Pass F ''] (r. Book. SlI / PUBLICATIONS OF THE RHODE ISLAND .^i^^ HISTORICAL SOCIETY |^^'^ NEW SERIES VOLUME VIII. 1900 PROVIDENCE Printed for the Society by Snow & Farnham 1900 Committee on publication: J. Franklin Jameson, Amasa M. Eaton, Edward Field. \ CONTENTS Page. Officers of the Rhode Island Historical Society i Proceedings, 1 899-1 900 3 Address of the President 9 Report of the Treasurer 24 Report of the Committee on Grounds and Buildings 28 Report of the Library Committee 29 List of Institutions and Corporations from which gifts have been received 37 List of Persons from whom gifts have been received 39 Report of the Lecture Committee 41 Report of the Publication Committee 42 Report of the Committee on Genealogical Researches 44 Necrology 46 Note on Roger Williams's Wife 67 Francis Brinley's Briefe Narrative of the Nanhiganset Countrey 69 British State Papers relating to Rhode Island 96 The Adjustment of Rhode Island into the Union in 1790 104 Sir Thomas Urquhart and Roger Williams 133 Editorial Notes 137, 193, 278 Ten Letters of Roger Williams, 1654-1678 141, 277 Benefit Street in 179S 161 Papers relating to Fantee r 90 Papers of William Vernon and the Navy Board 197 The A ncestry of Patience Cook 278 Index 279 I 1 ,\ f PUBLICATIONS OF THE RHODE ISLAND HISTORICAL SOCIETY NEW SERIES Vol. VIII April, 1900 No. Whole Number, 29 aMIG i£DlCAL PROVIDENCE, R. I. PUBLISHED BY THE SUCIETV ~ ~'" N i n—mil— 1 PRINTED BY SNOW & FARNHAM, PROVIDENCE [ Entered at the Post-Office at Providence, R. I., Aug. 11, 1893, as second-class matter] : Contents, April, 1900. Page. List of Officers and Committees i Proceedings 3 Address of the President 9 Report of the Treasurer 24 Report of the Committee on Grounds and Buildings 28 Report of the Library Committee 29 Report of the Lecture Committee 41 Report of the Pubhcation Committee 42 Report of the Committee on Genealogical Researches 44 Necrological Notices : —George W. B. Bourn, Daniel G. Brinton, J. Russell Bullock, Albert L. Calder, Horatio N. Campbell, Reuben A. Guild, Henry A. Hidden, James M. Kimball, Maiy H. Knowles, Amos Perry, Lucian Sharpe, Horatio N. Slater, Edward P. Taft, Edward Thayer, Zephaniah Williams, Marshall Woods 46 Honorary Members, January, 1900, 60 Corresponding Members, January, 1900 60 Life Members, January, 1 900 62 Active Members, January, 1 900 63 Note : Roger Williams's Wife 67 publication Committee J. Franklin Jameson, Amasa M. Eaton, Edward Field, This quarterly is issued on the first of April, J\ily, October, and January. Price, li.oo a year; single numbers, 50 cents each. A few sets of the quarterly (seven volumes) can be obtained at the Cabinet, at $1.50 a volume. OFFICERS OF THE RHODE ISLAND HISTORICAL SOCIETY, Elected January 9, 1900. President. JOHN H. STINESS. Vice-Presidents. John Nicholas Brown, J. Franklin Jameson. Secretary. Wilfred H. Munro. Treasurer. Richmond P. Everett. Librarian and Cabinet-Keeper. Clarence S. Brigham. STANDING committees. Nominating Committee. Albert V. Jencks, Edward I. Nickerson, Theodore F. Green. Library Committee. William D. Ely, Henry R. Chace, Clarence S. Brigham. 2 RHODE ISLAND HISTORICAL SOCIETY. Lcctn re Com in ittce. William B. Weeden, John T. Blodgett, William B. Mead. Pnblicatio7i Committee. J. Franklin Jameson, Amasa M. Eaton, Edward Field. Committee on Gt'oiinds and Buildings. Isaac H. Southwick, Jr., Edwin Barrows, Norman M. I sham. Committee on Genealogical Researches. John O. Austin, George T. Hart, Fred A. Arnold. Committee on Necrology. Wilfred H. Munro, Robert Grieve, Clarence S. Brigham. Finance Committee. Robert H. I. Goddard, Charles H. Smith, Richmond P. Everett. Andit Committee. James Burdick, Ferdinand A. Lincoln, Oliver S. Cressy, Procurators. For Newport, George Gordon King. Woonsocket, Latimer W. Ballou. Pawtucket, Samuel M. Conant. North Kingstown, David S. Baker. Hopkinton, George H. Olney. Glocester, Albert Potter. PROCEEDINGS OF THE Rhode Island Historical Society, 1 899-1 900. At a meeting held February 7, 1899, Capt. John R. Bartlett, U. S. N., addressed the Society on "The Operations of the Navy Department in the War with Spain." February 21, 1899, Hon. Amos Perry, LL. D., Secretary of the Society, gave an address entitled " Some Recollections of Men, Scenes, and Events at Harvard University Sixty Years Ago." March 7, 1899, Mr. Edward Fuller read a paper entitled "A Defence of Charles I. of England." April 4, 1899, a regular quarterly meeting was held. The Librarian made his quarterly report. A resolution offered by Mr. Paine at the last regular quarterly meeting was with- drawn. The following named persons were elected active members : Martha Ann Dodge, of Billerica, Mass. John Fret- ; well, Edward Bell Gardner, and Harriet Webb Greenwood, of Providence ; and William Mackey Peckham, of Troy, New York. ; ; 4 RHODE ISLAND HISTORICAL SOCIETY. Professor J. F. Jameson, chairman of a special committee on the proposition to raise the annual tax from three to five dollars, reported that one hundred and seventy-six members had been heard from, of whom ninety-four favored the increase, sixty-eight opposed it, and fourteen made neutral replies. The committee was continued. A resolution offered by Mr. Amasa M. Eaton was, after amendment, adopted, as follows : Whereas, A copy of all that remains of the oldest volume of the records of Portsmouth has been secured at considerable expense by this society, it is therefore Voted, That the General Assembly of the State be, and it is hereby memorialized, to print the said volume Voted, That the secretary communicate a copy of these resolutions to the Governor of the State. The thanks of the society were voted to Mr. William W. Hoppin, of New York, for his gift of the work entitled Ujiiversities mid their Sons. July II, 1899, the second quarterly meeting of the Society was held. The Secretary, Hon. Amos Perry, being absent by reason of illness, Mr. Isaac H. Southwick, Jr., was elected secretary pro tempore. The usual report of the Librarian was presented. The special committee on the proposition to raise the annual tax from three to five dollars reported, as requested, the number of life members among those voting pro and eontra. The following named persons were elected active members : Frank Greene Bates, of Alfred, N. Y. ; Clarence Saunders Brigham, of Providence ; Adeline M. Dyer, of Olneyville ; Mary Alice Keach, of Providence ; John P. Sanborn, of Newport ; Frederic Clark Sayles, of Pawtucket and William Watts Sherman, of Newport. The following resolution was unanimously adopted : Resolved, That the treasurer be, and he is hereby author- ized to pay out of the Dr. Charles W. Parsons Improvement PROCEEDINGS. 5 Fund, such bills as shall be incurred for the work of supply- ing a stack for newspapers, three glass doors for book-shelves, for the painting of the roof and for incidental repairs ; said bills to be audited by the committee on grounds and buildings, and the amount not to exceed ^150. The President made a statement concerning the supposed site of Roger Williams's house and spring, on the East Provi- dence side of the Seekonk River, near Phillipsdale. On motion of Professor Wilfred H. Munro it was Voted, That the President, and such others as he shall appoint, be a committee to investigate and report upon this matter. Under this vote, a committee consisting of the follow- ing gentlemen was raised : Hon. John H. Stiness, Hon. Frederic C. Sayles, Dr. William B. Mead, Mr. Edwin A. Smith, and Professor Wilfred H. Munro. October 13, 1899, the third quarterly meeting of the Society was held. Mr. Isaac H. Southwick, Jr., was con- tinued as secretary //v tempore. Remarks were made in commemoration of the life of Hon. Amos Perry, LL. D., Secretary of the Society, and of his services in its behalf. Professor Wilfred H. Munro presented the following memorial for adoption by the society, and for transcription upon its records : "Amos Perry, LL. D., died in New London, Conn., August loth, 1899. Twenty-six years ago Mr. Perry became the Sec- retary of the Rhode Island Historical Society. He found a society poor in resources, weak in membership; painfully lack- ing in enthusiasm. Its cabinet was too small ; its library was not catalogued ; its collections were almost inaccessible. It had well-nigh ceased to fulfill the purpose for which it was founded and was apparently drifting rapidly to decay. Mr. Perry felt, as intensely as a man could feel, that it was his function to steer it away from the dangers that menaced it. 6 RHODE ISLAND HISTORICAL SOCIETY. and to direct it upon a career of renewed prosperity. With a nervous energy and an enthusiasm that did not flag, even when the weight of more than fourscore years was pressing upon him, he devoted himself to his task. Never man more completely identified himself with his work than he. The successful results of his devotion are everywhere apparent. The addition to the cabinet itself (largely due to his personal efforts), the rearrangement of its collections, the cataloguing of the library, are the monuments that commemorate his labors. Not until the helm slipped from his dying hand did his sense of intense responsibility cease. If his successors bring to its service one-half the energy, the devotion, and the zeal which for twenty-six years he steadily manifested, most fortunate will this Society be." After remarks expressing cordial appreciation of Mr. Perry's character and services, by Mr. Asa M. Gammell, Dr. Henry M. King, Hon. Horatio Rogers, Mr. Daniel A. Cooke, Mr, George T. Paine, Hon. Joshua M. Addeman, and Mr, William D. Ely, and after the reading of letters of similar tenor from Miss Caroline Hazard, Mr. Nathaniel Holmes, and Mr.