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Eliza Jumel’s Rags to Riches Story
4 days ago

Eliza Jumel’s Rags to Riches Story

Eliza Jumel (nee, Elizabeth Bowen) was born in Providence on April 2, 1775, the daughter of Phebe Kelly and John Bowen, a sailor. After her parents separated, Phebe lived in …
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Schooling for Enslaved Youth in Newport Before the Revolution
2 weeks ago

Schooling for Enslaved Youth in Newport Before the Revolution

A recent publication in Williamsburg, Virginia, about a colonial school for enslaved and free children of color spurred this research. Williamsburg historians used their database of student names, as well …
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Rhode Island Almost Sparks Revolutionary War in 1774 by Stealing Cannon in Newport
4 weeks ago

Rhode Island Almost Sparks Revolutionary War in 1774 by Stealing Cannon in Newport

Hostilities between the New England colonies and Great Britain did not break out until April 19, 1775, at the Battle of Lexington and Concord. But Rhode Island’s government took a …
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My Day at the Battle of Lexington and Concord 250th Reenactment
1 month ago

My Day at the Battle of Lexington and Concord 250th Reenactment

I love history firsts. The American Revolutionary War began on April 19, 1775, at the Battle of Lexington and Concord. This was the sharp beginning of America on its road …
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A Rhode Island Officer’s Recollections Lead to New Information on Battle of Red Bank
1 month ago

A Rhode Island Officer’s Recollections Lead to New Information on Battle of Red Bank

I recently came across the recollections of Simeon Thayer, who served from 1777 to 1781 as a major in Rhode Island Continental Army regiments. He was one of the outstanding …
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African American Property Ownership in Newport from the 1780s to 1820s
2 months ago

African American Property Ownership in Newport from the 1780s to 1820s

Home ownership is a mainstay of the American Dream. In colonial Rhode Island, merchant shippers and merchant retailers, as well as professionals, such as attorneys and physicians, had access and …
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Book Review: Linford D. Fisher, Sheila M. McIntyre, and Julia A. Fisher, Reading Roger Williams: Rogue Puritans, Indigenous Nations, and the Founding of America, A Documentary History
2 months ago

Book Review: Linford D. Fisher, Sheila M. McIntyre, and Julia A. Fisher, Reading Roger Williams: Rogue Puritans, Indigenous Nations, and the Founding of America, A Documentary History

This is a most welcome book. Books on Roger Williams can be hard for the average reader to read. In part, this is because sixteenth century English language is so …
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Book Review: The Rise of Newport’s Catholics: From Colonial Outcasts to Gilded Age Leaders, by John F. Quinn (University of Massachusetts Press, 2024)
2 months ago

Book Review: The Rise of Newport’s Catholics: From Colonial Outcasts to Gilded Age Leaders, by John F. Quinn (University of Massachusetts Press, 2024)

Over the course of the last 25 years, Salve Regina University historian John F. Quinn has produced a remarkable body of scholarship illustrating the ethnic and religious history of …
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Elisha Potter Jr., Thomas Commuck, and Indigenous Land Claims from the Brothertown Narragansetts
3 months ago

Elisha Potter Jr., Thomas Commuck, and Indigenous Land Claims from the Brothertown Narragansetts

Elisha Potter, Jr. was the son of prominent attorney and Rhode Island politician Elisha Potter, Sr. and his wife Mary (Mawney) Potter. As a young man, Elisha Jr. grew up …
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South Kingstown’s Partial Census for 1730: Whites, Indians and Blacks
3 months ago

South Kingstown’s Partial Census for 1730: Whites, Indians and Blacks

I was going through the colonial records of South Kingstown at the South Kingstown Town Hall last year when I stumbled across a census document with decent detail that wound …
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