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Captain Daniel Fones, Colonial Naval Hero
9 years ago

Captain Daniel Fones, Colonial Naval Hero

The name of North Kingstown’s own Captain Daniel Fones might be spoken in the same breath with as Thomas Tew, William Kidd, and Blackbeard. Fones’s skills as a sailor, his …
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Newport Woman Fills Important Role in the Civil War
9 years ago

Newport Woman Fills Important Role in the Civil War

Katharine (also spelled Katherine) Prescott Wormeley of Newport took an active role in public affairs throughout her life, founding the Girls Industrial School in Newport before the Civil War, and …
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French Soldiers Who Died at Newport During the Revolutionary War
9 years ago

French Soldiers Who Died at Newport During the Revolutionary War

Admiral Charles Louis d’Arsac Chevalier de Ternay (1722–1780) is the most renowned Frenchman of the Expédition Particulière to be buried in Newport. His funeral had more pomp and ceremony than …
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Roger Williams: A Rhode Island and American Founder
9 years ago

Roger Williams: A Rhode Island and American Founder

Roger Williams stepped on the shores of New England for the first time in February of 1631. He had escaped from England, where English governmental authorities were attempting to eliminate …
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A Rhode Islander in the Freedmen’s Bureau
9 years ago

A Rhode Islander in the Freedmen’s Bureau

In the final days of the Civil War, the U.S. Congress established an agency within the War Department that was to have far reaching powers in terms of setting social …
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A German U-Boat in Newport Harbor During World War I
9 years ago

A German U-Boat in Newport Harbor During World War I

Many Rhode Islanders are familiar with the sinking of the German submarine U-853 off Block Island in May of 1945 in the waning days of World War II. But U-boats …
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“So Neare As We May Judge:” Jury Duty in Early Rhode Island
9 years ago

“So Neare As We May Judge:” Jury Duty in Early Rhode Island

The early court system of Providence was established in its first code of law in 1640, with a body of “five desposers” to ”meete upon gennerall ocations” and look after …
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The Narragansett Pacer: Where and How It Evolved, Flourished, and Died Out
9 years ago

The Narragansett Pacer: Where and How It Evolved, Flourished, and Died Out

One of the founding breeds of the Standardbred, the Narragansett Pacer has been extinct since the first quarter of the nineteenth century. Yet the Pacer was ubiquitous in colonial North …
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Verrazzano Visits the Narragansett Indians in 1524
9 years ago

Verrazzano Visits the Narragansett Indians in 1524

The earliest written descriptions of Indians in North America were by Giovanni da Verrazzano, an Italian mariner commissioned by the King of France in 1523 to discover whether Asia could …
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How Curious! A Coal Mine in Cranston
9 years ago

How Curious! A Coal Mine in Cranston

I wonder if the strollers and shoppers at Garden City Center are aware that beneath those trendy shops and eateries there was once an active coal mine. Granted, the coal …
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