Thomas Frye (Rhode Island governor)
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2020}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| order = 21st
| office = Deputy Governor of the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations
| term_start = 1727
| term_end = 1729
| governor = Joseph Jenckes
| predecessor = Jonathan Nichols
| successor = John Wanton
| office1 = Speaker of the Rhode Island House of Representatives
| term_start2 = October 1729
| term_end2 = May 1730
| predecessor2 = Samuel Clarke
| successor2 = Samuel Clarke
| term_start3 = August 1727
| term_end3 = October 1727
| predecessor3 = Jeremiah Gould
| successor3 = Job Greene
| term_start4 = October 1725
| term_end4 = May 1726
| predecessor4 = William Coddington III
| successor4 = William Coddington III
| term_start5 = May 1724
| term_end5 = October 1724
| predecessor5 = William Coddington III
| successor5 = William Coddington III
| term_start6 = May 1722
| term_end6 = October 1722
| predecessor6 = William Wanton
| successor6 = William Coddington III
| term_start7 = October 1717
| term_end7 = May 1718
| predecessor7 = William Wanton
| successor7 = William Wanton
| term_start8 = October 1713
| term_end8 = October 1714
| predecessor8 = John Wanton
| successor8 = Randall Holden Jr.
| birth_date = 1666
| birth_place = Newport, Rhode Island
| death_date = {{death date and age|1748|9|3|1666|df=y}}
| death_place = East Greenwich, Rhode Island
| spouse = Welthyan Greene
| children = 7
}}
Thomas Frye (1666 – 3 September 1748){{Sfn|Austin|1887|p=298}} was a deputy governor of the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations.
Early life
Frye was in 1666, in Newport, Rhode Island, to Thomas and Mary Fry.{{Cite book|last=Austin |first=John Osborne | authorlink = John Osborne Austin | title=Genealogical Dictionary of Rhode Island|place=Albany, New York |publisher=J. Munsell's Sons|isbn=978-0-8063-0006-1 |year=1887 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LA7ntaS11ocC }} Frye was a glazier by trade.{{Sfn|Austin|1887|p=298}} He became a freeman of East Greenwich in 1690, aged about 24.
Career
Frye began a long career of civil service in 1696 when he became a deputy, serving in that role during most years over a period of three and a half decades.{{Sfn|Austin|1887|p=298}} From 1698 to 1704, he was Justice of the Peace, he later served as Clerk of the Assembly for several years, and he was Speaker of the House of Deputies for ten years between 1713 and 1730.{{Sfn|Austin|1887|p=298}}
In 1707, Frye was appointed one of the commissioners to settle with Massachusetts the northern boundary of Rhode Island, and two years later he was appointed to a committee to run lines between the two colonies.{{Sfn|Austin|1887|p=298}} In 1715, he and Andrew Harris were appointed by the Assembly to transcribe and to prepare for the press all the laws of the colony, and in 1719 he was allowed ten pounds for his efforts to get the laws printed.{{Sfn|Austin|1887|p=298}}
In 1727, Frye was selected to complete the term as Deputy Governor of Jonathan Nichols who had died in office. He served under Joseph Jenckes who had just taken office the same year, and then was selected for the same position in 1728, serving for another year.{{cite book|last=Bicknell |first=Thomas Williams |title=The History of the State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations |year=1920 |volume=3 |publisher=The American Historical Society |place=New York |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TF0EAAAAYAAJ&q=Greene |accessdate=2011-03-30}}
Personal life
On 1 February 1688, Frye married Welthyan Greene, daughter of Thomas Greene and Elizabeth ({{nee}} Barton) Greene, niece of Deputy Governor John Greene Jr., and granddaughter of John Greene who was a co-founder of Warwick, Rhode Island.{{Sfn|Austin|1887|pp=88-89, 298}} Together, they were the parents of:{{cite book |last1=Greene |first1=George Sears |title=The Greenes of Rhode Island: With Historical Records of English Ancestry, 1534-1902 |date=1903 |publisher=Knickerbocker Press |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jxdqSEfgK50C |access-date=5 January 2024 |language=en}}
- Thomas Frye (1693–1732), who married Mary Greene, daughter of Samuel Greene and Mary ({{nee}} Gorton) Greene (granddaughter of Samuel Gorton), in 1719. After her death he married Eleanor Greene, daughter of Richard Greene and Eleanor ({{nee}} Sayles) Greene (granddaughter of Roger Williams), in 1740.{{Sfn|Greene|1903|p=93}}
- Mary Frye (1693–1732), who married John Spencer, daughter of Speaker John Spencer and Audrey ({{nee}} Greene) Spencer, in 1716.{{Sfn|Greene|1903|p=93}}
- John Frye (1695–1753), who married Elizabeth Greene, daughter of Benjamin Greene and Susanna ({{nee}} Holden) Greene.{{Sfn|Greene|1903|p=93}}
- Elizabeth Frye (b. 1697), who married, as his second wife, John Spencer, in 1746.{{Sfn|Greene|1903|p=93}}
- Welthian Frye (b. 1700){{Sfn|Greene|1903|p=93}}
- Hannah Frye (b. 1702), who married John Holden, son of Lt. Charles Holden and Catharine ({{nee}} Greene) Holden.{{Sfn|Greene|1903|p=93}}
- Ruth Frye ({{circa|1703}}–1755), who died unmarried.{{Sfn|Greene|1903|p=93}}
He died on 3 September 1748, aged 81 or 82, in East Greenwich, leaving a large estate valued at more than 22,000 pounds, which included slaves that were conveyed in his will to his unmarried daughters.{{Sfn|Austin|1887|p=298}}
See also
{{Portal|New England|Rhode Island|biography}}
References
{{Reflist|30em}}
External links
- [http://sos.ri.gov/library/history/ltgovernors/ State list of lieutenant governors of Rhode Island]
{{Colonial Deputy Governors of Rhode Island}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fry, Thomas}}
Category:American people of English descent
Category:People from East Greenwich, Rhode Island