Christopher Olney

(1745 - 1809)

Christopher Olney was a major in the Providence County militia in 1775 and rose to the rank of colonel.

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He owned Christopher Olney & Company, which operated two paper mills, the Rising Run (1773) and Brown George Mills, and a grist mill on the Woonasquatucket River. In 1788 he opened an iron mill on the river as well, and that section in Providence was named Olneyville.