Godfrey Malbone (1724-1785) was born on September 3, 1724, in Newport, Rhode Island, and was the son of Godfrey Malbone, Sr. (1695-1769), who was at one time one of the wealthiest men in Newport due to his involvement in privateering and the triangle trade. As an investment, Godfey’s father purchased over three thousand acres of land in the towns of Pomfret and Brooklyn, Connecticut. When his businesses began to dwindle, Godfrey, Sr. mortgaged the property to Charles Paxton (1707-1788), a Loyalist in Boston, and signed a bond for the payment of the debts with his sons Godfrey and John (1735-1795). In 1766, Godfrey, Sr. relinquished his claim on the land to his sons and Godfrey, Jr. moved to Pomfret to live and help sell other Malbone land holdings. During the American Revolutionary War (1775-1783), the land mortgaged to Paxton was confiscated by the state of Connecticut due to his Loyalist inclinations. As a result, the Malbones and others, to whom he had sold land, lost their title to the land, since the mortgage had not been paid. Godfrey and John petitioned the General Assembly of Connecticut and ultimately the land was signed back to the Malbones. Godfrey Malbone died on November 12, 1785, in Pomfret and was buried in the Old Trinity Cemetery in Brooklyn, Connecticut.
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Godfrey Malbone oath, RLC.Ms.552, Redwood Library and Athenaeum.
This collection contains a printed oath filled in and signed at the Custom House at Newport, Rhode Island, and witnessed by Governor Stephen Hopkins (1707-1785) and collections officer, Joseph Wanton (1705-1780) on June 3, 1763. John and Godfrey Malbone, Jr. are listed as the owner of the brig Catherine, built in Warren, Rhode Island, and John Duprey as master. The verso of this document has the certification that Isaac Cowdery is now master of the Brig replacing the late John Dupey, signed by Wanton and Benjamin Wickham.
This collection is arranged in chronological order.
Gift of Mrs. Reginald B. Lanier, 1962 Feb 7
This document had been placed in a frame at an unknown date and was found within the Steel Cabinet Collection: Drawer 7. During processing in 2014, the frame was removed and the document was housed according to archival standards.