| Cemetery Number | WW008 |
| Town | WEST WARWICK |
| Cemetery Name | ST MARY'S CEMETERY |
| Find A Grave (Opens in New Tab) |
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| Graves List | Display Graves List |
| Location | CHURCH ST |
| State | RI |
| Direction | E |
| Pole Number | 21S |
| Distance | 100 |
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| Size in Feet | 850 |
| Size in Feet | 970 |
| Inscriptions | 13657 |
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| Exist? | YES |
| Last seen date? | |
| Newest | 1999 |
| Oldest | 1851 |
| Vandalism | N |
| Veteran | |
| Pole | G |
| Comment | Oldest Catholic church in Rhode Island according to a sign in front of the church (the Newport Catholic church is probably older). Oldest stones in cemetery are Irish immigrants. There are also many old French gravestones.
James Arnold recorded this cemetery Jan 21, 1894, 'in the Catholic cemetery at Crompton. Lot not much cared for as a whole though some lots show good care. Commencing on the northern section back of the church.' In the French section Arnold notes many wooden markers that were not seen in 1994. He also notes a large number of unmarked graves, wooden crosses without names or simple boards; over 832 are specifically mentioned. None of the wooden markers have survived the 100 years from 1894-1994.
Fuller in his "History of Warwick" (1875) says of this cemetery "adjoining the Crompton church deserves especial mention. It has been extensively enlarged, improved and adorned in various ways, so that what was originally a crude mass of stones and natural rubbish, has become a lovely retreat and a beautiful place of Christian burial."
The interment records for this cemetery start in Sept 17, 1851 (Mary Dalton); however the earliest burial is 1845 (James Pryor). Less than 15% of the names in the early records have gravestones in the cemetery in 1995. There were 23 burials in 1854 of which 3 have gravestones. In 1877 there were 100 interments, of which the priest notes, "17 were my Parishioners." The spelling and difficult hand writing of the Irish Priest makes for some strange variations for some of the names, especially the French. |
| Condition | good |
| Enclosure | stone wall |
| Gate | iron gate |
| Growth | grass-well kept |
| Terrain | hilly moderate |
| Cemetery Location |
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| Cemetery Burial Map |
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