CHS Newsletter September 2016

Here are some scenes from previous years’ annual buffest and Charlie the Butler’s Ghost Parties. Please read information about this year’s events inside this newsletter.

Photographs by

Our next meeting will be on Sept. 20th at 6 pm in the Sprague Mansion. It will be our annual buffet combined with a birthday party for Gov.William Sprague who was born on Sept. 12, 1830.

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Katy Cabral Stepney (Social Media) OFFICERS Martha Cornell (Gift Shop)

Frank DelSanto (Program)

Sandra Moyer Steven Frias (Finance) President David Griswold (Publicity) James Hall (Curator) Tom Worthington Fred Joslyn (Ways and Means) Vice President John Lonardo (Hospitality)

Gregg Mierka (Property Management) Mary Mierka Secretary Mary Mierka (Events and Rentals) Sandra Moyer (Endowment) Tristan Poirier John O'Leary (Nominations) Treasurer Lydia Rapoza (Joy Homestead) Herbert Zakrison (Buildings and Grounds)

Directors at Large Ed Garcia Eleanor Sasso

The Cranston Historical Society's mission is to protect, document, interpret and expand understanding of Cranston history.

1351 Cranston Street Cranston, RI 02920

(401) 944-9226 www.cranstonhistoricalsociety.org email: [email protected] facebook: www.facebook.com/cranstonhistoricalsociety President's Note

By Sandra Moyer

This month’s issue has as its theme the 186th birthday of Gov. William Sprague (1830-1915). Since two men who lived in the Sprague Mansion share that same name and political office, let me clarify that I am speaking of the second William Sprague to become governor. He is also the one that served heroically in the Civil War and married , the daughter of President Lincoln’s Treasury Secretary. Within these pages, you will read a biography of his life by Kathy Cyr Sprague and a recounting of his Civil War exploits by Gregg Mierka. James Hall has an informative article on the Sprague Bedroom set that we own and Mary Mierka wrote on the history of birthday cakes. I wrote an article describing the type of clothing that the Sprague children would have worn to a birthday party.

Since we are combining our annual meeting/buffet with a birthday celebration, cake will supplement the delicious dinner that features Italian and American dishes prepared by Ralph’s Kitchen. For more information on the buffet, please refer to the calendar.

The autumn will also be the time for two fundraisers. The first is a new event that will encourage you and your friends to support the Cranston Historical Society at the same time that you add some stylish new clothes to your fall wardrobe by shopping at Talbots’ in Garden City from 5 to 8 pm on September 16. Talbots offers classically styled fashions in sizes from 2 to 24 for petites and women. Although they only carry women’s clothes, we want to remind our gentlemen members that it is not too early to start thinking of Christmas presents for the women in your life. Talbots is generously giving us 10% of the money they take in during those hours.

Our second fundraiser will be our annual Charlie the Butler Ghost Halloween party on October 21. For just $15 per person you will see Rory Raven’s amazing mind reading presentation. The three floors of mansion will once again be decorated in a spectacular manner by Adam Florio and refreshments will be served. Miss Debb and Miss Michelle will also be in attendance to reveal your personal future for a separate fee. Costumes are optional but we ask no masks be worn.

Membership

By Mary Mierka

Membership Dues If you have not sent in your dues yet, please forward it to us soon.

Welcome New Members Holly Monroe - Cranston Linda & James DiPaola Family - Exeter

A Cordial Thank You:

Liberty Tree: For tree work in August Home Depot-Johnston: Providing 4 impressive Antique-looking black Mansion front entrance urns Scituate Rotary of RI Inc.: Donation for Mansion fireplace restoration Herb and Sandy Zakrison: Generous donation to fix air conditioning system

Please support our Other Business Supporters and Donors:

All The Answers, Inc.,-Warwick, Mailing & Printing Services alltheanswersinc.com Climate Controlled Systems Inc.-Cranston, A/C & Heating Services climateri.com CWS Gases Co. (Cranston Welding Supply)-Cranston Since 1946 cranstonwelding.com EMC (Energy Management & Control Services)-Cranston, providers of building control/ energy & integrated facility management systems emccontrols.net Forest Hills Nurseries Inc.-Cranston, Retail/Wholesale plants/nursery foresthillsnurseries.com North-Eastern Tree Services-Cranston northeasterntree.com Parmelee Poirier & Associates, CPA parmeleepoirier.com Civil War Round Table-RIs premier Civil War discussion group ricwrt.com Rhode Island Dental Arts-Cranston, All dentals services ridentists.com Stiller Distributors-Cranston, Distributor of commercial/residential flooring stillerdistributors.com TreePro Services-Coventry treeprori.com Calendar

Meetings & Events

September 16 Friday 5:00 to 8:00 pm in Talbots in Garden City Shopping Center Please join us for this exciting fundraiser event. The management of Tabots has generously offered the Cranston Historical Society 10% of the money they take in from our members and friends during these three hours.

September 20 Tuesday 6:00 pm in the Sprague Mansion General Membership meeting and buffet to celebrate William Sprague’s birthday. The cost will be $18 for a delicious buffet provided by Ralph’s Kitchen of Post. The program will feature Sprague related artifacts in our collection. Please RSVP by September 15 by calling 944-9226.

October 21 Friday 7:00 – 9:00 pm in the Sprague Mansion Charlie the Butler’s Ghost party featuring New England mentalist Rory Raven. $15 will include light refreshments; tour of decorated rooms and for a separate charge, have your future revealed.

October 25 Tuesday 7:00 pm in the Sprague Mansion Board of Directors’ Meeting

November 15 Tuesday 7:00 pm in the Sprague Mansion General Membership Meeting – Volunteer of the Year Award and New Members’ Reception

November 25 Friday 3:00 – 5:00 pm in the Sprague Mansion Decorating the Christmas tree. Bring a signed ornament to add to our collection.

December 4 Sunday 1:00 to 4:00 pm Sprague Mansion & Joy Homestead Christmas Open House featuring music, decorations and refreshments. Lifestyles

Victorian Children’s Clothing By Sandra Moyer

If the younger members of the Sprague family were going to William’s birthday party what would they have worn? With very young children, both sexes would wear long flowing dresses. By the time they turned five or six, the styles for the two sexes would have been different. Girls continued to wear dresses, but the length of the garment would change with the wearer’s age. The older the girl, the longer the dress. Therefore, a four year old would wear a knee length dress while her ten year old sister’s hem would go to mid-calf. By the time the girl was sixteen, her dress would be a modest ankle length. The style also would have changed. Young girls wore simple, high waisted, empire style dresses like the type popularized by Kate Greenaway in her book illustrations. The older girls’ garments looked more like their mothers’ clothes

Boys also transitioned from short pants to long pants that resembled their fathers as they grew older. Where the girls’ clothes got more elaborate as they aged, the boys’ garments became simpler. Young boys of wealthy families often wore the type of frilly clothes made of rich fabrics that were associated with Little Lord Fauntleroy and after the publication of his story even became known by his name.

In 1872, when the Spragues were at the pinnacle of their success, Willie Sprague, son of the Civil War governor and then Senator would have been seven years old. In this photo, he is wearing a suit made of velvet with a jacket and pants that just covered the knee. There are ruffles at the neck and sleeves as well as around the hem of the pants.

We do not have Willie’s suit in our textile collection at the Governor Sprague Mansion. However, we do have two similar outfits that were worn by his male cousins. The suits are threadbare, but you can see the care with what they were made. They had ivory pipping around the sleeves and collar, pewter buttons and were silk lined.

Of Long Ago

The Birthday Cake Story “Many Happy Returns of the Day” By Mary Mierka

In ancient times, breads and cakes were at times used in religious ceremonies. Specific shapes such as round/circle symbolize the “cyclical nature of life” or the “sun or moon”. Some historians believe the first reference to “birthday” cakes were honey cakes in ancient Greece; others think the tradition can be traced to Germany in the 1400s where it was called ‘sweetened bread’, a celebration of life. During early times, sugar, various spices and nuts, as well as dried fruit were expensive and it was an honor to receive a cake at a special occasion, such as a birthday.

Cakes of the late 1800s were mainly decorated with sayings as "Many Happy Returns of the Day" with the person’s name. It was not until approximately 1910 that Happy Birthday actually appears on cakes, based on the tune “Happy Birthday to You” (Song by the Hill sisters published in 1893.)

Ancient cultures thought smoke from blowing out candles carried prayers to the heavens. It was believed in 1700/1800s that on German children’s birthdays they were susceptible to evil spirits. Family would gather to protect the child, keeping candles lit on the cake all day until after the dinner meal when the cake was served. Candles were also thought to carry one's wishes up to God. This observance was brought to colonial Pennsylvania, later reinforced by the influence of Queen Victoria's court. In 1746, a birthday celebration for Count Ludwig Von Zinzendorf included a festival and a cake with candles The cake as large as any oven could be found to bake it, and it had holes made in the cake according to the person’s age. A candle for good luck was stuck into each hole. Today it symbolizes making a wish.

“Birthday Cake “ – A recipe from 1878 Into a pound of dried flour, put four ounces of butter, four ounces of sugar, one egg, a tea-spoonful of baking powder, and sufficient milk to wet to a paste. Put in currants, and cut in cakes. Sprinkle

In the Kitchen: 1860s "The most common modes of cooking, where open fires are relinquished, are by the range and the cooking-stove ...this stove, left, ...with proper management of dampers, one ordinary-sized coal-hod of anthracite coal will, for twenty-four hours, keep the stove running, keep 17 gallons of water hot at all hours, bake pies and puddings in the warm closet, heat flat-irons under the back cover, boil tea-kettle and one pot under the front cover, bake bread in the oven, and cook a turkey in the tin roaster in front." The American Woman's Home, by Catherine E. Beecher and Harriet Beecher Stowe, 1869. Notation: Coal-hod is a bucket or cone-shaped metal scoop. Anthracite is the hardest of coals, having a high heat value. Coal came from the Cranston mines located where Garden City shopping area is today. Coal mining companies were active there for about 110 years, the last closing in 1959 Curator’s Corner colored caraway seeds on top, and bake them a light brown."---Jennie June's American Cookery Book.

The Sprague Bedroom Set By Jim Hall, Curator

Shortly after marrying the glamorous Kate Chase in 1863, Governor William Sprague and his new wife began construction of a sixty-four room, four story summer mansion house in Narragansett that they called Canonchet. Not long afterwards the Sprague fortunes reversed and their marriage and mansion were lost. Governor Sprague sold the mansion to his sister-in-law Avis Wheaton Borda and very soon after, in 1909, it burned to the ground. However, back in 1900 a carpenter named Harold Pratt was hired to do carpentry work on Canonchet and, in lieu of wages was given a three piece bedroom set that was part of the furnishings. The furniture was passed down over the years to an heir, Mrs. Harold Pratt, who donated it to the Cranston Historical Society in 1970. The set consists of the bed, bureau and small commode, both with marble tops and a table. All are Victorian in style.

This walnut and walnut-burl double bed has a headboard crowned with a flame fleur-de-lis and elaborate carved cornice. The headboard is decorated with veneered panels, elaborately carved posts, and pyramidal tops. The footboard is crowned with a peaked cornice and walnut panels and has scrolled quarter sideboards. The bed is on casters.

The Victorian dresser with a molded, overhanging marble top. There is a high backboard with a shaped mirror and broken pediment that has a fleur-de-lis rising in the middle. At each side of the backboard is a recessed plate candle bracket with elaborate carvings. At the base of the backboard, on each side, is a lined jewelry or notion box. Below are three graduated full length drawers with original carved wood handles. Each drawer has a brass lock escutcheon. All front corners are canted. The skirt is plain and the top drawer is compartmentalized.

The dove tail joinings are handmade.

The Victorian commode has a shaped overhanging marble top matching the chest. Inside there is a single shelf within the large Yarns of Yesteryear compartment. Elaborately carved handles and light colored burl panels forming the octagonal shape add to the decoration.

The 35 star Union Flag; the MOLLUS Insignia; Governor William Francis Sprague, IV; the GAR Insignia & the Confederate Stainless Fl

William Sprague IV and the Civil War by Gregg Mierka

William Sprague IV, the Civil War Period Governor, was born in Cranston on September 12, 1830 and died in Paris, France a day before his 86th birthday on September 11, 1915. William IV was one of President Lincoln’s top trio of most important union governors and stanch supporters of the Lincoln administration during the war. In Rhode Island, William was known as “The Boy Governor” because he was only 30 years old when elected governor in 1860. He was thought to be handsome, dashing and debonair, by most of the ladies of his day, especially atop of his favorite white horse “Snow Drop” while wearing his army uniform.

Governor Sprague was the only northern governor to serve in the combat of the Civil War. Along with , he led his RI units at the in July 1861. At Matthews Hill during the Bull Run fight “Snow Drop” was shot out from under him. He never forgave southerners for that because the Spragues loved raising prized horses. Early in the war they color coded RI units by their horses’ colors.

After 1st Bull Run, as the war grew far more deadly, the war trio of Governors Sprague , Curtin of PA., and Andrew of MA., urged the President to respond with military actions against the French who sent a naval squadron and 30,000 troops to Mexico and the British who sent a naval squadron and 15,000 troops to Canada. Lincoln declined, saying, “One war at a time”. On August 20, 1866, President Andrew Johnson spoke to Congress about officially ending the war. Congress voted to concur and Sprague was an important part of the process.

In 1863, Sprague declined a second term as governor, but according to Lincoln’s wishes he was selected by the RI General Assembly to serve in the US Senate with Henry B. Anthony. Sprague was an early member of the Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States (MOLLUS) and the founder of the RI Grand Army of the Republic, the two most important veteran’s organizations in the country after the war. Sprague held true to his principles throughout his lifetime. Those seeking an officer’s commission in a RI unit during the Civil War must be Abolitionist supporters. He often Sketches of said the war must mean something and have a positive outcome. In Paris, where he moved in later life, during WW I French officials asked him if they could use part of his home as a hospital facility. He agreed only if there was no discrimination of race, religion or ethnicity, meaning the enemy was welcome in his home. Upon his death the French honored Sprague in Paris then assisted in the return of his remains.

William Sprague, IV Businessman, Governor, Senator By Kathy Sprague-Cyr

“Cotton King of New England”, “Boy ”, and “The Little War Governor” were some of the monikers William Sprague IV was known by. Born September 12, 1830 at the Sprague Mansion in Cranston, William IV, named for his uncle, Governor William Sprague III, was second son of Amasa and Fanny Morgan Sprague.

William IV, along with his brother Amasa II, and his two sisters Mary Ann and Alymyra, were educated at a private school in New York until the murder of their father on New Year's Eve in 1843. With this death, the children returned home. The brothers, Amasa II and William IV were sent to the Smithville Seminary in Scituate, RI, where they remained until they were old enough to become part of the business. When William was 16 years of age he started working in the counting room of the Sprague Print Works. He continued to work in the counting room until he took control of the management of the company six years later when his Uncle William III died. Under the guidance of William IV and Amasa, the A & W Sprague Print Works soon became the largest calico printing textile mill in the world. The company ran five weaving mills in New England. The Spragues owned controlling interest in The Hartford, Providence and Fishkill Railroad Company which connected the five weaving mills to the Print Works in Cranston where the cloth was transported to be printed.

Like his uncle, William was interested in politics. In 1860, at 29 years old he became Rhode Island’s 27th Governor. As a war between the North and South seemed likely, William made several trips to Washington DC to speak with President Lincoln and Lt. General Winfield Scott. As governor, William promised troops to defend Washington, thus Camp Sprague was opened in Washington DC. He participated in the first Battle of Bull Run. He rode a white horse into battle, which was promptly shot out from under him. He quickly mounted another horse and bravely rode on. Back in Rhode Island, the cotton mills were turning out cloth for uniforms to support the war effort and the money was pouring in.

the Spragues

On March 3, 1863, as the Civil War continued, William resigned as governor to become a United States Senator. He was elected to two six year terms, taking office on March 4, 1863 and serving until March 3, 1875. He served on four committees; Public Lands, Manufacturing, Military Affairs and Commerce. During his tenure as senator, he met Kate Chase. The couple married on November 12, 1863, in a lavish wedding. They maintained two homes, one in Washington DC and the other in Narragansett, RI. It was Kate’s idea to build the 68 room mansion at Canochet Farm. The new mansion seemed a better fit for their many social gatherings than the older Canochet farmhouse.

After his Senate terms were over, William resumed working with his brother Amasa in managing the Sprague manufacturing establishments and under their leadership the family holdings continued to grow. They perfected various processes in calico printing, including direct printing on a large scale. They purchased land in South Carolina where they planned to build factories on the edge of the cotton fields. They owned large areas of land in Kansas and Texas. William became the president of the New York Steamship Company which operated eight steamers and employed 500 workers. The Spragues empire included control over the Perkins Street Iron Company, the R. I. Horseshoe Company, the American Horseshoe Nail Company, Sprague Mowing Machine Company, the Comstock Stove Foundry as well as the Sprague Mills and Print Works.

With the Financial Panic of 1873 the Sprague’s financial fortunes quickly disintegrated. Following the Panic, the outlook for the Sprague Holdings were bleak. Additionally, Kate and William’s marriage was unraveling. William began to drink more, criticize Kate's lavish spending, and behave violently towards his wife. Kate allegedly had an affair with New York Senator . After the death of Kate’s father, Chief Justice Salmon P. Chase in 1873, and with the fall of the Sprague financial empire, more pressure was put on Kate to curb her extravagant spending, and the marriage continued to suffer. After much drama and a long divorce process, the Spragues divorced in 1882. Their son, Willie remained with his father, while their 3 girls, Ethel, Kitty and Portia moved to Washington,DC with their mother. William had very little contact with his daughters after the divorce. This was largely due to Kate’s influence, as she wanted to keep the girls as far away from their father’s bad behavior as possible. Soon after his divorce, William married Dora Inez Clavert of West Virginia. He and his new wife restored the Canonchet mansion and lived there in the summers. William’s life remained quiet until October of 1890 when the body of his only son Willie was found in a boarding house in Seattle. Willie Sprague had committed suicide. Eighteen years later, on Oct. 11, 1909, due to a faulty chimney flue, Canonchet burned to the ground. William rushed back into the still burning building in an attempt to save his diaries. The 69 year old was overcome by smoke and had to be revived. He recovered in time to watch his diaries, important papers and other valuables along with his home go up in smoke. Soon after the fire, William and Dora moved to Paris, where William lived out the final years of his life. He died of “congestion of the brain” Sept. 11, 1915, one day short of his 86th birthday. His body was returned to R. I. draped in an American Flag and received full military honors. He was laid to rest in the family tomb at in Providence, R.I.

1351 Cranston Street Street 1351Cranston Cranston Historical Society Cranston Society Historical Cranston,02920 RI

fundraising events

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