RIAMCO

Rhode Island Archival and Manuscript Collections Online

For Participating Institutions

Collection of Redwood family papers (RLC.Ms.029)

Redwood Library and Athenaeum

50 Bellevue Avenue
Newport, RI 02840
Tel: (401) 847-0292
Fax: (401) 841-5680
email: redwood@redwoodlibrary.org

Inventory

Series 1. Correspondence
Correspondence consists of letters either sent to or received by members of the Redwood family. The bulk of this series is made up of letters written to Abraham Redwood (1709-1788) from family members and business associates concerning his mercantile business, Cassada Garden, and the establishment of the Redwood Library in 1747. Also included are letters written by his father, Abraham Redwood (1665-1728) while on his plantation in Antigua, and by his half-brother, William Redwood, concerning his business in Philadelphia. Letters from other Redwood family descendants include Hannah Redwood (1759-1796), daughter of William Redwood; Redwood Fisher (1782-1856), son of Sarah Redwood Fisher (759-1847); and Henry Redwood (1848-1923), a descendant from Jonas Langford Redwood (1730-1779).

Container Description Date
Box 1, Folder 1 Letters from Abraham Redwood (1665-1728)
1710 Feb 12-1714 Jan 14
Box 1, Folder 2 Letters to Abraham Redwood (1709-1788)
1729 Apr 18-1769 Jul 3
Box 1, Folder 3 Letter from Abraham Redwood (1742-1788)
1760 Oct 14, 1787 Jan 24
Box 1, Folder 4 Letters to and from William Redwood
1772 Jul 11-1789 Aug 30
Box 1, Folder 5 Letter from Hannah Redwood
1781 Apr 16
Box 1, Folder 6 Letter from Redwood Fisher
1845 Aug 17
Box 1, Folder 7 Letter from Henry Redwood
1881 May 19

Series 2. Legal papers
Legal papers consist of deeds, mortgages, stock certificates, and a will concerning various members of the Redwood family. Of particular interest are Abraham Redwood’s (1709-1788) mortgage dated October 7, 1741, for his house on Thames Street in Newport, and the deed from Abraham Redwood (1764-1838) of Marylebone, England, to the Redwood Library on August 13, 1834, in which he signs over the land the Library was built upon for one dollar. The insurance policy with Philip Wilkinson and Daniel Ayrault, Jr., dated March 11, 1757, was for ship Snow Hanover leaving the Newport harbor for Jamaica with goods from various Newport merchants, including Abraham Redwood (1709-1788), who all paid into the policy to insure their merchandise.

Container Description Date
Box 2, Folder 1 Abraham Redwood (1709-1788) mortgage
1741 Oct 7
Box 2, Folder 2 Insurance policy with Philip Wilkinson and Daniel Ayrault, Jr.
1757 Mar 11
Box 1, Folder 8 Abraham Redwood (1709-1788) deed
1757 Sep 7
Box 1, Folder 9 Abraham Redwood(1709-1788) stock certificate
1761 Jun 10
Box 1, Folder 10 William Redwood deed
1769 Sep 18
Box 1, Folder 11 Last will and testament of Sarah Pope Redwood
1796 Jul 12
Box 1, Folder 12 Abraham Redwood (1764-1838) deed
1834 Aug 19
Box 1, Folder 13 Transcription of an Abraham Redwood (1709-1788) deed
1955

Series 3. Financial papers
Financial records are comprised mainly of accounts and receipts concerning Abraham Redwood’s (1709-1788) business in the sugar trade between his plantation in Antigua, and buyers in Newport and England. Also included are his half-brother William Redwood’s accounts as well as the final estate account of his step-mother, Patience Redwood.

Container Description Date
Box 1, Folder 14 Abraham Redwood (1709-1788) accounts
1732-1780
Box 2, Folder 3 Abraham Redwood (1709-1788) accounts
1740, 1749
Box 2, Folder 4 Patience Redwood estate account
1748 Jul 26
Box 1, Folder 15 William Redwood accounts
1764-1815

Series 4. Family histories
Family histories contain genealogies of the Redwood family as well as newspaper obituaries for Abraham Redwood (1709-1788) and his grandson, Abraham Redwood Ellery (1773-1820). The “Memoir of the Redwood family” is a printed family history written by Sarah Redwood Fisher (1759-1847). There are two copies of such, one of which is signed by Fisher and includes a pasted receipt from Abraham Redwood (1708-1788) from 1744.

Container Description Date
Box 1, Folder 16 Obituaries
1788, 1821
Box 2, Folder 5 “Memoir of the Redwood family”
1842 Dec 18
Box 1, Folder 17 Genealogical sketch of the Redwood family (photocopy)
circa 1879
Box 1, Folder 18 Redwood family genealogies
1955 and undated
Box 1, Folder 19 Draft of an article on Abraham Redwood (1709-1788) by Dr. Susan B. Franklin
circa 1950s
Box 2 Genealogical chart of Redwood and Hottinger families
1997 Nov 1

Series 5. Miscellaneous
Miscellaneous items consist of maps of Antigua and the Redwood farm in Portsmouth, Rhode Island, photographs, prints of portraits of Abraham Redwood (1709-1788) and William Redwood, the Redwood family coat of arms, and two poems. Photographs and their negatives were taken in 1999 by Maris S. Humphreys, an employee of the Redwood Library and Athenaeum, of the site of Cassada Garden, Abraham Redwood’s sugar plantation, in Antigua. An undated photograph of the Redwood family farm in Portsmouth, Rhode Island is also included.

Container Description Date
Box 1, Folder 20 Poems
1756 and undated
Box 1, Folder 21 Photographs and negatives of Cassada Garden in Antigua
1997 Mar
Box 1, Folder 22 Coats of arms
undated
Box 1, Folder 23 Embroidery sample
undated
Box 2, Folder 6 Maps
1868 and undated
Box 2, Folder 7 Photograph of Redwood Farm
undated
Box 2, Folder 8 Prints
undated