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Exhibits – 2003 From the Curator’s Desk: “Resist, Expel, Kill and Destroy” the Enemy.
What was life like in Portsmouth during the American Revolution? The Curator’s Committee searched its document collection to prepare for an exhibit to coincide with the Battle of Rhode Island Re-Enactment. The documents from the times give us an idea of what was going on during the time. One period record was a “Recruitment for Troops” order that the General Assembly sent to Portsmouth in 1776. Portsmouth and the other towns are ordered to raise a fourteen member “artillery Company” which will “March out to Action” when needed. “And that the said Companies meet half a Day in every Week to exercise the Cannon.” The artillery company would be provided by the colony with “two, three or four Pound Field Pieces on Carriages.” The Committee of Safety for each County would provide the cannon. Among the documents were records of bounties paid by David Gifford and Burrington Anthony. Bounties and wages were used to encourage soldiers to join Portsmouth’s Revolutionary War Company. David Gifford and Burrington Anthony both served as Captains in the Company. When the Portsmouth troops were called up by the General Assembly in 1776, they became part of the 1st Regiment of Rhode Island. One of the most interesting documents was a blank commission which was preserved as “scrap paper” used to record town business. New officers are urged “to the utmost of your Skill and Ability, you are to resist, expel, kill, and destroy them, in order to preserve the Lives, Liberty and Properties of the good People of this and the other United States.” This commission is authorized by Nicholas Cooke who became governor after Governor Wanton refused to sign the commissions ordered by the General Assembly. The Constitution was not very popular with Portsmouth voters in the record of the town vote in our collection. “Agreeable to an Act of the General Assembly passed at the session Held in February AD 1788 the underwritten is the Names of the persons who gave their voices aloud in open Town Meeting of the Freemen of Portsmouth in the County of Newport & State of Rhode Island & Held on the 24th day of March AD 1788 whether the proposed Constitution as agreed in Philadelphia should be adopted or Negatived [sic]. The question being being [sic] put in yeahs & nays--------” The Nays have it 60 to 12. Portsmouth Freemen voted against adopting the Constitution in 1788. This vote reflects the overwhelming statewide vote of 2,708 against and 231 for the adoption of the Constitution. Rhode Islanders were concerned about war debt repayment and “paper money” issues as well as waiting for the adoption of the Bill of Rights. Rhode Island finally became the 13th state in 1790. Have you ever wondered what typical Portsmouth families owned during Revolutionary times? A Household Manifest – circa 1780’s provides us with a family’s list of losses during the British occupation. Portsmouth families listed their claims against the British soldiers in hopes of getting payment for their losses. This is a list from Robert Binney and Elizabeth Heffernan. It gives us an idea of what a Portsmouth family might have owned before the Revolutionary War began. The lengthy list of losses included the following items. The spellings are as they were written on the manifest. Guessing the modern spellings of the items and figuring out what some of the household goods might be were interesting chores in transcribing the document. 5 feather beds and bedding |
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