In 1822, Pardon Miller and Judson Blake bought a swath of property from Ebenezer Dexter, then partitioned it and constructed two separate homes. Miller, a watchmaker and veteran, lived in the Federal-style home that is now 48 Angell Street with his wife, Ann Eliza Miller (maiden name Martin) and their five children. Unfortunately, both of their daughters passed away before the age of five. Their three sons, however, lived on to adulthood and had children of their own. Pardon Miller died in 1852. His wife and at least one of their sons continued to live in the home until the 1880s, at which point Ann Eliza died and the Millers finally sold the home.

Ownership of the home changed multiple times, and was rented out to tenants some years. Even as the homeowners changed, one thing remained constant until the 1930s: the flow of Irish-born servants, all women between the ages of 16 and 74, living and working within the home. According to census records — which will only tell us which servants were living in the home the year the census was conducted, and therefore can be considered fairly incomplete — at least 10 of these servants operated in the house from the 1850s to the 1930s.

While the home was owned by the Miller family, these women included: Mary Brennan, age 22, and Ann Brennan, age 16 (1850 census); Margaret Kiernan, age 22 (1860 census); Catherine Ghan, age 49 (1870 census); and Margaret Moran, age 74 (1880 census).

Mary and Seth Vose bought the house from the Miller children in 1886, though the couple never lived in the home. By 1890, they began renting the home to Edward F. Child and his sister Mary, who then bought the home in 1896. While the Childs resided in the home, they also hired live-in servants, all of which were from Ireland. These women were: Katharine Marron, age 52, and Catherine Pierce, age 54 (1900 census); and Mary R. Sheridan, age 31 and Margaret Maguire, age 26 (1910 census).

Edward died in 1912, but his sister continued to employ Irish servants for the next 15 years or so. The 1920 census shows that Margaret Maguire continued to live and work in the home, making her the only servant (as far as we know) to remain there for over a decade. In the 1920s, Mary Child employed another female servant whose name is not legible, but appears in the handwritten census record to be Mary Jonny, age 41.

Mary Child died of “broncho-pneumonia” in 1927. The house was sold to another family and the series of Irish servants in the home appears to have ended. However, the Scott family, who lived in the home after Mary Child’s death, employed a Black servant for roughly 12 years, according to a survey on African American history in College Hill conducted by the Rhode Island Historical Preservation & Heritage Commission. James S. Singleton was born around 1882 in North Carolina. He lived in the Pardon Miller House and worked as a chef for David C. Scott and his family from 1930-1942.

To read our complete historic house marker report from 1966 for this property, click here.