"THE two oldest tombstones in the general burial ground at Newport, RI, are those of John Garde and Harte, his wife. These stones, horizontal slabs of sandstone each about six feet by three, are still remarkable after nearly two and a half centuries of exposure for the excellence of their sculpture and the clearness of their inscriptions, John Garde's stone is without ornament; that of his wife has a plain channeled border with a fleur de lys in each corner. The latter is broken into two pieces by a diagonal line nearly across the middle; the former is intact. The inscriptions in each case in the upper half of the stone are as follows:
HERE LIETH INTERRED ye t
BODY OF JOHN GARDE
MERCHANT AGED 61 YEARES WHO DIED
THE 7 DAY OF AUGUST 1665
HERE LYETH THE BODY OF HARTE
GARDE THE WIFE OF IOHN GARDE
MERCHANT WHO DEPARTED THIS [sic]
THE 16 DAY OF SEPTEMBER AN
DOM 1660
AGED 55 YEARES
[Note: In the original text, there is an accent mark over the final e in the name Garde.]
"These stones are almost the sole memorials of two persons evidently of some consideration who were connected for a brief space with Newport's early history and who went to their rest leaving behind them no representative of their name. Who they were and whence they came are questions which may never be answered. That they were persons of substance is evident from their tombstones, which must have been costly in their day. That they were of French origin may be inferred from their name, which, though written Gard in the records, is spelled Garde on the tombstones, the final e having the accent well defined. That they had some intimate connection with the Champlin family is probable from various facts, some of which are now seemingly inexplicable.
"The Garde stones lie in the oldest part of the common burial ground near the Champlins and directly east of and contiguous to the graves of the Hon. George Champlin and Ruth Wanton, his wife, but they have not always occupied this position. They were probably removed hither from the old Champlin property on the west side of Thames Street about the beginning of this century though the precise time is unknown.
"The earliest record of them I have found is in a mortgage deed in Vol. I of the Colonial Land Records of the date of June 15, 1683. In this deed, Philip Jones of New York, merchant, conveys in consideration of L 200 N. E. to Rebecca Tailor, widow of William Tailor, late of Boston, merchant, and John Nelson of Boston, merchant administratrix and administrator of said William Tailor's estate, his house and land in Newport (except the burial place of John Gard and his wife) being 3/4 of an acre, bounded south by land late of William Brenton, dec'd, north by land of Peleg Sanford, east on the highway that extends north and south in said town, and so said land extends twelve feet in breadth into the sea," &c.
"This property, which passed in 1685 to Rebecca Tailor and John Nelson, the condition of the mortgage being unfulfilled, is apparently the same as one of the parcels exchanged by John Champlin and Peleg Sanford April 9, 1675.
"John Champlin's deed is essentially as follows: John Champlin, merchant, late of Fayal, now of Newport, RI, a piece of land twelve feet in breadth, beginning at the west end of the out-kitchen on a line extending west southerly unto the street or highway running north and south, which said land bearing twelve feet wide by the street is bounded by land of John Champlin on the south and on the west by land of Peleg Sanford of Newport, for good causes, &c., transferred to Peleg Sanford of Newport in exchange for a certain parcel twelve feet wide bounded at the eastern end, twelve feet on the west side of said street, south by land late of William Brenton, north by land of Peleg Sanford, and so twelve feet wide into the sea.
"This last named strip either lay contiguous to or was a part of land formerly belonging to Jeoffrey Champlin as appears by a deed executed by Walter Clarke to William Brenton of Boston, merchant, of May 17, 1657, of 'a parcel of land in Newport between the street and the harbor bounded west by the harbor, south by said William Brenton, lately purchased of Jeffrey Champlin, east by the street, and north by land of John Cranston, which is one pole or perch broad, and the north side thereof is to run upon a due range answering to the line hedge or fence which is upon the end of the orchard of Walter Clarke so that the premised land bounded just one pole breadth witein the aforesaid range, excepting from the west side of the two graves [Footnote: These graves were probably of Jeremiah Clarke, the father of Gov. Walter, who died Feb 1651 and one of his family. Ed.], unto the street on the east side, with another parcel lying at the east end of Brenton's land, being the house lot lately purchased by said Brenton of Jeffrey Champlin, bounded west partly by said lot, partly on land of Robert Carr, and partly by land of Benedict Arnold, south upon the highway that leads up to the highest parcel of land bought of said Jeffrey, &c.'
"In another deed or confirmation to Walter Clarke, of Oct. 4, 1665, is mentioned among others a parcel of land lying near and fronting against the town, 'bounded north by the common and a high or driftway going out of the street or common, up easterly betwixt the land of Walter Clarke and land of Thomas Waterman, formerly of Robert Griffin, east or southeast by land sold by aforesaid Clarke to William Brenton, south by land of said Brenton, bought of aforesaid Walter Clarke and Jeffrey Champlin, and west by land of Peleg Sanford, John Gard, and William Brenton, which land contains twenty acres.'
"John Garde possessed other land at Portsmouth on Rhode Island, which also passed into the hands of William Brenton and was bequeathed by him in 1673 to his daughter, as appears by his will of that date, proved Nov 13, 1674.
"'5. Item. To my daughter Mehitable, all that my farm formerly in possession of John Gard dec'd now called Middleford,' &c.
"The same property is described in a deed of gift of Aug. 18, 1674, of William Brenton to his son-in-law, Rev. Joseph Brown of Charlestown, Mass., as follows:
"'William Brenton of Taunton, for love and respect, &c., to Joseph Brown of Charlestown, Mass., and his wife Mehitable, my daughter, and for part of her portion, all that my farm on Rhode Island called Middleford, bounded north by land of Matthew Borden, east by the sea, south by land of Thomas Cooke, Sen., and west by the common land of John Cooke and Anthony Shaw, being about 250 acres.'
"In 1683, this property was quit claimed to George Sisson of Portsmouth by Thomas Deane of London, merchant, 'one of the executors of the will of Joseph Browne of Charlestown in Mass. in parts beyond the sea Clerk, deceased,' and described as 'a farm in Portsmouth called Middleford lately belonging to said Joseph Brown, deceased, containing 240 acres more or less.' The only other reference to John Garde found in the records is a brief declaration that 'John Champlin, heir to John Gard, deceased, gives freedom to negro Salmedore.'
"This document, which is without date, is attested by Walter Clarke, Assistant, and recorded by John Sanford, Recorder. The document preceding it, as well as the one succeeding it, is dated 1673 and recorded in 1674.
"These meagre extracts from the Colonial records derived from Dr. Henry E. Turner's abstract in the possession of the Newport Historical Society, furnish all the facts I have been able to glean concerning John Garde. Of John Champlin, merchant late of Fayal, heir to John Garde, deceased, still less is known. He disappears from the records as mysteriously as he comes. Identity of name and contiguity of property are the sole evidences of consanguinity with Jeoffrey Champlin. Jeoffrey Champlin, who removed to Westerly in 1661, sold the last of his property in Newport, a house and four acres of land, to Walter Clarke in 1669. He had, so far as we have documentary proof, but three sons: Jeoffrey, the eldest; William, born 1654; and Christopher. A fourth son, John, is possible, and John seems to have been a family name. Jeoffrey had but one son, named after himself. William also had but one son named William, but Christopher, who had five sons, called one of them John, and John appears in all the later generations of the family."
Magazine of New England History, Volume 3
pp. 232-36
Newport Rhode Island, 1893
