^^ 
 
 
ULLETIN 
 
 OF THE 
 
 N e wport H ist orical S ociety 
 
 Number Thirteen NEWPORT, R. I. July, 1914 
 
 The Quakers in Ancient Newport 
 
 SYNOPSIS OF A PAPER 
 Read Before the Society at the Annual Meeting, May twenty-ninth 
 
 By 
 Mr. THOMAS W. BICKNELL 
 
 J All writers of history of the Stale of Rhode Island and Providence 
 Plantations have failed to give due credit to the part the Island of Rhode 
 Island enacted in our early Civil, Social, political and reliizious life. 
 Rhode Island has been properly styled the first Commonwealth in the 
 world to exemplify the doctrine of soul liberty in a political organiza- 
 tion, the point of view of this "lively experiment," has been taken at 
 Providence and Roger Williams has been seized as the great figure in 
 the portrayal of the workings of the actors of that most remarkable 
 period. As a consequence of the foreshortening of the historic perspec- 
 tive in our early State history, Roger Williams assumes gigantic pro- 
 portions, in the foreground, while William Coddington, John Clarke, 
 Anne Hutchinson, Samuel Gorton, Benedict Arnold, Joseph Wanton 
 and others are small figures in the background of the scene. Bancroft 
 and Arnold stand together in their peculiar emphasis of the worth of 
 Mr. Williams in proclaiming the doctrine of soul liberty. Neither gives 
 recognition to the clearer and more {i^rfect recognition of the doctrine 
 as exemplified in the Colonial governments on Aquidneck. 
 
 My own attitude is that Newport and Portsmouth were the first to 
 establish and maintain a well organized " Democratical government," 
 
 > 
 
" with full liberty in religious concernments," and that the sturdy main- 
 tenance of the doctri-nes of a free conscience in a civil state had a more 
 satisfactory illustration in Rhode Island Colony than in its Sister Colony, 
 Providence Plantations, at the head of the Hay. Still further, I main- 
 tain that the Quaker element at Newport was the most consistent and 
 successful illustrator and defender of the faith. It is to me a strange 
 neglect that has fallen on the Quaker services and influence on the Colo- 
 nial life of New{)ort and of the Colony of Rhode Island and the Planta- 
 tations. Among the great facts relating to Newport history the follow- 
 ing should be recognized and emphasized. 
 
 1. The pre-Quaker movement, illustrated in the leadership of 
 Anne Hutchinson and later that of William Coddington, w-as a soul- 
 liberty event. 
 
 2. The early settlement of Quakers at Newport shows it to have 
 been the asylum of the men and women in search of religious freedom. 
 The execution of Mary Dyer was testimony of their faith in great prin- 
 ciples. 
 
 3. The fact that Quaker governors, resident of Newport, ruled 
 Rhode Island for more than a century, shows the dominance of the 
 principle of Soul-liberty in the Southern Capital of the Colony. 
 
 4. The landing of the ship Wood-house at Newport in 1652, with 
 English Quakers, was a significant event in the religious life of the 
 Southern Colony, giving to the body of freemen a new impulse, and free- 
 dom of conscience splendid supporters. 
 
 5. The visit of George Fox and the establishment of the first 
 Quaker annual meeting at Portsmouth are significant of the attitude of 
 the founders of .A quid neck plantation. 
 
 6. The great i)ros})erity of Rhode Island Colony for a century and 
 a half, its attitudes towards public education, art, science, literature, its 
 influence over the colon}' in all political and social movements, its com- 
 plete defence in legislation and its practical illustration in the life of the 
 people for the doctrine of soul-liberty, were the fruits of Quaker senti- 
 ment and civilization. Gentile and Jew, Roman Catholic and Protes- 
 tant, Pilgrim, Puritan or Agnostic, all found a quiet home and consistent 
 support among the peace-loving proprietors of Newport. 
 
 My own deliberate judgment is this, that the world owes a greater 
 (lel)t of homage for the clean, definite and i)ractical illustration of soul- 
 liberty, as illustrated in social, civil, industrial and religious concerns, 
 to Newport, under the guidance of William Coddington, John Clarke, 
 Nicholas Easton and the Wantons than to Providence, under the direc- 
 tion of I\o<rer Williams and his associates. 
 
 2,. 
 
Annual Meeting of the Society 
 
 The annual meeting was held in the Society's Rooms on May 29th, 
 with the President in the chair. Owing to the absence of the President 
 during the most of the past year no report was presented by him. 
 
 The following Reports were read : 
 
 REPORT OF THE SECRETARY 
 
 Since the last annual report the Society has held four regular and 
 two special meetings, and addresses have been given as follows : 
 
 May 27, 1913, Election Day in Newport. A Recollection of Child- 
 hood, by Miss Mary E. Powel. 
 
 August 18, 1913, On the So-called Portrait of Governor William 
 Coddington in the City Hall at Newport, by Mr Hamilton B. Tonipkins- 
 
 Some Broadsides in the Collection of the Society and others, by 
 Mrs. Charles Warren Lippitt. 
 
 November 17, 1913, Newport Cemeteries.. A paper by the late 
 Hon. Robert S. Franklin, read by the Librarian. 
 
 January 22, 1914, When the Old Century was Young. Recol- 
 lections of Jamestown, by Mr. Henry W. Clarke. 
 
 February 16 and March 18, The Newport Historical Society in its 
 Earlier Days, by Miss Edith May Tilley. 
 
 Reminiscences of some of the Earlier Members, by Miss Mary E, 
 Powel. 
 
 At the close of the business meetings, tea has been served in the 
 museum, and a short time devoted not only to social intercourse, but to 
 the examination of new and interesting exhibits 
 
 At each business meeting the Librarian has read a detailed I'eport 
 of her work and the number of accessions to the collections. 
 
 The following are a few of the items of business transacted at 
 different meetings of the Society and Directors. 
 
 In November, the minutes of the joint cgmmittee meeting of this 
 and the Natural Histoiy Society were read, and resolutions were adopted 
 inviting the latter to meet in our rooms, and, in view of the fact that 
 more space is absolutely necessary for our Society, requesting them to 
 restore to us the land now occupied by their building. 
 
 At a special meeting, January 22, Mr. Frank K.Sturgis was c4ected 
 to the office of 2d. Vice President, to fill the vacancy caused by the 
 
death of Hon. Robert S. Franklin ; and Mr. Alfred Tuckerman was 
 elected to the office of 3d. Vice President, then held by Mr. Sturgis. 
 
 The quorum of the Board of Directors has been changed to tive, 
 and that of the Society to ten, by so amending the By-laws. 
 
 The Directors have had five meetings during the year, at which the 
 routine business has been transacted, members elected, etc. 
 
 At the November meeting, the Librarian read a letter from Com. 
 Arthur Curtiss James, in which he offered the sum of $5000 definitely 
 toward a new fire proof addition, and making safer our old meeting 
 house; this sum to be raised to $7,500 if the society would raise a 
 similar amount. 
 
 The Librarian was instructed to thank Mr. James, and the following 
 committee was informally appointed, and ratified at the next Directors' 
 meeting, to discuss the addition to the Buildings : Chairman, Hamil- 
 ton B. Tompkins, Com. Arthur Curtiss James, Rev. Roderick Terry, 
 Mrs. Thomas A. Lawton, Mrs. E. French Vanderbilt, Mrs. John La Farge, 
 Mrs. David King, Miss Maude L. Stevens, Miss Edith May Tilley, Mr. 
 Alfred Tuckerman, Rev. George V. Dickey, George H. Richardson, 
 Jonas Bergner, Mr. Job A. Peckiiam, Mr. Charles ^f. Cottrell. 
 
 This commitee, a majority being present, met on January 6, 1914, 
 and discussed plans for the proposed improvements. The Museum was 
 examined and it was agreed that safety and space were greatly needed, 
 and that a strenuous effort should be made to accept Mr. James' 
 generous offer. Miss Tilley and Mr. Bergner were appointed a sub-com- 
 mittee to draw up plans, which they presented at a second meeting of 
 the committee, held January 13th. Dr. Terry kindly offered to make 
 an effort to raise the required amount, and Mr. Bergner was asked to 
 have the plans put in proper shape for estimates. At a Directors' 
 meeting January 26, the acts of the committee were ratified. 
 
 We have this year added to our list, 28 annual members, 3 sustain- 
 ing, and 7 associates, and though we must report the loss of 11 b}' death 
 or change of residence, the present total number on our roll is 334. If 
 during the coming year, eacli member would present at least one new 
 name, how easily would the membership be doubled and our scope en- 
 larged. 
 
 Five members of the Society have deceased during the year, our 
 honored 2d. Vice President Robert S. Franklin, Rear Admiral Silas 
 Casey, Mrs. William Woodward, Sr., Mrs. Frank H. Rosengarten, and 
 Miss Mary B. Burdick, 
 
 Respectfully submitted, 
 
 John P. Sanborn, Secretary. 
 
REPORT OF THE TREASURER 
 
 1914 
 
 To Balance $9 16 
 
 " Received from Librarian 1,584 75 
 
 " State of Rhode Island 500 00 
 
 " Estate J. M. K. Southwick 1,48101 
 
 " " City of Newport 55 50 
 
 " Interest 21 60 
 
 
 $3,652 02 
 
 By amount paid Edith M. Tilley 
 
 S 1,000 00 
 
 *' " " Margaret Bloomfield 
 
 300 00 
 
 " " " Mabel Simpson 
 
 230 00 
 
 " " Janitor 
 
 421 71 
 
 " Telephone 
 
 34 11 
 
 " " " Insurance 
 
 70 00 
 
 " Interest 
 
 299 00 
 
 " Water 
 
 22 00 
 
 " Gas 
 
 3 90 
 
 " Fuel 
 
 156 00 
 
 " " Office expenses, printing, etc. 
 
 458 46 
 
 " Loans paid 
 
 600 00 
 
 " " On acct. City of Newport for work done 55 50 
 
 Balance 
 
 1 34 
 
 ;^3,652 02 
 
 BOOK FUND 
 
 1913 
 
 To Balance 36 31 
 
 •• Dividends Island Savings Bank 80 80 
 
 " Newport Historical Society, Interest on Mortgage 100 00 
 
 Paid for books 
 
 
 $217 11 
 
 
 $71 54 
 
 Balance 
 
 145 57 
 
 
 $217 11 
 
 Henry C. Stevens, 
 
 Jr., 
 
 
 Treasurer. 
 
REPORT OF THE LIBRARIAN 
 
 At this meeting the Librarian has the pleasure of jiresenting her 
 fourth annual report to the officers and members of the Newport His- 
 torical Societ}'. 
 
 During the past year accessions have been numerous in every de- 
 partment, and noteworthy examples have been published quarterly in 
 the Bulletin. 748 Books and pamphlets have been acquired, by gift, 
 purchase and exchange ; several collections of manuscripts ; many old 
 newspapers, pictures and relics for the museum collections. The fol- 
 lowinu' tabular comparison of four years' accessions to the library records 
 a dtcided gain each vear : 
 
 1911 1912 1913 1914 
 
 l]ooks and pamphlets 206 839 405 748 
 
 Exchanges from the Rhode Island Societ}^ and the John Carter 
 Brown Library have helped greatly, and from many sources we have 
 been able this year to obtain pamphlets long desired, and to add por- 
 traits of several old residents of Newport. 
 
 To care for these collections, and arrange them for use, is the task 
 entrusted to the library staff, and the fact that during the past year, 
 beside 500 at the Loan Exhibition, 4,281 visitors have availed them- 
 selves of the privileges of our rooms, shows that our labors have not 
 been in vain. Our constant endeavor is to broaden the influence and 
 usefulness of the Society, not only to members but to the community 
 at large, and while we can record the number of visitors each day, no 
 figures can estimate the amount and kind of ))ersonal attention devoted 
 to each searcher and interested visitor 
 
 608 letters, with requests for information, have been received and 
 answered. Many of these are from far-away members, several of whom 
 write from England and Italy; many are from strangers from all parts 
 of this broad land, who in the course of a correspondence concerning 
 some particular branch of Newport history, cease to be strangers, and 
 sometimes even become members, in order that they may share in our 
 efforts to preserve everything relating to our interesting past. 
 
 ^^'()rk among the children and students has been continued, and 
 many groups have gathered here to illustrate their studies with our pho- 
 tographs, maps and relics. Classes from the public schools and from 
 the League of Cood Citizenship have been welcomed, as in other years, 
 and the number of children coming individually, (and asking all sorts 
 of ((uestions) has greatly increased. The General Nathaniel Greene 
 Memorial Association, William Ellery Chapter, Daughters of the Ameri- 
 can Ilevolution, the Society of Colonial Wars in R. I., the Newport 
 
 6 
 
Improvement Association, the Newport Natural History and other 
 socieiies have held meetings in our rooms. 
 
 The Representative Council this 3'ear included in its budget the 
 work upon the old town records, and since the first of April, when the 
 appropriation became available, the work of restoration and indexing, 
 under the personal supervision of the Librarian, has been carried on. 
 With the assistance of a clerk who is employed for this purpose and 
 whose presence is a great relief to your own staff, one volume has been 
 arranged, and progress is being made in the slow work of indexing. 
 This is a gratification to all who appreciate the charm and value of the 
 perishable old papers. 
 
 Our general reference index has been steadily growing. Every 
 possible moment has been spent upon this, and it now contains 17,750 
 cards which are constantly in use. Much material, however, remains 
 to be indexed, and the chief " want '' of the Librarian this year is a 
 small fund (not over fifty dollars) with which to engage an assistant for 
 the Summer Months, to arrange and classify some of this material. 
 Small contributions toward such a fund would be very welcome, and 
 this would be a great help in the work of making our manuscripts and 
 other collections of real use to our members and friends. 
 
 V^olunteer assistance in arranging scrap books, which are daily be- 
 coming more useful, would also be gladly received ; and this would be 
 interesting and pleasant work for any member of the Society. 
 
 Last year several needs were reported at the annual meeting, and 
 the promptness and generosity with which they were supplied were a 
 source of thankfulness to the Librarian. This year, aside from the 
 assistance just noted, there is only one need to Avhich I must call your 
 attention. For several years, the necessity for enlarged space has been 
 increasing, and today it has reached the point where there is actually 
 almost no room in the museum for visitors to walk about, and a view 
 from the doorway is the best that can be obtained. The files in the 
 newspaper room are constantly in demand, but it has now become a 
 choice between more stacks which are sadly needed, or space for the 
 reading tables. We can not have both. 
 
 In the office the lack of space is also apparent. We have been 
 obliged to introduce cases from the museum, and there is no room for 
 the assistants to spread out their papers or catalogue cards. If a searcher 
 wishes to examine manuscripts, the clerks have to^ transfer their work 
 to a corner elsewhere in the building, only to find that they are disturb- 
 ing readers in the library or newspaper room. To these rooms also we 
 have removed pictures, etc., from the museum. There is a prospect of 
 several valuable donations if a place can be found for them. 
 
Com. Jtinies' generous offer, and the subscriptions kindly secured 
 by Dr. Roderick Terry, who also has pledged a liberal amount, leave not 
 a very large sum to be raised in order to meet Mr. James' offer, and 
 provide an addition which would be ample for our needs and remove 
 some of the anxiety now felt for the safety of the collections and the 
 charming old building which holds them. The beautiful interior is 
 admired by visitors, and loved by members, and Mr. Luke Vincent 
 Lockwood thought the Claggett clock fine enough to be used as an illus- 
 tration for his latest book on old furniture. To preserve our priceless 
 possessions should be our first consideration, and the destruction of the 
 Historical Society's building and collections in the recent conflagration 
 at St. Augustine, is a warning we should not fiail to heed. 
 
 The beginnings have been made. Can we not pursue them to a 
 .successful end? 
 
 Respectfully submitted. 
 
 Edith May Tilley, Librarian. 
 
 We regret the loss of Mr. Hamilton B. Tompkins, from the Edi- 
 torial Board, who prefers to retire from the pressure of editorial work. 
 
 Among the many interesting manuscripts in the possession of the 
 Society we have selected one to publish in fac simile in this issue which 
 can not fail to attract the interest of our readers. 
 
Facsimile of an original manuscript presented to the Society by Hon. George 
 Peabody Wetmore, relating to the Battle of Rhode Island. 
 
OFFICERS 
 
 OF THE 
 
 Newport Historical Society 
 
 For the year eiidtiig May^ igij 
 
 President, HON. DANIEL B. FEARING 
 First Vice-President, REV. RODERICK TERRY, D. D. 
 
 Second Vice-President, MR. FRANK K. STURGIS 
 
 Third Vice-President, MR. ALFRED TUCKERMAN 
 
 Recording Secretary, MR. JOHN P. SANBORN 
 
 Corresponding Secretary, MR. GEORGE H. RICHARDSON 
 
 Treasurer, MR. HENRY C. STEVENS, Jr. 
 
 Librarian, MISS EDITH MAY TILLEY 
 
 Curator of Coins and Medals, DR. EDWIN P. ROBINSON 
 
 Board of Directors 
 THE OFFICERS and 
 
 FOR THREE YEARS 
 
 MRS. HAROLD BROWN DR. WILLIAM S. SHERMAN 
 
 MRS. RICHARD C. DERBY MR. JOB PECKHAM 
 
 FOR TWO YEARS 
 
 MRS. THOMAS A. LAWTON MR. HAMILTON B. TOMPKINS 
 
 MRS. FRENCH VANDERBILT MR. GEORGE L. RIVES 
 
 FOR ONE YEAR 
 
 MRS. WILLIAM R. MORGAN COL. C. L. F. ROBINSON 
 
 MR. JONAS BERGNER REV. GEORGE V. DICKEY 
 
 COMMITTEES 
 
 FINANCE 
 
 REV. GEORGE VERNON DICKEY MRS. THOMAS A. LAWTON 
 
 The Treasurer, ex-officio 
 
 LIBRARY 
 
 MR. GEORGE H. RICHARDSON 
 The Librarian, ex-officio 
 
 11 
 
BUILDINGS 
 
 MR. GEORGE H. RICHARDSON MR. JONAS BERGNER 
 
 DR. E. P. ROBINSON 
 
 PUBLICATION 
 
 REV. RODERICK TERRY 
 
 NOMINATING 
 
 MR. CHARLES M. COTTRELL MRS. CHARLES C, GARDNER 
 
 MR. JOB PECKHAM 
 
 ON LITERARY EXERCISES 
 
 REV. RODERICK TERRY MR. JOHN P. SANBORN 
 
 MR. HAMILTON B. TOMPKINS The President ex-officio 
 
 INCREASE OF MEMBERSHIP 
 
 MR. LAWRENCE L. GILLESPIE MISS ANTOINETTE PECKHAM 
 
 REV. GEORGE VERNON DICKEY 
 
BULLETIN 
 
 OF THE 
 
 Newport Historical Society 
 
 Number Fourteen NEWPORT, R. I, October, 1914 
 
 NEWPORT NEWSPAPERS 
 IN THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY 
 
 A Paper Read Before the Society 
 
 By 
 GEORGE PARKER WINSHIP 
 
 Of the John Carter Brown Library 
 
 The earliest attempt to establish a printing press in the 
 Rhode Island Colony of which a record has been found was made 
 about the year 1705. A committee of the General Assembly had 
 arranged the laws for printing, and it was proposed that the work 
 should be done in the colony. The offer of a guarantee or subsidy 
 of ^50 a year is said to have been made to the younger William 
 Bradford, the son of the first printer at Philadelphia, if he would 
 settle at Newport and do the colony printing. This plan did not 
 succeed, and the laws were printed at Boston in 1719. There is 
 further evidence that Newport at that time had become a place 
 where booksellers flourished and where a printer might naturally 
 expect to find employment, in the fact that an edition of " Leed's 
 American Almanack " for the year 1713 was printed to be " Sold 
 by Elkana Pembrook in Newport." 
 
The year before the first edition of the Rhode Island Laws 
 was printed in Boston, James Franklin returned to that city after 
 serving his apprenticeship in London. He set up a press and 
 secured a fair share of the business from the booksellers, for 
 nearly a year printing the semi-official " Boston Gazette." x\fter 
 he lost this work, through a change in politics, he started a paper 
 of his own, the "Boston Courant," which had a checkered career 
 for the next five years as the organ of the local ' Independents," 
 who refused to accept without comment whatever was done by the 
 party iu power. After several conflicts with the rulers of church 
 and state, Franklin was finally compelled to recognize an order of 
 the Governor and Council forbidding him to print anything which 
 had not been seen and approved by the Secretary of the Colony. 
 His compliance with this order consisted in transferring the paper, 
 at least to the extent of changing the printed name of the pub- 
 lisher, to his more famous brother Benjamin, who was then em- 
 ployed by him as an apprentice. It was an obvious subterfuge, 
 but it served its purpose and the paper continued to appear until 
 June, 1726, or later, in the name of Benjamin Franklin. 
 
 The Franklin printing establishment in Boston was closed 
 some time during the years 1726-27. The younger brother started 
 off upon his famous journey to Philadelphia, while James Franklin 
 removed his press and types to Newport. Another brother, John, 
 was already established in business at Newport as a tallow 
 chandler and soap maker, and this fact doubtless influenced James 
 in selecting his new home. He had before this had dealings with 
 Rhode Islanders, for in 1721 John Rhodes the shopkeeper, Captain 
 John Rogers and William Claggett the clock maker, had employed 
 him to print the latter's " Looking Glass for Elder Clarke and 
 Elder Wightman, being a brief but true Relation of the Cause and 
 Prosecution of the Differences between the Baptized Church, under 
 the Pastoral Care of the aforesaid Elders" and several of their 
 former members. At another time Franklin had claimed, when 
 the magistrates were investigating him in connection with 
 some of the charges against the government, made in his news- 
 paper, that he secured his information from Rhode Island. 
 
 Before the end of 1727, Franklin printed in Newport an 
 Almanack, the preface of which is dated August 30, and "John 
 Hammett's Vindication and Relation : giving an Account, 
 
 Tu8 ooclrtj 
 
I. Wherein he was misrepresented in a Letter lately printed in his 
 Name. II. Of his Withdrawing from the Baptist's Comnmnion. 
 III. Of his uniting with them again. IV. Of his separating 
 himself wholly from the Baptists and joining himself in unity to 
 the People called Quakers." During the next year, Franklin 
 printed two sermons, one preached by John Webb on the last day 
 of the year 1727, and the other by the Rev. John Adams upon his 
 ordination. For the local Church of England clergyman, the 
 Rev. James Honeyman, who had resided in Newport since 1704 
 as the missionary of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel 
 in Foreign Parts, Franklin printed during this year a lengthy 
 religious treatise with the unusually broad minded title, " Faults 
 on all sides," from the point of view of the representative of a 
 body which did not take any side. Except for those who are 
 curious to learn how the Anglican cleric regarded the mutually 
 destructive arguments of Baptists, Quakers and Presbyterians or 
 Congregationalists, the most interesting pages of this volume are 
 the four at the end which remained empty after the author's 
 manuscript had been completed, and which the printer utilized by 
 filling them with a list of " Books sold by Edward Nearegreas, in 
 Newport, Rhode-Island." There are a few over a hundred titles, 
 nearly all religious in character. Among those which are 
 familiar to a later generation of readers are the eight volumes of 
 the Spectator, Eusebius, Hooker's Ecclesiastical Polity, Heylin's 
 Geography , Milton's "Answer to Eikon Bazilcion " and " Paradice, ' ' 
 Wit's Commonwealth, Purchase's Pilgrimage, Locke on Human 
 Understanding, and Clarendon's History of the Great Rebellion. 
 The reader is assured that " These, with most other sorts of Books, 
 as Practical Divinity, Controversys, Law, Physick, and Navi- 
 gation, Bibles, Common-Prayer Books, School-Books, Chapmen's 
 History Books and Pamphlets, Bonds, Bills, Powers of Attorney, 
 Paper by the Ream, Snuff, Tea and Coffee by the Pound or 
 Ounce, may be had at reasonable Rates." 
 
 Franklin did not undertake to start a newspaper until he had 
 been in Newport five years. The first issue of " The Rhode 
 Island Gazette " probably appeared on Wednesday, September 27, 
 1732. No copy of this, unluckily, is known to be in existence, 
 and the only information regarding its contents is derived from a 
 letter signed " Wm. K — g — " and dated from Boston, October 10, 
 
which was printed in the fifth issue, which came out on October 
 25) ^72>^' In this letter the writer remarks: "I rejoyce to see 
 that by your Proposals and Introdticti07i , you have in great 
 Measure freed yourself from some peculiar Disadvantages, and 
 obviated some Objections I expected from Popular Prejudice. If 
 you suffer no Personal Scandal to have place in your Paper, nor 
 make yourself a Party to any religious Disputes, there will be no 
 room for Exceptions against you, but what will ly equally against 
 all your Brethren in this Town, unless you should appear duller 
 than any of them, which yet is no very easy Thing." 
 
 The effort to avoid dullness was not very successful. A 
 column letter on the evils of slandering one's neighbours may have 
 had some local point, but it was so stupidly expressed that what- 
 ever object the writer may have had entirely failed to appear. 
 This was followed by a longer communication in verse, dated from 
 New Haven, which is extraordinarily vulgar even for that free 
 speaking age. Finally, in No. 9, the editor, over his ac- 
 knowledged nom-de-guerre of Timothy Truman, a name which 
 he says he feels sure will not lead to his being mistaken for anyone 
 else, printed an Apology, in which he owns to the justice of the 
 complaints against Will Rusty's nastiness and Cleverkm's even 
 more reprehensible obscurity. He explains his own failure to 
 enliven the paper by stating that he had been ill with a prevailing 
 distemper, a sort of cold, doubtless something akin to the recently 
 discovered la grippe, which a fortnight before had killed fourteen 
 persons in a single week in the town. 
 
 The first thirteen issues of " The Rhode-Island Gazette," 
 excepting numbers one and ten, are at the Massachusetts 
 Historical Society, and they fully justify the complaints of the 
 subscribers to which the editor refers. Four other issues 
 ought to be somewhere in Newport, where Mr. Charles E. 
 Haminett, Jr., had them when he compiled his " Bibliography of 
 Newport " in 1887. Luckily he made a facsimile of one of these, 
 No. 17, for January 25, 1733, so that this at least is not al- 
 together lost. This is much more interesting in its contents than 
 any of the others that have survived. It concludes, however, 
 with a warning that the paper would have to suspend publication 
 unless some of the subscribers who had received it from the 
 beginning paid their bills. Apparently many of these delinquents 
 
T H E 
 
 j Rhode-Iflafld Gazette. 
 
 ^~^ THURSDAY, NoTEMBJit Jj. i 7 ? 2. 
 
 An AfoLoov. 
 
 Keaiti 
 
 tine our, in 
 
 ftrac 
 
 AM fenfiMe ftndfjr Coar- 
 plaiots have beea roada 
 againft my Paper, that 
 it*a* hUhcrto boen dull 
 
 Tail term lt» fof whwi 
 I tDoQ «oof«rs tfacra feeatt 
 to be fofloe Caufe. But 
 ttie WbM oogfci to Tiew 
 a WHter, «t bis firfk fet 
 
 ((tie Light, tbtt « OMDpasy 
 • Munclaa wko Jul under- 
 
 meets wood 
 taken to play, for tltem opott" • 'new made In- 
 fttument, that cou'd not be Prefcntfy pot in 
 Tabs, "Wirtiout ih? dinger ct' Wng unftrung 
 6y too fuddairi a ScreW. thii Wou'd produce 
 Picience, and that MuSclt. Bat tksre ase be- 
 i^dei tajnjr ^hyficalRearoD* Why my Piper 
 lias^m^ oat ho betters SoiSiot wbkh, fo» 
 the atlsfaakxi oC my Ktf^n, I Hull briefly 
 qjemion. , ' 
 
 i. ' As" Man Nws origbifly fiwrn^d of the 
 6ritn«l, -tiiete -fetfiB*' ^ -b* 4bii» -Aiialogy -be- 
 tweert ihe Fruits of the Earth and the Produfl 
 of hif Mind. Confine the Obfetvation to 
 Orchards and Vioyards, and you will find the 
 fit^'frnltj gen^imly theao, withered and taftlefsj 
 t\i latrer found, fuller of Juice, and of a 
 
 /Jietter Reliflj So that norwithltanding I have 
 pick't up ii!<<i prefented my Readers with fome 
 premature Wiwlfalli, there is no room to doubt, 
 but that in a little Time they will be regaled 
 with fuch IntelleClual Fruit ai will be nuly 
 delightful to tlieir Minds. 
 
 11 As the belt Veins of Oar are ever attend- 
 ed with Heaps of Dirt and RnbSifli, which mult 
 be firft removed, fo the intelleCloal Faculty, 
 5n Us Rtfearch after fpeculative Knowledge. Is 
 oftentimes intercepted with Datkncfs and Obfcu- 
 rlty - Which was my Cafe \ but 1 hope is pretty 
 veil got thro* by the Helpof CLEVERKIN 
 and fome other Friends. 
 
 III. 1 have been jrievoully feired with the 
 late extraordinary Cold, which fo took away 
 the Glofs of my Stile, as well as obRra&ed 
 my Thoughts, that I believe my Readers by 
 this Piece perceive my Dtfotder, and that 1 
 am not altcgetter eomt to yet. 
 
 But Cto make a fmall Dlgreffion) poffihty 
 in the End it may he for Advancement of 
 Knovsledge, that this Calamity hn attended us : 
 For feveral noted Fce-icitKs have promisM to 
 favour the Puhlick with a inechanlcal Account 
 
 . of it, and', thereby ttndct it as Jiipa and 
 
 fimiliar as the late mechanical Account given 
 of Fevers. One in particular avers it to be < 
 tery «»fy Task.- Far, fays he, £7 Jhneiug Na 
 tilt fint Pa^rticlu cf Matter, ea'tvi in the Body, 
 >»//*'■ >»« w^^siptM* mtnner ert elctttdi tbt 
 JUwd-kufms Juitltnt, and obflmSti m itiCir- 
 -i*rftj»»,-«»rf. J*." tiquWnm nervoron', h^Jtd 
 tbro^eut ih* Cantt/t, vciiatfJ, it will h as crj/V 
 to accBUMt for tbt D:f order t frodutci^ at tc dimoi- 
 Qratt tht Trmth tf ^ tropifitcon im Euclid. Bat 
 / fhall fiop here, and wait till this Matter 
 be nttofiz-Uatly handled by fome of thofsr 
 learned Gentlemen within whofe Verge it falls. 
 To return, 
 
 IV. Self Intereft, which is at the Bottom 
 of moft of the Anions of Life (altho' gild- 
 ed over with other Pretehees) prompted me 
 10 CMCed my Brother Hewswriters in every 
 Point. To accorapli(h this cffeQuallr, I begati 
 at that Part of nay Bufinels moft natural, 
 altho* not the lealf difficulty in which 1 have 
 met vith fo great Afliftance, that I hope I 
 am not a whit ,above the lowcft of them. 
 What remains Oo borrow a ThoMht from a 
 
 oioble.PoM) is, Ta leave theidmble Shrubs, with 
 which all are lot delighted, and foar a little 
 higher i to whtt up my Genius, eti try if In 
 the Acutetiejt ef it I tan penetrate fome of the 
 Workt eef Aeture j feme qf the Dfvieet of Men^ 
 Uy open the Meltgniiy end Tolly of ftvtrtl 
 FrdBtees that are very Prevalent, end givt fomt 
 Reafont forTbip^t, tbet never heve been yet 
 ftumbl'dM. 
 
 V. The way and manner of Direfting la 
 Ufe anjoflg all my Corrafpondents runs, To 
 tbt Author ef the Rhode-lfland Gatelte -, which 
 I muft acknowledge has hitherto been of 
 Service, by carryhig (bmething of Dulnefs with 
 it in the Front of the Paper : But as it is 
 a Stile us'd by all my Brethren and their 
 Correfpondents, muttiit mutandit, and bell " 
 fetves a Purpofe 1 have not at ptefent In 
 View, IftiaU take my leave of it, abd affume 
 the obfolete Name of I'ruman, which I believe 
 few or none will daimt nor am I' afraid 
 thai I (hall hetein be attack'd for invading 
 any Man's Property at this Time of Day. Aifi 
 
 I hope all future Letters will be dlrctted to 
 me accofdki^y by my Correfpondents. 
 
 VL If any of tt^ Brother News writers think I 
 have been too free with them j in anlWer to that, 
 1 fay, they may take the fame Liberty vslth 
 me, if they acknowledge v the fame Time 
 they have the Hh Oaofiotn but not elfe. 
 fartvtttf- ' «• 
 ~~' Tim. Trftman. 
 
were Franklin's former Boston friends who had anticipated a 
 renewal of the entertaining passages which had made his ' ' Boston 
 Courant " so interesting, and they can hardly be blamed for 
 feeling that they had been defrauded in some measure if they had 
 to pay for reprinted foreign news and lists of Newport harbour 
 clearances and entries. 
 
 The date of the last number mentioned by Mr. Hammett is 
 March i , and it is probable that the paper ceased to appear not 
 long after that date. 
 
 Most of the news in the paper consisted of European in- 
 telligence, usually about three months old, but not at all less 
 conflicting than what is received two hundred years later three 
 hours after it is supposed to have happened. This foreign 
 correspondence was copied directly from the Boston papers, and 
 this fact added to the complaints of those upon whom the pub- 
 lisher had to rely for his living. Many of his local subscribers were 
 business men of means, who took in the Boston and New York 
 papers, and so read all the news long before Franklin could select 
 what he wanted to reprint and get it into type. His local items 
 consisted principally of deaths, interspersed with reports of fires 
 and tales of extraordinary feats of lightning bolts. 
 
 There is a single item which has a modern sound, and is 
 historically important because it carries back the period during 
 which Newport has been a resort for persons of international 
 distinction half a century furthei than is claimed for it in Mr. 
 Mason's charming "Reminiscences." It appeared in No. 13 of 
 the Gazette : 
 
 " Newport, December 22. 
 
 Last week came from Boston to this Town the Lord 
 Augustus Fitz Roy, Son of the Duke of Grafton, and this 
 Week went from hence by Water to New York." 
 
 His Lordship was a great-grandson of King Charles H, and 
 he was at this time doubtless on his way to visit his father-in-law, 
 Col. William Cosby, who had been since 1731 the Governor of 
 New York. 
 
 James Franklin died February 4, 1735. His widow, Mrs. 
 Ann Franklin, continued the business and there is nothing in the 
 appearance of the books which bear her name to show that her 
 
husband was seriously missed in the conduct of the establishment. 
 She and her daughters had been accustomed to help in the type 
 setting, so that the actual change of office force was probably 
 slight. Mrs. Franklin managed to keep the press going until her 
 son, who had been serving an apprenticeship with his uncle 
 Benjamin, returned to assume the proprietorship, in 1748. 
 
 To the new manager, or more probably to his uncle's canny 
 advice, may be due the fact that at this time the General 
 Assembly decided to have its proceedings or " Schedules " printed 
 for distribution among the several towns. During the previous 
 hundred years these had been copied by hand with the result that 
 delays were frequent and inaccuracies inevitable. 
 
 The schedule for the October session, 1747, is the first of a 
 printed series that has continued unbroken since that date. 
 
 Franklin printed the Schedules regularly until the autumn 
 of 1759. With the session for May of that year, the Secretary, 
 Thomas Ward, sent out a letter, dated February 9, 1760 : 
 
 To the Town Clerk of Glocester, Sir : — 
 
 Yesterday Mr. Franklin (The Printer) vouchsaf'd to let me 
 have all the Acts & Orders made & passed by the General As- 
 sembly at the last Election. They were done before October 
 Session. I sealed the first sheet of every one and corrected, with 
 my Pen all the errors, that had escaped the Press throughout the 
 whole. But the careless Mortal mislaid, and never found them 
 till the Time first above mentioned. But as I made a heavy Com- 
 plaint he sent me, a Day or two before, those he had struck off 
 for sale. I examined, corrected and sealed them as usual : And 
 herewith you will receive one for your Town. 
 
 Some Sheets of June are struck off : But when this High, 
 mighty, indolent Gentleman will deign to compleat the rest is very 
 uncertain. 
 
 This finding the Government egregiously imposed upon and 
 myself severely censur'd for His intollerable Laziness, I have made 
 use of the Power granted the Secretary last August & sent the 
 Acts and Orders of that Session, with those of October, to Bos- 
 ton ; where they will be printed with such Dispatch, that I have 
 strong Reason to expect you will receive them both, by the latter 
 end of this month at farthest. 
 
 Your most Humble Servant 
 
 Tho. Ward. 
 Newport, Feby. the 9th, 1760 
 
 P. S. Be so good as to read this publickly at your Next Town 
 Meeting, that the Saddle may be laid upon the right Horse. 
 
 6 
 
fm^- 
 
 • THE 
 
 .7^. 
 
 '^-' 
 
 ■NEWPORTi 
 
 ■ ■- 'OR. ! 
 -".Weekly; 
 
 mth ih: fr,ii-t>> Ad- 
 
 MERCURY, 
 
 THE . 
 
 AdvertifcA', 
 
 vices foreign and donh'fiic. 
 
 MONDAY, 
 
 I7i8. 
 
 mn«i rfifon»bly be «tf>«f)e<j, wharcYCr may be pre 
 «hiclv olll pioraote the In-trtft ctihi, Coloov, i.)H •. 
 mIk^ « u more vincoa-, a mure fl..D.i(hinj, aad i 
 bippy P«opte, will t!i«arf(jl!y t>= intVncti.. 
 
 V. AND «.1>Ik 
 
 far ilut Purport, »liicli 
 
 >riniiog.oacc from 7." 
 
 7i< t'l^! ill Ltif^r' PtAst, Ctp Haril. nlf nrriitJ lU lUa- 
 
 Fioml'jncc FtrdiiunJ'i Hrad QoMttrS ir Monllrf, April t. 
 ' -Th-cOKlcoTVcchrehMfuiiayicrtdbyOpiiulaiicn .«i:hin 
 Jhdi fc. Diyi Ir wai bcllcgtd (wi Captai. itnl. a DjiacS- 
 ri(t>t rjf 1 5 . M-rn ffot^i Bremen. The Gjjrrifin contii»ed of 
 
 t of CaDDOn and Mortari s 
 
 : foaod ii 
 
 AKD tc murt tppefi unnccefTary, to dy loyTbinjte-l 
 Ining to (he Ad»»Dta£c whieh ui(| accrria (o the trading Ptit 
 •f tlin Coiony, ii> Kn.ins the Btlicfit cfn piitlic Pap«i lo in: 
 fctt Adveturertienti, e^ the Exfmplc of our tietghSrmtin^ Go-" 
 vetoroeoo. "here P3[,ctiare publifli'd, in con.ljicinj r/oof 
 o* in gcnctii Servlrx l!l that Kefpcfi/? . ^, 
 
 AND lot the more e.p<^ifl_ 
 thij P«p«f to. the Tc^c jl Towtlirinji 
 «il) betaien- to lend til th« Pijj 
 (fcOiiit T«»n, with the Name of efck-Hibreriher 
 on, undercover, indHireOed 10 rome|trftp«r Pcrfon, refiding 
 uhete it till he attended «iih ibe letft Difficulty truhe Inh«- 
 Uirinr* ift leceir^tng them, »bich they wilt be the hrfl Judjiei 
 of; and a Paper »ill !« feol Reitii to ttety fijcl Pci/on, foe ' 
 hiiTtouhle and Caic in deiircrlag (hem. 
 
 A M D ji e.e.y (>V,eaion *o«M » illin-ly he rcn-'.vM, „l,:cS 
 may a.il< .ih .;!,.;« to ihi-. Paper, in ir, «.lf Pu'al.caijo.. ; 
 fhercfote, if it (hiHiid he C.id, that the Mt.e ii muih 'nuller th«n 
 ihoGi It prcfen: poblifliM in PklUirtfH,, Kn,rct. and C>C,-, 
 leeiit be c mflJe.M, ihit the Pricr u ilfo left In Ptopoitiou, 
 »d lh«f cum in ihofe lar^e place., with P/o»iocei eTienH/c 
 •odpopulwH, the I'apen publlOi'd atTlonift them, in ihri. ;q 
 • fitiey cn«;aift'i) no moie than what inii;Kt ba compiij'd iii 
 halfa Sheet ; but ai the Number of SibKiiS.ti and Ad/ei- 
 lifemeni. i.erea.M, ibelr P.p.ti were inliij'H in P,o.o,ii/.n. 
 AndiHl fllouM liicewifolKfaid, thM»*T,* i. eentainM in 
 rhu Papse. II fomailhat AJc btfort publilh'd— It mud be 
 aclcnowWd, that.ibRerpea lo Vw^ei .nd P.nidiT,,. 
 who ha.c the AVintaRcof •»C(V cail^ lnl€lli(;ence, it will 
 undoubtedly be Hi ;Vllihii ou^bt alHiro b? cooCdei'd, that 
 ihelnhihitanii who lilldetla Ihftatie- ftom thofe tw»To•n^ 
 eaonot haie an Oipnnoniiy to be (o iinmcdiaicly in.i pio- 
 pcily acquaintcd.ftiatewi-*- ■ • • 
 
 A K D jK"« >^"u.^'jet of SriVfcihera, 
 mint of iHll Pallet, m fa.lwm beini; iden.i 
 i.^JTfOohle whieh mwl eO„iei,i,ently be d 
 
 I, it the C"mn»iv 
 
 "'"•H, but (h« the Inhablisnli of 
 ihl. Ccloaj^iil ehearfully promote an Undc.i.kini; o)il,|, 
 
 THBRE .ai Reafu, ,o keli,«, th., thiaPape, wouM,' 
 •iikuTioic, hi/t b:io intKxIut'd to lb; Piibl«-»i:l« ctw 
 
 ;■ •VLjn<llhor(i.f7/n»j^) Mjitb 22, The KinR of Pruflia, 
 
 »hoBl>i»ecthtlc the 17<h, fetoutthe 19th tot CrlflVu.whero 
 
 S'''eHejd,Q:>ailetl of hj. Atiity will be el?abli(hcd To- 
 
 ■,Xlm:M {<Uf)ut.f Rtitl r.^Sjii, i, ih Ki-ti^n e/ P,l,rJ) 
 'fHAj'li^f' Advie'e;ihj; a latje Body of Piullijii Tiooju,'' * 
 ^tbi •rtsteft Put of Iht Gjilifon ofSrcIlin, wai 
 
 tJVeanfieKiiffiaAlntfHlir t£^c ihem Banle, 
 fevetnl Deraehrteou ot the is»t, thai weie led behind, ic- 
 ■eei»fd Ordetatojoin the main Hody oftheit Aimy. Five or 
 tx Thouland Ituffiani have palTed the Viflula, and ohletve 
 ihe Motion* of ihcitEoemiei, Ildee^ nor yet fecm 10 be de- 
 tided wherhet the whole Army fhall croft thai River 
 
 PtaROC (Ca;r<a/ if B,hemu) Mareh l<). The PiulTiant p'lfh 
 the Ji«;;c ot Schweidoiir with rhe utmoft Vipour, M.i.Oij| 
 Daun being upon the Marth 10 relieve it ; and 31 li.e Kitic 
 i> eomini; at ihe Heaa of hi. Army to n.et MJ.a^al D.ur, 
 »c eitpc^ altmoft fvery Moaicnwo heat the Ncm of a Ulaoify 
 Battle. .• ^v . -"1 
 
 Diefden. Maith «7.- "fi. Hill faid, that tht Motion, of 
 Mailhal Keith lend to m altc an iovafion la Bohemia, in order 
 It) favtur the Piojeai »hidi the King of Piulfia il going tj 
 . c«ecolft<hhei ayinS Bohemia or Moiivia. 
 Vfe LONDON". 
 
 Afril I. Thtlaft Lettin Itom Dieflen l'.iy, thai the Pinf- 
 nana ate |Iiaa<ly In Aaion on cverv Si.-le. Piinee lienry „f 
 PiulEi aSt >giieft the ^tmv of Etrculion, and H^A >> 
 Keith hal ralcew the Corw^and of ihe Army in Ponieianil 
 apatnlJ ihe '^v.ede. and Rufliani. 
 
 The K'fneli having berndifappoinicd in iheit itlenipr to 
 pet ihto' ihe fliaightv of Gibraltar, by ihc prfveotiBf^ the 
 jutifllon of Du Q?'l"rw «id De la Clua*. 'qnadinn, it i. I'ai.l 
 ihe Btefl fleet, con(iHi«|; til 16 fliip. ef ihc line, :.frrr In ,-, 
 manned «iih all the handi fiom the pii»ate»r., an.1 th« <leh- 
 elcncv made UD with lane) me», are detcimined ro conn A: 
 to l4ve Cape Breton ; an^l if they tweer Admiral HanVe, to 
 artack him; aiKl afAdm, Ha«ke-.«eet c^nfiH, ofe.„;v .,>,>. ,t 
 I 7 fail, feverti (hip^ have been feni to join him frODl>,-i.l.. ad 
 and Plyinoutlf, 10 cn.ble him to Hop iheii loyage. 
 
 AJmltaliyOfSce, April 11. 
 
 UittaQ ol a Iciiet from Admiral abome to Mte^MM^A 
 
 fecretaryofihertmiraliy, d.»ted en board hi. rii|^^^7^^ 
 
 Ptttte, at fea, Mneh i?* Mj) ay 
 
 •" On lie jSih ol laA momh, between €•?• c^r G.it tni 
 
 Cailhaptna, irdl in'wiih M. du Q^iefoe, in the Foudroyant 
 
 t-l Je, the Oiphtu. of <!4, ihe O.illamnie of t-, and the 
 
 Pit rule i>f 14 uuBi, which ««ie the (tint (hipifem liomTox- 
 
 l<.ntoi<i„fo,ceM,delaChiealCa.ih>;-;na. ( hul.cir f- .. ; 
 
 my lijuadron, ihey itr^n-ediatrly r^l\»e,l(.t. ;ii.1 flreir d r*,!:!. » - 
 
 cm touiff.-. on which I dtl.cl.edPlp.fer cuh . f •! r . 
 
 wliiin <hiththemiinh",l>ol mv f.)li.,li. n I ll..od ell lie l.w 
 
 of Cjith.i;en.i,lo»jrehlheli1'^ui.!t"nihrie . .vi,l aho-.v l.vrri 
 
 (nihetv.nini:. Cap). Store, in ihc Rtven.-e „f t,.,. f ,,.i,u„,.J 
 
 by Capi. IJiirhn m (li: Derrick 0! «4, ii.d i,j,- K.".> in 
 
 je^ 
 
 iTiiriilf^Tii 
 
The Act of October, 1747, required the Secretary to employ 
 the Printer residing in Newport for printing the Public Laws. 
 This was repealed in August, 1759, so that the Secretary was au- 
 thorized to employ any Printer, as he might find conducive to the 
 Public Good. 
 
 Franklin's own statement regarding his failure to attend to 
 the Colony work was printed at the end of the Schedule for the 
 June, 1758, session. This explanation is dated, "Newport, Oc- 
 tober 20, 1758." 
 
 "In Justice to the Secretary, I must acquaint the Public, 
 that some Time before the General Assembly sat in June last, he 
 delivered me three Sheets, containing the major Part of the Acts 
 and Orders made and past at the Election, (May Session) like- 
 wise in proper Season, those which were past in June : But hav- 
 ing been for many Years, frequently urged by several Gentlemen, 
 to publish a News-Paper, I undertook one ; which for Want of 
 Help, prevented my dispatching the Colony's present Business 
 sooner than this Day. Having procur'd an Assistant, I promise 
 myself, to be able to accomplish the Proceedings of the Assembly, 
 for the future, agreeable to Expectation. J. F." 
 
 The first issue of "The Newport Mercury," the newspaper to 
 which Franklin ascribed his troubles, came out on Monday, June 
 19, 1758. The facsimile on the opposite page is from the only 
 known copy of this, in the Library of the Rhode Island Historical 
 Society at Providence. The editor's introductory column gives 
 considerable information concerning the details of newspaper pub- 
 lication at that time in the colonies : 
 
 "THE Advantage and Utility of a Newspaper to the Pub- 
 lic, is so obvious, that it requires little to be said to recommend a 
 Thing of the Kind. And as the Publication of a Paper in this 
 Colony, has been long wish'd for, and frequently requested, 'tis 
 proposed to publish one weekly, on every Monday, at the moderate 
 Consideration of one Dollar a Year, so long as the present Size of 
 this Paper is continued (or Lawful Money or Old-Tenor equiva- 
 lent) to each Subscriber. 
 
 "And the Public may be assur'd, that no Party Ijisputes 
 will ever have a Place in this Paper: But in a Dearth of News, 
 which in this remote Part of the World may sometimes reasonably 
 be expected, whatever may be presented, which will promote the 
 
Interest of this Colony, and tend to make us a more virtuous, a 
 more flourishing, and a more happy People, will chear fully be 
 inserted. 
 
 "And as all the earliest Advices which may be contain'd in 
 other Papers, cannot at all Times be inserted in this. Care will be 
 taken to collect from them, what may appear to be most worthy 
 the Attention of the Public. 
 
 "And it must appear unnecessary, to say any Thing relating 
 to the Advantage which will accrue to the trading Part of this 
 Colony, in having the Benefit of a public Paper to insert Adver- 
 tisements, as the Example of our neighbouring Governments, 
 where Papers are publish'd, is a convincing Proof of its general 
 Service in that Respect. 
 
 "x\nd for the more expeditious and safe Conveyance of this 
 Paper to the several Towns in this Colony, this Method will be 
 taken; to send all the Papers belonging to each respective Town, 
 with the Name of each Subscriber wrote thereon, under Cover, 
 and directed to some proper Person, residing where it will be at- 
 tended with the least Difficulty to the Inhabitants in receiving 
 them, which they will be the best Judges of; and a Paper will be 
 sent gratis to every such Person, for his Trouble and Care in 
 delivering them. 
 
 "And as every Objection would willingly be remov'd, which 
 may arise with respect to this Paper, in its first Publication; there- 
 fore, if it should be said, that the Size is much smaller than those 
 at present publish'd in Philadelphia, New- York, and Boston, let 
 it be consider'd, that the Price is also less in Proportion, and that 
 even in those large Places, with Provinces extensive and popu- 
 lous, the Papers publish'd amongst them, in their Infancy con- 
 tain'd no more than what might be compriz'd in half a Sheet; but 
 as the Number of Subscribers and Advertisements increas'd, their 
 Papers were inlarg'd in Proportion. And if it should likewise be 
 said, that what is contain'd in this Paper, is somewhat stale be- 
 fore publish'd— It must be acknowledg'd, that with Respect to 
 Newport and Providetice, who have the Advantage of a very early 
 Intelligence, it will undoubtedly be so; but this ought also to 
 be consider'd, that the Inhabitants who reside at a Distance from 
 those two Towns, cannot have an Opportunity to be so immedi- 
 ately and properly acquainted therewith. 
 
"And tho' the Number of Subscribers, at the Commence- 
 ment of this Paper, is far from being adequate to the Expense and 
 Trouble which must consequently be devoted to that Service; yet 
 it is not doubted, but that the Inhabitants of this Colony will 
 chearfully promote an Undertaking of this kind. 
 
 "There was Reason to believe, that this Paper would, at 
 this Time, have been introduc'd to the Public with new Charac- 
 ters, as Part of a new Printing-Office from London^ had been con- 
 tracted for, by the Printer hereof, principally for that Purpose, 
 which may daily be expected; therefore 'tis hop'd these will be 
 dispens'd with till its Arrival." 
 
 The next issue of which we have a copy, only half of the 
 original and that the uninteresting first leaf containing the gen- 
 eral news, is No. 25, for December 5. This is the first of the 
 copies in the Redwood I^ibrary set of the Mercury, and it shows that 
 by this time Franklin had received the new "characters" or type, 
 for the purchase of which his Uncle Benjamin gave him credit. 
 The paper had also been enlarged to four pages, and altogether it 
 makes a very creditable appearance. 
 
 Somewhere there is probably a copy of No. 27, for a facsimile 
 re-print of this is quite common, but we have not yet found the 
 original.* No. 28 is at the Redwood Library and No. 29 in pri- 
 vate hands. The Newport Historical Society has No. 31, and 
 the Redwood Library 32. This enumeration will give some idea 
 of the way in which these old newspapers are scattered in differ- 
 ent libraries, and the task confronting a student whose investiga- 
 tions require him to examine a file, or even to verify a statement 
 which is supposed to appear in some single issue. 
 
 The Redwood Library has the most extensive set of the New- 
 port Mercury, although not numerically the largest number of 
 copies. 
 
 Of the first 205 issues, only 32 are extant so far as known, 
 and of these, two, one already mentioned and No. 91, March 11, 
 1760, are known only from reprints of unknown original copies, 
 
 * Note. —The original of No. 27 of the Mercury, to which the writer alludes, 
 was for many years in the Mercury Office in Newport, but some few years 
 ago it mysteriously disappeared. The facsimile was issued by the former 
 owner of the MERCURY, Mr. Fred A. Pratt, on its 100th birthday, in June, 1858. 
 The plates are now in the Mercury Office. 
 
doubtless hidden away on some Newport bookshelf. Of the re- 
 maining thirty, 21 are at the Redwood Library, two of the others 
 are at the Newport Historical Society and two at the Rhode Island 
 Historical Society, and one each belong to the Brown University, 
 the New York and Boston Public Libraries, the estate of the late 
 Hon. Robert S. Franklin and Mr. Fred A. Arnold of Providence. 
 
 The second James Franklin died August 22, 1762. His 
 mother, who had presumably retained her title to her share of the 
 business while it was in the hands of her son, resumed the man- 
 agement for a short time, until arrangements had been made for 
 transferring it to her son-in-law, Samuel Hall. When the widow 
 Franklin died, a few months later, April 19, 1763, Hall became 
 the owner of the establishment, and the Newport publications of 
 the next five years bear his imprint. 
 
 The Library of Congress at Washington possesses a file of 
 the Newport Mercury extending from No. 206, August 10, 1762, 
 to No. 498, March 21, 1768. There can be little doubt that this 
 was Samuel Hall's file of his newspaper, which he doubtless took 
 with him when he left Newport, and which owes its present good 
 condition to that fact. There is another file for the years 1765 
 and 1766, which was preserved by the Rev. Ezra Stiles, and is 
 now among the treasured possessions of the Yale University Li- 
 brary. Except for these two sets, we know of only 34 duplicates 
 out of the 292 issues at Washington, and of these 34, one is in 
 the British Museum, at London, one in the Wisconsin Historical 
 Society, at Madison, one in the New York Public Library and 
 three in the Massachusetts Historical Society; leaving only 27 in 
 Rhode Island, of which the Redwood Library has 22. 
 
 Early in 1768, Samuel Hall sold the Newport printing busi- 
 ness to Solomon South wick, and about the first of August he re- 
 moved to Salem, Massachusetts, where he re-established himself 
 as a printer. Southwick continued to issue the Mercury until 
 the approach of the British troops in the early winter of 1776 
 forced him to remove hurriedly to Rehoboth, and later to Attle- 
 borough. At both of these towns he did a little printing for the 
 newly declared state, and there is a statement that at Attlebor- 
 ough he printed a few numbers of a paper which continued the 
 name of The Mercury. 
 
 10 
 
MONDAY, Maich i;,, i;?*. S^^^I^^PP 
 
 NEWPORT ^^^^^MJ,; MERCUI 
 
 ContaimngtL-frepc/AJ-oices, ^^^^^'^^^^^^^^^^^m both Foreign and Dot 
 
 Undaunted by T Y R A N T S,- wImdTe or bTTR^EET 
 
 Printed by SOLOMON SOUTHWICK, in Queen-Strk 
 
 TOOK! nepio nu prfjannoni m the mom- uf Ihofc >v!io «tre mil&cre J br lie foUlien. lluui »e<< 
 ,t iheie mould be no oniwccdory df by on- ever m --• • ■ 
 
 jSovc report hrinjT rejd, tat inhabiunti lum..iimi: li,.i<: w.l.ibi.^J ir b'l. t;e'»gt°iKeik,L.ildoi 
 
 U .irK^ll.Hall, nwn 
 
 r ([CO Clemen fj T!,: ..,..^ ..s.;..-,„j>ca,n-.i.iy ii-i:u., mjui.' uin ." .iK,;.uin, .„ >oJ> De ^nxuj on mc Ipo! where iV tae 
 
 d. ;c rcjatli of refir.,c.ii 4i5 foil..!:,,- il,e,„. IV, ,h»t wee pe;t[Kct,«n i.^ical Ilcc »m> a^ltj, ii h ioeioca:o lo a,. •.,.,. of 
 
 rtHKirj ul <1^ ».;l looT, U Jrii oi Jl li..- iro^jH. The «;fJom ind t.i.l jo.na mjjj^,,, »n<i ita dcjri»:\iye cwicoti, oce. 
 
 IriO).,. n.« (.a;.cyilM^ MijiiK'iCoiin<;i »ndCol l>il:i;o. of imi'uiy ;<i-oi>. U;ug nu.jteiei. la i well re-oUua 
 
 T\en..,'.i---»a,,nlhcfe.md.; flelhe c™uunj.r jppejf in iVi! m-ifure. Two ,e. u.>,' 
 
 fT-'rt .it .,.,,„■.. ,:.,- .. -,.-•.. c/.W, ^a../ ,i« p,«„u n, ihc in,Ji) o.'tSI. P5r„loo. £,ty j >nj .he in- W- ),-.r frotn \!„A:t!.e.d, iL.1 oneTiimni, C«A, 
 
 y ■ .'-. ^ ,,. .,.-.v«j<rfrv/;,^f,„. Uo^lli,l,,..llly„,c„fo;. Tt.ofcori',c or>,l,bo«li„< » .. I 'un^ .l-_:,l, lanjins (.y the neck, in «K of lie 
 
 ' ' :,'..!.>' j^r U f^j.^iU tijwnj iKtujIly Bndcr .irnii upon ihe lir:> lepon el" (he i«v.n: .-1 hii Ju.jk, Uur jury ul m<j-jfa* vrrdi^ »-*•, 
 
 -0 ' .: .. :'t-j::n j>^thtj c-UiJ iniJUcre, and the titcnA) r.nl/ wannnfj fj brir:;.n a few h.imMr^tt. He had a ujnui-^u* tiiaily cf tJuldien, 
 
 '': -- -'■ '-'-',> -' ; > '^'J H-'-.T 'iM tit brave brethren io crLccojn'ry, drt^Iy ■■'ff.-.'V-d *itl' our tJo.:i*oikM.>: JiiJ ucjisiurii i;i, » tioiiivn»,Q. 
 
 Hii Honop'. reply, wlliel. Wij lid betbie ibe lowu »„i wiiar Impori. ■: ci.Acia .ic^i ei :. loihruliolj bv Icrae jii^rt. wllict were. ouod m'llre pock -l lUl it 
 
 lh.iia>l)Ourn-d-wthe Ola wuUi Mccting-UouK. Bin, h £in,Vi.e nj^ii kavefj,; .«.-.l, *;„cS „urm.>J.:n. Ulor.sed loo„e John iniiih, ot Kt»^rt, Rtitd,.lllM«;, 
 
 /AM,.,-.'.,!, ;,.r,fnr :U .^.b^tpy il:S=.r^n, i,- „„,e,i. . - . «oiTO».Ci.,oL. Mendjy, . .th Maitk, I yyc. 
 
 m,,.;;,..:.:/.,..... .-.v/.r,,/. .W-y;..,.,/,/tr/.e l.aj rhuiCl.y. a,..r<;.:.hV m i frMrf KJueS/.f ihe /1/>,^, £■,„ 4 G:l 
 
 
 1V,«/ .,.„. e^^./",V> i. jU^, C.:.h„ll. .-A 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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 '.>n iKijoi-ju-wmoftoflhvllKVfiutm.ii vv-re lliji. 
 
 .., .,J.:J ,J.i,. .r ,^ U.. ^.f,, .i^, :L ^4. 
 
 
 
 
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 .i... .hole in ,he „e,,Kbou,in, »«„, of 'ch.i-.lo.vr.. 
 
 /.■.J,i,r t^j, ,t, %;-/>.> ^.,i,,ullice/«,i«. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 ' -Totir i^b tiUgiii^ pji lUjlrnl hm]l.,<n-,u. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 fe.«.-t.< .,. 
 
 
 
 
 ni.iki . ajiJ (i.vuili.'; V..O. v.?. Mr. Si.t^lUr.„. from 
 
 
 ■/'•""O'^ 
 
 th.- h..nf: o; ..Ir. a,,.,ai„r, i.n,-, (h» bro:he,' on the 
 
 CoviTiKjrul ibepronnceo£Ii^^*V'"'-^'9> 
 
 Mr), M^ir-; AT.i'^inrt^ in '"T^ H A 'ly-rur Maica>''» petitioner havlnp r«eiv*4 
 
 y riwir reip-Miie rela. X n^KKe Itrrm liic orlir^ ofo^c ^rfytur M;,jcH)'* 
 
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 i.f -'.jir injun-ri 11,*^^- Howie ut'Reprvfi:iU*vi^e> ol Ihe Ll-i irr-vjace, eooiaio- 
 
 riripe:^ab[e i: ■ 1 ii.ii ^ Ichc town hJV -.p^.-T'-J a) ih--- fiir tnglauj, ihrrcoy ev,.iera;y iiu-i-Jirig lo prevent 
 !.:,u„ .;. I,-'.l,. r. anj..ii;l.; .ilter „i-hl lnvr ;;i'in tM-ir y<I«jsutK>UvP lr.,i„ f.io(o,i„j. |o,h einlenee ..( rli. 
 i;^r-J . Iall)«|j3th ,-Mi[IJc:a. michr Ke ncerllary for ka 
 
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 ■.fibettr»-nm'R,.a.n,-.OHCli I,;. J .lilchjr... ,1 .i ,,„i : f, i.nc.-l'lii.n-! fiomone.,! il.c o.wo.lu, |. li.-llioni ai'ij nuy be ..bi-in'd 1 
 
 : (.:> .J. hnufl r.- the lA'T, >u. Ri^.i.u.lbn b-.iorr hi, ni ..,, 'be '-i^tMrn^.J/j ,l-r' HlJK -f Rifrt^,,^^, Th.t 
 
 f.iav tt,.ir jjoi. «f.hK-h kind y'..m;> ontjer, onj :o <.j-e:, i^ i. a "T^^tfte.. ;;,i-fT«nfri»l«ileioW)r **« prorogued. »nd trot 
 
 'iii..in.' i,-nc of vjlialrry alVJ by a ditty brnjii.,. j< ,„ .il « lei c, Ik- i;t>ve.r.otfco: a mrlTa;,- li, ,he delkof 
 
 , 1 Ir.l. ar„,„i,f, ,1., |,j|,ij,, .SjLll.rH .. -, ie„rirrf a co^» otrl,.-ro„.,.-' r.nro ; «tld 
 
 .:■..■- I. 1. .. IO|;.,:rl;.Yltrl,-,- „-,') i, „.).-,;, . ,„.„r ^.l,e .«...., .r ».,. n,..k <■«. 4ml .1- '^^et'd totke 
 
Hall's file of the Mercury, now at the Library of Congress, 
 ends with No. 498. The file at the Rhode Island Historical 
 Society begins with No. 502, for April 18, 1768. This file is 
 nearly complete to April, 1770, and from April, 1772, to the end 
 of 1773. If it was Southwick's own file, as seems probable, the 
 vicissitudes to which his establishment was subjected immediately 
 before and during the Revolutionary war would account for the 
 fact that it is much less complete than that of his predecessor. 
 
 The volume which is missing from this file for the years 1768 
 to 1773, contained the numbers from 604 to 710. Of these 107 
 issues, only 41 have been found, divided about equally between 
 the Redwood Library and the Newport Historical Society. Three 
 are at the Massachusetts Historical Society and four in the British 
 Museum. 
 
 The Redwood Library has nearly all of the issues for 1773 
 and 1774. Most of those for 1775 are in the Newport Historical 
 Society, but many of these, as well as the copies for this year at 
 the Redwood Library, have suffered serious damage from damp- 
 ness and ill usage. The paper appeared with its usual regularity 
 until the end of October, 1775. The next issue is a single sheet 
 printed on only one side, headed "An Occasional Paper, Con- 
 taining the most important and authentic Advices. Newport, 
 Monday, Nov. 6, 1775." The explanation appears under 
 the local Newport news: "The Printer of the NEWPORT MER- 
 CURY returns his most hearty thanks to all his good friends for 
 the encouragement and support they have given and informs them 
 that, having moved the principal of his printing materials from 
 his office, on account of the tyrannic proceedings of the enemies 
 of this country, it is out of his power to continue that paper at 
 present. But hopes in a short time to be able to serve his coun- 
 try in general, and his customers in particular, with as much 
 satisfaction and advantage to them and himself as heretofore: In 
 the meantime he is determined to exert himself to the utmost of 
 his power in the present most important and glorious cause, the 
 cause of God, liberty and mankind, by publishing small occasional 
 papers, or otherwise as opportunity may offer." A week later 
 appeared "FRESHEST ADVICES, Foreign and Domestic," and 
 to this Southwick was emboldened to add his name as printer. 
 This heading was used for the two following weeks, each of these 
 
 11 
 
numbers being a single leaf printed on both sides. The first issue 
 for December resumed the Newport Mercury heading, and the 
 number, 900, which counts the four November issues. 
 
 South wick continued to issue a single two page sheet each 
 week for the next six months. The supply of paper was always 
 a cause of anxiety to the colonial printers, and as war became 
 imminent it became much more difficult to secure the regular size 
 in sufficient quantities. In June, Southwick changed the Mer- 
 cury from a folio sheet to a square small quarto, with four pages 
 which contained rather less type than the two pages previously 
 issued. "Extraordinary" issues were printed more frequently, also, 
 as the news of the approaching conflict became more and more 
 serious. These extras were not numbered, but as they were 
 counted consecutively with the regular issues, in most and per- 
 haps all cases, the irregularity is not as confusing as it would 
 otherwise have been. The first issue for 1776 was No. 904 and 
 the last that has been found, for November 25, was No. 954. Of 
 these 51 issues, 37 are known to be in libraries in Newport, Provi- 
 dence and Warren, Boston and London. 
 
 Eleven of these issues for 1776, including five that have not 
 been found elsewhere, were preserved by a New Bedford merchant, 
 William Russell, whose present representative has recently de- 
 posited them in the John Carter Brown Library. There must be 
 others of the missing numbers which were preserved in similar 
 collections or singly, hidden away on library shelves where their 
 special value is not recognized and where they are treasured merely 
 as curiosities. In due time these will come to the notice of those 
 who can use the historical material which they contain, and be 
 deposited in libraries where they can be preserved for the future. 
 
 Before the end of the year 1776, there were in all 954 numbered 
 issues and at least 44 supplements or extras. Of these, 701 are 
 now known to be extant : 287 in the Library of Congress; 227 in 
 the Redwood Library and 157 in the Newport Historical Society, 
 or 384 in Newport; 215 in the Rhode Island Historical Society 
 and 14 elsewhere in Providence. The others are scattered in 
 various libraries between Madison, Wisconsin, and London, 
 England. 
 
 After the British forces took possession of Newport, they are 
 said to have dug up Southwick's press and used it, as well as the 
 
 12 
 
type they brought with them, for printing proclamations, 
 notices, and a newspaper. The printer, John Howe, was proba- 
 bly a soldier who was experienced in this trade, for his work is 
 rather better than Newport had been accustomed to. The paper 
 was called "The Newport Gazette." There is a file of it for 1777 
 at the Redwood Library and a better one in the Pennsylvania 
 Historical Society, extending from January 16, 1777, to October 
 6, 1779. The British troops left Newport on October 25, 1779, 
 so that it is probable that the Philadelphia set is complete. 
 
 A few months later, the French fleet anchored in Newport 
 Harbor. The French admiral carried its own printing plant, for 
 issuing fleet notices, commissary blanks and the like, and this 
 was set up in a house on Water, now Washington, Street. There 
 a considerable amount of printing was done. Of most interest to 
 Rhode Islanders at the time doubtless were the orders on the 
 fleet's treasurer which were used in paying for supplies. To us, 
 the most important thing is the first edition of Chastellux' enter- 
 taining and now valuable narrative of his journey from Newport 
 to Philadelphia. 
 
 All that we know of the French newspaper is that in Bennett 
 Wheeler's "American Journal," printed at Providence on Decem- 
 ber 23, 1780, is an advertisement, offering to take in subscriptions 
 for La Gazette Francaise de Newport at half a dollar a month. 
 As the italic type in which the title of the paper was printed is 
 different from any of Wheeler's type, and has a form not used in 
 English, it seems that this advertisement must have been printed 
 with the fleet type. No copy of the paper is known. 
 
 South wick is said to have returned to Newport in January, 
 1780, as soon as the British were well out of the way. Another 
 printer, Henry Barber, started to work in Newport at the same 
 time, possibly a few weeks before Southwick got back. They 
 appear to have been more or less friendly rivals until Southwick's 
 retirement in 1787, sometimes issuing books separately and as 
 often jointly. The Mercury was revived, apparently, as soon 
 as Southwick was back, the two co-operating in its publication. 
 
 The earliest issue seen is that for July 15, 1780, No. 983. 
 Most of the issues for the next three years are known. After 1783 
 there are occasional breaks in all of the sets, sometimes extending 
 for three or four months; in 17S3 from February to May ; from 
 
 10 
 o 
 
May, 1 788, to February , 1 789; from September, 1790,10 March, 1791; 
 and from January to April, 1792. During these years the New 
 York Historical Society has many of the issues not found in 
 Rhode Island. From 1793 onward, the Mercury becomes one of 
 the common papers, and nearly all of the libraries consulted have 
 approximately complete files. 
 
 The year 1787 was one of violent political activities, for 
 which the adoption of the proposed Federal Constitution and the 
 reorganization of the national finances were only two out of many 
 social and economic causes. The state of popular unrest demanded 
 means of expression, and newspapers started up all over the coun- 
 try as organs of one or the other side. One was started and at 
 least one other projected in Newport. 
 
 "The United States Chronicle," published by Wheeler at 
 Providence on January 18, 1787, contained Proposals for establish- 
 ing "The Rhode Island Gazette" in Newport by Nathaniel 
 Phillips and Company. Phillips became the first printer in War- 
 ren, five years later, and while there he secured rather more than 
 his share of the work which had previously been done by the 
 Newport and Providence printers. He printed the "Herald of 
 the United States" in Warren, beginning in January, 1792. So 
 far as known there is no copy of his "Newport Gazette" in ex- 
 istence, and the proposed paper may not have received encourage- 
 ment enough to justify the undertaking. 
 
 Peter Edes had been in business with his father as a printer 
 at Boston, before he opened an establishment in Newport in the 
 winter of 1786-87. On February 17, the "Providence Gazette" 
 contained his proposals for issuing "The Newport Herald." No. 
 I of this paper appeared on March i, 1787, and it continued to be 
 issued until September 3, 1791, the last date found on a copy 
 which is in the New York Historical Society. Edes' paper was 
 the organ of the hard money party, the mercantile class, who 
 were endeavoring to combat the over-issuance of paper money 
 which threatened to destroy the state, and who also favored the 
 adoption of the Federal Constitution. 
 
 The adoption of the National Constitution was not the under- 
 lying cause of the prosperity which came to the United States as 
 
 14 
 
soon as its government was placed on a permanent basis, but it is 
 the cause most easily explained and so oftenest given the credit. 
 One sign of this prosperity was an extension of popular interest in 
 literature, the arts, and everything that passes as culture among 
 the generality of well-to-do persons. This led to the starting of 
 magazines and literary organs, one of which, "The Rhode Island 
 Museum," had a brief career in Newport from July 7, 1794, to 
 the following December 29. [A nearly-complete set of this paper 
 is in the possession of the Newport Historical Society.] 
 
 During the last years of the eighteenth century there was 
 another boom in newspaper efforts, the exact relationship of which 
 is not clear. "The Weekly Companion and Commercial Centinel" 
 first appeared on May 2, 1798 (not April 15, as Hammett states, 
 probably from a prospectus,) as is known from a copy belonging 
 to the American Antiquarian Society at Worcester. The Rhode 
 Island Historical Society has a copy of the issue for June 15, 1799. 
 
 This paper was suspended, and the publisher, Oliver Farns- 
 worth, turned his attention to "The Guardian of Liberty," of 
 which the first number, for October 3, 1800, is in the New York 
 Public Library. The Rhode Island Historical Society has a num- 
 ber of the later issues, but there is nothing in these, so far as read, 
 to explain Hammett's statement that the same publisher at the 
 same time was issuing another paper, "The Rhode Island Repub- 
 lican." No copies of the Republican of this period are known, 
 although it undoubtedly did exist some years later and was pub- 
 lished by Farnsworth's successors, so that it may really have been 
 the same paper under another name, which was adopted when 
 "The Guardian" showed signs of failing. 
 
 EXTANT ISSUES OF THE NEWPORT MERCURY, 1758-1800 
 
 The following list gives the number of each regular issue of 
 the Newport Mercury printed in the eighteenth century which is 
 known to be in existence. Supplements, postscripts and ex- 
 traordinary issues are noted where they have been found. During 
 1775 and 1776 these extra issues were counted in the serial 
 numbering, at least part of the time, so that it is possible to tell 
 how many are missing. At other times they appeared as occasion 
 
 15 
 
called for, and there is no means of learning how many may have 
 been issued which have since entirely disappeared. 
 
 The date of the first issue of each year is given. By counting 
 the necessary number of weeks to the corresponding day, on any 
 calendar, the date of the other issues of that year can be found. 
 Care should be taken to allow for the leap year dates. 
 
 When all, or nearly all, the numbers of a year are found in 
 one collection, the name of the library is given in parentheses. If 
 the numbers are scattered in several libraries, and files are broken, 
 no attempt is made in this list to show where they are. Each 
 copy is located in the census of Rhode Island newspapers at the 
 Rhode Island Historical Society, and this information is at the 
 service of any one who desires to use it. 
 
 The John Carter Brown Library has arranged to secure 
 photostat prints of every issue prior to the end of 1776. Especial 
 care has been taken, in this connection, with the papers of that 
 period. It has not been possible to give as much attention to the 
 later period, after the revival of the Mercury in 1780. There are 
 doubtless mistakes in the list due to irregularity in the numbering 
 or in the date of publication, and to the fact that the data has 
 been supplied largely by correspondence and not by personal 
 examination. 
 
 Any one who possesses, or who knows of the existence of any 
 numbers of the Mercury not found in this list, will do a service to 
 Rhode Island History by notifying the librarian of the Newport 
 Historical Society or of the Rhode Island Historical Society at 
 Providence. 
 
 Copies marked * are imperfect. 
 
 1758. No. I, June 19; 25, Dec. 5*; 27 (facsimile); 28. 
 1759- 29, January 2; 31*; 32; 40*; 43; 44; 47; 49; 51; 
 54; 55; 61 ; 69; 71*; 75; ^-j. 
 
 1760. 81, January I ; 89 ; 91 (facsimile); 104*. 
 
 1761. 144, May 19 ; 149; 168. 
 
 1762. 186, March 16; 187; 193; 195; 206, August 10—226 
 
 (Congress). 
 
 1763. 227, January 3— 277 (Congress). Supplement, Novem- 
 
 ber 7, 
 
 1764. 281, January 23— 286; 288— 330 (Congress). 
 
 16 
 
1765- 331) January 7— 353; 355—382 (Conoress, 338*, 352*, 
 367*.) Supplement, October 28. 
 
 1766. 383, January 6 — 434 (Congress and Yale) 
 
 1767. 436, January 12 — 486 (Congress, 453*) 
 
 1768. 487, January 4—498 (Congress); 502*; 503 ; 505—522 ; 
 
 524-537 (R.I- H. S.; 512*; 514*). 
 1769- 539, January 2—545 ; 547—549*; 554 ; 556—5^8 ; 59° 
 (R. I. H. S.) Supplement, May i. 
 
 1770. 591, January i — 603* (R. I. H. S.); 604; 607; 608; 
 
 610*; 612; 613; Postscript, June 7; 614*; 615*; 
 618; 620; 623; 624; 628; 630*: 631*; 634. Sup- 
 plement, January 15 ; February 5. 
 
 1 77 1. No. 651, February 25 ; March 4 ; 652, March 6 ; 663*; 
 
 664*; 667*; 668*; 674; 675*; 676—680; 681*; 
 682*; 683*; 684*; 685; 686; 688; 689; 691*; 692. 
 
 1772. No. 696, January 6; 711* — 747 (R. I. H. S., 718*, 
 
 741*, 744*.) Supplements, April 27; May 11 ; June 
 I ; June 8 ; June 15 ; November 9. 
 
 1773. No. 748, January 4 — 799 (R. I. H. S. and Redwood, 
 
 768*, 797*, 798*.) Supplements, February 15; Feb- 
 ruary 22 ; March 22 ; May 10 ; May 24 ; May 31 ; June 
 7; June 14; July 26; xA.ugust 8; October 11. Ex- 
 traordinary, December 7. 
 
 1774. No. 80U, January 3 — 851 (Redwood and N. H. S.) x^ct 
 
 Blocking Harbour of Boston (March 14?); Postscript, 
 April 18 ; Supplement, April 18 ; Postscript, May 2 ; 
 Supplements, May 2 ; May 9 ; May 30 ; June 6 ; June 
 13 ; July 18 ; July 25 ; August 22 ; September 5 ; 
 October 3. 
 
 1775. No. 852, January 2— 893*; 895*— 903*. (Nearly every 
 
 copy of the issues of this year is in bad condition.) 
 Extraordinary, March 15 ; North Carolina Acts, (April 
 
 24?). 
 
 1776. No. 904, January i ; 906 ; 907 ; 909 ; 911 ; 915 ; 916 ; 
 
 917; 918; 920; 921; 922; 923; 924; 926; Extra, 
 June 3; 927; 928; 930; 931; 933; July 11; July 
 
 18 ; 936 ; 937 ; 938 ; 939 ; 940 ; 945 ; 946 ; 947 ; 
 
 Extra, October ii ; 949; 951; 952; Extra, Novem- 
 ber 22 ; 954, November 25. 
 
 17 
 
i78o. No. 983, July 15 ; July 20; August 12 ; August 19 ; 
 September 9 ; September 25 ; December 14. 
 
 1781. No. 1007, January 15 ; 1008, January 20 ; 1009; ioi2*- 
 
 1014; 1020; I02i*-i024*-i043*-i045*-i053; 1055J 
 1056; 1057. (Redwood) Extra, November 6. Facsimile 
 of October 27. 
 
 1782. No. 1058, January 5-1062*; 1063; io65*-io89*— 
 
 1102; 1105— 1108. (Redwood) Extra, May 15. 
 
 1783. No. mo, January 4*; im ; 1113 ; 1121 ; 1130; 1133 ; 
 
 1134; June 23; 1135—1139; 1141. JJ42. jj^^* 
 — 1148; 1150; 1153; 1156; 1157; 1159. 
 
 1784- No. 1162, January 3; 1166; 1167; 1169 ; 1172-1175- 
 
 ^^n\ 1178*; 1180; 1181*; 1182; 1183*; Supple- 
 ment, May 29; 1185; 1187; 1188*; 1189*; 1191*- 
 Ii96*-ii99; 1202; 1203; 1205; 1206; 1208; 
 1209*; 1210*; 1212*; 1213*. (Redwood). 
 
 1785- No. 1214, January i*; 1221 ; 1223; 1226-1258*— 
 
 1259, November 12; 1260, November 21 ;— 126s 
 (N. Y. H. S. and Redwood). 
 
 1786. No. 1266, January 2 ; 1267*, January 9*; 1267, January 
 19; 1268, January 24; 1269, January 30—1287, June 
 5 ; 1288, June II ; 1289, June 19-1313, December 4 ; 
 
 ^ 1314, December 14 ; 1315, December 21 ; 1316*. 
 
 1^1. No. 1317, January 2, " 1786;" 1318, January 8*; 1320 ; 
 I32i*-i336; 1339-1349; 1351; 1352; 1354; 
 1355; 1357; 1358; 1359, October 22; 1360, Novem- 
 ber 8; 1360, (repeated) December 22. 
 
 1788. No. 1364, January 28 ; 1365; 1367*; 1368*; 1369; 
 
 1371; 1372*; 1373; 1375; 1377; 1383; 1399; 
 1401, October 13. 
 
 NOTE-During the intervening 15 weeks there were only 11 numbers. 
 
 1789. No. 141 2, February 2; 1413 ; 1414 ; 14 15, February 
 
 21 \ 1417, March 9*— 1427; 1429— 1432, June 22; 
 1433, July I— 1451 ; 1454—1459*. 
 
 1790. 1460, January 6; 1462; 1463; 1465, February 15; 
 
 1468 ; 1469 ; 1470 ; 1475, May i ; 1476 ; 1482— 
 i486 ; 1493, September 6. 
 
 NoTE-During the intervening 25 weeks there were only 14 numbers. 
 
 18 
 
No. 1508, March 5 ; 1517, May 5—1522, June 2 ; 1523, 
 
 June II— 1535; 1537— 1547; 1549; 1551- (Brown.) 
 No. 1553, January 14 — 1561, March 10 ; 1562, March 19 
 
 —1592; 1594— 1603. (Brown.) 
 No. 1604, January 7 — 1617, April 8; 1618, April 16, — 
 
 1630, July 9 ; 1631, July 23,-1654. (Brown.) 
 No. 1655, January 7 — 1675 ; 1677 — 1686 ; 1688 — 1692 ; 
 
 1694; 1696 — 1701, November 27 ; 1702, December 2 — 
 
 1706. 
 No. 1707, January 6 — 1758. 
 No. 1759, January 5 — 1810. 
 No. 181 1, January 3 — 1863. 
 No. 1864, January 2 — 1915. 
 No. 1916, January i — 1969. 
 No. 1970, January 7 — 2020. Supplement, November 15; 
 
 Extra, December 24. 
 
 19 
 
SOCIETY NOTES 
 
 EDITORIAL 
 
 The editorial committee being re- 
 duced to one person, by the resigna- 
 tions of the others elected, he begs 
 to apologize for so little editorial 
 matter, but prides himself upon the 
 paper presented in this issue. Like 
 everything which is the result of 
 the researches of Mr. Winship it is 
 most satisfactory and conclusive ; 
 invaluable in its information regard- 
 ing early Newport printing. 
 
 MEETINGS, ETC. 
 
 The regular quarterly meeting of 
 the society was held August 17th, 
 Vice President Sturgis in the chair. 
 50 new members were elected. A 
 paper on "Newport Early News- 
 papers" was read by Mr. George 
 Parker Winship of the John Carter 
 Library in Providence, and some 
 remarks were made by the Hon. 
 John P. Sanborn, editor of the Mer- 
 cury. 
 
 A Lawn Fete held upon the 
 grounds of ]Mr. and Mrs. Lawrence 
 L. Gillespie, July 18th, was largely 
 attended, and was the cause of a 
 large gathering, resulting in an in- 
 crease of interest and membership 
 in the Society, and in the addition 
 of $500 to the Building Fund. The 
 Society is much indebted to those 
 
 who labored faithfully to make it a 
 success — especially to Mr. and Mrs. 
 Gillespie, and to our Librarian. 
 
 MEMBERSHIP 
 
 Since our last publication the fol- 
 lowing new members have been ad- 
 mitted to the Society : 
 
 LIFE MEMBERS 
 
 Mr. and Mrs. Edward B. McLean 
 Mrs. Nathaniel Thaj^er 
 
 SUSTAINING MEMBERS 
 
 Mrs Livingston Hunt 
 Mrs. James P. Kernochan 
 
 ANNUAL MEMBERS 
 
 Mrs. J. B. Haggin 
 
 Mrs. Abbott E. Slade 
 
 Mr. Wm. H. Low 
 
 Mr. Amory Austin 
 
 Mr. Fred N. Easton 
 
 Mr. D. F. Sherman 
 
 Mr. Arthur S. Phillips 
 
 Prof. Joannes de Tahy 
 
 Wm. R. Hunter 
 
 Mrs. A. K. Sherman 
 
 Mrs. John J. Mason 
 
 Mrs. M. Van Beuren 
 
 Mr. George Henry Warren, Jr. 
 
 Mrs. John P. Sanborn 
 
 Mr. L. PL Hosmer 
 
 Mrs. Henry P. Perry 
 
 Mrs. Frederick Pearson 
 
 20 
 
Miss Lydia Redmond 
 Mr. M. Stoneman 
 Mrs. B. B. H. Sherman 
 Countess de San Esteban di Canongo 
 Mr. Stuart Duncan 
 Mr. John S. Kimber 
 Madame BakhmeteflF 
 Mr. and Mrs. Stuyvesant Fish 
 Mrs. Dudley Davis 
 Mrs. Stephen Elliott Balch 
 Mrs. George S. Scott 
 Mr. Victor Baxter 
 Mr. Phoenix Ingraham 
 Mr. Dulaney Rowland 
 District Attorney Charles S. Whit- 
 man 
 Mrs. Henry Barton Jacobs 
 Mr. Anthony Stewart 
 Mrs. Pembroke Jones 
 
 Mrs. E. S. Reynal 
 Mrs. J. B. Forsyth 
 Mrs. George Peabody Eustis 
 
 ASSOCIATE MEMBERS 
 
 Miss Lizzie Ellis 
 
 Miss Rebecca T. Bosworth 
 
 Miss Annie Cottrell 
 
 Mr. George P. Lawton 
 
 Mr. Eugene C. O'Neill 
 
 Mrs. George Whitefield Mead 
 
 OUR PRESENT MEMBERSHIP IS : 
 
 Life members 59 
 
 Sustaining members 42 
 
 Annual members 215 
 
 Associate members 7 1 
 
 387 
 
 21 
 
RECENT ACCESSIONS OF SPECIAL INTEREST 
 
 LIBRARY 
 
 Biographical notices of graduates of Yale College, including those 
 graduated in classes later than 1815, who are not commemorated in the 
 annual obituary records. By Franklin Bowditch Dexter, Litt. D. 
 
 Donor, Hon. George Peabody Wetmore. 
 
 Some Records of the Northup & Tucker families of Rhode Island 
 with Notes on Intermarrying Families. 1914. 
 
 Donor, Mr. Wm. G. Northup. 
 
 The Society of Colonial Wars in the State of Rhode Island and 
 Providence Plantations. The second record book of the Society. 1902- 
 1914. Together with the accounts of Daniel Jenckes, one of the Com- 
 mittee of War of the Colony of Rhode Island, during 3 years, 1758, 1759, 
 1760, of the French & Indian War. 
 
 Donor, Society of Colonial Wars. 
 
 The Diary of Thomas Minor, Stonington, Conn. 1(553 to 1684, 
 prepared for publication by Sidney H. Minor and George D. Stanton, 
 .Jr., 1899. Donor. Mr. R. M. Barrett. 
 
 The Davis Family Record, edited by Charles H. S. Davis, M. D. 
 A.M. Monthly journal devoted to the History and Genealogy of the 
 Davis family. Nov. 1867-1868. Donor, Mr. R. M. Barrett. 
 
 MUSEUM 
 
 Japanese Table (Gold Lacquer). 
 
 Japanese Rest for Arms when Reading (CJold Lacquer). 
 Japanese Dressing Stand (Gold Lacquer). 
 
 Japanese Mirrors (Steel) to go with Dressing Stand (Gold Lacquer). 
 Japanese Shoes. 
 1 Pair Small Embroidered. 
 » 1 Pair Normal Embroidered. 
 1 Pair Men's Straw. 
 Japanese Figures Wrestling. 
 Leaf Fan, Jamaica. 
 Tall, Narrow Basket, Jamaica. 
 
 Given by the President. 
 
 MANUSCRIPTS 
 
 Two Order Books of Col. Sherburne, 
 
 (lift of Gen. William Ennis. 
 
 22 
 
OFFICERS 
 
 OF THE 
 
 Newport Historical Society 
 
 For the year ending May^ ^9^5 
 
 President, HON. DANIEL B. FEARING 
 First Vice-President, REV. RODERICK TERRY, D. D. 
 
 Second Vice-President, MR. FRANK K. STURGIS 
 
 Third Vice-President, MR. ALFRED TUCKERMAN 
 
 Recording Secretary, MR. JOHN P. SANBORN 
 
 Corresponding Secretary, MR. GEORGE H. RICHARDSON 
 
 Treasurer, MR. HENRY C. STEVENS, Jr. 
 
 Librarian, MISS EDITH MAY TILLEY 
 
 Curator of Coins and Medals, DR. EDWIN P. ROBINSON 
 
 Board of Directors 
 
 THE OFFICERS and 
 
 for three years 
 MRS. HAROLD BROWN DR. WILLIAM S. SHERMAN 
 
 MRS. RICHARD C. DERBY MR. JOB PECKHAM 
 
 FOR TWO YEARS 
 
 MRS. THOMAS A. LAWTON MR. HAMILTON B. TOMPKINS 
 
 MRS. FRENCH VANDERBILT MR. GEORGE L. RIVES 
 
 FOR ONE YEAR 
 
 MRS. WILLIAM R. MORGAN COL. C. L. F. ROBINSON 
 
 MR. JONAS BERGNER REV. GEORGE V. DICKEY 
 
BULLETIN 
 
 OF THE 
 
 N e wport H ist orical S ociety 
 
 Number Fifteen NEWPORT. R. I. January, 1915 
 
 The Story of Election Day 
 
 Being the Remaining Portion of the Paper Eead before the Society on 
 May 27th, 1913 
 
 By 
 Miss M. E. POWEL 
 
 (The other part of the paper having been published in 
 Bulletin No. 8, July, 1913). 
 
 The presumption of my being here will, I trust, be pardoned by 
 yourself, the members of this Society and their guests, because, more 
 than sixty years ago, I was living on the Parade and as a child was 
 familiar with its historic sights and scenes. 
 
 This is no formal address, only a humble suggestion that the local- 
 ities of many important events are in danger of being forgotten. 
 
 Are we not doing injustice to ourselves in the obliteration of what 
 Time still gives us ! — Videlicet, running a wire through the Liberty 
 tree — planted always with such solemnity; barring out all access to 
 this end of the Town Beach save for foot passengers ; closing other 
 beaches and much shore ; letting that noble erection of Peter Harrison, 
 the Brick Market, rot on its foundation, and leaving the walls of Settler 
 Bull's house, perhaps older than the Stone Mill and probably as strong 
 to chance of final destruction unless purchased by private subscription 
 or public money. Europe cherishes, we pull down our ruins. 
 
 But these are all of the tangible past. There is something intangi. 
 
ble to consider today. The scenes of Election Day and the Parade-//^^ 
 scene of Election Day. The heart of Newport, south of " the River » 
 and west of "the Running Spring " that is housed now under a stone 
 and iron cap between the stables of Mr. George P. Lawton. Let us 
 who live in the Present, also walk in the Past. 
 
 The story of the Parade is the story of the town. It is the scene, 
 rom the town's inception, of its strongest vitality, and the greatest of 
 the days of all its years is— Election Day. 
 
 A salient point in the history of this State is the ability of the first 
 comers, neither peasants nor criminals but persons of intelligence, 
 education, and frequently of good birth and substance in the old coun- 
 try, to cast ofi-all habits of comfort and ease, to know how to assume 
 the laborious hfe of a wilderness, to endure its toil. Their few servants 
 could have availed but little. It must have been easier far for their 
 children, born to it, with no haunting memories of old England, know- 
 mg nothing else, and forced from their infancy to work for their daily 
 subsistence, to invent their tools and implements requisite for daily life 
 and use them, than it ever could have been for those brave hearts who 
 first endured all for freedom with the hopeful courage that inspired 
 constant emigration from the land of their birth. 
 
 Now we all know that in 1636 Mr. Roger Williams and a handful 
 ot his friends, exiled and outlawed by the intolerant pietists of the Bay 
 Colon.y planted Providence about a great spring, not far from a slate 
 rock where some surprised and kindly Indians, startled from customary 
 silence, had greeted them with - What Cheere, Netop?" (or Friend) 
 
 That two years later, in 1638, Mr. William Coddington and his 
 scanty tolhmmg, under precisely the same circumstances but bent on 
 putting great distance between themselves and their enemies, acting by 
 advice of Mr. Williams, given while they tarried at Providence, diverged 
 from their intended journey, to the northwest end of the Island of 
 Aquidney, and that thus the town of Portsmouth came into being in 
 two tiny hamlets, Pocasset, before long abandoned, and a " New Town » 
 that exists to this day. 
 
 That on the last day of April next following, Nicholas Easton and 
 two others took boat at Pocasset and coasted southward many miles 
 until they landed for the night on the shore of a sheltered cove, where 
 they Slept, and the next day. May the first, 1639, joined by Mr Cod- 
 dington, Mr. John Clark, and some other restless families from Ports- 
 month, their journey ended, and they founded Newport. 
 
 A fourth town sprang into being on the mainland three years later 
 -in 1642-Warwick-not named, like that of Mr. Williams in devout 
 gratitude, nor like the matter-of-fact geographical localities of Mr Cod- 
 
 cm 
 
lington, for Pocasset was the Indians' name for both shores of the land 
 n that vicinity and the English settlers probably employed it as it was ; 
 >ut this fourth town was named Warwick after that Earl Robert — in 
 Cngland — who was then the Lord High Admiral of New England, and 
 rhose patronage might thus properly be complimented. 
 
 Now the present State of Rhode Island (omitting question of certain 
 lastic boundaries long undecided) originally consisted of these four 
 owns that were six years in making. Providence and Warwick had 
 10 executive head until 1647— but Mr. Coddington had at once, and 
 »roperly, become the executive head of Portsmouth and entitled Judge, 
 ,nd on his leaving for Newport in the spring, Mr. VVm. Hutchinson 
 •ecame Judge of the north end of this Island for almost a year. 
 
 Four days after landing in Newport in May, the other leading 
 ettlers ratified Mr. Coddington's continuing their chief executive or 
 udge; and on the 12th of March, 1640, Mr. Coddington acquired 
 he Governorship of the whole Island of Aquidney, compri.siing both 
 owns, and continued in that office until 1647. 
 
 It is difficult to find details of exact location for the earliest — or 
 iven for many later elections. We know that the pioneers found heavy 
 orest, and flowing brooks — rivers to English eyes — swamp, rock and 
 latural meadow. What is now the Parade may have been reached by 
 he sizeable river then curving just north of it and joined near the cove 
 )y the trickling rivulet overflowing from the '' running spring." The 
 lewcomers must have seen here a practical place easy to clear of small 
 mshes, and let us hope that it was on this little sunny meadow, now 
 he Parade, that Mr. Coddington bared his head and took his solemn 
 )ath of officie. 
 
 The Parade has varied its boundaries and worn many titles. In 
 he earliest deeds few roads or ways are given any specific names, they 
 ire more described as extending through, or between, owned lands 
 lefined as bounded by a rock and a tree, or the like. Long after, one 
 side of the Parade was called Ann Street, the other Queen Street. The 
 ' Grand Parade " of the British officers was speedily changed to Con- 
 gress Street by our French Allies. It remained unpaved for one hun- 
 Ired and twelve years — until cobbled in 1751, the cost being raised by 
 I lottery. The Mall, too, has known changes. It is comparatively 
 •ecent, the result of fire and war, that destroyed the ancient houses 
 brmerly there, leaving only the two old guns of the Colony's ship Tartar 
 )f 1740 — until the dreary waste was transformed into a leafy park about 
 1800. The fountain, three times renewed, is even more recent, and the 
 t\'est end of the Mall was cut off" and cobbled about 1870, Gossip whis- 
 pered, to throw the new Perry Hotel into full view, — and now adds that 
 
some crazy automobile will surely destroy the Tartar's guns — such 
 important relics of public service ! 
 
 In 1643 the Long Parliament of England granted a Charter or 
 Patent, which in 1647 came into effect, and the four towns, Providence 
 and Warwick on the mainland, Portsmouth and Newport on this Island, 
 were united under it. The Presidents or chief executives for the next 
 four years, each receiving office in May — were consecutively John 
 Coggeshall and Jeremy ( Clarke, both of Newport, John Smith of War- 
 wick and Nicholas Easton of Newport, from May 1650 to August, 1651. 
 
 Jeremy Clarke — (whose son. Governor Walter Clarke, opened 
 Clarke Street) — took the place of Mr. Coddington, who had been elected, 
 but the General Court would not engage him, for there had been serious 
 political accusations, and it was owing greatly to these that in 1651 a 
 separation took place between Portsmouth and New{)ort, Governor 
 Coddington objecting violently to the union of the whole province and, 
 as he considered for good and sufficient reasons, had gone to England 
 previous to 1649-50 to establish permanently his own supreme author- 
 ity for life over the Island towns, and did return in 1651 with 
 such a commission signed by Bradshaw. But the inhabitants would 
 have none of it ! Now Mr. Coddington was a wise man and fought no 
 further, this Commission remained unenforced. It has since been a 
 question in many minds ; the majority long urging that Mr. Codding- 
 ton hoped to become something like a Dutch patroon or landed propri- 
 etor — an English dukedom if no English title in his grasp. Others, 
 numbering one of the most sage and profound of Rhode Island's histo- 
 rians, claim that he was purely patriotic in his course, desiring to save 
 the Colony, if united, from future absorption by those on its borders. 
 Be it as it may, Mr. Coddington was much respected in the community 
 he had founded, was elected Governor of the Colony some twenty-three 
 years after tiiese troubles, re-elected for several years and died in office, 
 having long outlived all dissensions and accepted and remembered as a 
 sagacious and revered leader. 
 
 Knowing this, it will not detract from his reputation to submit 
 this extract from a letter of that warm abettor and fiery opponent, Mr. 
 Roger Williams, written at the time of the re-union of the towns, to his 
 friend, 'the truly honourable Sir Henry Vane (the younger) at his house 
 in Belleau in Lincolnsliire " where, when seeking the Parliament char- 
 ter, Mr. Williams had sojourned, an honored guest, for some six weeks. 
 
 " I7th of 6th month (1654). Sir : We were in complete order 
 until Mr. Coddington, wanting that public self-denying spirit which you 
 commend to us in your letter, procured by most untrue information a 
 monopoly of part of the Colony, viz.: Rhode Island, to himself and so 
 
occasioned our general disturbance.'' And then that wild goose quill 
 flew on, describing with acidity one Mr. Dyre, whose farm was where 
 Cloyne School now stands, and whose wife forced her way, poor soul, 
 to a violent death on Boston Common. 
 
 From 1654 to 1663, the last of the Presidents held oflfice over the 
 entire Colony, They were Nicholas Easton, Roger Williams, Benedict 
 Arnold, William Brenton, and again Benedict Arnold. All, excepting 
 of course Mr. Williams, from Newport and all annually elected in May ; 
 each serving from a few months to several years and the two last very 
 prominent and prosperous men. 
 
 The form of election in this State is said to have been always " to 
 serve as Governor for one year and until another be elected." Those 
 serving for less than a year have either died, or in later years, once or 
 twice, resigned, in order to enter Congress, like Governor Sprague, to 
 join the Army, etc., and in one case only, in 1775, the Governor for 
 political reasons was deposed. 
 
 Now during the years in which these few men were occupied by, 
 to them important, but to the world at large trivial daily incidents, 
 events of vast moment were occurring in old England. From time to 
 time letters had gone thence, humblest of humble petitions to the Long 
 Parliament, to Oliver the Lord Protector, to his weak son Richard, who 
 was never useful to anybody, and now the dawn of another day was 
 gleaming through the mists of the Atlantic. Charles II had returned 
 to his patrimony, the Regicides were executed or fled, and the local 
 authorities found it wise and prudent not to depend upon so shaky a 
 testimonial as the Charter of the Parliament but to petition again, and 
 this time, to King Charles, for a new one. 
 
 Here a little digression into private life seems in order, from before 
 the period of the Royal Charter and lor some time after. 
 
 What a long-enduring "good old charter "it was, lasting until 
 1842, when it gave place to the Constitution of Rhode Island. Its 
 burial was of the military order — the Dorr War. That shrewd lawyer, 
 Benjamin Hazard of Newport, is avered to have been this Charter's 
 strongest upholder, and so long as he lived his terse phrases gave his 
 opponents much to consider, little to deny. 
 
 Before a great day, there must be great preparation. In the baby- 
 hood of the Colony the little Island towns and the sparse plantations 
 on the mainland saw gatherings of the landed heads of families — they 
 and their eldest sons alone had right to vote. Grave discussions arose, 
 frequently vigorous ones sometimes tempered by religious interpola- 
 tions — very apt too. Even after King Phillip's War in 1675, there 
 being no very sizeable room in Providence, such meetings were held 
 
under the buttonwood tree opposite what became Crawford Street and 
 also, before public meeting places were provided, Smith's mill and his 
 grain bags afforded shelter and seats for the politicians. Very much 
 later than this, in Newport, places of public entertainment were em- 
 ployed, and a kitchen on Broad Street in Newport is recorded and voted 
 as a place of meeting for the General Assembly. Some of us now living 
 have not forgotten how without lawful right " Congress sat'' in the shoe 
 shops on the Main Street and in the dear old lioatbuilders' shops on 
 Long Wharf where a gentle sizzle of steam mingled with hot party ex- 
 pressions and calm retrospection — preparatory to more ratified meetings. 
 However, over two centuries and a half ago it required more than 
 caucus, primary and tickets for boat or car, to bring the voter to 
 Newport. The goodman had to leave his field to multitudinous crows, 
 provide food and fuel, perhaps trap a wolf or, in the Narragansett, shoot 
 a wildcat. Then, in the first years, he must see to his matchlock and 
 bandolier, or if the niggardly policy of neighboring colonies prevailed, 
 depend on sword, pike or bow and arrow, for by law he had to go armed 
 to vote, even to the day of longbarreled gun, flint, steel and greased 
 patches. Then goodbye to wife and child, praying in his heart that 
 no firewater was working mischief in the neighborhood; and, dressed in 
 rough homespun, turn from his little habitation— one or two rooms at 
 most clinging to a big stone chimney — follow the narrow Indian trail — 
 not yet roughened into a bridle-path — (It took sixty years to do that) — 
 or putting out in pinace, dugout or canoe— much the best route— head 
 for Newport. His wife doubtless watched him to the horizon, then 
 with a sigh turned frugally to the remnants of johnnycake left from his 
 wallet, to drying herbs, carding wool, and the other manifold labors of 
 the day until at last, the cow penned, the sheep folded, with bended 
 head she devoutly prayed that tomorrow in Newport would bring the 
 desired result. 
 
 The bright sparks of the hickory and walnut logs covered with ashes, 
 in the kitchen, her weary bones lying on a bed ot feathers beneath 
 a coarse blanket— resting there— half asleep— she would not have been 
 woman had she not seen visions of far distant days when in this grow- 
 ing land her future grandson might be governor, her granddaugliter 
 mistress of a big town house, and though now to live in a lonely coun- 
 try plantation on the shore edging the wilderness was her husband's 
 lot, if not themselves, surely their posterity might aspire to take part in 
 what the fine growing town of Newport had already acquired and was 
 at present so sedulously keeping to herself. 
 
 Not until later when the more distant towns came into being, was 
 there much travelling by land. By water was far easier than forcing a 
 
 6 
 
way through briard, around great rocks, fording brooks, and penetrating 
 primeval forest filled with dangers and occasionally uncanny by super- 
 stition. Still the Settlers were stout hearted and from all the planta- 
 tions on the continent and islands struggled into Newport. 
 
 The early ferries, in themselves, are an interesting item of Colonial 
 history. Four are very ancient. The first was across from a place on 
 Warwick Neck to the north end of Prudence, thence by foot down that 
 island to its south end, and from there over to Rhode Island where 
 vestiges of a little ferry house or travellers' shelter were still extant 
 seventy years ago, at the north end of Portsmouth — and were supposed 
 by Historian Henry Bull to be of the earliest erection. 
 
 After a time the sensible General Assembly in quaintly worded 
 fashion set forth that so serious was the inconvenience to the farmer, to 
 leave his occupation in the midst of his busy planting season, &c., &c., 
 that ratified meetings were to be held in his local town and those free- 
 men of the Colony, so entitled, were to deposit their votes, signed with 
 their name — or mark — and a properly accredited town officer was to 
 bring these ''prox " or proxy votes to be counted at Newport on the day 
 of Election. It was a wise law and well executed, and the votes with 
 all decency and some pomp were carried in parcels in the procession by 
 the proper ofificers and were opened and counted in due form within 
 the appointed places of meeting or the Colony house. Since discovered 
 by the old Dutch seafarer, Admiral Blok, his elusive Island, that rises 
 and falls if she does not drag and swing on her cable, has always given 
 trouble. The elements make it a hard fight for New Shoreham, and 
 the Colonial spring was not a whit more sultry or settled weather than 
 our own, and the Election Day as appointed by the Royal Charter was 
 the first Wednesday in May, not the last Tuesday as set forth by an 
 amendment in 1854 to the Constitution of 1842. However, to her last- 
 ing credit, the Block Island boat has always come over just as soon as 
 she could and done her very best both for eager passengers huddled to- 
 gether and for the votes tucked into the cuddy out of the way of cattle 
 and codfish — " Block Island turkeys" ! But Block Island of a certain 
 was not concerned in the earliest elections, for she comes into the later 
 period of voting and is only mentioned here as one of the difficult 
 routes for travel. 
 
 It was in the year 1663 that a new Charter came from the King's 
 gracious majesty, and was brought into Newport on the greatest day that 
 the town had seen in her twenty-four years of existence. 
 
 Not on the annual May Election Day, but on an especial one, the 
 24th of November, 1663, there sat at Newport a Court of Commission- 
 ers, the most solemn event that this town had known. All six of the 
 
 7 
 
Commissioners for each of the four towns were present. Those for 
 Newport were the President of the Colony, Benedict Arnold, whose term 
 of office, of course, was then to expire— William Brenton, William Cod- 
 dington, James Barker, John Coggeshall and John Cranston. All had 
 been presidents or were to become governors of the Colony in future 
 years, except Mr. Barker of Portsmouth, who shortly became a Deputy 
 or Lieutenant-Governor. 
 
 The Charter of the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Planta- 
 tions granted by King Charles II in England on the 8th day of July, 
 1663, was to be received by a full Court of Commissioners in the 
 presence of a large assemblage of the freemen from all parts of the 
 Colony. 
 
 Think of the little town nestling along the waterfront and here and 
 there reaching up into the encircling hillside woods and fields— brown 
 and bare, or possibly, white with snow. The short afternoon, to end in 
 a glowing sunset, forerunner of a peaceful morrow. The chimneys 
 sending up thin trails of smoke, beacons to the travellers still afar oflf. 
 The happy faces at the landings and watching out the main road, eager 
 for sight of long separated kin or friend, and the crisp snow crunching 
 down under hurrying feet all turned to a single destination ! 
 
 There is no mention of the route he followed. The Charter was 
 brought into Court by Captain George Baxter, who had received it in 
 charge from Mr. John Clark, the Agent of the Colony in London. None 
 could have been more wisely selected. 
 
 Now. verbatim from the Records as transcribed by Henry Bull (but 
 in parts somewhat condensed) : 
 
 Voted : That Captain George Baxter be desired to bring forth and 
 present the Charter to this Court. 
 
 Voted: That this Court be adjourned until tomorrow morning, 
 eight of the clock, to give way (time) for the Charter to be read. 
 
 November 24, 1663. At a very great Meeting and Assembly of the 
 freemen of the Colony of Providence Plantations at Newport on Rhode 
 Island in New England, the above Assembly being legally called and 
 orderly met for the solemn reception of His Majesty's gracious Letters 
 Patent, unto them sent, and having in order thereto chosen the Presi- 
 dent, Benedict Arnold, Moderator of the Assembly. It is ordered and 
 voted nemene contradecejtte : 
 
 Voted 1st:— That Mr. John Clark, the Colony's Agent's letters to 
 the President, Assistants and Freemen of the Colony be opened and read. 
 Which was accordingly done with good delivery and attention. (These 
 letters are said to be lost.) 
 
 Voted 2nd :— That the Box in which the King's Gracious Letters 
 
 8 
 
(the Charter) were enclosed be opened, and the Letters with the Broad 
 Scale thereto affixed be taken forth and read by Captain George Baxter 
 in the audience and view of all the people. 
 
 Which was accordingly done, and the said Letters, with His Ma- 
 jesty's Royal Stampe and the Broad Scale with much beseeming gravity 
 held on high and presented to the perfect view of the people : and so 
 returned into the Box and locked up by the Governor in order to the 
 Safe Keeping of it. 
 
 Voted 3 : — That the most humble thanks of the Colony to our most 
 Gracious Sovereign Lord King Charles of England, &c., for the high 
 and inestimable — yea — the incomparable grace and favor unto the 
 Colony in giving those His Gracious Letters Patent to us, that thanks 
 may be presented and restored (returned) by the Governor, and Deputy 
 Governor in behalf of the whole Colony. 
 
 Then thanks were voted to the Lord High Chancellor Clarendon, 
 for his exceeding great care and love for this Colony. Mr. Clark was 
 voted a sum of money and all his expenses as Agent — but it was many 
 years a paying — and a gift of £1h sterling in currency was ordered for 
 Captayne Baxter, who had hastened over from Boston with the precious 
 Charter, on his landing from England. 
 
 The next day, November 25th, the Assembly again sat at Newport 
 i^ ^ ^ The Governor, Benedict Arnold, in presence of the 
 Deputy Governor, William Brenton, was engaged (sworn in) and in 
 turn all the others. The following day the Governor, &c., having in- 
 formed the Indian Kings " Quissuckquansh '' and "Nineganitt" that 
 His Gracious Majesty having taken notice of the Narragansett Sachems 
 submitting themselves to His Majesty's royal father, Charles I, by a 
 writing under their hands about 19 years ago — ^ * * # 
 
 &c. {Long and interesting) ^ ^ concluded by informing 
 
 the Senior Sachem that His Majesty in his Patent had been graciously 
 pleased to take him and all the Narragansett Indians and their lands 
 under his gracious protection as subjects to himself, under the Gov- 
 ernor of this Colony. The said Sachem did voluntarily make answer, 
 that he most kindly thanked King Charles for his grace therein. 
 
 This was repeated with the other Indian Sachem, and shortly the 
 Assembly adjourned. 
 
 The following year Mr. Roger Williams was requested to transcribe 
 the Charter. Do not these old words put before our eyes those days in 
 Newport, as well as Mr. Williams with quill and inkhorn patiently 
 inscribing line after line in his neat handwriting until he ends with a 
 fine flourish, '• By the King. • Howard.' '' 
 
 So early as this there is no mention of any Colony House, but so 
 
 9 
 
exalted a cause must have convened the Court in the best place accessi- 
 ble. It IS to be hoped-on the Parade-although perhaps it sat behind 
 where the Union Bank building now stands, for that was the site of 
 Governor Benedict Arnold's house. His son, Benedict. Jr., built on 
 the water side west of Gidley street the fine house that is still there. 
 
 The original parchment, the Royal Charter itself, is preserved in 
 the office of the Secretary of State in Providence. It continued in force 
 from Its reception in November, 1663, until the adoption of the Consti- 
 tution of the State of Rhode Island in November, 1842— a period of 
 one hundred and seventy-nine years. 
 
 With all allowance for the many failings of Charles II and his 
 Chancellor Clarendon, Rhode Island has cause for lasting gratitude for 
 their wise and generous conduct in the granting of this Charter, and 
 particularly to Clarendon who probably supervised the text thereof far 
 more closely than his master, the King. So we may close our eyes 
 with civility upon certain later occurrences in which the good faith of 
 the Chancellor was somewhat obscured— Acreage, boundaries and the 
 like. 
 
 King Charles died on the 6th of February, 1685, and was succeeded 
 by his brother, James the Second— proclaimed at Newport on the ist of 
 May in honorable fashion. On the 6th of that month Henry Bull, he 
 ot the stone house on Spring street facing Bull's Gap, was elected Gov- 
 ernor, and the Assembly proceeded to petition the new King, begging 
 continuance of the royal favor bestowed by the late sovereign of blessed 
 memory. Public notice of new accessions and ceremonious addresses 
 were customary, and dutifully performed on all such occasions, and 
 while we have only reason to hope that these early ones took place on 
 the Parade, we know that all the later were performed either within or 
 without the Colony Houses and before the multitude therefor assem- 
 bled. 
 
 For a number of years after the death of King Charles, Newport 
 witnesses many troubled scenes. Governors Andros and Bellomont 
 were ordered to include New England in their jurisdiction over New 
 York, and so serious were the difficulties under the attempted rule of 
 the first, that he was arrested and imprisoned in Boston. He then fled 
 to Newport, where by request of the imperious Massachusetts Colony, 
 he was nominally put under arrest in the house of his friend, Peleg 
 Sanford-that same historic house on Broad Street that had seen the 
 departure of Colonel Church for the slaughter of King Philip—" and an 
 armed guard placed in patrol about its walls." Before this, the pre- 
 cious Charter had been demanded, its abrogation insisted upon Saga- 
 cious Governor Walter Clarke had handed it privately to a relative. 
 
 10 
 
The Committee arriving — it was said to be in a chest. " Break it open 
 yourselves." " Come and take it ! " The Charter was saved, but the 
 Colony's government much in confusion. 
 
 No wonder in such tribulations the need of an established place of 
 meeting was felt by the General Assembly, and in 1687 no less a sum 
 than jCIQO was ordered to be levied and raised in the several towns of 
 " this province or county " for the building of a court house in the 
 town of Newport and another on Tower Hill in South Kingstown, repair- 
 ing the jail at Newport, and for one or two minor matters. Francis 
 Brinley, Peleg Sanford and John Foanes were appointed a committee to 
 build the two court houses " the first," says Henry Bull, " in the Col- 
 ony," and the Treasurer was ordered to pay to the Committee's order 
 the amount indicated. This tax was leviable in money, sheep's wool, 
 spring butter, Indian corn and pork — all at established values ; and of it 
 Newport was rated at ^38, Portsmouth at £3\ . Owing to the disturb- 
 ance occasioned by Andros, and Walter Clarke's brave conduct in the 
 concealment of the Royal Charter, there was confusion in many matters 
 and some time later, a committee was appointed to demand that the 
 Treasurer refund the ;i^30 in money and three hundred pounds in wool 
 remaining with him, and which had been appropriated to the perfecting 
 of the Colony House in Newport. So it seems that the building must 
 have been some time uncompleted. Seven years afterward, in 1695, 
 the General Assembly while in session voted that on complaint of most 
 of the freemen of the Colony it forbid the use of the Colony House for 
 other than judiciary and military purposes, and not for any ecclesiasti- 
 cal purposes or uses of that nature. Now this, in the light of post-Rev- 
 olutionary days, is somewhat amusing. It is very interesting to trace 
 the history of this first Colony House. A wooden Colony House, by 
 all claimed to be the first, stood on the site of the present brick State 
 house, or Courthouse, of today. It was removed in 1739 — to give place 
 for this one now standing — a short life for a building of those days — 
 only fifty-two years. One portion found an abiding place on the west 
 side of Prison street just behind the " Buttrick house '' on the corner of 
 the Parade. It was a plain, substantial, small, dingy building that I 
 saw from my nursery windows, and has only recently been pulled 
 down. The other half of the Colony House — claimed by some author- 
 ities to have been "a second Colony House," — was removed, at the 
 same time as the first, to Broad Street, and was owned in the 19th 
 century by one White, a shopkeeper. Whether this was a separate 
 building or simply an addition to the first has not yet been noted — but 
 both, if there were two, must have been very near together, and proba- 
 bly within the present foundation. All writers so far examined agree 
 
 11 
 
that what is styled the first Colony House was the one removed to 
 Prison Street. 
 
 But no matter what was the Colony House, it failed, as all else, to 
 suit that other Lordly Governor General Bellomont of New York, and 
 of New England, who landed on the north end of the Island in 1698, 
 arriving in state with his party of followers and deferentially met in 
 Portsmouth by Governor Samuel Cranston, his assistants, and a small 
 troop of horse, and thus escorted into Newport with more honor than 
 pleasure — for his principal errand, beyond the ever-vexing question of 
 Colony boundaries — was to break up certain practices on the high seas, 
 that nowadays would hardly be deemed legitimate methods, yet were 
 then very filling to the pocket and openly followed. This sulky 
 noble lord has left written testimony of his spiteful opinion of his 
 week's sojourn among the inhabitants of Newport — and the General 
 Assembly had placed a sum of no less than forty pounds in the hands 
 ot Governor Cranston for his entertainment ! 
 
 It is indeed remarkable that under the Royal Charter of King 
 Charles from its reception in 1663 to May, 1729 — a period of sixty- 
 four consecutive years — the annual elections of the united Colony all 
 occurred in Newport, and that no less than eighteen of her citizens 
 were consecutively elected to the honorable office of Governor. Five 
 of them died m office. Governor William Coddington included — he had 
 become a Quaker in common wiih other persons of condition in New- 
 port. Others of these Governors, sometimes for several direct or 
 collateral generations, were of the same family, and of the eminent 
 list Governor Samuel Cranston, son of Governor John Cranston, was 
 annually elected for thirty consecutive years, from May, 1698, to 1727^ 
 when he died in office in the month of April just prior to Election 
 day. Naturally with these conditions Election day was not only the 
 occasion of great political importance but also a family reunion in 
 numerous households in Newport, where the Governor might be a 
 grandfather, a nephew, or a grandson, and related to two-thirds of the 
 community. 
 
 Some of these worthy Governors were venerable men when 
 elected, as for example, Nicholas Easton the Settler, who was last 
 chosen Governor of the Colony at the age of eighty in 1672. No 
 wonder that his posterity even to the present are blessed with vigor- 
 ous long life. Governor Easton, leaving a large and valuable estate, 
 as well as an excellent record, died in 1675 — ^ Quaker — he had given 
 the land whereon the F'riends' meeting-house still stands, but lies 
 buried with some six other of the chief magistrates of Rhode Island 
 in the Coddington ground on Farewell Street, not a stone's throw 
 
 12 
 
from where his own home, the first house built in Newport, had stood 
 before it was burned by the Indians — accidentally, it is believed, not 
 maliciously. The Indians do not appear to have purposely misbehaved 
 on this Island at any time although precautionary measures were 
 sometimes employed in view of their depredations elsewhere in the 
 Colony. 
 
 The name of Cranston figures often in the annals of the Colony 
 and Samuel Cranston was undoubtedly one of its best Governors. 
 Son of Governor John Cranston, he probably held office longer than 
 any man ever subjected to an annual popular election. His just 
 views and inflexible firmness kept his constituency well in hand and 
 carried the Colony — " explormg unknown paths of government,'' 
 writes Dr. Turner — safely through a season of severe trial. In the 
 paper money vexation, the early forerunner of so many years of dis- 
 comfort to the State he "acted as best he could." Liberal towards 
 religious sects, yet neither joming nor attending meetings himself, he 
 was beloved and esteemed. A sterling good man. And he also pro- 
 tected and assured the public welfare when the Colony was threatened 
 both at home and abroad. It is only the other day that one of the 
 last homesteads of the family by the name of Cranston fell to give 
 space to the Army & Navy Y. M. C. A. under the very shadow of the 
 State House, but the house ot Governor Samuel Cranston stood on 
 the site of the store of the Messrs. Covell on Thames Street and there 
 the patriarchal old Governor was wont to sit on his stoop — a word not 
 much employed in New England — smoking his pipe in the shade of a 
 large tree. Across the Main Street, a little back, stood the stone 
 house of his father, the earlier Governor John. This was pulled down 
 after the Revolutionary War by Charles Feke, a well known charac-. 
 ter, who spent his own later years in a house on the Parade. Both 
 the Governors Cranston, father and son, are buried beneath a single 
 flat stone in the old Common Burial Ground, and three score years ago 
 many innocent little children held impromptu wild strawberry feasts 
 on this and the other convenient table slabs hard by. 
 
 While the General Assembly was sitting at Newport in the 
 month of June, 1732, James Franklin, a printer, from Boston, not long 
 settled on the Parade, probably at first in the old schoolhouse west of 
 the present Mall, petitioned to be employed as printer to the Colony, 
 having been at great expense in establishing a printing press, and so 
 forth, at Newport. — This press may now be seen in the Patent Oflfice 
 in Washington — and the Assembly voted Franklin ;6^20 at the year's 
 end " provided he print 20 copies of what general acts shall be passed 
 by the General Assembly within that time.'' This was not the first 
 
 13 
 
effort for such patronage. Young Bradford had come from his 
 father's press in New York twenty-one years earlier and offered ser- 
 vices at a much higher rate. 
 
 With all modesty it can be claimed that Newport had become, at 
 the time of her first Centennial, 1739 — a thriving seaport town — out 
 stripping all her neighbors far and wide. Richard Munday was super- 
 intending the new brick Colony house; shipping was thnvmg; Godfrey 
 Malbone and other merchants, many of them Hebrews, facing the 
 Main Street and the Parade. A few years before, in '32 — that good old 
 Governor Samuel Cranston had been gathered to his fathers. Young 
 blood had buried him with all proper respect — but then felt the need 
 for a change. "Why should it always be Newport.-* nothing but New. 
 port," murmured the other towns, and, surprising to relate, Joseph 
 Jenks of Providence was nominated and elected to the vacant office of 
 Governor. Newport stood aghast! Violate a custom so secure as this! 
 Never! The Governor had always been a Newport man — and with a 
 Newport residence, down to Newport must Governor Jenks come, 
 and so he did, family, furniture and all, and the General Assembly, 
 perhaps sheepishly, voted a hundred pounds to pay the expenses thus 
 incurred. It is regrettable that Miss Kimball died before a second 
 edition of her very able book could tell us where in Newport Governor 
 Jenks fixed his residence for the five years that he held office. 
 
 After the sale of the wooden colony house and while the present 
 one was slowly growing up — poor Munday died before it was finished 
 within — and the Assembly voted certain due moneys to his widow. 
 The Assembly met where it was feasible, often at the house of 
 Thomas Potter on Broad Street, who eventually received a good sum 
 for the privilege as well as that of there holding both Inferior and 
 Superior Courts, but there seem no particulars to be found of the in- 
 conveniences attending the Inauguration of the Governors, Chairs and 
 other furnishings lacking a good while after the new Colony building 
 was put into use. 
 
 On the retirement of Governor Jenks, the first of the four gover- 
 nors by the name of Wanton was elected. William, who died a few 
 months later and was succeeded by his brother John who served from 
 1734 to 1740, when he also died in office, during a turbulent time with 
 a Spanish War and much excited preparation for defence and offence 
 in the Colony. These Governors Wanton were the two, who as very 
 young men, had been summoned to England to receive Coat armor 
 augmentation and fine inscribed pieces of plate from Queen Ann her- 
 self in honor of their clever capture of a very troublesome F^rench pri- 
 vateer or pirate craft infesting this coast. In 1740, Richard Ward of 
 
 14 
 
Newport was proclaimed Governor from the Balcony over the high door 
 of the Colony house and during his time of office in 1741 the now ancient, 
 but then, as ever, Honorable Artillery Company of Newport was in- 
 stituted and chartered, the Governor's personal body guard, the 
 leading young gentlemen of the town under arms for work as" well as 
 display. 
 
 In 1760 — an alteration took place in the method of conducting the 
 Election. The town meeting days were made the actual voting day, 
 and thus the third Wednesday in April really became the period of 
 decisive political struggle, and Election-day, as ancient habit contmued 
 to call it, ceased to be other than the occasion of official promulgation 
 of the result of the vote and the inauguration of the new Government 
 each year at Newport. 
 
 From the time of Governor Jenckes to that of the Revolution 
 many Governors were elected from among the citizens of Newport, 
 but by degrees more and more were intermingled from the other 
 towns. Warwick and Providence alternated for some years, then 
 Samuel Ward of Westerly came over the ferries, and walked up the 
 Parade a private citizen and down it, the Governor. He and Stephen 
 Hopkins the Signer — a stronger man than his sailor brother — alter- 
 nated through the exasperating time of the Stamp Act. Ward was a 
 strong character. It was the time when men's blood began to boil in 
 their veins and faces grew grim and angry, so it is not very strange 
 that when the Revolution burst into active revolt, Joseph Wanton 
 some time Governor but a quiet Quaker, was acclaimed a Tory and 
 summarily ordered out of the Gubernatorial seat. It has never been 
 proved that he was not honest, and it is claimed that true to his train- 
 ing he tried by temporizing to avert the coming blast. He was de- 
 posed on the 7th of November 1775 and with his going the venerable 
 old chair of the Governors of the Colony was vacated for ever. But 
 the " good old Charter" was not dead. It was in safe keeping and to 
 survive for many generations to come. 
 
 In November, 1779, immediately after many of the British had 
 hurriedly embarked from Rrenton's Point, hard by where Fort Adams 
 is now — and those that remained, like the Hessians, were mostly in 
 Portsmouth— under ground, a new chair of State, that of the State 
 of Rhode Island was metaphorically brought into use, and Nicholas 
 Cooke of Providence was elected to sit in it. Not within the newly 
 named " State House "of Newport — that was almost a ruin reeking 
 with the horrible filth of a military hospital. 
 
 The small boy had no election fun that year, although his elders 
 never had greater cause to rejoice as they opened their doors and 
 
 15 
 
helped the members of the General Assembly to clamber up to the 
 sills. Poverty and desolation stared from all sides. The dwellings 
 were shells, if not burned. Doorsteps torn away, windows gone — the 
 remaining inhabitants wan with famine, many had fled — some were 
 demented. 
 
 But it is always darkest before the dawn and although the Revo- 
 lution was far from ended the General Assembly had come back to 
 Newport from what the British called " that hornets' nest,'' Provi- 
 dence, to sit where they could — in the calm recess of the Jews' syna- 
 gogue, among the torn fragments of the books Dr. Stiles had so 
 prized in the Redwood Library, or in the hollow stillness of the 
 Friends' meeting-house, recently used as a military woodshed. 
 
 Thus a new life faintly coursed in the depleted veins of this town 
 and while Newport never regained her Colonial prosperity, no enemy 
 has again invaded the Parade and none but political dissensions — 
 some very bitter it is true — have occasionally jarred the annual festiv- 
 ity and solemnity of Election Day to the end of the 19th century. 
 
 From the close of the Revolutionary War until the present, less 
 and less, names of citizens of Newport are found in the list of Gov- 
 ernors. The last to hold the office was George Peabody Wetmore, so 
 long as a quarter of a century ago.* 
 
 I had hoped to call to mind the exciting years coeval with those 
 of the French Revolution, Jay's treaty, Jeffersonian simplicity, a stir- 
 ring hour, the extraordmary Dorr War and the melting of the " Good 
 old Charter '' into the new Constitution of the State— all fraught with 
 many scenes on the Parade — and also to read from several files of the 
 Newport Mercury able accounts of the proceedings on various Elec- 
 tion Days, noticeably those mentioned and those of 1798 and of 
 1858-9, which give able and distinct descriptions of these vanished 
 scenes, but the clock in the Statehouse rings the flight of time and I 
 have been asked to describe the impressions of some of the children 
 who lived on the Parade in the fifties and up to the date of the great 
 Rebellion ; that intensity that wiped away many of the earlier themes 
 of remembrance and practically forms the barrier between the past 
 and the present of our United States. 
 
 •Since this paper was read another citizen of Newport, R. Livingston 
 Beeckman, has been elected Governor of the State. -Ed. 
 
 16 
 
SOCIETY NOTES 
 
 We regret that the pressure of 
 other matters has so long delayed 
 the printing of the second portion 
 of Miss Powel's most interesting 
 paper until now. One advantage 
 can be seen, however, in that 
 these words come with new in- 
 terest to those who then heard 
 them so long ago. 
 
 Every effort is being made to 
 begin work upon the new fireproof 
 building and it is now confidently 
 expected to break ground in the 
 Sprmg. 
 
 New Mfmbers 
 Elected since last issue. 
 
 LIFE MEMBER 
 
 Mr. Henry R. Taylor 
 
 SUSTAINING MEMBER 
 
 Col. Charles Hayden. 
 
 ANNUAL MEMBERS 
 
 Mrs. J. R. Busk 
 
 Mrs. Anna Wharton Wood 
 
 Mrs. Walter S. Andrews 
 
 Mr. Charles M. Cole 
 
 Mrs. E. Hayward Ferry 
 
 Mr. and Mrs. Elias Henley White 
 
 Mrs. Frank J. Sprague 
 
 Hon. John M. Whitehead 
 
 ASSOCIATE MEMBERS 
 
 Mrs. Thomas P. Peckham 
 Miss Eva S. C. Brightman 
 Miss Bessie Stanton 
 
 Mr. William H. Stanton 
 Mr. Clarence Wanton Balis 
 Mr. Thomas Sergeant Perry 
 
 SOME NEW ACCESSIONS TO THE 
 LIBRARY 
 
 A collection of books, pamphlets 
 and manuscripts, belonging to the 
 late Benjamin B. Howland, the 
 first librarian of this Society, has 
 been donated by his granddaugh- 
 ter, Miss Elizabeth G. Sherman. 
 This includes several interesting 
 early Newport imprints, the New- 
 port Daily News, first and second 
 volumes, 1846, nearly complete; 
 and among the manuscripts are 
 the following, of especial interest 
 to the members of the Newport 
 Historical Society, as they show an 
 effort to carry out our present ob- 
 jects many years before our incor- 
 poration, and two years before the 
 establishment of the Southern cab- 
 inet of the Rhode Island Historical 
 Society, which was located in 
 Newport. This was about two years 
 before the Rhode Island Historical 
 Society was founded in Providence. 
 
 "We the Subscribers agree to 
 meet at time & place hereafter to 
 be agreed upon & form a Society 
 to be Called the ' Newport Histor- 
 ical & Antiquarian Society' for 
 the purpose of preserving all an- 
 cient manuscripts, or whatever 
 
 17 
 
may be of use in furthering the 
 
 objects of the society. 
 
 Newport loth mo. 6th 1820 
 Stephen Gould 
 Henry Bull 
 Chrs. E. Robbins 
 Henry Ruggles 
 James Stevens 
 Edw.*^ W. Lawton 
 John Rodman 
 Isaac Gould 
 David Rodman 
 Peter P. Remington 
 Enoch Hazard 
 Benjamin Had wen 
 B. Hazard 
 Geo. Engs 
 T. H. Mumford 
 Thomas Hrinley." 
 
 (The above names are signa- 
 tures.) 
 
 "In pursuance of the above agree- 
 ment a meeting was held at 
 Stephen Gould's shop on Saturday 
 evenmg 28 October 1820 & a peti- 
 tion drawn & sign'd to be presented 
 to the General Assembly of this 
 State at their next Session praying 
 the Loan of the State records for 
 the purpose of making Such ex- 
 tracts as may be thought proper. 
 Geo. Engs, Scribe. 
 
 " To The Hon. ^''e Gen.' Assembly 
 of the State of Rhode Island & 
 Providence Plantations at their 
 Session next to be holden in 
 Providence. 
 The Petition of the undersign'd 
 
 respectfully sheweth 
 
 That they have associated them- 
 selves for the purpose of collecting 
 & preserving such ancient records 
 & documents and all such informa- 
 tion as may come to their knowl- 
 edge relating to the history of this 
 State and have agreed to Style 
 themselves " The Newport Histor- 
 ical and antiquarian Society.'' 
 And for the better prosecution of 
 the objects of the institution ; they 
 pray Your Hon.^'^ body to grant 
 them the loan of the ancient 
 records of the Colony & State 
 aforesaid not exceeding two vol- 
 umes at a time the President of 
 the Society giving a proper receipt 
 therefor — And they further pray 
 Your Hon.bie gody that the Town 
 clerk of the town of Newport for 
 the time being may be authoriz'd 
 to certify copies from the same. 
 And your petitioners as in duty 
 bound will ever pray 
 
 Henry Bull 
 Henry Ruggles 
 Geo. Engs 
 Enoch Hazard 
 T. M. Mumford 
 C. E. Robbins 
 Benjamin Hadwen 
 Isaac Gould 
 Stephen Gould 
 James Stevens 
 John Rodman 
 B. Hazard 
 Edw.^ VV. Lawton 
 David Rodman 
 Peter P. Remington 
 Thomas Brinley" 
 
 18 
 
OFFICERS 
 
 OF THE 
 
 Newport Historical Society 
 
 For the year ending May^ igi^ 
 
 President, HON. DANIEL B. FEARING 
 First Vice-President, REV. RODERICK TERRY, D. D. 
 
 Second Vice-President, MR. FRANK K. STURGIS 
 
 Third Vice-President, MR. ALFRED TUCKERMAN 
 
 Recording Secretary, MR. JOHN P. SANBORN 
 
 Corresponding Secretary, MR. GEORGE H. RICHARDSON 
 
 Treasurer, MR. HENRY C. STEVENS, Jr. 
 
 Librarian, MISS EDITH MAY TILLEY 
 
 Curator of Coins and Medals, DR. EDWIN P. ROBINSON 
 
 Board of Directors 
 
 THE OFFICERS and 
 
 for three years 
 MRS. HAROLD BROWN DR. WILLIAM S. SHERMAN 
 
 MRS. RICHARD C. DERBY ' MR. JOB PECKHAM 
 
 for two years 
 MRS. THOMAS A. LAWTON MR. HAMILTON B. TOMPKINS 
 
 MRS. FRENCH VANDERBILT MR. GEORGE L. RIVES 
 
 FOR ONE YEAR 
 
 MRS. WILLIAM R. MORGAN COL. C. L. F. ROBINSON 
 
 MR. JONAS BERGNER REV. GEORGE V. DICKEY 
 
BULLETI 
 
 OF THE 
 
 Newport Historical Society 
 
 Number Sixteen NEWPORT, R. I. April, 1915 
 
 SOME OF OUR FOUNDERS 
 
 Sixty Years Ago 
 
 A Paper Read before the Society, February 16, 1914 
 
 By Miss M. E. POWEL^, 
 
 History, evidently in part local, was one of the topics outlined by 
 the rules of the Philosophical and Literary Society of Newport, that 
 antedated the Redwood Library, for one of its members, the Rev- 
 erend John Callender, preached in this very Meeting House by 
 courtesy — his own was rebuilding — a sermon containing the first 
 history of Newport ever written, just one century after the settlement 
 in 1639. The Reverend Arthur R. Ross, also a Baptist minister, 
 delivered a second centennial sermon in 1838, and he had joined, the 
 previous year, the Rhode Island Historical Society, wherein was Mr. 
 Henry Bull of Newport, member since its foundation. Unfortu- 
 nately, Mr. Bull died in 1841, leaving his own excellent truthful 
 compilation of the history of Newport, drawn largely from records, 
 incomplete, and lost in the columns of newspapers that few valued 
 enough to preserve. 
 
 As Miss Tilley has shown us by her exhaustive paper on the 
 Newport Historical Society in its earlier days, and also on its connec- 
 tion with the Rhode Island Society, there existed in Newport a num- 
 ber of intelligent citizens, who heartily desired to preserve the inter- 
 esting records and stories of this beautiful Island. Many of these 
 gentlemen who associated themselves together as founders of this 
 
Society were friends of my father, and as I was his frequent compan- 
 ion at home and abroad, I venture to offer you a few childish remem- 
 brances. 
 
 Of course, half way down the sixty years of its existence,— thirty 
 years ago — our Society suddenly ceased to fight for its bread, and be- 
 came the happy owner of the beautiful old Church that has been its 
 home ever since. 
 
 All the same, because we are corporately improved, it does not 
 follow that we be any better in mind than we were sixty years ago. 
 We are only grown more systematic and practical. Many facts we 
 would gladly know now are gone forever with those beneath the 
 stones in our old graveyards. 
 
 But let us remember while we can some of those who were the 
 sponsors of the benefits we do reap, and who so heartily desired to 
 give down to us all they had of the old time before them. 
 
 Of the eleven members from Newport, found in the first year, 
 1822, of the Rhode Island Historical Society, but two, Christopher 
 Ellery Robbins, Esq., ana the Hon. Henry Y. Cranston, survived to 
 become founders of this Historical Society in 1853, thirty-one years 
 later. But from time to time, twelve more gentlemen of Newport 
 had been elected into the Society in Providence, of whom eight were 
 associated with our own foundation. We have three lists used in the 
 two preliminary and the Charter meetings that give some four score 
 and more names that may be termed those of our Founders. 
 
 Heading the list of the preliminary meeting on the 8th of February, 
 1853, stand four divines, others are scattered in the lists ensuing. 
 For convenience, they are given together. 
 
 The Rev. A. H. Dumont comes to mind as tall, cheerful, wise 
 and elderly. When a lively boy, he had been tutored by the Rev- 
 William Patton (an admirable scholar and worthy man, who had 
 succeeded Dr. Ezra Stiles in the pastorate of the Second Congrega 
 tional Church on Clarke Street, and held it from 1786 to 1833, forty, 
 seven years, and whose tomb is beside that of Dr. Hopkins, close to 
 Dr. Thayer's Church on Spring Street.) Then in his turn, Mr- 
 Dumont succeeded to his old pastor and master Dr. Patton's pulpit, 
 on the union of the two Congregational Churches, remaining until he 
 went to New Jersey in 1841, and gave place to Mr. Thatcher Thayer, 
 another young man of promise. Dr. Dumont wrote a brief notice of 
 "The History of the Congregational Church in Newport, including 
 the Articles of F'aith and Church Government." He married Miss 
 Clarke, of the old Mill Street family, and a fine portly couple they 
 made, with a friendly word for all their acquaintance as they took 
 
their daily walks. They returned from New Jersey, some years before 
 their deaths, which occurred not far apart, I think, in the early 
 seventies. 
 
 The Rev. Samuel Adlam, pastor of the First Baptist Church in 
 Newport, and writer on ecclesiastical topics, delivered a lecture before 
 the Newport Historical Society in 1871— "The Origin of the Institu- 
 tions of Rhode Island." This pamphlet, ot twenty-five pages, was 
 printed in Providence. Loved and respected, he survived to a good 
 old age, and his widow — vastly his junior, later married Mr. William 
 C. Langley, and still lives, the picture of charming old age, in Ports- 
 mouth, Rhode Island. This lady is apparently the very last survivor 
 of the generation of those who were our Founders.* 
 
 And Mr. Brewer, rector first of Trinity and then of Emmanuel, 
 truly a good man and probably the pioneer here, in increasing activity 
 in a parish. He knew me before I remember him, for he baptized 
 me. What a fine name he had ! Darius ! But he was more saintly 
 than kinglike. I know, for I peeped up at him out of our well-like 
 little pew near the pulpit. He seemed so gentle, and how pious I 
 thought him ! The full gathered white surplice, and the rustling 
 black gown, a halo of yellow-brown hair, and whiskers enframing his 
 face. And I heard vague talk among the ladies about good Miss 
 Phoebe Bull's generosity when she died, All Saints' Chapel, Missions, 
 Gas Works and Mills; and then — Miss Tew and the wedding, Em- 
 manuel to be built, and — oh glorious! about 1855 an enormous fair in 
 Ocean Hall, the ball-room in the top of the Colony of the Ocean 
 House, and Mrs. Birckhead won the prize album ! It was all about 
 Newport, poetry, pictures and prose by various authors and artists. 
 Where can it be now ? 
 
 There are some verses by " Poet " Tuckerman on Dr. Channing, in 
 which allusion is made to the Doctor's sermon on the occasion of the 
 installation of the Rev. Charles T. Brooks in the Unitarian Church in 
 Newport, in 1836, when but twenty-three years of age. Mr. Brooks 
 deserves full acknowledgment by the Historical Society. With un- 
 flagging cheerfulness he led his flock into literary as well as spiritual 
 pastures, interspersing the stony way with scraps of song and even 
 children's rhymes. While under the stress of partial blindness, he 
 never lost faith or heart, taught himself to write with a mechanical 
 device, and to the last hour of his life was Emeritus indeed. And his 
 
 *NoTE— Mrs. Langley died 15th, September, 1914. Many of the Rev. Mr. 
 Adlam 's papers and portraits of himself, his mother and step- father have been 
 placed in the rooms of our Society, on Touro Street. 
 
scholarly qualifications, those laborious translations into fluent English 
 of Jean Paul Richter's complicated style; the many others — there were 
 twenty-nine volumes published away from Newport — and all the 
 minor works from his nimble pen. Merry Carriers' jingles, numerous 
 verses for special occasions, the History of the Unitarian Church in 
 Newport, a brief sketch of this town, in an early publication, and that 
 charming, long poem on Newport delivered at the " Reunion of the 
 Sons and Daughters in 1859.'' 
 
 " Come up to the Hilltop, there, waiting for you. 
 With slightly changed costume — still modest and true. 
 Friend Redwood looks forth with the forehead he wore, 
 Calm, classic, majestic and pensive of yore." — 
 
 The old building had just been enlarged on the East. 
 
 To Mr. Brooks' study — his books were more than one good room 
 could hold, "they were all over the house," — came, among a host of 
 celebrities, James Freeman Clarke, Professor Norton, MacKaye, the 
 English poet, Emerson, who lacked sense of humor and must have 
 missed many pleasures at those moments, and Mrs. Julia Ward Howe, 
 to whom Mr. Brooks tendered his pulpit. Probably, outside of Friends' 
 Meeting, she was the first woman in Newport to speak in such fashion; 
 certainly the first in what had been once upon a time Dr. Hopkins' 
 old meeting house. 
 
 Master of German, with knowledge of French, Spanish and Italian, 
 Mr. Brooks was perpetually besieged by foreigners of all degrees, ed- 
 ucated and ignorant, too happy to find an American who could under- 
 stand the syllables of their native tongues, and not infrequently anxi- 
 ous to learn of some channel of assistance. Many of us can remember 
 the series of self-styled "teachers," who streamed into Newport in the 
 vain hope of finding pupils. Urbane and unselfish, Mr. Brooks set 
 Jean Paul aside, while to the best of his ability he did what he could, 
 and then his tender heart ached over the things impossible to accom- 
 plish. 
 
 He was never so happy as in his Sunday School. The bronze 
 medallion now set in his Church will carry the lineaments of this fol- 
 lower of the godly Dr. Channing down to a remote posterity of those 
 young people to whom he was personally the friend throughout the 
 seventy years of his life. 
 
 The Rev. Dr. Choules, irreverently called "Johnny" by some of 
 his scholars, kept a school in the house next east of Dr. Thayer's 
 Church on Pelham Street. Long after, it passed through the hands 
 of his widow to Mr. Fay, who had married her niece. Dr. Choules was 
 
pastor of the Second Baptist on Farewell Street from 1827 to 1833 
 and also from 1847 to 1856. You remember that nice brown Gothic 
 structure, with the "Governors' Burial Ground" nestled in the sun- 
 shine of its front door, just across North Baptist Street. In the early 
 fifties, he acted as chaplain on the European cruise of the North Star, 
 Mr. Vanderbilt's yacht. His published account shows how many 
 prayer meetings took place. I wonder if there are many such yacht voy- 
 ages nowadays. Many were the tales told of the eccentric, clever, good 
 man. For convenience, he wore sometimes a rough pea jacket, a red 
 comforter about his neck, and a big cap pulled over his eyes. Gossip 
 giggled out, what Truth cannot vouch, that when the first Mrs. 
 Choules was ill, he built a boat in the loft over her head, and then to 
 get it out was a problem. He was a little in the type of the blunt 
 Cromwellian, and study that period he did! 
 
 He re-edited, adding laborious notes, Toulmin's Edition of Neal's 
 History of the Puritans. Read it, and the admirable annotations that 
 he made to the American Edition of Forster's Statesmen of the 
 Commonwealth, John Hampton and others. These books, dry-as-dust 
 only in titles, are to be found in the Redwood, where is also a printed 
 catalogue of Dr. Choules' own library— it was sold after his death, 
 prefaced by a long re-print from some magazine of an article written 
 by a capable hand, describmg at large Dr. Choules' own study in 
 Newport during his life-time. 
 
 And when through with these, there are, or were— not long 
 since, to be seen faint traces, scraps of paper, marking pages and the 
 like, undoubtedly inserted in the Redwood's old folios by Dr. Stiles 
 when writing the History of the Regicides, and left untouched four 
 score years later by the reverent hands of Dr. Choules. There does 
 not appear to have been very wide research into that period in the 
 Library, except by those two parsons. Curious, too, in consideration of 
 the number of Cromwellians who settled in these New England colo- 
 nies ; and, more to the point, that it is not only the fore-runner of our 
 own republican heart, but also one of the most extraordinary and pic- 
 turesque periods of England's story. The Redwood has a good store 
 of the old folios as well as of the writers of later date. But beware of 
 those dear old leather backs in cold weather, their aged frames burst 
 apart with the first touch. 
 
 Of the library of our Historical Society, growing more rich each 
 year in this fine Memorial room dedicated by a loving daughter to 
 Dr. David King, personally I can say but little, for the books are wisely 
 kept to be read here. From the Redwood and Peoples Library we 
 may carry them home to study at our leisure, but Miss Maud Stevens, 
 
truly a student, says that " there is no place in this town where one 
 can read and study with more comfort, quiet, and convenience than 
 here: and not only does the Historical Society help grown people in 
 their work, but it is doing a service of great worth to the children, of 
 whom a very large number, properly chaperoned, are frequent visitors 
 and eager questioners as to the many objects of interest and study in 
 our Museum. They are unquestionably developing in their early 
 years not only a taste for the moment but an inclination to pursue in- 
 vestigations in later years." 
 
 I never saw the Rev. Henry Jackson, pastor of Central Baptist 
 Church on Clarke Street, from 1847 to 1863. This church had been 
 sold by the Congregationalists at the time of the coalition of their two 
 churches and entirely altered from its Colonial dress, but it would be 
 interesting to know if the fine Clagget Clock, almost a duplicate of 
 our own in the Historical' s Meeting house, had marked time for Dr. 
 Stiles in remote days. Dr. Jackson, although not native, both loved 
 Newport and studied her story. He wrote several times on the history 
 of churches here, as well as on other religious matters, and in 1854, 
 one month before our founding, he preached and printed " An His- 
 torical Discourse." But let the great chart covered with manuscript 
 notes of his writing, and deposited by the Redwood Library in the 
 King Library of the Historical, testify to his industry. It is loaned 
 here for the use of students — a store house of knowledge ! 
 
 If only some quiet winter an amiable hand would number it off 
 into sections in accord with one of our " Town Atlases " and trans- 
 cribe into a book all those items so patiently set down by the worthy 
 doctor, and so impossible to decypher after one has become stiffbacked 
 and purblind ! 
 
 The Rev. Kensey J. Stewart, according to printed account, was 
 an early missionary, 1852-185?, in the field that finally developed into 
 Emmanuel Church, and on withdrawing from Newport, he undertook 
 a parish in Virginia. 
 
 Just after coming here in 1852 he delivered an oration on "The 
 Centennial Anniversary of the Initiation of General Washington'' 
 among the Free Masons, that was printed by Mr. Atkinson. 
 
 Dr. Thayer — He who succeeded to the brief ministration of Mr. 
 Dumont, in 1841 and long outlived all these others, needs none of 
 my poor words. But how he encouraged me to delve into the wars 
 of Cromwell ! Lying in that high-backed tilting arm-chair in his 
 Sanctum, between the table and the fireplace, surrounded by his sol- 
 emn books, the sun streaming in over the French Officers' huge white 
 lilac outside, and the venerable Domine excited in his view of the 
 
 6 
 
Roundhead days, waving his arm in the air, his black skull-cap and 
 plum-colored study gown looking like the garb of an ancient Hebrew, 
 as he sank back exhausted exclaiming, "But the Jews, the Jews, my 
 child, study the Jews, ihey are the greatest people the Almighty ever 
 made ! Nevertheless I will get you Edmund Ludlow from the Brown 
 University Library," and he did ! 
 
 I met Dr. Thayer one Thanksgiving morning in the street. He 
 was gesticulating violently. I made him a reverence, "May I say — 
 Happy Thanksgiving .?" "Thanksgiving!" he thundered. "Thanks- 
 giving — smell that house ! Who can be thankful over cabbage ?" 
 
 Last of all, at his funeral in '94, The crowded church, the Artillery 
 Company that he loved, and of which he was chaplain for twenty- 
 seven years, giving him the military honor — soldier of Christ, friend of 
 young men — that was his due. And the tiny aged frame, resting 
 peacefully below the Flag, left a last message, for on that flag was a 
 branch of palm, and there, too, a great white lily reared its head, shed- 
 ding fragrance and pointing straight up above the old reading desk ta 
 on high. 
 
 It was in the house of the busy young architect, Mr. George 
 Champlin Mason, that the first of the two preliminary meetings for 
 the formation of this Society took place. The locality of the others 
 and of the Charter Meeting are not mentioned, but the dates are the 
 8th and the 14th of February, 1853, and February 14th, 1854, is the 
 third. Those gentlemen certainly chose a romantic tutilary Saint for 
 the grave topics of antiquity. Having given place to the first session, 
 good manners compel that Mr. Mason's name stands next after proper 
 respect to the cloth. Has he not earned it, too.!* Consider his labor 
 in print. That early folio volume of "Newport Sketches," 1842, costly 
 now, a book for children. "The Application of Arts to Manufac- 
 tures," "The Sons and Daughters Re-Union," The Guide Books of the 
 Fifties, a folio illustrative of modern residences in Newport, those ex- 
 quisite "Reminiscences," Annals of Trinity and the Redwood — and 
 last, but not least, what he let me read in manuscript, and what I have 
 re-read as annotated and enlarged by his son — the still unprinted life 
 of his cousin Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry. la addition there 
 were many vagrant columns lost in newspapers, and there is another 
 compilation that we may hope is safely kept by Mr. Mason, Jr. "The 
 history of the Ancient and Honourable Artillery Company of New- 
 port." It was only lack of funds that prevented its being printed. 
 
 "The preliminary meeting took place at the house of Mr. George 
 C. Mason." So migratory was Mr. Mason in his later life, for he 
 built, occupied and sold several of his residences, that all of us may 
 
not remember that in 1853-4, ^^^ for a good while after, Mr. Mason, 
 his wife and son resided in the dignified old house on the south corner 
 of Thames Street and Champlin's Wharf. It is there now, Nos. 187-9, 
 much built up on the side, and with shops pounded into space where 
 were the drawing rooms in which General Washington drank tea with 
 Mr. Mason's great-grandparents, and smiled on their daughter, the 
 pretty Miss Peggy Champlin, who was to become the General's part- 
 ner at one of the balls that week. Indeed, a goodly residence, well 
 appointed, and in worthy hands to receive such a guest. Unaltered 
 in 1853, no wonder it was selected for the first meeting of the New- 
 port Historical Society. Besides participating myself in nursery tea- 
 parties in that house, on one occasion, bragging at Mrs. Hunter's 
 School — it was the hour of recess— I announced that "In Dr. Haz- 
 ard's house, on the Parade, where I live, there is a bubbling spring in 
 the cellar, and a barrel full of water in another corner." This was the 
 wooden piped water from the great "Town Spring.'' "Pooh, pooh/' 
 sneered Master Mason, "In mjy house, the tide rises and falls twice a 
 day, there now !" 
 
 Mrs. Mason, prevented by delicate health from taking active part 
 in Newport life, was happy and contented in her home, and one of 
 those dainty, old-style housekeepers of such exquisite neatness, who 
 put our machine-aided life to the blush. Most of us know Mr. 
 Mason's appearance, his slender frame, erect, rapid motions, and his 
 delicate features enclosed by rather long, light, flowing locks. Across 
 the broad aisle of Trinity from my coign of vantage, when perched 
 standing on the seat of our pew — the only way that early piety could 
 see was over the top — I sometimes thought, with the white wand of 
 warden's office beside him, that he was St. John. Newport can well 
 pride herself on this "worthy," and look for Trinity to hang on her 
 wall some lastmg memorial to one of the longest serving and most 
 faithful of the vestry, who died as much as twenty years ago. 
 
 There is lacking from the list of members the name of Edward 
 Peterson, a curious omission in that the very same year, 1853, he 
 published "A History of Rhode Island," — this Island, not the State. 
 There seems no record of him personally, save that he died not much 
 later, in Providence. Possibly he may have been here but a short time. 
 A brief notice of his work in one of the local papers condemned some 
 inaccuracies — always probable in a first edition — also the misprinting 
 of family names and the like, but in the main the book is useful and 
 very readable. 
 
 Of course no one supposes that 1 can remember all these "grown- 
 up" gentlemen, on our lists at precisely the epoch of forming the 
 
 8 
 
Historical Society, and, frankly, I do not remember when I first saw 
 Mr. Prescott Hall or that gentle, old-style lady, his wife. I knew 
 more of them, and of Malbone's Garden after 1854, and until the time 
 of their deaths, fully a decade later. But it is only of Mr. Hall's 
 books and mind there is need to speak. His library was a gem, a 
 wing extending to the north of the house, lit by windows giving on the 
 East upon Wanumetonomy's bare, rocky crest. Then the only trees 
 to the north-east were a few young sprouts of Mr. Hall's own 
 planting, near his house. And on the West, past the box garden, 
 down beyond old Godfrey Malbone's snaky brook and open desolate 
 swampy waste, part of poor William Dyer's old farm,— and a good, 
 lonely place for running in cargoes in privateering days— over across 
 the bright blue Bay to Narragansett's plum and purple haze, where 
 arched the glowing sunset. Within, the crowded shelves, the worn 
 arm-chairs, the littered table, the bright log-fire and Mr. Hall and his 
 friends, clustering heads over some new found treasure. Mr. Hall's 
 books were friends themselves, thumb notes and commentaries filled 
 their margins, and showed that he talked with them as they with him. 
 
 Even now, some stray dealer in old books will advertise " , 
 
 2 vols. 1840, annotated by Prescott Hall, formerly a noted lawyer of 
 New York State." After Mr. Hall's death, his library went 'under 
 the hammer, and its habitat at Malbone's Garden was converted into 
 a fine and hospitable dining room. It was vain to attempt it,— only 
 "James River, Virginia, before the war," might have surpassed Mr. 
 and Mrs. Hall's open-handed, daily life. On one branch, Mr. Hall 
 came of Colonial Newport. Either his mother or his grandmother 
 was a Miss Mumford. His wife was Miss Harriet de Wolf of 
 Bristol. 
 
 One of Mr. Hall's best intimates was Mr. James Birckhead, also 
 a gentleman of learning, and a founder of our Society. Baltimore 
 born, married to a daughter of the late Minister to Brazil, the Hon. 
 William Hunter, and returned from his own long business career in 
 Rio de Janeiro to make a home for the remainder of his life in New- 
 port. That cosy cottage on Mary Street, crowded with pictures, 
 silver and porcelains, some imperial gifts, where Mr. and Mrs. Birck- 
 head and their two children welcomed guests of all ages! Mr. 
 Birckhead's own library, while not so extensive as that of Mr. Hall, 
 showed no signs of "never having been cut," and with his cigar (or 
 was it a pipe i*) and his book, he sat on his porch, his hearty laugh 
 and kindly voice mingling with those of his neighbor, Mr. Duncan 
 Pell. Messrs. Hall, Birckhead, Pell and Stockton, bosom friends all, 
 and pillars of the Reading Room on the Hill, that misnamed mansion, 
 
but also pillars of the Redwood Library. As for Mr. Pell, his name 
 is not on the earliest lists of the Historical Society only because he did 
 not come to Newport until the following summer, and then to spend a 
 single week, but captured by the sunset, scenery and society he 
 promptly bought Colonel Perry's empty home, the Champlin house on 
 Mary Street, and lived there until his death. I could not say anything 
 about Messrs. Hall and Birckhead without mentioning their kindred 
 spirit. And their three libraries flew about between them as if the 
 books had wings. 
 
 When typhoid fever carried off that skilled dentist, Dr. Berry, 
 in the early seventies, all Newport mourned the loss of a good friend 
 and citizen. Now I knew Dr. Berry well, before 1853, ^^^ confess 
 that at that early age I hated him, although he was even then reputed 
 a very gentle savage ! But what child ever willingly climbed up those 
 steep, narrow stairs on Mary Street, to the second floor of what had 
 once been the Colonial residence of Dr. and Mrs. Hunter — and she a 
 Malbone — Mrs. Birckhead's grandparents. "Open, please !" Ah, I 
 can see that big door-plate now, (Mr. Secretary Richardson of our 
 Society says that all the old door-plates at Newport are now melted 
 down.) R. P. Berry. ''Open PleaseV as you stretched shivering on 
 that bed — no, chair, of Procrustes. And between frightful scrunches 
 and gouges you saw that nice peach tree in blossom or fruit in Mr. 
 Barber, the book-seller's garden across the street, while your father 
 and Dr. Berry ralked calmly on erudite topics, such as chemicals, his- 
 toric matters, and fossils, or foot prints in alluvial — "Open, Please" — 
 red sandstone in the Connecticut Valley. True, we were finally only 
 wedged and taken to see Mrs. Berry's pretty little aquarium after our 
 woes were ended, and the descent from Avernus was not so bad, 
 while the tall, black-haired, rather sad gentleman dismissed us from 
 the top of the stairs. I suppose he was so pale because he was 
 ashamed of being such a villain. One child sneaked on board and 
 travelled up and down from Providence to escape him, and her mother 
 and father almost had fits before the "Perry" got back to Newport. 
 
 That little aquarium of Mrs. Berry's came from the maker or in- 
 ventor of improved aquariums in the United States, a member of this 
 Society who long outlived its foundation, and who contributed to local 
 literature one of the most practical, wise compilations ever made in 
 the City of Newport — Mr. Charles E. Hammett and his "Biblio- 
 graphy." My first remembrance of Mr. Hammett — owing to the 
 greater attractions of the sealing-wax, wafers, pens and pencils, and 
 ruled paper, mcluding also unattractive school books of Mr. Barber, 
 the bookseller — was not in the Main Street, but energetically finish- 
 
 10 
 
ing, with his own hands, the interior of a gigantic sea-water aquarium 
 that he had been requested to provide and construct for the Academy 
 of Natural Sciences in Philadelphia, a great honor indeed. We little 
 Powels fairly adored that institution, then on Broad Street, and, how 
 or why I do not know, we were constantly within its sacred inner 
 parts, the library and little working rooms, for example, the cuddy 
 where Dr. Joseph Leidy, in a waiter's apron, was patching out the 
 Hadrosorus Foulkii, etc. Well, the iron-framed aquarium was being 
 set up in state, in a large library room near a window, a dusty one 
 too, on the rear lower floor, a curtain or blind was going up, (and the 
 sea-water was commg in casks from Cape May) and Mr. Hammett 
 was daubing putty or something here, there and everywhere within 
 the glass box. A lot of my father's scientific friends passed in and 
 out, quite curious. Sometimes Mr, Hammett, on his knees, peered 
 over the top — the tank was about six or seven feet long and half as 
 high — and asked for something, and every one scurried to help. 
 
 Now my father so often said that Mr. Charles Hammett had one 
 of the most classic cameo-like heads that he had ever seen, that for 
 years after, when I saw Mr. Hammett moving to and fro, within the 
 oval counter formerly in his book store, I privately considered him 
 "Neptune, the God of the Sea." Did any one ask Mr. Hammett 
 about any book that he did not know of or any topic for which he 
 could not advise a good one .■* 
 
 Had Mr. Christopher Ellery Robbins, son of the Hon. Asher 
 Robbins, M. C, not removed to Providence after relinquishing his 
 post as Librarian to the Redwood that had "afforded many hours of 
 unmixed gratification" to him, he might perhaps have found time to 
 write a family history. What a pleasant book it could have been with 
 his sisters Mrs. Goodwin and Mrs. Sophia Little to aid him! Many 
 of us remember the latter, her philanthrophy and her verses, — in fact, 
 the Ode to Virginia, written at the time of the execution of John 
 Brown, while certainly seditious then, now reads like prophetic fire. 
 Mr. Robbins we have recalled as one of the two surviving members of 
 1822 in the Rhode Island Historical Society, and at the age of sixty 
 he became one of the founders of that of Newport. He died in 1855, 
 only two years and a half later. 
 
 There are two Messrs. Coggeshall written down, Timothy, of 
 whom I know nothing, and Russell, who I am able to bring forward 
 with some detail, thanks to Mrs. George Coggeshall. There is more 
 to be said in his favor than time admits. Inheriting a prosperous 
 whaling business from his father, he speedily augmented it from thirty 
 to seventy thousand dollars, and thus at the time of his death in 1864 
 
 11 
 
was practically doubled or more. He was somewhat eccentric and 
 naturally had his enemies, held himself rather aloof, yet did the kindest 
 deeds, sub rosa. One of the philanthropic ladies of Newport was his 
 almoner to the extent of five hundred dollars annually and none knew 
 their benefactor. This is merely a suggestion of his daily life. By 
 the way, he lived long, and died suddenly, in what had been Town- 
 send's Coffee House, and was then as it is now — the United States 
 Hotel. Mr. Coggeshall also followed in the footsteps of the Touros, 
 in devoted care of the graves of his ancestors. The walls and the 
 stones in the Coggeshall place of burial are monuments imperishable 
 for centuries to come. He left the town a munificent gift for the aged, 
 and to the Artillery Company, his portrait of George Washington. 
 The list of his legacies is long and generous; in it figure a number of 
 our founders who were his associates and friends. He sleeps in that 
 graveyard with the pioneer Coggeshall, who came here in 1639, with 
 Abraham Redwood, who married a Coggeshall, and with others of 
 those names, scions of an ancestry that run back to the cockle shell 
 of Crusaders, not in fiction, but in fact, and although the family by the 
 name of Coggeshall is no longer found in England, it is a vein of pure 
 blood richly entwined in the history of this Colony and traceable — 
 mingled with many other of the best names, now extant, of New 
 England, and of Old England too. 
 
 I remember volumes about Rochambeau's Headquarters, old 
 Madame Vernon, who died in 1857, and the delightful wife and child- 
 ren of her son, Mr. Samuel Brown Vernon, who died very suddenly a 
 year later — but of him, our founder, I remember nothing, and have 
 turned to another small child of sixty years ago who says that "Mr. 
 Vernon was a quiet gentleman, very much interested in the care of 
 his garden" — my young friend lived where she could see it from her 
 window — "flowers, fruit and vegetables, also cultivating with his own 
 hands a certain sweet corn of high repute. He was Treasurer of the 
 State for some time and went frequently to the old Bank on the Pa- 
 rade," that was founded by either his father or his grandfather. 
 
 Mr. Vernon married in 1830, Miss Peace, of Philadelphia, who 
 long survived him, and, after spending a number of years in Europe 
 with her daughters, died just after landing in New York in i88o. 
 
 And just five months after our founding did die, Mr. Vernon's 
 next door neighbor across the way, Colonel Christopher Grant Perry, 
 son of Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry. None ever called him "Law- 
 yer Perry" and few "Doctor," although he had studied for both pro- 
 fessions. He was long the Colonel of the Newport Artillery, and to 
 the thinking of all the children in Newport — next to the Governor — 
 
 12 
 
the greatest man in the state. Colonel Perry was my father's most 
 intimate friend in Newport, and his wife, Miss Sergeant of Philadel- 
 phia, a great-granddaughter of Dr. Franklin, made another inherited 
 friendship. Colonel Perry was of noble presence, rather reserved in 
 manner, but with such a fine dignity that when out of his uniform, I 
 was not overawed by him and would creep into the corner of the little 
 sitting-room in Dr. Hazard's dear old house on the parade, that we 
 rented, and listen to the sap in the fire logs singing an accompaniment 
 to the conversation between him and my father. Colonel Perry had 
 remarkable eyes, an inheritance from his mother, and in some part 
 transmitted to his grandchildren, they seemed to see both within and 
 without very clearly. His voice even to a child was deep and melo- 
 dious. We chanced to go to Philadelphia the night that Colonel and 
 Mrs. Perry and their oldest daughter made the same cold uncomfort- 
 able journey. The "Sound Boat'' with one stove in the saloon and 
 the interminable waits in the bitter air on the frozen docks of New 
 York, and in that dirty shanty, the Jersey City waiting-room, were 
 very trying. Already out of health that journey in December, 1853, 
 gave Colonel Perry his death blow. He died in Philadelphia in April, 
 1854, and never did Newport lose a better citizen or one of greater 
 promise, for he was but little over forty years of age. 
 
 Over the name of Mr, Joseph Jocelin I am puzzled. A Mr. Joce- 
 lin maintained a school here well known before the war of 1812. A 
 friend tells me that Mr. Joseph Jocelin, on our lists, was also master 
 of a school. Whether father and son or the same person I question, 
 but the school and its master's dwelling were in that pretty old house 
 with an elaborate centre-door and a short flight stairway just inside it, 
 that has very recently come down from the south side of Pelham 
 Street, next east of Mr. Stewart's stables. The name Jocelin is given 
 to this property in the city atlas of 1872. 
 
 Jared Reid, Jr., Dr. Turner has written, was also a schoolmaster. 
 
 The brothers, Hunter, Thomas Robinson, the older son, and gal- 
 lant Captain Charles, of the navy, brothers of Mrs. Birckhead, and 
 sons of the late Senator and Minister to Brazil, need hardly be 
 brought to your remembrance. One of your directors, Mrs. Morgan, 
 is a daughter of the older brother, and Miss Anna Falconet Hunter, 
 long of the school committee and an energetic philanthropist, is of the 
 family of Captain Charles, who, with his wife and another of his four 
 daughters, sank in the ill-fated Ville de Havre, leaving by his behavior 
 at that moment final testimony of his clear cool judgment and of a 
 fortitude beyond bravery. 
 
 In her first years this society mourned another such disaster in 
 
 13 
 
the loss of a founder who was a brother of the prominent abolitionist 
 and Congressman Charles Sumner, Mr. Albert Sumner. This 
 gentleman had married a widow — Mrs. Barclay; they owned the pretty 
 stone cottage yet on the S. W. corner of Bellevue and Narragansett 
 Avenues, — a genial couple much liked. The only child of this mar- 
 riage was very delicate and for the benefit of her health, they sailed 
 for Europe in the French vessel Le Lyonais that foundered off 
 Nantucket. In company with many others all three of the Sumners 
 were lost. Now Mrs. Sumner was a woman of property and had 
 children by her first marriage. There may have been a will, but there 
 was no precedent and in a law-suit the court ruled, — the child died 
 first, — the mother, more feeble than a man would be, — next, and Mr. 
 Sumner last, — consequently the estate went to the Sumner heirs. 
 The result was much discussed in Newport at the time. 
 
 Located in the charming rococo house at the head of the Mall 
 the Hon. William P. Sheffield lived long among us — still holding 
 tenaciously to that mysterious drifting Island of Admiral Blok, out 
 there in the blue sea. A leading lawyer, member of Congress, 
 assuming various important offices in the State, deeply engaged in 
 the work of his profession, yet, taking time to collate many items of 
 history, on which he was held high authority, and to print not a few. 
 It is to be hoped that there is written of him as good an obituary as 
 that tendered by him to the memory of Dr. King. 
 
 Robert J. Taylor always styled Doctor deserved his title — any 
 compound prepared by him was sure to cure with skill, unless fate 
 was against it. Dr. King too sent all his patients to him with those 
 cabalistic scraps of paper no child could read, but before which all 
 children trembled. 
 
 His store was for those days large and the shelving and cornice 
 worthy of preservation instead of destruction when his long lasting 
 business was given up owing to the death of his successor and son, 
 the surgeon of the Newport Artillery Co. — The store now No. 170 
 Thames Street was in the old home of Dr. and Mrs. William Hunter 
 of Colonial and Revolutionary days If I mistake not, our Director 
 Mrs. Morgan has inherited a collection of Bristol pottery gallipots 
 and the like that Doctor Taylor thoughtfully returned to the descend- 
 ants of Dr. Hunter much over a century after that good Scotchman 
 had died here of camp fever during the British occupation. Such 
 pottery is priceless and it is improbable that there is another such 
 treasure in America. Dr. Taylor was Secretary for thirty years and 
 much interested m the Redwood Library. He died in 1871 and was 
 buried with deep respect and solemnity, his brother Directors of the 
 
 14 
 
Redwood, the Masons and other societies joining with many private 
 friends in following him to his grave. 
 
 Let me pause for a moment to call your attention to the deep 
 impressions left by so many of those who lived here at that period. 
 It is not the effect of my youth but the power possessed by strong fine 
 natures, rounded by time and circumstance. 
 
 Mr. William S. Nichols, the last of the long line of Silversmiths 
 of Newport, (except ? Mr. Tisdale,) was born in 1785 in that grand 
 old relic of the past— still standing, the White Horse Inn — Albeit, it 
 was then, become the private residence of his parents, and in it he 
 died eighty-seven years later, although some portion of his life was 
 spent living over one of his shops in Thames Street. Of these, he had 
 two. In 1806, he started in business for himself in a building near 
 Mary Street, then removed to one, later Bryer's Exchange and now 
 become the Colonial Theatre. Here he hived busy as a bee— but slow 
 and gentle in stately politeness — while from his bench emanated a 
 steady flow of silver, pure white, good weight, and as solid as shapely. 
 No wonder ! He had been apprenticed to Thomas Arnold of renown 
 in the previous century. Few young eouples found their happiness 
 complete on setting up housekeeping unless their initials were en- 
 twined upon six of Mr. Nichols' best teaspoons in his pretty script let- 
 tering. But he was capable of much more than such small wares. In 
 Colonial, yes, in old English days, silversmiths, while rated artisans, 
 perhaps, from the material used in their trade, were almost always 
 men of prominence and knowledge. Mr. Nichols, of a Quaker family, 
 was in one fashion retiring, in others the reverse, interested in politics, 
 member of the Assembly and holding other political offices, treasurer, 
 etc., for half a century active in the "Mechanics' Association'' — there 
 were no craftsmen here then; strongly for temperance and anti-slavery- 
 He knew much and loved to chat about old days, and eagerly became 
 a founder of this Society. On its recoid is spread a very beautiful 
 tribute to his worth, evidently by Dr. King, and the Society followed 
 the dear benevolent old gentleman to his grave in 1871, reverencing 
 his high integrity and regretting that they and Newport would not 
 look upon his like again. 
 
 And Mr. George Bancroft, cantering over the Beach on his big 
 white horse, dining his many friends, receiving celebrities, fostered in 
 late life and somewhat overwhelmed, by the German valet, Hermann. 
 Mr. Bancroft had the entire history of the United States inside his 
 high forehead, let alone that of Newport. Mrs. Bancroft was culti- 
 vated, charming ! Striped summer silks and a cashmir scarf, so re- 
 fined, so bright, a gracious lady, grey hair puffing down each side of 
 
 15 
 
her face into little broad plats looped into the coil behind. Neat, 
 pretty caps and demure elderly bonnets. Mr. Bancroft never admitted 
 me into the sanctum of books, but I could say much about the draw- 
 ing rooms and grounds — they were first filled with Azalias rosea, and 
 by degrees replaced by thousands of rose bushes. Hermann always 
 slipped a good bunch of buds into the visitor's carriage. On almost 
 the last birthday of the venerable sage, the very last time we entered 
 his house, my mother and I went to offer our customary congratula- 
 tions. We were early — he received us alone, motioned us to either 
 side of him on a sofa, and recited to us a little poem of several stanzas, 
 taught to him by his own mother on his sixth birthday. As we rose 
 to leave, Mrs. Belmont came in carrying violets. 
 
 One bright winter's day, with a crisp fall of snow sparkling over 
 all the streets, well behind 1853, a slim black haired young man from 
 Philadelphia was strolling up this cobbly old Touro Street, with a little 
 daughter clinging to his finger. Down the steps of that fine old fam- 
 ily home, on the corner of School Street, still full of relics of the past, 
 oil portraits, porcelains and the like, came another slim quite young 
 gentleman in a fur cap like Dr. Franklin's, and a big full Spanish 
 cloak. His blue sleigh jingled merrily around the corner, then out he 
 jumped. There was conversation about something when suddenly 
 the newcomer turned to the black haired gentleman, and quickly lay- 
 ing his hand on her shoulder said, "May I have your little girl?'' 
 "Yes" said her cruel papa, "if you will be so kind." And before the 
 horrified child could cry "No, no, no !" — she was taking her very first 
 sleighride, tucked up in a buffalo robe beside Dr. Henry E. Turner, 
 all the way down as far, probably, as Perry Street where gates and 
 farm roads began, and then back again to Touro. Now she has never 
 found any motor as swift as that heavenly sleigh. But this was only 
 the first of many favors shown her by Dr. Turner, to whose love of 
 the home of his adoption — he was East Greenwich, not Newport born 
 — our Society can never be sufficiently recognisant. Besides his many 
 printed papers, Miss Tilley has now deposited here, a wealth of sound 
 and careful investigation that will prove his qualities of style and 
 thought, and for which we can well be grateful to Dr. Turner's family 
 for making us their custodian. 
 
 Mr. William Littlefield, another of the aristocratic old gentlemen 
 of Newport, lived in that gem of a house on High Street now pur- 
 chased by Dr. Robinson. It was part of the generous legacy of Mr. 
 Littlefield's widow to the Newport Hospital. This lady was a sister 
 of Mrs. Fowler Gardiner and of Mrs. Bache. After Mr. Littlefield's 
 death, a pet parrot — this is the anecdote of another child of the period, 
 
 16 
 
not mine— on seeing some visitor enter, who greatly resembled Mr. 
 Littlefield, squeaked loudly "Father, Father" and flew to his shoulder 
 with every appearance of joy. They were a childless couple and made 
 their lives the brighter by the strong regard of hosts of friends. It is 
 only with the passing of that generation that their names have faded 
 to the dim remembrance of a few then children. 
 
 These early lists name three other Messrs. Turner— H. J., James, 
 and George. There are also Messrs. George Hall who lived with some 
 sisters on Broad Street, in a dainty white house with a little grass 
 plat at the corner — blue, with grape hyacinths every spring; and 
 Augustus Bush; S. Bradford; The Messrs. Cook, who with their 
 sisters walked daily in a family party to watch the building of their 
 new house on the corner of Bull Street, No. 22 Kay Street. There 
 was no jerry buildmg on that occasion. Benjamin Watson, William 
 Gardner, William S. Wetmore, Bellevue Avenue went down just to 
 his gate until 1852 and then with a saw Mr. Alfred Smith cut across 
 the old fence and drove his buggy in triumph to the Land's End. 
 Modern fashionable Newport had come! Henry Bull, son of the 
 historian, John D. Williams, Samuel Allen, George A. Richmond — 
 most of us remember him too, — Messrs. Bailey, Joseph C. and William 
 G., — and among others of whom I have faint recollection — mind you 
 without question of their importance in the Historical Society or in 
 Newport, — it is only possible to speak of what one knows, regardless 
 of proper balance with the rest, — were the Messrs. Peleg and William 
 Audley Clarke, the one married and living in a modern house long 
 since razed to give space for an enlargment to the Redwood Library, 
 and the other a bacheller, the cashier of the Bank of Rhode Island, 
 who lived in the stout old family mansion on Mill Street (still standing) 
 with his sisters, those gentlewomen, Miss Harriet Clarke and Mrs. 
 Dumont. Many of these names are very familiar and generally it 
 would be possible to place their relationships and habitations but lack 
 of detail would make but a dull account. 
 
 Mr. Thurston is probably a brother of Mrs. R. P. Berry, Miss 
 Thurston who carried needlework into the fine arts — and Mrs. Dennis 
 who died a few years ago — leaving a large share of family possessions — 
 proofs in themselves of a pedigree running back to the first settlers. 
 It Mr. Thurston resembled in mind his three sisters, certainly he must 
 gladly have volunteered in the cause of local history. He owned a 
 large tract of land on the west side of Broad Street, acres long in his 
 ancient family. Mr. Thurston prepared a large part of the Catalogue 
 of the Redwood Library that was published in book form in 1858, the 
 fourth and last edition to be printed. 
 
 17 
 
A few months after the establishment of our Society (the year 
 itself was not ill chosen, 1853, for it was that of the conversion for 
 the second time, after a long interval, of the town of Newport into a 
 city) the Honorable Robert B. Cranston, ex-member of Congress, 
 was installed on the one day as Mayor — he had private views on the 
 matter — and voluntarily resigned on the next, when our already men- 
 tioned member, Mr. Thomas R. Hunter, an alderman, became ex- 
 ofBcio heir to that office until the month of October. Both the mem- 
 bers by the name of Cranston — brothers — were public spirited, wise 
 citizens, and did well for the town. One lived on Franklin street, 
 the other in the old Cranston house on the Parade, lately displaced, 
 with others, by the Army and Navy Y. M. C. A. A generous gift 
 was left by Mr. Robert H. Cranston to the City of Newport, to "aid 
 such poor as are too proud to beg." 
 
 Mr. Benjamin Finch owned the Gov. John Collins house on 
 School Street, and its pretty terraced garden across the way that has 
 gone mto house lots. The old house has become Aquidneck In- 
 dustries. Tall and venerable, Mr. Finch displayed beneath his be- 
 nign countenance one of the last of the neat folded white neckerchiefs, 
 seen in Trinity Church, of which he was a pillar. So was Mr. Samuel 
 Engs, but he concealed himself in one of the " stall pews '' at the very 
 foot, under the organ loft, until time to emerge and '' carry the 
 plate." How novel was the jingle of silver after the long silence of 
 paper " shin plasters " during the Rebellion. Mr. Engs' house on 
 Kay Street is yet owned by his daughters. 
 
 Mr. Thomas Ridell came from New Bedford. His widow and a 
 granddaughter lived in a sizeable, neat cottage next south of the 
 Reading Room. After Mrs. Ridell's death, it was altered and modern- 
 ized by the purchasers, and has only lately been removed for a block 
 of stores. In settling the Ridell estate, a three days auction was 
 held on the grass in front of the cottage. Never before had such a 
 sale occurred here, and never since do I recall such a wealth of porce- 
 lains, furniture and the like, as were spread forth. There have been 
 many larger auctions, none more "rare." 
 
 Messrs. Francis and Edward Lawton, the sons of Lieutenant 
 Governor Lawton, brought up on the Parade, Lad for many years 
 their respective stores on Thames Street the leading dry goods em- 
 poriums of Newport. Mr. Frank Lawton could look at a ribbon, go 
 to New York, and a week later bring back another of the exact shade. 
 He was proverbially refined in the choice of all his goods, and his cus- 
 tom extended from New Orleans to Maine. My own best pleasure 
 was to dive my little arms into a great packing box, once or twice a 
 
 18 
 
year filled with bits of bright calicos sold very cheap, "by the pound.'' 
 Doll's dresses, patch-work quilts, pinafores, lots of nice things grew 
 out of that box every year. 
 
 The Messrs. Cozzens were also leading citizens — Mr. William C. 
 being one of the Mayors of Newport— merchants, their large store in 
 line with those of Mr. Francis Lawton and the Messrs. Gould on the 
 east side of the Main Street. The Boston Store of to-day originated 
 in one of these. The Cozzens family residence was a beautiful old 
 house on upper Thames Street, with a fine, large, shady garden, ex- 
 tending back to the old cove walk or path, and persons strolling along 
 that tranquil way often paused to enjoy the fragrance of many bulbs 
 and flowers sheltered behind a high panelled and paled fence with a 
 pretty, fancy gate, all painted snowy white, and lined by flowering 
 bushes. 
 
 Mr. Benjamin Baker Howland (1787-1877), more commonly 
 called Mr. B. B. Howland, was our first Librarian, and twenty-five 
 years earlier, had been elected "Librarian and Cabinet Keeper of the 
 Southern District" of the Rhode Island Historical Society. He was 
 the Town Clerk of Newport for the not inconsiderable period of fifty 
 years. His modesty was so great that he refused to permit the Rev. 
 Arthur A. Ross to acknowledge publicly his share in the compilation 
 of that second centennial sermon, but the old files of the Mercury 
 show how seriously he did his part in establishing facts about New- 
 port. Unhappily, I have no particular list at hand of his writings, yet 
 have found, beside many others, extensive articles on the old streets, 
 on the Stone Mill, and on Captain Cook's ship, the Endeavor, (this 
 last item printed about the middle thirties) that went to pieces, or was 
 rather torn apart; teak and copper bolted, just abaft Captain Stephen 
 Cahoone's house at his wharf in the rear of Mr. Albert Sherman's 
 father's house and store on Thames Street (No. 397). 
 
 And next door to Mr. Albert Sherman's father's house, lived that 
 stout hero of Lake Erie, Captain William Vigneron Taylor, United 
 States Navy, whose name is the only one in our lists to be given a 
 title. He was of herculean strength, there are stories to prove it. 
 Years afterward, that old Colonial house, now KauU's Market, No. 
 393 Thames Street, became the home of Colonel William Gilpin, who 
 married Mrs. Saunders, daughter to Captain Taylor. Colonel Gilpin 
 (whose father's album of masterly water color sketches of this Island 
 done about 1814 is now in our joyful possession. Colonel Gilpin lived to 
 be eighty-seven, a quiet old gentleman, collecting and preserving relics 
 
 Note 1915. The collections of Mr. B. B. Howland, mss., books, etc., 
 have recently been presented to the Newport Historical Society. 
 
 19 
 
of Newport. Unfortunately, in the end, all these were scattered by a 
 hasty ill-advertised auction after his death, and the original Commu- 
 nion-table of Trinity Church, the books of the Marine Society and the 
 like passed — only the four winds can say whither. His collection of 
 early Newport play bills, etc., is in this building. 
 
 Mrs. Gilpin was one of the first five women members admitted to 
 the Newport Historical Society. Brought into it, is perhaps a better 
 term, none of them knew their names were suggested until after their 
 election in i88r. She took lively part with her husband in the search 
 for antiquities and was filled with good works, charitable and thought- 
 ful in the extreme. The union of this couple occurred quite late in 
 life, they had both been married when young and both bereft of their 
 "partners" shortly after. In Mrs. Saunders' case the death of her 
 husband was a lamentable tragedy. He was a young officer in the 
 coast survey, and off Charleston bar, the little vessel foundered in a 
 squall in full sight of a window of the hotel from whence his little 
 bride witnessed it. 
 
 George H. Calvert, Esq., Mayor of Newport after ex-oflficio 
 Mayor Hunter from October, 1853 to June, 1854 (we had three mayors 
 in the one year — 1853) literateur, student in Germany, visitor to 
 Goethe, a distinction somewhat marred now that modern cynics say 
 that "Gerty was rather a dirty old fat man, wrapped in a dressing 
 gown." Perish the thought, he stands fixed before us in Kaulbacks 
 painting, laurel crowned, on the platform before the admiring 
 reverential Court of Weimar. Do let us keep some impressions to 
 venerate! No one ever saw Mr. Calvert en dishabille. He sat by 
 the fire in that study at the far south end of the big hall, and if you 
 want to see his lofty bookcases, they are gifts to this very society. 
 He, too, received many of the choice spirits who came to Newport 
 seeking, not so much fashion, as cultured enjoyment and repose. He 
 planted his trees, nursed the first Magnolia glauca in Newport in the 
 southern shelter of his house. He descended from Rubens, no fiction, 
 fact, and inherited one of his works, two florid babies, Romulus and 
 Remus, the grateful acknowledgment to his father of a kinsman in 
 Holland, who shipped all his collection to Baltimore for temporary 
 safe keeping during the Napoleonic wars. He prized General 
 Washington's telescope; and among other little volumes, he wrote 
 "The Gentleman" and uttered a good oration on the Battle of Lake 
 Erie. In advanced life stalking to the Redwood Library, enveloped 
 in a flapping cape and certainly looking something like the Artist 
 Reuben himself in that slouch hat, the slender old gentleman's eyes 
 had a wistful dreamy glance. What if spirits did not hover and rap 
 
 20 
 
tables near him, he thought they did, and with him it was more a 
 poetic fancy than the harmful gross monomania that it became to 
 ordinary minds. As a poet he is forgotten; as the gentleman he will 
 be remembered while breath lasts in his friends. Pretty tiny Mrs. 
 Calvert, her flowing sleeves, lace ruffles, and black velvet wrist bands. 
 Do not all remember her long cheerful drawing room, next to the 
 library. Rarely alone, the popular little lady was sought almost daily 
 by some of the large circle of her friends, and with well concealed 
 tact she sent the choice few to the inner circle amid the books. She 
 outlived Mr. Calvert, and on one of our last visits informed my mother 
 that she was just beginning to read "Leaky" — is iti* — "on the Bible,'' 
 a large work in several heavy volumes, "But," she beamed "I do so 
 enjoy it!" 
 
 Across the aisle from our pew in Trinity, sat Mr. Wm. Beach 
 Lawrence and his family. Mr. Lawrence was of severe aspect, and 
 during the sermon apt to support his chin by one hand, cross his 
 other arm — rather twist up his legs and be apparently remote in the 
 corner of the pew, under the old hat rack on the wall. That was his 
 habitual seat. His features were strong, his hirsute adornment of dark 
 brownish grey — sufficient but not plenty. He appeared to be involved 
 in deep thought, yet rarely looked at the parson, although sometimes 
 on rising he sternly regarded the choir. The one and only time I re- 
 member his speaking to me was at a costume party given by his 
 daughter, Miss Lawrence, after I grew up, and then I discovered what 
 report said, that no one was more genial and agreeable a host. 
 
 The guests stroiled through the rooms of the library. There 
 were no doors, the side spaces of the entrances were, that night, clad 
 in Christmas greens, and everywhere else, books to the ceiling. In 
 the drawing rooms — dancing; the supper table too was impressive, 
 large, gleaming with lights and covered by massive plate. Through 
 some of the windows, over snow clad, barren Ochre Point, with 
 its sparce clump of ragged firs was seen the Atlantic Ocean all black 
 and silent. Owing to his reputed political opinions, just at the time 
 of the Rebellion, Mr. Lawrence was not popular — but none impugned 
 the quality of his professional work and writings on intricate topics of 
 international law. 
 
 Dr. Theophilus C. Dunn, born in 1800 — jovial, delightful. Dr. 
 Dunn, coming into a sick room like a ray of sunshine! One of my 
 father's best friends, and often in our house. Do I not remember the 
 mumps and the " Breakbone fever " with gratitude. " Pain endureth,'' 
 &c. If it had not been for those episodes I might never have known 
 how Dr. Dunn, when at college in Philadelphia, about the year 1820, 
 
 21 
 
went so often to that adored temple of art — it was a pretty cold and 
 cheerless temple too, it later killed Rachel — the Walnut St. Theatre 
 — and how he sawJ;Edmund Kean ? And if he did not see Cooper, the 
 greatest actor, George Frederic Cooke (whose skull was for some 
 years in Newport — Dr. Mott Francis ot this Society had it from his 
 father) — and Charles Matthews, senior, at least he talked much about 
 them. How the students cheered Mr. Kean at the stage entrance on 
 Ninth St., and they all had not money to get into the top gallery, and 
 how the memory of that marvelous acting had kept green with Dr. 
 Dunn all his life. My mother agreed with him. She, too, when a 
 child in London before 1832, had seen Kean as Richard III. I won- 
 der what they would have said to remarks lately printed about Kean 
 in high society in London— into which he hated to be forced— "a little 
 man with a mild but marked countenance, and eyes as brilliant as on 
 the stage, knitting his brow when he could not exactly make out what 
 was said and a little too frequent with ladyships " and "lardships " and 
 eating peas with his knife." Well, as to peas — if high society in the 
 twenties did not employ that method, their parents had — for round 
 ended " pea shovelers " were used by the best people — certainly into 
 that century. Most of us older people can remember in America half 
 a century ago, a few such old knives relegated to other uses in pantry 
 and kitchen. 
 
 My mother asked Dr. Dunn if he had ever had adventures in 
 peregrinations about Newport. " Only once,'' was the answer. " On 
 a slushy cold stormy night in King St., I stumbled over something 
 soft and warm — and as it rose beneath me, I found myself astride of 
 a cow." 
 
 Dr. and Mrs. Dunn lived in the great brick town house of God- 
 frey Malbone. It had been purchased by Mrs. Dunn's father, Captain 
 Robinson Potter, and now as " Cottrell's block," is doomed to final 
 destruction. In the time of Mrs. Dunn the drawing rooms were hung 
 with old hand painted papers — one a stag hunt — the other, the battle 
 of the Nile. Dr. Dunn had a taste for literature and was a sincere, bluff 
 Christian of English blood — although his own father and family were 
 " dissenters " he frequented Trinity. In England about forty years 
 ago I was taken to visit two delightful typical old maiden ladies, the 
 Misses Puddicombe, living in a pretty stone bouse — much like that in 
 Newport on the corner of Bellevue and Narragansett avenues. They 
 asked me many questions of their near kinsman. Dr. Dunn — who had 
 died shortly before. They lived not far from Bovey Tracy in Devon- 
 shire, a country now popular from Hardy's novels, and the ancestral 
 home of Dr. Dunn. It lies to the south of Dartmoor. 
 
 22 
 
Sometimes General J. Alfred Hazard, ridmg a fine horse, passed 
 us on our walks. My father took us to the Lily Pond for a picnic and 
 fishing excursion. Whether General Hazard thought us marauders 
 or came upon us by accident is doubtful — that place was much fre- 
 quented by outsiders on pleasure bent— but he suddenly appeared 
 among us at the beautiful north end of the pond. There were no ugly 
 ice-houses then, nothing but wild rose and blackberry vines, golden- 
 rod, grass and high rocks. Greeting my father in most friendly fashion 
 he invited us all to visit his sheep cots. Rocky Farm — is so called on 
 some of the most ancient records, but the old farm-house, in part still 
 there, had been remodeled by General Hazard or his father, and the 
 stone walls of the sheep cots were undoubtedly built by the son, al- 
 though, I am told, probably out of the old stone material at hand. 
 He had just expended large sums on his inherited property. The roof 
 of the sheep cot we entered was low. General Hazard was tall and 
 very handsome, a luxuriant chestnut beard and thick curly locks. He 
 wore a Peacedale shawl twined about him, shepherd fashion. Many 
 sheep huddled at his knee, and flights of barn swallows skimmed back 
 and forth to their nests in the rafters. I have never forgotten the 
 scene nor the placid blue waters of the pond filled with reflections 
 spangled with lily pads, the many perch we caught and the tiny spot- 
 ted turtle that we brought home in triumph to our nursery. 
 
 It is very provoking, although we have religion, agriculture, law, 
 literature, mercantile pursuits, navy and politics as well as persons of 
 leisure ; none of those delightful old sea captains, trotting about the 
 streets with their ivory-headed canes — relics of Leviathans conquered 
 by man — high stove pipe hats and long frock coats — or cosily yarning 
 of by-gone wonders near old firesides, appear in our lists. And yet 
 there were survivors here of that race now totally extinct in the mod- 
 ern conditions of sea life. The best we can do to include them is as 
 fathers of some of our members, the Messrs. Steven and John D. Nor- 
 tham, for example — and others. Whaling and the merchant service 
 made much prosperity for Newport. 
 
 Mr. Isaac Peace Hazard, one of the five brothers, so well known 
 in this State, also occasionally wore one of those shepherd plaid 
 shawls hanging loosely from his shoulders. They were woven in his 
 brother's mill at Peacedale, Rhode Island, and if any one is curious, 
 let him hunt up the magazine showing Mr. Lincoln wearing such a 
 shawl. Mr. Hazard, over at the mills today sends me word that he 
 //z/w/^j- Mr. Lincoln's may perhaps have come from his grandfather's 
 looms, and I am sure I was told so at the time, fifty years ago, by Mr. 
 Joseph Peace Hazard, and we have always said that my father's shawl 
 
 23 
 
that I have to this day was the ditto of the one sent to Mr. Lincoln ! 
 
 Visiting Miss Mary Hazard in her ancestral home, the Wanton 
 house, No. 17 Broad Street, its last inhabitant, she held up a photo- 
 graph of her long-lived cousin Isaac remarking emphatically. "I am 
 glad you remember him ! He was a handsome man, Cousin Isaac — 
 and better than that, he was a good man — ■Bi good man." 
 
 Of the Society of Friends, highly educated and cultured by travel 
 in America and abroad, Mr. Hazard lived, a man of leisure, quietly 
 but all his friends were the better for knowing him. His last years, 
 some what enfeebled by illness, were spent in tranquility with his sis- 
 ter, Miss Anna, on Kay Street, almost across from their friends, Mr, 
 and Mrs. Calvert. This branch of the great Hazard family of Rhode 
 Island, through their mother, Miss Peace, was connected with Bar- 
 badoes and Philadelphia. I saw them so frequently in both the 
 American cities that it would take a whole afternoon to tell about 
 them, and the tale would begin with the venerable Mrs. Hazard, their 
 mother. 
 
 Mr. Samuel Brown, a bachelor of substance — not girth — the be- 
 loved nephew of ancient maiden aunts, with whom he continued to 
 make his home after the death of his mother, in what is now No. 39 
 Clarke Street, came much to see my father on the Parade, and occa- 
 sionally after we removed to the greater distance of Bowery Street. 
 Was he not a surveyor or something like that } He and Mr. Charles 
 Hammett stood about with a tripod and strings or chains or some- 
 thing before Mr. Andrew Robeson, Jr., and my father could put up a 
 high board fence nail-spiked along the top in place of that nice crum. 
 bly old stone wall full of briars, on our mutual boundary line. Mr. 
 Brown wore pepper and salt clothes and looked out upon the world 
 from beneath shaggy iron-grey eyebrows. In after days he haunted 
 the window of the dear old Union Bank and from that comfortable 
 corner, tilting back in his chair he surveyed the passers-by and held 
 conversation with a chosen few of those who entered. It was really 
 quite like his reception room and his dry humor free from malice was 
 quoted by his hearers when they came home to their dinner. 
 
 After we moved Mr. and Mrs. Andrew Robeson, Jr., were our 
 next door neighbors — their house, a good deal enlarged, is still on the 
 corner of Bellevue Avenue and Bowery Street ; they had three happy 
 children. Those nailspikes on the fence were soon battered down. 
 Mrs. Robeson was the daughter of Mr. Zachariah Allen of Providence, 
 whose historical writings are known to all, including the account of 
 General La Fayette's visit in 1824. When Mr. Robeson buijt his fine 
 new house, of course he put in a library, but do you know, though his 
 
 24 
 
books were perfectly beautiful, lovely green, red and russet leather 
 backed, and beautiful gold letters and splashes, there was just one 
 place where they were only little bits of tin covered to look like backs 
 of books. But it was only because that closet door was where it would 
 spoil the con — tin— mty of the shelves. Grown up people said that 
 big word when stupid strangers, who did not know Mr. Robeson, 
 laughed just because they were ignorant — not he. He was full of 
 fun, frank and sincere, and so popular after he came down from those 
 mills in Fall River to build such a beautiful home here, and then, of 
 course, Newport fashion, they all went off to Europe for a good long 
 time, but when they came back, they lived happily and contentedly 
 here until 1864, and then in Boston and Tiverton until after Mr. Robe- 
 son died very suddenly one bright summer day in the '70ties. One 
 of his daughters is the wife of Professor Charles S. Sargent of Brook- 
 line. The other, soon widowed, married into the Thayer family of 
 Boston, and the son married, and died some time since. 
 
 My father, Samuel Powel of Philadelphia, was brought to New- 
 port by his parents in 1832, a boy of fourteen, and by slow degrees 
 from being only his summer abiding place, this lovely old town be- 
 came his permanent residence, and he loved it very much, although 
 he never lost touch with Philadelphia, always except for a few years, 
 owning a house and frequently returning there for longer or shorter 
 visits. 
 
 Being his daughter, I should perhaps omit his name — it is on one 
 of the earliest lists, of the Newport Historical Society, were it not to 
 say that his own knowledge and regard for things ancient and his 
 desire to train his children in such matters made us his constant 
 companions on his walks, both here and in Philadelphia, drew us into 
 ear-shot of his friends discussing old times and, rather to the detriment 
 of my lessons, carried me to listen to Edward Everett lecture on 
 General Washington, to witness many fine historical plays, to see the 
 handiwork of Benjamin West, Stuart and other great artists, and in 
 fact opened many ancient doors, both public and private, to our 
 wondering eyes. 
 
 Another member was Mr. George Bowen of the Society of 
 Friends who kept old time surroundings in his office on Bowen's 
 Wharf and where the present continuers of his business, show the 
 same consideration. It proves that Mr. Bowen was acceptible to our 
 society and if anyone wants to know how the merchants of colonial 
 days fitted their office and warehouses, it is suggested to go and beg 
 admission into that gem of the past. 
 
 Mr. S. S. Slocum was later Mayor of Newport, but at the time 
 
 25 
 
of the founding of the Historical I do not remember him. He must 
 have been then quite a young man. 
 
 Mr. Marshall Slocum who lived next door to the Misses Hazard 
 on Kay Street was also a pillar of Trinity. After his death his house 
 was purchased by Mr. Alfred Smith and given to the Unitarian 
 Church for its parsonage as a memorial to Mrs. Smith. 
 
 In revising these brief statements I have been loaned a scrap 
 book compiled by "Lydia Ann Gould." It contains many articles 
 about Newport worthies and includes obituaries of Mr. David Gould — 
 that speak of him as a rounded character, just and upright. A list of 
 his friends, frequenters and customers gives many of our founders 
 and four were among the bearers at his funeral in his excellent old 
 home on Broad Street, now fallen in the cause of modern improve- 
 ments. Both the Messrs. Gould were portly Quakers, beautifully 
 clad in Friends garb as worn in Rhode Island, and bearing on their 
 business card — the firm endured much over a century in the same 
 place on Thames Street — the statement that their house had made a 
 uniform for General Nathaniel Greene of Revolutionary fame. (The 
 General occupied, for two years after the Revolutionary War Mr. 
 Garrettson's present property on Mill Street.) The Messrs. Gould 
 were equally men of information. One of them being quoted as able 
 to answer almost anything one questioned. On the occasion of the 
 "Reunion of the Sons and Daughters of Newport in 1859," in a 
 window of the store of the Messrs. Gould was shown a flag inscribed 
 "Rhode Island colony flag, received from England by Gov. Arnold 
 1663, used until the evacuation of the English, [779." 
 
 The family of Gould also owned many other remarkable inheri- 
 tances, includmg some examples of an astounding pottery that had 
 been expermanentally produced in their back yard on Broad Street. 
 
 ' E. R. Potter of Providence" stands for Judge Ehsha R. Potter of 
 Little Rest on the Hill— also known as the Town of Kingston over 
 across in the Narragan5:ett country. He was of medium stature, 
 very dark — black hair and brilliant black eyes, mobile well cut features 
 and a quiet positive manner. Admired for his courtesy, shrewd 
 intellect, sound judgment and upright character. A slight attack of 
 a fever prevalent in Newport in August, 1863, developed in me just 
 as I was taken to Kingston the next month, where my parents were pass, 
 ing the season. It was the more easily endured under the softening 
 influences of big bunches of greenhouse grapes and lots of books 
 that were sent to me every few days by the Judge and his thoughtful 
 sister Miss Mary Potter — who so long kept up the old family mansion 
 just off the Mam Street of the village. And up and down that Main 
 
 26 
 
Street— quite treeless then, now overarched, I used to see pacing with 
 stately tread — the venerable "Squire Updike" — with his daughter, or 
 sister perhaps, Miss Anstis Updike. If not a founder, surely as an 
 Honorary Member, I am at liberty to mention the author of "The 
 Church in Narragansett," and to add that a few years ago I saw a 
 good oil portrait of the old gentleman in the house of his grand- 
 daughter Mrs. Hunt in Kingston. 
 
 A small cottage to the south of Hilltop house and within the 
 same grounds was approached by curved foot path from a gate on 
 Church Street. There were plenty of smoke and burning bushes, 
 sweet shrub and the like, also an ivy-clad stump footed by yellow- 
 blossoming 'money,' and some quite sizeable trees. On passing the 
 little front door, you entered directly into a tiny oblong room and 
 faced a mantle piece. To the right and left were two other small 
 rooms. In that on the right, one on each side of the fire-place, sat 
 Mr. and Mrs. Schroeder, like a pair of ancient porcelain figures. The 
 room was well furnished and had a good aubuisson carpet. Mrs. 
 Schroeder's rather strong features shone within a bonnet-like cap of 
 fine net, well ruched on the sides, and her silk dress rustled nicely. 
 Her black lace mittened hands were extended with hearty greeting 
 uttered in rather a d^ep voice, while Mr. Schroeder, a trifle rheumatic, 
 rose more slowly from his chair. Their son was Mr. F'rancis Schroeder, 
 associated with the celebrated Dr. Cogswell, and afterwards I believe, 
 himself. Senior Librarian of the Astor. Naturally the conversation 
 tended to books, and not gossip, for his parents were persons of cul- 
 ture. Their home has long been removed and become the lower front 
 portion of the Hypothenuse now inherited by Miss Waring. 
 
 Mr. and Mrs. Schroeder's beautiful daughter had married Mr. 
 Francis Gilliat, an Englishman of standing, and had died, leaving him 
 a large family. As he, too, is one of our founders, we may recall that 
 Miss Grace Gilliat is now living in Newport. Mr. Gilliat was very de- 
 vout. While here he owned Hilltop House, and after removing to 
 Pomfret, when well on in middle life, was ordained a clergyman of the 
 Protestant Episcopal Church. The Congregation at Trinity was 
 much excited one Sunday morning, to see their old friend's well 
 known face, appear unexpectedly above the Reading Desk. "Mr. 
 Gilliat !" they whispered, although we children were always told never 
 to whisper in church! 
 
 There walked daily from his residence opposite the Stone Mill, 
 his own field and property until sold to the town, to and from the 
 Newport Reading Room, a sturdy rather portly elderly gentleman 
 whose genial face was filled with family characteristics— Governor 
 
 27 
 
William Channing Gibbs (1788-1871) a son of that high minded, open 
 handed citizen of the century before, the merchant prince of Newport, 
 Mr. George Gibbs. The generations of the Gibbs family do not vary ; 
 they are just links in a chain — all the same fine natures. 
 
 Governor Gibbs, a broad-minded christian, devoted to his kins- 
 man. Dr. Chaning, but himself a pillar of Trinity Church, gave a col- 
 lection of Works on Military Art to the Redv^ood Library, now un- 
 obtainable in market, then old and valuable. Senior officers from the 
 War College and Forts pore over them. His house had open door on 
 Election Day, and throngs of his friends gathered beneath the Stuart 
 portraits and talked of other days — and of the Dorr War, in which the 
 good old governor had taken part. Why do we not talk of the Dorr 
 War now ? It teaches good lessons, that capital 'History' in the Red- 
 wood, not to speak of the rather feeble 'Life of Dorr' himself, poor de- 
 luded man. So popular was Governor Gibbs, that the very dogs 
 would follow him in the streets, and it is whispered that he occasion- 
 ally caused them to be fed. But there was so much dignity in the 
 keen eye of the aged gentleman that even the dogs approached him 
 respectfully. There is a funeral sermon by Dr. Dehon, on Governor 
 Gibbs' father in 1803, ^"d there is no better description written than 
 it gives by chance of the late Major Theodore K. Gibbs, U. S. A. 
 Governor Gibbs was a fitting link between the two, the merchant and 
 the soldier. 
 
 The four sons of Dr. David King senior figure in these first lists 
 of the Historical Society. The eldest, the Hon. George Gordon King, 
 Member of Congress in the '40ties, deeply saddened by the loss of 
 his young wife and her child, spent the remainder of his life in studious 
 retirement, always the friend of his friends, but never seeking society; 
 continually adding to that fine library and large collection of now 
 unobtainable engravings, that became the legacy of his nephew the 
 present Mr. George Gordon King, and that has lately been removed 
 from the colonial acres of his family in Bowery Street to Mr. King's 
 new cottage. Two others, Messrs. Edward and William Henry King 
 were prosperous China merchants, and I have purposely left Dr. 
 David King to the end of this gossip of "Sixty years ago." The 
 Admiral always goes last in the boat, although very properly he 
 stands first on the charter list, and he is said to have first instigated 
 our formation. He was certainly elected its first President. Never 
 w.as any one more kind, more sage, more willing to assist others, in 
 their studies of old Newport, even a shallow ignorant young girl. 
 Beloved physician, profound thinker, and analyzer of history. Mr. 
 William P. Sheffield declared that Dr. King "knew more of Newport 
 
 28 
 
than any man who survived him ." Public generosity is a marked custom 
 of his race, and he too upheld it. 
 
 For his numberless books, four rooms in his home on the corner of 
 Bellevue Avenue and Catharine Street were shelved to the ceiling— fine 
 brown tree calf and old gold folios down to the infinitesimal trifles of 
 other days. Hooks in marbled papers, they of all sizes, fat sides, ragged 
 edges, wide margins, clear type, red capitals, and engravings tied in 
 by vellum thongs as well as binders threads, American books, old and 
 new, others in many tongues some good modern literature, and plenty 
 of poets. Above stairs, other rooms more than less book-filled and 
 certain halls and passage ways far from empty. One room on the 
 third floor looked like a closet, for it was brim full to the door, solid 
 with books; (Miss Tilley has catalogues in part of this library, and 
 also of the prints of his brother.) Finally Dr. King succumbed to 
 the encroachments of a large grown-up family, and one after another 
 filled a cottage and the old family residence on Pelham Street, with 
 his books, pamphlets and very old newspapers. Documents he had 
 too in plenty, but he was no mere greedy acquirer, he knew and he loved 
 his treasures. Always very busy, an extensive annual practise, his 
 professional standing very high — many came from far, to consult him 
 in addition to his summer patients — he yet found time — or made it, 
 to carry on his passion for the history of this country in general, and 
 that of Rhode Island in particular, to collect his books and to become 
 one of the famed Americanists of his day. He had such happy 
 exactness that any statement emanating from Dr. King's lips or pen, 
 may be set down as proved by facts, as known in his day. Very 
 retirmg by nature, modest to extreme, once on the lecture platform 
 he forgot his reluctance and a flood of eloquence poured from his 
 lips. That he knew Rome and Greece thoroughly, was proved by the 
 pure English of his style. What Dr. King had to say he made terse, 
 picturesque and convincing in fluent eloquence. He captivated a 
 young listener while those of his own years lingered to ask more light 
 on the new questions that he had patiently garnered from old time 
 threshed straw. Defender of William Coddington, and occupied both 
 here and in England in research connected with Coddington's justifi- 
 cation, and with the origin of the old Stone Mill. Hunting through 
 the baskets of the book vendors on the quays of the Seine in Paris, 
 bringing home good trouvailles of the French in America, one of the 
 favored few with entree behind the scenes in the British Museum, 
 the several sojourns of Dr. King in Europe, were no strolls of idleness, 
 but periods of hard study and excellent realization, including, too, 
 much professional advancement. 
 
 29 
 
Many able brains of America and Europe either wrote to Dr. 
 King or rang the bright silver bell-handle of his rose-embowered 
 front door. 
 
 In his wife, this wise gentleman found indeed a help-mate. Her 
 own strong intelligence, woven into true gold by her deep broad 
 woman's heart, ripened into a life that cannot have been duplicated, 
 very often, by others. She was the associate of her husband, and 
 having enjoyed better educational advantages than most women of her 
 day, under the guidance of her father, the Rev. Dr. Wheaton, was 
 well able to assist Dr. King in his intellectual tastes and pursuits. In 
 these modern days we do not often find Newport houses where so 
 much true culture is the daily life, and he whose name heads our 
 Charter, our first president. Dr. David Kmg, deserves these honors. 
 
 EPILOGUE. 
 
 Now having exhausted your patience and outrun my given time, 
 I must trespass upon you a moment longer, for, although there are 
 still many founders unmentioned, there is also one more recent mem- 
 ber and officer, who only came into the society thirty-five years ago, 
 and whose name justice compels me to utter, Mr. R. Hammett Tilley. 
 
 Not sixty but fifty years ago we were in the agonies of a hideous 
 war. Those of us who go back to the Rebellion know its bitterness. 
 Newport at that time sent many to the front, possibly some of our 
 founders, certainly many of their sons. Some there were, who would 
 gladly have shouldered their knapsacks and guns, no one held back 
 because sword was not held out to him, but there were some brave 
 souls who from various causes, frequently physical, could not go into 
 the field. Of these last Mr. Benjamin James Tilley, father of Mr. 
 Hammett Tilley was one, for he was lame. .Still heart and soul that 
 patriot fought the good fight. When Portsmouth Grove Hospital was 
 opened there was much confusion, and as we look back now, the mira- 
 cle is that in any of those war hospitals any one lived. Mr. Benjamm 
 Tilley spent many days each week working heroically with the sick 
 and dying; of course he was not the only one — nor were the cases at 
 the grove always the worst, for many of those died before they could 
 be brought to the North. But Mr. Tilley was one of the leaders in 
 this pitiful work, in close raport with members of the Sanitary Com- 
 mission, and so great was the strain of his exertions, that he actually 
 shortened his life, dying worn out in 1866, one year after the close of 
 the grove hospital. I hope that there is some full record of what he 
 did. 
 
 30 
 
His son, a little lad of fourteen, and Mr. Clarke, (later the father 
 of ex-Mayor Clarke), then barely grown up himself, carried on, as best 
 they could, the business of Mr.Tilley, both before and after his death. 
 (It is continued today in the hands of the Honorable Wm. P. Clarke). 
 Mr. Hammett Tilley became a member of the Newport Historical So- 
 ciety in 1879, and its Librarian in 1884 — when the society was estab- 
 lished in this old church then on l^arney Street. So absorbed was 
 this very young man in the occupation he assumed, that it was prac- 
 tically the work of his whole life. Genealogy was to him perhaps the 
 most attractive brands of historical research, but he was of such ex- 
 cellent memory that before long he ranked in the list of those in 
 America from whom it was possible to receive facts unmixed with 
 fancy, faithfully set down. To tradition, however, Mr. Tilley gave 
 fair consideration, always so carefully indicated as such that there 
 could be no misleading. His unfailing kindly interest, his self-denial 
 and his generosity we have all felt ; his unfiaging zeal, absolute 
 modesty, and lack of egotism rounded by the polish of his manner 
 made him a man of note. 
 
 Nor was Mr. Tilley, busily assorting the dusty fragments of 
 antiquity, bringing order out of chaos, entirely alone in his vocation. 
 There was a little daughter who came with him to this old church — a 
 warm hearted little thing, her dollies tucked under her arm and 
 bestowed for the day in any convenient corner where the child played 
 quietly through the long hours that her father worked by himself, 
 until she too began to learn and to help him. 
 
 Mr. Tilley's "magazine" and some other contributions to the 
 history of Newport are fortunately accessible, but the bulk of his work 
 has gone broad cast over the country, for his pen was perpetually busy 
 in response to letters from every — as well as from no-where little 
 town in the then "far-west" — where a homesick son of Newport was 
 trying to accumulate facts for his posterity. Letters from foreign 
 societies and the like. One steady interruption of letters and visitors. 
 It is not only Newport, but much outside of Newport that can bear 
 tribute to Mr. Tilley's knowledge and accuracy. He died in harness; 
 he never gave up; and with the hand of death cold upon him, worked 
 up to the very end. Good son of a worthy sire. 
 
 Peace to their a.shes, but not farewell — their works live after them 
 in the safe hands of their dutiful child, a "Daughter of the Revolution," 
 and our young librarian — Miss Tilley. 
 
 31 
 
SOCIETY NOTES 
 
 Erratum, January Bulletin, page 
 10. Colonel Benjamin Church set 
 out to kill King Philip from the 
 farmhouse of Major Peleg Sanford 
 on the east side of the Island, and 
 not from Sanford's town house on 
 Broad Street. See Church's In- 
 dian Wars, Prince Society publica- 
 tion. 
 
 EDITORIAL 
 
 The all absorbing topic of the 
 day in our Society is the iniportant 
 action taken at the meeting April 
 9th, empowering the building com- 
 mittee to begin the erection of our 
 new fire-proof building. And we 
 heartily congratulate the Society, 
 for the interest manifested in its 
 useful work, by the generous con- 
 tributions, making this important 
 progressive movement possib]e,and 
 not less earnestly do we congratu- 
 late the City of Newport, in hav- 
 ing an institution which seeks to 
 instruct its citizens in its remark- 
 able history, and to preserve so 
 many valuable records of its past. 
 
 New Members 
 Elected since last issue. 
 
 Hon. Robert S. Burlingame 
 Rev. Charles Russell Peck 
 
 Hon. John B. Sullivan 
 Mrs. Walter A. Wright 
 Hon. Wm. MacLeod 
 
 RECENT ACCESSIONS OF SPECIAL 
 INTEREST ARE THE FOLLOWING 
 
 Commerce of Rhode Island 
 1726-1800. Vol. I. 1726-1774. 
 Published by the Massachusetts 
 Historical Society. Gift of Hon. 
 George Peabody Wetmore. 
 
 History of Brown University, 
 1 764-1914. By Walter C. Bron- 
 son. Lift. D. Gift of Brown 
 University. 
 
 Bibliography of Rhode Island 
 Imprints. Published by Rhode 
 Island Historical Society. 
 
 Nathan Hale. 1776. Biography 
 and Memorials. By Henry Phelps 
 Johnston. Revised and Enlarged 
 Edition. Gift of Yale University 
 Library. 
 
 "Our Naval Apprentice," later 
 called "The Blue Jacket." New- 
 port. Complete set 1901-1911. 
 Gift of Mr. J. F. Buenzle. 
 
OFFICERS 
 
 OF THE 
 
 Newport Historical Society 
 
 For the year ending May^ 191 5 
 
 President, HON. DANIEL B. FEARING 
 First Vice-President, REV. RODERICK TERRY, D. D. 
 
 Second Vice-President, MR. FRANK K. STURGIS 
 
 Third Vice-President, MR. ALFRED TUCKERMAN 
 
 Recording Secretary, MR. JOHN P. SANBORN 
 
 Corresponding Secretary, MR. GEORGE H. RICHARDSON 
 
 Treasurer, MR. HENRY C. STEVENS, Jr. 
 
 Librarian, MISS EDITH MAY TILLEY 
 
 Curator of Coins and Medals, DR. EDWIN P. ROBINSON 
 
 Board of Directors 
 THE OFFICERS and 
 
 FOR THREE YEARS 
 
 MRS. HAROLD BROWN DR. WILLIAM S. SHERMAN 
 
 MRS. RICHARD C. DERBY MR. JOB PECKHAM 
 
 FOR TWO YEARS 
 
 MRS. THOMAS A. LAWTON MR. HAMILTON B. TOMPKINS 
 
 MRS. FRENCH VANDERBILT MR. GEORGE L. RIVES 
 
 FOR ONE YEAR 
 
 MRS. WILLIAM R. MORGAN COL. C. L. F. ROBINSON 
 
 MR. JONAS BERGNER REV. GEORGE V. DICKEY 
 
V • 
 
 ^^' BULLETIN 
 
 OF THE 
 
 Newport Historical Society 
 
 Number Seventeen NEWPORT, R. I. July, 1915 
 
 ANNUAL MEETING 
 
 ADDRESS 
 
 By 
 Ex-President HAMILTON B. TOMPKINS 
 
 I hardly desire, Mr. President, in view of the exercises of laying 
 the corner stone of our new building, which are still before us, to 
 prolong this meeting by indulging in any extended discourse, but, as 
 your predecessor in office, perhaps it may not be out of place to oflFer a 
 few words of congratulatioii upon the advance the Society has made, 
 not alone since its beginning, but especially during the last few years 
 
 Organized, as most of you are aware, in 1853, by a few persons 
 interested in Newport and its history, and proud of its traditions, who 
 believed that this end of the State had sufficient of interest to be 
 worthy of a separate Society, notwithstanding that the older institution 
 located in Providence was then flourishing and well supported. Our 
 Society held its meetings during the first few years of its existence at 
 various places : in the upper room of No. 5 Engine Company's house 
 on Touro Street, the Masonic Hall, and the State House, until in 1877 
 it was allowed quarters in the Redwood Library, which it retained until 
 1884, when it was found necessary to procure a permanent abiding 
 place of its own, and the old Seventh Day Baptist Church on Barney 
 Street, in itself the most interesting and valuable relic we posses.'^, was 
 purchased. Some three years later the more eligible site, which we 
 now have, was o')tained and the building removed. Perhaps the most 
 active man in securing the old church, with encouraging words from 
 
the Hon. W. P. Shefifield and otliers, was Mr. J. M. K. Southwick, who 
 was later one of our Vice Presidents, and too much credit cannot be 
 given to him for his eflforts in negotiating for the property and raising 
 the money for its purchase and restoration and fitting it up for the pur- 
 poses and use of the iSociety. The Society kept growing under the 
 fostering care of our indefatigable lil)rarian. Mr. R. H. Tilley, who gave 
 some of the best years of his life to the institution and guided it into the 
 paths which it has since so successfully followed, and still continues 
 under his well-trained assistant, our present librarian. 
 
 After the step forward in Js87, it was found, some years later, 
 that our collections of books, manuscripts, records, newspapers and 
 antiquities, were increasing much faster than our ability to care for 
 them, and this, together with the desirability of separating the Library 
 from the Museum proper, were matters which confronted the Directors, 
 and although hampered by lack of funds, yet with confidence in the 
 future, plans were drawn and the brick addition which now faces Touro 
 Street was undertaken and completed ; and when we cmsider our 
 condition in 1884, with but fifty dollars in our treasury, and compare 
 it with our present state, with nearly eight thousand books and pam- 
 lililets, and about thirteen thousand dollars in real estate, not counting 
 the eighteen thousand dollar structure, the corner stone of which we 
 are about to lay, and which has been made possible by the generosity of 
 our fellow-member, Mr. Arthur Curtiss James, we certainly have 
 cause for the utmost congratulation, and I feel sure that if Dr. King, 
 Mason, Howland, Gould, Adlam, Dumont, Thayer and others, who were 
 among the organizers of the Society, and Sheffield, Southwick, Brinley, 
 Turner, Mauran, and their associates, who later took up the burden 
 during their lives, could look down on us to-day, I think we may safely 
 assert without any vain glory or egotism, that we, as their successors, 
 have been as faithful to our trust in carrying on the task as those who 
 preceded us. 
 
 Of the work of the Society in general it is hardly necessary for me 
 to speak at length, but one tning, however, I believe is worthy of espec- 
 ial mention We know that it was a source of pain to our first j)resi- 
 dent. Dr. King, that the old records, dating from the early days of the 
 town, of great historical value, and affecting important ])roperty 
 interests, were in such a dilapidated and uncared for condition, and 
 tiiat the facilities at that time at the city clerk's office for their suitable 
 care were so straitened and meagre, and that more could not be done to 
 rescue and put them in proper shape for consultation and use. This 
 matter also weighed upon the mind of Mr. Tilley, and the Society 
 placed its services at the disposal of the civic authorities to arrange and 
 
care for the records, and not only the Society, but the city itself, Mr. 
 President, was fortunate in having as chief executive no less a broad 
 minded man than yourself, who made the necessary recommendations 
 in your inaugural and used your influence to induce those who had the 
 matter more directly in charge, to put into the keeping of the Society, 
 the Town Council records and deeds previous to 1780, which had been 
 submerged in Hell Gate, and the majority of which have now been 
 carefully arranged and indexed ; and if the Society had done nothing 
 else than what it has accomplished in regard to these papers, this would 
 of itself ,be an ample justification for its existence. 
 
 Of the use and importance of historical societies, it is hardly neces- 
 sary for me to dwell before an audience like this. Their value can 
 hardly be overestimated, being as they are depositories for records and 
 relics of the past, and it is only by the history and experiences of for- 
 mer years that we have more or less a guide for the future, and we be- 
 lieve it is fitting that the records and deeds of all that relates to the 
 worthies of the past should be studied and preserved, for, as Lord Bacon 
 says, "Out of monuments, names, words, traditions, fragments of 
 stones and the like, we do save and recover somewhat from the deluge 
 of time." and it has been well said that a people without memories and 
 memorials can have no true national life, a reverent attitude in respect 
 to the past, the care of their relics and memorials are not mere matterg 
 of sentiment, they spring from a sense of duty and public need, which 
 is justified by every principle of civic virtue. Knowledge of the history 
 and respect for the traditions and founders of any town by its people 
 conduce to civic pride and a regard for established institutions. In a 
 changing community like ours, Historical Societies for the collection and 
 preservation of everything connected with its history, cannot but have a 
 beneficial etfect in keeping alive the traditions of the early settlers and 
 the memory of what they passed through in establishing the State and 
 government, the preservation of which is now entrusted to their de- 
 scendants. 
 
 Although the Society has had great prosperity, yet it has been 
 something of a disappointment to the officers, that our numbers have 
 not increased more rapidly ; in a city of more than 25,000 inhabitants, 
 a large number of whom are eligible to membership, our roll of all 
 classes is less thanSOO. A membership of 2,500 would give us ample 
 means to conduct our institution in a liberal manner, and we believe if 
 time was taken to consider the value of our institution as a civic asset, 
 the citizens would rally to its support. Think of the advantages it 
 ofl'ers to its members for so small a sum ; a museum of rare and histori- 
 cal relics, a library for study and research, open many hours a day for 
 
the members and their families, and as an educational factor for the 
 growing generation its value is almost incalculable, and besides it offers 
 its Bulletin four times a year, containing valuable papers and replete 
 with historical facts. It is to be hoped that with the additional build- 
 ing and increased facilities for usefulness, a wider interest may be 
 awakened in our time honored and worthy institution. 
 
 THE ANNUAL MEETING 
 
 was held in the Senate Chamber of 
 the old State House May 25th, the 
 President in the chair. The follow- 
 ing reports were read : 
 
 Report of the Secretary 
 
 Since the last annual report the 
 Society has held four regular and 
 two special meetings. The follow- 
 ing addresses have been given : — 
 
 May 29— "The Quakers in An- 
 cient Newport," by Hon. Thomas 
 W. Bicknell. of Providence, presi- 
 dent of the Rhode Island Citizens' 
 Historical Association. 
 
 August 17 — " Newport Newspa- 
 pers in the Eighteenth Century," by 
 Mr. George Parker Winship, then 
 librarian of the John Carter Brown 
 Library, Providence. 
 
 Nov. 23— "The Early Hebrews in 
 Newport," by Hon. Max Levy, 
 Newport. 
 
 February 15 — " The Primacy of 
 Newport and Portsmouth in the 
 town governments of New England," 
 by Hon. Thomas W. Bicknell. 
 
 A social time has followed the 
 business of each meeting, and an op- 
 portunity has been given to exam- 
 ine special exhibits. The following 
 
 ladies have assisted in pouring tea : 
 Mrs. Daniel B. Fearing, Mrs. Will- 
 iam H, Birckhead, Mrs. French E. 
 (;hadwick, Mrs. Arthur Curtiss 
 James. Mrs. E. Hay ward Ferry and 
 Mrs. Harold Brown. 
 
 At each meeting, a detailed report 
 has been read of the work of the 
 librarian and her staff" and the li- 
 brary and museum accessions. 
 
 The chief items of business which 
 have been transacted by society and 
 directors are the votes in regard to 
 the new building, etc. The reports 
 of the building committee. Dr. Terry 
 chairman, and the plans of the ar- 
 chitect have been accepted and the 
 committee authorized to proceed 
 with the work 
 
 Seventy-two members have been 
 added this year. 
 
 Nineteen members have deceased, 
 as follows : — 
 
 Mrs. Samuel Ames 
 Mrs. Frank W. Andrews 
 Mrs. Harriet Benson 
 Mrs. William Binney 
 Mr. John D. Champlin 
 Mr. Joshua P. Clarke 
 Mr Theodore M. Davis 
 Mr. Robert Ives Gammell 
 Mr. Simon Hart 
 Mr. Dulaney Howland 
 
Mrs. S. E, Huntington 
 Mr. De Lancey Kane 
 Mr. Edward L. Ludlow 
 Mr. Joseph P. Mumford 
 Dr. George L. Peabody 
 Rev. J. Sturgis Pearce 
 Mr. Harry D. Spears 
 Mrs. Pascal H . Stedman 
 Mr. Alfred G. Vanderbilt 
 Respectfully submitted, 
 John P. Sanborn, 
 
 Secretary , 
 
 Report of the Treasurer 
 
 General Fund 
 Balance 1914, 
 Rec'd from State of R. I. 
 " City of New 
 port, 
 " " dividends 
 
 " E. M. Tilley 
 librarian, 
 
 1.34 
 500.00 
 
 641.20 
 223.94 
 
 2,345.89 
 
 $3,712.37 
 
 PAID 
 
 Salaries, librarian and as- 
 sistants. 
 
 Janitor, 
 
 Interest, 
 
 Life membership fund, 
 
 Building fund, 
 
 Account City of Newport, 
 
 Telephone, 
 
 Coal and gas. 
 
 Postage for notices, 
 
 Office expenses, printing, 
 etc., 
 
 Balance, 
 
 Balance building fund, 
 
 1,424.13 
 324.00 
 299.56 
 150.00 
 350.00 
 641.20 
 
 50.10 
 155.93 
 
 41.10 
 
 260.08 
 16.27 
 
 ;^3,712.37 
 7,689.00 
 
 King Book Fund 
 1914 
 
 Balance, $145.57 
 
 Interest on mortgage, 100.00 
 
 Dividend from Island Sav- 
 ings Bank, 80.80 
 
 PAID 
 
 Books and manuscripts. 
 Work on manuscripts, 
 Balance, 
 
 Items of the amount 
 through Miss Tilley. 
 
 $326.37 
 
 $183.51 
 95.03 
 
 47.83 
 
 $326.37 
 received 
 
 Gifts 
 
 
 Mr. and Mrs. E. B. McLean $100.00 
 
 Mrs. Wm. Watts Sherman 
 
 175.00 
 
 Mr. Alfred Tuckerman 
 
 250.00 
 
 Mr. F. K. Sturgis 
 
 25.00 
 
 Mrs. Vanderbilt 
 
 25.00 
 
 Mrs. French Vanderbilt 
 
 25.00 
 
 Mrs. David King 
 
 25.00 
 
 Mr. George L. Rives 
 
 25.00 
 
 Com. Arthur Curtiss .James 
 
 25.00 
 
 Mrs. Hugh Auchincloss 
 
 25.00 
 
 Mr. T. Suffern Tailer 
 
 25.00 
 
 Mr. William Gammell 
 
 25.00 
 
 Col. C. L. F. Robinson 
 
 25.00 
 
 Mr. Marsden J. Perry 
 
 25.00 
 
 Miss Ellen Mason 
 
 25.00 
 
 Mrs. Edward J. Berwind 
 
 50.00 
 
 Mr. Alfred Vanderbilt 
 
 25.00 
 
 Fete 
 
 663.89 
 
 Museum fees 
 
 10.00 
 
 Life memberships 
 
 
 Mrs Daniel B. Fearing 
 
 50.00 
 
 Mr. Henry R. Taylor 
 
 50.00 
 
 Mrs. Nathaniel Thayer 
 
 50.00 
 
 Dues 
 
 622.00 
 
 $2,345.89 
 
Contributors to the Building 
 Fund to July 17, 1915 
 
 Mr. James A. Swan $25.00 
 
 Dr. John J. Mason 25.00 
 
 Mrs. Charles M. Bull 5.00 
 
 Mrs. Walter N. Hill 5 00 
 
 Miss Sophie P. Casey 1.00 
 
 Miss Martha Codman 100.00 
 
 Mr. M. A. McCormick 5.00 
 
 Dr. Henry B. Jacobs 100.00 
 
 Mr. Alfred Tuckerman 100.00 
 
 A member 1,000.00 
 
 Mr. Arnold Hague 50.00 
 
 Mrs. T. A. Law ton 100.00 
 
 Mrs. Josephs 10.00 
 
 Mr. Job A. Peckham 25.00 
 
 Madam Cortazzo 10.00 
 
 Mr. Arthur B. Emmons 500.00 
 
 Miss Anna F. Hunter 100.00 
 
 Mrs. Hugh Auchincloss 200.00 
 
 Mr. A. K. Sherman 10.00 
 
 Mrs. Charles C. Gardiner 2.00 
 
 Mr. Samuel McAdam 10.00 
 
 Mr. T. T. Pitman 25.00 
 
 Miss E. G. Sherman 5.00 
 
 Prof. A. Marquand 25.00 
 
 Dr. William C. Rives 50.00 
 
 Miss Caroline Hazard 20.00 
 
 Miss Georgiana G. King 100.00 
 
 Mrs. Harriet Stevens 30.00 
 
 Mr. William Gammell 100.00 
 
 Mr. WilHam J. S. Caswell 1.00 
 
 Rev. Dr. Roderick Terry 1,000.00 
 
 Mr. J. J. Van Alen 200.00 
 
 A member 250.00 
 
 Mrs. French Vanderbilt 500.00 
 
 Mr. H. A.C.Taylor 100 00 
 
 Mr. George Henry Warren 50.00 
 William Ellery Chapter D. 
 
 A. R. 25.00 
 
 Mr. J. K. Sullivan 
 A member 
 Mrs. Harold Brown 
 Mrs. Theo. K. Gibbs 
 Miss Maude L. Stevens 
 Mr. Thomas S. Perry 
 Mr. Robert S. Hayes 
 Mrs. David King 
 Mr. William G. Low, Jr. 
 Mrs. Abbott Slade 
 Mrs. T. Shaw Safe 
 Hon. George P. Wetmore 
 Miss Elizabeth H. Clark 
 Hon. F. P. Garrettson 
 Rear Admiral S. B. Luce 
 Mrs. William Pepper 
 Miss Edna H. Barger 
 A New York member 
 Mr. William Arthur Wing 
 A member 
 
 Mrs. R. Manson Smith 
 Miss R. A. Grosvenor 
 Mr. Guy Norman 
 Mr. Robert Tilney 
 Mrs. Livingston Hunt 
 Mr. P. R. Hazard 
 Miss Campbell Stewart 
 Prof. R. Purapelly 
 Miss Isabel C. Taber 
 Mr. John Ireys 
 Mr. Philip B. Case 
 Dr. and Mrs, Estes 
 Gen. J. Fred Pierson 
 Miss Annie A. Sherman 
 Mrs. Albert Tetlow 
 Mrs. Charles A. Brackett 
 Mr. William G. Caswell 
 Miss Sallie Swan 
 Miss Abbie Hazard 
 Miss Henrietta Ellery 
 Hon. Wm. P. Sheffield 
 Mr. Ernst Voigt 
 
Rev. Stanley C. Hughes 
 
 5.00 
 
 Mrs. and Miss Chinn 
 
 10.00 
 
 Mrs. N. B. Smith 
 
 5.00 
 
 Mr. Hamilton B. Tompkins 
 
 500.00 
 
 Rear Admiral J. B. Mur- 
 
 
 dock 
 
 5.00 
 
 Miss Jeannette Swasey 
 
 1.00 
 
 Miss Agnes Storer 
 
 10.00 
 
 Dr. Horatio R. Storer 
 
 25.00 
 
 Mr. John R. Caswell 
 
 10.00 
 
 Miss Elizabeth Betton 
 
 1.00 
 
 Miss Bessie Sherman 
 
 1.00 
 
 Mrs. B. B. H. Sherman 
 
 2.00 
 
 Miss Lucile R. Edgar 
 
 10.00 
 
 Mr. Arthur Easton 
 
 5.00 
 
 Mr. Thomas P. Peckham 
 
 5.00 
 
 Mr. & Mrs. L. L. Gillespie 
 
 100.00 
 
 Dr. Edwin P. Robinson 
 
 5.00 
 
 A member 
 
 2.00 
 
 Mrs. Wm. P. Clarke, Sr. 
 
 2.00 
 
 Mr. Edgar Richards 
 
 10.00 
 
 Mrs A. K. Sherman 
 
 10.00 
 
 Miss Mary A. Willard 
 
 10.00 
 
 Com. Elbridge T. Gerry 
 
 100.00 
 
 Mr. Frank K. Sturgis 
 
 500 00 
 
 Miss Vose 
 
 1.00 
 
 Mrs. Joseph Branston 
 
 5.00 
 
 Mr. Edward S. Peckham 
 
 2.00 
 
 Mr. Clark Burdick 
 
 5.00 
 
 Mr. Charles E. Morrison 
 
 2.00 
 
 Mr. J. K. McLennan 
 
 1.00 
 
 Mrs. Felix Peckham 
 
 2.00 
 
 Miss Antoinette S. Peckham 
 
 2.00 
 
 Mr. William S. Slocum 
 
 5.00 
 
 Mrs. Frank J. Sprague 
 
 10.00 
 
 Mrs. C. L. F. Robinson 
 
 25.00 
 
 Rev. Wm. S. Jones 
 
 1.00 
 
 Miss E. B. Waring 
 
 1.00 
 
 Rev. J. S. Kimber 
 
 3.00 
 
 Mrs. Thomas Dunn 
 
 100.00 
 
 PLEDGES 
 
 
 Admiral and Mrs. F. E. 
 
 
 Chadwick 
 
 $10.00 
 
 Col. George R. Fearing 
 
 100.00 
 
 Mr. T. B. Connolly 
 
 5.00 
 
 Sons of the Revolution in 
 
 
 R. I. 
 
 25.00 
 
 Mr. and Mrs. J. P. Sanborn 
 
 . 10.00 
 
 Mr. Henry S. Wheeler 
 
 2.00 
 
 Rev. George V. Dickey 
 
 5.00 
 
 Mrs. R. H. Tilley and 
 
 
 Miss Tilley 
 
 10 00 
 
 Staff of the Historical So- 
 
 
 ciety 
 
 5.00 
 
 Dr. M. H. Sullivan 
 
 2.00 
 
 Mr. I. B. Bergman 
 
 2.00 
 
 Mr. W. E Brightman 
 
 2.00 
 
 Mrs H. J. Lockrow 
 
 1.00 
 
 Miss J. Austin Stevens 
 
 5.00 
 
 Mr. Thomas J. O'Neill 
 
 10.00 
 
 Fete proceeds July 18, 1914 
 
 500.00 
 
 Com. Arthur Curtiss James has 
 
 pledged one-half the 
 
 required 
 
 amount. 
 
 
 Report of Librarian 
 
 The librarian respectfully pre- 
 sents her fifth annual report to the 
 officers and members of the New- 
 port Historical Society. Detailed 
 reports have been given at the quar- 
 terly meetings. 
 
 Eight hundred and seventy-one 
 books and pamphlets have been 
 added to the library, a gain of 123 
 over last year's number. A collec- 
 tion of books and manuscripts of 
 special note is that once owned by 
 our first librarian, Mr. Benjamin B. 
 
Howland, and presented to us by 
 his granddaughter, Miss Elizabeth 
 G. Sherman. 
 
 Several hundred newspapers have 
 been acquired, which help to com- 
 plete our sets, and reference lists are 
 being made of the early newspapers 
 in the library and elsewhere in the 
 city. Several volumes of old Mer- 
 curies have been rebound and many 
 issues inserted. 
 
 The museum accessions have also 
 been numerous, although, owing to 
 the extremely crowded conditions, 
 they have not been properly dis- 
 played, and many visitors have been 
 disappointed. For some time now, 
 all the portraits and relics have been 
 packed away, in preparation for 
 moving the meeting house and erect- 
 ing the addition to the present brick 
 building. As there are over 1300 
 articles in this collection, this was 
 the work of several weeks, and was 
 accomplished by the regular staff of 
 the library. 
 
 So many visitors have been unable 
 to view the collections this year and 
 so many more have come to talk 
 over the improvements that it seems 
 impossible to give an account, but 
 the number is greatly in excess of 
 last year's, and so is the number of 
 readers and searchers. 
 
 Six hundred and fifty-one letters 
 have been received and 726 written 
 — 118 more; than last year. These 
 cover all parts'^of the country, and 
 are every year becoming more nu- 
 merous. 
 
 Your librarian has tried this year 
 to work especially upon the manu- 
 
 scripts, and several collections of 
 letters have been arranged in scrap 
 books. Among them are : 
 
 vols 
 Ayrault letters 4 
 
 Redwood letters 4 
 
 Vernon letters 2 
 
 Lopez letters 21 
 
 These have already been used by 
 many people, and several were 
 quoted in the "Commerce of Rhode 
 Island," 1726-1800— Mass. Histori- 
 cal Society collections. Hon. Daniel 
 B. Fearing, Dr. Roderick Terry, Mr. 
 Allred Tuckerman, Mr. Job A. 
 Peckham, and the heirs of Rev. Dr. 
 Adlam have donated valuable manu- 
 scripts. 
 
 Work on the old town records is 
 progressing, the appropriation being 
 continued this year. Five volumes 
 have been arranged and preserved 
 since the last report. In order to 
 make the subject matter in these 
 books instantly available to the pub- 
 lic, the wills and deeds in all bound 
 volumes have been listed and the 
 details required for the index are 
 being slowly added. These lists, as 
 well as the index, are in daily use. 
 
 Our own general reference index 
 is also increasing in numbers and in 
 value to the searchers, and is also in 
 daily use. 
 
 Two things the librarian is espec- 
 ially happy to report. The first : 
 that the General Assembly of our 
 state, largely through the efibrts of 
 Hon. John P. Sanborn and Hon. 
 Max Levy and some Providence 
 friends, has recognized the value of 
 our society by increasing the annual 
 appropriation to SIOOO. 
 
 8 
 
The other is the great fact that 
 work on the improvements has be- 
 gun, thanks to Com. Arthur Curtiss 
 James and many others, and the 
 dream of years seems about to be 
 realized. 
 
 Respectfully submitted, 
 EDITH MAY TILLEY, 
 
 Librarian. 
 
 Building: Committee Report 
 
 In the absence of the Chairman, 
 Dr. Terry, the Secretary presents 
 the following : 
 
 The Building Committee has held 
 four meetings since the last annual 
 meeting of the Society. The plans 
 drawn up by Miss Tilley and Mr. 
 Bergner and put into shape by Mr. 
 Joseph G. Stevens, 2d, architect, 
 have been accepted, and Mr. Stevens 
 has been engaged as the architect of 
 proposed improvements. 
 
 Seven firms had the privilege of 
 giving estimates, and the contract 
 was awarded to the lowest bidder, 
 Mr. M. A. McCormick, according to 
 the vote of the Society at a special 
 meeting, April 9th. At this meeting 
 also, your committee was authorized 
 to proceed with the work when in 
 its best judgment it was deemed safe 
 and wise to do so. In accordance 
 with this, the contract with Mr. 
 McCormick was signed by the Chair- 
 man and Secretary of the Commit- 
 tee, April 16, and the work was 
 started the following week. 
 
 Your committee was instructed to 
 send an appeal to the members and 
 all who might be interested in the 
 
 work, and in response to this and to 
 the appeal sent some time ago, 
 counting also part of the proceeds 
 of the Fete last July, the sum of 
 ;^16,14s has been received in gifts 
 and pledges. As the amount needed 
 is estimated to be less than SI 9,000, 
 the remaining sum to be raised is 
 not discouraging. So far, just 100 
 members have given or pledged to 
 this fund, and it is hoped that the 
 remaining 307 members will feel 
 disposed to give at least one dollar, 
 as it is the earnest wish of your 
 committee to make the interest in 
 the Society's building as wide-spread 
 as possible. 
 
 Respectfully submitted, 
 EDITH MAY TILLEY, 
 Secretary Building Committee. 
 
 The officers were then elected for 
 the coming year, and the following 
 new members elected to the Society : 
 
 Life members — H. A. C. Taylor 
 and George Henry Warren ; annual 
 members— Thomas L. S. Weaver, 
 Thomas B. Connolly, Miss Helen 
 Ellis, Rev. J. Andrew Jones, Mrs. 
 R. Wallace Peckham, Miss Kather- 
 ine Cortazzo, Edward A. Sherman, 
 George B. Austin, James Powell 
 Cozzens, Frank P. King; and asso- 
 ciate members — Mrs. Mary Atkin- 
 son, Miss Annie Vernon, Mrs. Jo- 
 seph Perry, Miss Waring, Mrs. Rob- 
 ert S. Hayes and Mrs. Joseph Brans- 
 ton. 
 
 The members then adjourned from 
 the court house to the grounds on 
 Touro street, where the cornerstone 
 
was laid. President Fearing was in 
 charge of the ceremonies. 
 
 The stone is at the southeast cor- 
 ner of the building, and is Miltord 
 granite. It was presented many 
 years ago to the society by the late 
 Dr. Henry E. Turner, and for 13 
 years has been used as a doorstep at 
 the buildings. About the stone were 
 gathered those who were to take 
 part, and the other members were 
 grouped about them, the windows 
 of the library being used by some to 
 witness the ceremony from. 
 
 Rev. George Vernon Dickey, a di- 
 rector, opened the exercises with 
 prayer, and Miss Tilley read the 
 list of contents of the box. The 
 foundation was then liberally spread 
 with mortar by President Fearing, 
 who handled the trowel like an ex- 
 perienced mason, and then the stone 
 was set. The box was placed within, 
 and the addition of more mortar 
 completed the work, over which Mr. 
 Fearing said a few formal words. 
 The benediction, pronounced by 
 Rev. J. Andrew Jones, a newly 
 elected member, the pastor of the 
 First Baptist John Clarke Memorial 
 Church, completed the ceremony. 
 
 The list of contents of the corner 
 stone was read by Miss Tilley, as 
 follows : 
 
 List of Articles Placed in the 
 Cornerstone 
 
 American flag, Rhode Island State 
 flag, lists of officers, members and 
 directors of the Newport Historical 
 Society for 1914-15 ; seal of the soci- 
 ety ; report of building committee. 
 
 April 9, 1915, with names of com- 
 mittee, and letter of Commodore Ar- 
 thur (Jurtiss James ; list of contribu- 
 tors to building fund ; membership 
 invitation, Newport Historical So- 
 ciety ; annual report of the secretary 
 and the librarian, May 25, 1915. 
 
 Publications of Newport Histori- 
 cal Society — Bulletin No. 3. con- 
 taining annual reports May 29, 
 1914 ; Bulletin No. 16, containing 
 article on 'Some of our founders 
 sixty years ago' by Miss M. E 
 Powel, a paper read before the soci- 
 ety February 16, 1914 ; "OHver Haz- 
 ard Perry and the War of 1812 in 
 Newport ;" ''Historic Spots in New- 
 port," a paper prepared by Miss E. M. 
 Tilley ; Program of Indian and Pre- 
 historic Exhibition and Lawn Fete 
 held July 18, 1914, on the lawn of 
 Mr. and Mrs. Lawrence L. Gillespie; 
 last issue of City of Newport docu- 
 ments, 1913 ; bookplates of Newport 
 Historical Society, Mrs. Thomas A. 
 Lawton and Hon. Daniel B. Fearing. 
 
 Copy of the Newport Herald, May 
 25, 1915 ; photographs of the old 
 Sabbatarian meetinghouse, pulpit, 
 clock and exterior ; a corner of the 
 museum ; staff of the Newport His- 
 torical Society, and also William 
 Ellery, the cat; picture of Mr. Ham- 
 ilton B. Tompkins, ex-president ; 
 picture of R. Hammett Tilley, 
 deceased, librarian for 25 years; 
 picture of Mr. George H. Richard- 
 son, corresponding secretary ; paste- 
 board representation of bricks sold 
 for the benefit of the building fund ; 
 year book of William Ellery Chap- 
 ter, D. A. R., for 1914-1915; pro- 
 
gram of Philharmonic society ; Civic 
 League Bulletin, May, 1915; Red- 
 wood Library report, July 4, 1915 ; 
 plans of the new building ; list 
 of those working on the new build- 
 ing, including Joseph G. Stevens, 
 2nd, architect; M. A. McCormick, 
 
 contractor; William H. Harris, con- 
 tracting mason; Andrew Douglas, 
 James Morris, Louis Tory, masons ; 
 Tony Santo, Joe Ordito and P. Har- 
 rison, laborers; a calendar for 1915. 
 and a list of the contents of the box, 
 
THE PRESENT MEMBERSHIP OF THE SOCIETY 
 
 LIFK MEMBERS 
 
 Allen, John B. 
 Allen, William 
 
 American Jewish Historical So- 
 ciety 
 Auchincloss, Mrs. Hugh 
 Batonyi, Aureil 
 Belmont, August 
 Belmont, Perry 
 Bergner, Jonas 
 BircKhead, Mrs. William 
 Brown, Mrs. Harold 
 Caswell, William J. S. 
 Derby, Mrs. Richard C. 
 Dunn, Thomas 
 Fahnestock, Gibson 
 Fearing, Hon. Daniel B. 
 Fearing, Mrs. Daniel B. 
 Gammell, William 
 Gerry, Com. Elbridge T. 
 Gibbs, Mrs. Theodore K. 
 Goelet, Robert 
 Greene, Charles H. 
 Grosvenor, Miss Rosa A. 
 James, Com. Arthur Curtiss 
 King, George Gordon 
 King, Mrs. David 
 Lorillard, Louis L. 
 Mc Adams, Samuel 
 Marquand, Prof. Allen 
 Marquand, Henry 
 Mason, Miss Ellen 
 Mason, Miss Ida 
 McLean, Edward B. 
 McLean, Mrs. Edward B. 
 
 Moriarty, George Andrews, Jr. 
 Peck, Hon. Frederick S. 
 Peckham, Job A. 
 Powel, Thomas Ives Hare 
 Richardson, Mrs. Thomas 
 Rives, George L. 
 Robinson, Col. C. L. F. 
 Safe, Mrs. T. Shaw 
 Sherman, Mrs. Wm. Watts 
 Smith, Miss Esther Morton 
 Swan, James A. 
 Swan, Mrs. James A. 
 Taylor, H. A. C. 
 Taylor, Henry R. 
 Thayer, Mrs. Nathaniel 
 Tilley, Edith May 
 Tompkins, Hamilton B. 
 Tuckerman, Alfred 
 Tuckerman, Mrs. Alfred 
 Vanderbilt, Mrs. 
 Vanderbilt, Mrs. French 
 Vernon, Mrs. J. Peace 
 Warren, George Henry 
 Webster, Hamilton Fish 
 Wetmore, Hon. George P. 
 
 SUSTAINING MEMBERS 
 
 Berwind, Mrs. Edward J. 
 Bispham, Mrs. George T. 
 Brown, Mrs. James J. 
 Brown, Mrs. John Nicholas 
 Burke- Roche, Mrs. Frances 
 Clark, Miss Elizabeth 
 Clarke, Mrs. J. Francis A. 
 Codman, Miss Martha 
 
 12 
 
DeForest, George B. 
 Drexel, Mrs. John.R. 
 Duncan, Mrs. Stuart 
 Dunn, Mrs. Thomas 
 Emmons, Arthur B. 
 Glyn, Mrs. William E. 
 Grosvenor, Mrs. William 
 Havemeyer, H. 0., Jr. 
 Hayden, Col. Charles 
 Hazard, Miss Caroline 
 Hunt, Mrs. Livingston 
 Hunter, Miss Anna F. 
 Jacobs, Dr. Henry Barton 
 Jenckes, John 
 Kernochan, Mrs. James P. 
 Norman, Mrs. Bradford 
 Norman, Guy 
 Pierson, Gen. J. Fred 
 Potter, Mrs. Edward T. 
 Kives, Dr. William C. 
 Robinson, Mrs. C. L. F. 
 Schreier, Eugene 
 Sedgwick, Robert 
 Spencer, Mrs. Lorillard 
 Sturgis, Frank K. 
 Tailer, T. Suffern 
 Terry, Rev. Roderick 
 Van Alen, J. J. 
 Weaver, Miss Sarah C. 
 Webster, Mrs. Hamilton Fish 
 Winthrop, Egerton L. 
 
 ANNUAL MEMBERS 
 
 Abney, John R. 
 Andrews, Mrs. Walter S. 
 Anderson, Dr. Alexander J. 
 Armstrong, William A. 
 Austin, Amory 
 Austin, George B. 
 Baker, Hon. Darius 
 Bakhmeteff, Madam 
 Balch, Mrs. Stephen Elliott 
 
 Baldwin, Frederick H. 
 Ball, Alwyn, Jr. 
 Barker, Christopher F., M. D. 
 Barker, Francis S. 
 Barry, Louis J. 
 Beck, Dr. Horace P. 
 Benjamin, George H. 
 Bergman, Isaac B. 
 Bliss, Richard 
 Britton, Miss Selah W. 
 Buffum, William P. 
 Bufium, Mrs. Wm. P. 
 Bull, Mrs. Charles M. 
 Burdick, Hon. Clark 
 Burdick, David J. 
 Burdick, Edwin S. 
 Burgess, Prof. John W. 
 Burlingame, Hon. Robert S. 
 Burlingham, Hiram 
 Busk, Mrs. Joseph R 
 Cabell, Walter Coles 
 Campbell, Dudley E. 
 Carr, George H. 
 Carr, Leander K. 
 Case, Philip B. 
 Caswell, John R. 
 Chadwick, Mrs. French E. 
 Clark, Dr. Philip E. 
 Clark, Mrs. Philip E. 
 Clarke, Mrs. W^m. P., Sr. 
 Coggeshall, Dr. Henry 
 Cole, Charles M. 
 Connolly, Thomas B. 
 Cortazzo, Madame 
 Cortazzo, Miss Katherine 
 Cottrell, Charles M. 
 Cozzens, J. Powel 
 Creighton, Mrs. J. McP. 
 Darlington, Rt. Rev. James H. 
 Davies, Julien T. 
 Davis, Rear Admiral Charles H. 
 Davis, Mrs. Dudley 
 
 ^3 
 
Davis, Galen 
 
 de Cangongo, Countess de San 
 
 Esteban 
 Dennis, Wm. E., Jr. 
 de Tahy, Prof. Joannes 
 Dickey, Rev. George V. 
 Downing, George Fay 
 Drury, James H. 
 Duncan, Stuart 
 Dyer, Herbert 
 Easton, Arthur H. 
 Easton, Charles D., M. D. 
 Easton, Fred W. 
 Edgar, Miss Lucille R. 
 Ellery, Miss Henrietta 
 Elliott, Mrs. John 
 Ellis, Miss Helen 
 Estes, Dr. Nathan A . 
 Estes, Mrs. Nathan A. 
 Eustis, Col. George Peabody 
 Eustis, Mrs. George Peabody 
 Fagan, James P. 
 Ferry, Mrs. E. Hay ward 
 Fish, Stuyvesant 
 Ford, Mrs. Thomas G. 
 Forsyth, Mrs. J. B. 
 Franklin, Miss Ruth 
 Franklin, William B. 
 Gardner, Mrs. Charles C. 
 Garrettson, Hon. F. P. 
 Gillespie, Lawrence L. 
 Gillespie, Mrs. Lawrence L. 
 Graham, Howard S. 
 Greene, John H., Jr. 
 Greenman, Mrs. John 
 Haggin, Mrs. James B. 
 Hague, Arnold 
 Hammond, Ogden H. 
 Hazard, Miss Abby C. 
 Hendy, Henry Stuart 
 Higbee, Edward W. 
 Hill, Mrs. Walter N. 
 
 Hillhouse, Mrs. Charles B. 
 Hoffman, Charles F. 
 Hoppin, Samuel H. 
 Horton, Hon. Jere W. 
 Hosmer, L. H. 
 Howard, Mrs. E. W. 
 Howland, Mrs. Joseph 
 Hughes, Rev. Stanley C. 
 Hunter, Miss Augusta 
 Hunter, William R. 
 Ingalls, Mrs. John J. 
 Ingraham, Phoenix 
 Jacobs, Mrs. Henry Barton 
 Jones, Miss Caroline Ogden 
 Jones, Rev. J. Andrew 
 Jones, Mrs. Pembroke 
 Josephs, Mrs. Lyman C. 
 Kimber, Rev. John S. 
 King, Col. Frank P. 
 King, Frederick R. 
 King, Miss Georgianna G. 
 King, Mrs. LeRoy 
 King, LeRoy 
 Kling, Charles P. 
 Koehne, Charles H., Jr. 
 La Farge, Mrs. John 
 Lawson, John A. 
 Lawton,- Mrs. Thomas A. 
 Leavitt, I\'Iiss Blanche 
 Lee, William H. 
 Levy, Hon. Max 
 Lippitt, Hon. Charles Warren 
 Lippitt, Mrs. Charles Warren 
 Lockrow, Mrs. Harve}" J. 
 Lorah, James R. 
 Low, William G., Jr. 
 Luce, Rear Admiral S. B. 
 Macomber, Isaac 
 Marvin, Miss Elizabeth B. 
 Mason, Dr. John J. 
 Mason, Mrs. John J. 
 McAllister, Miss Louise Ward 
 
 H 
 
McCormick, Michael A. 
 McLennan, John K. 
 MacLeod, Hon. William 
 McMahon, Andrew K. 
 Morgan, Mrs. Wm. Rogers 
 Moriarty, Mrs. George A. 
 Morrison, Charles E. 
 Murdock, Rear Admiral J. B. 
 Naval War College 
 Norman, Maxwell 
 Norman, Col. Reginald 
 Nowell, Mrs. T. S. 
 Noyes, Mrs. Boutelle 
 O'Neill, Thomas J. 
 Patdson, Mrs. E. J. 
 Pearson, Mrs. Frederick 
 Peck, Rev. Charles Russell 
 Peckham, Miss Antoinette 
 Peckham, Mrs. Felix 
 Peckham, Miss Lillian 
 Peckham, Thomas P. 
 Peckham, Mrs. R. Wallace 
 Pepper, Mrs. William 
 Perry, Mrs. Henry P. 
 Perry, Marsden J. 
 Petterson, Gustof L. 
 Phillips, Arthur S. 
 Philhps, Hon. N. Taylor 
 Pitman, T. T. 
 Powel, Miss Mary E. 
 Price. Brig. General Butler D. 
 Pumpelly, Prof. Raphael 
 Redmond, Miss Lydia 
 Reynal, Mrs. E. S. 
 Richards, Edgar 
 Richardson, George H. 
 Ridlon, Dr. John 
 Roberts, Arthur S. 
 Robinson, Dr. Edwin P. 
 Russo, Marco 
 Sage. Mrs. George E. 
 Sanborn, Hon. John P. 
 
 Sanborn, Mrs. John P 
 Sanborn, A. H. 
 Scott, Mrs. George S. 
 Seabury, Col. John C. 
 Shanahan, Dennis 
 Sheffield, Hon. Wra. P. 
 Sherman, Albert K. 
 Sherman, Mrs. Albert K. 
 Sherman, Mrs. B. B. H. 
 Sherman, D. F. 
 Sherman, Col. Edward A. 
 Sherman, Miss Elizabeth G. 
 Sherman, Dr. William A. 
 Sherman, Dr. William S. 
 Sherman, Mrs. William S. 
 Slade, Mrs. Abbott E. 
 Slocum, William S. 
 Smith, Daniel 
 Smith, Mrs. R. Manson 
 Spencer, John Thompson 
 Sprague, Mrs. Frank J. 
 Stanhope, Clarence 
 Stanton, Dr. N. G. 
 Stetson, George R. 
 Stevens, Miss J. Austin 
 Stevens, Mrs. Harriet 
 Stevens, Henry C, Jr. 
 Stevens, Miss Katharine M. 
 Steven.'!, Miss Maude L. 
 Stewart, Anthony 
 Stickney, Mrs. Albert 
 Stoddard, Dr. William C. 
 Stoneman, Michael 
 Storer, Dr. Horatio R. 
 Sullivan, Hon. John B. 
 Sullivan, Dr. M. H. 
 Swan, Miss Sallie C. 
 Swinburne, Miss Elizabeth 
 Tanner, Benjamin F. 
 Taylor, Grant P. 
 Thaw, Benjamin 
 Thomas, Miss Harriet 
 
 15 
 
Thompson, Frank E. 
 Underwood, Mrs Wm. J. 
 Van Allen, Mrs. Garett A. 
 Van Beuren, Mrs. Michael M. 
 Vanderbilt, Reginald 
 Van Rensselaer, Mrs. Schuyler 
 Vernon, Miss Elizabeth 
 Wanton, Charles A. N. 
 Ward, Miss A. Louise 
 Ward, Rev. Wm. I. 
 Warren, George Henry, Jr. 
 Weaver, Mrs. Charles A. 
 Weaver, Harry R. 
 Weaver, Thomas L. S. 
 Wetherell, Col. John H. 
 Wharton, Mrs, Henry 
 White, Elias Henley 
 White, Mrs. Elias Henley 
 Whitman, Hon. Charles S. 
 Wildey, Mrs. Anna C. 
 Wood. Mrs. Henry A. 
 Wright, Mrs. Walter A. 
 
 ASSOCIATE MEMBERS 
 
 Andrews, Mrs. Wm., Jr. 
 Atkinson, Mrs. Mary 
 Angier, Miss Abigail A. 
 Balis, Clarence Wanton 
 Bigelow, Francis H. 
 Bloch, Rev. Julius 
 Bokee, Miss Margaret 
 Bosworth, Miss Rebecca T. 
 Brackett, Mrs. Charles 
 Braman, Mrs. Packer 
 Branston, Mrs. Joseph 
 Brightman, Miss Eva S. C. 
 Brightman, Wm. E. 
 Brownell, Miss Ella 
 Brownell, Miss Nancy 
 Buenzle, Frederick J. 
 Burlingham, Rev. E. J. 
 Burlingham, Mrs. Thomas 
 
 Casey, Miss Sophie P. 
 Chester, Charles E. 
 Chester, Dr. Frank Dyer 
 Chinn, Miss E. Bertha 
 Cottrell, Miss Annie 
 du Fais, John 
 Ellis, Miss Lizzie 
 Fowler, Miss A. Sybil 
 Franklin, Mrs. Robert M. 
 Goddard, William D. 
 Hayes, Robert S. 
 Hayes, Mrs. Robert S. 
 Hazard, Miss Mary A. 
 Holland. Mrs. Katharine B. 
 Howard, Mrs. Wm. R 
 Jones, Rev. Wm. Safford 
 Lawton, George P. 
 Marsh, Mrs. Herbert 
 McCarthy, Miss Alice 
 Mead, Mrs George Whitfield 
 Nichols, Miss Matilda 
 Nichols, William S. 
 Olney, George W. 
 O'Neill, Eugene C. 
 Peckham, Mrs. Frank L. 
 Peckham, Mrs. Thomas P. 
 Perry, Howard H. 
 Perry, Mrs. Joseph 
 Perry, Thomas Sergeant 
 Pinniger, Mrs. David 
 Potter, Ralph G. 
 Powell, Mrs. Frank 
 Rogers, Mrs. Elisha 
 Sayer, Miss Mary A. 
 Sherman, Miss Annie A. 
 Smith, Miss Elizabeth B. 
 Smith, Mrs. Ellen G. Cornell 
 Smith, Miss Helen Fairchild 
 Stanton, Miss Bessie 
 Stanton, William H. 
 Stewart, Mrs. John 
 Swasey, Miss Jeannette 
 
 i6 
 
Swinburne, Henry H. 
 Tetlow, Mrs. Albert 
 Tilney, Robert 
 Titus, Mrs. Harry A. 
 Tracy, Dr. Dwight 
 Underwood. Mrs. Nicholas 
 Vernon, Miss Annie 
 Vose, Miss Caroline M. 
 Ward, Howard Gould 
 Waring, Miss E. B. 
 Weaver, Miss Susan J. 
 Wharton, Jos. S. Lovering 
 Wheeler, Henry 
 
 Whitehead, Hon. John M. 
 Willard, James LeBaron 
 Willard, Miss Mary A. 
 Wing, Wm. Arthur 
 Wood, Trist 
 
 TOTAL MEMBERS 
 
 Life 
 
 58 
 
 Sustaining 
 
 39 
 
 Annual 
 
 240 
 
 Associate 
 
 78 
 
 Total 
 
 415 
 
SOCIETY NOTES 
 
 THE IMPROVEMENTS 
 
 Work on the new fireproof build- 
 ing is progressing. Three sides of 
 the old meeting-house have been en- 
 cased in brick, which it is hoped 
 will be a safe-guard for the wooden 
 building, only the interior of which 
 is old. The last of the earlier clap- 
 boards were removed in 1884 when 
 the Society purchased the building 
 from the Seventh Day Baptists. 
 The hood, once a part of the door- 
 way of the Ayrault house, destroyed 
 some years ago, has been placed in 
 position over the Barney Street en- 
 trance. This hood is of great archi- 
 tectural interest, and is thought to 
 be the only example of the kind in 
 America. 
 
 The foundation for the new vault 
 room is being laid, and is of especial 
 interest to members, as it promises 
 so much additional space and safety 
 for our ever-increasing collection of 
 manuscripts. 
 
 The fund is slowly being raised. 
 As stated in the annual reports, 
 about 100 members have contrib- 
 uted, and the officers have a deep 
 appreciation of their kindness. 
 There are still three hundred other 
 members whose interest we would 
 bespeak. An average contribution 
 of $10 each would complete the 
 fund, and even one dollar from 
 
 each would help in the work and 
 would give the donors a real inter- 
 est in the home of the Society. Any 
 gift, however small, would be appre- 
 ciated. The fund (July 17) amounts 
 to $16,492, in gifts and pledges. 
 
 With the prospect of increased fa- 
 cilities for the safe-keeping of ex- 
 hibits, many interesting relics are 
 being offered. 
 
 The No. 1 Engine Co., which is 
 just disbanding, has given its records 
 and relics to the Society ; among 
 them a part of the first engine in 
 Newport, imported from England 
 in 1736. The No. 5 Co. has voted 
 to present a portrait of an early 
 member. A collection of local In- 
 dian relics will be given as soon as 
 we have sufficient space for the 
 cabinet ; and many other articles of 
 local historic value are promised. 
 
 THE PAGEANT, JuLY 5. 
 
 The Society participated in the 
 Pageant which took place on July 
 fifth at Aquidneck Park. The out- 
 line was written by Miss Maude L. 
 Stevens and Miss Tilley, our Libra- 
 rian, and the first episode, " Indian 
 Life and the Purchase of the 
 Island,'' was under the direction of 
 the librarian, assisted by Rev. E. L. 
 Reed, Curate of Emmanuel Church. 
 Of particular interest was the con- 
 versation between the Indian Chief, 
 
 i8 
 
Wonnumetonomy, and Roger Will- 
 iams, acting as interpreter for the 
 purchasers. This was worked up 
 by the Librarian from Roger Will- 
 iams' " Key to the Indian Lan- 
 guage", and was ably delivered by 
 Mr. Jack Allen as the chief and 
 Mr. Harold Gibson as Roger Will- 
 
 iams. The Settlers, whose arrival 
 followed the departure (from the 
 Island) of the Indians, formed a 
 pleasing picture, with spinning 
 wheel, reel, foot-warmer, and many 
 houseliold articles from the Socie- 
 ty's collections. 
 
OFFICERS 
 
 OF THE 
 
 Newport Historical Society 
 
 For the year ending May^ igi6 
 
 President, HON. DANIEL B. FEARING 
 First Vice-President, REV. RODERICK TERRY, D. D. 
 
 Second Vice-President, MR. FRANK K. STURGIS 
 
 Third Vice-President, MR. ALFRED TUCKERMAN 
 
 Recording Secretary, MR. JOHN P. SANBORN 
 
 Corresponding Secretary, MR. GEORGE H. RICHARDSON 
 
 Treasurer, MR. HENRY C. STEVENS, Jr. 
 
 Librarian, MISS EDITH MAY TILLEY 
 
 Curator of Coins and Medals, DR. EDWIN P. ROBINSON 
 
 Board of Directors 
 THE OFFICERS and 
 
 FOR THREE YEARS 
 
 MRS. C. L. F. ROBINSON REV. GEORGE V. DICKEY 
 
 MR. JONAS BERGNER MR. LAWRENCE L. GILLESPIE 
 
 FOR TWO YEARS 
 
 MRS. HAROLD BROWN DR. WILLIAM S. SHERMAN 
 
 MRS. RICHARD C. DERBY MR. JOB A. PECKHAM 
 
 FOR ONE YEAR 
 
 MRS. THOMAS A. LAWTON MR. HAMILTON B. TOMPKINS 
 
 MRS. FRENCH VANDERBILT MR. GEORGE L. RIVES 
 
BULLETIN 
 
 OF THE 
 
 N e wport H ist orical S ociety 
 
 Number Eighteen NEWPORT, R. I. October. 1915 
 
 The Battle of Rhode Island 
 
 By 
 Ex-Governor CHARLES WARREN LIPPITT 
 
 A Paper read at a Special Meeting of the Society in the Old State House 
 September 25th, 1915. 
 
 Copyright 1915 by Charles Warren Lippitt 
 
 August 29, 1778, in the annals of Rhode Island, is historic. 
 Its memories are dear to the nation as well as to the State. To 
 commemorate the deeds of national heroes links the present with 
 the past and guards the nation's future. To honor patriotic 
 sacrifices inspires similar efforts in later emergencies. 
 
 Late in July, 1778, a stately fleet of 12 line-of-battleships 
 and four frigates, containing Count D'Estaing's expedition to aid 
 the Colonial cause, appeared off Newport. Moving majestically 
 forward, they soon anchored, extending from the Narragansett 
 shore to Brenton's Neck, completely closing the harbor. Later 
 three of the frigates advanced to Seaconnet, and their appearance 
 at Fogland Ferry in the East passage caused the British to burn 
 three armed vessels. 
 
 July 30, two French ships of the line forced their way by the 
 batteries about Newport and passed on further up the bay, caus- 
 ing the burning of eight and the sinking of 13 British ships. 
 
./V:)/V^/<^ 
 
 August 6, eleven of the French ships approached Newport, and 
 under a heavy cannonade passed the town and its batteries. The 
 only British frigate remaining in the harbor and a number of 
 transports were burned in the greatest haste. 
 
 In addition to the transports destroyed, the following English 
 ships of war were sunk or burned to prevent their capture by the 
 French; Lark, Orpheus, Juno, Flora, Cerberus, Falcon, and 
 Kingfisher. The French Government allowed prize money at 
 600 livres per gun carried by all British vessels destroyed, and 
 the total guns captured was 212. At that time a livre was 
 worth two thirds of a dollar and the total in prize money there- 
 fore amounted to $84,800. 
 
 It is unnecessary on this occasion to trace the landing of 
 Gen. Sullivan's army on the island of Rhode Island and its sub- 
 sequent operations to capture Newport; to estimate the propriety 
 of the French effort to join battle with the English fleet off Point 
 Judith; to examine the effects of the furious August gale that 
 wrought such havoc with both fleets and armies; or to determine 
 the necessity of refitting D'Estaing's fleet at Boston, and its 
 abandonment of Sullivan and the Continental Army on Rhode 
 Island. 
 
 As an illustration of the influence of sea-power in military 
 operations it is most pertinent. The English holding control of 
 Narragansett Bay, all efforts to capture Newport were futile and 
 could only result in disaster. Rhode Islanders cannot ignore that 
 lesson. The stern necessity of an adequate naval force to protect 
 the extended national domain was never greater. Never before 
 in history has such time been required to create the ships, guns 
 and accessories, necessary for a modern navy, and to instruct the 
 personnel to successfully use modern engines of war on the world's 
 oceans. " To maintain peace be prepared for war." 
 
 The absence of D'Estaing and the French fleet in the cam- 
 paign on Rhode Island gave the English an overwhtlming ad- 
 vantage. The separation of the Continental forces from the 
 mainland by wide waterways, and the probability of reinforce- 
 ments to the English garrison of Newport from New York, sup- 
 ported by an English fleet, constituted a most serious menace. 
 Prudent regard for the safety of the army required the abandon- 
 
ment of the siege until the return of the French fleet, and Gen. 
 Sullivan arranged for the withdrawal of hi? army from the 
 trenches before Newport. 
 
 During the night of August 28th and 29th the Americans 
 effected a most orderly retreat toward the north end of the island, 
 although even then ardent hopes were entertained that upon the 
 reappearance of D'Bstaing active siege operations could be 
 resumed. 
 
 The main portion of the army encamped on Butt's hill, its 
 right extending to the West, and its left to the East, road, with 
 flanking and covering parties prolonged toward the water on each 
 side of the island. 
 
 About three miles south of this position on Windmill hill, in 
 the neighborhood of a cross-road, joining the East and West 
 roads. Col. Henry B. Livingston was posted with a light corps 
 consisting of Col. Jackson's detachment and another from the 
 army. On the West road a second light corps was located, com- 
 manded by Col. Laurens, Col. Fleury and Major Talbot. In the 
 rear of these troops the picket of the army was stationed, com- 
 manded by Col. Wade. With these arrangements completed 
 Gen. Sullivan confidently awaited the British attack. 
 
 Maj. Gen. Nathanael Greene commanded the right wing, ex- 
 tending nearly to the western shore of the island. On the extreme 
 right of his position a small redoubt was located to protect the 
 Americans from the flanking fire of any English vessels sailing 
 up the bay from Newport. The command of the left wing of the 
 army was given to Gen. Lafayette. His hurried journey to 
 Boston to hasten the arrival of the French troops rendered it im- 
 possible for him to assume its active command during the battle. 
 His anxiety to take part in the conflict caused him to provide re- 
 lays of horses and to cover the 70 miles to Boston in seven, and 
 the trip back in six and one-half, hours. On his return the retreat 
 across Howland's Ferry was in progress and he was assigned to 
 the command of the rear guard. 
 
 The discovery early in the morning of August 29, 1778, that 
 the Americans had abandoned their entrenchments opposite New- 
 port caused Gen. Pigot to hurriedly arrange to harass their retreat. 
 The Hessian Chasseurs and the Anspach regiments of Voit and 
 
Seaboth were ordered to advance northward by the West road, 
 under command of Gen. Losberg. Brig. Gen. Smith, with the 
 43d and 22d British Regiments, and the flank companies of the 
 38th and the 54th, marched up the East road in search of the 
 retreating Americans. 
 
 The two armies soon came in touch and skirmishing began. 
 The Continentals endeavored to delay as much as possible the ad- 
 vance of the enemy without engaging in a general action. They 
 made repeated stands, checked the British advance, and then re- 
 treated to other advantageous positions further north. At times 
 the contest on the West road was severe. Col. Laurens, in com- 
 mand on this highway, vigorously resisted the Hessians. 
 
 The British detachment endeavoring to force the East road 
 finally reached the cross-road near the Gibbs place, joining the 
 East and West roads immediately in front of Col. Livingston's 
 position. The possibility of the English utilizing this cross-road 
 had induced Livingston to post his contingent in the field bound- 
 ing south on the cross-road and easterly on the East road, quite 
 effectually concealed by its high stone walls and the luxuriantly 
 growing grain. 
 
 Possibly the sharp firing on the West road caused Col. Camp- 
 bell to consider the Hessians required assistance. Whatever the 
 reason, half of the Twenty-second British Regiment turned into 
 this by-road. At a favorable moment the Americans from short 
 range fired a fearfully effective volley into the unprotected enemy. 
 The surprise, the falling of the dead and wounded, the attack 
 coming from almost unseen foes, enabled the Americans to load 
 and repeat their volley with equally frightful results, before they 
 retreated. It was claimed that Col. Campbell, afterward Mac- 
 Culloni More, lost in this terrible onslaught fully one-quarter of 
 his regiment. 
 
 The two light corps were supported for some time by the 
 picket under Col. Wade. Their successful resistance to the 
 British advance and the heavy firing caused by the different 
 skirmishes, induced Gen. Sullivan to send a regiment to support 
 Col. Livingston and another to the assistance of Col. Laurens. 
 
 The Americans made a more persistent stand in the neigh- 
 borhood of Quaker Hill than was compatible with Gen. Sullivan's 
 
plan of operations. He accordingly sent out one of his aides, 
 Col. John Trumbull, to order the withdrawal of the troops. In 
 carrying the message Trumbull had to ascend the northern slope 
 of Quaker Hill, something more than a mile in length. The 
 conflict was raging near the top of the eminence. As he pro- 
 gressed round shot came bounding on and plowed up the ground 
 in his neighborhood. 
 
 He met his friend, Col. Tousard, a member of Lafayette's 
 military family, whose horse had been killed under him. His 
 arm had been blown off by the discharge of a field piece, for the 
 possession of which there had been a sharp struggle, and he was 
 being led to the rear. Congress, subsequently, for his bravery, 
 granted him the rank of Lieutenant Colonel by brevet and a pen- 
 sion of $30 a month for life. 
 
 Trumbull later encountered Capt. Walker of Jackson's regi- 
 ment, shot through the body by a musket ball, proceeding to the 
 rear, mounted behind a man on horseback. Walker bade the 
 Colonel a melancholy farewell and died of his wound before night. 
 
 Soon grapeshot and musket balls thickly dotted Col. Trum- 
 ball's path. Urging his horse forward, he quickly reached the 
 summit of the hill and found himself in the midst of the skirmish. 
 Col. Wigglesworth commanded the rear guard and elated with 
 the progress of the engagement, cried out to the Colonel as he 
 saw him approach, " Don't say a word, Trumbull; I know your 
 errand, but don't speak; we will beat them in a moment." 
 
 Col. Trumbull called his attention to a body of men crossing 
 obliquely from the West road toward the rear of the guard. Col. 
 Wigglesworth replied, "They are Americans coming to our 
 support." 
 
 " No sir, those are Germans; their dress is blue and yellow, 
 not buff; they are moving to intercept your rear," said Col. 
 Trumbull. " Retreat instantly — don't lose a moment or you 
 will be cut off." Col. Wigglesworth reluctantly recognized the 
 situation and withdrew the guard slowly but safely toward the 
 main army. 
 
 As Trumbull rode back to report, he met his friend Col. 
 Sherburne of New Hampshire, a fellow volunteer, who was being 
 carried to the rear to have his leg amputated. Sherburne was a 
 
volunteer aide to Gen. Glover, who with his military family was 
 taking breakfast in a house near Quaker Hill, a long mile distant 
 from the skirmish. The firing on the hill becoming heavy and 
 incessant, the General directed Mr. Rufus King, also a volunteer 
 aide, to mount and investigate the conditions. 
 
 As Mr. King left the table in obedience to this order Col. 
 Sherburne took his vacant chair, and was hardly seated before a 
 spent cannon ball bounded through the open window, fell upon 
 the floor, rolled toward Sherburne and crushed all the bones of 
 his foot. The ways of Providence are unforeseen. Who can ac- 
 count for the power that saved Mr. King from this terrible mis- 
 fortune and, without apparent cause, inflicted it upon Colonel 
 Sherburne? 
 
 It was to him a lasting mortification, as the poor follow 
 argued " if this had happened to me in the field, in active duty, 
 the loss of a leg might be borne, but to be condemned through all 
 future life to say, I lost my leg under the breakfast table is too 
 bad." 
 
 Equally remarkable were the frequent escapes from almost 
 certain death that the gallant Col. Trumbull experienced in 
 bravely executing the orders of his chief in the momentous cir- 
 cumstances of the battle. A gust of wind blew off his hat and 
 there being no time to dismount, he tied a white handkerchief 
 about his head and continued on duty in this improvised head- 
 gear, as the hat was not recovered until evening. Mounted on a 
 superb bay horse, in a summer dress of nankeen and with his 
 white headdress, he constituted a most conspicuous mark on the 
 field. 
 
 Exposed to every danger of the occasion he escaped entirely 
 without injury, a result that caused Gen. Mattoon to write him 
 after the battle, " Your preservation in each of these most daring 
 enterprises I have ever considered little short of a miracle, and a 
 most remarkable interposition of Providence for your safety." 
 Gen. Sullivan also exclaimed on Col. Trumbull's return from 
 conveying the order to Col. Wigglesworth , to retire the rear 
 guard " Your escape has been most wonderful." 
 
 The British contingent on the East road finally approached 
 quite near the left wing of the American Array, but after a sharp 
 
action they were repulsed by Gen. Glover and forced to retire to 
 Quaker Hill. Their line of battle was then formed on Quaker, 
 Turkey and Anthony Hills, with its right extending nearly to 
 the eastern and its left to the western, shore of Rhode Island. 
 Between the hills occupied by the English and Butts Hill, with 
 its neighboring eminences already occupied by Gen. Sullivan's 
 army, a valley intervened about a mile wide, somewhat wooded 
 in places, and interspersed with meadows and thickets of copse. 
 
 The English ships of war, with several small armed vessels 
 that had arrived within a day or two at Newport, were ordered to 
 take position off the western shore of Rhode Island and flank the 
 right wing of the American Army. Pending the arrival of these 
 vessels the English did not force the fighting. At 9 o'clock a 
 gun on the right of their line gave the signal, which was imme- 
 diately followed by a general cannonade from both armies. 
 
 About ten o'clock, the naval contingent having arrived and 
 opened fire, the British and Hessians on the left of their line 
 charged down the slope of Anthony Hill in great force to capture 
 the redoubt and turn the right wing of the American Army. 
 Gen, Greene commanded at this point, and his men met the 
 enemy with such destructive volleys of musketry that the ground 
 was heaped with their dead and wounded and their order totally 
 disarranged . 
 
 The attack was repulsed and the enemy fell back in helpless 
 rout. Responding, however, to the call of their officers, they 
 rallied and after re-arranging their broken lines again advanced 
 to the attack. The day was warm and the hills prevented the 
 breeze from reaching the valley. The heavy uniform of the 
 British infantry and of the Hessian Grenadiers greatly impeded 
 their movements. The Americans met the situation by discard- 
 ing such garments as interfered with the freedom of their 
 exertions and utilized their weapons to the utmost extent. 
 
 The result of the attack was as before. The frantic efforts 
 to turn the American right and to capture the redoubt were met 
 with equal determination to hold the position by the brave men 
 under Gen. Greene. At last, unable to accomplish their object, 
 dazed and bewildered by their losses as well as by the courage and 
 pertinacity of the defence, the enemy was again hurled back and 
 fled up the slopes of Anthony Hill. 
 
During the hours occupied by these events the Light Troops 
 under Col. Livingston, that had retarded the advance of the 
 enemy up the East road in the early morning, had been gaining 
 a much needed rest on the northern slope of Butts Hill. As the 
 enemy for the third time formed to attack the somewhat 
 exhausted right wing that had stood the brunt of the conflict 
 during the day, Col. Livingston with Jackson's regiment was 
 ordered by Gen. Sullivan to pass around the hill and attack the 
 enemy if opportunity offered. Additional troops were ordered to 
 support Gen. Greene. 
 
 Two heavy batteries opened fire upon the ships that had 
 enfiladed the American right wing and finally silenced their fire. 
 Gen. Pigot at this point of the battle, observing the danger of 
 defeat, collected his reserves, to aid his partially disheartened 
 forces. 
 
 While the battle was raging on the American right. Gen. 
 Lovell with his Massachusetts troops was ordered to engage the 
 British right and rear and gallantly pushed the attack. The re- 
 inforcement received enabled Gen. Greene to advance a portion of 
 his forces against his assailants in the meadow, crowding them 
 together and creating considerable confusion. Livingston watched 
 for his opportunity and at the proper time led Jackson's regiment 
 with fixed bayonets against the flank of the already wavering foe. 
 
 His fierce attack soon turned the tide of battle and the mass 
 of British and Hessians were driven across the valley, up the 
 slopes of the opposite hills to the entrenchments on their summits. 
 The Americans, closely following the flying enemy, captured 
 Brady's battery as an evidence of their resistless charge and vic- 
 torious triumph. 
 
 All efforts to turn the American right and capture the 
 redoubt having failed, the enemy at about four in the afternoon 
 rested in the entrenchments on Quaker, Turkey and Anthony 
 Hills that they had occupied in the early morning. The conflict 
 was over, the Americans held their position and controlled the 
 field of battle. 
 
 Anticipations that the struggle would be renewed the next 
 day, Sunday, were not fulfilled, as both armies were occupied 
 in the burial of the dead and the care of the wounded. Col. 
 
Campbell of the Twenty-second British Regiment asked per- 
 mission of Gen. Sullivan during the day to seek on the field for 
 his nephew who had been killed by his side, but whose body 
 he could not remove as they were so closely pursued. 
 
 At noon, a letter from Gen. Washington was received, 
 stating that Lord Howe had left New York with five thousand 
 men to reinforce Newport. It became known that a fleet was off 
 Block Island, and a letter from Boston announced that Count 
 D'Estaing could not return as soon as was expected. In these 
 circumstances, a retreat to the mainland was unanimously ap- 
 proved. 
 
 The difficulty of transporting an army with its baggage 
 across a wide waterway in the face of an enemy of at least equal 
 force was keenly appreciated. An incessant cannonade was 
 maintained throughout the day. Nearly the whole army was 
 employed in fortifying the camp. A large number of tents were 
 pitched in sight of the enemy. The heavy baggage and stores 
 were moved to the rear and ferried to the mainland before night. 
 At dark the tents were struck, the troops with the light baggage 
 retreated, and before midnight the main army had crossed to 
 Tiverton. 
 
 " Not a man was left behind nor the smallest article lost." 
 The sentinels of the opposing armies were only 200 yards apart, 
 yet these movements were successfully executed. Lafayette 
 returned during the retreat from the island and materially assisted 
 its success. Gen. Sullivan's barge was the last to leave the 
 island and his life guard suffered severely from the fire of the 
 enemy. 
 
 Side by side with their former masters, in the fierce contest 
 on the right of the American line, fought the recently raised bat- 
 talion of negro troops, formerly Rhode Island slaves, but freed 
 by their act of enlistment in the service of the Colonies. The 
 General Assembly of Rhode Island compensated their former 
 owners for the loss of these men's services. 
 
 This battalion suggested by Gen. Varnum, approved by Gen. 
 Washington, raised and drilled by Col. Christopher Greene, 
 Lieut. Col. Jeremiah Olney, and Maj. Samuel Ward, was posted 
 in a grove in the valley near Gen. Greene's position. 
 
Gen, Sullivan in " After orders, Oct. 30, 1778," states "the 
 Commander-in-Chief thinks that (black) regiment will be entitled 
 to a proper share of the Honors of the day." This is held to be 
 the first time that negroes were formally enlisted and organized in 
 the service of the country. 
 
 A British survivor wrote of the attack on the rail fence at 
 the Battle of Bunker Hill. 
 
 "Indeed, how could we penetrate it? Most of our Grena- 
 diers and Light Infantry, the moment of presenting themselves, 
 lost three-fourths and many nine-tenths of their men. Some had 
 only eight or nine men in a company left, some only three, four 
 or five." 
 
 Gen. Stark, commanding the Americans at this point, relates 
 of the effect of their fire : ' ' The dead lay as thick as sheep in a 
 fold." 
 
 Burgoyne, viewing the battle from the entrenchments on 
 Copps Hill, impressed by the awe-inspiring grandeur of the scene, 
 wrote : " The whole was a complication of horror and import- 
 ance beyond anything it ever came to my lot to be witness to. It 
 was a sight for a young soldier that the longest service may not 
 furnish again." 
 
 Observation on Government account of the late battle of 
 Charlestown, published in London Aug. i, 1775, summing up 
 the results reported : "By this rule the Americans will put the 
 whole army into the grave or hospitals in three or four nights' 
 work and an hour's fire in each morning." 
 
 It is also pertinent to repeat the language of Gov. Johnstone 
 in the House of Commons relative to this glorious conflict : 
 
 " To a mind who loves to contemplate the glorious spirit of 
 freedom, no spectacle can be more affecting than the action at 
 Bunker's Hill. To see an irregular peasantry, commanded by a 
 physician, inferior in numbers, opposed by every circumstance 
 of cannon and bombs that could terrify timid minds, calmly await 
 the attack of the gallant Howe, leading on the best troops in the 
 world, with an excellent train of artillery, and twice repulsing 
 those very troops, who had often chased the chosen battalions of 
 France, and at last retiring for want of ammunition, but in so re- 
 spectable a manner that they were not even pursued — who can 
 
reflect on such scenes and not adore the constitution of govern- 
 ment which could breed such men." 
 
 At Bunker Hill the British lost 1054 and the Americans 449. 
 
 In the battle of Rhode Island, the English lost 1023 and the 
 Americans 211. 
 
 At Bunker Hill, until the British entered the redoubt, the 
 Americans fought behind entrenchments. 
 
 At Butts Hill, the greater part of the fighting was in the open 
 country, where each army had like opportunities of protection. 
 
 At Bunker Hill, the third assault was successful, the redoubt 
 captured, and the Americans driven from the field. 
 
 At Butts Hill, the third assault was repulsed, and the British 
 driven from the field. The Americans held their position and 
 controlled the field of battle, not only after the fighting but dur- 
 ing the whole of the next day, and until they had completed their 
 arrangements to cross to the mainland. 
 
 It is gratifying in the final contest in the afternoon of the 
 29th, that the British and Hessians were driven from the field by 
 an application of that cold steel held to be such an universal de- 
 pendence of the British Army. It was the fierce bayonet charge 
 of the sturdy yeomen of Jackson's regiment, under Livingston's 
 leadership, and their comrades of the right wing under Gen. 
 Greene's command, that fully satisfied the British fighting desire 
 on that momentous day, and sent them scurrying in helpless 
 flight to their earthworks for protection. 
 
 Gen. Greene, writing to Gen. Washington concerning the 
 battle reported: '' We soon put the enemy to rout, and I had the 
 pleasure to see them run in worse disorder than they did at the 
 battle of Monmouth." 
 
 Lafayette justly characterized the battle of Rhode Island as 
 " The best fought action of the war." 
 
 D'Estaing's instructions to refit at Boston were mandatory- 
 There is abundant proof that much as the absence of his fleet was 
 regretted, it was the result of uncontrollable circumstances. Had 
 it been possible for the French to perform their part of the ex- 
 pedition the entire British Army in Newport would have been 
 captured. It was reasonably anticipated that such an event 
 occuring within a year of Burgoyne's capture at Saratoga, would 
 have resulted in terminating the war. 
 
The sound judgment of Washington induced him to confi- 
 dently entertain that opinion. He wrote concerning the capture 
 of Newport: 
 
 " If the garrison of that place, consisting of nearly six thou- 
 sand men, had been captured, as there was, in appearance at least, 
 a hundred to one in favor of it, it would have given the finishing 
 blow to the British pretensions of sovereignty over this country; 
 and would, I am persuaded, have hastened the departure of the 
 troops in New York as fast as their canvas wings could carry 
 them away." 
 
 Lafayette stated to Zachariah Allen at Providence in 1824: 
 "I believe that this capture would have produced the same de- 
 cisive result of speedily terminating the American war, as was 
 subsequently accomplished by the capture of nearly the same xA.rmy 
 at Yorktown, by the successful co-operation of the French fleet 
 under Count De Grasse, under similar circumstances." 
 
 The object of the expedition was not attained, but conclu- 
 sive evidence was afforded that Newport could not be permanently 
 held without a garrison sufficiently large to materially interfere 
 with other British military operations. 
 
 The termination of this expedition which had opened with 
 such promise of success was attended with unusual hazard. Had 
 Lord Howe with Sir Henry Clinton's forces reached Newport on 
 August 28th or 29th, instead of the 31st, the larger part, if not 
 the whole, of Gen. Sullivan's army would have been captured. 
 The English fleet could easily have controlled the waterways 
 about Rhode Island and prevented the retreat of the American 
 army, whose safety depended on the free use of the passage to the 
 mainland. With this waterway commanded by the English the 
 Americans could only have surrendered or died. 
 
 During the last days of August, 1778, a disaster to the Con- 
 tinental cause, largely nullifying the prestige of Burgoyne's cap- 
 ture, was fearfully possible. In such circumstances, that without 
 foreign aid the British were forced within their Newport entrench- 
 ments; 
 
 that the departure of the French fleet was fully appreciated 
 and its effect upon the resulting situation accepted; 
 
 that the retreat to Butts Hill was an eminent success; 
 
 12 
 
that the battle on Rhode Island was a gratif} ing American 
 victory; 
 
 that the masterly retreat to the mainland, across a broad 
 waterway, in the face of an enemy of at least equal magnitude, 
 was conducted without loss; 
 
 and finally that the American army was saved and the Brit- 
 ish army materially injured, redounds to the credit of Gen. Sulli- 
 van, his officers, and men. 
 
 Popular criticism is not in fallible and is often expressed with- 
 out adequate knowledge of facts. It is possible, however, to 
 quote the highest authority relative to the American and the 
 French campaign against Newport, in which Gen. Washington, 
 in a general order, entirely concurred: 
 
 On September 9, 1778, the following resolutions were passed 
 by the Continental Congress: 
 
 '* Resolved, That the retreat made by Maj. Gen. Sullivan, 
 with the troops under his command, from Rhode Island, was pru- 
 dent, timely and well conducted, and that Congress highly ap- 
 proves of the same. 
 
 "Resolved, That the thanks of Congress be given to Maj. 
 Gen. Sullivan and to the officers and troops under his command, 
 for their fortitude and bravery displayed in the action of August 
 29, in which they repelled the British forces and maintained the 
 field. 
 
 " Resolved, That Congress have a high sense of the patriotic 
 exertions made by the four Eastern States on the late expedition 
 against Rhode Island. 
 
 "Resolved, That His Excellency Count D'Estaing hath 
 behaved as a brave and wise officer, and that His Excellency and 
 the officers and men under his command have rendered every 
 benefit to these States which the circumstances and nature of the 
 service would admit of, and are fully entitled to the regards of 
 the friends of America." 
 
 The patriots who fought, bled and died, in this momentous 
 action of the Revolution did not struggle in vain. They and 
 their comrades on many other bloody fields gave us the priceless 
 liberties of the Great Republic. Greater freedom of personal effort 
 under just laws than had theretofore been known, resulting in 
 prosperity that is the wonder of the world. 
 
 13 
 
The admiration of competitors is seldom expressed. Ameri- 
 ca's success, however, has caused our English friends serious re- 
 flection. It is certainly not often that a statement so plain and 
 pertinent, so unmistakably inspired by the grandeur of 
 the Great Republic, coming from a recognized authority in the 
 heart of our great competitor, can be quoted. It is gratifying to 
 submit the following statement from the London Daily Telegraph 
 of September 9th, 1903: 
 
 " A century ago about 4,000,000 white people lived 
 in the United States, or approximately as many as live 
 at present in Bulgaria. At that time Great Britain had 
 17,000,000 inhabitants, and in wealth the United States 
 stood in about the same relation to Great Britain as Bul- 
 garia occupies at the present day. Since then the rela- 
 tive position has greatly altered. At present the United 
 States have about 80,000,000 inhabitants, as compared 
 with only 42,000,000 inhabitants of these islands, and 
 the United States are unquestionably the most powerful, 
 the most prosperous, and industrially the most progres- 
 sive country in the world 
 
 "Such progress in power, wealth, and numbers 
 stands unparalleled and unapproached in the history of 
 mankind, and it should afford cause for serious reflection 
 to all who desire to see a similarly splendid development 
 of the British Empire in the future." 
 
 Our unequalled heritage impels us to jealously preserve the 
 memory, to faithfully honor the saciifices, and to glory in the 
 success, of the heroes of the Revolution. 
 
 " Death for their country, death for freedom's cause, 
 The smoke of battle for their honored shroud, 
 A greatful nation, and the world's applause 
 Are all they ask as, sinking to their rest. 
 Their eyes refreshed reopen on the blest." 
 
 14 
 
SOCIETY NOTES 
 
 Editorial 
 
 The paper which, through the 
 courtesy of Gov. Lippitt, we are 
 enabled to present in this number, 
 is one of which we, as a Society, 
 may well feel proud. Many ac- 
 counts of the Battle of Rhode 
 Island have been printed, a most 
 interesting one by Mr. Meyer hav- 
 ing appeared in a previous copy 
 of the Bulletin, but we think it 
 safe to say that Gov. Lippitt has 
 exceeded all previous historians in 
 carefulness of preparation and ful- 
 ness of detail. 
 
 We desire to thank the au- 
 thorities for permitting us to use 
 the Representative Chamber for 
 the two public meetings of the 
 Society, while our new building is in 
 process of erection. 
 
 The new building is progressing 
 satisfactorily though when it will 
 be finished is impossible to say, 
 probably in a few weeks. It is 
 now sufficiently advanced to show 
 its proportions and to give assur- 
 ance of ample space for the Socie- 
 ty's work for years to come. 
 
 At the regular August meeting 
 of the Society a most interesting 
 address upon Patriotism was de- 
 livered by Dr. Nicholas Murray 
 
 Butler, President of Columbia Uni- 
 versity, and the Society takes great 
 pleasure in printing it in a separate 
 pamphlet. 
 
 New Members 
 Elected since the last Bulletin. 
 
 life members 
 Mrs. Robert Ives Gammell 
 Mrs. Whitney Warren 
 
 SUSTAINING members 
 
 Mrs. Neilson 
 
 Mrs. Roderick Terry 
 
 ANNUAL MEMBERS 
 
 Mrs. R. Livingston Beeckman 
 
 Mrs. Jerome C. Borden 
 
 Rear Admiral Austin M. Knight 
 
 A. C. Landers, Jr. 
 
 Mrs. Lauterbach 
 
 Charles Warren Lippitt, Jr. 
 
 Mr. and Mrs. W. W. Covell 
 
 Mr. Harrison J. Morris 
 
 J. Henry Reuter 
 
 Mrs. John Thompson Spencer 
 
 Mr. and Mrs. Harry G. Wilks 
 
 ASSOCIATE MEMBERS 
 
 Robert Benson 
 
 Mrs. Beverly R. Dudley 
 
 Miss Lena H. Clarke 
 
 Mrs. Leiber 
 
 Miss Leiber 
 
 Frank L. Peckham 
 
 15 . 
 
The Building Fund 
 Total contributions to Building 
 Lind, in gifts and pledges, ^8,625. 
 Com. Arthur Curtiss James has 
 :nerously agreed to contribute 
 ilf the necessary amount, and 
 IS already paid ;^5,ooo. 
 Contributors to the Building 
 Lind since the last Bulletin. 
 idge Darius Baker $5.00 
 
 dwin S. Burdick, Esq. 5.00 
 
 rs, John R. Drexel 25 00 
 
 r. Gibson Fahnestock 50.00 
 
 r. and Mrs. Daniel B. Fear- 
 ing 20.00 
 rs. James B. Forsyth 5.00 
 r. William B. Franklin 5.00 
 rs, Robert Ives Gammell 25.00 
 . O. Havemeyer 5.00 
 rs. Henry Barton Jacobs 25.00 
 om.ArthurCurtissJames 5,000.00 
 r. John Jencks 5.00 
 eorge Gordon King, Esq. 25.00 
 iss Ellen F. Mason 100.00 
 rs. E. J. Pattison 50.00 
 r. Frederick S. Peck 1000 
 r. Marsden J. Perry 10.00 
 rs. Edward Potter 1000 
 
 Mrs. John Ridlon ;^ 10.00 
 
 Mrs. George E. Sage 5.00 
 
 Mrs. George S. Scott 10.00 
 
 Miss Helen F. Smith 3.00 
 
 Mrs. Nathaniel Smith 5.00 
 Miss Elizabeth H. Swinburne 10.00 
 
 Mrs. Nathaniel Thayer 25.00 
 
 Miss Sarah C. Weaver 25 00 
 
 Gen. John H. Wetherell 5.00 
 
 SALE OF BRICKS 
 
 Mrs. J. Stewart Barney 2.00 
 
 Miss Eva Brightman i.oo 
 
 Dr. F. D. Chester i.oo 
 
 Miss Cora Gosling i.oo 
 
 Mrs. I. Goodwin Hobbs .50 
 
 Mr. Allen P. Hoard i.oo 
 
 Mrs. Lauterbach i.oo 
 
 Mr. Wm. H. Lee 2.00 
 
 Mr. Charles W. Lippitt, Jr. i.oo 
 
 Mr. Alexander F. Lippitt i.oo 
 
 Mr. Gorton Thayer Lippitt i.oo 
 
 Howard B. Perry 1 .00 
 
 N. Taylor Phillips 5 00 
 
 Mrs. David T. Pinniger 2.00 
 
 Mr. Dwight Tracy i.oo 
 
 Mrs. Alfred Tuckerman 25.00 
 
 Miss Susan J. Weaver i.oo 
 
OFFICERS 
 
 OF THE 
 
 Newport Historical Society 
 
 For the year eliding May^ igi6 
 
 President, HON. DANIEL B. FEARING 
 First Vice-President, REV. RODERICK TERRY, D. D. 
 
 Second Vice-President, MR. FRANK K. STURGIS 
 
 Third Vice-President, MR. ALFRED TUCKERMAN 
 
 Recording Secretary, MR. JOHN P. SANBORN 
 
 Corresponding Secretary, MR. GEORGE H. RICHARDSON 
 
 Treasurer, MR. HENRY C. STEVENS, Jr. 
 
 Librarian, MISS EDITH MAY TILLEY 
 
 Curator of Coins and Medals, DR. EDWIN P. ROBINSON 
 
 Board of Directors 
 THE OFFICERS and 
 
 FOR THREE YEARS 
 
 MRS. C. L. F. ROBINSON REV. GEORGE V. DICKEY 
 
 MR. JONAS BERGNER MR. LAWRENCE L. GILLESPIE 
 
 FOR TWO YEARS 
 
 MRS. HAROLD BROWN DR. WILLIAM S. SHERMAN 
 
 MRS. RICHARD C. DERBY MR. JOB A. PECKHAM 
 
 FOR ONE YEAR 
 
 MRS. THOMAS A. LAWTON MR. HAMILTON B. TOMPKINS 
 MRS. FRENCH VANDERBILT MR. GEORGE L. RIVES 
 
BULLETIN 
 
 OF THE 
 
 Newport Historical Society 
 
 Number Nineleen NEWPORT, R. I. July, 1916 
 
 ANNUAL MEETING 
 
 There was a large attendance at the Annual Meeting May 24th, 
 the interest attaching to the opening of the new building serv- 
 ing to bring together many members. 
 
 Pres. Daniel B. Fearing opened the meeting with a few words 
 of congratulation and welcome. The Reports were read, and are 
 recorded in the following pages. Four new members were elected 
 to the Society. The Chairman of the Building Committee then 
 turned over the new building to the President; after a short state- 
 ment of the different stages in the progress of the work of obtain- 
 ing the money, and of erecting the structure, stating that in 
 the fall of 1914 Mr. James having made his generous offer of half 
 the amount needed, the members were invited to subscribe their 
 half, which within six months they had so nearly accomplished, 
 that the Building Committee was appointed, the Architect Mr. 
 Joseph G. Stevens, 2nd, engaged, and the work begun, with the 
 result that there has been added to the buildings of the Society a 
 fire-proof structure containing offices and newspaper room on 
 the first floor, and large exhibition rooms on the second and third 
 floors, as well as a needed addition to the Library room. 
 
 The Society seems now to possess all the space which it is 
 likely to need for many years. 
 
 After the reception of the building by the President, the 
 officers whose term of office expired at that meeting were all re- 
 elected. An interesting address upon the Value of Fire Proof 
 Buildings was then made by Hon. Herbert O. Brigham, State 
 Record Commissioner of Rhode Island. Tea was served after 
 adjournment, by Mrs. Daniel B. Fearing and her sister, Miss 
 Strong. 
 
 Edith M. Tilley, Clerk. 
 
ANNUAL REPORTS 
 
 Report of the Secretary 
 
 To the Officers and Members of the Newport Historical Society: 
 
 Since the annual report of May 25, 1915, the Society has 
 held three meetings. The usual February meeting was omitted on 
 account of the building operations. 
 
 The following addresses have been presented: 
 August 16, 1915, "Patriotism," by Dr. Nicholas Murray Butler, 
 
 President Columbia University. 
 Sept. 25, 1915, "The Battle of Rhode Island," by Ex-Governor 
 
 Charles Warren Lippit, of Providence and Newport. 
 December 13, 1915, "The Rambles of a Nature Lover in Eng- 
 land," by Mrs. James L. Tryon of Boston. 
 
 All of these meetings were held in the State House, and the 
 attendance at each was exceptionally good. 
 
 At the midsummer meeting, a social hour followed the ad- 
 dress, and tea was served by Mrs. C. L. F. Robinson, Mrs. 
 Richard C. Derby, Mrs. Grosvenor, and Mrs. Alfred Tuckerman. 
 They were assisted by the Misses Simpson, Mackie, Lockrow 
 and Austin. 
 
 The Directors have held 9 meetings, at which the routine 
 business and that connected with the new building have been 
 transacted. 
 
 52 members have been elected this year. 
 
 13 members have deceased, as follows: 
 Charles H. Greene, Battlecreek, Mich. ; Wm. R. Hunter ; Edward 
 C. Post ; Samuel McAdam ; Francis S. Barker ; Mrs. Stuyvesant 
 Fish ; Dr. Dwight Tracy ; James LeBarou Willard ; Robert 
 Tilney ; Miss Caroline O. Jones; George H. Carr ; Albert K. 
 Sherman ; Egerton L. Winthrop. 
 
 The Society now numbers 431. 
 
 Respectfully submitted, 
 
 John P. Sanborn, Secretary. 
 
Report of the Treasurer 
 
 Henry C. Stevens, Jr., in account with the Newport His- 
 torical Society, from May 25, 19 15 to May 24, 1916. 
 
 General Fund. 
 
 Balance 1915 . . . $ 16.27 
 Received from State of Rhode 
 
 Island . . . 1000.00 
 Received from City of New- 
 port, for old records . 582.00 
 Dividends . . . 142.60 
 Dues .... 1384.00 
 Gifts and sale of old furnace 350.30 
 
 Total 
 
 , 
 
 . 
 
 ^3475-17 
 
 Expenditures. 
 
 
 
 
 Salaries, librarian, 
 
 assistant 
 
 and janitor . 
 
 
 . 
 
 $1864.00 
 
 Interest 
 
 
 . 
 
 300.12 
 
 Fuel . 
 
 
 . 
 
 200.25 
 
 Gas and telephone 
 
 
 . 
 
 47.27 
 
 Printing and postage 
 
 
 
 128.15 
 
 For City of Newport, 
 
 old 
 
 rec- 
 
 
 ords account 
 
 
 . 
 
 582.00 
 
 Expense of buildings, 
 
 , inc. 
 
 in- 
 
 
 su ranee, supplies 
 
 , etc 
 
 . 
 
 339-65 
 
 Balance 
 
 
 
 13.73 
 
 Total 
 
 ^3475.17 
 
 Book Fund. 
 
 
 
 
 Balance, 1915 
 
 
 . 
 
 $ 47.83 
 
 Interest 
 
 
 * 
 
 180.80 
 
 Total 
 
 $328.63 
 
 Expenditures. 
 
 
 
 
 For care and purchase 
 
 of books 
 
 
 and manuscripts 
 
 
 . 
 
 $161.84 
 
 Balance 
 
 
 * 
 
 66.79 
 
 Total 
 
 $228.63 
 
 Building Fund. 
 
 
 
 
 Amount raised . 
 
 
 $20,058.00 
 
 Expended . 
 
 
 • 
 
 19,581.77 
 
 Balance May 24 . $476.23 
 
Report of the Librarian 
 
 The Librarian respectfully submits her sixth annual report 
 to the Officers and Members of the Newport Historical Society. 
 
 Four hundred and forty-nine books and pamphlets and many 
 manuscripts and newspapers have been added to the library, beside 
 several collections not yet listed, as well as a number of relics to 
 the musem. During all the year, the library staff has been work- 
 ing under difficulties. The relics have been packed away, and 
 books and newspapers piled in every available space; even the 
 desk of the librarian has been so surrounded that much of the 
 time it could not be reached. The routine work, however, has 
 been continued, the accessions have been entered, and although 
 the reading room is still out of commission, we have been able to 
 take care of most of the searchers, disappointing only the visitors 
 who came merely to view the relics. 
 
 Six hundred and eighty-four letters of information have been 
 received and answered, and many more written in regard to the 
 improvements, etc. Much of the correspondence is now in the 
 charge of the Assistant Librarian. 
 
 During a fortnight in the early winter, when the building 
 was temporarily closed during the installation of a new heating 
 equipment, the Librarian and her assistant spent a part of each 
 day in photographing many old doorways about town. These 
 photographs form the nucleus of a collection to which we hope 
 all the members will contribute. Photographs or any information 
 concerning old houses and doorways of Newport will be gladly 
 received and carefully filed. 
 
 One of our chief acquisitions this year is the door frame of 
 the house on Franklin street, last owned by Mr. Charles Dadley, 
 and recently purchased by the United States Government for the 
 new post office site. Mr. Ball, who received the contract to re- 
 jnove the buildings, has permanently placed the doorway here, 
 and Mr. Dadley has presented the old door, and a knocker formerly 
 belonging to the Thayer or Vernon house on Church Street. 
 This house is no longer old in appearance, but contains within 
 the outer shell, two sets of old walls. 
 
 The origin of the Franklin Street house is as yet unknown, 
 and the librarian is devoting all her spare time to the search for 
 
date and the name of the first owner. The old deeds are so in- 
 complete that the owners of this property can be traced only to 
 1785, when the heirs of Benj. Borden sold it to Richard Bourke, 
 who had purchased it of Jeremiah Greene, date unknown. In 
 tracing the boundaries, little more is ascertained, except that in 
 1 77 1 a Proud is given as the owner. The Coggeshalls owned the 
 land almost surrounding this piece, so that it is possible, even 
 probable, that our door frame was attached to an old Coggeshall 
 house. The frame itself is about 100 years old, and as an Edward 
 Peterson purchased the house and land in 1797, and another 
 Edward Peterson sold them in 1836, shall we call it a Peterson 
 doorway? Rev. Edward Peterson, whom you all know as the 
 author of the " History of Rhode Island " certainly lived there, 
 and it is believed that parts of this interesting book may have 
 been written in this house. We hope to discover yet more infor- 
 mation concerning both the door frame and door. 
 
 The chief work of the Librarian this year has been connected 
 with the improvements. From a few moments after eight in the 
 morning, until late in the day, most of her time has been spent 
 in superintending the changes, while all available hours have been 
 used for mental calculations. Since we are somewhat limited as 
 to funds, a great deal of figuring has been necessary to obtain the 
 result you see to-day — much figuring and careful planning. 
 
 The cordial co-operation of the Directors and members, and 
 the ever ready assistance of the library staff, have been a great 
 support and inspiration. The sincere thanks of the librarian are 
 hereby tendered to them all. 
 
 The sections in the library have been rearranged, to secure 
 more space for books. The newspapers have been placed on their 
 stacks, and will be arranged as soon as possible ; also the books 
 and magazines in the reference room. 
 
 The restoration of the old town records in our custody is pro- 
 gressing. Comparing the index cards has been started, and Miss 
 Katherine Stevens has been added to the staff engaged in this 
 particular work. 
 
 The old meeting-house has already been rented to several 
 societies, and probably other good rentals may be secured, to 
 increase our income. 
 
 Now that we have a fire-proof building, with a capacious 
 
vault, for the safe-keeping of relics, newspapers, manuscripts, etc., 
 it is hoped that all our members will take a special interest in 
 adding to our already valuable collections. 
 
 Respectfully submitted, 
 
 Edith M. Tilley, Librarian. 
 May 25, 1916. 
 
 Report of the Building Committee 
 
 To the Officers and Members of the Newport Historical Society: 
 
 The Building Committee has held no formal meetings this 
 year, and the chief work of the sub-committee has been watching 
 the progress of the building operations, conferring with the archi- 
 tect, and reporting to the Directors. During the Winter, the 
 snb-committee has been somewhat handicapped by the necessary 
 absence from town of three members, and the work of superin- 
 tendance has devolved mainly upon the two remaining members, 
 Mr. George H, Richardson and your librarian. To Mr. Richard- 
 son's knowledge of construction and his great interest in our So- 
 ciety we owe much. 
 
 Just a year ago, the corner-stone of the new three-story struc- 
 ture was laid. Today, we can show you a building practically 
 complete, except for a few finishing touches. 
 
 The painting was delayed m order that the walls might dry 
 thoroughly, and during the six months since the plastering was 
 finished the process of drying has been carefully watched and 
 assisted. This necessary delay has prevented us from entirely 
 completing the work. 
 
 It is a pleasure to report to you that the new building is 
 classed as a practically fire-proof structure, and that the old meet- 
 ing-house has been enclosed in brick, roofed with slate, and 
 further safe-guarded by iron shutters. 
 
 Metal covered doors have been placed between the buildings, 
 and we feel that you can now entrust your precious relics to our 
 care, with a reasonable degree of safety. 
 
 A new heating plant has been installed, which, during the 
 past winter, has heated the three buildings adequately and econ- 
 omically, since not quite twenty-three tons of coal have been used- 
 
This is a very slight increase over the amount used in former 
 years, and removes the natural tear that our building plans were 
 perhaps too ambitious and might greatly increase the current 
 expense. 
 
 Electric lights have been installed in all three buildings, and 
 the fixtures were chosen by the librarian and approved by the 
 Directors. 
 
 The meeting house has been throughly renovated and 
 painted, and provided with new shade curtains, a hard wood floor 
 for the gallery, cork linoleum for both floors (which will be laid 
 as soon as the mechanics leave) and equipped with new white 
 chairs. 
 
 In the front building, a few changes had to be made, incident 
 to the removal of the newspaper collection to the new building. 
 
 A metal covered partition now divides the old newspaper 
 room into a small entrance hall and a Directors' Room, in which 
 visitors may converse without fear of interrupting workers or 
 readers. 
 
 There are now three good basements, in which unused parts 
 of our collections may be stored and examined when necessary. 
 
 All this has been accomplished at a comparatively small ex- 
 pense, and your committee realizes that if we had waited even a 
 few months longer, the cost would probably have been prohibi- 
 tive, for the price of labor and materials has been continually 
 soaring higher, and in the case of several purchases, a later deci- 
 sion would perhaps have lost us the articles, and certainly would 
 have prevented us from equipping the buildings so conveniently 
 at this time. 
 
 For these reasons, it seemed wise to add the electric lights in 
 the 1902 building now, to purchase shades for all the buildings, 
 and to equip the building with as much metal furniture as possi- 
 ble, for the price of metal alone has advanced several times since 
 our fixtures and fnrnishings were ordered. Later, we hope to 
 add more metal shelving. 
 
 As reported last year, it is due to the kindness of Commodore 
 Arthur Curtiss James that we were able to start our fund for this 
 work. He gave us the very generous sum of $10,000, provided 
 that we would meet this with an equal amount. We have accom- 
 plished this, having raised together with Mr. James' gift, $20,058, 
 
with additional pledges of $217; total amount $20,275. This 
 amount has been sufficient to erect the new building, but not 
 quite enough to equip it and make the necessary changes in the 
 other two buildings, about $1200 being needed to complete this 
 work. Two hundred and fourteen members have contributed to 
 the building fund, and if each of the remaining two hundred and 
 seventeen would help only a little, the necessary amount would 
 easily be raised. The sums expended to date are as follows: 
 
 New Building. 
 
 
 Contract 
 
 $16099.76 
 
 Architect 
 
 1410.00 
 
 Electric Lights 
 
 . 113.22 
 
 Boiler .... 
 
 . 400.00 
 
 Radiation, etc. 
 
 . 324.00 
 
 Metal & Plumbing . 
 
 • 79-00 
 
 Total 
 
 $18425.98 
 
 Meeting House. 
 
 
 Painting 
 
 . $171.00 
 
 Electric Lights 
 
 . 328.40 
 
 Heating system 
 
 . 175.00 
 
 Repairs 
 
 . 51-95 
 
 Chairs .... 
 
 . 130.00 
 
 Total 
 
 . $856.35 
 
 Front Building 
 
 
 Electric Lights 
 
 '$^79A5 
 
 Renovating & repairing 
 
 
 newspaper room, 
 
 
 Offices etc . 
 
 . 119.99 
 
 Total 
 
 . $299.44 
 
 Total Expenditures . $19581.77 
 
 Having searched in many Historical Societies and record 
 offices, and almost from childhood having served as assistant in 
 the work of this Society and of the Record Commissioner of this 
 State, and for the past five years as your executive officer, the 
 writer has tried to produce practical results from these experiences 
 
and to perceive the needs of this Society from a three-fold point 
 of view; and the Committee has, as far as possible, carried out the 
 ideas thus formed. 
 
 It is with great pleasure, therefore, that this report is pre- 
 sented, and sincere thanks are given to the architect, contractor, 
 and to all who have helped in any way. 
 
 Respectfully submitted, for the Committee, 
 Edith M. Tilley 
 
 Secretary, Building Committee. 
 
 Book Notes 
 
 Considerable interest has been created in historical circles by 
 the book upon John Clarke published by Mr. Bicknell of Provi- 
 dence. In his arguments to prove that at Portsmouth and New- 
 port there was made the first establishment in history of a civil 
 government with liberty of religious belief, we should all feel 
 the deepest interest. If his arguments should prevail, and be 
 not disproved, it would indeed be a cause of great pride to all New- 
 porters. 
 
 The Society for the Preservation of New England Antiquities 
 devotes its Bulletin of January 1916, to Newport ; containing an 
 illustrated article on the old Market building on Washington 
 Square by Norman Morrison Isham ; and one on Peter Harrison, 
 the Architect, by Samuel Francis Batchelder. Would that all 
 the citizens of Newport could be aroused to the importance of the 
 preservation of the old Market, so earnestly advocated in this 
 magazine. 
 
SOCIETY NOTES 
 
 The Society having taking formal 
 possession of the new building, our 
 valuable collections will soon be 
 placed upon exhibition in their new 
 house, and an early date in August 
 has been decided upon as opening 
 day, when we hope to surprise our 
 members, many of whom have little 
 
 appreciation of their extent or value. 
 This is our first Bulletin since 
 October 1915; as we have been 
 prevented by the condition of our 
 rooms, and the great pressure of work 
 placed upon the Society's Statf, from 
 providing papers at the usual meet- 
 
 The Present Membership of the Society 
 
 LIFE MEMBERS 
 
 Allen, John B. 
 
 Allen, William 
 
 American Jewish Historical Society 
 
 Auchincloss, Mrs. Hugh 
 
 Batonyi, Aureil 
 
 Belmont, August 
 
 Belmont, Perry 
 
 Bergner, Jonas 
 
 Birckhead, Mrs. William 
 
 Brown, Mrs. Harold 
 
 Caswell, William J. S. 
 
 Connolly, Thomas B. 
 
 d'Hauteville, Mrs. Grand 
 
 Derby, Mrs. Richard C. 
 
 Fahnestock, Gibson 
 
 Fearing, Daniel B. 
 
 Fearing, Mrs. Daniel B. 
 
 Fearing, George R. 
 
 Gammell, Mrs. Robert Ives 
 
 Gammell, William 
 
 Gerry, Com. Elbridge T. 
 
 Gibbs, Mrs. Theodore K. 
 Goelet, Robert 
 Grosvenor, Miss Rosa A. 
 James, Com. Arthur Curtiss 
 James, Mrs. Arthur Curtiss 
 King, George Gordon 
 King, Mrs. David 
 Lorillard, Louis L. 
 Marquand, Prof. Allen 
 Marquand, Henry 
 Mason, Miss Ellen 
 Mason, Miss Ida 
 McLean, Edward B. 
 McLean, Mrs. Edward B. 
 Moriarty, George Andrews, Jr. 
 Peck, Frederick S. 
 Peckham, Job Almy 
 Powel, Thomas Ives Hare 
 Richardson, Mrs. Thomas 
 Rives, George L. 
 Safe, Mrs. T. Shaw 
 Sherman, Mrs. W. Watts 
 Smith, Miss Esther Morton 
 
 lO 
 
Swan, James A. 
 Swan, Mrs. James A. 
 Taylor, H. A. C. 
 Taylor, Henry R. 
 Thayer, Mrs Nathaniel 
 Tilley, Edith May 
 Tompkins, Hamilton B. 
 Tuckerman, Alfred 
 Tuckerman, Mrs. Alfred 
 Vanderbilt, Mrs. 
 Vanderbilt, Mrs. French 
 Vernon, Mrs. J. Peace 
 Warren, George Henry 
 Warren, Mrs. Whitney 
 Webster. Hamilton Fish 
 Wetmore, Hon. George P. 
 Wildey, Mrs. Anna C. 
 
 Neilson. Mrs. 
 Norman, Mrs. Bradford 
 Norman, Guy 
 Pierson, Gen. J. Fred 
 Potter, Mrs Edward T. 
 Redmond, Henry 
 Rives, Dr. William C. 
 Robinson, Mrs. C. L. F, 
 Schreier, Eugene 
 Spencer, Mrs. Lorillard 
 Sturgis, Frank K. 
 Tailer, T. Suffern 
 Terry, Rev. Roderick 
 Terry, Mrs. Roderick 
 Van Alen, J. J. 
 Weaver, Miss Sarah C. 
 Webster, Mrs. Hamilton Fish 
 
 SUSTAINING MEMBERS 
 
 Berwind, Mrs. Edward J. 
 
 Bispham, Mrs. George T. 
 
 Brown, Mrs. James J. 
 
 Brown, Mrs. John Nicholas 
 
 Burke-Roche, Mrs. Frances 
 
 Clark, Miss Elizabeth 
 
 Clarke, Mrs. J. Francis A. 
 
 Codman, Miss Martha 
 
 DeForest, George B. 
 
 Drexel, Mrs. John R. 
 
 Duncan, Mrs. Stuart 
 
 Dunn, Mrs. Thomas 
 
 Emmons, Arthur B. 
 
 Glyn, Mrs. WilHam E. 
 
 Grosvenor, Mrs. William 
 Havemeyer, H. 0. , Jr. 
 Hay den. Col. Charles 
 Hazard, Miss Caroline 
 Hunt, Mrs. Livingston 
 Hunter, Miss Anna F. 
 Jacobs, Dr. Henry Barton 
 Jenckes, John 
 Kernochan, Mrs. James P. 
 
 ANNUAL MEMBERS 
 
 Abney, John R. 
 Andrews, Mrs. Walter S. 
 Anderson, Dr. Alexander J. 
 Armstrong, William A. 
 Austin, Amory 
 Austin, George B. 
 Baker, Hon. Darius 
 Bakhmeteff, Madam 
 Balch, Mrs. Stephen Elliott 
 Baldwin, Frederick H. 
 Ball. Alwyn, Jr. 
 Barry, Louis J. 
 Bates, Mrs. Francis E. 
 Beeckman, Mrs. R. Livingston 
 Beck, Dr. Horace P. 
 Bergman, Isaac B. 
 Bliss, Richard 
 Borden, Mrs. Jerome C. 
 Britton, Miss Selah W. 
 Buffum, William P. 
 Buflfum, Mrs. Wm. P. 
 Bull, Mrs. Charles M. 
 Burdick, Clark 
 
BnrdicK, David J. 
 
 Burdick, Edwin S. 
 
 Burgess, Prof. John W. 
 
 Burlingame, Robert S. 
 
 Burlingham, Hiram 
 
 Biask,. Mrs. Joseph R, 
 
 Cabell, Walter Coles 
 
 Campbell, I>udley E, 
 
 Carr, Leander K. 
 
 Case, Philip B. 
 
 Caswell, John R, 
 
 Chad wick, Mrs. French E. 
 
 Clark, Dr. Philip E. 
 
 Clark, Mrs. Philip E. 
 
 Clarke, Mrs. Wm. P. , Sr. 
 
 Coggeshall, Dr. Henry 
 
 Cole, Charles M. 
 
 Cortazzo, Madame 
 
 Cortazzo, Miss Katherine 
 
 Cottrell, Charles M. 
 
 Covell, William W. 
 
 Covell, Mrs. William W. 
 
 Cozzens, J. Powel 
 
 Creighton, Mrs. J. MeP. 
 
 Darlington, Rt. Rev. James H. 
 
 Davies, Julien T. 
 
 Davis, Rear Admiral Charles H, 
 
 Davis, Mrs. Dudley 
 
 Davis, Galen 
 
 de Canongo, Countess de San 
 
 Esteban 
 Dennis, Wm. E. , Jr. 
 de Tahy, Prof. Joannes 
 Dickey, Rev. George V. 
 Downing, George Fay 
 Drury, James H. 
 Duncan, Stuart 
 Dyer, Herbert 
 Easton, Arthur H. 
 Easton, Charles D. , M. D. 
 Easton, Fred W. 
 Edgar, Miss Lucille R. 
 
 Ellery, Miss Henrietta 
 Elliott, Mrs. John 
 Ellis, Miss Helen 
 Ellis, Miss Lizzie E. 
 Estes, Dr, Nathan A. 
 Estes, Mrs. Nathan A. 
 Eustis, George Peabody 
 Eustis, Mrs. George Peabody 
 Fagan, James P. 
 Ferry, Mrs. E. Hay ward 
 Fish, Stuyvesant 
 Ford, Mrs. Thomas G. 
 Forsyth, Mrs. J. B. 
 Franklin, Miss Ruth 
 Franklin, William B. 
 Gardner, Mrs. Charles C. 
 Garrettson. Frederick P. 
 Gillespie, Lawrence L. 
 Gillespie, Mrs. Lawrence L. 
 Graham, Howard S. 
 Green, Arthur Leslie 
 Greene, John H. , Jr. 
 Greenraan, Mrs John 
 Haggin, Mrs. James B. 
 Hague, Arnold 
 Hammond, Ogden H. 
 Hazard, Miss Abby C. 
 Hendy, Henry Stuart 
 Higbee, Edward W. 
 Hill, Mrs. Walter N. 
 Hillhouse, Mrs. Charles B. 
 Hoffman, Charles F 
 Hoppin. Samuel H. 
 Horton, Jere W. 
 Hosmer, L. H. 
 Howard, Mrs. E. W. 
 Howland, Mrs. Joseph 
 Hughes, Rev Stanley C. 
 Hunter, Miss Augusta 
 Ingalls, Mrs. John J. 
 Ingraham, Phoenix 
 Jacobs, Mrs. Henry Barton 
 
 12 
 
Jones, Rev. J. Andrew 
 
 Jones, Mrs. Pembroke 
 
 Josephs, Mrs. Lyman C. 
 
 Judge, Mrs. Cyril B. 
 
 Kimber, Rev. John S. 
 
 King, Col. Frank P. 
 
 King, Frederick R. 
 
 King, Miss Georgianna G. 
 
 King, Mrs. LeRoy 
 
 King, LeRoy 
 
 Kling, Charles P. 
 
 Knight, Rear Admiral Austin M. 
 
 U.S. N. 
 Koehne, Charles H. , Jr. 
 LaFarge, Mrs John 
 Landers, Albert C. 
 Lauterbach, Mrs. 
 Lawson, John A. 
 Lawton, Mrs. Thomas A. 
 Leavitt, Miss Blanche 
 Lee, William H. 
 Levy, Max 
 
 Lippitt, Hon. Charles Warren 
 Lippitt, Mrs. Charles Warren 
 Lippitt, Charles Warren Jr. 
 Lockrow, Mrs. Harvey J. 
 Lorah, James R 
 Low, William G. , Jr. 
 Luce, Rear Admiral S. B. 
 Macomber, Isaac 
 Marvin, Miss Elizabeth B. 
 Mason, Dr. John J. 
 Mason, Mrs. John J. 
 MacLeod, Col. William 
 McAllister, Miss Louisa Ward 
 McCormiok, Michael A. 
 McLennan, John K. 
 McMahon, Andrew K. 
 Morgan, Mrs. Wm. Rogers 
 Moriarty, Mrs. George A. 
 Morris, Harrison J. 
 Morrison, Charles E. 
 Murdock, Rear Admiral J. B. 
 
 Naval War College 
 Norman, Maxwell 
 Norman, Reginald 
 Nowell, Mrs. T.S. 
 Noyes, Mrs. Boutelle 
 'Neill, Thomas J. 
 Pattison, Mrs. E. J. 
 Pearson, Mrs. Frederick 
 Peck, Rev. Charles Russell 
 Peckham, Miss Antoinette 
 Peckham, Mrs. Felix 
 Peckham, Miss Lillian 
 Peckham, Thomas P. 
 Peckham, Mrs. R. Wallace 
 Pepper, Mrs. William 
 Perry, Mrs. Henry P. 
 Perry, Marsden J. 
 Petterson, Gustof L. 
 Phillips, Arthur S. 
 Phillips, N. Taylor 
 Pitman, T. T. 
 Powel, Miss Mary E. 
 Price, Brig. General Butler D. 
 Pumpelly, Prof. Raphael 
 Redmond, MissLydia 
 Renter, J. Henry 
 Reynal, Mrs. E. S. 
 Richards, Edgar 
 Richardson, George H. 
 Ridlon, Dr. John 
 Robinson, Dr. Edwin P. 
 Robinson, Mrs. Edwin P. 
 Russo, Marco 
 Sage, Mrs. George E. 
 Sanborn, Alvah H. 
 Sanborn, John P. 
 Sanborn, Mrs. John P. 
 Sanford, Dr. A. Chase 
 Scott, Mrs. George S. 
 Seabury, John C. 
 Shanahan, Dennis 
 Sheffield. Wm. P. 
 Sherman, Mrs. Albert K. 
 
 13 
 
Sherman, Mrs. B. B. H. 
 Sherman, Edward A. 
 Sherman, Miss Elizabeth G. 
 Sherman, Dr. William A. 
 Sherman, Mrs. William A. 
 Sherman, Dr. William S. 
 Sherman, Mrs. William S. 
 Slade, Mrs. Abbott E. 
 Slocum, William S. 
 Smith, Daniel 
 Smith, Mrs. R. Manson 
 Spencer, John Thompson 
 Spencer, Mrs. John Thompson 
 Sprague, Mrs. Frank J. 
 Stanhope, Clarence 
 Stanton, Dr. N. G. 
 Stetson, George R. 
 Stevens, Miss Abby 
 Stevens, Miss J. Austin 
 Stevens, Mrs. Harriet 
 Stevens, Henry C. , Jr. 
 Stevens, Miss Katharine M. 
 Stevens, Miss Maude L. 
 Stewart, Anthony 
 Stickney, Mrs. Albert 
 Stoddard, Dr. William C. 
 Stoneman, Michael 
 Storer, Dr. Horatio R. 
 Sullivan, John B. 
 Sullivan, Dr. M. H. 
 Swan, Miss Sallie C. 
 Swinburne, Miss Elizabeth 
 Tanner, Benjamin F. 
 Taylor, Grant P. 
 Thaw, Benjamin 
 Thomas, Miss Harriet 
 Thompson. Frank E. 
 Underwood, Mrs. Wm. J. 
 Van Allen, Mrs.Garett A. 
 Van Beuren, Mrs. Michael M,. 
 Vanderbilt, Reginald 
 Van Rensselaer, Mrs. Schuyler 
 Vernon, Miss Elizabeth 
 
 Wanton, Charles A. N. 
 Ward, Miss A. Louise 
 Ward, Rev. Wm. I. 
 Warren, George Henry, Jr. 
 Weaver, Mrs. Charles A. 
 Weaver. Harry R. 
 Weaver, Thomas L. S. 
 Wetherell, John H. 
 Wharton, Mrs. Henry 
 White, Elias Henley 
 White, Mrs. Elias Henley 
 Whitman, Hon. Charles S. 
 Wilder, Frank J. 
 Wilks, Harry G. 
 Wilks, Mrs. Harry G. 
 Wood, Mrs. Henry A. 
 Wright, Mrs. Walter A. 
 
 ASSOCIATE MEMBERS 
 
 Adams, William F. 
 Andrews, Mrs. William, Jr. 
 Atkinson, Mrs. Mary 
 Angier, Miss Abigail 
 Balis, Clarence Wanton 
 Benson, Mrs. A. S. 
 Benson, Robert 
 Bigelow, Francis H. 
 Bloch, Rev. Julius 
 Bokee, Miss iVIargaret 
 Bosworth, Miss Rebecca 
 Brackett, Mrs. Charles 
 Braman, Mrs. Packer 
 Branston, Mrs. Joseph 
 Brightman, Miss Eva S. C. 
 Brightman, Wm. E. 
 Brownell, Miss Ella 
 Brownell, Miss Nancy 
 Buenzle, F. J. 
 Burlingham, Rev. E. J. 
 Burlingham, Mrs. Thomas 
 Casey, Miss Sophie P. 
 Chester, Charles E. 
 
 14 
 
Chester, Dr. Frank Dyer 
 Chinn, Miss E. Bertha 
 Clarke, Miss Lena H. 
 Congdon, Mrs. Henry B. 
 Cottrell, Miss Annie 
 Davis, Salmon W. 
 Dudley, Mrs. Beverley R. 
 du Fais, John 
 Fowler, Miss A. Sybil 
 Franklin, Mrs. Robert M. 
 Goddard, William D. 
 Hayes, Robert S. 
 Hayes, Mrs. Robert S. 
 Hazard, Miss Mary A. 
 Holland, Mrs. Katharine B. 
 Howard, Mrs. William R. 
 Jones, Rev. Wm. Safford 
 Lawrence, Mrs. Henry 
 Lawton, George P. 
 Leiber, Mrs. Hamilton 
 Leiber, Miss 
 Marsh, Mrs. Herbert 
 McCarthy, Miss Alice 
 Mead, Mrs. George Whitfield 
 Nichols, Miss Matilda 
 O'Neill, Eugene C. 
 Peckham, Frank L. 
 Peckham. Mrs. Frank L. 
 Peckham, Mrs Thomas P. 
 Perry, Howard B. 
 Perry, Mrs. Joseph 
 Perry, Thomas Sergeant 
 Pinniger, Mrs. David 
 Potter, Ralph G. 
 Powell, Mrs. Frank 
 
 Richmond, Henry I. 
 Rogers, Mrs. Elisha 
 Sayer, Miss Mary A. 
 Sherman, Miss Annie A. 
 Smith, Miss Eliz B. 
 Smith, Mrs. Ellen G. Cornell 
 Smith, Miss Helen Fairchild 
 Stanton, Miss Bessie 
 Stanton, William H. 
 Staton, Mrs. J. A. 
 Stewart, Mrs. John 
 Swazey, Miss Jeanette 
 Swinburne, Henry H. 
 Tetlow, Mrs. Albert 
 Thurston, Mrs. George W. 
 Titus, Mrs. Harry A. 
 Underwood, Mrs. Nicholas 
 Vernon, Miss Annie 
 Vose, Miss Caroline M. 
 Ward, Howard Gould 
 Waring, Miss E. B. 
 Weaver, Miss Susan J. 
 Wharton, Jos. S. Lovering 
 Wheeler, Henry 
 Whitehead, John M. 
 Willard, Miss Mary A. 
 Wing, Wm. Arthur 
 Wood, Trist 
 
 TOTAL MEMBERSHIP 
 
 Life 
 
 Sustaining 
 Annual 
 Associate 
 
 Total 
 
 61 
 
 40 
 
 250 
 
 87 
 
 438 
 
OFFICERS 
 
 OF THE 
 
 Newport Historical Society 
 
 For the year ending May^ ^9^7 
 
 President, DANIEL B. FEARING 
 First Vice-President, RODERICK TERRY 
 
 Second Vice-President, FRANK K. STURGIS 
 
 Third Vice-President, ALFRED TUCKERMAN 
 Recording Secretary, JOHN P. SANBORN 
 Corresponding Secretary, GEORGE H. RICHARDSON 
 Treasurer, HENRY C. STEVENS, Jr. 
 Librarian, EDITH MAY TILLEY 
 Curator of Coins and Medals, EDWIN P. ROBINSON 
 
 Board of Directors 
 THE OFFICERS and 
 
 FOR THREE YEARS 
 
 MRS. THOMAS A. LAWTON HAMILTON B. TOMPKINS 
 
 MRS. FRENCH VANDERBILT GEORGE L. RIVES 
 
 FOR TWO YEARS 
 
 MRS. C. L. F. ROBINSON GEORGE V. DICKEY 
 
 JONAS BERGNER LAWRENCE L. GILLESPIE 
 
 FOR ONE YEAR 
 
 MRS. HAROLD BROWN WILLIAM S. SHERMAN 
 
 MRS. RICHARD C. DERBY JOB A. PECKHAM 
 
■o^^ 
 
 /^.r 
 
 ^.■> 
 
 BULLETIN 
 
 OF THE 
 
 Newport Historical Society 
 
 Number Twenty NEWPORT. R. I. August. 1916 
 
 The Scope and Purpose of an Historical 
 Society in Newport 
 
 By 
 THE HON. WILLIAM PAINE SHEFFIELD 
 
 A Paper read before the Society August 12th, 1916. 
 
 History is the guide to the present and the inspiration of the 
 future. In order to make the best use of our surroundings, it is 
 necessary that we should know the tendencies and environment of the 
 past. The only solid basis of Historical Study is founded on facts, 
 accurately and painstakingly ascertained. To preserve these facts and 
 to bring them to the attention of the community and of the student so 
 that they can be easily found and clearly apprehended is the chief end 
 of an Historical Society. 
 
 Newport is a peculiarly rich and attractive field for the historical 
 scholar. Nowhere can the sources of our institutions and the habits 
 and development of our people be studied to better advantage. It is 
 especially fortunate in First: its physical situation, and Second: the 
 character of its founders. Its location and equitable climate at the very 
 beginning and during every subsequent period of its history, have been 
 often commented on. The harbor, easy of access to the sea, at the en- 
 trance of that great inland waterway, Narragansett Bay. from the time 
 
when Nicholas Easton hired the Indians to burn off the bushes in the 
 swamp, where Thames Street now is, until the present time, has had a 
 great influence in the progress of the city. Bishop Berkeley, it is re- 
 corded, was never more agreeably surprised than at the sight of the 
 Town and Harbor of Newport. "Around him was some of the softest 
 rural and grandest ocean scenery in the world." 
 
 In regard to the mildness of the climate, Dr. Stiles, in his diary, 
 records: "Dec. 21, 1772, Thermometer 50° at noon, abroad a fine mild 
 day" and Jan. 7, 1773, "Yesterday at dinner, we ate lettuce in the gar- 
 den, growing abroad and not in hot beds, so moderate the season. I 
 saw and measured a branch of rose-bush of this Winter's fresh growth, 
 gathered New Year's Day, about six inches long of which the new 
 grown stalk was about four inches and some leaves nearly fully grown." 
 
 Into such a picturesque and fortunate situation and amid such a 
 mild and attractive climate were transplanted a body of men selected 
 by the stern refinement of persecution from the Puritan Commonwealth. 
 Much has been written of the Massachusetts Puritans, how, in order 
 that they might enjoy a fuller political liberty and that they might 
 worship God according to the dictates of their own conscience, they 
 obtained the charter of an English trading Company, left Leicestershire 
 in old England and settled l^oston in New England and founded a State. 
 There is little doubt that, in the world as it then existed, few people 
 had a wider knowledge of the principles of political liberty and a more 
 sincere love of religious truth than they. But the Puritan theocracy, to 
 say the least, was not attractive and congenial to those who were not in 
 entire sympathy with its purposes and its beliefs It was William 
 Blackstone, the original settler of Rhode Island who, when the Massa- 
 chusetts settlers disturl)ed him in possession of Beacon Hill and Boston 
 said that "he had come from England to escape the Lord's Bishops but 
 he did not like the Lords Brethern any better." This was the common 
 view of all the Rhode Island founders: Blackstone, Roger Williams and 
 John Clarke, in succession. 
 
 Whatever love of Hberty and of religious devotion existed in Boston, 
 it was nowhere stronger than among the Elders of the First Church and 
 the Magistrates of Boston who (including Sir Henry Vane) supported 
 Wheelwright and some of whom followed Ann Hutchinson. When 
 these were disarmed and banished, these exiles of exiles, refined by the 
 persecution of New England, after the persecution of old England, 
 founded on this lovely island a community whose story allures and 
 attracts the historian to this day as do few other spots. 
 
 Ambassador Bryce has said: "Rhode Island has had a singularly 
 interesting and eventful history. All the more interesting because in a 
 
tiny community the play of personal forces is best seen and the charac- 
 ter of individual men give color to the strife of principles and parties. 
 Thus, some touch of that dramatic quality which belongs to the cities 
 of Greece and Italy recurs in this little Republic on Narragansett Bay." 
 
 William Coddington, John Clarke, John Coggeshall, Nicholas Eas- 
 ton and their associates, when they settled through the influence of 
 Roger ^Villiams, on this beautiful Island, then recently wrested by the 
 Narragansetts from the Wampanoags, builded better than they knew. 
 They brought with them a clearer vision of the future and a wider 
 sympathy with humanity than anywhere existed in the world. They 
 knew from their own bitter experience that man could not enjoy religi- 
 ous liberty, unless he was willing to respect and bring that liberty to 
 his fellow man. That one could not enjoy civil liberty for himself, 
 unless he accorded the same rights to his neighbor and that his neighbor 
 was not only his relative and his friend who came from England, but 
 also the savage Indian whose land he occupied. They founded a State 
 to hold forth the lively experiment of the brotherhood of man founded 
 upon religious freedom which made possible the union of the Colonies 
 under the Constitution of the United States. They supported those 
 principles of equality upon which the French Revolution and the de- 
 velopment of free people everywhere has been based. 
 
 Here in this mine of historical study, not neglected but not fully 
 exploited, lies much that would enable one to understand more fully 
 the development of our Institutions and the History of our Country. 
 
 Here was founded the first free State, in the words of John Clarke 
 "To hold forth a lively experiment that a most flourishing Civil State 
 may stand and best be maintained with a full liberty in religious con- 
 cernments." 
 
 Here was founded a State, the title to whose land was based upon 
 the free purchase from the aboriginal owners and whose dealings 
 throughout its history with the Indians were marked with justice. 
 
 Here the foundations of the State were placed upon the principle 
 of the fullest recognition of the rights of the individual in the civil 
 sphere, and thus, to this City, came for refuge those fleeing from every 
 kind of oppression. 
 
 Here the historian can trace the development of a State founded on 
 such principles; where Commerce followed increase in population; 
 Wealth followed Commerce; and Art and Social Intercourse of a free 
 people followed Wealth, until hardly anywhere in the eighteenth cen- 
 tury could be found a more desirable place to live in than Newport. 
 
 Here the student may trace the beginnings of that conflict which 
 ultimately brought freedom to all the Colonies and here, in Colonial 
 
times; afterwards, before the Civil War and even to the present time, 
 have been brought together in close association those of leisure, as well 
 as the literary and artistic, from many different parts of this country. 
 
 To illustrate the scope which the past of Newport offers to an His- 
 torical Society, one can touch only on a few salient points: 
 
 The intercourse of different races, whether one is dependent upon 
 the other or whether they are in diverse stages of civilized development, 
 are usually attended with misunderstandings and struggles. Contrary 
 to the rule, in the main, the relations of the settlers of Newport with 
 the original inhabitants were generally peaceful — an example to the 
 other New England colonies. 
 
 These relations were founded on Justice and Fair Dealing and the 
 Recognition of Mutual Rights and Obligations. In acquiring land, 
 Rhode Island scrupulously extinguished the Indian Titles: not only the 
 title of the Major Chieftains, recognized by the tribal traditions as the 
 proper authority, but again and again they purchased the rights of oc- 
 cupation of each petty Sachem. The Colonists also sought to devise a 
 system of jurisprudence to be administered by joint tribunals to secure 
 Justice to offending Indians. It was provided: "That if any Indian 
 shall be unruly, or will not depart our bowses when they are bidden, 
 they are to carry them to the Governour or other Magistrate, and they 
 shall be punished according to their demeritt. And further, that for 
 any common or small crime he shall receive his punishment according 
 to law; and for any matters of greater weight exceeding the value of ten 
 fadome of beads, then Miantonomy is to be sent for, who is to come and 
 see the Tryal. But if it be a Sachem that hath offended, though in 
 smaller matters, then he is also to be sent for, and to see his tryall, and 
 Judgment; who hath promised to come." 
 
 One of the most interesting Indian incidents is described in "John 
 Easton's Indian War." This book is practically devoted to the single 
 incident and it brings out in a strong light both the character of Philip 
 of Pokanoket and of the attitude of the R. I. Colonists towards their 
 Indian neighbors. Sassicus, a praying Indian, had been killed by 
 Phillip's men and his body had been found by the Plymouth people 
 when the ice had melted from the pond in the spring and the Plymouth 
 people had summoned Philip to come to Plymouth for trial and he had 
 refused. Phillip was preparing for the last desperate conflict with the 
 Whites. Just before the outbreak, in full war paint at the request of 
 John Easton (Gov. 1690-1695) and a committee with him from New- 
 port, Philip and his warriors met them near Bristol Ferry. The Rhode 
 Island men tried to dissuade Phillip from going to war and offered their 
 
services as mediators with the Massachusetts people. The narrative is 
 interesting as shovs^ing the confidence vsrhich the Indians had in their 
 Rhode Island neighbors and the breadth of view of the Indian Chief- 
 The Rhode Islanders represented the hopelessness of the War and the 
 Indians did not deny it. They depicted the horrors of war and its bar- 
 barity; and Philip in a wisdom beyond his time, said "war is the worst 
 way of settling disputes." The Rhode Island men suggested "arbitra- 
 tion" which the Indians were willing to listen to, provided, any impar- 
 tial men could be found. The Committee suggested the Governor of 
 New York, and it seemed to them a possible solution if the Plymouth 
 people would accept. But the history of our own time repeated itself, 
 peacemakers, without authority, could do little and the most bloody 
 Indian War resulted. 
 
 At the close of Philip's War, in August 1676, a Court Martial was 
 held at Newport "for the trial of Indians charged with being engaged in 
 Philip's designs." The record of which has been published (Albany, 
 N. Y., Printed by J. Mumsell, 1858). One is impressed with the care 
 of the members of this Court, to do justice to the accused Indians and 
 to give them the benefit of all the forms of law to which Englishmen 
 were entitled. The sentences in the main were just and mild as com- 
 pared with the treatment of the Indians by the other Colonies in this 
 last great conflict in this locality. 
 
 To the student of Principles of Government and the Forms of 
 Institutions which promote Liberty, no field is so attractive as Colonial 
 America. Here a people versed in the principles of English Law, de- 
 rived from Magna Carta, expounded by Coke and the fathers of English 
 Jurisprudence, under different forms of Royal Charters, freed from ex- 
 acting supervision, each sought out the development that seemed best 
 to promote their welfare. Plymouth and Massachusetts Bay Colonies, 
 Connecticut, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia 
 and Georgia, all in a diff"erent way worked out their freedom under 
 Royal Charters. 
 
 Of all the Colonies, Rhode Island is most interesting. Here was 
 founded a pure Democracy and in quarterly meetings the freemen 
 assembled controlled the Legislation. Liberty based on the English 
 Law was established. In 1647 that wonderful Code of Laws, for its 
 day, was adopted and orderly government, with the initiative and 
 referendum in the people, was established. But under the leadership of 
 John Clarke they did not rest until they had obtained from that corrupt 
 Monarch. Charles II, the great Charter of 1663 which secured for all 
 time, embodied in the fundamental law, the principle of Soul-Liberty 
 
and complete freedom in Religious concernments. So free was the 
 development of the people in this Colony that there was no marked dif- 
 ference in the administration of the executive and the action of the 
 General Assembly under the British King and under the American 
 Republic. Indeed, the same Royal Charter was sufficient as the funda- 
 mental law of the British Colony and the American State. Here were 
 worked out many of the forms and principles of Government that were 
 embodied in the American Constitution. To preserve the trials which 
 brought out the application of these principles to the needs of English- 
 men in a new land; to trace the origin of institutions which were de- 
 veloped until they became part of the heritage of the nation is the func- 
 tion of the historical student and of an Historical Society. 
 
 "The Individualism of Rhode Island based as it was on that which 
 was spiritual, on the Soul Liberty of Roger Williams and the "inner 
 light" of Antinomians, Anabaptists and Quakers, could not, under favor- 
 ing conditions but flower forth in idealism. Beginning with 1729 these 
 conditions were supplied at Newport by the development there of 
 wealth through commerce and by the presence there, for a time, of the 
 greatest idealist among English Philosophers — George Berkeley, Dean 
 of Londonderry. So writes an historian who has shown much sym- 
 pathy with Rhode Island: 
 
 Many of the richest memories of this period gather around Berkeley, 
 Dean of Londonderry. The "New England Weekly Commoner" 3d of 
 February, 1729, has this dispatch: "Newport, January 24, 1729. Yes- 
 terday arrived here, Dean Berkeley of Londonderry in a pretty large 
 ship. He is a gentleman of middle stature, of an agreeable, i)leasant 
 and erect aspect. He was ushered into the Town with a great number 
 of gentlemen to whom he behaved himself after a very complaisant 
 manner. 'Tis said he proposes to tarry here with his family about 
 three months." 
 
 When Berkeley's ship appeared off Block Island, he sent at once a 
 letter announcing his arrival to Mr. Honeyman, Minister of Trinity 
 Church, which was received by Mr. Honeyman, while preaching on 
 Sunday. "The Church was dismissed with the blessing and Mr. 
 Honeyman, with the wardens, vestry, church and congregation, male 
 and female, repaired immediately to the Ferry Wharf, where they 
 arrived a little before the Dean, his family and friends." Newport was 
 fortunate in having a visit from such a man. This man, so honored by 
 Newporters, was one of the purest and most upright of his generation. 
 "In an age more material than any that had preceded or has followed 
 it, he steadfastly upheld the ideals of a higher life and refused to 
 acknowledge that a nation or an individual could be said to prosper 
 
 6 
 
because of mere worldly advancement." He conceived a plan for found- 
 ing a University at the Bermudas from which a Christian civilization 
 might be spread through the American Continent. He, almost alone 
 of his contemporaries, seemed to grasp the great future that lay open to 
 America; and with prophetic vision, he saw the great Western Em])ire 
 that was to be. The charm of that "handsome face beaming with 
 intelligence and goodness" had for a time so fascinated the worldly and 
 cynical Court of Queen Caroline, that it seemed as if he were about to 
 obtain from the Crown and Parliament a Grant of 20,000 pounds for 
 the College he proposed in the Bermudas, "for piety and learning; 
 where the colonial and native youths of America" should be trained as 
 scholars and missionaries, a purpose which the Court must have 
 thought wholly Utopian. While awaiting this grant, he sought in 
 Rhode Island a retreat to prepare for what he expected to be his life 
 work. 
 
 A countryman of Berkeley has thus described the place to which 
 he came: "Newport was then a flourishing town, nearly a century old, 
 of the first importance and an emporium of American commerce. It 
 was in those days the maritime and commercial rival of New York and 
 Boston. Narragansett Bay formed its outer harbour; and the inner 
 harbour apon which the Town was built was well protected from the 
 Ocean. It was a natural place for the President of St. Paul's to choose 
 as a basis of his operations." 
 
 The Island in 1729 contained about 18,000 inhabitants; of these 
 1,500 were negros — freeman and slaves; a few native Indians, too. might 
 still be seen on the Island. Newport was then a rich centre of foreign 
 and domestic trade. "Its early wealth may be explained by several 
 causes. The salubrity of the climate drew strangers from the Continent 
 and from the West Indies; its harbor gave security near the open Ocean; 
 the spirit of religious toleration, which reigned in the Island made it 
 then in America, what Holland was in Europe at the end of the Seven- 
 teenth Centur}'. Jews and Quakers, prosecuted elsewhere, flourished 
 in Newport in peace. The Island was crowded with religious refugees, 
 who professed often, the most fantastic beliefs. The white inhabitants 
 were of many religious sects, Quakers, Moravians, Jews, Episcopalians, 
 Congregationalists, Presbyterians, Sixth Principle and Seventh Princi- 
 ple Baptists and many others besides." 
 
 With Berkeley, besides his recently married wife, came Smibert, 
 the painter, and Berkeley's two learned and elegant friends, Sir John 
 James and Richard Dalton, Esq. With great amusement, these two 
 friends described the inhabitants as they found them: "In one thing 
 the different sectaries at Newport, both men and women, all agreed in, 
 
a rage for finery. The men in flaming scarlet coats and waist-coats, 
 laced and fringed with brightest glaring yellow. The sly Quakers not 
 venturing on these charming coats and waist-coats yet loving finery, 
 figured with plate on their sideboards. One, to the no small diversion 
 of Berkeley, sent to England, and had made on purpose, a noble large 
 teapot of solid gold, and inquired of the Dean, when drinking tea with 
 him, whether Friend Berkeley had ever seen such a 'curious thing.' 
 On being told that silver ones were much in use in England, but that 
 he had never seen a gold one, Ebenezer replied: — 'Aye, that was the 
 thing; I resolved to have something finer than anvbody else.' They say 
 that the Queen (Caroline) has not got one. The Dean delighted his 
 ridiculous host by assuring him that his was an unique; and very happy 
 it made him." 
 
 When Berkeley first arrived, he stopped with his wife in Town. 
 Mr. Honeyman, who was the Missionary from the English Society, 
 seemed to have been his earliest friend, who came to Newport in 1704, 
 as the Missionary of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel. 
 Trinity Church had been completed only a few years before Berkeley 
 arrived. Here Berkeley preached three days after his arrival and from 
 time to time during his stay. All sects, it seemed, rushed to hear him> 
 even the Quakers with their broad-brimmed hats came and stood in the 
 aisles. As showing Berkeley's tolerant views of theological diff'erences, 
 it was here Updike heard him say emphatically, in one of his sermons, 
 "Give the devil his due, John Calvin was a great man." This liber- 
 ality of view made him appreciate the religious toleration of Rhode 
 Island. He said, "The inhabitants are of a mixed kind, consisting of 
 many sorts and conditions of sects. Notwithstanding so many differ- 
 ences, here are fewer quarrels about religion than elsewhere, the people 
 living peaceably with their neighbors of whatever profession.'' 
 
 In Jul}' or August, 1729, Berkeley moved out into Middletown and 
 bought about 96 acres from Captain John Anthony, a native of Wales, 
 then a wealthy grazier in Rhode Island, whose daughter afterwards 
 married Gilbert Stuart. About the time Berkeley moved into the coun- 
 try, Elder Comer writes in his diary: "From Jul}'' 28th to August 7th, 
 1729, the heat was so intense as to cause the death of many. Through 
 the first nights in August the lightenings were constant and amazing," 
 and this may have been one of the reasons contributing to his change 
 to life on a farm, though it was, probably, to be near Mr. Honeyman. 
 The farm adjoined the Honeyman farm, from which "Honeyman Hill" 
 takes its name. Here Berkeley enjoyed practically his first home, at 
 Whitehall, which he built. About this time, the records of Trinity 
 Church contain this entry: "1729, September 1, Henry Berkeley, son of 
 
Dean Berkeley, baptised by his father and received into the Church." 
 There is later another record in Trinity Church, on the tomb stone of 
 Nathaniel Kay, which preserves the personal relation of the Dean with 
 Rhode Island: "joining to the South of this tomb lies Lucia Berkeley, 
 daughter of Dean Berkeley, obiit the 5th of September 1731." 
 
 Here at VVhitehall Berkeley remained for nearly three years, until, 
 disappointed in his great project, he returned to England. When he 
 left he gave his Whitehall Estate to Yale, who is its present owner in 
 reversion. He is supposed to have done this largely thro his friendship 
 for Rev. Dr. Samuel .Tohnson, the Episcopal Missionary in Connecticut. 
 Dr. Stiles says, " Dr. Johnson persuaded the Dean to believe Yale Col- 
 lege would soon become Episcopal. This, or some other motive, influ- 
 enced the Dean to make a donation of his Rhode Island farm, 96 acres, 
 with a library of about a thousand volumes to Yale College in 1733. 
 This donation was certainly secured very much through the instru- 
 mentality of Rev. Dr. Jared Eliot and Rev. Dr. Johnson. The latter, 
 in conversation with me in 1753, when I made a funeral oration on 
 Bishop Berkeley told me, he himself procured it. He assumed the 
 whole glory to himself. Col. Updike of Newport, an Episcopalian, 
 intimately acquainted with the transaction, told me the Bishop's mo- 
 tive was the greater prospect that Yale College would become Episco- 
 palian than Harvard. 
 
 As Newport's Beach and its peaceful surroundings later gave to 
 Channing some of the inspiration towards a more sympathetic and 
 liberal religious doctrine; so these scenes seemed to inspire Berkeley to 
 his best philosophic work, and to his highest ideals. Newport's inspi- 
 ration to the Philosopher to do his best work was not less, however, 
 than the inspiration which Berkeley gave to the literary development 
 of Newport's inhabitants. 
 
 When Berkeley came here, Newport was not free from provincialism 
 and snobbery, as we can gather from the pious Quaker, Ebenezer, and 
 the story of his solid-gold tea-pot. But from the Philosopher came an 
 inspiration to higher ideals. Soon after he settled at Whitehall, he 
 took an active part in forming a philosophical society, and he found 
 persons not unqualified to consider questions which had long occupied 
 his thoughts — clergymen, lawyers, physicians and the enterprising and 
 liberal merchants of the Town. Such were, Col. Updike, Judge Scott 
 (a grand-uncle of Sir Walter Scott,) Nathaniel Kay (collector of the 
 port), Henry Collins, Nathan Townsend, the Rev. James Honeyman, 
 and many others, and he attracted here many other like spirits from 
 the surrounding colonies. One of the objects of this Society was to 
 collect books and, as a result of its existence, Redwood Library was 
 founded in 1747. 
 
 9 
 
Another thing that contributed to the exceptional position of New- 
 port in Colonial America was its religious toleration which gathered an 
 unusual population. No Prelate of the Church of England at that day- 
 could be more in sympathy with Rhode Island Toleration than the 
 Irish Dean. A sort of Synod of the Episcopal clergy was held twice a 
 year at Whitehall, and he urged upon them the absolute need of concili- 
 ation, both of their own hearers and of their neighbors, who differed 
 from them. Berkeley seemed to have only one wish in him and that 
 was to alleviate misery and diffuse happiness. 
 
 Newport owes to Berkeley much of its subsequent reputation as 
 the centre of social and literary activity in America. Dr. Stiles, just 
 before the Revolution, enumerated from day to day those who called 
 upon him from outside of Newport, and the catalogue of them, if it 
 were not too long to enumerate, would give us some conception of how 
 cosmopolitan Newport then was. Within a comparatively short period, 
 we find such entries, as these: 
 
 " Spend several hours in discourse with a Romanish priest, a 
 Knight of Jerusalem or Malta travelling from Hispaniola to Quebec.'' 
 "Visited by Messrs. Willard and Hylier, two of the fellows of Harvard 
 Col." " Francis Bernard, son of Gov. Bernard, educated in the Univer- 
 sity of Oxford." "Mrs. Wilson, an eminent Quaker Preacher, laterly 
 from West Chester preached; a pious, sensible woman." " Dr. Husius, 
 near Esopus, a learned Dutch minister;" " Rev. Morgan Edwards of 
 Phila. ;" "Mr. Zubly, Jr., of Georgia here." "Col. Malbone is a gentle- 
 man of politeness and great honor; was educated at Oxford and despised 
 all religion, but now is a jealous advocate for the Church of England." 
 "Jan. 9, 1770. This afternoon, Hon. Alex. Grant, Esq., returned hereto 
 his family after four years' absence at London and Jamaica. Son of 
 Sir Alexander Grant of Scotland. Married Oct. 20, 1760 Abigail 
 Cheseborough of Newport;" "April 16, 1772. This afternoon, I spent 
 at the Redwood Library in company with a French Physician from 
 Britagne in France. Educated at the University in Normandy;" "A 
 Jew from Lissa, in Poland, Abraham Levi, 44 years of age" etc., &c. 
 
 Amid this culture and wealth were early embodied the seeds which 
 resulted in the independence of America. Few contemporary English 
 Histories begin the Revolutionary War as we do, at Lexington and 
 Concord, but place the origin of the struggles on Narragansett Bay. 
 
 The causes leading to Independence, however, go far back of 1776. 
 Early some of the foremost of English Statesmen saw the seeds of the 
 coming conflict. The Earl of Sandwich, more than a century before 
 the outbreak of the Revolution, commented upon the strength and im- 
 
 10 
 
portance of New England; and he also, as a wise Statesman, foresaw 
 the futility of " roughness and peremptory orders." He made the fol- 
 lowing, for that time, remarkable memorandum upon the subject: 
 
 "July 2, 1671 — Upon all the information I have gotten of New 
 England, I made up in my owne opinion the result followinge: That 
 they are att present a numerous and thrivinge people and in 20 years 
 more are likely (if civill warrs or other accidents prevent them not) to be 
 mightly, rich and powerfuU and not at all carefull of theire dependance 
 upon old England. Whence wee are to fear the inconveniences followinge: 
 
 1. The want of vending our owne manufactures, now carried 
 thither (possibly to the value of 50,000 pounds per ann). And more- 
 over their servinge the Streights and other parts of the world with 
 cloth and the commodities, wee serve them with, and soe our markets 
 abroad will be spoiled both in prise and quality of vent. 
 
 2. The Dependance of our Islands of the Caribees and Jamaica 
 upon them. For New England serves them with provisions and all 
 wooden utensills, much cheaper than any other can. And in likely- 
 hood will serve them all other manufactures that wee doe. And con- 
 sequently reape the whole benefitt of these colonies. 
 
 3. They will be be masters of the Trade of masts, pitch and tarr 
 and other beneficiall commodities in Pascotoway river and all the 
 northern colonies. 
 
 I conceive it impossible to prevent wholly their encrease and 
 arrivall at this power, nevertheless I thinke it were advisable to hinder 
 their growth as much as can be, in order whereunto I can find but 2 
 means, viz: — 
 
 1. A law in Parliament against Transporting English families or 
 persons to any plantations without license of the King. At present 
 40 or 50 families are now goinge yearely thither: 
 
 2. To remove as many people trom New England to our South- 
 ern plantations as may be, where the produce of theire labours will 
 not be commodities of the same nature with old England to out-trade 
 us withall: 
 
 Our principall care then must be to regulate this people and gett 
 as much hand in theire government as wee can, to enable us to keepe 
 off prejudice from us, as long as wee can. I take the way of rough- 
 ness and preemptory orders, with force to backe them, to be utterly 
 unadviseable. For they are already too strong to be compelled. 
 They have 50,000 trained bands, well armed and disciplined. They 
 have shipps of 300 tonus burden and above 20 gunns and can build 
 halfe a dozen men of warr yearely (if they will) and though I appre- 
 hend them yett not at that point to cast us off voluntarily and of 
 
 11 
 
choice; yett I beleeve if wee use severity towards them in their 
 Government, civvill or religious, that they will (being made desperate) 
 sett up for themselves and reject us. (I confessee, as yet informed, I 
 doe not in the least apprehend theire need of, or disposition to admitt 
 the protection of any other Nation, either French or Dutch, but if 
 any, the French rather of the 2, for the likelihood of better usuage 
 and power already in America.) 
 
 The onely way that occurrs to mee for the King my Master, to 
 have power amongst them is by Policye and faire means to prevent 
 the growing power of the Massachusetts Colonye. 
 
 1. One means whereof will be to confine and retrench those 
 unlimited bounds they have sett unto themselves by the extravagant 
 interpretation of words in their pattent whereby they fetch in all the 
 country to the Norwards, as farr as Nova Scotia, and cutt off new 
 Albany from the Duke of Yorke's country to the Southward. 
 
 2. Another meanes by preservinge and encouraging the other 
 Colonies in power and greatness, to keepe up a divided Interest, in 
 order whereunto the difference betweene the Colonies of Rhode 
 Island and Connecticutt about bounds neere Pequit river, is to be ad- 
 judged to the advantage of Rhode Island, who else will not be able to 
 subsist as a Colonic wanting land upon the maine land, upon which to 
 discharge themselves of the numerous people they breed every yeare, 
 and consequently be lesse able to resist falling under the power and 
 Government of the Massachusett Colonye." 
 
 This frank statement of purposes carries the key to much in the 
 history of the following century which, otherwise, might not seem 
 clear. It contains the outlines of the policy which kept Rhode Island 
 Colony from being absorbed by its neighbors and brought those suc- 
 cessive decrees of the King in Council, which finally decided, in its 
 favor, the "Connecticut boundary dispute" awarding King's County 
 to Rhode Island, and again, in 1747 awarded to Rhode Island the 
 "five towns" held by Massachusetts, and thus, at last, established its 
 undisputed jurisdiction on all the main land about Narragansett Kay. 
 It also sets forth the harsh policy of England to the Colonies, directly 
 to prevent any manufactures whatever in the colonies, and to limit by 
 "Navigation Acts," the growing American Commerce. England's 
 policy of repressing Colonial Manufactures was so effective that up to 
 the period of the Revolution, no substantial manufactures, except to 
 supply home and local demands, existed in the Colonies to protest 
 against this policy. On the other hand, the Commerce of the Colo- 
 nies was extended, diversified and very profitable. Arthur Hrown in 
 his Miscellanies said, "Newport used to send out annually four hun- 
 
 12 
 
dred sails of shipping, small and large, the chief trade to the West 
 Indies and the Coaste of Guinea." The great statesmen and writers 
 upon the rights of America, who formulated the grievances of the 
 colonies, usually admitted the right of Great Britain to regulate the 
 foreign trade of the empire and to pass Navigation Acts. Such acts 
 were passed as early as 1733, but not seriously enforced, until the 
 grievous burden of taxation upon the English Merchants made then\ 
 demand about 1763 from the Government their enforcement, and the 
 passage of additional laws extending to the trade with the Spanish; 
 Main. 
 
 The enforcement, by seizures and confiscations, of these laws in- 
 Narragansett Bay made Newport long for Independence and here 
 occurred the first overt acts of resistance to the Crown, naturally 
 leading to Lexington and Concord. Arthur Brown of Trinity Col- 
 lege, Dublin, born in Newport, the son of the Rector of Trinity 
 Church, wrote after the Revolution: "The discontents of America 
 are usually dated from the Stamp Act in 1765, but they really origi- 
 nated in 1763, immediately after the Peace, from the interdiction of 
 their trade with the Spanish Main ; it was the only trade that brought 
 specie into the Country and hence no money was seen, except paper^ 
 saving half Johannes, dollars, pistareens (a guinea or English Crown 
 seldom seen). The depression of the value of paper money was 
 greater in Rhode Island than anywhere else ; the paper dollar bearing 
 the nominal value of eight pounds. I myself saw one American fort 
 fire upon the "Squirrel," the King's Ship in 1764 in the harbor of 
 Newport." In this connection we can readily gather the acts and 
 feelings of the patriot party from gleanings taken from Dr. Stiles' 
 notes. "Liberty Day,'' the anniversary of the King's signing the 
 repeal of the Stamp Act in 1766, was celebrated throughout the Colo- 
 nies. March 18, 1769, Stiles writes: "This is Liberty Day, cele- 
 brated at Newport, Boston and New York." "This anniversary of 
 the Stamp Act repeal was celebrated at Newport by the Sons of Lib- 
 erty. At the Dawn of Day colours or a large Flag was hoisted & 
 displayed on the Top of the Tree of Liberty, and another on the Mast 
 of Liberty at the point. At the same time my bell began & con- 
 tinued ringing till Sunrise. About nine o'clock A. M. the bell of the 
 First Congreg. Chh. began to ring & rang an hour or two. The 
 Episc. Chh. bell struck a few strokes and then stopped : The 
 Episcopalians being averse to the Celebration. At Noon, the cannon 
 were discharged at the point near Liberty pole or Mast. The colors 
 were also displayed at the Fort all day, & on some vessels. Towards 
 night my bell rang again, & ended at about sunset, when all the 
 
 13 
 
colours were struck. The Committee of the Sons of Liberty met & 
 supped with Capt. John Collins.'' 
 
 The Tree of Liberty was planted at the head of Thames Street 
 in 1765 and a copper plate was affixed in 1766 with the record of the 
 repeal of the Stamp Act. On the afternoon of March 17, 1770, a 
 mast was erected on the Liberty Tree on the Point. This Liberty 
 Pole was cut -down in September of the same year to make way tor a 
 house that was built on the lot. 
 
 Some of his references to current events are very brief, for fear 
 that vengeance may be brought down upon some participating indi- 
 vidual. "July 31, 1769, Sloop Liberty burnt." This was a bold act, 
 reflecting the virile patriotism of Newporters. It has been styled the 
 "first overt act of violence offered to British authorities in America." 
 The vessel was scuttled in Newport Harbor on July 17, in revenge 
 for her part in detecting violations of the revenue laws, and was set 
 on fire on the 31st. This affair was by citizens and resulted in the 
 destruction of the vessel, while by the firing on the "Squirrel" in 
 1764, little damage was done. The latter was by the gunner in charge 
 of the Colony Fort, however, and when the British officer waited on 
 the Governor and Council to demand acknowledgment of the insult, 
 "They agreed that the gunner had acted by authority, and that they 
 would answer for it when they thought necessary." 
 
 Events were happening elsewhere about this time. "March 3, 
 1770," Dr. Stiles "read in Boston prints an account of death of a 
 young lad, Christopher Snider, aged 11 years, at Boston, on the 22nd 
 ult." "the first victim or martyr of American Liberty," This was fol- 
 lowed on March 5th, by the Boston Massacre. These events gave 
 additional earnestness to the celebration of Liberty Day in 1770, 
 although the sentiment of the Town was not always unanimous. "It 
 is the aim of Col. Wanton and other Chh. Politicians to confuse the 
 Cause of Liberty — Divide & hnpera. They yesterday hoisted Col- 
 ours at the Point on the Mast of Liberty, fired one Canon in the 
 Morning & two at the Fort in the Evening, at Sunset. The Chh. 
 Bell rang in the Even, but no longer. This Monday is the day agreed 
 upon by the True Sons of Liby. here & at Boston & New York. Ac- 
 cordingly this morning Colours were displayed on the Tree of Liberty. 
 The Committee supped in Turn with Henry Merchant, Esqr. All 
 the bells rang. Colors also on mast of Lib. at Point & sundry 
 Houses." 
 
 In the meantime, " Newport traders had agreed, in concert with 
 other American merchants, to refrain from importing British goods at 
 this time; consequently, when violations of this agreement were re- 
 
 14 
 
ported, public meetings were held in Hoston (May i8) and in Phila- 
 delphia (May 25) at which it was resolved to break off all dealings 
 with Newport until its inhabitants (Who had not expressed their re- 
 sentment at this duplicity) should have given full satisfaction.'' 
 
 "May 31, 1770. Yesterday, the Merch'ts. in this town met at 
 the courthouse & agreed to store their goods lately imported— to re- 
 move the late resolutions of Boston & Phila. to break off all commerce 
 with us, & to engage the other Colonies to desist Trad'y with us; 
 because we had violated the salutary Non-Import'n Agreement. An 
 Instance, that five or six Jews & three or 4 Tories may draw down 
 Vengence upon a Country." 
 
 F.ven in those days, selfish interests struggled for recognition and 
 political offices were used for political advantage : 
 
 " In the late Combinations of the American Merchants against 
 importations &c. and against the exorbitant fees of the customhouses 
 — some merchants kept themselves from the combinations. Mr. 
 Aaron Lopez a Jew Merchant in this town is one. F*or this the collector 
 &c. shew him all lenity and favor. He has about twenty sail of 
 vessels and his captains are all exempted from swearing at the custom- 
 house, and make their entries &c. without Octth. But the oath is 
 strictly exacted of all who were concerned in the Non-Importation 
 Agreement. This I was told yesterday by one of Mr. Lopez' captains 
 long in his employ. The man o' war yesterday seized his vessel and 
 wines by accident and folly of the people, who in 5 row boats werQ 
 endeavoring the night before to run 41 quarter casks of wine. The 
 vessel and wines will be condemned — but it is said they will be set 
 up at a trifle and Lopez will bid them off at far less than duties ; so 
 that he shall make his venage good. Favor and Partiality ! And Yet 
 these customhouse men are perpetually clamoring on cheating the 
 King of his Revenue. The Customhouse in Newport produces 2000 
 pounds or 3000 pounds sterling per annum to the Revenue Chest at 
 Boston ; — a fortnight ago they shipt 800 pounds sterling to Boston 
 and retained 200 pounds for contingencies. There is such a swarm 
 of officers, that like the plague of Locusts they devour all before 
 them. They very particularly torment the Sons of Liberty and all 
 who oppose the Antiamerican Measures of the Parliament and 
 Ministry. This summer Mr. Christopher Ellery's vessel fell into 
 their hands ; a sailor having a bag of twenty lbs of Tea, this was the 
 only thing: He was obliged to go to the Commissioners at Boston 
 and it cost him 60 or 80 dollars to get her delivered. I have known 
 Collector Dudly refuse a present, a cask of wine, &c. and tell the 
 owner (whom he went to befriend) that he was obliged to refuse all 
 
 15 
 
gratuities and dare not take anything — neither did he from him in 
 several voyages. The collector answered his end— this man believed 
 it, and trumpetted thro' Town, that the Collector received nothing 
 but lawful Fees. Much about the same time, I heard a Captain say 
 that his people had wheeled home to the Collector, wines, fruits, &c, 
 and they were not rejected nor returned. I have been informed of 
 much higher customhouse frauds and peculations. How did Dudly 
 get his office ? His father is an Episcopal Clergyman in the West of 
 England in some of those diminished towns, where 30 or 40 free- 
 holders elect two members of Parliament : The father was the ojnnts 
 homo of the Parish and could by his Influence command the elec- 
 tion. He set his price, as is said, that his son sh'd have the collector- 
 ship of Rhode Island. The Member of Parliament procured it for 
 him. Dudley behaves in office as well as any of them ; but bad is 
 the best. I would not, for 10 thousand worlds, administer so many 
 oaths to known false accounts or be knowingly accessory to the daily 
 perjuries which he midwifes into the world of error & sin." 
 
 On June 11, 1772, Dr. Stiles notes, "The Gaspee Schooner was 
 burnt off Warwick yesterday mornmg about 2 o'clock and the 
 Captain wounded.'' This was a most daring act of resistance to the 
 enforcement of the British Navigation Acts and in its consequences 
 brought to the party for Independence new principles to support their 
 effcrts. The difficulty of America in securing freedom was not so 
 much a question of her warlike strength, as the obtaining united and 
 effective support from all the colonies, and especially from Virginia 
 and the Southern Colonies. With the Stamp Act repealed, the 
 Southern Colonies had little interest in the entorcement of the 
 Navigation Acts. When England heard of the burning of the Gaspee 
 the Government, greatly incensed, issued a Commission to inquire 
 into the affair, to apprehend the offenders and to transport the 
 accused to England for trial. The authority to transport beyond the 
 Seas the accused for trial involved one of the strongest guaranties of 
 Liberty and the assertion of such authority by the British Crown 
 made one of the most potent forces to bind the Colonies to the im- 
 portance of United Action to defend their Liberties. Virginia, soon 
 after, passed its Resolutions, which resulted in the appointment of 
 Committees of Correspondence and in the ultimate assembling of the 
 Continental Congress. Prominent in the Virginia Resolutions, as 
 reasons for their passage, were recited the Powers given to the Gaspee 
 Commissioners to transport Americans to England for trial ; repug- 
 nant to every feeling of law and justice, cherished in the Colonial 
 breast. 
 
 16 
 
To the King's Council, it may have seemed that the attack upon 
 the King's ship was an act of war, more within the jurisdiction of a 
 Court Martial than of a Court of Common Law, especially as it was 
 committed on tide water and not within the limits of any town. 
 The learned Judges who held the King's Commission, professed how- 
 ever, that they only were a Court of Inquiry and they never intended 
 to exercise the powers of transportation for trial. These Commis- 
 sioners assembled at Newport, amid the most intense interest, through- 
 out all the colonies. 
 
 Dec. 23, 1772: "The Ships of War made a formidable parade 
 in the harbor — preparing for the grand Court of Inquiry appointed by 
 the King soon to sit here for Examining the affair of burning the 
 " Gaspee Schooner'' near Providence last June. The King has 
 ordered them to inquire particularly as to Mr. John Brown, Mr. 
 Joseph Brown of Providence, Capt. Potter of Bristol and Dr. Weeks 
 of Warwick, and if Evidence appear, not to adjudge upon them, but 
 deliver them up to Adm, Mortague to be sent to England & take 
 Trial there. The fact being infra Comitatus Liviites or within the 
 Land Jurisdiction of the Coloney, such a Court takes the Trial out of 
 the Vicinage, and the transporting &c. is alarming to the whole Conti- 
 nent.'' 
 
 The work of the Commission failed, but the entire " Continent '' 
 was convinced that their liberties and welfare were not safe in the 
 hands of the British Crown and from Rhode Island, the Acts of 
 violence spread into the other colonies, and it was soon that War 
 itself had actually begun in 1775. 
 
 First of all the Colonies, Rhode Island recognized that there 
 could be no return to England and yet preserve their liberties, and 
 she stood ready on May 4, 1776, to strike out the name of the King 
 in all writs and repudiate his allegiance and hence forth recognized no 
 authority but the State of Rhode Island. 
 
 Few appreciate the true significance of a case tried in our Court 
 House here, soon after the close of the Revolution, and which was 
 shortly afterwards published. (The case, Trevett vs. Weeden, by 
 James M. Varnum, Esq., Providence, printed by John Carter, 1787). 
 Because of its wider influence upon the development of our institu- 
 tions it may not be inappropriate to refer to it in detail as showing 
 the broad scope and possibilities of historical investigation here. 
 
 Trevett against Weeden was tried before the judges of the Su- 
 perior Court at Newport at its September term, A. D. 1786. Just 
 one year before the Constitution of the United States was submitted 
 
 17 
 
ti) the people of the several states for adoption. l-5ryce and other 
 writers have called attention to the distinctive feature of that great 
 instrument, as being the principle that all questions of limitations of 
 power and constitutionality of acts are determined in this country by 
 the judicial and not by the executive or legislative branches of gov- 
 ernment — a principle wholly without existence in any government 
 prior to the adoption of the constitution. To Newport and the case 
 of Trevett vs. Weeden much credit for the wider understanding of 
 the function of a judiciary in a federated constitutional government is 
 due. 
 
 Let us look at the setting of the case. Rhode Island had ex- 
 hausted its resources in the Revolution. Its citizens had been di- 
 vided ; it had been occupied for years by the foe ; its wealthier citi- 
 zens had gone to Nova Scotiu or England at the close of the War and 
 irredeemable paper money was a curse on the prosperity of those who 
 remained. The inflational party in control took desperate means to 
 keep the depreciated currency in circulation and passed in rapid suc- 
 cession, three acts. 
 
 In May 1786, a new issue of currency of 100,000 pounds based 
 upon land security and made legal tender was authorized. In June, 
 anybody making a distinction from gold or silver against these new 
 notes in the sale of goods was subjected to a penalty of 100 pounds. 
 And on the 3rd Monday of August in the same year at a special ses- 
 sion, the penalty was lowered to not less than 6 pounds or more than 
 30 pounds for the first offence; but the ordinary procedures of justice 
 were fundamentally changed. Any judge could try these complaints 
 and must dispose of them within three days '-without any jury by a 
 majority of the judges present, according to the Law of the Land" 
 and said judgment shall be final and conclusive and from which there 
 shall be no appeal. 
 
 Upon the last Monday of September 1786 an old Privateers-man, 
 John Trevett, tendered in the market at the foot of the parade to 
 John Weeden "who within three weeks had been an object of charity 
 on the streets of Newport" the depreciated paper money as the equiv- 
 alent of gold for meat and upon its refusal brought information under 
 the Statute to recover the penalties of the act before Paul Mumford, 
 Chief Justice of the Superior Court in Chambers, who, as the Court 
 was then in session, referred the matter to the full bench. 
 
 There was argued before the Court one of the most important 
 questions ever submitted to a court in this state. Upon its determi- 
 nation the value and rights of property of every inhabitant depended 
 and the future prosperity of the State. The Act had made it a crime 
 
 18 
 
for John Weeden to refuse to sell to John Trevett meat at four pence 
 a pound, which cost him six pence on the hoof. A most profound 
 question was involved as to the rights of justice and trial by jury 
 which any individual had, as against an act passed by biased or parti- 
 san majorities of the Legislature, and the wider and broader question, 
 if this new found liberty which had been wrested from the English 
 King should be based on law, administered by an impartial Court. 
 To a very great degree the new principle of law, the power of the 
 Judiciary to declare and nullify an unconstitutional law, which was to 
 become the crown of the New Constitution was to be tried and tested. 
 Weeden based his defence upon three points : 
 
 1. that the act had expired; 
 
 2. that the offence was triable summarily before a special court 
 and the right of appeal had been taken away ; 
 
 3. that the power of the court to impanel a jury had been taken 
 away by the Act, and "so the same is unconstitutional and void." 
 
 The argument upon the last point by the distinguished patriot 
 and lawyer, General James M. Varnum, is strong, able and worthy of 
 the importance of the occasion. To briefly summarize his points: 
 He said there are three distinct sources of power : the Legislative, 
 Judiciary and Executive in all free government. From thence may 
 be inferred the necessity of a Supreme Judiciary Court to whose judg- 
 ments all subordinate jurisdictions must conform. The laws of the 
 realm, being the birth right of all the subjects, followed these pious 
 adventurers to their new habitation including trial by jury in criminal 
 cases. "The attempts of the British Parliament to deprive us of this 
 mode of trial were among the principal causes that united the colo- 
 nies in a defensive war and finally affected the glorious Revolution." 
 The Declaration of rights by the ist Congress, October 1774, is: 
 "5th : That the respective colonies are entitled to the Common Law 
 of England and more especially to the great and inestimable privilege 
 of being tried by their peers of the vicinage, according to the course 
 of that law." 
 
 The Legislature under the Charter cannot make Laws repugnant 
 to the general system of laws which governed the realm of England. 
 The Revolution made no change in this respect so as to abridge the 
 means of the people of securing their lives, liberty and property. Ikit 
 as the Legislature is the Supreme Power in Government, who is to 
 judge whether they have violated the constitutional rights of the peo- 
 ple : In last analysis, the people themselves will judge as the only 
 resort in the last stages of oppression. Hut "when they proceed no 
 further than merely to enact what they may call laws," in the dis- 
 
 19 
 
charge of the great trust reposed in them and to prevent the horrors 
 of Civil War as in the present case, the Judges can and we trust your 
 Honors will decide upon them. Nor am I capable of distinguishing 
 between an established tyranny and that Government where the Leg- 
 islature makes the laws and dictates to the Judges their adjudication. 
 
 "The true distinction lies in this that the Legislature have the un- 
 controlable power of making laws not repugnant to the Constitution. 
 The Judiciary have the sole power of judging those laws and are 
 bound to execute them, but cannot admit any act of the legislature as 
 law which is against the Constitution. Indeed I very much doubt if 
 the citizens of any one State have power to adopt such a kind of gov- 
 ernment as to exclude the trial by jury consistently with the prmciples 
 of the Confederation." 
 
 The judges found that "the information was not cognizable before 
 them." When the judges were summoned before the General As- 
 sembly by whom they were elected to account for their action, they 
 boldly asserted their right to pass upon the Constitutionality of the 
 Laws in this language : And while to remove misapprehensions, they 
 disclaim and totally disavow any least power or authority or the ap- 
 pearance thereof to contravene or control the constitutional laws of 
 the State or the acts of the General Assembly, they conceive that the 
 entire power of construing and judging of the same in the last resort 
 is vested solely in the Supreme Judiciary of the State. 
 
 In that hour of internal struggle and weakness under the con- 
 federation and until Rhode Island adopted the Federal Constitution, 
 the conduct of the Judiciary in Trevett vs. Weeden stands forth as 
 the principal hope of the future. 
 
 The scope of an Historical Society should be as broad as the 
 History ot Newport and from these few incidents it may be judged 
 low closely its story is associated with the History and Institutions of 
 3ur Country and how intimately it is interwoven with the Progress of 
 :he Race. 
 
 Many have done their share in making more real, Newport's Past: 
 I^allender in his 'Century Discourse;'' Ross again at the end of the 
 Second Century, and then that body of investigators from whose en- 
 deavors and interest sprang this Newport Historical Society. Dr. 
 David King, with his years of patient work and careful gathering of 
 naterial, but with all too little of work in published form ; Dr. Henry 
 E. Turner that most diligent of genealogists ; Mr. Charles E. Ham- 
 nett with his bibliography of Newport, presenting to this Society a 
 ;tandard; that it should own each book named in that bibliography; 
 
 20 
 
Mr. George C. Mason with his facile and graceful pen, related to so 
 many of the worthies of old Newport and who has left so much of 
 value, accessible in print. 
 
 And beyond the members of our Society much has been done. 
 Judge Horatio Rogers with his charming volumes on "A Summer 
 visit of three Rhode Islanders to the Massachusetts Bay in 165 1," 
 and, "Mary Dyer of Rhode Island, the Quaker Martyr that was 
 hanged on Boston Common." The late William B. Weeden with his 
 volumes on Commerce and Social Conditions in the Colony; Richman 
 with his interesting volumes on Rhode Island ; these and many 
 others, but open the door. The field is wide and the scope is broad 
 and the original materials are varied and constantly by the printing of 
 diaries and letters and the discovery or accessibility of new collections, 
 the view is enlarging. In this connection we call to mind the recent 
 publication by the Massachusetts Historical Society of the Letters of 
 Four Generations of Newport Merchants showing the character of the 
 Commerce here, 1726 — 1800; a work made possible by the generosity 
 and foresight of our fellow townsman, Hon. George Peabody Wet- 
 more. (Mass. Historical Society Commerce of Rhode Island, 2 Vol. 
 1914— 1915). 
 
 Such a publication brings forcibly to mind the purpose of such 
 a Society as this, to preserve the materials for the future Historian. 
 Not only documents within our own walls but historical monuments 
 should be preserved in the community : One of the most satisfactory 
 class of facts for the study of conditions in our Colonial Life is 
 furnished in historical buildings and monuments, as well as articles in 
 use at that time : Newport is rich in these; The State House on 
 Washington Square "the like whereof is not in all the Colonies;" the 
 old market on the corner of Long Wharf; the oldest portion of the 
 Redwood Library; the Vernon House, the Gibbs House and the 
 Brenton House, viewed with proper imagination tell, as few other 
 things can, how Newporters lived in the Eighteenth Century. The 
 furniture, the articles in daily use, their clothes and the portraits of 
 men and women make still more vivid the pictures of the Past. The 
 private correspondence and journals show how the people thought 
 and acted. The guarding of the public records and vital statistics 
 and the education of public opinion to assist to this end are a true 
 function of our Historical Society and the indexing and correlating of 
 all this material can be accomplished only by such a Society as 
 ours. 
 
 The generosity of the friends of this Society have preserved and 
 enlarged this commodious and attractive building with its fire-proof 
 
 21 
 
facilities, as a fitting temple dedicated to Historical Study in this 
 Community. About it, gather the memories of the Past. Founders 
 of the State, as John Clarke and William Coddington : Great divines, 
 as Clapp, Honeyman, Callender, Berkeley, Stiles, Hopkins, William 
 Ellery Channing, Dr. Jackson and Dominee Thayer : Great mer- 
 chants, as Redwood, Ayrault, Gibbs, Channing, Grant, Lopez, Riveria> 
 Champlin . Public spirited citizens, as Hunter, Ellery, Robbins, 
 Cranston, Ward : Lovely and accomplished women, as Peggy 
 Champlin, Polly Lawton : Artists, as Malbone, Allston, Feke, Gil- 
 bert Stuart and many others come back to our minds. 
 
 With these memories of a glorious Past, let us not forget the 
 present : We should preserve the records of every just endeavor and 
 the name of every individual who has manifested a spirit of disinter- 
 ested service for the public welfare. No Society, not even an 
 Historical Society, can live wholly in the Past. In preserving the 
 deeds of the Past and the Memory of those who have passed away, 
 we must do so, mainly, for the purpose of improving the conditions of 
 the present and of inspiring in our beloved City of Newport efforts 
 tor a more glorious Future. 
 
 22 
 
MEETINGS 
 
 A meeting of the Society was held Aug. 12, in the Meeting 
 Room, at which a large company was present. 
 
 The First Vice-President presided, and in introducing the 
 speaker of the day congratulated the Society upon the completion 
 and arrangement of the new Museum and urged efforts for larger 
 usefulness to the community. 
 
 Mr. William P. Sheffield then presented the eloquent and in- 
 teresting paper printed in this issue. 
 
 At the close of the meeting the members present inspected and 
 approved of the New Building, now completely finished and filled 
 with the Society's valuable collections. 
 
 THE NEW BUILDING 
 
 On the first floor are the offices, newspaper room, and hall, in the 
 latter many portraits of old Newport residents have been placed. 
 Here too is the doorway from the old house on Franklin Street, re- 
 cently demolished for Government purposes. The Exhibition Hall 
 on the second floor contains more Newport portraits, and many cases, 
 filled with old china, Indian relics, laces made in Newport years ago, 
 and a miscellaneous collection of relics of old Newport. 
 
 On the stairway may be found interesting photographs of early 
 Newport houses, and in the large Exhibition Hall upstairs, is the 
 mantel (probably about 1740) recently donated to the Society. 
 This is surrounded by household furnishings of every description. 
 In this room are the Ida Lewis collection, the relics of the old fire 
 department, the old canes, guns and swords, and many other interest- 
 ing articles. After the inspection of the building the members were 
 served with Tea by a Committee of Ladies of which Mrs. F'rench 
 Vanderbilt was chairman. 
 
 23 
 
SOCIETY NOTES 
 
 So many persons have expressed, 
 and manifested, interest in our 
 collections, that it has been deemed 
 advisable to open the Museum 
 Saturday and Sunday and Holi- 
 day afternoons from two to five 
 o'clock. It is hoped that those who 
 ire engaged daily in business will 
 ivail themselves of this oppor- 
 tunity to examine our many ob- 
 jects of interest. Many indeed 
 tiave already done so. Admit- 
 :ance is free. 
 
 An interesting loan collection of 
 >ome forty prints of Newport, 
 some old and some new, is now on 
 exhibition in the gallery of the 
 Meeting House. 
 
 It is hoped to hold similar loan 
 exhibitions of articles of local in- 
 erest from time to time. 
 
 There is a greatly needed im- 
 jrovement to our building which 
 t is hoped soon to make ; in the 
 ihape of a new porch to the front 
 )nTouro Street. The fence around 
 he lot is also about to be repaired. 
 A^hen these improvements to the 
 :xterior of our buildings are com- 
 )leted, we shall feel that our So- 
 :iety has a house of which we 
 nay be justly proud. 
 
 Among recent accessions to the 
 Jbrary are the following: 
 Pamphlets relating to the pre- 
 
 sent European War, from Sir 
 Gilbert Parker. 
 
 Leaflets relating to the War. from 
 the Paris Chamber of Commerce. 
 
 The Jonny-Cake Papers of 
 " Shepherd Tom.'' Limited edi- 
 tion. Presented by Dr. Roderick 
 Terry. 
 
 Documentary History of "Rhode 
 Island. Being the History of the 
 towns of Providence and Warwick 
 to 1649 and of the Colony to 1647.'' 
 By Howard M. Chapin, Librarian 
 R. I. Historical Society, 1916. 
 Book F'und. 
 
 "Clarke Genealogies. The 
 Clarke Families of Rhode Island." 
 Compiled by George Austin Mor- 
 rison, Jr. Exchange. 
 
 "Peter Harrison 1716-1775. 
 First Professional Architect in 
 America." By Charles Henry 
 Hart. Boston, 1916. P'rom the 
 author. 
 
 "The Old Narragansett Church. 
 Built 1707. A Brief History." 
 Illustrated by Rev. H. Newman 
 Lawrence, 1915. Presented by 
 Miss E. M.Tilley. 
 
 " Did the Norsemen Erect the 
 Newport Round Tower.''" By 
 Barthinius L. Wick. Pamphlet. 
 Presented by the author. 
 
 Edith M. Tilley, 
 
 Librarian. 
 
 24 
 
NEW MEMBERS 
 
 Elected since the last Bulletin: 
 
 Annual — Miss Mabel Norman, 
 Dr. Arthur W. Stevenson. 
 
 Associate — Mrs. George liar- 
 low. 
 
 Mrs. Reginald R. Belknap. 
 Mr. Arthur B. Commerford. 
 
 Mrs. Alexander Fludder. 
 
 Mrs. Robert Gash. 
 
 Mrs. Walter Goffe. 
 
 Miss Katharine Manchester. 
 
 Mrs. William O. Milne. 
 
 Miss Mary Parrish. 
 
 Mrs. R. H. Tilley. 
 
OFFICERS 
 
 OF THE 
 
 Newport Historical Society 
 
 For the year ending May^ igiy 
 
 President, DANIEL B. FEARING 
 First Vice-President, RODERICK TERRY 
 
 Second Vice-President, FRANK K. STURGIS 
 
 Third Vice-President, ALFRED TUCKERMAN 
 Recording Secretary, JOHN P. SANBORN 
 Corresponding Secretary, GEORGE H. RICHARDSON 
 Treasurer, HENRY C. STEVENS, Jr. 
 Librarian, EDITH MAY TILLEY 
 Curator of Coins and Medals, EDWIN P. ROBINSON 
 
 Board of Directors 
 
 THE OFFICERS and 
 
 FOR THREE YEARS 
 
 MRS. THOMAS A. LAWTON HAMILTON B. TOMPKINS 
 
 MRS. FRENCH VANDERBILT GEORGE L. RIVES 
 
 FOR TWO YEARS 
 
 MRS. C. L. F. ROBINSON GEORGE V. DICKEY 
 
 JONAS BERGNER LAWRENCE L. GILLESPIE 
 
 FOR ONE YEAR 
 
 MRS. HAROLD BROWN WILLIAM S. SHERMAN 
 
 MRS. RICHARD C. DERBY JOB A. PECKHAM 
 
BULLETIN OF T\W 
 NEWPORT HISlQKiCAL 5UCIETY 
 
 More Light on the Old M 
 
 at Ne¥/porl: 
 
 Pine: 
 
 F. H. SHELTON 
 
 umber 21 NEWPORi 
 
.N?H^i 
 
 THE Ol.l) STONE MILL AT NEWPORT, R. L 
 
BULLETIN 
 
 OF THE 
 
 Newport Historical Society 
 
 Number Twenty-One NEWPORT, R. I. January, 1917 
 
 More Light on the Old Mill at Newport 
 
 By 
 F. H. SHELTON 
 
 A Paper read before the Society November 20th, 1916. 
 
 Of the scores of thousands of old-time windmills that have heen 
 erected, the Inigo Jones mill at Chesterton, Warwick County, England, 
 is perhaps of the greatest total interest, for it not alone reflects the 
 general interest attaching to these old-time structures but has features 
 attaching to no other windmill. It is unique in being the most ornate 
 in the world and the only mill. prol)ably, that was ever designed by an 
 architect of great note. It is of interest in having been erected at the 
 command of a family of unusual wealth and position— than which in 
 its time there was perhaps none more prominent in all England, but 
 which family is now so completely obliterated that naught but records 
 and traditions exist, to attest its former fame ; or the magnificence of 
 the family mansion,— that was demolished utterly, a century ago. 
 Technically, it differs from other windmills in the use of certain rnechnn- 
 ism not elsewhere used at that time; and finally, this windmill is of 
 particular interest to the American historian as offering the most likely 
 solution to the riddle which for a number of decades was a fruitful 
 source of controversy to American antiquarians; namely, the identity 
 of the builders of •' the old stone mill " in Newport. Rhode Island. 
 
Having been interested for a number of years in the study of old- 
 fashioned windmills and being in England in the summer of 1910, J 
 journeyed to Warwickshire for the express purpose of seeing this old 
 Chesterton mill. My interest was keen to not only take some photo- 
 graphs of it but secure as well the measurements and details of its 
 structure, that I had quite failed to find in all references to it. I partic- 
 ularly desired to examine the interior and the machinery, concerning 
 which there seems to have been heretofore a total lack of information. 
 I believe that this is the first time that the entire detail of the mill has 
 been secured and made public. 
 
 Chesterton is an old parish about four and a half miles south of 
 Leamington and about ten miles east of Stratfordon-Avon and the first 
 trip to it, — of rather an exploratory nature, — was in a modern taxicab, 
 in delicious contrast to the almost mediaeval structure of which I was 
 in quest. Good roads led to a point near the windmill and I had at 
 last the satisfaction of finding that it still existed — which had been an 
 open question — and of having it before my eyes. It was closed and 
 barred and after taking several views with my camera, I retired to 
 devise strategic ways and means to get inside. 
 
 I ascertained that the mill was on the lands and is the property of 
 the present Lord WilloughVyy de Broke, who individually I scarcely 
 expected to have to reach, trusting that a caretaker could be found who 
 would afford me entrance. Mr. Gilbert H. Spicer, secretary of the local 
 antiquarian society, and an all-around interesting, able and co-operative 
 individual, kindly gave me a letter of introduction to a brewer some 
 miles out, who, upon duly seeking, in turn gave me a letter to the 
 farmer living on the lands, who had the custody of the mill. So in due 
 course, I re-journeyed to the mill and after some rappings and circum- 
 navigation of the farm house, managed to awaken, — I believe from an 
 afternoon nap,— a middle-aged female who advised me that the men 
 were away and that she did not know where the key of the mill was. 
 It was tolerably plain to be seen that I could not get the desired access 
 from her and, further, I gathered that my general vacating of the prem- 
 ises would blend with her preferences. Disappointed, but not van- 
 quished, I retreated to re gather my forces, having first ascertained that 
 there was no apparent way to get into the structure, the old oaken door 
 having no "give," the windows being inaccessible and breaking and 
 entering not being within my customary methods. 
 
 I concluded tliat early Sunday morning should logically be a time 
 in which the men would be home and that if persuasion, shillings or 
 other arguments could prove effective, the key would be forthcoming. 
 So on the succeeding Sunday, August 28th, 1910, I, for the third time, 
 
went the four and a half mile journey; this time afoot, enjoying the 
 tramp, yet revolving in mind what I should do if still put to it. This 
 time I found not a soul of any sort around the farmhouse. Proceeding 
 to the mill, perhaps a thousand feet away, I faintly hoped that the key 
 to the old iron lock had perhaps been tucked away for convenience 
 sake in some crevice. Search, however, failed to disclose it. I finally 
 discovered a small opening, covered by an unfastened trap door not 
 before noticed, at the level of the first wooden floor near the head of the 
 stairs, which opening measured perhaps 14" x 18" and concluded that if 
 that was the sole point of entrance, it yet had to be! Being of stature 
 six feet and of reasonably good weight and with but little to push 
 against and the inside being encumbered with a complication of tim- 
 bers, shafts and litter, entrance through this aperture, was at distinct 
 expense to both body and gray matter. I admit that in the midst of 
 the operation, the tale of the snake recurred to me; that having swal- 
 lowed a rabbit— as yet undigested — ^and having started to go through a 
 hole in a stone wall, was stopped half way by the bulge caused by the 
 aforesaid rabbit and then— with the front half of his body swinging in 
 space on the other side of the fence — succumbed to the temptation of a 
 second rabbit which incautiously passed within reach and swallowed it\ 
 with the result that his snakeship could then neither go forward nor 
 backward! Seriously speaking, while able to squeeze in, I question 
 very much whether I could have gotten out by the same hole. An 
 adventure is without zest, however, if the ways are easy and, in this 
 case, I felt that I could at least emerge through the roof and slide down 
 one of the sweeps and drop off. However, from the inside, I found it 
 easy to spring the door lock slightly with a screw driver, that I found 
 inside, apparently of antiquity coeval with the mill, so that upon leav- 
 ing, I was able to say that, while having doubtless committed trespass, 
 I at least was not liable for breaking and entering. This Sunday 
 morning, however, the country side was deserted as far as the eye could 
 reach and I spent some two hours wholly undisturbed in sketching and 
 measuring the old structure and machinery. My conquest was com- 
 plete! 
 
 The mill stands on what is locally known as Windmill Hill in a 
 commanding position in a large open field overlooking many miles of 
 open rolling, moderately hilly country, so sparsely settled that the 
 parish population is given at only 150. It is on a raised dais or plat- 
 form about 80 feet in diameter and some 4 feet above the general ground 
 level, which platform is formed by a low circular stone retaining wall, 
 and which — with fencing as well — prevents cattle or teams from walk- 
 ing within reach of the revolvmg sweeps. There is not a single tree or 
 
hush anywhere near to interfere with the view, either of the mill or from 
 it and access to it is easy as the road is but a few hundred feet away. 
 The mill was erected in 1632 by Sir Edward Peyto as shown by the 
 date and initials "16 E x P 32" appearing in lead work under the over 
 hanging roof, over the leaded glass sashes of the dormer window in the 
 rear. According to Ripton Turner's "Shakespeare's Land" it occupies 
 the site of an earlier wooden mill. 
 
 Sir Edward Peyto was one of a fine old family that owned lands in 
 Warwick-shire county for many centuries (1278 to 1802) and in his day 
 apparently spent large sums in the building or expanding of an estate 
 that must have been one of the finest in England. The mansion no 
 longer exists, only the difference in vegetation where the grass grows 
 less well in dry seasons over the foundations, indicating the lines of the 
 original structures, so complete was the demolishment when torn down 
 in 1802. An old stone water mill, and a stone bridge across a water- 
 way, with carved detail of a superior order are the only other yet re- 
 maining ear-marks of Hie character of the estate in the past, aside from 
 the windmill. It is evident that the architecture of all of the structures 
 was put in the hands of a man of ability, and we know that was so; no 
 less a one than Inigo Jones. Sir Edward Peyto, who died eleven years 
 after the building of the windmill, was buried in the old Chesterton 
 Church on Chesterton Green, perhai)S a third of a mile away, and re- 
 cumbent monuments and the wall tablets of the family are unusually 
 fine and of great interest. The local county directory after giving a 
 summary of the parish and the Peyto fjimily so indissolubly associated 
 with the old mill, remarks: 
 
 ' Here was seate<l, for successive ages the rich and powerful family 
 of de Pictavia or Peto who are first noticed by Dugdale, as possessors of 
 land at Drayton, near Stratford-on-Avon. in 6th Edw:ird I; the estate of 
 Chesterton came to them by marriage in Edward Ill's reign, where they 
 built a fine manor house, subsequently added to by Sir Edward Peto, 
 from designs of Inigo Jones, but the whole structure was demolished in 
 1802 by John Peyto or Peto, 14th Lord Willoughby de Broke, who in- 
 herited this estate through his maternal ancestors. Lord Willoughby 
 de Broke is the lord of the manor and chief landowner." 
 
 While upwards of 300 years old the mill is in a good state of pre- 
 servation. Although numerous individual stones are much weather 
 worn, as a whole it is almost as good as it ever was. It is built of a 
 local gray stone, accurately cut and dressed, with water table, mould- 
 ings, skewbacks, keystones, window trims, cornices, arch-work, etc., 
 equal to the work of any cathedral, and its unique design of arcaded 
 support, that is the mill being carried on six square pillars or columns, 
 
 6 
 
with connecting arches — unusual, yet sightly, suhstantial and satisfy- 
 ing in effect — stamps it as manifestly the work of a master hand. 
 
 It is credited explicitly to Inigo Jones, although perhaps not so 
 much on direct record as by deduction, he having added to the man- 
 sion, and the mill being of such a character that it could hardly have 
 been designed by an ordinary millwright. A search of several principal 
 works, such as "The Designs of Inigo Jones" by W. Kent, 1727, "De- 
 signs of Inigo Jones and Others" by I. Ware, 1757, and Dallaways Edi- 
 tion of Walpoles "Anecdotes of Painting," examined in the Library of 
 the British Museum, disclosed no reference to this structure. "Some 
 Architectural Works of Inigo Jones" however, by Triggs and Tanner, 
 1901 — a biography and review of his principal works — gives a sketch of 
 the windmill, lists it as his and makes the following reference to it on 
 page 26: 
 
 "This small building is an example of the good effect that can be 
 obtained by quite simple methods in the hands of a master. Though 
 the ground floor arcade, circular in j^lan, might be criticized by some, 
 the whole efiect is very charming. 
 
 "For miles around, the mill is a notable landmark, standing as it 
 does, on the summit of a high hill without a tree or a shrub anywhere 
 near it. The shell is built of stone, with a flat, domical roof of lead, 
 and the mouldings are good and have weathered well in spite of the ex- 
 posed position. The jointing of the archivolt of the arcade is noticeable, 
 as the stones are shouldered back into the plain face of the wall. Inside 
 the stone shell are the ordinary arrangements of a mill with a wooden 
 stair leading up to the first floor " 
 
 Inigo Jones was one of the noted men of his time, an architect of 
 celebrity, in the history of architecture of England, was a favorite at 
 Court, was involved in cabals and intrigue and died in poverty. In 
 conjunction with the history of the old mill, a brief account of his life 
 is of intere-^t and such may be found in the 6th edition of the "Encyclo- 
 pedia Brittan^ca" published in 1828 and elsewhere. 
 
 The mill is 29 feet in height from foundation level to the top of the 
 masonry work; is about 23 feet in diameter to the outside face of the 
 pillars; 16' 4" inside; 22' outside the body of the mill above; 16' 6" inside 
 of the first floor and 16' 8" inside of the second floor. The walls are 
 34", 33" and 32" thick at the lower, middle and upper levels respec- 
 tively. The pillars are 40" in thickness, 48" on the outer circular face, 
 33" on the inner face and the clearance between is 5' 9". This latter 
 space is not sufficient for driving a cart under the mill as has been sup- 
 posed was perhaps done for convenience in receiving grain. In any 
 event this was not feasible because of a rectangular boarded, wood 
 structure 8' x 8' 6" square, inside the columns, extending from the 
 
CHESTERTON MILL 
 Vertical Section Through Columns 
 
ground to the first floor above, divided into two eight foot levels; the 
 lower space being used for storage of farm tools or horse feed, while the 
 upper space is used for sacking the ground grain or flour and weighing, 
 a steelyard hanging there. Further, a flight of ordinary oak steps for 
 access to the first floor from the ground level, is located between this 
 wood room and the columns on one side. It is somewhat unfortunate 
 that these wooden structures are there as they obstruct the open view 
 and largely spoil the effect through the arches between the six columns. 
 All of the walls within reach, are covered with innumerable dates, 
 names and inscriptions, scratched and scribbled by visitors of two cen- 
 turies It is 10' 6" from the foundation level to the top of the pillar 
 caps; 16' from the foundation to the first floor; 8' 10" from the first to 
 the second floor and 4' 2" from that level to the top of the wall, upon 
 which the revolving roof or head rests, and about 10' 6" from the upper 
 floor to the under side of the highest part of the roof. The first floor is 
 supported by two 9" x 11" oak summer or girder timbers, carrying light 
 oak joists 3^" x 5 " x 18 " centers. This floor carries the weight of the 
 mill stones but it is reinforced by the four vertical 8" x 8" timbers 
 forming the corners of the wood structure below, previously referred to. 
 The upper floor is supported by two similar timbers 12" x 14" — not re- 
 inforced — with the same smaller joists. Both floors are covered with 
 usual 1" boards. A small wooden stairway of 14 steps connects the two. 
 The windows are unusual in not being of uniform size, there being 
 on the west side, two large windows 33 " above the floor, with splayed 
 jambs, tlie openings in the wall on the inside being 46" wide by 60" 
 high each, and two small splayed windows (with 35" x 34" opening) 
 opposite, 39" above the floor on the east side. It is rather remarkable, 
 with the entire structure in almost every other way characterized by 
 symmetry, that the windows should be of uneven size and not equally 
 spaced. The casement sash are of leaded glass with small rectangular 
 lights and seem to be the originals and veritable antiques. On the out- 
 side surface of the wall there is a sunk or recessed moulded trim around 
 each window. The face of the wall is of ashlar, that is a cut and 
 dressed stone veneer very true and smooth, each course being of uniform 
 width around the building, though varying from 2^ to 6" in height. 
 The stone column blocks are likewise of varying widths, but heavier, 
 the thickest being about 16". The mouldings and cornice at every point 
 are of most correct and careful design and the stones forming the arches 
 between the columns show particularly fine workmanship, as these 
 arches being curved as well as radial have the lines of a cone and, 
 having continuous voussoirs or arch stones from front to back, involved 
 a care in design and in shaping and fitting, found only in the very 
 
 9 
 
highest class of work. The arch stones pioject 2" and there are nine- 
 teen in each arch. 
 
 The top of the circular tower carries a fixed curb 7" high, upon 
 which run rollers equally spaced, about 5' 9'' apart, carrying the mova- 
 ble wood mill head or roof. This head or cap is of a flattened oval or 
 dome shape and is formed by six radial curved oak rafters about 4" x 4" 
 supplemented by lighter intermediate rafters. They are supported at 
 the outer end on a main circular curb, 7" x 13", are braced midway by 
 short stud posts and in the center unite at a king block, the whole being 
 covered with light roofing boards, sprung to form. This oak roof or 
 dome is api)arently the original roof, is truly shaped and fitted, an 
 excellent instance of the carpenter's art and is in a very good state of 
 preservation. It is covered externally by sheet lead about ^" thick in 
 the fashion of the old cathedrals, the sheets being radial with a project- 
 ing rib between each where the joint occurs, the ribs being about 21" 
 centers at the outer edge of the roof. From above it must present the 
 appearance of a huge melon. In the rear is a dormer window, 31" 
 high by 62" wide, with three sash, affording light to the upper floor, this 
 dormer with curved roof, being lead covered as well. A generally simi- 
 lar, though narrower dormer without sash, in the front, is used for 
 housing the great shaft or axle of the wind wheel. The top is sur- 
 mounted by a small metal weather vane of quaint early design, so 
 arranged that its position, and hence any change in the direction of the 
 wind, is — by an arrow — indicated inside as well, to the miller. The 
 roof is about 24' diameter, extends down to the stone walls overhanging 
 about a foot and overlapping the cornice so that storm cannot drive in. 
 The chief evidence of age in the mill is in a few places around the edge 
 of the roof where it has buckled or sagged. 
 
 From the point of view of the windmill millwright, the mill 
 machinery in the main is of usual form. The arms or sweeps, carried 
 on whips perhaps 35' each in length and 10" x 16" at the butt, mounted 
 in a cast axle head, — are of the old primitive lattice type with canvas 
 sails, common throughout England and the continent. The " patent 
 shutter sweeps" invented later were evidently never substituted. The 
 great shaft, of wood, is 24" in diameter and octagonal in form. Its up- 
 ward angle is moderate, being about five degrees. It is fitted with a 
 9" cast axle neck or bearing, without cap, in the front end, secured by 
 five wrought iron bands and with a gudgeon pin bearing at the rear 
 end. It is carried on the usual, intersecting cross timbers attached to 
 and stiffening the main circular wooden live curb, which is 7"xl3". 
 The great cog or driving wheel is of the old, wood, built up construc- 
 tion, about 8' diameter and 9" thick, fitted with wood teeth inserted, 
 
 11 
 
wedged and replaced when worn as need he and is encircled with the 
 usual wroui^ht iron brake l)and, lined with wood friction blocks 1^' 
 thick. This great wheel drives a lantern wheel or wallower some 40" 
 diameter mounted on the up])er end of a 14" king post and this serving 
 as a vertical central shaft, drives by suitable gearing, at its lower end, 
 two pairs of 54" mill stones of usual character on the first floor. The 
 grain is hoisted from the ground level through trap doors about 28" 
 square, is fed from a bin in the upper floor to the stones, is ground on 
 the first floor and the resulting flour is bagged and weighed in the 
 space beneath, as shown in drawing. 
 
 The mechanism for rotating the head of the mill, however, in order 
 to bring the sails into the wind, is entirely difl'erent from that usually 
 found at that time The architectural design adopted by Inigo Jones, 
 to make a mill out of the ordinary in appearance, suitaitle for the estate 
 of his wealthy patron, doubtless i)recluded in his eyes, the use of the 
 ordinary projecting timber tiller, of homely and crude appearance. As 
 a substitute there was used an internal gearing operated by crank and 
 pinion. While such method was used in Holland and in the American 
 colonies, a century later, this is the only instance that I have found 
 of its use as early as 1632. In this respect, this part of the mechanism 
 of the mill was extremely unusual. In the device in question a hand 
 crank operates an iron pinion geared to a cog wheel, the diameters being 
 about 5 to 1 1. This in turn oj)erates an iron worm gear in the ratio of 
 1 to 65 and tliis in turn operates an iron wheel of 16" pitch diameter, 
 having 12 teeth, engaging with the final circular cog rack of about 160 
 large wooden teeth mounted on top of the mill wall concentric to and 
 within the track carrying the truckles or roof supporting rollers. The 
 gears are crude and friction great, and the roof and timbers are so heavy 
 that it is no easy job to move the head, as my personal trial showed. 
 
 There were signs of the mill having been in operation comi)aratively 
 recently, the canvas sails l>eing in })lace, furled, and repairs of some of 
 the teeth and operating paits of the machinery being under way, as 
 evidenced by chips and carpenters tools. I believe that occasionally 
 the mill is used for reasons of both sentiment and convenience in grind- 
 ing grain from the estate. Although now 285 years old, it api)ears 
 good for some centuries to come and standing as it does, a little above 
 the general level, on the crest of tlie hill, and protected by the surround- 
 ing fence and bank wall from cattle and vehicles, as well as by the 
 sentiment that must attach to it, there is every likelihood of its con- 
 tinuing in stately dignity, an historic land mark for miles, for a long 
 period to come. 
 
 12 
 
CHESTERTON MILL 
 Top Floor and Revolving Head Plan 
 
Let us now consider the probable relation of tliis Obesterton mill 
 lo the old stone mill at Newport, R. I. 
 
 The circular stone tower standing in Touro Park, (and known to 
 ill students of American history, as one of the oldest, if not quite, the 
 Dldest existing relic in the country) through a large portion of the last 
 century, aroused a great amount of discussion as to its origin. From 
 :he settlement of Rhode Island in 1688 and during a century and a half 
 [.hereafter, it was apparently locally known as the " Old Stone Mill'' by 
 [he early inhabitants and as what follows below may show, I believe 
 properly. It was regarded as the remains of a windmill erected by the 
 3arly Colonists, in the 17th century. It was reported according to 
 tradition, to have had the usual floor and circular roof of such structure, 
 [ts operation was laborious " requiring oxen to turn it " to the wind, 
 rhe street leading to it was known as Mill St., etc., etc. In 1840, how- 
 ever, Prof. Rafn of the Northern Society of Antiquarians, Copenhagen, 
 n an elaborate jjaper upon the history of Norsemen in America (who 
 ivere admitted to have landed and to have occupied Greenland and 
 3ther north-eastern shores some 600 years before the English colonists 
 settled in Rhode Island) contended that this old mill tower was a 
 3ircular edifice or baptistry, erected by these Norsemen in the 11th 
 century. This radical, romantic and interesting theory, supported as it 
 was by ingenious surmise and capable argument, found a number of 
 adherents and for perhaps two generations through the past century, 
 controversy waxed and waned as to the probable facts. The opposition 
 contended that the structure was erected in 1675 by Governor Benedict 
 Arnold, as a windmill pure and simple. 
 
 The discussion at large led to the suggestion of various other 
 theories, some of them fantastically improbable, as for instance the 
 following which appeared in the editorial colums of Scientific American, 
 November 27th, 1845; seventy one years ago. 
 
 " We shall dismiss the subject with the simple conjecture that it is 
 a fabric of remote antiquity, intended for a temple of Pagan worship, 
 and erected by the process of heaping up earth around the building as 
 it progressed ; thus furnishing facilities for elevating the stones, as has 
 been practised by the Chinese and other nations : but that the Sachem 
 builders having died or failed before the building was complete, the 
 earth was left around the edifice, till becoming overgrown with trees, 
 the building was so far concealed from view as not to attract the notice 
 of the l^'.nglish settlers, until the land, being cleared, was gradually 
 washed away by storms of rain, which, by a process too slow to induce 
 remark, eventually brought the whole fabric to view from its founda- 
 tion." 
 
 Prof Rafn's original paj)er (and according to Justin Winsor in his 
 
 14 
 
"Narrative History of United States," Hafn was the first to assert the 
 Norse theory) may be found as a supplement with plates in his " Anti- 
 quates Americana " (1840) to be found in the older libraries. The best 
 and most interesting argument in the same line— that is the Norse 
 theory— of comparatively recent times, is that of R G. Hatfield "The 
 Old Mill at Newport '' appearing in Scribners Monthly for March, 1879. 
 Most of the arguments upholding the opposite or windmill theory are 
 included in a small verbose pamphlet of 91 pages by the Rev. Charles 
 T. Brooks of Newport (1851) entitled "The Controversy Touching the 
 Old Stone Mill in the Town of Newport," copies of which may be found 
 in the libraries of the Historical Society of Newport, the Historical 
 Society of Pennsylvania, the Lenox Library of New York, etc. The 
 best recent article confirming the windmill theory is that of George C. 
 Mason, Jr entitled " The Old Stone Mill at Newport " appearing in the 
 n)agazine of American History (1879) and also later as a chapter of his 
 " Reminiscences of Newport." It is the purpose of this i)resent article 
 to further confirm the windmill theory by a showing of the detail and 
 the similarity of the Chesterton and Newport structures in greater full- 
 ness than heretofore. References to the subject also appear in Higgin- 
 son's " Larger History of the United States "; Peterson's " Rhode Is- 
 land " ; Gay's " Popular History of the United States '' ; Palfrey's " New 
 England '' ; Schoolcrafts " Indian Tribes " Vol. 4 ; Lossings " Field Book 
 of the Revolution"; Bishops "American Influences"; "Science''; 
 December 5th, 1884; '•Scientific American," November 27, 1845; 
 Drakes ''Nooks and Corners of the New England Coast,'' etc., etc. 
 
 The argument of Prof. Rafn and of Hatfield and their followers was 
 based on the general ground of a claimed similarity of the Newport 
 round tower to a number of round religious edifices that are cited the 
 world over and to the crude architecture of the arches and columns being 
 more " Norman " than anything else. Analogy is not only depended 
 upon throughout but is about the chief argument that can be used for 
 the reason that there is nothing else — nothing whatever of any tangible 
 or definite nature — that can be pointed to, excavations from time to 
 time having quite failed to reveal the slightest physical or material 
 evidence of adjacent church or other structures and no documentary 
 records ever being found to bear out the religious theory. It was 
 admitted by the Norse theorists that at one time the tower was owned 
 by Benedict Arnold, the then governor of the colony and was then a 
 windmill but it is contended that it was converted into a mill from its 
 previous religious form. It is asserted that the fire-place and flues and 
 floors and existing windows were added later and that especially — in 
 relation to its similarity to the Chesterton mill — that it was not a copy 
 
 15 
 
CHE-5TERT0N MiLL. 
 Vertical section between colok 
 
Newport mill - restoked. 
 Verticau section. 
 
because of having eight columns instead of six ; because of being of very 
 rough construction instead of finished ; because of I)eing of the claimed 
 style ot the 10th century in place of the 17th centui-y and because the 
 rough columns at Newport are somewhat offset instead of 1 icing directly 
 under the finished ciiculat wall above as at ("hestciton Also that this 
 open arch structure was not a windnnll form ; that a tii (place was not 
 a windmill feature and that the wall openings lor flooring timbers, etc, 
 were 1 iter modifications. 
 
 The argument of the windmill I)elic\ers is that the early colonists 
 made special note of all local and unusual objects and that it is im- 
 possible to conceive of such a structuie built by previous laces already 
 existing there upon their advent without any note or reference being 
 made to it; that as to the baptistry theory, the fact that a small l)uilding 
 or structure was circular does not make it follow that its use could only 
 be that of a baptistry — usually circular — but that its use might be that 
 Qti any building of circular form ; that while the pillars and arches form 
 of support in question is a very unusual one for a windmi)] tower, 
 there is at least one windmill of exaclly the same style, viz the Chester- 
 ton mill, and which windmill — because of the history of the Arnold 
 family — was specifically the model for the Newport mil' ; that the 
 arches offsetted from or projecting, a little beyond the line of the wall 
 above for the claimed purpose of supporting the roof timbers of a 
 circular baptistry aisle oi' " leanto" surrounding the tower proper, are 
 not necessarily for such purpose at all, and that the fact of there being 
 no foundations revealed at any time around the outer circumference 
 refutes the " leanto " theory ; that the columns being somewhat off 
 center, was simply to obtain a flush vertical interior and to enable the 
 easier construction of straight arches, with the crude facilities available; 
 that a ba})tistry of some oG' in height (as " restored '' by Hatfield) 
 would involve the supposition of some 10 or 12' of the original tower 
 having fallen away ; a tlieory which is not borne out by the extreme 
 tenacity of the present structure, apparently unchanged in form and 
 height for two centuries and that if the original tower had been of that 
 heigiit, and had been converted to windmill purposes, such greater 
 height would have been a pronounced advantage and reducing the 
 height would have been the very last thing that would have been done. 
 These are all general arguments also by analogy, against the baptistry 
 theory. More positive arguments, liowever, in favor of the windmill 
 theory were based upon these definite points : 
 
 It is known that Benedict Arnold (the great-grandfather of Bene- 
 dict Arnold, the traitor) was born in Leamington, England, in 1615; 
 that he emigrated to Rhode Island in 1685; that in course of time he 
 
 18 
 
became governor of the colony — in 1663— but was not i)opular either 
 with certain of the colonists or with the Indians; that according to the 
 diary of Peter Easton, the first windmill, a wooden structure, was erected 
 in 1663; and that in August 1675, tiiis windmill was blown down in a 
 great storm. It is held that Arnold, as governor, had tlie responsibility 
 of seeing to it that means existed for grinding the grain, essential to 
 sustenance; that either upon the wrecking of the wood mill he immedi- 
 ately built the stone mill, or else "or greater capacity or for other reasons, 
 built the same sometime between the time of the erection of the first 
 wood mill (in 1663) and 1678, in which year he died, making several 
 references in his will to his stone built windmill. The fact of his birth 
 and bringing up in the vicinity of the Chesterton mill near Leamington, 
 first above described, is taken as the dirrct reason for the unusual form 
 of the Newport stone mill, that is, being on columns and arches instead 
 of the usual cylindrical solid tower. When the Chesterton mill was 
 finished in 1632 and the keg of old ale was opened and the flag 
 raising occurred in connection with this ornate and unusual structure — if 
 such custom or its equivalent then existed — it is argued that this ornate 
 mill must have made a distinct impression upon the mind of young 
 Arnold, then 17, who indeed may have as a lad been engaged in actual 
 work upon this Chesterton mill and certainly was familiar with it as 
 one of the conspicuous Peyto edifices and a local landmark. Forty- 
 three years later Arnold was a man of mature years, of unusual indi- 
 viduality and pre-eminent among his fellows, and it is not only per- 
 fectly conceivable, but likely and natural that, upon being called upon to 
 construct for the colonists a more enduring mill than the one that had 
 just failed, and actuated by both sentiment and practicability, that he 
 should endeavor to build, despite 3,000 miles of separation and many 
 years of absence, a mill as much as he could, like the old one at Ches- 
 terton. And while quite bearing in mind its general form and arrange- 
 ment, it is entirely probable that he could neither remember the precise 
 dimensions nor well secure the same within the time in which the new 
 mill was needed and that he had to trust to memory, not only for the 
 dimensions and general proportions, but perhaps even as to the number 
 of columns that were used. This would easily account for the mill 
 being a little greater diameter and a few feet shorter than the Chester- 
 ton mill and having eight columns instead of six. In fact the latter 
 variation might have been purposely made as making the easier arch 
 constructiim; one more within the capabilities of the colonists. Asa 
 matter of fact, according to Mason, the Newport arches are straight from 
 column to column, forming an octagon at that [)Ortion, while the build- 
 
*.#'1 
 
 THE "INIGO JONES •' STONE MILL. 
 Chesterton, near Leamington, En^i^land 
 
>^%^u.<.^ 
 
 NEWPORT MILL RESTORED 
 
ing being circular above, overhangs the arches a few inches, this ar- 
 rangement forming the easiest construction 
 
 It has been suggested that the use of the arch form was in part 
 to diminish the backlash of the wind found on the usual windmill 
 towers, the open arches easing the air current below and diminishing 
 the eddies. I do not believe, however, that this is other than an in- 
 genious theory, but rather that Inigo Jones selected the open arcn 
 design purely for architectural effect and that the similar Newport 
 design was because Arnold from memory copied the mill with which 
 he was most familiar, most admued and thought to be of the best 
 form. The argument has further been advanced that this stone struc- 
 ture with its appearance of stiength and actual elevation above the 
 ground, would form — on block house lines — a vantage point of defense, 
 if need be, or at least so impress the unfriendly Indians. In regard 
 to the fireplace, it is an unknown feature, it is true, in mills in Eng- 
 land, the climate not requiring such, but it is evident that the colonists 
 would require but little stay in Rhode Island to find that the climate 
 there, especially in winter, on the bleak tops of some of the exposed 
 sea coast islands, was very different indeed from the climate to which 
 they had been accustomed. And in constructing this windmill, the 
 addition of a fireplace for comfort, would be but a practical evidence 
 of hard sense. In Penna it is hard to find an early colonial grist water 
 mill, zvithout a fireplace. The flues of this fireplace, instead of dis- 
 charging upward, turn and discharge sideways, about lo" below the 
 top of the tower wall, which would be exactly the necessary construc- 
 tion, to avoid interference with the curb rollers of the movable wind- 
 mill head, which would rest on top of the walls. It may further be 
 noted that the plaster with which the mill was built, upon analysis, 
 showed the same as the plaster used in nearby colonial houses known 
 to have been built at the same period. 
 
 In dimensions, the Newport structure is 24' 8" in diameter to the 
 outside of the columns. The average inside diameter between oppo- 
 site columns and the lower portion of the wall is 18' 9"; of the upper 
 wall, about 19' 9". The columns themselves are round, of 38 to 40" 
 diameter, and rest on bases about 3' 10" in diameter. Their height is 
 8' to 8' 8" from ground level to the top of the cap, a single large 
 roughly rounded stone. The height to the under side of the opening 
 of the arches is about 11' 2'. The fireplace hearth level is 13' 5'' 
 above the ground and was probably a foot or so above the first floor 
 level, which floor was built upon and carried by four heavy beams, 
 arranged in two intersecting pairs, which beams rested in holes in the 
 wall immediately over each column, and between the arches The 
 
 22 
 
second floor level is 20' 2" above the ground. The height to the top 
 of the wall is ?.$*. The fireplace is 3' 5" wide by 4" high; the south 
 window is 2' 2" wide and 2' 5^" high outside; the west window is 2' 2" 
 wide. In being unevenly spaced and not symmetrical with the arches 
 below, they precisely follow, in that respect, the Chesterton mill. The 
 windows are placed about 16' above the ground and on the less ex- 
 posed sides, further indicating occupancy of the building by a pre- 
 sumable attendant miller, requiring weather protection and heat, for 
 with accumulated grain it was the custom to operate day and night 
 when a fair wind should become available. In a very old mill in Paris 
 on Montmartre, there was even a bunk provided so that the miller and 
 his helper might alternate in snatches of sleep during continuous work. 
 The mill at Newport is laid up in coarse rubble of local laminated slate 
 or graywacke, mixed with gneiss. For many years it was covered 
 with vines, but to prevent the destroying action of the tendrils, they 
 were removed about 1880. 
 
 The windmill theory as summarized above, is strongly reinforced 
 by Mr. Mason's study of the Newport structure in 1878 in which he 
 was satisfied, after close scrutiny of the details and parts, that the fire- 
 places and flues, the floor openings and the windows were most un- 
 likely and in fact practically impossible to have been added as later 
 modifications; that they were almost certainly a part of the original 
 structure and therefore obviously and totally conflicted with the bap- 
 tistry theory. At the present day I think most historians and anti- 
 quarians have dropped the Norse theory and look upon the windmill 
 the.iry as having been long and suflficiently well established. While I 
 am iK-ither a historian nor architect, I have especial knowledge as to 
 windmill structures of the old type and I believe that the similarity, 
 not only of the general containing structures, but of the floor arrange- 
 ments, the floor levels, the stairways and contained machinery (assum- 
 ing the Newport mill restored, and equipped as shown in drawings 
 attached) is so obvious as to be completely convincing and that it 
 needs but a glance at the drawings side by side to be satisfied that 
 the Chesterton mill, (in conjunction with the Arnold history and cir- 
 cumstances related,) was the prototype and model of the Newport mill. 
 
 First built and used about 1675 as a windmill, by Benedict Arnold, 
 the first Governor of the colony of Rhode Island, the Newport mill 
 fell into disuse in the 18th century, was later used as a powder house 
 and again for hay storage and now, tradition laden, protected and re- 
 vered, it has finally become Rhode Island's most treasured relic; and 
 taken with the Chesterton mill, the two form the most unique and 
 historically interesting pair of windmills ever built! 
 
 23 
 
SOCIETY NOTES 
 
 The Society has recently been 
 presented by Mr. Richard Bhss 
 with a collection of manuscripts 
 containing autographs including 
 the following: 
 
 Early Newport Printers — Solm. 
 Southwick, 1769; Henry Barber, 
 1783; Peter Edes, 1789; O. Farns- 
 worth, 1801; William Barber, 1808; 
 J. H. Barber, 1812. 
 
 Also many Newport Merchants, 
 including — Jahleel Brenton, 1730; 
 Godfrey Mallbone, 1744; Wm. Ver- 
 non, 1746; Henry Collins, 1747; 
 Geo. Wanton, 1750; John Bannis- 
 ter, 1752; Christ. Champlin, 1764; 
 Aaron Lopez, 1767; John Bannis- 
 ter, 1768; Gilbert Stewart, 1768, 
 (father of the artist); Wm. Codding- 
 ton, 1774, (Town Clerk); J. Hony- 
 man, 1776; Christ. EUery, 1788. 
 
 A series of five papers on some 
 Celebrated Divmes whose names 
 are associated with Newport his- 
 tory is being arranged for, to be 
 read before the Society upon the 
 first Tuesdays of January, Febiu- 
 ary, March, April and May. 
 
 The Rev. William I. Ward read 
 the first paper, on Whitefield on 
 January second. The following 
 Clergymen have consented to read 
 the other papers — Mr. Hughes on 
 Bishop Berkeley, Mr. Jones on 
 Channing, Mr. Silcox on Ezra Stiles 
 
 and Mr. McKeever on John Clarke. 
 It is believed that this will furnish 
 a most interesting and instructive 
 series of papers describing impor- 
 tant characters in Newport history. 
 
 Members elected since 
 LAST Bulletin 
 life 
 Mrs Ogden Goelet 
 
 ANNUAL 
 
 Mrs. Charles Carroll Bombaugh 
 
 Mrs. W. B. Bristow 
 
 Mr. John M. Taylor 
 
 Mr. Bradford Norman 
 
 Miss Amy Varnum 
 
 Mr. Norman deR. Whitehouse 
 
 Mr. Walter S. Langley 
 
 Mr. Henry W. Clarke 
 
 Mr. Wm. Hamilton 
 
 Mr. Peyton Van Rensselaer 
 
 Miss Harriet Downing 
 
 Miss Julia Downing 
 
 Mr. E. O. Riggs 
 
 associate 
 Mrs. Henry Newton 
 Mr. Henry Newton 
 Mr. Vernon Howe Bailey 
 
 Through the courtesy of Mr. 
 Howard M. Chapin, Librarian of 
 the Rhode Island Historical So- 
 ciety, we have been informed of 
 the purchase by the American 
 Antiquarian Society of an Alman- 
 
 24 
 
ack for 1669 which is of consider- 
 able interest to Newporters, as it 
 was owned by Peter Easton and 
 contains m;muscript notes by him. 
 These notes are bare historical 
 statements of well known facts, but 
 among them are the following: 
 
 we came to new England may 14, 1634. 
 I was Borne years forty seven 47. 
 road Hand was planted 1638. 
 Nuport began may first 1639. 
 the first hous built in Nuport in May 
 1639. 
 peter Easton maried novb. 15 1643. 
 the windmill was built Aug. 2, 1663. 
 
 Resolutions on the Death of 
 
 George H. Richardson, 
 
 Corresponding Secretary 
 
 The Directors of the Newport 
 Historical Society record with sor- 
 row the death, on Nov. 30, 1916, of 
 George H. Richardson, Correspond- 
 ing Secretary since March 21, 1892- 
 
 Mr. Richardson was born in 
 Fairhaven, Massachusetts, April 19, 
 1838, but in early youth removed 
 to Newport ; and he dearly loved 
 the history and traditions of his 
 
 adopted home. All his leisure mo- 
 ments were devoted to historical 
 research, and for thirty years he 
 was an earnest worker in this So- 
 ciety. His wide knowledge of local 
 history enabled him to render valu- 
 able assistance not only to the 
 Staff, but to the many searchers in 
 the Society's Rooms, where he 
 spent the greater part of each day; 
 and his familiarity with building 
 construction helped materially in 
 the care and preservation of our 
 buildings and particularly during 
 the recent erection of the fireproof 
 addition. 
 
 We shall miss his presence and 
 his never failing interest in the 
 welfare of the Society. 
 
 Resolved, That our deepest sym- 
 pathy be tendered his family in 
 their bereavement, and that a copy 
 of these resolutions be sent to 
 them, and printed in the publica- 
 tion of this Society. 
 
 Edith May Tilley, 
 John P. Sanborn, 
 
 Committee. 
 
 December 12, 1916. 
 
OFFICERS 
 
 OF THE 
 
 Newport Historical Society 
 
 For the year ejiding May^ ^9^7 
 
 President, DANIEL B. FEARING 
 First Vice-President, RODERICK TERRY 
 
 Second Vice-President, FRANK K. STURGIS 
 
 Third Vice-President, ALFRED TUCKERMAN 
 Recording Secretary, JOHN P. SANBORN 
 Corresponding Secretary, 
 
 Treasurer, HENRY C. STEVENS, Jr. 
 Librarian, EDITH MAY TILLEY 
 Curator of Coins and Medals, EDWIN P. ROBINSON 
 
 Board of Directors 
 THE OFFICERS and 
 
 FOR THREE YEARS 
 
 MRS. THOMAS A. LAWTON HAMILTON B. TOMPKINS 
 MRS. FRENCH VANDERBILT GEORGE L. RIVES 
 
 FOR TWO YEARS 
 
 MRS. C. L. F. ROBINSON GEORGE V. DICKEY 
 
 JONAS BERGNER LAWRENCE L. GILLESPIE 
 
 FOR ONE YEAR 
 
 MRS. HAROLD BROWN WILLIAM S. SHERMAN 
 
 MRS. RICHARD C. DERBY JOB A. PECKHAM 
 
^u^ BULLETIN 
 
 OF THE 
 
 Newport Historical Society 
 
 Number Twenty-Two NEWPORT, R. I. April. 1917 
 
 The First European Visitors to 
 Narragansett Bay 
 
 A PAPER READ BEFORE THE SOCIETY FEBRUARY I9th, 1917 
 
 By 
 THE REV. RODERICK TERRY, D.D. 
 
 First Vice President 
 
 It is my purpose to bring before your minds the first visits of 
 Europeans to these shores — to read to you the descriptions which 
 they give of this beautiful bay and its forest dwellers — man and 
 beast. 
 
 lyittle imagination is needed to picture this inland sea in its 
 savage state. Hills covered with forests whose great trees 
 reached to the edge of the water, while beneath them grew every 
 variety of wild flower, with sparkling brooks running down the 
 hillsides. 
 
 Of the mild natured Indians who roamed these forests, and 
 of the various animals, deer, rabbits and foxes, and the birds of 
 beautiful plumage, these early visitors make full mention. 
 
 This Island, always celebrated for mildness of climate 
 and fertility of verdure, stands revealed to us in its savage but 
 luxuriant beauty, when as yet no sound was heard in its woods 
 but the cry of the Indian, the call of the deer, or the song of the 
 bird, and the bosom of the waters of the bay knew no keel but 
 that of the canoe of the red man. What European eyes first 
 gazed upon this beauty, and whose foreign voices and sound of 
 gun awoke the echoes among these rocks and forests? Were 
 they the Norsemen and was this the fabled Vinland? 
 
THE NORSEMEN 
 
 In the year 1837 there was published in Copenhagen a book 
 called "American Antiquities," by Professor Rafn. This was 
 the first scholarly work to call attention to the serious nature of 
 the early Icelandic writings. For five hundred years the manu- 
 scripts written by Icelanders and Danes had been more or less 
 familiar to the people of those countries, who delighted in these 
 graphic, if poetical, accounts of their brave and venturesome 
 ;;ucestors. But the scholars and historians of Europe had not 
 taken these Sagas seriously. They had regarded them more in 
 the nature of legendary or fictitious writings, in which, on a very 
 small foundation of fact, the early writers had erected enormous 
 buildings of romance. 
 
 But Rafn not only printed the complete text of the Sagas 
 which related to the discovery of America, he also seriously 
 studied them, and proved to the satisfaction of scholars from that 
 day to this that they are truly historic documents, although occa- 
 sionally there may have been interjected into them certain state- 
 ments which the credulous people of the time accepted (as they 
 did the remarkable experiences declared by all early voyagers to 
 have been met with in other lands.) As for instance, when it 
 was reported that upon the coast of North America they dis- 
 covered one morning a race of unipeds — men with only one leg, 
 we are persuaded that this is but an echo of other discoveries 
 declared at that time to have been made in strange parts of the 
 world . 
 
 Aside from this one statement, there is nothing (so far as 
 has yet been discovered) in the Sagas that is intrinsically diffi- 
 cult of belief. 
 
 However, all historians have not accepted the statements of 
 Rafn, a notable exception being found in the person of Washing- 
 ton Irving who wrote regarding these sagas, 
 
 *"As far as the author of the present work has had experi- 
 ence in tracing these stories of early discoveries of portions of the 
 New World, he has generally found them very confident deduc- 
 tions drawn from very vague and questionable facts .... Most 
 of these accounts, when divested of the erudite and scientific 
 
 •"Life and Voyages of Columbus." Vol. Ill, Appendix. 
 
dressing of commentators, have proved little better than tradi- 
 tionary fables." 
 
 Bancroft in his history of the United States, declares *"The 
 story of the colonization of America by Northmen rests on narra- 
 tive, mythological in form and obscure in meaning, ancient yet 
 not contemporary. The intrepid mariners who colonized Green- 
 land could easily have extended their voyages to Labrador, and 
 have explored the coasts to the south of it. No clear historic 
 evidence establishes the natural probability that they accom- 
 plished the passage, and no vestige of their presence on our con- 
 tinent has been found." 
 
 In later days Justin Winsor declares f'The extremely prob- 
 able and almost necessary pre-Columbian knowledge of the 
 northeastern parts of America follows from the venturesome 
 spirit of the mariners of those Icelandic seas for fish and traffic, 
 and from the easy transitions from coast to coast, by which they 
 would have been lured to meet more southerly climes. The 
 chances from such natural causes are quite as strong an argument 
 in favor of the early Northmen venturings as the somewhat 
 questionable representations of the Sagas." 
 
 Also Nansen in "Northern Mists" expresses doubt concern- 
 ing the saga accounts as history, but considers the fact of the 
 Norsemen's discovery of the American continent as probable. 
 
 These are all the doubters whom I have been able to discover. 
 — The otherwise universal opinion of historians is voiced by 
 the latest, and perhaps the most careful, student of our history, 
 Professor Fiske of Harvard, who is unquestioning in the faith 
 which he gives to these documents; and another contemporary, 
 Professor Reeves^ thus closes the discussion : $"These records in 
 so far as they relate to the discovery, disentangled from wild 
 theories and vague assumptions, would seem to speak for them- 
 selves. The Icelandic Saga is peculiarly distinguished for the 
 presentation of events in a simple, straightforward manner, with- 
 out embellishment or commentary by the author. There is, indeed, 
 no clear reason why the statements of an historical Saga should 
 be called in question, where these statements are logically con- 
 sistent and collaterally confirmed." 
 
 ♦History of the United States, 1872, Ed.— v. i, p. 5. 
 tNarrative and Critical History of America, v. 2, p. 33 
 ♦The "Finding of Wineland the Good" p. 3. 
 
And to these testimonials of the historians we may add that 
 these Sagas, written five hundred years before the time of Colum- 
 bus, mention c&ridi\\\ peculiarities of the Indians living along our 
 coast, which are quite different from those that are found in 
 natives of other countries, and which no travels, either in Africa 
 or Asia, would have led the voyagers of that time to expect. 
 
 It seems, then, safe for us, with faith in these writings, to 
 turn to them, and ascertain precisely what they state. 
 
 The earliest reference to Vinland, or Vineland, or Wineland, 
 as it is variously written, is found in Adam of Bremen's "De- 
 scriptio Insularum Aquilonis." This writer had paid a visit to 
 the court of the Danish king about 1070, and there received the 
 information which is contained in this passage of his work. 
 ♦"Moreover, he (the king of Denmark) spoke of an island in 
 that ocean discovered by many, which is called Wineland, for the 
 reason that vines grow wild there which yield the best of wines. 
 Moreover that grain unsown grows there abundantly from the 
 accounts of the Danes we know to be a fact. Beyond this island, 
 it is said there is no habitable land in that ocean, but all beyond 
 is full of dreadful masses of ice and boundless gloom." 
 
 From this first written mention of Vinland we get some idea 
 of the fanciful notions regarding it which prevailed, although 
 this was written but seventy years after the date of its discovery. 
 From this time on there are frequent references to Vinland in the 
 writings of Danes, the Icelandic Book of 1130, the Landnama of 
 the same time, Olaf's Saga of 1200, and many others. 
 
 But while most have simply a slight reference to this coun- 
 try of Vinland, there are two elaborate accounts upon which all 
 information is based. These are the "Saga of Eric the Red" 
 and the "Flatey Book." 
 
 The Saga of Eric the Red was written probably about the 
 year 1300, and the part which interests us describes the trip 
 taken by Leif, the son of Eric, about the year 1000. 
 
 Previous to this time, perhaps about 985 A. D., Greenland 
 had been discovered by Eric the Red, who had established a 
 colony, which later had grown into several, upon its southern 
 shore. It is interesting to note that he called this country Green- 
 
 'The Finding of Wineland the Good" Reeves, L,ondon, 
 
land, he himself declaring that "men would be the more readily- 
 persuaded thither if the land had a good name," though there 
 was little but white upon the mountains or plains, they being 
 almost perpetually covered with snow. 
 
 Leif the Lucky, the son of Eric the Red, was the discoverer 
 of Vinland. He started from Iceland, in order to convert the 
 people of Greenland to Christianity, about the year looo, and 
 the saga proceeds as follows: 
 
 *" Leif put to sea when his ship was ready for the voyage. 
 For a long time he was tossed about upon the ocean, and came 
 upon lands of which he had previously had no knowledge. 
 There were self-sown wheat fields and vines growing there. There 
 were also those trees there which are called 'mausur,' NoTE — 
 (Supposed to be the birch trees from whose bark canoes were 
 made), and of all these they took specimens. Some of the 
 timbers were so large that they were used in building. Leif 
 found men upon a wreck, and took them home with him, and 
 procured quarters for them all during the winter. In this wise 
 he showed his nobleness and goodness, since he introduced 
 Christianity into the country and saved the men from the wreck, 
 and he was called Leif the Lucky ever after." 
 
 And it adds, "At this time there began to be much talk 
 about a voyage of exploration to the country which Leif had 
 discovered." 
 
 In the other Icelandic book to which I referred, called the 
 Flatey Book, which was written almost a century later than the 
 Saga of Eric the Red, perhaps about 1387, the discovery of the 
 continent is ascribed not to Leif, as this Saga seems to imply, 
 but to a man named Biarni, who is declared to have sailed from 
 Iceland! " for three days, until the land was hidden by water, 
 and then the fair wind died out, and north winds arose, and fogs, 
 and they knew not whither they were driven. Thus it lasted for 
 many days. Then they saw the sun again, and were able to 
 determine the quarters of the heaven. They hoisted sail, and 
 sailed that day through before they saw land. They discussed 
 among themselves what land it could be, and Biarni said that 
 
 •From the Translation of the Saga of Eric the Red given in " The Finding of Wineland the 
 Good," by Arthur Middleton Reeves, IvOndon, 1890, p. 36. 
 t " The Finding of Wineland the Good,"— Reeves, p. 63, 
 
he did not believe it could be Greenland. They asked whether 
 he wished to sail to this land or not. 'It is my counsel,' said he, 
 'to sail close to the land.' They did so, and soon saw that the 
 land was level and covered with woods, and that there were 
 small hills upon it. They left the land upon the larboard, and 
 let the sheet turn toward the land. They sailed for two days 
 before they saw another land. They soon approached this land, 
 and saw that it was a flat and wooded country. They left this 
 land astern, and held out to sea with the same fair wind. They 
 sailed now for four days, when they saw the fourth land, and 
 Biarni said, 'This is the likest Greenland, according to that 
 which has been reported to me concerning it, and here we will 
 steer to the land.' " 
 
 According to this account, the visit of Eric was made later, 
 when he sailed from Greenland to investigate this country which 
 Biarni had discovered. 
 
 It matters little who was the first discoverer. It is certain 
 that tnis land which obtained the name of Vinland from the 
 reported existence of vines upon it soon became a matter of great 
 interest to the people of Iceland and Greenland, and several voy- 
 ages were made to re-discover it . The accounts of these voyages of 
 discovery are somewhat confused, but the main events agree, 
 though names of explorers may differ. 
 
 The following is the account of the temporary settlement of 
 Vinland, which is taken from the Saga of Eric the Red. 
 
 " About this time there began to be much talk at Brathalid 
 (the Greenland village) to the effect that Wineland the Good 
 should be explored, for it was said that country must be possessed 
 of many good qualities, and so it came to pass that Karl Sefni 
 and Snorri fitted out their ship for the purpose of going in search 
 of that country in the spring. Biarni and Thorhall joined the 
 expedition with their ship, and the men who had borne them 
 company. There was a man named Thorvard. He was wedded 
 to Freydis, a natural daughter of Eric the Red. He also accom- 
 panied them, together with Thorvald, Eric's son, and Thorhall, 
 who was called the huntsman. They had in all one hundred and 
 sixty men when they sailed to the western settlement, and thence to 
 Bear Island." Note — (These were apparently other villages on 
 the south coast of Greenland.) " Thence they bore away to the 
 
 6 
 
southward two days; then they saw land, and launched a boat 
 and explored the land, and found there large, flat stones(Hellur). 
 There were many arctic foxes there. They gave a name to the 
 country, and called it Helluland (the land of flat stones). Then 
 they sailed with northerly winds two days, and land then Iny 
 before them, and upon it was a great wood and many wild beasts. 
 An island lay off the land to the southeast, and there they four.d 
 a bear, and they called this Biarney (Bear Island) while the land 
 where the wood was they called Marklaud (Forest Land)." 
 Note — (The first of these places, called Helluland, was un- 
 doubtedly some part of Labrador, and Markland was either th.e 
 southern point of Labrador or the Island of Newfoundland. Up( n 
 these points almost all historians, I believe, are agreed). 
 
 " Thence they sailed southward along the land for a loi g 
 time, and came to a cape. The land lay upon the starboard. 
 There were long strands and sandy beaches there. They called 
 the strands Furdustrandir (Wonder Strands) because they were 
 so long to sail by. Then the country became indented with bays, 
 and they steered their ships into a bay. Now when they had 
 sailed past Wonder Strands, they put the Gaels ashore, and 
 directed them to run to the southward and investigate the nature 
 of the country, and return again before the end of the third half 
 day." Note — (These Gaels were two slaves that they had with 
 them.) " When they came again, one of them carried a bunch 
 of grapes, and the other an ear of new sown wheat. They went 
 on board the ship, whereupon Karl Sefni and his followers went 
 on their way until they came to where the coast was indented 
 with bays. They steered into a bay with their ships. There w:is 
 an island out at the mouth of the bay, about which there were strong 
 currents, wherefore they called it Straumey (Stream Isle). There 
 were so many birds there that it was scarcely possible to step 
 between the eggs. They sailed through the Firth, and called it 
 Straum Fiord (or Stream Firth), and carried their cargoes ashore 
 from the ships, and established themselves there. 
 
 " They had brought with them all kinds of livestock. It 
 was a fine country there. There were mountains thereabouts. 
 They occupied themselves exclusively with the exploration of 
 that country. They remained there during the winter, and they 
 had taken no thought for this during the summer. The fish 
 
began to fail, and they began to fall short for food. Then 
 Thorhall, the huntsman, disappeared. They had already prayed 
 to God for food, but it did not come as promptly as their necessity 
 seemed to demand. They searched for Thorhall for three half 
 days, and found him on a projecting crag. He was lying there 
 and looking up at the sky, with mouth and nostrils agape, and 
 mumbling something. They asked him why he had gone 
 thither. He replied that this did not concern anyone. They 
 asked him then to go home with them, and he did so." Note — 
 (Apparently he had found something upon which he had become 
 intoxicated ) . 
 
 " The weather then improved, and they could now row out 
 to fish, and thenceforward they had no lack of provisions, for 
 they could hunt game on the land, gather eggs on the island, and 
 catch fish from the sea." Note — (The location of this cape, 
 with its many strands, with the islands about, and this bay into 
 which they sailed, and on the shores of which they passed the 
 winter, is all uncertain. Some have placed it as far north as the 
 southern shore of the Gulf of St. Lawrence, others at different 
 points between there and Cape Cod, the local historians of each 
 district seeming anxious that their own country should be the one 
 thus distinguished, and finding arguments in each case to support 
 the theory, but wherever this point was, it was not, as we shall 
 see, Vineland, for the story in the Saga continues,) 
 
 " It is now to be told of Karl Sefni that he cruised south- 
 ward off the coast with Snorri and Biarni and their people. They 
 sailed for a long time, and until they came at last to a river, 
 which flowed down from the land into a lake, and so into the 
 sea." Note — (This was Vineland). "There were great bars 
 at the mouth of the river, so that it could only be entered at the 
 height of the flood tide. Karl Sefni and his men sailed into the 
 mouth of the river, and called it there Hop (A Small Land 
 Locked Bar) . They found self-sown wheat fields on the land 
 there wherever there were hollows, and wherever there was hilly 
 ground, there were vines. Every brook there was full of fish. 
 They dug pits on the shore where the tide rose highest, and when 
 the tide fell, there were halibut in the pits. There were great 
 numbers of wild animals of all kinds in the woods. They 
 remained there half a month, and enjoyed themselves, and kept 
 no watch. 
 
 8 
 
" Now one morning early, when they looked about them, 
 they saw a great number of skin canoes, and staves were bran- 
 dished from the boats with a noise like flails, and they were 
 revolved in the same direction in which the sun moves. Then 
 said Karl Sefni ' What may this betoken ?' Snorri Thorbrandson 
 answers him, ' It may be that this is a signal of peace, wherefore 
 let us take a white shield and display it,' and thus they did. 
 Thereupon the strangers rowed toward them, and went upon the 
 land, marvelling at those whom they saw before them. They 
 were swarthy men, and ill-looking, and the hair of their heads 
 was ugly. They had great eyes, and were broad of cheek. They 
 tarried there for a time, looking curiously at the people they saw 
 before them and then rowed away to the southward around the 
 point. 
 
 "Karl Sefni and his followers had built their huts above 
 the lake, some of their dwellings being near the lake, and 
 others farther away. Now they remained there that winter. No 
 snow came there, and all of their livestock lived by grazing." 
 Note — (Several incidents are mentioned as occurring during 
 the winter, but nothing more to give information regarding the 
 place.) 
 
 "But in the spring," the narrative continues, "it now 
 seemed clear to Karl Sefni and his people that although the 
 country thereabouts was attractive, their life would be one of 
 constant dread and turmoil, by reason of the (hostilities of the) 
 inhabitants of the country, so they forthwith prepared to leave, 
 and determined to return to their own country. They sailed to 
 the northward off the coast." 
 
 This is the account which is given in the Saga of Eric the 
 Red. 
 
 The other authoritative book, called the Flatey Book, after 
 the name of an early owner, was written about 1390. After 
 describing the settlement of Greenland by Eric, saying nothing 
 of the discovery of America by Leif, the son of Eric, it reports 
 Biarni as the one who first saw the American continent. But in 
 regard to the voyage so fully described in the Saga, wherein they 
 sought to revisit that land which had already been discovered, 
 this book describes it as follows : 
 
*" They put the ship in order, and when they were ready, 
 hey sailed out to sea, and found first that land which Biarni and 
 lis shipmates found last. They sailed up to the land and cast 
 mchor, and launched a boat, and went ashore, and saw no grass, 
 ind great ice mountains lay inland, back from the sea, and it was 
 lat rock all the way from the sea to the ice mountains. And the 
 :ountry seemed to them to be entirely devoid of good qualities, 
 rhen said Leif, 'To this country I will now give a name,' and 
 ;alled it Helluland (the land of flat stones). They returned to 
 he ship and put out to sea, and sighted a second land. This 
 vas a level, wooded land. Then said Leif, 'This land shall have 
 I name after its nature. We will call it Markland or Forest 
 L,and.' They returned to the ship forthwith, and sailed away 
 ipon the main, with northeast wind, and were out two days 
 )efore they sighted land. They sailed toward this land, and 
 :ame to an island which lay to northward off the land, and they 
 tvent ashore and looked about them, the weather being fine, and 
 ;hey observed that there was dew upon the grass." 
 
 Note — It will be found that this land was probably Cape 
 Cod, and the fact of there being an island to the northward is 
 explained by our knowledge that in those days what are now 
 shoals off the coast of Cape Cod were many of them islands pro- 
 jecting above the surface of the sea. It is a well known fact that 
 fishermen upon those shoals frequently find their lines entangled 
 in the branches and roots of trees upon the bottom, which were 
 growing when the islands projected themselves above the sur- 
 face. It was probably upon one of those islands that they landed 
 for a tin-^e. 
 
 "They went aboard their ship again, and sailed into a 
 certain Sound which lay between the island and the cape which 
 jutted out from the land on the north, and they stood in wester- 
 ing past the cape. 
 
 "At ebb tide there were broad reaches of shallow water 
 there, and tliey ran their ship aground, and it was a longdistance 
 from the ship to the ocean, yet they were so anxious to go ashore 
 that they could not wait until the tide should rise under their 
 ship, but hastened to the land, where a certain river flows out 
 
 •From the translation in " The Finding of Wineland the Good." Reeves, p. 
 
 10 
 
from a lake. As soon as the tide rose beneath their ship, how- 
 ever, they took the boat and rowed to the ship which they con- 
 veyed up the river, and so into the lake, where they cast anchor, 
 and carried their hammocks ashore from the ship, and built them- 
 selves booths there. They afterwards determined to establish 
 themselves there for the winter, and they accordingly built a 
 large house. There was no lack of salmon there either in the 
 river or in the lake, and larger salmon than they had ever seen 
 before. 
 
 ' ' The country thereabouts seemed to be possessed of such 
 good qualities that cattle would need no fodder there during the 
 winter. There was no frost there in the winters, and the grass 
 withered but little. The days and nights there were of more 
 nearly equal length than in Greenland or Iceland. On the 
 shortest day of winter the sun was up between half past seven 
 and half past four." 
 
 These seem to be the main points of the description of Vin- 
 land, for although considerably more is written of the events 
 which transpired, there is nothing to add to our conception of 
 the place. Whether there was one journey or several, it is 
 difficult to state ; whether one winter or three or four were passed 
 at Vinland, we also find it hard to definitely determine ; but that 
 a place was visited, and for some time dwelt in, which was upon 
 the shore of a lake so-called, (which we would call a bay) with a 
 narrow entrance from the ocean, and which had certain peculiari- 
 ties of which I shall speak later, there seems no doubt whatever. 
 Naturally where there is so much indefiniteness, it is very easy to 
 fit the description to almost any of the bays along the coast, and 
 local historians, inspired by zeal for their own districts, have 
 been found to claim the honor associated with the idea of Vinland 
 as belonging to almost every bay from Nova Scotia to New York. 
 
 It is but fair to say that there has been discussion as to 
 whether all or any of these voyages really came to Vinland at 
 all — whether that fabled spot was not only seen by Eric when he 
 lost his way. Yet the probability seems to be that we are safe 
 in taking these descriptions as pertaining to Vinland. 
 
 There are several characteristics of these voyages and of the 
 country to which they came which enable us to come to a fair 
 conclusion. Almost all the voyages started from Greenland, and 
 
 11 
 
from the length of time which was taken, it is pretty well 
 agreed that the first land which they came to, — the land which 
 they declared was covered with large, flat stones, — was Labrador, 
 which they called " Helluland." Thence they sailed for two 
 days, and found a land wooded and with many animals, which 
 they called "Markland." This also was possibly either the 
 southern part of Labrador, or more probably the shore of New- 
 foundland. 
 
 Then we are told, "They sailed /<?;' a long time in a south- 
 westerly direction, after leaving the country of Markland." 
 This statement gives but a very indefinite idea, and may apply, 
 as far as the distance is concerned, to any place west of New- 
 foundland. 
 
 But we find that after this sail of considerable time, they 
 came to a cape, where there were long beaches of sand, beyond 
 which the land was heavily indented with bays, and there were 
 islands, around which were very strong currents. 
 
 What place so well fits this description as Cape Cod? 
 
 A definite idea, also, of the land at which they arrived is 
 given in the description of some of these voyages that the coun- 
 try was heavily covered with wild grapes, and with self-grown 
 wheat. Wild grapes have been found as far north as the coast of 
 Maine, but in greater abundance in the neighborhood of Cape 
 Cod. 
 
 It is also stated that the climate of this place to which they 
 came was mild, that there was no snow, and the cattle were 
 enabled to graze all the winter. Such winters have been known 
 on the island of Rhode Island; but hardly east of us, and though 
 perhaps in comparison with the cold of Greenland, any place 
 south of Newfoundland would be considered comparatively free 
 from snow, yet the grazing of the cattle seems to designate such 
 a mild climate as ours. 
 
 One other particular of the climate gives an intimation in 
 regard to the latitude, namely, that the day began, as we inter- 
 pret it, at half past seven and ended at half past four, which 
 would correspond with the length of the winter day in southern 
 New England. 
 
 The descriptions which are given of the river up which they 
 sailed, and the lake into which the river led them, and various 
 
 12 
 
other peculiarities, might apply with equal force to almost any 
 indentation of the coast. 
 
 In the transactions of the Royal Society of Canada, pub- 
 lished in 1891, there is a long article by Sir Daniel Wilson, 
 President of the University of Toronto, with the title "The Vin- 
 land of the Northmen," in which he declares that the statement 
 that Vinland the Good was in the latitude where the shortest day 
 the sun rose about eight o'clock is the sole data on which all 
 subsequent attempts to determine the geographical location of 
 Vinland have been based, and this corresponds, he says, with the 
 forty-ninth degree of latitude, and denotes the situation of New- 
 foundland or the River St. Lawrence, and the conclusion natur- 
 ally follows in his mind that it was in that neighborhood some- 
 where that Vinland was located. 
 
 But this seems a very small foundation upon which to erect 
 an elaborate edifice, inasmuch as the words used in the Saga to 
 represent the times of the rising and setting of the sun do not 
 correspond with the hours of our day, and scholars have differed 
 in their interpretation, some making their day to begin as early 
 as six o'clock, and some as late as nine. We believe that the 
 best authorities place it at half past seven, but there is not suffi- 
 cient certainty to establish upon that one argument alone the 
 location of the place. Other evidences, such as the form of the 
 bay, the nature of the soil and its productions, vines, grapes, 
 wheat, the characteristics of the natives, and the description of 
 the land, especially the prominent cape of sand which they passed 
 on their way, would seem to be far more useful in furnishing us 
 with an idea as to its location. 
 
 Professor William Hovgaard of the Massachusetts Institute 
 of Technology, in the latest book on the subject, "The Voyages 
 of the Norsemen to America," published in 1914, page 239, 
 places Vinland "somewhere on the east coast of southern Labra- 
 dor." 
 
 In the publications of the Maine Historical Society, Dr. J. 
 H. Cole has expressed his conviction that Vinland was some- 
 where upon the coast of that state, while Professor Eben Norton 
 Horsford of Cambridge has published an elaborate book to prove 
 that Massachusetts was the Vinland of the Norsemen, and that 
 upon the Charles River were erected the buildings in which they 
 
 13 
 
dwelt, and some remains which he has unearthed he declares to 
 be evidence of the correctness of his theory. 
 
 But we can not help feeling that each of these scholars was 
 impressed more with the spirit of local pride than with the broad, 
 unprejudiced idea of discovering the truth. Undoubtedly any 
 one of these places would fit the description in part, but none will 
 do so entirely. The fairest judgment perhaps can be pronounced 
 by scholars from a distauce without local prejudice, and this is 
 the conclusion of Professor Rafn of Copenhagen, a distinguished 
 Danish scholar. 
 
 "It is," he says, "the total result of the nautical, geographi- 
 cal and astronomical evidence in the original documents which 
 places the situations of the country discovered beyond all doubt. 
 The number of days' sail between the several newly found lands, 
 the striking description of the coast, especially the sand banks of 
 Nova Scotia, and the loug beaches and downs of a peculiar ap- 
 pearance on Cape Cod are not to be mistaken; in addition hereto 
 we have the astronomical remark that the shortest day in Vinland 
 was nine hours long, which fixes the latitude forty-one degrees, 
 twenty-four minutes, ten seconds; or just that of the promon- 
 tories which limit the entrance to Mount Hope Bay, where Leif's 
 booths were built, and in the district around which the old 
 Northmen had their head establishment, which was named by 
 them Hop, or The Creek." 
 
 Although this conclusion of Professor Rafn's was written 
 some years ago, there seems, after all, to have been no arguments 
 brought forward absolutely to disprove his conclusion. Especi- 
 ally since one of the latest writers, William Babcock in an article 
 entitled "Early Norse Visits to North America," published in 
 1912, Vol. 59, section 19, of Smithsonian Miscellaneous Collec- 
 tions, writes: 
 
 "Hop, their most southern point, was either on the eastern 
 coast of New England, below Maine, or in Narragansett Bay, 
 with a slight preponderance of probability for the latter." 
 
 We, then, as loyal Newporters, may believe that indications 
 point more clearly to this bay than to any other; that the cape of 
 the Wonder Strands was Cape Cod, with its long and wide sandy 
 beaches, its tremendous tides, and its dangerous shoals, and that 
 the many islands to which they came after leaving the cape were 
 
 14 
 
the island of Martha's Vineyard and the Elizabeth Isles, while 
 the bay into which they sailed, and where they spent the follow- 
 ing winter, was Narragansett Bay, where the mildness of the 
 weather exceeds that which can be found anywhere north of this 
 region. 
 
 We shall see from the visits of later explorers that the 
 Indians of this island were not at the time of their visits of a 
 savage nature, but it is quite likely that during the five centuries 
 which followed this supposed visit of the Norsemen, the Indian 
 tribes may have entirely changed. 
 
 In regard to the vines and wheat which were found growing 
 so profusely, we can not lay claim to anything more than perhaps 
 greater fertility than could be found further north and as we have 
 said the statement that there came no snow in the land would 
 seem also to apply more particularly to this island than to any of 
 the surrounding country, for as we all know, there are many 
 winters in which we have practically none at all. 
 
 In conclusion, while we should like to affirm that this island 
 was the spot visited by the Norsemen, all we can say is that it 
 was more likely than any other region to have been that cele- 
 brated country called Vinland the Good. 
 
 Perhaps, therefore, with a fair degree of probability we can 
 imagine the waters of this quiet bay disturbed by the ships of the 
 Norsemen, about the year looo, and that the first acquaintance 
 which the native Indians had with Europeans was with these 
 hardy mariners, who left their impress and their fame through 
 all the coast country from here to Greenland, to Iceland, and 
 upon the rugged shores of northern Europe. 
 
 I have said nothing regarding the old Stone Mill, nor that 
 curious inscription upon the rock which is called the Dighton 
 Stone, to the north of us, because these seem after careful inves- 
 tigation to have no connection whatever with the visit of the 
 Norsemen to our shores. When they sailed away to their own 
 country, they left no evidences, so far as we know, of their visit, 
 and the shores of the bay became as wild and as still as though 
 there had been no visitors from the other hemisphere. 
 
 15 
 
VERRAZANO'S VISIT 
 
 Vox five hundred years after the departure of these hardy ex- 
 florers from the north, the shores of this bay were untrodden by 
 European feet, and its waters stirred by no vessel larger than the 
 anoes of the natives. But soon after 1492 — the year of the 
 amous voyage of Columbus — other parts of our coast had become 
 amiliar to the European explorers. Spaniards, French and Eng- 
 ish had followed in the wake of Columbus, and had explored the 
 ountry from the West Indies along the coast as far as the Caro- 
 inas, and some even had sailed into Chesapeake Bay. 
 
 To the north of us only the Cabots, father and son, had 
 allowed the path marked out by the Norsemen, and visited our 
 ar northern coasts. In 1498 Sebastian Cabot had carried his ex- 
 plorations as far south as Cape Cod. But although it is probable 
 hat he sailed across the water from the Nantucket Shoals to 
 'hesapeake Bay, it is not likely that either he or any other ex- 
 ilorers at that time visited the beautiful bay of New York, or the 
 till more beautiful bay of Narragansett. 
 
 It was in 1524 that the first account of this bay was written, 
 ly Verrazano, a distinguished Florentine explorer. 
 
 It will be remembered that the explorations from the south 
 lad reached no further north than Chesapeake Bay, and voyagers 
 rom the north had examined the coast only as far south as Cape 
 2od or Martha's Vineyard. Between these two points, Martha's 
 /ineyard and the Chesapeake, existed an absolutely unknown 
 ountry, and many geographers of that day in Europe believed 
 hat the long desired route to the East Indies would be found 
 )etween those two points. 
 
 Francis the First of France determined to take a prominent 
 )art in these investigations, and he engaged Verrazano to lead a 
 French expedition, in the hope of both discovering this passage 
 Cathay, and also coming upon lands which might prove to the 
 French as productive of wealth as the West Indies and South 
 \merica and Central America had been to the Spaniards. 
 
 Giovanni de Verrazano was born in Florence in 1480, and 
 jeems early in life to have become a sailor. His first experience 
 it sea was as a corsair, or privateer, as were so many of the 
 
 16 
 
enterprising sailors of that day. Indeed he continued in this 
 business until having attracted the attention of Francis the First, 
 he was engaged by him upon this voyage of exploration. His 
 own description of his discoveries is contained in a letter which 
 he wrote to King Francis, dated at Dieppe July 8, 1524. When 
 or in what language this letter was first published we do not 
 know. The first English translation of it appears in a collection 
 of voyages printed by Hakluyt in 1582, and is the first and most 
 highly valued, and the rarest of the many publications which he 
 issued. It is noticeable that this account is the first description 
 printed in English of any part of what is now known as the 
 United States. 
 
 The letter is of such great interest that I am tempted to 
 quote quite fully from it; using this first English translation pub- 
 lished in 1852 by Richard Hakluyt in his first book "Diverse 
 Voyages to America." 
 
 *'To the most christian King of France, Francis the First, 
 the relation of John Verrazano, a Florentine, of the land by him 
 discovered in the name of His Magestie, written on the 8th of 
 July, 1524. 
 
 "I wrote not to Your Magestie, most christian King, since 
 the time we suffered the tempest in the north parts, of the 
 success of the four ships which Your Magestie sent forth to dis- 
 cover new lands by the ocean, thinking Your Magestie had been 
 already informed thereof. Now, by these presents, I v>^ill give 
 Your Magestie to understand how, by the violence of the winds, 
 we were forced with the two ships, the Norman and the Dolphin, 
 in such evil case as they were, to land in Britaine (Brittany). 
 Where, after we had repaired them in all points as was needed, 
 and armed them very well, we took our course along by the coast 
 of Spaine. Afterwards with the Dolphin alone we determined to 
 make discovery of the new countries, to prosecute the navigation 
 we had already begun, which I purpose at this present to recount 
 to Your Magestie, to make manifest the whole proceeding of the 
 matter. The 15th of January, the year 1524, by the grace of 
 God, we departed from the dishabited rock by the Isle of Madera, 
 appertaining to the King of Portingall, with fifty men, with 
 victuals, weapons, and other ship munitions, very well provided 
 and furnished for eight moneths, (sic) , and sailing westwards, with 
 
 17 
 
a fair easterly wind, in twenty-five days we ran five hundred 
 leagues, and the 20th of February, we were overtaken with as 
 sharp and terrible a tempest as ever any sailor suffered, whereof 
 with the Divine help and merciful assistance of Almighty God, 
 and the goodness of our ship, accompanied with the good hap 
 of her fortunate name, (Dolphin was in French Dauphine) we 
 were delivered, and with a prosperous wind, followed our course 
 west and by north, and in twenty-five days we made about four 
 hundred leagues more, where we discovered a new land, never 
 before seen of any man, either ancient or modern, and at the 
 first sight it seemed somewhat low, but being within a quarter of 
 a league of it, we perceived by the great fires that we saw by the 
 seacoast that it was inhabited." NoTE — (This seems to have 
 been the coast of New Jersey, and only by a few miles did they 
 fail to discover the Chesapeake Bay, for after running a few 
 leagues to the south, they turned their ship to the north). "And 
 sailing forwards we found certain small rivers and arms of the sea 
 that entered certain creeks, washing the shore on both sides as the 
 coast lieth, and beyond this we saw the open country rise in 
 height above the land, with many fair fields and plains full 
 of mighty great woods, replenished with diverse sorts of trees, 
 as pleasant and as delectable to behold as is possible to imagine." 
 (This would appear to be the Navesink Highlands and the 
 entrance to New York Bay). "The land," he writes, "is full 
 of many beasts, as stags, deer and hares, likewise of lakes and 
 pools, fresh water, with great plenty of fowls convenient for all 
 kind of pleasant game. This land is in latitude thirty-four 
 Note — (apparently an error) with good and wholesome air, 
 temperate, between hot and cold. Sea is calm, the waves gentle, 
 and although all the shore be somewhat low here, it is not danger- 
 ous to the sailors, being free from rocks and deep, so that within 
 four or five feet of the shore it is twenty foot deep of water, with- 
 out ebb or flow. We departed from this place, still running 
 along the coast, which we found turned toward the east, while 
 we rode on that coast, partly because it had no harbor ; and for 
 that we wanted water, we sent our boat ashore with twenty-five 
 men, where, by reason of great and continuous waves that beat 
 against the shore, being an open coast, without succor none of 
 our men could possibly get ashore without losing our boat." 
 
 18 
 
Note — (This evidently is the shore of Long Island.) "Depart- 
 ing from thence, followed the shore, which trended somewhat 
 towards the north." Note— (Here he was evidently ronnding 
 Montauk Point). "In fifty leagues' space Note— (from New 
 York bay) we came to another land, which showed much more 
 fair, and full of woods, being very great, where we rode at 
 anchor, and that we might have some knowledge thereof, we sent 
 twenty men aland, which entered into the country about two 
 leagues." Note — (From further descriptions this would appear 
 to be the entrance to Long Island Sound, and where they landed, 
 either the eastern end of Long Island or the present location of 
 New London.) "Leaving this land, to our great discontentment, 
 for the great commodity and pleasantness thereof, which we sup- 
 pose is not without some riches, all the hills showing mineral 
 matters in them, we weighed anchor and sailed toward the east, 
 for so the coast trended. And so always for fifty leagues 
 but in the sight thereof, we discovered an island in form of a 
 triangle, distant from the mainland three leagues, about the 
 bigness of the Isle of Rhodes. It was full of hills, covered with 
 trees, well peopled, for we saw fires all along the coast. We 
 gave the name of it of Your Magestie's mother, not stopping 
 there by reason of the weather being contrary." Note — (This 
 was Block Island. The name of the King's mother was Louisa, 
 his wife's name Claudia ; both names were for a short time asso- 
 ciated with this island, which was later and permanently called 
 for its first European visitor.) 
 
 He now proceeds describing their visit to this bay. 
 
 " And we came to another land, being fifteen leagues dis- 
 tant from the island, where we found a passing good haven, 
 Note -(our outer harbor) wherein being entered, we found 
 about twenty small boats of the people, which, with diverse cries 
 and wonderings, came about our ship, coming no nearer than 
 fifty paces toward us. They stayed and beheld the artificialness 
 of our ship, our shape and apparel, then they all made a loud 
 shout together, declaring that they rejoiced. When we had 
 something animated them, using their jests, they came so near 
 us that we cast them certain bells and glasses and many toys, 
 which, when they had received they looked on them with laugh- 
 ing, and came without fear aboard our ship. There were amongst 
 
 19 
 
lese people two kings of so goodly stature and shape as is possi- 
 le to declare. The eldest was about forty years of age, the 
 icond was a young man of twenty years old. Their apparel 
 as on this manner. The elder had upon his naked body a 
 art's skin, wrought artificially with diverse branches, like 
 amask. His head was bare, with the hair tied up behind with 
 i verse knots. About his neck he had a large chain, garnished 
 'ith diverse stones of sundry colors. The young man was 
 Imost appareled after the same manner. This is the goodliest 
 eople, and of the fairest conditions, that we have found in this 
 ur voyage. They exceed us in bigness, they are of the color of 
 rass, some of them inclined more to whiteness, others are of a 
 ellow color, of comely visage, with long and black hair, which 
 ley are very careful to trim and deck up. They are black and 
 uick eyed. I write not to your Magestie of the other part of 
 leir body, for all is of such proportion as appertains to any 
 audsome man. The women are of the like conformity and 
 eauty, very handsome and well favored. They are as well 
 lannered and continent as any women of good education. They 
 over themselves with a deer skin, branched or embroidered, as 
 3e men use. There are also of them which were on the': arms 
 ery rich skins of leopards. They adorn their heads with diverse 
 rnaments made of their own hair, which hang down before and 
 oth sides of their breasts. Others use other ways of dressing 
 lemselves, like unto the women of Egypt and Syria. These 
 re of the elder sort, and when they are married, they wear 
 i verse toys, according to the usage of the people of the east, as 
 '^ell men as women. 
 
 "Among whom we saw some plates of wrought copper, 
 ^hich they esteem more than gold, which for the color they make 
 o account of, for that, among all other, it is counted the basest, 
 'hey make most account of azure and red. The things which 
 ley esteemed most of all those which we gave them were bells, 
 rystal, of azure color, and other toys to hang at their ears 
 r about their neck. They did not desire cloth of silk or of gold, 
 mch less of any other sort. Neither cared they for things made 
 f steel and iron, which we often showed them in our armor, 
 diich they made no wonder at, and in beholding them, they only 
 sked the art of making them. The like they did at our glasses, 
 
 20 
 
which, when they beheld, they suddenly laughed and gave them 
 us again. They are very liberal, for they give that which they 
 have. We became great friends with these, and one day we 
 entered into the haven with our ship, whereas before we rode a 
 league off at sea, by reason of the contrary weather." Note — 
 (The haven is believed by all scholars to have been our inner 
 harbor, inside the Torpedo Station). "They came in great 
 companies of their small boats into the ship, with their faces all 
 bepainted with diverse colors, showing us that it was a sign of 
 joy, bringing us of their victuals. They made signs to us where 
 we might safest ride in the haven, for the safeguard of our ship, 
 keeping still our company. And after we were come to an 
 anchor, we bestowed fifteen days in providing ourselves many 
 necessary things. Nearly every day the people repassed to see 
 our ship, bringing their wives with them, whereof they are very 
 jealous, and they themselves entering aboard the ship, and stay- 
 ing there a good space, caused their wives to stay in their boats, 
 and for all the entreaty we could make them, offering to give 
 them diverse things, we could never obtain that they would 
 suffer them to come aboard our ship. And oftentimes one of the 
 two kings, coming with his queen and many gentlemen for their 
 pleasure, to see us, they all stayed on the shore two hundred 
 paces from us, sending a final boat to give us intelligence of their 
 coming, saying they would come to see our ship. This they did 
 in token of safety, and as soon as they had answer from us, they 
 came immediately, and having stayed a while to behold it, they 
 wondered at hearing the cries and noise of the mariners. The 
 queen and her maids stayed in a very light boat at an island a 
 quarter of a league off, while the king abode a long space in our 
 ship, uttering diverse conceits with gestures, viewing with great 
 admiration all the furniture of the ship, demanding the property 
 of everything particularly. He took likewise great pleasure in 
 beholding our apparel, and in tasting our meats, and so courte- 
 ously taking his leave, departed. And sometimes our men, stay- 
 ing for two or three days on a little island near the ship, for 
 diverse necessaries as for the use of seamen, he returned with 
 seven or eight of his gentlemen to see what we did, and asked of 
 us oftimes if we meant to make any long abode, and offering us 
 of their provision. Then the king, drawing his bow and running 
 
 21 
 
• and down with his gentlemen, made much sport to gratify our 
 2n. We were oftentimes within the land five or six leagues," 
 DTE — (This would seem to include our own island of Rhode 
 land.) "which we found as pleasant as is possible to declare, 
 ry apt for any kind of husbandry, of corn, wine and oil, for 
 ere are plains twenty-five or thirty leagues broad, open and 
 thout any impediment of trees, of such fruitfulness that any 
 2d being sown therein will bring forth most excellent fruit, 
 e entered afterwards into the woods, which we found so great 
 d thick that any army, were it never so great, might have hid 
 elf therein. The trees thereof are oaks, cypress trees, and 
 her sorts unknown in Europe. We found pomi appit, damson 
 ies, and other trees, and many other sorts of fruits differing 
 )m ours. There are beasts in great abundance, as harts, deers, 
 )pards, and other kinds which they take with their nets and 
 ws, which are their chief weapons. The arrows which they 
 e are made with great cunning, and instead of iron, they head 
 em with smerigho, with sharpened stone and hard marble, and 
 her sharp stones, which they use instead of iron to cut trees, 
 id make their boats of one whole piece of wood, making it 
 )llow, with great and wonderful art, wherein ten or twelve men 
 ay be commodiously . Their oars are short, and broad at the end, 
 id they use them in the sea without any danger and by main 
 rce of arms Note — (as the Indians always paddled), with as 
 eat speediness as they lift themselves (probably meaning run.) 
 'e saw their houses, made in circular or round form, ten or 
 ^elve foot in compass, made with half circles of timber, separate 
 le from another, without any order of building, covered with 
 ats of straw, wrought cunningly together, which save them 
 om the wind and rain, and if they had the order of building and 
 ^rfect skill of workmanship as we have, there were no doubt but 
 at they would also make eftsoones great and stately buildings. 
 3r all the seacoasts are full of clear and glittering stones and 
 abaster, and therefore it is full of good havens and harbor for 
 lips. They move the foresaid houses from one place to another, 
 ;cording to the commodity of the place and the season, wherein 
 ley will make their abode, and only taking of the cover. They 
 ive other houses builded incontinent. The father and the 
 hole family dwell together in one house in great numbers ; in 
 
 22 
 
some of them we saw twenty-five or thirty persons. They feed 
 of pulse, which do grow in that country with better order of 
 husbandry than in the others. They observe in their sowing the 
 course of the moon and the rising of certain stars, and diverse 
 other customs spoken of by antiquity. Moreover they live by 
 hunting and fishing, they live long and are seldom sick, and if 
 they chance to fall sick at any time, they heal themselves with 
 fire, without any physician, and they say that they die for very 
 age. They are very pitiful and charitable towards their neigh- 
 bors, they make great lamentations in their adversity, and in 
 their misery the kindred reckon up all their felicity. At their 
 departure out of life, they use mourning mixed with singing, 
 which continueth for a long space. This is as much as we could 
 learn of them. This land is situated in the parallel of Rome in 
 forty-one degrees, two terces, but somewhat more cold, by acci- 
 dental cause and not of nature (as I will declare unto Your 
 Highness elsewhere). Describing at this present the situation of 
 the foresaid country, which lieth east and west, I say that the 
 mouth of the haven lieth open to the south half a league broad, 
 and being entered within it between the east and the north, it 
 stretches for two leagues, where it waxeth broader and broader, 
 and maketh a gulf about twenty leagues in compass. Herein 
 are five small islands, very fruitful and pleasant, full of high 
 and broad trees, among which islands any great navy may ride 
 safe without any fear of tempest or other danger. Afterwards 
 turning towards the south, and entering into the haven on both 
 sides, there are most pleasant hills, with many rivers of most 
 clear water falling into the sea. 
 
 "In the midst of this entrance, there is a rock of free stone, 
 growing by nature, apt to build any castle or fortress there for 
 the keeping of the haven." NoTE— (This is supposed by some 
 to mean Goat Island, now the Torpedo Station, but it may apply 
 to any of the numerous islands or points about the harbor.) 
 "The first of May," Note— (he had arrived there April 21, 
 1524) "being furnished with all things necessary, we departed 
 from the said coast, keeping along in the sight thereof, and we 
 sailed one hundred and fifty leagues, finding it always after one 
 manner, but the land somewhat higher, with certain mountains, 
 all which bear a show of mineral matter. We saw (visited) not 
 
 23 
 
the land there in any place, because the weather served our turn 
 for sailing, but we suppose that it was like to the former. Note 
 — (he seems to have sailed outside of Martha's Vineyard.) The 
 coast ran eastward for the space of fifty leagues, and trended after- 
 wards to the north. We found another land full of thick woods, 
 the trees whereof were various cypresses and such like as are 
 wont to grow in cold countries." NoTE — (He had now reached 
 the coast of Maine, from which he took his departure for France.) 
 
 This most satisfactory description of our bay needs nothing 
 to be added to make plain to us the condition of the country and 
 the character of the natives, and it seems strange that more has 
 not been made in the historical accounts of our country of this 
 remarkable voyage of Verrazano. Apparently from the fact of 
 its not being followed up for a century by other visitors to our 
 shores, it has been passed over, while attention has been directed 
 to those parts of the country which were at that time settled, and 
 have been continuously occupied ever since. To the Rhode 
 Islander, however, and especially the dweller in Newport, there 
 is an interest and a charm in this first description of our bay, 
 causing us to love to linger over it, and in imagination to picture 
 to ourselves these adventurous Frenchmen and Italians wandering 
 over these familiar hills. 
 
 For one hundred years after the visit of Verrazano, there is 
 no certain evidence that the waters of the bay were disturbed by 
 the keel of any European Ship. It is indeed declared that 
 Stephen Gomez, sent on a voyage of exploration by Emperor 
 Charles the Fifth of Spain, having landed at Newfoundland, 
 thence sailed to the south, and coasted along "a pretty large ex- 
 tent of country, as far south as the fortieth degree of latitude," 
 which would make probable his rounding Cape Cod, and perhaps 
 proceeding as far as the Hudson River, which he seems to have 
 called the Rio de San Antonio. But if he sailed into our bay, he 
 left no account of it, and it is likely that the natives of the place 
 saw nothing more of him than the passing of his ship far out 
 upon the sea. This was in 1524 or 25. 
 
 Following him came a number of fishing vessels as far as the 
 Gulf of St. Lawrence and the banks of Newfoundland, and in 
 15-^5 Jacques Cartier sailed up the St. Lawrence to Montreal. 
 But neither these, nor later explorers, so far as I have been able 
 
 24 
 
to ascertain, give any evidence of having visited our bay. Bar- 
 tholomew Gosnold in 1602 rounded Cape Cod, and gave it its 
 name. He also gave the name of Elizabeth Islands to that row 
 of isles still bearing the name, between Buzzards Bay and Vine- 
 yard Sound, but even he seems to have stopped there, and to 
 have come no further west. 
 
 Soon after the year 1600 the French, under Depoutrincourt, 
 pushed their way down from the east and laid claim to all the 
 land as far as Cape Cod, upon which they placed the cross, and 
 took possession in the name of the king of France. This claim 
 did not long hold good, for soon the English established forts 
 about all this country, with varying degrees of permanency. 
 
 Henry Hudson passed by, probably within sight of the land, 
 in 1609; a party of French from Mt. Dessert in 1613; and in the 
 following year came one whose name will ever be associated with 
 this part of the coast — Captain John Smith, who also passed by 
 at sea, and gave his attention to the land further east, printing in 
 his account of his voyages for the first time in any book the name 
 of New England. 
 
 But still our bay remained unvisited. 
 
 Indeed, for some reason, this coast between Martha's Vine- 
 yard and Delaware, which was the last along the shore of the 
 present United States to be explored, seems to have attracted 
 little attention in those days, for it had neither the fishing possi- 
 bilities of the waters further east, nor the supposed wealth of 
 the land in the south, and that which was later to become the 
 most important part of the American coast was then left to the 
 Indians and wild animals. 
 
 25 
 
THE VISIT OF ADRAENE BLOECKE 
 
 Soon after this however the Dutch, having established them- 
 selves in the Island of Manhattan, engaged in explorations along 
 :he coast, and in laying claim to much of the surrounding territory. 
 In 1614 Adraene Bloecke, having built a small sloop which he 
 :alled "The Restless," sailed from New York upon a tour of 
 exploration, passed through Long Island Sound, came out into the 
 ocean, and landed upon the island which now bears his name, of 
 which he then took possession in the name of the Dutch republic. 
 
 Though I have been unable to obtain a copy of the report of 
 A-draene Bloecke, there are published in the Proceedings of the 
 N^ew York Historical Society extracts from the book called De 
 Leafs New World, which was published by the Elzevirs in 1644, 
 md gives a description of the region about Manhattan, obtained 
 :rom various authors. In it the description by Captain Bloecke 
 3f our bay is thus given. 
 
 * '' 'To the north of these islands (Block Island), and within 
 the mainland, is situated the river or bay of Nassau (Narragan- 
 sett Bay), which lies from the above named Bloecke's Island 
 northeast by east, and southwest by west.' This bay or river of 
 Massau is apparently very large and wide, and according to the 
 iescription of Captain Bloecke, must be fully nine miles in width, 
 [t has in the midst of it a number of islands, which one may p jss 
 :>n either side. It extends east northeast about twenty-four miles, 
 after which it is not more than two petard shots wide, and has 
 a^enerally seven, eight, nine, five and four fathoms of water, ex- 
 :ept in a strait in the uppermost part of the ba\ , at a petard's 
 shot distance from the island in that direction, where there is but 
 nine feet water. Beyond this strait, we have again three and a 
 tialf fathoms of water; the land in this vicinity ai^pears very fine, 
 md the inhabitants seem strong of limb, and of moder.ite sizf. 
 They are somewhat shy, however, since they are not accustomed 
 :o trade with strangers, who would otherwise go there in quest of 
 beaver and fox skins, etc., for which they resort to other phicts 
 in that quarter. 
 
 ♦New York Historical Collections — New Series — 1841, v. I, p. 293. 
 
 26 
 
"From the westerly passage into this bay of Nassau, to the 
 most southerly entrance of Anchor Bay. NoTE— (perhaps Vine- 
 yard Haven) the distance is twenty-one miles, according to the 
 statement of our skippers, and the course is southeast and north- 
 west. Our countrymen have given two names to this bay, as it has 
 an island in the center, and discharges into the sea by two mouths, 
 the most easterly of which they call Anchor Bay, and the most wes- 
 terly Sloop Bay. The southeast shore of this bay runs north- 
 east by north, and north northeast. In the lower part of the bay 
 dwell the Wappenocks, a nation of savages like the rest. Cap- 
 tain Adraene Bloecke called the people who inhabit the west side 
 of this bay Nahicans, and their sagamore Nathattow, another 
 chief who is named Cachaquant. Toward the northwest side 
 there is a sandy point with a small island bearing east and west, 
 and bending so as to form a handsome bay with a sandy bottom. 
 On the right of the sandy point there is more than two fathoms 
 water. From Sloop Bay, or the most westerly passage, it is 
 twenty-four miles to the Great Bay (Long Island Sound)." 
 
 It will have been noticed that according to this account of 
 Bloecke's description of the bay, he gave it the name of Nassau 
 Bay. This seems to have been the first name attributed to this 
 body of water by any of the explorers. The name from that time 
 on varied, some explorers giving new names, and some confusing 
 the names which others had given. 
 
 Mr. Howard Millar Chapin, Librarian of the Rhode Island 
 Historical Sf^ciety, has lately issued a Cartography of Rhode 
 Island, in which he gives a very full description of the different 
 titles which have been associated with the bay and the different 
 parts of the bay. 
 
 He says that in tlie map called the Dutch Figurative Map of 
 1616, based upon the explorations of Bloecke, the Sakonnet River 
 is called the Nieuwe Rivier, the Pawtucket is called Oester 
 Riviertjen, and Mount Hope is called Genseeyland. Sloup Bay, 
 he says, "appeals across East Green wish, evidently intended to 
 signifv the west pari of Narragansett Bay. 
 
 "The next map of this part of the country is that drawn by 
 Anthony Jacobsz in 1621, on which he shows and names Oost 
 Rivier and Slotrp Hay, and B. deNassou, a name which he applies 
 
 27 
 
to the Sakonnet River, thus supplanting the Nieuwe River of the 
 Figurative Map. 
 
 "On deLaet's map of 1630, Rhode Island is shown as an 
 island (for the first time), and Sloup Bey, which is variously 
 spelled by the Dutch map makers, is given as Chaloup Bay. 
 Asher states that deLaet applied the name Anker Bay to part of 
 Narragansett Bay, but this name does not appear upon the deLaet 
 maps which I have examined. There are, indeed, considerable 
 differences in some of the various editions of the early Dutch 
 maps." 
 
 Most map makers for some time followed deLaet's map, and 
 the middle section of Narragansett Bay continued to be called 
 Ancker Bay, while the west passage and the Sakonnet River are 
 called respectively Chaloep Bay and Bay Van Nassouwe. In 
 most of these maps Conanicut is misplaced to the east of Rhode 
 Island, and called the I di Nassaw, so that the name of Nassau 
 seems to be associated almost entirely with the eastern passage of 
 the Sakonnet River, while the general middle section of the bay 
 is called Anchor Bay. 
 
 Bristol Harbor is later given the name of Golfo, from which 
 the western shore of Narragansett Bay is called Bcadelgolfo. 
 
 "The earliest map to show Conanicut and Rhode Island in 
 correct relation to each other is Colon's map, to which Ryder 
 gives the date of 1648. Here Rhode Island appears as an island, 
 and Conanicut is peculiarly misshapen. 
 
 "In the Visscher map of 1656, the name Rio Nassoui is ap- 
 plied to the west shore of the bay, at the south of which appears 
 the Sloep Baye. 
 
 "By 1784 the names were pretty fairly attributed. The 
 Van Keulen chart of that date, which is preserved in the Boston 
 Public Library, bears the names of Newport, Warren and Rhode 
 Island Harbor. 
 
 "All these Dutch maps insisted on retaining the Dutch 
 names, but already in 1634 the first English map, that of William 
 Wood, gives the name Narrogansetts Bay, which seems to be its 
 first appearance in printed form. 
 
 "In the English map of Woodward and Saffery of 1642, 
 Providence and Seekonk Plain appear. Again in 1675 John 
 Sellers combines the Dutch designation of Challops Bay with that 
 
 28 
 
of Naragansick Bay. He also gives us Providence River, East 
 Ham, Wickford, Portsmouth, Pocasset, Couanicut Island, War- 
 wick, Prudence Island, and Piuda." 
 
 It seems hardly necessary to follow the peculiar spelling of 
 the names on the different maps and publications from this date, 
 though two prominent maps referred to by Mr. Chapin deserve 
 notice. The map in Cotton Mather's "Magnalia" "adds Patiente 
 Island and Potuxet River. Wickford is misplaced at Narragan- 
 sett Pier, while Buls appears north of Wickford." 
 
 The other chart is that prepared by British naval officers in 
 1720, of which Mr. Chapin says, 
 
 "Narragansett Bay is shown as an almost square body of 
 water, with its islands grossly misdrawn and misplaced. The 
 omission of Providence, which is supplanted by Attleborough, is 
 the most striking feature of the chart. The ocean south of New- 
 port is called the Sea of Rhoad Island, while the mouth of the 
 Pawcatuck is called Mount Prospect Inlett. Two descriptive 
 notes read as follows: 
 
 " 'Rhoad Island, a Garden of Farms, Navigable for small 
 Vessels, and a place of great Trade ; the Ebbing and Flewing is 
 small.' " 
 
 "This inaccurate chart," he adds, "served as a basis for the 
 less elaborate charts that later appeared in the various editions 
 of the English pilot. That of 1731 changed the name of Point 
 Judei to Point Judith." 
 
 Though many maps have been issued since then, with gradu- 
 ally increasing accuracy, there have been no noticeable changes in 
 the nomenclature, which stands today practically as it did then. 
 
 After the visit of Adraene Bloecke, I have been able to 
 obtain no account of any visit of a ship to this bay, although 
 there is no doubt that the Dutchmen from New Amsterdam 
 traded continually with the Indians, especially those in the 
 Narragansett country, and the name of Dutch Island, attached as 
 we know to an island to the west of Couanicut, bears evidence 
 of the visits of these people. The records of Plymouth Colony 
 also refer to their sending vessels to trade with the Indians in the 
 bay. 
 
 It is interesting to note that in a map published in 1700, 
 which has come into my possession, the dividing line between 
 
 29 
 
New Belgium, as it was called, and Nova Anglia, or New Eng- 
 land, is drawn down through the center of our bay, showing that 
 the Dutchmen claimed all the country wisst of us. The lines of 
 division between the different provinces were then very uncertain 
 and variable, and it was some years before it was definitely 
 settled and acknowledged by all that the whole of Narragansett 
 Bay belonged to England. 
 
 We are thus brought to the end of this uncertain period in 
 the history of our bay, to the time when Blackstone and Roger 
 Williams, and our own predecessors under John Clarke and 
 Coddington, bought all this land from the Indians, and made a 
 permanent settlement here, turning the wilderness into a place 
 of civilized habitation. 
 
 SOCIETY NOTES 
 
 The history of the Society, al- 
 most since its commencement, has 
 been associated with the name of 
 Tilley, Mr. R. H. TiUey having 
 been for many years the librarian, 
 and indeed the sole official, and 
 having conducted the affairs of the 
 Society with marked ability. His 
 interest in all things historical, and 
 his knowledge of the past of New- 
 port, gave luster to the early days 
 of this organization, and when at 
 his death the position of librarian 
 was accepted by his daughter. Miss 
 Edith M. Tilley, the same enthu- 
 siasm and ability was manifested 
 from the first in her conduct of the 
 affairs of the Society. 
 
 It is therefore with great regret 
 that all the friends of the Society 
 have heard that she has sent in to 
 
 the President her resignation. 
 That the loss will be very great is 
 deeply appreciated by all. Indeed 
 in some respects it will be impossi- 
 ble to find one so well fitted for the 
 place, but we can only hope, while 
 wishing her the best success in 
 whatever foim of work she may 
 engage, that someone will be found 
 to take her place, under whose 
 guidance the Society may grow in 
 usefulness to the community; and 
 we trust that at this time of a 
 change of officials, every member 
 of the Society will be found aiding 
 in every way to increase the pros- 
 perity and usefulness of our insti- 
 tution. 
 
 Our Society is endeavoring to 
 do its part in aiding the philanthro- 
 
 30 
 
pic work of the Red Cross, having 
 voted to offer the use of its Meet- 
 ing House free of charge whenever 
 needed for the purpose of that 
 philanthropic institution, and al- 
 ready its peculiar adaptability to 
 such purposes has been proved by 
 its employment for several meet- 
 ings. 
 
 It is unfortunate that the severe 
 weather which we have been ex- 
 periencing for the last month or 
 two has put a stop to the work 
 upon the porch of our building, 
 which looks sad in its unfinished 
 condition, but the materials are all 
 on hand for its completion, as soon 
 as the state of the weather will 
 permit work upon it. 
 
 The series of addresses upon 
 "Distinguished Preachers Associ- 
 ated with the History of Newport" 
 has proved very interesting; and 
 most appreciative, if not very large 
 audiences have been gathered. 
 The subjects do not appeal to 
 those people who find their enjoy- 
 
 ment in Movies and similar enter- 
 tainments, but the serious minded 
 of the community are showing 
 their appreciation of the labor and 
 thought which are being put into 
 these papers. 
 
 Members deceased since issue of 
 last Bulletin: 
 Mrs. R. H. Tilley. 
 Mrs. James P. Kernochan 
 Mrs. Charles C. Bombaugh. 
 Mr. Julien T. Davies. 
 Mr. Gibson Fahnestock. 
 
 Members elected since last 
 Bulletin: 
 
 LIFE MEMBER 
 
 Miss Annie B. Jennings. 
 
 ANNUAL MEMBERS 
 
 Miss Mary Appleton. 
 Mr. Frank G. Kimball. 
 Mr. John S. Watts. 
 
 ASSOCIATE MEMBERS 
 
 Mrs. John H. Bryer. 
 Mr. Henry A. Kalkman. 
 Mrs Henry A. Kalkman. 
 Mr. Simon Newton. 
 
 31 
 
OFFICERS 
 
 OF THE 
 
 Newport Historical Society 
 
 For the year ending May^ igiy 
 
 President, DANIEL B. FEARING 
 First Vice-President, RODERICK TERRY 
 
 Second Vice-President, FRANK K. STURGIS 
 
 Third Vice-President, ALFRED TUCKERMAN 
 Recording Secretary, JOHN P. SANBORN 
 Corresponding Secretary, 
 
 Treasurer, HENRY C. STEVENS, Jr. 
 Librarian, EDITH MAY TILLEY 
 Curator of Coins and Medals, EDWIN P. ROBINSON 
 
 Board of Directors 
 THE OFFICERS and 
 
 FOR THREE YEARS 
 
 MRS. THOMAS A. LAWTON HAMILTON B. TOMPKINS 
 MRS. FRENCH VANDERBILT GEORGE L. RIVES 
 
 FOR TWO YEARS 
 
 MRS. C. L. F. ROBINSON GEORGE V. DICKEY 
 
 JONAS BERGNER LAWRENCE L. GILLESPIE 
 
 FOR ONE YEAR 
 
 MRS. HAROLD BROWN WILLIAM S. SHERMAN 
 
 MRS. RICHARD C. DERBY JOB A. PECKHAM 
 
BULLETIN 
 
 OF THE 
 
 Newport Historical Society 
 
 Number Twenty-Three NEWPORT, R.I. July. 1917 
 
 ANNUAL MEETING NUMBER^ 
 
 The Value of Collections of Articles 
 of Historic Interest 
 
 A Few Words Concerning the Usefulness of Our Museitni 
 
 There is a mistaken impression in some minds that all col- 
 lections of curios are of slight importance and serve only for 
 amusement. Such people are incapable of distinguishing between 
 antique objects which have an artistic or historic interest and 
 those which are simply curious ; any museum to them is associ- 
 ated with childish days. As one good but unimaginative lady 
 remarked to me a short time ago : 
 
 " The idea of a dignified Historical Society gathering curios. 
 It should give attention to things more serious." 
 
 What shall we say to such criticisms?. How explain our 
 interest in and care for the contents of our exhibition halls? 
 
 There is no way of recalling the past without imagining its 
 scenes, and such efforts of the imagination are greatly aided by 
 visible objects. The lives of men and women of other times, in 
 their homes and their daily duties and pleasures, afford intima- 
 tions of their characters, and these interpret the facts of history. 
 Weapons used inform us as to the modes of warfare, household 
 utensils as to home life, pictures and costumes give ideas of social 
 and intellectual conditions. Dead civilization passes in review as 
 we study their remains. Asia Minor, Egypt, Greece, Italy. 
 
What would we know of their golden eras were we not possessed 
 of witnesses to their artistic, social and military activities 
 unearthed after centuries? Antique houses, statues and armour 
 bring their makers before our minds as no dry descriptions could. 
 
 Consider our own predecessors in this city and state. Their 
 names come down to us in documents, their deeds are recorded, 
 but how did they act and dress? Are these questions trivial ? 
 Only to the dry-as-dust statistician. Breathing, living men and 
 women of today are not indifferent to the lesser facts in their lives 
 which went to the making of character, and laid the foundation 
 of mental and spiritual strength. 
 
 Perhaps that one among our own relics which carries us 
 back the farthest in the history of our city is the old chair once 
 belonging to Governor Benedict Arnold. Simply an old-fash- 
 ioned chair, but an imaginative mind can from this reconstruct 
 the furniture of the house of this distinguished man, who 
 governed Rhode Island nine years in all, between 1656 and 1672. 
 
 He was the first known owner and the probable builder of 
 the Old Stone Mill. The resting place of his bones is now the 
 subject of barter, and we hope may be rescued from destruction. 
 As we imagine this fine old man sitting in this chair, we are 
 happy to know that no suspicion could enter his mind that a 
 descendant of his own name should, in the hour of the greatest 
 trial of the nation which he was helping to found, make that 
 honored name a by- word and a hissing throughout all the nations 
 of the world. 
 
 All this, you say, we should know without possessing this 
 chair. True, — but these weak minds of ours sometimes need to 
 be stirred to recollection by that which our eyes behold. 
 
 To the same period belongs the iron fire back dated 1655. 
 Think of it, with only a few houses and many Indians on the 
 Island, there could be such luxury ! 
 
 How many of us know that there was once a church of the 
 Moravian Brethren in Newport ? Jews, Quakers, Protestants of 
 many creeds in the early days were here : perhaps it requires 
 the mute witness of a chair which once was in the Moravian 
 Church to lead us to unearth the history of this Christian body 
 also. 
 
 Bishop Berkeley we can not forget, but even our thoughts of 
 
him are made more vivid as we look upon the old latch from 
 White Hall, and idly finger the now voiceless keyboard of the 
 organ which he gave to Trinity Church in 1733, and are reminded 
 of the peculiar views of the ecclesiastical ancestors of some of us, 
 as we recall that this same organ had been refused by the Congre- 
 gational Church of Berkeley, Massachusetts, as conducive to 
 worldly and devilish delights. 
 
 But we must resist the temptation to continue longer in this 
 strain, for it would take a long paper to record but a few of the 
 thoughts which are suggested by the hundreds of interesting 
 articles contained in our Museum. These few lines are written 
 in the hope that they may interest all our members in these accu- 
 mulations of many years, and tend to increase in them a desire to 
 understand the lives and the characters of those who have pre- 
 ceded us in dwelling upon this beautiful island. 
 
 Roderick Terry. 
 
 ANNUAL MEETING 
 
 The Annual Meeting of the Society was held Tuesday after- 
 noon, May 22nd, the President in the chair, with a large attend- 
 ance of members. 
 
 The President in a few graceful words congratulated the 
 Society upon its progress during the past year, and its possession 
 of the entirely completed building, and then called for the reading 
 of the minutes and the reports, which will be found in full in 
 this Bulletin. 
 
 The following resolutions of appreciation of the work done 
 by the retiring librarian, Miss Tilley, were presented by Dr. 
 Terry and unanimously adopted : 
 
 Resolved, That the members of the Newport Historical 
 Society, at this their Annual Meeting, having heard with great 
 regret of the unwillingness of Miss Edith May Tilley to serve 
 longer as librarian, desire to place upon record their appreciation 
 of the devotion which she has given to the Society during the 
 many years of her service in its behalf. 
 
On March t8, 1884, Mr. R. Hammett Tilley entered upon 
 his duties as librarian of the Society, and during this past third 
 of a century, the life of the Society, its success and its progress, 
 have been almost entirely in the hands of that family. The 
 ability and the labors of Mr. Tilley have been well recognized in 
 previous Resolutions, and we are today pleased to place on record 
 our full confidence that under his daughter (who upon his death 
 in 1910 succeeded him) the Society has gone forward with even 
 more rapid strides, and has taken a position of ever-increasing 
 influence and usefulness in the community. 
 
 In the work of organization and administration, her efforts 
 have been peculiarly successful ; and through her constant com- 
 munication with students of history and genealogy, she has made 
 the name of this institution to be known in all parts of our coun- 
 try. 
 
 We express to Miss Tilley our earnest hopes that by the rest 
 which she is seeking, her health may be entirely restored, and 
 that in the work upon which she expects to enter, she may find 
 pleasure and profit. 
 
 Resolutions of thanks to the donors of the new porch in the 
 front of the building, Mrs. French Vanderbilt and Dr. Terry, 
 were also adopted. Hon. George Peabody Wetmore was then 
 re-elected a delegate to the Gen. Nathaniel Greene Memorial As- 
 sociation. 
 
 At the close of the business meeting. Miss Simpson sang a 
 patriotic song, — "Your Flag and My Flag." The President 
 then read a very interesting paper upon "The Making of an 
 Angling Library," a subject upon which he is most competent to 
 speak, as he himself has been the owner of one of the finest in the 
 world, which he has now presented to Harvard University. The 
 address was fully appreciated by the audience, and their thanks 
 were expressed formally to the President at his conclusion. 
 
 After the meeting, light refreshments were served, and the 
 members visited the various parts of the building. 
 
Reports Presented at the Annual Meeting 
 
 REPORT OF THE SECRETARY 
 
 To THE Officers and Members of the Newport Histori- 
 cal Society : 
 
 Since the annual report of May 24, 1916, the Society has 
 held three regular meetings, at which the following addresses 
 were presented : 
 
 August 12, 1916. " The Scope and Purpose of an Histori- 
 cal Society in Newport," by Hon. William P. Sheffield. 
 
 November 20, 1916, an illustrated lecture on "Windmills 
 and the Old Stone Mill at Newport," by Mr. F. H. Shelton of 
 Philadelphia. 
 
 February 19, 191 7, " The First European Visitors to Narra- 
 gansett Bay," by Rev. Dr. Roderick Terry. 
 
 Special meetings have been held, with addresses as follows: 
 "Rev. George Whitefield", by Rev. William I. Ward, on January 
 2d, 191 7. "Rev. Dr. Samuel Hopkins", by Rev. Claris E. Silcox, 
 on February 6th, 1917. "Bishop George Berkeley", by Rev. 
 Stanley C. Hughes, on March 6th, 1917. "Rev. Dr. William 
 Ellery Channing", by Rev. W. Safford Jones, on Apr. 3d, 1917. 
 "Dr. John Clarke", by Rev. Dr. Franklin G. McKeever, on May 
 8th, 1917. 
 
 All of these meetings have been held in our old Meeting 
 House, with very good audiences. This series of lectures on 
 Distinguished Preachers of Newport has created a great deal of 
 interest. 
 
 The Directors have held eight meetings this year. 
 
 48 members have been elected ; 14 members have deceased; 
 5 members have resigned. 
 
 The present membership is 457. 
 
 Respectfully submitted, 
 
 John P. Sanborn. 
 
REPORT OF THE TREASURER 
 
 Report of the Treasurer, Newport Historical Society, for the 
 
 Tr\Tf\-Tr\T T 
 
 year 1916-1917 
 
 RECEIPTS 
 
 Balance 1916, 
 
 
 
 
 $^3-73 
 
 State of Rhode Island, 
 
 
 
 
 1,000.00 
 
 City of Newport, 
 
 
 
 
 770.10 
 
 Rentals, 
 
 
 
 
 344-75 
 
 L<oan, 
 
 
 
 
 200.00 
 
 Dues, &c., 
 
 
 
 
 1,357-88 
 
 
 $3,686.46 
 
 
 PAYMENTS 
 
 
 
 
 Salary Librarian, 
 
 
 
 
 $1,000.00 
 
 Salary Asst. Librarian, 
 
 ) 
 
 
 
 240.00 
 
 Salary Janitor, 
 
 
 
 
 728.00 
 
 Interest, 
 
 
 
 
 278.28 
 
 City of Newport, 
 
 
 
 
 770.10 
 
 Sundries, 
 
 
 
 
 369.97 
 
 Balance, 
 
 
 
 
 300.11 
 $3,686.46 
 
 Balance : General Fund, 
 
 
 $300 
 
 i.ii 
 
 
 Book Fund, 
 
 
 lie 
 
 •.56 
 
 
 Building Fund, 
 
 
 12 
 
 .10 
 
 
 
 Respectfully ; 
 
 submitted. 
 
 
 
 H. 1 
 
 C. Stevens, Jr. 
 
REPORT OF THE LIBRARIAN 
 
 The librarian respectfully submits her seventh annual report 
 to the officers and members of the Newport Historical Society : 
 
 1242 books and pamphlets have been added to the library, 
 including several collections, one of 425 from Redwood Library. 
 Many single issues of early newspapers have been added to the 
 files. 
 
 389 letters have been received, requesting information, all of 
 which have been answered. This number, of course, does not 
 include routine correspondence. 
 
 Unusually interesting and valuable relics have been acquired 
 this year. Now that we have a safe place for storage, and at- 
 tractive exhibition halls, people are glad to place their cherished 
 possessions in our care. Dr. Stanton has given us a particularly 
 fine old wardroble of San Domingo mahogany, and we have its 
 history from the time it was imported by Constant Tabor until it 
 came to us. 
 
 A very valuable collection of Indian baskets has been donated 
 by Miss Edgar, Mrs. Gallwey and Mr. Hermann LeRoy Edgar. 
 These baskets have been identified and classified by Miss Folsom 
 of the Hampton Institute Museum, and have created much inter- 
 est among our visitors. A collection of Civil War relics from 
 Mrs. Hamilton Lieber is also of great interest. Civil War relics 
 seem to appeal to old and young, and it is hoped that everyone 
 who has these precious relics will be willing to deposit them 
 with us. 
 
 Several important and valuable portraits and miniatures have 
 been placed on our walls. A collection of Cranston portraits, 
 from Mrs. Rebecca Douglas and Mrs. Mary Atkinson have at- 
 tracted much attention, and the portrait of Abby Bradford de 
 Wolf, daughter of an owner of Vaucluse, which was painted by 
 Jane Stuart, has a double interest for Newporters. 
 
 Mr. Amory Auston has again deposited with us his valuable 
 bust of George Washington; and Mrs. R. R. Barker has deposited 
 a very valuable collection of blue china. Our china collection 
 has been further increased by the deposit of two old tea sets by 
 Miss Tilley, A chair used by Gilbert Stuart while painting his 
 portrait of Washington, and Jane Stuart's chair are also here on 
 deposit. 
 
 7 
 
Newport pictures; models of Newport boats; more fire relics; 
 an old fire-place; many household articles; a silver porringer 
 made by Samuel Vernon of Newport, and belonging to the Bull 
 family, and many more relics too numerous to mention here have 
 been received. Several collections of manuscripts have been ac- 
 quired; an especially valuable one is that of our late Correspond- 
 ing Secretary, Mr. George H. Richardson, obtained for us by the 
 kindness of Dr. Terry. This also contains a number of valuable 
 scrap books. 
 
 An important work this year has been the arrangement of 
 the relics and portraits, etc., in the exhibition halls, and the 
 classification and listing of the manuscript books in the vault, 
 which contains 1064 books or collections, and 190 packages of 
 manuscripts. The classification of the latter is slow, and only a 
 little can be accomplished each year, but many manuscripts are 
 available and are constantly used. Our new vault is a great 
 pleasure and convenience. 
 
 There are still many newspapers to be classified and bound. 
 Our files are fairly complete, but there must still be many old 
 issues in the Newport attics. Will not every Newporter make an 
 effort to secure these for the Society? We have made lists of the 
 newspapers in our collection, and the missing numbers may easily 
 be learned. 
 
 Our buildings have been used this year by the Newport Medi- 
 cal Society, the Newport Chapter of the Red Cross, Christian 
 Science Society, Jamestown Historical Society, General Nathaniel 
 Greene Memorial Association, William EHery Chapter, Daughters 
 of the American Revolution, Newport Improvement Association, 
 and the executive committee of the University Club. 
 
 Through the generosity of one member, the museum is open 
 on Sunday and Holiday afternoons, and while the attendance is 
 not unsatisfactory, it is hoped that during the coming year, many 
 more will avail themselves of the opportunity to inspect the col- 
 lections. These seem to be a surprise to many of our citizens, 
 and we constantly hear visitors say, "I did not know there was 
 such a place in Newport." 
 
 In presenting this her last report, the librarian feels that in 
 a small way and with the help of many friends, she has accom- 
 plished what she attempted, when, nearly seven years ago, she 
 
 8 
 
took up the work laid down by her father. His plans for the So- 
 ciety's welfare have been carried out in his own way, as far as 
 possible. The membership is four times as large; the income 
 has increased ; an additional appropriation has been secured from 
 the State; the restoration of the town records is approaching 
 completion; the new building is erected and occupied; and while 
 the Society's income is not yet sufficient to meet expenses, which, 
 however, have not been materially increased by the larger plant, 
 the required amounts may easily be raised if each member of this 
 large society will help. 
 
 Feeling keenly the constant and great responsibility of our 
 valuable possessions, needing very much a little more time for 
 her own life, and realizing that she can do better work in histori- 
 cal and genealogical research, and even in attaining the objects 
 of this Society, unhampered by the details of caring for buildings 
 and collections, and of carrying on the work of a large organiza- 
 tion, your librarian is retiring from the activities of institutional 
 work, but her interest in the Society, in its collections, and most 
 of all in its prosperity and progress, will never cease; and what- 
 ever help lies in her power will be gladly given to the Society 
 and to her successor as its executive officer. 
 
 Sincere thanks are offered to all who have helped in the at- 
 tainment of whatever success has come during these years of 
 earnest work. 
 
 Respectfully submitted, 
 
 Edith M. Tilley, 
 
 Librarian. 
 
 The Nominating committee through its chairman, Mr. 
 Tompkins, reported, presenting for re-election the present officers 
 with the exception of Miss Tilley Librarian, and Mr. Job A. 
 Peckham member of the Board of Directors, who desired to with- 
 draw. Mr. Lloyd M. Mayer, and Miss E. M. Tilley were nomi- 
 nated in their places; also Miss Maud L. Stevens as Correspond- 
 ing Secretary, in place of Mr. George H. Richardson, deceased. 
 The full ticket as thus nominated was then unanimously elected. 
 
SOCIETY NOTES 
 
 The Society is to be congratu- 
 lated upon the election of Mr. 
 Lloyd M. Mayer as Librarian. 
 
 Mr. Mayer has been for most 
 all his life a resident of Newport 
 and the Island, and is not only 
 most thoroughly familiar with 
 its history, but a deep lover of 
 its traditions. 
 
 A few years ago a paper was 
 read by him before the Society 
 upon the Battle of Rhode Island, 
 showing his interest in, and 
 knowledge of, the events of Rev- 
 olutionary times. 
 
 We believe that under his ad- 
 ministration the Society may 
 
 confidently expect to begin a life 
 of renewed vitality and useful- 
 ness. 
 
 The advent of the large num- 
 ber of enlisted men of the Navy 
 into our city has called for inter- 
 est to be manifested by all of our 
 citizens in their welfare. Our 
 Society had a reception for them 
 on one occasion, and with danc- 
 ing and refreshments made them 
 feel that we were anxious to do 
 what we could to enable them 
 pleasantly to pass their moments 
 of recreation. 
 
 BY-LAWS OF THE SOCIETY 
 
 NAME 
 
 Section L The name of this 
 Society is 'The Newport Histori- 
 cal Society.'' 
 
 OBJECT 
 
 Sec. 2. The object of this Soci- 
 ety is to discover, procure and pre- 
 serve whatever may relate to gen- 
 eral history, especially to the civil, 
 literary and ecclesiastical history of 
 the United States, the State of 
 Rhode Island, and more particularly 
 of the City and County of Newport. 
 
 MEMBERSHIP 
 
 Sec. 3. The Society shall con- 
 sist of active, life, sustaining, asso- 
 
 ciate and honorary members. Act- 
 ive, sustaining, associate and life 
 members may be elected at any 
 meeting of the Society or Directors. 
 Honorary members can be elected 
 only by the Society. Any individ- 
 ual, on payment, at one time, of 
 fifty dollars, may be elected a life 
 member, and shall thereafter be ex- 
 empt from all assessments or annual 
 tax. Such other persons as may 
 have rendered service may be 
 elected life members, and be ex- 
 empt from all assessments or tax. 
 
 OFFICERS 
 
 Sec 4. The officers of the So- 
 ciety shall be elected at the annual 
 
 10 
 
meeting (or at an adjournment 
 thereof), and shall hold their re- 
 spective offices for one year, or 
 until their successors are chosen, 
 and shall be 
 
 A President; a First Vice Presi- 
 dent; a Second Vice President; a 
 Third Vice President; a Treasurer; 
 a Recording Secretary; a Librarian; 
 a Corresponding Secretary; a Cu- 
 rator of Medals and Coins; and a 
 Board of Directors,consisting of the 
 above officers and twelve other 
 members who shall be elected at 
 the annual meeting, four for three 
 years, four for two years, and four 
 for one year, and four shall be 
 elected each year thereafter. 
 
 Sec 5. The annual meeting of 
 the Society shall be held on the last 
 Tuesday in May in each year, at 
 which meeting a report shall be pre- 
 sented by the President in behalf of 
 the Board of Directors, of all busi- 
 ness which they have transacted 
 during the preceding year, and ad- 
 ditional reports in full shall be pre- 
 sented by the Treasurer, Librarian 
 and Curator of ?/Iedals and Coins. 
 The Society shall hold regular meet- 
 ings on the third Monday of August, 
 November and February, for liter- 
 ary exercises, the election of new 
 members, and such other business 
 as may be brought before it. Spe- 
 cial meetings may be called at any- 
 time, when deemed necessary by 
 the President, or at the request of 
 three members of the Society. 
 
 THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS 
 
 Sec. 6. The government of the 
 Society shall be vested in the Board 
 of Directors, who shall have custody 
 of all buildings, funds, securities 
 and collections belonging to the So- 
 ciety; shall fix salaries, and have 
 the general control and regulation 
 of the aflFairs of the Society in the 
 intervals between the annual meet- 
 ings. They may elect active and 
 
 life members (but not Honorary 
 members) . They shall provide for 
 regular literary and other exercises; 
 and make the necessary arrange- 
 ments for promoting the objects of 
 the Society. They shall authorize 
 the disbursement and expenditure of 
 moneys in the Treasury, and make 
 such investments as may be ordered 
 by these by-laws, and by the Soci- 
 ety. They shall hold regular meet- 
 ings, at least once in two months. 
 Special meetings may be ealled,when 
 deemed necessary, by the President. 
 They shall organize as soon after the 
 annual meeting of the Society, as 
 possible, and appoint the following 
 committees: a Committee on Fi- 
 nance; a Committee on the Library 
 and Museum; a Committee on 
 Buildings and Grounds; a Commit- 
 tee on Literary Exercises; a Com- 
 mittee on Publications; a Nominat- 
 ing Committee; a Committee on 
 Increase of Membership; an Audit- 
 ing Committee. 
 
 The President of the Society shall 
 act as Chairman of the Board, and 
 the Recording Secretary of the So- 
 ciety shall act as clerk. They may 
 make such rules and regulations for 
 their own government, and for the 
 Society's Library and Museum as 
 may be necessary, not inconsistent 
 with these by-laws. Eight mem- 
 bers of the Board shall constitute a 
 quorum for business. 
 
 Sec 7. At the annual meeting 
 the Society shall assess a tax upon 
 each sustaining member of ten 
 dollars, upon each annual member 
 of two dollars, and upon each asso- 
 ciate member of one dollar, which 
 latter class shall be entitled to all 
 the privileges of the Society except 
 that of voting. 
 
 PERMANENT FUND 
 
 Sec. 8. All money received on 
 account of life members shall be in- 
 vested and placed to the credit of 
 
 11 
 
,he Permanent Fund. Other sums 
 nay, from time to time, be added to 
 ,his fund, the interest only of which 
 ;an be used for the general purposes 
 )f the Society. 
 
 QUORUM 
 
 Sec. 9. At all meetings of the 
 Society fifteen members shall consti- 
 ,ute a quorum for the transaction of 
 )usiness. 
 
 PRESIDENT 
 
 Sec. 10. The President, or in his 
 ibsence, one of the Vice Presidents, 
 'or in their absence a chairman, pro 
 empore) shall preside at all meet- 
 ngs of the Society, and shall have a 
 :asting vote. He shall preserve or- 
 ler, subject to an appeal, and at the 
 ,nnual meeting shall present a brief 
 address relative to any of the objects 
 if the Society or suggestions for its 
 \^elfare. 
 
 TRE.4SURER 
 
 Sec. 11. The Treasursr shall re- 
 eive the annual tax and other in- 
 ome of tlie Society. He shall be 
 he custodian of all its funds and 
 ecurities, and shall pay all the bills 
 gainst the Society when properl}'^ 
 pproved. He shall keep a true 
 ccount of his receipts and pay- 
 fients, and present a report, in con- 
 unction with the finance committee, 
 each meeting of the Directors, and 
 t the annual meeting of the Society 
 hall present a detailed report for 
 he year in writing. 
 
 RECORDING SECRETARY 
 
 Sec. 12. The Recording Secretary 
 hall have charge of the seal, charter, 
 y-laws and records of the Society, 
 nd act as Secretary to the Board of 
 )irectors, and shall keep a fair and 
 ccurate record of the proceedings 
 f all meetings. He shall, under 
 he direction of the President, give 
 otice of the time of all meetings of 
 he Society and Board of Directors, 
 
 and shall prepare a list of such busi- 
 ness as is brought to his attention 
 before each meeting of the Directors. 
 
 corresponding SECRETARY 
 
 Sec. 13. The Corresponding Sec- 
 retary shall promptly fill out and 
 send to all members elected notices 
 of their election, and shall con- 
 duct for the Society such corre- 
 spondence as may be required of 
 him by the President, Recording 
 Secretary or Librarian. 
 
 librarian 
 
 Sec. 14 The Librarian shall have 
 the charge and superintendence of 
 the Library and the collections of 
 the Society, and the care and ar- 
 rangement of the books, manuscripts 
 and other articles belonging to the 
 Society. He shall expend in the 
 purchase of books and other articles, 
 and for their safe keeping and pre- 
 servation, at the direction of the 
 Library Committee, such sums of 
 money as shall, from time to time, 
 be appropriated for that purpose. 
 He shall present a report at each 
 meeting of the Board of Directors 
 and at the annual meeting a general 
 report to the Society. 
 
 Sec. 15. It shall be the duty of 
 each committee to report through 
 its chairman at each meeting of the 
 Board of Directors. The Treasurer 
 shall be ex-officio a member of the 
 Finance Committee, the Librarian 
 of the Library Committee, and the 
 President of the Committee on Lit- 
 erary Exercises. 
 
 ALTERATIONS OF THESE BY-LAWS 
 
 Sec. 16. No alterations in these 
 by-laws shall be made unless such 
 changes shall have been proposed in 
 writing, at a previous meeting. 
 
 Sec. 17. These by-laws shall take 
 effect immediately, and all former 
 by-laws are hereby repealed. 
 
 i^ 
 
MEMBERS 
 
 LIFE MEMBERS 
 
 Allen, John B. 
 
 Allen, William 
 
 American Jewish Historical Society 
 
 Auchincloss, Mrs. Hugh 
 
 Batonyi, Aureil 
 
 Belmont, Angust 
 
 Belmont, Perry 
 
 Bergner, Jonas 
 
 Birckhead, Mrs. William 
 
 Brown, Mrs. Harold 
 
 Caswell, William J. S. 
 
 Connolly, Thomas B. 
 
 d'Hauteville, Mrs. Grand 
 
 Derby, Mrs. Richard C. 
 
 Fearing, Daniel B. 
 
 Fearing, Mrs. Daniel B. 
 
 Fearing. George R. 
 
 Gammell, Mrs. Robert Ives 
 
 Gammell. William 
 
 Gerry, Com. Elbridge T. 
 
 Gibbs, Mrs. Theodore K. 
 
 Goelet, Mrs. Ogden 
 
 Goelet. Robert 
 
 Grosvenor, Miss Rosa A. 
 
 Hunter, Mrs. William R. 
 
 James, Com. Arthur Curtiss 
 
 James, Mrs. Arthur Curtiss 
 
 Jennings, Miss Annie B. 
 
 King. George Gordon 
 
 King, Mrs. David 
 
 Lorillard, Louis L. 
 
 Marquand, Prof. Allan 
 
 Marquand, Henry 
 Mason, Miss Ellen 
 Mason, Miss Ida 
 McLean, Edward B. 
 McLean, Mrs. Edward B. 
 Moriarty, George Andrews, Jr. 
 Peck, Frederick S. 
 Peckham, Job Almy 
 Powel, Thomas Ives Hare 
 Richardson, Mrs. Thomas 
 Rives, George L. 
 Safe. Mrs. T. Shaw 
 Sherman, Mrs. \Y. Watts 
 Smith, Miss Esther Morton 
 Swan, James A. 
 Swan, Mrs. James A. 
 Taylor, H. A. C. 
 Taylor, Henry R. 
 Thayer, Mrs. Nathaniel 
 Tilley, Miss Edith May 
 Tompkins, Hamilton B. 
 Tuckerman, Alfred 
 Tuckerman, Mrs. Alfred 
 VanAlen J. Laurens 
 Vanderbilt, Mrs. 
 Vanderbilt, Mrs. French 
 Vernon, Mrs. J. Peace 
 Warren, George Henry 
 Warren, Mrs. Whitney 
 Webster, Hamilton Fish 
 Wetmore. Hon. George P. 
 Wildey, Mrs Anna C. 
 
 SUSTAINING MEMBERS 
 
 Beeckman, Mrs. R Livingston 
 Berwind. Mrs. Edward J. 
 Brown, Mrs. James J. 
 Brown, Mrs. John Nicholas 
 Burke-Roche, Mrs. Frances 
 Clark, Miss Elizabeth 
 Clarke, Mrs. J. Francis A. 
 Codman, Miss Martha 
 
 DeForest, George B. 
 Drexel, Mrs. John R. 
 Duncan, Mrs. Stuart 
 Dunn, Mrs. Thomas 
 Emmons, Arthur B. 
 Glyn, Mrs. William E. 
 Grosvenor, Mrs. William 
 Havemeyer, H. 0., Jr. 
 
 13 
 
Hayden, Col. Charles 
 Hazard, Miss Caroline 
 Hunt, Mrs. Livingston 
 Hunter, Miss Anna F. 
 Jacobs, Dr. Henry Barton 
 Jenckes, John 
 Neilson, Mrs. 
 Norman, Mrs. Bradford 
 Norman, Guy 
 Padeltbrd, Edward M. 
 Pierson, Gen. J. Fred 
 Potter, Mrs. Edward T. 
 
 Redmond, Henry 
 Rives, Dr. William C. 
 Robinson, Mrs. C. L. F. 
 Schreier. Eugene 
 Spencer, Mrs. Lorillard 
 Sturgis, Frank K. 
 Taller, T. Sufiern 
 Terry, Rev. Roderick 
 Terry, Mrs. Roderick 
 Van Alen, J.J. 
 Weaver, Miss Sarah C. 
 Webster, Mrs. Hamilton Fish 
 
 ANNUAL MEMBERS 
 
 Abney, John R. 
 Allen, Mrs. Crawford C. 
 Andrews, Mrs. Walter S. 
 Anderson, Dr. Alexander J. 
 Appleton, Miss Mary 
 Armstrong, William A. 
 Austin, Amory 
 Austin, George B. 
 Baker, Hon. Darius 
 Bakhmeteff, Madam 
 Balch, Mrs. Stephen Elliott 
 Baldwin, Frederick H. 
 Ball, Alwyn, Jr. 
 Barry, Louis J. 
 Bates, Mrs. Francis E. 
 Bergman, Isaac B. 
 Bispham, Mrs. George T. 
 Bliss, Richard 
 Bokee, Miss Margaret 
 Borden, Mrs. Jerome C. 
 Bristow, Mrs. W. B. 
 Buffum, William P. 
 Buffum, Mrs. Wm. P. 
 Bull, Mrs. Charles M. 
 Burdick, Clark 
 Burdick, David J. 
 Burdick, Edwin S. 
 Burgess, Prof. John W. 
 Burlingame, Robert S. 
 Burlingham, Hiram 
 Cabell, Walter Coles 
 Campbell, Dudley E. 
 Carr, Leander K. 
 Case, Philip B. 
 Caswell, John R. 
 Cerio, Mrs. George 
 
 Chadwick, Mrs. French E. 
 
 Clarke, Henry W. 
 
 Clark, Dr. Philip E. 
 
 Clark, Mrs. Philip E. 
 
 Clarke, Mrs. Wm. P., Sr. 
 
 Coggeshall, Dr. Henry 
 
 Cole, Charles M. 
 
 Cortazzo, Madame 
 
 Cortazzo, Miss Katherine 
 
 Cottrell, Charles M. 
 
 Covell, William W. 
 
 Covell, Mrs. William W. 
 
 Cozzens, J. Powel 
 
 Creighton, Mrs. J. McP. 
 
 Darlington, Rt. Rev. James H. 
 
 Davis, Rear Admiral Charles H. 
 
 Davis, Mrs. Dudley 
 
 Davis, Galen 
 
 deCanongo, Countess de San 
 
 Esteban 
 Dennis, Wm. E., Jr. 
 de Tahy, Prof. Joannes 
 Dickey, Rev. George V. 
 Downing, George Fay 
 Downing, Miss Harriet S. 
 Downing, Miss Julia T. 
 Drury, James H. 
 Duncan, Stuart 
 Dyer, Herbert 
 Easton, Arthur H. 
 Easton, Charles D., M. D. 
 Easton, Fred W. 
 Edgar, Miss Lucille R. 
 Ellery, Miss Henrietta 
 Elliott, Mrs. John 
 Ellis, Miss Helen 
 
 14 
 
Ellis, Miss Lizzie E. 
 
 Estes, Dr. Nathan A. 
 
 Estes, Mrs. Nathan A. 
 
 Eustis, George Peabody 
 
 Eustis, Mrs. George Peabody 
 
 Fagan, James P. 
 
 Ferry, Mrs. E. Hayward 
 
 Forsyth, Mrs. J. B. 
 
 Franklin, Miss Ruth 
 
 Franklin, William B. 
 
 Gardner, Mrs. Charles C. 
 
 Garrettson, Frederick P. 
 
 Gillespie, Lawrence L. 
 
 Gillespie, Mrs. Lawrence L. 
 
 Graham, Howard S. 
 
 Green, Arthur Leslie 
 
 Greene, John H., Jr. 
 
 Haggin, Mrs. James B. 
 
 Hamilton, William 
 
 Hammond, Ogden H. 
 
 Hazard, Miss Abby C. 
 
 Hendy, Henry Stuart 
 
 Higbee, Edward W, 
 
 Hill, Mrs. Walter N. 
 
 Hillhouse, Mrs. Charles B. 
 
 Hoffman, Charles F. 
 
 Hoppin, Samuel H. 
 
 Horton, Jere W. 
 
 Howard, Mrs. E. W. 
 
 Howland, Mrs. Joseph 
 
 Hughes. Rev. Stanley C. 
 
 Hunter, Miss Augusta 
 
 Ingalls, Mrs. John J. 
 
 Ingraham, Phoenix 
 
 Jacobs, Mrs. Henry Barton 
 
 Jones, Rev. J. Andrew 
 
 Jones, Mrs. Pembroke 
 
 Josephs, Mrs. Lyman C. 
 
 Judge, Mrs. Cyril B. 
 
 Kimball, Frank G. 
 
 Kimber, Rev. John S. 
 
 King, Col. Frank P. 
 
 King. Frederick R. 
 
 King, Miss Georgianna G. 
 
 King, Mrs. LeRoy 
 
 King, LeRoy 
 
 Kling, Charles P. 
 
 Knight, Rear Admiral Austin M. 
 
 U. S. N. 
 Knight, Edward CoUings, Jr. 
 
 Koehne, Charles H., Jr. 
 La Farge, Mrs. John 
 Landers, Albert C. 
 Langley, Walter S. 
 Lauterbach, Mrs. 
 Lawson, John A. 
 Lawton, Mrs. Thomas A. 
 Leavitt, Miss Blanche 
 Lee, William H. 
 Levy, Max 
 
 Lippitt, Hon. Charles Warren 
 Lippitt, Mrs. Charles Warren 
 Lippitt, Charles Warren, Jr. 
 Lockrow, Mrs. Harvey J. 
 Lorah, James R. 
 Low, William G., Jr. 
 Luce, Rear Admiral S. B. 
 Macomber, Isaac 
 Marvin, Miss Elizabeth B. 
 Mason, Mrs. John J. 
 MacLeod, Col. William 
 McAllister, Miss Louisa Ward 
 McCormick, Michael A. 
 McLennan, John K. 
 McMahon, Andrew K. 
 Morgan, Mrs. Wm. Rogers 
 Moriarty, Mrs. George A. 
 Morris, Harrison J. 
 Morrison, Charles E. 
 Murdock, Rear Admiral J. B. 
 Naval War College 
 Norman, Bradford 
 Norman, Maxwell 
 Norman, Reginald 
 Nowell, MrsTT. S. 
 Noyes, Mrs. Boutelle 
 O'Neill, Thomas J. 
 Padelford, Mrs. Edward M. 
 Pattison, Mrs. E. J. 
 Pearson, Mrs. Frederick 
 Peck, Rev. Charles Russell 
 Peckham, Miss Antoinette 
 Peckham, Mrs. Felix 
 Peckham, Miss Lillian 
 Peckham, Thoma.s P. 
 Peckham, Mrs. R. Wallace 
 Pepper, Mrs. William 
 Perry, Mrs. Henry P. 
 Perry, Marsden J. 
 Petterson, Gustof L. 
 
 15 
 
Phillips, Arthur S. 
 Phillips, N. Taylor 
 Pitman, T. T. 
 Powel, Miss Mary E. 
 Price, Brig. General Butler D 
 Pumpelly, Prof. Raphael 
 Redmond, Miss Lydia 
 Renter, J. Henry 
 Reynal, Mrs. E. S. 
 Richards, Ed,t;ar 
 Ridlon, Dr. John 
 Riggs, Edward O. 
 Robinson, Dr. Edwin P. 
 Robinson, .Mrs. Edwin P. 
 Russo, .Marco 
 Sage, iMrs. George E. 
 Sanborn, Alvah H. 
 Sanborn, John P. 
 Sanborn, Mrs. John P. 
 Sanford, Dr. A. Chase 
 Scott, Mrs. George S. 
 Seabury, John C. 
 Shanahan. Dennis 
 Sheffield. William P. 
 Sherman. Mrs. Albert K. 
 ^herman, Mrs. B. B. H. 
 Sherman, Edwai'd A. 
 Sherman, Miss Elizabeth G. 
 5herman, Dr. William A. 
 >herman, Mrs. William A. 
 >herman. Dr. William S. 
 >herman, Mrs. William S. 
 5]ade, Mrs Abl)ott E. 
 ilocum, William S. 
 imith, Daniel 
 imith, Mrs. R. Manson 
 Ipencer, John Thompson 
 'l)encer, Mrs. John Thompson 
 prague, Mrs Frank J. 
 tatihope, Clarence 
 tanton, Dr. N. G. 
 tetson, George R. 
 tevens, Miss Abby 
 tevens, Mi.ss J Austin 
 tevens, Mrs. Harriet 
 
 Stevens, Henry C, Jr. 
 Stevens, Miss Katharine M. 
 Stevens, Miss Maud L. 
 Stevenson, Dr. Arthur W. 
 Stewart, Anthony 
 Stickney, Mrs Albert 
 Stoddard, Dr. William C. 
 
 Stoneman, Michael 
 
 Storer, Dr. Horatio R. 
 
 Sullivan, John B. 
 
 Sullivan. Dr. M. H. 
 
 Swan, Miss Sallie ('. 
 
 Swinburne, Miss Elizabeth H. 
 
 Tanner, Benjamin F. 
 
 Taylor, Grant P. 
 
 Taylor, John M. 
 
 Thaw, Benjamin 
 
 Thomas, Miss Harriet 
 
 Thompson, Frank E. 
 
 Underwood, Mrs. Wni. J. 
 
 Van Allen, Mrs. (nirett A. 
 
 Van Beuren. Mrs. .Michael M 
 
 Vanderbilt, Reginald C. 
 
 Van Rensselaer, Mrs. Peyton 
 
 Varnum, Miss Amy 
 
 Vernon, Miss Elizabeth H. 
 
 Wanton, Charles A. N. 
 Ward, Miss A. Louise 
 Ward, Rev. Wra. I. 
 Warren, Georee Henry, Jr. 
 Watts, John S. 
 Weaver, Mrs. Charles A. 
 Weaver, Harry R. 
 Weaver, Thomas L. S. 
 Wetherell, John H. 
 Wharton, Mrs. Henry 
 White, Elias Henley" 
 White, Mrs. Elias Henley 
 Whitehouse. J. Norman deR. 
 Whitman, Hon. Charles S. 
 Wilder, Frank J. 
 Wilks, Harry G. 
 Wilks. Mrs. Harry G. 
 Wood, Mrs Henry A. 
 Wright, Mrs. Walter A. 
 
 ASSOCIATE MEMBERS 
 
 dams, William F. 
 ndrews, Mrs, William, 
 tkinson, Mrs. Mary 
 liley, Vernon Howe 
 
 Balis, Clarence Wanton 
 Barlow, Mrs George 
 Belknap, Mrs. Reginald R. 
 Benson, Mrs. A. S. 
 
 16 
 
Benson, Robert 
 Bigelow, Francis H. 
 Bloch, Rev. Julius 
 Bosworth, Miss Rebecca 
 Brackett, Mrs. Charles A. 
 Branjan, Mrs. Packer 
 Branston, Mrs. Joseph 
 Brightman, Miss Eva S. C. 
 Briyhtraan, Wm. E. 
 Brown ell, Miss Ella 
 Brownell, Miss Nancy 
 Bryer, Mrs. John H. 
 Burlingham, Rev. E. J. 
 Burlingham, Mrs Thomas 
 Casey, Miss Sophie P. 
 Chester, Charles E. 
 Chester, Dr. Frank Dyer 
 Chinn, Miss E. Bertha 
 Clarke, Miss Lena H. 
 Commerford, Arthur B. 
 Congdon. Mrs. Henry B. 
 Cottrell, Miss Annie 
 Davis, Salmon W. 
 Dudley, Mrs. Beverley R. 
 du Fais, John 
 Fludder, Mrs. Alexander 
 Fowler. Miss A. Svbil 
 Franklin, Mrs. Robert M. 
 Gash, Mrs. Rol)ert 
 Goffe, Mrs Walter 
 Hayes, Robert S. 
 Haves, Mrs. Robert S. 
 Hazard, Miss Mary A. 
 Holland, Mrs. Katharine B. 
 Howard, Mrs. William R. 
 Jones, Rev. Wm. Safford 
 Kalkman, Henry A. 
 Kalkman, Mrs. Henry A. 
 Lawrence, Mrs. Henry 
 Lawton, George P. 
 Lieber, Mrs. Hamilton 
 Lieber, Miss 
 
 Manchester, Miss Katharine 
 Marsh. Mrs. Herbert 
 McCarthy, Miss Alice 
 
 Mead, Mrs. George Whitfield 
 Newton. Henry 
 Newton, Mrs. Henry 
 Newton, Simon 
 Nichols, Miss Matilda 
 O'Neill, Eugene C. 
 Parrish, Miss Mary 
 Peckham, Frank L. 
 Peckham, Mrs. Frank L. 
 Peckham, Mrs. Thomas P. 
 Perry, Howard B. 
 Perry, Mrs. Joseph 
 Perry, Thomas Sergeant 
 Pinniger, Mrs. David 
 Potter, Ralph G. 
 Powell, Mrs. Frank 
 Richmond, Henry I. 
 Rogers, Mrs. Elis'ha 
 Sayer, Miss Mary A. 
 Sherman, Miss Annie A. 
 Sherman, Mrs. William B., Jr. 
 Smith, Miss E]lizabeth B. 
 Smith, .Miss Helen Fairchild 
 Smith, Mrs Nathan B. 
 Stanton, Miss Bessie 
 Stanton, William H. 
 Staton, Mrs. J. G. 
 Stewart, Mrs. John 
 Swan, Frank Malbone 
 Swazey, Miss Jeanette 
 Swinburne, Henry H. 
 Tetlow. Mrs. Albert 
 Thurston, Mrs. George W. 
 Titus, Mrs. Harry A. 
 Underwood, Mrs. Nicholas 
 Vernon. Miss Annie 
 Vose, Miss Caroline M. 
 Ward, Howard Gould 
 Waring, Miss E. B. 
 Wharton, Jos. S. Lovering 
 Wheeler, Henry 
 Whitehead. John M. 
 Willard, Miss Mary A. 
 Wing, Wm. Arthur 
 Wood, Trist 
 
 17 
 
OFFICERS 
 
 OF THE 
 
 Newport Historical Society 
 
 For the year ending May^ igi8 
 
 President, DANIEL B. FEARING 
 First Vice-President, RODERICK TERRY 
 
 Second Vice-President, FRANK K. STURGIS 
 
 Third Vice-President, ALFRED TUCKERMAN 
 Recording Secretary, JOHN P. SANBORN 
 Corresponding Secretary, MAUD L. STEVENS 
 Treasurer, HENRY C. STEVENS, Jr. 
 Librarian, LLOYD M. MAYER 
 Curator of Coins and Medals, EDWIN P. ROBINSON 
 Members of the Board of Directors 
 
 FOR three years 
 
 MRS. HAROLD BROWN MISS EDITH M. TILLEY 
 
 MRS. RICHARD C. DERBY DR. WILLIAM S. SHERMAN 
 
 FOR TWO YEARS 
 
 MRS. THOMAS A. LAWTON HAMILTON B. TOMPKINS 
 
 MRS. FRENCH VANDERBILT GEORGE L. RIVES 
 
 FOR ONE YEAR 
 
 MRS. C. L. F. ROBINSON GEORGE V. DICKEY 
 
 JONAS BERGNER . LAWRENCE L. GILLESPIE 
 
 18 
 
Committees for the Year 1917-1918 
 
 DR. RODERICK TERRY 
 MR. FRANK K. STURGIS, 
 
 FINANCE 
 
 COM. ARTHUR C. JAMES 
 THE TREASURER, ex-officio 
 
 LIBRARY AND MUSEUM 
 
 MRS. CHARLES C. GARDINER 
 
 THE LIBRARIAN 
 
 MISS EDITH TILLEY 
 
 BUILDING AND GROUNDS 
 
 MR. JONAS BERGNER 
 
 DR. EDWIN P. ROBINSON 
 
 DR. TERRY 
 
 DR. TERRY 
 
 MR. JOB A. PECKHAM 
 
 LITERARY EXERCISES 
 
 THE LIBRARIAN 
 
 PUBLICATIONS 
 
 THE PRESIDENT 
 
 THE LIBRARIAN 
 
 NOMINATING COMMITTEE 
 
 REV. STANLEY C. HUGHES MRS. AUCHINCLOSS 
 
 MISS KATHARINE STEVENS 
 
 INCREASE OF MEMBERSHIP 
 
 MRS. FRENCH VANDERBILT MRS. LIVINGSTON HUNT 
 
 MRS. HARVEY J. LOCKROW MISS ANTOINETTE PECKHAM 
 
 MR. LAWRENCE L. GILLESPIE 
 
 AUDITING COMMITTEE 
 
 MR. JONAS BERGNER 
 
 MUSEUM ACQUISITIONS 
 
 MRS. T. A. LAWTON 
 
 DR. TERRY 
 
 MISS MAUD STEVENS 
 
 19 
 
BULLETIN 
 
 OF THE 
 
 Newport Historical Society 
 
 Number Twenty-Four NEWPORT, R.I. January, 1918 
 
 The Romance of Newport 
 
 A Paper Read before the Society November igih, igiy 
 
 By 
 Miss MAUD LYMAN STEVENS 
 
 The romance of an old sea port town — is it not a thing of 
 course? What tales may be told there of adventure or mystery; 
 what enterprises sent out in hope, returning rich reward, or 
 waited for with ever deferred expectance; what stories of its sons, 
 .who taking danger for a daily companion, found a zest in their 
 life never afforded by dull homekeeping? Strong characters are 
 moulded under such conditions, and striking scenes take place, 
 when, as in Newport, with the sea at our door, the forest lies 
 behind. How romantic do those days appear, when living, hat- 
 ing and fighting went on with such intensity; vvhen an Indian 
 chief might beach his canoe in the cove, or a sailor fresh from 
 the Spanish main fling his gold about our streets; when wolves 
 scared the women in their cabbage gardens, and pirates touched 
 at Newport wharves and consorted with the townsfolk. Strange 
 cargoes indeed came to the town in those by-gone days, and pic- 
 turesque the variety of figures seen in our streets. Dutch traders 
 and suspected witches, soldiers from Cromwell's army, the grave 
 Quakers and the stately Spanish Jews, followers of Prince Charlie, 
 English crown officers, all have helped to make Newport what it 
 is. Romance lurks in the tale of our founding, in the harboring 
 
of our Quaker guests, in our daring seamen's deeds in peace and 
 war. Hardly discernible by any generation, the wonder and 
 mystery of the past are clear to us, and we say with the poet — 
 "The king was with us — yesterday." 
 
 Let us then look among our yesterdays for the romance 
 that perhaps one's eyes are too dull to see in today's doings. We 
 can only choose here and there among the treasures of the past, 
 for much has happened in the old town since it was "agreed and 
 ordered, that the Plantation now begun at the southwest end of 
 the island shall be called Newport." Two hundred and seventy- 
 eight years have passed since then, and of all that history we can 
 but cull a few bits, making a patchwork that may suggest the 
 rich fabric that the years have wrought. 
 
 To begin with the romance of the founding of Newport. Who 
 can tell the high thoughts of those who planned the new state, 
 when, finding, as our own Blackstone said, the "Lords Breth- 
 ren" no less stiff than the "Lords Bishops," a little company of 
 them resolved to set up their tents in the wilderness. A state all 
 their own it was to be, on a plan hardly tried as yet, but where 
 and how the experiment was to be carried out, they knew not. 
 Only this they knew, that "the land was wide enough for all," 
 and somewhere surely there might be found a resting place, where, 
 neither suffering nor inflicting religious oppression, they might in 
 peace worship God in their own way. In freedom of spirit then, 
 was the Island community founded, and in kindly co-operation 
 the land was purchased, Roger Williams using his good offices in 
 the matter; and white men, for the first time, looking on the 
 slopes where Newport v.'as to lie, could say "This is ours." 
 
 It is perhaps not wonderful that Massachusetts Bay was so 
 intolerant of schismatics. Religion and politics were very closely 
 bound up in those early days, and the settlements, still small 
 and weak, dreaded any division, to imperil what they had won 
 through days of danger and distress. Boston, ever open to new 
 ideas, was much inclined to the attractive doctrines which seemed 
 so dangerous to the dominant clergy, and it was their influence, 
 working through the country districts, that won the day. The 
 famous Mrs. Anne Hutchinson made part of the first settlement 
 at the north end of the island, which at the end of the year was 
 
deserted by its most influential members in favor of a site which 
 to us seems to offer far greater natural advantage — Newport. 
 
 From this time, Newport took the place which she long 
 held, of most important of Rhode Island towns. Money, influ- 
 ence and intellectual superiority, all were here, and it was not 
 until our agricultural state became a manufacturing one, that the 
 order of things was reversed and the water power that the island 
 lacked proved a dominant factor in the mainland towns' develop- 
 ment. 
 
 With the settling of Newport, we may properly consider our 
 most influential founder and first magistrate — William Codding- 
 ton. A remarkable man was he — governor's assistant in the 
 Bay Colony appointed to the position from England itself, — 
 wealthy merchant and man of authority, beside being builder, it 
 is said, of the first brick house ever seen in Boston. He must 
 have made a fine figure as he sat in the governor's council. The 
 portrait, long supposed to be of the first William Coddington, 
 which hangs in the City Hall, is now said to be that of another 
 William Coddington, his grandson, but if the descendant carried 
 on the family look, we may believe our first governor to have 
 been tall, ruddy and of a high demeanor. Conscious authority 
 sat on his brow, for as commissioner he was accustomed to obedi- 
 ence. His rich dress, probably of velvet, with the silk knots, 
 great boots and sash of the period, his wide collar edged with 
 lace, his broad leafed hat, perhaps with a jewelled hat band, the 
 sword at his side, the fringed and embroidered gloves — is he not 
 a gallant figure? Puritanic plainness of dress had not reached its 
 height at this time, and in any case, the sumptuary laws were, 
 for the most part, enforced on those not entitled by their station 
 to wear the costly and fine apparel that marked the gentleman. 
 
 All this bravery flashed down Narragansett Bay on a certain 
 March day in 1638, in search of those other great men in their 
 degree, the Sachems of the Narragansetts. Roger Williams and 
 at least one beside were in Coddington 's company, and the busi- 
 ness in hand was the purchase of the great island lying in the 
 bay. It may well be that the sachems were favorably impressed 
 by their remembrance of the state held by the governor's assist- 
 ant when they had appeared before the council. Also he was 
 
 3 
 
;he friend of Sir Henry Vane and of their trusted associate, 
 Roger Williams, and, therefore, their friend. It was these con- 
 siderations and not the real and ample consideration offered by 
 ;!^oddington on behalf of his friends and himself that decided the 
 natter. We can imagine the dignified conference which ended 
 in the signing of the deed, whereby English settlers were to 
 Degin the task of making their home on this pleasant island. 
 
 Yes, an important man was William Coddington, most influ- 
 nitial of our colonists, and it seemed a foregone conclusion that 
 le should be ruler in the new state. Judge, he was called, and 
 lis position was agreed upon before the expedition set out from 
 Boston. When, at the end of a year it was time for a new elec- 
 ion, we find Coddington still Judge, but only at the cost of a 
 •emoval. William Hutchinson and his wife, Anne, were, as has 
 )een said, among those in the first or Portsmouth settlement, 
 md, it may be that the distinguished lady was ambitious for her 
 gentle husband. Besides this, a great trouble maker and dis- 
 urber of the peace had arrived on the scene, in the person of 
 5amuel Gorton, who entirely denied the validity of a purchase 
 rom the Indians, and refused to allow any status to the new 
 ;olony, as not being sanctioned by the King. Gorton was to be 
 ong a thorn in the flesh to Coddington, with his constitutional 
 )biection to authority, and it seems probable that the prospect of 
 )eace and quiet appeared greater at the other end of the Island. 
 
 A division was certainly made at this time, and Coddington, 
 vith eight of the principal among the founders and freemen, and 
 t is probable, a considerable number of inhabitants as well, re- 
 noved and founded the new plantation of Newport. It was un- 
 ierstood that he was to be Judge, and he is so written down in 
 ;he agreement signed while still at Pocasset, now Portsmouth, 
 rhe party opposed to Coddington immediately after drew up a 
 paper of loyalty to King Charles, naming William Hutchinson as 
 iheir chief magistrate. It is noteworthy that among the names 
 affixed to this document appear none of the purchasers of the isl- 
 and, and more than half of them are signed merely with a mark, 
 IS those of illiterate men. Coddington was soon to come into his 
 Dwn again. At the end of a year, the Portsmouth colony felt 
 tself too weak to stand alone, and its inhabitants applied to 
 
Newport for reconciliation. They were willingly received, the 
 two settlements were united, and William Hutchinson had some 
 dignity in his secondary position as Assistant. Gorton did not at 
 this time trouble the Island long. He behaved so outrageously 
 that he was whipped and sent away with divers of his adherents, 
 all being forbidden to return. It is droll to read at this day how 
 when Coddington cried "all you that own the King take Gorton 
 away," the recalcitrant replied, "all you that own the King take 
 Coddington away," and further called the justices "just asses," 
 a most inexcusable pun, but not so severe an epithet as "Satan," 
 which he applied to the assistant at Plymouth. 
 
 Two years more and William Hutchinson had died. His 
 widow removed with her household to Long Island, where a 
 number of families of liberal tendencies had begun to settle. It 
 proved by no means a safe retreat for Her, for soon after began 
 the Indian war on the Dutch, in which she and all those with 
 her were massacred, excepting one little girl, who was carried 
 away into captivity and afterwards redeemed. So perished a 
 courageous, able and ambitious woman, one of unusual force of 
 character and forward in a most important movement. 
 
 This is something of a digression from William Coddington. 
 He reigns alone now as Judge of the Island, or, as he was now 
 termed, Governor. His house is used as a meeting place, since 
 there are lodged the "Coulors" and hither all men are to repair 
 when the "Drumms" beat an "Alarum" in time of danger. It 
 would seem that religious exercises were held under his roof, as 
 "Nicholas Easton, a tanner, a man very bold, though ignorant, 
 used to teach where Mr. Coddington, their Governor, lived." 
 These meetings were probably of the Seeker type, and we know 
 positively that when these vague tenets culminated in the new 
 Quaker faith, it was in the Governor's house that the Friends 
 met. 
 
 Many and various were the duties of the chief magistrate. 
 He inspected arms, made treaty with the Indian chiefs, gave out 
 warrants for the train-band officers, received the heads of slain 
 wolves, and held conference with the Governor of the Dutch, 
 beside his purely legislative function, presiding at all courts and 
 casting his double vote. A busy man was he, and once a year 
 
'according to the ancient forme and custom" a court of election 
 vas held, and infallibly this same William Coddington was 
 lected Governor, ruling his island kingdom in peace and quiet- 
 less until, at length, trouble arose. 
 
 Now the way of it was this. Newport and Providence, as 
 very one knows, have ever been communities apart. Separated 
 [•eographically as well as by origin, they have had little in com- 
 non. One thing they both needed at the beginning of their his- 
 ory, however, a need equally vital in each case. This was sane-- 
 ion from the English government. Though they had bought 
 heir lands fairly from the Indians, yet they were well aware that 
 heir English neighbors, Plymouth and the Bay, would hold this 
 ,s of little importance, and that these colonies might, under their 
 lastic charters, claim the tracts in question as belonging to their 
 [irisdiction. Within the first months of Newport's existence, 
 be matter was agitated. "Mr. Easson" and Mr. John Clark 
 leing desired to treat with Sir Henry Vane, ever the friend of 
 berty, concerning the "obtaining off a pattent of the Island from 
 lis matie." Three years later, September, 1642, it was ordered 
 ' that a Comitte shall be appointed to Consult about the procura- 
 6n of a Patent for this Island and Islands and the lands adja- 
 ent." This committee comprised all the chief men of the 
 'olony — Coddington, Brenton, Easton, John Clark, Wm. Dyre 
 nd John Coggeshall — being of the number, and included in its 
 lembers one half of the original purchasers then on the Island. 
 
 The next step was to procure a messenger to bring this im- 
 lortant petition to the attention of the authorities in England. 
 Tow, New Providence, also feeling strongly her unprotected 
 tate, had just decided to send Roger Williams, her founder and 
 ead, to procure for her a charter. As he says, " Upon frequent 
 xceptions against Providence men that we had no Authoritie for 
 'ivill Govrmnt, I went purposely to Engl." Here was an oppor- 
 Linity for the Island, and it appears probable that Roger Will- 
 ams was entrusted with the task of securing the " Pattent of the 
 sland" as well. He sailed in February, 1643, going by way of 
 he Dutch and seeing with his own eyes that outbreak of Indian 
 ostilities in which poor Mrs. Hutchinson lost her life. While 
 Villiams was gone, John Clark wrote to Providence proposing a 
 
 6 
 
General A.ssembly, this being the first suggestion recorded of 
 union between the Island and the mainland settlements. Though 
 he deems such action " moer then expedient," we have no record 
 that it actually took place. 
 
 The Charter was secured by Roger Williams, as all the world 
 knows. Granted under date of March, 1644, this instrument, 
 called the Warwick or Parliamentary charter, gave the people on 
 " Naragansets Bay" permission to " Govern & rule themselves" 
 in a manner conformable to the laws of England. Instead of 
 dividing the settlements, however, it united them into one, under 
 the name of " The Incorporacon of Providence Plantacons in the 
 Naragansets Bay in New England." It may be that the Earl 
 and Commissioners who signed the Charter, thought the "twenty- 
 five English Myles" in question too small a matter to split the 
 tract into two separate governments. It may also be that a con- 
 siderable party on the Island approved of union, as John Clark's 
 letter, just quoted, would seem to indicate. 
 
 However this may be. Providence was highly pleased with 
 Roger Williams and his charter. Not so Governor Coddington 
 and his party. It seems quite certain that he utterly disapproved 
 of combination with the mainland settlements. Just before the 
 arrival of the charter, in August, 1644, we find him writing to 
 Governor Winthrop of Massachusetts, to inquire as to "Aliance 
 with yorselves or Plimouth one or both." The Commissioners 
 of the United Colonies were willing to consider the matter if those 
 who had "most interest on the Island" would "absolutely & 
 without reservacdn submitt " to their jurisdiction. This, of 
 course, would be entirely unacceptable to the Governor and the 
 negotiations came to nothing. 
 
 The Charter arrived in September, 1644, was received with 
 rapture by Providence, and Roger Williams, we may suppose at 
 the regular time, in the following March, chosen Chief Magis- 
 trate. ''Mr. Coddington, however, (we have it on the authority 
 of the Governor of Plymouth) abhorred their course, abstained 
 from their meetings, and he and his friend " looked upon them- 
 selves as persons in great danger, and bemoaned their condition 
 to divers their friends, being now overwhelmed with cares and 
 fears what would be the issue of things." Plymouth now took a 
 
hand by sending an Assistant, John Browne, with a solemn warn- 
 ing against their taking any action under their "supposed Gov- 
 ernment," as the Island assuredly lay within the bounds of 
 Plymouth's I^etters Patent, whereupon the Assembly "were so 
 daunted, as they brake up and did no act intended for that day." 
 William Coddington, then, did not accept the Charter, but 
 continued to consider himself Governor, writing to Winthrop in 
 1646 that "we mentayne the Govermtt as before." So matters 
 stood for over two years. Such a state of things could not con- 
 tinue, and at length in May 1647, the inevitable action was 
 taken, the towns met at Portsmouth and the " Colonic and Prov- 
 ince of Providence" took its first corporate action. John Cogges- 
 hall, one time Governor's Assistant in Massachusetts, was elected 
 "President," Roger Williams and Coddington, the rival claim- 
 ants, chosen Associates. It is probable that Coddington contin- 
 ued to attempt alliance with the older colonies, for when, next 
 year, he was elected Governor, he was immediately suspended 
 until he answer certain charges, their nature not specified. 
 These charges he did not answer nor did he take up his engage- 
 ment as Governor, but instead journeyed to Plymouth to make 
 one more effort to secure ' ' a firm and perpetual league of friend- 
 ship" with the United Colonies. Their answer was the same 
 discouraging one as before— only the acknowledging of Rhode 
 Island as a part of Plymouth patent would be considered. It 
 was enough, and Coddington resolved to try what appeal to 
 England would do. 
 
 In January 1649, then, William Coddington set sail from the 
 Bay. It was hardly a time for the speedy settling of colo- 
 nial quarrels. Charles First had recently been executed, Sir 
 Henry Vane had for the time retired into private life, and it was 
 not until 1650 that Coddington was able to present his petition, 
 praying " for the grant of two islands which he purchased from 
 the Indians." No doubt he carried with him the deed signed by 
 " Cannonnicus" and " Miantunnomu," stating they had "sold 
 unto Mr. Coddington and his friends united unto him the great 
 Island of Aquidnecke " and this must have had considerable 
 weight with the Council. Governor Winslow of Plymouth was 
 present to urge his claim, but the Committee decided that as the 
 
 8 
 
Island was not particularly mentioned in the " Ancient Pattent 
 of New Plymouth " there was no reason why the Council of State 
 should not grant the desire of Mr. Coddington. Grant it they 
 did, under date of April, 1651. "Mr. Coddington's Commis- 
 sion," as it was called, made and instituted the said William 
 Coddington to be Governor of the Islands, prescribing to him a 
 Council of six to be chosen yearly, but setting no bounds to his 
 office, save as the Parliament should take other and farther 
 order therein, he to rule in the name of the Keepers of the 
 Liberties of England. Such a document as this could not 
 but be most unwelcome to the members of the " Democracie " of 
 Providence Plantations. The colony, hardly yet knit together, 
 was, by this Commission, again torn apart and only too likely to 
 fall a prey to its grasping neighbors, Plymouth and Massachu- 
 setts. By August of 165 1 Coddington had returned to his Island 
 kingdom, no doubt being heartily welcomed by those of his way 
 of thinking. Nicholas Easton, his associate, who had been serv- 
 ing as President of the four towns for more than a year, abdicated 
 in his favor. Providence, as may be supposed, was up in arms. 
 The sending of Mr. Williams to England had been agitated two 
 months earlier. Now funds were raised in haste for his journey 
 and John Clark was also persuaded to go. Their instructions 
 were distinct, Mr. Clark going on behalf of the Island to obtain 
 the revocation of Coddington's Commission, Roger Williams to 
 secure, if possible, a new charter for the Colony, it being obvious 
 that the Warwick charter had been practically invalidated by 
 that commission. With Mr. Williams "gone to endeavour the 
 renewing of our liberties," went, in an unfortunate day for him- 
 self, our Colonial Secretary, William Dyre, and his wife Mary. 
 
 It is a sad fact that Mr. Coddington got but little satisfaction 
 from the post secured with so much pains and difficulty. Within 
 the year he was driven from the Island, in fear of his life, we are 
 told, and forced to take refuge in Boston. One of the chief 
 causes of complaint against him on Rhode Island, was of his 
 holding of that important document, the Indian deed to the set- 
 tlers, and the sole witness of their liberties. To appease the 
 alarm felt on this score, Coddington wrote and sent from Boston 
 in April, 1652, a formal disclaimer of any further right in the 
 
 9 
 
purchase of the island than his proportion, and a promise to de- 
 liver up to "the purchasers and free men" the deed in question. 
 Relieved of their anxiety as to any scheme of ruling as a king 
 indeed, the Island men suffered him to return, and he seems to 
 have taken up the reins of government again. 
 
 Meanwhile the General Assembly meeting at Providence 
 wrote to Roger Williams, now in England, suggesting that he, 
 too, get an appointment from thence as Governor (though for a 
 year only), in order to compel "the persons who have been re- 
 fractory" "to yield themselves over as to a settled government" 
 and also with the further result agreeable to Providence "and so 
 the Government to bee honorably put upon this place." Such a 
 plan "contrarie to the liberties and freedom of the free people of 
 this colony" was disapproved of at the meeting held two months 
 later at Warwick, and indeed it is hardly probable that Mr. Will- 
 iams would have considered it in any case. 
 
 At the very time of this proposal, October 1652, the com- 
 mittee was obtaining from "the much honored, the Council of 
 State," an order directing that the colony return to its former 
 status under the first or Warwick charter, since "Mr. Codding- 
 :on, sent from hence Governor of Rhode Island, hath so behaved 
 limself as hath produced great matters of complaint against him." 
 rhe order is couched in somewhat ambiguous terms, and when 
 iespatched by the hand of William Dyre it was presented at the 
 May meeting in Newport, Coddington refused to recognize it. 
 
 From the time of its arrival, February 1653, Nicholas Easton, 
 :he former President, was considered to be again in office, and 
 low at the Court of Election, John Sanford of Portsmouth was 
 ;hosen to the position. Messengers were sent to Mr. Codding- 
 :on, demanding of him "ye statute book and book of records," 
 o which he replied that he would "advize with his Councell and 
 hen give them an answer, for he dare not lay down his commis- 
 ion having no order thereto, nor hath he seene anything to show 
 hat his commission is annulled." John Sanford, nevertheless, 
 vas President, orderly appointed, and thus for a space the Island 
 lad two chief magnates, each, we may suppose, with his follow- 
 ng. No wonder kind Sir Henry Vane inquired from England, 
 'How is it that there are such dissentions among you ? Such 
 
 10 
 
headiness, tumults, disorder and injustice? The noise echoes 
 into the ears of all" "by every return of shipps from those parts." 
 It was not until more than a year from this time that the four 
 towns formally re-united and Nicholas Easton was once again 
 elected President. At last, in June 1655, came an order whose 
 authority Mr. Coddington recognized. This letter, signed "your 
 verrie lovinge friend, Oliver P.," directed the colony in explicit 
 terms, to proceed in its government according to the tenor of the 
 first charter. There was no gain-saying this, and at the next 
 assembly, being chosen a Commissioner, the old Governor pub- 
 licly professed, "I, William Coddington, doe freely submit to ye 
 authoritie of his Highness on this colony as it is now united and 
 that with all my heart." With all his heart, Coddington was 
 again a simple member of the "Democracie" of Providence 
 Plantations. 
 
 He was not even to hold his position as Newport's represen- 
 tative, for it was decided at the same session that Newport had 
 acted "somewhat inconsiderately" in choosing him for the office, 
 and that considering "ye inconveniences to him and the Colonic 
 seeminge to be likely to ensue," it would be best for all parties 
 that he should hold no office for the present. The difficulty 
 seemed to be that Mr. Coddington was more or less under cen- 
 sure in England, for leaving his post and thus opening the colony 
 to danger from the dreaded Dutch foe, and if elected to any office, 
 they might seem to be ignoring that censure, thus perhaps risk- 
 ing the favor of the council, so signally shown to them. These 
 were parlous days in England, and it behooved men to walk wa- 
 rily. The Assembly hoped, however, that a letter to Mr. John 
 Clark, detailing "Mr. Coddington's demonstrations of good affec- 
 tion of ye government" and their "owne satisfactions generally" 
 might remove the difficulty. 
 
 Apparently the more cautious counsels prevailed, for William 
 Coddington was not again elected to office for seven years, or 
 until the great charter of King Charles the second ensured their 
 liberties beyond danger of loss. Then he was promptly appointed 
 commissioner once more, and thereafter received various offices, 
 being again elected Governor three times, and dying in office in 
 1678. Our knowledge of the great controversy would be more 
 
 11 
 
exact, were it not that at the meeting of 1656, when Coddington 
 submitted and gave such satisfactory proofs of his "Good will and 
 desires for ye publick good of ye Colony," it had been ordered 
 that the transactions relating to his late government be cut out of 
 the book of records, since they might "seem prejuditiall to him- 
 selfe or others." This action precluded attacks on Mr. Codding- 
 ton which might have led to serious complications for the Colony. 
 It was better for all parties that the past should be forgotten. 
 
 William Coddington 's son was Governor after him; his 
 grandson was prominent in the affairs of the town. On the 
 whole our first Governor conferred much more of benefit than of 
 evil on the little community he ruled so long. His character is 
 well summed up by one of his biographers in these words. "He 
 had too much of the future for Massachusetts— too much of the 
 past for Rhode Island." 
 
 It has been said that it was in an evil hour for William Dyre, 
 that he took his wife to England with him, when he sailed to aid 
 in securing the revocation of Mr. Coddington 's commission. No 
 one could have foreseen what a tragedy was to spring from this 
 action. Mary Dyre was a strikingly interesting woman. All 
 accounts describe her as comely and "of a goodly personage," 
 "a very proper and fair woman." On her husband's return with 
 the orders from the Council in 1652-3, she remained behind and 
 came under the influence of the preachers of the newly established 
 sect of Quakers. They were then in the first fervor of the deliv- 
 ery of the great message which they felt they had for the world: 
 "Inner light" was the chief article of their faith, and it was be- 
 lieved by their opponents that their claim to the right of indi- 
 vidual judgment tended to the destruction of all existing institu- 
 tions, civil as well as religious. They were hated and dreaded, 
 fiercely persecuted in England, and, as one may suppose, by no 
 means welcome in New England. Mary Dyre became convinced, 
 and returned to her home late in 1656, an armed Quaker. 
 
 "Friends." though they called themselves, Massachusetts 
 Bay rather regarded them as enemies, of the most dangerous sort. 
 A law had just been passed designed to protect the godly commu- 
 nity from that "cursed sect of Quakers," whereby should any 
 member of it find his way thither, he was to be denied communi- 
 
 12 
 
cation with any, and, after punishment, shipped out of the Juris- 
 diction. Mary Dyre's entrance to the country was through Bos- 
 ton, and, though her sole busiuess was to pass on to her home, 
 she was arrested and held a prisoner until her husband, notified 
 of her plight, might come and take her away. He was bound in 
 a great penalty not to lodge her in any Massachusetts town on 
 the way or suffer her to hold speech with any. Thus it appears 
 that Mary Dyre was the first Quaker to set foot in Newport, and 
 it may well be that her influence had its share in the kind wel- 
 come accorded to later arrivals. It was in August of the follow- 
 ing year that the first English Quakers reached the old town. By 
 sea they came, having crossed the ocean in a tiny vessel, far too 
 small for safety, that yet somehow reached New Amsterdam, their 
 first port, without mishap. 
 
 A part of the voyagers tarried here, the rest proceeding to 
 Newport. As the six Quaker ministers, men and women, stepped 
 soberly on the Newport landing, they had reached, though as yet 
 they knew it not, a haven of safety. Their peculiar tenets found 
 a ready echo in men's minds on the Island, for the very opinions 
 that had been instrumental in driving Coddington and the rest 
 away from their settled habitations, were of a like sort. Not yet 
 called Quakerism at that time, the doctrines were akin, nor was 
 it long before many of the chief men of the colony — Easton, Wal- 
 ter Clarke, even Coddington himself, had accepted the new faith. 
 But, alas for the poor Quakers! It was of the essence of their 
 creed to follow the light within, and it is obvious that conscien- 
 tious heart searchings would lead the tender of soul to the very 
 point of danger. Within a week of their arrival these intrepid 
 folk were venturing into Plymouth colony, and soon after to Bos- 
 ton itself. The United Colonies wrote in a mighty flutter to 
 Rhode Island, remonstrating with her for harboring these "noto- 
 rious heritiques," and requesting that they be sent away. The 
 colony replied, through its Governor, Benedict Arnold, that "we 
 have no laws among us whereby to punish any for only declaring 
 their minds concerning the things and ways of God," adding 
 that where these people are suffered to declare themselves freely, 
 there they least of all desire to come. The Colonies did not take 
 the hint, but banished, flogged, and in the case of Massachusetts, 
 
 13 
 
proceeded to stronger measures. More and more stringent laws 
 were passed, as the unwearied zealots still returned to bear their 
 testimony against a persecuting spirit. Whippings and imprison- 
 ment not daunting them, the penalty of ear-cropping followed and 
 was actually inflicted on three men, two of whom had been of the 
 Newport arrivals of 1657. Mary Dyre, meanwhile was bearing 
 her share of the work, preaching in New Haven colony in 1658 
 and being expelled thence. In this year the Massachusetts law 
 was made still more extreme. Death was to be the penalty for 
 the return of a banished Quaker. 
 
 This was a challenge not to be ignored. The enthusiastic 
 apostles of Quakerism believed a call laid upon them to test this 
 "bloody law" and to Boston they went. In September 1659, at 
 the time of the General Court, appeared two English Friends and 
 Mary Dyre, also a little Providence girl of eleven, the niece of 
 Anne Hutchinson. Their purpose was to protest against this 
 persecuting spirit. The elders of the party were banished on 
 pain of death. Mary Dyre departed to her home, but not for 
 long. Gathering up some of her way of faith, she returned to 
 Boston, moved, as they all believed, "of the Lord." What was 
 to be done? It was a difficult position for the magistrates. The 
 law passed with the intention of terrorizing the Quakers, was 
 failing of its effect. Endicott, the Governor, was always savage 
 against them, though the popular feeling was strongly in their 
 favor. It was resolved that an example should be made of the 
 three, and ihey were condemned to death. This was only a pre- 
 tence in the case of Mary Dyre, as a reprieve had been decided 
 on, upon the petition of her son. The sentence was executed on 
 the two men, Mary Dyre supposing herself reserved for the same 
 fate. At the last moment the reprieve was produced, to the joy 
 of the sympathizing crowd, who fairly lifted her down from the 
 ladder to which she had mounted, under the great elm tree on 
 Boston common. How unwillingly Mary Dyre accepted her life 
 at the "wicked hands" of her judges, her letter to the Massachu- 
 setts Court, written the day after her reprieve, shows. She had 
 fully made up her mind to seal her cause with her blood, and it 
 was a "disturbance" to her that she was not allowed to do so. 
 However, she was sent away to Newport, and her life, for that 
 time, saved. 
 
 14 
 
She did not remain long at home. Journeyinor to Shelter 
 Island in the Dutch jurisdiction, where a few Quakers had al- 
 ready gathered, she told them that she felt the call to return to 
 the "bloody town of her sad and heavy experience." Mary Dyre 
 did not return to Newport, but travelling secretly and speedily 
 by way of Narragansett and Providence, she arrived at Boston, 
 demanding the repeal of "their wicked law against God's peo- 
 ple," at the very next General Court, May 21st, 1660. It was 
 too much, and sentence was again passed on her, she replying, 
 undaunted, "That is no more than you said before." William 
 Dyre wrote a most pathetic letter of appeal to Governor Endicott, 
 praying for the life of his "dearely beloved wife." He says that 
 he "cannot tell how in the frame of her spiritt she was moved 
 thus againe to runn so great a Hazard," risking her life for "I 
 know not whatt end or to what purpose;" begs that the Courts 
 "forwonted compassion" be not "conquered by her inconsider- 
 ate madness," but that "mercies wings" may "once more sore 
 above justice ballance," and closes with the petition "Oh, do not 
 deprive me of her, but, I pray, give her me once again." Pitty 
 me, I begg itt with teares." 
 
 This letter, written from Portsmouth and dated 27tli of 3d 
 1660, was sent in vain. The Court had made its decision, and 
 on the first of June the sentence was actually executed; and Mary 
 Dyre was hung on Boston common. She was told that she might 
 save her life, if she would return to her home, but she refused, 
 saying that she had come in obedience to the will of the Lord, 
 and that she would abide faithful to his will to the death. A 
 martyr in very deed was Mary Dyre, and her sacrifice was not 
 in vain, for by the following year the report ot the Quaker 
 sufferings had so worked upon King Charles, that he sent out a 
 royal mandamus, forbidding further proceedings against them by 
 the colonists. Floggings and imprisonments, indeed, did not 
 cease, but the sentence of death they no longer dared carry out. 
 A grave on the Dyre farm on the Point, where is now the Naval 
 Hospital, was long pointed out as that of Mary Dyre, and was a 
 place of pilgrimage to many who esteemed her one who had died 
 in the cause of righteousness. 
 
 Events are curiously intertwined. There was present at 
 
 15 
 
Mary Dyre's first time of trial, an officer, Edward Wanton by- 
 name. It is said that he went home, and unbuckling his sword, 
 said, "Mother, we have been persecuting the Lord's people." 
 He wholeheartedly joined the despised sect, and was in danger 
 of his life for it, refusing either to change or depart from his 
 Salem home. This Edward Wanton, dwelling later in Scituate 
 and prominent there as a ship builder, was the ancestor of the 
 well known Newport family of that name, from which came no 
 less than four governors of the colony of Rhode Island. 
 
 It was natural that Newport's liberal policy should attract 
 the Quakers. More and more of these persecuted people settled 
 here, proving themselves excellent citizens. By the end of the 
 Century, Newport was more than half Quaker, and the business 
 acumen and thrift of the Friends, helped in large measure to make 
 the town the thriving place it now more and more tends to be- 
 come. Broad brimmed hats and plain speech were combined with 
 comfort and even luxury of living, and many of our finest old 
 houses were built by the Quaker gentry of their day. 
 
 Perhaps, following the early days, with their stirring events, 
 the most picturesque period in Newport is that of our commer- 
 cial expansion. The days of savage neighbor and grasping fel- 
 low colony passed with the seventeenth century. No longer did 
 Miantonomoh come to Newport town to see justice done, appar- 
 elled in his fine coat of English cloth and wearing the broad 
 bands of wampum, as the chieftains used, no longer did Ply- 
 mouth seek to interfere in our affairs. Rhode Island's bounds 
 were settled and her troubles set at rest. Terrified fugitives 
 from the mainland and sullen Indian captives no longer were 
 seen in our streets. The excitement on which the little settle- 
 ment lives now comes from another source. The lure of the sea, 
 the advantages of our uncomparable harbor, begin to be felt. 
 No doubt boats were built here from the beginning: now it is 
 ships, and voyages begin. Coastwise at first to Connecticut or 
 the Dutch, they are soon extended further, and the West Indes 
 begin to find us profitable, if not near neighbors. Our lumber, 
 cheeses and fine horses go over seas, and back come sugar and 
 molasses — most valuable cargoes. Now a further enterprise is 
 manifested. Commerce expands in more distant ventures. A 
 
 16 
 
regular line of packets runs to England. Newport vessels bring 
 home wares from many a distant shore, and a stream of wealth 
 begins to flow into the little town, which is to work a great trans- 
 formation in its life and appearance. 
 
 No small factor in all this activity was the presence of the 
 Portuguese Jews, who, welcomed kindly here, had rewarded 
 those who gave them asylum with the experience and ability 
 which they brought with them. Rodriguez, Lopez, Seixas, 
 their ships took the most daring voyages, their wealth was sec- 
 ond to none, their reputation for fair dealing and character stood 
 high indeed. 
 
 We can imagiue the changes that commerce would bring to 
 Newport. The townsfolk grew accustomed to the sound of 
 hammer and saw, as vessels were built in that "Cove," then an 
 important part of the town's life, now only a memory. For rig- 
 ging and re-fitting, rope walks were built, where the cordage 
 could be spun; one after another, wharves were added to the 
 Marlborough St. pier and "Queen's Hithe" which had sufficed 
 for the town in primitive times; sailors boarding houses below 
 Thames St. accommodated the tarry gentry of pigtails and be- 
 ringed ears. The hddle and stamping feet heard thence be- 
 tokened their times of revelry. Young men of good family went 
 on voyages as supercargo, not always — alas — to venture, as fever 
 claimed its unseasoned victims; Newport girls sent out small 
 "ventures" of earrings or what not, in the hope of a return with 
 profit. Newport warehouses swelled to bursting with foreign 
 goods and — one hates to think of it — poor scared blacks trod 
 timidly these streets, wondering what their fate was to be in this 
 new land to which they had been hurried. Many and many a 
 story is told of these "spacious times," of the wealth and liber- 
 ality of our merchants, of the ventures that went forth and the 
 rich returns that came back. Nor was peaceful commerce all. 
 England was perpetually at war with Spaniard or Frenchman in 
 our colonial period, and it behoved all "natural subjects of our 
 Prince" to give aid and comfort in any way possible. What 
 more laudable then, than to harass the enemy by preying on his 
 commerce? The gains thus obtained far surpassed, as may be 
 supposed, anything won in the regular way of business, and the 
 
 17 
 
risk gave an added touch of excitement, welcome to daring 
 spirits. Privateer after privateer, built and manned in Newport, 
 sailed with all on board high in hope of fortune and adventure. 
 This was absolutely legitimate, but it is said that the hardy mari- 
 ners were not always ready to believe that the war was really 
 over, if peace unfortunately supervened before they were ready 
 for it. Pirates then they were termed and pirates, in the more 
 usual sense, Newport in its earlier days, assuredly has seen. 
 The whole Atlantic seaboard shares the reproach of harboring 
 men whose commissions were doubtful and their deeds even more 
 so. The Moor or the Portuguese might be spoiled, ships in the 
 Indian seas yield up rich treasures of jewels and silver bars, but a 
 free handed free-booter showed only his more agreeable side to the 
 coast towns. New York and the more southerly ports welcomed 
 such, and Newport seems not to have inquired too closely as to 
 the origin of their wealth, some saying that it was no sin to kill 
 infidels, and that the riches were secured where money was as 
 plenty as stones and sand. 
 
 Thomas Tew, of the well known Newport family, William 
 Mayes, Joseph Bradish — a genuine pirate this last — have all 
 shown their faces here. Captain William Kiad, the famous naval 
 officer and privateersman, turned buccaneer, is said to have actu- 
 ally lived in Newport on King, now Franklin St. As his pirati- 
 cal career," in Malabar and Madagascar" only extended over 
 five years, it may have been in his more regular capacity that he 
 resided among us. It is certain that when captured and confined 
 in Boston, he sent to Captain Thomas Paine, the old privateers- 
 man, then living on Jamestown, to forward to him twenty-four 
 ounces of gold. 
 
 Captain Kidd, "as he sailed, as he sailed" has become a fa- 
 vorite hero of ballad lore, and his "ninety bars of gold and dol- 
 lars manifold, with riches uncontrolled," as he jailed, are still 
 detailed in the old song. In Newport, as elsewhere, boys 
 searched for pirate treasure, more especially on the islands of the 
 bay, and a number of years ago, a small hoard of old Spanish 
 coins was actually found near the Boathouse, a very convenient 
 and usual spot for landing. Blackbeard, the pirate, has also ap- 
 peared here, being conveyed away in Captain Malbone's sloop, 
 
 18 
 
the expense of his passage being defrayed by moneys belonging 
 to him, then in the hands of the authorities. That we were not 
 alone in our toleration of pirates, or quasi-pirates, is shown by the 
 complaint against the Governor of New York that when the re- 
 doubtable Thomas Tew visited New York he was "received and 
 caressed by Gov. Fletcher and they exchanged presents, as gold 
 watches, ettc, with one another." The Governor attempted to 
 excuse himself, however, on the plea that Tew was a very pleas- 
 ant man, and he wished to reclaim him from his vile habit of 
 swearing. Perhaps some tenderness for these doubtful, though 
 courageous seafarers was inevitable in that day of disturbed con- 
 ditions, wars and rumors of wars. Certain it is that life on pri- 
 vateer and merchant vessel alike bred a race of hardy seamen, 
 invaluable in the later struggles, between America and the mother 
 country. 
 
 One of our most interesting early tales of the sea is that of 
 Charles Wager. Captain John Hull was a Quaker sea captain, 
 who in the last quarter of the 17th century conducted a regular 
 line of packets from Newport to London. His wife was a daugh- 
 ter of Admiral Tiddeman of England. She had a sister, whose 
 husband dying of the plague, Hull seems to have adopted the 
 son, his nephew. He was brought up to the sea and proved him- 
 self hardy and resourceful. The good Captain practised, as a 
 Quaker, non-resistance. The story goes that on one of its trips, 
 his packet was attacked by a French privateer, armed, but of no 
 very great size. Captain Hull, of course, could not defend him- 
 self, but he allowed his apprentice to take command, himself re- 
 tiring to the cabin, whence he called out "Charles, if thee in- 
 tends to run over that schooner, thee must put the helm a little 
 more to the starboard." The combined seamanship of master 
 and pupil prevailed, and the privateer was struck and sunk while 
 the Newport vessel went rejoicing on her way. It is said that 
 the daring of this act first brought young Wager to the notice of 
 the British admiralty. Commg into a considerable fortune, pos- 
 sibly from his step father, who' died when the young man was 
 twenty-two, Charles Wager removed to England, entered the 
 Navy and rose rapidly, until he became an Admiral. The story 
 is related of a meeting between him and the plain old Quaker, 
 
 19 
 
when Hull inquiring for him of one of his subordinates, asked 
 "Where is Charles?" 
 
 This, the Lieutenant thought great presumption as applied to 
 an admiral of England, but Wager rebuked him, saying "Mr. Hull, 
 sir, is my honored master." It is said that the Admiral sent 
 each year a quarter cask of wine to his old friend, as a remem- 
 brance. Charles Wager was buried in Westminster Abby, noted 
 on his memorial there as "Admiral of the White and Privy Coun- 
 cellor," one "esteemed and favored by his King, beloved and 
 honored by his country," and a man whom "no danger ever dis- 
 composed." 
 
 Another interesting tale of land and water is found in the 
 careers of the brothers John and William Wanton, sons of that 
 Edward Wanton, whose story has been told. They were Quakers 
 for at least part of their lives, yet could not be said to practise 
 non-resistance. It is very probable that they came to Newport 
 through their oldest brother Joseph, who as a shipbuilder was 
 settled at Tiverton. He married and established himself there 
 when they were mere lads of eighteen or nineteen. Five years 
 later we find them in Newport, and it was at this time that they 
 performed the daring exploit that won them so much fame. A 
 pirate had appeared off the coast, cruising back and forth be- 
 tween Point Judith and Block Island, stopping the coasting ves- 
 sels and causing endless annoyance. 
 
 The two young men, William and John Wanton, then only 
 24 and 22 years of age, resolved to abate the nuisance. The 
 pirate was a vessel of 300 tons with twenty cannon. The 
 Wantons secured a sloop of 30 tons. Mustering their friends 
 about them, and arming them with muskets, they put to sea. 
 The pirate, on sighting them, fired a shot to bring them to. The 
 small and harmless looking vessel luffed up to come alongside, 
 but, instead, swinging round to the stern, so as to be out of reach 
 of the guns, was, on the instant, secured there by grappling 
 irons. Thus securely fastened to the pirate, the Newporters 
 bronght their nniskets into play. As fast as a man appeared on 
 deck, he was picked off by these deadly marksmen, until at 
 length the vessel surrendered. The pirates were taken into 
 Newport, tried and executed. 
 
 20 
 
The Wantons received great praise for this feat, and for the 
 capture of another privateer three years later, and on going to 
 England in 1702 were received and feted by Queen Anne. An 
 addition to their coat of arms was granted them, and they were 
 presented with pieces of plate — punch bowl and salver, on which 
 was inscribed : 
 
 Omnipotente numine magistro 
 
 Volat hie Hercules ocyus vento 
 
 Multo cum sanguine capitur hostes, 
 
 Vinci nti poculum dabitur Wantoni 
 
 which has been translated : 
 
 Leader, all powerful, favored of heaven 
 Strong as a Hercules, storm-like he flies. 
 Desperate the contest — high the emprise 
 To conquering Wanton the cup shall be given. 
 
 "Young men for action, old men for council." It was 
 thirty eight years after his daring exploit, that William Wanton 
 was elected Governor of the colony, having in the mean time 
 served many times as Deputy and Assistant. His brother John, 
 had much the same history, succeeding William, at his death, 
 in office, and being re-elected each year until 1740, when he, too, 
 died. The two brothers lived in handsome houses, opposite to 
 one another, on Thames St., one, now the Boston Store, showing 
 plain traces of its origin until within a few years. John and 
 William Wanton were in their day emphatically first citizens of 
 the town, wealthy, benevolent, and well known as patrons of art 
 and literature. 
 
 Many are the tales that belong to our period of commercial 
 expansion. Most Newporters have heard the story of the mys- 
 terious ship, that came in, all sails set, on Baston's beach, so 
 softly as to be unhurt. No one was on board, though the cat and 
 dog were in the cabin, and the kettle boiling on the galley stove. 
 She was a Newport vessel, over due, but what had become of her 
 crew was never known. She was got off, rechristened the Beach- 
 bird and made many more voyages, surely securing forecastle 
 hands where her history was unknown, if sailors were then, as 
 now, a superstitious set. 
 
 21 
 
"Shepherd Tom," that prince of story tellers, has a narrative 
 of a huge shark that followed one of our Newport slavers, as was 
 not infrequent in those days. A boy was bathing on the Narra- 
 gansett shore, and his father, watching him, was horrified to see 
 the great fin cutting the water. He did not dare to give a warn- 
 ing, but holding up a Spanish silver dollar shouted a promise 
 that the boy should have it, if he reached him in two minutes. 
 The race was a close one. The father snatched his son from the 
 water just as the shark snapped at him, rushing up on the shore 
 so impetuously that he was despatched by some men working 
 near. 
 
 Another tale of the sea is of the Newport mariner, son of a 
 Governor, who, lost for many years; sold into slavery and be- 
 lieved dead, at length returned just on the eve of his wife's mar- 
 riage with another man. Peterson, who tells the story, says 
 "The heart of Cranston was filled with the most painful emotion 
 that his lovely and adored wife was about to espouse another." 
 However all ends happily, he is recognized and accepted and 
 "Mr. Russell of Boston" who had thought to claim her for his 
 own, now bestows on the lady the sum which he had planned to 
 settle upon her as his wife. This, Mr. Peterson assures us, is 
 fact, though it sounds so much like fiction. 
 
 The wild legend of the Palatine ship or storm ship is well 
 known; the apparition of a burning vessel seen far out at sea, 
 recalling an ancient tale of horror and cruelty, and foretelling a 
 storm. 
 
 Perhaps among the most picturesque figures of a picturesque 
 age was the famous merchant, Godfrey Malbone. Born a Vir- 
 ginia boy, he early showed impatience of restraint, running away 
 to sea. Inheriting later a large fortune, he settled in Newport 
 and became one of the first of our merchant princes. He owned 
 both trading vessels and privateers, at one time 200 sail, it is 
 said. Many stories are told of his convivial temper, his bold 
 and untamed spirit and his wide hospitality. His country 
 house near Tammany hill and overlooking the bay, was said 
 to be one of the finest in the colonies. Its cost, if our au- 
 thorities are to be believed, was one hundred thousand dollars, 
 it had a front of 64 feet, and a good deal resembled the Court 
 
 22 
 
House, architecturally. Here Malbone kept open house, and 
 hither his captains resorted after a successful voyage. It is said 
 that he would give a grand entertainment on these occasions with 
 food of the best and wine in profusion, but with plain crockery. 
 At the close of the feast, he would set the example by hurling 
 down and smashing his plate, when the guests would follow suit, 
 breaking everything on the table in mad frolic. In the mood of 
 boisterous good fellowship thus engendered, they were perfectly 
 willing to sign for a new voyage, all dangers and difKcnlties for- 
 gotten. Malhone's house burned to the ground one June day, some 
 twenty years after its building, and the story goes that, seeing it 
 doomed, he coolly ordered his dinner table set out on the lawn, 
 and bade his guests continue their repast, saying that he saw no 
 reasons why they should be disturbed. 
 
 Malbone's garden was a noted one, with its box walks, or- 
 namental plantations and fish ponds stocked with silver fish. It 
 long remained one of the sights of the town, even to within the 
 memory of the present generation, but all has now vanished ; 
 only the depressions where the ponds used to be, indicating its 
 position. 
 
 One more story told of Godfrey Malbone shows his hearty 
 humor. He had been heard to say "What will not money buy." 
 A wit of the town wrote and put up in a public place, the follow- 
 ing verse 
 
 "All the money in the place 
 
 Won't buy old Malbone a handsome face." 
 
 Malbone was in a towering rage and offered ten guineas re- 
 ward for the discovery of the offender ; whereupon the man him- 
 self came forward, confessed and claimed the reward. Malbone 
 was so amused at his impudence that he actually paid him the 
 ten guineas and treated him beside. Owner of privateers and 
 slave ships though he was, Malbone was a good churchman. 
 He helped to found Trinity Church, and under the old edifice he 
 was laid, no small part in his day of the life of the old town. 
 
 It is impossible to linger too long over these, Newport's 
 great days. Royal interference from across the water was soon 
 to ruin our extensive commerce. We were too well off and too 
 prosperous for certain jealous ones, the West Indian sugar plant- 
 ers for example, and the restrictions of trade, at times severely 
 
 23 
 
enforced, struck a death blow at Newport's prosperity. Follow 
 friction and clashes, small rebellions and endless trouble with the 
 servants of the King. The story has often been told of our bold 
 resistance to what was called "ministerial tyranny." Newport's 
 temper leaned strongly toward defiance, as early as 1765, when 
 stamp tax officers were ignominously driven forth, as enemies of 
 their country, their houses knocked about, and their possessions 
 destroyed. They swung and hung in effigy on the Parade, and 
 Newport was quite Revolutionary, ten years before the proper 
 time. The tale, though most interesting, can not be told in de- 
 tail here. 
 
 More within our scope, perhaps, are the days when Revolu- 
 tion had actually come to pass, and in its course Newport found 
 itself in the English grasp, and an army actually quartered within 
 Its borders. There had ever been an aristocratic party in New- 
 port. Coddingtons, Brentons, Wantons, Vernons, were bound 
 by many ties to the mother country. The sentiment was 
 strengthened by the presence of successive officials who, sent out 
 as collector of the port or what not, were loyal to King and coun- 
 try. From this party came the Tories, those despised beings 
 who withheld their sympathy from their fellow countrymen, in 
 this, the crisis of their fate. They were vehemently detested by 
 all true patriots, and must have felt themselves in a somewhat 
 unpleasant minority, but probably, having taken a position, 
 found it difficult to recede from it. 
 
 Newport's young ladies had always a great reputation for 
 3eauty, and the charming Tory belles received most graciously 
 :he fine young officers, thus dropped down at their very doors. 
 Dances and entertainments took place among the members of this 
 /ery select circle, thus thrown on one another for amusement, 
 ^mong those much admired were the fascinating Misses Hunter, 
 laughters of Dr. William Hunter, a Scotch surgeon, and the 
 )eautiful Misses Robinson. Their father, " Quaker Tom," was 
 LH ardent loyalist, but by no means approved of the attentions of 
 ,uch worldly persons as red-coated officers, to his charming 
 laughters. It was difficult to get out of Newport in those days 
 )f occupation, but Mr. Robinson procured a flag of truce and 
 racked them off to their kin in Narragansett. The suitors were 
 
 24 
 
in despair, but the father was obdurate, and no one of his daugh- 
 ters wedded an officer of the King. The story is told of these 
 charmers that one admirer, despairing of obtaining access in any 
 other way, threw himself from his boat, to be carried dripping 
 across the forbidden threshold, and thus obtain a smile or a look 
 of pity. It may have been this incident that finally decided 
 " Quaker Tom" that strong measures alone could save his girls 
 from their too insistent wooers. 
 
 Days of trouble were these, in spite of such gleams of sun- 
 shine. Arrogant commanders, scarcity of provision, the difficulty 
 of communication with the outer world, fear of bombardment 
 from hovering French fleets- -poor Newport passed a troubled 
 term of three years. What a relief it must have been, when the 
 troops at length departed, and at last the hated red-coats, " lob- 
 ster backs," the Boston boys called them, were no more seen on 
 our streets. Instead, we got far more welcome guests — our gen- 
 erous allies, the young Frenchmen, who came to us, their hearts 
 brimming with enthusiasm for America, Liberty and the great 
 General Washington. What a delightful memory they have left 
 with us ! All accounts unite to praise their gaiety, their courtesy 
 and the perfect discipline that marked their troops. No one, 
 high or low, had cause to regret that the French had come to 
 Newport. The white coat turned back with pink or blue, the 
 waving plumes, the Tri-color cockade, when these appeared, 
 merriment abounded, and all sorts of good times marked the days 
 of their stay here. How they admired the Newport girls ! They 
 said that their way of hair-dressing was a couple of years behind 
 the style, but their beauty and wit they admired unreservedly, 
 and a special niche in their hearts was kept for the lovely Quaker 
 maidens, in the soft, becoming garb of their sect. Especially did 
 they admire fair Polly Lawton, who lived in the old house still 
 standing on the corner of Spring and Touro streets, and who tried 
 to persuade them of the error of their ways in desiring to fight at 
 all. Peggy Champlin, the fascinating Misses Hunter, charming 
 Polly Wanton who had "a very cunning look," her lovely cousin, 
 Mary Bull, with each and all they were deep in love. It is said 
 on good authority that De Ferssen, afterwards a favorite with 
 Marie Antoinette, was enamored of the eldest and most beautiful 
 
 25 
 
Miss Hunter — Eliza — but that she refused him because of her 
 impaired eyesight. She never married nor did he, but today her 
 miniature and a copy of his, sent in more modern times over seas, 
 stand together in a Newport drawing room, to tell of what might 
 have been. 
 
 Diamond rings scratched on window panes, names and true 
 lovers knots — the Vernon house had praise of the Misses Hunter, 
 the Hazard house on Broad street (her home) the words " charm- 
 ing Polly Wanton " in a small delicate hand. Count Segur says 
 in his Memoirs : " The ladies of Newport have acquired strong 
 claims upon our gratitude, by the kind reception they honored us 
 with," and the Countess de Noailles sent Miss Hunter a beautiful 
 Sevres service, still extant, in token of her appreciation of the 
 hospitality shown her husband. 
 
 Charming young men — the flower of France — one grieves to 
 think of the terrible storm of the French Revolution so soon to 
 break over their heads, and in which some were to go down and 
 other? hardly to win through. These were their good days, and 
 America owes a debt she can never repay to their generous ardor 
 and sacrifices in the cause of freedom. Who would have thought 
 at the close of that desperate struggle that we should be involved 
 with England again in less than thirty years? So it proved, and 
 it is to the period of the War of 1812, that Newport owes its most 
 romantic figure. It was in the opening year of that war, a flotilla 
 of gunboats guarded our bay, and in command was a young dash- 
 ing ofBcer of 27 — almost a Newporter, too, as he had lived here 
 through the impressionable years of boyhood, and had for a year 
 been married to a charming young Newport girl of sixteen. 
 What a daring spirit it was ! He chafed under the tedium of 
 guard duty and longed to distinguish himself. Oliver Hazard 
 Perry could never be contented out of the thick of the fight. It 
 was proposed at this time to build a fleet on the Great Lakes, to 
 combat England's power there, and Perry applied for the duty. 
 His request was granted, and he prepared for the great effort. 
 The task was an heroic one. Not only had he to take the long 
 journey through the wilderness to reach the Lakes, but on arrival 
 actually to construct the fleet with which the enemy were to be 
 met. Perry summoned to his aid the Newport boys, friends of 
 
 26 
 
his childhood, and the hardy Newport boat builders, than whom 
 there were no better anywhere. He was living at this time in 
 the Brenton or " Coe " house, standing on Thames street, but 
 retired, with a gravel sweep and trees before the door. The old 
 house is now hidden from sight behind modern buildings and only 
 reached by way of Mary street. On this gravel sweep Perry 
 drilled his recruits. Having secured a sufficient number, about 
 150, the journey was begun. The shipwrights carried their tools 
 with them and, reaching the Lakes, so well did they work that in 
 ninety days from the actual cutting of the trees, six vessels were 
 built and ready for service. The undertaking seemed, from every 
 point of view, a desperate one. It was said that a British fleet 
 had never been defeated, and the young, untried officer was un- 
 dertaking a tremendous venture in meeting the seasoned foe. 
 
 The result everyone knows. "We have met the enemy and 
 they are ours," flashed through the country with the speed of 
 light. The nation went wild. Honors, gifts, banqnets and 
 addresses were showered on the youthful hero. Newport greeted 
 his return with ringing of bells and salutes from the fort and flo- 
 tilla. The shipping was dressed and he was received by his 
 townsmen in mass, and escorted to his home. That night the 
 State House was illuminated. The town presented to him, as its 
 share of the universal homage, a silver vase "of the largest size" 
 surmounted by an eagle. It is sad to think of the early sacrifice 
 of this most promising young life. Sent on a mission to Ven- 
 ezuela in 1819, his impatient temper led to his leaving the ship 
 for a small boat in ascending one of those beautiful South Ameri- 
 can rivers. The connection was not then known between the 
 attacks of the deadly mosquitoes that swarm there and yellow 
 fever. Perry was so seriously infected that not even his youth 
 and fine constitution could save him. His death was deeply and 
 sincerely mourned, and seven years later his body was brought 
 with state and ceremony to Newport. Carried on a United States 
 frigate, it was met at the landing by a boat shaped funeral car 
 canopied and plumed with black, and drawn by four white horses. 
 Naval officers, militia companies and townsmen formed an impos- 
 ing cortege, and it is said that the ceremony was the most im- 
 pressive ever seen in Newport. 
 
 27 
 
Our statue on the Mall, by the son of one of Perry's old sail- 
 ing masters, represents him, it would seem, at the bow of his 
 boat, as he transfers flag and command from his sinking flagship. 
 It was for long a custom with the Newport Artillery while hold- 
 ing their parade on the loth of September, the anniversary of the 
 battle of Lake Erie, to hah and briefly serenade the families of 
 Perry and his associates in the great victory. The house of Mrs. 
 Perry, of course, on the Parade and then those of Captains Tailor, 
 Brownell and Cotton and Purser Breese were all remembered. 
 Perry was a remarkable man, and he is Newport's most cherished 
 hero — ever young and beautiful — a noble boy. Perhaps the old 
 town's romance finds its culminating point in his ardent and dar- 
 ing character. 
 
 Today's review, however, has surely proved to us that New- 
 port has never lacked for courage and initiative in her sons, that 
 she has lived through many and many a day of high romance, 
 and has tales to tell us, had we ears to hear, that are not sur- 
 passed by any seaport town of our coast. 
 
 The poets have not forgotten us and the wistful charm of 
 days that are gone show in their verse. It seems fitting to con- 
 clude with one of Bret Harte's, probably written during his sum- 
 mer here, and a well known and well loved poem of Gov. Van 
 
 Zandt's. 
 
 A NEWPORT ROMANCE 
 
 They say she died of a broken heart 
 
 (I tell the tale as 'twas told to me ) 
 But her spirit lives and her soul is part 
 
 Of the sad old house by the sea. 
 
 Her lover was fickle and fine and French, 
 
 It was nearly a hundred years ago 
 That he sailed away from her arms, poor wench. 
 
 With Admiral Rochambeau. 
 
 But she kept the posies of mignonette 
 That he gave, and ever as their bloom failed 
 
 And failed, though with her tears still wet, 
 Her youth with their own exhaled. 
 
 Till one night when the sea fog wrapped a shroud 
 Round spar and spire, tarn and tree. 
 
 Her soul went up in the lifted cloud 
 From the sad old house by the sea. 
 
 28 
 
And ever since then when the clock strikes two, 
 
 She walks unbidden from room to room ; 
 And the air is filled as she passes through 
 
 With a subtle, sad perfume. 
 
 The delicate odor of mignonette. 
 
 The ghost of a dead and gone bouquet 
 Is all that tells her story— yet 
 
 Could she think of a sweeter way ? 
 
 and Mr. Van Zandt's " The Little Old Woman," comprising in 
 its graceful verse two separate stories : 
 
 THE LITTLE OLD WOMAN 
 
 There's a little old woman lives over the way 
 In a gambrel-roofed cottage unpainted and grey 
 And where the brown grape vine is clambering across 
 The shingles are covered with patches of moss. 
 
 By the wood fire-side in the winter she sits, 
 In a list bottomed rocker, and sings as she knits, 
 In a quavering voice with a tremulous croon. 
 And the click of her needle keeps time to the tune. 
 
 Her Bible she reads, slowly turning the leaves. 
 And she garners bright grain from its beautiful sheaves ; 
 And the tears dim her eyes, as she lifts them on high. 
 In search of her treasures laid up in the sky. 
 
 In her best Sunday gown, whether ailing or well, 
 She trots to her meeting at sound of the bell. 
 And she sits in her pew, like a wren on its perch. 
 This little grey dame in a Puritan church. 
 
 Our very old people remember, they think. 
 When her hair was as glossy and black as a mink, 
 And her cheeks red as roses, her teeth white as pearls. 
 And this little old woman the fairest of girls. 
 
 She had a dear lover, alack and a day ! 
 
 A sailor who sailed from the beautiful bay. 
 
 And the summers may blush and the winters may pale. 
 
 But their sun never shines on his home-coming sail. 
 
 At a little round tabl efrom over the sea 
 She sits at the sunset and pours out her tea 
 And the delicate cup and its saucer are white 
 As a floating pond lily, just kissed by the light. 
 
 And a ship under sail, with its flag at the mast, 
 All laden with memories brought from the past 
 Is painted upon them, as life like and fair 
 As the mirage that floats in the orient air. 
 
 20 
 
His ship that he sailed in— his sweetheart to wed 
 By others forgotten — the sunset grows red — 
 But the little old woman just murmurs a prayer 
 And smiles as she knows that her lover is there. 
 
 But a day will soon come when the lilac's perfume 
 Through the half open window will float through the room 
 And the house will be quiet and she be at rest 
 With a single white rose on her motionless breast. 
 
 And the angels will come with their glittering wings. 
 While the parson he prays and the choir it sings, 
 And bear to the home that is fairer than day 
 The little old woman from over the way. 
 
 30 
 
Postage Stamp Currency Used During the 
 Civil War 
 
 The accompanying diagrams illustrate a series of postage 
 stamp currency used during the civil war, which were issued in 
 July, 1862, by the firm of William Newton & Co., 186 and 188 
 Thames Street, Newport, Rhode Island. 
 
 The senior member of this firm was my father, and at the 
 time the currency was issued I was a clerk in his store. Re- 
 cently in looking over some old papers I came across two original 
 copies of each, before stamps had been attached thereto, of the 
 four denominations, viz: 5^ and 10/ printed on one sheet, and 
 25/ and 50/ on another, not cut apart nor trimmed, but just as 
 they came from the printer; each note being 2I" x 4.^" . 
 
 As this currency is rare and novel, it was thought in order 
 to preserve one of these complete sets that a proper disposition of 
 them would be with the Newport Historical Society, I tiierefore 
 take pleasure in forwarding the notes herewith. 
 
 Postage Stamps. 
 
 WII^LffAM WEWTOH «& CO. 
 
 Importers 81 Xtealorsin 
 
 Choice Family Groceries, 
 
 Corner of Thames and Pelham streets, 
 ADJOINING THE POBT OFFICE. 
 
 5 
 
 Cents. 
 
 A brief synopsis of the history of the firm and its predeces- 
 sors follows: The business was originally established in 183 1 
 by Simon Newton (born in the year 1772, died November 27, 
 1862), who continued in business with his sons until 1841 when 
 he retired. In 1833, the firm was changed to J. R. Newton & 
 Co., composed of Simon and James Rogers Newton. In 1838, 
 to E. F. & W. Newton, composed of Simon, Edward Fare and 
 
 31 
 
William Newton. In 184 1, same firm name, composed of Ed- 
 ward F., James R., and William Newton. In 1849, the firm 
 name was changed to Newton Brothers, without change in firm 
 membership. James R. Newton withdrew from the firm in 1851, 
 and Edward F. Newton in 1856. On January 22, 1859, the firm 
 of William Newton & Co. succeeded that of Newton Brothers, 
 being composed of William Newton (born December 13, 1815, 
 died September 25, 1862) and his nephew Thomas Pitman New- 
 ton, and some time later another nephew, Stephen Ayrault New- 
 ton, became a member of the firm. The business was carried on 
 until a few years after the death of the senior member of the firm, 
 when it was discontinued. 
 
 "The Numismatist," a magazine devoted to coins, medals 
 and paper money, of Baltimore, Maryland, published in their 
 issue of July, 19 13, diagrams of the 5/ and 10/ notes with the 
 following remarks: *' Through the kindness of Mr. Henry Rus- 
 sell Drowne we illustrate this month two varieties of an ex- 
 tremely interesting and rare series of private paper notes which 
 at one time circulated as money. * * Only these two speci- 
 mens have ever come to the attention of numismatists, and were 
 obtained years ago by Mr. Drowne from Mr. Lyman H. Low. 
 Mr. Drowne has tried to obtain a detailed history of the notes 
 and the manner and extent of their history. * * It is sup- 
 posed that there were also 25/ and 50/ notes." 
 
 The two notes referred to above are dated July 4, 1862, 
 while those herewith are dated July 25, 1862, also, the directions 
 
 
 Ittiteir plates 
 X 
 
 F^ostage Stamps. 
 
 
 1 
 
 I 
 
 c 
 
 i 
 
 en Is. 
 
 ImpoTtSTi £; Dealers in 
 
 Choioo Family Groceries, 
 
 Comer of Thames and rdhom streets, 
 ADJOINING THE POST OFFIOE. 
 
 
 
 32 
 
relating to stamps being "kept clean" are only printed on the 
 later issue. From this it is evident that there must have been 
 two different issues, at least of the two smaller notes. 
 
 SIMON NEWTON. 
 430 Hamilton Avenue, 
 
 Detroit, Mich., February 3, 1917. 
 
 i ;l"1 
 
 
 1 . li 
 
 1 1 kliiitt a Elates 
 
 S0i 
 
 i 
 
 Accessions to the Museum 
 
 Two framed drawings by George C. Mason — one of the "Glen," 
 the other of " Newport from Fort Dunham." 
 
 Donor : Mrs. M. J. Leary 
 Collection of Egyptian relics from Hon. Daniel B. Fearing. 
 Collection of manuscript documents, being mostly shipping pa- 
 pers dated Newport, 1 785-1 800. 
 
 Donors : Dr. Henry Barton Jacobs and 
 Mr. Hamilton B. Tompkins. 
 Colored Print " The Yacht Squadron at Newport," 1872. 
 
 Donors : Dr. Jacobs and Mr. Tompkins. 
 Gavel made from wood of Gilbert Stuart's birthplace in Narra- 
 ragansett — made by Mr. J. McK. Southwick. 
 
 Donor: Miss Mary E. Powel. 
 The sword worn by Com. Oliver Hazard Perry during the battle 
 of Lake Erie. Deposited by Capt. Perry Belmont. 
 
 33 
 
Accessions to the Library 
 
 GIFTS 
 
 History of Newport County, 1638-1887. By Richard M. Bayles. 
 Representative Men and Old Families of Rhode Island — 3 vols. 
 State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations at the end of 
 the Century. A History. By Edward Field, A. B. — 3 vols. 
 Donor: Mr. Charles P. Coggeshall. 
 
 Pamphlets and books on the War. 
 
 Donors : Sir Gilbert Parker, Prof. Macneile Dixon 
 and others, England. 
 
 Annals of Trinity Church, Newport, R. I., 1682-1821. 
 Annals of Trinity Church, Newport, R. I., 1821-1890. 
 
 Donor: Hon. George Peabody Wetmore. 
 
 Publications of different societies including: (by exchange) 
 State Historical Society of Wisconsin. 
 New York Public Library. 
 Massachusetts Historical Society. 
 Peoples Library, Newport, R. I. 
 Redwood Library, Newport, R. I. 
 New Hampshire Historical Society. 
 New Bedford, Mass., Public Library. 
 Newport Garden Club. 
 
 Alpine Journal. 1863-1902. 21 vols. 
 
 Donor: Mrs. DeLancey Kane. 
 
 BOOK FUND 
 
 Remarkable Providences Illustrative of the Earlier Days of Amer- 
 ican Colonization. By Increase Mather. 
 
 The Wonders of the Invisible World. Being an account of the 
 tryals of several witches lately executed in New England. 
 By Cotton Mather, D. D. To which is added a farther 
 account of the tryals of the New England witches by In- 
 crease Mather D. D., President of Harvard College. 
 
 Some Neglected History of North Carolina. By Wm. Edward 
 Fitch, M. D. 
 
 Correspondence of William Pitt — when Secretary of State with 
 Colonial Governors and Military and Naval Commissioners 
 in America. By Gertrude Selwyn Kimball. 
 
 34 
 
SOCIETY NOTES 
 
 Since the publication of the last 
 Bulletin, the affairs of the Society 
 have proceeded in a most satisfac- 
 tory manner. The new Secretary 
 has entered most diligvfntly into 
 his labors, and his many old friends 
 in the Society feel great pleasure 
 in having him with us. 
 
 Much attention is being given 
 to the library, which is more valu- 
 able than is probably appreciated 
 by most of our members. Under 
 the charge of Mrs, Charles C. 
 Gardner, a complete and up to date 
 catalogue is being made by Miss 
 Weaver, and it is hoped that by 
 the new arrangement of books, its 
 usefulness, which has ever been 
 great, may be increased. 
 
 Our Society took part in the re- 
 ception of the Japanese Commis- 
 sioners who lately visited our city. 
 On Sunday afternoon, the sixteenth 
 of September, they were welcomed 
 to our building by a few words 
 from our First Vice President, and 
 by a large number of the members 
 of the Society. Count Ishii and 
 his associates manifested much in- 
 terest in our historical collections, 
 especially in the Japanese room, 
 where there are pictures and relics 
 relating to Commodore Perry's 
 visit to Japan, when, through his 
 efforts, that country was first 
 opened to foreigners. 
 
 It is a great satisfaction to the 
 officers of the Society to realize 
 the continued use which is being 
 made of our meeting room. When 
 the new building was erected, it 
 was so planned that this charming 
 little old church might become the 
 meeting place of literary and phil- 
 anthropic organizations, who are 
 always welcome to its use. 
 
 New members elected since issue 
 of last bulletin. 
 
 SUSTAINING MEMBERS 
 
 Miss S. D. Hliss. 
 Mrs. William S. Sims 
 Miss Edna Barger 
 
 ANNUAL MEMBERS 
 
 Mrs. Andrew Turner. 
 
 Mr. William J. Walsh. 
 
 Mrs. Samuel Powel. 
 
 Miss Kate deC. Birckhead. 
 
 Mr. Guy C. Caldwell. 
 
 Mr. John K. Walsh. 
 
 Mr. William H. Tibbetts. 
 
 Miss Loresta P>ench. 
 
 Mrs. George H. Richardson. 
 
 Mr. William P. Clarke. 
 
 Mr. James P. Taylor. 
 
 Mr. Joseph G. Stevens, 2d. 
 
 Miss Lillian Pearson. 
 
 Mr. Clarence Bateman. 
 
 Mr. Edward Wanton Smith. 
 
 Mr. Henry R. Taber. 
 
 Dr. William J. Hull. 
 
 Mrs. Wm. T. Libby 
 
 Mr. Charles P. Coggeshall 
 
 85 
 
OFFICERS 
 
 OF THE 
 
 Newport Historical Society 
 
 For the year ending May^ igi8 
 
 President, DANIEL B. FEARING 
 First Vice-President, RODERICK TERRY 
 
 Second Vice-President, FRANK K. STURGIS 
 
 Third Vice-President, ALFRED TUCKERMAN 
 Recording Secretary, JOHN P. SANBORN 
 Corresponding Secretary, MAUD LYMAN STEVENS 
 Treasurer, HENRY C. STEVENS, Jr. 
 Librarian, LLOYD M. MAYER 
 Curator of Coins and Medals, EDWIN P. ROBINSON 
 
 Members op the Board of Directors 
 for three years 
 
 MRS. HAROLD BROWN MISS EDITH M. TILLEY 
 
 MRS. RICHARD C. DERBY DR. WILLIAM S. SHERMAN 
 
 FOR TWO YEARS 
 
 MRS. THOMAS A. LAWTON HAMILTON B. TOMPKINS 
 
 MRS. FRENCH VANDERBILT 
 
 FOR ONE YEAR 
 
 MRS. C. L. F. ROBINSON GEORGE V. DICKEY 
 
 JONAS BERGNER LAWRENCE L. GILLESPIE 
 
 36 
 
2,O0ND