Tillinghast Cemetery, Providence, Rhode Island

Hey, blog. Long time no see. I've been busy working on my PhD program, but I haven't stopped thinking about or visiting graveyards. The Tillinghast Cemetery on Benefit Street in Providence, Rhode Island, is one of the more unusual graveyards I have visited. There are no gravestones, aside from the huge monument at the center commemorating Elder Pardon Tillinghast, the English progenitor of the Tillinghast family. He was born in Seven Cliffe, Sussex, England, in 1622 and migrated to Providence in 1643, where he served as the pastor of the First Baptist Church.

Providence in 1790, depicted by a Brown University student

In the 17th century, many of the families of Providence maintained their own family burying grounds on their properties between Main Street and Benefit Street (the area of first Euro-American settlement in the city). In 1710, with the founding of the North Burial Ground, many began to bury their dead in the large municipal cemetery to the north of the city and even moved bodies and grave markers from existing family cemeteries. By the late 19th century, most of the old family burying grounds had been obliterated, with the exception of the Tillinghast Cemetery. It contains approximately 35 burials, but only one marker.



From this historical atlas of Providence, you can see that the Tillinghast Cemetery had become municipal property by 1875. This is the fate of most cemeteries that have been "abandoned" by the original owners, including the St. George/St. Mark's Cemetery.

Tales of Providence: Frederick Almy and Mary Jane Usher DeVoll

Frederick Almy DeVoll

While perusing some old photographs at a used books store in Providence, I came across four portraits belonging to the same family. Since they were all being sold separately, I thought I should buy them in order to ensure they would stay together (perhaps that was the seller's intent all along). I have always loved perusing stores for old photographs but it frustrates me immensely when they aren't labeled with the subjects' names. Equally frustrating is when they're labeled "my mother" or "cousin Jane." Thanks, 19th-century people, that really helps.

Of the four photographs that I bought, three seem to be of the same person, Frederick Almy DeVoll. The other was his wife, Mary Jane Usher DeVoll. While researching them, I was able to uncover many interesting details about their lives, and in particular about their children. Frederick was born about 1845 in Massachusetts and Mary was born about 1844 in Rhode Island.

Frederick first appears in the 1850 census in Westport, Massachusetts. Since this census doesn't list relationships between members of a household, I had to rely on other evidence to confirm my speculations. Barney Wing, a 61-year-old sailor, was married to Abby Wing, age 48. Mary A. DeVoll was their daughter, age 24. Susan, Benjamin, and Frederick were Mary's children. But who was the children's father? The family obelisk in the Westport Point Cemetery (shown below) reveals that it was Benjamin DeVoll, who died in 1848, leaving his then 22-year-old wife with three children under the age of six.

Potter's Field, North Burial Ground, Providence, RI

Can you tell it's been a busy semester? Over the course of the last few months, I've researched and written two papers on the North Burial Ground in Providence. Initially, I was interested in the beautiful slate stones in the colonial section of the cemetery, which was established in 1700. As time went on and I explored the Burial Ground further, however, I entered into a mortuary realm that I had never experienced before: that of the "free grounds" and "potter's field." The former described areas of the Burial Ground that were set aside for people who could not afford to buy and maintain a lot in the main section of the cemetery, but could afford the $4 or so for burial and perhaps a monument. The latter described an area used by the City of Providence to bury the individuals who had no family or funds to provide for their burials: paupers, inmates of institutions, and unidentified bodies.

I have been to a lot of cemeteries in my time, probably quite a few more than your average 26-year-old, but I have to say that visiting the potter's field in the North Burial Ground was by far the most emotional experience that I have had in a cemetery in my life. Stripped of the sentimentalism and beauty that surrounds middle-class cemeteries, the potter's field offers an unvarnished view of mortality that most of us don't think about on a daily basis. It also shows evidence of a very unique and personal tradition of commemoration.

The graves in the potter's field are marked only with numbered markers. Or rather, some are marked. The potter's field was originally much larger than it currently is. In the early 1960s, developers moved many of the graves in the potter's field and western half of the free grounds into a mass grave near the area pictured above. I haven't been able to pin down an exact number, but my estimate is that at least a few thousand graves were moved. All of these graves were originally marked, but it was considered to much of a hassle to move the markers to the new location, so they were discarded.

When I came this place -- which is accessed through a bridge, through a band of forest in the northernmost area of the Burial Ground -- I had preconceived notions of what a potter's field would be like. I imagined undignified anonymity and neglect. My expectations were controverted by the reality I found. There is anonymity, certainly, but also evidence of ongoing memorialization. Some of the numbered markers have been replaced or supplemented by markers with names. Some of these supplementary markers are professional stones, of the kind you might find in other areas of the NBG, but others are makeshift (or "vernacular" as I might put it in a paper). I won't show you these markers, because they are all relatively recent, and I don't like the idea of publishing a photo of someone's gravestone that their family member might recognize, especially when the gravestone is in such a private location. However, I can describe some of them.

Two graves are marked with crosses made of planks of wood; the names are spelled out with the kind of stick-on letters you'd buy at a hardware store. One of these markers is surrounded by artificial flowers.

One marker consists of a slab of concrete spray-painted with the name of the deceased and a heart.

One person's grave is marked with a plastic label bearing his name, next to which is placed a toy car.

In one case, someone wrote the deceased's name and dates of birth/death onto the numbered marker with Sharpie.

And so on. These acts of commemoration seem all the more personal and touching because they were created by hand, rather than commissioned from a professional. They suggest that the people buried in the potter's field are far from forgotten. However, due to the type of materials they are made of, many of these markers are unlikely to survive for very long. It is possible that there was once many more of them, perhaps extending back into the 19th century, but that they disintegrated long ago.

In the oncoming weeks I hope to share more from the North Burial Ground, including stories of people from the 19th century who were buried in the free grounds and potter's fields.

Old South Windsor Cemetery, South Windsor, CT

Old South Windsor Cemetery, also known as the Edwards Cemetery, was established in 1708, according to the sign that stands just beyond the gate, and is the burying place of the parents and siblings of the Rev. Jonathan Edwards (1703-1758), the hellfire-and-brimstone-spewing preacher of the First Great Awakening most famous for his sermon "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God" (I hear he was a real sweetheart in person, though). Edwards's father, Timothy Edwards, was also a preacher, and his mother Esther Stoddard, was the daughter of a preacher. 

Above is the grave of the Rev. Nathaniel Sherman; like Edwards, he was a preacher and a graduate of the Ivy League (though Edwards graduated from Yale, which was established just a few years before he was born, and Sherman Princeton College, established several decades later). The full inscription, which is very detailed (my favorite kind), reads:

In Memory of the Rev. Nathaniel Sherman A. M. He was born at Stoughton in Massachusetts March 5, AD 1726: was educated at Princeton College, and graduated in 1752. He soon after entered on the work of the Gospel Ministry: was ordained pastor of the Church & Society at Bedford, Massachusetts: and afterwards, for several years, was the pastor of the first Church & Society in Hamden. He was ever fond of the Study of divinity, skillful, faithful & zealous in his calling: a true Calvinist, a fervent preacher: a pious man. After enduring, for years an uncommon share of bodily infirmities, which he bore with Christian fortitude. He died at East Windsor July 18, 1797 AE. 71.

The first thing that struck me about this stone was that it seems very pristine for a stone of its age, especially one made of marble; it may have been very rigorously cleaned (perhaps too rigorously, judging by the slight fuzziness of the lettering). The second thing that struck me is that it is made of marble; 1797 is on the early side for a stone in this location to be made of marble instead of sandstone. Several of the most ancient sandstones in this cemetery have been "replaced" by replicas in marble, which are positioned directly beside the original. Is this a reproduction? Possibly, but if it is, there is no original in sight.

Also notable: the words at the very bottom seem to be carved in a different, slightly less skilled hand. Were they added later? Perhaps the Reverend wanted to have his stone made while he was alive? Or perhaps an overzealous and slightly morbid friend made it for him as a birthday present, a la "One Foot in the Grave?" In any case it stands to reason that the stone was carved prior to the Reverend's death, with the exception of the last lines. If so, I would assume that this stone is the original.

Finally, I always wonder how much of the epitaph is boilerplate/generic language and how much of it actually reflects the particularities of the person's life. The "uncommon share of bodily infirmities" stands out among all the talk of piety as something real and unique. (Not saying the Reverend Sherman wasn't pious, only that you would be hard pressed to find a preacher's grave that doesn't mention piety, just as almost all consorts were "amiable.")

Great foliage on the borders of this stone, and a great happy cherub that preserves the shape of the earlier death's head. The wings look a bit like foliage, too. Also ...

Here Lyes ye Body of Mr Joseph Drake Who after he had Servd his GEneration Departed this Life January ye 14th 1754 In ye 80th Year of his Age 

Also His wife Mrs Ann Drake att his Left Side she Died Sept [?] 1717 Aged about 38 

Classic graveyard sexism, poor Mrs. Ann Drake relegated to an "Also" at the bottom of the stone. Also, did she have her own gravestone during the forty years that passed between her death and her husband's, or did she have to wait until Mr. Drake died to be commemorated? My best guess: her grave was marked with a temporary wooden marker in the meantime. In early America a lot of people were buried beneath wooden markers (if they received any marker at all); as you can imagine, these haven't preserved nearly as well as the stone ones.

 Above you can see one of the replacement stones. On the left, the stone of Mrs. Namee Loomis, d. 1770; center, the stone of Capt. Joel Loomis, d. 1788; and the right, a later marble stone for Capt. Loomis, noting his service in the Revolutionary War. Interestingly, Mrs. Loomis's stone is larger than that of her husband's (it is usually the opposite, if there is a size difference). Perhaps the family didn't have as much money to spend on gravestones after the Revolution.

 One of the few proper death's heads I saw on this trip, belonging to Mr. Samuel Tudor who died in 1727. The pinwheels on this grave are somewhat flower-like.

This stone, belonging to Mr. Aaron Grant, features my favorite epitaph (yes, I have a favorite epitaph), a New England classic:

Behold me now as you pass by

As you are now so once was I

As I am now so you must be

Prepare for death and follow me.

Mrs. Elisabeth Woolcott, wife of Charls [sic] Woolcott, died in 1763 at the age of only 19.



Above, in the foreground, the stone of Ann and Eunice, the daughters of Capt. Ebenezer and Mrs. Ann Grant, a beautiful double stone. I love how the carver squeezed in the words at the bottom of the stone; the vines and berries are really gorgeous too. In the background, a fellow AGS member. Yes, we wear nametag necklace thingies.

 An early urn & willow, with some shell-like flourishes. My question is ...

In memory of Mr. Josiah Wolcott, son of the Hon. Roger Wolcott Esq., formerly Govern of the Colony of Connecticut.

Which was the governor, the deceased or his father? According to Google, it was the father. It seems somewhat strange that an 84-year-old man was remembered by his father's occupation.

This stone is really something. It's easily six feet tall, and must extend at least three feet underneath ground level. It's worth reading the whole inscription (if you can):

Sacred to the Memory of Five Brothers & Sisters whose earthly remains are deposited within this enclosure, viz. Mr. DANIEL PHELPS deceased July 11th 1792, aged 85 years. Mr. JERIJAH PHELPS deceased January 22nd 1792, aged 80 years. Mr. ISAAC PHELPS deceased October 30th 1787 aged 63 years. They were Sons of Capt. JOSEPH PHELPS. Mrs. DANARIS wife of Mr. DANIEL PHELPS who deceased May 5th 1792 aged 80 years. Mrs. SARAH wife of Mr. JERIJAH PHELPS who deceased September 10th 1794 aged 71 years. 

They were happily united in brotherly lovethrough a long life were disciples of peaceful virtueand shed in the hope of a blessed immortality. 

This Monument is erected by the Son of Jerijah and a Nephew of the Brothers and as a tribute [?] ofaffectionate Veneration for their worthy Ancestors. 

The memory of the [?] is blessed.

Another stone with Rococo flourishes and an urn and willow, doubtlessly from the same workshop as the stone of Josiah Wolcott, which contains a strange epitaph, referring to his wife (though not by name):

Sacred to the memory of the Hon. Erastus Wolcott Esq. one of the Judges of the Hon. Superior Court & General in the Army of the late war. He was a sincere friend of Religion & filled up his important life with usefulness to mankind. Deceased Sept. 14th, 1795. AE. 70. 

To few & wondrous few has Heav'n assigned
A wife a liberal all confiding mind.

The stone above, belonging to Mr. Augostos Mills, has some interesting symbolism - what are the things on either side of the cherub's head? Baskets? Bells? Thimbles?

I could have easily spent another five hours in this cemetery. Part of me wishes I could live nearby so that I could visit weekly.

Enfield Street Cemetery, Enfield, CT

Enfield Street Cemetery had by far the best view of any of the cemeteries I visited this week. Set against green trees and blue hills, it's a rural cemetery that includes several 18th-century sandstones, many 19th-century marble tablets and obelisks, and modern stones. Obelisks have quite a different feel when they're arranged in clusters, like a marble forest, as opposed to in the St. George's/St. Mark's Cemetery, where they stand isolated, like lighthouses in a sea of shorter stones.

The first thing to catch my eye in this cemetery was the huge sandstone orbs positioned on top of these gravestones. There is one other set of such orbs in the cemetery, but it's only a pair. As you can see, it looks as though this stone began as a pair - Ephraim Pease and his wife Tabitha - but was transformed into a trio with the addition of second wife Rebekah. I have never seen orbs like this before, but they seem appropriate, given that orbs are widely used to symbolize eternity. Small stone orbs (about the size to fit in the palm of your hand) known as "petrospheres" have been found in Neolithic sites in Britain and Ireland. 

The color and shadows in these photos aren't the best, but I had to make do with a somewhat overcast sky and stones that were lit mostly from behind. A few times I was able to take advantage of other conference attendees who had brought a mirror with them to cast light on the stones; you can see the results below.


The weird insect-winged, sawtooth-chinned cherub on the right in the first picture was duplicated in other stones in this cemetery, as well as in the next one we visited. I was surprised by the material of this stone and the one next to it, which I hadn't seen before; it's a type of stone called schist, which contains tiny grains of micha that sparkle in the sun. I also like the epitaph on the second stone: "The State of Mortals here behold: For young must die as well as old ..." Thanks, people definitely wouldn't have known that in the 18th century.

Above, a sandstone marker with an hourglass and another schist marker with a cherub. The sawtooth edge on the chin of the cherub is thought to be a vestige of the teeth of the death's head, from which the cherub evolved (according to Allan Ludwig, author of Graven Images: New England Stonecarving and its Symbols, i.e. one of the best books ever written). The marker on the left would fit in perfectly with the stones at Longmeadow Cemetery.

These stones are oriented differently from the others, perhaps because they're from the 1750s. In the St. George's/St. Mark's Cemetery, the oldest stones are oriented westward, while the newer ones point eastward.

This stone has a shell-like tympanum, perhaps a symbol of baptism, or perhaps showing the influence of Rococo style (a.k.a. "Rocks and shells") - or both. The inscription is unusually descriptive: "The Aged Mr. Samuel Pease, Haveing faithfully served God, & his Generation to the Universal love & Acceptance of all Who Knew him, departed this life in hope of a better one ye 8 of Sep. 1770 in His 84th Year." Fun fact: there are eight separate Samuel Peases recorded in this cemetery on Find A Grave.

Another great hourglass, and notice that in this one you can see that the sand has run out. This is a very different image of a life ending than that evoked by the scythe cutting through a flower, and for good reason: while the former symbol was used mostly for young people (the life cut short) the latter was generally reserved for those who had lived a full life.

I'm sorry that I don't have a better image of this stone, as it features one of my favorite motifs: a likeness that looks much more like a portrait than a soul effigy.



Lastly, from a much later period, is this massive zinc obelisk, dating to 1883. Believe it or not, this stone is so massive that its base is buckling under its own weight (though you can't really see it in this photograph).

Longmeadow Cemetery, Longmeadow, MA

This week I had the privilege of speaking at the 2015 Annual Conference of the Association for Gravestone Studies in Westfield, Massachusetts, as well as attending the lectures, workshops, and tours. My paper, in case you're curious, was titled "'The Fashionable Dead': The Rise of Gentility in an American Cemetery, 1760-1900," and was about the stylistic and cultural changes between the 18th and 19th centuries as demonstrated in the gravestones of the St. George's/St. Mark's Cemetery. My paper draws upon the scholarship of James Deetz, Edwin Dethlefsen, Robert Blair St. George, and in particular that of Richard Bushman, whose book The Refinement of America provided me with the conceptual distinction between 18th-century elite gentility and the 19th-century democratized or "vernacular" gentility.

St. George's/St. Mark's has some truly extraordinary 18th-century stones, but there are only a handful of them. Imagine my delight when the first cemetery I visited on the Connecticut River Valley Sandstone tour was filled with dozens upon dozens of 18th-century sandstones, many of them far earlier than the ones in our cemetery, all arranged in neat rows stretching across the grass. The rows, of course, are a Victorian imposition, but the colonial stones are immaculately preserved. This is Longmeadow Cemetery in Longmeadow, Massachusetts.

Once you've visited quite a few cemeteries (like me), you start to get a feel for what distinguishes one from another. There is a notable tension between the homogeneity of iconography (for example, the death's head and the cherub are ubiquitous) and its differentiation between locations, carvers, and time periods. The St. George's/St. Mark's Cemetery preserves a direct stylistic link between lower New York State and the Connecticut River Valley in the form of the stones carved by Solomon Brewer, a native of the CRV who moved to the Hudson River Valley in the late 18th century. Thus the stones that I have been researching for years are the stylistic descendants of the ones pictured here, and they share many obvious connections.

Yet there are many obvious differences too, such as the Baroque flamboyance of the stones pictured above and below, which exhibit a need to occupy almost every inch of available space with ornament. This is definitely pared down in the stones of the Hudson River Valley.

 Yet the basic elements of the cherub pictured above are preserved in Solomon Brewer's New York stones: cherub face, crown, and wings. Also notable: the color of the sandstone, which is much closer to brown than the red sandstones in the St. George's/St. Mark's cemetery. Though you can't see it (the flag is blocking it in the photograph) this stone is from 1765.

 This stone dated 1790 is crowded with ornament, including heart-shaped hourglasses, a sun floating above the cherub's head, and scalloped edges around the epitaph. But note the realism of the wings relative to the Ebenezer Colton stone; they are far less stylized, perhaps hinting at an incipient neoclassicism around the turn of the century. It is also a simple rectangle, as opposed to the earlier "bedstead"-shaped stones.

There is something distinctly Egyptian about this stone dedicated to two children of Nathaniel and Jerusha Taylor in 1801; perhaps having something to do with the contemporary campaigns of Napoleon in Egypt?

I am guessing that this stone was carved by the same person or in the same workshop as the stone above (Stephen Keep). I like that so many of the cherubs in this cemetery have pupils; it gives them a liveliness that is lacking in other, pupilless cherubs.

The rooster on the stone of Naomi Ritchard, dated 1760, was used as the emblem of the 2015 AGS Conference. It's a symbol of resurrection. The other icons are the hourglass and what looks like a scythe cutting down a stalk of wheat, a symbol of a life cut short.

I'm always happy when the full epitaph is visible; in so many stones, the last lines have sunken below the ground. "Our Life is ever on the wing / And Death is ever nigh: / The moment when / our Lives begin: / We all begin to Die." Cheerful!

Check out the scythe and hourglass at the bottom, rather than the top, of this stone, as well as the hairs sketched onto the cherub's head. Also notable in the background: on the left, an amazingly preserved table grave; on the right, one of the oldest (if not the oldest) stones in the cemetery, which I unfortunately didn't get a good picture of.

Gravestone of Samuel Ely, A. B., a graduate of Yale College, who died in 1772. "He was Meek Sedate / Quiet & Religious / He bore a Lingering Sickness / With Great Patience / he had not only hope but / Even Joy in his Death." My favorite stones are those that give personal information beyond that of the basic name, dates, and ages at death.

Another great stone with a scythe, this one cutting down a flower, appropriate for a woman who died in her 29th year. An unusual aspect of this stone is that the husband of "Mrs. Eunice" is not named, but her parents are. 

"Life is a bubble quickly broke / A tale forgot as soon as spoke." Incidentally this reminds me of the Emily Dickinson poem: "A word is dead when it is said / Some say - / I say it just begins to live / That day." (Yes, I visited Amherst while I was in Massachusetts.)

The fruits dangling from the vines in the stone on the right look like hearts. The "cherub" is more like a stylized portrait of the deceased, complete with coiffed hair. 

Finally, although I am not usually such a fan of urns and willows, I like that this one is cut in sandstone. The use of sandstone in the graveyards I visited persisted long after it had ended in the Lower Hudson Valley, even into the 1860s. In the St. George's/St. Mark's Cemetery, the parishioners had moved on to marble by 1820s.

The Institute for American Indian Studies

Yesterday Laurie and I traveled to the Institute for American Indian Studies in Washington, Connecticut, to see the museum and hear a lecture given by Dr. Nicholas F. Bellantoni, who is retiring this fall after 27 years as Connecticut's state archaeologist. The lecture was hosted by the Litchfield Hills Archaeology Club, which conducts its own excavation every spring and summer. Dr. Lucianne Lavin is the founder of the LHAC as well as the Director of Research and Collections at the IAIS. We had the pleasure of meeting Dr. Lavin and other members of the LHAC at the lecture.


Both the lecture and the museum exceeded our expectations. The quality and diversity of the collections are astounding, and the exhibits are informative and very well designed. Artifacts are displayed in various ways depending on their form, size, and function. Here you can see a large mortar and pestle, one of many on display (yet we never get tired of looking at them!). I liked how the mortar was placed on the ground, as it would have been used, but also slightly elevated so that it's easy to see.


I also liked how these artifacts, which are laid out in a standard typological fashion, are contextualized by the rope and the reconstructed fishing hook.

I should mention that all of the artifacts in the first room in the museum, including these clay pots, are from the American Northeast, including many local sites, and span a range of time periods from prehistory up to the modern age. The arrival of European settlers and the corresponding influx of European goods - particularly those made of iron and copper - are not presented as a major disjuncture in the history of this area but as one in a sequence of developments that shaped American Indian life. Also, the sequence of displays proceeding all the way up to the present combats the widely held belief (though less widely held than it used to be) that the post- Columbian Era has been one of steady decline and decay of Native peoples and their cultures. While it is true that American Indians have suffered great losses, the model of cultural decline is not only too simple to account for the complex ways that the numerous different American Indian societies have adapted over the past few hundred years, in most cases it is simply wrong. Indian cultures continue to grow and change into the present day.


I liked the incorporation of images and text in these hanging displays. Of course I had to get a picture of the mortar and pestle in action.

Other rooms in the museum contain American Indian artifacts from other areas of the present United States, including these ceramic pieces with bold graphic designs from the American Southwest. The vessel in the photograph above - an Olla dating from 1100-1250 C.E. - reminded me of a crossword puzzle, but apparently it is thought to represent corn kernels.

This incredible cradle board was featured in a room dedicated to Indian reservations. It is actually a family tree - the petals of the flowers and the berries on the vine represent the female and male members of the artist's family.

These vessels are inscribed with the Cherokee alphabet, invented by Sequoyah in the 1810s and 1820s.

These are some examples of beadwork that I greatly admired. The beads in the middle photo are impossibly small, making for an incredibly intricate and beautiful design.

As for the lecture, Dr. Bellantoni described some of the highlights of his 27-year career, including:

• The Walton Family Burying Ground, where Dr. Bellantoni and his team discovered the first and only archaeological evidence of early New England superstitions surrounding vampirism (specifically, they found a skeleton that had been rearranged in order to prevent it from preying on victims of tuberculosis).
• His examination of a skull fragment thought to have belonged to Adolph Hitler.
• An excavation of human remains unearthed by the felling of the Lincoln Oak in New Haven, CT, by Superstorm Sandy, along with the discovery of a time capsule dated to the oak's planting in 1909.
• The investigation of a disintegrating mortuary structure in East Hartford, which turned out to be the family tomb of Elisha Pitkin, a manufacturer and state representative who hosted General Rochambeau during the Revolutionary War. By cross-referencing biological data culled from the skeletons and historical records, Dr. Bellantoni and his team were able to identify every person buried in the tomb.
• The exhumation of Broteer Furro "Venture Smith," a slave-turned-entrepreneur and author of a well-known autobiography who achieved an almost folkloric status in his hometown of East Haddam, Connecticut. The exhumation was done at the request of his descendants, who wanted to test their ancestor's DNA.
• The search for the 1941 crash site of Eugene M. Bradley at Bradley International Airport.
• The investigation of the family tomb of Samuel Huntington, 18th governor of Connecticut and signer of the Declaration of Independence.
• The excavation of a synagogue in Chesterfield, Connecticut, built by a Hebrew farming community in the 1890s, which uncovered a miqveh (ritual pool) with ties to the Old World.
• The exhumation and reburial of the Leather Man, who was buried in an unmarked grave in Sparta Cemetery, New York, following his death from cancer in 1889.
• The exhumations of Henry Opukahaia and Albert Afraid of Hawk, who with the cooperation of their respective families were each reburied in their native homelands.