Sunday, October 2nd- 1:30 p.m.

The Banister Family of Newport, Rhode Island and Rock Hall

Speaker – Marian Mathison Desrosiers, Ph.D.

This is a story of three young people typical of other Americans during the Revolution. There is the young man, Thomas, who sailed to Long Island to fight for the British. He lost his Newport inheritance, valued in the thousands of pounds worth of real estate, and married Rachel Martin of Rock Hall. John, his older brother, married with a child, took an oath of allegiance to the United Colonies, then lived under the destruction of his Newport lands by the British army of occupation. The young wife, Christian, stayed in Rhode Island, taking care of the family property and their child, while the state threatened confiscation. The study of the three Banisters contributes to our knowledge of a war that affected gender, class, race, and family within the turbulence of fighting, confiscation, exile, and reintegration into the United States. Fee: $10; $8 seniors. Members free. Check is to be payable to the Friends of Rock Hall. Space limited. Reservations required.