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Rebekah Harkness, the Scorned Socialite of Watch Hill
2 years ago

Rebekah Harkness, the Scorned Socialite of Watch Hill

[From the Publisher:  This article originally appeared on the New England Historical Society’s website at newenglandhistoricalsociety.com. The New England Historical Society is similar to the Online Review of Rhode Island …
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South Kingstown at 300 – Part 2: From King Philip’s War to 1723
2 years ago

South Kingstown at 300 – Part 2: From King Philip’s War to 1723

Long-simmering tensions in southeastern New England over land and the mistreatment of Indigenous people finally exploded into all-out conflict in June 1675. King Philip’s War, as it became known, began …
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South Kingstown at 300 – PART 1: From the Narragansetts to the First White Settlers
2 years ago

South Kingstown at 300 – PART 1: From the Narragansetts to the First White Settlers

In the vault at the South Kingstown Town Hall, tucked into the inside back cover of Town Meeting Records March 1798 to 1836 South Kingstown, there are several typewritten copies …
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The Founders of Providence’s Five Industrial Wonders
2 years ago

The Founders of Providence’s Five Industrial Wonders

By  •  Biography, Business

Providence and the rest of Rhode Island have an amazing history of impressive manufacturing companies. Of all the hundreds from the nineteenth century, I call five of them based in …
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The French Depart Newport
2 years ago

The French Depart Newport

Lieutenant General Jean Baptiste Donatien de Vimeur Comte de Rochambeau (1725–1807) did not simply wake up on the morning of June 18, 1781 and order his army of more than …
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Diary of a Soldier in the Dorr War, May 17 to July 2, 1842
2 years ago

Diary of a Soldier in the Dorr War, May 17 to July 2, 1842

[Editor’s note: This is a typed transcript of an original diary penned by Edward L. Peckham. It was transcribed from the original by Robert Grandchamp. The diary is titled “Diary …
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The Armenian Diaspora in Rhode Island
2 years ago

The Armenian Diaspora in Rhode Island

[Most of this article was written in 2003 and is based on information at that time. The information has not been updated, except in a few spots where noted.]

Based …
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“Third Century of Liberty”?: Thomas Wilson Dorr and Debate over the Gag Rule in Rhode Island, 1835-1836
2 years ago

“Third Century of Liberty”?: Thomas Wilson Dorr and Debate over the Gag Rule in Rhode Island, 1835-1836

[Note from the authors: The essay that follows is a condensed version of a longer essay that is to accompany a major addition to the Dorr Rebellion Project (at http://library.providence.edu/dorr/) …
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The Alexander Sails for California in 1849
2 years ago

The Alexander Sails for California in 1849

In my prior article, “Newporters Catch Gold Fever, Sail to California in 1849,” the story of the Audley Clarke’s voyage to San Francisco was detailed. When Newport mariners heard about …
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Newporters Catch Gold Fever, Sail to California in 1849
2 years ago

Newporters Catch Gold Fever, Sail to California in 1849

Newport never fully recovered as a thriving maritime port following the American Revolutionary War. Its merchants did well in the trade with India and China in the times around 1800. …
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