by JHS | Oct 12, 2020 | Jamestown History Articles
Gustavus Adolphus Clarke, known as G. Adolphus, was one of Jamestown’s many descendants of Joseph Clarke, one of the original purchasers of Conanicut Island. He was born in Jamestown in 1839, eighth of the nine children of David Wright and Sarah Chaffee Clarke. He... 
by JHS | Oct 4, 2020 | From the Collection
Members of the Jamestown Historical Society who grew up on Conanicut Island or spent their summers here will recognize many of the businesses that are found in the JHS Financial records. The letterheads in the JHS collection are receipts for work completed by... 
by JHS | Oct 1, 2020 | JHS in the News, Library Exhibits
In the late 19thcentuy, Jamestown’s population ballooned and the number of farmers, who grew most of their own food, decreased. Purchased produce was in demand, and grocery stores proliferated. By the mid-1980s, regulation and competition had driven most of these... 
by Rosemary Enright | Sep 23, 2020 | Jamestown History Articles
In early Jamestown through the first half of the 20th century, the area that is now Beavertail State Park was a popular fishing ground. As early as 1754, the Newport Colonial Lighthouse Committee had guaranteed a Right of Way to the water around the lighthouse.... 
by Rosemary Enright | Sep 23, 2020 | Jamestown History Articles
For the first 30 plus years of their lives the two Tennant sisters lived uneventful lives in their father’s home on Narragansett Avenue. Born in Jamestown in 1873 and 1874 respectively, Hester and Emilie went to Jamestown’s South School in the days of one-room... 
by Rosemary Enright | Sep 18, 2020 | Jamestown History Articles
The area of town tucked in between Upper Shoreby Hill and the Town Cemetery at the Four Corners was developed in the early 20th century and was known as the Knowles plat. The land belonged to Adolphus C. Knowles, the owner and builder of the Bay View House Tower.... 
by Rosemary Enright | Sep 18, 2020 | Jamestown History Articles
Eliza Hickey Newcomb was a Southern belle, born in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. At 27, she married Junius Brutus Alexander, a New York investment banker 24 years her senior. It was a stormy marriage. His children from his first marriage evidently did not approve of his... 
by Rosemary Enright | Sep 18, 2020 | Jamestown History Articles
Thirteen Jamestown men died in service during World War II: Everett Alward, Howard Arnold, Bernard Anthony Brooks, Charles Brooks Jr, Lewis Burdick, Damon Cummings, Arthur Day, Delbert Gravatt, Frank Leighton, David Masterson, William C. Sweet, James Williams, and... 
by Rosemary Enright | Sep 18, 2020 | Jamestown History Articles
Mabel Brice was born in Philadelphia in July 1877 and, like many young women of her social set, she seems to have done little of interest for the first 35 years of her life. She, her brother Charles, and sister Anna lived with their parents in her mother’s family home... 
by Stephanie Amerigian | Sep 15, 2020 | From the Collection
On October 18, 1930, almost a year after the Great Depression started with the stock market crash on Black Friday, many Jamestowners received a bounty from the sea. Two barges filled with coal, the Henry Howard and the Howard Sisters drifted onto the rocks at...