Betsy Williams donates Roger Williams’s land 1877

/ Kirstin Miller

Roger Williams had a 3rd great granddaughter, Betsy who on October 16, 1877 donated all of her great great great grandfather’s land to the state of Rhode Island.

A  book was published to commemorate the ceremony (read the 52 page book here at HathiTrust) an abridged version: Providence, founded by Roger Williams in 1636, had secured no large public park, and had erected no statue in memory of its founder. Happily, a farm given to Mr. Williams by his friend, the sachem Miantunnomi (small bio on Wikipedia he was convicted of treason?), was in possession of his great-great-great-grand-daughter, Miss Betsy Williams who determined to honor her 3rd great grandfather’s memory bequeathed this land for a public use and a statue of Roger Williams was unveiled.

I need more information on this statue and monument, Clio is a the base front writing on a tablet, Roger is holding a book with the words Soul and Liberty. N 41° 47.111 W 071° 24.998. The Google map site from 2011 is missing Clio’s tablet at the base of the monument.

Ceremonies- monument to Roger Williams

Monument to Roger Williams 1877. Location: N 41° 47.111 W 071° 24.998

  • Mr Franklin Simmons of Rome created the statue.
  • A Mighty Fortress is Our God was the hymn sung.
  • Professor J Lewis Dimar of Brown University gave the oration.
  • Children of the Public Schools sung the Choral
  • Reverend E G Robinson, President of Brown University gave the blessing.

Thomas Burnham b. 1617

/ Kirstin Miller

Thomas Burnham 10th great grandfather on RootsMagic tree

Thomas was maybe  a passenger on the Angel Gabriel in 1635. Thomas’s uncle Robert Andrews (mother’s brother) was Captain. The ship sailed from England directly into the strongest hurricane ever to hit Massachusetts. The Great Colonial Hurricane of August 25-26th, 1635 was a Category 3 (like Katrina 2005).  Governor Bradford wrote of a 20′ tide slamming into Boston. The Angel Gabriel was tossed and turned, passengers began throwing possessions overboard, lightning their load, hoping to make it to the (now) Pemaquid, Maine coast. All but perhaps 100 passengers made it safely to the colonies. A trunk survived- it belonged to John Cogswell and is on display at the Colonial Pemaquid State Historic Site, Bangor Daily News has a story. Some genealogy books tell of the Burnham brothers losing all their possessions during the storm.

Once safely settled in America Thomas was involved in civic affairs. He was a constable and also a lawyer. His most famous case was defending teacher Abigail Betts who called Jesus a bastard and was charged with blasphemy. Thomas defended Abigail by proving England did not consider blasphemy a crime so America, England’s colony, could not consider blasphemy a crime. Thomas then had to defend himself for defending Abigail. He called for “Justice according to Law” and the separation of the church and the state. Thomas may have lost his citizenship for awhile and he could no longer appear in the courts of the time. Before his death he had deeded his land to his children. He may have written a will, it was never found, maybe his wife Ann Wright refused to share it?, his will was recreated through witness testimony. Much detail here at HathiTrust page 121 of Genealogical Records of Thomas Burnham, the emigrant.

Francis Sprague b. 1590

/ Kirstin Miller

Francis Sprague 10th great grandfather on RootsMagic tree

Francis, along with daughters Anna (most likely a daughter, could have been a wife) and Mercy sailed on the Anne in 1623 from England to the Plymouth Colony. It was a summer voyage lasting about 3 months.

Wikipedia article, Passengers of the ships Anne and Little James 1623 has more detail. “From these statements … the reason so many of the first arrivals disappeared from Plymouth … many of the emigrants on the Anne and Little James would eventually be sent back to England as unfit for the task of living and working in a harsh colonial environment.” William Bradford’s history tells of his dismay at some of the passengers sent. “And some were so bad, as they were faine to be at charge to send them home again next year.”

Francis Sprague got to stay. He was a freeman, an innkeeper licensed to sell liquor and he owned land.

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Snapshot from Memorial of the Sprague family by Soule, Richard page 30 at HathiTrust

Israel Dewey b. 1738

/ Kirstin Miller

Not many details on Israel Dewey (8th great uncle) b. 16 Sep 1738, d. 1806 in Connecticut. Israel may have asked his brother  David Dewey (8th great grandfather) to be his guardian in 1753. Israel’s Probate (on Ancestry.com  Connecticut, Wills and Probate Records, 1609-1999) contains 32 pages or images. There’s a cover page, inventory, assorted notes and this is image 13:

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Israel may have been a deacon and may have been married to Bethiah, still searching.

 

Godsgift Arnold b. 1658 and Jireh Bull b. 1659

/ Kirstin Miller

Bull, Jireh and Godsgift house

Godsgift Arnold 1st cousin 9 times removed from Elizabeth Speedy who married Stanley Roose Sr.

Godsgift was born on 27 Aug 1658 in Newport, Rhode Island, USA to Benedict (11th great uncle) and Damaris Westcott Arnold, the governor. Benedict Arnold who joined the British Army was her great grand nephew. Godsgift married Jireh Bull, their grandfathers William Arnold and Henry Bull were original Rhode Island settlers in the 1630s. Godsgift and Jireh lived in Newport, Rhode Island in a home still standing, now known as The Captain John Maudsley House. In 1952 it was discovered that the house was actually built by Jireh Bull. The August 27, 1952 Newport News tells the house’s history, I haven’t found the actual source. The Library of Congress has photos and floor plans of this house that Jireh started building in 1680. The house is still standing and privately owned today, at Wikipedia . 

The photo is from early 1900s. Jireh began building in 1680.  At the Library of Congress: John Maudsley House, Other Title Jireh Bull House.

William Flood in Civil War 1862

/ Kirstin Miller

William Flood, 3rd great grandfather, married to Delia Angell, was a Civil War soldier in the Iowa 32nd Infantry. He registered after Governor Kirkwood on July 9, 1862 made a proclamation calling for 300,000 Iowa men to join the war effort. At HathiTrust in the Roster and record of Iowa soldiers in the war of the Rebellion, Volume 5 (William’s info is on page 57) there is a 10-20 page description of the the soldiers’s battles and movements. They walked from Iowa to Nashville, Arkansas, Missouri, Alabama. They walked in soldier’s uniforms with their supplies on their backs.

Today in Iowa it is 90 degrees, heat index 104. I carried out the garbage/recycling in a tank top, flip flops, shorts with no gear on my back. I broke a sweat- WTF? Were these ancestors of mine a different species? How in the world did they do what they did, everyday.

Lewis and Clark Expo James Davis and Mary Ella Gaines Miller 1905

/ Kirstin Miller

Portland Fair 1905James Davis Miller and Mary Ella Gaines Miller (2nd great grandparents) , in 1905 left Butler County, Iowa for the Lewis and Clark Exposition in Portland, Oregon. Mary Ella’s sisters Florence and Jeanette and maybe a brother were living in Oregon at that time.

PDX History documents the Exposition with photos, postcards, links. The Lewis and Clark Expo on Flickr contains 26 photos one of them the Agricultural Palace which I’m sure JD and Mary Ella visited.

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Agricultural Palace 1905 Lewis and Clark Expo in Portland.

 

In June of 1922, Mary Ella and James’s son William with wife Lola (great grandparents), son Faber (grandfather) and daughter Florence (great aunt)  took an auto vacation to Northern Wisconsin. In the 1920s auto travel for the common man was just beginning so this auto trip was pretty big news.

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Frerichs family emigrates in 1883

/ Kirstin Miller

In 1883 Enno Frerichs (2nd great grandfather) and family sailed from Bremen, Germany to Baltimore, Maryland. From Baltimore they would have taken a train to Freeport, Illinois joining friends and family already settled in America. Railroad companies produced pamphlets many in  German, advertising the lands for sale in the Plains: Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Nebraska. Local agents were listed along with details about crops, social life, religion and the financial make up of the specific towns. Railroads and the Making of Modern America University of Nebraska Lincoln is an educational site with plentiful sources.

 

Those SAR and DAR organizations 2016 Jun 30

/ Kirstin Miller

Sarah Dewey’s (5th great grandmother) parents are in the U.S., Sons of the American Revolution Membership Applications, 1889-1970 for Sarah Witter (mom) and U.S., Sons of the American Revolution Membership Applications, 1889-1970 for Sarah Dewey. These membership apps show Sarah’s parents from the Dewey and Connable families. I’ve not used the SAR applications as sources not sure how true they are. Both these applications are 10+ pages with a lot of ancestry details. I’ll read them and evaluate. I visited the DAR site and after controversies in the 50s and 60s, 70s they now allow non-white persons in their society. They also verify claims, since about 1974. They also offer their records freely through their GRS Genealogical Research System. And the DAR Ancestor Search contains a ton of information on Revolutionary era ancestors.  “The best way to search for ancestors is by last and first name only, no other details. The ancestor number in this search is not the same as the SAR and/or DAR number that you may find in Ancestry.com sources.”

Angell 2016 Jun 23

/ Kirstin Miller

There’s always more to the story.

Delia Viola Angell Flood (3rd great grandmother) was named in her father Dexter Angell’s will with younger half brother Julius and older sister and brother Elizabeth and Charles. Delia and Julius were ‘infants’ in the law’s eyes, so the lawyer had to arrange guardians. The guardians may have been Henry Haynes and Lewis Angell, brothers of Dexter.

The same Dexter Angell (4th great grandfather) circa 1872 had in his possession “the gold medal awarded by Gen. Lafayette, to Col. Israel Angell.” Israel was Dexter’s grandfather – and Dexter was his favorite, probably how he got that gold medal presented to his grandpa by French revolutionary Lafayette. A note from Israel “N.B. I Remember my love in particular to My little Grandson Dexter, and tell him that his poor old Grandaddy intends (GOD willing) to Come & see him before one year to an End. I. A.”