One Saturday, before winter was realized in the Ocean State, I took advantage of clear blue skies and bright sun to stroll through the Old North Burial Ground just north of the city of Providence.
One of my favorite bits of sculpture in the cemetery is the memorial to the men from Rhode island who fought in the Spanish-American War:
As with most large cemeteries, casual strolling without an agenda almost always bring forth a surprise or two. What anguish lies behind this simple stone for two very tiny children:
Just a stone's throw away, and close to the Brown family mausoleum, lies the remains of Cyrus Butler, merchant and philanthropist who founded the Butler Hospital for the Insane along the banks of the Seekonk River, and whose memory was recalled by his friend Alexander Duncan:
Duncan himself has a stone right next door, in which he lays out a brief word on his life:
But Duncan is in fact not buried here. According to his headstone, he and his wife were interred in the "Knossington Church Yard, Leicestershire, England."
Another surprise, for me at any rate, was coming across the marker for Stephen Hopkins, one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence:
"Cyrus Butler was born in Providence and early engaged in commerce with his father and brother whose remains now rest in this enclosure. Distinguished for untiring industry, a resolute will with a clear sagacity and a sound judgment, governed by an uncompromising honesty, devoted the active years of a long life to the pursuits of trade. He accumulated a large fortune by the judicious management of which contributed much to the commercial prosperity of his native town by a munificent donation during his life he aided largely in founding in this city on the banks of the Seekonk River the Butler Hospital for the Insane."
