Name/Title
(FRANKLIN, ANN) (RHODE ISLAND). An Elegy on the Death of John Gidley, Esq; Capt. Sueton Grant, Mr. Nathanael Coddington, and Mr. TaylerDescription
[Newport: Ann Franklin, 1744].
Unique.
I can find no trace of this printing or the poem it prints in any library or reprinted in any local history. Not in Alden, who lists only three printings for 1744 (see below).
Bordered in heavy black, this elegy is a tribute to three prominent Newport citizens (the fourth apparently worked in the warehouse). "Out from the Loft each Man is thrown,/By Violence upwhirld upblown,/Down falling in the Dock and Ground, Burnt, naked, black, and all o'er Wound."
In September 1744, John Gidley and Captain Sueton Grant were surveying their ship's cargo in port when a cask of gunpowder ignited and exploded, killing them as well as Nathanael Coddington and a Mr. Tayler. Gidley and Grant were prominent merchants who had provisioned the ship. "On Wednesday happened a most unfortunate Accident. As John Gidley, Esq., Capt. Sueton Grant, and Mr. N. Coddington, Jun., the owners of the Privateer Prince Frederick, with one Mr. Taylor, were surveying the Stores of the Privateer in a Warehouse Chamber, a Pistol by some Means, unhappily went off, and gave Fire to about 500 Weight of Gunpowder in several Casks. The dreadful Blast blew away the Roof of the House, and the Planks on the Sides and End, and discharged about 50 Granadoes and 60 Powder Flasks, a large Jar fill'd with about 50 Weight of Powder and all Manner of Instruments of Death, and a number of Muskets and Pistols. The Damage done to the Warehouse is computed at about £1500, but to the Astonishment of every body, thro' the wonderful Providence of God, there was no Life lost, not so much as a Limb broke. The forementioned Gentlemen were all blown out of the Chamber different ways to a considerable Distance, with their cloaths all in a Blaze, and are very much scorched in their Heads, Faces, Hands and Legs, but is hoped are in a Way to Recover. ... " (Boston Evening Post 24 September 1744).Condition
Overall Condition
FairDate Examined
Oct 4, 2026Notes
Broadside, 11 x 7-3/8 inches. Chipped, upper left corner missing (affecting one letter), stained and folded.General Notes
Note Type
Historical NoteNote
Aldan lists 3 printings only in 1744:
1. Natan Ben Saudi (pseud). The Chronicle of the Kings of England. London Printed. Re-Printed and Sold by the Widow Franklin at the Town-School, 1744. Evans 5378, Sabin 20517, Hammett p 44, Winship p. 12. (One Copy noted at the Library of Congress).
2. Rhode Island Charters. To Be Printed and Sold by the Widow Franklin at the Town-School, M,DCC,XLIV. Evans 5483, Sabin 70512 (note), Hammett p. 5, Winship p. 12 (Multiple copies cited)
3. Rhode Island (colony). Election Prox. Richard Ward, Esq; Gov. Samuel Ward, Esq; Dep Gov [13 lines] Newport: Printed by Ann Franklin, 1744?. Broadside 16.5 x 11.5 cm. Without Imprint. Chapin Proxies 1. (One copy known at the Rhode Island Historical Society, Providence)