Roger Williams University DOCS@RWU Bristol’s Fourth of July celebration Bristol, Rhode Island – Historical Material 1-1-2005 Independence Day: The aD y We Celebrate the Memorable Fourth Richard V. Simpson Follow this and additional works at: http://docs.rwu.edu/bristol_fourth_of_july Part of the History Commons Recommended Citation Simpson, Richard V., "Independence Day: The aD y We Celebrate the Memorable Fourth" (2005). Bristol’s Fourth of July celebration. Paper 1. http://docs.rwu.edu/bristol_fourth_of_july/1 This Manuscript is brought to you for free and open access by the Bristol, Rhode Island – Historical Material at DOCS@RWU. It has been accepted for inclusion in Bristol’s Fourth of July celebration by an authorized administrator of DOCS@RWU. For more information, please contact [email protected]. - 1 -Bristol Independence Day Chronology INDEPENDENCE DAY THE DAY WE CELEBRATE THE MEMORABLE FOURTH Richard V. Simpson - 2 -Bristol Independence Day Chronology OTHER BOOKS BY RICHARD V. SIMPSON Crown of Gold: A History of the Italian-Roman Catholic Church in Bristol, RI (1967) Independence Day: How the Day is Celebrated in Bristol, RI (1989) Old St. Mary’s: Mother Church in Bristol, RI (1994) Bristol, Rhode Island: In the Mount Hope Lands of King Philip (1996) Bristol, Rhode Island: The Bristol Renaissance (1998) America’s Cup Yachts: The Rhode Island Connection (1999) Building the Mosquito Fleet: U.S. Navy’s First Torpedo Boats (2001) Bristol: Montaup to Poppasquash (2002) Bristol, Rhode island, A Post Card History (2005) Narragansett Bay, a post Card history (2005) Herreshoff Yachts, Seven Generations … in Bristol ( 2007) Historic Bristol: Tales from an Old Rhode Island Seaport (2008) America’s Cup: Trials & Triumphs (2010) BOOKS BY RICHARD V. SIMPSON AND NANCY J. DEVIN Portsmouth, Rhode Island: Pocasset: Ancestral Lands of the Narragansett (1997) Tiverton and Little Compton, RI: Pocasset and Sakonnet, Wampanoag Country (1997) Tiverton and Little Compton, Rhode Island: Volume II (1998) 1998. Past Miss 4th of July float. - 3 -Bristol Independence Day Chronology Independence Day The Day We Celebrate the Memorable Fourth Copyright 2005 by Richard V. Simpson 2003 Miss Fourth of July and Court. L-R: 1st Runner up, Nicole Guercia; 2nd runner up, Ashley Rodriques; 3rd Runner up, Erin Schrutt; Miss Fourth of July Courtney Glavin; 4th Runner up, Kristen Dziedzic. All rights reserved. Except for brief passages for use in historical documentation of the subject of this book, no part may be reprinted or reproduced or utilized in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without the permission in writing from the author. Photo Credits Cover illustration: The Living Flag first appeared in the 1991 Bristol 4th of July parade. Members of the flag team are L-R: Andy St.Ours as the flag pole, Gary Whynot, Ann Mehlmann, Carol Botelho, Carolyn Jaques, and Marilyn St.Ours. THE LIVING FLAG photo used with permission of Julia Brigidi (Bristol Workshops © 1994). 1986: Chief Marshal, courtesy of Joan Doyle Roth. All other photos are by the author. - 4 -Bristol Independence Day Chronology C ONTENTS FOREWORD PREFACE INTRODUCTION ROOTS OF THE CELEBRATION THE COMMITTEE AND THE CHAIRMAN THE DAY THAT WE CELEBRATE A New Century PRINCIPAL PARTICIPANTS Miss Fourth of July Recipients - 5 -Bristol Independence Day Chronology F OREWORD The second Day of July 1776, will be the most memorable Epoca, in the History of America. ⎯ I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated, by succeeding Generations, as the great anniversary Festival. It ought to be commemorated, as the Day of Deliverance by solemn Acts of Devotion to God Almighty. It ought to be solemnized with Pomp and Parade with Shows, Games, Sports, Guns, Bells, Bonfires, and Illuminations from one End of this Continent to the other from this time forward forever more. You will think me transported with Enthusiasm but I am not ⎯ I am well aware of the Toil and Blood and Treasure, that it will cost Us to maintain this Declaration, and support and defend these States ⎯ Yet through all the Gloom I can see the rays of ravishing Light and Glory. I can see that the End is more than worth all the Means. And that posterity will triumph in that Days Transactions, even although we should rue it, which I trust in god we shall not. John Adams in a letter to his wife from Philadelphia, July 3, 1776 Little did he [Adams] think when he penned these lines, how well his suggestions would be carried out. The old accounts of the 4th of July celebrations are replete with the very things he mentions. Looking back on his boyhood days, this writer well remembers the noisy celebrations carried on year after year in the small New England town where he grew up. Starting the night before, we kept it up, without let-up, until the town-clock in St. Michael’s belfry struck 12 o’clock, 4th or July night. Charles O. F. Thompson Bristol, Rhode Island 1947 - 6 -Bristol Independence Day Chronology P REFACE At the request of the Bristol Fourth of July Committee, in 1953, Miss Alice B. Almy compiled a brief history of the town’s famous celebration. It was not meant to be a narrative, but merely a collection of names of principal celebrants and dates of some high points of the day that we celebrate the nativity of our Republic. Inspired by Miss Almy’s benchmark effort to document this very important element of Bristol history, I resolved to continue the research. Impressed by the paucity of historic documentation extant concerning the traditions surrounding the committee and the celebration, in 1973 I suggested the post of committee historian be established. The motion was carried and I accepted the job. After resigning the committee in 1976, I continued collecting celebration reports as a hobby. The result of ten year’s research was publication of INDEPENDENCE DAY: HOW THE DAY IS CELEBRATED IN BRISTOL, RHODE ISLAND (Aquidneck Graphics, 1989). Shortly after publication of Independence Day, information that was unknown to exist before publication came to my attention. This book is, therefore, a continuation and expansion upon the Fourth of July celebrations of which I had but sketchy knowledge, and it details celebrations that were not included in the original volume. These years fill gaps in the previous volume: 1851, 1852, 1853, 1854, 1855, 1856, 1859, 1860, 1874, 1875, 1878, 1880, 1883, 1888, 1894, 1915, 1916, 1919, 1920, 1921, 1922, 1925, 1926, 1927, 1928, 1929, 1930, 1933, 1934, 1935, 1936, 1939, 1940, 1942, 1943, 1944, 1947, 1948, 1949, 1950, 1954, 1955, 1959, 1961. Research confirms the 1785 origin of Bristol’s popular Fourth of July celebrations and parades. They are founded in an official procession by dignitaries and citizens to the place where Exercises consisting of prayers of thanksgiving were held. In-depth reading of early town council records and nineteenth and early-to mid- twentieth-century newspaper reports clearly show distinct identities between the Celebration of the day and the Procession (parade) to the place of Exercises. In this Book II, of a planned three book series, I separate and identify the distinct personalities of celebrations and parades and assign to each its correct number. Further, I examine the origins of and reasons for the longevity of Bristol’s unique identity with Independence Day. The conclusions presented are supported by my continuing study of these documents.1 This book fills the void that exists on this particular aspect of Bristol, Rhode Island history. It finally separates and puts to rest the confusion surrounding the number of celebrations of Independence Day and the number of parades. The reader may now study a chronological history of the Bristol celebration through to 2003. As satisfying as the research and assembling of these facts may be to me, it is a wasted effort if the results are not imparted to others who may have a similar interest. Propagation is the responsibility of the social historian. 1 In the interest of authenticity, all spellings and abbreviations in box quotes may be considered to be as found in the original source material; for the sake of brevity I have not added (sic) at the point of every strange spelling or abbreviation. - 7 -Bristol Independence Day Chronology INTRODUCTION The dust raised in Bristol, Rhode Island’s nineteenth-century streets by columns of marchers still rises today to partially obscure our vision of their identities. On the 4th of July, all roads lead to Bristol, Rhode Island⎯site of the grandest and best- known Independence Day celebration in the United States. It is widely known that this small, seaside community, founded in 1680 has the longest running, unbroken series of Independence Day observances in the nation. The beautiful old colonial town boasts dozens of restored Federal-period homes in its historic down town section⎯the parade route. Bristol is an ideal place for parades. It's broad, level, and well-paved streets, shaded by arches of ancient linden, maple and chestnut trees, make the march comfortable for those who participate, and enjoyable for those who watch. The committee for arrangements begins planning for the next year’s celebration shortly after the current year’s celebration ends. Almost a full year of fastidious planning is required of the volunteer celebration committee members to make everything go just right. The parade on July 4 is actually the pinnacle of a three-week schedule of concerts, receptions, dances, athletic events and exhibits that begins on June 14—Flag Day. But the big event is the parade. Early on Independence Day, visitors and townsfolk begin to stake out their viewing posts and squatters' rights on the expansive grassy fronts that border the sidewalks along the three-mile flag-bedecked parade route.