Literary societies were formed by people with a mutual interested in literature, i.e. reading. The Georgiaville Literary Society seems to have been established circa 1889, and was still active in 1912. Based on one of the articles below, the club was somewhat exclusive.
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Olneyville Times
June 20, 1890
Olneyville Times
September 26, 1890
Olneyville Times
June 2, 1911
Olneyville Times
August 30, 1912
From the Olneyville Times, June 11, 1897.
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Olneyville Times
June 11, 1897
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Woonsocket Call & Evening Reporter
August 3, 1921
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Woonsocket Call & Evening Reporter
June 6, 1941
Woonsocket Call & Evening Reporter
September 6, 1941
Woonsocket Call & Evening Reporter
November 8, 1941
Woonsocket Call & Evening Reporter
October 3, 1941
Woonsocket Call & Evening Reporter
February 7, 1941
Woonsocket Call & Evening Reporter, February 10, 1915.
Smithfield’s “Pig Road”
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Smithfield’s “Pig Road” appears on 19th century maps of the town, but today it is all but gone and forgotten. Yet before it was closed for good in the 1980s, it became the center of some local controversy as to who owned it, and weather it was a public road or a right of way.
The road had always been an unpaved dirt pathway running more or less north and south connecting Austin Avenue to Putnam Pike in West Greenville. The road passed through property owned by the Steere family.
According to an article which appeared in The Observer on August 19, 1982, a 1978 court order gave the road to the Town, but the road was never officially deeded over, and nor was is ever maintained by the D.P.W. This didn’t become an issue until 1982 when the Greenville Water District laid water lines under Pig Road connecting to a water tower under construction on Mapleville Road. This spurred a lawsuit from an abutting property owner maintaining that the water company lacked the authority to lay the pipes because the Town didn’t own the road.
It was noted that in 1978, a U. S. District Court judge had ruled that a landfill company operating on Tarklin Road could improve Pig Road so that large trucks going to and from the landfill could use it as a short cut to Putnam Pike. This decision would no doubt benefit those living on Austin Avenue who would no longer have to endure the trucks passing their homes. However, the court decision was never acted upon and the landfill later closed.
The Town’s position was that it owned the road, but the plaintiff’s lawyer disagreed, and an independent title search revealed that there was no record indicating that Pig Road had ever been officially accepted by the Town. Despite the arguments, the pipes had already been laid, and they would remain, and do so to this day. Yet Pig Road as a right of way is no more. All that remains is the portion leading into the Village at Waterman Lake, and it’s now called Mapleville Road.
Source: The Observer, “Road Or Right Of Way? The Question Remains…”, by John Rufo, August 19, 1982.
1895 Map of West Greenville, R. I.
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The Relocation of Smithfield Historical Cemetery #47
Smithfield’s Historical Cemetery #47 is presently part of Historical Cemetery #44, located in a brushy area along the northern bank of Sebille Pond between the end of Sebille Road and Route 295. It was established in 1822, but was relocated to its present location during the summer of 1973.
In April of that year, the town council approved moving all 25 graves to a new location to make way for ramp construction for Route 295. The 151-year-old graveyard had fallen into disrepair with most of the tombstones having been toppled and broken. Some had become unreadable. And the iron fence enclosure had severely rusted.
One grave that was still legible was that of 82-year-old Mary Barnes who died in 1900. The inscription read:
“This languishing head is at rest,
its thinkings and achings are o’er.
This quite, immovable breast,
is heaved by afflictions no more.”
She was buried next to her husband, William Belknap.
Others buried in the cemetery included Mowry and Rosanna S. Barnes and their children, Gilbert, age 10 months, died in March of 1850; Albert, who died at nine months in October of 1850; Adison, age 6, who drowned in 1854; Caroline, age 19, who died in 1855; Anne, age 18, who died in 1856, Franklin, age 23, who died in 1875.
An inscription on the grave of Rosanna Barnes who died at age 43 in 1855 read:
“Friends nor physians could not save
Her mortal body from the grave.
Nor can the grave confine her here,
When Christ shall call her to appear.”
The state department of transportation advertised the proposed move to give decedents the chance to have the remains interred elsewhere, but if any relatives came forward, it was not recorded in the newspapers.
A license funeral home was hired to oversee the relocation which took place in July. The broken headstones were not repaired, but instead were duplicated as closely as possible.
Sources:
The Observer, “Route 295’s Deadly Move”, by Gregory Smith, May 4, 1973.
The Observer, “Care And Concern Taken In 295 Grave Relocation”, by Ellen F. Hall, July 26, 1973
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A bridewell is and old English term for a jail. The Greenville bridewell was located in the basement of Oscar Tobey’s store at the corner of Putnam Pike and Smith Avenue. The store was lost to fire in 1924, and a brick structure was built in its place. The new brick structure also had a bridewell in the basement.
The following article appeared in The Olneyville Times on September 11, 1896.
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