The Tavern Hall Preservation Society is a not-for-profit corporation dedicated to the preservation and upkeep of the Elisha Reynolds House (1738) in Kingston, Rhode Island. The society was founded as the Tavern Hall Club in 1911 to foster understanding and cooperation between the people of the Village of Kingston and the nearby Rhode Island State College community.
The Tavern Hall Preservation Society was founded in 1911 as the Tavern Hall Club by Robert A. Lichtenthaeler and four other professors from Rhode Island State College at the Hagar House on Old North Road in Kingston, Rhode Island to foster understanding and cooperation between the people of the Village of Kingston and the community of students, faculty, administrators and staff at the college. The name of the club was derived from the fact that from 1911 to 1919 the club met at the no longer extant Joseph Reynolds' Tavern [nb 1] in the west end of the Caleb Wescott House 41°28′49″N71°31′27″W / 41.480302°N 71.5241705°W in Kingston. [2] The club was first registered as a corporation with the Secretary of State of Rhode Island on 23 March 1914 with its charter president, Robert A. Lichtenthaeler and the charter board of directors Frank H. Bills, Wilbur E. Dove, George E. Merkle, Lawrence S. Crosby, and Roy B. Cooley as signatories. [4]
The Tavern Hall Club has been the institutional sponsor of Boy Scout Troop 1, Kingston, since its founding in 1923. Troop 1 is now one of the oldest continuously operating boy scout troops in America. [5] From its earliest days, the Tavern Hall Club has served the community by providing educational programs and social activities for residents of Kingston. [6]
In 1994, the membership voted unanimously to amend the constitution to admit women as full members, and in 1996, the first woman president of the club, Elizabeth L. Indeglia, was elected. [6]
Beginning in 2004, the Tavern Hall Club was superseded by the Tavern Hall Preservation Society through incorporation as a 501-(c)3 not-for-profit corporation dedicated to the preservation of its meeting house, [7] built in 1738 by Elisha Reynolds (1706-1791). Reynolds served as a colonel in the militia and was a judge of the Court Martial during the French and Indian War, [8] [9] and was a signatory on the Charter of Brown University in 1768. [10] The Reynolds House is one of the oldest continuously occupied buildings in the village of Kingston.
The year 2011 was marked by a centennial celebration by the society. [11]
| Year | President | Year | President | Year | President | Year | President | Year | President |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1911-1914 | Robert A. Lichtenthaeler | 1915-1916 | John Barlow | 1917 | C.L. Coggins | 1918 | L.W. Boardman | 1919 | Samuel C. Damon |
| 1920-1921 | Earnest K. Thomas | 1922 | Walton H. Scott | 1923 | Joseph W. Ince | 1924 | A.E. Stene | 1925 | William Andersen |
| 1926 | B.L. Hartwell | 1927 | John E. Ladd | 1928 | John B. Smith | 1929 | Herman Churchill | 1930 | Herbert C. Wells |
| 1931 | Frank H. Bills | 1932 | Theodore E. Odland | 1933 | Carroll D. Billmyer | 1934 | Harry L. Thomas | 1935 | Lee C. McCauley |
| 1936 | D.E. Stearns | 1937-1938 | V.H. Noll | 1939 | Edward M.J. Pease | 1940 | Jesse DeFrance | 1941 | Thomas Higgins |
| 1942 | W. George Parks | 1943 | T. Stephen Crawford | 1944 | Basil E. Gilbert | 1945 | Lorenzo F. Kinney, Jr. | 1946 | Ralph K. Carlton |
| 1947 | J. Rieff K. Stauffer | 1948 | John G. Albright | 1949 | John R. Elred | 1950 | Theodore W. Kerr, Jr. | 1951 | Harland F. Stuart |
| 1952 | Arthur E. Tremaine | 1953 | Clifford W. Whiteside | 1954 | Arthur L. Svenson | 1955 | Frank N. VanBuren | 1956 | Samuel G. Blount |
| 1957 | Alexander M. Cruickshank | 1958 | Arnold S. Knowles, Jr. | 1959 | Roy G. Poulsen | 1960 | James Ainsworth | 1961 | George T. Marsh |
| 1962 | Frank O. Barton | 1963 | Kenneth H. Mairs | 1964 | Carlton H. Towle | 1965 | Robert Paulis | 1966 | Clifford J. Cosgrove |
| 1967 | Earl R. Handy | 1968 | Gilbert S. Stafford | 1969 | H. Wesley Hilding | 1970 | William D. Metz | 1971 | Bruce C. Dunham |
| 1972 | Philip H. Wilson | 1973-1975 | Edward A. Whalen | 1976 | Dorman J. Hayes | 1977 | James V. Aukerman | 1978 | John D. Avedisian |
| 1979 | Kenneth L. Coombs | 1980 | Clarence M. Tarzwell | 1981 | Gilbert V. Indeglia | 1982 | Kevin S. Munroe | 1983 | E. Arthur Robinson |
| 1984 | Peter A. Gionis | 1985-1986 | R.B. Reaves | 1987 | Clarence M. Cummins | 1988 | Clarence M. Tarzwell | 1989 | Clifford J. Fantel |
| 1990 | William D. Metz | 1991 | Ward Abusamra | 1992 | Daniel E. Healy | 1993 | James V. Aukerman | 1994 | Irving A. Spaulding |
| 1995 | Richard W. Traxler | 1996-1997 | Elizabeth L. Indeglia | 1998 | Angelo Mendillo | 1999-2000 | Michael A. Rice | 2001 | Barbara Viles |
| 2002 | Theodore F. Jakubowski | 2003-2004 | Robert L. Liguori | 2004 | Eileen Sadasiv | 2005 | Theodore F. Jakubowski | 2006-2011 | Robert J. Sirhal |
| 2011- | Elizabeth L. Indeglia |
The Tavern Hall Club purchased the Elisha Reynolds House 41°28′47″N71°31′24″W / 41.479796°N 71.523325°W in 1919 to serve as its meetinghouse, located at 1800 South Road on the corner of Kingstown Road (Route 138). [2] Over the years in addition to being the home of Col. Elisha Reynolds, the house served as the home of Elisha Reynolds Potter (1764–1835), Reynolds's grandson, who served as the Speaker of the Rhode Island House of Representatives and became a U.S. Congressman. It was also one of several homes owned by Potter's son Elisha Reynolds Potter, Jr. (1811–1882) who was a Justice of the Rhode Island Supreme Court, and also a U.S. Congressman like his father.
During the Revolution, the house was used as a meeting place for the 3rd Kings County Regiment of the Rhode Island militia (known as the Kingston Reds), that was formed in May 1779 under the command of Col. Thomas Potter. [13] On 5 March 1781, Col. Potter served as host of General George Washington and his officers in the house on a final stop on their famed journey to confer with General Rochambeau in Newport, Rhode Island where the two commanding generals possibly planned Rochambeau's mobilization and the decisive Siege of Yorktown. [14] [15]
In 1785, the ground floor of the house was used as a residence and general store by the name of West India Store operated by storekeeper Thomas R. Wells, whose son Thomas Robinson Wells (1785-1853) married Maria Potter (1791-1831). [nb 2] [15] The house later served as the home of South Kingstown's first newspaper The Rhode Island Advocate published by James Brenton in 1832. [18] It was succeeded in 1854 by the South County Journal, which was renamed to become the Narragansett Times in 1864. For a short time from 1838-42, the house was owned by the Kingston Boot and Shoe Company, but the house was reacquired by Justice Potter in payment for outstanding debts on the mortgage. The house was then transferred to Justice Potter's brother Thomas Mawney Potter in 1843, and it remained in the Potter family until its sale to the Tavern Hall Club on 15 March 1919 by Carroll Potter. [15]
In the summer 1872, the house was rented to Austrian opera star Pauline Lucca and her retinue during her two-year concert tour in the United States and while she was in the beginning of a bitterly contested divorce. [19] [20] In 1882, Dr. Thomas Mawney Potter established a boarding house for women in the building, and in 1885, sisters Orpha and Elizabeth Rose established a millinery and women's clothing store famous for its worsted goods in a room on the ground floor. At the same time, the Rose sisters served as librarians for books held at the house that eventually became the nucleus of the book collection of the Kingston Free Library, which was later established in the mid-1890s at the Old King's County Courthouse in Kingston after the Washington County Courthouse was built in 1892. [15] Upon the sale of the Reynolds House to the Tavern Hall Club in 1919, the building was used to house male members of the club. Later on, visitors to Kingston, including students attending Rhode Island State College (now the University of Rhode Island) stayed at the house. Additionally, in the 19th century and early decades of the 20th century it was used as a meeting place for the volunteer fire brigade of the village. The parlor and billiard room of the Reynolds House have been used since 1919 as the meeting place for the club and the boy scout troop since 1923, and as a venue for club-sponsored billiards tournaments. [2]
In 1959, the house was designated as part of the Kingston Village Historic District by the Town of South Kingstown, and in 1974, it was placed on the National Register of Historic Places as part of the Kingston Historic District. [6]
Newport is a seaside city on Aquidneck Island in Newport County, Rhode Island. It is located in Narragansett Bay, approximately 33 miles (53 km) southeast of Providence, 20 miles (32 km) south of Fall River, Massachusetts, 74 miles (119 km) south of Boston, and 180 miles (290 km) northeast of New York City. It is known as a New England summer resort and is famous for its historic mansions and its rich sailing history. It was the location of the first U.S. Open tournaments in both tennis and golf, as well as every challenge to the America's Cup between 1930 and 1983. It is also the home of Salve Regina University and Naval Station Newport, which houses the United States Naval War College, the Naval Undersea Warfare Center, and an important Navy training center. It was a major 18th-century port city and boasts many buildings from the Colonial era.
Elisha Reynolds Potter was a statesman in the Federalist Party from Kingston, Rhode Island, who served several times as the Speaker in the Rhode Island State Assembly.
Elisha Reynolds Potter was a politician and jurist from Kingston, Rhode Island. He was a justice of the Rhode Island Supreme Court, and served one term in the United States House of Representatives.
The Narragansett Council of the Boy Scouts of America serves all of the state of Rhode Island and some of Massachusetts and Connecticut. Its several camps include Camp Yawgoog and Camp Cachalot.
Scouting in Rhode Island has a long history, from the 1910s to the present day, serving thousands of youth in programs that suit the environment in which they live.
Kingston is a village and a census-designated place within the town of South Kingstown in Washington County, Rhode Island, United States, and the site of the main campus of the University of Rhode Island. The population was 6,974 at the 2010 census. Much of the village center is listed on the National Register of Historic Places as Kingston Village Historic District. It was originally known as Little Rest.
Union Station describes two distinct, defunct train stations in Providence, Rhode Island.
Thomas Alexander Tefft was an American architect, from Providence, Rhode Island. Tefft, one of the nation's first professionally trained architects, is considered a master of Rundbogenstil and a leading American proponent of its use. Prior to his untimely death, Tefft "offered the most advanced designs of [his] day in America"
Stone, Carpenter & Willson was a Providence, Rhode Island based architectural firm in the late 19th and early 20th Centuries. It was named for the partners Alfred E. Stone (1834–1908), Charles E. Carpenter (1845–1923). and Edmund R. Willson (1856–1906). The firm was one of the state's most prominent.
Pauline Lucca was a prominent operatic soprano, born in the Austrian capital of Vienna.
The University of Rhode Island (URI) is a public land-grant research university with its main campus in Kingston, Rhode Island, United States. It is the flagship public research as well as the land-grant university of the state of Rhode Island. Its main campus is located in the village of Kingston in southern Rhode Island. Satellite campuses include the Feinstein Campus in Downtown Providence, the Rhode Island Nursing Education Center in Providence's Jewelry District, the Narragansett Bay Campus in Narragansett, and the W. Alton Jones Campus in West Greenwich.
The Kingston Hill Farm, also known as the Potter-Peckham Farm, is a historic farm in South Kingstown, Rhode Island. The 20-acre (8.1 ha) farm is centered on a building complex with a c. 1810 1-1/2 story wood frame farmhouse, which follows a typical plan of five bays with a central chimney. Behind the house are a seed barn and wagon shed, both dating to the early 20th century. A family cemetery with 18th-century graves is located near the southern boundary of the property. The farm was first established by William Potter in the 1730s; by the early 18th century it came into the hands of Elisha Reynolds Potter, who operated it as a tenant farm. Potter tore down the original farmhouse and built the now-surviving smaller house.
The South County History Center, which formerly operated as the Pettaquamscutt Historical Society, is a nonprofit organization in Kingston, Rhode Island, United States, that preserves and interprets the material culture of South County through exhibits and study of archival, library and artifact collections.
Michael Alan Rice, is an American professor of fisheries and aquaculture at the University of Rhode Island and former state representative from South Kingstown, Rhode Island. A Democrat, he served in the Rhode Island House of Representatives, representing the 35th district, encompassing the village of Kingston and West Kingston, and parts of the neighborhoods of Tuckertown, Wakefield and Peace Dale. Rice was first elected in November 4, 2008 and served from January 6, 2009 to January 4, 2011.
Peter Mawney was a member of one of the few French Huguenot families that remained in Rhode Island, following violent clashes with the English citizens of East Greenwich, Rhode Island over disputed land. Mawney spent 24 years in the military service of the colony, serving in both the East Greenwich and Providence militias, and retiring as a colonel in the Providence County 2nd Regiment. He also served for many years as justice of the Peace for the town of East Greenwich.
James Vance Aukerman is an American lawyer in private practice and former Democratic Party Rhode Island State Representative from South Kingstown serving from 1971 to 1983. He was the Democratic candidate for Rhode Island's 2nd congressional district seat for the U.S. House of Representatives in the 1982 elections.
William DeWitt Metz was an American historian specializing in Rhode Island History. He served as chairman of the Department of History at the University of Rhode Island, retiring after 45 years at the university in 1982. He was especially noted for promotion of heritage conservation and historical preservation activities throughout Rhode Island.
Roy George Poulsen (1918–2006) was an American economist and business finance professor, spending most of his professional career at the University of Rhode Island (URI) in Kingston. Poulson earned his PhD in economics from Clark University in 1961. He was best known for his research to develop an econometric model of the Rhode Island State budget and innovations in the field of business education. He served as the director of the Research Center in Business and Economics at URI, and was president of the URI Chapter of the American Association of University Professors from 1966-67. Poulsen was also active in community affairs in Kingston, Rhode Island serving as president of the Tavern Hall Club in 1959.
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