1 year ago
A Book Review: Revolutionary Blacks: Discovering the Frank Brothers, Freeborn Men of Color, Soldiers of Independence by Shirley L. Green (Yardley, PA: Westholme, 2023)
This captivating book tells a new American story. It is the first book to detail the life, challenges, fears and hopes of a Black soldier in the Continental Army during …
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1 year ago
Gaspee Raid Inspires Boston Tea Party Raiders to Disguise Themselves as Narragansetts
Last week, this website ran an article providing strong contemporaneous evidence that many of the men who broke open the tea chests and destroyed the tea inside them on board …
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1 year ago
Samuel Casey, Talented Colonial Silversmith and Notorious Counterfeiter, Escapes the Hangman
Samuel Casey of Little Rest (now Kingston) was one of the most skilled silversmiths in colonial times in all of the colonies. His craftsmanship of silver tankards and teapots made …
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1 year ago
A Book Review: Rhode Island Election Tickets: A Survey of Eighteenth and Nineteenth Century Paper Ballots (Rhode Island Publications Society, 2023). Compiled by Russell J. DeSimone. Introduction by Patrick T. Conley.
Rhode Island has a unique history, to say the least. And here comes another history book showcasing said unique history. Russell J. DeSimone has been for decades one of …
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1 year ago
Whale Sinks Whale Ship Commanded by Newport Captain
Many readers are familiar with Herman Melville’s novel Moby Dick, in which a great white sperm whale stoves a New Bedford whaling ship. Readers may also be familiar that the …
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2 years ago
Providence Merchant John Brown Gets Rich Privateering in 1776 and 1777
Throughout the churning tides of 1776 and 1777, John Brown, a prominent merchant from Providence, amassed a fortune by investing in privateers. Through reviewing a comprehensive list of his privateers …
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2 years ago
General Isaac Peace Rodman, Citizen-Soldier and Martyr for the Union Cause
At the outbreak of the Civil War, thousands of men flocked to enlist in newly established companies and regiments in the Union Army then organizing in small towns throughout the …
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2 years ago
New York’s Izzy Einstein Raids Rhode Island Saloons During Prohibition
[This article is issued in conjunction with the launch of my new book, Machine Guns in Narragansett Bay: The Coast Guard’s War on Rumrunners (History Press, 2023)]
In September 1922, …
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2 years ago
Book Launch: Machine Guns in Narraganset Bay: The Coast Guard’s War on Rumrunners
I have a new book out! It is Machine Guns in Narragansett Bay: The Coast Guard’s War Against Rumrunners (History Press, 2023).
Here are three upcoming appearances I will …
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2 years ago
Block Island Rumrunners, Rum Row and a Pirate Ship
[Editor’s Note: In early 1923, newspaper readers became enthralled with Gray Ghost, a “pirate prowler” that preyed on the rum supply ships stationed on Rum Row south of Block Island. …
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