The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1866-10-26


Who ATE ROGER WILLIAMS. The follow
ing curious account of a search for the re-
mains of Roger Williams we find in the Hart
ford Evening Press 1'i . i.ai u e5s.3
Ninety years after his death, in 1771, steps
were taken to erect to him some suitable mon
ument, but the storms of the revolution came
on and the work was forgotten. But recently
the question has been agitat ID anew, and Viii
Hams may yet at last have some outward sign
to mark his greatness and perpetuate his name.
During period Of 1888 years, not even rough
stone has been set up to mark the grave of the
founder of Rhode Island, till the precise local.
ity of the grave had been almost forgotten, and
could only beascertained after the most care
full investigation. Suffice it to say, however
the spot was found and the exhumation 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 sew
en- graves, contained within less than one
square rod, revealed the burial ground of Rog-
er Williams. In colonial times each family
had its own burial ground, which was usually
near he family res dence. Three of these sew
en- graves were those of children the remain
ing four were adults. The easterly grave was
identified as that of Mr.. Williams. On digging
down into the "charnel house." it was found
that everything had passed into oblivion. The
shapes of the coffins could only be traced by a
black line of carbonaceous matter, the thick
ness OF the edges of the sides of the coffins with
their ends distintly defined. The rusted re-
mains OF the hinges and nails, with a few frag
ments OF wood and single round knot, was all
that could be gathered from his grave. In the
grave of his wife there was not trace of any
thing save single lock of braided hair which
had survived the lapse of more than $50 years.
Near the grave stood q venerable apple-tree,
when and by whom planted it is not known. This
tree had sent two main roots in the graves of
Mr.. and Mrs. Williams. The larger root had
pushed its way through the earth till it reach
ed the precise spot occupied by the skull of
Roger Williams. There making turn as if
going round the skull, it followed the direction
of the back bone to the hips Here il diyi,led
into two branches, sending one alone each leo
to the heel, where they both turned upward to
the toes. One of the roots formed slight
crook at the knee, which makes the whole bear
very close resemble to human form. This
singular root Is preserved with great care, NOT
only as an illustration of great principle OF
vegetatlon but of its great historic associatipn.
There were the graves, emptied OF every partpcle
OF human Dust Not trace OF any hing was leit!
Itis known to chemistry that alinesn,an the ge-
latinous matter giving CONSISTENCY 10 the bones,
are resolved into carbonic acid gas, water and
air wh;le the solid lime dust usually remains.
Rut in this case even the phosphate of lime of
tho homes of both graves was all gonel There
stood the guilty apple-tree," as was said at
the time, caught in the very act of"robbing the
grave" nlhs1- Iag..-f III
To explain the phenomenon is not the de-
sign of this article. Such an explanation could
be given, and many other similar cases adduc-
ed. But this fact must be admitted: the or
ganic matter of Roger Williams had been
transmitted into the apple tree; it had passed
into woody fiber and was capable of propelling
steam engine; it had bloomed 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? if-rY -,74