Miss Evelyn M. Purdy
Helen C. Putnam, M.D.
Mr. Patrick H. Quinn
Mrs. George R. Ramsbottom
Mr. Walter E. Ranger
Mrs. C. K. Rathbone
Hon. Elmer J. Rathbun
Mrs. Irving E. Raymond
Mrs. Charles O. Read
Mrs. Joseph H. Regester
Mr. Charles C. Remington
Rhode Island State College
Mr. Dana Rice
Mr. Herbert W. Rice
Mr. John B. Richards
Gen. John J. Richards
Miss Louise Richardson
Mr. Henry Isaac Richmond
Mrs. George W. H. Ritchie
Mr. Leonard M. Robinson
Mr. Louis E. Robinson
Mr. Robert Rodman
Rev. Arthur Rogers
Mrs. Mabel K. Rogers
Mr. Henry W. Sackett
Mr. Kenneth Shaw Safe
Mrs. T. Shaw Safe
Mrs. Harold P. Salisbury
Mr. Henry Salomon
Mr. Henry T. Samson
Mrs. G. Coburn Sanctuary
Mrs. George C. Scott
Mrs. David S. Seaman
Mr. Henry M. Sessions
Miss Ellen D. Sharpe
Mr. Henry D. Sharpe
Mrs. Frederick E. Shaw
Mrs. George St. J. Sheffield
Mr. Charles Shepard
Mr. Clarence E. Sherman
Mr. Edward A. Sherman
Mr. Harry B. Sherman
Mrs. Arthur F. Short
Mrs. Philip B. Simonds
Mrs. Charles Sisson
Mr. William A. Slade
Mr. Henry L. Slader
Mrs. Charles H. Smith
Edgar B. Smith, M.D.
Mrs. Edwin C. Smith
Joseph Smith, M.D.
96
RHODE ISLAND HISTORICAL SOCIETY
Mr. Nathaniel W. Smith
R. Morton Smith, M.D.
Mr. Walter B. Smith
Mr. Ward E. Smith
Mrs. Whitney Smith
Mr. Sylvester M. Snow
Mr. Robert L. Spencer
Mr. William A. Spicer
Hon. Ernest L. Sprague
Mrs. James G. Staton
Hon. Charles F. Stearns
Mr. Walter H. Stearns
Mr. Thomas E. Steere
Mr. Oscar Frank Stetson
Mr. Clinton F. Stevens
Mr. Frederick A. Stevens
Miss Maud Lyman Stevens
Mr. Edward Clinton Stiness
Mr. Henry Y. Stites
Mr. George A. Stone
Mrs. Charles C. Stover
Mr. Charles T. Straight
Mr. H. Nelson Street
Mr. Henry A. Street
Mr. Rush Sturges
Hon. Arthur P. Sumner
Mr. Frank H. Swan
Mrs. Gardner T. Swarts
Hon. John W. Sweeney
Miss Louisa A. Sweetland
Mr. Robert W. Taft
Mr. Royal C. Taft
Benjamin F. Tefft, M.D.
Mr. Charles F. Thatcher
A'liss Jane Arnold Thomas
Mrs. J. P. Thorndike
Mrs. Frank W. Tillinghast
Mr. John A. Tillinghast
Louisa Paine Tingley, M.D.
Mr. F. L. Titsworth
Mrs. William O. Todd
Mrs. Stacv Tolman
Mr. Frederick E. Tripp
Mr. William J. Tully
Mrs. Albert C. Tyler
Mr. D. Berkeley Updike
Mr. William H. Vanderbilt
Mr. William A. Viall
Mrs. Arthur M. Walker
Mr. A. Tingley Wall
Mrs. Maurice K. Washburn
Mr. Frederick V. Waterman
Mrs. Lewis A. Waterman
Prof. Arthur E. Watson
Mr. Byron S. Watson
Mr. Edward L. Watson
Mr. John J. Watson
Mr. W. L. Watson
Mrs. William B. Weeden
Mr. Edward H. Weeks
Mrs. Edward H. Weeks
Mr. Richard Ward Greene Welling
Mr. Herbert ]. Wells
Mr. fohn H. Wells
Mr. Edward H. West
Mr. Thomas H. West, Jr.
Mrs. Elizabeth Nicholson White
Mr. Willis H. White
Mrs. Gerald Whitman
Mrs. Henry A. Whitmarsh
Mr. Roy F. Whitney
Mr. Frederick Bernavs Wiener
Mr. Frank J. Wilder'
Mrs. Elizabeth K. Wilkinson
Mr. Daniel L. Willmarth, Jr.
Miss Amey L. Willson
Mr. Percy J. Wilson
Mr. William A. Wing
Mr. Wilson G. Wing
Mrs. George P. Winship
A4rs. C. Howard Wood
Mr. Carlos G. Wright
Mr. Nathan M. Wright
Mr. Lawrence C. Wroth
Roger Williams Press r^A»
%'
E. A. Johnson Co.
PROVIDENCE
I Rhode Island
Historical Society
Collections
Vol. XXV
OCTOBER, 1932
No. 4
THE
[N=z]
-Ifland Gazette.
WEDNESDAY, O c t f> b e r 4. 17^2.
FOREIGN A F FA I R S.
Edinburgh, July i.
ESTERDAY died
the Re>;. . ^r. John Gri-'
erfon,. one of tUe Mlni-
ftcrs of the Gofpel in
this Place, after a long
Indifpofiiion. He was a
pious good Man, an ex-
cellent Preacher, and once
Moderator to the Gene-
ral Aflenjbljr of this Na-
tional Church. .
Wbit shall, July ir.
.., ^_., ... This Bzf arrived an
F.xprcfs from jhc Eatl of Waldgrave, his Ma-
jetty's Enfibaffador Extraordinary and Plenipoten-
tiary at the Court of Ftancc, with Letters from
Mr. Reen, his klajcfty's MinLftet Plcnipotenti-
3rjr ,at Sevel^, dated July the 4th, N. S. giv-
iDg an account, that on the J7th of Uft Mouih,
'>e S))ani(h Gallics were got inco the P • of
1. th' 'i V ' • Lear ^
Tu|ki;, and Provifions in proportion, to employ
the Spjniardi ail the .Month afjulv before they
carf make thcmichcs compJjaMv Milters of'Oran,
h>Hijn, Juy 17. T;icrc arc Letters in Town
w^c/i fay the Spaniards were invited by the
M<|ors into B r lary, whi'.h is not unlikely, by
leafon they carried great Numhcis of fpare Arms
wi|h thenn. if it be fo, the Mo»rs propofe
to 'themlelves and their Pvfterity more Peace,
Qjiictnels, a-d lafting Hap nefs than ever they
cnry'd under th>.ir Turl^iili Governors.
- The follcwirgPr-^fnotioiis havehtcly been made
in the- Fia^s ot h's Mijdfy's Navy, viz.
Sir Charles Wager, Vice Admiral of the Red,
made Admiral ot tiie Blue.
j^ir G'-'ori^c Walton, Vice Admiral of the White,
injde Vice Admiral of the Red.
Salmi^n Moriis, Eiq-, Vies Admiral of the Blue,
nifde Vice-Admiral o{' tne White.
fhiljp Ovend'fh, Elq i Rtar Admiral of th«
Rpti, made Vicc-Admiial of itie Blue.
|ohn B-lchirr, Efq i Rear Alm'ral of the White,
tnide Rc-r;Adm' ' of th Kid.
C 3»' "> u? R "dmi'iloft' Blur
IHK KHODi; 1ST. AND GA/F.I IE OF 17.^2/
From original in tfiMLlf/>rifi)\'/jji jJ/l
Rhode hland Uistorird'r^/riw42
\
Issued Quarterly
68 Waterman Strf.kt, Providence, Rhode Island
CONTENTS
PAGE
The Rhode Island Gazette,
by Robert W. Kenny . . . Cover and 97
Thomas W, Dorr's Escape,
by Eleanor W. Talbot Smith . . ,107
Genealogical Notes,
by Edward H. West 109
Block Island Accounts,
by G. Rothwell Burgess . . . . 110
Hoyle Gravestones . . . . . .112
New Publications of Rhode Island Interest . . 113
Seals of the Rhode Island Admiralty Courts,
by Frederick Bernays Wiener . . . 114
Military Warrant of 1778,
Communicated by A. H. Armington . " . 115
Fort Flags . . . . . . .116
Westconnaug Purchase,
Communicated bv T. G. Foster ... . 121
RHODE
HISTORICAL
ISLAND
SOCIETY
■'*«S|l/j|Blllli«
COLLECTIONS
Vol. XX\'
OCTOBER, 1932
No. 4
William Davis Miller, Presidetit Gilbert A. Harrington, Treasurer
Howard W. Preston, Secretary Howard M. Chapin, Librarian
The Society assumes no responsibi]it\' for the statements or the opinions
of contributors.
The Rhode Island Gazette of 1732
B\ Robert W. Kenny
On Wednesday, September 27, 1732, the Rhode Island
Gazette^ the colony's first newspaper, appeared on the
streets of Newport. It was probably a modest fcjur page
sheet which was "Printed and Sold by James Franklin, at
his Printing House under the Town-School-House, where
Advertisements anci Letters to the Author are taken in."
James Franklin, ( 1696-1735), the first man to bring a
printing press to Rhode Islanci, had settled in Newport
sometime in 1726. The Gazette was not his first journal-
istic venture, iov he had had a brief, but acrimonious expe-
rience as a printer and editor in Massachusetts. Returning
to Boston, in March 1717, from his apprenticeship in
London, James Franklin had been commissioned by the
postmaster, William Brooker, to print the Boston Gazette.
98 rhodp: island historical society
After forty numbers had been printed, Philip Musgrave
was made postmaster, and to Franklin's dismay he awarded
the printing contract to Samuel Kneeland. Taking advan-
tage of the excited condition of Massachusetts over the
"inoculation war" Franklin then started the New England
Courant, August 6, 1721. The merits of inoculation as a
preventative of small-pox had divided the colony into two
hostile factions, the ministers supporting the practice and
the "liberals" opposing it as "unscientific." Under Frank-
lin's editorship the Courant became the chief "liberal"
organ, and devoted much of its space to attacking the
Mathers, Cotton, and Increase, who preached the virtues
of inoculation both in and out of the pulpit. The attack
must have been a telling one, for Cotton Mather declared
the paper to be: "A wickedness never parallel'd anywhere
upon the Face of the Earth ! "^
The Courant continued its pugnacious course, ever ciiti-
cal of those in authority. In June 1722, Franklin was
jailed for charging the colonial officials with negligence
in suppressing piracy. In January of the next year the
court forbade him to publish his paper unless it was super-
vised by the Secretary of the Province. In spite of such
devices as bringing the paper out in Benjamin's name, the
Courant did not flourish, and disposing of it sometime in
1726 Franklin brought his printing press and his talent
for argument into Rhode Island. In 1727, he began pub-
lishing such pamphlets as offered themselves, sermons and
the Rhode Island Ahuanac; in 1731 he, as the official
printer, put forth part of an edition of the laws of the
colony. Although he has been credited with first publish-
ing Bishop Berkeley's Alciphron or 77; <? M'nute Philoso-
pher, there is insufficient evidence for this. His known
publications of all sorts are listed in Rhode Island Imprints,
published in 1914.
^ Diary of Cotton Mather, Collection of Mass. Hist. Soc. 7 ser. VIII,
1912, 366.
JAMES franklin's PRINTING PRESS
Now ill Mechanics Building. Boston. .Mass.
100 RHODE ISLAND HISTORICAL SOCIETY
The Rhode Island Historical Society has photostatic
copies of all numbers of the R/iode Island Gazette extant:
fifteen in number. Five others are known to have been
printed. The first issue, lost unfortunately, must have
contained James Franklin's statement of principles, for in
Number Five, October 25, 1732, Wm. K — g — writes
praising the editor's stand.
"If vou suffer no Personal Scandal to have Place in your Paper
nor make yourself a Party to any religious Disputes, there will
be no Room for Exceptions against you, but what will ly equally
against all vour Bretheren in this Town, unless you should
appear duller than anv of them, which yet is no very easy
Thing."
Readers are also warned not to coniplain if: "the Paper
is not always full of important events, which Times of
general Peace and Tranquility do not afford." Tack of
seasonable news appeared to be one of the editor's diffi-
culties. Numbers Two and Four of the Gazette contained
four pages; it is not unreasonable to presume that Number
One did also. The rest however are only two pages each.
The frequently printed request of the editor for contribu-
tions, and the insertion of foreign news of doubtful interest
to Rhode Islanders would seem to indicate that James
perhaps regretted his stand for conservative journalism
which deprived his sheet of the piquancy which character-
ized the columns of the New England Courant. Foreign
news at times occupied more than half the paper; at other
times none at all was included. This would seem to point
to the non-arrival in Newport of ships with English news-
papers. Much space was devoted to the political moves of
the Papacy and the Catholic princes on the continent. A
letter from a correspondent in Rome to his friend in
London, obviously reprinted from an English newspaper,
is typical of many. It recounts a project to put the Chevalier
de Saint George, the old Pretender, on the throne of a great
north African kingdom. The advantages enumerated for
this plan are: Another Catholic monarch, a good in itself,
THH RHODE ISLAND CAZETTE 101
freedom from the attacks of the Barbary pirates, and finally
augmentation of the Papal revenues. The tone of this
dispatch shows great concern for Protestant supremacy,
and sex'eral snnilar pieces would seem to indicate that James
Franklin was taking full advantage of the anti-Catholic,
anti-Stuart feeling in the colony.
Other foreign items would seem to have been selected
on the modern journalistic principle of "human interest":
the overturning of a wherry on the Thames with the drown-
ing of a drunken man, a street brawl in Naples between
the son of the duke d'Agapello and a German officer, the
wondrous soldier of Metz, whose body when opened by a
surgeon disclosed 1250 stones of cherries, plums, and
apricots, and the death in London of the Flying Man from
bruises he received in his attempt to fly from Greenwich
steeple.
Of strictly local news the Gazette doubtless printed all
it could, but there never were more than a half dozen items
per issue, and several times none at all. By far the most
spectacular event in Newport during the short life of the
Gazette w^as the escape, in his wife's clothing, of a con-
victed murderer:
Yesterday Night, (October 10, 1732) his wife and child
going to visit him, after staying about half an Hour, she came
to the outward Door of the Prison, and desir'd the Prison-
Keeper to lend her a Mugg to fetch some Milk for her Hus-
band; adding, " 'Tis no Matter, now 1 think on't, there's
one in the Room with him." Presently after (the Prisoner)
having put on his Wife's Cloak and Bonnet, knock'd at the
Door; and the Prison-Keeper letting him into the Priviledg'd
Room, he walked through it in the View of him and several
others, who mistook him for his Wife. The Prison Keeper
going immediately to lock the Inner Doors, found his Prisoner
w\is gone, and his Wife and Child left in the Room where he
was conhn'd.
Although the militia was called out and all citizens were
ordered bv doxernor William Wanton to "make Hue and
102 RHODE ISLAND HISTORICAL SOCIETY
Cry" the condemned man was not recaptured, at least in so
far as the Gazette took notice of the affair.
On October 25, the Gazette, laconically reported: "We
hear that the Rev, George Barkley, Dean of London-
Derry, has given his P'arm on this Island, worth about
£3000, to Yale College in Connecticut." At this time the
future bishop was preparing to return to England after his
residence of nearly three years in the colony, a residence
which was extremely fruitful as far as Newport and
Yale College were concerned. It seems a bit surprising
that so generous a benefactor should depart from the colony
with such scant journalistic notice. These two entries are
the high spots of interest among the inevitable death and
weather notices. New England people even then were
showing that preoccupation with the weather which
prompted Mark Twain's jest. In 1732-33, apparently
there was considerable justification ^ for towns up and down
the coast reported extremely low temperatures. In Boston
the harbor froze so solidly that ox teams were driven over
the ice to Charlestown, and people walked down the harbor
to Castle Island, at what is now City Point. Philadelphia
items reported shipping at a standstill because of the frozen
Delaware River. An epidemic of colds which struck the
town in the late fall forced the suspension of services at
The Church of England and North Congregational Meet-
ing House, both pastors being "very much indisposed." So
too was the editor of the Gazette who, as Tim Truman,
apologizes to his readers for the dullness and flatness of
his paper, blaming part of it on the weather.
I have been grievous!;- seized with the late extraordinary
Cold, which so took away the Gloss of my Stile, as well as
obstructed my Thoughts, that I believe my Readers by this
Piece perceive mv Disorder, and that 1 am not altogether come
to yet.
The gloss of style was mostly to be seen in essays reminis-
cent of the Spectator and Tatler with which Franklin, as
Tim Truman, filled the columns of the Gazette when little
TIIK RHODK ISLAND GAZKTTK 103
real news was available. One Cleverkin, William Freeborn
of Narragansett, Tom Trueman, N. N. and \Vm. K — g —
are the principal contributors. Doubtless some of these
essays represent genuine reader opinion j it is certainly true,
however, that Franklin himself wrote some of them. Wm.
K — g — writes so completely and sympathetically of the
difficulties of conducting a paper in a small town that one
feels justified in ascribing the authorship of his letter to
the editor. The narrow circle of readers in the colony, he
writes, the paucity of social diversions, and the lack of
leisure which prevents readers from interesting themselves
in the genteel arts and sciences make the editor's task a
difficult one. Literary-minded readers will be prone to
compare the Gazette with The Spectator; the problems of
journalism in Rhode Island and London are compared, and
Wm. K — g — - closes by suggesting that subjects of a politi-
cal and economic flavor might be better suited to the habits
and interests of Newport readers. Several issues later
W^illiam Freeborn contributes a lengthy panegyric on the
excellencies of Rhode Island government:
When I rcricct on our happy Condition in this Colony, and
the most invaluable Priviledges we enjoy at the easiest and
cheapest Rate imaginable, I cannot sufficiently admire the
Wisdom and Felicity of our Constitution, nor enough applaud
the Discretion and Frugalit\- with which our Affairs have all
along been managed.
Rotation of office, absence of slavery and oppression, ancf
the utmost freedom of conscience move William Freeborn
to the poetic close:
"Hail, happy native Land! But I forbear
What other Countries must with Kn\y hear/'
The strictly literary articles in the Gazette are highly
imitative of current English stvle. The graceful essayist,
Cleverkin, warns against reproving faults in public, and in
the manner of Addison brings classical literature to his aid
by citing copitjusly frt)m Seneca anci Plutarch. Tom True-
104 RHODE ISLAND HISTORICAL SOCIETY
man's ironic defense of Tattling is genteel in the extreme.
Tattling is a boon to those he refers to as the fair sex.
Their Work is a Burden to them at Home, hut taking it
abroad with them, hearing one Story and telling fifty, gives
Activity and Dexterity to their Fingers, and adds an exquisite
sharpness to their Needles.
The Gazette for January 25, 1732, prints a domestic
fable from the Pennsylvania Gazette signed by Anthony
Afterwrit. The author, as a bachelor, was very contented.
His present wife was to have a dowry of £200 if her choice
of a husband pleased her father. Anthony did not receive
the £200, but was happy, nevertheless, until Mistress
Afterwrit got a strong inclination to play the gentlewoman.
His modest furnishings were discarded, one by one, in
favor of much more elegant articles. Anthony feared for
his credit among the townspeople; he could not afford
such elegance. The good wife going on a visit to some rela-
tives, Anthony sells the new carriage, the mirror, the china,
and discharges the maid. Thus his credit is restored, and
this letter in the Gazette warns his wife to expect, upon her
return, to live upon a far more modest scale. The tone of
Anthony Afterwrit's preachment is so typical of Poor
Richard and his penny-pinching philosophy that it is not
surprising to hnd that Benjamin Franklin was the author.
Smythe, in his edition of Benjamin Franklin's works (Vol.
XI, p. 182), definitely identities Afterwrit as Franklin.
The brothers had settled their grievances by 1 73 1 and were
freely reprinting items from each other's papers. Such
borrowing was very common: indeed it appeared to be
necessary many times in order to have sufficient material
for an issue.
The colony had also two avowed poets. One Will Rusty
in octosyllabic couplets, characterized by stamping metre,
vented his broad humor in a poem entitled The Scatter-
waters. The other bard, a gentleman of much more sensi-
bility, preferred to remain anonymous. His theme was
love's ravages, and his vehicle was the heroic couplet.
THE RHODK ISLAND GAZETTK 105
Mv anxious Hours roll heavilv away,
Depriv'd of Sleep by Night, of Rest by Day:
My Soul no Respite from her Suffrings knows,
And sees no End of her eternal Woes.
His mistress is conventionally charged with cruelty and
indifference, in contrast to his sentiment to her,
You know m\' Passion is sincere and true,
I love you to Excess, you know I do.
Despite this touch of anti-climax Newport's love-struck
poet swears eternal loyalty to his love as he closes the
lament.
ril not resign you 'till my latest Breath,
I'll trace all Danger, run on an\' Death.
The advertisements and notices of any colonial news-
paper have great interest today; those of the Gazette are
no exceptions. Lotteries appeared to be the commonest
means of disposing of real estate, and fourteen such notices
appeared in the fifteen numbers of the Gazette which have
come down to us. The escape of run-away slaves was
announced and rewards offered. It was on December 14,
1732, that James Franklin published the Rhode Island
Almanack for the year 1733, fitted to the meridian of
Newport. Notices of its publication had appeared regularly
for some weeks preceding its appearance. As his more
illustrious brother Benjamin published Poor Richard's
Almanac, so authorship of the Rhode Island one was
ascribed to Poor Robin. Custom house notices of the arrival
and departure of ships give evidence of Newport's thriving
maritime trade. The average number of ships clearing the
port was seven per week during the life of the Gazette.
Names prominent in Rhode Island shipping history are
thus recorded in the paper: Tillinghast, Brown, Coggeshall,
Anthony, Howland, Cofiin, Brenton, Rodman and others.
An advertisement which was indicative of the editor's
difficulties appeareci on Januar\' 1 1, 1733.
106 RHODE ISLAND HISTORICAL SOCIETY
N<i. 13 of this Paper concludes a Quarter. Those who have
taken it from the Beginning are desir'd to pav their Monev
to John Franklin of Boston, or James Franklin of Newport;
the Continuance of it depending on punctual Quarterly l'a\-
ments, or a greater Number of Subscribers.
The paper was in financial straits. Perhaps the venture
was too ambitious. At that time all of Newport County
numbered but few more than six thousand people. Scarcity
of paid advertising, then as now, spelled the doom of many
a newspaper. Boston, a far larger community, was sup-
porting two papers at the time with no little difficulty, and
the printers there had a considerable amount of political
prmtmg to augment then- scanty journalistic revenue. The
paper was probably well read, but Yankee thrift operated to
circulate one copy through many hands j this does not make
for prosperous editors. The last number preserved today.
Number 20, is dated March 1, 1 733, but we know that the
Gazette's final issue was on May 24th of the same year.
James Franklin died in February of 1735, and his wife,
an able and ambitious woman, attempted to revive the paper
but with no success. Not for more than a quarter of a
century was Rhode Island to have a permanent newspaper,
and it owed its existence to James Franklin, Jr., son of our
pioneer journalist, who in 1758 founded the Nezvpor/
Mercury. The printing press which James Franklin
brought with him from England when he set up as a printer
in Boston and later brought with him to Newport was
preserved for many years in the office of the Mercury. In
1790, an attempt was made to sell it for one hundred dol-
lars. The sale was not completed, for no one could verify
it as the one on which the illustrious Benjamin had worked
while serving his unwilling apprenticeship to his brother
James. The press is now on exhibition in Mechanics Hall,
Boston.
ThtMarylafid Gazette has been selected for comparison
with Franklin's paper because both served communities of
approximately equal population, Annapolis being nearly
THOMAS W. dork's KSCAPE 107
the size of Newport; and like it, a shipping center of impor-
tance. The following similarities are noted: Both print
much foreign news in default of local items. Both print
colonial proclamations in full, both feature letters from
readers tt) the editor, generally on pseudo-literary topics
imitative of Addison's Spectator papers. The poetry in both
is indifferent stuff, generally in heroic couplets. The adver-
tisements in both papers feature runaway slaves, almanacs,
'' and lotteries. For crispness of style the Rhode Island
paper is not inferior to the southern one. The failure of
the Gazette was regrettable, but in all fairness we may con-
clude that the times and not James Franklin were out of
ioint.
Refe
re nee s
The originals of the RlujJe Island Gazette are located as follows:
Rhode Island Historical Societv: No. 2.
Massachusetts Historical Society: Nos. 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 11, 12, 13.
Mr. Edward A. Sherman: Nos'. 15, 17, 19, 20.
There is a photostat hie in the Rhode Island Historical Society Library.
Extracts of local interest fnjni the Rhode hland Gazette were printed