Frederick Clayton Olney (July 15, 1862 – May 24, 1918) was an African-American lawyer and entrepreneur. A resident of

Wakefield, Rhode Island Wakefield is a village in the town of South Kingstown, Rhode Island, United States, and the commercial center of South Kingstown. Together with the village of Peace Dale, it is treated by the U.S. Census as a component of the census-designated p ...

, with Native American ancestry, he was one of the first African-American lawyers admitted to the bar in the state, and one of the founders of the Gladstone Springs Water Company (which operated the historic water bottling facility in Narragansett).

Early life and education

Olney was born on July 15, 1862 in

Griswold, Connecticut Griswold is a New England town, town in New London County, Connecticut, United States. The population was 11,402 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Griswold contains the borough of Jewett City, Connecticut, Jewett City and the villages ...

to Gills P. and Betsey A. (Brewster) Olney. He was a descendant of the

Narragansett people The Narragansett people are an Algonquian American Indian tribe from Rhode Island. Today, Narragansett people are enrolled in the federally recognized Narragansett Indian Tribe. They gained federal recognition in 1983. The tribe was nearly la ...

whose tribal relations were abolished in 1881, and was "the only one known to have ever been a practitioner in the State or even in the country".E.C. Bowler,
An Album of the Attorneys of Rhode Island
'' (1904), p. 159. Olney received his education in the

South Kingstown High School South Kingstown High School (SKHS), originally known as the Wakefield High School is a public high school located in South Kingstown, Rhode Island. Approximately 931 students attend South Kingstown High School in grades 9–12. South Kingstown Hi ...

, and the

University of Michigan at Ann Arbor , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...

,J. Clay Smith, Jr,
Emancipation: The Making of the Black Lawyer, 1844-1944
' (1999), p. 160-61. graduating from the latter June 28, 1888. He was admitted to the bar in Michigan in 1888, and in Rhode lsland on March 10, 1889. Olney also became a notary public for

Washington County, Rhode Island Washington County, known locally as South County, is a county located in the U.S. state of Rhode Island. As of the 2020 census, the population was 129,839. Rhode Island counties have no governmental functions other than as court administrat ...

, in 1889.

Legal career and legacy

Olney was the third African-American to gain admission to practice law in Rhode Island, after John Henry Ballou and Maurice Baumann. While Ballou and Baumann each left the state within a few years of their admission to practice elsewhere, Olney remained throughout his career. In 1906, Olney was listed as the treasurer of the Wakefield Yacht Club.
Lloyd's Register of American Yachts
' (1917), p. 349. In 1911, Olney and business partners Syria W. Mathewson and William Sweet purchased Gladstone Springs in Narragansett, and incorporated the Gladstone Springs Water Company, building a springhouse and bottling factory on the site. The

Gladstone Springhouse and Bottling Plant The Gladstone Springhouse and Bottling Plant is an historic water bottling facility at 145a Boon Street in Narragansett, Rhode Island. The springhouse was constructed in 1899 by T. G. Hazard, Jr. The bottling plant building may date from as early ...

was added to the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artist ...

in 1984. Olney "practiced law in Rhode Island for thirty years and was well respected". He died in Wakefield at the age of 55. Upon his death, "a statement of praise for Olney by judges and the Washington County Bar Association" was "adopted and ordered spread upon the records of the court."

Political activities

Olney was a member of the

Republican Party Republican Party is a name used by many political parties around the world, though the term most commonly refers to the United States' Republican Party. Republican Party may also refer to: Africa *Republican Party (Liberia) *Republican Party ...

. His obituary in the ''Norwich Bulletin'' noted he was "once active in republican icpolitics and wielded much influence in sections of

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...

and

Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

counties".

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Olney, Frederick 1862 births 1918 deaths Narragansett people People from Griswold, Connecticut University of Michigan alumni 19th-century African-American lawyers 19th-century American lawyers Rhode Island lawyers Rhode Island Republicans