cemetery
A cemetery, burial ground, gravesite or graveyard is a place where the remains of dead people are buried or otherwise interred. The word ''cemetery'' (from Greek , "sleeping place") implies that the land is specifically designated as a buri ...
off Read Street in
East Providence, Rhode Island
East Providence is a city in Providence County, Rhode Island, United States. The population was 47,139 at the 2020 census, making it the fifth-largest city in the state.
Geography
East Providence is located between the Providence and Seekonk ...
, United States.
The cemetery was founded in 1655, when the area was part of Rehoboth, Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest colonial cemeteries in Rhode Island. It was added to the
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...
in 1980.
Famous and historical burials
Little Neck Cemetery is a historical and cultural resource of much importance. It contains the
gravestones
A headstone, tombstone, or gravestone is a stele or marker, usually stone, that is placed over a grave. It is traditional for burials in the Christian, Jewish, and Muslim religions, among others. In most cases, it has the deceased's name, da ...
of people who have played an important part in the history of East Providence and other American societies.
The oldest recorded burial is that of John Brown, Jr. (who died 1662), son of the man who purchased Wannamoisett from the
Wampanoag
The Wampanoag , also rendered Wôpanâak, are an Indigenous people of the Northeastern Woodlands based in southeastern Massachusetts and historically parts of eastern Rhode Island,Salwen, "Indians of Southern New England and Long Island," p. 1 ...
Indians. The gravestone of Elizabeth Tilley Howland (died 1687) is also there. Howland was a passenger on the
Mayflower
''Mayflower'' was an English ship that transported a group of English families, known today as the Pilgrims, from England to the New World in 1620. After a grueling 10 weeks at sea, ''Mayflower'', with 102 passengers and a crew of about 30, r ...
ship and was one of the original settlers of the
Plymouth Colony
Plymouth Colony (sometimes Plimouth) was, from 1620 to 1691, the first permanent English colony in New England and the second permanent English colony in North America, after the Jamestown Colony. It was first settled by the passengers on the ...
. She died at the Swansea, Massachusetts farm of her daughter and son-in-law and was buried near there at Little Neck. Today her grave is marked by a finely carved slate marker put up in 1946 by the Howland Family Association.
The most renowned person buried at Little Neck, however, is Captain
Thomas Willett
Thomas Willett (~1607 – August 29, 1674) was a Plymouth Colony fur trader, merchant, land purchaser and developer, Captain of the Plymouth Colony militia, Magistrate of the colony, and was the 1st and 3rd Mayor of New York, prior to the ...
(died 1674). Willett, son-in-law of John Brown of Wannamoisett, settled in what is currently East Providence in a house that was located on Willett Avenue (now the site of the Willett Arms Apartments). He is noted for serving as the first English mayor of New York. The Willett plot, surrounded by a stone-post and iron rail fence, is now marked by a large boulder put down by the
City Club of New York
The City Club of New York is a New York City–based independent, not-for-profit organization.
In 1950, ''The New York Times'' called the City Club of New York "a social club with a civic purpose"East Providence Historical Society">
File:LittleNeckCemetery-7272.jpg, Hillside in Little Neck Cemetery
File:LittleNeckCemetery-7260.jpg, Willett and Browne headstones
See also
*
National Register of Historic Places listings in Providence County, Rhode Island
__NOTOC__
This is a list of the National Register of Historic Places listings in Providence County, Rhode Island.
This is intended to be a complete list of the properties and districts on the National Register of Historic Places in Providence C ...