at the end of any financial year ; all receipts in money on account of the sale of real estate or buildings of any description now belonging or which may hereafter belong to the city, excepting the real estate now or hereafter belonging to the North burial ground or Roger Williams park ; all receipts on account of the principal sum of any bond or note now owned or which may hereafter be owned by the city, shall be and the same are hereby appropriated to the payment or purchase of the city debt, and the city auditor shall annually pass to the credit of the committee on the city debt all receipts in money, the proceeds of either of the sources before mentioned ; and the same so passed to the credit of said committee shall be drawn from the treasury of the city for the payment or pur- chase of the city debt, in the same manner as other money is drawn, and in no other mode, and for no other purpose whatever.
Sect. 37. The committee on the city debt are hereby authorized to lend, on interest, to the city treasurer any amount so passed to their credit as aforesaid which may not be immediately wanted for the pur- chase or redemption of said debt.
Chapter XXXVI. Officers of the City and their Duties.
Section 1. In conformity with the laws of the state the following 31
[ 242 ]
officers shall be annually elected by the city council, in addition to those specially designated by the city charter, to wit * **
Sect. 2. In addition to the officers named in the first section of this chapter, the city council shall elect annually in convention the fol- lowing officers to wit
three commissioners of the north burial ground ; * *
Sect. 4. All the officers named in this chapter, before entering upon the duties of their respective offices, shall be severally sworn or affirmed in the form and manner provided by the laws of this state for town officers.
Chapter XLVII. Registration of Deaths.
Section 1. There shall be appointed by the city council a sufficient number of persons to act as undertakers removable at the pleasure of the city council.
Sect. 2. Whenever any person shall die in the city the physician attending in his or her last sickness shall furnish to the undertaker attending the funeral, or to the city registrar, a certificate, giving the name of the person, date of death, and the disease or cause of his or her death.
Sect. 3. No person shall bury, or place in a tomb or remove from the city, or otherwise dispose of the body of any human being who shall die in the city, without first reporting the death to the city registrar, and obtaining a permit from him.
Sect. 4. No permit shall be given as provided in section three, until the city registrar is furnished with the information in relation to the deceased person, required by the laws of the state, for record, so far as the same can be ascertained, together with the physician's certificate of the cause of death, whenever a physician has been in attendance, or a coroner's certificate, whenever a coroner's inquest has been held.
Whenever a permit for burial is applied for, in a case of death with- out the attendance of a physician, or if it is impossible to obtain the
[ 243 ]
physician's certificate, the city registrar shall investigate the case so far as may be necessary, and when he has obtained satisfactory evidence in relation to the cause and circumstances of the death, he shall sign the certificate and give the required permit. If not satisfied in relation to the cause and circumstances of the death, or if, in his opinion, the public good requires it, he shall report the case to a coroner for inves- tigation.
Sect. 5. Whenever the body of a human being who has died out of the city shall be brought here for burial, the undertaker, or other person attending the funeral, shall furnish the report required in sections three and tour, with the exception of the physician's certificate.
Sect. 6. All funerals shall take place between sunrise and sunset, unless otherwise permitted or directed by the board of health. The top of every coffin deposited in the ground shall be at least three feet below the usual surface thereof.
Sect. 7. The city registrar shall cause an abstract of the returns of death made to him to be published in all the newspapers which contract to do the city printing, monthly, and oftener if required by the board of health. He shall also, on or before the first day of April, annually, prepare and present to the city council a statement of the number of births, marriages and deaths which occurred in the city during the year ending with the thirty first day of December next preceding with such other information and suggestions in relation thereto as he may deem useful for the promotion of the public health, and other interests of the city.
Sect. 8. No undertaker or other person shall bury or cause to be buried the body of any deceased person in the city, except in such grounds as are or may be designated as burying grounds, and authorized to be used as such.
Sect. 9. Every person violating any provision of this chapter shall pay a hine of not less than five nor more than twenty dollars for each offence.
[ 244 ]
Chapter LIX. Of the Repeal of Prior Ordinances.
Section I. The provisions contained in this and the preceding chapters of this ordinance shall take effect and go into operation on and after the first Monday in January in the year eighteen hundred and seventy five, unless otherwise in said ordinance expressly provided.
Sect. 2. The repeal of the ordinances hereinafter enumerated shall not affect any act done, or any right accruing or accrued, or acquired or established, or remedy for any injury thereto, or any suit or proceeding had or commenced in any civil case before the time when said repeal shall take effect.
Sect. 3. No offence committed, and no penalty, fine or forfeiture incurred under any of the ordinances hereby repealed, and before the time when such repeal shall take effect, shall be affected by the repeal and no suit or prosecution pending at the time of said repeal for any offence committed, or for the recovery of any fine or penalty or forfeiture incurred under any of the ordinances hereby repealed, shall be affected by such repeal, except that the proceedings in such suit or prosecution shall be conformed when necessary to the provisions of this ordinance.
Sect. 4. All persons who at the time when said repeal shall take effect, shall hold any office under any of the ordinances hereby repealed, shall continue to hold the same under the tenure thereof, except those offices which have been abolished and those as to which a different pro- vision shall have been made by this ordinance.
Sect. 5. No ordinance which has heretofore been repealed shall be revived by the repeal contained in this chapter of the ordinances hereby repealed.
Sect. 6. All the ordinances hereinafter mentioned described and contained in the revision of the city ordinances of the year eighteen hundred and fifty-four are hereby repealed, subject to the provisions contained in this chapter, that is to say : -
[ 245 ]
"An ordinance establishing the ordinances of the city of Providence, prescribing the time when they shall take effect and the manner of pub- lishing the same."
"An ordinance in relation to the ordinances of the city of Provi- dence."
"An ordinance designating the officers to be appointed annually by the city council in addition to those specially designated and required to be appointed by the city charter."
"An ordinance in relation to the interment of the dead."
"An ordinance in relation to the north burying ground."
*
Sect. 7. All the ordinances hereinafter mentioned described and entitled and passed since the publication of the city ordinances in the year eighteen hundred and fifty-four, are hereby repealed, subject to the provisions contained in this chapter, that is to say : -
"An ordinance in amendment of an ordinance, entitled 'An ordi- nance in relation to the north burying ground,' " passed November 1856.
"An ordinance in relation to the registration of deaths and the inter- ment of the dead," passed August 1864.
"An ordinance in amendment of an ordinance, entitled 'An ordi- nance in relation to the north burying ground,'" passed July 1871.
Rules and Regulations of the Board of Aldermen. Chapter 1. Burials.
1. All burials or entombments of the bodies of deceased persons in any burial ground within the limits of the city, except in Grace Church Cemetery, Locust Grove Cemetery, Swan Point Cemetery, the Hebrew burial ground and the North burial ground are hereby prohibited.
[ 246 ]
2. All entombments of the bodies of deceased persons except in the North burial ground and Swan Point Cemetery are hereby pro- hibited ; provided, that entombments may be made in Grace Church Cemetery, between the first day of April and the first day of November, upon condition that such bodies be removed from the tombs in which they are placed within forty-eight hours after their deposit therein ; and between the first day of November and the first day of April, on con- dition that such bodies be removed from such tombs on or before the twentieth day of April ensuing.
3 . Every person violating any of the provisions of the two next preceding rules shall, for each offence, pay a fine of not less than ten nor more than twenty dollars, or be imprisoned not less than ten nor more than sixty days.
[Ordinances of the City of Providence, Ed. 1875, City Clerk's Office, Providence.]
[January 25, 1875.] For the annual report of the Commissioners of the North Burial Ground for the year ending Dec. 31, 1874 see City Council records No. 8 page 351. Ordered printed Jan. 4, 1875, with Sup'ts report. Resolution No. II.
[City Council Records No. 8, page 351.]
[April 12, 1875.] No. 187. Report of the Joint Committee on the North Burying Ground. ( Presented April 12, 1875.) To The Honorable The City Council.
The standing committee on the North Burial ground, to whose attention the matters connected with the management of the North Burial ground were brought by the tenth inaugural address of his honor the mayor, respectfully present the following as a preliminary report. Your committee have held several prolonged meetings at which the commissioners of the North Burial ground were present and presented statements, that your committee, after examining the grounds for the
[ 247 ]
statements made by the commissioners, have arrived at the following conclusions unanimously.
First. That between the years 1851 and 1871 the receipts from the North Burial ground, derived from the sales of lots, from rents and from fees amounted to about $3, 127.66 more than the expenditures.
Second. That since the passage in 1871, of the ordinance requir- ing the commissioners of the North Burial ground, to pay into the city treasury, twenty-five per cent. of the gross receipts from the grounds, it has been not only impossible to make improvements, but impossible even to keep the avenues and grounds in good repair and condition.
Third. That to day, the commissioners are in debt to the city treasurer, $323.45 and have no means wherewith to grade and put into marketable condition the larger tracts of land in their possession which may be made available for burial purposes, and are consequently unable to meet the demands of persons constantly applying to them for burial lots ; that the receiving tomb contains upwards of three hundred bodies which must be removed and buried during the month of May, the greater part of which must be removed and buried at the expense of the grounds, unless some provision for such removal and burial is made by the city, and that the cost of such removal and burial will amount to one thousand dollars.
Fourth. That about eight acres of the newly purchased land lately added to the North Burial ground, is swamp land, and in its present condition is entirely unfitted for burial purposes ; that to be rendered available it must first be filled in ; that the highway department have a sand hill near the grounds useless to them, the sand from which would materially aid in filling in certain portions of this swamp land ; that your committee are informed by his honor the mayor that the highway department will give the commissioners this sand for the purpose of filling in their grounds, but your committee represent that the commis- sioners have not the means to remove the sand to their grounds; that
[ 248 ]
the highway department have also several thousand loads of loam which they offer to the commissioners if they will remove the same, and although the loam is absolutely necessary for the grounds, and must soon be obtained elsewhere at the rate of from one dollar and fifty cents to two dollars per load, yet from lack of means to remove the same to their grounds, the commissioners are unable to avail themselves of so advantageous an opportunity to benefit the grounds unless this honor able body sees fit to come to their assistance.
Fifth. That although the commissioners have about one hundred and fifty thousand dollars worth of lots, which when graded, could be sold in the course of time, and although applications are daily being made for lots by persons desirous to purchase, yet from lack of means to grade and improve these lots for market, not a sale can be made All work has stopped, and the principal source of income to the grounds has ceased to be longer fruitful.
Sixth. That the commissioners who have labored gratuitously for the benefit of the city for the past twenty years, will find it impossible to carry on the grounds under the provision of the ordinance of 1871, requiring them to pay over to the city twenty five per cent. of the gross receipts from the grounds; that their services in the future will be worse than useless, and that an abandonment of the grounds and of all hope of any reimbursement for what the city has already expended on the grounds must be contemplated as a certain result, unless some appropriation for the immediate use of the commissioners is made, and an amendment to the ordinance of 1871 soon be brought to the atten- tion of this honorable body by your committee, is favorably considered.
Therefore your committee recommend the passage of the accom- panying resolution.
For the committee, Edward C. Ames, Chairman. [Resolutions of the City Council No. 187, 1875.]
[ 249 ]
[April 15, 1875.] No. 188. Resolution transferring $3000 to the appropriation for the North Burying Ground. ( Approved April 15. 1875.)
Resolved, That the sum of three thousand dollars be, and the same is hereby transferred from the reserve fund to the North Burial Ground improvement fund.
| Resolutions of the City Council No. 188, 1875.]
¡April 15, 1875.] No. 190. Resolution accepting gift of Mary Jane Sheldon, to North Burial Ground Fund. (Approved April 15, 1875.)
Resolved, That the gift of Mary Jane Sheldon, of four shares of stock in the Providence & Worcester Railroad Company, to the com- missioners of the north burying ground, in trust, the income thereof to be applied under the provisions of chapter 367, of the public laws, to the preservation and care of the lot standing in the name of William Sheldon, in said ground, be and the same is hereby accepted by the city council under the name of the William Sheldon fund. [ Resolutions of the City Council No. 190, 1875.]
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.