| Cemetery Number | SK009 |
| Town | SOUTH KINGSTOWN |
| Cemetery Name | COL THOMAS POTTER LOT |
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| Graves List | Display Graves List |
| Location | SOUTH RD |
| State | RI |
| Direction | W |
| Pole Number | 121 |
| Distance | 15 |
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| Size in Feet | 200 |
| Size in Feet | 100 |
| Inscriptions | 9 |
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| Exist? | YES |
| Last seen date? | 2003 |
| Newest | 1938 |
| Oldest | 1793 |
| Vandalism | N |
| Veteran | 2 |
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| Comment | This lot is located 15 feet west of South Road between telephone poles #121 and #122, near Route #138. It is two hundred feet by one hundred feet, in excellent condition, enclosed with a stone wall with an iron gate. The historical cemetery sign is in good condition. There are six burials marked with inscribed stones, but four of them are twentieth century. The tomb is inscribed POTTER – September 26, AD 1894. The tomb door lintel reads 1892.
James N. Arnold visited this lot Feb. 21, 1880, his #7, “The Hon. E. R. Potter was entombed on his own land a short distance from his house together with his wife and children. Tomb faces south and has no inscription.”
This cemetery is under perpetual care administered by the Pettaquamscutt Historical Society. On a recent trip to this cemetery for maintenance Craig Anthony invited Jim Wheaton to see the Potter tomb and record the inscriptions. He unlocked the door and showed Jim a chamber with nine crypts on the wall directly in front. Seven of the crypts are used and sealed with a 25 inch by 35 inch slate stone inscribed with names and dates. The two unused slates are leaning against the chamber wall for future use. The damp nature of the tomb is causing the slate stones to disintegrate. Small stalactites are coming down from the ceiling, and the very beginnings of stalagmites are starting to form on the floor below them. The crypts are in three rows of three. The top row is numbered 1,2,3; the center row is numbered 4,5,6; and the bottom row is numbered 7,8,9. Crypts number 3 and 4 are not used, and number 6 has a mother and son entombed.
James N. Arnold recorded Col. Thomas and Elizabeth Potter in SK 80 on Feb. 21, 1880. He described it as “On land of Judge E. R. Potter a distance west of house upon plain, yard unprotected, is the old Reynolds burial ground.” It is likely that a Potter cemetery was started after that time, possibly in 1900 when Lt. Col. James B. M. Potter died, and Col. Thomas and Elizabeth Potter were moved to this new lot. Charles and Martha Benns recorded this lot in 1935, their #458.
Recorded by John Sterling and James Wheaton for a 2004 book on South Kingstown cemeteries. |
| Condition | excellent |
| Enclosure | stone wall |
| Gate | iron gate |
| Growth | grass-well kept |
| Terrain | level |
| Cemetery Location |
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| Cemetery Burial Map |
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