Rhode Island Historical Cemeteries

Cemetery Number	SK086
Town	SOUTH KINGSTOWN
Cemetery Name	JOHN B STEDMAN LOT
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Graves List	Display Graves List
Location	SECLUDED DRIVE
State	RI
Direction	S
Pole Number
Distance	100
Map Number
Page Number
Plat Number
Deed Book
Deed Page
Size in Feet	40
Size in Feet	40
Inscriptions	14
Fieldstones	16
Tombs
Exist?	YES
Last seen date?	2003
Newest	1872
Oldest	1772
Vandalism	N
Veteran
Pole	G
Comment	The state registration list for this cemetery locates it north of Cardinal Lane, but it is only forty feet behind the house at #60 Secluded Drive on the other side of this wooded area. It is forty feet square, in poor condition, with no enclosure. Only the historical cemetery sign is in good condition. This cemetery is in such poor condition in 2003 that a count of the gravestones was not possible. It is really two cemeteries perpendicular to each other. The fieldstone cemetery closest to Cardinal Lane has been registered as SK 127, having been identified by Bill Sweet as a cemetery for victims of the smallpox epidemic of 1757. James N. Arnold visited this lot Oct. 5, 1880, his #120, “on land of Mrs. Abigail Steadman [widow of John B. Stedman] on east side of road on side hill.” “These we take are the family of the first Steadmans in this area. Here are found a large number of graves buried without much order and marked with rude stones. We counted as well as we could and found 49 large and 61 small graves. Note a Benjamin Steadman is buried here.” Arnold’s count included all of the gravestones going down the slope to the south, now considered SK 127. Burials include three siblings of Daniel Stedman: his younger sister Martha Sherman and younger brothers John B. Stedman and Thomas H. Stedman, as well as members of their families. Recorded by John Sterling and James Wheaton for a 2004 book on South Kingstown cemeteries.
Condition	very poor
Enclosure	granite posts
Gate	no gate
Growth	overgrown-briars
Terrain	level
Cemetery Location
Cemetery Burial Map