Rhode Island Independence Day

May 4, 1776

It's May ye 4th Seventeen Hundred and Seventy-Six. Today the Colony of Rhode Island has renounced allegiance King George III.

He has been behaving like a tyrant. We have had enough! (We are not yet ready to declare ourselves independent but in the future, this day will be known as Rhode Island Independence Day).

Mini Felicity May 4, 1776 

The Rhode Island General Assembly passed the Act of Renunciation at the Old State House on Benefit Street in Providence. We have five colony houses actually, but Providence is where the General Assembly is at the moment.  

The Rhode Island State House in 1776 (an artist rendering)

Mini Felicity stands in for me as she visits the Colony House.  (ed. note: newly renovated Old State House) 

Mini Felicity outside the Old Colony House in Providence

'Twas built between [17]60-62 [ed. note: and later expanded twice in the 19th-c. ]. after a fire destroyed the first colony house. This style of building is classic Georgian architecture. It takes up the whole block between Town Street and the new part of Town Street now called Benefit Street. (It was widened for the benefit of all). 

Here is mini Felicity at the parade ground outside.

Mini Felicity stands on the Parade Ground

She heads inside to listen to a reading of the Act of Renunciation in the Council Chamber. 

Mini Felicity waits to hear the General Assembly read the Act of Renunciation 

The General Assembly have added in some new oaths stating we no longer have to swear loyalty to the King. They declare the General Assembly will continue to govern itself. All court proceedings will be performed in the name of the state, not the King!

Such news!
The Rhode Island General Assembly has declared ... 
independence?!

This floor holds the Chamber of Deputies. The Governor’s Council Chamber is upstairs. 

Mini Felicity heads up the stairs to look at this chamber.

Mini Felicity upstairs in the Old State House

Here is a map of Providence. The college edifice is way up on the hill on the top right of the map. 

Mini Felicity 

Map of colonial Providence

While Mamma visits with Mrs. John Brown, we learn the alarming intelligence from the newspaper! 

What does this mean? 

Hint: For women? Nothing. Come back very soon for a look at Rhode Island Independence Day from a girls' eye view!

The Providence Tea Party March 2, 1775

 The Providence Tea Party

 March 2, 1775

Providence

An English tea set imported to America

To support the tax on tea or not to support the tax on tea? That is the burning question of today, March 1, 1775. I walk over to Mrs. John Brown's residence on Power Street to see what is happening. Mr. John Brown is a wealthy merchant. He does not support the "insidious" tax the Crown has placed on tea. Other people have different ideas.

Women are organizing a tea boycott and a tomorrow they will march on Market Square and burn the tea! GASP! 

Citizens of Providence call for tea boycott

"No tax on tea!" I am prepared to cry out. "No taxation without representation!" 

Not so fast.

The men are debating the tax. 

Lawyers discuss the tax

A lawyer says the tax is small and only affects wealthy merchants who can afford to pay it. Another argues that most British subjects, even in England, are taxed without representation. The tax is to pay for a war fought on American soil. 

Others argue we never asked for the war so why should we pay the tax?

Moving along to Mrs. Brown's parlor, a lady is drinking tea. My adult person asks her how SHE feels about the tax on tea. My guardian argues it is women who do the shopping and drink the tea. Men have other options. They can visit a coffee house. Men drink spirits and coffee. Tea is a social beverage for ladies. 

This lady owns a small shop and says the boycott will harm her business. She is not in favor of it. 

No taxation without representation?

I don't know what to think! Should I sign the boycott or not?

Boycott list

I must explore more about where tea comes from and how it is made.

Tea comes from the leaves of a plant. In China they pick and dry the leaves. Then they compress them into bricks like this one for shipping across the ocean. [Editor's note: Or not really... museums just like to buy them because visitors think they're cool].

This is tea?

In the end I decide I prefer chocolate! 

Making drinking chocolate is hard work.
This is why Felicity has Rose.

Grown up things like taxes do not concern me. 

More to come... I expect this is not the last we will hear about the cruelty of the Crown!

In Which I Meet The Marquis de Lafayette

In Which I Meet

The Marquis de Lafayette

August 1824

Greetings to you my good friends, I am here to write to you today about my latest encounter with a famous person! Last week I met the Marquis de Lafayette, hero of the Revolutionary War. 

He thought I was Felicity! Do I look like Felicity?! And how does Felicity know him when independence hasn't yet been declared? He must have met her later.  

Mark Schneider of Colonial Williamsburg

I tried to sketch some self-portraits with Lafayette in the background. I gave up and let my guardian draw the picture instead. 

I heard from my friend Faith in Boston the Marquis was a bit of a fop but he is not such a fop any longer. He is a very interesting man fighting to abolish slavery, freedom of worship and rights for women. If he had known he was creating a nation of slavery, he would never have come.

This year, 1824, Lafayette is making a tour of America. He came to Providence to speak with an audience. He spoke about his time in America during the Revolutionary War and how he helped secure victory at Yorktown in October 1781. Lord Cornwallis was curiously ill that day and tried to send his second in command to surrender but General Washington would accept no one less than first in command! Lafayette helped corner Cornwallis and forced him to surrender.

Did you know Lafayette was at Valley Forge during that devastating winter of 1777-1778? He was then asked to lead an invasion of Quebec from Albany, New York. Finding there were not enough men, Lafayette recruited the Oneida tribe (Iroquois Nation) to the cause of American independence. 47 Oneida traveled back to Valley Forge to offer assistance to George Washington. The Oneida considered Lafayette a great warrior and named him Kayewla (fearsome horseman). Lafayette befriended a young Oneida man, Peter Otsiquette, and brought Peter back to France to stay in his own home and be educated. On his return journey in 1784, Lafayette visited the Oneida again and helped them negotiate better peace and trade relations with Anglo-America. On this tour, 1824-1825, Lafayette wanted to see his old friends. Most of the Oneida were too young to know Lafayette but a few warriors were still living, including Peter's father who could not die without meeting Kayewla.

Lafayette married his wife when she was 14 and he 16! It was an arranged marriage but they loved each other very much. They had four children. The boy, Georges Washington Lafayette, died young. The youngest girl was named Marie Antoinette, plus another name in honor of Lafayette's friend, American ambassador to France, Thomas Jefferson. When the name Marie Antionette fell out of favor, they called her by her middle name, Virginie!

A man named Thomas Coles presented this sword to Lafayette.

After he visited the Brown family mansion, Lafayette visited the Masonic Lodge and that night there was a ball in his honor. I was not invited to either of those events! 

It was a short visit on a warm day. We had to go back to the future and back to work! No fair! My guardian refused to buy me a new gown! She said she doesn't have the money. Why do you work other than to provide for ME and sometimes my friends? 

I will write more soon about another famous person I happened to meet last year. 

Your friend,
Susanna

A Visit With the Durfees of Fall River in the Eighteenth Century

 A Visit With the Durfees of Fall River 

in the Eighteenth Century

Good day my friends!

It has been a long time since I have had anything of note to write to you about. My guardian got a JOB and doesn't have as much time for me anymore. Boo!

The weekend before last, we traveled to Fall River, Massachusetts to visit the Durfees. This home, in the 18th century, is one of 18 homes near the Taunton River. Judge Thomas Durfee built his house high on the top of a hill, around the year 1750. Judge Durfee was a strong patriot during the war and mortgaged his fine home to pay for the war.

Col. Joseph Durfee led the militia of Fall Rover during the Revolutionary War, served under The Marquis de Lafeyette, fighting in battles in New York, Fall River and Rhode Island. The Marquis was a frequent visitor to Col. Durfee's home.

In the house, we met Col. Durfee and a few merchants selling their wares. We purchased a chocolate block sweetened with sugar for hot chocolate and coffee beans. Both came from the West Indies! 

Downstairs there were samples of beautiful gowns and merchants selling buttons and wool, men's vests and caps. 

Milliners and Mantua Makers

One lady recognized me! She thought I was Felicity. I get that a lot. Felicity or Samantha! [Ed. note: She was sad not to see girls in Boston clutching red bags full of beautiful clothing and accessories We are too! The lady was surprised and sad to hear Felicity's lovely things are not available.]

Upstairs Mr. Durfee gave us a tour. His friend showed us the rope bed and chamber pot, easy chair, foot stove and other things in the room. 

These footwarmers look very familiar

Travel trunk (valise)

Travel Trunk (valise) or tricorn hat

Does the bedwarmer under the bed looks familiar?
How about the bed?

I made friends with this young lady and gentlemen and studied lessons on the hornbook with them.

The young lady is wearing a frock which ties in the back, like mine. 
This is what girls our age wear in the 18th c.

 

His suit and tricorn hat look like Felicity's riding habit

Reading the Lord's Prayer on the hornbook

This must be Grandmother's or Mother's gown. 

Not real sure about the buttons but those cuffs are not original to the gown

Mother's stays and Father's wig

That is all I have to share with you for now but I shall return soon for another adventure!

Sincerely yours,

Susanna

Flat Jane Austen in Providence, Rhode Island

 Flat Jane Austen in 

Providence, Rhode Island:

June, 18__

My dear friends,

This letter may not reach you until I am home once again. I am preparing to leave this place. My hosts say I can not leave without a visit to the college.

On a sunny day I stroll the grounds of the Allins' home and watch Susanna and her friends run about and play. I explore the gardens and look for hummingbirds. 

Illustration by Becca Stadtlander from Like a Diamond in the Sky:

Jane Taylor's Beloved Poem of Wonder and the Stars by Elizabeth Brown

.

The artist Esther Solondz made this sculpture titled
The Hummingbird Palace, to evolve over time.

Flowering vines will grow through the structure while simultaneously
attracting hummingbirds. Visit www.thehummingbirdpalace.com

Then I climb the hill from Benefit Street up to the college. THIS is what passes for an institution of higher learning in America? 

Jane views University Hall, the original building at Brown University

This is the college edifice and they believe it will be enough for all the students for all time and never will they need to expand! It was built in 1770 and possibly designed by Mr. Joseph Brown. Mr. Nicholas Brown's family donated the land. The building was done by a number of men of the lower classes including Indians, formerly enslaved men and currently enslaved men. It serves as classroom, office, dining hall, chapel, library and dormitory. The college trains Baptist ministers and educates the sons of local gentlemen. The Frenchies used this building during the War for American Independence and it is rumored the fallen have never left.

In Jane's day the roof held a wooden balustrade

Shortly after my time, in 1823, the building will be renamed University Hall, following the contruction of a second building.

On the way home, I stop at a park and look out over the city. [Prospect Terrace Park, founded 1869]. I can scarce credit this view. It looks so unusual - so different from what I have seen of the city so far! What is this?

[Jane catches up on the history of the city since the 19th-century. ]

This hill, remember the hills Providence was built on?, was a strategic location for the early city. A beacon was placed here to communicate with the towns along the Narragansett Bay. A taller beacon was erected during that war for independence as part of a system of defense and fortifications for the area. In 1775, a fort was built around the beacon at the brow of the hill.

Long afterwards, to the 1850s, earthenwork remains could be seen here. In 1863 a group of citizens donated the land as a public park. A wall was built, creating a terrace overlook. Benches, a carriageway, a tall flagpole made this an impressive place to visit. A spot in the center of the terrace, overlooking the city was chosen for a grand monument to Mr. Roger Williams.

The NINETEEN Thirtys? How extradordinary! In the 1930s, in honor of the city's tricentennial, a memorial statue to state founder Mr. Roger Williams (remember him?) was erected on this spot. The architect had big plans for a memorial, reflecting pool and steps up to the park. Alas, it was not meant to be and all that was built is a sculpture of Mr. Williams looking out over the city.

The remains of Mr. Roger Williams were uncovered and it was found that some of his bones had grown into the root of an apple tree next to his grave. The root took on the shape of a human form. This root and the remainder of his bones were removed and the bones placed under the statue. The root was preserved by historians of this town. 

The modern skyline of Providence! It's changed a lot since 1815!

Moving along, the scenery begins to change and I am quite perplexed by what I am seeing. I believe I am viewing the future!

Rhode Island gifts at Rhody Craft on Hope Street in Providence

Rhode Island is now the smallest state. It is a weird, wonderful place known as the Ocean State. 

A sample of Rhode Island geography and gifts at Rhody Craft

Jane learns more about RI at Frog & Toad gift shop on Hope Street in Providence

The state symbol is an anchor and the motto is "Hope."

They seem to love unusual foods here such as pork and veal sausages on bread topped with mustard, chopped onion, celery salt, and a spicy ground meat mixture; frozen lemonade, and seafood like lobsters and large clams. 

I bid you adieu from Providence! I shall be with you soon, God willing.

Yours affectionately,

JA