Magnolia Cemetery and beyond

07/28/2026

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07/28/2026

Now part of Ansonborough, the Village of Middlesex ( also known as Gadsdens Green and Federal Green) was laid out by Christopher Gadsden, the Charlestown merchant who became the leader of the Mechanicks party during the Revolution. Gadsden, who made a fortune trading with the frontier by 1761, close...

07/26/2026

Lafayette Cemetery No. 1, established in 1833 in what is now the Garden District, tells a slightly different story than the more famous cemeteries closer to the French Quarter. It was originally built to serve the largely German and Irish immigrant population of Lafayette City, an independent municipality that existed separately from New Orleans until it was formally annexed into the city in 1852.

Like the rest of New Orleans’ historic cemeteries, Lafayette No. 1 uses above-ground family tombs, a practical adaptation to the city’s high water table and flood-prone geography, allowing generations of the same family to share a single vault over time. The cemetery’s dense concentration of ironwork, weathered marble, and shaded pathways has made it a favorite filming location and literary setting over the decades, appearing in numerous productions and referenced repeatedly in Anne Rice’s novels. It remains an active cemetery today, tucked quietly into one of the city’s most walkable historic neighborhoods.

There’s something peaceful about a cemetery this old sitting so seamlessly within a living, still-thriving neighborhood around it. Have you ever walked through Lafayette Cemetery, and what stood out to you most?

07/26/2026

ZURIEL POTTER
REVOLUTIONARY WAR SOLDIER
1740-1796
CR108
ZURIEL POTTER LOT
PONTIAC AVENUE

Zuriel Potter was born in Cranston, Rhode Island, on April 8, 1740. He was the son of Major Benjamin Potter and Jemima (Williams) Potter. He was one of at least 9 children.

Zuriel got the land from his father Benjamin who owned a large swath on the Warwick border and around modern-day Pontiac Avenue. In March of 1758, according to a hand-written deed in the Cranston land records, Benjamin Potter, “in Consideration of the love and good will I have and do bare to my son Zuriel Potter” gave the then 18-year-old four acres of land, “with my corn mill thereon.”

Three years after his father gave him the land, Zuriel married Abigail. The couple built a house on “the highway,” as the deed described it, and set about starting their family. Their first child, a daughter, was born ten months after they wed.

They were the parents of at least 3 sons and 7 daughters.

Zuriel was a descendant of Roger Williams and is listed as a 1776 veteran of the Revolutionary War by the Daughters of the American Revolution. He appears in the town records as an arbiter in local disputes. He bought and sold property often.

He died on November 18, 1796 at the age of 56. He was buried in the Potter Lot behind their home on what is now Pontiac Avenue.

EDITOR'S NOTE: The aforementioned corn mill, located on the banks of the Pocasset River, still stands today. It is located at 911 Pontiac Avenue and is now known as Gazebo Hair Salon.

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About CR108.....

This cemetery was found and registered in 2008. It is near the Garden Village Apartments. It is at #935 Pontiac Ave. 280 feet west of Pontiac Ave and 126 feet north of Capuano Ave. behind #31. It was previously given the temporary number CR528.

James Arnold visited this lot 5 Oct 1891 (Vol 4, pg. 715). At the old Pocasset Mill back of the old Potter farm house is a lot well walled although getting to be sadly overrun with brush and wild over growth. Back of old Potter farm house The Cranston Public Library Inscriptions from Gravestones, Cranston R. I. (Arnold, James N. (James Newell), 1844-1927. Cranston, RI: Oak Lawn Public Library, 1913 [RI947.51 CRA ARN]) Volume 2 Page 266, following Capt Samuel and Phebe Teft is the note: Two graves to the right and one at head with rude stones only. These rude stones have been located, two were standing and the third has been uncovered.

There are said to be 24 burials here with 16 inscriptions and 8 fieldstones. Since November 2021, this lot has been carefully maintained by CHCC commissioner Paul Tognetti.

For more information on CR108 click on the link below:
https://rihistoriccemeteries.org/newsearchcemeterydetail.aspx?ceme_no=CR108

--May 2021 CHCC photo

07/26/2026