John Austen Stevens, image from the NHS collections.

John Austin Stevens (1827-1910), of Rhode Island Avenue, was a prominent historian, author, editor and served as librarian of the New-York Historical Society and secretary of the New York Chamber of Commerce. In 1875 he founded The Society of the Sons of the Revolution, a hereditary organization for descendents of Revolutionary Officers, who could not qualify for membership in the older and more exclusive Society of the Cincinnati. In 1904 Stevens and the Sons of the Revolution purchased Fraunces Tavern in lower Manhattan and established a museum which celebrates George Washington’s farewell banquet for his troops at the end of the War. Stevens spent his final days in Newport and his papers are part of the Society’s extensive library holdings.

The Newport Historical Society's white lilac shrub.

The large and fragrant white lilacs that grace the west side of the NHS headquarters building on Touro Street is in full bloom. Legend has it that this shrub, towering to the second story of the building, is descended from lilacs that the French brought to Newport in 1780 when they came to aid the patriot cause during the American Revolution. Throughout history, lilacs have been known as “the poor man’s flower” for their ease of transporting and transplanting.

Lilacs can be found throughout Newport; while we do not know if the legend is true, this ancient “Newport Historical” specimen is particularly lovely.

Detail from a property designed by George Champlin Mason Jr., image from the NHS collections.

George Champlin Mason Jr. Tour

Saturday May 12th at 11am

$15 per person, $10 NHS members

Reservations required, 401-841-8770

Professor Ronald J. Onorato will highlight the work of George Champlin Mason Jr. and his seminar role in guiding the architectural profession toward the colonial revival style. Often overshadowed by and confused with his father of the same name, the younger Mason was one of the first architects to practice that style in America and later became a leading practitioner of it in Philadelphia. This tour through the Kay-Catherine-Old Beach Road neighborhood examines several residences, some newly attributed to the younger Mason, where he began focusing on the history and forms of Newport’s colonial heritage in the late 1870s. Presented with Newport History Tours.

Souls & Stones

Sundays in May at 11am & Memorial Day, May 28th at 11am

Explore the Common Burying Ground, view the remarkable gravestones that make this cemetery a work of art and learn about select colonial-era residents who helped shape Newport’s history.

From Golden to Gilded

May 7th, May 14th & May 21st at 11am

From Newport’s Colonial Golden Age to Gilded Age summer colony, discover the transformation of the city and its people.

Rogues & Scoundrels

Memorial Day Monday May 28, 2012 at 10:30am

See where scoundrels lived, pirates profited and criminals were punished. Find out why this colony was known as “Rogue’s Island.”

Colonial Site Tour: Public & Private Spaces

Saturdays in May at 11:30am

Tour the 1739 Colony House, built to house RI government meetings, and the c.1697 Wanton-Lyman-Hazard House, Newport’s oldest house museum.

Discover Colonial Newport

Saturdays & Sundays in May at 10:30am

Hear stories of revolution and remarkable entrepreneurship among Newport’s diverse people. Tours cost $12 per person, $10 NHS members, unless otherwise noted.

Tours depart weather permitting from the Museum & Shop at Brick Market, 127 Thames Street, Newport, RI. Reservations suggested as space is limited. 401-841-8770 Presented with Newport History Tours.

Unlocked! Search the NHS Archives and Manuscripts collection online.

Providing access to our culturally rich holdings is paramount to us. In this spirit we are excited to introduce our Archives and Manuscripts Collection Inventory with full text searching capability!

The data presented in this spreadsheet represents the first step in an ongoing process, and will provide scholar and researcher access while more formal processing is underway. We hope that this information  is helpful for those who are working to tell the story of Newport’s past. We’ll continue to work diligently bringing forward more intellectually arranged collections that meet archival best practices and standards. Please note this spreadsheet contains many unprocessed and unarranged items and collections. Information may be incomplete or have inaccuracies.

Items that have a collection name associated with them (such as “’Rhode Island Music Collection”) are presented first. Items are then sorted by personal name (by last name first; i.e. Vernon, Samuel) and then again by corporation name (i.e. Newport Insurance Company). You may also perform a keyword search to locate items.

As we process the archives, you will be able to access more complete information by visiting the Archives and Manuscripts Collection in the NHS Online Catalog, or viewing finding aids at RIAMCO, Rhode Island Archives and Manuscripts Collections Online. For more information about the items in the Manuscripts and Archives Collection Inventory or to make an appointment to conduct research, please contact the Newport Historical Society.

A photograph of Seaview Terrace from the NHS collections.

We recently noted the passing of Jonathon Frid, who played the vampire Barnabas Collins in the 1970s gothic soap opera Dark Shadows. Images of SEAVIEW TERRACE on Ruggles Avenue were used in the opening and closing credits of the series, which was filmed on a sound stage in NYC. A later “reincarnation” of Dark Shadows featured actress Joanna Going, whose family owned THE ISAAC BELL HOUSE on Bellevue Avenue.

Seaview Terrace was remodeled by Edson Bradley in 1925 to accommodate the finished rooms he imported from his Washington DC residence. It has served as a summer cottage and as a variety of schools.

Article written by Cholly Knickerbocker from the NHS Collections

Before the days of e-news and Extra, Exra, Americans needed to wait for their weekly newspaper to find out the latest reports on society and celebrity happenings. One of the most enduring gossip columnists of the early 20th century was “Cholly Knickerbocker” of the New York American newspaper. The first Cholly was Maury Henry Biddle Paul (1890-1942) who wielded great power as a “make or break” reporter of social behavior status. In 1919 he reengineered Mrs. Astor’s and Ward McAllister’s original 400 list into a term he coined “Café Society.” It was an updated stratification of society based on public appearances, celebrity affiliations and a faster lifestyle. Inclusion in Paul’s gossip column was both sought after and feared by the old guard and the new rich. Edith Munroe of “Rockry Hall” on Bellevue Avenue succeeded in capturing his attention and provided a photo of herself.

Letter written by Cholly Knickerbocker from the NHS Collections

Postcard labeled "Beechwood/Residence of John Jacob Astor" from the NHS collections

John Jacob Astor of Beechwood, Bellevue Avenue. Wife survived six months pregnant and gave birth to JJ Astor 5th who lived until 1992.

Margaret Tobin Brown, “The Unsinkable Molly Brown” of Colorado. Rented Meunchinger-King cottage on Redwood Street and Bellevue Avenue. Suffrage partner of Alva Vanderbilt at Marble House rally. Click here to read more from a previous History Bytes.

William Earnest Carter and family all survived. Lived at Quarterfoil on Narragansett Avenue.

William C. Dulles perished. Lived next to Carters.

Margaret B. Hayes survived and married Dr. Charles Easton. Buried at St. Mary’s in Portsmouth, RI.

James Clinch Smith and family perished, lived at corner of Harrison and Halidon Avenues.

George D. Widener of Philadelphia. Wife survived and built Miramar on Bellevue Avenue in 1914. She remarried Dr. Alexander Hamilton Rice.

Karl Howel Behr, visitor tennis champion.

Clarence Bloomfield Moore, visitor Horse Show participant.

Richard Norris Williams, visitor tennis champion.

The back of the card is postmarked April 9, 1912, just days before the Titanic sank. From the NHS collections.

A detail of the brownstone above a window at the 1739 Colony House, which is currently being restored.

Godfrey Malbone was a prominent merchant from Virginia, best known for financing the construction of Trinity Church in 1725 and erecting the original Malbone estate on Malbone Road. Godfrey and his son Col. Godfrey, Jr. also had interests in Brooklyn, Connecticut, near Pomfret, where he erected another Trinity Church in 1770. His vast Connecticut land holdings also included large deposits of brown sandstone, which he quarried and imported to Newport for building material that was durable and easier to cut than slate or granite. Some of the places that feature Malbone’s stone include:

• The Colony House window trim and sidesteps
• Trinity Church
• Wanton-Lyman-Hazard House
• Brick Market
• The foundation of the Masonic Hall on School Street, started by Peter Harrison in 1756
• Numerous private house foundations and steps
• Gravestones in the Common Burying Ground

Rogues & Scoundrels

See where scoundrels lived, where pirates profited and where criminals were punished. Find out why this colony was known as “Rogue’s Island.”

From Golden to Gilded
Sunday March 25, 2012 at 11am

From Newport’s colonial Golden Age to Gilded Age summer colony, discover the transformation of the city and its people.

Road to Independence
Saturday March 31, 2012 at 11am

Riots and rebellion, enemies and allies! Learn about Newport’s role in the American Revolution.

Women in Colonial Newport
Saturday April 7, 2012 at 11am

In colonial Newport, women outnumbered the men. Follow a guide in colonial costume through Newport’s Old Quarter as she retraces the lives of the female shopkeepers, tavern owners, teachers and even a printer. $15 per person, presented with Newport History Tours.

Public & Private Spaces
Saturdays in April through June 16, 2012 at 11:30am

Tour the 1739 Colony House, built to house RI government meetings, and the c.1697 Wanton-Lyman-Hazard House, Newport’s oldest house museum.

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Tours cost $12 per person, unless otherwise noted, and depart from the Museum & Shop at Brick Market, 127 Thames Street, Newport, RI. Reservations suggested as space is limited. Tours last approximately 75 minutes and depart weather permitting. For more details call: 401-841-8770.

The Barney Street Cemetery. The NHS headquarters (the red brick building) can be seen in the background.

The first Irish Catholic parish in Newport was established in 1828 and occupied the old Eleazer Trevett schoolhouse near the corner of Barney and Mt. Vernon Streets. As the parish grew, it replaced the old schoolhouse with a new chapel, which was used until the construction of St. Mary’s Church on Spring Street in 1852. The old chapel building was dismantled and moved, leaving an abandoned and neglected cemetery of early immigrant worshippers. The site was later restored and the 24 surviving gravestones were gathered together and placed on the side of the chapel building, highlighted by a large stone Celtic cross. Subsequent preservation efforts were made by the Museum of Newport Irish History and interested neighbors.

The oldest gravestones date back to 1834, many years before the Great Famine of the 1840s. The inscriptions reveal the precise town and county of birth in Ireland, a fact often ignored by record keepers in state and local government.