Descendants of Captain Arthur Fenner
Richard Fenner
[b 1774 at Coventry, Kent, RI; d 6 Apr. 1846 at Centerbury, Windham, CT] Richard’s parentage is not certain, but he was most likely the son of Richard Fenner [b 1752]. He m Sarah Harris [b 1778 in RI; d 1863 at Cranston, Providence, RI], daughter of Andrew Harris and Sarah Arnold, on 31 Mar. 1803 at Cranston, Providence, RI.
Richard was opposed to the integration of a local school for girls operated by Prudence Crandall, who had received an application from a bright African American student and had admitted her, around 1833:
A committee of four of the chief men of the village, [Rufus] Adams, [Daniel] Frost [Jr.], [Richard] Fenner, and [Andrew] Harris, visited Prudence Crandall and attempted to show her that such an undertaking was decidedly objectionable and seriously detrimental to the welfare of the whites of the community. One Esquire Frost intimated that Prudence Crandall’s project fostered social equality and intermarriage of whites and blacks. To this insidious insinuation, she bluntly replied, “Moses had a black wife.” To emphasize their decided opposition to this project, the people called a public meeting and drew up and adopted resolutions of a hostile nature.[2]
Child of Richard and Sarah:
Sarah Ann [b 1803 in CT; d 16 Dec. 1829 at Canterbury, Windham, CT] m Christopher Rhodes Stafford [b 3 Jan. 1797 at Warwick, Kent, RI; d 9 Apr. 1829 at Providence RI], son of Thomas Stafford and Polly Rhodes, on 16 Mar. 1824 in Providence, RI. All of their children died young. They had Ann [b 7 Sept. 1825; d 9 Sept. 1825], Thomas [b ca. 1827 at Pawtucket, Providence, RI; d 8 Apr. 1829], and Christopher Rhodes Jr. [b Jan. 1829; d 13 Apr. 1829].