Class. P76 Book. PROCEEDINGS OF THE RHODE ISLAND HISTORICAL SOCIETY 1905-1906 PROVIDENCE PRINTED FOR THE SOCIETY 1908 PROCEEDINGS OF THE RHODE ISLAND HISTORICAL SOCIETY 1905 - 1906 PROVIDENCE PRINTED FOR THE SOCIETY 1908 > 0/ ncT 2of kiM^ PUBLICATION COMMITTEE 1906 George Parker Winship William MacDonald Harry Lyman Koopman K TABLE OF CONTENTS . OFFICERS OF THE RHODE ISLAND HISTORICAL SOCIETY, Elected January 9, 1906. President. WILFRED H. MUNRO. Vice-Presidents William MacDonald, Robert H. I. Goddard. Secretafy. Amasa M. Eaton. Treas/irer. Robert P. Brown. Librarian and Cabinet-Keeper. Clarence S. Brigham. standing committees. Nominating Committee Edward I. Nickerson, George C. Nightingale, Benjamin F. Briggs. Library Committee. William D. Ely, David W. Hoyt, Theodore F. Green. 6 RHODE ISLAND HISTORICAL SOCIETY. Lecture Committee George G. Wilson, Howard W. Preston, Clarence S. Brigham. Publication Committee George P. Winship, William MacDonald, Harry Lyman Koopman. Committee on Grounds and Buildings. Edwin Barrows, Norman M. Isham, Alfred Stone. Committee on Genealogical Researches. George T. Hart, Fred A. Arnold, Charles W. Hopkins. Committee on Necrology. hwk^K M. Eaton, Clarence S. Brigham, George F. Weston. Finance Committee R. Peirce, J. Edward Studley, Augustus Robert P. Brown. Audit Committee. Ferdinand A. Lincoln, John W. Angell, Christopher Rhodes. Procurators. For Newport, George Gordon King, Pawtucket, Samuel M. Conant. North Kingstown, David S. Baker, Hopkinton, George H. Olney. PROCEEDINGS. PROCEEDINGS April, 1905, to January, 1906. Quarterly Meeting, April 4, 1905. The regular quarterly meeting was held April 4, 1905. The President, Professor Albert Harkness, in the chair. The minutes of the last meeting were read and, on motion, approved. The report of the librarian was read and accepted. Upon the recommendation of the nominating committee, Dr. Franklin Chase Clark, Mr. Jere Campbell, and Mr. Hora- tio B. Knox, all of Providence, were elected members of the Society. After remarks concerning some gifts lately received, the Society adjourned. Quarterly Meeting, July ii, 1905. The regular quarterly meeting was held July ii, 1905, the secretary in the chair. The minutes of the last meeting were read and approved. The report of the librarian was read and accepted. Upon the recommendation of the nominating committee, Dr. Frank Elisha Burdick, of Providence, was elected an active member of the Society. 8 rhode island historical society. Quarterly Meeting, October 3, 1905. The regular quarterly meeting was held October 3, 1905, the President, Professor Albert Harkness, in the chair. The minutes of last meeting were read and, on motion, ap- proved. The report of the librarian was read and accepted. On motion of the nominating committee, Mr. Charles Manchester Perry, of Providence, was elected an active mem- ber of the Society, On motion of Mr. David W. Hoyt the following resolution was adopted : Resolved — That the committee on publication be requested to consider the expediency of publishing a list of places of historic interest in Providence and vicinity for use in the pub- lic schools. Mr. C. S. Brigham having brought up the matter of mem- orial tablets, on motion of Mr. William B. Weeden it was Resolved — That Messrs. MacDonald, Hoyt, Brigham, Weeden and Weston be appointed a committee to consider the matter of posting memorial tablets in the city of Provi- dence and with authority to procure subscriptions for the purpose. The usual motion having been made that the President be instructed to appoint a committee to nominate the officers of the Society for the ensuing year at the next annual meeting, the President appointed as such committee Mr. Edward Field, Mr. John P. F"arnsworth and Mr. George F. Weston. The Society thereupon adjourned. : ANNUAL MEETING. ANNUAL MEETING, JANUARY 9, 1906. The eighty-fourth annual meeting was held January 9, 1906, the President, Professor Albert Harkness, in the chair. The minutes of the last meeting were read and, on motion, approved. The report of the librarian was read and ordered to be placed on file. On motion of the nominating committee, the following gentlemen were elected active members of the Society Edwin Aylesworth Burlingame, Providence, Asa Clinton Crowell, Providence, Frederick Irving Dana, Providence, Arthur Earle Munro, Providence, Henry Paige, Providence, Charles S. Foster, Central Falls. The report of the treasurer was presented and ordered to be placed on file. The committee on grounds and buildings presented its annual report. The report of the library committee was read and ordered to be placed on file. The lecture committee reported that a series of lectures had been arranged and that the lecturers would be : Rev. Daniel Goodwin of East Greenwich, Hon. John T. Blodgett of Provi- dence, Alfred Stone, Esq., of Providence, William B. Weeden, Esq., of Providence, Amasa M. Eaton, Esq., of Providence, and Harry Lyman Koopman of Providence. The publication committee reported orally. The president then delivered his annual address. 10 RHODE ISLAND HISTORICAL SOCIETY. The committee appointed to nominate officers and mem- bers of committees for the ensuing year presented the hst of nominees (President Harkness having previously announced that he must decHne a re-election) which is to be found on page 5 of this number of the Proceedings. On motion, the chairman of the committee, Mr. Field, was instructed to cast the ballot of the Society for the candidates named. The ballot was cast and the candidates were declared to be duly elected. The retiring President then appointed the Rev. Dr. Vose and Mr. Field as ushers to conduct the newly elected Presi- dent to the chair, and welcomed President Munro to his new position in a speech more than usually marked by the grace and beauty which have always characterized Professor Hark- ness's public utterances. The newly elected President made a brief response. Professor George G. Wilson eulogized the work of President Harkness and moved that a committee be appointed to pre- pare a minute expressing the sentiments of the Society upon the subject. Mr. Edward P'ield seconded the motion and it was carried unanimously. The President appointed as mem- bers of this committee Professor George G. Wilson, Mr. George F. Weston and Hon. John H. Stiness (all former pu- pils of Professor Harkness). On motion of Mr. George P. Winship it was Resolved — That the grateful acknowledgment of the Rhode Island Historical Society be extended to the Akerman Company and the Standard Printing Company of Providence, and to Mrs. Harriet A. Jackson of Boston, for the gift of the portrait of the late President of the Society, George Taylor Paine, and that the secretary communicate this resolution to the donors. On recommendation of the committee on memorial tablets, ANNUAL MEETING. 11 appointed at the last meeting, the following resolution was adopted. Resolved — That the executive committee of this Society is hereby authorized to prepare and have introduced to the present general assembly, a bill, appropriating a suitable sum of money for marking historical sites throughout the state. The Hon. John T. Blodgett having made verbal report con- cerning the plans of the commission appointed by the State of Rhode Island to arrange for Rhode Island's participation in the Jamestown Exposition, on motion of Mr. C. S. Brigham it was Resolved — That, whereas the Jamestown Tercentennial Exposition, to be held at Hampton Roads in 1907, is to par- take largely of an historical nature and whereas the general assembly of the State of Rhode Island have in their wisdom appointed a commission to draw up plans for Rhode Island's participation in this exposition. Resolved — That the Rhode Island Historical Society hereby expresses its appreciation of the plans of the commis- sion and respectfully urges upon the general assembly the need of making a suitable appropriation so that Rhode Island may be adequately represented along historical lines. The Society thereupon adjourned. 12 RHODE ISLAND HISTORICAL SOCIETY. PRESIDENT'S ADDRESS. The Present Tendency and Prospects of Historical Studies. May I ask your attention to a brief consideration of the present tendency and prospects of historical studies ? At our last annual meeting we noticed some phases in the develop- ment of history, with special reference to the old and the new method of treating historical subjects. In our survey we then noticed the fact that the eighteenth century had been an age of great erudition and of learned criticism and had given birth to P'riedrich August Wolf, the eminent philologist, and Edward Gibbon, the only great historian of which that learned century could boast. We saw that Gibbon and Wolf might justly be regarded as the harbingers and prophets of a new era of historical research, but that the honor of having developed and formally established the modern school of scientific history must be accorded to Niebuhr and von Ranke, two of the most eminent investigators of the last century. It would be diffi- cult to exaggerate the influence of these two men upon the scholarship of the world, but the labors of Ranke extended over a longer period and covered a wider range than those of Niebuhr. For half a century by precept and example he taught the modern scientific method of investigation and research. He founded the historical seminary in the Uni- versity of Berlin in which young men were trained to continue the critical work which their master had so successfully in- augurated. This famous historical seminary, probably the first of the kind ever established in any part of the world, has been the prototype and model for the various historical semi- naries now doing most excellent work in all the great universi- ties of Europe and America. Fifty years ago four distinguished American scholars were ; president's address. 13 laboring earnestly and successfully in different fields of histori- cal research. Francis Parkman, the youngest of the four, then thirty-two years of age, was engaged in collecting material for that remarkable series of American histories, entitled France and England in North America.