Providence, Rhode Island

This is John Brown's home in Providence.  He built it in 1786 and lived here with his wife and children.  George Washington and Thomas Jefferson were known to visit here.  Three families have owned this house before it was given to the Rhode Island historical society.  It is on the registry as a National Landmark.  

John Brown was a 5th generation Rhode Island native who with his brothers, Moses, Nicholas and Joseph were successful business men. They were merchants who were involved with the "golden triangle"  buying slaves in Africa, bringing the slaves to the Caribbean for sale, buying sugar and molasses with the proceeds from their sale to make rum back in the colonies.  Their first foray into this business resulted in 88 slaves dying enroute either through lack of nutrition or suicide.  After this business venture, Moses Brown broke off from his brothers and became a Quaker and an abolitionist who fought to enact laws prohibiting slavery.  When it was discovered that his brother John had broken the law, John was tried and convicted and his ships was confiscated.

In addition to the slave trade, the Brown family engaged in trade with China.  The expeditions to China would last a year from the time the ships left Providence till they returned from Canton.

John Brown and his brothers were heavy supporters of the College of Rhode Island which was renamed Brown University in their honor.  John was also the founder of Providence Bank and its first president.  As merchants they were involved with ship building, canon making during the war, real estate, candles, and rum. 

Before the Revolutionary War began John instigated the HMS Gaspee Affair.  Gaspee was a British ship that was patrolling off the coast of Providence routing out smugglers.  When the ship ran aground, John Brown and his fellow patriots boarded it, looted it, and set it on fire.  Below is a painting in his house depicting the event.

John Brown was active in state and national government.  Rhode Island was the last state to join the Continental United States.  They had declared their independence from Britain on May 4, 1776.  They were a self governed, sovereign state.  It wasn't until the Bill of Rights was proposed that Rhode Island agreed to become the 13th colony.  Rhode Island had a reputation of being Rouge Island - a group of misfits and rebels.  RI was founded by Roger Williams who was kicked out of Massachusetts by the Puritans for his beliefs in the separation of church and state. 

The house was purchased in 1901 by industrialist Marsden Perry.  He reminds me of the guy on the Monopoly game.

Marsden added a wing on the back of the house which included bathrooms. Here is one of the bathrooms:

 

This is a hall way in the new wing that includes a tooled leather wall covering, The door on the left is a elevator:

Interesting stairwell 

Washington Murals in the ballroom:

This is an original table from the Brown family (on the right with the tea set).  There were only 10 of these tables made.  A few years ago one sold at Christies for $12MM.  Nicholas Brown sold it to pay for renovations on his family's house so Brown University could have it for visiting fellows studying Americana.  This is also the original wall paper in this room.  They found 12 rolls of it in the attic and were able to have a company in New York recreate it.  

The Kitchen, another addition by Marsden Perry:

This is an interesting artifact.  They wanted to move John Brown's grave, but when they dug it up, they found this root from the apple tree that held some of his bones.  His body was absorbed into the tree. They extracted the bones and they are now buried under his statue in the city.

John Brown's Carriage:

Views of the exterior:

After the Perry's moved out, the Brown family bought the house and lived there until 1942 when they donated it to the historical society.

Ok, this in not Providence.  On the way to Boston, I had to stop and see the Plymouth Rock.  It is currently a third of its original size.  The Park Ranger told me that people came and chipped off pieces so they could have a piece of the rock.  Now the town has an enclosure to protect it.  This is where the Pilgrims disembarked from the Mayflower.  How cool is that?  I feel like a geek for being so excited to see this, but it's the little things right that make you happy?  Yea it is!