USA > Rhode Island > Providence County > Providence > The early records of the town of Providence, Vol. XVIII, 1600s > Part 27
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Sec. 18. All graves within the North Burial Ground estate, includ- ing those within proprietor's 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.
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Sec. 19. 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 damage 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.
Chapter VIII. Committees of the City Council.
Section I. 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 com- mittee on highways ; a committee on education; a committee on the 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 ; a committee on railroads ; a com- mittee on sewers ; a committee on the north burial ground ; a committee on the harbor ; a committee on lamps ; a committee on water ; each of which committees shall consist of four members of the common council and one alderman ; also a committee on the city debt, which shall con- sist 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 depart- ment, to consist of the mayor, the president of the board of aldermen, the president of the common council, the chairman of the joint standing committees on highways and sewers, and one member of the common council to be appointed by the president thereof.
Sec. 2. The board of aldermen shall constitute the advising com- mittee on bridges, and the said board shall cause all the public bridges to be kept in good repair, but shall not build any new bridges nor
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expend in any one year on any bridge, except a draw-bridge, more than five hundred dollars, nor on any draw-bridge more than seven hundred and fifty dollars, unless empowered to do so by the city council.
Sec. 3. Joint committees whether standing or special, shall have power to elect their own chairman, and in default of such election, the 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.
Sec. 4. Joint standing committees shall cause a record of their pro- ceedings to be kept in a book to be provided by the city for that pur- pose, and no report shall be received unless agreed to in committee actually assembled.
Sec. 5. 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; and all joint special com- mittees shall report to the city council at least once in three months, the condition of the matter referred to them, and shall, also, annually, in the month of January, make to the city council a full report of the matter referred to them and shall thereupon be ipso facto discharged from the further consideration of the matter referred to them unless they shall by joint resolution be continued as such special committee.
Sec. 6. 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 indorsed by the member presenting the same ; and no other indorsement or report of any kind shall be made on the reports, memorials or other papers which may be referred to any joint com- mittee, 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 otherwise ordered by the committee.
Sec. 7. No chairman of any joint committee shall audit or approve
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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.
Sec. 8. There shall be elected annually, in the month of January, by ballot in each branch of the city council, a joint committee on ac- counts, 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 XIV. Finances.
Sec. 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 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.
Sec. 15. Whenever a contract is made by an officer of the city government, or by any committee or commission appointed by the city council or either branch thereof, for work to be done, or articles and
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materials furnished for the city, such officer, committee or commission shall deposit with the city auditor the contract itself or a certified copy thereof, before any payment shall be made thereon, to the end that the city auditor may see that the payments are made in accordance with the terms of the contract : provided, that the provision of this chapter shall not apply to contracts for the construction of water works for the city.
Sec. 47. No committee or commission appointed by the city council, or either branch thereof, shall draw any money from the city treasury on account of any appropriation until the vouchers for which the expenditure is required shall be deposited with the city auditor.
Sec. 48. All balances of money remaining in the treasury from general appropriations, and all taxes unpaid at the end of the financial year ; all receipts of 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.
Chapter XXXIV. Officers of the City and their duties.
Section 1. In conformity with the laws of the state, the following officers shall be annually elected by the city council, in addition to those specially designated by the city charter, to wit :
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Sec. 2. In addition to the officers named in the first section of this chapter, the city council shall elect annually in convention the following officers, to wit :
Three commissioners of the North Burial Ground ;
A commissioner of sinking funds who shall be elected for the term of three years.
Sec. 7. A commission shall issue to any person elected to any of the offices enumerated in this chapter.
Sec. S. Every person except port wardens so elected to office shall within thirty days after the date of his commission, duly engage himself to the faithful performance of the duties of his office before the city clerk, who shall keep a record thereof. Port wardens, as required by statute, shall engage themselves before the mayor.
Chapter XLVI. Registration of Deaths.
Section 1. There shall be appointed by the board of aldermen a sufficient number of persons to act as undertakers, removable at the pleasure of the board of aldermen.
Sec. 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.
Sec. 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.
Sec. 4. No permit shall be given, as provided in section three, until the city registrar is furnished with the information in relation to
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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 a burial is applied for, in a case of death without the attendance of a physician, or if it is impossible to obtain the 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 investigation.
Sec. 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 four, with the exception of the physician's certificate.
Sec. 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.
Sec. 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.
Sec. 8. No undertaker or other person shall bury or cause to be
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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.
Sec. 9. Every person violating any provision of this chapter shall pay a fine of not less than five nor more than twenty dollars for each offence.
Chapter LVIII. 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 day in January in the year eighteen hundred eighty-seven, unless otherwise in said ordinance expressly provided.
Sec. 2. Such and so much of the ordinances contained in this revision as remain in substance the same as before the revision, shall be deemed and taken to have continued in force from the time they were first ordained and as if this revision had not been made.
Sec. 3. All ordinances and parts of ordinances, the subjects whereof are revised and reordained in this revision, or which are repugnant to the provisions therein contained, shall be repealed on and after the first day of January in the year eighteen hundred eighty-seven, with the exceptions and limitations hereinafter expressed.
Sec. 4. In cases in which any provisions of this ordinance are made to go into operation at any time after the first day of January in the year eighteen hundred eighty-seven, the corresponding provisions, if any, of the repealed ordinances, shall continue in force until such new provis- ions shall go into operation except so far as is in this ordinance other- wise expressly provided.
Sec. 5. The repeal of the ordinances hereinbefore referred to, or hereinafter enumerated, shall not affect any act done, or any right accruing or accrued, or acquired or established, or any remedy for any injury thereto, or any suit or proceeding had or commenced in any civil case before the time when such repeal shall take effect.
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Sec. 6. 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 for- feiture 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.
Sec. 7. 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 are abolished and those as to which a different provision is made by this ordinance.
Sec. 8. No ordinance which has heretofore been repealed shall be revived by the repeal contained in this chapter of the ordinances hereby repealed.
Sec. 9. The repeal in this chapter of any ordinance or part of an ordinance heretofore repealed, shall not be construed as a declaration or implication that such ordinance or part of an ordinance has been in force at any time subsequent to such first repeal.
Sec. 10. Wherever any ordinance not herein repealed refers to and adopts any ordinance or part of an ordinance which is herein repealed, such ordinance or part of an ordinance so referred to and adopted shall not be deemed repealed by the provisions of this chapter, but shall be in force only so far as the same shall have been so adopted and for no other purpose, and so far only as is not repugnant to or inconsistent with the provisions of this ordinance.
Sec. II. The ordinance entitled "An ordinance comprising the ordinances of the city of Providence," ordained by the city council of said city to "go into operation on the first Monday in January eighteen
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hundred seventy-five, unless otherwise in said ordinance expressly provided," containing chapters numbered from I to LIX, both inclusive is hereby repealed, subject to the provisions contained in the preceding sections of this chapter.
Sec. 12. All the ordinances hereinafter mentioned described and entitled, and passed since the publication of said ordinance entitled " An ordinance comprising the ordinances of the city of Providence," in the year eighteen hundred seventy-five, are hereby repealed, subject to the provisions contained in the preceding sections of this chapter ; that is to say : -
Chap. 65. An ordinance in amendment of chapter VII entitled " Burial Grounds," in the ordinance entitled " An ordinance comprising the ordinances of the city of Providence," Approved April 27, 1875.
Chapter 219. An ordinance in amendment of chapter VII of the ordinances of the city of Providence, relative to the use of vaults in the North Burial Ground .- Approved June 23, 1883.
Chap. 232. An ordinance in amendment to chapter XIII of the ordinances, entitled "Committees of the city council," Approved Octo- ber 6, 1883.
Rules and Regulations of the Board of Aldermen. Chapter I. Burials.
I. All burials 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.
2. All entombments of the bodies of deceased persons, except in
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the North Burial Ground and Swan Point Cemetery, are hereby pro- hibited : provided that entombments may be made in Grace Church Cemetery, and the Old Catholic Cemetery on Douglas avenue, 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 condition 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.
4. The Female Academy of the Sacred Heart of Providence, Rhode Island, may use for the purpose of burial a certain parcel of land located on the Elmhurst estate, owned by said Female Academy of the Sacred Heart, measuring about twelve feet by twenty-one feet enclosed by a wooden fence, and located near the orchard on said Elmhurst estate.
[Ordinances of the City of Providence, Ed. 1887, City Clerk's Office.]
[January 31, 1887.] For the annual report of the commissioners of the North Burial Ground for the year ending Dec. 31, 1886 see No. 44, Resolutions of 1887, presented Jan. 31, 1887. Ordered printed Jan. 4, 1887, Resolutions No. 4.
[Resolutions of the City Council Nos. 4 & 44, 1887.]
[April 15, 1887.] No. 153. Resolution Accepting the Gift of Solon Carpenter, Administrator, to the North Burial Ground Fund. (Approved April 15, 1887.)
Resolved, That the gift of Solon Carpenter, administrator, of the sum of seventy-five dollars, to the commissioners of the North Burial
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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 burial lot standing in the name of Timothy H. Temple, in said ground, be and the same is hereby accepted under the name of the Timothy H. Temple fund.
[Resolutions of the City Council No. 153, 1887.]
[April 15, 1887.] No. 154. Resolution Accepting the Gift of Robert T. Thurber, to the North Burial Ground Fund. (Approved April 15, 1887.)
Resolved, That the gift of Robert T. Thurber, of the sum of one hundred and fifty dollars, to the commissioners of the North Burial 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 burial lot standing in the name of William H. Thurber, in said ground, be and the same is hereby accepted under the name of the William H. Thurber fund.
[Resolutions of the City Council No. 154, 1887.]
[May 23, 1887.] No. 218. Resolution Accepting the Gift of Sarah Jane Davis to the North Burial Ground Fund. (Approved May 23, 1887.)
Resolved, That the gift of Sarah Jane Davis, of the sum of seventy- five dollars, to the commissioners of the North Burial 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 burial lot stand- ing in the name of said Davis in said ground, be and the same is hereby accepted under the name of the Sarah Jane Davis fund.
[Resolutions of the City Council No. 218, 1887.]
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[May 23, 1887.] No. 219. Resolution Accepting the Gift of Sarah M. Randall and Marinda E. Broadhurst to the North Burial Ground Fund. (Approved May 23, 1887.)
Resolved, That the gift of Sarah M. Randall and Marinda E. Broad- hurst, of the sum of one hundred and five dollars, to the commissioners of the North Burial Ground, in trust, the income thereof to be applied under the provisions of chapter 367 of the public laws, to the preserva- tion and care of the burial lot standing in the name of said Randall and Broadhurst in said ground, be and the same is hereby accepted under the name of the Randall and Broadhurst fund.
[Resolutions of the City Council No. 219, 1887.]
[June 6, 1887.] No. 262. Annual Report of the Commissioners of the North Burial Ground upon the Trust Fund. (Presented June 6, 1887.)
City council file, June 16, 1887.
[Resolutions of the City Council No. 262, 1887.]
[June 6, 1887.] No. 263. Annual Report of the Commissioners of the North Burial Ground upon the Receipts and Expenditures of the Trust Fund. (Presented June 6, 1887.)
City council file, June 16, 1887.
[Resolutions of the City Council No. 263, 1887.]
[June 20, 1887.] No. 278. Resolution Accepting the Gift of Robert W. Wilbur to the North Burial Ground Fund. (Approved June 20, 1887.)
Resolved, That the gift of Robert W. Wilbur, of the sum of fifty- two dollars and fifty cents, to the commissioners of the North Burial 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
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burial lot standing in the name of said Wilbur, in said ground, be and the same is hereby accepted under the name of the Robert W. Wilbur fund.
[Resolutions of the City Council No. 278, 1887.]
[June 27, 1887.] No. 308. Report of the Committee on North Burial Ground upon the Petition of First Rhode Island Cavalry Veteran Association. (Presented June 27, 1887.)
To the Honorable the City Council :
The committee on the North Burial Ground, to whom on the 21st day of February, 1887, was referred the petition of the First Rhode Island Cavalry Veteran Association, asking for a location in the North Burial Ground, on which to erect a monument as a fitting testimonial to the memory of General Alfred N. Duffie, to commemorate the dis- tinguished services rendered by him to the State of Rhode Island, respectfully report :
That General Alfred N. Duffie, was a Frenchman by birth, and an adopted citizen of this state, from which he enlisted in the late war, and who served as colonel of the first R. I. Cavalry until promoted to Brigadier-General ; he was a brave and gallant soldier and rendered marked and distinguished services to both this state and nation and this association, his surviving comrades, desire to erect to his memory a monument similar to the French memorial now in the North Burial Ground. Therefore your committee recommend that the commissioners of the North burial ground be authorized to set apart a suitable lot, adjoining the French memorial lot for that purpose, and recommend the passage of the accompanying resolution.
For the committee, Henry Cram, Chairman.
[Resolutions of the City Council No. 308, 1887.]
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[July 6, 1887.] No. 309. Resolution Requesting the Commis- sioners on the North Burial Ground to Set Apart a Lot for the First Rhode Island Cavalry Association. (Approved July 6, 1887.)
Resolved, That the commissioners of the North burial ground be and they are hereby authorized to set apart a suitable lot adjoining the French memorial lot, for the First Rhode Island Cavalry Veteran Asso- ciation to erect thereupon a monument or memorial to the memory of General Alfred N. Duffie, and properly prepare the same for its recep- tion.
[Resolutions of the City Council No. 309, 1887.]
[July 6, 1887.] Chapter LXXXVII. No. 310. An Ordinance Providing for the Perpetual care of French Memorial and General Alfred N. Duffie Lots in the North Burial Ground. (Approved July 6, 1887.)
It is ordained by the City Council of the City of Providence as follows :
Section 1. The commissioners of the North burial ground are hereby directed to have perpetual care taken of the so called French memorial lot and also of the General Alfred N. Duffie memorial lot, so soon as the contemplated monument for said lot shall have been com- pleted, both situated side by side in the North burial ground.
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