06/03/2026
Revolutionary Patriot Deacon Sands Niles was born in South Kingstown on April 19, 1727, to Ebenezer and Elisabeth (Tucker) Niles, both from long established New England families. His father’s family came from Block Island, and is where he gets his name, a combination of “Sands” and “Niles,” his paternal grandmother and grandfather’s surnames.
Sands was a teacher and a deacon by trade. He came to the area when he married Elizabeth Cottrell of Westerly in 1745, and had five children together. Niles was heavily involved in local affairs, both with town government and the Borough Baptist Church, where he served as secretary. In 1763, he is listed among many Borough residents in a successful petition to build a school on Long Point, of which he became the “stern schoolmaster.”
By the time of the Revolution, Deacon Niles was very heavily involved with the town and military, serving in 1775 with Capt. James Eldridge's company of Stonington, 6th Connecticut Regiment. Niles marched to Boston during the British occupation to fortify the siege lines at Roxbury, and his name appears on several petitions and resolutions, including an appointment in March 1777 to the committee to care for the families of soldiers.
Niles also had the unique position of having such a close familial connection to Block Island, who was intricately connected to Stonington during the Revolution. When the island’s cattle were evacuated to Stonington, causing the British to attack us, Niles was one of the contributors to the defense.
Niles was captured in December 1777 while serving as an ensign in Col John Ely's Connecticut regiment. He had been caught by the British during an expedition against a Loyalist stronghold at Setauket, Long Island, and held as a British prisoner of war until 1781.
After nearly four years as a POW, Deacon Niles was exchanged and released back to his home in Stonington. He had remarried at that point to Bathsheba Palmer, and had three more children, two of whom died in childhood. Deacon Sands Niles passed away on December 3, 1799 at the age of 72. For unknown reasons, his wife Bathsheba died the very same day at 56. Deacon Niles was buried at the Robinson Burying Ground in Stonington Borough, the final resting place of numerous other Patriots.
Join us this Saturday June 6, 10am-12pm for a cleanup of the Robinson Burying Ground! While Deacon Niles’ brownstone may be too delicate to touch, there are several graves in need of restoration waiting to be cleaned. All cleaning supplies will be provided, and plenty of parking is available down the street at the town dock. We hope to see you there!
Niles’ epitaph is now eroded to nothing, but was recorded a century ago by Grace Denison Wheeler. It read: “By long experience have I known Thy sovereign power to save; at Thy command I venture down serenely to the grave.”
