Abel Franklin, Sr.

"Abel was the first keeper of the Beavertail Light, and he owned the north and south Ferries on the west side of Conanicut Island." The first light was built in 1749, so this must be the one that Abel, at age 59, tended. The Beavertail Light, at the southern tip of Jamestown, marks the two main navigation channels into Narragansett Bay — an important location for a lighthouse, marking the entrance to the bay, and, the hazard of the rocks. This wooden structure burned to the ground four years after it was built. Its replacement was made of "rubble," (probably beach stones). A third one, of granite, was built in 1856. Abel's ferries ran between Conanicut (the larger of Jamestown's two islands) and the mainland (long before the Jamestown Bridge was built in 1940). The northern tip of Jamestown is opposite Wickford, in North Kingstown

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/29053109

Also have one source on Abel that says he was a cordwainer .. Shoe maker .. which was in their family tradition .

• http://www.werelate.org/wiki/Person:Abel_Franklin_(1)_
  • Dartmouth, Bristol, Massachusetts, United States. Vital Records of Dartmouth, Massachusetts, to the Year 1850. (Boston, Massachusetts: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 1929-1930), 1:89, Births. 'FRANKLIN, Abel, s. James, May 18, 1690.'
  • Congdon, James B. (transcriber). Births, Marriages and Deaths, from the Ancient Town of Dartmouth, Mass. New England Historical and Genealogical Register. (1867-1868), 22:67. 'Franklin, Abel, s. of James May 18, 1690'
  • Moriarty, G. Andrews. Some Notes on Eighteenth Century Block Island. New England Historical and Genealogical Register. (1951), 105:255. 'Abel Franklin ... was a prominent resident of Jamestown. ... He died testate in 1758, "aged 68 years".'
  • The Rhode Island Historical Cemeteries Transcription Project . 'FRANKLIN ABEL 1690c - 3 MAR 1758' in Friends' Cemetery, Jamestown, Rhode Island
  • Moriarty, G. Andrews. Some Notes on Eighteenth Century Block Island. New England Historical and Genealogical Register. (1951), 105:255. 'Her husband [Abel Franklin] is buried in Jamestown.'
• https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Franklin-87