73.
PUBLICATIONS OF THE
RHODE ISLAND HISTORICAL SOCIETY
NEW SERIES
VOLUME III. 1895
PROVIDENCE
PRINTED FOR THE SOCIETY BY THE STANDARD PRINTING Co.
1895
Eoitor,
AMOS PERRY.
publication Committee :
JAMES G. VOSE, AMASA M. EATON,
WILFRED H. MUNRO, JOHN H. STINESS,
AMOS PERRY.
656851 F
76
tis
*M
v.3
OFFICERS
OF THE
RHODE ISLAND HISTORICAL SOCIETY, ELECTED JAN. 8, 1895.
President. HORATIO ROGERS.
Vice-Presidents. GEORGE M. CARPENTER, E. BENJAMIN ANDREWS.
Secretary and Librarian. AMOS PERRY.
Treasurer. RICHMOND P. EVERETT.
STANDING COMMITTEES.
Nominating Committee.
ALBERT V. JENCKS, JAMES E. CRANSTON,
EDWARD I. NICKERSON.
Library Committee.
WILLIAM D. ELY, HOWARD W. PRESTON,
AMOS PERRY.
4 RHODE ISLAND HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
Lecture Committee.
AMOS PERRY, REUBEN A. GUILD,
WILLIAM B. WEEDEN.
Publication Committee.
JAMES G. VOSE, AMASA M. EATON,
WILFRED H. MUNRO, JOHN H. STINESS,
AMOS PERRY, FRED A. ARNOLD,
J. FRANKLIN JAMESON.
Committee on Grounds and Buildings.
ISAAC H. SOUTHWICK, JR., ISAAC C. BATES,
EDWIN BARROWS.
Committee on Genealogical Researches.
HENRY E. TURNER, JOHN O. AUSTIN,
GEORGE T. HART.
Committee on Necrology.
WILFRED H. MUNRO, SAMUEL H. WEBB,
AMOS PERRY.
Finance Committee.
ROBERT H. I. GODDARD, CHARLES H. SMITH,
RICHMOND P. EVERETT.
Audit Committee.
LEWIS J. CHACE, JAMES BURDICK,
FERDINAND A. LINCOLN.
Procurators.
For Newport, GEORGE GORDAN KING.
Woonsocket, LATIMER W. BALLOU.
Pawtucket, SAMUEL M. CONANT.
North Kingstown, DAVID S. BAKER.
Hopkinton, GEORGE H. OLNEY.
PROCEEDINGS
OF THE
RHODE ISLAND HISTORICAL SOCIETY, 1894-9?-
At a meeting held Jan. 23, 1894, Hon. Joseph W. Symonds of Portland, Me., read a paper entitled, " The Silent Changes of Laws and Institutions."
February 6th, Rev. Dr. Henry W. King, pastor of the First Baptist Church, Providence, read an essay entitled, " Religious Liberty Historically Considered."
February 20, Rev. Anson Titus of Natick, Mass., read a paper entitled, " Puritan Sociology."
March 6, Hon. Mellen Chamberlain addressed the Society, having for his subject, " Some Political Max- ims."
March 20, Professor J. F. Jameson read a paper written by Mr. William D. Johnston of Chicago Uni- versity, entitled, " Slavery in Rhode Island During the Palmy Days of the Institution, 1755-1775."
At each of the above-mentioned meetings the thanks of the Society were extended to the speaker of the evening.
6 RHODE ISLAND HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
The first quarterly meeting of the year was held April 3d. The secretary read the record of the last annual meeting and abstracts of the records of five meetings subsequently held for the reading of papers.
The librarian reported additions to the library. The most valuable genealogical work received is entitled " Family Histories and Genealogies." Special atten- tion was called to six volumes of " Diplomatic Corre- spondence of the Revolution," edited by Francis Wharton. On recommendation of the nominating committee the following persons were elected active members : Messrs. Henry Richmond Chace, George Franklin Weston, Henry Gould Day, Augustus Re- mick and Wendall Phillips Hale, all of Providence.
Information being called for in regard to the be- quest of Dr. Charles W. Parsons, Mr. Charles H. Smith made a brief report as a member of the com- mittee appointed to act for the Society in securing that bequest.
The Rev. Dr. Vose requested that his resignation might be accepted as a member of the publication committee, but after mature deliberation consented to withdraw said resignation, and the committee was re- inforced by the addition of the Hon. John H. Stiness and the secretary of the Society.
The desirability of having a field-day, and of visiting Plymouth, was called up by the treasurer, and on motion it was
Voted, That the subject be referred to the committee on field-days and hospitalities, Messrs. Stillman White, James Burdick and Charles Gorton.
PROCEEDINGS. 7
At a meeting held April 17, Rev. Oliver Dyer read a paper entitled, " The United States Senate Forty- six years ago, with Personal Recollections of Calhoun, Benton, Clay, Webster, and other distinguished sen- ators of that period," receiving the thanks of the Soci- ety for his able and highly entertaining lecture.
May 2, Rev. Oliver Dyer read a paper on General Andrew Jackson, the seventh president of the United States, containing an account of General Jackson's career up to the time when he became president of the republic. Mr. Dyer received an invitation to give another paper containing an account of Andrew Jack- son's further career, and the hope was expressed that Mr. Dyer would favor the Society with a paper on the hero of Lake Erie.
The second quarterly meeting of the Society was held July 3d. Reports were read from the secretary and librarian.
The secretary read a letter from Prof. Jameson of the special committee appointed by the Society to memorialize the General Assembly of the State for the purchase of the original General Greene papers, stat- ing that Mr. William Nightingale of Brunswick, Ga., had sold the Greene papers to a dealer in New York for a much larger sum than the State could be induced to pay for them.
A letter was also laid before the Society asking for information in regard to the kind of lottery wheel that was used in the lottery schemes that prevailed in this State during a long period of time.
On recommendation of the nominating committee
8 RHODE ISLAND HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
the following named persons were elected active mem- bers : John P. Campbell, Samuel Arnold Nightingale, Hamilton Crawford Macdougall, Albert Waterman Brown, all of Providence.
The following resolution, drawn up by Mr. Edward Field, with the view of awakening renewed interest in our local history through the medium of the Society's quarterly publications, was offered by Mr. Charles H. Smith, and was unanimously adopted : —
Resolved, That the publication committee be and they are hereby au- thorized to cause to be included in the " Publications of the Rhode Island Historical Society," such notes and queries, and such abstracts and copies of original papers referring to the history of Rhode Island, as may be approved by said publication committee ; and said committee are hereby directed to include in said publications such information relative to the Society as may be thought useful to its members.
September 25, Miss Caroline Hazard of Peace Dale read a paper entitled, " Thirty Years of the South Kingstown Quarterly Meeting, 1743-1773." The thanks of the Society were extended to Miss Hazard for her interesting paper.
The third quarterly meeting of the Society was held Oct. 2d. Reports were read from the secretary and librarian. A gift by Hon. Jabez C. Knight, of files of leading newspapers of New York, and of the Boston Journal, for periods varying from five to twelve years, dating from 1860 to 1873, was noted.
The secretary gave an abstract of two letters, relat- ing to the way in which the lottery business was car- ried on sixty years ago.
Fred Augustus Arnold, Frank Mason Mathewson,
PROCEEDINGS. 9
Thomas Williams Bicknell, Harry Lyman Koopman of Providence, Caroline Hazard of South Kingstown, Elizabeth Cass Goddard of Colorado Springs, Ben- jamin Miller Bosworth of Warren, Augustus Os- borne Bowen of Bristol, Henry Tillinghast Sisson of Little Compton, and John William Davis of Pawtucket, were elected active members, and Laura G. Sanford of Erie, Pa., and Charles Phelps Noyes of St. Paul, Minn., corresponding members.
Mr. Perry reported in behalf of the library com- mittee, to whom was referred, at the annual meeting, a communication that came through the hands of the editor of the Providence Joiirnal from Mr. S. M. Ham- ilton of Washington, offering to aid the Society in securing copies of Rhode Island manuscripts in the archives of the Department of State in Washington. Mr. Hamilton's offer was accepted, and No. 3 of Vol. II. of the Society's Quarterly contains the beginning of an extended series of papers from this source. The action of the committee was commended by the presi- dent of the Society, and the following resolution was unanimously adopted as an expression of approval.
Resolved, That the treasurer be and is hereby authorized to pay bills duly audited for copying Rhode Island manuscripts in the archives divi- sion of the Department of State, Washington, D. C., a sum not exceed- ing forty dollars.
At a meeting held Oct. 30, Mr. Thomas H. Murray, editor of the Lawrence Sun-American, read a paper entitled, " Some Early Irish Members of the Society of Friends in Rhode Island."
Nov. 15, Rev. Oliver Dyer read a paper entitled,
IO RHODE ISLAND HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
" The Presidential Career of Andrew Jackson, from March 4, 1829, to March 4, 1837."
Nov. 27, Mr. Harry Lyman Koopman, librarian of Brown University, read a paper upon " Henry Howard Brownell, the Poet of War and of the Sea."
Dec. 11, A Paper entitled, "Quality, the Prevailing Element in Representation," was read by Professor Jameson, its author, Mr. William B. Weeden, being necessarily absent. At each of these meetings the speaker of the evening received the thanks of the Soci- ety for his entertaining and instructive paper.
The seventy-third annual meeting of the Society was held January 8, 1895, the president in the chair.
In the absence of the secretary through illness, Mr. John T. Blodgett was elected secretary pro tempore.
On motion of Mr. Charles H. Smith it was voted that the reading of the records of the last meeting be passed.
The annual report of the secretary and librarian was presented and read by the secretary pro tempore.
Rev. James G. Vose, D. D., offered the following resolution, which was unanimously adopted : —
Resolved, That we regret the absence of our secretary, who has always been so faithful and laborious, and send to him our cordial greetings, and hope that he will soon be restored to health and activity.
The abstract of a letter from Miss Laura G. Sand- ford, in recognition of her election as a corresponding member of the Society, was read ; as, also, the abstract of a similar letter from Mr. Charles- P. Noyes.
PROCEEDINGS. I I
The following persons were elected to active mem- bership : Miss Elizabeth Bridgham Dexter of Provi- dence, and Rev. William Packard Tucker of Paw- tucket.
Charles Francis Adams of South Lincoln, Mass., was elected honorary member, and Oscar S. Straus of New York City, and Stanilaus Murray Hamilton of Washington, D. C., were elected corresponding mem- bers.
The president delivered his annual address, which was received and referred to the publication com- mittee.
The treasurer presented his annual report, showing in substance as follows, to-wit : -
Receipts, $4P&4 86
Expenses, 3,872 88
Cash on hand, 211 98
Life Membership Fund, . . . 2,443 ?6 Publication Fund, .... 3,797 70 Investment Fund, .... 23,000 oo
The annual report of the committee on grounds and buildings was read and received.
Mr. William D. Ely read the annual report of the library committee.
Rev. Dr. Vose presented the report of the committee on publications.
The report of the committee on genealogical re- searches was then read by Mr. John O. Austin.
Mr. Charles H. Smith presented an oral report in behalf of the finance committee, which was ordered to be received.
12 RHODE ISLAND HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
The officers of the Society for the ensuing year were then elected. A list of them will be found on pages 3 and 4.
During the election of officers by unanimous con- sent, and upon motion of Mr. Amasa M. Eaton, it was
Voted, That the publication committee shall consist of seven members, of whom three shall constitute a quorum.
Upon motion of Mr. Amasa M. Eaton the following resolution was unanimously adopted : —
Resolved, That the publication committee is hereby directed to con- tinue the " Publications " this year, at an expense to the Society not to exceed $550 ; and upon payment of the annual tax each active member (together with each life member), shall be entitled to receive a copy this year without further charge.
Upon motion of Professor Wilfred H. Munro the following resolution was unanimously adopted : —
Resolved, That in the opinion of the Rhode Island Historical Society, a statue of Roger Williams should surmount the dome of the State House about to be erected ; and that Messrs. John H. Stiness, J. Frank- lin Jameson and Charles H. Smith be a committee to present this resolu- tion to the State House Commissioners.
ADDRESS OF THE PRESIDENT.
Gentlemen of the Historical Society : -
The year about to close, while not marked by any striking incident in the history of our Society, has yet been full of quiet and earnest labor productive of much good and advancing our work to a higher degree of perfection than ever before attained. The growing interest in historical affairs, and particularly in that branch relating to genealogy, that has been adverted to by me in previous addresses, has again been appar- ent during the last twelve months. This awakening interest is in no inconsiderable measure due to our kindred societies, the Sons and Daughters of the American Revolution, and the Society of Colonial Dames of Rhode Island, eligibility to membership in which depends upon genealogical conditions. The latter society is entitled to special recognition for its commendable efforts to encourage interest in the his- tory of our State, especially in the young when the mind is most impressible, it having during the past year offered two prizes, one of $25 and the other of $10, for stories written by the young people of the State, less than eighteen years of age, upon subjects
14 RHODE ISLAND HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
suggested by some episode in state history. The first contest elicited many manuscripts, and the first prize was won by Thacher Howland Guild for a story enti- tled, " The Mystery of Manisses " — Manisses being the Indian name of Block Island, and the romance being founded on the traditional wreck of the ship Palatine on that island 175 years ago. The prize story was printed in the Providence Sunday Journal, December 1 6, 1894, and those interested in the tradition are re- ferred to the second volume of Arnold's History of Rhode Island, and to Livermore's History of Block Island. If these prizes are continued, and it is earn- estly hoped that they may be, they cannot fail of stim- ulating historical interest.
Since our last annual meeting the Record Commis- sioners of Providence have had the old town records in the custody of this Society, as well as those manu- scripts belonging to the Society, which had been bound up with them, separated and put in a thorough state of repair, so that the manuscript portion of our treasures is now in a condition never previously equalled. When our manuscripts shall have been completely indexed so that their contents shall be thoroughly accessible, we may well be proud of our stores of original historical material. The thirst for information in regard to Revolutionary matters de- mands that rolls and documents referring to that eventful period in our State's history should at once be put into the best possible condition for use.
During the year there have been sixteen meetings of the Society, at twelve of which papers have been
ADDRESS OF THE PRESIDENT. 15
read. The following is a list of the subjects of the papers and of the names of their writers : -
1. Jan. 23, 1894. " The Silent Changes of Law and Institutions," by Hon. Joseph W. Symonds.
2. Feb. 6, 1894. " Religious Liberty historically considered," by Rev. Henry W. King, D. D.
3. Feb. 20, 1894. " Puritan Sociology," by Rev. Anson Titus.
4. March 6, 1894. "Some Political Maxims," by Hon. Mellen Chamberlain.
5. March 20, 1894. "Slavery in Rhode Island dur- ing the Palmy Days of the Institution, 1755-1775," by Mr. William D. Johnston.
6. April 17, 1894. "The United States Senate forty-six years ago, with Personal Recollections of Cal- houn, Benton, Clay, Webster, and other distinguished Senators of that period," by Rev. Oliver Dyer.
7. May 2, 1894. " General Andrew Jackson, the Seventh President of the United States," by Rev. Oliver Dyer.
8. Sept. 25, 1894. " Thirty years of the South- Kingstown Quarterly Meeting, 1743-1773," by Miss Caroline Hazard.
9. Oct. 30, 1894. " Some Early Irish Members of the Society of Friends in Rhode Island," by Mr. Thomas H. Murray.
10. Nov. 13, 1894. " The Presidential Career of Andrew Jackson from March 4, 1829, to March 4, 1837," by Rev. Oliver Dyer.
11. Nov. 27, 1894. "Henry Howland Brownell, the
1 6 RHODE ISLAND HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
Poet of War and of the Sea," by Mr. Harry Lyman Koopman."
12. Dec. 11, 1894. "Quality the Prevailing Ele- ment in Representation," by Mr. William B. Weeden.
The necrology of the year comprises the names of the following active or life members : John J. De Wolf, George C. Mason, William D. Nisbet, Charles Sabin, Thomas J. Hill and Julia Bullock. Mr. Mason has been a procurator of this Society for New- port for a long period. He was a well-known architect and had most decided literary tastes. He performed much newspaper work, having been for seven years succeeding 1871 the editor of the Newport Mercury, and he was for a considerable time a correspondent of the Providence Journal over the signature of " Aquid- neck," and he was likewise a regular correspondent of the New York Evening Post. He has written various books, the best known of which, perhaps, is entitled, " Reminiscences of Newport," published in 1884.
Necrological notices of these deceased members will be found appended to the proceedings of the Society for the year.
William F. Pool, a corresponding member, and James Anthony Froude, Robert C. Winthrop and George E. Ellis, honorary members of this Society, have all deceased since the last annual meeting.
William F. Pool has achieved fame as a librarian, having had charge of some of the principal libraries of the country, among them the Mercantile Library of Boston, the Boston Athenaeum, the Public Library of Cincinnati, the Chicago Public Library, and, last of
ADDRESS OF THE PRESIDENT. If
all, the famous Newberry Library in Chicago. He has devoted much attention to the study of history, and has published many papers on library and historical topics, including the construction of buildings and the organization and management of public libraries. Per- haps the work by which he is most widely known is his exceedingly useful " Index to Periodical Literature," the first edition of which was published in 1853. He was elected a corresponding member of this Society Jan. 10, 1888.
James Anthony Froude, LL.D., the distinguished historian of England, was, according to Moncure Con- way, the last author that had the distinction of having one of his books burned at Oxford, and the first to avail himself of the law allowing clergymen to free themselves entirely from holy orders, and he lived to be appointed, in 1892, Professor of History in the Uni- versity where his book was burned. He came of a High Church family, and he graduated in 1840 at Oriel College, Oxford. Having been ordained a Deacon in the Church of England in 1844, he was for some time connected with the High Church party under the Rev. J. H. Newman, afterwards a cardinal in the Romish Church. His book entitled " Nemesis of Faith," pub- lished in 1848, was severely condemned by the Uni- versity authorities and was formally burned in the Public Hall of Exeter College, of which Mr. Froude was a Fellow, the Senior Tutor delivering a funeral speech over it upon the occasion. Between 1856 and 1870 appeared his " History of England from the Fall of Woolsey to the Defeat of the Spanish Armada," in
1 8 RHODE ISLAND HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
twelve volumes, and his " Short Studies on Great Subjects," being reprints of essays which had been contributed to various periodicals, while a few years later came his " English in Ireland in the Eighteenth Century," in three volumes. In 1872 he visited Provi- dence during a lecturing tour of the United States. Of the various works published by him, suffice it to say that the most recent are " The Divorce of Catherine of Arragon," a supplementary volume to his " History of England," issued in 1891 ; the " Spanish History of the Armada and other Essays," issued in 1892 ; and " Life and Letters of Erasmus, being Lectures delivered at Oxford, 1893-94," issued a few months ago. His liter- ary style is highly attractive, and the boldness and originality of his views have awakened much attention. He was elected an honorary member of this Society Jan. 20, 1874.
The Hon. Robert C. Winthrop was a lineal de- scendant of Gov. John Winthrop of Massachusetts. He studied law under Daniel Webster and was admit- ted to the bar, but he speedily abandoned the profes- sion for politics, becoming a member of the Massachu- setts Legislature and serving as Speaker of the lower house in 1838, '39 and '40. He was a member of the National House of Representatives for ten years, dur- ing two of which he was Speaker, and in 1850 he was appointed by the Governor of Massachusetts to Daniel Webster's seat in the Senate, when the latter became Secretary of State. His course on the slavery ques- tion was not satisfactory, however, and he failed of an election to the Senate in 1851. The same year he
ADDRESS OF THE PRESIDENT. 19
failed of an election to the governorship of Massachu- setts, so he retired from politics and devoted himself to literary, historical and philanthropic occupations. He has filled many positions of dignity and usefulness, among them that of President of the Massachusetts Historical Society for twenty-five years. He is best known, however, through his oratorical ability, his scholarly finished productions and his fervid eloquence placing him in the front rank of orators. His orations and addresses on great historical anniversaries fill several volumes. Mr. Winthrop was elected an honor- ary member of this Society, Jan. 18, 1859.
Rev. Dr. George E. Ellis graduated at Harvard College in 1833, and at the Divinity School in 1836, becoming a Unitarian clergyman, and being the pastor of a church in Charlestown, Mass., from 1840 to 1860, and Professor of Systematic Theology at Harvard from 1857 to 1863. He has been a very voluminous writer in theology, biography and history. He was a contributor to " Sparks' American Biography," to the " Memorial History of Boston," to the " Narrative and Critical History of America," and to the ninth edition of the " Encyclopaedia Britannica." His last work of considerable magnitude was " The Puritan Age and Rule in the Colony of the Massachusetts Bay, 1629- 1685," which was published in 1888. He was the fourth person upon whom Harvard has conferred both the degrees of D. D. and LL. D., and he has been vice-president, and, since 1887, president, of the Massa- chusetts Historical Society. Dr. Ellis was elected an honorary member of this Society, Jan. 9, 1883.
2O RHODE ISLAND HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
" The Publications of the Rhode Island Historical Society, New Series," has just completed ,its second volume, and it is gratifying to know that it is steadily growing in favor. It has been sufficiently successful, in my opinion, to warrant its being removed from an experimental to a permanent status, and I trust it will now be regarded as one of the fixed institutions of the Society, and treated accordingly.
Various works relating to Rhode Island have been issued from the press during the past year, among them two volumes of the " Early Records of the Town of Providence," and " The Records of the Proprietors of the Narragansett, otherwise called The Fones Rec- ord," in one volume, edited by Mr. James N. Arnold.
A particularly valuable and interesting addition to the history of the State is a volume entitled, " Roger Williams, the Pioneer of Religious Liberty," written by the Honorable Oscar S. Straus, who was the United States Minister to Turkey during President Cleve- land's first administration. The style is vigorous and the tone admirable. Though it is hardly to be ex- pected at this late day that much new material could be secured, yet the facts are so skilfully marshalled and arrayed, and the desire for truth and the freedom from prejudice and partisanship are so apparent, that this latest life of Roger Williams is peculiarly welcome and satisfactory. This author's appreciation of the colored, prejudiced and distorted sources of authority he neces- sarily had in great measure to resort to, is well shown by a few sentences quoted from his work. Speaking of the men of Massachusetts Bay who had driven
ADDRESS OF THE PRESIDENT. 21
Roger Williams out of their colony, and of the early chroniclers of that event and of its cause, Mr. Straus says : " No theory of religious liberty had found a " resting-place in the minds of these dogmatically de- " vout men, who had suffered and sacrificed so much " for conscience, and who proposed that all others who " might differ from them should likewise surfer. In " the theocratic commonwealth they were building up " there was no room for the assertion or propagation " of any opinion that did not entirely coincide with " theirs. The governor and council were to have a care 1 'to maintain peace and unity.' Under these instruc- " tions and with such doctrines, within the jurisdiction " of the Bay Colony, toleration was to be trodden down " as heresy, and the voice that should give utterance to " the heterodox principles of soul-liberty was to be " stifled, and its author thrust out into the wilderness, " where none could be corrupted by its unholy sound.
" The early chroniclers of New England were not " historians, but ecclesiastical partizans, and they saw " in every event the direct interposition of Providence " for the special guidance and protection of their little " commonwealth. The ministers and church-brethren " were the infallible interpreters of God's will, and all " dissenters were heretics and sinners. It is only " within our generation that the history of New Eng- " land is beginning to be truthfully written, and the " Puritan fathers — the Winthrops, Dudleys, Endi- " cotts, Cottons and Mathers — are appearing as crea- " tures of flesh and blood, clothed with their qualities " and defects, their virtues and their faults. Charles
22 RHODE ISLAND HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
" Francis Adams, in his recent book, very truthfully " says : -
" ' The trouble with historical writers who have taken " ' upon themselves the defense of the founders of Mas- " ' sachusetts, is that they have sophisticated away the " ' facts.'
" When that mass of sophistication which has been " accumulating for two centuries is entirely dispelled, " we shall then all the more heartily agree with Haw- " thorne when he says : -
" ' Let us thank God for having given us such an- " ' cestors ; and let each successive generation thank " ' him not less fervently for being one step further " ' from them in the march of ages.' "
In the fourth volume of Larned's " History for Ready Reference," issued from the press but a few weeks ago, is a long and valuable article upon Rhode Island.
During the latter portion of 1894 the United States Government issued a thick pamphlet of over two hun- dred pages, upon the " History of Higher Education in Rhode Island," by Wm. Howe Tolman, Ph. D. The book is profusely illustrated, and is a most in- structive and interesting addition to the history of the State.
Our second vice-president, the Rev. Dr. E. B. An- drews, president of Brown University, has within a few months made a valuable contribution to the history of the country in two beautifully printed crown octavo volumes. His " History of the United States," by bringing the narrative of events down to date, and by seizing the salient points and grouping as briefly as
ADDRESS OF THE PRESIDENT. 23
possible connecting events around them, presents a short compendious account of the founding and growth of the United States, which the busy man of affairs can find time to read, and which the student of history can use as an analysis for the broadest and most vol- uminous prosecution of the subject.
Of poetical works by well-known Rhode Islanders issued during the past year are two beautiful little vol- umes of graceful verse — one, entitled, " Narragansett Ballads with Songs and Lyrics," by Caroline Hazard ; and the other published by the Newport Historical Society, entitled, " Newport Ballads," by Charles C. Van Zandt
During the last summer the State of Rhode Island acquired, partly by purchase and partly by the exercise of the right of eminent domain, a large tract of land in this city upon which it is proposed to erect a capitol worthy of the State. Interest has been awakened as to the character of the figure that shall surmount the dome which is to crown the building. An allegorical figure of " Hope " has been mentioned, but one of our members, Mr. Charles H. Smith, has advanced the suggestion in one of the public prints that where a State, as in the case of Rhode Island, is inseparably connected with a great moral idea, a grand conception of the truest enlightenment, like soul-liberty, which has rendered its founder illustrious, and has illumined the world, there would be a manifest failure to appreciate the immortal principle which our little State represents and typifies if the figure of Roger Williams was not placed in that commanding position. It is earnestly
24 RHODE ISLAND HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
to be hoped that the able commission having the erec- tion of the State-House in charge will not lose the op- portunity of presenting so striking an object lesson as is now afforded them. Surely no opportunity should be omitted of identifying Roger Williams with Rhode Island, and of reminding all visiting the structure which represents the dignity, the majesty and the sov- ereignty of the State, that the unique and crowning glory of this little commonwealth is that it was the sheltering abode in exile of Roger Williams and the cradle of soul-liberty.
COMMITTEE ON GROUNDS AND BUILDINGS. 25
REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE ON GROUNDS AND BUILDINGS.
To the Rhode Island Historical Society : —
The committee on building and grounds beg leave to report that the property of the Society in their charge is in good condition, and that the amount ex- pended by them is $152 during the year. Respectfully submitted,
ISAAC H. SOUTHWICK, JR.,
For the Committee. Providence, January 8, 1895.
REPORT OF THE LIBRARY COMMITTEE.
On this seventy-third anniversary of the founding of the Society, the library committee would respectfully report : —
The library and cabinet have been, as heretofore, under the care of Mr. Amos Perry, the librarian and cabinet keeper of the Society.
26 RHODE ISLAND HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
The expenditures for books and for the distinctively library work and incidentals have been, according to the record of the librarian, as follows, viz. : -
For Books $174 50
" Binding 83 95
" Cataloguing 379 5°
" Records 83 50
" Furniture, stationery, etc 68 40
$789 85
In the museum the work of distribution and arrangement of its varied contents has been continued, and a large degree of order has been evolved from its former chaos. Many objects of value — from their antiquity, their rarity, or their perfection, — have been brought distinctly into view and made accessible for close examination and study.
Perhaps nowhere can more perfect tools and objects of Indian work in flint-stone be found than here.
Your committee regret they have been unable to pro- cure more new books the past year. It has been prevented only by the absolute and growing demand for greater admin- istrative efficiency under the new conditions of the Society.
The special work of indexing, not only the Military Records, but the greater mass of rich, and largely unknown material in the valuable manuscripts of the Society, is neces- sarily slow and costly. It makes no show or display when completed, yet it is to the Society a work of paramount im- portance and value. It is the key to the early history of Rhode Island. The absolute dependence of that history on manuscripts is a thing we seldom recognize ; but it may be easily imagined when we reflect that it was nearly one hun- dred years before the first newspaper was printed in the Colony, — and that paper lived but seven months (in 1732-3).* The Boston News Letter did not appear till 1704.! The New- port Mercury was commenced in 1758 — while the earliest volume of it in our library is that of 1772.
* The R. I. Gazette.
f History of Printing. — Isaiah Thomas.
REPORT OF THE LIBRARY COMMITTEE. 27
Manuscripts, then, are virtually the only main sources of our history up to the days which ushered in the Revolution- ary War, and it is only by this work of thorough indexing that the rich treasures of your early history, in the hands of the Society, can be brought to light. Only in this way can the coming historian find access to the evidence which will show the social, political, military and religious aspects of the life of the early settlers, and compel a reversal of the falsities, prejudgments and hostile criticisms, which have found the readiest acceptance with all the early historians, from among our neighbors, in their treatment of the history of the State.
CATALOGUE OF PORTRAIT GALLERY.
A very complete and valuable Catalogue of the paintings in the portrait gallery, with historic notices of the painters, as well as of the persons whose portraits are there exhibited, has been prepared by the librarian.
He has devoted to it much time and research ; and with a degree of success hardly to have been looked for at so late a day, and its publication will not long be delayed.
CARTOLOGY.
Attention has this year been also directed to the develop- ment, in the future, of a department of cartology.
Some two hundred charts and maps belonging to the So- ciety have been hitherto an unknown quantity, unnumbered, uncatalogued, unindexed — rolled and piled promiscuously in a dark and dusty closet and absolutely inaccessible for con- sultation, study or examination.
It is a department of much value, historically, and it is a misfortune that, for want of any spare room, they have been for a generation past necessarily treated with neglect.
The earliest opportunity has been taken, in spite of much other important work, to bring these maps and charts from their hiding places, and to clean, separate and so arrange them as to give ready access to the greater number, and to bring them under such general State and national heads as to make a simple, primary classification.
28 RHODE ISLAND HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
The only immediately available room for this was found in the east basement, where artificial light is required ; but it has given the means of cataloguing, in the near future, such maps as the Society has, and of determining the regions of the earth they severally cover — their various dates, scales and authors, and the wall space each one will require when properly arranged. The number of those mounted on rollers is about one hundred ; their size averaging about three by four feet, and covering about 1,400 square feet of surface. There are probably as many more unmounted, and in rolls — which cannot, in their present state, be consulted, and should be mounted on rollers or card-board, and arranged in drawers, or on shelves properly prepared.
The time for such neglect of this department has now passed away.
To say nothing of our local history, our town and State bounds so long in dispute, the geography of the earth is un- dergoing change.
1. Ancient Africa is gone. In partition, four or five lead- ing powers of civilized Europe now control it all.
2. Australia, the majestic island of the South Seas, geog- raphers now propose to treat as a continent by itself.
3. Japan is entering, on equal terms, the great family of civilized nations, and seems in a way of changing its own map, and that of China with its untold millions of industri- ous, though unwarlike souls.
4. The minor islands of the oceans are being seized and allotted by the several maritime powers : — and to return to our own coasts,
5. The possessions of the United States, instead of being, as at first, only a narrow strip along the Atlantic coast, now stretch over one-third of the circumference of the earth,* with San Francisco as its central city, between east and west : — while its mean of latitude between Key West, and
* Ittoo, the westernmost of the Aleutian Islands, being in lat. 187° 34' west of Greenwich, and Eastport, Maine, our easternmost port on the Atlantic, being in lat 67° west of Greenwich, a difference of more than 120°.
REPORT OF THE LIBRARY COMMITTEE. 2Q
its Alaskan bound, at the Arctic Circle, is at about forty-six degrees, or near Portland, in Oregon, on the waters of the Columbia River. Indeed, as is stated in Andrews' History of the United States, "the coast-line of Alaska is longer than that upon our Atlantic and Gulf coasts together." *
Other and not distant changes are in prospect which tend to make, not only the Sandwich Islands, but practically also a portion of the Nicaraguan coast, actual or virtual territory of the United States.
When these are realized, the mean latitude of the country will be nearly along the fortieth parallel, through southern New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Missouri, Kansas, Nebraska, Colorado, Utah, Nevada and California, virtually coinciding with the present dominant line of population, and of political and material power.
We have to do not only with the geography of the past, but also with that which is shortly to come ; events are moving with electric speed ; no one will question that the time for neglect in this department has ceased.
Until ample space is provided for all the maps, the more ancient maps in the collection might perhaps be advantage- ously hung on the vacant portions of the cabinet walls, and later, by special arrangements and contrivances, available space might be found for showing many others in the south gallery, till the cabinet is enlarged, and this without real pre- judice to any other department of the Society.
All of which is respectfully submitted.
W. D. ELY,
H. W. PRESTON.
*Vol. II., p. 253.
3O RHODE ISLAND HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE ON GENEA- LOGICAL RESEARCHES.
The committee on genealogical researches respect- fully reports : Continued efforts in furnishing facilities for students in this department are evidenced by a new arrangement of charts and manuscripts, making them available and thus serviceable. It is hoped that persons owning valuable family manuscripts will real- ize the opportunity afforded by this Society for the safe custody of such papers.
The latest publications of the record commissioners are giving much that is distinctly genealogical, and the forthcoming volume of " Vital Records," embracing church records, will be a storehouse of information.
The quarterly publication of this Society is doing something to stimulate genealogical inquiry, and should be aided by items and queries of members.
While your committee believes that a large and in- creasing interest centres around the little corner de- voted to this department, as shown by inquiries of numerous visitors, yet they have been sparing in their requests for greater facilities for readers, knowing the scanty resources of the Society. They do think, how- ever, that such sterling genealogies as the Earle and
COMMITTEE ON GENEALOGICAL RESEARCHES. 31
Rodman families, relating to this State, and the " Har- leian Society Publications," as a key to researches abroad, should be at once added to our small col- lection.
A special fund for the purchase of genealogical works is a " consummation devoutly to be wished," and it is hoped may some time be realized. For the Committee,
JOHN O AUSTIN.
32 RHODE ISLAND HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
REPORT OF THE LIBRARIAN AND CABINET
KEEPER,
FOR THE YEAR 1894.
So numerous and various are the duties devolving on the librarian and cabinet keeper that it is difficult to decide where to begin or where to end a report worthy of being read at the seventy-third annual meeting of the Society. On the iQth of April, 1822, the preliminary meeting for the formation of this Society was held at the law office of the late Jeremiah Lippitt, at No. 3 South Main street, Providence. Mr. Lippitt was elected chairman and William R. Staples, secretary. In just three months from that day the General Assembly had granted the Society a charter ; the Society had accepted and adopted that charter ; had adopted a constitution and by- laws and had elected its officers for the ensuing year.
During its first twelve years the Society had the Senate Chamber for its cabinet ; during the next two years it had the present counting-room of Messrs. Brown & Ives ; dur- ing the next eight years it had two rooms in the third story of the Arcade, thus passing twenty-two years as the guest respectively of the State, Messrs. Brown & Ives, and of the Arcade Corporation. It then (in 1844) became the owner and possessor of the old part of its present cabinet, which it has occupied upwards of half a century.
The Society has had two distinctive periods of history. During the first of these periods, from 1822 to 1844, it had no home of its own. It was said by one of its members to " move from pillar to post." It was cramped for room and lacked conveniences. Expressions of dissatisfaction are
REPORT OF LIBRARIAN AND CABINET KEEPER. 33
found in the records of that period. An impression prevailed that if the Society could have a cabinet of its own, its success and usefulness would be assured. Accordingly its energies were directed to that end. An earnest effort was made and a cabinet was secured, with facilities for a better work than had been done
The facts in the case are as follows : —
During its first twenty-two years (1822 to 1844), there were brought out in the name of the Society five volumes of its collections, — volumes that do honor to their authors and their editors, and to those who contributed funds for their publication. The names of Elisha R. Potter, Wm. R. Sta- ples, Romeo Elton and Zachariah Allen, merit special men- tion in this connection. The volumes were issued as follows : Vol. I., Roger Williams' Key, the manuscript copy of which was furnished by Mr. Allen, 1827 ; Vol. II., Gorton's Sim- plicity's Defence, edited by W. R. Staples, in 1835; Vol. III., Early History of Narragansett, by E. R. Potter, in 1835 ; Vol. IV, Callender's Centennial Discourse, edited by Romeo Elton, 1838 ; Vol. V, Annals of Providence, by W. R. Sta- ples, 1843.
During its last half century, 1844 to 1895, the Society has issued three volumes of its collections, as follows : Vol. VI- in 1867, twenty-four years elapsing between the issue of Vol. V. and Vol. VI.; Vol. VII. in 1885, eighteen years elaps- ing between the issue of Vols. VI. and Vol. VII., and Vol. VIII. in 1893, seven years elapsing between the issue of the last two volumes. The Society printed, between 1843 and 1872, several annual discourses ; from 1872 to 1892 inclusive, it printed twenty-one "Proceedings," and since the latter date it has printed two volumes of its quarterly publication.
These reminiscences may suggest considerations favorable to a higher plane of life. We have, it is believed, members who, if encouraged, might be induced to produce, under the auspices of the Society, one or more volumes of its col- lections that would reflect credit on themselves and pro- mote the objects of our association. This hasty review of the doings of the Society during the last seventy
34 RHODE ISLAND HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
years can hardly fail to suggest some lessons worthy of attention at this time. The acquisition of a cabinet of its own, fifty years ago, failed to quicken its life or immediately promote the objects for which it was founded. No special effort was made to have the cabinet that was dedicated in 1844 furnished and put in good order for a third of a century. It is evident that the Society can ill afford to rest satisfied with any of its acquisitions or achievements. Its enlarged accommodations, spacious rooms and improvements of various kinds promise success only on the condition that they are followed up and made to subserve their appropriate ends. In fact, they involve new responsi- bilities,— require increased care, labor and expense. 'The enlargement of the cabinet, that has been secured by much earnest effort, implies new life to be shown in new and en- larged enterprises. Attention is called to this matter be- cause unfortunately an impression prevails that the Society is provided with ample funds to carry forward the work in- cumbent upon it. On the contrary, it sorely needs funds to meet current expenses, to purchase books, newspapers and pamphlets that are in constant demand, to sustain its quar- terly publication, bring out other volumes of its collections, and to secure and sustain such a clerical force as shall clas- sify and render available, by catalogue and index, every book, pamphlet, manuscript and article of whatever nature in the cabinet.
By the recent addition to the cabinet the Society became possessed of eleven new rooms and of a large and commodi- ous basement. The mass of heterogeneous material that was four years ago packed away in one room is now arranged in twelve rooms. Much of the work consequent upon this change, has been done. Indeed, some progress has been made in every part of the cabinet, and some new departments and classifications have been made, as will appear by state- ments made further on. But what has been done appears to the librarian small compared with what needs to be done. To illustrate, there are in the cabinet, aside from the news- paper-room and two great rooms in the basement, seven
REPORT OF LIBRARIAN AND CABINET KEEPER. 35
rooms containing books to be catalogued. But no books have yet been catalogued except those in the central room, and even there the work is not complete. This department of labor merits more attention and a stronger clerical force than it has yet had.
Again, there is in this cabinet (mostly in the central room), a very large and valuable collection of manuscripts pertaining to our local history. Some of these have been arranged and placed in folio volumes. Some are still unclassified, and none of them have been indexed and catalogued. Here is a work that should be taken up and pushed at the earliest mo- ment. The librarian is grateful that he is permitted to em- ploy for a brief period an experienced indexer to work upon four volumes of military records of the Revolutionary period. He appeals to generous friends for aid in this work. Will they not enable him to continue this very important branch of labor ? With the interest now awakened in Revolution- ary, colonial and family history, the means should not be wanting to classify, arrange, catalogue and index this mass of papers together with many orderly-books, some of which are records that were kept within the limits of this State during the Revolutionary War.
Owing to my sudden and serious illness the foregoing part of my annual report, as librarian and cabinet keeper, was alone presented at the annual meeting. My enforced ab- sence afforded an occasion for one of my colleagues on the library committee (Mr. Wm. D. Ely), to furnish such an account as regularly devolves on me, of some of the work done during the year 1894 by me or under my immediate direction. I refer appreciatively to his notice of the cata- logue which I drew up of the portraits in the picture gallery, and also to some of his remarks about the maps and charts arranged under my supervision in a room where the tact and skill of my assistant in the museum department are seen and appreciated. This map-room affords excellent accommoda- tions for all the maps and charts, old as well as new, that be- long to the Society or are likely to belong to it for years to come.
36 RHODE ISLAND HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
The reception book shows the acquisitions (aside from newspapers) during the year 1894, to be classified as fol- lows : —
Bound volumes 721
Pamphlets and unbound volumes li9S2
Miscellaneous articles 152
Total number 2,825
MISCELLANEOUS ARTICLES.
To this class belong family keepsakes, portraits, maps, charts, manuscripts of various kinds and many articles that belong to the museum department of the cabinet. The por- traits of several lamented members, who did in their day emi- nent service for the Society, have been added to the picture gallery during the past year. These are duly noticed in the catalogue of the portraits that will probably be printed in the July number of the quarterly. The Psalter used by Gabriel Bernon while he was a prisoner in France, and other memo- rials of that eminent Huguenot, together with the Diary of John Saffin, were received as gifts from the Misses Mary and Laura, sisters of the lamented Esther Bernon Carpenter, of Wakefield, R. I.
THE GENEALOGICAL ROOM.
Marked improvements made in this room during the year 1894, are the result of kindly cooperation on the part of the committee on genealogical researches. To the report of that committee I refer readers for the mention of some important wants, especially the need of a fund for the purchase of genea- logical works. I am indebted to Mr. Austin and other friends for counsel in the work here carried on. The great interest awakened in genealogical pursuits causes the works in this room to be more sought and used than those of any other room in the cabinet. Inconvenience and trouble have arisen from the lack of method and order on the part of some persons who are allowed the use of the room and books. The librarian solicits suggestions as to what rules should be
REPORT OF LIBRARIAN AND CABINET KEEPER. 37
adopted for the common good. Following is a list of the works that were added to the library of this room during the year 1894:-
FAMILY GENEALOGIES.
Buck Family, of Bucks Co., Penn;
Booth Family.
Chapin Gathering. Proceedings at the meeting of the Chapin Family, in Springfield, Mass., Sept. 17, 1862.
Clark, Hugh. Records of the Descendants of
Crafts Family (The).
Cushmans. Historical and Biographical Genealogy of the Descendants of Robert Cushman.
Estes Genealogies. 1097-1893. By Charles Estes of Warren, R. I.
French. Notes on the Surnames of Francus, Franceis, French, etc., in Scotland.
Giles Memorial (The).
Gillson and Jillson Family. Genealogy of the
Greene Family. Genealogy of the Descendants of Joseph Greene.
Hicks Family. One Branch of the
Howes Family in America. Genealogy of the Descendants of Thomas Howes.
Mauran Family. Memorials of the
Morton, Hon. Levi Parsons. Memoranda relating to the Ancestry and Family of
Peirce Family of the Old Colony. (Contributions : Biographical, Gene- alogical and Historical, by Ebenezer W. Peirce.)
Putnam Family. A History of the
Savage, John, of Middletown, Conn. 1652. Family of
Stiles Family in America. Genealogy of the
Vinton Memorial (The). Genealogy of the Descendants of John Vinton.
Wheeler and Warren Families.
Whitman, John, of Weymouth, Mass. History of the Descendants of
Woodmans (The), of Buxton, Maine.
Woolworth, Richard and Hannah Huggins. The Descendants of
GENEALOGICAL WORKS.
American Ancestry. Munsell, Vol. IX.
American Heraldica. Edited by E. de V. Vermont.
Family Histories and Genealogies, 7 quarto vols. By Edw. Eldridge and
Evelyn McCurdy Salisbury. One Hundred and Sixty ALLIED FAMILIES, by John O. Austin, a work of
rare merit. Vital Records of Rhode Island. Arnold, Vols. V. and VI.
38 RHODE ISLAND HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
PAMPHLETS.
Dudley Family. History of the, No. IX.
Dudley, Gov. Thomas, Family Association. First Annual Meeting of the
Felton Family. A Genealogical History of the Descendants of Lieut.
Nathaniel Felton. Green, Ezra. Family of Huntoon, Philip, and his Descendants. Jackson Family, (MS. Notes). Philbrook, Thomas Weld (MS.). Sprague Family Items, by D. H. Kelton (MS.).
THE NEWSPAPER-ROOM.
Owing to the demands upon my time in other parts of the cabinet, the needed improvements to which attention was called in my last annual report, have not been made. The privileges here enjoyed for the pursuit of certain branches of our local history, have been better improved than during any previous year. Though less frequently used as a means of establishing titles to real estate, the value of the library for this purpose is unquestioned. The attractions of this room are as a whole second only to those of the genealogical-room.
The following unbound volumes of newspapers have been received as a gift to the Society from the Hon. Jabez C. Knight, ex-Mayor of Providence, who informs me that these papers were procured by the late Lewis P. Child, with the view of serving the cause of history during the interesting period which they cover : —
New York Herald, from 1861 to 1870.
New York Tribune, from 1861 to 1873.
New York Times, from 1861 to 1870.
New York World, from 1861 to 1870.
New York Journal of Commerce, Jr., from 1861 to 1865.
Boston Daily Journal, from 1861 to 1872.
The above-named newspapers have been arranged upon shelves preparatory to being bound. As they cover the period of our Civil War and immediately subsequent to it, they are presumed to be of special interest to students of our national history during that period, and requests have been made to have them bound and placed where they can be con-
REPORT OF LIBRARIAN AND CABINET KEEPER. 39
suited. That desirable step cannot, however, be taken till funds are provided for that purpose. A cash contribution is suggested as an appropriate way of forwarding such a move- ment. According to a hasty estimate, the cost of binding the above-named volumes will be upwards of $300.
MATERIAL GROWTH AND HOW SECURED.
The statistics below, showing the number of resident and life members of the Society in the month of January for twenty-four successive years — 1872 to 1895 inclusive — are drawn from the "Proceedings," printed in the early part of each year during this period. This statement gives a pretty clear idea of the material growth of the Society. The num- ber of resident or active members increased, in that time, from 8 1 to 313, and while the whole income was only $260.10 in 1872, it was $4,084.86 in 1895. These changes came about under the same treasurer, Mr. Richmond P. Everett, who is a grandson of Deacon John Rowland, and has served the Soci- ety in that capacity gratuitously and efficiently for twenty- eight years. The life membership fund was established by six members in 1872, but too late to have their names printed in the " Proceedings " of that year. In the " Proceedings " of 1895 are the names of 47 life members, whose combined initi- ation fees constitute a permanent fund of $2,350. Attention is invited to the life membership list in the hope of seeing the fund so well begun greatly enlarged.
One means of improving the condition of the Society has been, and is, the judicious
USE OF PRINTER'S INK.
The establishment of the annual publication in 1872 marks an era in the history of the Society, and the establish- ment of the quarterly in 1893 will, it is hoped, prove no less advantageous. As, however, this movement is but an exper- iment, its friends will do well to lend it their cordial support by sending to the treasurer many dollar subscriptions. With- out such an endorsement or such an expression of appreci- ation of the " Publications," the hopes now entertained of
4O RHODE ISLAND HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
success may be disappointed. A volume of Narragansett annals, traditions and sketches of men, scenes and events of what is, in some respects, the most interesting section of the State, is especially called for at this time. Judge Potter's name will ever be held in honor for the very valuable work which he brought out sixty years ago. Miss Carpenter was cut off in the midst of a career of usefulness. But it is a source of satisfaction that another laborer in that historic field has been raised up with special qualifications for the work that awaits her skilful pen.
Another means of improvement that should never be over- looked consists in taking
CARE OF THE CABINET AND ITS CONTENTS.
Neglect here indicates decay. Much interest was not en- listed in this direction till after 1875, and the work, which was pithily termed, — " The Cleansing of the Augean Sta- ble," was not fairly undertaken till about 1880. In 1865, the late Professor Diman compared the historical cabinet, in an article printed in the Providence Journal, to "a tomb, opened now and then to receive precious relics." The improvements, that were begun while he was living, called forth from him expressions of grateful appreciation. Since then, however, the condition and aspect of the cabinet have been greatly im- proved, and it is well to be understood that this work needs to be energetically and continuously pushed, and that to this end a skilful and efficient clerical force is indispensable.
|
Year. 1872 |
Number of resident members. 81 |
Number of life members. o |
|
IS?"? . |
Q7 |
7 |
|
1874. . . |
14.6 |
|
|
187? |
1A./L |
IO |
|
1876 |
I7C |
II |
|
1877 |
2O2 |
12 |
|
^78 |
208 |
12 |
|
l87Q . . |
214 |
14. |
|
l88o |
221 |
16 |
|
1881 .. |
224 |
18 |
REPORT OF LIBRARIAN AND CABINET KEEPER. 41
Year.
1882 1883 1884 1885 1886 1887 1888 1889 1890 1891 1892
1893 1894
1895
|
Number of resident members. 2/17 |
Number of life members. 18 |
|
248 |
IQ |
|
2C7 |
|
|
266 |
|
|
26l |
2C |
|
26 |
|
|
2rg |
26 |
|
2C"I |
28 |
|
280 |
11 |
|
• • • • tOO |
l8 |
|
-ITO |
AO |
|
10 1 |
4.6 |
|
»M |
47 |
EARLIER STATISTICS.
Since the completion of the foregoing statement the fol- lowing account of the income of the Society, taken from the treasurer's reports for each of the seven years immediately preceding the annual publication, has been taken from its pigeon-hole. The account is as follows :
1865. 8 annual taxes, $ 24. i admission fee, $ 5. Total, $ 29
1866. 91 " 273. 2 " 10. " 283
1867. 66 " 198. 5 " 25. " 223
1868. 77 231. 7 " 35. " 266
1869. 57 171. 4 20. " 191
1870. 54 " 162. 3 " 15. " 177
1871. 61 183. 4 " 20. " 203
CORRESPONDENCE.
It hardly need be said that the correspondence resulting from the Society's relations to its numerous members, to kindred institutions with which it is associated, and to per- sons living in different parts of the globe who solicit atten- tion on the ground that Rhode Island is their ancestral home, has become extended year by year, and to the duties thus devolving on the librarian has now been added no small amount of labor, resulting from the publication and distribu- tion of the Society's quarterly publication. Scores, if not
42 RHODE ISLAND HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
hundreds, of letters are addressed annually to the librarian, asking him to make such researches as will determine whether their authors are qualified to become members of certain patriotic societies. Many of these letters have to be either put into other hands or returned unanswered.
A list of the institutions and persons whose gifts are re- corded in the accession book will be found further on.
AMOS PERRY, Librarian and Cabinet Keeper.
REPORT OF PUBLICATION COMMITTEE. 43
REPORT OF PUBLICATION COMMITTEE.
The publication committee of the Rhode Island Historical Society begs leave to report : —
The " Publications of the Rhode Island Historical Society, New Series," have been issued quarterly during the year, as follows : —
No. 4, Vol. I., was issued in January, and contained articles on " Know-N9thingism in Rhode Island," the " Development of the Nominating Convention in Rhode Island," and " Early History of the Colonial Postoffice."
No. i, Vol. II., was issued in April, and contained the ad- dress of the President, reports of committees, together with the proceedings of the annual meetings, etc.
No. 2, issued in July, was made up of an article entitled, "Slavery in Rhode Island, 1775-1776," by William B. John- ston, A. B.
No. 3, issued in October, contained " Rhode Island Manu- scripts in the National Archives at Washington," "Military Records in National Archives," and a number of interesting communications, sketches and notes.
With this number a greater variety has been introduced, and the way epened for a larger freedom of investigation in genealogical and other matters.
The bills for printing the publications were : —
January, 1 894, Number, $ 96 60
The April Number, .... 161 78
The July Number, . . ... . 105 50
The October Number, .... 94 20
#458 08
If we deduct the amount of the general appropriation for the annual report contained in No. I, $150, and credit the
44 RHODE ISLAND HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
subscriptions for 1894, $171> an^ the amount received for ad- vertisements, $20, total, $191, the entire cost for the year, in excess of the usual appropriation for the annual report, was only $117.08.
And if we further deduct the cost of printing the January, 1894, number, $96.60, as it was included in the last annual report, it leaves a balance of only $20.48.
It will be remembered that in the report of this committee, presented two years ago, a resolution was presented that was adopted, instructing the committee to publish the four num- bers for the year at a total cost not to exceed $500.
The expense last year has proved to be within that limit.
The actual expense to the Society beyond what is always incurred for the annual report of proceedings, etc., is thus shown to be very small.
It remains for the Society to decide whether the quarterly shall be continued. The committee is ready to acknowledge its deficiencies, but hopes that the magazine has not wholly failed of its object, while the experience of the past may be helpful in the way of improvement.
An enlargement of the committee is recommended should it be decided to continue the " Publications."
The committee also recommends that, if continued, the " Publications " shall hereafter be issued at the expense of the Society, and that, upon payment of the annual tax, the mem- bers shall be entitled to receive the quarterly for the current year, without further charge.
The committee wishes to acknowledge its indebtedness to the Secretary, Mr. Perry, who has acted as the editor of the Publications for the Publication Committee, and who has de- voted much time and care to the work. Respectfully submitted,
JAMES G. VOSE, ^
AMASA M. EATON, I Publication WILFRED H. MUNRO, f Committee. JOHN H. STINESS,
REPORT OF THE TREASURER. 45
REPORT OF THE TREASURER.
GENERAL ACCOUNT.
Richmond P. Everett* Treasurer, in account with the Rhode Island Historical Society.
DR. 1894.
Jan. 10. Cash on hand, . . . . $ 19 79
1895.
State of Rhode Island, .... 1,500 oo
Income from Investment of Samuel M. Noyes
and Henry J. Steere legacies. . . 1,416 18
Taxes from 256 members, . . . . 768 oo
Taxes from 6 members, overdue, . . . 18 oo
Fees from 28 members, admission, . . 140 oo
Interest from Life Membership Fund, . . 87 69
Sale of books, . . . . . 31 72
Interest from Rhode Island Hospital Trust Com- pany Participation Account, . . . 25 94 Postoffice for mail matter, . . . . 2 54 Subscriptions from the following for the purchase of Judge Staples' portrait from Mrs. Lin- coln : —
James M. Ripley, .... $10 oo Sam'l W. Peckham, . . . .1000
Amasa S. Westcott, . . . .1000
Thomas Durfee, . . . .1000
James Tillinghast, . . . .1000
Benjamin N. Lapham, . . .1000
Charles Hart, . . . . .1000
Amasa M. Eaton, . . . 5 oo
75 °o
$4,084 86
46 RHODE ISLAND HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
CR. 1895.
Jan. 8. Salary of librarian, . ...'•, . . $1,200 oo
Salary of janitor, ..... 360 oo
Library Committee, . . . . . 1,180 34
Fuel and gas, . . . . . 291 86
Postage, meetings and express, . . . 451 98
Building and grounds, . . . ' V. 152 oo
Printing Proceedings for 1893-94, . . . 161 70
Mrs. Lincoln for portrait of Judge Staples, . 75 oo
Cash on hand, . . . . . 211 98
Deposited in the Rhode Island Hospital Trust Company, $211.98.
$4,084 86
Providence, Jan. 8, 1895.
We have examined the above accounts and find them correct.
LEWIS J. CHACE, JAMES BURDICK, FERDINAND A. LINCOLN, Audit Committee.
INVESTMENT FUND.
47
INVESTMENT FUND.
Legacy of Samuel M. Noyes, " " Henry J. Steere, " " John Wilson Smith,
Invested as follows : Mortgages, Bonds, . Rhode Island Hospital Trust Co.
$12,000 oo 10,000 oo
1,000 OO
$23,000 oo
PUBLICATION FUND.
$16,600 oo
5,850 oo
55° °°
$23,000 oo
Legacy of Ira B. Peck,
" William Gammell, " " Albert J. Jones, " " Julia Bullock, " " Charles H. Smith,
Cash on hand,
$1,000 oo 1,000 oo 1,000 oo 500 oo 100 oo 197 70
$3,797 7°
Rhode Island Hospital Trust Co., participation acct, $3,797.70. $3,600 restricted, only the interest to be expended for this department.
Providence, Jan. 8, 1895.
We have examined the above accounts and find them correct.
LEWIS J. CHACE, JAMES BURDICK, FERDINAND A. LINCOLN,
Audit Committee.
48 RHODE ISLAND HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
PUBLICATION FUND.
Richmond P. Everett, Treasurer, in account with Rhode Island Historical Society.
DR. 1894.
Jan. 9. Cash on hand, . . . . £3,330 50
April 14. From Julia Bullock for this fund, only the interest
to be used for the same, . . . 500 oo
Mar. 8. From Charles H. Smith for this fund, only the in- terest to be used for the same, . . 100 oo May 15. Interest from Rhode Island Hospital Trust Co.,
Participation account, . . . 66 31
Nov. 10. Interest from Rhode Island Hospital Trust Co.,
Participation account, . . . 77 24
1895.
Jan. 8. One hundred and seventy-one subscribers for Pub- lications, . . . . . 171 oo For advertising on covers, . . . . 20 oo
Deposited in Rhode Island Hospital Trust Co.,
Participation account, $3,797.70. The incomme of $3,600 can only be used for this
department expenses.
$4,265 05 CR. 1894.
Jan. 26. Standard Printing Co., for 1,000 copies, . . $96 60
April 12. Standard Printing Co., for 700 copies, 500 title
pages and contents, .... 105 50
Oct. 15. Standard Printing Co., for 700 copies, 2 plates, . 94 70
1895.
Jan. 3. Standard Printing Co., for 700 copies, . . 170 55
" 8. Cash on hand, ..... 3,797 70
$4,265 05 Providence, Jan. 8, 1895.
We have examined the above accounts and find them correct.
LEWIS J. CHACE, JAMES BURDICK, FERDINAND A. LINCOLN,
Audit Committee.
LIFE MEMBERSHIP FUND.
49
LIFE MEMBERSHIP FUND.
Richmond P. Everett, Treasurer, in account -with Rhode Island Historical Society.
DR. 1894.
Jan. 9. Cash on hand,
" 13. William Butler Duncan,
" 17. Charles H. Smith, Feb. 28. Rowland Hazard, Mar. 8. Thomas J. Hill,
" 8. Elizabeth C. Hill,
" 9. Horatio Rogers,
June 5. Interest from Providence Institution for Savings, .... Mechanics Savings Bank,
Oct. 19. Interest from Providence Institution for Savings, .... Mechanics Savings Bank,
Nov. i. Caroline Hazard,
$21 84 20 04
$21 80 23 74
1894. June 5.
Oct. 19.
1895. Jan. 8.
CR.
Interest from Providence Institution for Savings, .... Mechanics Savings Bank,
Carried to general acct., Interest from Providence Institution for Savings, .... Mechanics Savings Bank,
Carried to general acct.,
Cash on hand,
Providence Institution for Savings,
$21 84 20 04
$21 80
23 74
Mechanics Savings Bank,
$1,090 90 1,352 86
$2,443 76
$2,093 76 50 oo 50 oo 50 oo 50 oo 50 oo 50 oo
41 85
45 54 50 oo
$2,531 15
$41 85
45 54 2,443 76
£2,531 15 Providence, Jan. 8, 1895.
We have examined the above accounts and find them correct.
LEWIS J. CHACE, JAMES BURDICK, FERDINAND A. LINCOLN,
Audit Committee.
5O RHODE ISLAND HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
NECROLOGY.
GEORGE CHAMPLIN MASON was born in Newport, July 17, 1820, and died in Philadelphia, January 31, 1894. He was the son of George Champlin and Abby Maria (Mumford) Mason, and the grandson of Dr. Benjamin and Margaret (Champlin) Mason, all of Newport, where the families of Mason and Champlin had resided since the middle of the eighteenth century. He was also descended from the families of Neau, Robineau and Ayrault, Huguenots, who came to this country on the revocation of the edict of Nantes, and from the family of Grant of Inverness, Scotland.
In early life Mr. Mason was of feeble constitution and required great care and watchfulness on the part of his parents. He was educated in the schools of Newport, but often for long periods he had to be kept at home while his companions and schoolmates were engaged in study or in the amusements of youth. After leaving school he tried mercantile pursuits, first in Newport and then in the house of Arnold & Stearn — now Arnold & Constable — Canal Street, New York. After several years in their employ he proposed entering upon business on his own account in New York, but his health not permitting he re- turned to Newport. Not willing to be idle, and having a decided taste for art and literature, he devoted him-
NECROLOGY. 5 1
self to study and sketching. His Father died in the winter of 1843, and in 1844 he sailed for Europe to study art and advance himself in painting. During the two years of his absence he worked hard, and with much self-denial, in the schools of Rome, Florence and Paris ; having as fellow-students among the painters, William Morris Hunt, Cropsey, Terry and Henry Peters Grey, and among the sculptors, Crawford and Powers. Returning to America, Mr. Mason entered upon the career of an artist, painting usually architect- ural and landscape subjects. August 10, 1848, he married Frances Elizabeth Dean, daughter of Seth Hope Dean and granddaughter of Silas Dean of Newport.
At that time the encouragement for artists in the United States was feeble and far from remunerative. Ill health, aggravated by his sedentary life made some change necessary, and Mr. Mason, while still continu- ing to paint occasionally, entered upon the business of a real estate agent. He also purchased the Newport Advertiser, and for a year or more edited that journal. He became editor and part proprietor of the Newport Mercury in 1851, and published it until 1858. In 1854 he commenced to write letters on literary and general subjects to the Providence Daily Journal over the sig- nature " Aquidneckr These letters were continued, with more or less regularity, almost to the time of his death, and the collection gives a graphic and pleasing history of the growth of Newport as a summer resort, with much valuable historical matter which otherwise would have been lost.
52 < RHODE ISLAND HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
In 1858 Mr. Mason entered upon what proved to be his life work. At that time building in Newport be- gan to feel the impetus of a constantly increasing num- ber of "cottage residents," and Mr. Mason was fre- quently called upon to assist in the preparation of drawings and in the supervision of works. There was no resident architect in Newport, and the field seemed to promise a good opening to a man of talent. A taste for the noble and dignified in architecture had always been a distinguishing feature of his art work, and he took up the study of architecture and opened an office. There were no professional schools to aid him, but with determination to acquire skill and knowledge in the art, he worked, as all the older American architects, Upjohn, Strickland, Walter and others had done, to acquire by himself theoretical and practical knowledge. In this he succeeded. The results of his skill as an architect were recognized, and his time was constantly occupied with commissions, not only in Newport, but in various parts of New England and the Middle States. In 1871 he took his son, George C. Mason, Jr., into partnership, and between 1858 and the date of his death, more than one hundred and fifty dwelling houses, many of them of large and costly character, were erected by him and by the firm in Newport alone. The last work with which he was professionally con- nected was the United States Naval War College at Newport, erected 1891-92.
During all these years Mr. Mason found time to de- vote to what was ever his favorite occupation, histor- ical literature. In 1876 he became a correspondent of
NECROLOGY. 53
the New York Evening Post, contributing regularly to that journal over the signature " Champlm ; " his last letter being published November 4, 1893, entitled, "Au- tograph Treasures." The editor of the Post thus sum- marized his labors in a notice of his death : " He was a master of his subjects, and wrote with the precision of a scholar in a smooth and agreeable style."
Besides this amount of journalistic work Mr. Mason also wrote and published a number of historical and art works, some of which have been received as stand- ards in relation to the subjects of which they treat. Among them may be enumerated : His earliest work, now almost unknown, " Newport and Its Environs," 1849, a series of twelve lithographs drawn by himself; " Newport Illustrated," 1854, now in its third edition ; " The Application of Art to Manufactures," 1858, a thick octavo with one hundred and fifty illustrations ; " The Reunion of the Sons and Daughters of New- port," 1859; "George Ready, a Book for Boys," 1858; "Newport and Its Cottages," 1875 ; " The Old House Altered," 1878; "The Life and Works of Gilbert Stuart," 1879; "Reminiscences of Newport," 1884; "Annals of the Redwood Library," 1891 ; "Annals of Trinity Church," first series down to 1821, 1890; " Annals of Trinity Church," second series down to 1892, published since his death, 1894. He left behind him the finished manuscript of " Reminiscences of Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry, U. S. N.," and an unfinished work, a " History of the Artillery Company of the Town of Newport," besides many manuscripts and notes of great literary and historic value.
54 RHODE ISLAND HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
Besides professional and literary work, Mr. Mason was a man of great activity in all local and civic duties. Never holding political office and of a retiring nature, he was yet a man of clear mind, a safe and conservative adviser, and honored and respected by his townsmen. He was for forty years a vestryman of Trinity Church, and for thirty years its senior warden, retiring only when the weight of years compelled him to do so. At his suggestion and through his influence the Newport Historical Society was founded, and the first meeting held at his house in 1853. He was one of the founders of the Newport Hospital ; its first secretary and a member of the board of trustees at the time of his death, the last member of the original board. A di- rector of the Redwood Library from 1858 until his death, procurator for Newport of the Rhode Island Historical Society from 1879 until his death, and an honorary member of the Rhode Island State Society of Cincinnati. At the time of his death he was also president of the Newport Sanitary Protection Asso- ciation.
Mr. Mason's life was full of usefulness. A courte- ous, refined, Christian gentleman ; an honored citizen, and one whose whole aim and object in life was to do his duty and be worthy of the names of architect and gentleman. One who knew him well from boyhood thus wrote on hearing of his death : " He was schol- arly, refined, a gentleman. Honest in all things, dili- gent and cheerful under circumstances which would have discouraged most men, he labored on, truthful
NECROLOGY. 55
and hopeful, winning and holding the esteem of all and the love of those who knew him."
JULIA BULLOCK was born in Providence, November 10, 1814. That city always remained her home, and she died there May 22, 1894.
She was the youngest child of Richmond Bullock and Rhoda (Peckham) Bullock.
She received the largest part of her education at Mr. De Witt's school, a school for boys and girls, and at Mr. Kingsbury's school for girls.
Always eager to use her advantages and privileges, not only for her own gratification, but also in the service of others, she early took a class in the Sunday- school of the Seamen's Bethel on South Main Street, and taught there for many years with rare fidelity.
Afterwards she taught a Sunday-school class in the First Congregational Church. With the work of this church, of which she was a member, she became closely identified. The various charitable organiza- tions which from time to time were started there al- ways enlisted her warm sympathy and strong support.
In the religious life of the church, too, and of the communion of churches it represented, she had a con- stant interest, following the development of the Uni- tarian movement in America with enthusiastic loyalty.
Her sympathy was by no means confined to these channels of church life, however. Nearly every prom- inent charitable society and institution in Providence, and many outside the city and the State, received gen- erous donations from her. But she gave so quietly
56 RHODE ISLAND HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
and unostentatiously, nearly always withholding her name, that it is difficult to trace her gifts.
Some idea of the extent of her generosity to such institutions may be gained from the fact that to one of these institutions alone, the Old Ladies' Home, it is estimated that she gave at least thirty thousand dollars.
Nor did she limit her desire to serve the needs of humanity to strictly charitable enterprises. Those who had at heart the cause of education, who sought to increase the interest of the community in good liter- ature and good art, or to preserve the honorable and inspiring records of the past, found in her a ready listener.
The Historical Society is only one of these centres of public education which she helped to maintain and strengthen.
All this active benevolence, however, was evident only in the final results of what she did. As has been indicated, she very rarely talked of these things, and in most instances her agency in the good cause was not discovered until long after the gift was given.
THOMAS JEFFERSON HILL was born in Pawtucket, R. I., March 4, 1805, and died in Providence, July 24, 1894, in the ninetieth year of his age. He was the son of Cromwell and Cynthia (Walker) Hill. He attended school until he was fourteen years of age. He was then employed for two years in the shop of his father, who was a blacksmith. He then served an apprentice- ship in the machine shop of Pitcher & Gay at Paw-
NECROLOGY. 57
tucket, where he learned to manufacture cotton ma- chinery. He remained with this firm as apprentice and journeyman about nine years, during the last four of which he took contracts and hired several men on his own account. He went to Providence, April 19, 1830, and took charge of the machine shop connected with the steam cotton manufactory on Eddy Street, then owned by Samuel Slater.
In 1834 the business of the machine shop was organ ized as a separate interest, and Mr. Hill became a partner in it, under the firm style of " The Providence Machine Company." He engaged, during the next ten or eleven years, in several enterprises, and in 1846 the old firm name was assumed. In 1847 he made for the Naumkeag Mill at Salem, Mass., his first fly-frames, and then, as in later years, gave personal attention to their manufacture. In 1850 he had business interests in Maine. In 1854 he purchased a cotton-factory at East Greenwich, R. I., and stocked it with new ma- chinery, naming it " The Bay Mill." In 1863 he pur- chased the land since known as " Hill's Grove," and organizing a company, in 1867 built " The Rhode Is- land Malleable Iron Works." In 1875 a cotton mill was erected in the immediate vicinity, which he named " The Elizabeth Mill." From that time till his decease he was constantly engaged in business, and no one was better known than he for his integrity and upright dealing. For more than sixty years he was associated in various interests connected with the town and city where he so long resided.
He was president of the Lime Rock National Bank
58 RHODE ISLAND HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
for more than forty years, and a director in various other financial institutions. He was also a member of the Common Council of Providence for several years. He was always positive in his convictions, and ex- pressed them plainly, believing it his duty to call things by their right names. He was genial and social in his relations with his fellow-men, taking a profound interest in matters pertaining to the public welfare. His attendance upon public worship was continued and regular, believing that the Lord's Day was a day of rest from worldly affairs. He held the opinion that it was not profitable for individuals or nations to violate the laws of God. As a member and officer of the Rhode Island Historical Veteran Associ- ation from its beginning, he took a lively interest in its proceedings, knowing, as he did, so much concerning the history of the city and State in which he had dwelt for more than fourscore years. He loved his home and delighted in meeting there his friends. Many have been his guests to whom his hospitality was freely extended. For those in his employ he had a kindly consideration, and the esteem which they had for him was attested by the numbers who were present in the church where the funeral services were held. There, too, was shown the respect which men in all ranks of society had for Mr. Hill. Words which fell from the lips of rich and poor alike, testified that one esteemed among men had departed this life. We can but feel that he has left an impress upon the world for good which will not soon be effaced. Mr. Hill was married, October 12, 1825, to Betsey Brown, daughter
NECROLOGY. 59
of Sylvanus Brown of Pawtucket. Of their children, one, a daughter, survives him, who resides in New Bedford, Mass. Mrs. Hill died May 9, 1859. Mr. Hill married again, December 9, 1861, Olive L. Farnham of Canterbury, Conn. She died November 16, 1866. He married his third wife, Elizabeth Caroline Kenyon, August 9, 1869, who is now living in Providence. There also survive him six grandchildren and eight great-grandchildren. He was elected a resident mem- ber of the Rhode Island Historical Society in 1874, and became a life member in 1894. Mr. and Mrs. Hill contributed liberally to the fund for enlarging the So- ciety's cabinet.
JOHN JAMES DE WOLF, M. D., son of Professor John De Wolf and Elizabeth James De Wolf, was born in Bristol, R. I., September 11, 1807.
After attending school in Bristol, he passed some years at the Norwich Military Academy in Vermont.
He took the full course at Brown University, leaving shortly before graduation to enter the Harvard Med- ical school at Boston, where he received the degree of M. D. in 1835, having received the honorary degree of A. M. from Brown University in 1833.
He practiced medicine in Bristol until 1845, when he removed to Providence, of which city he remained a resident until his death, which occurred at Bristol July 25, 1894.
One daughter and two sons survive him.
He became a member of this Society in 1881.
6O RHODE ISLAND HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
WILLIAM D. NISBET died in Providence, August 20, 1894. He was born in this city September 27, 1850, and was the son of William and Catherine Nisbet. His parents came from Scotland, and from them he inherited many excellent traits of character. The son received his education in the public schools, and after his graduation was for several years an accountant in the office of Amos D. Lockwood & Co. While in their employ he acquired such a reputation for ability, fidelity and unswerving integrity, that at the early age of thirty-six he was chosen to the responsible position of city auditor. This position by annual election he filled until his death. His duties were of a most exact- ing nature and demanded great firmness of charac- ter, unrelaxing watchfulness and invincible integrity. Faithfully, selfdenyingly and satisfactorily he dis- charged the duties of his office. He commanded the respect and confidence of his fellow-officials and the high regard of his fellow-citizens. His name was everywhere spoken as the synonym of moral upright- ness and Christian virtue. On September 27, 1894, by vote of the City Council, a memorial service was held in the City Hall, at which, by request, Hon. Daniel R. Ballou, president of the Board of Aldermen, delivered an appropriate address commemorative of Mr. Nisbet's life, character and faithful service to the city. The proceedings were published in permanent form.
Mr. Nisbet was a communicant of the First Baptist Church, the church of his parents. He was deeply in- terested in its financial and spiritual prosperity, and active in all Christian and philanthropic endeavor.
NECROLOGY. 6 I
His religious faith gave strength and beauty to his ex- emplary life.
He became a member of this Society in 1889.
CHARLES SABIN, son of Hezekiah and Ann (Ent- worth) Sabin, was born August 30, 1820, where the Rhode Island Hospital Trust Company's building now stands, at the foot of Westminster Street. He was the youngest of a large family of brothers and sisters, and always lived in Providence, except for a few early years of business in New York City. For some years, in company with an older brother, he carried on the crockery business on the lot where he was born, but for the greater portion of his life he had not been en- gaged in active business. In 1842 he married Maria, daughter of Joel and Susanna (Houghton) Metcalf, who survives him. They had no children. Genial and retiring in disposition, he never held a public office or joined any of the numerous societies so pop- ular now-a-days, but took rare comfort in his home life, setting a worthy example of old-time happiness not often met with in these later days. He was one of the older members of the Squantum Club, a familiar figure at its meetings, and will be greatly missed from the roll of its members. His tastes were those of an anti- quarian, and having a retentive memory and great powers of observation, he became a recognized author- ity as to the venerable buildings of our city and their former occupants. He was a member of this Society from 1856 until his death, on December i, 1894.
62
RHODE ISLAND HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
INSTITUTIONS, CORPORATIONS, AND COPARTNER- SHIPS FROM WHICH GIFTS HAVE BEEN RECEIVED.
American Antiquarian Society, Worcester, Mass.
American Catholic Historical Society, Phila- delphia.
American Congregational Association, Bos- ton.
American Historical Association, Washing- ton.
American Numismatic and Archaeological Society, N. Y.
American Philosophical Society, Philadel- phia.
Amherst College, Amherst, Mass.
Arena Publishing Company, Boston.
Boston Associated Charities, Boston.
Boston Public Library, Boston.
Brooklyn Eagle, Brooklyn, N. Y.
Brooklyn Library, Brooklyn, N. Y.
Brown University, Providence.
Bureau of Ethnology, Washington.
Butler Hospital, Providence.
California Historical Society, San Fran- cisco, Cal.
California University, Berkeley, Cal.
Canadian Institute, Toronto, Canada.
Cayuga County Historical Society, Auburn, N. Y.
Chicago Board of Trade, Chicago.
Chicago Historical Society, Chicago.
Connecticut Historical Society, Hartford, Conn.
Coombs, H. M. & Co., Providence.
Dedhain Historical Society, Dedham, Mass.
Essex County Historical and Genealogical Register, Ipswich, Mass.
Essex Institute, Salem, Mass.
Freeman, E. L. & Son, Providence.
Grand Rapids Board of Trade, Grand Rap- ids, Mich.
Hartford Theological Seminary, Hartford, Conn.
Harvard University, Cambridge, Mass.
Historical Department of Iowa, Des Moines, Iowa.
Indian Rights Association, Philadelphia.
Indiana Historical Society, Indianapolis, Ind.
Iowa Department of State, Des Moines, Iowa.
Iowa Geological Survey, Des Moines, Iowa.
Iowa State Historical Society, Iowa City, Iowa.
Laval University, Quebec, Canada.
Leland Stanford, Jr., University, California.
Lenox Library, New York.
Long Island Historical Society, Brooklyn, N. Y.
Los Angeles Public Library, Los Angeles, Cal.
Maine Genealogical Society, Portland, Me.
Maine Historical Society, Portland, Me.
Maine State Library, Augusta, Me.
Manchester & Hudson, Providence.
Maryland Historical Society, Baltimore, Md.
Massachusetts Board of Public Reserva- tions, Boston.
Massachusetts Board Railroad Commission- ers, Boston.
Massachusetts Colonial Society, Boston.
Massachusetts Historical Society, Boston.
Massachusetts Society of Colonial Wars, Cambridge, Mass.
Massachusetts Society of the Cincinnati, Boston.
McMillan & Co., New York.
Merchants Insurance Company, Providence.
Michigan State Library, Lansing, Mich.
Musen Nacional, Rio de Janeiro.
New England Historic Genealogical Soci- ety, Boston.
New Hampshire Historical Society, Con- cord, N. H.
New Hampshire State Department, Con- cord, N. H.
New Haven Colonial Historical Society, New Haven, Conn.
New London County Historical Society, New London, Conn.
Newport People's Library, Newport.
New York Genealogical and Biographical Society, New York.
New York Historical Society, New York.
New York Hospital Society, New York.
GIFTS RECEIVED.
New York Meteorological Observatory, New York.
New York State Library, Albany, N. Y.
New York State University, Albany, N. Y.
New York World, New York.
Ohio Archaeological and Historical Society, Columbus, Ohio.
Ohio Historical Society, Cincinnati, Ohio.
Old Colony Historical Society, Taunton, Mass.
Oneida Historical Society, Utica, N. Y.
Open Court Publishing Company, Chicago.
Pawtucket Business Men's Association, Pawtucket.
Pawtucket Times Publishing Company, Paw- tucket.
Pennsylvania Historical Society, Philadel- phia.
Presbyterian Historical Society, Philadel- phia.
Providence City Government, Providence.
Providence City Record Commissioners, Providence.
Providence Journal Company, Providence.
Providence Young Men's Christian Associa- tion, Providence.
Providence Young Women's Christian Asso- ciation, Providence.
Putnam's Sons, G. P., New York.
Rhode Island College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts, Kingston.
Rhode Island Secretary of State, Provi- dence.
Rhode Island Medical Publishing Company, Providence.
Rhode Island Peace Society, Providence.
Rhode Island Soldiers' and Sailors' Histor- ical Society, Providence.
Rhode Island World's Fair Commissioners, Providence.
Rhode Island State Board of Health.
Rhode Island Women's Club, Providence.
Royal Society of Northern Antiquaries, Co- penhagen, Den.
Royal Historical Society, London, Hanover Square, W.
Salem Public Library, Salem, Mass.
Sampson, Murdock & Co., Providence.
Smithsonian Institution, Washington.
Southern California Historical Society, Los Angeles, Cal.
Standard Printing Company, Providence.
Tennessee State Board of Health, Nashville, Tenn.
Travelers Insurance Company, Hartford, Conn.
Trinity College, Hartford, Conn.
Trustees of the Fiske Fund Prize Essays, Providence.
Tuft's College, College Hfll, Mass.
United States Bureau of Education, Wash- ington.
United States Civil Service Commission, Washington.
United States Coast and Geodetic Survey, Washington.
United States Department of the Interior, Washington.
United States Department of State, Wash- ington.
United States War Department, Washington.
United States Geological Survey, Washing- ton.
United States National Museum, Washing- ton.
United States Treasury Department, Wash- ington.
Vermont State Library, Montpelier, Vt.
Virginia Historical Society, Richmond, Va.
Wisconsin State Historical Society, Mad- ison, Wis.
Worcester Society of Antiquity, Worcester, Mass.
Yale University, New Haven, Conn.
64
RHODE ISLAND HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
PERSONS FROM WHOM GIFTS HAVE BEEN RECEIVED.
Aldrich, Nelson W., Providence. Angell, James B., Ann Arbor, Mich. Anthony, Lewis W., Providence. Arnold, Stephen H., Providence. Austin, John O., Providence. Backus, Thomas, Providence. Balch, G. B., M. D., Yonkers, N. Y. Bartlett, Henry A., Washington. Baxter, James P., Portland, Me. Bennett, Charles P., Providence. Blanding, Christopher, Providence. Bradlee, Rev. D. C., Boston. Brayton, Charles R., Providence. Brinton, Daniel G., M. D., Philadelphia. Brown, D. Russell, Providence. Buck, William J., Jenkintown, Pcnn. Buffum, Miss Anne V., Providence. Surges, Walter S., Estate. Carpenter, Rev. C. C., Andover, Mass. Carpenter, George M., Providence. Carpenter, Miss Laura H., Wakeneld, R. I. Carpenter, Miss Mary, Wakeneld, R. I. Chapin, Charles V., M. D., Providence. Chase, Philip S., Providence. Clark, Franklin C., M. D., Providence. Clark, Rt. Rev. Thomas M., Providence. Coggeshall, Mrs. James H., Providence. Coster, Morris, New York. Cranston, George K.., Providence. Cranston, Henry C., Providence. Cranston, James E., Providence. Danforth, Charles, Providence. Darling, Gen. Charles W., Utica, N. Y. Davis, Andrew McFarland, Cambridge,
Mass.
Davis, Henry R., Providence. Davis, William T., Plymouth, Mass. Dawson, Samuel E., Montreal, Canada. Denison, Rev. Frederic, Providence. Denton, Henry C., Providence. DePeyster, J. Watts, Tivoli, Dutchess Co.,
N. Y.
Dewey, Melvil, Albany, N. Y. Dodge, James H., Boston. Draper, Daniel, New York. Drowne, Henry Russell, New York. Drowne, Henry T., New York.
Drowne, Rev. Thomas S., Flatbush, N. Y. Dyer, Gen. Elisha, Providence. Eliot, Charles, Brookline, Mass. Ely, William D., Providence. Ernst, C. W., Boston. Estes, Charles, Warren, R. I. Everett, Richmond P., Providence. Farnham, J. E C., East Providence. Fay, Frederick A., Bristol. Flint, Mrs. Alonzo, Providence. Folsom, Albert A., Brookline, Mass. French, A. D. Weld, Boston. Fretwell, John, Providence. Frost, Walter B., Providence. Gamwell, Edward F., Providence. Gardiner, Asa Bird, Garden City, N. Y. Goddard, Mrs. F. W., Providence. Gorton, Charles, Providence. Green, Arnold, Providence. Green, Samuel A., Boston. Greene, S. C., Cleveland, Ohio. Griffin, Stephen W., Coventry. Guild, Reuben A., Providence. Guild, Mrs. Reuben A., Providence. Ham, Benj. F., Providence. Hamilton, S. M., Brookland, D. C. Harris, William T., Washington. Hicks, Ratcliffe, New York. Hoadley, Charles J., Hartford, Conn. Holden, Fred. A., Washington. Hopkins, Charles W., Providence. Horton, Mrs. E. T., Martinez, Cal. Howard, Hiram, Providence. Howe, Rev. S. H., Norwich, Conn. Hubbard, Luther P., New York. Huling, Ray Greene, Cambridge, Mass. Jameson, J. F., Providence. Jecht, Richard, Gorlitz, Prussia. Jencks, Albert V., Providence. Jones, Charles E., Augusta, Ga. Jones, Augustine, Providence. Kelton, D. H., Montpelier, Vt. Knight, Jabez C., Providence. Koopman, Harry L., Providence. Landers, Albert C., Providence. Leach, Josiah G., Philadelphia. Lincoln, Mrs. James S., Providence.
GIFTS RECEIVED.
Little, Mrs. Alfred H., Pawtucket.
Marquand, H. G., New York.
McCabe, Anthony, Providence.
McCormick, William H., Providence.
Miner, Francis W., Providence.
Morris, Edward D., Providence.
Mosley, William H. T., Providence.
Mowry, William A., Hyde Park, Mass.
Mumford, Miss Sarah S., Providence.
Newell, W. W., Cambridge, Mass.
Nisbet, William D., Providence.
Noyes, Isaac P., Washington.
Olney, Frank F., Providence.
Olney, G. W., New York.
Packard, Mrs. Alpheus S., Providence.
Packard, Alpheus S., Providence.
Peck, George B., M. D., Providence.
Peckham, Samuel W., Providence.
Pegram, John C., Providence.
Peirce, Ebenezer W., Freetown, Mass.
Perry, Amos, Providence.
Perry, Rt. Rev. William S., Davenport, la.
Potter, Albert, M. D., Chepachet.
Potter, Miss Mary E., Kingston, R. I.
Rhodes, Edward S., Previdence.
Rogers, Rev. Arthur.
Rose, Henry B., Providence.
Rugg, Rev. Henry W., Providence.
Sanford, Miss Laura G., Erie, Pa.
Scholfield, A. G., Providence.
Shedd, J. Herbert, Providence.
Sheldon, George, Deerfield, Mass.
Smith, Benjamin W., Providence.
Smith, Charles H., Providence.
Smith, Joseph J., Providence.
Smith, Mrs. Scott A., Providence.
Stone, L. M. E., Providence.
Swan, Robert T., Boston.
Swarts, Gardiner T., M. D., Providence.
Thurber, Charles H., Providence.
Thyng, J. T., Madison, Wis.
Tiepke, Henry E., Providence.
Tolman, W. H., New York.
Tooker, William Wallace, Sag Harbor, N. Y.
Traver, Delia E. H., Providence.
Turner, Henry E., M. D., Newport.
Voorhees, D. W., Washington.
Vose, Rev. James G., Providence.
Wadlin, Horace G., Boston.
Webb, Rev. Samuel H., Providence.
Weeden, Miss M. L., Providence.
Whitaker, Miss Frances A., Providence.
Wilbour, Mrs. Joshua, Bristol.
Wilson, E. H., Providence.
Wood, William G., Providence.
Work, Godfrey, Providence.
Wright, Carroll D., Washington.
66
RHODE ISLAND HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
ACTIVE MEMBERS — JANUARY, 189$.
ELECTED.
1874. Aldrich, Nelson Wilmarth 1890. Allen, Candace
1890. Allen, Edward S.
1891. Almy, Herbert
1875. Ames, William
1885. Andrews, Elisha Benjamin
1876. Angell, Edwin G.
1893. Angell, Walter F.
1880. Anthony, John B. 1891. Armstrong, Henry C.
1894. Arnold, Fred Augustus 1889. Arnold, Fred. W.
1889. Arnold, Newton Darling 1874. Arnold, Olney
1874. Arnold, Richard James
1877. Arnold, Stephen Harris
1890. Atwood, Charles H. 1893. Backus, Thomas
1881. Bailey, Richard Arnold 1853. Bailey, William Mason 1881. Baker, David Sherman
1891. Ball, Nicholas
1890. Ballou, William Herbert 1884. Ballou, Latimer Whipple
1891. Barker, Frederick Augustus 1890. Barker, Henry R.
1872. Barrows, Edwin
1886. Barstow, Amos C. 1890. Barstow, George E.
1888. Bartlett, John Russell 1879. Barton, William T.
1889. Bartow, Evelyn Pierrepont
1893. Bass, Miss Bertha 1883. Bates, Isaac Comstock
1894. Bates, William L.
1894. Bicknell, Thomas Williams
1858. Binney, William
1889. Binney, William, Jr.
1887. Blake, Eli Whitney
1892. Blake, Elizabeth Vernon
1890. Blodgett, John T.
ELECTED.
1878. Bogman, Edward Young 1894. Bourn, Augustus Osborne 1891. Bourn, George W. B. 1881. Bradley, Charles
1893. Briggs, Benjamin F.
1894. Brown, Albert Waterman 1883. Brown, D. Russell
1883. Brown, H. Martin
1893. Brown, Pardon Fenner 1876. Bugbee, James H.
1884. Bullock, Jonathan Russell 1884. Burdick, James
1891. Burgess, Edwin A.
1891. Calder, Albert L.
1859. Calder, George Beckford
1876. Campbell, Horatio Nelson
1894. Campbell, John P.
1873. Carpenter, Charles Earle
1874. Carpenter, Francis Wood
1886. Carpenter, George Moulton
1889. Catlin, Charles Albert 1894. Chace, Henry Richmond 1888. Chace, James H.
1880. Chace, Jonathan
1880. Chace, Julian A.
1879. Chace, Lewis Jenkins
1892. Chace, Mrs. Lucretia G. 1868. Chace, Thomas Wilson 1857. Chambers, Robert B.
1884. Chapin, Charles Value 1892. Chapin, William W. 1883. Child, Charles H.
1887. Claflin, Arthur W. 1878. Clark, Thomas March
1880. Coats, James
1877. Codman, Arthur Amory
1885. Collins, George Lewis 1892. Colwell, Francis
1890. Comstock, Louis H.
1886. Comstock, Richard W.
1891. Conant, Samuel Morse
ACTIVE MEMBERS.
67
ELECTED.
1872. Congdon, Johns Hopkins
1892. Cooke, Henry W. 1877. Cranston, George K.
1874. Cranston, Henry Clay 1881. Cranston, James E. 1894. Cressy, Oliver S. 1891. Crins, William H. 1891. Cummings, John E.
1876. Cushman, Henry I.
1890. Danforth, Charles
1886. Dart, Edward Merrill
1891. Davis, Henry R. 1894. Davis, John W.
1887. Day, Albert C. 1881. Day, Daniel 1894. Day, Frank L.
1894. Day, Henry G. 1881. DeWolf, John James 1886. Dews, Joseph
1895. Dexter, Elizabeth Bridgham
1893. Diman, John B.
1881. Dixon, Nathan Fellows
1877. Doringh, Charles H. R. 1877. Dorrance, Samuel Richmond
1888. Douglas, Samuel Tobey
1882. Douglas,William Wilberforce
1875. Dunnell, William Wanton 1877. Durfee, Charles S.
1849. Durfee, Thomas
1890. Dyer, Elisha
1894. Dyer, Oliver
1873. Eames, Benjamin Tucker 1886. Earle, Charles R.
1856. Ely, James W. C.
1891. Ely, Joseph Cady 1862. Ely, William Davis
1892. Farnsworth, John P. 1891. Field, Edward 1891. Fifield, Henry Allen 1891. Fifield, Moses
1890. Fiske, George McClellan 1885. Fitzgerald, O. Edward
1893. Flint, Susan A.
1891. Foster, John 1888. Foster, Samuel 1881. Foster, William E.
ELECTED.
1892. Fredericks, William H. 1855. Gammell, Asa Messer 1875. Gammell, Robert Ives
1884. Gammell, William 1891. Gardner, Clarence T. 1889. Gardner, Henry Brayton
1889. Gardner, Rathbone
1885. George, Charles H. 1891. Gifford, Robert P. 1894. Goddard, Elizabeth C.
1881. Goddard. Moses Brown Ives
1880. Goddard, Robert H. Ives 1850. Goddard, William
1883. Goodwin, Daniel
1894. Von Gottschalck, Mary H. B.
1891. Granger, Daniel L. D.
1893. Granger, William S.
1875. Grant, Henry Townsend
1891. Grant, Henry T., Jr. 1893. Greene, Charles William 1893. Greene, Edward A.
1876. Greene, Henry L.
1893. Greene, Henry Whitman 1887. Greene, Thomas C.
1877. Greene, W. Maxwell
1892. Gross, J. Mason
1872. Grosvenor, William
1887. Guild, Reuben Aldridge
1894. Hale, Wendell Phillips
1890. Hall, Mrs. Emily A.
1882. Hall, Jenison C.
1878. Hall, Robert 1878. Harkness, Albert
1874. Harrington, Henry Augustus
1883. Harson, M. Joseph
1889. Hart, George Thomas 1892. Hayes, Henry W.
1890. Hazard, George J.
1888. Hazard, Rowland Gibson
1881. Hersey, George D.
1873. Hidden, Henry Atkins
1874. Holbrook, Albert 1892. Hopkins, Charles W. 1874. Hopkins, William H. 1887. Hopkins, William H., 2d 1871. Hoppin, Frederick Street
68
RHODE ISLAND HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
ELECTED.
1889. Hoppin, William Jones
1890. Howard, Hiram
1891. Howe, Marc Antony DeWolf 1885. Howland, Richard Smith 1882. Hoyt, David Webster
1889. Hudson, James Smith
1882. Jackson, William F. B.
1888. Jameson, John Franklin 1867. Jencks, Albert Varnum
1890. Jepherson, George A. 1880. Jones, Augustine
1889. Kelly, John B.
1883. Kendall, Hiram 1880. Kenyon, James S.
1892. Kimball, Horace A.
1876. Kimball, James M. 1892. King, Henry M.
1884. King, William Dehon
1879. Knight, Edward B. 1894. Koopman, Harry Lyman 1883. Ladd, Herbert W.
1890. Leete, George F. 1892. Lincoln, Ferdinand A. 1894. Lingane, David F. 1878. Lippitt, Charles Warren
1880. Lippitt, Christopher
1891. Lord, Augustus M.
1892. Luther, George Edmund 1894. Macdougal, Hamilton C.
1891. Manly, John M.
1892. Mason, A. Livingston
1877. Mason, Earl Philip 1892. Mason, Edith B. H. 1877. Mason, Eugene W. 1877. Mason, John H. 1894. Mathewson, Frank M. 1891. Matteson, Charles
1889. Matteson, George Washing-
ton Richmond
1891. McGuinness, Edwin D.
1891. Mead, William B.
1883. Meader, Lewis H.
1890. Metcalf, Alfred 1876. Metcalf, Henry B. 1875. Miller, Augustus Samuel
1 88 1. Miner, Francis Wayland
ELECTED.
1892. Mitchell, Thomas
1892. Mott, Herbert
1891. Moulton, David C.
1890. Moulton, Edmund T.
1880. Munro, Wilfred H.
1880. Nichols, Amos G.
1894. Nicholson, Samuel M.
1894. Nicholson, Stephen
1876. Nickerson, Edward I.
1874. Nightingale, George Corlis 1894. Nightingale, Samuel Arnold 1890. Olney, Frank F.
1879. Olney, George Henry
1888. Packard, Alpheus S. 1885. Page, Charles H.
1889. Paine, Charles E. (C. E.) 1894. Palmer, John S.
1890. Parker, Edward D. L. 1887. Peck, Walter A.
1849. Peckham, Samuel Wardwell
1875. Pegram, John C. 1858. Perry, Amos
1880. Perry, Marsden J.
1874. Persons, Benjamin Williams
1894. Pettis, George H.
1891. Phillips, Gilbert A.
1873. Phillips, Theodore Winthrop
1878. Porter, Emory Huntington 1891. Potter, Asa K.
1887. Preston, Howard Willis 1894. Remick, Augustus
1889. Reynolds, William Job 1891. Richards, Henry F. 1891. Richmond, Caroline
1877. Richmond, Walter 1891. Ripley, James M.
1881. Roelker, William G.
1888. Rogers, Arthur
1890. Rugg, Henry W. 1877. Seagrave, Caleb
1874. Shedd, J. Herbert
1881. Sheffield, William Paine, Jr.
1889. Sheldon, Charles Henry, Jr. 1885. Sheldon, Nicholas
1879. Shepley, George L. 1894. Sisson, Henry Tillinghast
ACTIVE MEMBERS.
69
ELECTED.
1877. Slater, Horatio Nelson
1888. Smith, Benjamin West
1875. Smith, Edwin Augustus
1869. Southwick, Isaac H.
1885. Southwick, Isaac H., Jr.
1880. Spicer, William A.
1890. Spink, Joseph Edwin
1881. Spooner, Henry Joshua
1888. Stark, Charles Rathbone 1879. Stiness, John Henry
1 88 1. Stone, Alfred
1891. Studley, Thomas E.
1886. Sturges, Howard O. 1894. S warts, Gardner T. 1856. Taft, Royal Chapin 1883. Talbot, Frederick
1874. Taylor, Charles Frederick
1881. Thomas, Charles Lloyd
1890. Thornton, George M.
1891. Thurston, Benjamin F.
1889. Tillinghast, James 1891. Tourtellot, Amasa C.
1890. Tower, James H.
1891. Traver, Mrs. Adelia E. A.
ELECTED.
1875. Trippe, Samuel Gardner 1895. Tucker, William Packard 1874. Turner, Henry Edward 1885. Updike, Daniel Berkeley 1890. Vincent, Walter Borodel 1881. Vose, James Gardner
1 86 r. Waterman, Rufus
1890. Webb, Samuel H.
1868. Weeden, William Babcock
1887. Welling.RichardWard Greene
1891. West, George J.
1894. Weston, George Franklin
1890. Whitaker, Nelson Bowen
1889. White, Hunter Carson 1884. White, Stillman
1874. Whitford,GeorgeWashington
1884. Wilbour, Joshua
1891. Wilbur, George A. 1881. Williams, Zephaniah 1891. Wilson, Edmund R.
1888. Wilson, George Grafton
1890. Wolcott, Henry
1876. Woods, Marshall
RHODE ISLAND HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
LIFE MEMBERS — JANUARY,
|
ACTIVE. |
LIFE. |
DIED. |
||
|
1867. |
1872. |
George T. Paine, |
Providence. |
|
|
1849. |
1872. |
Henry T. Beck with, |
Providence. |
1893. |
|
1866. |
1872. |
William Greene, |
Warwick. |
1883. |
|
1836. |
1872. |
Rowland G. Hazard, |
S. Kingstown. |
1888. |
|
18/2. |
Holder Borden Bowen, |
Providence. |
||
|
1872. |
Amasa Mason Eaton, |
N. Providence. |
||
|
1857. |
I873- |
James Y. Smith, |
Providence. |
1876. |
|
I873- |
Jarvis B. Swan, |
Providence. |
||
|
1870. |
I873- |
Benjamin G. Pabodie, |
Providence. |
1880. |
|
1875. |
Albert G. Angell, |
Providence. |
1884. |
|
|
1876. |
William Ely, |
Providence. |
||
|
I877- |
Hezekiah Conant, |
Pawtucket. |
||
|
1844. |
1879. |
Samuel G. Arnold, |
Portsmouth. |
1880. |
|
l879. |
Amos D. Lockwood, |
Providence. |
1884. |
|
|
1879. |
Royal Woodward, |
Albany, N. Y. |
1882. |
|
|
1878. |
1880. |
Charles Gorton, |
Providence. |
|
|
1874. |
1880. |
John Pitman Walker, |
Providence. |
1887. |
|
1841. |
1880. |
Alexander Duncan, |
Scotland. |
1889. |
|
1877. |
883. |
John T. Mumford, |
Providence. |
1891. |
|
883. |
Thomas Poynton Ives Goddard, |
Providence. |
1893. |
|
|
I873- |
884. |
Henry G. Russell, |
Providence. |
|
|
885. |
William G. Weld, |
Newport. |
||
|
CCr- 005. |
John Nicholas Brown, |
Newport. |
||
|
1 |
885. |
George Peabody Wetmore, |
Newport. |
|
|
885. |
Harold Brown, |
Newport. |
||
|
1886. |
John W. Danielson, |
Providence. |
||
|
1888. |
Le Roy King, |
Newport. |
||
|
1889. |
Charles Fletcher, |
Providence. |
||
|
1890. |
Julia Bullock, |
Providence. |
1894. |
|
|
iSgO. |
Joseph Davol, |
Providence. |
||
|
iSgO. |
Mary H. Knowles, |
Providence. |
||
|
iSgO. |
Joseph Banigan, |
Providence. |
||
|
890. |
Walter Callender, |
Providence. |
||
|
890. |
Arnold Green, |
Providence. |
||
|
890. |
Lucian Sharpe, |
Providence. |
||
|
890. |
John L. Troup, |
Providence. |
||
|
1881. |
892. |
John Osborne Austin, |
Providence. |
|
|
1858. |
892. |
Richmond P. Everett, |
Providence. |
|
|
1885. |
892. |
George Gordon King, |
Newport. |
|
|
892. |
Belinda Olney Wilbour, |
Bristol. |
||
|
1894. |
William Butler Duncan, |
New York. |
. |
|
|
1882. |
1894. |
Charles H. Smith, |
Providence. |
|
|
1871. |
1894. |
Rowland Hazard, |
Peace Dale. |
|
|
1866. |
1894. |
Horatio Rogers, |
Providence. |
|
|
1874. |
1894. |
Thomas Jefferson Hill, |
Providence. |
1894. |
|
1891. |
1894. |
Elizabeth C. Hill, |
Providence. |
|
|
1894. |
Caroline Hazard, |
Peace Dale. |
HONORARY MEMBERS.
HONORARY MEMBERS.
ELECTED.
1888. James Burrill Angell, LL. D.,
1895. Charles Francis Adams.
Ann Arbor, Mich. Boston, Mass.
CORRESPONDING MEMBERS.
ELECTED.
1888. James Tillinghast,
1888. William Frederick Poole, LL. D.,
1888. Samuel Smith Purple, M. D.,
1888. Edward Amasa Park, D. D.,
1888. Abby Isabel (Brown) Bulkley,
1889. William Henry Watson, M. D.,
1890. Rev. William R. B agnail, 1890. Franklin Pierce Rice,
1890. William Harden,
1891. Henry Fitz Gilbert Waters, 1891. William Warner Hoppin,
1891. Isaac Pitman Noyes,
1892. Henry Herbert Edes,
1893. Clarence Winthrop Bowen,
1893. Alfred Manchester,
1894. Laura G. Sanford,
1894. Charles Phelps Noyes,
1895. Oscar S. Straus,
1895. Stanislaus Murray Hamilton,
Buffalo, N. Y. Chicago, 111. New York. Andover, Mass. Brooklyn, N. Y. Utica, N. Y. Middletown, Ct. Worcester, Mass. Savannah, Ga. Salem, Mass. New York. Washington, D. C. Charlestown,Mass. New York. Salem, Mass. Erie, Pa. St. Paul, Minn. New York. Brookland, D. C.
For list of Honorary and Corresponding Members elected at previous dates, see Pro- ceedings, 1887-88.
72 RHODE ISLAND HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
GENEALOGICAL NOTES AND QUERIES.
William Simmons (Mercy (Pabodie) Simmons, Elizabeth (Alden) Pabodie) m., 1696, Abigail Church. They had : Mercy, 1697, m., as his second wife, James Bennett ; William, 1699; Lydia, 1700, m. a Tillinghast ; (Who was he ? Where did they live and what family did they have?) Joseph, 1702 ; John, 1704 ; Abigail, 1706 (m., town records say, Job Palmer, of Stonington. Who was he, and where did they live and what family did they have ? Hon. Richard Wheeler says there is no trace of them on town records); Rebecca, 1708 (m. a Bagger, or so it looks in the will. I want to know all I can about these); Mary, 1709, not m. in 1750; Benjamin, 1713 ; Ichabod, 1715 ; Peleg, 1716 ; Sarah, 1718.
M. L.,1. A.
Answer to Query (B), page 207, Vol. II.
Daniel Jackson was son of Samuel Jackson, of Boston, who married Ruth Tufts, 1722, Aug. 14.
Samuel Jackson was born in 1699 and died 1747, Nov. 2. His wife, Ruth Tufts, was born in 1701, and died 1778, Jan. n.
The births of the fifteen children of Samuel and Ruth (Tufts) Jackson, and of the seven children of Daniel and Roby (Hawkins) Jackson are in possession of Mr. Charles Gorton, of Providence.
Dr. J. Chadsey, of Newark, N. J., writes that he has com- pleted a Register of Heraldic Records of William Chadsey (and his descendants), who settled in North Kingstown in 1715. This will be a welcome addition to our R. I. family history.
EDITORIAL NOTES AND CULLINGS. 73
EDITORIAL NOTES AND CULLINGS.
"FISKE'S HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES FOR SCHOOLS " is upon the Editor's table, with recommendations of such a character as would utterly overshadow any appreciative re- marks that might be offered here. The numerous cities, towns and states that have, within a brief space of time, intro- duced this work into their public schools, is a strong argu- ment in its favor. The work speaks for itself and would be a valuable vade mecum in most of the families in this country.
"The Visit of Three Rhode Islanders to the Bay Colony in the Summer of 1651 " is the title of a paper read before this Society on the fifth day of March last, by the Rev. Dr. H. M. King. These three visitors were Dr. John Clarke, Obadiah Holmes and John Crandall, members of the Baptist Church in Newport. They were deputed by the church to visit, as an act of Christian sympathy, William Witter, an aged and infirm member of the same church who lived at Swampscott, ten miles beyond Boston. Clarke was an eminent physician, and at the time pastor of the church at Newport. He was in some respects the peer of Roger Williams. Obadiah Holmes was his successor in the pastoral office for thirty years. They were arrested for holding service in Witter's house and taken to Boston. After a form of trial they were sentenced to be fined or whipped. The fines of Clarke and Crandall were paid by friends. Holmes was cruelly whipped.
The treasurer of the Society requests that attention be called to a resolution on page 12 to the effect that only life members and such active members as have paid their taxes for the current year are entitled to the quarterly publication.
The price of the quarterly to subscribers is one dollar a year in advance, or fifty cents for single numbers.
74
RHODE ISLAND HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
Facsimile of the original Civil Compact in its present condition in the City Hall. The letters and words that have been effaced by time are supplied in the copy below.
JCW^A, O^tXf 01- cvcnrctw/-*/* aj fHujft.. & ^
0 *N +**- £**>$&•$#**& *'££*?'*' P44- <$£?$% *»<r ^ncu^ £^ ^ fK**uU#* -Ifr^Uif- ff-Sl£i f£,
a *l I . *" w1«-.- ../ /^ « J7 i -j-'
" We whose names are here under desirous to inhabitt in ye Towne of Providence do promise to subject ourselves in active and passive obedi- ence to all such orders or agreements as shall be made for public good of ye body in an orderly way by the major consent of the present Inhabi- tants maisters of families incorporated together into a towne fellowship and others whom they shall admitt unto them only in ci-vill things" *
* Their names were as follows: Richard Scott, William Reynolds, John Field, Chad Brown, John Warner, George Rickard, Edward Cope, Thomas Angell, Thomas Harris, Francis Weeks, Benedict Arnold, Joshua Winsor, William Wickenden.
PORTRAITS AND ART TREASURES. 75
PORTRAITS AND ART TREASURES ILLUSTRA- TIVE OF LOCAL HISTORY.
The catalogue below embraces only the portraits that are in the Picture Gallery. This will be followed, as soon as circum- stances will permit, by a catalogue of other portraits and of the landscapes and various artistic and historic memorials that are arranged on the walls of the gallery and in other parts of the cabinet.
The compilation of this catalogue has been so long delayed as to render the task difficult, and in some cases the requisite information is not to be had, even by long and careful research. Thus several portraits appear on the list below without a word to indicate by whom they were painted, or when or by whom they were placed in this cabinet. Wherever no statement ap- pears as to the artist or as to when or how the portrait was obtained, the reason is because the compiler of this catalogue has not succeeded in obtaining the desired information. Sug- gestions and information that will aid in rendering the cata- logue complete and more satisfactory, and in making the per- sons referred to better known, will be gratefully acknowledged. Only two of the persons represented in this catalogue were liv- ing when this copy was put into the printer's hands ; viz., Bishop Clark and Hon. Henry Barnard.
It is well to be understood that this catalogue is only the be- ginning of a similar and far more extended line of labor. Aside from the portraits here mentioned, the cabinet contains from one to two thousand other portraits, various in style, size and character. Some of these are arranged in folio volumes, and some are not arranged at all and have never been exhib- ited. Some of the engravings are rare and valuable, and are becoming more valuable year by year. Some of these treas- ures have been secured at considerable expense and by earn- est effort on the part of members and friends of the institu-
76 RHODE ISLAND HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
tion. Two or three years ago, Mr. Clarence W. Bowen, of New York, gave a collection of 121 engravings, 62 of which are portraits of men whose names are recorded in the annals of our national legislature. Notable contributions at previous dates might readily be cited. The value and usefulness of these collections will be greatly enhanced by a proper classifi- cation, together with a well-arranged catalogue and an index of persons.
The room in the cabinet known as the Picture Gallery, is, though not large, a very inviting place for the display of works of art. Its harmonious proportions, tinted walls, generous sky- light, and facilities for the display of these treasures, can hardly fail, as they become known, to suggest the contribution of many other works worthy of such a place.
Art, as here displayed, is an effectual means of illustrating and perpetuating history, and as such should be encouraged by the friends of this institution. With this object in view the society should not only have a good collection of portraits and landscapes, with a catalogue of the same, but it should show its appreciation of this branch of art by securing lists of the treasures of this kind which are in the various art galler- ies and dwelling-houses of the State. Lists of the portraits belonging to the various institutions and to the different mu- nicipalities of the State, together with public statues found here and there, might well appear in the quarterly publication of this society, and thus serve students of art and history as a means of reference. The collections in Sayles Memorial Hall, in the Redwood Library at Newport, in the State Houses in Providence and Newport, and in the City Hall of Provi- dence, are noteworthy. If there were a printed list of the art treasures belonging in different parts of the State, students of art and history would derive special advantages, and the li- brarian of this society would be spared the trouble of replying to many letters of inquiry.
In this catalogue a sketch of the persons represented is given before speaking of the artists or of their work. This course is pursued from the fact that history is the leading ob- ject of this catalogue and of this institution, whereas in a cat- alogue of the portraits of an Art Club or of a School of Design,
PORTRAITS AND ART TREASURES. 77
the artist and his work might well take the first place. This is more properly a catalogue of persons represented by por- traits than a catalogue of portraits. It is due to state that in making up this catalogue, information is drawn from every available source known to the compiler, and his indebtedness is rarely acknowledged, except in this general way. He hopes his debt of gratitude will become still greater than at present to those who are able to assist in this line of labor. In this paper we have had occasion to show that the art of painting and engraving, as well as the art of writing, is sometimes em- ployed to misrepresent history.
While this catalogue can hardly fail to lead to a better ap- preciation of the society's historic and artistic treasures, it is hoped that it will suggest the need of other contributions of the same general character and cause efforts to be made to sup- ply that need. Many persons who visit this cabinet expect to find the portrait of the man who stood next to Washington in the war for Independence — Gen. Nathanael Greene, and they are disappointed when they do not find his portrait here. Inquiries have been made for the portrait of Stephen and Jer- emiah Olney, and also for those of Esek Hopkins and Christo- pher Lippitt. More attention might well be paid to the found- ers of this society. Of the thirteen original members, only two have portraits upon the walls of this gallery. Of the forty- three who became members of the society on the year when it was founded (1822), only seven have portraits here. Should not this list be greatly extended ? This inquiry is addressed to their descendants. Professor Diman, Mayor Doyle, Gov- ernor Dyer and Judge Pitman who are here represented by photographs, merit the honor of being represented by the best artistic skill. For Rhode Island to become, as suggested by the late Rev. Dr. Wayland, the Athens of America, a more lively interest must be awakened in various branches of art. Artistic taste must be cultivated, talents must be developed, and such patronage and encouragement extended as will ele- vate and ennoble the people of the State.
THE MUSEUM.
It is much to be hoped that there will soon be made out and
78 RHODE ISLAND HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
printed, classified lists of the multifarious objects which con- stitute a department of the cabinet called the Museum — a de- partment which is sure to acquire increased importance as a means of education. This Museum is situated mostly in the third story, on the west side of the building. Much space on the south end of the second story is also used for the display of historic relics, among which is a colonial kitchen with its cooking contrivances and table untensils that remind us of the college song : —
"In good old colony times,
" When we lived under a king,
" Three roguish chaps
" Fell into mishaps
" Because they could not sing ; " etc.
Above are arranged models of coasting and East India merchant ships whose names were a century ago well known in these Plantations. There, too, is a model of the steamer John W. Richmond, of which John S. Eddy was the archi- tect. This was built on the west side of the river, in 1837, and finished June i, 1838. It was built to run to New York as the rival of the ill-fated Lexington. There are specimens of early textile fabrics that paved the way for the introduc- tion of Rhode Island's most notable industry. There are remnants of a flag that was used in the Sullivan expedition of 1778, and there are a dozen or more other historic flags and banners whose inscriptions are calculated to impart inter- esting lessons in the history of our State and nation. In passing up stairs are seven banners (the gift of Mr. William H. Crins), that were carried in the Foundry Legislative pro- cession of 1842. There is a wooden cider-press screw eight inches in diameter and seven feet long.
Only a carefully prepared catalogue of the multifarious articles on exhibition will serve the purposes of the society.
CATALOGUE OF PORTRAITS. 79
CATALOGUE OF PORTRAITS IN THE PICTURE GALLERY OF THE SOCIETY.
1. EDWARD BROOKS HALL
Was the pastor of the First Congregational Church of Provi- dence from 1832 to 1865. He was born in Medford, Mass., Sept. 2, 1800, and died in Providence, March 3, 1866. He graduated in the Academic Department of Harvard in 1820, and in the Divinity School in 1824, and in 1848 received from that institution the honorary degree of S. T. D. He became a member of this society in 1836, and thenceforward mani- fested much interest in its proceedings. In 1855 he delivered the annual address on the life and times of John Howland, which discourse was printed in pamphlet form and is now highly prized. One son (Rev. Edward H. Hall) alone, of all his family, survives. His portrait was painted from a photo- graph by Hugo August Bernhard Breul, and was given to this society, July 5, 1892, by Mr. Charles H. Smith.
2. ELISHA DYER
Was an eminent merchant and manufacturer of Providence. He was the son of Anthony and Sarah (Bishop) Dyer, and was born in Gloucester, R. I., Jan. 5, 1772. He died in Providence, Feb. n, 1854. His son, Elisha Dyer (1811-1890), was Gov- ernor of the State from 1857 to 1859. His grandson, Elisha Dyer (1839), has held the office of adjutant-general since 1882, and during his administration of that office, a volume of the mili- tary records of the war of the Rebellion has been published — a work creditable to General Dyer and to the State. Another grandson, Daniel Wanton Lyman (1844-1886), son of Henry B. and Caroline (Dyer) Lyman, has had a fountain erected in Roger Williams Park in honor of his grandfather Dyer. The Lyman Gymnasium of Brown University was named in his honor in consequence of a large bequest. Mr. Dyer's portrait
8O RHODE ISLAND HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
was the gift of his daughter, Mrs. Frances Jones (Dyer) Vin- ton, June 28, 1888. It was painted by James S. Lincoln, while the subject of it was living.
3. SAMUEL GREENE ARNOLD
Is often called the historian of Rhode Island, doubtless be- cause his two royal octavo volumes, together with addresses and essays to the same end, are regarded as a title to such dis- tinction. He was president of this society from 1868 to 1880. He was lieutenant-governor from 1861 to 1862, and United States senator from 1862 to 1863. He was born April 12, 1821, and died Feb. 14, 1880. He graduated at Brown in 1841, in the law school of Harvard in 1843, and received the honorary degree of LL. D. from Brown in 1878. He was elected a corresponding member of the Massachusetts Historical So- ciety in 1855, and like honors were shown him by many other learned societies. His portrait was given to this society, July 9, 1881, by his widow, Mrs. Arnold. It was painted from a photograph by Maria Louise Chapin.
4. ZACHARIAH ALLEN
Was an eminent citizen of Rhode Island. He was a scien- tist, an inventor and an author. He became a member of this society at its organization in 1822, and was its vice-president from 1 869 to 1880, and its president from 1880 to 1882. He was a son of Zachariah Allen and a descendant of the illustrious Huguenot, Gabriel Bernon. He was born Sept. 15, 1795, in Providence, where he died March 17, 1882. He graduated at Brown in 1813. He studied law and was admitted a member of the R. I. Bar. He received from Brown the honorary degree LL. D. in 1851. He was elected a corresponding member of the Massachusetts Historical Society in 1880. The large and admirable portrait of him was the gift of his daughters, Mrs. William D. Ely and Miss Candace Allen, Oct. 3, 1882. It was painted by James S. Lincoln.
5. WILLIAM GAMMELL
Was a professor in Brown University from 1835 to 1864. He became a member of this society in 1844. He was its vice-
CATALOGUE OF PORTRAITS. 8 1
president from 1880 to 1882, and its president from 1882 to 1889. He was the son of Rev. William Gammell, D. D. (1786-1827), and was born in Medfield, Mass., Feb. 10, 1812. He died in Providence, April 3, 1889. He graduated at Brown in 1831, and received the honorary degree of LL. D. from Rochester in 1859. He was elected a corresponding member of the Massachusetts Historical Society in 1873. His portrait was painted from a photograph, by Hugo August Bernhard Breul, and given to the society, April i, 1890, by Mrs. Gammell.
6. ELISHA REYNOLDS POTTER
Was born June 20, 1811, in Kingston (a village of South Kingstown, formerly called Little Rest), where he died April 10, 1882. He was named after his father (1764-1835), who was a member of Congress in 1796, and was for half a century a leading man in his town and State. He graduated at Harvard in 1830, in the class with Charles Sumner, Thomas C. Amory, and other men of national reputation. He studied law and was admitted a member of the Rhode Island Bar in 1832. He became a member of this society in 1832, delivered its annual address in 1851, and was vice-president of it from 1850 to 1855. In 1835, when scarcely 24 years old, he produced and brought out volume III. of this society's collections, entitled, " Early History of Narragansett " — a work which embodies the re- sults of extensive and careful research in a field of labor till then scarcely entered — which work is now rare and valuable. Its high character has been attested and sustained for three score years. In 1837 he produced an account of the Paper Currency of Rhode Island, which was reprinted by Henry Phillips, Jr., in Philadelphia, and which in 1880 was revised by Mr. Rider and brought out as No. 8 of the Rhode Island His- torical Tracts. Hewas amemberof Congress from 1843 to 1845. He was the school commissioner of the State from 184910 1854, during which period many decisions, interpretations and modi- fications of the school laws of the State were made tending to give unity and force to our system of public instruction. He was appointed one of the justices of the Supreme Court of the State in 1868, and sustained the honor of that position till his death in 1882. In 1879 he produced a work which is
82 RHODE ISLAND HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
in some respects a supplement to his " Early History of Nar- ragansett," entitled, " Memoir concerning French Settle- ments and French Settlers in the Colony of Rhode Island." This work which constitutes No. 5 of the Rhode Island His- torical Tracts, embodies much information about a branch of Rhode Island history till then but little known. The memo- rial record adopted by this society in honor of Judge Potter, at its first meeting after his death, ends thus : " For love of his native State, for honorable public service, for faithfulness to duty, for patience in endeavor, for variety of learning, for prob- ity of character, for abounding charity, and for that crown- ing glory of man's life — the earnest effort to make others wiser, happier and better — his memory will long be cherished, and his beneficent example held in grateful honor." The portrait of Judge Potter was given to this society, Oct. 26, 1894, by his sister, Miss Mary E. Potter. It is a copy (made by Maria Louise Chapin) of a portrait painted about 1845 by Mr. E. D. Marchant of Philadelphia, who belongs to the Mar- chant family of South Kingstown, referred to in Rhode Island Historical Tract, No. 5.
7. SAMUEL EDDY
Was chief -justice of Rhode Island from 1833 to 1839. He was secretary of State from 179710 1819. He was born in 1769, and died in 1839. He graduated at Brown (then called R. I. Col- lege) in 1787, and received the honorary degree of LL. D. from that institution in 1801. His portrait was given to the society and delivered in person by his grandson, James Eddy Mauran, Jan. 7, 1884. It was painted by Francis Alexander in 1826, while that artist resided at 146 South Main St., Providence.
8. CHARLES TILLINGHAST JAMES
Was a manufacturer and inventor. He was a United States senator from 1851 to 1857. He was the son of Silas and Phebe (Tillinghast) James. He was born in West Greenwich, Sept. 14, 1805, and died by the accidental discharge of a cannon of his own invention, at Sag Harbor, N. Y., Oct. 17, 1862. He was Major-General of the R. I. State Militia before the adop- tion of the Constitution. He received the honorary degree of
CATALOGUE OF PORTRAITS. 83
A. M. from Brown in 1838. His portrait was painted by James S. Lincoln in 1838, and was given to the society, June 2, 1892, by his widow, Mrs. James.
i
9. JOSEPH WANTON
Was governor of Rhode Island from 1769 to 1775. He was born in Newport, August 15, 1705, and died there July 19, 1778. His portrait (No. 9) and the portrait of his wife (No. n) were brought to this country from England in 1891. They were given to the society, April 21, 1891, by Edward Perry Warren of Boston, and of Lewes House, Lewes, Sussex, England, through the kindly efforts of Daniel Berkley Updike, whose ancestral home is in South Kingstown, R. I., but whose actual home is in Boston. Attention is invited to the two portraits numbered 9 and n. They are among the largest, oldest and best in the collection. We know whom they represent, but we do not know who painted them. Critics pronounce the portrait of Governor Wanton better than that of his wife. Certain char- acteristics of the latter portrait, and its resemblance to some of Smybert's work (notably the portrait of Mrs. McSparran), lead to the belief that the portraits of the governor and his wife were not painted by the same artist. The latter portrait is accredited by some critics to Smybert, and the former, to John Hudson, a well-known English painter of that p'eriod.
10. THOMAS MARCH CLARK,
Scholar, author and divine, has been the bishop of the Prot- estant Episcopal Church of the diocese of Rhode Island since 1854. He was born in Newburyport, Mass., July 4, 1812. He graduated at Yale in 1831. He received the honorary degree of S. T. D. from Trinity and Union in 1852, and from Brown in 1860, and of LL. D. from Cambridge, England, in 1857. This portrait was painted by Martin Johnson Heade, in 1855 or 1856, and was given to Bishop Clark as an expression of ap- preciation of his eminent services, and it was given by Bishop Clark to this society, June 18, 1890, as an expression of his ap- preciation of the aim and objects of this institution and of its value to this community.
84 RHODE ISLAND HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
11. MARY (WiNTHROp) WANTON
Was the wife of Governor Joseph Wanton of Newport, and was the daughter of John Still Winthrop of New London, Conn. She died in 1784. This portrait was the gift of Ed- ward Perry Warren of Boston, and of Lewes House, Lewes, Sussex, England, April 2, 1891. The resemblance of this por- trait to the portrait of Mrs. McSparran (No. 23) by Smybert, has led some critics to believe that these two portraits were painted by the same artist.
12. DANIEL WEBSTER
Was a lawyer, senator, orator and statesman. He was born in Salisbury (now Franklin), N. H., Jan. 18, 1782. He died in Marshfield, Mass., Oct. 24, 1852. His portrait was painted by Charles A. Foster in 1852 or 1853. It was purchased by the Franklin Lyceum, and kept in Lyceum Hall until the break- ing up of that institution about 1890, when it was secured for this society through the efforts of the late Henry T. Beckwith and other members of this society. This portrait is pro- nounced by competent judges, a good copy of a portrait of Webster by the eminent artist, Geo. P. A. Healey.
13. EDWARD ROGERS YOUNG
Was a highly respected grocer and citizen of Providence. He was the son of John Young, and was born Dec. 2, 1798, in Providence, where he died July 14, 1864. He was the secretary of the School Committee of Providence sixteen consecutive years, during which period the school system of the city and State was greatly improved. This portrait was the gift of his sons, George F. and Nathan B. Young, April 25, 1893. It was painted by John N. Arnold of Providence.
14. HENRY BARNARD
Belongs to a class of early workers for the cause of public education, composed of such men as Horace Mann, James G. Carter, Bishop Horatio Potter, William C. Woodbridge, Jacob Abbott, George B. Emerson, Francis Wayland, Dr. Samuel G. Howe, and other men of kindred spirit. He was elected in 1838, at the same time with Longfellow, a corresponding mem-
CATALOGUE OF PORTRAITS. 85
her of this society, and his acknowledgment of that honor is dated March 24 of that year. He came to Rhode Island by special invitation of the governor of the State in 1843, from Con- necticut, where he had done good public service. He became from the date of arrival the leader of a popular movement for the improvement of the public schools of the State, influen- cing the people by public addresses and personal visits, and bringing into existence the system of public instruction that has since prevailed in the State. After his valuable services here and in his native State, he was president for two years of Wisconsin University, and was for several years commissioner of education at Washington. He was born in Hartford, Conn., Jan. 24, 1811. He graduated at Yale in 1830. He received the honorary degree of LL. D. from Yale and Union in 1852, and from Harvard in 1853. His portrait, painted by James S. Lincoln, was procured by Wilkins Updike, Elisha R. Potter and other eminent citizens of the State, and was given to this society on the 6th day of July, 1858, to be kept as a perpetual memorial of Mr. Barnard's services for the cause of education in Rhode Island. Mr. Barnard passes his advancing years cum otio et dignitate on his ancestral estate in Hartford, Conn. The memory of his public services is effectually perpetuated by the Barnard Club, which is composed of more than one hun- dred leading teachers and active friends of popular education residing in these Plantations. Though his white, flowing beard reminds us more of an ancient patriarch than of the spruce young man that he was when his portrait that is in this gallery was taken, his eloquence and ready address appear to good ad- vantage in his post-prandial speeches.
15. SAMUEL WARD KING
Was an energetic and public-spirited citizen of the town of Johnston, R. I. Was governor of Rhode Island during the Dorr War 1840-1843. He was born in Johnston, May 23, 1786, and died in Providence, June 2, 1851. This portrait was the gift of his son, Charles R. King, Nov. 30, 1892, and was painted by John N. Arnold.
16. CHARLES DANIEL JILLSON
Was colonel of the United Train of Artillery. He was a
86 RHODE ISLAND HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
good drill officer and did much to train troops for active service in the war of the Rebellion. He was educated in the public schools of Providence, and had in his library a good num- ber of choice and rare books. He was the son of Esek A. and Semantha S. (Carpenter) Jillson, and was born Dec. 2, 1837, in Providence, where he died March 30, 1885. He was a member of this society and did much to promote its interests. This portrait was the gift of his father, Esek A. Jillson, in 1891. It was painted by James S. Lincoln.
17. THOMAS FRANCIS CARPENTER
Was an efficient officer of the militia of this State, and a distinguished member of the Rhode Island Bar. He was warmly interested at an early period in this society, and helped collect the funds for building its cabinet. He was a son of Dr. Comfort A. Carpenter, who was a descendant of William Car- penter of Rehoboth. He graduated at Brown in 1818. He was born in Pawtucket, in February, 1796, and died in Provi- dence, July 1 8, 1854. This portrait was procured and given to this society in 1881 by General Carpenter's law students and other members of the Rhode Island Bar who honored his mem- ory. It was painted by James S. Lincoln from a photograph. General Carpenter's sword and epaulets used during his mili- tary career were given to the society in 1880 by a son-in-law, together with some official papers.
1 8. JOSEPH BELCHER
Was the pastor of the first church in Dedham, Mass., from 1693 to 1723. He was born in Milton, Mass., in 1668, and died in Dedham in 1723. He graduated at Harvard in 1690. Much interest has been manifested to ascertain the origin of this por- trait and to learn how and when it came here. When the com- piler of this catalogue entered in 1880 upon his duties as libra- rian, this portrait was here in a dilapidated condition. It was labeled, " Rev. Joseph Belcher." It was soon restored by Mr. Chace and received a new frame. In the course of a year or two a gentleman called here, who stated that he gave the pic- ture. It had come down in his family, resident in the town of Bristol. Mr. Belcher was understood to be in some way re-
CATALOGUE OF PORTRAITS. 87
lated to his family. When he removed from Bristol to Provi- dence he brought the portrait with him. When at a later pe- riod he removed from the State, he gave the portrait to this society. When asked for his address, he excused himself on the ground that he must hasten to take the cars, and at the same time he promised on reaching his home to write and give his address and the information desired. He has not been heard from since. Who can give the desired information ? It is probably the oldest portrait in the collection. Mr. Bel- cher's name appears in " Staples' Annals," page 434, with the names of Peter Thacher and John Danforth, attached to a letter addressed, Oct. 27, 1721, to the First Congregational Church of Providence. His name is not found in the records of Bristol, though there is a tradition that he preached there at an early period.
19. JAMES FENNER
Was a son of Governor Arthur Fenner (1745-1805), and a de- scendant in the 5th generation of Capt. Arthur Fenner (1622- 1703), who is reputed to have been a soldier in Cromwell's army. He was three times governor of Rhode Island ; viz., from 1807 to i8n,from 1824 to 1831, and from 1843101845. He was elected chief-justice in 1818. He was United States sena- tor from 1805 to 1807. He was the first president of this society (1822-1833). He was born in 1771 in Providence, where he died in 1846. This portrait is a copy made by Maria Louise Chapin from a portrait in the State House, made by James S. Lincoln. It was brought to the cabinet, Oct. 5, 1881.
20. JOHN HOWLAND
Was a descendant in the 5th generation of John Howland, who came over in the Mayflower in 1620. He was born in Newport in 1757, and died in Providence in 1854. He was the treasurer of the Providence Institution for Savings from its establishment in 1819 till 1840. He was the second president of this society (1833-1854). When the Gaspee was destroyed (1772) he was a boy not fifteen years old ; yet he entered one of the boats eager to take part in that enterprise. But he states, " Mr. Gladding seized me by the wrist and pulled me
88 RHODE ISLAND HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
upon the wharf, saying, ' you shan't go with those fellows to get your head broken.' " Later in life, he adds, " Thus I have no part in the boast of being of the Gaspee party." This enter- prising youth did good service to his country as a soldier in the Revolutionary War, but is now principally known and honored for his efforts to collect and preserve valuable historic mate- rial, and promote the cause of education and humanity. He was many years the president of the Rhode Island Peace So- ciety, and was, his life long, a sturdy advocate of arbitration in the settlement of international difficulties. He strove to promote the cause of temperance, and to encourage the various industrial pursuits that benefit and enrich families and nations. He received the honorary degree of A. M. from Brown Uni- versity in 1835. His portrait was painted by James S. Lin- coln, and was placed in the cabinet in 1847, the gift of mem- bers whose names and contributions are to be found on the first page of Autograph Book, Volume I.
21. ALBERT GORTON GREENE
Graduated at Brown in 1820. He became a member of this society at its formation in 1822, and was its president from 1855 to 1868. He was the son of John Holden Greene who was well known in the early part of this century as an architect and a builder. Mr. Greene had in his veins the blood of three noteworthy settlers of the ancient town of Warwick — John Greene, Randall Holden and Samuel Gorton. He was born in Providence, Feb. 10, 1802, and died in the family of his daughter, Mrs. S. W. Duncan, at Cleveland, Ohio, Jan. 3, 1868. He was many years judge of the Municipal Court, and clerk of the City Council of Providence. He was, by turns, editor, orator, poet and essayist, and was always a scholar and a gen- tleman of urbane manners and refined tastes. Among his lit- erary productions are the well-known lines beginning, —
" Old Grimes is dead — that good old man ! "
This portrait was painted by James S. Lincoln, and was given to the society, Jan. 10, 1882, by two daughters of Mr. Greene, Mrs. S. W. Duncan and Mrs. S. C. Eastman.
CATALOGUE OF PORTRAITS. 89
22. WILLIAM BARTON
Won distinction and honor by devising and successfully ex- ecuting a plan for the capture of the British General, Richard Prescott, on the loth day of July, 1777. For this daring achievement he was presented by Congress with a dress sword that was made in France, and duly inscribed. His name was thenceforward enrolled as one of the heroes of the Revolution. He was born in Warren, R. I., May 26, 1748, and died in Provi- dence, Oct. 22, 1831. His portrait was taken while he was in the vigor of manhood, and was kept in his house on South Main Street, till after his death. It came here Jan. 27, 1892, as a bequest from his grandson, the Rev. George Francis Cushman (son of Anna [Barton] Cushman), who was born in Pawtucket, Feb. 24, 1819. Graduated at Amherst in 1840 ; was honored with the degree of A. M. by Brown in 1846; and with the degree of S.T.D. by the University of Alabama in 1860. He died in Brooklyn, N. Y., June 26, 1890. The Cincinnati diploma, signed by Washington and Knox, and the Cincinnati badge, consisting of a gold eagle, came to this society with the portrait, and are carefully preserved. The sword referred to above and several other keepsakes and memorials are now owned by General Barton's great grandson and namesake, William Barton of Providence.
23. HANNAH (GARDINER) MCSPARRAN
Was the wife of the Rev. James McSparran, D. D., who was a missionary in the Narragansett Country, of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts. She was the daughter of William and Abigail Gardiner. She was born Dec. 7/1704. She was married in 1722. She died in London, June
24. 1755, and was buried in the churchyard of Christ Church, Victoria Street, Westminster. This portrait together with that of the Rev. Dr. McSparran (No. 25) is a copy made by Mary Updike, daughter of Wilkins Updike, the historian of the Narragansett church, of a portrait by James Smybert, then in the possession of Robert Hallowell Gardiner, of Gardiner, Me., and now the property of the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston. Many years ago there were small engravings of this portrait, and of the portrait of the Rev. Dr. McSparran, but
9O RHODE ISLAND HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
now the copper plates from which these engravings were taken are not to be found.
24. JAMES BURRILL,
Who is generally called in the publications of his time, James Burrill, Jr., was attorney-general of Rhode Island from 1797 to 1814, and chief -justice from i8i6to 1817. He was a distin- guished orator and member of the Rhode Island Bar. He was United States senator from 1817 to 1820. He was born in 1772, and died in 1820. He was maternal grandfather of the late George Wm. Curtis. The town of Burrillville was so named in his honor. His portrait is in pastel. We know nothing of this portrait except that, according to the testimony of one of his law students, Zachariah Allen, LL. D., it has belonged to the society more than half a century and that it is, despite its lack of artistic merit, a fair likeness of Mr. Burrill. Since the above was written, a cabinet size photograph of a Malbone miniature of Mr. Burrill, has been given to the society by a granddaughter of Mr. Burrill, and daughter of the late Wal- ter S. Burges, Mrs. Scott A. Smith of Providence.
25. JAMES MCSPARRAN
Was missionary of the Church of England in Narragansett, from 1720 until his death at his post of duty, Dec. I, 1757. He was born in Ireland and died at his home which was at the foot of McSparran Hill in South Kingstown. He was buried at his request beneath the chancel of his church, which was built in 1707 and in the year 1800 was removed to the village of Wickford, where it is still standing. On the 24th day of June, 1869, a monument that had been erected in honor of this devoted missionary, on the ancient site of the church, near McSparran Hill, was unveiled. An address was delivered by the bishop of the diocese, the Rt. Rev. Thomas M. Clark, and other commemorative exercises marked the occasion. Dr. McSparran left some publications that are now rare and valuable, and a diary (in manuscript) which, though used freely by Mr. Updike in writing the history of the Nar- ragansett Church, is pronounced by competent judges worthy of being printed in full. Dr. McSparran received the degree
CATALOGUE OF PORTRAITS. 9 1
of D. D. from Glasgow University, in 1737. A model of the old Narragansett Church was made by Bishop Clark, many years ago, and was given by him to this society, and placed in its museum, June 16, 1890. For mention of the portrait see notice of Mrs. McSparran in No. 23.
26. FRANCIS WAYLAND
Was president of Brown University from 182710 1855. His sermon entitled, " The moral dignity of the missionary ente- prise," indicates the spirit and character of the man. He was born in New York in 1796. He died in Providence in 1865. He graduated at Union College in 1813, received the honorary degree of S. T. D. from Union in 1827 and from Harvard in 1829, and LL. D. from Harvard in 1852. His likeness is a colored photograph given to the society, Nov. 27, 1891, by Henry T. Beckwith.
27. OLIVER HAZARD PERRY
Commanded the American fleet at the Battle of Lake Erie, on the roth of September, 1813. Though he then held the office of captain in the United States Navy, and the office of commodore did not exist by law until long after his death, he was honored by general acclamation with the latter title from the day of his signal victory. He was born in South Kings- town, August 21, 1785. He died August 23, 1819, on board his flagship, the John Adams, at Port Spain, in South Amer- ica, where he was in the service of his country. The portrait in this gallery was long labeled thus : " Com. Oliver H. Perry, Sanford Mason, artist." On the back of the picture is the statement that its frame is made of oak timber taken from Com Perry's flagship, the Lawrence. Persons who have seen this picture regard it as a copy of a portrait by J. W. Jarvis, one of whose portraits was long owned by Com. Perry's sister, Mrs. Com. Rogers, of New London, Conn., and now belongs to the latter's son, retired Capt. John F. Rogers, U. S. A., Washington, D. C. No record is found to show when or how the society became possessed of this portrait. Yet, the late Dr. Usher Parson has generally been accredited as the giver of it.
92 RHODE ISLAND HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
A picture entitled, "The Battle of Lake Erie," was painted about 1858, by William Herny Powell, for the .State House in Columbus, Ohio. An enlarged copy of this picture by the same artist is in the National Capitol at Washington, and attracts much attention as a work of art.
There are many admirable portraits of Com. Perry in dif- ferent parts of our country. One in the City Hall, New York, by Jarvis, is reported as of exquisite artistic merit. How many different artists took portraits of him from life is not known to the writer. A nephew of the commodore thinks there were only two : one by Stuart and the other by Jarvis ; while an artist of the commercial metropolis of our country adds to the list two names.
The house and the room in which Com. Perry was born in South Kingstown are still preserved and shown to visitors. The estate is now owned by a member of the family, Mrs. Tiffany, of Newport, R. I.
A statue was erected in his honor, September 10, 1860, in Cleveland, Ohio, of which William Walcutt was the sculptor.
In 1885 a statue of him of heroic size was erected in Wash- ington Square, in front of the State House, in Newport, of which William G. Turner, a native of Newport, and a resident of Florence, Italy, was the sculptor.
An elaborate copper-plate engraving was gotten up at the expense of Miss Elizabeth C. Brenton, in 1820. The plate which is 26 x 30 inches, cost Miss Brenton about $500. But few copies were ever struck off. The plate is now owned by the Hon. John G. Perry, of Wakefield, R. I.
The sword given to Com. Perry by the Common Council of the city of Albany, November 8, 1813, and the nankeen jacket worn by him during the battle, September 10, 1813, are cher- ished memorials received by this society through the courtesy of a grandson and namesake, Oliver Hazard Perry, Esq., of Lowell, Mass.
George C. Mason, of honored memory, has left an illustra- ted sketch of the life and services of Com. Perry, which, it is hoped, may soon be printed under the editorial care of his son, Geo. C. Mason, whose address is 1040 Drexel Building, Philadelphia.
CATALOGUE OF PORTRAITS. 93
28. LEWIS LEPRILETE MILLER
Was a distinguished physician and surgeon of Providence. He graduated in the academic department of Brown Univer- sity in 1817, and in its medical school in 1820. He was born in Franklin, Mass., in 1798, and died in Providence in 1870. His likeness is a colored photograph given to the society, January 10, 1882, by Albert V. Jencks.
29. JOHN CALLENDER
Is the author of a discourse entitled, " Century Sermon on the Civil and Religious affairs of the Colony of Rhode Island from its settlement, in 1638, to the end of the first century." This discourse was printed in Boston in 1739. It was re- printed in 1838, with a memoir of its author, prepared by Rev. Romeo Elton, and became Vol. IV. of the society's collections. This volume is now the most rare of the society's collections, though it has not yet commanded so high a price as Vol. V.
Mr. Callender was born in Boston in 1706. He graduated at Harvard in 1723, and became in 1731 the successor of Rev. John Comer, author of the " Comer Diary," as pastor of the First Baptist Church in Newport, where he died, Janu- ary 26, 1748. This portrait was painted by Robert Feke, in the early part of the last century, and was given to the soci- ety by Henry Bull, of Newport, through the kindly offices of Wilkins Updike, of Kingston.
30. CHARLES DYER, 30,
Was long an enterprising and highly respected citizen of Providence, where he was born September 16, 1778. Dyer Street and Dyer Block were named in honor of him and his brother Benjamin, who were long associated in business. He was many years president of the Providence Charitable Fuel Society. He died in Brooklyn, Conn., while on a visit, De- cember II, 1862, and was buried in the burial lot of the Dyer family, in Cranston, R. I. His likeness is a colored photo- graph given to the society, September 21, 1893, by his grand- son, Cornelius Sowle Dyer.
31. CATHARINE R. WILLIAMS
Was the author of an interesting story entitled, " Religion
94 RHODE ISLAND HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
at Home." She wrote the Lives of William Barton and Stephen Olney, and among her other works was a volume of poems. She was the daughter of Capt. Alfred Arnold, was born about 1790, and was married when she was twenty-three years old. She died in Providence in 1872. This portrait was given the society by Henry J. Steere and eight other members of the society, October 22, 1885. It was painted by Susanna Paine, whose name is found in a note appended to this catalogue.
32. WILLIAM READ STAPLES
Was associate-justice of the Supreme Court of Rhode Isl- and from 1843 to 1854, and chief -justice from 1854 to 1856. He was one of the founders of this society, and long one of its most devoted and efficient officers. Among the fruits of his industry, learning, and efforts to preserve and perpetuate the history of his native State, are " Annals of the Town of Providence," "Rhode Island in the Continental Congress," "History of the Destruction of the Gaspee," "Code of Laws of 1647," together with other like valuable essays. He was born October 10, 1798, in Providence, where he died, Oct. 19, 1868. He graduated at Brown in 1817, and received from that University the honorary degree of LL. D. in 1862. A good photograph likeness has long been owned by the society. On its becoming known that an admirable portrait of a small size painted by Lincoln was available, the sum required was promptly subscribed and the portrait was given to the society on the 8th of October, 1894, by eight members whose names are in the treasurer's report, rendered January 8, 1895.
33. JOHN RUSSELL BARTLETT
Was born October 23, 1805, in Providence, where he died, May 28, 1886. His lineage is readily traced to several of the early settlers of this State. He became a member of this society in 1831, and during the remaining fifty-five years of his life manifested in various ways his interest in its usefulness and prosperity. He made while a mere boy an enlarged copy of Kidder's famous picture of the scene at the great bridge during the September gale of 1815, and gave that picture to
CATALOGUE OF PORTRAITS. 95
the society soon after he became a member of it. In company with Dr. Thomas H. Webb and Albert G. Greene he exam- ined the Dighton Rock with the view of ascertaining, as far as possible, whether the marks thereon were, as represented by some antiquarians, inscriptions made by Norsemen or mere meaningless figures made by rude natives. He carried on an extensive correspondence with the savants of the Royal Soci- ety of Northern Antiquaries at Copenhagen. In 1848 he was honored by Brown University with the degree of A. M. In 1856 he was elected a corresponding member of the Massa- chusetts Historical Society, and thence onward his relations with various learned institutions on both sides of the ocean were greatly extended. In 1850 he was appointed a commis- sioner on the part of the United States to establish the boundary line between this country and Mexico. He was secretary of the State of Rhode Island from 1855 to 1872, during which period the public papers of the State, from 1647 to 1842, were arranged and bound, under his supervision, in 192 volumes and 28 portfolios. No enumeration of his many productions and of his various accomplishments is needed here. The results of his industry, art, skill and learning are well attested. His portrait, which is the copy of a sketch made near the close of his life by James S. Lincoln, was given to the society, October 17, 1894, by Mr. Bartlett's son, Major Henry Anthony Bartlett, U. S. A. The copy was made by Major Bartlett's wife, Mrs. Cara Hall Bartlett.
34. JOSEPH WARREN FEARING
Was born in Wareham, Mass., in 1800. He graduated at Brown in 1823. He attended a course of medical lectures in Boston and pursued his professional studies under private instruction. He died in 1862 in Providence, where he had for thirty-seven years a successful practice as a physician, and was highly esteemed by a wide circle of patrons and friends. His portrait was given to the society, March 7, 1888, by Mrs. Alfred E Johnson.
35. ENOS HITCHCOCK
Was a chaplain in the Continental Army. He was pastor of the First Congregational Church of Providence from 1783
96 RHODE ISLAND HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
to 1803. He was born in Brookfield, Mass., in 1744. He grad- uated at Harvard in 1767, and received from Brown the hon- orary degree of S. T. D. in 1788. He was a member of the Corporation of Brown from 1785 till his death, and was also an original member of the Rhode Island Society of the Cincin- nati. He died in Providence in 1803, leaving a diary and published discourses and books. His portrait is in pastel. We know little of this portrait, except that it was long kept here with the approbation of the first two presidents of this soci- ety (Fenner and Howland), who, having known Dr. Hitchcock during many years, were competent judges of its worth as a likeness of him.
36. DELIA DYER
Was the wife of Charles Dyer, 4th, and the daughter of Captain Cornelius Sowle. She was born in 1804 in Provi- dence, where she died in 1844. This portrait was painted in 1832 by Cephas Giovanni Thompson, whose studio was at that time in the Arcade, and was at a later period in Rome. It was given to the society by her son, Cornelius Sowle Dyer, Sep- tember 21, 1893.
37. CHARLES DYER, 4TH
Was born in 1803 in Providence, where he died in 1852. This portrait was given by his son, Cornelius Sowle Dyer, September 21, 1893. It was painted by Cephas Giovanni Thompson, in 1832.
38. CORNELIUS SOWLE
Was long the commander of an East India merchant ship of Providence. He was lost at sea, in 1818, with his cargo, ship, and all on board. This portrait was given to the soci- ety, September 21, 1893, by his son-in-law and namesake, Cor- nelius Sowle Dyer. It was painted in Canton, China, in the early part of this century. Other namesakes of this sea- captain and merchant have their names in the early and the actual directories of Providence.
39. THOMAS HOWLAND
Was a tall, coal-black negro, who was during many years a
CATALOGUE OF PORTRAITS. 97
stevedore in Providence. He acquired while serving in that capacity the capital and training to carry on an extensive business as a drayman. He was elected warden of the old third ward, April I, 1847, and maintained the honor of that office during the ensuing year. At a later period he emigra- ted with his family to Liberia, where, having some time served as the governor of a province, he died. One of his oft-repeated sayings was, that he would gladly endure the pain of being skinned alive provided he could thus become a white man. The late John A. Howland has left a brief sketch of this re- markable man. His portrait was painted and given to the society by John Blanchard, who was an amateur, rather than a professional, portrait painter.
40. PORTRAIT IN PASTEL.
This portrait was found by our late associate, John A. How- land, in an auction-room in Providence. It has attracted at- tention, and been pronounced by competent judges a work of art. The late George C. Mason, who had made a study of Malbone's paintings, expressed the opinion that this portrait was painted by Malbone, and that the subject of it was a French officer of the Revolutionary period. The subsequent discovery on the back of the portrait of part of a newspaper in the French language confirmed Mr. Mason's impression.
41. JEREMIAH LEWIS DIMAN
Was born in Bristol, May i, 1831, and died in Providence, February 3, 1881. His surname is traced to the French du mont. He is said by one of his biographers to have inherited from noteworthy ancestors some striking characteristics. He graduated at Brown in 1851, and received the honorary de- gree of D. D. from that institution in 1870. He was elected a corresponding member of the Massachusetts Historical So- ciety in 1873. He was professor of history and political economy in Brown from 1864 till his death in 1881. While discharging the duties of his position as professor he at- tained eminence as a teacher, a scholar and an author, and died in the midst of a remarkable career of usefulness, hon- ored and beloved by a wide circle of friends. His likeness is
98 RHODE ISLAND HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
the photograph of a portrait painted by Mr. Frederick Vin- ton, of Boston, now in Sayles Memorial Hall. This photo- graph was given to the society in 1882 by a class of ladies instructed in history by Professor Diman at the period of his death..
42. THOMAS ARTHUR DOYLE
Was born March 15, 1827, in Providence, where he died, June 9, 1886. Without extraordinary advantages he attained the highest official position in his native city, and for many years so efficiently discharged the duties of that position, as to cause a statue of him to be erected on a public square of Providence to perpetuate his memory as a worthy citizen and chief magistrate. He became a member of this society in 1851. He attended many of its meetings and took an active part in determining its course of action. Through his rec- ommendation, the City Council passed an act giving to the society several copies of each of its publications. He was a prominent and influential member of the society of Freema- sons and held many offices therein, being grand master of Masons for seven years. His likeness is a photograph taken while he was in the vigor of manhood. An admirable por- trait of him that was painted by John N. Arnold, by vote of the City Council, is in the City Hall.
43. ELISHA DYER
Was born July 20, 1811, in Providence, where he died, May 17, 1890. He was the son of Elisha and Frances (Jones) Dyer. He was a descendant of William and Mary Dyer, the former of whom was the first clerk of Portsmouth, R. I., in 1638, and the latter was put to death, June I, 1660, on Boston Common, for being a Quaker. He was also a descendant, on his mother's side, of the Huguenot, Gabriel Bernon, who came from La Rochelle, France, arriving in Boston, 1688, and at a later period settling in Rhode Island. He was elected a member of this society in 1838, and many evidences of his interest are to be found in different parts of the cabinet. He was the founder of the Rhode Island Veteran Citizens His-
CATALOGUE OF PORTRAITS. 99
torical Association, and promoted its usefulness to the extent of his ability. He graduated at Brown in 1829. He was gov- ernor of the State from 1857 to 1859. He held the office of adjutant-general of the State from 1841 to 1844, inaugurating a system of keeping the military records of the State, which his son, namesake and successor in office, has reduced to a science and an art that reflects credit on the State. He held at different times many other responsible positions in his native city and State, and was honored at his death as a patriotic, whole-souled man. His likeness is a photograph which he gave to the society in 1869.
44. JOHN PITMAN
Was United States district judge for the district of Rhode Island from August, 1824, till his death, November 17, 1863. He was the son of Rev. John Pitman, a Baptist clergyman, and was born in Providence, February 23, 1785. He gradua- ted at Brown in 1799, and received the honorary degree of LL. D. from that institution in 1843. By invitation of a com- mittee of the City Council of Providence and of the Rhode Island Historical Society, he gave the address (August 5, 1836) on the observance of the two-hundredth anniversary of the founding of the Providence Plantations. His name is found on the membership roll of this society from 1823 till his death in 1863. His photograph was taken and given to this society many years ago by Manchester Bros., of Provi- dence.
45. AMBROSE EVERETT BURNSIDE
Was born in Liberty, Ind., in 1824. He graduated at West Point Military Academy in 1847. He served in the Mexican War, and attained distinction as a general in the War of the Rebellion. He was governor of Rhode Island from 1866 to 1869, and United States senator from 1875 to r88i. An equestrian statue was erected in his honor on Exchange Place, Providence, in 1884. He died in 1881. His portrait was painted by James S. Lincoln, in 1852, when Burnside was a lieutenant stationed at Fort Adams, Newport. It was given to this society by Gen. Burnside's nieces, Mrs. Ellen Burnside
IOO RHODE ISLAND HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
Cameron and Miss Fanny Winsor Bishop, January 24, 1889. The society has also a life-size (alto relievo) medallion head of Gen. Burnside, given by ex-mayor Jabez C. Knight, Octo- ber 8, 1894.
46. GEORGE WASHINGTON TEEL
Was commander of the merchant ship Pocahontas, and was many years in the employ of Messrs. Snow & Munro in for- eign commerce. He died between 1830 and 1836. This por- trait was given by Barnabas J. Chace, November 21, 1892.
47. JOHN POWER KNOWLES
Was United States judge of the District Court of the dis- trict of Rhode Island from 1869 to 1881. He graduated at Brown in 1836, and in the Harvard Law School in 1838. He was born June 13, 1808, in Providence, where he died, August 3, 1887. His widow (a granddaughter of the late John How- land), one daughter and a son (John Powers Knowles, now of St. Paul, Minn.) survive him. His portrait, painted by Mary E. Gladding, was given to the society in 1893, by Mrs. Knowles.
48. GEORGE III.
Was king of Great Britain from 1760 to 1820. He was born in 1738 and died in 1820.
Nothing is known of this and the portrait of his wife, Char- lotte Sophia (No. 49), both in pastel, as to when or how they were obtained, except that they have belonged to the society more than sixty years. The frames indicate age. On the back of one frame are pasted broken printed sentences as follows : " torn off Masinissa. By Luca Gior. — ( — ) By Hans
Holbein in the collection of Dr. Bragg. Ravener. Price,
singly, 68. — ( — ) Engraved by Mr. Physiw. Walker's
Price 7, 8." No importance can be attached to these scraps.
49. CHARLOTTE SOPHIA
Was queen of George III., king of Great Britain. She was born in Mecklenburg-Strelitz in 1744, and died at Kew, Eng- land, in 1818. She was married in 1761, and stated that she
CATALOGUE OF PORTRAITS. IOI
never knew real sorrow till the king's illness in 1788. She is represented as a virtuous woman, taking good care of her husband during his long period of insanity.
50. THOMAS COLES
Was the son of an English army officer. He was born Dec. 9, 1752, in Ireland, where his father was then stationed. Leaving his home in England, when he was twelve years old, he came to this country on board a merchant vessel. He en- listed as a soldier in the Revolutionary War, and was suc- cessively ensign, lieutenant, and captain in the continental army. He was presented by Lafayette with a sword, which is now owned by Mr. Frederick S. Hoppin of this city. He was an original member of the Rhode Island State Society of the Cincinnati. In 1806 he was one of the commissioners to survey the coast of North Carolina. In 1808 he was commis- sary-general of the Rhode Island Militia. He was collector of the port of Providenc- from 1809 to 1829. He died Octo- ber 13, 1844.
This portrait was painted by Thomas Young, and was given to the society by Mr. and Mrs. James E. Cranston, July 10, 1882.
51. WILLIAM ELLERY CHANNING
Was an eminent Unitarian divine, an author and a philan- thropist. He was born in Newport, April 7, 1780. He grad- uated at Harvard in 1798, and received the honorary degree of S. T. D. from that university in 1820. He died October 2, 1842. On the centennial anniversary of his birth a substan- tial and commodious church edifice was erected in his native city as a memorial of his eminent services for the cause of Christianity and humanity.
His likeness was given by Dr. Channing's son, William F. Channing, M. D. It is an engraving from Gambadella's picture.
52. JOHN HALE MASON
Was many years an enterprising merchant of Providence. He established the firm of John H. Mason & Son, that dealt
IO2 RHODE ISLAND HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
first in drugs and manufacturers' supplies and later in cotton. He was succeeded by his son, John N. Mason, and the latter by his sons, Eugene Waterman Mason and John Hale Mason, who now constitute the firm. The portrait was given to the society in 1881.
53. AN INDIAN GIRL.
This is a portrait of one of the last of the Nantucket tribe, not of full blood. It was painted about 1850 by Mrs. Dassell, the wife of a German physician of Nantucket, in whose family she was a servant. It was obtained by the late Miss Julia Bullock in a raffle for a charitable object, and it was given by Miss Bullock to this society, March 26, 1883. One of Mrs. Dassell's pictures was in the loan exhibition of 1895.
54. ABRAHAM WHIFFLE
Took an active part in the maritime commerce and the na- val exploits of Rhode Island in the latter part of the colonial period. He was the leader of the party that destroyed the British schooner Gaspee on the morning of the loth of June, 1772. He was an enterprising officer of the American navy during the Revolutionary War. He was the son of Noah and Mary (Dexter) Whipple, on whose farm in the present town of Lincoln he was born, September 26, 1773. His father (Noah Whipple) sold this estate, July 27, 1746, to Deputy- Governor Joseph Whipple, of Newport, who sold it December 14, 1750, to Rev. John Checkley, rector of St. John's Protes- tant Episcopal Church, Providence, and the latter's son-in- law, Henry Paget. Mr. Checkley soon dying, Mr. Paget became the sole proprietor. Mr. Paget sold it in 1770 to three sons of Jonathan Arnold; viz., Jonathan, Jr., Welcome and Aza. The Arnold heirs held possession of this estate till 1860, when it was sold to its present owner, Benjamin Comstock. A picture of the Paget house that was erected in 1760 in place of the Whipple house, with an admirable ac- count of this historic estate, has been prepared with great care and given to the society by Mr. Albert Holbrook, the fruits of whose researches and investigations are gratefully acknowledged. Com. Whipple was of the fifth generation
CATALOGUE OF PORTRAITS. 1 03
from the first John Whipple of Providence. He died in Ma- rietta, Ohio, May 27, 1819. This small but spirited sketch of one of the great naval heroes of this State was taken from a three-quarter size portrait that is in Sayles Memorial Hall, and the latter was copied by the artist Heade from an origi- nal full-size portrait that belonged to a grandson of Commodore Whipple, Dr. William Whipple Comstock of Middleborough, Mass., who died October 20, 1878, leaving this portrait and an autograph letter of Washington, together with a valuable collection of Revolutionary papers and family keepsakes to his daughter, Mrs. Agnes C. Tribon, who occupies the family mansion at Middleborough. Commodore Whipple's portrait in this cabinet is labeled thus : " Presented to the Historical Society of Providence, April 10, 1876, on the 2OOth anniver- sary of the burning of Providence. By E. E. A." Commo- dore Whipple is worthily represented in the Rhode Island Society of the Cincinnati (an institution that had for its first president Major-General Nathanael Greene, and has for its actual president the first president's grandson, Nathanael Greene, M. D., LL. D., of Newport, R. I.) by his great-great- grandson, Frederick Trowbridge Sibley, of Detroit, Mich.
Editorial Query. What is the full name of "E. E. A.," the giver of this picture ?
55. JOHN MATHEWSON EDDY
Was born in Glocester, R. I., February 14, 1782. He died at Havana, whither he had gone for his health, April 29, 1817. He received the honorary degree of M. D. from Brown in 1815, and became the same year adjunct-professor of anatomy and surgery in the medical school of Brown. He was for some time a partner of Dr. Pardon Bowen in the practice of medicine in Providence. He was in 1812 one of the corpora- tors of the Rhode Island Medical Society. His portrait was given to the society, April 10, 1863, by Mrs. George C. Night- ingale, who was a sister of Dr. Eddy's wife. The portrait was painted by Thomas Young of Providence. Dr. Eddy's monu- ment, next to the Nightingale lot in Swan Point Cemetery, contains an inscription from which some of the facts stated above were furnished, through the courtesy of Mr. George C. Nightingale of this society.
IO4 RHODE ISLAND HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
56. THOMAS WILSON DORR
Was the son of Sullivan and Lydia (Allen) Dorr. He was born November 5, 1805, in Providence, where he died Decem- ber 27, 1854. He was prepared for college at Phillips Acad- emy, Exeter, N. H., and graduated at Harvard in 1823. He studied law with Chancellor Kent in New York, and was ad- mitted a member of the Rhode Island bar in 1827. He repre- sented Providence in the General Assembly from 1834 to 1837. He became a member of this society in 1835, and was its treasurer from 1836 to 1842. He was much interested in popular education, and served several years as a member of the school committee of his native city. He is remem- bered by the writer of this sketch as a very efficient president of the school committee of this city in the summer of 1840, when what was then termed the new system of public schools was established, and the American Institute of Instruction held its eleventh annual session here during four successive days, three meetings a day. His earnestness and energy were at that time very noticeable. Mr. Dorr became early much interested in a combined effort to extend the right of suf- frage in this State. He made great sacrifices for this object, and his life was saddened and doubtless shortened by dis- appointments and hardships to which he was subjected in trying to establish in the State what he termed manhood suffrage in place of property suffrage. His career as an advo- cate of suffrage was seriously interrupted. He was arrested, and was tried and convicted of treason by the Supreme Court of the State. In a year thereafter he was pardoned and released from prison by a general law relating to treason, and in less than ten years the sentence of the court was repealed and annulled by the General Assembly. Thus when Mr. Dorr died he possessed the full rights of citizenship and had no stain upon his name so far as public laws are concerned. During the intensely bitter political contest in which he was engaged, /i i the writer of this sketch, who was " a looker-on here in Vi- cnfta, ' recalls no serious effort to blacken the personal char- acter of Mr. Dorr. While acting as a member of the school committee and otherwise subserving the cause of popular education in Providence, Mr. Dorr conducted himself in a
CATALOGUE OF PORTRAITS. 1 05
manner to command respect, and his bearing and course of action as the president of the school committee of Providence during that period (1840 and 1841), are pleasantly recalled after the lapse of more than half a century. His portrait is an engraving taken from a daguerreotype with a.fac-simile of his autograph.
INDEX OF NAMES ON FOREGOING LIST.
Number on List. . Page.
Allen, Zachariah 4 So
Arnold, Samuel G 3 80
Barnard, Henry 14 84
Bartlett, John R 33 94
Barton, William 22 89
Belcher, Joseph 18 86
Burrill, James 24 90
Burnside, Ambrose E 45 99
Callender, John 29 93
Carpenter, Thomas F 17 86
Channing, William E 51 101
Clark, Thomas M 10 83
Coles, Thomas 50 101
Diman, J. Lewis 41 97
Dorr, Thomas W 56 104
Doyle, Thomas A 42 98
Dyer, Charles 30 93
Dyer, Charles, 4th 37 96
Dyer, Delia 36 96
Dyer, Elisha, Sen 2 79
Dyer, Elisha, Jun 43 98
Eddy, John M 55 103
Eddy, Samuel 7 82
IO6 RHODE ISLAND HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
Number on List. Page.
Fearing, Joseph W 34 95
Fenner, James 19 87
Gammell, William 5 80
George III., King, etc 48 100
George III., his wife, Charlotte 49 100
Greene, Albert G 21 88
Hall, Edward B i 79
Hitchcock, Enos 35 95
Howland, John 20 87
Howland, Thomas 39 9&
Indian Girl 53 I02
James, Charles T 8 82
Jillson, Charles D 16 85
King, Samuel W 15 85
Knowles, John P 47 IO°
McSparran, Hannah 23 89
McSparran, James 25 90
Mason, John H 52 I01
Miller, Lewis L 28 93
Perry, Oliver H 27 91
Pitman, John 44 99
Portrait of Person Unknown 4° 97
Potter, Elisha R 6 81
Sowle, Cornelius 38 96
Staples, William R , 32 94
Teel, George W 46 100
Wanton, Joseph 9 83
Wanton, Mary 1 1 84
Wayland, Francis 26 91
Webster, Daniel 12 84
Whipple, Abraham 54 '°2
Williams, Catharine R 31 93
Young, Edward R 13 84
BRIEF NOTES ON DECEASED ARTISTS. 1 07
BRIEF NOTES
ON SOME DECEASED ARTISTS* WHO ARE MENTIONED IN THE FOREGOING CATALOGUE.
ROBERT FEKE
Was a colonial artist of an early period. He was born in Oyster Bay, L. L, about 1725. He died in Barbadoes, West Indies, about 1765. Several of his portraits are in the Bow- doin College collection. One of his best portraits is that of Lady Wanton, in the Redwood Library at Newport. His por- trait of Rev. John Callender (No. 29) was pronounced by the late Professor J. Lewis Diman the most interesting and valu- able in an historical point of view, of all the portraits belong- ing to this society.
JOHN SMYBERT
Was born in Edinburgh about 1684, and died in Boston, Mass., in 1751. He studied his profession in London and in Italy. He accompanied Bishop Berkley to this country in 1729. His most important portraits are those of Bishop Berk- ley and his family, 1731, now in the Yale collection. Other portraits are those of Jonathan Edwards, Edmund Quincy, John Endicott, and Peter Faneuil. Copies of two of his por- traits in this collection (Nos. 23 and 25) are noteworthy.
MARTIN JOHNSON HEADE
Was born in Bucks county, Pa. He began life as a portrait painter ; he has, however, attained his highest honors as a
*The word artist is used here in a very broad sense. No attempt is made to restrict its meaning or its use to recognized professional portrait or picture painters. Indeed, two persons who are known in the directory as "sign painters," are called artists (Bowers and Harris). And several who were advertised as artists are here accredited as artists, though the word artizans would be appropriate. The title of this article precludes the special mention of several actual artists who are doing good service for the cause of art in this city and State.
IO8 RHODE ISLAND HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
landscape painter. His portrait (No. 10) of one of the most illustrious living citizens of this State (Bishop Clark), speaks for itself.
FRANCIS ALEXANDER
Painted the portrait of Samuel Eddy, No. 7 in the art gal- lery. He was born in Connecticut in 1800. He resided in New York and for a brief period in Providence. He then re- moved to Boston, and finally settled in Florence, Italy. He painted portraits of Gen. Charles T. James and his wife, and several other specimens of his work are in the city.
THOMAS YOUNG
Was, we are assured, a native of Providence, where he pro- duced numerous portraits, two of which (Nos. 50 and 55) rep- resent Capt. Thomas Coles and Dr. John M. Eddy. The compiler of this catalogue has been unable to ascertain the time either of his birth or of his death, or particulars as to his family. He was related in some way to the late Edward R. Young, whose portrait by Mr. John N. Arnold adorns the art gallery.
SANFORD MASON
Painted the -portrait of Commodore Perry in this gallery. He was established in Providence as a portrait painter about seventy years ago. Mr. E. Baxter, Jr., the artist who has a studio at old Warwick, also at 128 North Main Street, Provi- dence, is authority for the statement that, "Mr. Mason visited Philadelphia ; studied there a while, and returned to Provi- dence where he was soon eclipsed, if not superseded, as a portrait painter, by Mr. C. T. Hinckley. His pictures, though not of a high order, serve as records of the style of dress and of furniture of that period." The names of these rival artists appear in the Providence directories of 1824, 1826 and 1828. They changed their studios from year to year. Mason's name again appears in the directory of 1847 with his studio at 109 Pine Street.
CEPHAS GIOVANNI THOMPSON
Painted Nos. 36 and 37 in 1832. He also painted many
BRIEF NOTES ON DECEASED ARTISTS. 1 09
other portraits, at his studio in the Arcade, between 1830 and 1845. He is believed to have been born in Italy. He removed from Providence to Rome, where one of his former patrons found him in 1855 in the successful practice of his profession as a portrait painter. Five of his portraits were in the Art Club loan exhibition of 1895. His sister left a professional card which is kept as a curiosity, signed as follows : —
"Marietta Tintoretta Catharina Tin Ton Francisca Isa- bella Antoinette Thompson, Artist. Painter of Portraits."
SUSANNA PAINE.
Susan Paine's name is in the " Providence Directory," from 1836 to 1847. The name was then changed to Susanna and continued, with one exception, till 1862, always with the phrase "portrait painter" annexed. On that year, November 10, is the record of her death, aged seventy years. In 1854 she published a volume, I2mo, pp. 203, entitled, "Roses and Thorns or Recollections of an Artist," etc., printed in Provi- dence. In 1860, John Wilson & Son printed for her in Boston a volume, I2mo, pp. 400, entitled, "Wait and See." Both books were copyrighted. An actual book-binder who assisted in binding her volume that was printed by B. T. Albro, in 1854, recalls her person and presence at that time.
JAMES SULLIVAN LINCOLN
Has done much to adorn the walls of this gallery and to promote the art of portrait painting in this city and State. He was born in Taunton, Mass., in 1811. At ten years of age he came to Providence, where he was apprenticed to Wil- liam D. Terry as an engraver. At seventeen years of age (1828) he had chosen the profession of a portrait painter and established his studio on Weybosset Street. That calling he pursued with unflagging zeal and energy until his death, Jan- uary 18, 1888. His large portrait of Zachariah Allen (not to speak of other meritorious works) can hardly fail to attract the admiring gaze of those who visit this gallery. Mr. Lin- coln was the first president of the Providence Art Club. He has left monuments of his skill and industry as a portrait painter that will cause his name to be handed down with honor and gratitude through successive generations. There'
HO RHODE ISLAND HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
are in this gallery ten portraits painted by Mr. Lincoln, num- bered as follows : 2, 4, 8, 14, 16, 17, 20, 21 and 45. Nos. 19 and 33 are copies of portraits painted by him. Five of his pictures were in the loan exhibition of 1895.
GEORGE P. A. HEALEY
Was born in Boston in 1813. He is one of the most emi- nent of American portrait painters. His portrait of Webster, in Faneuil Hall, is one of his masterpieces. Foster's portrait of Webster (No. 12 of this collection) is a copy of that work. The portraits of Henry Wheaton and Mayor Thomas M. Bur- gess, in the City Hall, were painted by him. Nine portraits painted by him were in the Art Club loan exhibition of 1895.
CHARLES A. FOSTER
Painted the portrait of Daniel Webster (No. 12) in this gallery. He was born in Kingston, near Plymouth, Mass., in 1817, and died there in 1886. His name is in the Providence Directory as an artist from 1850 till the year of his removal and death in 1886. This picture is pronounced a good copy of Healey's portrait of Webster. He gained reputation for reproducing good portraits of eminent men. He, however, acquired his highest honors as a painter of game and animals. Of the latter class was his picture of Col. Amasa Sprague's string team, consisting of six great gray stallions that at- tracted much attention in their day. This picture was 9x4 feet, and three thousand dollars was the sum paid for it.
EDWARD GREENE MALBONE
Was born in Newport in August, 1777, and died in Savan- nah, Ga., May 7, 1807. He developed in childhood a taste for painting and the fine arts generally. He had a studio by turns in Boston, New York, Philadephia, and Charleston, S. C. Washington Allston was his personal friend and patron, and his portraits and miniatures, many of which are in this city, are very highly prized. His painting entitled, "The Hours," with three female figures representing respectively the past, the present and the future, is an enduring monument of his genius and skill as an artist. This painting belongs to the
BRIEF NOTES OF DECEASED ARTISTS. Ill
Providence Athenaeum. See Nos. 24 and 33 on the list. Two of his pictures were in the loan exhibition of 1895.
GILBERT STUART
Was born December 3, 1755, in an old gambrel-roofed house still standing in North Kingstown. He died July 27, 1826, in Boston. His genius as a painter and his character as a man reflect credit on his native State, and cause his name to be honored the world over. Mention of his portrait of Washing- ton and of other masterpieces would be superfluous in this place. His portrait of Commodore Perry is owned by the family of the commodore, and, it is hoped, may yet find an abiding place in the native State of both the artist and the subject of his sketch. His portrait and that by Jarvis are be- lieved by one correspondent to be the only portraits in exist- ence that were taken of Com. Perry by personal sittings.
JOHN WESLEY JARVIS
Was born in England in 1780, and died in New York in 1840. Among his remarkable portraits are those of Com. O. H. Perry, Com. Isaac Hull, Com. Wm. Bainbridge, Gov. DeWitt Clinton, John Randolph, and Fitz Greene Halleck. One of his remarkable portraits of Com. Perry is in the City Hall, New York, and another belongs to Capt. John F. Rogers of Washington, who is Com. Perry's nephew. His enlarged picture of the Battle of Lake Erie, in the Capitol at Washing- ton, attracts much attention.
112 RHODE ISLAND HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
THE TOWN BRIDGE AT WEYBOSSET.
AN INQUIRY AS TO THE DATE OF BUILDING THE FIRST BRIDGE ACROSS PROVIDENCE RIVER.
So much doubt has been thrown by writers upon the early history of the town of Providence as to when the first bridge was built at Weybosset, that a new inquiry, based wholly on record evidence, becomes interesting. Thanks to the intelli- gent labors of the record commissioners of Providence, thou- sands of original documents, papers, and records, that were practically inaccessible heretofore, have been systematically arranged and indexed, and can now be used in connection with the printed town records, in the study of this and kin- dred subjects, an advantage that earlier writers have not enjoyed.
Let us see, first, what some of these writers have to say.
Knowles, in referring to a letter of Roger Williams, dated 1668 (quoted later), about taking and maintaining a bridge, says, " It does not appear, whether the bridge was built, at this time or not."1
John Rowland, in a letter to Knowles, dated 1832, says, —
" I have not found anything fully to satisfy my mind when the first Weybosset bridge was built. A ferry was kept there before there was any bridge."2
Again, he says, " I think there must have been a bridge at Weybosset before I7I2."8
Judge Staples in quoting the same letter of Roger Williams spoken of above by Knowles, speaks of Weybosset bridge as having been built before 1668, and, being out of repair, that it was placed in the keeping of Roger Williams, in whose hands "it remained a toll bridge till I6/2."4
iMemoirs of Roger Williams, p. 330. 2Stone's Howland, p. 256. 8Knowles, p. 331. 4Annals of Providence, p. 144.
TOWN BRIDGE AT WEYBOSSET. 113
Henry C. Dorr, in referring to an order, dated June, 1662, about building a bridge " over Moshassuck River, by Tho: Olney, junr- his Dwelling house,"1 says, —
"This was the sole work of its kind, twenty years after Williams had been laid to rest. Another generation accom- plished the greatest improvement ever made in the old Town — the bridge at Weybosset."2 And again, "They (the towns- men) were not yet able to encounter the difficulties of a bridge over a tidal river."3
Again, he says, " George Shepard had given lands to the Town for this purpose, but in 1675, ne petitioned the Town Meeting that ' his grant might be returned as the Town had built no bridge at Weybossett, which is done.' Such a work was beyond the reach of the capital or engineering skill of those days."4
Mr. W. A. Greene, says, "In the year 1662 occurred the building of the first bridge in the town. This was the bridge of Wapweyset over the Moshassuck River near the town mill and close by, if not on, the site of the present Stevens-Street Bridge. This giving convenient access to the northern part of the Weybosset meadows, was some times spoken of as the bridge to Weybosset, and by some later writers has been con- founded with Weybosset Bridge, which was not built till half a century later."5
Again, he says, "in 1710 the citizens earnestly took up the business of building a bridge to Weybosset, and in the next year it was finished. But little is known of the details of this first Weybosset Bridge."*
The Rhode Island Census of 1885, edited by Mr. Amos Perry, in enumerating the bridges in Providence, names as one of them " Weybosset or Great Bridge, a part of whose butments were placed there in i66o."7 No authority is given for this last statement, but the documents I now propose to
1The site of this house is now occupied by the American Screw Co. plant, on Stevens Street. 2Planting of Providence, p. 69. 8Ibid., p. 68. 4Ibid., p. 105.
5Providence Plantations, p. 38. 6Providence Plantations, p. 50. 7State Census, 1885, p. 45.
114 RHODE ISLAND HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
quote, will, I think, bear me out in the assertion that it comes nearer the mark then does any of the preceding writers.
They show, as I believe, that a bridge had been built at Weybosset, across Providence River, before May, 1660 ; that in 1663, George Shepard gave a right in certain lands towards its maintenance ; that in the winter of 1664-65, two trestles of this bridge were carried away ; that a committee was ap- pointed by the town to raise funds, by contributions, for re- pairing the same, who contracted with John Whipple and others to make the repairs ; that after the repairs had been made the parties who had contributed towards the same were empowered "to meet and order matters about the bridge." That in 1667, it came again to repairs, and was finally, in 1668, placed in the hands of Roger Williams, upon his request, he to maintain the same by taking toll of strangers and such con- tributions as the townsmen saw fit to make ; that he was relieved as keeper of the bridge, and forbid any further to take toll in 1672, and that May I, 1675, the town voted, upon request of George Shepard, to return to him the lands dona- ted in 1663, upon consideration "that a bridge was maintained at Weybosset, which is not done." Because the bridge had disappeared.
The first record I find is contained in a petition from the town to the Assembly, dated May, 1660, asking to be relieved from a tax of ,£30, that had been assessed upon them towards building a common prison at Newport, which says, "Wee the Jnhabetantes of the said Towne of providence well weigheing or state & Condition, the Estate of most of us being but meane & under so great disburstmentes which of late wee have benn put up on about building A Bridge, the charge there of amounting to £160 — and this usefull not only for or selves, but for the whole countrey."1
This document does not give the location of the bridge^ but it does show that a bridge had already been built, for the £160 had been disbursed ; and they were not in the habit of paying for bridges before building them. It was not the bridge over Moshassuck River above the mill, for that bridge was not ordered until 1662, and the amount given would be entirely out of reason for a bridge at that place, built to get
1Providence Town Records, Vol. II., p. 130.
TOWN BRIDGE AT WEYBOSSET. 115
to the pastures on " New Bridge Plain " and the Wanskuck fields. Again, the last paragraph will fit no location in Prov- idence except Weybosset. The only public travel through the town would be from the Bay and Rehoboth, crossing the Seekonk River at Pawtucket Falls, or the narrow passage, crossing the ford (or the bridge when there was one) at Weybosset, and from thence following the Pequot trail to- wards New London.
The next document shows clearly that there was a bridge at this place.
" Att A quarter Court, Aprill the 27th 1663 Thomas Olney Senior Moderator," George Shepard of the Town of Provi- dence gave his rights in certain lands " to this purpose, that the said Right shall be for the maintaining of the Towns Bridge at Waybossett ; And that the said George Shepard hath upon the Donation thereof enjoined the said Towne, not to convert the said Right, nor any part thereof unto any other use, Saving only abou the said Bridge."1
This gift was made for maintaining a bridge already built, not for building one. During the winter of 1664-65, a part of the bridge was carried away, and, —
" Att A Towne Meeting, or Quarter Court Januarey the 2/th: 1664 : Mr William ffield Moderaf :
" Ordred that John Whiple senior be sent for, to Conferr with him about Mending the Bridge
" Ordred that Tho : Harris senr : & Vallentine Whittman shall goe unto all the inhabetantes of the Towne to see what they will contribute to the mending the Bridge att Way- boysett."2
Under the above order the committee made the following contract : —
"This writeing witneseth an agrement made betweene Thomas Harris and Valentine Whitman on the on $>tie, and John Whiple senior, Thomas Roberts, and Resolued Water- man on the other $>tie, all of them Jnhabitantes of the Towne of Prouidence. That is to say that the said Thomas Harris, and Valentine Whitman, hath agreed with the said John Whiple,
Providence Town Records, Vol. III., p. 33. 2Providence Town Records, Vol. III. p. 59.
Il6 RHODE ISLAND HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
Thomas Robertas, and Resolued Waterman, to build vp and to mend vp the Bridge at Prouidence and theire agreement is that they shall mend vp that $?t of the bridge that is downe in this manner following they are to make Timber worke in the forme of a square, diamond fashion which shall serue in the steed of those two Tressells that are downe, and shall rare it vp in the riuer to make vp the Bridge and lay sufficient Gice ouer the said diamond vnto the other Tressells next it on both sides and to planke wth plankes vntill it be sufficiently planked and if there be not old plankes enough then to find plankes to finnish it and to mend all the defects of the rest of the plankes that are faultye, and also to procure posts and railes and raile vp the Bridge where the defects are, and also to set vp new posts where they are wanting at the end of the Bridge as well at the owne end as the other, and theire Timber is to be carted by the Towne to the end of the said Bridge : and for theire paines and Labour about the prmises the said John Whiple, Thomas Robertes, and Resolued Waterman shall haue ffour- teene Powndes Ten Shillinges, to be paid vnto them equally according to theire seuerall $»tes in wheat at fiue shillings & Bushell, pease at foure shillings $» Bushell, and Jndian Corne at Three shillings $p Bushell and what peage is paid it is to be at sixteene $> penney white and eight a penney Black: vnto which Agreement they haue set to theire handes this six day of ffebruary |£f£
"Also before these was signed Thomas Harris and Valen- tine Whitman hath praised to gather vp the pay that is $jmised towardes the mending vp of the said Bridge.1
Thomas Harris Senier John Whippel Senior
T Valentine Whitman The marke x of Thomas Roberts
R
Resolued Waterman Witneses
Thomas Olney Senior Discouered Olney James Olney "
1From the original document, Prov. Town Papers, No. 0153. NOTE. I believe this to be the oldest original contract for any public work in Providence. F. A. A.
TOWN BRIDGE AT WEYBOSSET. 117
" Att A Towne meetting upon or quarter day October the 27th 166e Mr Roger Williams Modderator :
" It is granted unto all those of or Towne who contributed towardes the repaireing of The Towne Bridge, that they may have libertie to meete together as they see occation to order maters concerning the same :'n
The next year the bridge needed repairing again, and, — "At a Quarter Court October ye 28th : 1667 " Mr Roger Williams Modderator. Voted and ordred that six men be Chosen to vew the bridge at Wapwoysit and to Considder of the most Easy and facill way to repaire it so that the passage may not be lost and to bring in thair Result to the next Towne meetting : the men Chosen to vew the Bridge and to bring in their Result as aforesaid are vizu Mr Roger Williams Mr John Throckmorton Seir Mr Arthur fenner John Whipple seinr Resalued Waterman."2
It is necessary here to show where " Wapwoysit " in the above document was, for the attempt has been made to make it appear that this word does not mean the same as Weybos- set, and to apply it to some place on Moshassuck River ; but the fact is that this is only a different spelling of Weybosset as written by Shadrack Manton, who was town clerk from 1667 to 1670. During this time he had occasion to use the word Weybosset four times — and here are his spellings : "Wapwoysit," "Wapwaysett," "Wapwoset," and "Wapwoy- sett ;" 8 no two alike, but the first syllable " Wap," each time. That he meant the same place that others meant, when they spelled the same syllable "Wey," "Way" or "Wau," is shown by a comparison of two entries — the first by Thomas Olney, Jun., the second by Manton. 1661, 21 of 7th M., William Field sells to John Field lands " Lieing And being vpon that plaine Called by the name of Wauboset plaine And Running all along the South Eastwardly sid of that pond called Long pond, from an oake Tree at one End of the said pond, unto an- other oake Tree at the other End of the said pond, And at
Providence Town Records, Vol. III., p. 86.
2Providence Town Records, Vol. III., p. no.
8Providence Town Records, Vol. III., pp. no, 121, 128, 145.
Il8 RHODE ISLAND HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
this presant Tyme the pathway to Mashapauge goeth Thor- rowit."1
Manton makes this entry, Aug., 1668. "John Scott hath this Day Exchanged his Twenty acre Lott Which Lyeth vpon the plaines Neere the Cart way Going towards Mashapauge it be- ing called Wapwoset plaine."2
The only time that a spelling similar to Manton's, in any other hand, is found on the records, is the following in the hand-writing of Gregory Dexter, and dated in 1651. , " Ordered that the Town-Deputies shall appoint & deter- mine where Richard Waterman shall set or remove his ffence wch standeth upon Wapewasset, to the end a convenient way may be preserved there."3
The Hon. J. Hammond Trumbull, in an article on the mean- ing of certain Indian names of places in Rhode Island, says, —
" ' WeybossetJ formerly 'Wapwayset,' was 'at the narrow passage ' or ' crossing-place ' where the river was forded at low water."4
The " result " of the committee appointed Oct. 28, 1667, was reported upon at the next Quarter Day Meeting, Jan. 27, 1667-68; but without action, that meeting was adjourned " vntill this day ff ortnight which will be the tenth of Feb- rary."
At this adjourned meeting the following letter was received from Roger Williams.
"To ye Towne of Providence assembled.
Prouidence 10. Feb. i66£ (so calld
" Lo : Frjends & Neighbors : vnto this Day jt pleased ye Towne to adjourn for ye answering of ye Bill of ye Bridge & others : I haue Conferd with Sidrach Manton & Nath Water- man about their proposall, & thejr Result is that they cannot obtaine such a number as will joyne with them to vndertake ye Bridge vpon the hopes of Meadow
I am therefore bold after so many ankors come | home | & so much trouble & long debates & deliberatjon : to offer, yl if you please, I will (with Gods helpe) take this Bridge into
1Providence Town Records, Vol. I., p. 95.
2Providence Town Records, Vol. III., p. 128.
3Providence Town Records, Vol. II., p. 56.
4Early History of the Narragansett Country, Edition of 1886, p. 410.
See also Rider's Book Notes, Vol. VIII., p. 236.
TOWN BRIDGE AT WEYBOSSET. 1 19
my Care, & by y' moderate toll of strangers of all sorts whch hath bene mentioned will maintjane jt so long as it pleaseth God yl I Hue in this Towne
" 2 The Towne shall be free from all Toll only I desire one dayes work of one man in a year from euery family : but from those yl haue teams & haue much vse of ye Bridge one dayes worck of a man & Team, & of those yl haue lesse vse, half a day,
" 3 I shall joyne with any | of ye Towne more or few, who will venture their labor with me for ye gaining of meadow
" 4 I promise if it please God yl I gaine meadow in equall value to ye Towns yearly helpe I shall then release that :
" 5 I desire if jt please God to be with me to goe through such a charge & Trouble (as will be to bring this to a setled way) & then suddenly to take me from hence I desire yl be- fore another my wife & children if they desire it may engage in my stead to these Condicions.
" 6 Jf ye Towne please to Consent, I desire yl one of yor- selues be nominated to joyne with y [ ] larks to draw vp ye writings1 Yore R. W"
The following record of this meeting shows the action of the town.
" loth of ffebrary : 1667 : [ 8 ]
The Towne being againe Asembled according to the Aiorn- ment Mr Arthur ffenner modderator Voted and ordered that Mr Roger Williams shall Receaue Tole of all strangers which shall hereafter passe ouer the Bridge at Wapwaysitt allso that of Jnhabitants of this Towne he shall Receave what Each person is freely willing to Contribvte towards the Sa- porting of the aboue said Bridg "2
The wording of the above resolution, as well as the letter of Williams, shows clearly that both parties were talking about repairing and maintaining a structure already in exist- ence, and not building a bridge.
The bridge was still standing April 27, 1669, upon which date Manton records that " Stephen Harding hath this Day Exchainged a small pcell of land lying southwestwardly from
Providence Town Papers, No. 0163. 2Providence Town Records, Vol. III., p. 121.
I2O RHODE ISLAND HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
the bridge at Wapwoysitt and neere vnto Roger Williams his medow"1
Roger Williams could have had no meadow southwest of the present Stevens-Street Bridge, where first was the narrow valley through which Charles Street now passes, then to the west a high precipitous bluff, on top of which was the " stated common," now Smith's Hill, which had not then been laid out, and to the south the great salt cove ; but he did have meadow southwest of Weybosset Bridge, for Thomas Clem- ence had land laid out on the southeast side of the " Cart way which leadeth from Waybosett, unto Mashapauge, and bounded on the north east with the land of Roger Williams "2
March i, 1671-72, it was " Voated by ye Town e, that Mr Roger Williams, shall not any Longer Keepe at the Bridge, that is to take Tole of any people (as of strangers or any others) But is by acte of this Towne wholely fforbid so to do ffrom this day fforward"3
May i, 1675. "Voted that wheras George Shepeard for- merly gaue all his Right in the Land beyand the seauen mile Line vpon Condictones that a bridg was maintain d at way- bosset which is not done and the sayd George Sheapard this day desireing that the towne would againe Returne the sayd right into his hands to be at his dispose the towne haue by votte Returned the same"*
For more than twenty-five years from this time nothing appears upon the records in relation to the "Town Bridge," and the reason is not hard to find.
The next month after the passage of the last resolve the storm of war that had been threatening for several years, burst with relentless fury upon New England, and the hard struggle of nearly fifteen years to maintain the bridge at Weybosset was succeeded by a still harder struggle to main- tain an existence. The bulk of the inhabitants taking their women, children and household goods, fled to Newport, Long Island, and other secure retreats, leaving a handful of men under Capt. Roger Williams, Capt. Arthur Fenner and Capt.
Providence Town Records, Vol. III., p. 145. 2Providence Town Records, Vol. II., p. 34. 8Providence Town Records, Vol. III., p. 219. 4Providence Town Records, Vol. IV., p. 37.
TOWN BRIDGE AT WEYBOSSET. 121
Andrew Edmunds, who maintained garrisons, in a few of the stronger houses, while the war lasted. All the outlying farms were laid waste and many houses burned in the compact part of the town under the very guns of the garrisoned houses. Many of the inhabitants never returned, and those that did, at the end of the war, with those that " staid and went not away," had to begin the settlement anew. They had neither time, means, nor heart to think of anything in the nature of public improvements. Homes were to be built, farms to be re-stocked, and with nothing but strong arms, and stout hearts for this work, it was a long and arduous task. Only ten years later occurred the " Andros Usurpation," that seriously threatened to wipe out all the chartered colonies of New England. During this short time, also passed away, in rapid succession, nearly all of the first-comers, — who had been the active men in building the "Town Bridge "of 1660, — and the remembrance of the difficulties of maintaining the old bridge was, in itself, enough to deter for a long time, any at- tempt at its reestablishment.
The tax-lists for this period show the terrible effect upon the financial interests of the town caused by the war. In 1670, out of a colony tax of .£300, Providence was assessed £57. In 1678, out of a colony tax of .£300, Providence share was but .£10. In 1680, out of a colony tax of ;£ioo, Provi- dence share was £7 ; and it was not until 1701, when it was assessed £65, out of a colony tax of £400, that it had regained the same position it held in 1670.
It was during this period, and not before the building of the first bridge, that we find upon the records frequent men- tion of the ford and ferry at Weybosset, which for more than thirty years was the only direct means of getting to the pastures on Weybosset Plain and to Pawtuxet. In 1704 was started the movement for the erection of a new bridge. With this second Weybosset Bridge, this inquiry has nothing to do, only as the following documents in connection with its build- ing throw light upon the exact location of the old bridge. "Quarter day July 27th 1704
Whereas by severall persons of this Towne it was this day proposed to the Towne by bill that the Towne would make choyce of two persons to inquire of ye inhabitants of Provi-
122 RHODE ISLAND HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
dence, as also of other persons in ye Country to see what they will Contribute to the building of a Bridge from the Towne side of ye Salt Water in Providence Towne, begining against ye West End of ye lott whereon Daniell Abbott his dwelling house standeth & so cross ye water unto ye hill Called Wayboysett ; ffor that service the Towne have nomi- nated Gideon Cruffurd & Joseph Whipple (if they see cause to accept it) & to make returne unto ye Towne of their suc- cess at ye Quarter day in January next j"1
The following is the heading of the original subscription paper : —
" Whereas There Is a great need for the building & Erect- ing a bridge ouer Prouidence Riuer and there hath been by the Town many debates concerning the great benifit as will ensue in Generall both to the said town and Country and for that end that there may be said thing effected and money gathered for said Concerne
" Mr Gideon Crafford & Mr Joseph Whipple are desired to take an acco" of each person within said township what they will giue towards the same Its concluded as ffolloweth that said Bridg is to be Erected and set tip where the Bridge for- merly was"2
Providence Town Papers, No. 0616. 2Providence Town Papers, No. 0622.
FRED A. ARNOLD.
OLD SOUTH KINGSTOWN BURYING-GROUND. 123
THE BURYING-GROUND OF THE OLD SOUTH KINGSTOWN MEETING-HOUSE.
One would not know from casual passing that it was a burying-ground at all. No church or meeting-house is near ; the tide of travel now runs on the white Macadam road to- ward Narragansett Pier. But, leaving this near Wakefield, at Dale Carlia Corners, marked by the handsome granite stone the late Joseph Peace Hazard set there, one turns into the old Queen's highway, which was laid out in Queen Anne's time on the track of the older Pequot path. Com- pared to modern roads, this part of it is narrow, worn down between its banks like an English lane, and the sides are full of flowers, wild roses, iron-weed, golden-rod and asters. A quiet country road it is now — once the post-road over which Franklin journeyed, and the regulars marched when they came to Point Judith, as well as the little army which went to the relief of Boston. One has time for all these memories, slowly climbing the hill, picking one's way over loose stones. Here David Sands came, jogging quietly along as he went to preach in meeting. John Woolman rode the same way be- fore Sands' time, and George Fox himself, and John Burnyeate, his companion, had a concern of mind in the seventeenth century to come into this country. And truly it is a fair coun- try, with dales clad in green, and wooded hills stretching be- tween, the prospect opening out as the hill is climbed. To- day the Peace Dale chimney rises like a beautiful lily pistil from the cup of the village life, hidden in green from this point. Church spires pierce the sky, and a soft, mellow bell strikes the hour. And just at the crown of the hill, on the left-hand side, as you follow the road, lies a bit of uneven land, stone walled, sloping to the west and north. A small bit of land, where bayberry bushes have long held riot, thickly strewn with roughly cleft granite stones, slanting at all pos- sible angles. The mounds have almost disappeared. Here
124 RHODE ISLAND HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
and there a couple of initial letters mark a stone, but most of them are silent records of the fact that some pious soul has left its earthly habitation which is here laid to rest. Death is the great leveler, and the early Friends recognized it in their graveyards. Rich and poor alike were committed to the keeping of the friendly earth, with no tablets of marble or brass to record their virtues. The soul which possessed them was with its Maker, the body which practised them was put by to return to dust.
There is something vastly impressive in standing in such a God's acre. Who were they to whom these rough stones bear mute witness ? This silent company, serene in death as in the meetings on First days in life, preaches to the soul as of old, bidding it listen to the Teacher who dwells within.
Wandering about in search of some tangible expression of the silent stones, one finds a few which have been given speech. Near the south end, near the road, under a thorn bush, lies Andrew Nichols, the son of the old tailor on Tower Hill. This was the Andrew Nichols who witnessed College Tom's will in 1798, and who was a well-known Friend. He died in 1841, aged seventy-five years.
In the farthest .northeast corner of the ground are three slabs of stone, firmly set in the ground, covering three tombs. A little bower of shrubs and bushes has grown about them, so that one pushes back the branches and enters a side chapel opening from this sky-arched cathedral, filled with its silent worshippers. It is cool and dark here, and one traces the earliest inscription there is in the enclosure.
HERE LIETH BURIED THE BODY OF JAMES ALLEN THE ONLY SON OF CHRISTOPHER & ELIZABETH ALLEN HE DEPARTED THIS LIFE YE 22 OF SEPTEMBER 1714 AGED 26 YEARS 3 MONTHS & 8 DAYS
When from this vail of tears His soul did goe with Shadreck Meshek & Abednego
OLD SOUTH KINGSTOWN BURYING-GROUND.
As by his dying words did plain appear that God Almighty whom he did love & ear did for his precious Soul his Saints & Angles Send it safely to conduct Unto JO blessed end his loss is ours & death is his great gain his souls at est & body .... free om pain.
This verse, with its curious misspellings, — for whatever the virtues of mathematics, "angles" are not usually supposed to conduct the soul to Paradise, — can be read more easily if written in the lines its author doubtless intended.
When from this vail of tears his soul did goe
With Shadreck Meshek & Abednego
As by his dying words did plain appear
That God Almighty whom he did love & fear
Did for his precious soul his saints and Angels send
It safely to conduct unto a blessed end.
His loss is ours, & Death is his great gain
His soul's at rest & body free from pain.
The edge of the stone has been broken, so that a few let- ters are missing. The "JO " appears to be a stone-cutter's error, for "a" is the only word needed.
Beside this young man lie his father and mother, Elizabeth Ailing she, is called, who died in 1737, and Col. Christopher All- ing who was in the seventy-sixth year of his age when he departed this life, in 1739. Both of these stones are briefly inscribed, with the name spelled after the fashion of the stone-cutter probably, though he had the older stone for a guide, and at the end of the inscription of each, two letters are cut, thus : S A- Were these the initials of an Allen who placed the stones, or is it some abbreviation ? The fact of finding a stone marked Col. Christopher Allen, in a Friend's burying-ground, is very curious. Not only did they disap- prove of mortuary inscriptions, but of titles, and of those en- gaged in military affairs in especial. The tombs are on the very edge of the ground, the colonel's on the very outside of
126 RHODE ISLAND HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
all. And a question arises if this was a case where the be- lieving wife sanctified the husband. At all events, it seems Friends disapproved, for Thomas R. Hazard, writing in 1874, says that on the southwestern corner of the lot there used to be a little jog in the wall where a bit of land was taken in which was given by Friends to compensate for the piece fenced off containing the Allen tombs, " that their testimony in regard to simplicity of sepulture should not be departed from by admitting tombstones within the compass of their burial grounds." It makes an interesting group. The stones are firm and solid, as they were reset some years ago by the late Joseph Peace Hazard, and are on firm foundations.
Nailer Tom Hazard has frequent references to the death of Friends in his diary.* In 1785, May 26, he notes, "Went to Tower Hill to the funeral of Joseph Hull. Thomas Haz- ard preached." This Hull was the blacksmith on Tower Hill, and the entry is interesting as it is the first contemporary record of College Tom's preaching I know of. The interment of this honest smith doubtless took place in the meeting's ground, though there is no evidence of it. January 14, 1790, the Friends' meeting-house burned down, and two days later Nailer Tom "went to see Benjamin Rodman, to see about Friends holding meetings there," which they held on the seventeenth. It was at what is now Peace Dale, on the west side of the mill dam, that Benjamin Rodman's house stood. Later in the month "Thomas Hazard and Andrew Nichols held a meeting here," Nailer Tom writes. In September of the same year Nailer Tom met a committee " to consider the size to build the meeting," and the next June he "went to see them working on the meeting-house frame." July 4, I792} the record comes, "Helped raise the meeting-house frame. More than 40 persons were there belonging to this house, and dined in it." So there was again a house to hold meet- ings in. In 1795, a woman is mentioned who "is to be buried this day at the Upper Friends' Meeting-house (Backside)." This was the meeting-house on James Perry's land, built in 1750, and from the specification of this ground in this case, it
*I am indebted to Mrs. C. E. Robinson for extracts from this unpub- lished diary, which she kindly made for me.
OLD SOUTH KINGSTOWN BURYING-GROUND. 127
seems probable that many of the funerals he mentions were from the old meeting-house.
Nailer Tom mentions the deaths and funerals very curtly, as a usual thing, but one came very near him, and brings us close to him as we take a last glance at the old burying- ground.
'"February 22, 1818. My dear wife died. The second day of the last month was 34 years that I have lived with my dear and beloved wife 4 mo. & 20 d, — in all 34 y. 4 m. 20 d. have I lived with her in perfect love without giving her one cross word to my knowledge and in the meeting-house where I car- ried her this day I put my hand on her forehead and in my heart said I bid thee a long long farewell — and it seemed that my heart would break, oh dreadful thought that I never never shall see her again."
These lovers have long been united. All that silent com- pany is already old in the new life counted by our earthly years. We do well to pause in our busy end of the century and reflect a little in this country churchyard, where, with no distinction of persons, lies all that was mortal of that elder generation which has made us what we are.
CAROLINE HAZARD.
In connection with the subject of a statue of Roger Wil- liams for the dome or interior of the new State House, atten- tion is called to the following quotation from his " Key " to the Indian language, Chapter 7, page 58.
"OF THEIR PERSONS AND PARTS OF BODY."
"O&s. Yet some cut their haire round, and some as low and as short as the sober English ; yet I never saw any so to forget nature itself in such excessive length and monstrous fashion, as to the shame of the English Nation, I now (with grief) see my Countrey-men in England are degen- erated unto."
Is it possible to believe that the man who wrote the above observation, ever wore his own hair, flowing down his back, in the style depicted in the mural painting in the Providence County Court House, or the Simmons' statue at Roger Wil- liams Park ? F. A. A.
128 RHODE ISLAND HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
COMMUNICATIONS, EDITORIAL NOTES, AND CULLINGS.
At the adjourned quarterly meeting of this society held April 1 6, 1895, tne following letter was read, and after mature deliberation, the resolution here appended to it was unani- mously adopted.
RECORD AND PENSION OFFICE, WAR DEPARTMENT,
WASHINGTON CITY,
March 29, 1895. Mr. Amos Perry, Secretary and Librarian
of the Rhode Island Historical Society, Providence, Rhode Island.
Dear Sir : In reply to your letter of the 23d instant relative to the rolls of the Rhode Island troops in the Revolutionary War, I beg to say, that under recent legislation it is required that all military records of the wars of the Revohition and 1812 shall be transferred from the various Executive Depart- ments to the War Department, and that these records shall be arranged, indexed and prepared for publication. The transfer of the records of the Revolution has not yet been completed, but the work of arranging and indexing those that have been received is progressing rapidly, and it is believed that the whole work will be finished within the next six months.
Congress will doubtless make provision in the near future for the publication of the military histories of the officers and en- listed men engaged in the Revolutionary War, so far as such histories are shown by the records in the. possession of the gen- eral goverment, and in this way all the historical information contained in the rolls of that war will be made available for the use of the various States. Some of the States are in pos- session of muster rolls and other records of which the general
COMMUNICATIONS, EDITORIAL NOTES, ETC. I2Q
government has neither duplicates nor copies. In order that the contemplated publication may be as complete as it can be made it would seem to be very desirable that the States should loan such records to this Department, for a brief pe- riod, so that copies of them can be made. I should be glad to have the benefit of your views upon this point, and to be advised whether such a loan of some of the Rhode Island records can be made, all expenses of course, being paid by the War Department.
In view of the contemplated publication referred to above, it is not thought that you will care to have copies of the records mentioned in your letter ; but if you should desire such copies it is believed that they can be furnished at the expense of the State, under the provisions of recent legisla- tion. The, Secretary of War now has under consideration certain regulations relative to this subject, and as soon as these regulations shall have been approved and published, a copy of them will be furnished to you.
Very respectfully,
F. C. AINSWORTH,
Colonel, U. S. Army, Chief, Record and Pension Office.
Resolved, That this society will, to the fullest extent, co- operate with the national government in the policy indicated in the letter of Col. F. C. Ainsworth, Chief of Record and Pension Office, to our secretary and librarian, dated March 29, 1895, and to this end the librarian is directed by, and with the advice of, the president and the library committee, to loan to the United States Government any military papers in the possession of the society.
The following letter was received from the War Deparment in response to the communication of the foregoing resolution :
I3O RHODE ISLAND HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
RECORD AND PENSION OFFICE, WAR DEPARTMENT,
WASHINGTON CITY,
May 2, 1895.
Mr. Amos Perry, Secretary and Librarian, Rhode Island Historical Society,
Providence, R. I.
Dear Sir : Acknowledging the receipt of your letter of the 2Oth ultimo, conveying the resolution recently adopted by your Society with a view to aiding the War Department in the work of copying and publishing the histories of the offi- cers and enlisted men engaged in the Revolutionary War, I am directed by the Secretary of War to thank you, and through you, the Rhode Island Historical Society for the in- terest taken in the matter and for the valuable assistance that has been tendered, both of which are very highly appre- ciated by the Department.
Will you kindly advise me as to the character of the mili- tary papers in the possession of the Society, and particularly as to the number of muster and pay rolls, if any, and the des- ignation of the regimental or other organizations represented by them ? Upon the receipt of this information, an exami- nation of the records now on file in this Department will be made, and it can thus be determined what portion of the pa- pers in the possession of your Society must be copied in order that the compilation now being made by the War Department may be as complete as possible.
Enclosed please find an addressed penalty envelope, which requires no postage, for your reply.
With assurance of my high appreciation of your courtesy in this matter, I am,
Very respectfully yours,
F. C. AINSWORTH,
Colonel, U. S. Army, Chief, Record and Pension Office.
COMMUNICATIONS, EDITORIAL NOTES, ETC.
HISTORY OF REVOLUTIONARY SOLDIERS.
Special attention is invited to the foregoing communica- tions, which give assurance that our national government is ready to do its part to honor the memories of those who aided by military service in winning the nation's independence. The national government, that has greater facilities for this work than the State or any institutions in the State, ex- presses its desire to do a good work. It needs, however, to this end, the cooperation of the State and of its institutions and citizens. With such cooperation it will assume " the pub- lication of the military histories of the officers and enlisted men engaged in the Revolutionary War." This Society has, after mature deliberation, decided by a formal vote (as stated above) to cooperate with the national government, furnishing to the fullest extent its records for the desired object. An appeal is made to patriotic institutions and citizens to coope- rate in the enterprise that has for its object so desirable a result. It is hoped that any institution or person that has possession of muster or pay rolls of the " Revolutionary War" or the "War of 1812" will furnish them, and thus aid in the accomplishment of the proposed object.
Possibly, the editor is wrong in speaking as he has spoken above. For it may be taken for granted, that the State that has hitherto done but little to preserve its Revolutionary records and honor, and perpetuate the memories of its patri- otic soldiers of the Revolutionary War, will avail itself of the opportunity that is now offered for the accomplishment of an enterprise of State and national interest and importance. Credit is due to the actual Secretary of State, the Hon. Chas. P. Bennett, for having recently had the Revolutionary muster and pay rolls that are in his office so arranged and indexed that they can be consulted by students of history.
On the State manifestly devolves the duty of leading its historical and patriotic institutions and citizens to cooperate with it in a movement of such interest and importance. The expense of publication, will, as stated above, be borne by the national government, which only asks for certified copies of various Revolutionary muster and pay rolls. This Society, and the societies of the Sons and the Daughters of the
132 RHODE ISLAND HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
American Revolution, will, unquestionably, do what they can, but no satisfactory result can be reached unless the State acts its part in the enterprise. This conclusion is reached after having recently spent several hours in examining origi- nal and copied Revolutionary muster and pay rolls of Rhode Island regiments and companies that are in the Archives Di- vision of the Massachusetts State House, in Boston. These records need to be copied by an expert. After laying aside those that do not pertain to the object in view, they need to be properly classified ; but, probably, this can be best done at Washington.
The editor of this quarterly made a brief abstract of the papers in Boston. They mostly belong to the period of the Revolutionary War. One paper, however, was found an ong them dated when John Brown Francis was Governor of this State, 1835. How this or any of the papers came there is as little known in Boston as in Providence. The editor has no question of the interest that will attach to them as they be- come known.
Another lot of papers of the same general character, though not so numerous, is reported to be in the New York State House at Albany. A few military rolls are in the City Hall of Providence. Other original rolls are reported to be in pri- vate hands. The Society's four folio volumes of "Military Papers" have been until a recent period of little value. These papers, having been all numbered and indexed, are now much consulted. They are treasures that are destined, as time goes on, to become interesting and valuable as the material from which town histories are to be made up. They are quite as curious as those in Boston. Some of them are what are called the Alarm Rolls of the different towns. The Alarm Rolls correspond with the Minute Men of other States. One exam- ple will suffice. Here is a complete list of the officers and men of the ist and of the 2d military company of Cumber- land at the breaking out of the War. Some other towns are just as well represented. This is historic material that is of untold value in making up the history of citizens and fami- lies as well as towns during a critical period of the State and of the country. How and when this material became the pos- session of this Society is not known to the librarian.
COMMUNICATIONS, EDITORIAL NOTES, ETC. 133
THE OLDEST HISTORICAL SOCIETY IN THE COUNTRY.
The iO4th annual meeting of the Massachusetts Historical Society was held on the nth of April, 1895, when the follow- ing officers were elected : President, Charles Francis Adams; Vice-Presidents, Justin Winsor, Samuel Abbott Green ; Re- cording Secretary, Edward James Young; Corresponding Secretary, William Watson Goodwin ; Treasurer, Charles Card Smith ; Librarian, Samuel A. Green ; Cabinet-Keeper, Samuel Foster McCleary. The Society had then 94 resident members, 49 corresponding members, and several honorary members. It being organized with a view to quality, rather than to quantity, its number of resident members is limited to 100, though the extent of its usefulness is limited only by its means. The Library, according to the report rendered, con- sists of about 38,000 volumes, 97,000 pamphlets, and 3,800 broadsides. Its Cabinet, to which important additions were made during the last year, is rich in articles of various kinds that have been handed down from the early Colonial period- Its choice relics and illustrations of olden times are mostly kept in the 4th and 5th stories of the Society's building, and as a consequence are not well known even to many members of the Society. The Cabinet-Keeper expressed the hope that ampler and better quarters could and would be provided with the view of better serving the cause of history. The report of the Treasurer gives an idea of a source of strength and a means of usefulness that are worthy of special attention. One fact recalled by the writer is that the treasurer holds fourteen special funds that amount to more than $100,000, given by men worthy of having their names handed down on the rec- ords of a worthy institution. The cash receipts the last year amounted to nearly $13,000, aside from the bequests of the year, which approximate the whole invested fund of the R. I. Historical Society. The result of the Society's substantial financial basis and of its well-cared-for treasury, combined with the industry and scholarship of its members, is seen upon the shelves of the Rhode Island Society's library, where its " Proceedings" appear in 29 large, well-bound 8vo volumes ; its Collections in five series of ten volumes each, with seven
134 RHODE ISLAND HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
volumes of its 6th series, and several other volumes and pamphlets, all gifts. The best part of the whole story is that this, the oldest historical society of this continent, is striving as hard to-day, as it ever was, to increase its funds and its working force with the view of exerting a stronger and more beneficent influence on Massachusetts and on the country of which that State is a component part. The Rev. Dr. Paige, of Cambridge, who is the senior member of the Society (now in his 94th year), called attention to the fact that the newly elected president furnished the only instance where four generations of the same family had been members of the So- ciety. At the conclusion of the meeting the members lunched at the home of the president where history gave place to so- cial intercourse and good cheer.
This notice is inserted with the view of imparting some in- formation about the pioneer historical society of the country and of giving emphatic expression to the sentiment of respect and honor for that Society and for kindred institutions the world over. The last three presidents of that Society were honorary members of this Society, and its actual president was honored in the same way, before he was elected presi- dent.
PUBLICATIONS AND HISTORICAL MATERIAL.
To whom it may concern :
Brief, pithy articles, or paragraphs that throw light on some matter of interest in our local history, are solicited for the quarterly. In our editorial drawer are several lengthy articles of real value, which, if inserted here, would prevent the vari- ety which is desired by a majority of the readers of this pub- lication. These well-written articles will find an appropriate place in a new volume of the society's Collections or later in this quarterly. It is a gratifying fact that good historical work is going on at this time. Researches and investigations are conducted in a way to reflect credit on students and on the institutions with which they are connected. It is hoped that the treasury of this society may be so replenished as to justify the enlargement of this quarterly and the printing in it of historical essays that do honor to their authors and pro- mote the objects for which this Society was founded.
COMMUNICATIONS, EDITORIAL NOTES, ETC. 135
The question has been asked whether we are justified in keeping the carefully prepared paper of Mr. Henry C. Dorr, entitled, " The Controversy between the Proprietors and the Freeholders of Providence," locked up in the safe, instead of furnishing our readers with a copy of it. We reply, provide the funds, and this interesting article will be printed at once. We urge that the needed publication fund be speedily raised, or, at least, that one or more persons who are interested to study the history of the Providence Plantations during a most critical period, furnish the cash to print an extra number of this quarterly. All will recollect how greedily Mr. Dorr's " Planting and Growth of Providence," was caught up and read. Mr. Dorr's paper that is in the safe could hardly fail to attract attention. His way of introducing old stagers who played their part in old-time controversies, will amuse many persons, and may lead to some scenic exhibitions of decided interest. If printed as an extra number of the quarterly, this paper will occupy more than a hundred pages, and will cost not far from two hundred dollars.
But, desirable as this publication is, another work of much moment devolves, in the opinion of the librarian, on the So- ciety at this time. It is the work of collecting and putting in order for practical use, original historic material that is at certain periods available. Two years ago a valuable collec- tion of historical papers was offered to the society for a rea- sonable sum. Few persons seemed to take much interest in the matter. Two of the Macaenases of Rhode Island offered one hundred dollars each. The requisite sum of money was not raised, and the papers were carried off where they are prized. To-day another lot of papers of decided value in writing up the history of Rhode Island commerce, from the middle of the last century to the first quarter of this century, can be secured for a small consideration. They bid fair to go in the same way as the other papers, for the same reason. Cases of this kind were provided for by the late Henry J. Steere, who annually placed in the hands of the librarian a check, with such objects in view.
It is well to be understood, that a warm interest in histori- cal pursuits is awakened in the great West, where are thou-
136 RHODE ISLAND HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
sands of prosperous citizens of New-England origin, forming States, cities and towns, whose inhabitants have kindred in- terest and tastes with those who now occupy their ancestral homes. Their grandparents took a leading part in the Revo- lutionary War, and they wish to know all about them. These western States, cities and towns have their agents here, look- ing up historic material. They will obtain it and carry it off, in the future as in the past, unless there be an awakened interest in this direction. They are often our competitors for the purchase of historic material, though they are in truth our friends ; some of them sending tokens of friendship and good-will that are highly appreciated.
" Westward the course of empire takes its way."
The State of Wisconsin has, probably, the best equipped historical society in the country. It has become such by means of earnest, judicious efforts, generous gifts and be- quests, and liberal appropriations. The Wisconsin Legisla- ture has just appropriated one hundred and eighty thousand dollars for the erection of its Historical Society's library building, and the provisions for the support of that institu- tion are on a similar scale of grandeur. This fact, together with many other facts of like interest, concerns this society. One illustration will suffice.
We seek to have the best possible collection of Rhode Isl- and newspapers. Our set of the old Providence Gazette, founded in 1762, is very good. Our set of the oldest news- paper in the State, the Newport Mercury, founded in 1758, is very imperfect. On inquiry as to where the best set of the Mercury could be found, we were advised to inquire at the American Antiquarian Society in Worcester. That library's set of the Mercury, was, however, found to be far more imper- fect than our own. Our next advice was to inquire of a libra- rian off West. We only know at this time, that large prices are offered by western agents for volumes of old Rhode Isl- and newspapers and for rare old historical documents of the colonial period. Our conclusion is, that this Society is bound to look after and secure choice historic material of different kinds, and that to this end it must have a treasury that can
COMMUNICATIONS, EDITORIAL NOTES, ETC. 137
bear heavier drafts than can at present be honored. It must have a substantial financial basis.
Attention should be given to our treasury, with a view to our being able both to acquire valuable historic material and to sustain publications that are indispensable to the accom- plishment of the objects for which the Society was founded. Members should not wait to have their memories jogged by the treasurer. The prompt payment of their annual taxes has a direct bearing on the financial condition of the society and on its success in the field of labor to which it is devoted. They are reminded that they can escape the annoyance of annual taxes, by becoming life members. Non-members, who, as such, are not entitled to the privileges of this library, should show in some appropriate way their appreciation of the cour- tesies extended to them. Rhode Island citizens, mmebers or non-members, who would have their historical society well equipped for service, should see that it is liberally provided with "the sinews of war." They should enable it to become one of the efficient institutions of the State and country, which distinction can be attained only in the way indicated above.
DEEDS AS HISTORICAL MATERIAL.
Liber VII., Suffolk Deeds, has recently been placed upon our shelves. Ten volumes of York (State of Maine) Deeds, have been added to the library and constitute a very interesting series of publications. Providence Deeds may very appropri- ately follow the eight or ten volumes of Early Town Records. This kind of historic material is attracting more attention each year, and the early real estate records of Providence, Warwick and Newport are believed to be of unusual interest.
" ANCESTRAL CHARTS AND FAMILY RECORDS
So arranged that any number of generations of one's ances- tors may be recorded in a clear and correct form with space for family records, biographical notes, memoranda, etc., By Charles Wyman Hopkins, Providence, 1895," is the title of a work which will be cordially welcomed.
The author of the "Towne Lots of Providence" has given another convincing proof of his skill, industry and interest in
138 RHODE ISLAND HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
promoting the objects for which this Society was founded and is sustained. Let the form of chart and record here rec- ommended be generally adopted, and the result will be a marked improvement in ancestral and family history. The work devolving on genealogists will be facilitated and light will be shed on a wide range of interesting studies.
THE DEVELOPMENT OF RELIGIOUS LIBERTY IN AMERICA.
A request that the following notice be inserted in the July number of this quarterly is complied with, in the hope that the fundamental principle of the first civil compact in this State may become better understood and appreciated. Whether that result is secured by means of a prize offered by a friend of Brown University or by a friend of the State, that is a recognized exponent of the principle of religious lib- erty, matters not.
Facsimiles of the original compact in this State may be obtained at the historical cabinet at five cents each, and single copies of this quarterly at fifty cents each.
PRIZE ESSAY.
A friend of Brown University has offered the sum of $200 as a prize to encourage the historical study of the develop- ment of religious liberty in America. The following regula- tions respecting its award are proposed :
1. The prize shall be open to general competition.
2. It shall be given to the writer of the best essay on one of the three following themes :
(a) A critical comparison of the claims put forward, on behalf of Rhode Island and Maryland, respectively, regarding the first establishment of religious liberty in America ;
(b) A critical history of the movement toward disestab- lishment and religious liberty in Connecticut ;
(c) A critical history of the movement toward disestab- lishment and religious liberty in Massachusetts.
3. No essay shall be received which is not founded upon original research.
4. The prize shall be awarded at Commencement, 1896; essays submitted in competition for it shall be placed in the
COMMUNICATIONS, EDITORIAL NOTES, ETC. 139
hands of the President of Brown University, on or before May i, 1896
5. The essays shall not bear the writer's name, but an as- sumed name. A paper bearing the writer's real name shall be enclosed in a sealed envelope, upon which shall be written the assumed name, and which shall be handed in with the essay.
Brown University, May 20, 1895.
HULING-CLARK.
In the Friends' Records of Salem, New Jersey, now depos- ited in a fire-proof vault in Philadelphia, is found this record :
" William Clark of the Whoore Kill on Dellaware Bay And Honnor Hulinge, Late of Roade Island in New England, were married at the house of Robert Zane, in New Salem, ffirst day of Eleventh Moneth called January 1679."
Whorekill, the residence of William Clark, was a name for- merly given to a town, Lewes, and a County, Sussex, now in the State of Delaware. By a deed now on record in Phila- delphia, it is also learned that this William Clark had a son William, who married about 1704, Rebecca Curtis, late of the Island of Barbadoes, but then of Philadelphia, by whom he had four children, — Mary, Ann, Rebecca, and Elizabeth. Of these, Mary and Ann died without issue ; Rebecca married Edward Evans of Philadelphia, and Elizabeth was unmarried in 1738. Rebecca, the mother, was left a widow and subsequently mar- ried Zachariah Richardson.
The " Honnor Hulinge " here referred to was without doubt a daughter of James Huling, Sr., of Newport, who was taxed there in 1680, died there March 6, 1686-7, and is buried in the common burying-ground. His youngest son, Walton, removed to Lewes, and Feb. 16, 1706-7, Margaret, the widow of James, died there. Her tombstone is the oldest in the churchyard of the original settlement in that region. The name " Honour " re-appears in the next two generations of the Rhode Island Hulings, in each case applying to the eld- est daughter, as seems to have been true of the " Honnor " who married William Clark.
Can this William be identified with either of the Clarke
I4O RHODE ISLAND HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
families of Rhode Island ? It is clear that, like the early members of the Jeremiah Clarke family, he was of the Soci- ety of Friends.
For these new-found facts I am indebted to Mr. Gilbert Cope, of West Chester, Pa.
RAY GREENE RULING.
THE HOPE FURNACE. THE FIRST STEAM ENGINE IN RHODE
ISLAND.
Many inquiries have lately been made about early inven- tions and manufactures in this State. The following letter is one of numerous expressions of interest that have been ad- dressed to the librarian of this Society. This letter is printed in the hope of eliciting the desired information in response to the inquiries. The writer of this letter has made repeated visits here with the same object in view.
New York, June 9, 1895. Mr. Amos Perry,
Dear Sir : Bishop's " History of American Manufactures," speaks as follows, in regard to the Hope Furnace : " In 1735, Samuel Waldo purchased an ore bed in the town of Scituate and erected there a furnace and foundry, on the Pawtuxet River, which afterwards became widely known as the Hope Furnace. Cannon for the navy, large bells and other cast- ings were made there, and munitions of war were supplied for the Revolutionary contest. These were the most important works in the State in the last century. The ore was obtained about 4^ miles distant, by turning a brook from its channel, and a few years after the war a steam engine was constructed at the furnace under the direction of Joseph Brown, of Provi- dence, for the purpose of draining the pits. Among the iron articles made in Scituate, at an early day, were iron tobacco pipes, said to have been made by one Jabez Hopkins, and swords of excellent quality by his son, Ezekiel Hopkins."
In the 2d Vol. " United States Census Report," 1880, under
COMMUNICATIONS, EDITORIAL NOTES, ETC. 14!
the heading "Iron and Steel Production," is a very exhaustive account of New England (Rhode Island included) mines of an early period.
Yours Respectfully,
J. H. MORRISON.
The late Gov. Dyer produced, near the close of his life, two papers of much interest. One of these is entitled, " Elijah Ormsbee's First Steamboat, and David Grieve's First Screw Propeller;" and the other, "The Use of Steampower in Rhode Island from 1663 to 1781." These are mentioned in a report submitted by the librarian at the 68th annual meeting of the Society, in January, 1890, and are referred to in the "Proceedings," 1889-90, page 83.
The chapter referred to in the United States Census of 1880, is of decided interest, but its highest source of informa- tion is Bishop's History, from which Mr. Morrison made his extract. In the Rhode Island State Census of 1885, two different references will be found to the Hope Furnace manu- factures, and the information there given was drawn at the time from the Providence Gazette. It is suggested that some student, who has the leisure, will make a careful examination of the old newspapers for the desired information about the steam engine made by Joseph Brown, who was the second of the Four Brown Brothers, It is presumed that the genealogist of the Hopkins family will readily trace the family line of Jabez and Ezekiel Hopkins, whose names are to be handed down as the manufacturers of iron tobacco pipes, and swords of excellent quality.
LANDSCAPES IN THE PICTURE GALLERY PORTRAITS IN
OTHER GALLERIES.
Considerable space is given in this issue of the quarterly to a Catalogue of the portraits in the picture gallery, and to explanatory notes on the same. A catalogue of other pic- tures, classed as landscapes, has been called for and has been prepared, but must wait, for the lack of space. A catalogue of the portraits in the City Hall of Providence, has also been prepared and will be printed when an opportunity is afforded. Full lists of the portraits in the State Houses of Providence
142 RHODE ISLAND HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
and Newport, in the Redwood Library, in Sayles Memorial Hall, and in other well-known galleries, could hardly fail to interest many persons, and if due aid be proffered by those immediately interested very full lists may hereafter be here printed.
"ARBOR-DAY PROGRAMME, MAY 3, 1895,"
Is the title of an interesting pamphlet of fifteen pages, issued by the Rhode Island Commissioner of Public Schools, In April, 1894, the children of the public schools of this State cast their votes, expressing their respective preference for one of ten different forest trees, and were thus initiated into some of the mysteries of the Australian ballot system. Of the 16,766 votes cast, 5,750 were for the maple tree; 5,260 for the elm ; 3,707 for the oak ; 632 for the chestnut ; 369 for the pine ; 262 for the hickory ; 210 for the button wood ; 196 for the ash ; 191 for the cedar, and 189 for the birch. The maple was elected, receiving the highest honor by a plurality vote. The virtues of the maple are admirably set forth in the pamphlet by the aid of poetry and music. It is to be hoped that the benefits to be derived from all these trees will here- after be more appreciated. Many members of this Society would probably, if they had a chance, cast their votes for the oak that outlives and outlasts all its companions. Will not some pupil or teacher report for these columns some of the venerable patriarchs that are growing on Rhode Island soil ?
"NEWFOUNDLAND AND THE JINGOES. AN APPEAL TO ENG- LAND'S HONOR. BY JOHN FRETWELL."
A I2mo pamphlet of sixty pages has been laid upon our table by the author, who, though born in England, is now cordially greeted as an American citizen. He gives us a good idea of Newfoundland and other parts of British America by quoting the language of eminent British scholars and states- men. This essay in behalf of national justice and humanity will reach many persons who will never see the more elab- orate discussions of the questions at issue.
PROVIDENCE PROPRIETORS AND FREEHOLDERS. 143
THE PROPRIETORS OF PROVIDENCE, AND
THEIR CONTROVERSIES WITH THE
FREEHOLDERS.
The earliest controversy of the Plantations was between the Proprietors and the Freeholders. During two generations it disturbed the quiet of the town meeting and the harmony of private life, and, more than anything beside, delayed union and success. It arose out of the peculiar title to the lands. Its ill consequences long survived it. Its details are now forgotten, and many of its historical records have perished. But it is worthy of remembrance, if only as an illustration of the fact, that of all political blunders, those of the founders of a State are the most permanent in influence and the most difficult of remedy.
The troubles of the townsmen had a beginning earlier than the Plantation itself. Such an undertaking requires, and has everywhere else received, forethought, organization, and re- sources. It cannot be extemporized, or adventured suddenly and in haste. Such was Williams's own view of his project. While yet a resident of Plymouth (1631-32), he had known Canonicus, and had received assurance of the favor and aid of the great Sachem of the Narragansetts. Williams then contemplated a settlement at Acquetneck, and had ever since been occupied in slowly maturing his scheme. • Sometimes he thought of going alone into the wilderness, as to a mission to do good to the natives' souls.* A little reflection must have taught him that this was but a day-dream. He must have seen that with such a country and such a bay, neither England, France, Holland nor Massachusetts would very long
*" My soul's desire was, to do the natives good." Answer of Roger Williams to the Declaration of William Harris against the Town of Providence, p. 53, Rider's Hist. Tract No. 14.
144 RHODE ISLAND HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
leave him alone in Narragansett. At the time of his banish- ment, Williams had no definite scheme for his colony. The controversial temper which he had manifested did not attract the organizing spirits of Massachusetts to any enterprise which was to be subject to his control. He had need to con- sult with men of liberal views in England, for England was not wholly Puritan. These could have aided him with capital' with men skilled in mechanic arts, and with those competent to found and to conduct a system of education which was, most of all, needed in such a colony as he proposed. While he was slowly developing his plans, he suddenly received news of an order for his arrest. He saw that his last oppor. tunity had come. Had he waited until his return from London he would have found the only refuge in New England closed against him by Massachusetts.* [See his letter to Mason, 1670.] He says that he lost ;£iooo by the breaking up of his business. His arrangements of his private affairs must be made upon the instant. Directions must be given at once for the conduct of a trading-house, very considerable for those days. His family must be provided with temporary support, and his leave-taking with such of his friends as could be assembled must be gone through. The colony at Mooshas- suc was founded within six hours. All these arrangements were hurried through during one short winter day, and he went forth alone and unprovided, into the winter night, no one knew whither. He could be assured of the companionship of but few who could be of service to his undertaking. Dur- ing the next spring, he was pressed with the labor of planting at Seekonk. He had little leisure and few facilities for corres- pondence, and but few men fit to plan a new social organiza- tion. Some whom he asked or permitted to follow him, he would not have invited had he known them better, for they certainly were of little use. Some, well qualified for the work, were probably dissuaded from it by their knowledge that beside the terror of the wilderness they must encounter the hostility of Massachusetts, and the loss of old friendships
*Williams was not expecting a speedy removal to R. I. at the time of his banishment, and had made no preparations for it.
PROVIDENCE PROPRIETORS AND FREEHOLDERS. 145
there. A departure to Mooshassuc seems to have been re- garded among "the Bay people," very much as the men of this generation looked upon a settlement in Utah.
Had Williams been able to collect his substance, and to mature his scheme, he would have directed his steps towards Acquetneck. The Mooshassuc was not his first choice. Had he done so, as he had once intended, he would have found greater resources of every kind. The varied materials of the colony might have been united in one town, for which they were not too many. It would have possessed greater breadth and comprehensiveness than belonged either to Providence or to Newport, and would have gained a wider audience from the beginning. The settlement at Mooshassuc would have been later in date, and its history unlike what it is.*
When the unforeseen events suddenly befell him, Williams had not, like Massachusetts, a charter, with a tolerably well defined boundary, with full right of soil and jurisdiction. He was not unaware of the infirmity of his title. In one of his earliest letters to Governor Winthrop,f he speaks of his occupancy as merely provisional — " until we hear further of the King's pleasure concerning ourselves." Their govern- ment was a mere agreement, " the inhabitants to pay $os. apiece as they came." It was Williams's first intention to apply to the government of England for a charter. But he felt no assurance that a charter would be granted, embodying his political ideas, or that the people would be allowed to elect their officers from among themselves. To the Crown no ap- plication was made until 1644, and then only in union with Newport. During several years the Plantation suffered the evils of a want of legal organization, and of security of title. After Williams had built by the spring at Mooshassuc, it was still legally competent for any other Englishman with a com- pany of followers, to encamp on Fox's Hill and set up a rival government with an authority as good as his own. The
*When the place was first called " Providence," does not appear. There is no vote to that effect to be found among the fragments of the early records.
fNarragansett Club's ed., pp. 5, 6.
146 RHODE ISLAND HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
king might have confirmed the title of either, upon terms wholly subversive of their principles of government. It is probable that only the troubles of the times prevented this interference. Williams seems to have thought that an Indian title was a sufficient protection. He seems not to have been aware that as against the English government he and his company were only trespassers upon unoccupied lands of the Crown. Williams had no knowledge of English law, and did not consider that if any dispute arose over the title to the soil, the final decision would be given by the Privy Coun- cil or by the king's commissioners according to the rules of the common law, by which his proceedings were void ab initio. The despotic rule of Massachusetts had forced the settlers of Rhode Island into the undesirable position of giving the first exhibition of "Squatter Sovereignty" in the new world. It was a still greater misfortune of the new State, that the sud- denness with which it was founded left no opportunity to settle, the principles of its organization. The new home had not yet been purchased, and future relations at home and abroad were in a state of uncertainty. The Planters at Mooshassuc were agreed upon but one principle, and that a negative one as to what the State should not do. They were agreed as to the foundation of a free commonwealth, but had given little attention to details. They did not clearly comprehend their relations with each other. Hence, at a very early day, the germs of many controversies began to develop themselves. Thus, in a letter to Governor Winthrop (of 1636 or 1637), Williams asks his opinion on " Whether I may not lawfully desire this of my neighbours, that as I freely subject myself to common consent, and shall not bring in any person into the town without their consent, so also that without my con- sent, no person be violently brought in and received ? " Wil- liams felt the highest respect for the character of Governor Winthrop and consulted him on the gravest matters. He would never have proposed any trivial or hypothetical ques- tion in their correspondence. It would seem that he had already submitted this question to the town meeting, and that the power of veto upon admissions of new freemen had been denied him. It would have given him the future control
PROVIDENCE PROPRIETORS AND FREEHOLDERS. 147
of the town. On the other hand, Harris and his associates always maintained and believed that Williams made his pur- chase from the Sachems, only as the agent of the whole body. The founder was to have no authority superior to that of one of his followers. In justice both to Williams and to Harris, these difficulties of the early planters should be re- membered, and the ample opportunities for mistakes and misunderstandings which they afforded.*
All thoughts of homesteads and estates were delayed, by want even of an Indian title. So soon as he was able, in the earliest days of the Plantations, Williams sought an interview with the chief Sachems, and obtained from Canonicus and Miantonomi a gift, or at least a promise, of land sufficient for a town. This agreement was of unknown date and is not now extant. Judge Staples thought that it was merely ver- bal. Upon such an insecure foundation, nothing could be built. Canonicus was old, — his less trustworthy successor might retract his guaranty. Another negotiation was opened, in " the Second year of our Plantation," at which only Wil- liams and the Indians were present. A memorandum was prepared — it was no deed. It was solemnly attested by the Sachems in the presence of Indian witnesses.f It is in these words : —
"At Nanhiggansic the 24th of the first month, commonly called March, in ye Second yeare of our Plantation, or plant- ing, at Mooshausic or Providence.
" Memorandum, that we, Canonicus & Miantunomi, the two chief Sachems of Nanhiggansick, having two years since, sold unto Roger Williams, ye lands & meadows upon the two fresh rivers called Mooshausic & Wanasquetucket, doe now by these presents, establish & confirme ye bounds of those lands, from ye river & fields at Pautuckqut, ye great hill of Notquonchanet, .on ye Northwest, & the town of Mausha- pauge on ye West.
" As also in consideration of the many kindnesses & ser- vices he hath continually done for us, both with our friends
*I have already described in Rider's Hist. Tract No. 15, the mode of planting and building the town, and need not repeat what was there said. fR. I. Col. Records, Vol. I., pp. 18, 19, 26.
148 RHODE ISLAND HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
at Massachusetts, as also at Quinnichicutt, & Apaum or Plymouth, we do freely give unto him, all that land from these rivers, reaching to Pautuxet River, as also the grass & meadows upon ye said Pautuxet River. In witness whereof we have hereunto set our hands."
Ye Mark of *• -^ Cannonicus.
f
Ye Mark of I Miantunnomi. In the presence of The Mark of / J Soldash. The Mark of , J Assotemewit.
1639. Memorandum 3d Mo. 9 day. This was all again con- firmed by Miantonomi; he acknowledged his act and hand, up the streams of Pawtuckqut, & Pawtuxet, without limits, we might have, for use of cattle.
Witness hereof Roger Williams.* Benedict Arnold.*
The first memorandum (it was no deed in a legal sense) was probably the work of Williams alone. The second memo- randum, unlike the first, has no mention of the place of its execution, and has no Indian witness. Probably it received the assent of Miantonomi at one of his visits to Providence, and William Harris, who was in communication with Bene- dict Arnold (neither of them lovers of Indians), suggested the last clause which was the origin of such bitter controversy during the next forty years. Such was Williams's opinion as to its authorship.f The first memorandum was prepared without such legal advice as Williams might have obtained.
*They were the only two men in the Colony who understood the lan- guage of the Indians.
fSee Williams's second letter to John Whipple, Rider's Hist. Tract No. 14, pp. 27, 29, 30, 31, 33, 34, 44.
PROVIDENCE PROPRIETORS AND FREEHOLDERS. 149
He did not consult with William Harris, with whom his quar- rel had not yet begun. Harris's ready and correct use of legal phraseolgy, suggests that he might have had the train- ing of an attorney, or of an attorney's clerk. John Throck- morton* had been an officer of an English Municipal Corporation.! He had made large purchases of real property in Massachusetts and elsewhere, and must have known the proper terms of an ordinary purchase deed.J Governor Wins- . low of Plymouth, was a good friend to Williams, and knew at /least the rudiments of English law. Any of these could Shave told him that his boundaries were vague, confused and /almost certain to become the subjects of controversy, — that Shis grant had no "words of inheritance," and at Common /Law gave him only a life estate. It does not seem to have occurred to him that a defect in such a title would be finally adjudicated, not between himself and the Sachems, in an In- dian Council or in a Providence town meeting, but between two parties of Englishmen — between himself or his assignees on the one side, and some other Englishman setting up an- other Indian purchase or title by occupancy or possession on the other — and that the controversy would finally be deter- mined by the king's courts, according to the rules of English law. A matter of such grave importance would have justified delay in order to send to England for appropriate forms of conveyance. But Williams had an obstinate will and an irrita- ble temper, and was very impatient of opposition. As we shall see in several instances hereafter, so on this occasion, Wil- liams, as was his wont, took counsel with no one, even where the rights of others were affected by his action. § He ven- tured alone into the wilderness to the Indian stronghold at Narragansett, and secured such a title as his own unaided foresight permitted.
*At one time, Throckmorton was the owner of one-half of Prudence Island.
fSee George Fox digged out, p. 13.
tSee Weeden's Social History of N. E., Vol. I., p. 109.
§See letter of Richard Scott, Appendix to Fox's " New England Fire- brand quenched," " He must have the ordering of all their affairs, or else there would be no quiet agreement among them."
I5O RHODE ISLAND HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
The first memorandum was vague and inconsistent in its description of the property conveyed. It seems to have been unsatisfactory to the associates of Williams. A long delay followed, and after two more years, the second memoran- dum, called a " confirmation," was obtained from Miantonomi, with the additional words, " up streams without limits, we might have, for the use of cattle." This " confirmation " which the cautious barbarian did not subscribe, was merely a certificate by Williams and Benedict Arnold, of what the Sachem had said in their presence.* Williams has left no ac- count of his reasons for subscribing a document which he ever afterward so greatly disapproved. The second memo- randum had no legal validity, was mere hearsay. But it was accepted at last by the purchasers, in despair of obtaining any thing else. The Planters — Williams among them — never reposed the same confidence in Miantonomi, as in the great Sachem Canonicus. It was deemed expedient to procure the confirmation of the heir to the Narragansett throne, as no one could be sure as to his future disposition. His prospect of long life seemed fair. No one anticipated his murder by the consent or order of the United Colonies, with the approval of the elders.f His renewed assent to his gift or grant was regarded by all parties as worth purchasing, as a security for the future. It was readily given, and as against the Indians, the title seemed to Williams to be complete. William Harris, with greater forecast than his neighbors, saw at once that the lands within the bounds of the Indian purchase were insuffi- cient for an English plantation. Canonicus was willing to give a larger tract, but the inferior sachems in the neighbor- hood of Providence, made such a clamour that the gift was curtailed, as in the memorandum. Williams says expressly, " the sachems and I, were hurried (by ye envie of some against myselfe) to those short bounds, by reason of ye Indians then at Mashapog, Notakunhanet & Pawtucket, beyond whom the
*William Harris says that a deed was after drawn up in proper form, and was tendered to Williams, but that he refused to execute it. fSee Savage's Winthrop.
PROVIDENCE PROPRIETORS AND FREEHOLDERS.
sachems could not then go," &c.* Harris undertook to supply the defect by the clause which gave occasion to so much wrath in the future. The words attracted but little attention at the time. It was claimed at a later day by the Proprietors, that they gave to Williams's grantees the entire fee simple of the town, from the west side of the Seekonk River to the Colony of Connecticut. We shall meet this clause again, — " up streams without limits," &c., the question whether the rights which it conveyed were corporeal or incorporeal.
As if these embarrassments were insufficient, the Indian grantors of Mooshassuc knew nothing of the English lan- guage, and had no written discourse of their own. There is little reason to believe that they understood their concession in the same sense in which it was received and paid for by the English settlers. The Indians were Socialists in theory and practice. All their land belonged to the nation or tribe, with only a temporary user by the individual members. To the end, they never comprehended or approved the exclusive and individual property everywhere asserted by the English- man, and never ceased growling over its inconvenience to themselves.
But whatever doubts may have been suggested by the title to the soil, the material wants of the settlers for the time suspended all other topics. They had lived two years in those " filthy smoakie holes," the Narragansett wigwams, and the companions of Williams were eager to begin their work. They could do little until they had obtained an allotment of their homesteads. Williams had procured a title exclusively in himself and their first controversy with him was now to begin. Its discordant elements came to view in the earliest days of the town. This is Williams's account of its earliest political organization : — f
"The condition of myself, and those few families here plant- ing with me, you know full well. We have no patent, nor doth the face of magistracy suit with our present condition.
*See Williams's second letter to John Whipple, Rider's Hist. Tract, p. 27.
fSee Williams's letters, Narr. Club's ed., Vol. VI., p. 4; Williams to Winthrop, p. 4, 1637.
152 RHODE ISLAND HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
Hitherto, the masters of families have ordinarily met once a fortnight & consulted about our common peace, watch & plantings, by mutual consent have finished all matters with speed & peace. Now of late, some young men, single persons, of whom we have much need, being admitted to freedom of inhabitation & promising to be subject to the orders made by consent of the householders, are discontented with their es- tate, & seek the freedom of voting also, & equality," &c.
The first settlers had on some unknown day, restricted the suffrage to married men, who were also heads of families — a restriction far from welcome to the class, young and ener- getic— but of little wealth, who are the majority in every new Plantation. Their request was denied and they remained in a state of discontent during nine years. They were then enfranchised by a popular commotion which ended the vol- untary association, or "town fellowship," and had well nigh wrecked the Plantation itself. As to the number of these young men at the time when Williams wrote to Winthrop, we are not informed, but they must have been a considerable proportion of the planters of those early days.
The founder and many of his associates had not much in common. His purpose was threefold : first, to establish a a free community in which the State should have no author- ity in matters of religious belief ; second, as akin to this, to afford a refuge for fugitives who sought a like enjoyment of the freedom of conscience ; third, the religious and moral elevation of the Narragansetts. He was not ambitious of civil office as the founder of a colony, or of landed wealth, such as was the ambition of every one at home. His follow- ers did not share his unselfish purposes. Their experience of the abuse of power in Massachusetts had made them im- patient of all authority whatsoever. With unyielding per- tinacity, they watched over their own liberties, and provided homesteads only for themselves. The majority manifested little sympathy with Williams, except in his negative opinion as to what the State should not do. No religious society was organized until the autumn of 1638. Out of nearly sixty house- holders only twelve united with Williams in its formation. During the whole of the seventeenth century, its members
PROVIDENCE PROPRIETORS AND FREEHOLDERS. 153
were a small minority of the townsmen and numbered so few adherents that they met in the small dwellings of those days, and a meeting-house was not required until A. D. 1700. The Town Meeting would give no invitation to fugitives from religious intolerance, and set apart no tract or reservation for their benefit. All who came hither, came at their own risk, and upon their own responsibility.* The townsmen were not historical scholars, but they had seen enough of history en- acted in old England to be assured that modern martyrs were not always the most agreeable tenants or neighbors, and that they often appear to greater advantage in chronicles and epitaphs than anywhere else.
The motives which urged most of the planters of Mooshas- / suck, seem to have been rather political than religious. They \ had come to Providence for religious liberty, but only a few / of them showed much desire for an active exercise of its \ rights by setting up any religious assembly. Their chief / anxiety was to escape from the despotism of Puritan elders, and their goverment was " only in civil things." With the Narragansetts, the settlers at Mooshassuc felt little sympa- thy. Their chief interest in their barbarous neighbors was pecuniary — in the trade in beaver-skins and in liquors so ener- getically denounced by Williams. Only Williams, and Bene- dict Arnold, the Indian interpreter and trader, understood their "barbarous rockie speech."f The excessive imports of wines and spirits, far beyond the consumption of the English settlers, — and all duly entered in the town records, — prove what was the chief staple of the Indian trade ^ These fully justify Williams's censures of the practices of his fellow- townsmen and his forebodings of a bloody retribution. Not one of them gave him any aid in his mission or was an enthu- siast in any like purpose.
With these diversities of character and objects, we may
*In the autumn of 1638, thirteen persons formed the Baptist Society. In 1637, there were fifty-four householders in Providence purchase. The exact number of the population is not known.
tSee George Fox digged out, Narr. Club's ed., p. 465.
JSee Early Records of the Town of Providence, Vol. II., p. 22 and Index.
154 RHODE ISLAND HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
well believe that Williams and his associates did not readily agree in the ownership or disposal of the estate which had come into their hands. In order to see more distinctly their mutual relations, let us look at the events of the time. Mooshassuc had no charter. The people could not incorpo- rate themselves or assume any of the powers of sovereignty. There were as yet no other towns capable of uniting in a legislature and of wielding for a time some part of the royal / prerogative. No union with Newport was in view ; there was no prospect that there would be any. Great nations were little desirous of colonies of such microscopic dimensions. / There was not even a town government. The settlers felt / such a dislike for the regime of Massachusetts, that they / would tolerate nothing but a voluntary association, or " town- C fellowship." How then could Williams secure the great / object of his life, and the planters the object of theirs ? He wanted little for himself, but how could he secure the build- • ing up of a town by a people who could not bear heavy taxa- ) tion, and who could hope for few wealthy emigrants ? Disputes about such matters probably caused the long interval between the Sachems' "Memorandum" and Williams's "Initial deed."* There must have been a dispute at the outset of a grave character, that these homeless settlers denied themselves any fixed abodes until it was determined. There was first of all (as we have seen), the question of the authority of Wil- liams to veto the admission of new inhabitants ; and then, what was the meaning of the " Initial deed" ? But at length, finding that they could extract nothing else from him, the townsmen accepted the conveyance, such as it was, with all its uncertainties of meaning. Its boundaries are merely a reference to those in the Sachems' gift, with no explanations to make them clearer. Nothing can be inferred from the want of a seal, or witnesses, or of "words of inheritance." These were not in general use in Providence, until regular legal forms were introduced, in another generation. The deed of Williams to his associates was in these words : —
*From the 24th of March, 1637, to 8th of October, 1638.
PROVIDENCE PROPRIETORS AND FREEHOLDERS. 155
"THE INITIAL DEED " FROM ROGER WILLIAMS OF THE LANDS PURCHASED OF CANONICUS AND MIANTONNOMI.
"Memorandum. That I, R. W., having formerly purchased of Canonicus and Miantonomi, this our situation or planta- tion of New Providence, viz. the two fresh rivers Wonas, and Moosh and the grounds and meadows thereupon, in con- sideration of £30 received from the inhabitants of said place, do freely & fully pass, grant and make over, equal right & power of enjoying and disposing the same grounds & lands unto my loving friends and neighbors S. W. WA. TJ. RC. J G, IT, WH WC TO FW. R. W. and E. H. and such others as the major part of us shall admit into the same fellowship of vote with us. As also I do freely make & pass over equal right & power of enjoying & disposing the said land & ground, reaching from the aforesaid rivers unto the great river Paw- tuxet with the grass & meadow thereupon, which was so lately given & granted by the two aforesaid Sachems to me.
Witness my hand
R. W."
The original of the " Initial deed " is not extant. The recorded copy is without date.* It appears that the deed was delivered 1637. In another conveyance made for some un- known reason, on the eighth of the Qth month, 1638, Wil- liams again grants the same lands to such others as the major part of us shall admit into the same "fellowship of vote with us."
Here began the great controversy of the Plantations. What did this mean ? Who were the grantees ? What their charac- ter and capacity ? and what was their estate \ They are men- tioned only by their initials, as if individuality and personality were not regarded. Williams ascribes this singularity in his deed to haste and want of time — a strange reason, in a matter of such importance, and which was utterly denied by Harris. The consideration of ^30 was an entire sum. Such
*Staples's Annals of Providence, pp. 31, 33.
156 RHODE ISLAND HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
as might be paid by a single corporate grantee, and not by single purchasers, in minute shares. The only succession de- scribed by the deed was not a personal succession to one and his heirs, but a corporate succession to a perpetual body, continued in being by the vote of the entire fellowship, which has successors but no heirs* Williams conveys to " such others as the major part shall admit into the same fellow- ship of vote with us." These words describe the acts of a corporate body or guild, which could act by majorities (as mere tenants in common could not), and which could dispose of its estate only for the use of the whole corporation. If the whole of the " Initial " grantees were to hold merely equal undivided shares, as tenants in common, how could those who were afterwards admitted to the same " fellowship of vote" devest the estate already vested in the first grantees ? A mere vote of a town meeting could not transfer vested es- tates from one freeholder to another. How was any reserva- tion to be made for future sufferers for conscience' sake if all the proprietary lands had been already vested in private ownership ? Williams, as he always maintained, undoubtedly believed that he had transferred his Indian purchase to an association to hold it in trust until a future town was ready to receive it.
In the "Initial deed," Williams only refers to the first "Memorandum" of the Sachems' purchase, without mention of the second, containing the clause "up streams without limits." If he had believed that any part of his grant was incorporeal or a mere right of pasturage, he would have done wisely to mention his belief in his memorandum. He would have thus saved himself from future censure and mortifica- tion. But he was not a lawyer. In his " Initial deed " he speaks of his whole purchase as consisting of " lands and grounds," and nowhere explains in any extant document that he was conveying an estate which was in any part incorporeal. He always insisted that the sum of £30 was received by him
*Harris says that the ^30 was only the sum paid to Williams, but that the sum paid to extinguish the claims of the Indians made the entire cosj to the townsmen ^160.
PROVIDENCE PROPRIETORS AND FREEHOLDERS. 157
as compensation for his labor and expense in visiting the Sachems and in procuring the grant, and not for the purchase of the land from him by the townsmen. The " Proprietors " or " Purchasers " were to pay each thirty shillings for their " homelots " six-acre lots and farming lands (100 acres each) and for no more. He had no intention of parting with the whole purchase, which had cost so much pains and labor for the sole benefit of men who were chiefly strangers to him, and to whom he was under no obligations, in order that they might make dividends among themselves, as sharehold- ers in a private company.
In this view of his conveyance to his associates, Williams persisted during the remainder of his life. He lost no oppor- tunity of proclaiming it. Only a few passages need to be quoted, which sufficiently prove that Williams believed that he had conveyed his purchase in trust to his followers as a society and not as individuals.
I. On the seventh of the 9th month, 1657, Williams exe- cuted a deed to James Ellis, of his lands at Whatcheer, which he had received from the town.* He inserted in this deed a recital of factsnot at all necessary to his conveyance, but which he intended as a manifesto to be preserved in the town book — a memorial of his original purpose. In it are these words, " He parted with his whole purchase unto the Township or Commonalty of the then inhabitants."!
II. In the original agreement establishing the voluntary association of the settlers at Providence, to which Williams was a party, we read : \ " The town by five men shall give every man a deed for all his lands lying within the bounds of the Plantations, to hold it by, in after ages."§
III. In his letter to John Whipple, 24th of August, 1669,^ Williams insists that the disposal of the land should be by
*Early Records of Providence, Vol. III., pp. no, in, 112.
fSee Staples's Annals, p. 37. Letter to John Whipple, Rider's Hist Tract No. 14, p. 16.
JStaples's Annals, p. 42.
§Fifth of 5th mo., 1640, R. I. Col. Records, Vol. I., p. 27, Sec. i.
IfRider's Hist. Tract No. 14, p. 38. MS. in the Library of the R. I. Hist. Society.
158 RHODE ISLAND HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
the freeholders at large, in the town meeting. "Grant that there have been discourses & agitacions many, about ye lands & purchases, yet is it not reasonable & righteous in all men's eyes. Yl since there are so many purchasers who ordinarily doe not & others yl will not come to ye Towne Meeting, yet their consent should be had, and ye consent of ye majorities should determine ye matters of their purchase, & oblige the minor differing from them ? I understand not yet of the dammage of a farthing yl any of you have sustained, or are likely to do, from those whom you count your adversaries." This passage relates to the claim of the Proprietaries to an exclusive right to vote in the town meeting upon all matters relating to the proprietary estate.*
IV. Williams is still more emphatic in his declarations respecting the "Initial deed," in his "answer to the Declara- tion of William Harris against the Town of Providence, seventeenth 9th mo., 1677, so called."! •
" As to my selling them Pawtuxet & Providence It is not true that I was such a fool as to sell either of them especially as W. H. Saith, 'like an Halter in a market, who gives most.' The truth in the holy presence of the Lord is this. W. Harris (W. H.), pretending religion, worried me with desires that I should admit him & others into fellowship with my purchase. I yielded & agreed that the place should be for such as destitute (especially for conscience' sake), & that' each person so admitted, should pay 30^. country pay, towards a town stock, and myself have £30. towards my charges which I have had, £28. in broken parcels in five years. Pawtuxet I parted with, at a small addition to Providence (for then that monstrous bound or business of "up streams without limits" was not thought of). W. Harris & the first twelve of Provi- dence were restless for Pawtuxet, & I parted with it upon the same terms, viz. for the supply of the destitute, & I had a loan of them (then dear), when these twelve men, (out of pretence of conscience & my desire of peace) had gotten the
(The foregoing faper by Henry C. Dorr, to be continued.)
*This will be mentioned again. fRider's Hist. Tract No. 14.
PAPERS OF MAJOR-GEN. NATHANAEL GREENE. 159
THE PAPERS OF MAJOR-GEN. NATHANAEL GREENE.
The recent effort on the part of the Historical Society to have a portion of the papers of Major-General Greene secured to the State of his nativity, has given rise to the thought that an account of the manuscripts left by him may be of interest to the readers of the society's publications.
General Greene preserved his papers with great care. One reason was, that his intimate friend, President Joseph Reed of Pennsylvania, formerly adjutant-general to General Wash- ington, contemplating a history of the Revolutionary War, asked General Greene to preserve for him everything that could be of assistance to him in that project. The general did so. There is also evidence that he intended to publish some account of his own military career. In a letter to John Adams, dated January 28, 1781, he says: "The American ar- mies have gained some advantage ; my public letters will have given you some idea of them, but the previous measures which led to important events, and my reasons for those mea- sures, must lie in the dark until a more leisure hour."* The papers which he preserved were consulted by two contempo- rary historians of the Revolution, Gordon and Ramsay, though Reed did not live to carry out his design. Gordon consulted them at Newport, and afterward addressed many inquiries to General Greene, which were evidently to be answered by means of these papers, f Ramsay took notes from General Greene's manuscripts. J The papers which Greene retained
*Johnson's Greene, Vol. I., pp. v., vi.
fLetters of Gordon, in Greene's Greene, Vol. II., pp. 417, 418; and in Hist. Magazine, Vol. XIII, pp. 24, 25. JLetter of Ramsay in Hist. Magazine, Vol. XIII., p. 26.
l6O RHODE ISLAND HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
in his own hands were those of his private correspondence, as distinguished from the official papers of the Southern Depart- ment during the period while he was in command. The letters were, at the disbanding of the Continental Army, entrusted to the care of Major Edward Rutledge. On his death they passed into the hands of his son, Henry Rutledge. When Henry Rutledge left South Carolina to live in Ten- nessee, he left these papers in the charge of General Charles Cotesworth Pinckney of Charleston.*
General Greene, dying in Georgia in 1786, left a widow and five children. His widow married Phinehas Miller, and died in 1814. His eldest son, George Washington Greene, died unmarried in 1794. His eldest daughter, Martha Washing- ton Greene, married first John C. Nightingale, and afterward Dr. Henry Turner, with whom she lived in Tennessee. The second daughter, Cornelia Lott, married first Peyton Skip- with, and afterward Edward B. Littlefield, and also went to live in Tennessee. The next child, a son, Nathanael Ray Greene, lived in East Greenwich, Rhode Island. The young- est daughter, Louisa Catherine, a posthumous child, married James Shaw and lived on Cumberland Island, Georgia. When Justice William Johnson, of the Supreme Court of the United States, began to occupy himself with the life of General Greene, the private papers of the general were in the posses- sion of this youngest daughter, Mrs. Shaw.f
"Some years since," says Justice Johnson in the preface to his 'Sketches of General Greene/ " I was consulted by Mrs. Shaw, the youngest daughter and administratrix of Gen- eral Greene, on the manner in which she should dispose of her father's original papers. Until that time I had never un- derstood that they had been preserved. For the first time I learnt that they had been. carefully husbanded, and never yet submitted to the examination of any one, with a view either to add to the materials of general history or furnish those of a biography of the great man who had bequeathed them to posterity. Nor had I, until then, been struck with the fact that
*Johnson, Vol. I., p. v.
f Johnson, Vol. II., pp. 462, 463.
PAPERS OF MAJOR-GEN. NATHANAEL GREENE. l6l
his biography had never been attempted, nor his name even mentioned in the cyclopaedias of the day. I therefore sug- gested to Mrs. Shaw that, if she approved of my undertaking the biography of her father, I would take the papers under my care, and examine how far they afforded the necessary materials for such an undertaking. The proposal was readily assented to, and she soon after forwarded to me a large col- lection of letters containing his private correspondence ; and addressed a letter to Gen. Charles Cotesworth Pinckney, re- questing him to deliver me the trunk containing the official papers of the Southern Department, whilst General Greene was in command. The latter were immediately delivered up to me, and I found them in the highest state of preservation and arrangement These two collections of pa- pers, consisting of several thousand, had obviously been pre- served with great care, and the motive became explained in the course of examining them."*
Incidentally, Judge Johnson mentions that all Greene's letters were written by himself, so that these collections of papers were a collection of autographic memorials of him.f
Beside these papers derived from the descendants of his hero, the biographer describes other manuscript materials for his work. In 1818 he visited Rhode Island, and during the summer explored the private cabinets of the general's friends in the northern and eastern States.:}: "I found," he says, "that the general's early correspondence had been religiously pre- served, and that various small collections of historical materials had been made, which were now liberally communicated to me, to aid in a work in the promotion of which every one manifested an individual interest." He mentions such obligations to Governor Gibbs of Rhode Island; his brother, Colonel Gibbs of Long Island ; the surviving brothers and nephews of Gen- eral Greene ; his early friends, Colonel Ward and General Varnum ; Judge Pendleton of New York, who had made
*Johnson, Vol. I., p. v. f Johnson, Vol. II., p. 458. J Johnson, Vol. I., pp. vi.-ix.
1 62 RHODE ISLAND HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
preparation for writing a biography ;* Joseph Reed ; the rela- tives of Colonel Petit ; the widow of General Harmar ; the sons of Col. Otho Williams ; Gen. C. C. Pinckney and Gen. W. R. Davie. He declares that he had "a mass of four thousand original letters, written by the hands of all the dis- tinguished men " of the period, and that, among them, the select letters of Washington, Lafayette, Steuben, Read and Greene, beside those which he published, would alone make up two interesting volumes.
At Philadelphia, Justice Johnson was offered by Desilver, the publisher, a mass of original materials regarding Greene, from which a biography was at that time being made for Desilver. A thousand dollars was asked, and the judge re- fused. He declares that they were only the vouchers of the quartermaster-general's department; and adds, "If ever that collection of papers has furnished, or shall furnish, to the world, one page of history or biography (unless it be a fac- simile page), I shall acknowledge my error in not possessing myself of them." This last is a most direct thrust at the "Memoirs of the Life and Campaigns of Nathaniel Greene," by Charles Caldwell, M. D., Professor of Natural History in the University of Pennsylvania, which Desilver published in 1819. Caldwell's book contained little that had not already been printed in Gen. Henry Lee's " Memoirs of the War in the Southern Department ;" but it did contain, as a frontis- piece, a fac-simile of a letter of Greene. Dr. Caldwell de- clares in his preface that "the documents and other sources from which we have derived our information are as ample and authentic as any now existing;" but that this was very far from being the case is evident from the pages of Justice Johnson's book, as well as from his preface.
Johnson's two ponderous tomes were published in 1822. From this time one hears nothing more of the papers which had been committed to his charge until more than forty years later. During that time they had passed from the custody of Mrs. Shaw, the general's youngest daughter, into that of Mr. Phinehas Miller Nightingale, second son of the eldest
*Ramsay used a manuscript of Pendleton's, written before 1782. See his letter in Hist. Magazine, Vol. XIII., p. 26.
PAPERS OF MAJOR-GEN. NATHANAEL GREENE. 163
daughter. In 1846, George Washington Greene, the general's grandson, published a short life of his grandfather in Sparks's " Library of American Biography," of which it constituted the twentieth volume. But that book was written at Rome, remote from the manuscript sources for a complete biogra- phy. In its preface the author expressed a hope of being able later to use those materials in the preparation of an ampler work. In 1866, he used a portion of them in prepar- ing the pamphlet called "An examination of some state- ments concerning Major-Gen. Greene, in the ninth volume of Bancroft's History." In the preface to the elaborate life which he published in 1867 and in 1871, he says that on his return to the United States the Greene papers were entrusted to him by Mr. Nightingale, and that they formed a collection of over six thousand documents. While in his possession at East Greenwich they were at times seen by members of the Rhode Island Historical Society, and an effort was made by Professor Greene, assisted by Charles Sumner, Charles Butler, and James S. Thayer, to have them purchased and printed by the government of the United States. They subsequently returned to the custody of the heirs in Georgia, and were, till lately, in the hands of Mrs. P. M. Nightingale of Brunswick, Georgia. In the winter of 1893-94 an effort was made by a committee of the Rhode Island Historical Society to secure their purchase by the State. In fur- therance of this project, a member of the family in Georgia drew up from the papers a list or rather an enumeration of the letters composing the mass of manuscripts, which was forwarded to a member of the committee. It showed some 1,900 letters from General Greene, and nearly 2,500 letters written to him. The former were written to a large variety of correspondents, especially concerning the war in the Southern States. The latter included fifty-five letters from General Washington, forty-seven from Congress and the Board of War, forty-six from Lafayette, 116 from General Marion, 114 from Col. Henry Lee, sixty-seven from Colonel Laurens, sixty-three from Colonel Carrington, fifty-seven from Colonel Wadsworth, fifty-seven from General Sumter, forty- seven from Gen. Anthony Wayne, forty-three from Gen. Otho
1 64 RHODE ISLAND HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
Williams, thirty-four from General Steuben, twenty-seven from General Lincoln, twenty-six from General Kosciuszko, and lesser numbers from other Revolutionary commanders, — General Weeden, General Pickens, General Varnum, General Gist, General Knox, Gen. Wade Hampton, General St. Clair, Count d'Estaing, Count Rochambeau, thirty-seven from Cap- tain Hamilton, — and on the other side, for instance, thir- teen from Howe and one from Cornwallis. More than two hundred letters from governors of the various States were embraced, including some from Governors Greene and Col- lins of Rhode Island, Dickinson and Read of Pennsylvania and Delaware, Jefferson and Harrison of Virginia, and larger numbers from Rutledge and other governors of southern States. One may also mention thirty-four letters to General Greene from Robert Morris, six from Gouverneur Morris, five from Richard Henry Lee, and seven from the Minister of France.
Rich as this collection was, it was found that the State of Rhode Island could certainly not be induced to pay the price asked by the present representatives of General Greene, and the whole mass of Greene MSS. was, it is understood, sold to a dealer in autographs in New York City.
It may be interesting if some information is added respect- ing other papers and letters of General Greene than those which are in the hands of his descendants. In the library of the Department of State at Washington there are two volumes of his letters, extending from July 8, 1776, to August 22, 1785; two volumes of transcripts of his letters from Oc- tober 27, 1780, to November 3, 1783; and five volumes of his letters and papers relative to the department of the quarter- master-general in 1779 and 1780.* In the library of Congress there are letter-books of 1781 and 1782, two volumes.f Cald- well, in his preface to the work already mentioned, says : "No inconsiderable portion of the materials necessary to complete his biography have been lost through the negligence of those to whom they were entrusted. In various parts of the coun-
*Bulletin of the Bureau of Rolls and Library, Vol. I., pp. 19, 20. fWinsor, Narrative and Critical History, Vol. VIII., p. 413; Bancroft, Vol. X., p. 7.
PAPERS OF MAJOR-GEN. NATHANAEL GREENE. 165
try, individuals are known to have been in possession of vol- umes of his official letters, some of which no doubt contained interesting information on the subject of his campaigns. But, on the strictest inquiry, few of these documents are now to be found." In view' of Caldwell's relations to Desilver, and Desilver's relations to Johnson, this has an amusing sound. But that Johnson also had not exhausted the material, was asserted with much warmth of feeling by Henry Lee, son of Gen Henry Lee (" Light-horse Harry "), in his book pub- lished in 1824, entitled, "The Campaign of 1781 in the Caro- linas ; with Remarks Historical and Critical on Johnson's Life of Greene." The book consists of a series of most bitter comments on Johnson, who had minimized the importance of General Lee's services and the degree of his intimacy with General Greene and of Greene's reliance upon him. Johnson had said, "The cabinets of all his most intimate friends have been open to us, and to us alone." Commenting on this, the younger Lee 'says : " We have the best authority for affirm- ing that about five years ago, Mr. Edmund I. Lee, of Alexan- dria, made application in behalf of Judge Johnson to one of the representatives of the late General Lee for the inspection of his military papers, and for the use of such as might have reference to the life of General Greene. That in reply Mr. Lee was assured there were a number of letters from General Greene among those papers, which were illustrative and char- acteristic, although there was no sketch of his life. That the originals would not be given up, but that Judge Johnson was welcome to copies. Nothing further was heard on the sub- ject, and it is natural to inquire for what cause Judge John- son, who appears to have traversed the continent, and even to have disinterred the heroic dead in search of materials, should have forborne to have availed himself of the opportunity of inspecting General Greene's correspondence with an officer who is acknowledged to have exhibited 'brilliant military talents,' and a ' cordial and devoted attachment to his gen- eral.' "* Lee gives several letters which Johnson had declared
*Lee, p. n.
1 66 RHODE ISLAND HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
to be missing "from the official files," and says that Johnson "acknowledges more than one hiatus in his copies of General Greene's letters to Lee." Greene and Lee, by the way, con- ducted a part of their correspondence in cipher.*
Sparks collected many letters of Greene. In his diary, in a passage published by Dr. Adams,f he says, under date of May 15, 1826, writing at Richmond after searches in the State capitol, " Many letters from Greene are on the files which I have looked over to-day, — some of them written in a vigor- ous strain, and indicating not more a great commander than a man of high intellectual power and knowledge of mankind. I marked several to be copied." Again, in a passage not printed, he says, under date of June 7, 1827, at New York: " Mr. Ward informed me of papers in his father's possession, particularly letters from General Greene. His father is the son of Governor Ward of Rhode Island, and holds his papers. Mr. Ward mentioned particularly a eulogy on General Greene by Hamilton, pronounced before the Cincinnati Society. It was never published. Mr. Ward had procured a copy for Mrs. Shaw, General Greene's daughter." Next day, June 8, " Mr. Ward has in his possession several letters from General Greene, written in early life, which I am to consult here- after." At a later date he writes, October 12, 1827, Boston: "Returned this day from a visit to Providence, to which place I have been for the purpose of consulting Mrs. Shaw, the daughter of General Greene, respecting her father's papers. These belong to Mrs. Shaw. They are now in the possession of Judge Johnson, who has had them for the pur- pose of writing his Life of General Greene. On Mrs. Shaw's return to Charleston, she says she shall reclaim the papers, and she manifests the best disposition to afford me every fa- cility in consulting them. She will come again to Providence in the summer, and she will then probably bring the papers with her, and allow me to retain them while I am engaged in preparing Washington's Works." At Philadelphia, under
*Lee, pp. 232, 12, 324, 325.
f Adams's Sparks, Vol. II., p. 457.
PAPERS OF MAJOR-GEN. NATHANAEL GREENE. 167
date of February 4, 1831, he notes that there are in the library of the American Philosophical Society twelve volumes of Greene's manuscripts, covering a period of a year and a half. They were in the main simply the papers of the quar- termaster-general's department, and seemed to him to contain little of value, though after examination he selected a certain number to be copied. No doubt these were the papers which in 1818 were in the possession of Desilver.*
A considerable number of letters and copies of letters of General Greene are among the Sparks MSS. in the library of Harvard University ; others among the Steuben papers in the library of the New York Historical Society, and in other repositories of Revolutionary correspondence. Peter Force collected a number. The Rhode Island Historical Society printed some letters of Greene in the volume called "Revolu- tionary Correspondence from 1775 to 1782," which formed Vol. VI. of their collections. There are some among the pa- pers of Gen. Peter Horry of South Carolina (Winsor, VIII. 458), and one or two have been printed from the manuscripts possessed by Nathaniel Paine of Worcester and George Brinley. (Hist. Magazine, Vol. XI., pp. 98, 204).
J. FRANKLIN JAMESON.
*MS. diary of President Sparks.
1 68 RHODE ISLAND HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
NOTES ON LANDSCAPES IN THE PICTURE GALLERY.
NOTES ON LANDSCAPES IN THE PICTURE GALLERY.
A notice of some of the landscapes in the picture gallery was given in the librarian's report for 1892, and may be found in Vol. I. of the quarterly publication, on pages from 66 to 71. The landscapes in the picture gallery are as attractive to a large class of visitors as the portraits, and undoubtedly serve an important purpose in perpetuating a correct knowledge of our local history. For these reasons, and to obviate the need of personal explanations, these notes are furnished, together with two admirably engraved illustrations. All of the land- scapes belong to the present century, while several of the portraits date far back in the last century.
I. THE OLD DROP SCENE.
The largest and the oldest landscape in this cabinet, and perhaps the largest in this State, is 21 x 23 feet, and occupies the wall of the north end of the audito- rium. This picture was the drop scene of the old Providence Theatre, and represents a part of the east side of Providence as it was eighty-three years ago. When the picture was taken it was regarded as a great enterprise, and its exhibition proved a great attraction at the theatre for a long period. It was painted between 1808 and 1812, by John Worrall, a noted scene-painter of Boston. It was first exhibited on the 8th of July, 1812. It was purchased by a committee of this society consisting of William E. Richmond and Thomas F. Carpen- ter in 1832, when the theatre became the property of the corporation of Grace Church. This is the earliest picture, though not the best one, of the cove in the possession of the society, and it is the only one in which trees constitute an important part of the scenery.
NOTES ON LANDSCAPES, ETC. 169
2. THE OLD TOWN HOUSE.
The picture of this building was painted by George W. Harris for Henry C. Whitaker, in 1860, just before the edi- fice was demolished, and it was given to this society by Mr. Whitaker's widow, Mrs. Harriet M. Whitaker, February 19, 1890. Mr. Harris's point of view when he took the picture was at the northeast corner of Benefit and College Streets. The late Henry T. Beckwith did his utmost at the time to have the College-Street side of the house represented with but one door, as it was built and as it remained until later- than 1840, when after one part of the building had become a police station and another part was devoted to the sessions of a court of magistrates, a second door, smaller than the first, was introduced in the place of a window. Mr. Harris was aided in taking his sketch by a small and very indistinct photograph (still extant), which gave a good view of the east end of the building, but a meagre and imperfect view of the north side. On the south side of the Benefit-Street end of the building stood for many years the old Water Witch engine- house. At the west end of the basement a door, not repre- sented here, opened into the police station, and a little way from it, in the yard, was a much-used town pump.
A grateful acknowledgment is hereby made to Mr. Charles H. Smith for an admirable engraving of the Harris- Whitaker picture of the Old Town House, that appears in this issue of the quarterly. This engraving will enable readers to bet- ter understand the historical sketch of the building, and of the lot on which the building stood. On the east or Benefit- Street end of the building, back of the fence represented in the engraving, once stood a steeple which at length became dilapidated. At the May Session of the General Assembly in 1773 (see R. I. Colonial Records), a resolution was adopted authorizing this society to raise ^700 by means of a lottery, the object being, as set forth in the preamble of the resolu- tion, to have the meeting-house repaired and to have a tower and steeple with a town clock erected on the west end of the building. Without any authentic statement as to the result of this effort to raise money, it is reasonable to believe that the dilapidated steeple was allowed to tumble down, and that the tower, steeple and clock were not erected on the
170 RHODE ISLAND HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
west end as was proposed, for the benefit of the town's people.
The old Town House was built by the First Congregational Society of Providence in 1723, and was used as the meeting- house of that society until 1795, when it acquired the name by which it has since been known. Both Judge Staples and Dr. Hall state that the movement for the formation of a Congregational society in Providence, and for the building of its meeting-house, was begun in 1720. But the following extract, taken by Mr. Albert A. Folsom from the records of the First Congregational Church in Marblehead, shows that at least an outside movement was begun at an earlier date : " Collections for Pious and Charitable uses by this Church 1718. Dec. n. Public Thanksgiving, a Collection for the Building of a Meeting House in the Town of Providence in Rhode Island Government that the Gospel might be settled among them. Gathered £16 i8s., and this Money is turned into the hands of Edward Bromfield, Esq., Treasurer."
On the town-house lot now stands the Providence County Court House. This lot, occupied successively by a meeting- house, a town house and a court house, is truly historic ground. On it a large amount of local history has been en- acted. Here* sermons were preached, prayers were offered, speeches were made and psalms and songs were sung that doubtless produced some impression at the time. On the lower part of this lot on College Street, was the log cabin of the Harrison and Tyler campaign of 1840, and near the cabin door stood a barrel of hard cider which was imbibed by a multitude of visitors. On the street line in front of the cabin was a liberty pole surmounted by a liberty cap. In the cabin were revolutionary and colonial relics, including several canes made of timber that came from the schooner Gaspee, con- tributed by Maj. Ephraim Bowen, who was the last survivor of the Gaspee party.
*Besides the settled pastors of the first church, viz., Josiah Cotton, 1728; John Bass, 1752; David S. Rowland, 1762; John Lathrop, 1775 (who was driven then by the British from the second society in Boston, whose steeple Paul Revere used for his beacon-light) ; and Enos Hitch- cock, who had been settled in Beverly, Mass., and installed in 1783, there are records showing that Rev. Dr. Ezra Stiles, Dr. Samuel Hop- kins and other eminent divines of that period preached in the old meet- ing-house.
NOTES ON LANDSCAPES, ETC. 17 1
In the old town house, John Whipple, Job Durf ee and other eminent citizens made their mark as orators, and there the advocates and the opponents of free suffrage vied with each other in earnest and urgent appeals to their fellow-citizens. Though the honor of securing a good picture of this building belongs to Henry C. Whitaker alone, it is known that he was complimented for his enterprise by Abraham Payne, Albert G. Greene and Henry B. Anthony.
3. A PICTURE OF THE TOCKWOTTON DISTRICT FROM FORT HILL.
Was painted (as stated on the face of the picture), in 1837, by Kinsley C. Gladding, who was born in Providence in 1801 and died there in 1866.
4. A PICTURE OF FEDERAL HILL.
Was taken by George W. Harris in 1829, from a point on Canal Street not far from Market Square, and was given to this library, September 21, 1881, by Mr. John Gorham, whose interest in this society is attested by other highly prized gifts. The immediate object represented in the picture is the Washington-Row bridge of that period. At the corner of Washington Row and Cove [Street was an old one-story building which Sylvester Hartshorn occupied for many years as an auction-room. On this site is now a part of Kimball's clothing store. In the rear of this building was H. S. Haz- ard's livery stable, fronting on Cove Street, now Exchange Place.
Looking across the Cove, on which were several small craft with unfurled sails, were a few buildings, the most prominent of which were those of the old Brewery Company and of the Providence Dyeing, Bleaching and Calendering Company ; and beyond these appears Federal Hill, with only four or five houses upon it, one of which was the dwelling of Burrington Anthony, which served as the headquarters of Governor Dorr during a brief period in the campaign of 1842. The differ- ence between Federal Hill when this picture was taken and Federal Hill now, is very striking.
172 RHODE ISLAND HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
5. A PICTURE OF THE NORTHWEST CORNER OF MARKET SQUARE.
Was taken by George W. Harris, from the steps of the Franklin House, in 1843. It gives an excellent view of the Vinton Block, in which the Republican Herald was published many years, and a partial view of several buildings on Cheap- side, and also of limbs of the old horse-chestnut tree that be- longed to the estate of the Manufacturers Hotel.
6. The scene at the Great Bridge during the September Gale of 1815 is represented by two pictures. One of them is an engraving taken from an original painting made by J. Kid- der of Boston. The other is an enlarged oil-painted copy of the engraved picture. This copy was taken a few years after- wards by the late John R. Bartlett. By the courtesy of the Continental Printing Company, the editor is able to furnish readers with an engraved copy of Mr. Kidder's famous sketch. Only one continuous block of buildings represented in this picture is still standing ; namely, that which begins where Carpenter's ice office is, and ends with the Merchants Bank Building.*
7. A PICTURE OF THE COVE BASIN
Has, since the departure of the basin, become very attract- ive. It was painted in 1818, when the cove basin, if not in its best condition, was still a fine sheet of water in which strings of fish were often caught. It was a scene of beauty and enjoyment, resembling in its outlook a pond in a coun- try village. Upon its banks vegetable life was abundant. Pleasure parties are represented as sailing upon its waters or strolling leisurely along its shores. A hunter is there with gun and dogs looking out for game. An artist is making a sketch. The east-side view in the background is exceed- ingly attractive. The First Congregational Church, The First Baptist Church, Saint John's Church, University Hall,
*An interesting sketch of the Great Gale, by Mrs. Esther Hoppin E. Lardner, may be found by turning to the 2026. page of Vol. II. of this quarterly ; and an official record of the gale, by Moses Brown, is begun on the 23ad page of the same volume.
NOTES ON LANDSCAPES, ETC. 173
the President's old house, the State House, and a score of other buildings are readily identified. This picture was for ten or fifteen years an ornament on board a sloop that car- ried passengers and merchandise between Providence and New York, and then it came into the possession of this so- ciety to serve the purpose of history for generations to come.
8. A PICTURE OF SLATE ROCK.
Was painted by William Allen Wall of New Bedford, and belongs to the Friends' School. This was taken before the historic rock had been buried in sand and gravel, and before the scenery along the river in that neighborhood had been essentially changed. The librarian ventures the suggestion that an enlarged copy of this picture be procured for the benefit of coming generations. He is led to urge this move- ment by the ignorance of local geography often displayed by our youth. Not long since, a pupil in one of the grammar schools of our city, when asked, " Where is Slate Rock ?" promptly replied, "In Roger Williams Park !"
9. THE DESTRUCTION OF THE GASPEE
Is the most interesting and attractive picture that has for a long time been added to our collection of landscapes. This was painted by Mr. Charles DeWolf Brownell of Bristol, and was given by him to the society, in 1893. The only adverse criticism thus far heard, touches its historical accuracy in two respects ; and this criticism has been so often made in our presence, that we shall give it some attention.
It was said that whale-boats were used in the expedition, and that some of the participants under Capt. Simeon Potter were dressed as Indians, neither of which features appear in this picture. When Mr. Brownell, the artist, was consulted, he replied, that the traditions regarding the whale-boats and the Indian attire were, in his opinion, untrustworthy. Mr. Brownell's opinion is sustained by the Hon. William P. Shef- field, who, in his address delivered before this society, Febru- ary 7, 1882, on "Newport Privateersmen," p. 22, speaks as follows : " It has been said, but I think upon insufficient evidence, or perhaps against the evidence, that Captain Pot- ter was one of the party that attacked the Gaspee."
174 RHODE ISLAND HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
There has come down to the present time a vague tradi- tion that some, or all, of the persons who took part in the Gaspee expedition were disguised as Indians, and not unfre- quently visitors at this cabinet express surprise that they are not so represented in this picture. The tradition may be due in part to a line in a humorous poem written soon after the event. One verse was as follows : —
" That night about half after ten, Some Narragansett Indian men Being sixty-four, if I remember, Which made the stout coxcomb surrender."
By calling those who performed this daring deed Narragan- sett Indian men, the poem probably helped perpetuate an evasive answer given at the time to some inquisitive persons who sought to know and identify the men whom the British government wished to apprehend and punish.
In a print issued and copyrighted in 1856, by Virtue, Em- mins & Co. of New York, this tradition is also manifest ; all of the occupants of the attacking boats being dressed as Indi- ans, and probably other publications have made the same rep- resentation ; a representation which we believe deserves to be branded as a lie of poetry and tradition. A picture of this kind is on exhibition in Pilgrim Hall, at Plymouth, Mass. John Alden's bride is represented as riding home from the wedding on a bull, when the bride and bridegroom lived right by each other before the wedding and therefore had no occasion for such a ride. The artist regarded Longfellow's poetry more than the facts of history.
The story of the destruction of the Gaspee has been told fully and published by both Judge Staples and the Hon. John R. Bartlett, with copies of the correspondence, the testimony taken before the commissioners appointed by the Crown to investigate the affair, and there is no evidence therein to sub- stantiate this Indian-disguise tradition. On the contrary, there is direct evidence that those who took part in the expe- dition were dressed in citizens' clothes ; and Judge Staples expressly says, "The parties assumed no disguise of any kind, but went in their usual dress."
NOTES ON LANDSCAPES, ETC. 175
An impression prevails, also, to some extent, that only whale-boats were used; but this, too, is also an error, the di- rect evidence being simply that the boats were "long boats," said to have been collected by John Brown.
We have called attention to the foregoing errors of tradi- tion, as we think them to be, in justice to this society as well as to the artist, believing that a picture representing an historical event should be as nearly correct historically as possible, particularly when it is virtually endorsed by being exhibited in the cabinet of a society that is largely devoted to gathering material for history.
The editor is indebted to Mr. William W. Chapin for a crit- ical examination of pertinent authentic records that confirm the views expressed above. Mr. Brownell, who painted Gov. Marshall Jewett's great picture of the Charter Oak, and who is a brother of the poet, Henry Howard Brownell, is, in our opinion, right in disregarding the stories told about Indian dress and whale-boats.
IO. FOX-POINT OBSERVATORY
Was, sixty years ago, well known and was one of the most conspicuous edifices in Providence. It attracted the atten- tion of strangers as they came up the river, and it was a resort of multitudes of people who sought fine views, fresh air, amusement and refreshment. It was situated upon a conically-shaped hill, that was between the Tockwotton House and Benefit Street, and was called sometimes Fox- Point Hill, and sometimes Fox's Hill. The writer of this sketch has been there when the building was thronged with guests; some of them in the upper story enjoying the breezes, and the delightful views far and near; some below were at the billiard or card table ; some in the nine-pin alley ; some in the saloon ; and some in the refectory. The hill itself has utterly disappeared and the neighboring houses have all been either removed or torn down, and all that now remains of this once noted scene of fashion, amusement, gayety and dissipa- tion is this picture of the observatory and of several other buildings, — a picture that was taken near the close of the first third of this century. The picture is well drawn, but
176 RHODE ISLAND HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
needs to be repaired. It was given to the society, October 6, 1885, by Mr. William H. Charnley of this city.
ii. A picture of Wall Street and of Old Trinity Church, New York, 1815, attracts much attention.
12. THE OLD PAWTUCKET BRIDGE.
In the museum are numerous engraved and photographic representations of buildings, scenes and events in different sections of the State taken at various periods in this century. Among these is an engraving made by a French artist in 1827, representing the old bridge of Pawtucket and many quaint old buildings of that place at that time.
13. THE COVE BASIN SEEN FROM THE NORTH.
Another engraving, taken by the same artist at the same period (1827), gives a view of the cove basin and of the east and west sides of the river, looked at from the north. In plain view are two sail-boats and two row-boats, and wander- ing along the shore are a few persons apparently discussing the beauty of the landscape. The First Congregational and the First Baptist churches are readily identified on the east side, and on the west side are the Round-top and the Tin-top churches, together with many other buildings and objects of much interest.
14. The views of Providence taken at different periods and from different points constitute an interesting group in the Museum. There is a large picture of Providence, taken from the north in 1849, and near it is a picture of the same dimensions, taken from the south at the same time. Near by is also a picture taken in 1848, from still another point of view. This is followed by a picture taken in 1877, and by a small picture taken in 1827. These and other pictures in their vicinity would, if explained by a man of the eloquence, tact and skill of the late Walter R. Danforth, prove the means of interesting and instructing generations of people whose understandings are reached_:mainly through visible illustrations.
A LETTER ABOUT RHODE ISLAND ARTISTS. 177
A LETTER ABOUT RHODE ISLAND ARTISTS.
Dear Sir: The July number of the quarterly publications of the Rhode Island Historical Society interested me greatly, especially that part which relates to portraits and portrait painters of olden times.
I was so much interested in reading it that I became a reminiscent and memory brought up the studio gossip of more than a quarter of a century ago.
Cephas Giovanni Thompson painted portraits before my time, but I have had to make several copies of his works ; among them, Senator Anthony's ; his brother, General An- thony's ; and Sarah Helen Whitman's. The senator's pict- ure was painted while he was a student in college. It was a small picture about 13x16 inches. It represented three- quarters of his length standing ; a very slight figure, with a waist of almost feminine delicacy, but the senator smilingly answered my look of surprise as I gazed upon his then portly figure, by saying, "That it was his build in those days !"
Thompson's father was a portrait painter, and at one time owned a farm in Middleboro, Mass. He wielded the hoe and rake in summer, and the brush and palette in the winter.
He was probably one of the peripatetic, itinerant artists that were so numerous before Daguerre's invention drove them out of existence. He was a man of violent temper and eccentric habits. His children — Cephas Giovanni, Marietta Tintoretta, and Jerome — were all artists.
The last I was. introduced to in New York, about forty years ago. He was a popular genre painter at that time. I remember his " Old Oaken Bucket." A country boy was rep- resented drinking at the well. It was painted in the careful, detailed, but somewhat hard, manner prevalent at that time.
The picture was lithographed by Goupil & Co., and shared
178 RHODE ISLAND HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
in popularity with William S. Mount's " Power of Music." Cephas painted in Rome after leaving Providence, but in his old age settled in New York, where his portraits were highly prized. His son, Hubert O. Thompson, was at one time a power among the New York politicians, and died about ten years ago, his father surviving him about a year. Both Ce- phas and Jerome were members of the National Academy.
I regard the sketches you have given of early Rhode Island artists as very valuable.
I am sure the future historians of art in this State will be grateful for the information contained in the July quarterly.
I wish the society had specimens of the work of an artist who did good service here half a century ago. I refer to Mr. Charles Hitchcock, who married Olivia Cowell, daughter of Judge Benjamin Cowell, the author of "The Spirit of '76 in Rhode Island." I remember a full-length portrait of Charles Lippitt, uncle of Gov. Henry Lippitt. He was rep- resented in a hunting costume surrounded by his dogs. Both the artist and the merchant, who were related by marriage, were fond of hunting. The portrait is in the possession of Mr. Lippitt's grandson, Frank Glezen.
Hitchcock's son, George, has become celebrated as an ar- tist in both the Old and the New world. He received the medal at the Paris Salon, and also at the World's Fair at Chicago.
When I was a boy, I remember seeing Sanford Mason and Susanna Paine. Mason at that time had a studio on Rich- mond Street, and I recall with what awe and admiration I gazed at his portraits through the window, not daring to go in. A friend took me to see Susanna Paine's portraits. They had a family resemblance, looking as if they were all twins. She was an idealist and did not believe in individualism. It is said that when expostulated with for painting black eyes in a gray-eyed man's portrait, she admitted the seeming in- congruity, but assured the wife that black eyes were much prettier than gray. She was a woman of stalwart proportions, weighing over 200 pounds, and was a very original character, as may be inferred from her virtual autobiography, entitled, " Roses and Thorns, or Recollection of an Artist."
A LETTER ABOUT RHODE ISLAND ARTISTS. 179
I congratulate the Historical Society on having what I have always considered the masterpiece of my friend and master, Mr. J. S. Lincoln, — the three-quarter length portrait of Mr. Zachariah Allen. I watched the progress of this fine work of art, and I think the artist agreed with me, that he could rest his future reputation upon this work alone.
Mr. Lincoln was never thoroughly appreciated, although he stood at the head of his profession in this State for more than half a century.
In looking over the society's gallery and viewing the famil- iar countenances of representative men in various walks of life, — men who have left their names upon the roll of honor ; who have distinguished themselves as military and naval heroes, clergymen, statesmen, judges, physicians, members of the bar, and educators, I fail to observe the features of any representative of art. Surely Gilbert Stuart, Edward Malbone, and James S. Lincoln, have added lustre to the es- cutcheon of Rhode Island, and it would seem eminently fit- ting that, at least, the man who portrayed for the world the features of George Washington should have his portrait in the cabinet of the leading historical association of his native State.
These rambling and somewhat disjointed reminiscences may not interest other persons, but I may be excused for indulging in them when I state that the sketches referred to awoke memories of the past that had slumbered for years, and might never have been evoked but for the publication of the Historical Society.
Sincerely yours,
JOHN N. ARNOLD.
THE next number of this quarterly may contain a letter from Rev. Dr. Ezra Stiles, giving an account of the course pursued by the commissioners appointed by the Crown on the Gaspee affair.
l80 RHODE ISLAND HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
THE BEGINNINGS OF INSURANCE IN PROVIDENCE.
The first regular insurance company in Rhode Island was the Providence Insurance Company, incorporated in Febru- ary, 1799. At first it conducted a purely marine business but afterward went into regular fire insurance. John Mason, who had been connected with the individual method of trans- acting insurance, became its first president.
It is the object of the following notes to present in as com- plete a form as possible, references to the beginnings of in- surance in Providence as they appear in the advertisements of the early newspapers of Providence.
In a letter written by Moses Brown to Tristam Burges under date of January 12, 1836, regarding the commerce of Rhode Island, the following reference to insurance is found : " We have not had a settled insurance where books may be adverted to till lately. Governor Hopkins, John Gerrish and Joseph Lawrence before were fillers of policies. Governor Hopkins, I remember, as early as 1756, and brobably before, had an office by himself."
In several issues of the Providence Gazette, beginning with that of February 12, 1774, appears the following notice, dated February n, 1774: "Insurance Office. Notice is hereby given that an office for insuring houses, vessels and merchan- dise, is this day opened and kept at the dwelling of Mrs. Jemima Field, next door to Doctor Henry Sterling, in Water Street. Attendance will be given at said office between the hours of 10 and 12, and 2 and 4, on each day of the week, the first excepted." [Signed] JOSEPH LAWRENCE.
Notices for the sale of blank policies of insurance, with other blank papers, which first appear in February, 1782, in
BEGINNINGS OF INSURANCE IN PROVIDENCE. l8l
the Providence papers, would seem to indicate that "the printer" had a call for such documents. Such advertisements appear in almost every issue from that time on.
In the Providence Gazette of December 7, 1782, occurs this notice : " The Insurance office is removed from the house of John Jenckes, Esq., to a room over the Market house."
In the Providence Gazette of January 31, 1784, a Boston underwriter inserts the following : " Hurd's Insurance office. At the Bunch of Grapes, State Street, Boston. John Hurd, Insurance Broker."
In the United States Chronicle of January 24, 1784, and in the Providence Gazette of July 3, 1784, M. M. Hayes of Bos- ton, under the date of July 2, in the course of a striking advertisement makes the following appeal : " Those gentle- men who may choose to become proprietors in an Insurance office, against fire, are requested to send their names to the tavern of Mr. John Marston, State Street, Boston."
In the issues of December 20, 1794, and January 3, 1795, the Providence Gazette contains the following advertisement : " Insurance Office. The subscriber who has for upwards of thirty years kept an Insurance office in the town of Provi- dence, informs the public that he will continue in said line and has opened his office in Mr. McLane's coffee house, "where constant attendance will be given to wait on all who may favor him with their business; for which his demand is one single dollar for a policy and recording, and no other fees of office, whereby the insurer saves one-fortieth part of his premium and has the satisfaction of retaining the property in his own hands on interest. The insured in case of loss, suffers no deduction from the sum insured ; but may rest satisfied that his property will be placed in such hands as will pay the whole amount insured agreeable to the policy."
[Signed] JOSEPH LAWRENCE.
The Providence Gazette of July 12, 1794 contains the fol- lowing : " Insurance Office. John Mason takes this method to inform the public in general that he has opened an Insur- ance office in a room in the Coffee house, upon such princi- ples and under such regulations as were established by the principal merchants of the town at a regular meeting, which
1 82 RHODE ISLAND HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
are nearly similar to those established in Boston. He flatters himself that all who may apply for insurance will experience such attention and punctuality as will afford entire satisfac- tion. The office will be open from 9 o'clock A. M. to i o'clock p. M. ; and from 4 to 6 o'clock p. M., every day in the week, Sunday excepted. The smallest favors in this line of busi- ness will be gratefully acknowledged."
Another notice in the Providence Gazette of July 30, 1796, is as follows : " Mutual Assurance. Such owners of houses and other buildings in the town of Providence as may be dis- posed to become members of a company for mutually assur- ing each others' buildings against fire, are requested to meet at the Coffee House in this town, on Monday next at n o'clock A. M., to establish a company for that purpose."
H. W. GEORGI.
A LOOK SOUTHWARD.
It is worthy of note that opportunities are now enjoyed for making excursions by water from Providence to Monumental City on board a line of steamships. The steamers sail three times a week and touch each way at several ports in Virginia. They have good accommodations and means of comfort. Per- sons on arriving in Baltimore can visit various parts of that city by means of an admirable system of street railways, which freely furnish transfer tickets. One notable fact is, that the three street railway corporations of that city pay for the privilege of using the public streets twa^er cent, of their gross income, which sum of money pays interest on the cost of more than a thousand acres of public parks, and also fur- nishes some means of making improvements thereon. Thus it turns out that every person who patronizes the street rail- ways contributes to the maintenance of an admirable system of public parks, and a spirit of good-will prevails that is favor- able to all parties. The historical, literary, charitable and art institutions of Baltimore would readily repay a visit to that city.
A MILITARY CLUB. 183
A MILITARY CLUB
Was formed in Providence in 1774. Only fragments of the records of this club are extant. These fragments are, however, deemed worthy of being printed as material for history. A part of two pages, including some of the articles of agree- ment, and the whole of two pages are gone from the records.
" 3. We will meet at some convenient Place that shall hereafter be agreed upon, at a certain Hour, and all those who shall be absent, shall (unless a satisfactory Reason be offered for Absence) be Fined a Sum not exceeding four Pence.
"4. That the Fines aforesaid shall be reserved in the Hands of the Clerk of the Company for such uses as " * *
f 8. At the first Meeting of the Company a Clerk shall be chosen.
" 9. If the Company shall think propper hereafter to enter into any other Rules or Regulations, all such Matters shall be determined by Vote of the Majority.
" 10. If the Number of Twelve Subscribers does not appear to these Articles within one Week they shall be Wholly Void. Dated at Providence May 20, 1774."
" At a Meeting of the Military Club on Wednesday Morn- ing at 5 o'Clock May 25th 1774. Mr. Asa Franklin express- ing a Desire to Join the Company and attend the Four
184 RHODE ISLAND HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
Gentlemen of the Company who go to Capt. Waterman's to Learn the Exercise thare and informing the Company that He had agreed with the Gentlemen at Capt. Waterman's to instruct him without any additional Expence to the Company and He also agreeing to bear his proportial Part of all Ex- pences which may accrue to the Club — It is unanimously Voted that He the said Asa Franklin be and He is hereby VOTED and Declared to be a Member of this Club.
" The Meeting was then adjourned to Fryday Morning.
" May 27th 1774."
"The Club having met according to adjournment on Friday Morning the 27th of May, 1774. Mr. Nicols was not present at the first meeting but sent in the following Proposals by one of the Members which if complied with he engaged to meet with the Company and Instruct the Members according to the utmost of his ability.
"Article Ist- That the Rules of the Club be strictly ob- served especially keeping Silence and obeying the word of Command.
" Article 2d- That it be agreed on by the Company that no Laughing or Sneering be allowed of among us at any Mis- takes or Awkwardness observed in any one, but that the cor- rection of all such Irregularities in the manner of Exercise as may happen be left to him while the Company are under his Tuition.
"Article 3d- That the Company (not exceeding twenty- four) shall pay him for his Services six Dollars for each Month that he is employed.
"Article 4. That the Money be collected by some one of the Company and paid to him all at once at the end of the Month.
"Article 5. If any new Members are admitted after the number twenty-four is completed he will instruct them in a separate manner till they arive to such a degree of Skill as to be able to join in with the first twenty-four and not impede their Motions; — but those new-comers must " * * * *
A MILITARY CLUB. 185
" 3. That if a Motion is made for any thing to be put to Vote and is propperly supported, the Question shall be put.
"4. When any thing is necessary to be Voted by the Com- pany, the Clerk facing the Company shall put the Question.
" 5. That for the future all those who are desirous of Ad- mission into the Club shall first make application to the Clerk and he shall propose it to the Company the Persons proposed to be admitted not to be present.
"6. That if any Member appears without his Gun at any Meeting of the Club he shall be fined as much as though he was himself absent.
" 7. That no one shall leave his Place till he is propperly dismissed except those who are appointed by the Tutor to assist in regulating the Motions.
" 8. That all the Articles of the Company be read by the Clerk every Week."
" At a Meeting of the Military Club on Friday Morning June 3d 1774, Mr- Willson Rawson made application to the Company by4 Writing in the Following Words, Which Writing was presented by the Clerk viz."
" Mr- Foster, Sir you are Desired to acquaint the Mem- " bers of the Military Club at your next Meeting that the " Subscriber begs they will make out a Bill of his Pro- " portionable part of the of Expence they have been at " That I may pay the same & take my Discharge as it " will not be convenient for Me to Attend for the " Future.
From Yours &c
WILSON RAWSON. " To Theodore Foster Esq., Clk
" Where upon it was Voted That Mr- Rawson be Dismissed agreeable to his Request Upon his Paying his Proportion of the Expence.
" Mr- Benjamin Gladding Paid a Fine for Absence one Morn- ing 4<£ Mr- Peter Taylor Ditto 4^."
1 86 RHODE ISLAND HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
" The whole Company having Received an Invitation to Meet the Instructor at the Paper Mills on the Afternoon of Friday June 3d 1774. They Marched up thither and were by him Reviewed and Exercised. At this Meeting at the Paper Mills Messrs- Daniel Whitaker and Benj gamin Greene Taylor were admitted Members of the Company."
" At a Meeting of the Military Club on Monday Morning June 6* 1774 Mr- Thomas Jones Made Application to the Company to be Dessmissed it was therefore Voted that he Should} be Dessmissed from the Company upon his Paying his Proportion of the Expence and that the Clerk make out a Bill of the same accordingly."
" At a Meeting of the Military Club on Wednesday Morning June 8l.V 1774
" A Motion was Made that Whereas Joseph Wiley who had joined himself to the Company had never at any Meeting of the Company attended and had Neglected and Refused to pay his Proportion of the Expence or his Fines That He should be expelled the Company. Which Motion being Sec- onded It passed in the Affirmative — Nem. Con.
" Several Gentlemen of the Company Desireing to attend upon the Cadet Company Some Mornings to See them exer- cise and as the Cadet Company Meet the Same Mornings in the Week that this Company meet upon A Motion was Made that this Company should on Tuesday, Thursday and Friday Morning in stead of the Mornings they now meet upon. Whereupon it was Voted That The Times of our Meeting be changed accordingly.
" It was Voted that Mr William Allen be admitted a Mem- ber of this Company upon his complying with all the Rules of the same.
" It was Voted that Mess rs Simeon Williams Zadoc Wil- liams and Walker Harding be admitted Members of this Company. And as it may be inconvenient for them when obliged to go out to Days Works to attend in the Morning to Learn the Exercise It was Voted that the said Three Persons may Meet in the Evenings of the Same Days in which the
A MILITARY CLUB. 187
Company in General Meet which shall excuse them from the Payment of Fines for Non-Attendance. They are however to pay their Fines in they do not attend in the Evening in the Same Manner as the Rest of the Company."
" At a Meeting of the Military Club on Thursday Morning June i6th 1774 Messrs Jonathan Ellis & John Carpenter were admitted Members of the Military Club as also Messrs Benja- min Hoppin and Silas Talbut."
NAMES OF THE MEMBERS.
Theodore Foster, Thomas Jones,
Thomas Truman, Asa Franklin,
Joseph Snow, Junr. William Field,
Ebenezer Richmond, Joseph Mumford,
John Allen, Joseph Wiley,
Benajah Carpenter, Benjamin Greene,
Wilson Rawson, Daniel Whitaker,
Gabriel Allen, William Allen,
William Barton, Simeon Williams,
Charles Bowler, Zadoc Williams,
Oliver Carpenter, Junr. Walker Harding,
Asa Rawson, John Carpenter,
Allen Peck, Benjamin Hoppin,
Benj. Gladding, Silas Talbut. Peter Taylor,
" QUALITY, THE PREVAILING ELEMENT IN REPRESENTATION," Is the title of a suggestive and well-written paper read before this society by Mr. William B. Weeden, Dec. n, 1894. The paper had been previously read before the American Antiqua- rian Society and has been printed with the proceedings of that society. Mr. Weeden's review of the course pursued by the freemen of the colonies and states of this section of country are calculated to lead to a right course of action to secure the best results in time to come. Another paper, pointing out some important measures to that end, would con- stitute a fitting supplement, and would be most cordially welcomed.
1 88 RHODE ISLAND HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
COMMUNICATIONS, EDITORIAL NOTES, AND CULLINGS.
PROVIDENCE, July 10, 1895. MR. PERRY,
Dear Sir : I note the quotation from J. H. Morrison's letter to you of June Qth, printed in the July number of the Rhode Island Historical Society's publication, wherein it is stated that " among the iron articles made in Scituate at an early date were iron tobacco pipes, said to have been made by one Jabez Hopkins, and swords of excellent quality by his son, Ezekiel Hopkins." I also notice your call for a tracer of the family line of Jabez and Ezekiel, father and son, pre- sumably addressed to me.
Jabez, or Jabish as it was sometimes called, was a son of William and Deborah (Allen) Hopkins, born at the home- stead of^his father and grandfather, at Louisquissett, in the town of what is now Lincoln, near the village of Manville, July 15, 1713, and died (probably) at Glocester, July i, 1790. His last recorded residence in 1772, was located there. His
wife was Bethiah , born March 6, 1715, died March 15,
1781. Their children were : —
I. Deborah, b. June 12, 1735. II. Isaac, b. December 23, 1736.
III. Nehemiah, b. March 6, 1739.
IV. Phebe, b. July 27, 1741.
V. Hannah, b. October 25, 1743. VI. Alee, b. September 8, 1746. VII. Seth, b. August 8, 1748. Married Mary Dar- ling, at Glocester, November 22, 1772. VIII. Thomas, b. November 18, 1750.
Jabez's father's family removed to Scituate about the year 1733, but at the date of his son Seth's marriage, in 1772, his
COMMUNICATIONS, EDITORIAL NOTES, ETC. 189
residence was in Glocester. I know of no other Jabez Hop- kins, and have no knowledge of this one's career. But as I find no son born to him that bore the name of Ezekiel, the information I impart has no value in connection with the in- quiry moving to the investigation.
Jabez had an uncle Ezekiel, who died in Scituate in 1762, also a cousin Ezekiel, who married Mary Pray, but I have no dates in connection with the last named.
Respectfully yours,
ALBERT HOLBROOK.
The following gifts were received from the Hon. Thomas Davis, shortly before his decease on the 26th July last.
1. A marble bust of Mr. Davis's wife, Mrs. Paulina Wright Davis, chiseled in Rome by the eminent artist, Paul Akers.
2. A plaster bust of Gerritt Smith, the eminent abolition- ist and philanthropist, copied from a marble bust by the same artist.
3. A plaster bust of Judge McLean, of the U. S. Supreme Court, copied from a marble bust by the same artist.
4. A history of the National Woman's Rights Movement, by Paulina Wright Davis.
5. The Una, a paper devoted to the Education of Woman, edited by Mrs. Paulina W. Davis, substantially bound in three volumes.
6. An original letter addressed by John Quincy Adams in 1838 to Oliver Johnson, corresponding secretary of the Rhode Island Antislavery Society.
" ANCIENT EGYPT
In the light of modern discoveries, historical, pictorial and descriptive, by Charles H. Davis, M. D., Ph. D." An admir- ably bound folio volume of upwards 400 pages, illustrated without regard to cost was added to the society's library early this year, the gift of our associate, Mr. Thomas Spencer Mitchell. This volume needs only to be examined to be ap- preciated by persons interested in the history of Egypt. The editor of this quarterly has found in this work admirable illus- trations of scenes and objects which he witnessed many years ago.
RHODE ISLAND HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
Documents bearing upon the record of Commodore Esek Hopkins of Rhode Island, Commander-in-Chief of the Amer- ican Navy, December 22, 1775, to March 26, 1776. Note. — Unless otherwise stated, the following are from Force's "American Archives."
Two series of typewritten papers with the above title have been lately given to the library by Mr. Richard S. Rowland, the editor of the Providence Journal. These papers give a vivid idea of the situation of Com. Hopkins during his official career and for sometime afterwards. His trials, joys and sor- rows from January, 1776, onward are here set forth in a very definite manner. These papers will lead to a verdict from which there can be no appeal. With these documents in hand some fine spun theories that have been put forth derog- atory to the character of Com. Hopkins will be readily set aside. The papers have been bound to correspond with three other volumes and now appear with the title, " Hop- kin's Papers, Vol. IV."
A SILVER GOBLET FROM THE GASPEE
Was received August 20, 1895, a gift from Mr. David Fisher, of Kalamazoo, Mich., who is a descendant from Com. Abra- ham Whipple, the recognized leader of the Gaspee expedi- tion. The goblet is duly labeled. It was taken from the Gaspee by Com. Abraham Whipple, on the morning of June 10, 1772, and passed through the hands of three of his de- scendants before reaching the historical cabinet. Its giver comes from his Michigan home with expressions of interest in the historical work that is here being carried forward. Well " booked-up" in family history, he lays his gift on the altar of his ancestral State in the hope that true manliness and the spirit of liberty and independence may be forever main- tained.
MR. HENRY T. BROWNE, OF NEW YORK.
This gentleman, whose efforts for the promotion of the objects of this society date back of his election as a corres- ponding member in 1859, does so much in various ways for the society that it is difficult to do him justice in a brief no- tice here. On learning of serious needs of the society's
COMMUNICATIONS, EDITORIAL NOTES, ETC. IQI
library, he has repeatedly visited a score or more of New York bookstores, to supply these needs. He is unwearied in his efforts to honor and preserve the memory of worthy and patriotic citizens of his native State. While very many per- sons enjoy the privileges of the society without any suitable return, often, indeed, without even an expession of gratitude, Mr. Drowne and other persons whose names are on our list of givers are ever striving to be useful. The last record of gifts from Mr. Drowne is thus : The " History of the Navy of the United States of America ; " abridged in one volume. By J. Fenimore Cooper. 1841 ; "-New York City Directory, 1893;" Engraved likenesses of Gen. Arthur St. Clair, and of John Paul Jones, together with several pamphlets of local interest.
" Records of the Bailey Family : Descendants of William Bailey of Newport, R. I., chiefly in the line of his son, Hugh Bailey of East Greenwich, R. I. Providence : 1895. 8vo, pp. 206. Only 100 copies printed." This is another work showing the industry, skill and enterprise of our associate, Charles W. Hopkins, who disclaims any credit except that of arranging the material furnished by a worthy step-mother, Hannah C. (Bailey) Hopkins.
PROVIDENCE DIRECTORY, 1895. NO. LV.
This gift from the enterprising publishers, Messrs. Samp- son, Murdock & Co., is hereby gratefully acknowledged. The house directory appeared as an introduction to last year's regular issue. This year the house directory consti- tutes a distinct volume. It is prepared with great care and serves as a supplement to the annual volume. The edition that was published was speedily sold at $2.50 each, and many applicants for copies cannot be supplied. Directories and tax-books constitute valuable historic material, and friends will confer a favor by seeing that the library is supplied with these publications.
Mrs. Sarah Alice Davis of this city has recently given a clothes line of excellent quality that was manufactured by
RHODE ISLAND HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
James Perry Butts in 1838, at a ropewalk near the old Tock- wotton House. Mrs. Davis speaks of another ropewalk that was near the site of the present Point-Street Schoolhouse. A brief account of the old ropewalks and of the branch of Providence industry connected with them, would be of interest.
WHAT OTHERS THINK.
A critical scholar who resides in a neighboring State has addressed to the editor of this quarterly a letter in which, after speaking appreciatively of the July number of this pub- lication, he concludes his communication as follows : —
" I must not forget to say that the paper contributed by Caroline Hazard struck me as very graceful and full of inter- est. That on the old bridge, too, is valuable. It contains by implication, in one place, a touching testimony to the sim- plicity and old-fashioned honesty of the Founder of your State. I refer to the passage on the n8th page beginning: " Lo — (ving) Friends and Neighbors." To me this passage, so full of meaning, is worth pages of concocted encomiums. Your proof-reader must be a careful man, for I detected but one typographical error, — on page 114, 2d line, then for than"
The late George C. Mason has left a large collection of papers, letters, accounts current, bills and all sorts of papers^ both written and printed, relating to American commerce in the latter part of the last century and the early part of the present century. Many of these papers belonged to the Hon. C. G. Champlin, his father, Christopher Champlin, his brother, George Champlin, and some of an earlier date of the Ayraults and Grants. These letters and papers are from all over the world and illustrate the methods of commerce in the early period of the United States. Cannot this Society se- cure these papers ?
THE PILGRIM FATHERS.
Hon. Wm. T. Davis of Plymouth, Mass., who sailed for England in the Cephalonia from Boston, August 3, carried with him a bronze tablet, which will be erected by him in Scrooby in Nottinghainshire. The tablet is sufficiently ex-
COMMUNICATIONS, EDITORIAL NOTES, ETC. 1 93
plained by the following inscription which it bears : — " This tablet is erected by the Pilgrim Society of Plymouth, Massachusetts, United States of America, to mark the site of the Ancient Manor House, where lived William Brewster from 1588 to 1608, and where, in 1606, he organized the Pil- grim Church, of which he became ruling elder and with which he went in 1608 to Amsterdam, in 1609 to Leyden and in 1620 to Plymouth, where he died April 16, 1644." The size of the tablet is 24 x 29 inches.
LOUISBOURG.
The I5oth anniversary of the surrender of Louisbourg, which was in 1745 the strongest French fortification in America, occurred on the fifteenth day of June last. The celebration of this anniversary took place under the general direction of the American Societies of Colonial Wars.
Rhode Island troops took part in the capture of Louisbourg.
GIBBON COMMEMORATION.
The last publication received from the Royal Historical Society of Great Britain is entitled, " Proceedings of the Gibbon Commemoration, 1794-1894. London. 4to, pp. 52, 1895." Edward Gibbon, the immortal author of " The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire," died in London in January, 1794, at the age of fifty-six. The commemoration exercises were under the auspices of the Royal Historical Society. The exhibition of manuscripts, books, pictures and relics of vari- ous kinds, proved of much interest. Among the commemora- tion committee were several eminent American historical scholars, including George P. Fisher of Yale University, John Fisk and Justin Winsor of Harvard.
The contents of the pamphlet comprise the proceedings of the meeting, November 15, 1894; tne introductory speech of the president of the Royal Society, Sir Mount Stuart Grant Duff ; an address by vice-president Frederic Harrison, and a catalogue of the exhibition. The memory of the great his- torian was duly honored.
More than forty years ago it was the privilege of the editor of this quarterly to spend some time in the Gibbon House at
194 RHODE ISLAND HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
Lausanne, and to read there an account of the historical work that was there performed in a brief period. Visiting Wash- ington recently, he saw the bust of Gibbon in the library building that is being erected for the congressional library. In reply to his inquiry, " Why is Gibbon thus honored ?" Came the prompt response, " Because he is deemed worthy to be one of two representatives of the historians of the World in this library." The other representative is Herodo- tus, who is often called the father of history.
NOTICE.
It may not be amiss to state here that scores of letters are received at the cabinet each year requesting information which cannot be furnished without researches and investiga- tion, which the writers of these letters take it for granted will be made for them gratuitously. Indeed, some of these persons apparently expect the society to furnish paper, en- velopes and postage-stamps as well as replies. It will be un- derstood without saying, that while the society strives to facilitate and encourage the pursuit of family and local his- tory, it will not wittingly grant favors to the class of persons here referred to.
The notice that appeared in the last issue (No. 10) of this quarterly relative to Mr. Dorr's paper on " The controversy between the Proprietors and the Freeholders of Providence " called forth decided expressions of interest. The offer of $50 by one member of the society to secure the publication of this paper is very encouraging. We need and must have cash to carry on our publication. Let ten other members subscribe ten dollars each and the paper will appear not only as a part of this quarterly, but in a volume by itself.
CORRIGENDA.
Though the July number of this quarterly called forth un- usual expressions of interest, it contains some errors which should be corrected. See p. 102, line 22d : Com. Whipple was born in 1733, not in 1773. Page 97, line 4th, Thomas Rowland was warden in 1857, not *n I^47- The 4th line from
COMMUNICATIONS, EDITORIAL NOTES, ETC. 1 95
the bottom on p. 104 was printed correctly, Vienna, not Ven- ice, as several correspondents insist it should be. See the quotation in Shakespeare's "Measure for Measure," Act V., Scene I. Criticisms and corrections are solicited. Let notes be compared with a view to the attainment of truth.
FACTORY INSPECTORS.
The Ninth Annual Convention of the International Asso- ciation of Factory Inspectors in North America was held in Providence, in September, 1895. This association comprises representatives from twelve of the United States and from the province of Toronto. The laws in all these States forbid that children under twelve years of age be employed in fac- tories or workshops. In some of these States the limit is fourteen years. The existence and enforcement of such laws are needful for the progress of civilization and humanity.
LOTTERYVILLE IN WESTERLY.
Capt. A. A. Folsom of Brookline, Mass., having seen a sign- post between Watch Hill and Westerly, entitled, " Lottery- ville," asks for an explanation of this unique name. In the R. I. State Census of 1885, page 67, is the following : "Lot- tery (a village in Westerly), so-called from the lottery grant of Joseph Pendleton, to whom the land belonged." The ad- mirable paper entitled, "A Century of Lotteries in Rhode Island," lately read before the Historical Society, by the Hon. John H. Stiness, might throw additional light on the name of this village. Any further explanation will be welcomed.
THE KANSAS STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY
Was formed by the State Editorial Association in 1875. It seems but the other day since its appeals for aid and coope- ration were sent forth to sister institutions throughout the country. It is, to-day, a vigorous institution with collections and means of usefulness that are regarded with marked in- terest by veteran organizations that readily recall its origin. The following is an abstract from its last report : "The total of the library at the present time is as follows : 15,874 bound volumes of books ; 48,617 unbound volumes and pamphlets ;
196 RHODE ISLAND HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
15,409 bound newspaper files and volumes of periodicals ; in all, 79,900 volumes." This is a good showing for a society only twenty years old.
THE NEW LIBRARY BUILDING AT WASHINGTON
Is now nearing completion. It proved to me one of the most attractive points of interest in the national capital. jA quiet walk through various parts of this immense structure is dis- tinctly recalled. A high order of art and skill is manifest at every turn. Since my return, I have received from Mr. Spof- ford, the librarian of Congress, a pamphlet containing a full explanation of the building. The following extract will give some idea of efforts to reproduce here images of great men of all times.
" The statuary for the Reading Room comprises eight colossal emblematic figures representing : Art, by Augustus St. Gaudens ; History, by Daniel C. French ; Philosophy, by B. L. Pratt ; Poetry, by J. Q. A. Ward ; Science, by John Donoghue ; Law, by Paul W. Bartlett ; Commerce, by John Flanagan ; and Religion, by Theodore Baur. Two represen- tative men for each subject are cast in bronze statues of he- roic size, to be arranged in groups around the galleries of the rotunda. Philosophy is represented by Plato and Lord Bacon ; History, by Herodotus and Gibbon ; Poetry, by Homer and Shakespeare ; Art (embracing painting, sculpture, and music), by Michael Angelo and Beethoven ; Science, by Newton and Henry ; Law, by Solon and Kent ; Commerce, by Columbus and Fulton ; and Religion, by Moses and St. Paul.
"Besides these sixteen full-length bronze statues, there are nine colossal busts, carved in granite, for the central front of the facade, over the pediments, and in the circular windows above the grand entrance. These busts represent Demos- thenes, Dante, Scott (by Adams), Irving, Hawthorne, Emer- son (by Hartley), Franklin, Macaulay, and Goethe (by Ruch- stuhl).
"All the sculptured decorations are executed by competent artists, selected by three members of the National Society of Sculptors.
"Among the sculptors whose designs are to be used (in-
COMMUNICATIONS, EDITORIAL NOTES, ETC. 1 97
eluding contributions by the artists before named) are C. H. Niehaus, George E. Bissell, Louis St. Gaudens, John T. Boyle, C. E. Dallin, F. W. MacMonnies, Olin L. Warner, and George Barnard."
RHODE ISLAND IN THE NATIONAL STATUE GALLERY. ,
Rhode Island is fortunate in being represented in the statue gallery of the national capitol by such typical his- toric men as Roger Williams, the founder of the State, and Nathanael Greene, who was second only to Washington as a military leader in the Revolutionary War. The title of these two men to the honor of having their statues in the capitol is probably unquestioned; but the question is often asked whether their statues duly represent them. Williams says in his " Key " (page 58), " I never saw any (Indians) so to forget nature itself in such excessive length (of hair) and monstrous fashion as to the shame of the English nation I now (with grief) see my countrymen in England are degen- erated unto." Yet notwithstanding this expression of disgust at having long-haired fellow-countrymen, Williams is repre- sented as a typical long-haired Englishman. The objection that is made to" the statue of Gen. Greene is even more se- rious. The face on the statue, it is claimed, resembles but slightly the face that appears in authentic portraits. It does not indicate the character of the man as it should.
Some visitors at the national capital derive the greatest satisfaction from a view of Washington and its surrounding country taken 500 feet above the ground, from the Washing- tori Monument ; others are best entertained at the national museum ; others derive most instruction in the statue gallery of the capitol ; others dwell with most interest on remark- able pictures, one of which is Powell's famous " Battle of Lake Erie." The writer of this notice, however, was most in- structed by quietly surveying the new library building and trying to understand its various artistic representations. It was also no small pleasure for him to see the portrait of the Bey of Tunis in the corridor of the Department of State, which portrait was placed there thirty years ago through his agency, and it is a pleasure also to report that the portrait
198 RHODE ISLAND HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
of Washington, which he soon after delivered in the name of the President of the United States to the Bey of Tunis, still holds its honored place in the best palace of the Tunisian capital.
THE DEFENCE OF PROVIDENCE IN 1 8 14.
This library contains a manuscript book in which 53 folio pages are taken up with an account of public meetings and meetings of committees appointed for the defence of the State in 1814. The late president of this society, the Hon. Zachariah Allen, who acted in behalf of the Committee of Public Safety, has here and elsewhere given some estimate of the work done around Providence and in other parts of the State. This book is introduced as follows : —
" THE FOLLOWING MEMORANDUM
t " Will show as nearly as could be ascertained at the time, the amount of labor expended in constructing Fortifications in the vicinity of Providence in September and October 1814, during the late war with England, as collected by Z. Allen when Secretary of the Committee of Defense"
Days of Labor.
United Train of Artillery performed about 145
Greene Association 55
Marine Artillery 120
Volunteer Company 78
Light Dragoons 60
Cadets 140
Students of Brown University 120
Gentlemen of the Bar 28
Freemasons zoo
Free People of Color 96
Inhabitants of Seekonk 150
Glocester 120
Scituate 165
Smithfield 70
Johnston 190
Burrillville 60
Foster & North Providence 100
Cumberland & Mendon 90
Company of Horse 33
Providence 980
Various other Volunteers 160
Total labor 3160 Days.
PROVIDENCE PROPRIETORS AND FREEHOLDERS. 199
[CONTINUED FROM VOL. in., NO. 3.]
power out of my hands, yet they still yielded to my grand desire of propagating a public interest, & confessed them- selves but as feoffees for all the many scores who were received afterwards, — paid the $Qsk. not to the purchasers so called, as Proprietors, but as feoffees for a Town Stock: & William ffield the builder of this house, & others, openly told the new comers that they must not think that they bought & sold the right to all the lands & meadows in common, & 100 acres presently, & power of voting, & all for $osh. but that it went to a town & public use," &c.*
It is needless to multiply citations from Williams to prove his understanding of his deed to his associates. But they had other views of their own rights and interests, and would not abandon them without contest. They have left no diaries or letters, except a few by William Harris. It appears suffi- ciently from Williams's own writings that they had come to Providence with no clear understanding of their mutual rela- tions.! Williams says in his "answer," "He" (i. e., Wm. Harris) " ehargeth Roger Williams for taking the land of Providence in his own name, which should have been taken in the name of those which came up with him." Whether this were a correct view of the matter or not, it is certain that many of the ablest of the planters of Mooshassuc enter- tained it. They were confronted at the outset with the ques- tions whether this were to be an Indian mission under the direction of Williams or a town, and how far Williams's opin- ions were to be authoritative or decisive. They began with the debate as to whether the soil were individual property or corporate, like the land now held by the city at Field's Point, the Dexter Asylum, or Roger Williams Park. It was Williams's habit, as we shall see, to act upon his own opin-
*The house where Williams was then writing, was at that time the house of Thomas ffield. It was afterwards " fortified " and was the "garrison house" during Philip's War. It was the largest house in Providence. It stood upon the lot where the Providence Bank now stands, at a short distance eastward from the street. The last of the Field owners sold the property to Joseph Brown. Through his family it came to the Providence Bank.
tSee also Rider's Hist. Tract No. 14, pp. 53, 55, 56 57.
2OO RHODE ISLAND HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
ions or impulses without consulting others, however their rights might be affected by what he did. So it was with re- spect to this vague and ineffective " Initial deed." But here he had his opponents at a disadvantage. He alone had any influence with the sachems, and the townsmen must take such a deed as he chose to give them or lose the territory altogether. No other person could obtain a grant of it.
They hesitated during several months. Harris says in his "answer," or plea to his majesty's court, that "Williams's writ- ing initials in his deed was a mere pretence of haste ; that he promised a more formal deed, but that when one was drawn & tendered to him he refused to sign it." At last the towns- men sullenly acquiesced, — accepted the "Initial deed," — and resolved to indemnify themselves in some way. They did so effectually.
There was something to be said in their behalf. From the hasty manner of the foundation there had been no definite understanding of the views of both parties as there should have been. They had all lost something, — the greater part of their substance and all their prospects in Massachusetts. They doubtless looked for some compensation for their suf- ferings beyond the thirty shillings' worth of wilderness land which Williams had allowed to each of them. The " Initial deed " created no express trust. This was only Williams's inference. There were no means of enforcing the applica- tion to public purposes of money arising from the sale of lots. Here, in the absence of any coercive judicial power, was the weak point of Williams's whole machinery. The \ creation and management of city property had been f amil- dar in England for centuries. But Williams did not seek iadvice from any quarter as to the proper mode of applying jreal estate to specific objects. He had consented to a mere ,'government by arbitration, and he had no means of prevent- ling the diversion of his grant to any purpose whatsoever. He ' had required no covenants or conditions from his grantees, and they, or Harris at least, soon perceived the weakness of their obligations.
Their title was not such as they had expected or desired, but as they could obtain no other, they went on under its
PROVIDENCE PROPRIETORS AND FREEHOLDERS. 2OI
security to build and plant. There was no question at the time that the estates within their bounds were both perma- nent and corporeal.
That there was dissatisfaction at the first seems evident from the fact that the Pawtuxet "purchase" was contempo- raneous with the " Initial deed." Williams has not left it a secret that the beginning of the town was not in harmony and peace. The grave question was left unsettled whether the new domain was to be the property of the whole society and of its political successors of the same "fellowship of vote," the few original settlers receiving only small allot- ments of homesteads and farms, or whether they and their heirs were to be tenants in common of the whole purchase, for their own private use. Williams seems to have been even alarmed at the dissatisfaction which he had created among his followers by the vague phraseology of his " Initial deed," for which he would substitute no other. There was a wide- spread uncertainity as to the future. New purchasers were arriving to partake of the freedom of Mooshassuc. These found the whole tract claimed by a few " purchasers," or "pro- prietors," who could at their pleasure exclude any one from the soil. These last were equally discontented with the small allotments which had been made to them. The separa- tion between Proprietors and Freeholders at large began thus early. This is Williams's explanation* in his defence against William Harris : "I have always been blamed for being too mild, & the truth is Chase Brown [a misprint for Chad Brown], a wise & Godly soul, now with God, with my- self, brought the murmuring after-comers & the first monop- olizing twelve to a oneness by arbitration, chosen out of ourselves, & Pawtuxet was allowed (only for peace's sake) to the first twelve, and the twelve gave me a share, which I ac- cepted, after the arbitration." Something must be done to al- lay the excitement, and Pawtuxet lands were the price of peace, f By an agreement as informal as any of the preceding, and perhaps of uncertain date as to month and day, "the meadow ground" at Pawtuxet, bounding upon the fresh river upon
*Rider's Hist. Tract No. 14, p. 58.
tSee Bartlett's R. I. Col. Records, Vol. I., pp. 19, 20, 21.
2O2 RHODE ISLAND HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
both sides, "is to be impropriated unto 13 persons being now incorporate with our Towne of Providence." The purchase money for Pawtuxet (£20) was to be paid to Roger Williams. Harris and the first twelve comers were thus in some measure consoled by the grant of large and valuable estates for the small homesteads which were their allotments under Williams's deed. Among the Pawtuxet men were those who retained the greatest sympathy with the civil and religious ideas of Boston, as they proved at no distant day. No new town was created. Like every thing else, this was left to the future. The bounds of the " Pawtuxet purchase " were so vague and unskillful that they furnished the material for a controversy which lasted more than seventy years. But they purchased a present peace and nothing more was expected. Had the far-seeing project of Williams been adopted, and had the Indian purchase been made a trust-fund, held by the town, there would have been, during two or three generations, some revenue ; first, for highways and bridges and other works of immediate necessity which would have attracted immigration, — and afterwards for schools and other public institutions, without which free government was impractica- ble. The other alternative, which in the end was chosen, was the diversion of the whole estate to the profit of a pri- vate corporation, without regard to the interest of the com- monwealth. Williams, like his followers, was borne away by enthusiasm for a rule by popular consent and arbitration. When it was too late he found that the unenlightened major- ity of his followers could act at their own pleasure. They were parties, witnesses and judges in the popular courts which they established.
The twelve grantees of Williams's "Initial deed" soon learned by experience that their rough and impracticable es- tate could only be managed by a society. During some years most of the new comers who had the means of purchasing property, were admitted into the " Town Fellowship " and became "purchasers," or " proprietors." Immigrants were not very many, and during several years the Proprietors were in fact the town. So long as this arrangement served their pur- pose, they readily agreed that the lands were conveyed to them as a society.
PROVIDENCE PROPRIETORS AND FREEHOLDERS. 203
The "report of arbitrators at Providence," " containing pro- )osals for a form of government,"* agrees that the disposing f the lands belonging to the " Town" of Providence shall be :in the whole inhabitants, by the choice of five men," "for meral disposeall." But those who were not Proprietors were yet voters, and it was not then foreseen that they would be. Some expenditures for surveys and for the care of the estate were needed at an early day. The Proprietors who constituted the "Town fellowship," soon formed a private society for the care of their estate and to determine whom they should admit into their number. Through the original defectiveness of the town records and the destruction of documents, in 1676, and in later times, the beginning of the Proprietors' association cannot now be ascertained, nor the
- circumstances of its origin. It was during many years zeal- pus and adroit in its management of the town meeting and was not less so after the Proprietors had ceased to be a ma-
' jority of the freemen and while enough of the estate remained to be a subject of attack or controversy.
There was little variety in the occupations of the members of the " Town fellowship." It was without skilled artizans, mechanics or professional men, and, save Williams, it had no man of liberal education. It had no coercive authority — had not even a constable, but was merely a voluntary association. It was subject from its earliest days to violent discontents and disturbances. The purchasers from Williams, the origi- nal twelve and their successors, insisted upon the sole en- joyment of the " fellowship of vote," in the town meeting. The landless younger portion of the society still claimed that they should not be excluded from the body politic, as we have seen that they claimed at the beginning.! No State or society lasts long before its members break into at least two parties, and Mooshassuc was no exception to the rule. There appeared at an early day the germs of two parties, which grew stronger as the town increased, and kept it in perpetual turmoil. Some were disappointed in what they found here, and some were captious and discontented. Some
*Bartlett's R. I. Records, Vol. I., Sec. 2, p. 28. ^ tWilliams's letter to Winthrop, 1636-7.
2O4 RHODE ISLAND HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
had come from Massachusetts to escape its intolerance and the arbitrary rule of its magistrates and elders. Beyond this, which was but negative, they had but few positive opinions in common. About twelve families sympathized with Wil- liams in his religious opinions, but the majority kept aloof from all associations of the kind. Some were noisy declaim- ers, like Hugh Bewitt, — only in their element in a contro- versy which seemed the more welcome as it was the more profitless, — and who seemed better fitted to receive tolera- tion than to give it. Some were political agitators like Greg- ory Dexter, who had spent their lives in revolutionary debates in England, and whose ideas concerning the founda- tions of civil authority and property were shadowy and indis- tinct. Many of the small freeholders shared with Williams in the belief that the lands purchased from the Narragansetts were held by the Proprietors assembled in town meeting only in trust for the whole body of the "freemen" admitted to "inhabitancy." Against all these were the "Proprietors or Purchasers," who claimed that the land was administered only by the town meeting, for the sole use of those who had paid for it and who had borne the burden of the settlement. Some of these were among the most prominent citizens, and men of no little ability. They saw that Williams's purchase would one day be of far greater value, and desired to secure for their children the benefit of their fathers' labor. They contended that their purchase from Williams was their own private estate. These parties were in full activity until the Indian war, which brought an unexpected solution of much of the difficulty. They were permanent, for they represented interests of a permanent character. The feeling that they were unjustly treated could not be allayed, while the less wealthy freemen saw the most valuable purchases of woods and waters restricted to the few, who could limit their own numbers and apportion the domain among themselves.
The "agreement" subscribed by the "second comers," or the " second set admitted," contains the terms of "fellowship" — we can scarcely call it "citizenship" — in the voluntary association at Mooshassuc.*
*See Bartlett's R. I. Col. Records, Vol. I., p. 14.
PROVIDENCE PROPRIETORS AND FREEHOLDERS. 2O5
The precise time of the arrival of the party of " second comers," or the " second set admitted," is not known. It 1 included Chad Brown, William and Benedict Arnold, John ) Field, William Wickenden and others, afterwards conspicu- / ous in town and colony. This was the " agreement " of the ( "second comers:" "We, whose names are hereunder, desir- ous to inhabit in the Town of Providence, do promise to sub- ject ourselves, in active & passive obedience, to all such orders or agreements as shall be made for public good of the body in an orderly way, by the major consent of the present inhabitants, masters of families, incorporated together in a town fellowship, and others whom they shall admit with them, only in civil things." The whole government was to be by consent and arbitration, and the right of voting was re- served to heads of families. All others admitted subscribed some similar writing or agreement. As immigrants arrived after 1638, — few indeed in numbers during the first years, — ^ they were subjected to a strict examination by the town uneeting. During several years this town meeting was com- posed of "Purchasers ;" i. e.t holders of Proprietors' shares alone. Their scrutiny was rigorous. Little was left unknown /as to the candidate — who he was, whence he came, and how much he brought with him. If he possessed sufficient means, few objections were interposed. Solvency has at all times held the same place in Rhode Island which Puritan orthodoxy once occupied in Massachusetts. If an aspirant to the "town fellowship " showed himself to be in no danger of becoming chargeable to the public, his future brethren charitably con- cluded that he was sufficiently orthodox to have his abode among them. After being admitted as "an inhabitant" he then applied to the Proprietors as a distinct association for leave to become a purchaser of a "Proprietor's right," or "share." To each person thus admitted, there was measured out by the "Proprietors' surveyors," one hundred acres of meadow or other land, a " six acre lot," or a " stated common lot," as near as might be to his homestead, and a "house lot," or "home share," of about six acres with a front of from sixty to eighty feet on the "Town streete," and extending back- ward to the swamp, where is now Hope Street. The proprie-
2O6 RHODE ISLAND HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
tors' surveyors were directed to make their returns to the town meeting. As appurtenant to these grants, the new "proprietor" had also his fractional share in the purchase money arising from future sales of Proprietors' lands. He was not required by any law, deed, or custom to account for it to the town treasurer. The town meeting in due time con- firmed the surveyors' return, and the vote was entered in the "Town booke." The survey and its confirmation were gener- ally the sole evidences of the title. Few deeds were executed in Providence during the years of the first charter. Only one book was used for all public records. The meetings of the same persons as proprietors of the purchase and as freemen of the town were holden at the same time and place. They both had the same moderator and clerk and were in all re- spects but one body, save that in later days, when the owners of small freeholds had become voters, the Proprietors only were admitted to vote upon matters relating to the so-called "common lands." The proceedings of both bodies were en- tered indiscriminately in the "Town booke," and it is not always clear in which capacity an act was done.
The most conspicuous figures in this contentious little assembly were Roger Williams, William Harris and Thomas Olney. All of them were men of resolute will, and Harris and Olney had no little executive ability, in which Williams was especially wanting. Williams was at the head of the popular party and Olney and Harris were the leaders of the Proprietors. Olney found that the care of his religious soci- ety did not require so much of his attention as to prevent his transacting a large part of the business of the town in the town clerk's office and elsewhere. In that age politics were controlled by religious doctrines, which also colored all Eng- lish radicalism. This did not then as now attack the great biblical institution of landed property, or even the English modification of it. Olney, who stood in the front rank of the political liberals of his day, was as firmly devoted to the landed interest in Providence as the staunchest churchman could have been. The lines which then divided political parties often coincided with those of religious sects. The Proprietors found it for their advantage that the chief orator of Provi-
PROVIDENCE PROPRIETORS AND FREEHOLDERS.
dence, who was one of the heads of its only religious society, was wholly devoted to their interests. Harris had equal in- fluence over that increasing body of freemen, whose devo- tional spirit was their least conspicuous characteristic. As time went on the Proprietors at large became weary of the contentions about private matters, which formed so large a share of public business. Thus says Williams, 24th August, 1669, so called : " Grant that there have been discourses & agitations many, about ye lands and purchasers, yet is it not reasonable & righteous in all men's eyes, yl since there are so many purchasers who ordinarily doe not & others that will not come to ye towne meeting, yet their consent should be had, & the consent of that majoritie should determine the matters of their purchase, & oblige the minor, differing from them."* All such absentees were willing to leave their inter- ests in the charge of Olney and Harris. At a very early period the whole body of Proprietors become strongly organ- ized, with able and sagacious representatives. These retained their leadership during life and handed it on to successors in a generation when the Proprietors were far less than the ma- jority of the town.f
Other causes for the scanty attendance at the town meet- ings might be found. In the early days of the town each householder was authorized to leave one man of his family at home on town meeting and training days, as a safeguard against Indians. It was, as years went on, yet more difficult to procure a quorum in an assembly where all legislative, ex- ecutive and judicial business was transacted by the same body as was also that of sales and exchange of lands. Special meetings could also be called on the requisition of any free- man who fancied that he had an affair of his own of sufficient importance to be inflicted upon his neighbors.
These rude political arrangements, with all their difficulties about boundary lines, majorities and special town meetings,
* Williams, as we have seen, always desired that the majority of the whole town meeting should decide upon sales of the town lands, and not the majority of the Proprietors alone, but he met with no success unto the end of his days.
fEarly Records of Providence, Vol. II., p. 77.
2O8 RHODE ISLAND HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
answered the purpose of the settlers, so long as their num- bers were but few. The written memorials of the first ten years of the town, are now, if they have not always been, very scanty and imperfect. They give a vague and indistinct view of its affairs. Yet there are indications that controver sies were numerous and acrid even at that early day. The voluntary association, or "town fellowship," which endeav- ored to supply the place of government, but without coercive force, was but ill adapted to a community in which there was any considerable number of discontented people. It could only work harmoniously so long as the association of Propri- etors was nearly coextensive with the town. The machine was in danger of going to pieces so soon as any considerable body of the inhabitants refused farther assent to a voluntary agreement, by which the townsmen were subjected To a close corporation of the first settlers. This occurred at an early period, but we have scanty information respecting the details.
The doctrine that civil government was nothing but a vol- untary agreement, and that judicial authority was mere arbitration, did not tend to strengthen the State. Disorders began at an early day, and the town had no courts or magis- trates which could repress them, — not even a constable. Young and landless men looked with envy upon "Proprietors" who were, or claimed to be, the sole owners of the unsold lands, and would not, if they could, prevent it, endure a mo- nopoly of what seemed to be the gifts of nature. In England, at that day, when old opinions and institutions were becoming unsettled and were ready to fall, obscure religious fanatics began to hold forth doctrines about property, which all Christian denominations now repudiate and which belong only to the platform of atheism and anarchy. Some few, such as these, may have found their way to Providence, even at that early day. The smaller freeholders felt little scruple in helping themselves from the "common lands" whenever they needed timber, firewood or supplied, or food for their goats and swine, then a large part of their sustenance. Some of their acts were prompted by recklessness and malice, — such were the cutting down of trees bearing surveyor's land- marks. The Proprietors made, it seems, some feeble attempts
PROVIDENCE PROPRIETORS AND FREEHOLDERS. 2OQ
to restrain trespassers. They only succeeded in irritating and increasing the prevailing discontents.* Enmity between classes went on and the acrimonious discussions which at- tended it. Every thing was prepared for an onslaught upon the voluntary association, so soon as a leader should appear. He was not far to seek, for it was an age of revolutionary ideas. I have in a former paper reviewed at some length the life and character of Samuel Gorton. Little more needs to be said at present than that he was possessed of more literary education than any of the founders, save Williams. He was acquainted with Hebrew and with the Greek of the New Testatment, and had a large acquaintance with the contro- versies then resounding upon every side. He could suggest doubts and difficulties respecting a great variety of religious topics, although he had no well-defined system of his own. In law and politics he understood his rights as an English- man, better than did Williams or the Proprietors, or the elders and magistrates of Massachusetts. He knew that they had no right to banish or expel him from their territory, and against them he appears to have asserted no propositions which he could not legally maintain. He avowed monarchical opinions of the old Biblical pattern and showed small respect for any colonial government which had not legal authority, meaning thereby, the sanction of the crown. He deferred to the authority of Massachusetts, for Massachusetts had a charter and was administered in the king's name. Gorton well knew that in the view of Westminster Hall, the Propri- etors of Mooshassuc were only squatters upon the king's domain, who were bent upon closing it against all other squatters but themselves. He had never become a party to their voluntary association, for he knew that it was merely void. He then, as at all other times, showed the courage of his convictions and a wonderful talent for being disagreeable to all whose belief and practices differed from his own. He was always ready to defy any authority which did not proceed from the Crown. He was no anarchist or bawler of what he deemed a philosophical theory of property and rights, to be put in force at the expense of other people. If he told the
*A11 these things happened after the incorporation of the town, and there is no reason to doubt that they were even more common before it.
2IO RHODE ISLAND HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
Proprietors of Mooshassuc that their land monopoly was in- valid,— that they had no rights by a private agreement of their own to exclude the king's subjects from the king's domains, he was not far from the truth. We know the character of his doctrine only by its reflex effect upon Williams and Harris. He was himself a landholder. He was no otherwise an atheist or fomenter of sedition than as any one who denied the au- thority of Massachusetts elders would have been so repre- sented by them, or than as one who claimed against them the rights of a British subject under the common law.* Gorton was no moneyless adventurer. His father had been a Lon- don merchant and a member of a guild, and his own wealth (from the length and persistence of his legal controversies in England) seems to have exceeded that of any of the Propri- etors of Mooshassuc. Gorton settled in Providence sometime before the I7th of November, 1641, and in January, 1642, he purchased land at Pawtuxet. Soon after his arrival here he began, as was his wont, to look about him for what was rotten in the State, and there was no lack of those who were ready to point it out to him. There were here young men discon- tented with their political disabilities, who had not found here the equality which had been promised them, or which they had promised to themselves. Others had found no sat- isfactory administration of justice. Gorton felt little respect for the doctrinal peculiarities of either Williams or of his opponents, and was quite their equal as a disputant. In a society which numbered such leading men as Gregory Dex- ter, he was in no want of aid in an attack upon the rule of the Proprietors. The outbreak was not sudden. The way had been prepared for it by the discussions of the title of Williams's grantees, and by the unfriendly relations of the early freemen. The landless young men gave to Gorton ready /audience. The excitement spread among the small freehold- ers, and soon Williams was apprehensive that their whole
*His banishment from Massachusetts and from Plymouth is not to his discredit. It was a proceeding unknown to the common law, and was inflicted upon many whom we do not esteem the less on that account. He was legally right in his contentions in Massachusetts and Plymouth. His error was, in supposing that the elders and magistrates would re- spect any law but their own arbitrary will.
PROVIDENCE PROPRIETORS AND FREEHOLDERS. 211
polity would be at an end. The topics of Gorton's discourses here are nowhere distinctly set forth. They were probably not unlike those which he had discussed elsewhere — the want of any legal foundation for political rule. He found here no religious establishment to be an object of attack, but the so- called "town fellowship" was even more objectionable than that of Newport or even than the Corporation of Massachu- setts Bay. It is obvious that the old grievance of the pro- prietors' title to the whole territory and their virtual monopoly of power were at the bottom of all the trouble. There is no improbability in Winthrop's account of its beginning.*
Some attack had been made by the Proprietors upon those who allowed their swine to run at large upon the "common."f This was followed by forcible resistance and the uproar be- gan. Winthrop was probably misinformed in his statement that "the parties came armed into the field," or that it was a contest into which any religious element at that time en- tered. The settlers did not care enough about ministers or denominations to fight either for them or against them. There was no need of armed resistance to the majority, or of a violent or bloody revolution. The town and its officers were but a voluntary association, and by the refusal of a minority to fulfill their agreement, the " town fellowship " was at an end. There was, as yet, no legislature and no coer- cive force in any quarter. Massachusetts and Connecticut did not interfere. They were content to look on and wait until the Rhode Island towns fell to pieces, and then, as at Pawtuxet and Newport, they could come in and gather up the fragments.
We know not how long the tumult lasted. The town rec- ords of that time have perished, even if they have not been voluntarily suppressed. Their affairs must have seemed well- nigh desperate when the leading Proprietors could have addressed their letter to the government of Massachusetts, asking its aid and protection. J By this address it appears
*Winthrop's Journal (Savage's ed.), Vol. II., p. 59. "The trouble in Providence began about a trespass of swine."
•(•Legislation upon this subject was frequent during the early years of the town.
JThe letter of William Field, William Harris and eleven others, is contained in second Vol. R. I. Hist. Coll., Appendix II., pp. 19 to 23.
212 RHODE ISLAND HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
that there were daily tumults and affrays, caused by the at- tempts of the freemen, under stress of necessity, as they averred, to obtain subsistence for themselves and their cat- tle from the wild lands, and by the endeavors of the Proprie- tors to arrest the depredators, followed by their forcible resistance, so that the peace of the town was at an end. Winthrop's Journal, by Savage, Vol. II., p. 59 : " We told them that except they did subject themselves to some juris- diction, either Plymouth or ours, we had no calling or war- rant to interfere in their contentions." Winthrop speaks of the writers — the leading Proprietors — as the "weaker party," as they undoubtedly were. The dignified reply of Massachusetts taught to all parties a useful lesson by which they did not fail to profit in the near future.
This is the only public document of the controversy which is extant. It sufficiently exhibits the public alarm and excite- ment when the men who had fled from Massachusetts five years before, now besought its armed interference in their behalf.
In the midst of the panic, Williams did not lose his self- possession. Perhaps he was not wholly displeased at what seemed the overthrow of those who had thwarted his own cherished designs. He did not unite in the letter to Massa- chusetts. His only reference to the whole affair is in his private correspondence with Governor Winthrop (Narra- gansett Club's ed., Williams's letters, p. 141), Providence, March 8, 1646,* concerning Samuel Gorton. " Master Gor- ton having foully abused high & low at Aquidneck is now bewitching & bemadding poor Providence, both with his un- clean & foul censures of all the ministers of this country (for which I myself have in Christ's name withstood him) & also denying all visible & external ordinances, in depth of familism, against which I have a little disputed & written, & shall (the Most High assenting) to death. Paul said of Asia — Inhabitants of Providence (almost all) suck in his poison as at first they did at Aquidneck. Some few & myself with- stand his inhabitation & town privileges, without his confes-
*There seems to be some error in the date as printed. Gorton was in England from 1644 to 1648, prosecuting his suit against Massachusetts.
PROVIDENCE PROPRIETORS AND FREEHOLDERS. 213
sion & reformation of his uncivill & inhuman practices at Portsmouth. Yet the tide is too strong against us & I feare (if the framer of hearts help not), it will force me to little Patience, a little isle near to your Prudence," &c. It seems that after civil broils had in some degree subsided, Gorton resumed his polemics upon doctrinal matters and that from their effect upon the general opinions of the townsmen, Wil- liams's alarm began. His sympathy with the men by whose arbitrary will he had been banished, and who not long after- wards murdered Miantonomo, whipped Obadiah Holmes, the Baptist, and hanged Quakers on Boston Common, will be remarked by the reader of this extract. There is but little other reference to Gorton in Williams's extant letters.* But a natural termination came to this tumult also. The volun- tary association was as powerless to give redress to the poor freemen as to the proprietors. After some weeks or months of disturbance it left both where they began. Gorton's lack of executive ability and his restless disposition, did for th Proprietors more than they could have done for themselves. He saw a mtire inviting prospect in Pawtuxet and Warwick. He speedily availed himself of it and withdrew Williams came to the aid of his old opponents and assisted in restoring order. (See his letter, p. 149, Narragansett Club's edition.) The Proprietors who had converted his public trust into a land speculation had looked on with dismay. They now took heart again as they found that other parties were ready to join them in an effective government. They saw that they could not safely reject all the lessons which they had learned in England and in Massachusetts. If they hoped to exist as a community they must have a government.
This cloud passed over, but all parties saw that they must modify their projects and make some concessions. The Proprietors learned that their monopoly would avail them little in a community where property had only the support of a voluntary association. The dissentients saw that they could not afford to give to Massachusetts any opportunity for in- tervention, and all — that unless they put some restraint upon
*See also Winslow's "Hypocrisie Unmasked," p. 150, and Williams's letter to the town of Providence, urging peace between the parties.
214 RHODE ISLAND HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
their tendency to disorder, England, then becoming Puritan, would soon interfere in a fashion not agreeable to any, and would probably introduce among them a class of fellow- citizens and public officers whose notions of religious freedom were very unlike their own. Some of the Proprietors, like William Harris, were capable of thought upon political sub- jects. They saw the necessity of a legal foundation for their establishment and of including some who were not of their own body. It was evident, that in order to a harmonious town government, the right of voting could not be vested in the Proprietors or the house-holders alone. Heretofore, those who had been "received as inhabitants," had, if they pos- sessed the means, purchased "proprietor's rights," or "shares," and had become members of their society. The "second comers," before mentioned, had brought some property with them. They had accepted the situation as they found it, — were zealous supporters of Harris and Olney, and gave little aid to Williams in maintaining his theory that the Indian purchase was to be "town stock." Some provision must be made for the "young men of whom we have much need," mentioned by Williams, who were from time to time arriving in yet larger numbers and who had but little to. invest in lands. The Proprietors were divided in opinion. The follow- ers of Thomas Olney opposed all concessions, but they were overruled by the more enlightened forecast of William Har- ris (See Williams's second letter to John Whipple, in Rider's Tract No. 14). The dispute ended by the creation of a new class of citizens who might become voters, with lower quali- fications, which should be within the reach of all reputable citizens.
"The 9th of the nth month, 1645 (January 19, 1645-6). We whose names are hereafter subscribed, having obtained a free grant of twenty-five acres of land apiece with right of commoning according to the said proportion of land from the free inhabitants of the Town of Providence, do thankfully accept of the same, & do hereby promise to yield active & passive obedience to the authority of (King & Parliament) established in this Colony, according to our charter, and to all such wholesome laws & orders that are or shall be made by the major consent of this Town of Providence, as also not
PROVIDENCE PROPRIETORS AND FREEHOLDERS. 215
to claim any right to the purchase of the said Plantations nor any privilege of vote in the town affairs, until we shall be received as freemen of the said town of Providence."* This " agreement " was drawn up after the granting of the first (called the Earl of Warwick's) charter, but before any govern- ment had been organized under it. Many signatures of dif- ferent dates are appended to the " Quarter-rights men's " agreement. They might be admitted to vote, but not to a full right of common. It was not intended to create a perma- nent class, but only to quiet a present trouble; and it accom- plished its purpose. The effects of Gorton's agitation in overthrowing the voluntary association or "town fellowship" were permanent and beneficial. But his old enemies never forgave him for what he had done towards their downfall and carefully treasured up their wrath.
When the hubbub in Providence was quieted it was not easy to induce the other plantations to agree to a union with so turbulent a town. The disorders of Providence furnished to the men of Pawtuxet one of the chief pretexts for their secession to Massachusetts. Their cause of dissatisfaction had been at first only a question of land titles or boundaries. But in September, 1642, some of the Pawtuxet people seceded to the jurisdiction of Massachusetts. The town was brought into a speedy contest with its old enemies at Boston. Only a specimen need be given of the inconveniences which her dissentions brought upon Providence, during many dis- astrous years. Thus, so late as November 14, 1655. Town Meeting.f " Mr. R. Williams, Moderator." Ordered that the gathering of the rate at Pawtuxet be suspended until a letter be sent to the Massachusetts. " Town Meeting Records April 27, 29, 1656. At a Quarter Court, Mr. Roger Williams, Moderator * * it is ordered upon receipt of a letter
*A " right of common " is an incorporeal right of pasturage or other easement or profit in the land of another person or of the town. What the people of Providence called the "common " or the " common land " was the soil itself of which the Proprietors claimed to be tenants in com- mon. It was not a " common " in any legal sense, but only unenclosed and unimproved land claimed by the Proprietors.
tEarly Records of Providence, Vol. II., pp. 90, 93.
2l6 RHODE ISLAND HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
from the Governor of the Bay, that a man be sent thither to
treat about the business of Pawtuxet." Thomas Olney was
the commissioner. Mooshassuc was forced to submit to the
commands of Massachusetts to her great injury and loss.
During several years she derived no revenue from her most
populous dependency. The secession of Pawtuxet lasted
until 1658. The planters there had then discovered that
their gain by absorption into the larger province would be
but small. They grew weary of the contemptuous patronage
of Massachusetts and of their inferior position in a colony
1 • from which they had hoped for greater freedom and security.
Massachusetts was willing to let them go and troubled theto
no more. A like dissatisfaction prevailed in Newport even
: after the Earl of Warwick's charter, and led to equally dis-
'.: .astrous results in the secession of Coddington. The laws of
, Newport were not unlike those of Providence, but she was
.more vigorous in their execution. She made no boast of
being a voluntary association, but submitted to it only as a
'necessity. The people of Newport were never in cordial
"sympathy with those of Providence in relation to many sub-
, jjects pertaining to religion and learning and social life.
•« They, readily listened to emissaries from Plymouth who urged
.their Reparation from turbulent Providence and a union with
• their more orderly neighbors of Plymouth. These things be-
• long to the history of the colony — not of the town, but they require notice as part of the evil results of the attempts in
. ^Providence to live without law and to govern without a gov-
•ernment. After they had regained the control of the town
meeting the Proprietors were supported by all parties in
their endeavors to effect a union with the other towns. War-
-wick was not reluctant, but the people were few. It was not
,».'easy to induce the people of Newport to join in an applica-
"• £ion for a colonial charter. The founders of Newport counted
among themselves some who had been high in social station in
Boston, and they did not hesitate to give utterance to their
• opinions about Mooshassuc. Some years passed before any - . thing could be accomplished, but the obstacles were at last
overcome. Gorton says (and he is generally accurate in his statements) that the Newport men were disturbed by the
PROVIDENCE PROPRIETORS AND FREEHOLDERS. 217
name of "the new colony. It was the colony of Providence Plantations. Newport feared that the younger, but more numerous and wealthy, town was to become subordinate to the older, but smaller and poorer and more disorderly Provi- dence. Newport assented at last, and a charter was obtained* in 1644. But the reluctance of the islanders was so persist- . ent, that no organization could be effected until 1647. Some of the adherents of the voluntary association in Providence had learned little by experience, and could not be induced. to , abandon the "town fellowship," even for greater security of title, until 1649 — the year of the incorporation of the town of Providence. It was now to have a common seal and a constable's staff. These ancient signs of authority added something to the force of government.* More important was • the legislative permission to make penal enactments at their pleasure. The Proprietors readily seized the .opportunity - thus given for the protection of their own estate. After the' penalties enacted by the Proprietors against depredators upon the "commons," the other voters were not the cause of much apprehension. The " Quarter-rights men " were uneducated, of humble means, and unable to offer any effectual resist- ance to the organized body of Proprietors led by Olney and Harris. But the distinction of classes among the voters out- lasted the first generation. Their dissentions in the town meeting and the town street from time to time broke forth - with a violence which (from Williams's allusions), we ma^ believe, did not always end in words. It mattered not how the young men voted upon ordinary matters, so long as they had no votes upon questions relating to the Proprietary estate. Soon every thing went on as before. The position of the Proprietors was rather strengthened than otherwise, by the enlargement of the constituency. The "young men" of Williams's letter found their "privileges" not wholly a gain. On the " ist 2d day in June, 1656," it was " ordered that all inhabitants, though not as yet accounted freemen in this towne, yet shall be liable to be chosen to doe service in
*Early Records of Providence, Vol. II., pp. x., 112, 113,114. 27, 2d Mo., 1649. " Our constable is to have a staff whereby he is to be known to have the authority of a town's constable."
2l8 RHODE ISLAND HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
this towne;"* i. e., in mending roads and the like hard work, although not voters — a species of impressment after the fashion of the time.
The number of citizens was somewhat increased by the sales of the property of individual proprietors, as they found their private estates inconvenient, or as they died or left the colony. Thus, within a few years, there were three distinct 'classes of voters, who had little sympathy with each other — the Proprietors, the "Quarter-rights men," and the small freeholders at large. These were social distinctions as well as differences in estates. The Proprietors soon perceived that they had nothing to fear from the small freeholders. At a town meeting, May 15, 1658, which was under the control of their own body, for Thomas Olney was elected Moderator, .. i£ was "ordered that all those that enjoy lands in the juris- .- diction of this town are freemen. "f The social influence and prestige and such education as could be found were with the > Proprietors, the first owners of the soil. The new freeholders were men of small estates, who had been admitted to resi- dence and to purchases by the consent (the charity as they deemed it) of the proprietary class. Few of them were heard in the town meeting or proposed any of its votes.J As times went on, the Proprietors ceased to be unanimous. A minority of them supported the opinions of Williams. But the Proprietors on the other hand could always control the votes of a sufficient number of the small freeholders. In the town meetings none but Proprietors could vote upon any matter touching the proprietary estate. A troublesome free- holder could be quieted by a sale of land upon easy terms or for a nominal consideration, and thus the Proprietors were enabled, during many years, to maintain their authority unimpaired.
The rule of the Proprietors had become so well established after Gorton's excitement, — perhaps in consequence of it, — that they felt no apprehensions, and went on to develop
*Early Records of Providence, Vol. II., p. 94. fEarly Records of Providence, Vol. II., p. 112.
{During many years the towns fixed the qualifications of their own voters.
PROVIDENCE PROPRIETORS AND FREEHOLDERS. 2IQ
their institutions in their own way. However, some among them may have dreamed of an ideal liberty the world had as yet never seen, and of a rule by merely amicable agreement, yet the founders could not escape from the traditions and the rivalries of their own race and country. Landed prop- erty had been for centuries the ambition of the Englishman. It was then, as it has been ever since, the only possession which has afforded permanent personal and family distinct- ", ion. The London merchant accumulated the profits of Fleet Street and the Strand that he might purchase the manors of worn-out feudal families and found a new peerage for himself and for his heirs. The serjeant hoarded his fees from the strifes of Westminster Hall for a like decoration of the chancellorship or chief -justiceship which was in prospect be- fore him. A like ambition pervaded all the prosperous classes in England — soldiers or civilians. The same could not be done in an American colony, but everywhere, in the days when moneyed wealth had not reached its modern de- velopment, landed estates were the foundation of social rank • and influence. The English ideal was perhaps most com- pletely realized in the royal province of New York. But it was recognized and respected even in the humble beginnings of the plantations at Mooshassuc. Its founders availed them- selves of such means as were at their command, and the landed polity which they founded lasted, with few changes, during nearly two hundred years. They were not consciously founders, but their scheme of government developed itself spontaneously out of existing facts. It was not established by law or charter and was copied from nothing which the townsmen had seen in England or in Massachusetts. It was not an ascendency of great landholders, for there were none; nor was it a despotic rule of magistrates and elders. All these they had left behind. When the colony was first organ- ized,* it styled its polity "a democracie,;" "that is to say, a Government held by ye free and voluntary consent of all, or ye greater part of ye free inhabitants." This word " Democ- racie" has served many uses, some of them very unlike those of the present day. In Athens, men talked about democracy
*Vol. I. Bartlett's Colonial Records, 1647, May 19-21.
22O RHODE ISLAND HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
in a city state, one-half of whose inhabitants were slaves. South Carolina might have done the same. They meant by ^it an equality of political rights only among the members of the free or ruling classes who were within the pale of the Constitution and members of its guild or corporation, what- ever the condition of those who were without it — the servile element — might be. If the dominant class were graded with permanent ranks, titles, guilds, professional, mercantile and literary, it was an aristocracy. But if the ruling class had no legal titles or distinctions, however wide might be the dis- tinction of social rank, personal inequality did not prevent its being styled a democracy even though the laboring classes were slaves. The third generation of the landed democracy of Rhode Island offered little opposition to the establishment of slavery so soon as the people could afford it, as the first generation had sanctioned the distinction of the Proprietors and the Quarter-rights men.
It was not easy to weld so many dissimilar materials into one tenacious mass. Men who had lived thirteen years in a vol- untary association with the theory that goverment was only a mere agreement, binding only upon those who had subscribed it, were not easily induced to submit even in " civil things " to a coercive jurisdiction, though authenticated by a "common seal "and "a constable's staff." Obstinate old habits were not easily overcome. Few seem to have given much thought to their new relations with each other or with their neighbor colonies or with their associated towns.
They were more anxious to conceal their proceedings from the government of England than to enquire how far they were entitled to her protection or subject to her control. There was little unity of jreligious opinion which might have given cohesion to jarring political elements. Massachusetts had gained this element of strength by excluding dissenters. The Baptists, the first society organized here .by Williams, were not the majority of Providence. They numbered only thirteen families in a community of over fifty householders, and soon there was a secession even among them. The re- ligious disputes among the townsmen, and which here as elsewhere displayed a rancour now unknown, added bitter-
PROVIDENCE PROPRIETORS AND FREEHOLDERS. 221
ness to political controversy.* Thomas Olney, Sen., was one of the successors of Williams in his small society. William Harris was one of the seceders. Satisfied with that brief experience, he united with no other congregation to the end of his days. These were the two leaders of the Proprietors. Unity in secular interests superseded all religious differences between them. Olney apparently influenced the more relig- ious, and Harris the secular, element in politics. They were both able men and conducted the affairs of the Proprietors with vigor and success. Williams rarely suffered his per- sonal resentments to grow cool. During many years when he had occasion to speak of Chad Brown, it was always with kindly remembrance, gratitude and respect. For Thomas Olney, his successor, he has no words of pleasant recollection. Where he has need to speak of him it is with the mere mention of his name. The first Thomas Olney, an elder in Williams's congregation, was a man of courage and tenacity of purpose. By his executive ability as clerk of the town and of the Pro- prietors he continued to the end of his days a leader in the affairs of both. Together, Olney and Harris were more than a match for Williams, Dexter, and their supporters.
The community at Mooshassuc had little to distract its attention from its one great topic of debate. It was far away from England — heard little of what was going on there, and that little long after the event.- With Massachu- setts their intercourse and correspondence were infrequent. Their chief anxiety was whether the " Bay people " intended to seize and annex their territory. They had no great po- litical questions of their own. Religious topics — the great political topics of the i/th century — were, by general con- sent, excluded from the town meeting. They had ample
*See Backus's History of the Baptists, Vol. III., p. 217. "The unruly passions of some among them (z. e., the Baptist Society in Providence), with other things, caused such scruples in Williams's mind in about four months that he refrained from administering or partaking of special ordi- nances in any church ever after as long as he lived ; though he would preach the gospel and join in social worship with those who agreed with him, all his days."
See also Geo. Fox's A New England Firebrand quenched, pp. 63-68, 69, 127.
222 RHODE ISLAND HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
leisure to reiterate what had been said often enough in the "towne streete" and at the town mill without changing the opinion of any voter as to his own rights or those of the Proprietors.
The "landed democracy" proceeded in their own time and way. Even after the purchase of Mooshassuc their position was still insecure. The eagerness of Massachusetts to acquire the territory around Narragansett Bay, was unabated during twenty years. The principles of Rhode Island were gaining some converts in Massachusetts and Plymouth and inspired anxiety and alarm among the magistrates and elders. What ' could not be done by force might be effected by emigration.* What its charter would not permit might be accomplished by a few scores of emigrants. These, becoming purchasers, might subvert the institutions of Providence and set up those of x the "Bay people" in their stead. Some security must be provided and the Proprietors in town meeting had done it ; effectually. " 1637. 16 die 4th mo." (as soon as a treasurer f ;had been provided "for expending the town's stock"), 2d year of the Plantation.! "Item that none sell his field or his lot Tgranted in our liberties to any person but an inhabitant, * without consent of the town." [It then consisted chiefly of ^Proprietors.] This restriction was needed, the householders -being as yet but few, that the control of the town might not ; fall into the hands of new comers hostile to the opinions of the founders. But in effect during two generations it gave to the Proprietors alone the power to determine who should be the future voters. In another subject of their legislation their wisdom is less conspicuous. They were none of them
*The right of voting was then (during the first charter government of Massachusetts) restricted to such freeholders as were "church members," who very soon became a small minority of the people. The secular char- acter of the institutions of Rhode Island were a continual incitement to the dissenters of Massachusetts.
fNo originality was required in inventing contrivances for this purpose. The same means which had been used by the towns of Massachusetts in order to prevent any but Puritans taking up their abode in them were equally efficacious in Rhode Island in excluding Puritans themselves. See Adams's Three Episodes of Massachusetts History, Vol. II., p. 647. Private persons were not permitted to sell their lands without the con- sent of the town.
PROVIDENCE PROPRIETORS AND FREEHOLDERS. 223
merchants and did not desire that their children should ever be. The Proprietors of Mooshassuc had the courage of their convictions. From the first they showed no hesitation in adopting measures which would prevent or delay the rise of a commercial town in which their own association might be- come insignificant or might vanish away. It was right that the town meeting should prevent trespasses upon the home lots which it had granted, and reckless waste of timber.* Such as these were their earliest regulations : e. g.\ "It is agreed that two men should be deputed to view the timber on the common and such as have occasion to use timber should repair unto them for their advice and counsel to fell timber fit for their use, between the shares granted and mile end cove."|
" That from the sea or river in the West end of the Town unto the Swamp in the east side of the fields that no person shall fell any wood or timber before any -particular man's shares end" (i. e., on this side of the "swamp," now Hope Street). "Item. That any timber felled by any person, lying on the ground above one year after the felling, shall be ajtr the Towne's disposeing, beginning at the twenty third die of the month above written."§ This is the earliest police regu- lation of the town now extant and was a reasonable restraint upon mere waste of timber and trespasses upon property, such as are common in all new countries. But as times went on, the agricultural Proprietors had become firmly established
*Adams's Three Episodes of Massachusetts History, p. 658. A. D. 1646. There were similar laws in many Massachusetts towns against exporting timber.
•f-Vol. I. Bartlett's Colonial Records of Rhode Island, p. 5. This was the style of the enactments of the " town fellowship " — " agreed."
JThere were large intervals between the shares then allotted and the water side at the south end of the town. It was built up at first only on the east side of the river which " was at the west end " of it. The home lots at the south end were not yet sold, in February, 1637-8, or even allot- ted. They were too remote from the centre.
§There were regulations for the same purpose — the preservation of timber — and nearly in the same words in many of the Massachusetts towns, from which these may have been transcribed. See Weeden's So- cial and Economical History, Vol. I., p. 109.
224 RHODE ISLAND HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
as the chief men of their respective neighborhoods, and such they intended to remain. They gave no invitation to mer- chants such as they had known in Boston and Salem, whose wealth would eclipse their own, and who might subvert their religious liberties, which in those days found little favor with the prosperous classes anywhere. After a few years the town meeting at the dictation of the Proprietors began to use the prohibition to fell timber trees as a restraint upon shipbuilding and commerce.* Thus, "27th nth mo. 1650. At a Quarter Court, Ordered [this was the style of the newly incorporated town meeting] that no person whatsoever, whether townsman or other shall carry or cause to be carried either directly or indirectly off the common, any fencing stuff, botts, pipestaves, clapboards, shingles, 'pitchlights or any other sort of building timber out of this Plantation with- out leave from the town, and if any be found so doing, he or they shall forfeit to the Town for every tun of fencing timber or other building timber, after the rate of 10 shillings per tun, for every hundred of clapboards 10 shillings, for every hundred of shingles after the rate of 2s. 6d., for every hundred weight of pitchwood after the rate of 3J."f
This order of the town included Proprietors as well as all others. As it did not answer the purpose of the agricul- tural Proprietors that the place should become a mart of trade, they withheld from sale one of its chief staples. There was no lack of timber, the whole country was a great forest with only occasional openings of meadow land. Such enact- ments from time to time renewed, effectually prevented trade with the West Indies and the Spanish Main, for which timber, planks and barrel staves were prime necessities. The least danger of the town was that of a want of fuel or build- ing material. Yet the Proprietors reserved to themselves the power to consent to its use as an article of commerce. They very sparingly (if at all) granted the permission even to their own members. They were successful in their nar- row policy. The town was not inferior in resources to any
*Early Records of Providence, Vol. II., pp. 54, 57, 61. •j-Early Records of Providence, Vol. II., pp.'54, 61. See also the order of the town meeting, 2jth nth mo., 1651.
PROVIDENCE PROPRIETORS AND FREEHOLDERS. 225
of the seacoast towns of New England. But through this restrictive legislation it had no fisheries, such as gainedjthe earliest wealth of Massachusetts. Nor was there any ship- ping in the bay, save the vessels of other colonies, until the closing years of the i/th century. This may serve as a speci- men of the proprietary zeal for the public interest. They were not less vigilant in protecting their own. The legisla- ture in the charter of incorporation had authorized the town to enact penal laws at its own discretion. The Proprietors availed themselves of the opportunity for securing their own estate. They established fines, for those days severe, the burden of which fell upon the smaller freeholders. Such were the penalties for felling timber, for allowing swine and goats to run at large in the commons, and later for cutting the thatch beds at the mouth of the Wonasquatucket. An act of this sort upon the land of a private freeholder was but a trespass, the subject of a civil action. Done against the estate of the Proprietors it became a criminal offence and could be visited by the full power of the law — such as it was, in those days. The proprietary rule was now so well established that there was no fear of -resistance even to an enactment like this : "7th 6th mo. 1650.* Ordered that a rate be levied upon the estates of men only, excepting lands that lie in common, and .that the Town Council shall rate the same."f Thus the Pro- prietors secured exemption from taxes for all but their indi- vidual estates, notwithstanding their claim of the "common lands" as their own private property and their receiving for their own use the proceeds of the sales. We might believe this to have been an act of surprising boldness and unwisdom had it not been quietly endured by the freeholders until the end of the i/th century. Precisely how this exemption was borne we cannot ascertain from the town records. It was silently dropped when the Proprietary estate was much di- minished. The same men who contended against Williams that their purchase from him was their individual property,
*Early Records of Providence, Vol. II., p. 50.
fFrom the use of this word men, it was some years later argued that women were exempt from taxation, and the claim was in part, during- several years allowed.
226 RHODE ISLAND HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
now exempted it from public burdens as if it had been as he asserted, — a "town stock." The small freeholders could not resist the Proprietors. The information doubtless spread through the neighbor colonies that the inferior freemen in Providence bore an undue share of the public burdens, both of town and colony rates, and may, in part, account for the small number of those who sought to avail themselves of the freedom of the plantations.
Before many years, other equally singular notions about rights to real property became current among these un- learned legislators. Some of the Proprietors were not exempt from them, and were ready to enforce them upon those of their own brethren for whom they felt but little regard. There were no charges against Joshua Verin of being in any default in payment of taxes upon his private estate (his pro- prietary lands were not taxable), yet many of the townsmen were of opinion that his proprietary share might be forfeited by mere non-residence. He had left the colony after he had been censured for violating the liberty of conscience. From Salem he addressed the following letter to the townsmen, which was read at the town's Quarter-day meeting, April 27, 1651 : —
"Gentlemen & Countrymen of the Town of Providence ':' This is to certify you that I look upon my purchase of the Town of Providence, to be my lawful right. In my travel I have enquired and do find it recoverable according to law, for my coming away could not disinherit me.* Some of you can- not but recollect that we six which came first, should have the first convenience. As it was put in practice by our house lots & second by the meadows in Wonasquatucket River. And then those that were admitted by us, into the purchase, to have the next which were about ; but it is contrary to law,
*Weeden's Social and Economical History of New England, Vol. I., p. 270. In the earliest settled towns of Massachusetts it was not an un- common condition of the sales to the first grantees, that the lands should be forfeited if certain improvements were not made within a definite time. But such cases were not like that of Verin. He had been in pos- session by himself or by his agents during more than ten years — had built for himself a house. And it is not charged against him that his taxes were in arrears.
PROVIDENCE PROPRIETORS AND FREEHOLDERS. 227
reason & equity, for to dispose of my part without consent. Therefore, deal not worse with me, than with the Indians, for we made conscience of purchasing it of them, and hazarded our lives. Therefore we need not, nor any of us ought to be denied of our purchase. So, hoping you will take it into seri- ous consideration and to give me reasonable satisfaction. I rest, yours in the way of right and equity,
JOSHUA VERIN." From Salem, the 2ist November, 1650.
Men of understanding could not fail to see the disastrous consequences to the town (and to themselves also), of such a precedent as this. Who of them could foretell what might be done by a popular majority, if he himself should become un- popular in his turn ? Forfeitures and confiscation were familiar in old England in that age, and this might be the beginning of the like practices here. It required the influence of William Harris, Thomas Olney, Epenetus Olney, and later on of John Whipple, to prevent the appropriation of Verin's estate by the town meeting.*
The curt answer of Gregory Dexter, the town clerk, shows that some proceedings had been commenced.f " The Town of Providence having received, read & considered yours dated the 2ist November 1650, have ordered me to signify unto you, that if you shall come into court, & prove your right, they will do you justice." per me
GREGORY DEXTER, Town Clerk.
In this case the townsmen would have adjudicated a claim in which they were themselves plaintiffs. Gregory Dexter was one of the radical leaders of his times, and probably a promoter of the suit against Verin. When the Proprietors recovered their old ascendency they dropped Dexter from the clerkship, a place of great influence and profit for those days.
*See Bartlett's Colonial Records of Rhode Island, Vol. I., p. 17. Verin's letter contains some historical details concerning the plantation which are not elsewhere preserved.
fEarly Records of Providence, Vol. II., pp. 55, 56.
228 RHODE ISLAND HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
John Whipple came to Providence from Dorchester, Mass., in 1659. He brought with him a larger property than was commonly possessed by the immigrants of that day. He was received as an inhabitant of the town, purchased a Proprie- tors' share,* and soon became a leading citizen and a zealous supporter of Harris and Olney. [Williams's second letter to Whipple, Rider's Tract No. 14.] Williams says that he was a constant speaker in town meetings (p. 42), and evidently regarded him as one of his chief opponents. He was licensed to keep an inn, and during many years kept the principal one in Providence in what is now "Constitution Hill." He was a man of ability and influence and his inn became the politi- cal centre of the town. It seems probable that Williams addressed his letters to Whipple, that they might become more widely known in what was then the chief club-house of the village. He died May 16, 1685.
Before many years the town meeting began to use the privileges which it had granted to the "twenty-five acre men," as a means of correction and discipline. Thus, " Oc- tober 27, 1659. Thomas Olney, Senr. Moderator. * * Forasmuch as there hath been a Complaint made by some of the inhabitants, unto this Court against John Clawson for making use of the Common, it is therefore ordered by this present court, that the Deputies or Deputy of the Towne shall forthwith forewarne the said John Clawson to forbear in any wise to make use of any of the Common."f It does not appear what was the "head and front" of John Clawson's "offending." His name appears in the list of the "twenty- five acre men." He had probably not rightly estimated the extent of his privileges and made an excessive and indiscreet use of them. He was therefore wholly deprived of them ahd was thenceforth to draw no firewood or other household Stores from the common land. This forfeiture of his rights was ex post facto and illegal, but such slight technical diffi- culties were of little account before the popular and unlet- tered judges of those days. By what right they could deprive dne of their co-tenants of his due proportion of common is
*Early Records of Providence, Vol. II., p. 117, July 27, 1659. fEarly Records of Providence, Vol. II., p. 126.
PROVIDENCE PROPRIETORS AND FREEHOLDERS. 2 29
not now apparent. But they did it notwithstanding.* For us., who have but lately celebrated the centennial of a constitu- tion well provided with restraints upon the violation of con- tracts and the appropriation of private property to public ises, it is difficult to keep in our recollection while reading >ur early records, that during an hundred and fifty years there was no check upon the absolute power of a colonial
[assembly, except the uncertain and capricious interposition )f a royal veto. In Rhode Island, even this security was wanting. We may meet with acts of its wholly secular legis- lation, quite as despotic as any of those of which its founders had complained under the rule of Massachusetts and its elders, or in old England under the monarchy of Charles the First.
These two cases of Verin and Clawson are sufficient exam- ples of the acts legislative and judicial, which were charac- teristic of the first regime in the plantations. They were attended by arrangements equally unsafe for the management and transfer of real property. Every thing in the early records shows the handiwork of men without experience in such duties. Their early enactment, that no purchaser should sell his lot without leave of the town meeting, was justified by the danger that in a small community, unprotected by a charter from the Crown, a sufficient number of freeholds might be acquired to give to a hostile colony the political control of the town. But this was the only security provided by-law. The transfers of property were without formality or precision. No deed was thought necessary until the days of the second charter. As the " stated common lots " were but
"small (of some ten or twelve acres each), and were widely separated, they did not add much to the wealth of the set- tiers. From the constant petitions to exchange or to relay them, it might be inferred that they were often a hindrance
- to the culture of the soil.f
*This proceeding against John Clawson seems very much like a speci- men of Massachusetts justice, as dispensed by the magistrates and eldeife. They were ready to make their law for the occasion, without much en- quiry whether it were ex post facto or otherwise, provided that it suited their own notions of what the case required.
fFor examples see Early Records of Providence, Vol. II., p. 55. Roger Williams asked for liberty to exchange his lands, Sept. 30, 1667.
230 RHODE ISLAND HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
The "Land Records" of Providence, now extant, date from 1643. The earlier ones perished in the burning of the town in 1676.* These records are contained in two ancient books, called " the booke with brass clasps," and the "long booke with parchment covers." Only a few specimens can be quoted but these show the mode of proceeding in those days.f Thus : "The 27th nth mo. 1644. William ffield sold unto William Wickenden all the share of land called six acres lying upon the hill called Fox's Hill, bounding on the east & southeast with the land of Francis Wickes, and on the north & north- east with the highway. J On the west and northwest, with Mile end cove on the south with the sea."
This entry is without seal, signature or covenants. It is a mere certificate by the town clerk, to which the whole town meeting were the witnesses. The early transfers, — not deeds, — were mere certificates like this. The boundaries of estates were perishable and liable to speedy disappearance. During many years " wolf traps," or pits and mere stakes or heaps of stones were frequently named as monuments. Black and white oak trees were comparatively permanent. §
" The I4th of the 2d month, 1643, at our Monthly Court, before us the Deputies, we record || that William ffield sold unto Thomas Olney, one (ten) acres of ground lying upon the south side of the river called Wonasquatucket, bounding upon the land of Thomas Olney on the east, a mere bank on the south, of the land of Jane Leare on the west, & a slip of meadow of Thomas Olney on the North."
"The 28th of April, 1654. John ffenner sold unto Robert Colwell, the house & houselot which was formerly Richard Fray's, lying between Edward Inman's & John Smith's."
*See the report of the town's committee, appointed soon after Philip's War, to ascertain what public documents remained.
•j-Early Records of Providence, Vol. II., p. 5.
f Early in this century this was named Wickenden Street.
§Twenty year;s later the Proprietors became anxious about the evi- dence of their titles and desired better securities. On the 4th of June, 1666, the town meeting voted that all who desired them, whether Propri- etors or twenty-five acre men, might have deeds from the town clerk.
Early Records of Providence, Vol. III., p. 84.
|| Early Records of Providence, Vol. II., p. 6.
(The foregoing paper by Henry C. Dorr, to be continued.)
PORTRAITS IN THE CITY HALL, PROVIDENCE. 23!
PORTRAITS IN THE CITY HALL OF PROVI- DENCE.
The work of collecting information relative to the portraits in the City Hall of Providence and to the subjects of these portraits was begun five years ago.
The late Charles R. Gibbs was the first to proffer and render assistance in this work. Mr. Edward C. Joyce fur- nished the results of faithful researches and investigations, and the editor is also indebted to Messrs. Edward Field and Samuel W. Brown for counsel and aid to secure the utmost accuracy.
There are in the City Hall the portraits of sixteen mayors, whose combined term of office extends from 1832 to 1895 inclusive. Attached to each portrait is a statement of the birth and official term of service of the person represented, together with the name of the person who painted the por- trait. The date of the deaths of those who have passed away is also given.
SAMUEL WILLARD BRIDGHAM.
Born in Seekonk, Mass., May 4, 1774. Died December 28, 1840. Mayor from June 4, 1832, to December 28, 1840. Artist, G. P. A. Healey, 1841.
THOMAS MACKIE BURGESS.
Born in Providence, June 6, 1806. Died October 17, 1856. Mayor from February 2, 1841, to June 7, 1852. Artist, G. P. A. Healey, 1852.
232 RHODE ISLAND HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
AMOS CHAFEE BARSTOW.
Born in Providence, April 30, 1813. Died September 5, 1894. Mayor from June 7, 1852, to June 6, 1853. Artist, J. S. Lincoln, 1853.
WALTER RALEIGH DANFORTH.
Born in Providence, April i, 1787. Died August n, 1861. Mayor from June 6, 1853, to June 5, 1854. Artist, J. S. Lin- coln, 1853.
EDWARD PECK KNOWLES.
Born in Providence, April 13, 1805. Died October 16, 1881. Mayor from June 5, 1854, to June 4, 1855. Artist, J.
5. Lincoln, 1853.
JAMES YOUNGS SMITH.
Born in Groton, Conn., September 15, 1809. Died March 26, 1876. Mayor from June 4, 1855, to June 29, 1857. Artist, J. S. Lincoln, 1855.
WILLIAM MITCHELL RODMAN.
Born in Newport, R. I., January 19, 1814. Died Decem- ber n, 1868. Mayor from June 29, 1857, to June 6, 1859. Artist, J. S. Lincoln, 1857.
JABEZ COMSTOCK KNIGHT.
Born in Warwick, R. I., July 31, 1815. Mayor from June
6, 1859, to June 6, 1864. Artist, Moses White, of Boston, 1864.
THOMAS ARTHUR DOYLE. '
Born in Providence, March 15, 1827. Died June 9, 1886. Mayor from June 6, 1864, to June 7, 1869; from June 6, 1870, to January 3, 1881 ; and from January 7, 1884, to June 9, 1886. Artist, J. N. Arnold, 1871.
GEORGE LEONARD CLARKE.
Born in Norton, Mass., August 10, 1818. Died February II, 1890. Mayor from June 7, 1869, to June 6, 1870. Artist, J. N. Arnold, 1868.
PORTRAITS IN THE CITY HALL, PROVIDENCE. 233
WILLIAM SALISBURY HAYWARD.
Born in Foster, R. I., February 26, 1835. Mayor from January 3, 1881, to January 7, 1884. Artist, Mrs. Etta Barker, 1881.
GILBERT FRANCIS ROBBINS.
Born in Burrillville, R. I., August 26, 1838. Died Septem- ber 27, 1889. Mayor from January 3, 1887, to January 7, 1889. Artist, C. W. Stetson, 1887.
HENRY RODMAN BARKER.
Born in Providence, September 15, 1841. Mayor from January 7, 1889, to January 5, 1891. Artist, Hugo Breul, 1889.
CHARLES SYDNEY SMITH.
Born in Warren, R. I., October 4, 1828. Mayor from Jan- uary 5, 1891, to January 4, 1892. Artist, Hugo Breul, 1891.
WILLIAM KNIGHT POTTER.
Born in New York City, December 27, 1844. Mayor from January 4, 1892, to January I, 1894. Artist, J. N. Arnold, 1892.
FRANK FULLER OLNEY.
Born in Jersey City, N. J., March 12, 1851. Inagurated Mayor, January I, 1894. In office until January, 1896. Artist, Charles A. Jackson, 1895.
Besides the portraits of the sixteen mayors, mentioned above, there are in the City Hall three other portraits, as follows : —
I. The portrait of Henry Wheaton is pronounced by a connoisseur to be one of the best portraits in the State. Mr. Wheaton was born in Providence, November 27, 1785, and died at Dorchester, Mass., March n, 1848. He was dis- tinguished as a diplomat, an historian, and a writer on inter- national law. He was United States Minister in Denmark and Prussia from 1827 to 1846. He left his post in Berlin in
234 RHODE ISLAND HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
1846, and, after spending several months in visiting different parts of Europe, arrived on the shores of his native country in May, 1847.
On the second day of June that year, he received a letter from Benjamin Hoppin and seventy other citizens of Provi- dence, welcoming him back to his native place and asking him to sit for a portrait to be taken by some eminent artist, with the express understanding that the portrait be placed at the disposal of the city council of Providence. Mr. Wheaton, who was then visiting Providence, replied on the 6th of June, thanking the gentlemen, and promising to comply with their request.
The letter of Benjamin Hoppin addressed to Mayor Bur- gess, dated January 12, 1848, contains the information that the portrait was the gift of Mr. Hoppin and his fellow-citizens, and was painted by the eminent artist George P. A. Healey, of whom a brief sketch may be found on page no of this volume. Mr. Healey has recently produced a highly inter- esting volume entitled, "Reminiscences of a Portrait Painter." He is to-day one of the historic men of the country. He has passed away since the foregoing sentence was written.
The action of the city council relative to the picture was taken February 14, 1848. For a sketch of Henry Wheaton's life, see a discourse, occasioned by his death, delivered in the First Congregational Church of Providence, March 19, 1848, by the Rev. Dr. Edward B. Hall. The discourse is entitled, "The Value of a Man." It was printed at the time of its delivery and is in the Society's library. Mr. Wheaton re- moved to New York between 1810 and 1815 and was elected an honorary member of this Society in 1823.
2. The portrait of Ebenezer Knight Dexter has probably attracted more attention than any other in the collection. The following article that appeared in the Providence Sunday Journal of March 24, 1895, contains all the information that is yet obtained in regard to this most interesting portrait.
PORTRAITS IN THE CITY HALL, PROVIDENCE. 235 " INFORMATION WANTED.
To the Editor of the Sunday Journal :
In the City Hall of Providence is an admirable portrait la- beled thus : " Ebenezer Knight Dexter. Born in Providence, April 26, 1773. Died in Providence, Aug. 10, 1824. He gave the principal portion of his large estate for the benefit of the poor of his native town." This portrait has been in its place beyond the memory of any actual municipal officer. The in- scription upon it does not show when or by whose means it came into the possession of the town or city, or who was the artist, and a long and careful search of the records has failed thus far to elicit this information. Any person who can fur- nish the desired information, or a clue that will lead to it, will confer a favor by communicating with Mr. Andrew Adams, the Mayor's clerk at the City Hall. P.
Providence, March 21, 1895."
The result of inquiry and research is a general impression that the portrait of Mr. Dexter was painted during his life- time and was placed at the time of his death in the council chamber, without ^being appraised as property.
3. The portrait of Edward S. Rhodes, who has been city sergeant and messenger from June 6, 1861, to the present time, was presented to the City of Providence, December 6, 1894, in recognition of his long and faithful service as a pub- lic official. This gift was made by the Hon. Frank F. Olney, mayor, in the name of himself and the Honorables Jabez C. Knight, William S. Hayward, Henry R. Barker, Charles Syd- ney Smith, and William K. Potter, former mayors, under all of whom Mr. Rhodes had served. Artist, Charles A. Jack- son.
OTHER NOTABLE MEMORIALS.
In addition to the foregoing there is in the Providence County Court House a painting that is designed to represent the welcome given to Roger Williams on his return from England in 1644 with the Parliamentary charter. This is in one respect a caricature. Williams speaks disdainfully in his "Key" of long-haired countrymen, yet he is here represented
236 RHODE ISLAND HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
as one of those persons he calls degenerate. This picture was painted by Mr. C. R. Grant of Boston.
The following are some of the public monuments in Prov- idence :
1. Soldiers and Sailors Monument on Exchange Place, erected by the State, September, 1871.
2. Roger Williams Monument in Roger Williams Park, erected by the City of Providence, October, 1877.
3. French Memorial in North Burial Ground, erected by subscription, November, 1881.
4. Equestrian Statue in honor of Gen. Burnside, on Ex- change Place, erected partly by the State and partly by sub- scription, July, 1887.
5. Statue of Thomas A. Doyle, erected on Cathedral Square, by subscription, June 3, 1889.
6. Hayward Fountain, erected by William S. Hayward, in Hay ward Park, September, 1889.
7. Statue of Ebenezer Knight Dexter, erected on the Dexter Training Ground, by Henry G. Clark, June 29, 1894.
8. Statue of Christopher Columbus, erected on Columbus Square, by a local club and by subscription, November, 1894.
9. Tablet on the west end of the Old Market Building, now occupied by the Board of Trade, with the following in- scription : —
" Near this spot the Men and Women of Providence showed their resistance to Unjust Taxation by Burning British Taxed Tea in the night of March 2, 1775. Erected by the Rhode Island Societies of the Sons of the American Revolution, and the Daughters of the American Revolution, 1894-"
The foregoing is an imperfect list of monuments, includ- ing memorial tablets, found in our public squares, public buildings, churches and picture galleries. As these monu- ments constitute a part of our local history and of our means of education, they should have a record that can be readily found, not only by students of art and history, but by citizens
MONUMENTS, ETC., IN OUR PUBLIC SQUARES. 237
generally. In the hope of seeing a deeper and wider interest awakened in this direction, the editor solicits for the columns of this quarterly, lists of monuments and artistic memorials found in all parts of the State. Our art clubs, schools of design and picture galleries are important means of educa- tion and of elevating and ennobling the life of our people. With such institutions well sustained, we may expect to see ennobling monuments increased, a taste for. the beautiful in nature and in art cultivated, and a higher life led and enjoyed throughout these Plantations.
The richest and most extensive collection of portraits in the State is that of Sayles Memorial Hall, and it is hoped that the accomplished professor, William C. Poland, who has charge of the department of fine arts in Brown University, will furnish a certified list of these historical treasures for the columns of this publication. Such a list would save the librarian of this society much trouble in replying to inquiries received from different sections of our country, and would gratify many friends of art and learning.
Mr. Richard Bliss, the librarian of the Redwood library, Newport, could .render a like valuable service by furnishing a list of the historical and artistic treasure's -that are under his care.
Mr. R. H. Tilley, the librarian of the Newport Histor- ical Society, who has done and is doing much for the history of his section of the State, will, it is hoped, furnish a list of noteworthy works of art that are under his care, as well as of those that are on the public squares of Newport.
238 RHODE ISLAND HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
THE PLACE FOR GENEALOGY IN LITERATURE.
The recent development of Revolutionary and Colonial societies has stimulated genealogical inquiry to an extraordi- nary degree, and libraries are consulted in this department as never before.
It is interesting in this connection to consider for a mo- ment what genealogy is, and where its study tends.
If it be agreed that genealogy is more than a mere orderly arrangement of names and dates, and that it includes re- search into the life of the individual, this broader inquiry embraces much that has been called biography and enters the domain of history.
Perhaps, after all, the best definition of genealogy, in its fullness, is family history, and it is this family aspect (the interest in persons which is so much stronger than the in- terest in places merely) that appeals so forcibly to investi- gators.
Any one is capable of becoming interested in this pursuit, and the merest accident often turns the attention in this direction.
It is so often called now a "fascinating study" that it is worth while to examine into its claims, and then finally assign it a place in literature, more or less dignified according to its merits.
If we should find that general history is growing more and more dependent upon it for facts, that it often detects his- torical myths, that it is both corrective and informing in its influence, then we must place it in an exalted position. There may have been a time, in the crude days of genealogy, when its devotees accepted unsupported traditions, and old
THE PLACE FOR GENEALOGY IN LITERATURE. 239
wives' tales, without much discrimination, but if so it was long ago, and to-day it is the genealogist who demands an accuracy that often seems exacting to the historian, who feels that he is dealing in great principles, and finds such de- tails embarrassing.
A beautiful historic structure may tumble in ruins from a juxtaposition of names with dates that the genealogist detects as arrant nonsense.
So the careful historian must, in these days, be something of a genealogist, in order to place his names and dates, cor- rectly, and to gain that intimate association with the indi- vidual that is to be found only in those records and papers that are the necessary companions of the genealogist.
There are so many persons interested now in genealogy that those who are still outside are frequently asking, " What can you see in it to attract you?" with sometimes a vex- atious plaint in the tone that is natural enough when it is felt that a close friend has at least one interest that cannot be shared. Perhaps the best way to satisfy the inquirer, and possibly gain a convert, will be to present a few answers from some of the army enlisted in the cause. %
As representatives of every class and condition are inter- ested, it will be fair to give several a chance to answer.
The writer can very readily supply these answers from the conversations and correspondence of those with whom he has exchanged views during a period in recent years in which he has given some special attention to this subject. The answers duly formulated would be something as follows : The merchant, a believer in order, and gauging things by their practical utility, will say that it is decent and reasonable to have a clearly arranged record of his ancestors, and that his interest does not and ought not to cease with his father's and mother's life. He will state emphatically that he must have resources outside his business, and that he finds this one of the most recreative, stimulating his mind, but not tiring it.
The scientific man will enlarge upon the attractions offered by genealogy in its many problems, and the skill that must be used in unraveling the skein; the innocent joy in success.
24O RHODE ISLAND HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
The physician will tell of the law of heredity as evidenced in genealogy, how even when a branch seems useless it is helped and nurtured by others, stronger, until a worthy rep- resentative appears. The statesman of broad mind, rejoices at the true democracy engendered by genealogical studies, and will assert that the logical conclusion of such researches will be to relegate pretension and self-importance to the' background.
If the statesman is representing his country abroad, he will agree that the genealogist is his best ally in convincing the ignorant and deluded seekers of vast estates that their search is fruitless. The novelist is learning that here is a field too little tilled, replete with incident, and can already tell what he has found, pathetic, humorous, and thrilling, since, as a genealogist, he has looked into the record of ship- wreck, church persecution and Indian attack on the tragic side, and a vast deal that is beautiful on the other side of life. The farmer, the sailor and the soldier, from the nature of their callings, have times of leisure, and the capital work that many of them have done proves what a resource gene- alogy has been to them in relieving lonely hours, while con- tributing material to edify others.
The clergyman will tell not only of the text furnished for his sermons from the eventful lives he has studied, but will bear evidence also of the steadying influence of genealogical researches on those of his flock who pursue such studies in their hours of leisure.
He will claim that the tendency of genealogical study is to take a broader outlook, to look with charity on others' fail- ings, and towards a wise conservatism, not inconsistent with real progress. If it is finally asked wherein genealogy has proved the most attractive to the writer, he will answer promptly that it is in the traits of human nature, constantly appearing, humanity sometimes weak and sometimes strong, but struggling forward on the whole, as the generations pass, and gaining something even in its defeats. The wills, invento- ries, deeds, council records, coroners' inquests, court trials, depositions, bible entries, and diaries, are not the dry mate- rial that some have supposed, but contain often the key to
THE PLACE FOR GENEALOGY IN LITERATURE. 24!
the real life, — the thread of a romance perchance, — but always food for reflection, with a lesson for application to modern life.
We have gained much, but in these times that are so often characterized as "complex" in their life problems, we may learn something from a study of the conditions that often perplexed our forefathers, but which they faced on the whole bravely and without dismay. So let us do.
The writer has thus sought, mainly by the word of others, to give an answer to the question of why genealogy attracts. If it has been shown how widely and variously it interests its students, and how dependent history is upon its careful study, then we must finally give genealogy a place by the side of history, ever ready to extend its helping hand in that direction, — for after all it is the individual in history that holds our vital interest.
JOHN OSBORNE AUSTIN.
THE PIG CASE.
To the librarian of the R. I. Historical Society. Dear Sir : I wish to get the facts and dates relative to the pig case that occasioned the War of 1812. Can you give me the facts, or tell me where I can find them ?
Truly yours,
E.
The enquiry is referred by the editor to the readers of this quarterly.
Query. Can any reader of this quarterly give an account of superstitions which are said to have been current in the southern counties of Rhode Island ?
A correspondent writes that Commodore O. H. Perry was born on the 23d of August, 1785 — not on the 2ist, as stated in most of the biographical sketches of him that have been printed. This statement is confirmed by family records.
242
RHODE ISLAND HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
Charts like the following may be sent to the Quarterly and will serve a double purpose.
1st. As a means of conveying information.
2d. As a means of gathering information ; the blanks serv- ing as queries to be answered in later numbers by any reader having the information.
|
•a |
|||||||
|
| |
• |
a g |
|||||
|
i o |
3 |
||||||
|
a JS o |
1 |
1 |
|||||
|
. |
o |
|S |
a |
||||
|
fa |
M |
g |
|||||
|
V |
a |
a" |
.5 CO |
||||
|
a |
J |
||||||
|
£ |
• J3 u |
"a a |
|||||
|
+ |
9 |
5 |
6 |
||||
|
^5 |
G . *^ |
. i-i |
CO . |
||||
|
s |
M • M £V/ |
M* |
« 2 T •o 8 CT P< |
• |
^ *§ "pi |
||
|
3 M |
S . |J ^ |
"o . C * |
.2* |
. |
|||
|
- ^4 V g 1 ,.» al |
a ft |
f 1 ' f J CO 0 S Q PH |
Elizabeth B 1720. D 1786, Mai |
5 • oo" ~ -S A • x o £ |
Amey Phill B D 1748+ |
s | | § ••-1 O vO 'C « §• « s P 0 S 0 OH |
a u 1 CO M O |
|
James Burrill. |
Elizabeth Rawson. |
Jonathan Arnold. |
Molly Burr. |
||||
|
B M 1768, June 12. D |
B 1747. D 1811, Mar. n. |
81741. M I7°3, June 19. D 1793. Providence, R. I. |
B 1745. D 1781, Oct. 18. |
||||
|
Providence, R. I. |
St. Johnsbury, Vt. |
||||||
|
James Burrill. |
Sally Arnold. |
||||||
|
B 1772, Apr. 25. |
B 1778. |
||||||
|
M 1797, Oct. 8. |
|||||||
|
D 1820, Dec. 25. |
D 1814, July 17. |
||||||
|
Providence, R. I. |
JAMES BURRILL AND WIFE. Late U. S. Senator, &c.
GENEALOGICAL CHART.
243
|
o, |
3 |
t |
|||||
|
§ |
S |
a |
|||||
|
o |
a |
o |
|||||
|
t— ^ |
CO |
f |
|||||
|
H |
Js |
||||||
|
• |
JL |
„- |
H |
||||
|
D, |
.2 |
fa 3 |
•* |
X. |
H |
||
|
O |
• J3 |
B |
3 O |
tf |
a |
||
|
A |
(9 N |
.' |
i |
o |
a |
||
|
D. |
XI .2 |
• I |
"" |
J= o. |
i |
||
|
P |
• J3 |
g |
i |
o |
i — i |
||
|
\. |
• |
a >— i |
tD |
||||
|
31 •! *"* |
S. . |
1 ^ « N- : |
' — O oo |
"u co oo ""! |
a •* I? |
||
|
C >< p^' j- S {; .S ro m * |
>> C |
G H U . tS J C JO .T 4) O 3 U o fe O l~> f11 c " - m ~ -a |
>. •"' C |
II If |
O *J c « 0 ^ |
||
|
O a S Q 5 |
« a\ t-» < co O |
• 91 a |
a 0 |
1 1 -f| < C3 S D (X |
Iff |
•5*2 x 5 ^ B s a £ |
'« :? *o .y 8. R <! M Q |
|
Ebenezer Jenckes. |
Alice. |
James Fenner. |
Freelove Whipple. |
||||
|
B |
B |
B 1730, Feb. g. |
B 1728, Dec. 24. |
||||
|
M D 1758, Dec. 26. |
D 1758 + |
M 1750, June 10. D 1751, Oct. 25. |
D 1751, Aug. 21. |
||||
|
Providence, R. I. |
Providence, R. I. |
||||||
|
Silvanus Jenckes. |
Freelove Fenner. |
||||||
|
B 1746, Nov. 22. M 1772, July 7. D 1781, Nov. 25. |
B 1751, Mar. 25. D 1780, Feb. 19. |
||||||
|
Providence, R. I. |
SARAH JENCKES.
Born 1773, July 12. Died 1844, May 24.
(Wife of Gov. James Fenner.)
The editor acknowledges special obligation to the author of the Genealogical Dictionary of Rhode Island for the forego- ing forms and indeed for supplying most of the material that appears in the genealogical department of this publication. We propose printing in each number of this quarterly two tables like the foregoing. We invite our readers to furnish notes, queries and answers with the view of rendering this department more interesting and valuable.
244 RHODE ISLAND HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
EDITORIAL NOTES AND CULLINGS.
The following communication was sent to the librarian of this society with the distinct object of eliciting information on one point. It happens, however, that it furnishes infor- mation which is wanted by other persons residing in Massa- chusetts. It shows that the colonial records of these States are scattered. We have already printed on two occasions statements to this effect. Our original Revolutionary rolls are found in several different States. Our Secretary of State has secured from the State of Maine, within a brief period, very valuable Revolutionary rolls. This colonial list contains facts that will be read with interest outside of this State. As the work of indexing our society's manuscripts goes on, the value of these original records will be more and more appre- ciated. Massachusetts and New York have some original records of which we must have copies, and we can probably help them in the same way. — [Ed.]
In Vol. II. of the Manuscripts of the Rhode Island His- torical Society are several papers relating to Capt. Thomas Cheney's company, raised in Massachusetts, for the expedi- tion against Canada. The paper, numbered 364, is entitled, "A State of the Pay of the Non-Commission Officers & Pri- vate Men of Cap1- Thomas Cheney's Company in the Regi- ment of Foot of wch the Honble Brigr- Genl Dwight is Colonel, raised in the Province of the Massachusetts Bay for His Majesty's Service for an Expedition against Canada in 1746 & dismissed from said service 31 Octor 1747" which precedes a list of the names of the soldiers, the number of days' service and each man's full pay. The names are as follows : "George Watkins, Sam1 Scott, Andrew Stephens, William Chub, Sergeants ; Nath Williams, Samuel Loomis, Aaron
EDITORIAL NOTES AND CULLINGS. 245
Ashley, Philip Bacon, Corporals ; George Harris, Cotton Fletcher, Drum"; John Allen, Joseph Altenson, Samuel Bryan, Nicholas Brown, William Bancroft, Jonathan Ballard, Nathaniel Bacon, Abraham Bass, David Bishop, John Church, Isaac Corbin, Jonathan Church, Jabez Corbin, Stephen Coller, Stephen Corbin, Eliphalet Carpenter, Abel Drake, Samuel Dewey, Samuel Davison, Nathan Davis, Benj" Dike, Josiah Davis, William Edmonds, Azariah Ferry, John Frank- lin, Joshua Gary, Ebenezer Gale, Jonathan Gleason, Eben- ezer Holden, William Hodges, Armour Hamilton, Simeon Hitchcock, William Halley, Thomas Higgins, Joseph Hall, Elisha Hatch, Samuel Hains, Benejal Hall, John Hallowell, Benjamin Harris, Benjamin Howes, Benjamin Hide, Nathan1 Harrington, Samuel Jackson, Daniel Jackson, Ebenezer Jaques, Robert Keyes, William Loomis, Aaron Loomis, John Lafelen, John McDaniel, John McLain, Peter Marshall, James Maceright, William Man, William Mullin, William Negro, Cuff e Negro, Samuel Negro, Jonathan Olds, John Per- kins, Christopher Perkinson, Gideon Pratt, Samuel Pegan, John Policy, John Rolfe, Paul Rich, Ephraim Rice, John Richardson, Benja Robertson, Elisha Spencer, Benoni Sacket, Ephraim Stiles, Ephraim Smith, Joseph Sweatman, Samuel Stevens, Benja Sacket, Thomas Stevens Junr, Ebenezer Say- ward, John Stacey, Steven Stringer, Benja Scott, John Tur- ner, Elijah Town, John Vene, Thomas Webster, Samuel Warfield, William Wakefield, John Woodberry, Joseph Wait."
Can any one inform me who is the Nicholas Brown in the above list ? The name is the same as that of my paternal great-grandfather, born in Providence in 1729. He lived there all his life, and I can find no mention of his military service, but think it possible that, in view of the great inter- est felt throughout the colonies in the war against the French, he may have joined a Massachusetts company. I shall be very grateful to any one who can offer me any sug- gestions or aid me in establishing the identity of this Nich- olas Brown.
JOHN NICHOLAS BROWN.
246 RHODE ISLAND HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
PROVIDENCE IN 1/22 MISSIONARY GROUND.
The following extract from a letter addressed to the editor of this quarterly by the accomplished librarian of the Con- necticut State Library, shows that Providence was regarded, in 1722-24, by the clergy and General Assembly of Connect- icut, as missionary ground.
CONNECTICUT STATE LIBRARY.
HARTFORD, Oct. 2, 1895.
Dear Sir : Apropos of what is said on p. 170 of No. 3, Vol. III., Pub. R. I. Hist. Society, 1895, Oci., — in the printed Conn. Col. Records, VI. (1717-1725), at p. 303, reference is made to sending a missionary to Providence, April, 1722, and p. 465 of the same volume, a brief is granted to encourage the building and finishing a meeting-house in Providence, May, 1724.
Yours truly,
CHARLES J. HOADLY.
Some interesting communications may be found in Sta- ples's Annals of Providence, regarding the subject above referred to. See pp. 431 to 438.
A MAN MANUMITS HIS WIFE.
A legal Act of 1762, copied by Mr. George T. Paine, from Providence Book of Deeds, No. 14, p. 510.
"Know all men by these Presents, that I, Greenwich Nary, a free Negroe of Providence in ye County of Providence, and Colony of Rhode Island, Labourer, for and in consideration of the Good Will and affection which I have and do bear Towards Membo, a negroe whoman, which I purchased of the Administrators of the Estate of William Tillinghast De- ceased, and for Sundry Good Causes and Considerations me hereunto moveing, Do by These Presents Manumit the said Negroe Wooman, and absolutely free and discharge her from all manner of Slavery, Bondage or Servitude whatsoever, hereby Publishing and Declaring to all to whom it may Con- cerne that the said Mimbo by virtue of the Instrument of
EDITORIAL NOTES AND CULLINGS. 247
Manumission is become a free subject of his Majesty and by all Persons so to be Esteamed and Taken hereafter.
"In Witness whereof I do hereunto Set my Hand and Seal the Seventh Day of August in the Second Year of his majestey's Reign — George the Third, King of Great Britain
&c AD. 1762.
Greenwich Nary [Seal] Signed, Sealed and Delivered
In the Presence of Joseph Arnold Jonathan Hill Recorded January 15, 1766
By James Angell Clerk."
ROGER WILLIAMS.
How can he be best honored in connection with the first State House erected in the State which he founded and in which he embodied and established for the first time the dis- tinct principle of religious and soul liberty ?
The general reply is, that the foremost historic man of the State, who is also among the foremost historic men of the country, merits, the honor of a statue. So far, all seem to be agreed. How shall the statue be made ? Here is a serious difficulty. No one knows how Roger Williams looked. He is represented in the statue gallery at Washington and in the Providence County Court House as a cavalier, rather than as a Roundhead friend of Milton and Cromwell — as a long-haired Englishman,* while he expressed grief that the fashion of wearing long hair prevailed among some of his fellow-country- men.
If an authentic likeness of Williams were extant, it might well be reproduced and placed in the State House, where it could be conveniently and distinctly seen.
The statues of General Burnside, -Mayor Doyle, Knight Dexter, Commodores Perry, General Greene, and other well- known worthies, including Columbus, may well be placed where they can be readily seen. The fact is, that any thing called a statue of Williams can be little else than a symbol of him as the founder of the State and the propounder of the principle of religious and soul liberty. As a cross erected
See " Key," p. 58.
248 RHODE ISLAND HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
on a church often serves as a symbol of the founder of the Christian religion, so an ideal statue of Williams, placed on the dome of the State House, may well serve as a symbol of him as the founder of the State and as one of the great- est benefactors of humanity.
Among the interesting and instructive papers recently read before this society, special attention is here called to a lecture delivered in the historical cabinet on the loth of De- cember by Robert T. Swan, Esq., Massachusetts Commis- sioner of Records. The object of this paper was to show the value of public records and papers, their condition, and what steps need to be taken for their preservation and usefulness. Mr. Swan gave a series of pertinent facts whose meaning could not be mistaken. The conclusion reached was, that this State must soon take action for the preservation of its records or it will find all too soon that a great body of docu- ments of untold value have been lost past recovery. Limited space prevents our printing but a brief extract frorh the pa- per. This extract is designed to show the scattered condition especially of our Revolutionary military rolls.
Among the Revolutionary rolls on record in the Massachu- setts State House is a group of original rolls of Rhode Island troops, as follows : —
Capt. Amos Greene's Company, Col. Joseph Noyes' Regiment. Thomas Rice's " " Jona. Waterman's "•
Samuel Brown's Jona. James Stedman's
Peleg Simons' Squire Millard's
Christopher Olney's Waterman's
Field and Staff Pay Rolls. Col. Israel Angell's ist & 2d Regts. " " Muster " Lt. Col. Jeremiah Olney's Battalion. Muster Rolls. Col. Christopher Greene's ist "
Capt. Elijah Lewis' Co. " John S. Dexter's Co. " John Holden's " " Edward Slocum's " " Thomas Cole's "
Field and Staff and Company Officers of ist R. I. Battalion.
EDITORIAL NOTES AND CULLINGS. 249
AN APPEAL.
The editor of this quarterly has repeatedly seen in the archives division of the office of the Secretary of State of Massachusetts, the original lists as stated above. He has found there names which are of decided interest to some citizens of this State and to some in the West. Yet he has the command of no funds with which to pay the expense of a copy of these records made by an expert copyist. Under these circumstances he ventures an appeal to patriotic citi- zens who are interested in the history of Rhode Island. Mr. Tracy, who has charge of the papers, will carefully and gratuitously supervise the work, provided the funds are guaranteed.
There were, a few years ago, in the office of the Secretary of the State of Massachusetts, forty-five large volumes of matter and pay rolls, and twenty-one volumes qf regimental pay rolls and accounts of the Continental line officers. By purchase, and by gift from outside sources, and from miscella- neous papers in the archives, enough rolls have been obtained to make about thirty more volumes. This society has four volumes of Rhode Island military papers of the Revolutionary period ; the Secretary of our State has the same number, making in all eight volumes. This number could probably be nearly doubled by properly organized efforts. To this end, it was suggested that the General Assembly of the State be memorialized to act promptly for collecting and putting in order its various historical material.
In his motion of thanks to the lecturer, Mr. William B. Weeden urged the necessity of prompt and decided legisla- tive action for the preservation and usefulness of various valuable records and papers that may otherwise be lost.
Query. Pardon Tillinghast (3) son of Phillip (2). Born Dec. 15, 1701. Married ist Margaret Greene, Jan. 8, 1727. Married 2d Avis Norton, May 3, 1735. Besides daughter Sarah, what other children had he by first wife ? What was his avocation ? Where did he live ? Where and when did he die ?
Information desired by a buckeye descendant.
T. F. S., Zanesville, Ohio.
250 RHODE ISLAND HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
ADVERTISEMENTS.
Attention is invited to advertisements that appear on the cover of this quarterly. Half a century ago, when the Hon. Henry Barnard was school commissioner of this State, most of the printing incident to his office was done in Hartford, on the plea that it could be done there better and cheaper than here. Since that time Rhode Islanders have exten- sively patronized the printers of Cambridge and Boston. Three well-known printing firms of Providence advertise here with a view of showing their patrons that they can do good work at reasonable prices. One advertiser calls atten- tion to his pianos ; another to a great wholesale and retail store ; another to the modern writing machine and other mechanical contrivances ; another to " Foster on the Con- stitution of the United States;" and still another to a matter pertaining directly to the local history of Rhode Island — namely, to " Early Rhode Island Houses." Some valuable hints may be gained by consulting these advertisements. Much good is sure to result from the last-named publication. We hope that every copy of it will be promptly sold, and that the publishers may be induced to bring out a second volume containing a list of historic houses of a later date. A picture and account of Bishop Berkeley's renowned dwelling and study — White Hall, — would, we think, meet with a ready sale. Many people desire to know who is responsible for the vandalism that has been lately permitted on this historic structure, and they would have decided steps taken to put a stop to such disreputable conduct. Other houses of much interest would be represented in a second volume. To this end we bespeak a prompt response to the notice here given by Messrs. Preston & Rounds. The following engraving will show the style of the work, giving a pretty clear idea of what may be expected so far as art is concerned. This en- graving represents the Arthur Fenner Castle, which was built before King Philip's War, and was the site of a reception given to Lafayette in the Revolutionary period. Though this structure is distinctly remembered by some of our citizens, it was years since completely demolished.
GENERAL INDEX.
GENERAL INDEX.
Albany, N. Y., 63, 64, 70, 92, 132 Albro, B. T., 109 Alden, John, 174 Aldrich, Nelson W., 64, 66 Allen, Candace, 66, 80
Christopher, 124
Edward S., 66
Elizabeth, 124
Gabriel, 187
James, 124
John, 187, 245
William, 186, 187
Zachariah, 33, 80, 90, 105, 109,
179, 178
Alexander, Francis, 82, 108 Alexandria, 165 Ailing, Christopher, 125
Elizabeth, 125 Allston, Washington, no Almy, Herbert, 66 Altenson, Joseph, 245 America, 51, 77 Ames, William, 66 Amherst, Mass., 62 Amory, Thomas C., 81 Amsterdam, 193 Andover, Mass., 64, 71 Andrews, E. B., 22, 66 Angell, Albert C., 70
Edwin G., 66
Israel, 248
James, 247
James B., 64, 71
Thomas, 73
Walter F., 66 Ann Arbor, Mich., 64, 71 Anthony, 177
Henry B., 171
John B., 66
Lewis W., 64
Apaum, 148 Aquidneck, 212 Aragon, 18
Armstrong, Henry C., 66 Arnold, 14, 37, 80
Alfred, 94
Aza, 102
Benedict, 73, 148, 150, 153, 205
Fred A., 8, 66, 122
Fred W., 66
James N., 20, 232, 233
John, Jr., 102
John N., 84, 85, 98, 108, 179
Jonathan, 102, 242
Joseph, 247
Josiah, 242
Newton D., 66
Olney, 66
Richard, 242
Richard J., 66
Sally, 242
Samuel G., 70, 80, 105
Stephen H., 64, 66
Thomas, 242
Welcome, 102
William, 205 Arnold & Constable, 50 Arnold & Stearn, 50 Ashley, Aaron, 245 Asia, 212 Assotemewit, 148 Athens, 77, 219 Atwood, Charles H., 66 Augusta, Me., 62, 64 Austin, 36
John O., n, 31, 37, 64, 70, 241 Australia, 28 Ayrault, 50, 192 Backus, Thomas, 64, 66 Bacon, Nathaniel, 245
11.
RHODE ISLAND HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
Bacon, Philip, 245 Bagnall, Wm. R., 71 Bailey, Hugh, 191 Richard A., 66 William, 191 William M., 66 Bainbridge, William, in Baker, David S., 66 Balch, G. B., 64 Ball, Nicholas, 66 Ballard, Jonathan, 246 Ballou, Daniel R., 60 Latimer W., 66 William H., 66 Baltimore, Md., 62, 182 Bancroft, 163
William, 246 Banigan, Joseph, 70 Barker, Etta, 233 Frederick A., 66 Henry R., 66, 233, 235 Barnard, 85 George, 197 Henry, 75, 84, 105, 250 Barrows, Edwin, 66 Barstow, Amos C., 66, 231
George E., 66 Bartlett, Cara H., 95 Henry. A., 64, 95 John R., 66, 95, 105, 172, 174 Paul W., 196 Barton, William, 89, 94, 105, 187
William T., 66 Bartow, Evelyn P., 66 Bass, Abraham, 245 Bertha, 66 John, 170 Bates, Isaac C., 66
William L., 66 Baur, Theodore, 196 Baxter, E., Jr., 108
James P., 64
Beckwith, Henry T., 70, 84, 91, 169 Belcher, Joseph, 86, 105 Bennett, Charles P., 64, 131 James, 72
Benton, 7, 15 Berkeley, 250 Berkeley, Cal., 62, 107 Berlin, 233
Bernon, Gabriel, 36, 80, 98 Beverly, Mass., 170 Bewit, Hugh, 205 Bicknell, Thomas W., 9, 66 Binney, William, 66
William, Jr., 66 Bishop, David, 245
Fannie W., 100 Bissell, George E., 197 Blake, Eli W., 66 Elizabeth V., 66 Blanchard, John, 97 Blanding, Christopher, 64 Bliss, Richard, 237 Block Island, 14 Blodgett, John T., 10, 66 Bogman, Edward Y., 66 Booth, 37 .
Boston, 16, 59, 62, 64, 65, 71, 72, 73, 83, 89, 93, 95) 98, 107, i°8, "o, in, 132, 168, 170, 172, 181, 182, 202, 224, 232, 236, 250 Bosworth, Benjamin M., 9 Bourn, Augustus O., 9, 66
George W. B., 66 Bowen, Clarence W., 71, 76 Ephraim, 170 Holder B., 70 Pardon, 103 Bowler, Charles, 187 Boyle, John T., 197 Bradlee, D. C., 64 Bradley, Charles, 66 Brayton, Charles R. 64 Brenton, Elizabeth C., 92 Breul, Hugo A. B., 79, 8 1, 233 Brewster, William, 193 Bridgham, Samuel W., 231 Briggs, Benjamin F., 66 Brinley, George, 167 Brinton, Daniel G., 64 Bristol, 9, 59, 64, 65, 76, 86, 87, 97, 173
GENERAL INDEX.
111.
British America, 142 Bromfield, Edward, 170 Brookfield, 96 Brookland, D. C., 64, 71 Brookline, Mass., 64, 195 Brooklyn, Conn., 93 Brooklyn, N. Y., 62, 71, 89 Brown, Abigail, 243
Albert W., 8, 66
Betsey, 58
Chad, 73, 201, 205, 220
D. Russell, 64, 66
Harold, 70
Henry, 243
H. Martin, 66
John, 175
John N., 70, 245
Jona., 248
Joseph, 140, 141, 199, 243
Moses, 172, 180
Nicholas, 245
Pardon F., 66
Samuel, 248
Samuel W., 231
Sylvanus, 59 Brown & Ives, 32 Brownell, 175
Charles DeW., 173
Henry H., 10, 15, 175 Brunswick, Ga., 163 Brunswick, Me., 7 Bryan, Samuel, 245 Buck, 37
William J., 64 Buffalo, N. Y., 71 Buffum, Annie V., 64 Bugbee, James H., 66 Bulkley, Abby I., 71 Bull, Henry, 93 Bullock, Jonathan R., 66
Julia, 16, 47, 48, 55, 70, 102
Rhoda P., 55
Richmond, 55
Burdick, James, 6, 46, 47, 48, 49, 66 Burgess, Thomas M., no, 231
Tristam, 180
Burgess, Walter S., 64, 90 Burnside, 236, 247
Ambrose E., 99, 105 Burnyeate, John, 123 Burr, David, 242
Molly, 242
Samuel, 242
Sarah, 242
Simon, 242 Burrill, Ebenezer, 242
George, 242
James, 90, 105
James, Jr., 90
John, 242
Burrillville, 90, 198, 233 Butler, Charles, 163 Butts, James P., 192 Buxton, Me., 37 Calder, Albert L., 66
George B., 66 Caldwell, 165
Charles, 162 Calhoun, 7, 15 California, 29, 62 Callender, John, 93, 105, 107
Walter, 70 , Cambridge, Eng., 83 Cambridge, Mass., 62, 64, 65, 134,
250
Cameron, Ellen B., 99 Campbell, Horatio N., 66
John P., 8, 66 Canada, 244
Canonicus, 143, 147, 148, 150, 155 Canterbury, Conn., 59 Canton, China, 96 Carpenter, 40
Benajah, 187
C. C., 64
Comfort A., 86
Charles E., 66
Eliphalet, 245
Esther B., 36
Francis W., 66
George M., 64, 66
John, 187
IV.
RHODE ISLAND HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
Carpenter, Laura, 36
Laura H., 64
Mary, 36, 64
Oliver, Jr., 187
Thomas F., 86, 105, 168
William, 86 Carrington, 163 Carter, James G., 84 Catlin, Charles A., 66 Chace, 86
Barnabas J., 100
Henry R., 6, 66
James H., 66
Jonathan, 66
Julian A., 66
Lewis J., 46, 47, 48, 49, 66
Lucretia G., 66
Philip S., 64
Thomas W., 66 Chadsey, J., 72
William, 72 Chamberlain, 5
Mellen, 15
Chambers, Robert B., 66 Champlin, C. G., 192
Christopher, 192
George, 192
Channing, William E., 101, 105 Chapin, 37
Charles V., 64, 66
Maria L., 80, 82, 87
William W., 66, 175 Charleston, S. C., no, 160, 166 Charlestown, Mass., 19, 71 Charlotte, Sophia, 100 Charnley, William H., 176 Checkley. John, 102 Cheney, Thomas, 244 Chepachet, 65 Chicago, 17, 62, 71, 178 Child, Charles H., 66
Lewis P., 38 China, 28
Chub, William, 244 Church, Abigail, 72
John, 245
Church, Jonathan, 245 Cincinnati, 16, 63 Claflin, Arthur W., 66 Clark, 75, 91, 108
Franklin C., 64
Hugh, 37
Thomas F., 105
Thomas M., 64, 66, 83, 90
William, 137 Clarke, George L., 232
Jeremiah, 140
John, 73 Clawson, 229
John, 228 Clay, 7, 15
Clemence, Thomas, 120 Cleveland, 20, 64, 88, 92 Clinton, DeWitt, in Coats, James, 66 Codman, Arthur A., 66 Coggeshall, James H., 64 Cole, Thomas, 101, 105, 108, 248 College Hill, Mass., 63 Coller, Stephen, 245 Collins, 164
George L., 66 Colorado, 29
Springs, 9 Columbus, 247
Christopher, 236 Columbus, Ohio, 63, 92 Colwell, Francis, 66
Robert, 230 Comer, John, 93 Comstock, Benjamin, 102
Louis H., 66
Richard W., 66
William W., 103 Conant, Hezekiah, 70
Samuel M., 66 Concord, N. H., 62 Congdon, Johns H., 67 Connecticut, 85, 108, 151, 211 Conway, Moncure, 17 Cooke, Henry W., 67 Cooper, J. Fennimore, 191
GENERAL INDEX.
Cope, Edward, 73
Gilbert, 140
Copenhagen, Den., 63, 95 Corbin, Isaac, 245
Jabez, 245
Stephen, 245 Cornwallis, 164 Coster, Morris, 64 Cotton, 21
Josiah, 170 Coventry, 64 Cowell, Benjamin, 178
Olivia, 178 Crafts, 37 Crandall, John, 73 Cranston, George K., 64, 67
Henry C., 64, 67
James E., 64, 67, 101 Cranston, R. I., 93 Crawford, 51
Gideon, 122 Cresey, Oliver S., 67 Crins, William H., 67, 78 Cromwell, 247 Cropsey, 51
Cumberland Island, 160 Cumberland & Mendon, 198 Cummings, John E., 67 Curtis, George W., 90
Rebecca, 139 Cushman, 37
Anna B., 89
George F., 89
Henry I., 67
Robert, 37 Daguerre, 177 Dale, Carlia C., 123 Dallin, C. E., 197 Danforth, Charles, 64, 67
John, 87
Walter R., 176, 232 Danielson, John W., 70 Darling, Charles W., 64
Mary, 188
Dart, Edward M., 67 Dassell, 102
Davenport, Iowa, 65 Davis, Andrew McF., 64
Charles H., 189
Henry R., 64, 67
John W., 9, 67
Joshua, 245
Nathan, 245
Paulina W., 189
Sarah A., 191
Thomas, 189
William T., 64, 192
W. R , 162
Davison, Samuel, 245 Davol, Charles, 70 Dawson, Samuel E., 64 Day, Albert C., 67
Daniel, 67
Henry G., 6, 67 Dean, Francis E., 51
Seth H., 51
Silas, 51
Dedham, Mass., 62, 86 Deerfield, Mass.. 65 Delaware, 164 Delaware Bay, 137 Denison, Frederic, 64 Denmark, 233 Denton, Henry C., 64 DePeyster, J. Watts, 64 Desilver, 162, 165 Des Moine, Iowa, 62 D'Estaing, 164 Detroit, Mich., 103 Dewey, Melvil, 64
Samuel, 245 DeWitt, 55 DeWolf, Elizabeth J., 59
John, 59
John J., 16,59,67 Dews, Joseph, 67 Dexter, 221
Ebenezer K., 234, 235, 236
Elizabeth B., u, 67
Gregory, 118, 204, 210, 227
John S., 248
Knight, 247
VI.
RHODE ISLAND HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
Dickenson, 164 Dighton Rock, 95 Dike, Benjamin, 245 Diman, 40, 77, 98
J. Lewis, 97, 105, 107
John B., 67 Dixon, Nathan F., 67 Dodge, James H., 64 Donoghue, John, 196 Dorchester, Mass., 228, 233 Doringh, Charles H. R., 67 Dorr, 194
Henry C., 113, 135
Lydia A., 104
Sullivan, 104
Thomas W., 104, 105 Dorrance, Samuel R., 67 Douglas, Samuel T., 67
William W., 67 Doyle, 77, 247
Thomas A., 98, 105, 232, 236 Drake, Abel, 245 Draper, Daniel, 64 Drowne, Henry R., 64
Henry T., 64, 190
Thomas S., 64 Dudley, 20, 38
Thomas, 38 Duff, M. S. G., 193 Duncan Alexander, 70
S. W., 88
William B., 49, 70 Dunnell, William W., 67 Durfee, Charles S., 67
Job, 171
Thomas, 45, 67 Dwight, 244 Dyer, 77, 141
Anthony, 79
Charles, 105
Charles, 3d, 93
Charles, 4th, 96, 105
Cornelius S., 93, 96
Delia, 96, 105
Elisha, 64, 67, 79, 98, 105
Elisha, Jr., 105
Dyer, Francis J., 98
Mary, 98
Oliver, 7, 9, 15, 67
Sarah B., 79
William, 98
Eames, Benjamin T., 67 East Greenwich, 57, 160, 163, 191 East Providence, 64 Eastman, S. C., 88 Earle, 31
Charles R., 67 Eaton, Amasa, 44
Amasa M., 12, 45, 70 Eddy, Alice, 243
John M., 103, 105, 108
John S., 78
Samuel, 82, 105, 108, 243
Zachariah, 243 Edes, Henry H., 71 Edinburgh, 107 Edmonds, Andrew, 121
William 245
Edwards, Jonathan, 107 Egypt, 189 Eldridge, Edward, 37 Eliot, Charles, 64 Ellis, George E., 16, 19
James, 157
Jonathan, 187 Elton, Romeo, 33, 93 Ely, James W. C., 67
Joseph C., 67
William, 70
William D., n, 29, 35, 64, 67, 80 Emerson, George B., 84 Endicott, 21
John, 107 England, 17, 101, 143, 144, 145, 208,
213, 219 Erasmus, 18 Erie, Pa., 9,65, 71 Ernst, C. H., 64 Estes, 37
Charles, 37, 64 Europe, 28, 51, 234 Evan, Edward, 139
GENERAL INDEX.
Vll.
Everett, Richmond P., 39, 45, 48,
49. 64, 7°
Exeter, N. H., 104 Faneuil, Peter, 107 Farnham, J. E. C., 64
Olive L., 59
Farnsworth, John P., 67 Fay, Frederick A., 64 Fearing, Joseph W., 95, 106 Federal Hill, 171 Felton, 38
Nathaniel, 38 Fenner, 96
Arthur, 87, 117, 118, 120, 243, 250
James, 87, 106, 243
John, 230
Thomas, 243 Ferry, Azariah, 245 Field, Edward, 8, 67, 231
John, 73, 117, 205
Thomas, 199
William, 115, 117, 187, 199, 211,
230
Fields Point, 199 Fifield, Henry A., 67
Moses, 67 Fisher, David, 190
George P., 193 Fisk, John, 193 Fiske, George McC.,67
Robert, 107
Fitzgerald, O. Edward, 67 Flanagan, John, 196 Flatbush, N. Y., 64 Fletcher, Charles, 70
Cotton, 245 Flint, Alonzo, 64
Susan A., 67 Florence, 51, 92 108 Folsom, Albert A., 64, 170, 195 Force, Peter, 167 Fort Adams, 99 Fort Hill, 171 Foster, no, 185
Charles A., 84, no
John, 67
Foster, Samuel, 67
Theodore, 187
William E., 67 Foster, R. I., 233 Fox, George, 123 Fox's Hill, 145, 230 France, 36, 89, 143, 164 Francis, John B.,-i32 Franklin, Mass., 93, 123
N. H., 84 Franklin, Asa, 183, 184, 187
John, 245
Fredericks, William H., 67 Freetown, Mass., 65 French, 37
A. D. Weld, 64
Daniel C., 196 Fretwell, John, 64, 142 Frost, Walter B., 64 Froude, James A., 16 Gambadella, 101 Gammell, Asa M., 67
Edward F., 64
Robert I., 67
William, 47, 67, 80, 81, 106 Garden City, N. Y., 64 Gardiner, Abigail, 89
Asa Bird, 64
Robert H., 89
William, 89 Gardiner, Me., 89 Gardner, Clarence T., 67
Henry B., 67
Rathbone, 67 Gary, Joshua, 245 Gaspee, 87, 173, 174, 190 George, Charles H., 67 Georgi, H. W., 182 Georgia, 7, 160, 163 Gerrish, John, 180 Gibbon, Edward, 193 Gibbs, 161
Charles R., 231 Gifford, Robert P., 67 Giles, 37 Gillson, 37
Vlll.
RHODE ISLAND HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
Gist, 164 Gladding, 87
Benjamin, 185, 187
Kinsley C, 171
Mary E., 100 Gleason, Jonathan, 245 Glezen, Frank, 178 Glocester, R. I., 103, 188, 189, 198,
243 Goddard, Elizabeth C., 9, 67
F. W., 64
Moses B. I., 67
Robert H. I., 67
Thomas P. I., 70
William, 67 Goodwin, Daniel, 67
William W., 133 Gordon, 159 Gorham, John, 171 Gorlitz, Prussia, 64 Gorton, 210, 213, 216, 218
Charles, 6, 64, 70, 72
Samuel, 88, 209, 212 Goupil & Co., 177 Grand Rapids, Mich., 62 Granger, Daniel L. D., 67
William S., 67 Grant, 50, 192
C. R., 236
Henry T., 67
Henry T., Jr., 67 Great Britain, 100, 193, 247 Green, Arnold, 64, 70
Ezra, 38
Samuel A., 64, 133 Greene, 7, 57, 164, 166, 167, 247
Albert C., 106
Albert G., 88, 95, 171
Amos, 248
Benjamin, 187
Charles W., 67
Cornelia L., 160
Edward A., 67
George W., 160
Henry L., 67
Henry W., 67
Greene, John, 88
John H., 88
Joseph, 37
Louisa C., 160
Margaret, 249
Martha W., 160
Nathaniel, 77, 103, 159, 197
Nathaniel R., 160
S. C., 64
Thomas C., 67
W. A., 113
William, 70
W. Maxwell, 67 Grey, Henry P., 51 Grieve, David, 141 Griffin, Stephen W., 64 Gross, J. Mason, 67 Grosvenor, William, 67 Groton, Conn., 232 Guild, Reuben A., 64, 67
Thacher H., 14 Harris, Samuel, 245 Hale, Wendall P., 6, 67 Hall, 170
Benajah, 245
Edward B., 79, 106, 234
Edward H., 79
Emily A., 67
Jenison C., 67
Joseph, 245
Robert, 67
Halleck, Fitz G., in Halley, William, 245 Hallowell, John, 245 Ham, Ruy F., 64 Hamilton, 164, 166
Armour, 245
Stanilaus M., 9, n, 64, 71 Hampton, Wade, 164 Harden, William, 71 Harding, Stephen, 119
Walker, 186, 187 Harkness, Albert, 67 Harmar, 162 Harrington, Henry A., 67
Nathaniel, 245
GENERAL INDEX.
IX.
Harris, 147, 151, 155, 200, 202, 207, 210, 214, 217, 218
Benjamin, 245
George, 245
George W., 169, 171, 172
Thomas, 73, 115, 116
William, 148, 149, 150, 158, 199, 201, 206, 211, 221, 227
William T., 64 Harrison, 164, 170 Harson, M. Joseph, 67 Hart, Charles 45
George, 67
Hartford, Conn., 62, 64, 85 Hartshorn, Sylvester, 171 Harvard, 59 Hatch, Elisha, 245 Havana, 103 Hayes, Henry W.,67
M. M., 181
Hayward, William S., 233, 235, 236 Hazard, Caroline, 8, 9, 15, 23, 49, 70, 127, 192
George J., 67
H. S., 171
Joseph P., 126
Nailer T., 126
Rowland G., 49, 67, 70
Thomas R., 126 Heade, 103
Martin J., 83, 107 Healey, no
George P. A., 84, no, 231, 234 Hersey, George D., 67 Hicks, 37
Ratcliff, 64 Hidden, Henry A., 67 Hide, Benjamin, 245 Higgins, Thomas, 245 Hill, 58, 59
Cromwell, 56
Cynthia W., 56
Elizabeth C., 49, 70
McSparran, 90
Thomas J., 16, 49, 56, 70 Hinckley, C. T., 108
Hitchcock, 96
Charles, 178
Enos, 95, 106, 170
George, 178
Simeon, 245
Hoadley, Charles J., 64, 246 Hodges, William, 245 Holbrook, Albert, 67, 102, 189 Holden, Ebenezer, 245
Fred. A., 64
Randall, 88 Holland, 143
Holmes, Obadiah, 73, 213 Hopkins, 180
Alee, 1 88
Bethiah, 188
Charles W., 64, 67, 137, 191
Deborah, 187, 188
Esek, 77, 190
Ezekiel, 140, 141, 188, 189
Hannah, 188
Hannah C., 191
Isaac, i 88
Jabez, 140, 141, 188, 189
Nehemiah, 188
Phebe, 188
Samuel, 170
Seth, 1 88
Thomas, 188
William, 188
William H., 67
William H., 2d, 67 Hoppin, Benjamin, 187, 234
Frederick S., 67, 101
William J., 68
William W., 71 Horry, Peter, 167 Horton, E. T., 64 Howard, Hiram, 64, 68 Howe, 164
Marc Antony DeW., 68
Samuel G., 84
S. H., 64 Howes, 37
Benjamin, 245
Thomas, 37
X.
RHODE ISLAND HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
Rowland, 96
John, 39, 87, 100, 106, 112
John A., 97
Richard S., 68, 190
Thomas, 96, 194 Hoyt, David W., 68 Hubbard, Luther P., 64 Hudson, James S., 68
John, 83
Huggins, Hannah, 37 Huling, Honor, 139
James, Sr., 139
Ray G., 64, 140 Hull, Isaac, in
Joseph, 126 Hunt, William M., 51 Huntoon, Philip, 38 Hurd, John, 181 Hyde Park, Mass., 65 Illinois, 29 Indiana, 29 Indianapolis, Ind., 62 Inman, Edward, 230 Inverness, 50 Iowa City, la., 62 Ipswich, Mass., 62 Ireland, 101 Italy, 107, 109 Jackson, Andrew, 7, 10, 15
Charles A., 233, 235
Daniel, 72, 245
Roby H., 72
Samuel, 72, 245 Jacques, Ebenezer, 245 James, 83
Charles T., 82, 106, 108
Phebe T., 82
Silas, 82 Jameson, 7, 10
J. Franklin, 5, 12, 64, 68, 167 Japan, 28 Jarvis, 92, in
John W., 91, in Jecht, Richard, 64 Jefferson, 164 Jenckes, Albert V., 64, 68, 93
Jenckes, Ebenezer, 243
John, 181
Joseph, 243
Obadiah, 243
Sarah, 243
Silvanus, 243 Jenkintown, Penn., 64 Jepherson, George A.,!68 Jewett, Marshall, 175 Jillson, 37
Charles D., 85, 106
Esek A., 86
Samantha S., 86 Johnson, 160, 161, 162, 165, 166
Alfred E., 95 Johnston, R. I., 85, 198 Johnston, William B., 43
William D., 5, 15 Jones, Albert J., 47
Augustine, 64, 68 Jones, Charles E., 64
John P., 191
Thomas, x86, 187 Joyce, Edward C., 231 Kalamazoo, Mich.,r.i9o Kansas, 29 Kelly, John B., 68 Kelton, D. H., 38, 64 Kendall, Hiram, 68 Kent, 104 Kenyon, Elizabeth C., 59
James S., 68 Kew, Eng., 100 Keyes, Robert, 245 Key West, 28 Kidder, 94
J-, 172 Kimball, 171
Horace A., 68
James M., 68
Charles R., 85
King George III.,.ioo, 106, 247 King, George G., 70
Henry M., 68, 73
Henry W., 5, 15
LeRoy, 70
GENERAL INDEX.
XL
King Philip's War, 250 King, Samuel G., 106
Samuel W., 85
William D., 68 Kingsbury, 55
Kingston, R. I., 63, 65, 81, 93, no Knight, Edward B., 68
Jabez C, 8, 38, 64, 100, 235
Walter C., 232 Knowles, 100, 112
Edward P , 232
John P., 100, 106
Mary H., 70 Knox, 89, 164 Koopman, Henry L., 9, 10, 16, 64,
68
Kosciuszko, 164 Ladd, Herbert W., 68 Lafayette, 101, 162, 163, 250 Lafelin, John, 245 Lake Erie, 7, 91, in Landers, Albert C., 64 Lansing, Mich., 62 Lapham, Benjamin N., 45 Lardner, Esther H. E., 172 Larned, 22
La Rochelle, France, 98 Lathrop, John, 170 Laurens, 163 Lausanne, 194 Lawrence, Joseph, 180, 181 Leach, Josiah G., 64 Leare, Jane, 230 Lee, 166
Edmund I., 165
Henry, 162, 163, 165
Richard H., 164 Leete, George F., 68 Lewes, Eng., 83, 84 Lewis, Elijah, 248 Lexington, 78 Ley den, 193 Liberia, 97
Lincoln, 45, 46, 94, no, 164, 188 Ferdinand, 68 Ferdinand A., 46, 47, 48, 49
Lincoln, James S., 64, 80, 83, 85, 86,
87, 88, 95, 99, 109, 179, 232 Lingane, David F., 68 Lippitt, Charles, 178
Charles W., 68
Christopher, 68, 77
Henry, 178
Jeremiah, 32 Little, Alfred H., 65 Little Compton, 9 Little Rest, 81 Littlefield, Edward B., 160 Lockwood, Amos D., 70 London, 63, 89, 107, 144 Longfellow, 84 Long Island, 161 Loomis, Aaron, 245
Samuel, 244
William, 245 Lord, Augustus M., 68 Los Angeles, Cal., 62, 63 Louisbourg, 193 Louisquissett, 188 Lowell, Mass., 92 Luther, George E., 68 Lyman, Daniel W., 79 Lynn, Mass., 242 Macdougall, Hamilton C., 8, 68 Maceright, James, 245 MacMonnies, F. W., 197 Madison, Wis., 63, 65 Maine, 5, 57, 244 Malbone, Edward, 179
Edward G., no Man. William, 245 Mann, Horace, 84 Manchester, Alfred, 71
Bros, 99
Manly, John M., 68 Manton, Shadrach, 117, 118 Manville, 188 Marblehead, 170 Marchant, E. D., 82 Marietta, Ohio, 103 Marion, 163 Marquand, H. G., 65
Xll.
RHODE ISLAND HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
Marshall, Peter, 245 Marshfield, Mass., 84 Marston, John, 181 Martinez, Cal., 64 Mashapaug, 118, 120, 147, 150 Mason, 51, 52,54, 144
Abby M., 50
A. Livingston, 68
Benjamin, 50
Earl Philip, 68
Edith B. H., 68
Eugene W., 68, 102
George C., 16, 50, 92, 97, 192
George C., Jr., 52
John, 180, 181
John W., 68, 101, 102, 106
John H. & Son, 101
John N., 102
Margaret M., 50
Sanford, 91, 108, 178 Massachusetts, 5, n, 18, 19, 143, 144, 146, 148, 149, 154, 200, 204,
2O5, 2O9, 2IO, 211, 212, 213, 215, 2l6, 219, 220, 222, 225, 244, 249
Massachusetts Bay, 19, 20 Mathers, 21
Mathewson, Frank M., 8, 68 Matteson, Charles, 68
George W. R., 68 Mauran, 37
James E., 82 McCabe, Anthony, 65 McCleary, Samuel F., 133 McCormick, William H., 65 McDaniel, John, 245 McGuinness, Edwin D., 68 McLain, John, 245 McLane, 181 McLean, 189 McSparran, 83, 84, 91
Hannah G., 89, 106
James, 89, 90, 106 Mead, William B., 68 Meader, Lewis H., 68 Mecklenburg-Strelitz, 100 Medfield, Mass., 81
Medford, Mass., 79 Membo, 246 Metcalf, Alfred, 68
Henry B., 68
Joel, 6r
Maria, 61
Sussanna H., 61 Mexico, 95
Miantonomi, 144, 148, 150, 155, 213 Middleborough, Mass., 103, 177 Middletown, Conn., 37, 71 Millard, 248 Miller, Augustus S., 68
Lewis L., 93, 106
Phineas, 160 Milton, 247 Milton, Mass., 86 Miner, Francis W., 65, 68 Minnesota, 9 Missouri, 29 Mitchell, Thomas, 68
Thomas S., 189 Montpelier, Vt., 63, 64 Montreal, Canada, 64 Mooshassuc, 144, 145, 146 Morris, Edward D., 65
Gouverneur, 164
Robert, 164
Morrison, J. H., 141, 188 Mosley, William H. T., 65 Moshassuck, 153, 154, 199, 201, 203,
209, 2IO, 2l6, 219, 221, 222, 223
Mott, Herbert, 68 Moulton, David C., 68
Edmund T., 68 Mount, William S., 178 Mowry, William A., 65 Mullin, William, 245 Mumford, John T., 70
Joseph, 187
Sarah S., 65
Munro, Wilfred H., 12, 44, 68 Murray, Thomas H., 9, 15 Nantes, 50 Nantucket, 102
GENERAL INDEX.
Xlll.
Narragansett, 40, 90, 143, 144, 149, 204
Bay, 222
Church, 91
Pier, 123
Nary, Greenwich, 246, 247 Nashville, Term., 63 Natick, 5 Nean, 50 Nebraska, 29 Negro, Cuffe, 245
Samuel, 245
William, 245 Neutakonkanut, 147, 150 New Bedford, Mass., 59, 173 New England, 21, 225 New Haven, Conn., 62, 63 New Jersey, 29
New London, Conn., 62, 84, 91, 115
New York, 7, 8,29, 50, 62, 63, 64, 65,
70, 71, 76, 78, 91, 92, 104, 108,
no, in, 140, 161, 166, 174, 177,
190, 244
New York City, n, 61 Newark, N. J., 72 Newburyport, Mass., 83 Newell, W. W. 65 Newfoundland, 142 Newman, J. H., 17 Newport, 50, 51, 53, 62, 65, 70,73, 76, 83, 84, 87, 92, 93, 101, 102, 103, 107, no, 137, 139, 142, 145, 154, 191, 211, 217, 232, 237 Nichols, 184
Amos G., 68
Andrew, 123, 126 Nicholson, Samuel M., 68
Stephen, 68
Nickerson, Edward I., 68 Niehaus, C. H., 197 Nightingale, George C., 68, 103
John C., 160
Phinehas M., 162, 163
Samuel A., 8, 68
William, 7 Nisbet, Catherine, 60
Nisbet, William, 60
William D., 16, 60, 65 North Carolina, 101
Kingston, 72, in
Providence, 70, 198 Norton, Avis, 249 Norton, Mass., 232 Norwich, Conn., 64 Nottinghamshire, 192 Noyes, Charles P., 9, 10, 71
Isaac P., 65, 71
Joseph, 248
Samuel M., 45, 47 Ohio, 29
Olds, Jonathan, 245 Olney, 207, 214, 217, 228
Christopher, 248
Discovered, 1 16
Epenetus, 227, 243
Frank F., 65, 68, 233, 235
George H., 68
G. W., 65
James, 116, 243
Jeremiah, 77
Mary, 243
Stephen, 77, 94
Thomas, Sr., 115, 116, 221, 228
"Thomas, Jr., 113, 117, 206, 214,
218, 227, 230, 243 Oregon, 29 Ormsbee, Elijah, 140 Oyster Bay, L. I., 107 Oxford, 17 Pabodie, Benjamin G., 70
Elizabeth A., 72 Packard, Alpheus S., 65, 68 Page, Charles H., 68 Paget, Henry. 102 Paige, 134 Paine, Charles E., 68
George T., 70, 246
Nathaniel, 167
Susanna, 94, 109, 178 Palmer, Job, 72
John S., 68 Paris, 51
XIV.
RHODE ISLAND HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
Park, Edward A., 71 Parker, Edward D. L., 68 Parsons, Charles W., 6 Pawtucket, 9, n, 56, 59, 63, 65, 70, 86, 147, 150, 176
Falls, 115 Pawtuxet, 158, 201, 202, 210, 213,
215, 216
Payne, Abraham, 171 Peace Dale, 8, 70. 123 Peck, Allen, 187
George B., 65
Ira, 47
Walter A., 68
Peckham, Samuel, W., 45, 65, 68, Pegan, Samuel, 245 Pegram, John C., 65, 68 Peirce, '37
Ebenezer W., 37, 65 Pendleton, 161
Joseph, 195
Pennsylvania, 9, 29, 159, 164 Perkins, John, 245 Perkinson, Christopher, 245 Persons, Benjamin W., 68 Perry, 9, 44, 108, in, 188, 247
Amos, 25, 42, 65, 68, 113, 128, 130, 140
John G., 92
Marsden J., 68
Oliver H., 53, 91, 92, 106, 111,241
William S., 65 Pettis, George H., 68 Petit, 162 Philadelphia, 50, 62, 63, 81, 82, 92,
108, no, 139, 162, 166 Philbrook, Thomas W., 38 Phillips, Amey, 242
Gilbert A., 68
Henry, Jr., 81
Theodore W., 68 Pickens, 164
Pinckney, Charles C., 160, 161, 162 Pitcher & Gay, 56 Pitman, 77
John, 99, 106
Plymouth, Mass., 6, 64, no, 143,
148, 149, 174, 192, 210, 216 Point Judith, 123 Poland, William C., 237 Policy, John, 245 Pool, William F., 16,71 Port Spain, 91 Porter, Emory H., 68 Portland, Me., 5, 62, 64
Oregon, 29
Portsmouth, R. I., 70, 98, 212 Potter, 40, 82
Albert, 65
Asa K., 68
Elisha R., 33, 81, 85, 106
Horatio, 84
Mary E., 65, 82
Simeon, 173
William K., 233, 235 Powell, 197
William H., 92 Powers, 51 Pratt, B. L., 196
Gideon, 245 Pray, Mary, 189
Richard, 230 Prescott, Richard, 89 Preston, Howard W., 29, 68 Preston & Rounds, 250 Providence, 5, 8, 18, 25, 32,38,47, 48, 49. 55. 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 70, 72, 74, 76, 79, 81, 84, 86, 87, 89, 93, 94, 97, 99, 101, 103, 104, 108, 109, 115, 116. 132, 137, 140, 145, 148, 150, 158, 166, 168, 170, 176, 178, 182, 198, 199,
2O3,2O7,2IO,2I5, 217, 22O, 222, 226,230, 231, 232, 233, 234, 235, 242, 243, 246, 250
Prussia, 233 Purple. Samuel S., 71 Putnam, 37 Quebec, Canada, 62 Queen Anne, 123 Queen Charlotte, 106 Quincy, Edmund, 107
GENERAL INDEX.
XV.
Quinnichicutt, 148 Ramsay, 159 Randolph, John, in Rawson, Asa, 187
Edward, 242
Elizabeth, 242
Grindal, 242
Stephen, 242
Wilson, 185, 187, 242 Read, 164
Reed, Joseph, 159, 162 Rehoboth, 86. 115 Remick, Augustus, 6, 68 Revere, Paul, 170 Reynolds, William, 73
William J., 68
Rhode Island, 5, 9, 15, 23, 24, 26, 41, 77, 80, 81, 83, 85, 90, 93, 100, 102, 118, 129, 139, 146, 164, 166, 180, 190, 197, 205, 211, 229, 249, 250
Rhodes, Edward S., 65, 235 Rice, Ephraim, 2-45
Franklin P., 71
Thomas, 248 Rich, Paul, 245 Richards, Henry F., 68 Richardson, John, 245
Zachariah, 139 Richmond, Caroline, 68
Ebenezer, 187
John W., 78
Walter, 68
William E., 168 Richmond, Va., 63 Rickard, George, 73 Rider, 81
Rio de Janerio, 62 Ripley, James M., 45, 68 River Columbia, 29 River Moos, 155 River Moshassuck, 113, 114, 117,
*47
River Pawtucket, 149
River Pawtuxet, 140, 148, 155
River Providence, 112, 114
River Seekonk, 115, 151
River Wonas, 155
River Wonasquatucket, 147, 226
Robbins, Gilbert F., 233
Roberts, Thomas 115, 116
Robertson, Benjamin, 245
Robinson, 50
Rochambeau, 164
Rochester, 81
Rodman, 31
Benjamin, 126
William M., 232 Roelker, William G., 68 Rogers, 91
Arthur, 65, 68
Horatio, 49, 70
John F., 91, in Rolfe, John, 245 Rome, 51, 96, 106, 163, 168 Rose, Henry B., 65 Rugg, Henry W., 65, 68 Russell, Henry G., 70 Rutledge, 164
Edward, 160
Henry, 160
Rowland, David S., 170 Sabin, Ann E., 61
Charles, 16, 61
Hezekiah, 61 Sacket, Benjamin, 245
Benoni, 245 Saffin, John, 36 Sag Harbor, N. Y., 65, 82 St. Clair, 164
Arthur, 191 St. Gaudens, Augustus, 196
Louise, 197
St. Johnsbury, Vt, 242 St. Paul, Minn., 9, 71, 100 Salem, Mass., 57, 62, 63, 71, 224
N. J., 139 Salisbury, 84
Evelyn McC., 37 Sampson, Murdock & Co., 191 Sands, David, 123 Sandwich Islands, 29
XVI.
RHODE ISLAND HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
Sanford, Laura G., 9, 10, 65, 71 San Francisco, 28, 62 Savage, John, 37 Savannah, Ga., 71, no Sayward, Ebenezer, 245 Scholfield, A. G., 65 Schooner Gaspee, 102, 170 Scituate, 140, 188, 189, 198 Scotland, 50, 60, 70 Scott, Benjamin, 245
John, 118
Richard, 73
Samuel, 244 Scrooby, 192 Seagrave, Caleb, 68 Seekonk, 144, 198, 231 Sharpe, Lucian, 70 Shaw, 166
James, 160
Shedd, J. Herbert, 65, 68 Sheffield, William P., 173
William P., Jr., 68 Sheldon, Charles H., Jr., 68
George, 65
Nicholas, 68
Shepard, George, 113, 114, 115, 120 Shepley, George L., 68 Sibley, Frederick, T., 103 Simmons, Mercy P., 72
William, 72 Simons, Peleg, 248 Sisson, Henry T., 9, 68 Skipwith, Peyton, 160 Slater, Horatio N., 69
Samuel, 57 Slocum, Edward, 248 Smith, Benjamin W., 65, 69
Charles C., 133
Charles H., 6, 8, 10, n, 12, 23, 47, 48, 49, 65, 70, 79, 169
Charles S., 233, 235
Edwin A., 69
Ephraim, 245
Gerritt, 189
James Y., 70, 232
John, 230
Smith, John W., 47
Joseph J., 65
Scott A.. 65, 90 Smithfield, 198 Smybert, 83, 84
James, 89
John, 107
Snow, Joseph, Jr., 187 Snow & Munro, 100 Soldash, 148 South America, 91 South Carolina, 160, 220 South Kingstown, 8, 9, 15, 70,81, 82,
83, 9°, 9i» 92> I23 South Lincoln, n Southwick, Isaac H., 69
Isaac H., Jr., 25, 69 Sowle, Cornelius, 96, 106 Spark, 163, 166 Spencer, Elisha, 245 Spicer, William A., 69 Spink, Joseph E., 69 Spofford, 196 Spooner, Henry J., 69 Sprague, 38
Amasa, no . Springfield, 37 Stacy, John, 245 Staples, 45, 46, 112, 147, 170, 174
William R., 32, 33, 94, 106 Stark, Charles R., 69 Stedman, James, 248 Steere, Henry J., 45, 47, 94, 135 Stephens, Andrew, 244 Stetson, C. W., 233 Steuben, 162, 164 Stevens, Samuel, 245
Thomas, Jr., 245 Stiles, Ephraim, 245
Ezra, 170, 179
Stiness, John H., 6, 12, 44, 69, 195 Stone, Alfred, 69
S. M. E., 65 Straus, 21
Oscar S., n, 20, 71 Strickland, 52
GENERAL INDEX.
XV11.
Stringer, Steven, 245 Studley, Thomas E., 69 Sturges, Howard O., 69 Sumner, Charles, 81, 163 Sumter, 163 Swampscott, 73 Swan, Jarvis B., 70
Robert T., 65, 248 Swarts, Gardiner T., 65, 69 Sweatman, Joseph, 245 Symonds, Joseph W., 5, 15 Taft, Royal C, 69 Talbot, Frederick, 69
Silas, 187
Taunton, Mass., 63, 109 Taylor, Benjamin G., 186
Charles F., 69
Peter, 185, 187 Teel, George W., roo, 106 Tennessee, 160 Terry, 51
William D., 109 Thacher, Peter, 87 Thayer, James S., 163 Thomas, Charles L., 69 Thompson, Cephas G., 96, 108, 177
Hubert O., 178
Jerome, 177
M., 109, 177
Thornton, George M., 69 Throckmorton, John, Sr., 117, 149 Thurber, Charles H., 65 Thurston, Benjamin F., 69 Thyng, J. T., 65 Tiepke, Henry E., 65 Tiffany, 92 Tilley, R. H., 237 Tillinghast, 72
James, 45, 69,71
Pardon, 249
Philip, 249
William, 246 Titus, Anson, 5, 15 Tivoli, N. Y., 64 Tolman, William H., 22, 65 Tooker, William W., 65
Toronto, Canada, 62 Tourtellot, Amasa C., 69 Tower, James H., 69 Tower Hill, 126 Town, Elijah, 245 Tracy, 249 Traver, Adelia E. A., 69
Delia, E. A., 65 Tribon, Agnes C., 102 Trippe, Samuel G., 69 Troup, John L., 70 Truman, Thomas, 187 Trumbull, J. Hammond, 118 Tucker, William P., n, 69 Tufts, Ruth, 72 Turkey, 20 Turner, Henry, 160
Henry E., 65, 69
John, 245
William G., 92 Tyler, 170 United States, 18, 28, 51, 95, 163,
193, 250 Updike, Daniel B., 69, 83
Mary, 89
Wilkins, 85, 89, 93 Upjohn, 52 Utah, 29, 145 Utica, N. ¥.,63,64, 71 Van Zandt, Charles C., 23 Varnum, 161, 164 Vene, John, 245 Verin, 229
Joshua, 226, 227 Vermont, 59
E. deV., 37 Vienna, 104 Vincent, Walter B., 69 Vinton, 37
Frances J., 80
Frederick, 98
John, 37 Virginia, 164
Virtue, Emmins & Co., 174 Von Gottschalck, Mary H. B., 67 Voorhees, D. W., 65
XV111.
RHODE ISLAND HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
Vose, 6, 1 1
James G., 10, 44, 65, 69 Wadsworth, 163 Wait, Joseph, 245 Wakefield, R. I., 36, 64, 92, 123
William, 245 Walcutt, William, 92 Waldo, Samuel, 140 Walker, John P., 70 Wall, William A., 173 Walter, 52
Wanskuck-fields, 115 Wanton, 107
Joseph, 83, 84, 106
Mary, 106
Mary W., 84 Ward, 161, 166
J. Q. A, 196 Wareham, Mass., 95 Warfield, Samuel, 245 Warner, John, 73
Olin L., 197
Warren, Edward P., 83, 84 Warren, R. I., 9, 37, 64, 89, 233 Warwick, 70, 88, 137, 213, 232 Warwick, Earl of, 215, 216 Washington, 9, n, 62, 63, 64, 71, 85, 89, 91, 92, in, 128, 130, 159, 162, 163, 194, 196, 197, 247 Washington, George, 77, 179 Watch Hill, 195 Waterman, 184, 248
Jona., 248
Nath., 118
Resolved, 115, 116, 117
Richard, 118
Rufus, 69
Waters, Henry F. G., 71 Watkins, George, 244 Watson William H., 71 Wayland, 77
Francis, 84, 91, 106 Wayne, Anthony, 163 Webb, Samuel H., 69
Thomas H., 95 Webster, 7, 15, no
Webster, Daniel, 18, 84, 106, no
Thomas, 245 Weeden, 164
M. L., 65
William B., ro, 16, 69, 187, 249 Weeks, Francis, 73 Weld, William G., 70 Well, Samuel H., 65 Welling, Richard W. G., 69 West, George J., 69 West Chester, Pa., 140 West Greenwich, 82 West Indies, 224 Westcott, Amasa S., 45 Westerly, 195 Weston, George F., 6, 69 Wetmore, George P., 70 Weybosset Bridge, 112, 120, 121 Weymouth, Mass., 37 Wharton, Francis, 6 Wheaton, Henry, no, 233, 234 Wheeler, 37
Richard, 72 Whipple, 194, 228
Abraham, 102, 106, 190
Freelove, 243
John, Sr., 115, 116, 117
John, 103, 114, 116, 157, 171, 227,
243
Joseph, 102, 122, 243
Mary D., 102
Noah, 102 Whitaker, Daniel, 186, 187
Francis A., 65
Harriet M., 169
Henry C., 169, 171 Whitaker, Nelson B., 69 White, Moses, 232
Stillman, 6, 69 Whitford, George W., 69 Whitman, John, 37
Sarah H.. 177
Valentine, 115, 116 Wickenden, William, 73, 205, 230 Wickes, Francis, 230 Wickford, 90
GENERAL INDEX.
XIX.
Wilbour, Belinda O., 70
Joshua, 65, 69 Wilbur, George A., 69 Wiley, Joseph, 186, 187 Williams, 113, 143, 144, 145, 146, 150, 151, 152, 153, 154, 155, 156,
157, 158, 200, 201, 203, 204, 207, 2O9, 2IO, 212, 213, 214, 2l8. 22O, 221, 225, 228, 248
Catharine, 106
Catherine R., 93
Nath., 244
Otho, 162, 164
Roger, 12, 20, 21, 23, 24, 27, 112, 114, 117, 118, 119, 120, 127, 147, 148, 197, 199, 202, 206, 235, 236, 247
Simeon, 186, 187
Zadoc, 1 86, 187
Zephaniah, 69 Wilson, Edmund R., 69
E. H., 65
George Grafton, 69
John & Son, 109 Winslow, 149 Winsor, Joshua, 73
Justin, 133, 193 Winthrop, 21, 145, 146, 152, 211, 212
Winthrop, John, 18
John S., 84
Robert C., 16 Wisconsin, 136 Witter, William, 73 Wolcott, Henry, 69 Wood, William G., 65 Woodberry, John, 245 Woodbridge, William C., 84 Woodman, 37 Woods, Marshall, 69 Woodward, Royal, 70 Woolman, John, 123 Woolworth, Richard, 37 Woonasquatucket, 225 Worcester, Mass., 62, 63, 71, 136,
167
Work, Godfrey, 65 Worrall, John, 168 Wright, Carroll D., 65 Young, Edward J., 133 Young, Edward R., 84, 106, 108
George F., 84
John, 84
Nathan B., 84
Thomas, 101, 103, 108 Zanesville, Ohio, 249
BINDING SECT.
F
76
R5
n.s.
v.3
Rhode Island Historical Society
Publications
PLEASE DO NOT REMOVE CARDS OR SLIPS FROM THIS POCKET
UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO LIBRARY