IN MEMORY OF

THE LAST SPENCERS  ON THE  SPENCER LAND IN THE WESTERN AREA OF EAST GREENWICH, RHODE ISLAND, USA

This web site is in memory of William Joseph Briggs (aka J.B.) and Mary Jane (née Vaughn) Spencer and their children, Edith (“Aunt Edith”)Anna (née Spencer) Evarone, John Edward  (“Uncle Ed”) Spencer and Audrey Mae (née Spencer) MacDonald, the last Spencer children on the Spencer land.

William J.B. & Mary Jane (Vaughn) Spencer’s Wedding Photo (1897)

Edith Anna, John Edward and Audrey Mae (@1915) in front of shed on Spencer Farm

Even though these Spencer descendants are not buried in the Spencer family historical cemetery,  their emotional and caretaker ties to the cemetery never wavered. In their memory, this web site carries on their goals and aspirations.  Their desire was to have all Spencer descendants know of and take great pride in and feel responsible for their historical Spencer family cemeteries. Particularly as they aged, the preservation of the Spencer family historical cemetery–and also the prior Spencer (aka Straight Family) Cemetery “over back”– meant everything to the three children. They were the last Spencers on the Spencer farm, the Spencer homestead as they never ceased referring to this land.   They felt responsible for keeping these cemeteries as memorials to the men and women who came before them.

Whereas, the Spencer historical cemetery on Middle Road is very visible from Middle Road, the “over back” cemetery is not. However, William J.B. Spencer had promised his parents, Anna Maria (Anna Mar-eye-ah) and John Johnson Spencer, who promised their grandfather, Richard Anthony (“Deacon”), who promised his father, John Spencer, to not forget the “over back” cemetery where his parents, William and Mary (née Manchester), his elder brother, Richard, and his eldest sister, Elizabeth, are buried. This web site, the straightspencerhistoricalcemetery.org and other sites carry on this promise for Audrey Mae’s, Edith Anna’s and John Edward’s (‘Ed’s”) generation.

These web sites are the result of work by Audrey Mae (née Spencer) MacDonald who on March 19, 1912 was the last Spencer baby born on the Spencer Homestead on Middle Road–south side of road in the current Partridge Run area– in East Greenwich, Rhode Island. This Spencer homestead included the land which now (year 2013) houses the land of two historical Spencer cemeteries in East Greenwich, Rhode Island.

William J.B. Spencer sold the land in 1922. With that money, they purchased a large home, with the modern feature of an indoor bathroom, and property– including a small barn, sheds– at the corner of Washington Street and Mapledale Avenue (742 Washington Street) in Anthony,  a 1920s upscale residential section in Coventry, Rhode Island.

With Audrey Mae’s, Edith Anna’s and John Edward’s generation, the Spencer name in their line ended as a surname, but the Spencer name lives on today with descendants, from California to Rhode Island, carrying on the name Spencer as a first or middle name.