This is the second of the videos made from the work product of the Elmhurst Students.
Growing Up on Glen Farm
September 25, 2023
Portsmouth History Leave a comment
I was looking through a box of memories from my days at Elmhurst School. There were CDs with an oral history done around 2002. My third grade students interviewed the Camara Sisters, (Mary Lou Lemieux and Geri Leis) about their childhood on Glen Farm. These same students the next year used the interviews to create a video calling for the restoration of the Leonard Brown House. This is the first of the videos – about the people on Glen Farm. The ladies endured interview questions from four different classes and often there were several versions of the same story. It is raw – it is a work product and not a finished product, but as a historian I believe that oral histories are very important to understanding life in the past. Both of the ladies are gone now, but their stories remain with us through their interviews.
Seth Anthony Remembers the Battle of Rhode Island
September 9, 2023
Portsmouth History, Revolutionary War Battle of Rhode Island, Nathanael Greene 1 Comment
In researching another topic in Revolutionary Rhode Island, I came across a book by Judge Benjamin Cowell. Cowell was born in 1781, so he wasn’t a Revolutionary War Veteran, but he made it his aim in life to help Rhode Island veterans get their pensions. He began recording the stories these old soldiers had to tell to justify their service. Cowell began to gather eyewitness accounts, speeches, letters, rosters and every piece of information he could find on Rhode Island’s role in the War for Independence. In 1850 he gathered all this material into a book: Spirit of ’76 in Rhode Island. I am gradually making my way through this book, but I found a Portsmouth story to share.
Cowell introduces the story this way (he refers to himself as “the writer”: “In the summer of 1849, the writer reconnoitered the battle ground on Rhode Island to ascertain any interesting facts which might be within the recollection of any of the old inhabitants in the neighborhood; and in his researches, he called at the house of Mr. Seth Anthony, an aged “Friend” who now lives on the farm where the battle took place, and always lived in the neighborhood. From him he gathered no little information, and from questions which the writer put to him he received a few days afterwards the following reply, which deserves a place in these sketches.
Portsmouth, Oct 13, 1849. To Benjamin Cowell, Providence, Respected Friend, —In answer to thy questions I have to say, that I was about twelve years of age at the time of Sullivan’s expedition against the British, and lived with my father on the west road on the Island, about two and a half miles from Bristol Ferry, lived there all the time the British were in possession of the Island, and I have now, although eighty-two years of age, a distinct recollection of most of the events that took place, at least in our neighborhood. The battle on the 29th of August, 1778, took place on the farm on which I now live, which is a little to the westward of the house where my father lived; there had been skirmishing all day, but the principal fight was a little northward of “Anthony’s Hill.” (Note that we call it Almy’s Hill.) Before the American troops came on the island, the British had fortified Butt’s Hill, one of their Generals (Smith) quartered at my father’s house, the Hessians quartered in the Friends’ Meeting House on Quaker Hill. After General Sullivan came on, the enemy retreated towards Newport, and I recollect General Greene took up his quarters at my father’s house.
When the enemy came back on the 29th, while Gen. Greene was eating his breakfast, our house-maid said to him, the British would have him; he observed very cooly “he would eat his breakfast first;” after he had done he went to his troops. During the day some Hessians entered our house, and plundered every thing they could,— they took my father’s silver knee-buckles; I saw one of them take hold of my father and demand his money and threatened his life, but he did not get it; my father had about two thousand dollars in gold and silver, but he had taken the precaution to bury it under an old stone wall. The Hessians also searched my mother’s pocket, turned it inside out, but there was no money in it. My father and mother were “Friends,” and we kept silence as to our political opinions. I remember Gen. Green once observed that his mother was a Friend, and was opposed to his going into the army, but she said “if he would go, to be faithful.” There appeared to be fighting all day, sometimes one side would drive the other and then be obliged to retreat. But as far as I could judge, the main armies did not fight. It appears to me the events of that day will always be fresh in my recollection.
I also remember the great storm some days before the battle, I never knew so severe a storm before; it lasted several days, and did a vast deal of damage. The day after the battle the Americans all left the Island. And I also do distinctly recollect that the day after the fighting the British determined to burn all the houses in our neighborhood, and would have done it if the Americans had not left the Island that night.- We had this information from the British Officers.. (Signed). Seth Anthony
1922: D.A.R. placed tablet “To mark the site of Butts Hill Fort”
September 4, 2023
Portsmouth History, Portsmouth Landmarks Butts Hill Fort, DAR, Lafayette Leave a comment
In a corner of Butts Hill Fort there is a boulder that obviously once held a plaque. The Butts Hill Fort Restoration Committee is diligently working on clearing the area around the boulder and there are hopes of restoring the plaque or making a facsimile to restore the memorial to its intended tribute. Today the original memorial is damaged and in the protective custody of the Portsmouth Historical Society. We know what it looked like in its prime.
A 1925 book “France and New England” by Alan Forbes and Paul Cadman, prominently mentioned the plaque and features an image of it. (1)
“Butts Hill Fort, on the east road between Tiverton and Newport and in the township of Portsmouth, on the north end of the island of Rhode Island, has been permanently associated with Lafayette by placing at the southeast corner of the earthworks a native boulder, on the face of which is a bronze tablet, the inscription reading as follows:
To mark the site of
Butts Hill Fort in the Field of the Battle of Rhode Island
August 29, 1778
The Major General
John Sullivan and Nathanael Greene
Commanding the Continental Troops
Pronounced by the Marquis De Lafayette
The Best Fought Action of
The War of the Revolution
Erected by the Rhode Island
Daughters of the American Revolution
1922
Even before Rev. Roderick Terry purchased the land that encompassed Butts Hill Fort, the Daughters of the American Revolution (D.A.R.) were honoring the fort on the one hundred and forty-fourth anniversary of the Battle. Newspaper accounts at the time report that two hundred and fifty people gathered on August 29, 1922 to unveil a tablet that “commemorates the battle on August 29, 1778 when sturdy Americans under Gen. John Sullivan fought the best planned battle of the Revolution.” (2)
The unveiling drew members of the D.A.R. from all “corners of Rhode Island and neighboring states.” (Newport Mercury). Other organizations took part in the ceremonies as well. Portsmouth Girl Scouts gave the bugle call and sang the “Star Spangled Banner.” Invitations were sent to the Sons of the American Revolution, Rhode Island Historical Society, Newport Historical Society, Rhode Island Citizens Historical Society, Bristol Train of Artillery, Sons and Daughters of the Puritans and Quequechan Chapter from Fall River. The public was invited to attend. (3)
After the unveiling, prayers and speeches, the guests were treated to a basket lunch at the Sprague Street home of Mrs. D. Frank Hall. It was the Hall family that owned the fort property before Rev. Terry bought it and put it into the care of the Newport Historical Society.
The Lafayette quote “The best fought action of the War of the Revolution” intrigued me because I have been researching the Marquis’ role in the Rhode Island Campaign. This quotation is widely attributed to Lafayette, but I could not find a confirmation in any of his letters of the time. Lafayette missed most of the action in the Battle of Rhode Island because he was sent to Boston to persuade the French fleet to come back to Newport. He did however, lead the last of the American troops to safety in Tiverton. He greatly admired Sullivan’s skill in executing a well planned retreat.
Sources:
- Forbes, Aland and Paul Cadman. The French in New England. Boston, State Street Trust, 1925.
- Newport Mercury, Sept.2, 1922.
- Fall River Evening Herald, August 25, 1922.
Marking the Battle Site: DAR Monument
July 22, 2023
Portsmouth History Battle of Rhode Island 2 Comments
The DAR Monument on the grounds of the Portsmouth Historical Society gives us an opportunity to tell the story of the Battle of Rhode Island. Last Thursday night I was serving as a docent at an open house and guests asked me about the monument. A few years ago I would have taken a few moments to mention it marked the site of the first skirmish in the battle, but now I know a little too much about the Battle. The current thinking is that the skirmish on West Main and Union started earlier. Action was going down East and West Roads simultaneously.
Nevertheless, it gave me an opportunity to share the story with people who had frequently passed the monument but had not known about the Battle. Sharing that story is exactly what the Daughters of the American Revolution had in mind when they erected it in 1910 on the 132nd Anniversary of the Battle.
A newspaper article from that time recorded that ” the exercises took place at 4 o’clock – the 3:20 (trolley) car from Newport taking out a large number. Some came in automobiles, others in carriages and when all had assembled there were fully 100 or more people on the ground.” Reverend Loucks of the Christian Union Church had granted permission for the monument to be placed at the southwest corner of the church yard. The Colonel Barton and the William Ellery Chapters of the DAR intended to place it “in a very conspicuous place it will attract the attention of passersby.” No local fieldstone was suitable, so the monument was constructed from a “magnificent specimen of Westerly granite instead.”
The Hon. William Paine Sheffield (U.S. Congressman from RI 1st district) gave the address. He recounted that at the corner of Union and East Road, the British forces were split (some going down Middle Road and others down East Road). “The patriots under Col. Livingstone. ‘sprung from behind the walls of this field and poured a storm of bullets upon the bewildered enemy, reloaded and repeated the desolating fire before the British could recover from the shock.’ A terrible slaughter ensued.”
Sheffield went into the background of the French Alliance, the Siege of Newport and the necessity of the orderly retreat. Understanding that background is the only way one could understand what had taken place. This was a complex situation. Sheffield quoted Lafayette on his experience of the Rhode Island Campaign:
“Lafayette, on his visit to Rhode Island in 1824 told the late Mr. Zachariah Allen as he rode with him in a carriage across the border from Connecticut ‘In this state I have experienced more sudden and extreme alternations of hopes and disappointments than during all the vicissitudes of the American war.”
What were the “extreme alternations of hopes and disappointments” Lafayette experienced?
- Hope: After two years of British Occupation, the French fleet arrived to aid the Americans on August 8th.
- Hope: The American army continued to advance toward Newport. Lafayette and General Greene brought the American army from Tiverton to Aquidneck Island. The British retreated from Portsmouth. The hope was that between the American army and the French Navy that Aquidneck Island would be free from British occupation.
- Disappointment: August 11-13, 1778 a major storm damaged the French fleet and by August 22 the fleet left for Boston to undergo repairs.
- Disappointment: The alliance between the French and Americans deteriorated as Lafayette attempted to be a bridge between the two allies. Lafayette rides to Boston to meet with French Admiral D’Estaing.
- Disappointment: American General Sullivan and his officers make the decision to retreat.
- Hope: Americans valiantly hold back the British forces as they make a retreat to Tiverton. There are losses, but the Americans save men and equipment to fight another day.
- Hope: Lafayette returns in time to bring the last American forces off Aquidneck Island.
- Disappointment: Lafayette regrets he missed the fight.
These hopes and disappointments are from my research. These events are mentioned in Sheffield’s address, but the labels of Hopes and Disappointments are mine.
Sheffield ends his address congratulating the chapters of the Daughters of the American Revolution for “marking this scene of patriotic valor..” The monument is unveiled and the inscription is revealed.
“In memory of those patriots who fought here in the first skirmish of the Battle of Rhode Island, August 29, 1778. Erected by the William Ellery and Colonel William Barton Chapter, Daughters of the American Revolution.”
After the unveiling, the Star Spangled Banner was sung and participants gradually made their way home. The newspaper report comments. “There was nothing then to remind one of the strife which had taken place on that spot so long ago, everything seemed so peaceful.”
Resources: Click below to read a transcription of the 1910 newspaper article on the dedication. Transcription by Portsmouth Historical Society.
“Service at Rhode Island”: Julia Ward Howe’s Ancestor Samuel Ward Howe Jr.
June 28, 2023
Portsmouth History Leave a comment
Do you have an ancestor who served in Rhode Island during the War for Independence? As a local historian I relish information on those who fought right here in Rhode Island. It is good to have lists of what militia companies or regiments fought, but the individual stories of the soldiers can bring to light pieces of history we otherwise would not find. For example, military records of individual soldiers led me to stories about militia support for the French engineers at Butts Hill Fort and the experience of prisoners of war imprisoned in England.
I am starting a database of soldiers who served some time in Rhode Island during the Revolutionary War. A few people have already given me some information on their ancestors. Yes, I am interested in those who fought in the Battle of Rhode Island, but I am also interested in those who were here with militias to help the French complete Butts Hill Fort. Each piece of information helps us complete the puzzle of what went on during these war years.
Julia Ward Howe had a famous ancestor who “served in Rhode Island.” She always felt at home in Rhode Island. She summered in Portsmouth until her death in 1910. We always include her maiden name “Ward” when we refer to her. Julia was a descendent of Governor Samuel Ward (he was also a delegate to the Continental Congress). Samuel Ward Jr, her grandfather, was one of our great heroes in the Battle of Rhode Island. That day he commanded the 1st Rhode Island Regiment (known as the Black Regiment). We have a short glimpse of what happened that day from his diary.
August 30, 1778 “The army retreated the evening of the 28th. Early yesterday morning, the enemy moved out after us, expecting that we were leaving the island, and took possession of the Heights in our front. They sent out parties in their front, and we made detachments to drive them back again. After a skirmish of three or four hours, with various success, in which each party gave way three or four times, and were reinforced, we drove them quite back to the ground they first took in the morning, and have continued there ever since. Two ships and a couple of small vessels beat up opposite our lines, and fired several shots, but being pretty briskly fired upon from our heavy pieces, they fell down, and now lay opposite the enemy’s lines. Our loss was not very great, it has not been ascertained yet; and I can hardly make a tolerable conjecture. Several officers fell, and several are badly wounded. I am so happy to have only one captain slightly wounded in the hand. I believe that a couple of the blacks were killed and four or five wounded, but none badly. Previous to this, I should have told you our picquets and light corps engaged their advance, and found them with bravery.”
If you have an ancestor who served in the Rhode Island Campaign (August 1778) or served during the period after the English left Aquidneck (Nov. 1779-1781)- let me know about them. gloriaschmidt@battleofrhodeisland.org.
When Did Butts Hill Fort Begin?
May 30, 2023
Portsmouth History British Occupation of Aquidneck, Butts Hill Fort Comments Off on When Did Butts Hill Fort Begin?
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Revolutionary Women: The Daughters of Liberty Spin Their Protest
March 5, 2023
We have heard of the exploits of the Sons of Liberty, but did you know the women organized into the “Daughters of Liberty?” Well before the Revolution ladies gathered in protest to the Stamp Act (1765) and the Townshend Acts (1767).
The colonies had their own taxes, but they had rarely been taxed by Britain. The Stamp Tax required Americans to pay tax on everyday items like newspapers, marriage licenses, business papers and even playing cards. The act was named for the official “Stamp” on the paper that proved the tax had been payed. The money from the taxes were to pay for the presence of British troops in America. Some of the colonists saw this as “taxation without representation” because they had no representatives in the British Parliament.
In Newport this tax was met with some violence, but the women took more peaceful strategies. Colonists still imported a great deal of goods from Britain. The women hoped that if Americans boycotted English goods that British merchants would pressure Parliament to repeal the Act. Colonial women had the responsibility of purchasing and making goods their families needed. They were willing to make the sacrifices needed to make a political statement. It gave women a voice at a time when they couldn’t hold public office. Benjamin Franklin appeared before the British House of Commons to argue against the Stamp Act. He noted that while Americans used to take pride in wearing fine imported garments, it was now their pride “to wear their old clothes over again, til they can make new ones.”
As a protest, women gathered to spin their own cloth instead of buying yarn from Great Britain. Reports of these spinning bees were mentioned in newspapers and the bees were located throughout Rhode Island. Ninety-two women gathered in Newport. The elite class of women were not used to spinning and there was a report of a seventy year old women learning to spin for the protest. The women spent the day spinning and produced 170 skeins of yarn. The group would also gather at the home of Mary Easton Lawton at Spring and Touro streets. Other prominent Newport women have been mentioned as part of the Daughters of Liberty movement – Polly Wanton, Lucy Ellery, Patience Easton, Mary Champlin and Anne Vernon Olyphant. I will be looking for confirmation of those names in further research.
In April of 1766 women gathered in Providence at the invitation of Dr. Ephraim Brown for a spinning bee and vowed they would no longer purchase English goods. Freelove Fenner was said to have organized the chapter there. In spring of 1766 twenty women gathered in Bristol, Rhode Island to spend the day spinning. Women also gathered at Daniel Weeden’s house in Jamestown, Rhode Island. These ladies were reportedly “of good Fashion and unexceptionable Reputation.” Eleanor Frye founded a unit of the Daughters at East Greenwich.
There is debate about whether there was a formal organization with chapters. Some scholars think of it as more of a movement where women saw the example of others and did the same in their towns. Newspapers were likely to label these groups as “Daughters of Liberty” if they spun and wove to boycott British goods. In 1766 the British Parliament agreed to repeal the Stamp Act, however, Parliament then passed the Declaratory Act which affirmed its right to tax the colonies in the future. They imposed the Townsend Acts in 1767 taxing imports on British gas, paints, paper and tea.
The spinners of the Daughters of Liberty considered themselves loyal British subjects, but their peaceful protest was a common experience in the colonies. The women organized boycotts of British goods and they manufactured replacement products. They pressured the men to address the taxation issue. Samuel Adams would say later: “With ladies on our side, we can make every Tory tremble.” This issue of taxation continued as a grievance. One of the grievances against the British listed in the Declaration of Independence was “For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent.”
Resources:
From EnCompass (online) Women’s Response to the Stamp Act by Rebecca Marisseau
How the Daughters of Liberty Fought for Independence: https://newenglandhistoricalsociety.com/daughters-liberty-fought-independence/
Age of Homespun. Museum of the American Revolution: https://www.amrevmuseum.org/read-the-revolution/age-of-homespun
The Action at “Bloody Brook” (Barker Brook)
February 6, 2023
Portsmouth History Battle of Rhode Island, Black Regiment, Bloody Brook Leave a comment
“Bloody Brook” is part of Portsmouth folklore. The story is that the brook ran red because of all the blood spilled there at the Battle of Rhode Island. What exactly happened there? Why is Bloody Brook or Barker Brook important to the battle?
I came across an older account by Eric O’D Taylor with a map by John Norman Benson that helps me understand this.
“Immediately before the American line and just in front of the advancing German reinforcements was a brook, called even now from the appearance that day gave its muddy waters “Bloody Run Brook.” Where the road crossed, a bridge had been built. On either side of the road a soft marsh extended following both banks. If a battery could be placed so that it commanded the road, and, above all the bridge, all was not lost.
…Greene spotted nearly a quarter of a mile up the road at the base of a hill a slight eminence with a flat top and a clear command of the brook’s valley. Quickly he brought three field pieces to the place and opened on the advancing British ..
To return to Malsburg (a German commander). At nine AM he left his men north of Bloody Run Brook beside and even on the slopes of Barrington Hill. Re-crossing the brook, he came upon Lt. Murarius’ company already demoralized by the fire from the new battery. Reducing them to some sort of order, he continued to the rear and found the ammunition carts which he was seeking. …. If Malsburg was to advance, the troublesome redoubt with its three cannon must be taken or silenced. Eagerly he hurled again the insignificant mound all troops stills out of the brook. It was a distinct mistake. Slight as the elevation of the redoubt looked from the road and Turkey Hill, it loomed like a fortress above the low valley of the marshy brook. Encumbered in the marsh across which they must jump from grass tuft to grass tuft, the Hessians staggered forward. . Now they are on firm ground; the guns as just ahead of them; they slow up a moment to dress ranks for the charge. Does someone move in the bushes to right, to left, of the redoubt? It is too late. The word is given. The charge goes home—and crumples like paper before the sheets of flame which burst from behind the stone wall lining the road, from the windows of a house before now hidden in the trees, from the underbrush and from the super heights of the redoubt itself. As Malsburg withdrew his shattered column, finding refuge behind the wall on the right of the main road, he saw the elated defenders of the little redoubt, break out from their hidden defenses. “They were mostly wild looking persons,” he wrote, in their shirtsleeves. Among them, too, were many negroes.”
From Campaign on Rhode Island by Eric O’D Taylor and illustrated with woodcuts by John Norman Benson. This booklet is in the collection of Town Historian James Garman. There is an abbreviated pamphlet available online: http://www.newportalri.org/
Mr. Redwood’s Gardens
January 30, 2023
Portsmouth History Redwood Leave a comment
Today we think of Redwood Farms as a neighborhood in Portsmouth by West Main Road and Union Street. In colonial days this area was the country home of the Redwood family We know the Redwood name from the famed Redwood Library in Newport.
Abraham Redwood Sr. made his way to Aquidneck Island by way of Bristol, England, Antigua and Salem, Massachusetts. He settled in Newport. Born in Bristol, England, in 1665, he came into possession (by marriage) of a large sugar-plantation in Antigua, known as Cassada Garden. He resided there until 1712, when he moved to the British American colonies. After spending a few years in Salem, he settled permanently in Newport, Rhode Island.
His son (Abraham, Jr.) was born in Antiqua in 1710. He was sent to school in Philadelphia and returned to Newport before he was 18. Soon after he married Martha Coggeshall, a Quaker and a decendent of John Coggeshall, a founder of Portsmouth.
Abraham Redwood, Jr. inherited the Antiqua sugar works and took to the slave trade early. He divided his time between his Newport town and Portsmouth country residences. In 1727 he settled on his father’s estate at Portsmouth, known as Redwood farm, which came into his possession on the death of his elder brother. By 1745 the estate was some 140 acres in size. Some of that land was from the Coggeshall land grant and may have been purchased from his wife’s family. The Redwood estate in Portsmouth was particularly known for its gardens. The Redwoods were a merchant family and they brought plants from their travels. He took great pride in his gardens and they were considered one of the most beautiful botanical gardens in North America. There were plants and trees imported from all over the world.
These are a few descriptions from the National Gallery of Arts work on “hot houses.” 1
Redwood, Abraham, Jr., c. 1760, in a letter to his plantation manager, describing Redwood Farm:
“I would desire you send to me one hhd (might be hogshead about 63 gallons) of good rum and one hhd of good sugar and I desire that you speak to your overseer to put up in Durt one dozen of Small orange Trees that has bore one or two years with the young fruit upon them, if to be had that has bore two or three years of Saffadella trees, four young figg trees and some Guavas roots, to put in my greenhouse, for I have made a garden of 1 1/2 acres of land and I have built a green house twenty-two feet long, Twelve feet wide and Twelve feet high, and a hotte house Sixteen feet long Twelve feet wide and Twelve feet high, and I have growing in my greenhouse Fifty young fruit trees from six inches to four feet high, and my Gardner says ye largest will not bear fruit these two years, and I have hotte house Strawberries, Bush beans and Crownations in Blossom.”
Redwood describes a greenhouse 22 feet long, 12 feet wide and 12 feet high.
Drowne, Samuel, June 24, 1767, describing Redwood Farm:
“Mr. Redwood’s garden. . . is one of the finest gardens I ever saw in my life. In it grows all sorts of West Indian fruits, viz: Oranges, Lemons, Limes, Pineapples, and Tamarinds and other sorts. It has also West Indian flowers—very pretty ones—and a fine summer house. It was told by my father that the man that took care of the garden had above 100 dollars per annum. It had Hot Houses where things that are tender are put for the winter, and hot beds for the West India Fruit. I saw one or two of these gardens in coming from the beach.”
Tropical West Indian fruits were grown in Rhode Island with the help of a hot house. It was well known that the Redwoods paid their garden manager very well
What happened to the Redwood Farm?
The Redwood Farm estate stayed in the family until 1882. In her book “This Was My Newport,” Maud Howe Elliott (daughter of Julia Ward Howe) describes the garden when she was a child in the 1850s and 60s.
“The garden at “Redwood” was a marvel of taste and neatness. The high bush blackberries that topped the wall were known to every child within a radius of miles. At the corners of the long beds were enormous clumps of peonies. Flowers, fruit and vegetables amicably shared the sunny garden — a pair of acres in size — gooseberry and currant bushes forming the borders, while pear trees were planted at intervals in the center of the beds. There was a little garden-house where Miss Rosalie, the youngest daughter, held a Sunday school for children of the neighboring farmers. I have had cause all my life to bless Miss Rosalie for her gentle ministrations. The seeds of culture and breeding she sowed in the minds of her boys and girls have borne fruit and sweetened the life of generations.” 4
You can still see the “little garden-house.” It was moved to the grounds of the Redwood Library in 1917. It was originally designed by famed architect Peter Harrison for the Redwoods in 1766.
The Redwood home on West Main Road was allowed to deteriorate, but we do have an image of it from 1934. (5) According to British diarist Frederick Mackenzie, the home was used as a headquarters for soldiers during the British Occupation of Aquidneck Island.
Resources:
- National Gallery of Art: https://heald.nga.gov/mediawiki/index.php/Hothouse
- https://americangardenhistory.blogspot.com/2018/12/the-greenhouse-conservatory-in-early.html. About Early Hot Houses.
- https://stories.usatodaynetwork.com/slaveryinrhodeisland/abraham-redwood-antigua-and-the-west-indies-trade/ Redwood in the Slave Trade.
- Elliott, Maud Howe. This Was My Newport. Mythology Company, A. M. Jones, 1944.
- From the collection of the Providence Public Library.
- Berthier Map from John Robertson’s book “Revolutionary War Defenses in Rhode Island.”2022, Rhode Island Publications Society.
- Garden House Image from Library of Congress.
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