The Gaspee Raiders
The importance of the families involved in the Gaspee attack is illustrated well
by Gaspee Raider Simeon Olney and his family.
The importance of the families involved in the Gaspee attack is illustrated well by Simeon Olney and his family. The Olney family in New England started with Thomas Olney, who came from the same county in England as William Bucklin, came to the Massachusetts Bay Colony about the same time as William Bucklin, and started in the same area of the Massachusetts Bay Colony as William Bucklin. Thomas Olney was one of the small group exiled with Roger Williams from the Massachusetts Bay Colony for their religious beliefs. Thomas Olney thus was one of the eleven founders of Providence 1638. His son, also named Thomas, was a town leader, being elected for 30 years to the Town Council, serving in the colony's legislature and being a pastor of the First Baptist Church. In turn, his son William was a town leader, and his son Richard continued the tradition. For example, he had substantial family capital which allowed him to contribute 100 English pounds to the building of the Court House in Providence in 1759.
Richard Olney, b. 1711, d. 1795) married Hannah Hunt, in 1742 in Rehoboth, Rehoboth is East of Providence (and north of East Providence) and is the place from whence Providence residents Jonathan Bucklin and Joseph Bucklin 4th had come.
Now we should mention Jonathan Bucklin (because this Bucklin sold a tavern business to Richard Olney). Jonathan Bucklin, the uncle of Joseph Bucklin 4th, was a tavern owner in Rehoboth (licensed first in 1739). By 1759 Jonathan Bucklin also had a tavern in Providence, described in the tax assessment of that year as a warehouse lot and a two story house 31 x 28. (This house was built by Peter Ballou and existed in 1708 when the town was first laid out into lots. Ballou's wife was a first cousin of Jonathan Bucklin). Jonathan left Providence sometime before 1770, and at least by 1767 had sold his tavern operation and warehouse lot to Richard Olney who continued the tavern operation.
The town of Providence had only 250 property owners in the compact part of the town in 1759 [Chase, Owners 1759]. It had only 309 homes in 1770. [There were 15 public buildings (4 School Houses, 1 college; 1 President's House; 1 Court House; 1 Powder house; 1 Jail, 1 Work House, 1 Church, 1 Baptist Meeting House, 1 Presbyterian Meeting House, 1 New Light Meeting House, and 1 Friends' Meeting House. and ), 184 Store Houses and Shops, but only 309 Dwelling Houses. [Carpenter 1771 001].] With only that many dwelling houses, it can be seen that Providence was a town of commerce, but run by a relatively small group of merchants.
Olney's Tavern operated continuously from Olney's purchase of the tavern from Bucklin until the Gaspee attack and into the next century. [Chace Papers, b 1, f 10] [Olney Genealogy]. Olney's Tavern was near the Court House and was used for town council meetings. (Simeon Olney followed in his father's footsteps by operating the tavern after the Revolution.) The Olney Tavern, convenient to the Court House was the starting point (beginning in 1767) for the regular stage coach to Boston..
Richard Olney was thus, both by being from a respected and well known family, and also by his prominent tavern, a man of stature and well known in Providence
Simeon was the 5th of 9 children of Richard. Like the other "youthful companions" mentioned by Bowen, he was of a prominent family. The "youthful companions" mentioned by Ephraim Bowen all lived in the same general area of the town.
OLNEY, SIMEON HUNT b. 1750 in Providence , d. - 25 Apr 1804 in Providence, buried North Burial Ground (Sterling location AB 01884 This birth date (from his gravestone) makes him about 22 years old at the time of the Gaspee attack, similar to the age of several of the known raider
Because of the names of other officers in the regiment, Simeon is most likely the "S. Olney" listed as a Captain in the regiment of Col. Israel Angell in the Revolutionary War.
Simeon's older sister Cynthia married an Esek Brown.
In 1790 Simeon's Providence household consisted of 1 male over 16 , two males ) under 16 years old; 2 females. {U.S. Census 1790}. In 1798, Simeon was still living in the house previously owned by his father Richard. [Chase, Owners 1798].
Simeon had an older sister Mary who married the Moses Brown, one of the famous Brown brothers of the time, one of which was John Brown, the leader of the Gaspee raid. This was Moses Brown's second marriage, and did not occur until 1799, well after the Gaspee attack.
There is an undocumented assertion that Simeon Hunt Olney in 1772 married Sarah Brown, a second cousin of the leader of the Gaspee raid, John Brown. The best Olney genealogy only documents a "Sarah _____" , no marriage date, as having been the mother of Simeon's children.
Ship Capt. Joseph Olney had land which adjoined land of Essex Hopkins, which land of Hopkins had been purchased from Nathaniel and Caleb Green [Hopkins Esek 491, deed folder. Deed dated 2 Apr 1772.] Known Gaspee raider, Benjamin Page later sailed with Capt. Olney.
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