Newport Historical Society

To order books, call 401-841-8770. Sales tax does not apply to orders shipped outside the state of Rhode Island.

Newport: A Concise History, by C.P.B. Jefferys, is an overview of Newport’s history in about 100 pages. The six chapters cover:
Newport Begins, 1639-1700; The Thriving Colonial Seaport, 1700-1770; The Road to Revolution, Economic Disaster, and Revival, 1770-1840; Queen of Resorts, 1840-1930; Recovery, Restoration, and Redevelopment, 1930-1976; Competing Three-and-Three-Quarters Centuries, 1796 and beyond

This fourth edition is generously illustrated with historic images and black and white photographs. 112 pages. Published by the Newport Historical Society, 2008. $14.95

African Americans in Newport: An Introduction to the Heritage of African Americans in Newport, Rhode Island, 1700-1945, by Richard C. Youngken. This best-selling book offers an overview of African American history in Newport, RI. The three chapters cover Slavery 1700-1800, Out of Slavery; Establishment of Neighborhoods: 1800—Civil War; and Civil War—World War II Black Independence and Entrepreneurial Pursuits. This second edition includes many historic photographs and illustrations, and offers short biographies of key individuals from Newport’s African American heritage, and a list of historic resources in downtown Newport. 84 pages. Published by the Newport Historical Society. $14.95

Signing Their Lives Away: The Fame and Misfortune of the Men Who Signed the Declaration, by Denise Kiernan and Joseph D’Agnese.

In 1776, fifty-six men risked their lives and livelihoods to defy King George III and signed the most important document in the history of the United States. Yet how many of these men do we actually remember? Everyone knows John Hancock, Thomas Jefferson, and Benjamin Franklin, but who were the other 53 signers?

Signing Their Lives Away tells the story of the eclectic group of statesmen, soldiers, and scoundrels who signed this historic document—and the strange fates that awaited them. Some rose to the highest levels of United States government, but a surprising number would spend time in debtors’ prison. Signer George Wythe was murdered by his nephew. Button Gwinnett was killed in a duel. Thomas Lynch, Jr. was lost at sea. And of course, Samuel Adams achieved fame as a patriot-brewer.

Featuring a reversible dust jacket depicting a facsimile of the Declaration, Signing Their Lives Away provides an entertaining and enlightening narrative for history buffs of all ages.

255 pages, Quirk Books, 2009 $19.95

America’s Founding Food: The Story of New England Cooking – Signed by the authors!

From baked beans to apple cider, from clam chowder to pumpkin pie, Keith Stavely and Kathleen Fitzgerald’s culinary history reveals the complex and colorful origins of New England foods and cookery. Featuring hosts of stories and recipes derived from generations of New Englanders of diverse backgrounds, this hardcover book chronicles the region’s cuisine, from the English settlers’ first encounter with Indian corn in the early seventeenth century to the nostalgic marketing of New England dishes in the first half of the twentieth century.

Focusing on the traditional foods of the region–including beans, pumpkins, seafood, meats, baked goods, and beverages such as cider and rum–the authors show how New Englanders procured, preserved, and prepared their sustaining dishes. Placing the New England culinary experience in the broader context of British and American history and culture, Stavely and Fitzgerald demonstrate the importance of New England’s foods to the formation of American identity, while dispelling some of the myths arising from patriotic sentiment.  

At once a sharp assessment and a savory recollection, America’s Founding Food sets out the rich story of the American dinner table and provides a new way to appreciate American history.

University of North Carolina Press, 2004

$34.95, signed by the authors!

To order products or for more information about available items, call 401-841-8770. Sales tax does not apply to orders shipped outside the state of Rhode Island.

Caswell-Massey’s Almond & Aloe Hand & Body Emulsion with Silk moisturizes dehydrated skin, leaving the skin silky soft. It absorbs into skin instantly, never leaving a greasy feeling. Pure sweet almond oil, the closest oil to your skin’s own, is the base ingredient in this incredibly moisturizing lotion.  Visibly improves skin appearance with consistent use. Not tested on animals. Made in the USA. 8.2oz bottle with pump, $17

Caswell-Massey’s Almond & Aloe Hand Cream with Silk is an uncommonly rich, yet quickly absorbing natural cream that protects and softens hands exposed to the harshest conditions. Silk protein makes hands silky to the touch. This cream is excellent for those with very dry and flaking skin. Perfect sized tube to keep in your desk, handbag or briefcase. Not tested on animals. Made in the USA. 1.85 oz. tube $12

Caswell-Massey’s Elixir of Love Body Lotion heralds the richness of its past with an exclusive women’s fragrance, based on centuries-old formula. It has a lightly floral fragrance, blending Jasmine, Lavender, Egyptian Musk, and Passionflower. The scent includes a secret herbaceous ingredient, which when carefully blended, creates a sure-to-please scent that is both evocative and intoxicating. This lotion includes a skin-softening and silkening formula. Not tested on animals. Made in the USA. 6.8 oz. bottle $18

Caswell-Massey’s Dr. Hunter Rose Hand Creme is an elegant preparation for softening the skin. This original 18^th century original formula of natural Rosewater, Glycerin, Sweet Almond Oil and Shea Butter, is easily absorbed to soften and condition hands. Rosewater conditions skin and diminishes the appearance of sun damage. Not tested on animals. Made in the USA. 2.5 oz. metal tube $12

To order products or for more information about available items, call 401-841-8770. Sales tax does not apply to orders shipped outside the state of Rhode Island.

Caswell-Massey’s Newport Cologne Spray For those who have a taste for the traditional and a spirit as free as all outdoors. Crisp, brisk and bracing. The cologne is as refreshing as an early morning sail and as seductive as a sun splashed yacht. Not tested on animals. Made in the USA. 3 oz. spray $30

Caswell-Massey’s Newport Soap on a Rope offers a long lasting, very fragrant bar of triple-milled, translucent glycerin soap in a beautiful marine blue. White nylon rope slips over the wrist, for convenient and comfortable use in the shower or bath. This generous bar of scented glycerine soap is guaranteed never to get out of hand. Elegantly packaged in a decorative tin with a vintage view of Newport. Not tested on animals. Made in the USA. 7.5 oz. $18

Caswell-Massey’s Newport Captain’s Choice Set features the Newport Cologne Spray (3oz.), a tube of Conditioning Shampoo (6.6oz.), a canister of talc (3.5 oz.) and Newport bath soap (5.8 oz.). Comes in a gift box featuring an 18th century engraving. Not tested on animals. Made in the USA. $45

A world-renowned favorite since its introduction in 1752, Caswell-Massey’s Number Six Cologne Spray was a favorite George Washington. This piquant blend of bergamot and orange blossom, rosemary and 28 aromatics is the choice of the man who embodies the American spirit. Not tested on animals. Made in the USA. 3 oz. spray bottle $30

John Brown is known as an abolitionist, with a deeply held moral abhorrence for slavery, who resorted to violent measures in his attempt  to end the institution in 19th century America. His attempt to steal arms from the government at Harper’s Ferry, Virginia resulted in his arrest, trail and execution. During his incarceration in Virginia, many in this country were talking about whether he was a hero or a madman, and much correspondence was sent to Governor Wise of Virginia either asking him to commute the sentence, or the opposite.

Quite a few of these letters have found their way into the collections at the Newport Historical Society. We are not yet sure how. Among them are also several letters from Brown himself, including the one shown here. In this letter, written from jail while he was awaiting execution, he tells his cousin that he feels no shame for what he has done.  He writes:

I suppose I am the first since the landing

of Peter Brown from the Mayflower that has either been sentenced to

imprisonment; or to the Gallows. But y dear old friend; let not that fact

alone grieve you. You cannot have forgotten how; & where our Grand

Father Capt (John Brown) fell in 1776; & that he too might have perished on

the Scaffold had circumstances been but very little different. The fact that

a man dies under the hand of an executioner (or otherwise) has but little to do with his true character…

Several Newport abolitionists supported Brown’s plans for an armed slave rebellion, and our archives will allow us to tell more of this story as we assemble the information.

Chest of drawers, c. 1760-1770
Mahogany
Possibly John Townsend Shop, Newport

This stunning example of Newport cabinet making  has been in the Historical Society’s collection storage since 1959. It has received little or no attention until recently. Once removed from its storage location, it revealed itself as a true beauty in its design and its workmanship. In his seminal book ‘The Arts and Crafts of Newport Rhode Island, 1640-1820’, Ralph Carpenter wrote of such pieces:

“Because of the fame acquired by the block-front, shell carved case pieces of the Townsend-Goddard family, we sometimes lose sight of the fact that many pieces of plainer design, but of equally good cabinet work and materials, were made in quantity.  Many of these have been overlooked or unrecognized as part of the Newport output”.

The chest of drawers displays many of the stylistic elements associated with Newport pieces in general and pieces known to be the work of members of the Townsend family in particular. Made from beautifully figured mahogany, the matched drawer fronts create a remarkable visual effect that is enhanced by the complex curves of the unusual, reverse-serpentine front. Construction details such as the fineness of the dovetailing, the addition of runners nailed to the bottom of the drawers and the arrangement and carved details of glue blocks and feet behind the brackets, are all traits associated with the John Townsend shop.

Newport Mercury, December 23, 2009

Collection 2009: Five Newport Cultural, Historic and Arts Institutions Pick Their Favorite Gifts Received This Year

By Janine Weisman

‘THE OTHER HESSIAN PAINTING’
To: Newport Historical Society
From: Mary Gall

No one knows the name of the artist who created the oil painting depicting Washington Square as seen from the steps of the Colony House in 1818. But local lore has it he was a Hessian soldier said to have done time in debtor’s prison. The painting may have even been how he got out. Now it hangs in the Muse­um of Newport History in the Brick Market, the 1762 building featured very prominently in the painting.

One day last spring, Newport Historical Society Executive Director Ruth Taylor received a phone call from a Pennsylva­nia woman informing her she had “the other Hessian paint­ing.” The woman was Mary Gall, whose maternal grandmother had been an art and antiques collector in Newport. Taylor drove to Gall’s Gladwyne, Pa., home to see the 21 x 30.5 inch oil painting and found it looked just like the one the society already owns except for the color palette. The society’s painting depicts a sunny day in 1818 while cloudy skies hovered over the scene in Gall’s. But the groupings of townspeople in the scene — including a little boy and his wheelbarrow in the lower left corner and the three ladies in white promenading with others on the lower right — are the same.

Were these two paintings done by the same artist? “You could make a case either way, in my opinion,” Taylor said. “You can picture two people sitting side-by-side and looking over each other’s shoulder.”

That mystery led the historical society’s staff to choose Gall’s gift as their favorite of the 37 donation lots received in 2009. The painting was restored through the generosity of board member and fine art dealer Roger King and eventually will be hung next to its sunny-day twin.

“This is forcing us to do more research,” said Taylor, who has been combing through the 1818 editions of Mercury in the soci­ety’s collection searching for news of who had been sent to debtor’s prison or who had gotten out of it.

“The great thing about Newport is yeah, I think we’re going to find the answer.”

In 1740, Aaron Lopez and his family fled Portugal, where they could not practice their Jewish faith. They initially lived in New York. Lopez moved to Newport in 1752 and quickly established himself as a merchant. Almost immediately, he began to trade with his native country, using the Lisbon firm of Mayne, Burn & Mayne as his agents. The Aaron Lopez papers at the Newport Historical Society show that in his correspondence with this firm, which began in 1754, Lopez used an alias. Letters to him from Mayne & Co. were addressed to “Mr. Johannes Rhodrick and sometimes to “Mr. Roderick Johannes” before they settled on “Johannes Roderick.” The firm handled sales for Lopez but also provided information about family and friends still in Portugal.

Lopez apparently apandoned the alias after he was granted citizenship in Massachusetts in October, 1762. The letter reproduced here, written in August, 1764, is the last one that uses the alias — and the only one addressed to “Aaron Lopez alias Johannes Rhoderick.”

In 1882, Oscar Wilde embarked on an American tour, in part brokered by Sam Ward. Wilde came to Newport to perform at the Casino Theater and Ward introduced him to his sister Julia Ward Howe. Henry Marion Hall, Howe’s grandson, recalls Wilde’s visit to Howe’s farm in Portsmouth in his memoir Grandmother’s Blue Coach:

Being a small boy at the time my presence at the tea was not requested, but later I was allowed to accompany the guests down into the vallley. The party included Tom Appleton, the famous Boston wit, Adamowski, leader of the Boston Symphony orchestra, Mrs. Paran Stevens, Lilla Eliott, Grandmother’s nephew F. Marion Crawford, and Oscar Wilde, then at the peak of his popularity.

Knowing nothing about a fad then known as “dress reform” I was bewildered at Wilde’s costume when I walked into the vale beside him. He wore a black velvet jacket, knickerbockers to match, dark silk stockings, and low shoes with glittering buckles. A salmon-colored scarf and slouch hat completed his get-up. It struck me as rather queer, but not half so startling as his hair – long, black, and curling to his shoulders… He held a red rose in one hand and sniffed it as he chatted.
A small program or invitation to Wilde’s lecture, entitled “The Decorative Arts,” was printed in New York, and is part of the collection of materials which Howe’s descendants have donated to the NHS.  In September of 2010, the NHS will host a lecture by Kathryn Allamong Jacob, author of King of the Lobby: The Life and Times of Sam Ward.

During March School Vacation Students Can Enjoy History Tours

During March vacation, students on school break don’t need to take a break from learning. Families can enjoy the Pirates and Scoundrels history walking tour and a historic site tour with a costumed guide.

On the Pirates and Scoundrels history walking tour, see where scoundrels lived, where pirates profited and where criminals were put on trial and punished. Find out why this colony was sometimes known as “Rogue’s Island.” This tour will be offered on Friday March 19th and Friday March 26th at 11:30am. It lasts approximately 75 minutes and costs $12 per person, $10 for NHS members.

Step inside the c.1697 Wanton-Lyman-Hazard House, the oldest museum house in Newport, and step back in time. A costumed guide will discuss the house’s unique history and share stories about its inhabitants. The tour will be offered on Thursday March 18th and Thursday March 25th. at 11:30 and lasts approximately 30 minutes. It costs $5 per person, $3 for children under the age of twelve, and is free for NHS members.

All tours depart from the Museum & Shop at Brick Market, 127 Thames Street, Newport, RI. Reservations recommended as space is limited. To make reservations call: 401-871-8770.

On February 18th, 2010, Joe Baker of the Newport Daily News reported on our new walking tour. This tour focuses on the Kay-Catherine area of Newport, and the colony of artists, writers and intellectuals who lived and summered in Newport in the mid-19th century.

Read the article here.

Jacqueline Marque — Daily News staff photos