N15 Row N, place 15
MICHAEL McELROY
Private, Co. D, 2nd Rhode Island Infantry · 1846–1888 · reburied here 2008
Name read from the stone; the records not yet searched. Revised October 31, 2026.
The stone reads
MICHAEL McELROY
PVT CO D 2 RI INFANTRY
CIVIL WAR
1846
JUL[Y] 11 1888
A flat, polished granite marker with modern lettering, flush with the turf. It is not a 19th-century stone and was presumably set at the 2008 reburial; that is not confirmed. Grass partly covers the month of death in the photograph of 31 Oct 2026; it was read as July by B. Brennan. The 1888 death year agrees with the SUVCW account. [1][2] The stone gives no day or month of birth and no birthplace.
Life
Michael McElroy served as a private in Company D, 2nd Rhode Island Infantry, in the Civil War. [1][4] His gravestone gives 1846 as the year of his birth. [1]
He died on July 11, 1888, at the almshouse in Cranston. [1][2] He was buried in the State Farm Cemetery, where the state buried many of the people who died in its care. Its graves were marked with wooden markers that rotted away. [3] In the early 1960s, Route 37 was built over part of the cemetery, and the graves were left in place. [2][3]
In 2006, heavy rain and erosion exposed more than seventy burials there. His was one of them. [2] The Rhode Island Department of the Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War and several state agencies looked into his case. They found that he had never been given a military burial. [2]
On May 31, 2008, he was buried again, here in the Prescott Post plot. The Rhode Island National Guard rendered honors with a burial flag, a rifle salute and taps. [2]
Nothing is yet known of his life before the war, or of how he came to be in the state's care. [1][2]
The records
- records/N15/N15-mcelroy-stone-2026-10-31.jpg — Stone of Michael McElroy, Prescott Post plot, North Burial Ground, photographed 31 Oct 2026. [1] (not yet hosted)
What we don't know
- The NPS index lists him in Co. D, 2nd Rhode Island Infantry, a private from entry to exit. [4] When did he enlist and leave the service, and was he wounded, discharged or transferred? His compiled service record (NARA, RG 94) would say.
- Was a pension applied for, by him or by anyone on his behalf?
- Where was he born, and was he an immigrant?
- Why was he in state care? Records at the State Farm or the Cranston almshouse may say.
- RIDOT reported that it had compiled, for each person buried at the State Farm Cemetery, where the person had lived in state care, the cause of death, nationality and religion. [3] Does that file exist for him, and can we see it?
- How were the remains exposed in 2006 identified as his? A burial register, the position of the grave, or something else?
- Who ordered and placed the present stone? Does the City of Providence hold a 2008 interment record for this grave?
- Did he leave any family?
Sources
- Gravestone of Michael McElroy, grave N15, Prescott Post plot, North Burial Ground, Providence, Rhode Island; photographed by Bernard Brennan, October 31, 2026.
- Rhode Island Department, Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War, "Pvt. Michael McElroy Reinterment Ceremony," risuvcw.org, posted March 31, 2023, accessed October 31, 2026, https://risuvcw.org/pvt-michael-mcelroy-reinterment-ceremony/.
- Rhode Island Department of Transportation, "RIDOT Hosts Memorial Service for 71 Men, Women and Children Re-interred at State Institution Cemetery," press release, RI.gov, n.d. [2009?], accessed October 31, 2026, https://www.ri.gov/press/view/9296.
- National Park Service, Civil War Soldiers and Sailors Database, "McElroy, Michael," 2nd Regiment, Rhode Island Infantry, Company D; index to NARA microfilm publication M555, roll 5; accessed October 31, 2026, https://www.nps.gov/civilwar/search-soldiers-detail.htm?soldierId=52DE21B8-DC7A-DF11-BF36-B8AC6F5D926A.
Help research this man
Do you have a record of Michael McElroy — a census page, a pension card, a city-directory entry, a newspaper item, a family story? You can upload it to the project without an account. Please say what the record is, where you found it, and why you believe it is this man. Every contributor is credited on this page.
Credits
Researched by Bernard Brennan. Records courtesy City of Providence, Department of Parks, North Burial Ground. Revised 2026-10-31.