Job E. Townsend Coffin Accounts and Newport Town Council Records: Research of African American Ancestors

Newspaper obituaries for African American residents who died in Newport, Rhode Island, in the decades after the American Revolution are sparse in number. When they were in the Newport Mercury, it was often at the behest of a former enslaver. Such was the case for these six residents: Dutchess Quamino, baker, and wife of John Quamino, in 1804; Cato Stevens in 1807; Arthur Tikey Flagg, ropemaker (cordwainer) in 1810; Pomp Brinley in 1813; Cudjo Vernon in 1823; and Sarah (Searing) Lyndon in 1826. Although the enslavers often praised the deceased for a well-lived life, the words provide little in the way of understanding the family of those previously enslaved.

Therefore, when I came across a document compiled by Gladys Bolhouse and Fannie Cushman, of the records of Job E. Townsend (1758-1829), I was hopeful that I would find some clues to the lives not recorded elsewhere. Townsend, of the illustrious Newport furniture and cabinet making family, made coffins for Newport deceased from at least 1803 to 1828. Indeed, listed are the names of 400 residents. In reviewing Townsend’s chronological lists, I looked for the names of African Americans who Townsend indicated were black, colored, or negro.[1] Other individuals of African heritage were evident by their first names, which were Rhode Island place names, from Greek or Roman heritage, or from African languages.

Once I had these lists, I compared them with notes from Newport Town Council Meetings for 1803 to 1823, which indicate payments by the town for coffins and funerals of the poor.[2] Finally, I looked for information in the recently developed digital Newport Historical Society database that might be helpful in connecting the sources.

Third generation furniture maker, Job E. Townsend, had a side business of making coffins for Newport’s deceased, representing seventeen percent of his income. Typically, he worked with readily available wood, such as cedar, cherry, poplar, chestnut, maple, or walnut. Those coffins were at most one-third the cost of a mahogany coffin, which cost twenty dollars. His account books provide the dates Townsend worked on coffins, the individuals for whom he made the coffin, and who paid for that service.[3]

In the accounts, it is possible I may have missed someone who was of African descent. For example, Alexander Jack, who buried a child in 1815 in a Townsend coffin, is considered by some to be of African heritage but his family passed for white in the federal censuses. Amey James, buried in 1815, may be the same woman originally from South Kingstown, the wife of David James, whose residency status was examined on September 26, 1812, by the Newport Town Council; at the time she was not warned out (i.e., asked to leave the town and return to her hometown. Miney Lawton, buried in 1804, Sylvester Browning in 1814, and Julia Lillibridge in 1822 could also be of African heritage, as the town paid for their funerals.

The following dates indicate when Townsend was contacted to make a coffin, the name of the deceased person, and how he was paid. If the coffin payment did not come from the estate of the deceased or a family member (which accounted for seventeen coffins in those years), then the town of Newport paid for the coffins; the least costly were made of pine, usually $3.00 apiece. Townsend was paid out of the Poor Fund for 29 coffins. That accounts for 46 burials of African Americans. There were other coffin makers in town, whose accounts may hold the names of additional African Americans.[4]

Job E. Townsend Coffin Records 1803-1828

1803  Violet Stevens, third wife of Zingo Stevens, paid by her husband[5]

1805  Pompy Lady (could this be the wife of Pompey Levy) Lucy Johnson

1806  Dinah Sisson (widow of Neptune Sisson ca1729-1794)

1807  Richard Vickery, paid by Arthur Flagg (ca 1733-1810)[6]

Mrs. James Niles (Slyve Burke), paid by her husband, a black man[7]

Daughter of Humphrey Weeden (ca. 1769-1852)

1808  Child of Frank Chaloner (1777-1864 on his gravestone).

Mother of Frank Chaloner (Hannah).

Violet Hammond, by her estate.

Mrs. Jacob Gardner (negro) paid by Newport Gardner[8]

A grandchild, paid by Newport Gardner.

A child, paid for by Arthur Flagg

Cuff Potter

1809  Cuffe Rodman, paid by his estate[9]

A child, Quash Mowat (ca.1734-1823) paid by son-in-law Henry Clarke[10]

1810  Arthur Flagg, paid by his estate

1811  Violet Amy (relative of Prince Amy also spelled Almy)

Widow of Richard Vickery

Sarah Rodman, widow of Cuff Rodman, paid by the estate[11]

1813  Heddy Diddeo

Dinah Green

Mrs. Bird (possibly Sylvia Bird, widow of Newport Carr, who died in 1790)

Widow of Newport Phillips

1814  Mrs. Prince Thurston (may be another name for Primus Thurston)[12]

1815  Child of Arthur Flagg, paid by Philip Collins

Newport Thurston (“negro”)

1816   Thomas Chapman (“black”)

Prince Bailey, paid by his daughter[13]

Edward Browning, paid by Arthur Flagg

Child of Anthony Flagg[14]

1817  Zingo Stevens, paid by his estate

Sharp (Sherpo) Brown

Newport Phillips

Mrs. Quash Mowatt, (Quint was her first name)[15]

1818  Child of Anthony Flagg

1819  Child of Anthony Flagg

Scipio Tanner[16]

1820  Child of Anthony Flagg

Phillis Bowers, paid half by the town and half by the Baptist church[17]

1821  Peggy Tanner, widow of Scipio

1823  Israel Thomas, Ezra Thomas, Dinah, and Toney Thurston (colored)

1824  Cato Willet, his coffin paid for by his estate

1827  Arthur Flagg (“negro man”), paid for by his estate[18]

Newport Town Council Meeting Records 1803-1825

A search of town records provides corroborative information for whom Townsend made the coffins and who paid him. The town sometimes paid $4.75 for a coffin for a poor person. For the 32 African Americans in the records, the Town Council also paid for the burials. Between 1815 and his own death in 1824, Cato Willet served as undertaker for the African American community for at least twelve funerals of residents. He received “$2.50 out of the Poor Fund” for each burial, including the horse, hearse, digging the grave, and funeral procession.[19] The town paid Mintus Weeden for the responsibility of six funerals of African Americans beginning in 1817.[20] Other town residents who received payments for burying the dead included John Tillinghast and Daniel Vernon.

1805  Pompey’s Lady[21]

Lucy Johnson

1808  Cuff Potter

1811  Wife of Richard Vickery

Violet Amy or Almy

1813  Heddy Diddeo

1814  Prince (or Primus?) Thurston

1815  Newport Thurston

Phillis Brown, Cato Willet paid by the town for hearse-hire and burial

Quaco Mumford, Cato Willet paid by the town for burial

1816  Thomas Chapman

Prince Lillibridge, Cato Willet paid by the town for burial

Cudjo Gibbs, Cato Willet paid by the town for the burial[22]

1817  Zingo Stevens, Mintus Weeden paid by the estate and the town

Sharpe Brown, Cato Willet paid by the town,

Newport Phillips

1818  John Thomas, Cato Willet paid by the town

Lucy Peterson, Cato Willet paid by the town

Quint Mowatt, Mintus Weeden paid by the town

1819  Scipio Tanner, Mintus Weeden paid by the town

1821  Peggy Tanner, wife of Scipio Tanner

1822  Sally Chaloner, Cato Willet paid by the town for the funeral

Jube Lillibridge

John Pearce, Cato Willet paid by the town for the funeral

Richard Thomas, Cato Willet paid by the town

Prince Champlin, Cato Willet paid by Christopher Grant Champlin[23]

1823  Israel Thomas, Ezra Thomas (colored), Toney Thurston, and Dinah

Thomas Thurston, Cato Willet paid by the town

1824  James Sampson, his wife, and one child, Mintus Weeden paid by the town[24]

In conclusion, the exploration of these sources provides one more way to make connections to African American lives in early nineteenth century Newport. Without existing gravestones, Town Council Records and Accounts of Coffins can open new avenues for research.

Notes:

[1] Mrs. Oliver M. “Fannie” Cushman, Transcriber for the Daughters of the American Revolution, Newport Custom House Records of Seamen 1798-1799; Records of Coffins Made by Job Townsend 1803-1828; Deaths of 1823-1844 in Almanac No. 1 (1959), Newport Historical Society.  Accessed at https://www.familysearch.org/library/books/records/item/357223-births-and-deaths-from-newport-and-portsmouth-births-of-seamen-1798-1799-job-townsend-coffins-1803-1828-benjamin-pearce-coffin-record-1835-1841-and-deaths-copied-from-almanac-no-1-1803-1844.

[2] Newport Town Council Meetings, 1807-1814 #2005, 1815-1821 #2012, and 1822-1825 Mss #2035, Newport Historical Society.

[3] Martha H. Willougby, “The Accounts of Job Townsend.” Accessed at https://chipstone.org/article.php/318/American-Furniture-1999/The-Accounts-of-Job-Townsend,-Jr.

[4] John Tillinghast built fifteen coffins from 1814 to 1819, according to the Town Council Meeting Records, for poor white residents. See Furniture Maker Samuel Vinson’s Ledger, 1797-1813, #514, vault A, Newport Historical Society. Thank you to Edward Andrews, Newport Gardner’s Anthem: A Story of Slavery, Struggle, and Survival in Early America (Cornell University Press, 2025), 122-123, 155-156, for the information on Vinson-made coffins for three children of Newport Gardner who were buried between 1784 and 1798.

[5] To pay Townsend, Zingo Stevens secured a loan of £1.7 from the African Humane Society of which he was a member. Stevens was a dues-paying member of the African Union Society. See Heather Bollinger, “Zingo Stevens,” Newport Historical Society,  https://collections.newporthistory.org/People/stories. The Stevens Shop carved a simple stone indicating the death of Violet at 61 years of age.

[6] Arthur Flagg was a respected cordwainer in Newport. Other gravestones for members of his family included one for a daughter Nancy in 1801 and one for his wife in 1802. Kaela Bleho, “Arthur Tikey,” Newport Historical Society, https://collections.newporthistory.org/People/stories.

[7] The couple married at Second Baptist Church in 1800 by Reverend Gardner Thurston. See “James Niles,” Newport Historical Society, https://collections.newporthistory.org/People.

[8] Jacob Gardner, born in 1785, was a son of Newport Gardner (Occramer Marycoo ca. 1733-1826). After the death of his enslaver, Caleb Gardner (1739-1806), a young man, Jack Gardner, was manumitted. See Newport Town Council, Book # 2005 (September 1807), p. 503. “Constant Tabor and Audley Clake, as executors of the last will and testament, presented a Black Boy, Jack Gardner, about age sixteen to eighteen, that he may be set free, approved by Elizabeth Gardner and William Gardner [teenage children by second wife Sarah Fowler who lived from 1761 to 1795]. The Council examines the young man and sets him free as he is healthy and able to earn a living.” The wife of Audley Clarke, Mary Gardner (1770-1832), was the daughter of Caleb Gardner by his first wife Sarah Robinson (1746-1777). See Sotheby’s advertisement online, “The Important Lieutenant Colonel Caleb Gardner Chippendale Block-and-Shell-Carved Block-Front Chest of Drawers, attributed to John Townsend (1733-1809), Newport, Rhode Island, circa 1788.” Constant Tabor (1743-1826) was a legislator and a clerk of inferior court. See also “Jacob Gardner,” Newport Historical Society, https://collections.newporthistory.org/People. Jacob married Rachel Rodman in First Congregational Church, Newport, in 1806. He joined the African American organizations to help others in the community. See Edward Andrews, “Newport Gardner,” Newport Historical Society, https://collections.newporthistory.org/People/stories.

[9] Cuffe Rodman (ca. 1769-1809) was an active member of the African Union Society for over two decades of his life. See “Cuffe Rodman,” Newport Historical Society, https://collections.newporthistory.org/People.

[10] Quash Mowat’s daughter, Charlotte Mowat (1787-1826?) married Henry Clarke (ca. 1786-1830) in the First Congregational Church in 1806. This is likely the same young man whom Audley Clarke (1770-1844), a merchant and financier of slave ships, manumitted in September 1807. “Negro Harry, about age twenty-two, who is healthy and able to work for a living.” The Council set him free. See Newport Town Council Book #2005, p. 559.The Clarke couple traveled on the Vine to Liberia with Newport Gardner in 1826 along with their five children and her sister Harriet Mowat (also spelled Moett, Mowett). They died in Africa. Accessed list at https://ccharity.com/contents/roll-emigrants-have-been-sent-colony-liberia-western-africa/emigrants-to-liberia-ship-lists/brigvine1826/.

[11] Sarah was the daughter of Zingo Stevens, who inherited substantial property in Newport. Heather Bollinger, “Sarah Rodman” and “Zingo Stevens,” Newport Historical Society, https://collections.newporthistory.org/People/stories.

[12] Primus Thurston was a distiller and along with his wife Violet, owned lots, # 125 and #127, in Easton’s Point in Newport from 1800. Her husband declared bankruptcy in 1814 according to the Rhode Island Republican. See also LE 12: 644, LE 13: 8 and the Acct. Bk Proprietors Easton’s Point, 350, Newport Historical Society.

[13] The gravestone in God’s Little Acre was for Catherine, daughter of Prince Bailey and his wife Dianna. She died at the age of sixteen.

[14] Who was Anthony Flagg? In the review of the genealogy of the white Ebenezer Flagg family, none of his siblings, sons, or grandsons were Anthony Flagg. There was an Abraham Flagg, a son of Arthur Flagg Sr.

[15] Trinity Church Records show Quash and Quint Mowet married there in 1787.

[16] Zoe Hume, “Scipio Tanner,” Newport Historical Society, https://collections.newporthistory.org/People/stories.

[17] Quam Bowers, her husband, was a lifelong dues paying member of each of the African American organizations from 1780s until his death in 1810. Phillis attended the Newport African Benevolent Society School from October 1808 to March 1809. See “Phillis Bowers,” Newport Historical Society, https://collections.newporthistory.org/People/.

[18] Arthur Flagg, Jr. (1764-1827) died at sea.

[19] Cato Willet wrote a will leaving a house and a lot of land to his wife, Diana. Newport Probate 6: 552, Newport City Hall, Newport, Rhode Island. Willet may have served the community even earlier, as the African Humane Society voted to stop organizing funeral processions in 1803.  See Meeting Minutes, November 10, 1803, African Humane Society Papers, p. 99 (referenced in Andrews, Newport Gardner’s Anthem, 90).

[20] Nelson Tomakloe, “Sarah Charles, Josias Budgel, her Husband and Their Children,” Rhode Island Roots 39 (Dec. 2013): 186-189. Mintus Weeden (1766-Mar. 1851) died in Newport at the age of eighty-five. At thirteen years of age, Peleg Carr placed Mintus with Joseph S. Taylor, Assistant Commissary head for the North Kingston militia during the Revolutionary War. Weeden became a free black, who married Ruth Charles, and in Jamestown was head of household in the 1790 census. From 1800 he was in Newport with his eight children as head of household.

[21] Levy was a member of the African Union Society for decades and was head of household in the Federal Census of 1790. See “Pompey Levy,” Newport Historical Society, https://collections.newporthistory.org/People/.

[22] There were two Cudjo Gibbs, likely father and son. The elder married Ann Wickham in 1788. He may have been the sponsor of baptisms at Trinity Church in 1812; another was a sponsor of baptisms at the same Anglican church in 1822 and died in 1832. See “Cudjo Gibbs,” Newport Historical Society, https://collections.newporthistory.org/People/.

[23] “Prince Champlin,” Newport Historical Society, https://collections.newporthistory.org/People/. Cato Willet signed with an “X,” indicating he received payment from Champlin for the burial. Object B43A_F26_nn4, Newport Historical Society.

[24] James Sampson underwent a residency examination before the Newport Town Council, September 26, 1812; they did not warn him out of town. He attended the African Benevolent Society evening school and became a dues-paying member of that organization which helped educate other people of color. “James Sampson,” Newport Historical Society, https://collections.newporthistory.org/People/.