Jamestown Historical Society: Stories In Stone – Cedar Cemetery Tour

Press release from the Jamestown Historical Society:

by JHS

Oct 26, 2021

Abel Franklin gravestone carved by William Stevens, of Newport, RI. c. 1758

Have you ever walked through a cemetery and wondered about the people buried there?  Where they came from?  What they did?  Whether any descendants are still in the area?

A Cedar Cemetery tour was offered by the Jamestown Historical Society on Saturday, October 2, 2021 and introduced some of the men and women buried there.  The oldest part of the cemetery, the old Friends’ burial ground, was established by the Jamestown Quaker community in 1710.  Thomas Hazard buried his wife in a family plot abutting the Quaker burial ground in 1807 and six generations of Hazard descendants are buried close by.  In 1861, the non-sectarian Cedar Cemetery was laid out to the east of the earlier cemeteries and later incorporated them.

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The oldest grave visited was that of Abel Franklin in the Friends’ Cemetery, where the interpreter in colonial dress told the story of the 18th century ferryman, farmer, and lighthouse keeper.

Left: Jim Buttrick relating the story of Abel Franklin (1690-1758) .

Left: Ken Newman relates the story of the Hazard family and right: Jane Kennedy tells the narrative of Lucy Hazard Tefft.

From the 18th to the 20th centuries, generations of Black Champlins worked the land of Jamestown. The final generation established the first known Black-owned farm on the island in 1872. The 12-acre Champlin farm surrounded to the north and east the then-tiny Cedar Cemetery. In the early 20th century, after most of the descendants had passed, the farm was sold and added to Cedar Cemetery, expanding its size six-fold.

While none of the Champlins married or had children, their headstone remains and their farmland, now the englarged Cedar Cemetery, endures undisturbed.

Left: Peter Fey tells the story of the Champlin family

Ellen Tucker Cottrell, c. 1890

Pat Ustick relates the story of Lena Clarke

Olivia Johns Rice

Chris Walsh telling the story of Captain Willaim Pemental

You can find more in-depth information of all the individuals represented here by contacting info@jamestownhistoricalsociety.org and request the brochure that was handed out at the event.  A big thank you is extended to everyone who participated in creating the tour specifically in the research, the tour guides, the interpreters, the planning, the costumes, the photography and the display and support.

This press release was produced by the Jamestown Historical Society. The views expressed are the author's own.