Amanda Bartollini of Greenville, RI, a La Salle PEGASUS 8 student, was recently featured in a story about her work to clean up an old Smithfield cemetary in The Breeze & Observer Living Section.  The clean up was her mandatory PEGASUS 8 project.

The full story follows.

By ARLINE A. FLEMING

Valley Breeze & Observer

Correspondent

SMITHFIELD - When the Colonial-era Barnes family buried their dead in today's Smithfield, they probably never imagined that a smiling brown-haired girl would someday come to their defense.

And it's not likely that they could imagine the major mercantile structures that would surround their tiny country graveyard where this girl, 13, and caring, has chosen to spruce up their final resting place.

While at Smithfield Crossing on Route 44 one day last fall, Amanda Bartolini, admittedly not much of a shopper, chose to wait outdoors with her dad while her mother finished up her purchases. Standing in a small parking area between Target and Michael's, Amanda looked up and eyed what seemed to be a fenced-in, elevated island, with steps leading upward.

"My Dad and I were actually standing here waiting for my mom to come out of Michael's," Amanda said, pointing to the elevated area. "It looked really interesting."

So Amanda and her father, Chuck, climbed the wooden steps and discovered what they didn't realize was there: Smithfield's Historic Cemetery No. 43 which sits like a loft alongside the outer rim of the mall, protected by a fence, and its own wooded location.

Amanda and her dad walked among gravestones with the names Barnes, Smith, Austin, with dates mostly from the 1800s, and they also walked among weeds and debris cluttering up the sturdy, carved stones.  "It was just so interesting to see how far back the stones were carved," Amanda said.

Amanda not only felt a spark of interest in hometown history that day, she also felt a creative urge to know more about the families who long-ago turned up the earth at this spot.

When her mother came out of the store, Amanda announced that she had just discovered a topic for her Pegasus project, a mandatory undertaking for 8th-grade students at LaSalle Academy in Providence. She had been considering other ideas for the year-long research project, but the possibility of exploring this quiet plot, where families once gathered, just felt right.

And it offered a second possibility.

Not only had she stepped into that very visible cemetery when she climbed those stairs (the stairs and fence were installed by The Crossing ownership), but turning around and looking toward the woods, she found another, about 20 steps away. Cemetery No. 83 has a large, main gravestone which is marked, is surrounded by many other stones, unmarked, and lacks any sort of fence. Its marker is actually tumbled down near a tree which has suffered the same fate.

So as part of her school project, this 8th-grade student will clean the pathway between the two plots, clear away leaves and debris, research the families, write a brochure, make a presentation or two, and spread the word about "being respectful of the dead."

Though history hasn't been a particular interest of hers up until now, this part of the area's heritage has captured her zeal.

"I love the mysterious aspect of it. It's kind of like putting together a big puzzle," she said.

She is piecing together this puzzle by way of the Internet, ("a great tool," she said) and with assistance from The Friends of Smithfield Cemeteries.

Amanda has contacted The Friends of Smithfield Cemeteries, and member Skip Tuetken who is serving as a mentor in her project.  With 117 historic cemeteries in Smithfield, he's glad for the help.

"She has already done considerable research on the residents of Cemeteries No 43 and No. 83. She has made a fascinating and well-received presentation to seven members of The Friends of Smithfield Cemeteries," Tuetken notes. He said the group is looking forward to the brochure she will produce which will offer advice on caring for a cemetery, information on the Friends group, how to volunteer to care for a cemetery, and what to do in the event of vandalism.

The Friends group, he said, was revitalized in the early 1990s by area residents Don Burns and Bob Buonaccorsi. Along with several other members, the group not only cares for the plots, but the headstones, too.   "We've repaired about 12 headstones this winter," Tuetken said.

Some headstones are harder than others to repair, "but we're getting pretty good at it."

Keeping the plots free of weeds and debris helps in keeping track of broken pieces, he said, and that's part of the advice they have given Amanda.

Amanda must complete the work at the cemeteries and on her brochure before the end of the school year, said Robert Lisi, principal of LaSalle's Pegasus project, which is an acronym for Programs to Enhance the Gifts, Aptitudes and Skills of Unique Students.

"The program gives the students the opportunity to pursue something they are interested in. They have to research it, come up with a plan, and produce a product," Lisi said. The students also have to make a presentation to an audience.

Amanda did that last week when she met with the Friends of Smithfield Cemeteries to tell about the project. Tuetken said the group was "thrilled" to not only support her in her project, but also, conversely, to receive her enthusiastic help. Over the years, Scout groups have stepped forward to do the same, and they appreciate the assistance.

"It's important to preserve the dignity of the people buried there," Tuetken said, though the group knew very little about the families prior to Amanda's presentation.

During the course of the project, she has become familiar with the Rhode Island Cemetery Index Database and ancestry.com.   She has learned that this Barnes family contributed to Smithfield's earliest development, that Enoch Barnes, son of Peter, was a justice of the peace and a state militia captain, that Levi Barnes was a cooper, and served as a private in the Revolutionary War, Amanda said.

And then, Amanda said, she learned all about the work of a cooper, though she recalled hearing the word for a barrel maker while in elementary school at Our Lady of Mercy in East Greenwich. She and her family moved to Smithfield almost four years ago.

As the weather warms up, and the snow melts, Amanda has plans to gather a few friends and clear the pathway between the two cemeteries, as well as spruce up around the dozen-plus gravestones.

In the meantime, she's spending a lot of time at the mall.   But not in search of lip gloss or spring clothes. She's searching for answers to a few lingering mysteries about the people buried here, the earliest being Peter Barnes who died in 1757, 26 years after the town was incorporated.

This imaginative young student gazed around at the surrounding area, wondering where the family farmhouse stood, how they survived, earned money, gathered food.   But mostly, she said, she thinks about cleaning up these cemeteries tucked back there behind the shopping area, not just because she has a project due, but also, she said earnestly, "because we have to respect the dead."

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