Citizens and Historical Society volunteers clean cemeteries

By Pete Fontaine
Posted 12/8/16

By PETE FONTAINE Although the previous day's rain and high winds resulted in a smaller crew, five Citizens Bank staffers and two members of the Johnston Historical Society (JHS) met Tuesday to clean up Cemetery No. 21, the Gov. Samuel Ward King Cemetery

This item is available in full to subscribers.

Please log in to continue

E-mail
Password
Log in

Citizens and Historical Society volunteers clean cemeteries

Posted

Although the previous day’s rain and high winds resulted in a smaller crew, five Citizens Bank staffers and two members of the Johnston Historical Society (JHS) met Tuesday to clean up Cemetery No. 21, the Gov. Samuel Ward King Cemetery off Hartford Avenue.

“We were supposed to team up with the Citizens people yesterday,” Steve Merolla, a member of the JHS Cemetery Committee that has been cleaning up the town’s historical cemeteries for the past several years, said. “It’s too bad we don’t have more people, but the weather really changed their schedules.”

Citizens employees Pattilee Robert, Christopher Costa, Adam Charbonneau, Christopher Robert and Jeff Shushtari joined JHS board members Elise Carlson and Merolla to rake leaves, pick up fallen tree branches and remove debris from Johnston’s most famous cemetery. The Citizens Bank team spent about four hours volunteering and left the cemetery looking much tidier than when they started.

“There’s a lot of history here,” Merolla told the five Citizens staffers who are part of an ongoing program the bank started in April in conjunction with Mayor Joseph Polisena, the town and its parks and recreation department. “Governor King was the only Johnston resident to serve as governor of Rhode Island.” He did so, Merolla explained, during the Dorr Rebellion and called out the state militia to quell the uprising in the early 1840s.

The Governor King cemetery has an older section comprised mainly of slate gravestones of the Bordon family, dating back to the late 1600s. The second section, with marble gravestones, is primarily the King family, who married into the Bordon family and through the years gained ownership of the surrounding area. The cemetery also features a fine holding tomb or crypt where the dead were temporarily stored before burial many years ago, according to Merolla.

“The significance of our work in these cemeteries is that they are part of this town’s history and development,” he said.

Citizens Bank is building a new corporate campus in Johnston, and the financial institution has taken an active role in the community, most notably by helping groups like the JHS and other various non-profits with projects.

Comments

No comments on this item Please log in to comment by clicking here