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About John F. Millar

Material-culture historian John Fitzhugh Millar (b. 1945 New York City; Harvard AB ’66; William & Mary MA History ’81) served on the Rhode Island Bicentennial Commission 1970-6, where he conceived the Bicentennial Council of the Thirteen Original States (the Rockefeller Fund called that “the most important achievement of the Bicentennial”). He built full-sized, operational copies of two Revolutionary War ships for the Bicentennial, the 24-gun frigate Rose in 1970 (now in San Diego), and the 12-gun sloop Providence in 1976 (the first vessel of the Continental Navy in 1775). He has written numerous published historical books, with many more pending. His latest two books are about Rhode Island architect Peter Harrison, arguably the greatest architect who ever worked in America: The Buildings of Peter Harrison: Cataloguing the Work of the First Global Architect, published by McFarland & Company, Inc. 2014, is mostly text with few illustrations, while Peter Harrison (1716-1775) Drawings, published by Thirteen Colonies Press 2015, is mostly illustrations with limited text. He runs historic Newport House Bed & Breakfast in Williamsburg, Virginia, a museum-like reproduction of the 1756 Banister House that use to stand in Newport RI (www.newporthousebb.com).
Latest Posts | By John F. Millar
The Philosopher George Berkeley Visits Rhode Island
4 years ago

The Philosopher George Berkeley Visits Rhode Island

One of the most exciting European visitors to colonial America was the Very Reverend Dr. George Berkeley (1685-1753), who spent most of three years in Rhode Island. The rest of …
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The Mysterious Case of the Painting of the Black Privateer Sailor
5 years ago

The Mysterious Case of the Painting of the Black Privateer Sailor

In the 1970s, I lived in Newport, Rhode Island, and I had just built full-sized, operational copies of two Revolutionary War ships for the Bicentennial, the 24-gun frigate Rose (that …
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Stanton Hazard, Feared Loyalist Privateer Captain
5 years ago

Stanton Hazard, Feared Loyalist Privateer Captain

Stanton Hazard  was born on January 8, 1743, into the prominent Hazard family of King’s (later Washington) County. He moved to Newport and, as with many young men, he took …
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Newport’s William Mayes Founds a Pirate Republic in Madagascar
6 years ago

Newport’s William Mayes Founds a Pirate Republic in Madagascar

Contrary to the popular image of Johnny Depp’s Jack Sparrow character as an amiable buffoon, pirates in their day were usually cruel thugs, petty criminals, and international terrorists. Pirates had …
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Top Ten Rhode Islanders from the Eighteenth Century
8 years ago

Top Ten Rhode Islanders from the Eighteenth Century

Here is my list of the top ten Rhode Islanders from the eighteenth century. My list is not in any particular order. And I found it necessary to include eleven!


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Newport Gardner: From Slave to Musical Composer
9 years ago

Newport Gardner: From Slave to Musical Composer

Newport Gardner was born Occramer Marycoo, perhaps in Ghana, in 1746. When he was fourteen, he was captured and taken as a slave to Newport, Rhode Island, where he was …
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