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Grave Cleaning by ladytaphos

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I got curious about Mr. Fowler, who was 21 when he passed, and I noted the legend below the dates said he drowned at Narragansett Pier, so I looked him up. 

Sad Drowning Accident
Narragansett Times, 8/22/1890, p. 2, Column 5

Shortly after four o'clock last Friday afternoon a young colored man was drowned at the bathing beach. He was in bathing with several companions and was probably taken with cramps, as several persons on the shore and from the rear porch of the Rockingham saw him go down and say that he did not come to the surface again. His name was William McHenry Fowler of Liberty, Virginia, and he was one of the waiters at the Berwick. He was a law student in a university at Raleigh, North Carolina, and was a contributor to the colored press. His body had not been found at a late hour last night, although the beach bad been searched with a seine. A party were to resume efforts at an early hour this morning. This is the first fatality that has occurred on the Pier beach for three years. It is understood that Fowler had been troubled with cramps in the stomach for several days, which may account for his not rising to the surface after first sinking.

The body was found Saturday afternoon by John Davis and district sergeant Mcintosh. They were in a boat and searching for the body at the time. Medical examiner Philip K. Taylor was sent for and arrived shortly before five o'clock. He decided that it was a case of accidental drowning and deeming no inquest necessary the remains were delivered to undertaker Case to be forwarded to the mother of the deceased in Virginia.

(Earlier in the page it is noted that “A subscription among the guests and employes [sic] of the Berwick has realized nearly a hundred dollars in aid of the family of Fowler, the waiter who was drowned last week.”)

This was a good headstone to restore.