According to Audrey Mae’s artistic cemetery map diagram, Hezekiah Spencer’s gravestone is Gravestone Number Fifteen.  Using a Smith-Corona typewriter in the 1980s, Audrey Mae typed the following mini-biography of Hezekiah, a sixth-generation Spencer in East Greenwich, Rhode Island:

Bruce MacGunnigle – 15

Hezekiah is the third son born to Revolutionary War Patriot John and Huldah (née Johnson) Spencer. Hezekiah’s younger brother was Richard Anthony (“Deacon”) Spencer, Audrey Mae’s great grandfather.

According to Audrey Mae’s mini-biography of Hezekiah, he married Waite Briggs and they had twelve children.  Six of their children are buried in the Spencer Family Cemetery.  They are Huldah (gravestone No. 25), Lydia (gravestone No. 26), Lucretia (gravestone No. 27), Mary (gravestone No. 28), Sarah (gravestone No. 29) and Huldah (gravestone No. 30).

Hezekiah married Waite (née Briggs) Spencer.  Six of their twelve children are buried in the Spencer Family cemetery.  Author does not know where Waite (née Briggs) Spencer and their six other children are buried.

A hundred years later, Audrey Mae was still talking about Hezekiah being a mean drunk and driving his wife crazy.  Alcoholism, a medical disease, is so very tragic. Unfortunately, marriage counseling was not available at that time in history.  For a woman to bear twelve children is overwhelming to say the least!

One of Audrey Mae’s daughters remembers her mother talking about a Briggs woman who was adamant about not being buried in the same cemetery as her husband because he was so mean. Her wishes were granted and she was not buried with her husband. Could this be the couple? The Web author wonders where their other six children are buried.  Could they be buried with the mother in another cemetery?  The six children buried in this cemetery all died quite young. Hopefully, the other six children lived to adulthood and old-age. As Audrey Mae died in 2007, opportunity for further conversations or clarifications is gone forever.

“Spencer, Johnson, Goff and Briggs descendants, if you have any additional information–especially any of his redeeming qualities–on Hezekiah Spencer, please add a comment to this web site and the web site editor will add this to the site.  Also, if you have any information about Waite (née Briggs) Spencer, please add a comment. Thanks!”