1) CAPTAIN JAMES DEWOLF 1764-1837
(one of 15 children born to Mark Anthony and
Abigail (Potter) DeWolf) 

Captain Jim is Sarah Elizabeth Rose's
4th Cousin 6 times removed
Our common ancestor is Balthazar DeWolf

"In Bristol, RI, at one time an old town of Plymouth
Colony, stood the DeWolf Mansion always
spoken of as "The Mount". It fronted upon
DeWolf Avenue. Behind it rose extensive
possessions of the Hon. James DeWolf,
who was in his time, the dominant personality
of the town.

The Mount, was for more than half a century the
center of gatherings of successive generations
of that branch of the family commonly known
as the "Rhode Island DeWolfs".  The
walls of the long drawing room were quaintly
painted by hand, with scenes from
"Paul and Virginia",
interspersed with panels on which slaves
are seen toiling in rows of coffee plants
on Cuba Plantations belonging to members
of the family.

These latter, well typify two chief sources
of the princely fortunes of the DeWolfs
of that day - the slave trade and the
West Indian trade.

Old rhode island Vol 2 Issue 6, 1992,
Rogues, Rascals, and Pillars Of Society,
Part VIICaptain Jim's career began
during the Rev. War when, in 1779,
he sailed on a Privateer owned by
John Brown. Jim was only 15 years
old at the time and the privateer,
after successfully evading the British
fleet in Newport, was captured off the
coast of Bermuda.  James was
captured, escaped, and was captured
again. He was mistreated and
carried a life-long hatred for his
British captors.

The DeWolf brothers, following the
lead of their notorious, cantankerous uncle,
Simeon Potter, dominated Bristol's trade.

Called "The Triangle Trade, this is how
the operation worked;  At the first
part of the triangle, their molasses
was turned into rum at DeWolf
distilleries in Rhode Island, At point two, 
the rum was taken to Africa in DeWolf
ships, and exchanged for slaves. 
At point three, the slaves were sold
at tremendous profits in Cuba and
other ports up and down the coast
and into the Carribean.

James became
the richest of the five De
Wolf brothers. At age 20 while
serving on John Brown's slave ship,
"Providence", James made a great
deal of money and was able to use
his wages to buy a share of the cargo
and increase his profits.   At age 20
he became a Sea Captain, and was called
"Captain Jim".

 In 1784, the Rhode Island Legislature
wanted to pass a bill to emancipate
all slaves in R.I. James DeWolf,
members of the Brown family in
Providence and others used their
political influence to try and have
the bill quelled. The result was a
compromise, all blacks born after
March 1, 1784 were to be free,
all slaves between the ages of
fifteen and twenty-five were to be
indentured for seven years then
freed; all slaves over the age of
twenty-five were to remain slaves
for the rest of their lives.

The RI General Assembly passed a
law in November of 1787, which
imposed a fine on any ship owner
who was caught importing slaves
into RI.  This didn't stop James,
John, William, Charles, George,
Levi, and Samuel  DeWolf from
their work in the family business.

At the turn of the 19th century the
China trade was new and promising,
but the slave traffic still appealed
to the greed of some Rhode
Islanders. A Quaker inspired
state statue of 1787 had prohibited
Rhode Islanders from engagine
in the slave trade, but one could
choose to operate beyond the
state's borders (e.g. in South Carolina),
and thus escape penalty.

By 1790, at age 25 James owned his own
brigantine,
called the "Little Watt".

James DeWolf built a large warehouse on
Thames Street made of heavy timbers
and large stone blocks which had
been imported from Africa as
ballast. Here he loaded and unloaded
his slavers and privateers.

Not far from the warehouse was his
large distillery which was capable
of converting 300 gallons of
molasses into 250 gallons of rum
per day at the cost of about ten cents
per gallon.

In 1790 James, (like practically all of
the DeWolf's) married into one of the
finest families in the area.  James
married Nancy Ann Bradford,
(a Mayflower descendant), daughter of
Massachusetts Governor William
Bradford, a close friend of
George Washington.

Nancy, known for her irascible
disposition, added wealth, power
and prestige to the growing
DeWolf enterprises.