The Tillinghast Account Book from the NHS collections. The "Blessed Fleet" is mentioned in the margin next to "Sunday 10th".
William Tillinghast (1753-1786) was born in Newport and studied medicine here and in Philadelphia under Dr. Benjamin Rush. In 1774 he returned and established a practice that lasted through the American Revolution, treating local citizens as well as American, British and Hessian soldiers in homes and on ships. A patriot, with Quaker connections, Tillinghast kept a medical account book including some personal observations.
On Sunday, 10 October 1779 he treated “Mr. Beebe, Mr. Thurston’s negro”, and noted, “The Blessed Fleet of Empty Ships Arrived.” The fleet had come to pick up the British Army, which evacuated Newport and sailed to New York. One ship of “The Blessed Fleet” ran aground at Riker’s Island in Long Island Sound and sank with the Newport town records, which were rescued and returned. Tillinghast died at the age of 33 and was buried in the Rev. Obadiah Holmes family plot on Vaucluse Ave. in Middletown.