The Governor William Sprague Mansion is an historic mansion and museum at 1351 Cranston Street in

Cranston, Rhode Island Cranston, once known as Pawtuxet, is a city in Providence County, Rhode Island. The official population of the city in the 2020 United States Census was 82,934, making it the second largest in the state. The center of population of Rhode Island i ...

. The house was the birthplace of Governor

William Sprague III William Sprague, also known as William III or William Sprague III (November 3, 1799October 19, 1856), was a politician and industrialist from the U.S. state of Rhode Island, serving as the 14th Governor, a U.S. Representative and a U.S. Senator. H ...

and his nephew, Governor

William Sprague IV William Sprague IV (September 12, 1830September 11, 1915) was the 27th Governor of Rhode Island from 1860 to 1863, and U.S. Senator from 1863 to 1875. He participated in the First Battle of Bull Run during the American Civil War while he was a ...

The Sprague family

Three generations of the

Sprague family The Sprague family is an American business and political family in Rhode Island and Massachusetts. The family ran the largest textile firm in the United States and two of its members (William Sprague III and William Sprague IV) held the offices of ...

lived in the house. The Spragues were founders of the Sprague Print Works in 1808, which later became the Cranston Print Works, which is the only continuously operating textile printing company in America. At the time of the

Civil War A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...

, the A. & W. Sprague Company was the richest textile company in the United States, and William Sprague IV was the Governor of Rhode Island. William IV fought in the

First Battle of Bull Run The First Battle of Bull Run (the name used by Union forces), also known as the Battle of First Manassas

while he was a sitting Governor.

The house

The house was built around 1790. It was expanded significantly in 1864 by Col.

Amasa Sprague Amasa Sprague (April 10, 1798 – December 31, 1843) was an American businessman and politician from Rhode Island. He co-founded the A & W Sprague textile firm with his brother William Sprague III. He was murdered on New Year's Eve, 1843. Business ...

. He added a wide hall and wide, winding staircase, for the purpose of entertaining his social contacts from financial, political, and social circles. The house was added to the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

in 1971. Currently the house is owned and operated by The Cranston Historical Society, a private, non-profit educational and historic preservation organization.

Civil War cannons

The Cranston Historical Society and Rhode Island National Guard underwent a years-long dispute about ownership of two cannons used by Governor William Sprague IV's regiment during the Civil War. The national guard claimed that ownership of artillery pieces returned to the federal government after the war; the historical society maintained that Sprague had purchased them outright, and were his personal property. The cannons, manufactured in the 1840s, were used by Sprague's regiment during the Civil War. They were displayed at Cranston's Rolfe Square from 1924 to 1991, and removed because the wooden carriages were beginning to rot from exposure to the weather. The cannons were placed in the Sprague Mansion carriage house from 2005 to April 2017 when they were removed for restoration. In 2017, the sides agreed to return the cannons to the Sprague Mansion carriage house, while still leaving the question of ownership unsettled. Cranston mayor

Allan Fung Allan Wai-Ket Fung (born February 25, 1970) is an American attorney and politician who served as Mayor of Cranston, Rhode Island from 2009 to 2021. He was the Republican nominee for Governor of Rhode Island in the 2014 and 2018 elections as we ...

attended the ceremony to unveil the restored cannons on October 31, 2017.

References

External links

Cranston Historical Society
Houses completed in 1790 Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in Rhode Island Sprague, William Museums in Providence County, Rhode Island Sprague Mansion National Register of Historic Places in Providence County, Rhode Island Greek Revival houses in Rhode Island Governor of Rhode Island {{RhodeIsland-museum-stub

The Sprague family

The house

Civil War cannons

See also

References

External links