Welcome to “The King’s Ro,” this antique cape is one of a series of historic Greek and Gothic Revival homes built by the Yates brothers in the mid 19th Century. Capt. James Yates came to America from England early in life, he married and began raising a family in Round Pond. They were the first family to settle and stay in the town. In 1742, it was noted that they were the sole family living by the protected harbor. By the fourth generation, Alexander and his brothers Gideon, Joseph and Phillip established this row of homes. Alexander built this Greek Revival Cape in 1848.

From one generation to the next, the Yates men were sea captains, Alexander among them, but he eventually stayed on land, lived in Round Pond, and contributed significantly to the region. Alexander ran a grocery where the Ro store now stands, he was elected to serve in the state legislature for mulitple terms, he acted as the postmaster and as a selectboardman. Yet, by the time of his death in 1901, the fame of his daughter, Elizabeth (Lizzie) Upton Yates (1857-1942) born and raised in Round Pond, had eclipsed his own.

Elizabeth Upham Yates was the first woman from Maine to serve as a Methodist missionary to China. Upon her return to the states, Yates became involved in the temperance and sufferegist movements. She was a prolific writer and speaker, and quickly grew into a national figure, criss crossing the United States to give lectures and push for equal rights for women. After her father died, she lived for awhile in Rhode Island, and was instrumental in convincing the legislature to be the first on the East Coast to give women the vote. Upon signing the 1917 bill into law, the Governor handed Elizabeth the pen, and she said, “I am rejoiced that Rhode Island has honored itself and womanhood by this measure of justice. It will never be regretted. I have labored for this bill for years and what it means to me can be known only by those who have stood with the minority for justice and waited its hour. I want to repeate a quotation from Victor Hugo bearing on the victory, which is “stronger than armies or any material force is the power of an idea when its time has come.”

When the U.S. Constitution was amended so women could vote, she said, “the clock of time has struck the woman’s hour. Only those who have given a lifetime of endeavor to the emancipation of woman from the thralldom of the ages can appreciate the significanse of the recognition of her political equlity in the United States Constitution. We congratulate our opponents who have had the wisdom to rally to the winning side, and shall ever remember most gratefully those who stood by us when it cost so much.”

As soon as possible after the 19th Amendment passed, Yates ran for Lieutenant Governor of Rhode Island. “The unique position in which I find myself not only shows the evolution of American womanhood, but also of American manhood, yea, of the whole human race.”

Yates bid for office failed, but more significantly, during that fist election when women could vote, Elizabeth Upham Yates aspired to the highest office of any woman in the nation. After which, Yates returned to her home in Round Pond.