One of the earliest books in the collection of the Newport Historical Society is a bible, printed in London in 1599. It was brought to Rhode Island in 1638 by Frances Clarke, wife of Jeremiah Clarke, one of Newport’s founders. Shortly after her third marriage, which was to William Vaughan by 1656, Frances inscribed her new name in the bible, along with many notes, doodles and smeared palm prints in February 1660.
Frances Latham Dungan Clarke Vaughan was the daughter of Sir Lewis Latham, Lord Falconer to King Charles I of England. She died in 1677 and is buried in the Common Burying Ground near some of her 82 great grandchildren.
Above: Leading page of the New Testament in Frances Vaughn’s Bible, from the NHS collection.