By JOSEPH FITZGERALD

UXBRIDGE — When town officials set out last summer to upgrade a bridge over the Mumford River on Mendon Street, they weren’t about to discard a couple hundred pounds of historic iron fencing that was removed from the span to make way for the project.

Instead, a portion of the 200-year-old decorative fence rails with distinctive columns and finials now stand along the historic Royal Taft Cemetery.
That move came courtesy of the Uxbridge Historic Cemetery Committee, which through an agreement with Department of Public Works Superintendent Lawrence Bombara was able to save a piece of the town’s past.
 “We are excited to get the word out that this magnificent iron fencing did not end up as scrap metal and will, instead, enhance many of our community cemeteries for another century of appreciation,” says Uxbridge Historic Cemetery Committee Chairwoman Shelly Merriam.
The northern section of the fencing was removed from the bridge last summer for use in the town’s 31 rural cemeteries. The southern section is expected to be removed this summer.
Judging by its design, Merriam believes the iron fencing dates back to the mid-1800s. The year of installation over the Mumford River is not known, but it is pictured in the background of photographs from 1895 that show railroad tracks being elevated across Mendon Street.
Aaron Kerr of Kerr Welding in Pascoag carefully restored the integrity of the fencing by repairing, wire-brushing and painting it. Threaded support posts were set in a poured cement base and the posts and rails were attached, strengthened and welded in place. The placement of the finials was the finishing touch. A custom designed gate was made from a section of fencing.
The Royal Taft Cemetery on Johnson Road was chosen for the first placement of fencing because it was surrounded on three sides by stone walls with no boundary across the front, Merriam said.
“The addition of this historic fencing provides protection for the cemetery and is a visual reminder of the respect this burying ground deserves,” she says. “It is not known whether this cemetery ever had a fence, but it was not uncommon for decorative iron fencing and gates to have been removed from cemeteries during the Civil War or other engagements so the metal could be melted down and used for armaments.”
The cemetery is the resting place for Capt. Royal T. Taft (1779-1861) and his wife, Molly Aldrich (1805-1861). Three of their children are also buried there. Royal Taft, according to Merriam, was most likely in the local militia, the Uxbridge Grenadiers Company. Maps of 1857 and 1865 show the family homestead located south of the cemetery about half the distance to Aldrich Street, she says.
“The neighbors are pleased that the fencing, long admired in the town center, is now a distinctive addition to this cemetery of the same historical period,” Merriam says. “When local cemeteries are overgrown and neglected, they show that the community does not care and vandalism is often the result. Our mission is to show through example that we respect and care for our cemeteries, inspiring others to join in and help in any way they can.”
 Just a week after the installation of the fencing at the Taft cemetery, she said, a neighbor planted a row of marigolds and petunias adjacent to it.
The committee is hoping to have two matching gates with posts installed at the Quaker City Cemetery on Providence Road and is seeking financial help from the community.
Anyone wishing to help with this and future restoration and placement of the fencing may make a donation to the Uxbridge Historic Cemetery Committee, Cemetery Donations Fund, 21 South Main St., Uxbridge, MA 10569.