Latest Posts

This article reviews the last names of Narragansett Indian families from 1777 to 1936, almost 160 years, using four separate lists.

From the Revolutionary War Period, 1775-1783:

In March and …
Read More

If you have not heard of Thomas Dorr and appreciate Rhode Island history, you should buy this book.  Even if you know all about him, you should purchase the …
Read More

Starting by the mid-nineteenth century, people began to recognize the ill effects that unsanitary, unhealthy, and crowded conditions prevailing in the manufacturing centers and cities had upon their mental and …
Read More

On May 13, 1911, in a moving obituary for the famed abolitionist Thomas Wentworth Higginson, the editors of the Providence Journal emphasized the “beloved” reformer’s steadfast commitment to improving the …
Read More

In the mid eighteenth century in Newport, there were three men from the same family, contemporaries with almost the same name, all sons of governors.

Two, father and son, were …
Read More

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 …
Read More

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 …
Read More

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 …
Read More

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 …
Read More

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 …
Read More