Most pass by a cemetery and acknowledge nothing more than a sea of stones. Most don’t consider the fact that beneath every stone is a story. In St. Ann’s Cemetery in Cranston, there are over 130,000 stories.

On the morning of Feb. 20, 1911, three people were laid in a common grave at St. Ann’s Cemetery as a thick sheet of snow fell from the sky and unfurled upon the mourners. Most who pass by that grave don’t know the three stories – intertwined into a single horrific tale – buried beneath the stone.      

Ernest St. Laurent was born in Canada in 1878. At the age of three, he came to America with his parents and settled in Providence. He married Annie Lacerte on July 29, 1902 and they went on to have two children. A son, Joseph Ernest Arthur St. Laurent, who was born on Oct. 8, 1905, did not survive. In 1908, Annie gave birth to their daughter Blanche.

The St. Laurent family resided on Cranston Street in Providence. Ernest was employed as an optical framer. By the winter of 1911, Ernest was suffering with ill health. He had also become overwhelmed by his job and seemed to be spiraling into a pit of mental agitation. Questions swirled in his head.

He was having to take on too much responsibility at work – more than he could handle – but how could he quit and render himself unable to financially support his wife and daughter? What would happen when his medical condition worsened?

Certainly, Annie would be forced to take on the role of nursemaid to care for him. Seeing nothing but dimness in both of their futures, Ernest conceived a plan and shared it with his wife to end their lives.

It didn’t take long for both parties to begin questioning what would happen to their three-year-old daughter in the event both were gone. Upon such a realization, Ernest withdrew his suicide pact idea.

About six weeks later, however, the couple rethought the situation.

On the evening of Feb. 17, 1911, Ernest and Annie attended a party. Annie apparently was not tightlipped about the nightmarish plans and conversations she and her husband indulged in. She confessed to family members that Ernest had requested her to stand in a doorway so that he could shoot her. That evening, the 29-year-old wife and mother talked about how she had ventured into town just hours before the party to purchase the clothes she wished to be buried in. In between issuing these concerning bits of information, party guests later said that she cried hysterically throughout the event.

When the St. Laurents had returned to their home, it was alleged by police that Ernest waited for Annie to fall asleep in their bed before removing Blanche from her own bedroom and laying her down beside her mother. It was assumed he then affixed the tube, which was found to the gas jet, laid the open end of the tube upon the bed, turned on the gas, and laid down beside his wife and daughter.

In the morning, Ernest’s father came upon the unspeakable scene. They appeared to be sleeping – his son having decided that his own chosen demise would include them all.

Three days later, Ernest, Annie and Blanche were laid to rest in a triple funeral service. Their dark story was buried with them, and pure, white snow quickly covered the ground.