Providence, Providence, Rhode Island, USA - Genealogy

Providence, Providence, Rhode Island, USA

Where is Providence, Providence, Rhode Island, USA? 

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Providence is the capital and the most populous city of the U.S. state of Rhode Island, and one of the first cities established in the United States. Located in Providence County, it is the estimated third-largest city in the New England region. Despite having an estimated population of 175,255 as of 2006, it anchors the 36th largest metropolitan population in the country, with an estimated MSA population of 1,612,989, exceeding that of Rhode Island by about 60% due to its reaching into southern Massachusetts. Situated at the mouth of the Providence River, on Narragansett Bay, the city's small footprint is crisscrossed by seemingly erratic streets and a rapidly changing demographic using them.

Providence was founded in 1636 by Roger Williams, a religious exile from the Massachusetts Bay Colony. He named the area in honor of "God's merciful Providence" which he believed was responsible for his finding such a haven to settle. After being one of the first cities in the country to industrialize, Providence became noted for its jewelry and silverware industry. Today, Providence city proper alone is home to eight hospitals and seven institutions of higher learning, which has shifted the city's economy into service industries, though it still retains significant manufacturing work. The city was once nicknamed the "Beehive of Industry", while today "The Renaissance City" is more common, though as of 2000 census, its poverty rate was still among the ten highest for cities over 100,000.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Providence,_Rhode_Island

Events/Places of Interest

1817 Tree genealogybank.com  "An Elm tree is standing near Providence, R. I. which measures, 4 feet from the ground, 21 feet in circumference. There are 18 main branches, averaging 6 feet 3 inches in circumference; the circumference, of the whole outline of the branches is 378 feet!" [Elm; Providence] Date: September 16, 1817 Location: New York Paper: Spectator

Article genealogybank.com  "A man in Providence, Rhode Island, bet five dollars that he could eat a large basket of peaches in one hour. He was successful, having dispatched one hundred and fifty-two good sized peaches in fifty-two minutes." "Another man eat a basket full without betting and died in consequence - of the eating, and not the bet." Date: September 13, 1848 Location: Massachusetts Paper: National Aegis

MORE FIRES IN PROVIDENCE. THE THIRD LARGE BLAZE WITHIN FIVE DAYS.   PROVIDENCE, R. I., Feb. 19. - The third large fire during the last five days occurred this afternoon on the scene of the disastrous conflagration of September, 1877. At 4:10 o'clock a man in a broker's office on the second floor of the Daniels Building in Custom House-street, a structure which rose on the ashes of the iron-front building which melted away in the great heat of 11 years ago, smelled smoke, and looking about the landing found a closet on the floor all ablaze. Just under the ceiling was a battery of gas meters for the supply of all the tenants on that floor. The connections on these were melted by the fire, and there was a great outrush of gas, which bursting into flame fired the adjoining rooms. The fire spread very quickly. The Protective Department had only time to spread their covers in the first and second stories. Very little in the building was saved. A dense smoke poured from every crack in the central part of the building for three stories of its height. The main stairway had right-angle turns and was open from the main floor to the roof. A passenger elevator was situated in a part of the central space. The building was filled with smoke and the heat was so intense that the firemen could not work inside. The fire was fought from the front, where it could not be seen. From ladders reaching to the several stories streams were poured in, but seemed to have little effect in checking the raging flames. A second alarm was sounded almost immediately after the first. Half an hour later the flames appeared on the fifth floor on the Custom House street front. A third alarm then summoned all the reserves of the Fire Department. Johnston sent a hose company, which did good service. Pawtucket was asked to hold itself in readiness to render aid. The fifth floor was occupied by J. A. & R. A. Reid as a printing and publishing house. This firm had four large cylinder presses and four smaller presses, cutting machinery, a bindery, and an extensive plant of book and job type. This floor was burned over, and the roof fell at about 7:30 o'clock. At this time a score of streams were being poured into the building from the roofs and fire escapes of neighboring buildings. It was only by dint of a very stubborn struggle that the flames were confined to this floor. Besides valuable plant, the Messrs. Reid lose plates of their publications: "Picturesque Washington," S. S. Cox's book: "Three Decades of Federal Legislation," the "Life of Burnside," "Portland and Vicinity," and of the illustrations of several other of their books. They has about 3.000 bound books on hand, including 600 of Congressman Cox's. One fireman was suffocated in the third story and was taken home in a carriage. A citizen had a serious fall in attempting to shut off a gas connection. The loss will be more than $200,000. The Lebanon Mills at Pawtucket are burning; one mill is gone and the other is going. The Riverside Mills' {Olneyville} private alarm has just sounded twice. The Atlantic Mills' boarding house is known to be burning, together with a barn. The New York Times, New York, NY 20 Feb 1888

KILLED BY A BOILER EXPLOSION - The Accident Occurs Just as a Crowd of Rhode Island Ice Harvesters Begin Work on Mashapang Pond.    PROVIDENCE, R. I., Feb. 4 - A boiler exploded at the icehouses of Earl, Carpenter & Sons, at Mashapang Pond this morning. Four men were killed and sixteen other injured. The Dead. The dead are: DARY, MICHAEL, aged twenty-one HEHIR, JOHN, aged thirty-five; leaves a wife and three children HEHIR, PATRICK, aged fifty; leaves a wife and nine children MORTON, WILLIE, a boy; died at hospital. At the time of the explosion there were 100 men standing about the engine house waiting for orders to begin harvesting ice. Mertie Cross and John Nelson, the fireman and engineer, were given instructions ot start the engine, and they did so. The first cake of ice had been carried ten feet on the run, when the endless chain caught, and at the same instant the boiler exploded. The driving wheel was thrown 200 feet into the air, and in falling struck the run, demolishing it. Portions of the engine were thrown 400 feet over the ice houses. The boiler proper, weighing three tons, was hurled through the end of the first ice house, the partition of which was three feet in thickness. In the house the two Hehirs were at work. The boiler struck them as it passed, and both were instantly killed. The fireman, who was standing by the boiler, was not injured, but sixteen of the ice harvesters were more or less hurt. Willie Morton, a boy, was pinned under a piece of the engine, and died at the hospital this afternoon. Thomas Casey, Herbert Smith, William Morton, Thomas Nelson, the engineer; Martin Reagan, and Henry Butler, colored, were taken to the hospital. All but Nelson are in a serious condition. The others were only slightly injured and were taken to their homes. The New York Times, New York, NY 5 Feb 1895

Gotta De Mon' genealogybank.com  An Italian Banker Skips From Providence, Rhode Island "Providence, R. I., Sept. 2. - The Banca Popolare has closed its doors and today there was an excited lot of depositors in the Italian colony on Federal hill. The institution was run by Valentino and Plumbo, and the latter is missing. He departed Saturday last, leaving four children behind. Valentino is making a hunt for the whereabouts of his missing partner; so are the authorities." "Many Italians who deposited money to be sent home, are the sufferers. Liabilities and assets are unknown." Date: September 03, 1896 Location: South Carolina Paper: State

PIRATE DRUGGED HIM. Arrested Shipmate Tells Strange Story of Sloop Dorado.   Special to The New York Times. NEWPORT, Oct. 24. - The arrest of Otto Steifel in Providence to-day proved of great importance in clearing up the mystery about the sloop Dorado and the plunder found on the two pirate boats held here. Steifel confessed to the Providence police that he had been with H. A. Jackson since Sept. 6, and was part owner of the sloop. He was identified by Deputy Sheriff Harvey as the man aboard the catboat Bessie, stolen from Charles L. Burlingame of Providence. Steifel protests that he never helped Jackson steal anything, and never stole anything himself. He said: "I have believed, on a number of occasions, that Jackson drugged me or administered chloroform, and that while I slept off its effects he went plundering yachts near which he would tie up in the Sound or in Narraganset Bay. I know that I would wake up at 10 or 11 o'clock the next morning with an aching head that wasn't due to drinking anything, and the sloop would be miles away from where we had anchored when I turned in the night before." Steifel informed the police that Jackson had come aboard one night at Greenwich, Conn., with a suit case, and, after that, had exhibited a valuable gold watch. He told of stopping at other places, but denied that he had visited Stamford, Conn. The New York Times New York, New York October 25, 1905

PANIC FOLLOWS EXPLOSION. All Providence Scared Over Prediction of Christmas Disaster.   Special to The New York Times. PROVIDENCE, R. I., Dec. 22. - A slight explosion in a jewelry factory, within a short block of the shopping district caused by a panic to-day among the several hundred employes[sic] in the building, two men being painfully injured and a dozen women fainting before any attempt was made to ascertain the nature of the trouble. The explosion occurred in the Enterprise Building at 7 Eddy Street and was caused by the clogging of a waste pipe in the factory of the Cutler Comb Company. Fire started immediately after the explosion and two or three moments later the street below was filled with fire apparatus. Seven of the girls in the jewelry concern of Hamilton & Hamilton, Jr., on the fifth floor fainted and others followed suit in other parts of the building. Dozens of the girls ran out on to the fire escapes and stood there screaming. Policemen spreading through the building drove them back and got all safely to the street. Two men were slightly hurt. The fire was extinguished without trouble, the damage amounting to not more than $1,000. It is believed that had it not been for the nervous tension existing throughout the city over the prediction that a boiler explosion would occur about Christmas time in a large store of this city the affair of this morning would hardly have been noticed by the employes[sic] in the building. According to the stories in circulation the prophecy was made six weeks ago by "The Fays," who gave a three-nights' entertainment in the Providence Opera House, and who call themselves "thaumaturgists." They claim to have foretold the Chicago theatre fire and other great calamities, and stories concerning the prediction have been circulated so peristently[sic] that the owners of the big stores, while realizing the absurdity of the prediction, have taken every precaution to guard against accident for the purpose of allaying the superstitious fears of the shoppers. In every one of the big stores, it is said, there has been a careful inspection of the boilers, and last night one of the largest stores advertised in a local paper that the fires under the boilers in that store had been drawn, and that the elevators were being run with electricity. The New York Times New York, NY 23 Dec 1905

Ancestors Who Were Born in Providence, Providence, Rhode Island, USA

Carmel (McDonald)
Felix P. Carmel (McDonald) (30 May 1909,Providence, Providence, Rhode Island, USA-15 Jan 2000,Southbridge, Worcester, Massachusetts, USA)
Equi
Marjorie Equi (17 May 1930,Providence, Providence, Rhode Island, USA-28 Feb 2002,Franklin, Merrimack, New Hampshire, USA)	Martha E Equi (19 Nov 1934,Providence, Providence, Rhode Island, USA-30 Jul 1999,Roanoke Rapids, Halifax, North Carolina, USA)
Grant
Clara Emmagene Grant (12 Apr 1852,Providence, Providence, Rhode Island, USA-10 Feb 1923,Altamonte Springs, Seminole, Florida, USA)
Lawton
John Abner Lawton (abt. Mar 1855,Providence, Providence, Rhode Island, USA-19 NOV 1939,Fall River, Bristol, Massachusetts, USA)
Riang
Riang (26 Aug 1918,Providence, Providence, Rhode Island, USA-26 Aug 1918,Providence, Providence, Rhode Island, USA)
Stoeffler
Charles Theobald Stoeffler (2 Aug 1892,Providence, Providence, Rhode Island, USA-,)	Elsie Marie Stoeffler (7 May 1904,Providence, Providence, Rhode Island, USA-,)	Irene Louisa Stoeffler (23 Aug 1893,Providence, Providence, Rhode Island, USA-,)
Justine Emily Stoeffler (22 Nov 1899,Providence, Providence, Rhode Island, USA-,)	Ralph Frederick Stoeffler (29 Oct 1894,Providence, Providence, Rhode Island, USA-,)	Veronica Elizabeth Stoeffler (25 SEP 1896,Providence, Providence, Rhode Island, USA-23 JUL 1982, East Greenwich, Kent, Rhode Island, USA)
Theinert
Anne Theinert (16 Dec 1901,Providence, Providence, Rhode Island, USA-Apr 8, 1971,Greenville, Providence, Rhode Island, USA)	Rosalie Eleanor Theinert (22 Jun 1898,Providence, Providence, Rhode Island, USA-30 Jan 1973,Doylestown, Bucks, Pennsylvania, USA)	Walter Frederic Theinert (15 Jun 1895,Providence, Providence, Rhode Island, USA-4 Mar 1955,Norwich, New London, Connecticut, USA)
William Theinert (2 Oct 1893,Providence, Providence, Rhode Island, USA-Dec 1962,Pasco, Florida)
Wharton
Dorothy Wharton (5 Jun 1910,Providence, Providence, Rhode Island, USA-12 July 1999,Johnston, Providence, Rhode Island, USA)
Wilbur
George Leonard Wilbur (16 Nov 1886,Providence, Providence, Rhode Island, USA-March 1966,Cranston, Providence, Rhode Island, USA)	Grace Leola Wilbur (11 Dec 1889,Providence, Providence, Rhode Island, USA-28 Aug 1990,Warwick, Kent, Rhode Island, USA)	Helen M. Wilbur (28 Dec 1882,Providence, Providence, Rhode Island, USA-, )
Ruth Burnham Wilbur (1 Jun 1898,Providence, Providence, Rhode Island, USA-Feb 1992,Kingston, Washington, Rhode Island, USA)

Ancestors Who Died in Providence, Providence, Rhode Island, USA

Berner
Louise Sophie Berner (10 DEC 1866,Esslington, Wurttemberg -4 SEP 1952,Providence, Providence, Rhode Island, USA)
Bowen
Lydia Bowen (3 Sept 1739,Swansea, Bristol, Massachusetts, USA-1816,Providence, Providence, Rhode Island, USA)
Coggeshall
Phebe Ann Coggeshall (25 AUG 1848,Fall River, Bristol, Massachusetts, USA-9 APR 1895,Providence, Providence, Rhode Island, USA)
Cook
Colin Kendall Cook (3 May 1897,Franklin, Norfolk, Massachusetts, USA-29 Sep 1976,Providence, Providence, Rhode Island, USA)
Gerry
Grace Pauline Gerry (8 Nov 1901,Greeley, Weld, Colorado, USA-31 May 1987,Providence, Providence, Rhode Island, USA)
Murphy
Catherine Veronica Murphy (01 Dec 1873,Bristol, Bristol, Rhode Island, USA-21 Oct 1950,Providence, Providence, Rhode Island, USA)
Plante
Lillian May Plante (27 Apr 1903,Smithfield, Providence, Rhode Island, USA-30 Aug 1966,Providence, Providence, Rhode Island, USA)
Renaud
Herman Renaud (13 Jan 1895?,Southbridge, Worcester, Massachusetts, USA-30 October 1945,Providence, Providence, Rhode Island, USA)
Riang
Riang (26 Aug 1918,Providence, Providence, Rhode Island, USA-26 Aug 1918,Providence, Providence, Rhode Island, USA)	Catherine Mary Riang (1908,-27 Jul 1909,Providence, Providence, Rhode Island, USA)
Salisbury
John Salisbury (12 Apr 1725,Swansea, Bristol, Massachusetts, USA-22 Mar 1817,Providence, Providence, Rhode Island, USA)	Pardon Salisbury (1766,Warren, Bristol, Rhode Island, USA-30 July 1854,Providence, Providence, Rhode Island, USA)
Stoeffler
Charles Stoeffler (08 May 1866,Cernay, Alsace Lorraine-18 Mar 1945,Providence, Providence, Rhode Island, USA)
Wilbur
Samuel Pardee Wilbur (abt. 1888, -5 Apr 1890,Providence, Providence, Rhode Island, USA)

Cemeteries

Reference Sources

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