| Cemetery Number | SK207 |
| Town | SOUTH KINGSTOWN |
| Cemetery Name | JOHN CONGDON LOT |
| Find A Grave (Opens in New Tab) |
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| Graves List | Display Graves List |
| Location | MATUNUCK SCHOOL HOUSE ROAD |
| State | RI |
| Direction | N |
| Pole Number | |
| Distance | 90 |
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| Page Number | |
| Plat Number | 191 |
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| Inscriptions | 0 |
| Fieldstones | 5 |
| Tombs | |
| Exist? | POP |
| Last seen date? | 2015 |
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| Pole | N |
| Comment | This cemetery is located 90 feet north of Matunuck School House Road at 2027 Matunuck School House Road and 150 feet east of the Charlestown – South Kingstown town line.
The Public Archaeology Laboratory, Inc. contracted with J Thomas Construction to conduct an archaeological cemetery delineation on A.P. 83-1, Lot 191, house Lot 3 to determine if additional unmarked graves are located on the parcel and to determine if ground preparation activities impacted unmarked graves.
Archaeological investigations demonstrated that construction of the Lot 3 house foundation impacted the graves of at least four individuals. Disturbance continued 2 to 3 ft south of the house site’s southern foundation wall. Human remains impacted by site construction activities are incorporated in landscaped topsoils and have been graded across the lot’s southern yard area. Machine-assisted topsoil removal of the unmarked burial lot identified one partially intact and one complete unmarked interment bringing the minimum number of confirmed burials at the site to five. Archival research and the recovery of coffin hardware and the remains of several individuals leads PAL to conclude that burials unearthed at the site are those of John Congdon and his family and not those of a historic or more recent crime scene.
Unmarked grave shafts extend off the south side of the Lot 3 house foundation at the location of the proposed front entryway. Historic accounts suggest that only a handful of people were interred within the lost John Congdon burial lot. The exposure of only 1 and 1/3 grave shafts and the recovery of the skeletal remains of at least 4 individuals suggests that most of the historic burial ground was disturbed by recent house construction.
Extant grave shafts depicted in Figure 8 were clearly marked by survey stakes and flagged in the field. PAL recommends that registered professional surveyors map the delineated limits of the burial ground and overlay these limits on project design plans. J Thomas Construction expects to complete construction of A.P. 83-1, Lot 191, house Lot 3. Current design plans call for the installation of support piers immediately adjacent to identified grave shafts. Therefore, the conditions of SKCO Section 14-44 should be followed before resuming ground alteration disturbances. Per the town ordinance the South Kingstown town council should be petitioned for a variance permitting continued construction within the limits of the historic burying ground.
Remnant and extant grave shafts at A.P. 83-1, Lot 191, house Lot 3 can be preserved adjacent to the house foundation in place. However, most of the John Congdon burial plot has been disturbed with remnant grave shafts situated in an unsecure location adjacent to the newly constructed house foundation. Therefore, PAL recommends that J Thomas Construction consider relocating extant burials from their current location to a more secure location with the skeletal remains that are currently at PAL and the OSME’s office. This location should not have the potential to be impacted by future construction, foundation work, landscaping, or any subsurface ground work. The South Kingstown town council has the authority to permit the alteration or removal of a historic cemetery, so long as the conditions of SKCO Section 14-46 are satisfied. Human remains recovered from the construction site should be reburied in accordance with SKCO Section 14-46(a)(5) and 14-46(b)(6). The reburial plan should account for the final disposition and reburial of any skeletal remains, be in the best interest of the interred and their descendants, and be agreed to by the South Kingstown Town Council.
James N. Arnold recorded six cemeteries on October 8,1880 in the vicinity of this cemetery. Here are the cemeteries:
Arnold #
149 John Congdon Lot
150 Stephen B. Watson Lot SK136 on Holly Road just north of his lot #149
151 Charles H. Champlin Lot SK167 just north of Green Hill Pond (since removed to SK047 Perryville Church Cemetery)
152 Jeremiah Niles Potter Lot SK172 (since removed to SK043 Riverside Cemetery)
153 one grave unknown - east of the 7th day Advent Church
154 John Browning Lot - SK063 west of Green Hill Beach Road and north of Matunuck School House Road. This is east of SK136
Arnold traveled from cemetery to cemetery with a horse and buggy so he didn't skip around much as we do with automobiles. These cemeteries all group around where the skeletal remains were found and #149 fit the remains found. This area of South Kingstown was poor in the nineteenth century. Many of the cemeteries recorded here by James Arnold had fieldstone marked graves. Many of these could not be found during four years of searching for SK cemeteries 2000-2004.
The cemetery with the skeletal remains is almost certainly the John Congdon Lot (Arnold #149). It has been registered as SK207.
James Arnold visited this cemetery Oct. 8, 1880, his number: #149
Arnold’s comments: “near house of Hazard Kenyon a yard partly walled containing graves of John Congdon and several of his children and perhaps some others the whole is overrun with grass that we could not make out anything definite.” The location of SK136 is described as “north of the above [SK207] a short distance in open pasture … .”
Our comments in 2003: Therefore SKA19 [now SK207] is south of SK136 a short distance, possibly near Matunuck Schoolhouse Road. Formerly known as SK534. |
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