North Burial Ground

Abigail Whipple Harris (1679-1724)

Abigail Whipple was born in 1679 in Providence, Rhode Island, the fifth child of Samuel Whipple and Mary Harris. She descended from some of the earliest European settlers in Colonial North America. In 1624 her paternal grandmother, Sarah Darling (Hutchinson) Whipple, was among the first settlers born in Salem, Massachusetts Bay Colony, to John Hutchinson and Sarah Putnam. Her paternal grandfather, Captain John Whipple, travelled from England to Massachusetts aboard the

Lyon

in June 1632. Abigail Whipple’s maternal great-grandfather Thomas Harris arrived in Massachusetts in 1630 aboard the

Lyon

, along with his brother William. It was the same ship that had recently brought Roger Williams, and would soon bring John Whipple, to America. William Harris was one of the four men who accompanied Roger Williams to Seekonk after his exile from Massachusetts and Thomas Harris proved instrumental in establishing Providence.

In 1699 at the age of 20 years, Abigail Whipple married William Harris. He was her first-cousin on her mother’s side. Relatively late in their lives, William and Abigail had a child, Alice, who married at eighteen and died at the age of 20.

Abigail Harris died on November 4, 1724 and was the seventeenth person interred in the North Burial Ground. Her gravestone reads, “Here lieth the Body of Abigail the wife of William Harris Esq who died November 4 1724 in the 46 year of her age.” The marker is gray slate with intricate carvings of vines and an eagle representing resurrection and the soul’s ascension into heaven. Read More...

Erik Christiansen, PhD, Rhode Island College

Abigail Whipple Harris was born in 1679 in Providence, Rhode Island, the fifth child of Samuel Whipple and Mary Harris. She descended from some of the earliest European settlers in Colonial North America. Her paternal grandmother, Sarah Darling

(Hutchinson) Whipple, was among the first settlers born in Salem, Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1624, toJohn Hutchinson and Sarah Putnam. Her paternal grandfather was Captain John Whipple, born in 1617 in Bocking, Essex, England, who travelled to Massachusetts aboard the Lyon in June 1632. Her grandparents were married in Dorchester, Suffolk County, Massachusetts in 1639 and at some point moved with the rest of the family to Providence. John and Sarah Whipple, and Sarah’s parents John and Sarah Hutchinson, are buried in the North Burial Ground.

Abigail Whipple’s maternal great-grandfather Thomas Harris arrived in Massachusetts in 1630 aboard the Lyon, along with his brother William. It was the same ship that had recently broughtRoger Williams, and would soon bring John Whipple, to America. William Harris was one of the four men who accompanied Roger Williams to Seekonk after his exile from Massachusetts. After joining his brother and Williams in Providence, Thomas Harris proved instrumental in establishing the town and its form of government. On August 20, 1637 he and eleven other men signed a compact forming the town of Providence. Three years later was one of thirty-nine men who signed a contract agreeing upon the town’s form of government.

In 1699 at the age of 20 years, Abigail Whipple married William Harris, Esq. (May 11, 1673 – January 14, 1726). He was her first-cousin on her mother’s side (her mother’s nephew). His parents were Thomas Harris (1637-February 27, 1710) and Elnathan Tew (October 13, 1644-January 11, 1711), who are also buried in the North Burial Ground. William Harris came from an illustrious family; in addition to the Harris ancestry, he was the maternal grandson of Sir Richard Tew (February 15, 1606-March 20, 1673), who descended from a long lineage of English knights. Richard Tew and his wife Mary Clarke arrived in Newport sometime between 1640 and 1642 and becameQuakers. Richard is named in the 1662 Charter of Charles II and the 1663 Rhode Island Charter. William Harris’s uncle, Henry Tew, was a deputy governor of Rhode Island and it is likely that the infamous Newport pirate Thomas Tew was another uncle or perhaps cousin.

Relatively late in their lives, in the year 1714, William and Abigail had a child, Alice, who married Gideon Crawford on May 16, 1732. Alice died almost exactly two years later, on May 17, 1734, at the age of 20.

During Abigail Harris’s life Rhode Island went through a period of turmoil. King

Philip’s War (1675-76) ended shortly before her birth, and the colony was included in the ill-fated attempt by King James II to consolidate royal authority in the region by establishing the Dominion of New England (1686-89) under his imperial governor Edmond Andros. This period was also marked by sporadic warfare between the colonial empires of England and France, in which Rhode Island played a seminal role. Providence, which suffered immensely during King Philip’s War and was burnt to the ground, was a comparative backwater during this time, with Newport the premier urban center in the colony.

Abigail Whipple Harris died on November 4, 1724 in Providence, Rhode Island. She was the seventeenth person interred in the North Burial Ground. Her gravestone reads, “Here lieth the Body of Abigail the wife of William Harris Esq who died November 4 1724 in the 46 year of her age.” The marker is a gray slate stone with intricate carvings of vines and an eagle representing the resurrection of the body and the soul’s ascension into heaven.

Arthur Viola, Student at Rhode Island College

Abigail Whipple Harris (1679-1724)

North Burial Ground Project