The Shasta courier., 1866-12-08
Roger Williams--Search for his Remains
"A Curious Incident.

Ninety years after his death, in 1771,
steps were taken to erect to HIM some suita-
BILE monument, but the storms of the revolu-
ton came on and the work was forgotten-
But recently, the question has been agitated
anew, and Williams may yet at least have
some outward sign to mark his greatness and
perpetuate his name During period of IS3
years not even a rough stone has been set up
to mark the grave of the founder of Rhode
Island, till the precise locality had almost
been forgotten, and could only be ascertain.
ed after the most careful Investigation
Suffice it to say, however, the spot was found.
and the exhumation was made short time
ago-though there was little to exhume.-
On scraping off the turf from the surface of
the ground the dim outlines of the seven
graves. contained within one square rod, re-
vealed the burial ground of Roger Williams.
In colonial times each family had its own
burial ground which was usually near the
family residence. Three of these seven
graves were those of children the remaining
four those of adults. The easterly grave
was recognized as that of Mr.. Williams
| On digging down into the charnel. house."
1t was found that everything had passed into
oblivion. The shapes of the coffins could
only be traced by a black line of carbona
ceous matter, the thickness of the edges of
the sides of the collins. with their ends dis
tincty defined. The rusted remains of the
hinges and nails, with few fragments of
wood, and a single round knot, was all that
could be gathered from his grave In the
| grave of his wife there was not trace of
anything save single lock of braided hair.
which had survived the lapse of more than
$50 years. Near the grave stood venerable
apple tree, when and by whom planted is
not known. This tree had sent two of its
main roots into the graves of Mr.. aud Mrs
Williams. The larger root had pushed its
way through the earth till it reached the
precise spot occupied by the skull of Roger
| Williams. There making a turn, as if going
round the skull, it followed the direction Of
the backbone to the hips. Here it divided
into two branches, sending one along each
leg to the heel where they both turned up
ward to the toes One of these roots had
slight crook at the knee. which makes the
whole form. This singular root is preserved
with great care, not only as an illustration
of great principle of vegetation, but for
! Its historical association. There were the
| graves, emptied of every particle of human
DUST Not a trace of anything was left =
1t is known to chemistry that all flesh, and
the gelatinous matter giving consistency to
bones, are resolved into carbonic acid gas,
water and air, while the solid lime dust
usually remains. But in this case even the
phosphate of lime of both graves was all
gone! There stood the guilty apple tree,"
as was said at the time, caught in the very
act of q robbing the grave"
10 explain this phenomena is not the de-
sign OF this article. Such an explanation
could be given and many other similar cases
adduced. But this fact must be admitted /;
the organic matter of Roger Williams had
been Transmitted into the apple tree it had
passed into the woody fibre and was capable
of propelling steam engine it had bloom
ed in the apple blossoms and had become
pleasant to the eye and more, it had gone
into the fruit from year to year, so that the
question might be asked. Who ate Roger
Williams ?-Hartford Press