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Thomas Careless of the Royal Navy:  Tried for Murder in Newport, Court-Martialed for Tossing a Block Islander
7 years ago

Thomas Careless of the Royal Navy: Tried for Murder in Newport, Court-Martialed for Tossing a Block Islander

On May 3, 1768, a man was killed in Newport, Rhode Island, in a fight on Thames Street near Green Dragon Lane.[1] Four days later, Sarah Goddard and John Carter …
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Roger Williams’s Opening Argument: Church, State and the Birth of Liberty
7 years ago

Roger Williams’s Opening Argument: Church, State and the Birth of Liberty

The question of church and state is probably—not probably—is the oldest argument in American history. It was first articulated almost 400 years ago by John Winthrop, the most important figure …
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Mabel Hayward, Wickford’s Con Artist Extraordinaire
7 years ago

Mabel Hayward, Wickford’s Con Artist Extraordinaire

Throughout the village of Wickford, Rhode Island’s three centuries of existence, thousands of people have come and gone. Lives of all sorts have played out in Wickford and its nearby …
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“Here We Lost Many Good Men:”  A New Account from the Battle of Fredericksburg
7 years ago

“Here We Lost Many Good Men:” A New Account from the Battle of Fredericksburg

Ever since my book, The Seventh Rhode Island Infantry in the Civil War was published by McFarland in 2008, it opened a literal floodgate of material relating to the Seventh …
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The Civilian Conservation Corps in Rhode Island, 1933-1942
7 years ago

The Civilian Conservation Corps in Rhode Island, 1933-1942

The stock market crash of 1929 sent America into the throes of the Great Depression.  The levels of unemployment and suffering among ordinary Americans were unlike anything that had ever …
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When Rhode Island Received Mercy
7 years ago

When Rhode Island Received Mercy

Mary Francis Xavier Warde was the American foundress of the Sisters of Mercy (RSM). Born in Ireland in 1810 to fairly prosperous parents, she was orphaned in her teens. At …
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“Awoke This Day Destitute of Bread:” The Diary of Noah Robinson, a Massachusetts Militiaman in the American Revolution Serving in Rhode Island
7 years ago

“Awoke This Day Destitute of Bread:” The Diary of Noah Robinson, a Massachusetts Militiaman in the American Revolution Serving in Rhode Island

The War of the American Revolution was in large part a young man’s war.

At the beginnings of the conflict, many well-educated young men who were descendants …
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A Revolutionary War Marriage Abandoned: Andrew Bruce and Henrietta Overing
7 years ago

A Revolutionary War Marriage Abandoned: Andrew Bruce and Henrietta Overing

A chapter in Henrietta Overing Auchmuty’s life has been overlooked by history. Perhaps she would’ve wanted it that way, for it is a story of romance turned into heartbreak …
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The Larchmont Disaster
7 years ago

The Larchmont Disaster

[Editor’s note:  The author of this article, Lynne Heinzmann, is the author of Frozen Voices, a wonderful new historical novel about the sinking of the SS Larchmont. She does a …
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Recalling Officer Candidate School and Serving on a Destroyer in the Korean War Era
7 years ago

Recalling Officer Candidate School and Serving on a Destroyer in the Korean War Era

The Korean War was raging during my college years and I was certain, on graduation, that I would be drafted into the army. I reduced my options to one of …
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