Thomas Frye (Rhode Island governor)

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Thomas Fry (1666 – 3 September 1748)[1] was a deputy governor of the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations.

Thomas Fry
21st Deputy Governor of the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations
In office
1727–1729
GovernorJoseph Jenckes
Preceded byJonathan Nichols
Succeeded byJohn Wanton
Speaker of the Rhode Island House of Representatives
In office
October 1729 – May 1730
Preceded bySamuel Clarke
Succeeded bySamuel Clarke
In office
August 1727 – October 1727
Preceded byJeremiah Gould
Succeeded byJob Greene
In office
October 1725 – May 1726
Preceded byWilliam Coddington III
Succeeded byWilliam Coddington III
In office
May 1724 – October 1724
Preceded byWilliam Coddington III
Succeeded byWilliam Coddington III
In office
May 1722 – October 1722
Preceded byWilliam Wanton
Succeeded byWilliam Coddington III
In office
October 1717 – May 1718
Preceded byWilliam Wanton
Succeeded byWilliam Wanton
In office
October 1713 – October 1714
Preceded byJohn Wanton
Succeeded byRandall Holden Jr.
Personal details
Born1666
Newport, Rhode Island
Died3 September 1748(1748-09-03) (aged 81–82)
East Greenwich, Rhode Island
SpouseWelthyan Greene
Children7

Early life edit

He was the son of Thomas and Mary Fry of Newport and East Greenwich in the Rhode Island colony.[2] Frye was a glazier by trade.[1]

He became a freeman of East Greenwich in 1690, aged about 24.

Career edit

He began a long career of civil service in 1696 when he became a deputy, serving in that role during most years over a period of three and a half decades.[1] From 1698 to 1704 he was Justice of the Peace, he later served as Clerk of the Assembly for several years, and he was Speaker of the House of Deputies for ten years between 1713 and 1730.[1]

In 1707 he was appointed one of the commissioners to settle with Massachusetts the northern boundary of Rhode Island, and two years later he was appointed to a committee to run lines between the two colonies.[1] In 1715, he and Andrew Harris were appointed by the Assembly to transcribe and to prepare for the press all the laws of the colony, and in 1719 he was allowed ten pounds for his efforts to get the laws printed.[1]

In 1727 he was selected to complete the term as Deputy Governor of Jonathan Nichols who had died in office. He served under Joseph Jenckes who had just taken office the same year, and then was selected for the same position in 1728 for another year.[3]

Personal life edit

On 1 February 1688, Frye married Welthyan Greene, daughter of Thomas Greene and Elizabeth (née Barton) Greene, niece of Deputy Governor John Greene, Jr., and granddaughter of John Greene who was a co-founder of the town of Warwick, Rhode Island.[4] Together, they were the parents of:[5]

  • Thomas Fry (1693–1732), who married Mary Greene, daughter of Samuel Greene and Mary (née Gorton) Greene (granddaughter of Samuel Gorton), in 1719. After her death he married Eleanor Greene, daughter of Richard Greene and Eleanor (née Sayles) Greene (granddaughter of Roger Williams), in 1740.[6]
  • Mary Fry (1693–1732), who married John Spencer, daughter of Speaker John Spencer and Audrey (née Greene) Spencer, in 1716.[6]
  • John Fry (1695–1753), who married Elizabeth Greene, daughter of Benjamin Greene and Susanna (née Holden) Greene.[6]
  • Elizabeth Fry (b. 1697), who married, as his second wife, John Spencer, in 1746.[6]
  • Welthian Fry (b. 1700)[6]
  • Hannah Fry (b. 1702), who married John Holden, son of Lt. Charles Holden and Catharine (née Greene) Holden.[6]
  • Ruth Fry (c. 1703–1755), who died unmarried.[6]

He died in 1748, leaving a very large estate valued at more than 22,000 pounds, which included black slaves that were conveyed in his will to his unmarried daughters.[1]

See also edit

References edit

  1. ^ a b c d e f g Austin 1887, p. 298.
  2. ^ Austin, John Osborne (1887). Genealogical Dictionary of Rhode Island. Albany, New York: J. Munsell's Sons. ISBN 978-0-8063-0006-1.
  3. ^ Bicknell, Thomas Williams (1920). The History of the State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations. Vol. 3. New York: The American Historical Society. Retrieved 30 March 2011.
  4. ^ Austin 1887, pp. 88–89, 298.
  5. ^ Greene, George Sears (1903). The Greenes of Rhode Island: With Historical Records of English Ancestry, 1534-1902. Knickerbocker Press. Retrieved 5 January 2024.
  6. ^ a b c d e f g Greene 1903, p. 93.

External links edit