While the Historical Society has many important documents from Newport’s earliest days, this small accounting, in which Benedict Arnold, in his own hand, bills John Clarke for various groceries and supplies, is a very human reminder of the lives of two of Newport’s illustrious founders. With the hindsight that comes from 320 years of the passage of time, we are able to know what neither man did when this was written: ten years after settling this account, both men were no longer living.