Death in early New England came early and often during those harsh first decades of settlement. Epidemics, hunger, accidents and childbirth contributed to a heavy toll in New England. Disease in some cases erased entire families, and almost always affected the majority of individuals in the communities. For most families, death was still a private affair. Traditions brought over with European customs and others that were strictly American were eventually interwoven, and these ceremonies, t...

Dating back to the colonial era, the historic barns and outbuildings of Rhode Island have withstood the test of time. From the state's early barnyard taverns to the modern-day horse and dairy farms that populate rural Rhode Island, each of these buildings has a story to tell. In the mid-eighteenth century, the Narragansett planters bred horses on their farms in southern Rhode Island. Later, dairy farms sprang up across the region. Milking barns were built on the largest farms in the state,...

For over three centuries, New Englanders have set sail in search of fortune and adventure--yet death lurked on every voyage in the form of storms, privateers, disease and human error. In hope of being spared by the sea, superstitious mariners practiced cautionary rituals. During the winter of 1779, the crew aboard the "Family Trader" offered up gin to appease the squalling storms of Neptune. In the 1800s, after nearly fifty shipwrecks on Georges Bank between Cape Cod, Massachusetts, and No...

The Providence River begins its journey from the confluence of the Moshassuck and Woonasquatucket Rivers, in the capital city from which the river takes its name. A short distance downstream, the Seekonk River joins with the Providence as they flow on toward the mouth of Narragansett Bay. The history of the Ocean State was made on the banks of this historic river. It was here that Roger Williams established the first settlement dedicated to religious liberty, Rochambeau's army made its fir...

This book chronicles a number of Rhode Island's historic taverns and the stories contained within their walls. Some of the taverns include: The Mowry Tavern, which was the site of political gatherings, protests and religious observances under Roger Williams; The Benedict Arnold Tavern built in 1693; The White Horse Tavern, which soon became the meeting place for Rhode Island legislators; and the Ruff Stone Tavern in North Providence was an establishment with a long history, having served a...

A historian goes beyond the famous faces to tell the stories of ordinary citizens who served as militiamen and mariners during the American Revolution.Americans know Paul Revere and General George Washington—but lesser known are those unsung heroes or citizen soldiers who first enlisted with local militias before being assigned to units of the Continental Line and sent away to fight in states and regions far removed from their homes and families.In New Engl...

"The author of seven previous history books draws a portrait of the hardships and mysteries that were a part of the early settlers' everyday lives" ( CoastalMags.com).The New World was full of unusual occurrences and strange trials for the early colonists of New England. Devastating plagues, violent conflicts with Native Americans, and freak weather ravaged whole communities. When settlers saw an array of colors dancing through the night sky, they thought ...

The story of the indigenous people in what would become Rhode Island, their encounters with Europeans, and their return to sovereignty in the twentieth century.Before Roger Williams set foot in the New World, the Narragansett farmed corn and squash, hunted beaver and deer, and harvested clams and oysters throughout what would become Rhode Island. They also obtained wealth in the form of wampum, a carved shell that was used as currency along the eastern coast.

From Midnight to Dawn presents compelling portraits of the men and women who established the Underground Railroad and traveled it to find new lives in Canada. Evoking the turmoil and controversies of the time, Tobin illuminates the historic events that forever connected American and Canadian history by giving us the true stories behind well-known figures such as Harriet Tubman and John Brown. She also profiles lesser-known but equally heroic figures such as Mary Ann Shadd, who bec...

Inns and taverns occupied a position of central importance in colonial American society. Rest stop, hotel, provisioning center, drinking saloon, dining establishment, center of news and gossip, quartering for soldiers'these retreats served an astonishing variety of roles. In Colonial Inns and Taverns of Bucks County, author Marie Duess filters the colonial andearly modern history of Bucks County through the area's wide array of stagecoach stops, grog shops and taprooms. These inns created ...

"[A] solidly researched, briskly presented popular history that helps sharpen our picture of a surprisingly pivotal era." — Los Angeles Times1776, 1861, 1929. Any high-school student should know what these years meant to American history. But wars and economic disasters are not our only pivotal events, and other years have, in a quieter way, swayed the course of our nation. 1831 was one of them, and in this striking new work, hist...

During the 1930s in the United States, the Works Progress Administration developed the Federal Writers’ Project to support writers and artists while making a national effort to document the country’s shared history and culture. The American Guide series consists of individual guides to each of the states. Little-known authors-many of whom would later become celebrated literary figures-were commissioned to write these important books. John Steinbeck, Saul Bellow, Zora Neale Hurston, and Ral...