Reverend Henry Wight, founder of the nationally renowned Bristol Fourth of July Celebration has been inducted into the Rhode Island Heritage Hall of Fame along with three men associated with the Patriot victory in the Battle of Rhode Island on August 29, 1778.

The induction ceremony was held on Sunday July 19, the date Rhode Island ratified the Declaration of Independence, on Butts Hill in Portsmouth, the site of the American command post during the historic Battle of Rhode Island.

The event was sponsored by the Heritage Harbor Foundation, led by Patrick T. Conley, hosted by the Battle of Rhode Island Association’s Committee on Butts Hill Fort Restoration Committee led by Col. Paul Murphy, and the Rhode Island Heritage Hall of Fame, led by Lawrence Reid who served as master of ceremonies.

The other three inductees joining Rev. Wight were General John Sullivan, Commander of the American forces in the battle, Samuel Ward Jr., Commander of the American army’s Black Regiment; and Rev. Dr. Roderick Terry, Aquidneck Island philanthropist and civic leader who donated the battlefield site for public use.

Rev. Wight was nominated and inducted by Conley who also wrote a biographical flyer outlining Wight’s life and Bristol career. Receiving on behalf of Wight was Rev. Dr. Nancy Hamlin Soukup, his successor as pastor of Bristol’s First Congregational Church.

In the aftermath of the induction the Heritage Harbor Foundation delivered a total of over 200 flyers bearing Rev. Wight’s biography to the Congregational Church, the Bristol Fourth of July Committee, the Bristol Historical and Preservation Society, the Bristol 250th Commission, and Linden Place.

For further details and information contact Dr. Patrick T. Conley at 401-256-8094 or 401-272-1776.