The Great Fire, and the Life & Times of William Sprague

On the evening of October 8, just three days before the 100th anniversary of the fire that destroyed the Canonchet Mansion of Rhode Island's former "Boy Governor," William Sprague, Emeritus Professor Richard Vangermeersch discussed the many facets of his life and career at the second of two events in the Metz Exhibit Building.

Sprague is of obvious interest to native-born Rhode Islanders, as attested by the full-house attendance. Prof. Vangermeersch spent much of this past spring and summer doing extensive research on Sprague, who, along with his first wife, Kate Chase Sprague, spent close to $7 million dollars (in today's money) to construct the 65-room mansion on the 650-acre estate he named Canonchet after a Narragansett sachem. Forty-six of the rooms were said to be bedrooms, and since, as Vangermeersch said, the mansion seemed to be perpetually expanding, the exact number of rooms it contained was never determined.

The Vangermeersch presentation was the concluding event in a series of free presentations sponsored by the Centerville Bank this year.

The evening began with a light dinner and wine reception, catered by Amalfi Catering, launching the Museum's 2010 Annual Fund Drive

William Sprague IV was Rhode Island's governor during the early years of the Civil War, resigning that post to organize and lead a regiment of Rhode Island volunteers into the war. He subsequently served as U.S. senator and as the first president of the Narraganssett town council.
His first marrage was to Kate Chase Sprague, the beautiful and ambitious daughter of Salmon P. Chase, who was Lincoln's treasury secretary and later Chief Justice of the United States. That turbulent marriage ended in divorce in 1882 and he was remarried the following year to Inez Calvert. They lived at Canonchet and in Paris until fire destroyed the mansion. The Spragues then permanently moved to Paris, where William died of old age and meningitis just one day before his 85th birthday. He is buried in Swan Point Cemetery in Providence.

For further reading (or listening): Selected Sprague Sources in the Collections of Rhode Island Public Libraries