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DECIES    REPETITA    PLACEBIT." 


Picturesque-- 

Rhode  Island. 

PEN  AND  PENCIL  SKETCHES 

Of  the  Scenery  and  History  of  its  Cities,  Towns  and  Ham- 
lets, AND  of  Men  who  have  made  them  Famous. 


WILFRED    H.    MUNRO. 


Providence  :  J.  A.  &  R.  A.  Reid,  Publishers. 


ia«ir 


Chealrred 
May  1913 


THENEW  YORK 

PUBLIC  LIBRARY 

144382 

ASTOR   LENOX  AND 

TILDEM  FCU\'0ATION8 

1S00 


Copyright. 

J.  A.  &  R.  A.  KEID,  Providence. 

iSSi. 


fB^W^^^^^W 


PREFACE. 


"Decies  repetita  placebit."  —  Though  ten  times  repeated, 
the  story  of  the  earHer  and  hiter  days  of  the  towns  and  cities  of  his 
native  state  will  always  be  pleasing  to  every  true-hearted  American. 
Picturesque  Rhode  Island  is  not  meant  to  be  a  history  of  the 
"  State  of  Rhode  Island  and  Providence  Plantations  :  "  the  extended 
and  comprehensive  work  of  Mr.  Samuel  G.  Arnold,  and  the  admir- 
able little  volume  of  Professor  Greene,  render  further  labors  in  the 
Rhode  Island  historical  field  unnecessary  at  the  present  time.  Its 
object  is  to  give  in  concise  and  simple  form  a  picturesque  account 
of  the  origin  and  growth  of  the  several  towns  of  the  State,  and  to 
note  the  prominent  features  they  now  present  to  the  eyes  of  those 
who  look  upon  them.  To  accomplish  this  object  both  pen  and  pencil 
have  been  employed.  Brief  sketches  of  the  careers  of  men  whose 
lives  have  been  unusually  noteworthy  have  been  given,  and  many 
particulars,  which,  tliough  interesting  in  themselves,  would  possibly 
be  crowded  by  stern  necessity  from  the  chapters  of  a  purely  historical 
work,  have  found  a  place  in  its  pages. 

As  is  almost  always  the  case  where  a  preface  is  written  before  all 
the  pages  that  are  to  follow  it  have  been  placed  in  the  hands  of  the 


Picturesque  Rhode  Island. 


printer,  it  has  become  necessary  to  make  a  few  additions  to  the  "  fore- 
words" put  forth  some  four  months  ago,  in  the  preceding  paragraph. 
Before  the  first  half  of  this  book  had  been  placed  in  type  it  had 
become  plainly  evident  that   if  I   adhered    to    the    plan   previously 
marked  out  it  would  be  quite  impossible  to  complete  the  work  in  time 
for  its  publication  for  the  summer  season.     Unexpected  events  had 
made  such  an  inroad  upon  my    time  that   assistance    became  abso- 
lutely necessary.     The  pen  of  Mr.   Robert  Grieve,    of  Providence, 
was  therefore  placed  at  my  disposal.     To  Mr.  Grieve  must  be  given 
most  of  the  credit  for  the  articles  upon  Pawtucket,  North  Providence 
and  Lincoln,  the  two  Smithfields,  Johnston,  Cranston,  Scituate,  Fos- 
ter, Coventry,  Exeter,  Hopkinton  and  Jamestown  ;    and  for  the  notes 
upon  the  commerce  and  the  manufactures  of  Providence  and  of  War- 
wick.    The  sketches   of  Woonsocket,   Burrillville,   Glocester,  East 
and  West  Greenwich,  Westerly,  Charlestown,  Richmond  and  New 
Shoreham,  and    most  of  the  historical   portion  of  the  article  upon 
Providence  are  from  the  careful  hand  of  Miss  Ellen  R.  Luthery^f 
Bristol. 


WILFRED  H.  MUNRO. 


Bristol,  R.  I.,  June  15,  iSSi. 


_ £ 

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1                '   Vs 

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1         'f-^'"^^- 

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— =^ 

CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER    1. 

THE    EARLY  VOYAGERS   ALONG  THE    COAST    OF   RHODE    ISLAND 

THE    NORTHMEN SEBASTIAN    CABOT VERRAZANI BAR- 
THOLOMEW GOSNOLD  AND  HIS  COLONY ADRIAN  BLOCK,  THE 

DUTCH  NAVIGATOR LATER  VOYAGERS,       .        .       .       PagES   17-22 

CHAPTER    II. 

NEWPORT HOW    THE    TOWN    CAME    TO    BE    FOUNDED  ALON(; 

THE  WHARVES PIRATES  AND  PRIVATEERS THE   JEWS  

FAMOUS    MEN    AND     PRINCELY     MERCHANTS     OF     THE    OLDEN- 
TIME THE  BRITISH    OCCUPATION    AND    ITS    RESULTS THE 

VISIT  OF  THE  FRENCH  TROOPS THE  BELLES  OF  AQUIDNECK 

AFTER    THE    WAR  THE    WONDERFUL    REVIVAL    OF    THE 

"  CITY  BY  THE   SEA," PaGES   23-52 

CHAPTER    III. 


MIDDLETOWN DEAN    BERKELEY ISAAC    BARKER  S     SERVICES 

DURINC;    THE    REVOLUTION.        PORTSMOUTH  THE     SETTLE- 
MENT AT  POCASSET THE  CAPTURE  OF  PRESCOTT.       LITTLE 

COMPTON AWASHONKS,    THE    SQUAW     SACHEM,  AND    CAPT. 

BENJAMIN    CHURCH.         TIVERTON  WEETAMOE,     QUEEN     OF 

POCASSET THE  CAPTURE  OF  THE   "  PIGOT"  GALLEY, 

Pages  53-76 


Picturesque  Rhode  Island. 


CHAPTER    IV. 

BRISTOL THE  VOYAGES  OF  THE  NORTHMEN PHILIP  OF  POKA- 

NOKET THE    PRIVATEER   "YANKEE" THE    SLAVE-TRADE 

COMMERCIAL  PROSPERITY    AND    DECAY.       WARREN MAS- 

SASOIET,   THE  FRIEND    OF    THE    WHITE    MAN SOME  FAMOUS 

SHIPS.       BARRINGTON  THE   THREE  RANKS  OF  INHABITANTS 

CAPT.    THOMAS    WILLET, PaGES  77-IO3 


CHAPTER    V. 

east  PROVIDENCE SILVER  SPRING OCEAN  COTTAGE SQUAN- 

TUM  A     RHODE     ISLAND  CLAM-BAKE  TRISTAM     BURGES. 

PAWTUCKET    FALLS THE    FIRST    SETTLERS THE  JENKSES 

—  CAPT.  Pierce's  fight  —  the  falls  at  various  times 

sam  patch samuel   slater  and  the  development 

of  manufactures.     north  providence.     lincoln, 

Pages  104  -  134 

CHAPTER    VI. 

CUMBERLAND WILLIAM     BLACKSTONE NINE     MEN's     MISERY. 

WOONSOCKET EDWARD    HARRIS    AND    THE     HARRIS     INSTI- 
TUTE  MANUFACTURES EDUCATION.  SMITHFIELD     AND 

NORTH     SMITHFIELD.        BURRILLVILLE JAMES     BURRILL 

THE  forger's  cave, Pages  135-157 


CHAPTER    VII. 

GLOCESTER THE  TORY  EXILES THE  DORR  WAR.       FOSTER 

THEODORE    FOSTER    AND    SOLOMON    DROWNE.       SCITUATE 

COMMODORE     HOPKINS STEPHEN     HOPKINS.        JOHNSTON 

LOTTERIES.        CRANSTON THESPRAGUES.  PAWTUXET 

STATE  INSTITUTIONS, PaGES   I58-178 


Contents. 


CHAPTER    VIII. 

providence rocikr  williams  and  "  soul  liberty'' man- 
ners and  customs  in  early  days old-time  "con- 
veniences" for  traveling roger  williams   park 

churches  and  educational  institutions details  re- 
specting the  commerce the  rise  of  manufactures, 

Pages  179-226 

CHAPTER    IX. 

WARWICK  SAMUEL      (JORTON  FAMOUS      SHORE      RESORTS 

ROCKY   POINT OAKLAND    BEACH BUTTONWOODS MANU- 
FACTURES    CAPTURE    OF     THE     "  GASPEE."       COVENTRY  

EARLY    DAYS    AND     SETTLERS.       EAST    GREENWICH JEMIMA 

WILKINSON.      WEST    GREENWICH  THEOPHILUS    WHALLEY. 

EXETER  AND  HOPKINTON, PaGES  227-255 


CHAPTER    X. 

WESTERLY THE    NIANTIC    INDIANS THE    FIRST    WHITE    SET- 
TLERS  THE    GREAT  AWAKENING WESTERLY  GRANITE 

FOUR    NOTED     MEN.        CHARLESTOWN NINIGRET's      FORT 

THE     CORONATION     OF     QUEEN     ESTHER.        RICHMOND THE 

FIGHT  AT  SHANNOCK  MILLS, PagES  256-274 


CHAPTER    XI. 

NORTH  AND  SOUTH  KINGSTOWN RICHARD  SMITH THE  GREAT 

SWAMP    FIGHT  — LARGE   ESTATES  —  ANCIENT   NARRAGANSETT 

SLAVE      ELECTIONS    NARRAGANSETT       PACERS    DR. 

McSPARRAN THE    "UNFORTUNATE    HANNAH    ROBINSON  "  

GILBERT  CHARLES  STUART.      JAMESTOWN.       BLOCK    ISLAND. 

THE  LEGEND  OF  THE  "PALATINE,"       ....       Pa(;ES    275-3OI 


ILLUSTRATIONS. 


View  of  Newport  from  the  Har- 
bor,     

Gay  Head  Light,     .... 

Brenton's  Reef  Lightship,     . 

Landing  of  Gosnold,  1602,  . 

Fort  Adams,  Newport,     .     . 

The  Beach  at  Newport,    .     . 

Thames  Street,  Newport, 

The  Casino,   Newport,     .     . 

The  Channing  Memorial  Church, 
Newport, 

Spouting  Rock,  Newport,     . 

Lime  Rocks,  Newport      .     . 

The  Drives,  Newport,       .     . 

The  Jewish  Cemetery,  Newport, 

The    Old    Coddington     House, 
Newport, 

Ancient  Days,  Newport,   .     . 

A  Newport  Cottage,     .     .     . 

The  Lorillard  Cottage,  Newport 

Bird's-eye  View  of  Newport, 

Redwood  Library,         " 

Trinity  Church,  " 

Perry  Monument,  " 

Forty  Steps,  " 

Land's  End, 

Purgatory,  " 

The  Old  Mill, 

TheTent  on  the  Beach,  Newport,  53 


16 
18 

19 

20 
21 

22 
24 
25 

26 
27 
28 
29 
30 

31 
32 
33 
35 
38 
41 
43 

45 
46 

47 
48 

50 


PAGE 

Whitehall,  Newport,     ....  57 

Happy  Valley, 59 

The  Glen, 61 

A  Glimpse  of  Bristol  Ferry,       .  ^3^ 

Old  Wind-mill, 65 

Mount  Hope, 69 

Cold  Spring  Monument,  Mount 

Hope, 71 

The  Northmen's   Rock,  Mount 

Hope  Bay, 73 

Residence     of    A.    O.    Bourn, 

Bristol, 76 

The  Oldest  house  in  Bristol,     .  78 
Residence  of  Wm.  T.  C.  Ward- 
well,  Bristol, 80 

Bristol  from  the  Harbor,  ...  81 

St.  Michael's  Church,  Bristol,   .  82 
Chapel  of  St.  Michael's  Church, 

Bristol, 82 

High  Street,  Bristol,    ....  83 
Residence  of  Mrs.  R.  D.  Smith, 

Bristol 84 

The  Rogers  Free  Library,  Bris- 
tol,       85 

The  Town  Hall,  Bristol,   ...  86 
The  Congregational  Church, 

Bristol, 87 

The  Methodist      Episcopal 

Church,  Bristol, 88 


List  of  Illustrations. 


Residence  of  Gen.  A.  E.  Burn- 
side,  Bristol, 89 

The  Baptist  Church,  Bristol,  .  90 
Residence  of  S.  P.  Colt,  Esq., 

Bristol,        9' 

The  Methodist  Episcopal  Church, 

Warren, 9- 

Warren  —  From  the  Beacon,  .  93 
A  View  of  Main  St..  Warren,  .  95 
The  Baptist  Church,         ''         .     97 

Nayatt  Point, 99 

The  Old    Watson    House,   Bar- 

rington, 

Silver  Spring 

Squantum, 

Hunt's  Mills,  East  Providence, 

Ocean  Cottage, 

Pawtucket  Falls,  1S81,  .  .  . 
Universalist  Church,  Pawtucket, 
Pawtucket  Falls,  1789,  .  .  . 
Trinity  Church,  Pawtucket,  .  . 
A  View  in  Main  Street,  Paw- 
tucket,      

Pawtucket  from  below  Division 

Street  Bridge, 

Music  Hall,  Pawtucket,    .     .     . 
The    Congregational   Church, 
Pawtucket,       ...... 

The  River,  from  Exchange  St. 
Bridge,  Pawtucket,  .... 

The  Pumping  Station,  Pawtucket, 
First  Baptist  Church,         " 
Old  Slater  Mill,  Pawtucket, 
Glimpse  of  Lonsdale,  .... 

Butterfly  Factory,  Lincoln,  .  . 
Baptist  Church,  Central  Falls,  . 
University  Buildings,  Prov,, 
Valley  of  the  Abbott's  Run, 
The  Blackstone  at  Woonsocket, 
The  Falls  at  Woonsocket,  .  . 
Main  Street,  Woonsocket,  .  . 
Harris  Block,  Woonsocket,  .  . 
High  School,  Woonsocket,    .     . 


01 

OS 
07 

09 
10 
1 1 
12 
13 
14 

15 

16 

17 

19 

2 1 
23 
25 
27 
29 
31 
33 
34 
37 
39 
43 
45 
46 

47 


PAGE. 
149 


Woonsocket  from  the  Fast,  . 

View  of  Greenwich,     .     .     • 

Village  of  Slatersville,      .     . 

View  of  Pascoag,     .... 

Providence  from  Smith's  Hill, 

Lake  Moswansicut,  Scituate, 
,  View  on  the  Woonasquatucket, 

On  the  Pawtuxet,    .... 

The  State  Prison,    .     .     . 

Field's  Point,       .... 

Providence  from  Prospect  Ter- 
race,        

Old  City  Building,  Providence, 

The  State  House,  " 

The  New  City  Hall,     " 

Soldiers'    and    Sailors'    Monu- 
ment, Providence,     .     .     . 

Crystal  Lake,  Providence,     . 

Exchange  Place,  Providence, 

Hoppin  Homestead,    " 

U.  S.  Custom  House,  " 

Butler  Exchange,         " 

The  Athenxum,  " 

New  Court  House,      " 

The  Arcade, 

Infantry  Armory,         " 

The  High  School,  Providence, 

Brown   &    Sharpe    Mfg.    Co.' 
Buildings,  Providence, 

Roger  Williams  Monument 
Providence,      .... 

Park   Garden    Pavilion,    Provi- 
dence,      

Works   of    the    Nicholson    Fil 
Co.,  Providence,       .     .     . 

The    Betsey    Williams    House, 
Providence,     .... 

The  What  Cheer  Cottage,  Provi- 
dence,      

R.  I.  Hospital,  Providence, 

The  Butler  Hospital,  Providence,  198 

The  Friends'  School,  "  198 

Narragansett  Hotel,  "  199 


155 
157 
162 
167 
171 
173 

175 
177 

178 
180 
180 
181 

182 

183 
184 

185 
186 
187 
188 
189 
190 
191 
192 

193 
194 
194 

195 
196 

196 
197 


lO 


Picturesque  Rhode  Island. 


PAGE. 

Westminster  Street,  Providence,  200 
Hotel  Dorrance,  Providence,  .  201 
Low's  Opera  House,      "  .  202 

The  Cathedral,  "  .  205 

Grace  Church,  "  .207 

Union  Congregational    Church, 

Providence, 211 

First    Congregational    Church, 

Providence, 215 

Beneficent    Congreg'l    Church, 

Providence, 217 

First  Universalist  Church,  Provi- 
dence,     219 

First    Baptist    Church,    Provi- 
dence,     221 

Chestnut    St.    M.     E.    Church, 

Providence, 223 

A  View  of  Phenix, 229 

Rocky  Point, 231 

Restaurant,  Rocky  Point,  .  .  233 
Flying  Horses,  Rocky  Point,     .  233 

Oakland  Beach, 235 

Falls  at  Washington  Village,  .  237 
East  Greenwich  from  the  Water,  241 
Academy,  East  Greenwich,  .  .243 
Street  View  in  East  Greenwich,  245 
Episcopal  Church,  East  Green- 
wich,        249 

Beach  Pond,  Exeter,    .     .     .     .251 


PAGE. 

Hope  Valley,  Hopkinton,  .  .  255 
Broad  Street,  Westerly,    .     .     .  257 

Westerly, 263 

Congregational    Church,   West- 
erly,       265 

Seventh-Day     Baptist     Church, 

Westerly, 271 

Dixon  House,  Westerly,  .     .     .  273 
Watch  Hill  Light,    .     .     .     .     •  273 
Indian  Burying-ground,  Charles- 
town,      274 

The  Court  House  at  Kingston,    277 
Congregational  Church,  Peace- 
dale,       279 

A  Bit  of  Wickford,  .  .  .  .281 
Swamp  Fort,  South  Kingstown,  285 
Hazard's   Castle,    Narragansett 

Pier,        287 

Hazard's     Gate,    Narragansett 

Pier,        289 

Bathing     Scene,     Narragansett 

Pier, 290 

Narragansett  Pier,  .  .  .  .291 
Indian  Rock,  Narragansett  Pier,.  292 

Fort  Dumplings, 293 

Point  Judith, 293 

Block  Island  Light,  ....  295 
New  Shoreham,  Block  Island,  .  299 


Index  to  Advertisements, 


Aiiv.  Drpl.,  Page. 
PROVIDENCE. 

Allen  Fire  Department  Supply  Co.,  cor.  Eddy 

and  Friendship         Prov.  map,  2 

Allen  R.  \V.,  .'4  Market  Sq.. S7 

American  Enamel  Co.,  1 J  XVarren S5 

Ames  B.  K.,  iia   Westminster S3 

Ames  Mrs.  B.  K.,  104  Westminster Sj 

Ames  Georjje  H.,  17  Mathcwson 7f> 

Ames  John  B.,  29.5  Broad Prov.  map,  4 

Andrews  A.  L.,  142  Westminster 79 

Arnold  A.  E.,  240  Westminster ^5 

Arnold,  Bukcr  &  Miller,  254  it  256  Hig:h 71 

Arnold  &  McGowan,  6  Exchange  Place §5 

Arnold  Welcome,  213  High Si 

Arnold  W.  El.,  12  Weybosset Prov.  map,  4 

Atwater  J.  II.,  26  &  2S  Potter S9 

Austin  John,  74  Clifford 54 

Babcoc'k  E.  &  F.  P.,  225  Broad §2 

Bagley  J.  S.,  179  Broad 40 

Baker  II.  R.,  23  South  Water S6 

Banigan  P.  T.,  355  Westminster SS 

Barker  Wni.,  2S3   Westminster  7^ 

Baxter  P.  W.,  41  Lippitt Prov.  map,  4 

Bavliss  lohn  A.,  80  Orange 79 

Beane  liben  J.,  iK)  Westminster outside  cover 

Blanding  Win.  B.,  54  \-  5S  Weybosset S 

Bliss  Bros.,  115  South  Main Prov.  map,  10 

Block  N.,  346  Westminster 82 

Blundell  Henry  &  Co.,  35  Clifford Prov.  map  9 

Boland  Frank  P..  116  Pine SS 

Bovce  James,  202  Broad  Prov.  map,  2 

Bridge  W.  W.,  363  Westminster 76 

Briggs  C.  S.,  235  Washington     79 

BriggsN.  C,  530  &  532  High So 

Brown  E.  A.,  290  Westminster S5 

Brown  J.  A.  &  Co.,  104  Eddy 50  &94 

Brown  Reginald  C,  iSo  Friendship  Si 

Brown  A:  Sharpe  Mfg.  Co.,  Promenade  45 

Brownell  A.  C,  90  Westminster  . .    Prov.  map,  2 

Bruce  S.  H.,  cor.  Potter  and  Friendshi)) 7S 

Buckland  E.  L.,  14O  Westminster 76 

Rucklin  J.  C.  A:  J.  A.,  29  Weybosset 75 

Burt;ess  A.  &  Son,  39  Weybosset 51 

Burlingame  Geo.  II.,  172  ftroad Si 

Burt  Walter  L. ,  224  Benefit 77 

Butcher  Win.,  3  Young  Orchard  ave.,  Prov.  map,  3 

Butlerjohn,  Canal  ave   So 

Cady  Gieorge  W.,  164  Westminster 75 

Cahoone  Alexander  &  Co.,  129  Westminster. . .  S3 

Calder  Edwin  A.,  2S7  High Si 

Camm  Mrs.  Thomas  W  ,  46  Westminster. .     . .  S3 

Capwell  Rosrer  F.,  HI  Charles 79 

Cargill  Charles,  495  iliah S6 

Carleton  O   A.  A:  Co.,  129  &  131  Eddy Bay  map 

Carpenter  Clarence  II.,  270  Dyer     10 

Carpenter  Earl   &  Sons,  2  Westminster 37 

Carpenter  Frank  F.,  22  Branch  ave S5 

Carpenter  II.  F.,  29  &  31  Page 12 


Adv.  Drpt.,  Page. 

86 

S7 

S3 

map 

Si 

S2 


Carpenter  S.  E.,^)5  Summer 

Carter  H.  E.,  55  £ddy   

Central  Hotel,  6  to  10  Canal      

Chambers,  Calder  &  Co  ,  1 1  Exchange  PI. .Bay 

Charnley  J.  A.,  131   Dorrance 

Chase  Stephen  F.,  2S9  Broad 

Church  W.  P.,  260  Westminster. . .   

Clark  Herbert  E.,  295  High 

Clark  John  L.,  ^4  As'hburton Prov.  map, 

Collins  T.  F.,  106  Hospital 

Colwell  W.  II.,  65  Westminster 

Coombs  II.  M.  &'Co.,  37  Custom  House 

Congdon,  Carpenter  &  Co.,  Si   Canal     Bay 

Continental  Steamboat  Co  ,  136  &  13S  Dyer 

Corliss  Steam  Engine  Co.,  Charles 

Covinuton  &  Ilowland,  12  Market  Sq 

Crandall  Geo.  E.,  24  Dorrance 

Cranston  II.  C,  37  Weybosset 

Crowell  A.  &  Co.,  i6i  Eddy 

Crowell  Edward  R.,  61  South  Main 

Cruickshank  I).  B.,  243  Dyer 

Cummings  E.  D.  &  Co.,  ijCi  Dorrance 

Darling  M.  V.  B..  ^i  Elm 

Davenport  G.  S.,  loS  Dorrance Prov.  map. 

Davis  George  II.,  297  Westminster. . 

Davis  Lewis  E.,  corner  Orange  and  Pine 

Davis  Perry  &  Son,  136  High   .    Prov.  map 

Deming  Morris  B..  76  and  78  Orange 

Dewing,  Monsell  &  Co..  24  Exchange  Place, So 

Dodge'j .  C.  &  Son,  450  South  -Main '. 

Dorrance  John  R.,  9  Wevbosset 

Douglass'G.  C,  9  Calender 

Draper  Geo.  B.,  01  Westminster 

Drown  W.  M.,  2S3  Westminster,  Room  3 


Dunham  Josej)!!  R..  rear  340  Friendship. 

Egan  Thos.  H.,  194  Pine 

Easton  Jas.  J..  2S3  Westminster 

Eatough  John,  199  Washington 

Eddy  Ijerbeit  L..  2S3  Westminster 

Eddy  I.  P.,  255  High 

Eddv  lohn  HV.t  Co.,  5  &  7  Exchange 

Eddy  X-  Chapman,  375  High   Prov.  map, 

Edwards  John  II..  op]i.  loO  So.  Water 

Elleman  James.  9  Mathcwson 

Evans  Henry  R..  99  Dorrance   

Fairbrother  C.  F.,  21.^  So.  -Main 

F'ales  Ecwis  L..  157  Gaspee 

Fales  T.  I.,  2  Planet,  cor.  So.  Water 

Farren  Bros.  &  Co.,  4  High 

Feiin  Chas.,  42  Beacon 

Fenner  Win.  H    &  Co..   129  &  131  Broad 

Ferguson  Henry  W..  487  Pine Prov.  map 

Ferrin  Frank  C.',  76  Wevbosset Bay 

Finley  D.  II.,  1,1,  k  .55  Peck 

Fisher  Orville.  33  Westminster 

Fisher  Virgil,  ij,  Westminster 79 

F'letcher  .ManuV.  Co.,  47  Charles 

Flint  A:  Co.,  Broad,  cor.  Eddy 


4^ 
map 

58 
.    47 

~^ 
4S 

-s 

S6 
85 
77 
79 

.  3 
Si 
78 

>     12 

»  ^S 
&89 

85 
5> 
67 
76 

li 

84 

•82 

So 
85 
49 
89 
2 

79 

89 
80 

84 
So 
SS 


44 
■  4 
map 

87 

&  91 

53 


12 


Picturesque  Rhode  Island. 


AJv.  Dept.,  Page. 

Folsom  J.  A.,4S4  Broad 78 

Franklin  Bros.,  69  Dorrance Prov.  map,  2 

Franklin  Foundry  &  Mch.  Co.,  Charles 11 

Franklin  Mut.  Fire  Ins.  Co.,  12  So.  Main 7 

Freeborn  G.  M.  &  Co.,  30  So.  Water 86 

French,  Mackenzie  &  Co.,  69  Friendship 51 

Gladding-  B.  H.  &Co.,  93  Westminster,  Prov.  map  7 

Glover  David,  135  So.  Main So 

Goerner  Wm.,  199  Westminster SS 

Goft'  Ira  N.,  16S  VVestminster 56 

Goff  James  C.,  66  So.  Water 79 

Gorton  Dexter  &  Co.,  27?  Dyer So 

Gowdey  J.  A.  &  Son.  40  Clifford   87 

Grano^er  F.  and  M.  Co.,  cor.  Gaspee  and  Francis,  6 

Grant  J.  W.  &  Co.,  25  Calender S3 

Gray  Joshua,  241  Westminster S4 

Greene  Ray,  75  Washington SS 

Griswold  F.  W.,  493  High 84 

Hall  J.  C.  &  Co.,  62  Weybosset 87 

Hamiltons  &  Hunt,  226  Fddy 84 

Handy  \\^m.  W.,  140  Broad Si 

Hanney  James  K.,  295  Broad 40 

Harrington  &  Son,  176  Broad 84 

Harson  M.  J.,  162  Westminster  S3 

Hartwell,  Richards  &  Co inside  back  cover 

Haselwood  Geo.  W.,  283  Westminster,  room  14  77 
Hastings  J.  Jr.,i  Aborn,  r.  Music  Hall,  Prov.  map  10 

Haughey  John,  Hill's  wharf,  foot  of  Henderson  79 

Hawes  A."  B.,  88  Westminster 76 

Hawkins  E.  E.  i&  Co.,  55  Dyer Si 

Hawksworth  Mrs.  217  High 81 

Heintzeman  C.  C,  176  Broad 77 

Hemenway  C.  H.  Jr.,  12  Westminster 79 

Hemingway  Mrs.  S.  E.,  2S6  Westminster S3 

Henry  J.  W.  &  Co.,  24  Calender 84 

Hogg  Robert,  15S  IJroadway Prov.  map,  3 

Holmes  D.  &  Co.,  61  Eddy Prov.  map,  4 

Hoppin  Howard,  33  Westminster 75 

Hopkins,  Pomroy  &  Co.,  330   Eddy 14 

Horton  Bros.,  S7  Westminster 74 

Howard  &  Scherrieble,  102  Orange 84 

Hubbard  H.  W.,  Si   Westminster 77 

Hudson  &  Goft",  6  Cranston 87 

Hunt  H.  &  Bro,,  103  Dorrance 86 

Hutchins  Geo.,  176  &  17S  Westminster 59 

Irons  Chas.  F.,  102  Friendship Bay  map 

Japanese  Ink  Co.,  II   Haymarket S3 

Johnson  Oliver  &  Co.,  19  Exchange,  Prov.  map,  11 

Jones  Benj.  F  ,  357   Westminster 86 

Jordan  Julian,  Butler  Exchange 77 

Kelly  Eben  A...  2S3  Westminster,  room  23 77 

Kennedy  Jerome  &  Co inside  front  cover 

Kinnicutt  &  Brown,  134  Westminster,  Prov.  map  7 

Knowles  Horace  B.,  99  No.  Main Newport  map 

Knowlton  (?.  H.,  146  Westminster S3 

Latham  Josepli  A.,  14  Westminster 75 

Law  Chas.,  13  Mathewson S7 

Leavens  O.  E.  &  Co.,  58  Westminster,  Prov.  map  S 

Leffingwell  C.  H.,  332   Broad 77 

Lenahan  M.,   11  Waterman 87 

Leonhard  John  &  Son,  374  High 86 

Lester  David,  1 12  Dorrance 88 

Lewis  George  W.,  S  Gilmore 86 

Lindseyjohn  D.,  1S2  Broad • 83 

Littlefield  N.  W.,  Butler  Exchange 77 

Lobdell,  C.  P.,  575  High 49 

Lovegrove  W.  E.,  397  High  SS 

Luke  Horace,  14  &  16  Maple   Prov.  map,  4 

Magoon  A.  J.  &  Co..  216  &  218  Broad .Bay  map 

Mahler  Daniel  J.,  331  Westminster  83 

Manchester  &  Hudson,  354  Eddy 55 

Manchester  Jas   B.,  190  Eddy §7 

Manchester  L.  T.,  347  Fountain So 

Manning  Mrs.  M.  J.,  630  Broad 82 

MarcyFred.  I.  &Co.,  95  Pine Bay  map 

Marshall  Henry  F.,  254  Westminster 76 

Martin  &  Norris,  319  Fountain   85 

Mason,  Chapin  &  Co..  11  to  37  Canal   9 

Mason  &Coppell,  i^  Weybosset So 

Mason  Norman  N.,  129  North  Main Si 

Mason  Volney  W.  &  Co..  Lafayette S 

Mason  William,  Lafayette 81 

Mathews  Jos.  G.,  23  Exchange  Place   82 


Adv.  Dept.,  Page. 

McKenzie  John  &:Co.,  430  High. .. .          87 

McNaughton  Walter,  Greenwich,  c.  Congress.  82 

Mead  W.  B  ,  249  Westminster 76 

Merchants  Savings    Bank,  62  Westminster 7S 

Midwood  Wm.  H.,  1 19  North  Main 82 

Millard  Charles  E.  &  Co.,  125  So.  Main. S6 

Miller  Chas.  W.,  20  Mill SS 

Miller  Jos.  A.  &  Co.,  25  &  26  Butler  Exch 77 

Miller  W.  H.  &  Co  .  196  Eddy Prov.  map,  3 

Morton  H.  Q^.  75  Westminster 96 

Mowrv  Wm.  G.  R.,  457  So.  Main Bay  map 

Muerrle  A.,  84  No.  Main 83 

Mumford  George  A.,  444  High 83 

Narragansett  Card  Co.,  II   Richmond 79 

Narragansett  Hotel,  Broad.  Dorrance  and  Eddy,  51 

New  England  File  Co.,  loi  Friendship §2 

Nichols  C.  E.,  49  Bridgham 82 

Nicholson  File  Co.,  liS  Acorn 46 

Nisbet  John  A.,  150  Hope 82 

O'Donnell  B..  22  South 40 

Onslow  &  Spaulding,  5  P.  O.  court 87 

Osgood  E.R.,  246  High 88 

Paine  J.  B.  &  M.,  193  Cranston. 79 

Paine  Walter  J . ,  29  Weybosset 75 

Parsons  Henry  L..  100  &  102  Dyer 15 

Pearce  Chas.,  78  Wickenden 87 

Pearce  E.  A.  &  Co.,  293  Broad Prov.  map,  3 

Peckham  Geo.  A.,  19  Peck Prov.  map,  3 

People's  Savings  Bank,  i  Market  square 78 

Phenix  Iron  Foundry,  cor.  Elm  &  Eddy 4 

Phillips  Eugene  F.,67  Stewart 82 

Phillips  F.  J.,  155  Charles,  &  99  Main,  Paw't. ...  81 

Pinkham  D.,  2S3  Westminster,  room  20 83 

Pluminer  Cornelius  C,  64  TSo_,  Main 77 

Pocasset  Ice  Co.,  373  High.. .  .rrrr-TT-TT S3 

jPoole  C.  H.  &  Co.,  Harris  ave Prov.  map,  4 

Prav  J.  C..  86  So.  Main 84 

Prior  &  McGuckian,  64  MatheXvson,  Prov.  map,  3 
Prov.  Coal  Co.,  successors  to  Tucker  &  Little, 

cor.  Dorrance  and  Dver 43 

Prov.  Dyeing,  Bleaching  &  Cg.  C-^..  14  Sabin. .  82 

Prov.  Inst,  for  Savings,  76  So.  Main 78 

Prov.  N.  &  B.  S.  S.  Co.,  India  St.    outside  b.  cover 

Prov.  Saw  &  Tool  Works.  35  Calender  85 

Prov.  Washington  Ins.  Co.,  20  Market  square.  57 

Prov.  &  Worcester  R.  R.,  Exchange  Place 74 

Randall  E.  R.,  foot  of  South 85 

Read  F.  &  Son,  257  Westminster 86 

ReidH.  L 91 

Reid  T.  A.  &  R.  A.,  56  Wevbosset 94 

R.  I.  Braiding  Mch.  Co..  §9  Aborn 16 

R.  I.  Coupling  Co.,  32  Middle S2 

R.  I.  Hospital  Trust  Co..  60  So.  Main   78 

R.  I.  Horse  Shoe  Co.,  31  Exchange  Place 13 

R.  I.  Nickel  Plating  Works.  281/2  Potter 85 

Rice,  Starkweather  &  Co. ,  25  Exchange  Place . .  i 

Richards  W.  R.,  107  Friendship. .    84 

Robinson  A.  J.  &  Co.,  223  Westminster 84 

Root  Henry  T.,  144  Westminster 41 

Rumford  Chemical  Works back  of  State  map 

Russell  Wm.  Jr.,  913,  915  &  921  Eddy 70 

Ruth  Henry  A.,  3  Crawford S7 

Ryan  &  Sullivan,  36  Fountain So 

Sanger  J.  E.,  199  Westminster 83 

Sawtelle  F.  J.,  5  Custom  House 75 

Seabury  F.  N.  &  F.  W.,  25  Union 76 

•  Security  Blind  Fast.  Co.,  19  Calender 79 

ShackfordA.,  105  Orange   So 

Shafford  F.  C.  &  Co.,  164  Eddy So 

Shedd  &  Sawyer,  65  Westminster  75 

Sheldon  F.  P.,  91  Westminster 77 

Sheldon  I.  R.  ic  Co..  iii  Summer 84 

Simmons  E.  R.,  71   Pine   SS 

Sisson  Gilbert.  71  Clifford   79 

Small  M.  W.  &  E.  P  ,  91  Westminster 76 

Smith  A.  D.  2d.  219  Eddy 79 

Smith  Fred.  J.,  8  Spring,  r.  290  High 88 

Smith  T.  &  Bro.,  S3  Friendship 87 

Spencer  Gideon,  269  Westminster 76 

Spencer  H.  C,  275  High   67 

Spicers  &  Peckham,  22  Exchange  Place 3 

Stafford  &  Co.,  27  Custom  House 40 

Stanley  A.  W.,  179  Washington 80 


Index  to  Advertisements. 


13 


Aiiv.  Dept.,  Page. 

Stickles  George  W.,  t;  Otis,  r.  \y)  Can;il So 

Slillman  \V.  B.  M.,  105  High ^ ^O 

Sterling  J.J. .  47  Mallicwson b>J 

Stone  I-..  ^fSo  Kountain Ss 

Stowcll  T.'li.,  2$3  Wustminslcr 2, 

Stuart  laincs  D..  279  Broad S6 

Sweet  1).  D.  &  Co.,    i5Eaiiy 27 

Sweet  Dr.  Thomas.  1 27   Broad 77 

Sweet  T.  E..i44  High i>6 

Talhot  Stephen  L..  ii\   Westminster Si 

Tallv  i:  Slatterv,  2S1   Westminster SS 

Tavfor  Chas.  F'.,  s  Custom  House 41 

Teel  Wm.  H.  &  Son.  70  Eddv Bay  map 

Terbriggen  P.  A.,  Butler  Exchange Si 

Third  Sat.  Bank,  I3  Market  Sq 7S 

Thompson  J.  C,  uyi  Westminster 76 

Thompson  W.  B.,'.?SS  High   Bay  map 

Thurber  N.  D.,  13  Arsenal  lane 79 

Tibbitts  Ac  Shaw.  2\   Westminster 49 

TiernevP.  \-  J.,Si  High S7 

Tilling"hast  VV.  H..  220  Westminster State  map 

Tinglev  E.  W.,  137  So.  Main   Prov.  map,      2 

Tingley  Geo.  C,  21   So.  Main 75 

Towne' A.,  1 1  Havmarket  S6 

Tove  Wm.  Jr.,  cor.  James  and  So.  Water 86 

Tn'pp  John  S.  Jr. ,  54  Westminster.  . .  Prov.  map,      4 

Undervvood  George  B.,  312  Fountain So 

Vose  S.  M.,  337  Westminster Bay  map 

Walton  I.e.,  19  Manton  ave.,  Olneyville 76 

Webster"  J.  L.,  271   Westminster S4 

Webster  Walter  M.,  14  Snow SS 

Welch  J.  Harrv,  iSS  Westminster 83 

Westland  Sat'e'tv  Lamp  Co.,  52  Xo.  Main. 73 

Whittakcr  X.  B.,  30^  Westminster 76 

White  Addison  H..  2  Market  Sq.  ..     Newport  map 

White  Sewiuii  Machines,  240  Westminster  SS 

White  Stillmitn,  i  Bark Prov.  map,       2 

Whiteman  H.  W.,  212  Westminster 75 

Wilcox  C.  F.,  6  Exchange '>•, 

Willis  Thomas.  94  Friendship S4 

Wilson  Charles  A.,  Butler  Exchange 77 

Windsor  E.  G.,  P.  \-  W.  K.  R.  depot,  Xewport  map 

Winsor  E.  &  Co.,  i  Eddy 5°  &  94 

Winsor  &  Money,  ^22  Dorrance   ^i 

Wood  &  Sherida'n,  19  Washington 86 

Work  Joshua  H.,  51   Dorrance SS 

Wright  Chas.,  S  Franklin S2 

Wright  L.,  159  Westminster 86 

XEWPORT. 

Alderson  jnlin,  210  Thames 32 

Alderson 'William,  Washington   Sq 36 

Allen  lolin  B.,  6  Broadway ..     35 

Ambrose  Dining  Rooms,  57  Thames. Xewport  map 

Aquidneck  Hotel,  Pelham ,30 

Bellevue  Ave.  Hotel,  Bellevue  ave. .  .Xewjlort  map 

Bosworth  Smith  &  Co.,  Green  Lane 36 

Bowler  W.  T.,  3V.  Brinley 36 

ISurdick  A.  L.,  15S  Spring Xewport  map 

CasttotV  H.  M.,  corner  Spring  and  Touro 37 

Caswell,  Massev  &  Co.,  167  Thames.  .Xewport  map 

Covell  Wm.  K..,"  Tr.  95  Thames 31 

Crocker  Y..  A.,  Bellevue  ave .35 

Crosby  Thos.,  12  Avrault Xewport  map 

Denham  D.  C,  190'Thames Xewport  map 

Denniston  Geo..  26  Kinsley's  Wharf 37 

Dodge  Wm .  R . .  Warner,  opp.  Xewport  ave 36 

Downing  B.  F.,  Jr.,  \(i  Broadway 37 

Fadden  Fred  W.  &  Co.,  Bellevue  ave 36 

F"averweather  Chas.  V.  D.,  7  West  Broadway. .  36 
Fludder  Wm.  &  Co. ,  Bellevue  ave. . .  Xewport  map 
Franklin  R.  &  W.,  corner  Spring  and  Mary.. .     31 

Frasch  Chas.  F".,  102  Thames 36 

Gould  &  Son,  70  Thames.    Xewport  map 

Gratrix  Geo.,  iS  Broadway 37 

Greene  Fred  W.,  7214  Thames 32 

Herrmann  Geo.  O.,  149  Thames 36 

Holm  A.  M.,  Long  wharf.... 37 

Howard  J.  X.  &  Co.,  Bellevue  ave..  .Xewport  map 

Hull  Geo.  G.,  4  Elm Xewport  map 

Ince  Madame,  26  Washington  Sq 35 


Adv.  Dept.,  Page. 

Johnston  I.  D.,  192  Thames 37 

Lambert  D.  J.,  10  Pelham 36 

Langley  Wm.  C,  104  Thames 33 

Langley  iV  Bennett,  10  Franklin 32 

Lawton  George  P.,  19  Marlboro Xewport  map 

Lawton  W.  H.  H.,  13  Long  wharf 37 

Leddv  John  E.,  7  Farewell 37 

Lee  Bros.,  179  Thames 30 

Lineham  Geo.  N.,  21  West  Broadway 37 

McAdam  cV  Openshaw,  6  Mill 35 

Murray  Hirani,  DeBlois  ct.,  ft.  State.  .Xewport  map 

Xewport  Gas  Light  Co.,  1 13  Thames 33 

Ocean  House,  Bellevue  ave 34 

Old  Colony  R.  R.  Co 62 

Otto  Edward,  Cottrell  Block 36 

Perry  House,  Washington  Sq 33 

Porter  Frank  B.  &  Co.,  Bellevue  ave 34 

Reynolds  Gardiner  B.  &  Co.,  opp.  Post  Office.  32 

Scott  Bros.,  cor.  Spring  and  Sherman 37 

Seabury  John  E.,  138  Thames 35 

Seabury  T.  Mumford,  134  Thames. .  .Xewport  map 

Sherman  Walter Xewport  map 

SouihwickJ.  M.  K.,  117  Thames 35 

Spencer  George  L,  43  Bridge 37 

Stoddard  W.  C,  Washington  Sq 36 

Swan  John  M.,  100 Thames,  .p.  31  &  Prov.  map,  10 

Swinburne,  Peckham  &  Co.,  145  Thames 31 

Thompson  Xoah,  Kinsley's  wharf 37 

Tilley  R.  H.,  12S  Thames 36 

U.  S.  Hotel,  Thames,  cor.  Pelham  . .  .Xewport  map 

Weaver  George  A.,  19  Broadway 34 

W'ilbur  George  V.,  Bellevue  ave.,  n.  Kay 34 

Wright  Richard,  12  Ferry  wharf 37 

Young  &  Potter,  42  Broadway 37 


PAWTLXKET  AXD   CENTRAL  FALLS. 

Adams  Chas.  P..  94  Main 23 

Arnold  C.  O.,  92  Mill S9 

Arnold  E.  M.,  rear  56  East  ave 89 

Barnefield  Thos.  P.,  Music  Hall  Building 90 

Benedict  House,  cor.  Main  and  Broad 69 

Blake  F\  X.,  rear  221  Main S9 

Bliss  J.  v.,  42  Pleasant 90 

Bravman  Wm.  A.,  48  Broadway 89 

Brown  James  S.,  2S7  Main 20 

Chickering  Chas.  E.,  13  No.  Union 27 

Clark  Daniel  A.,  5  Park  place 21 

Clougli  Chas.  W.,  17  Mill 27 

Cole  Bros.,  Bailey 21 

Crocker  J.  &  Son 2S 

Crowell  A.  W.,  22  Cross,  C.  F 89 

Darling  L.  B.  &  Co.,  142  Main 19 

Davis  James  &  Son,  22  Pleasant 29 

Draper  J.  O.  &Co.,  75  F'ront 25 

Elliott  &  Hawkins,  61  Mill 89 

Falcs  &Jenks  Machine  Co.,  118  Dexter 17 

Fournier  lames,  Broad,  C.  F  90 

Gelinas  JS  Chapi)ell,  52  Pleasant 28 

Goodale  1.  K.,  132  Main 90 

Greene  H.  P.,  147  Broadway  89 

Harrington  Mrs.  E.  R.,  90  "Hisrh 89 

Haskell  Wm.  H.&Co.,  277  Main iS 

Hornby  Jas.  R.,  5  Read 89 

Ledyard  Miss  Annie  M.,  203  :Main 89 

Linton  Bros.  &  Co.,  Bailey 2^^ 

Lomas  Geo.  H.,  5  Mill 2S 

Martin  W.  A.,  49  Central,  C.  F         28 

Mason  Geo.  &  Bros.,  115  Pine 2i 

Mason  Robert  D.  &  Co.,  75  East  avenue 74 

Matthews  &  Allen,  20  &  31  Main   89 

McElroy  Robert,  46  Central,  C.  F  90 

Millman  A.T.,34^Mill,C.  F 89 

MonkL.M.,2i   High 28 

Nisbet  James,  47  Prospect Newport  map 

Payne  Geo.  W.  &  Co.,  24  East  ave 26 

Perry  Oil  Co.,  Exchange 24 

Pierce  S.  R.  &  Son,  90  Main 90 

Providence  County  Savings  Bank 78 

Ritlmann  Charles,  19  &  21  Broad 90 

Satrer  H.  H.,  ^Mill   9° 

Salisbury  A.  t'\,  65  Mill 28 


14 


Picturesque  Rhode  Island. 


AJz\  Dept.,  Page. 

Sibley  &  Lee,  29  Mill 22 

Smith  Jos.   Co.,  S2  Main 27 

Spencer  J.  L.,  Old  Slater  Mill 24 

Thayer  P.  E.  &  Co.,  34  East  ave 26 

AVarland  Chas.  A.,  56  East  ave  21 

WhiteJ.  S..  21    Dexter  24 

Woodbury  Geo.  E.,  5  Mill 90 

WOONSOCKET. 

Arnold  Dr.  Seth 3S  &  39 

Baxter  H.,  rear  Fletcher's  Building 90 

Lake  &  Earned 90 

LazelleH.C 9° 

Sibley  A.  C,  157  North  Main 90 

Teston  &Horton 67 

Thayer  F.  S.  &  Co.,  171  Main 67 

Woonsocket  Horse  Nail  Co 90 

BRISTOL. 

Gallup  J.  C,  114  Hope 90 

Herreshoff  Mfg.  Co . .  90 

Wardwell  W.  T.  C,  foot  of  Bradford 90 


EAST  GREENWICH. 

Blakeslee  F.  D Prov.  map, 

Crompton  S.  F Prov.  map, 

Lawton  Geo.  G.  &  Co.,  Main 

R.  I.  Pendulum ... 

WARWICK. 

Buttonwood  Beach  Hotel,  S.  D.  Snink 

Oakland  Beach  Hotel,  Elias  Hotc'hkiss 

Rocky  Point  Hotel,  Geo.  Hackett..  .Prov.  map, 
Wai-wick  Neck  House,  B.  S.  Hazard. Prov.  map, 

BLOCK  ISLAND. 

Ocean  Viev?  Hotel,  Nicholas  Ball 

Pequot  House,  Nicholas  Ball 

Spring  House,  B.  B.  Mitchell,  Jr 


EAST  PROVIDENCE. 


Luther  E.  J.,  21  Warren  ave 

Wood  Mason  B.,  Valley,  cor.  Taunton  ave. 


HOPKINTON. 


Spicer  Geo.  H 

Wells  A.  L.  &  Co. 


90 


Adv.  Dept.,  Page. 
RIVER  POINT. 

Davies  Henry 91 

Niles  G.  W.,'Odd  Fellows'  Building 91 

NARRAGANSETT  PIER. 

Atlantic  House,  Abijah  Browning 63 

Atwood  House,  J.  A.  Tucker 66 

Billington  W.  H.,  Exchange  PI 67 

Elmwood  House,  F.P.W.  Teftt 65 

Massasoit  House,  N.  G.  Burr 63 

Metatoxet  House,  John  H.Caswell 65 

Narragansett  House,  E.  S.  Taylor 65 

Narragansett  PierR.  R.,  G.T.  Lanphear,  Supt..  64 

Revere  House,  J.  H.  Rodman 65 

Southern  Hotel,  Henry  W.  Greene 64 

Tucker  J.  C,  Jr 64 

WESTERLY. 

Blake  &  Maxson,  Bridge  Block 66 

Collins  Albert  B. ,48  Main 66 

Collins  Cranston,  Mechanic,  cor.  West  Broad. ..  67 

Pollock  \Vm.,  West   Broad 66 

Schofield  Brothers,  30  Main 66 

Segar  S.  B.,  Main 66 

Stillman  A.  A.,  16  High 66 

WATCH    HILL. 

Larkin  House,  D.  F.  Larkln  &  Co 6i 

ARCTIC. 

Chase  Isaac  F ,. 91 

-^BOSTON. 

American  House 9S 

Boston  Type  Foundry,  104  Milk  91 

Coffey  W'i  H.,  129  Tremont Prov.  map,  6 

Goodxvillie.  Wvman  &  Co.,  41  Federal  "         "  i 

Ladd  H.  W.,  lbs  Fulton "         "  i 

Nonotuck  Silk  Co.,  iS  Summer "         "  6 

Osgood  J.  H.  &  Co.,  3  Bath   "         "  6 

Peters  C.  J.  &  Son,  73  Federal "         "  6 

United  States  Hotel 93 

Whitcomb  H.  C.  &  Co.,  22  Milk Prov.  map,  i 

NEW  YORK. 

Gouraud  Mme.  M.  B.  T.,  48  Bond..  .Prov.  map,  i 


^mmiMmp'^n- 


MAPS. 


MAP  OF  THE  STATE  OF  RHODE   ISLAM), Between  paijes  144  and  145 

MAP  OF  NARRAGAXSETT  BAY, Between  pages  272  .and  27.? 

MAP  OF  THE  CITY  OF  PROVIDENCE, Between  pages  20S  and  2ix, 

MAP  OF  THE  CITY  OF  .NEWPORT, Between  pages    6+  and    65 


Bi 


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=ife= 

— ^% 

CHAPTER  I. 


THE  EAKLV  VOYAGERS  ALONG  THE  COAST  OK  RHODE  ISLAND-THE  NORTHMEN 
—  SEBASTIAN  CABOT- VERKAZAXI  -  BARTHOLOMEW  GOSNOLD 
AND   HIS    COLONY  — ADRIAN    BLOCK,    THE   DUTCH  NAVIGATOR - 


LATER  VOYAGERS. 


OCKED  incessantly  by  the  heaving  billows  of  tiie 
Atlantic  Ocean,  at  one  time  soothed  by  their  gentle 
caresses,  as  the  infant  in  its  cradle  is  lulled  to  repose  by 
the  tender  hand  of  its  mother,  at  another  tossed  wildly 
L  about  by  the  raging  tempests  when  the  demons  of  the 
storm  hold  high  carnival  upon  the  ocean  ;  in  summer  a 
pleasant  refuge  from  the  scorching  breezes  that  sweep 
over  the  land  ;  in  winter  a  dreadful  prison,  whose  thick 
walls  of  oak  are  often  cased  with  thicker  walls  of  ice  ; 
always,  in  summer  breezes  and  winter  storms,  alike 
hailed  with  delight  by  the  homeward-bound  mariner, 
rides  the  Brenton's  Reef  Lightship. 

Like  the  sea  which  it  inhabits,  the  stout  vessel  upon 
whose  seaworthiness  the  safety  of  so  many  lives  de- 
pends, appears  never  to  change.  Just  as  it  challenged  the  attention 
of  the  sailor  when  its  home  was  first  fixed  near  its  dangerous  reef, 
so  it  demands  the  notice  of  every  one  who  sails  through  the  entrance 
of  Narragansett  Bay  to-day.  As  one  wave  sweeps  onward  and  gives 
place  to  another  while  the  ocean  itself  seems  always  the  same,  so 
lightship  may  have  yielded  to  lightship,  but  the  change  has  been  un- 
noticed by  the  passing  voyager.  Almost  unconsciously  the  mind 
of  him  who  gazes  upon  it  is  carried  backward  to  the  earliest  days  of 
American  history.  As  the  sun  goes  down  in  the  western  sky  and 
the  evening  shadows  creep  slowly  over  land  and  sea,  visions  of  the 
ships  that  once  sailed  these  waters  come  crowding  before  our  eyes. 


Picturesque  Rhode  Island. 


Dimly  seen  through  the  shrouding  mists  of  ahnost  nine  centuries, 
the  ships  of  the  Northmen  come  speeding  onward.  Strong  arms, 
that  have  gathered  strengtli  from  life-long  contests  with  the  ice-floes 
of  the  Arctic  Ocean,  send  the  long  keels  leaping  Irom  billow  to  bil- 
low as  the  sight  of  the  strange  shores  inspires  the  breast  of  each 
sturdy  oarsman.  Wild  and  savage  is  the  appearance  of  those  fair- 
haired  s-ailors.  More  brightly  even  than  their  terrible  weapons,  gleam 
the  fierce  eyes  under  their  shaggy  brows.  No  longer  the  Vikings 
sang  of  ''chanting  mass  with  their  lances:"  they  were  Christians 
when  they  landed  upon  the  shores  of  New  England,  but  the  soften- 
ing influence  of  Christianity  had  hardly  begun  to  make  itself  felt 
among  them.  Other  ships  from  Iceland  and  Greenland  succeed  the 
pioneer  vessel  of  Leif  Ericson.  One  of  these  bears  within  its  ice- 
scarred  walls  a  mother  and  her  infant  son.  the  first  child  of  Euro- 
pean descent  born  upon  the  shores  of  the  American  continent. 
Snorri  Thorfinnson  was  the  name  of  the  boy.  Thorvaldsen,  the 
t\imous  sculptor,   claimed  him    as  his  ancestor.      As  the  last  of  the 

long  keels  from 
G  r  e^e  n  land  are 
drawn  up  upon  the 
shores  of  "  Vinland 
the  Good,"  their 
crews  are  telling'  of 
the  immense  glaciers 
that  are  creeping- 
down  upon  their 
northern  homes,  and 
wondering  why  no 
\'essel  for  so  many 
vears  has  reached 
their  ice-bound  col- 
ony from  the  shores 
of  their  Norwegian 
fatherland.  The 
darkness  of  midnight  settles  down  upon  the  ocean  as  the  sails  of 
that  hardy  race  sink  below  the  horizon. 

The  bold  hand  of  Sebastian  Cabot,  "The  Great  Seaman,"  of 
whom  it  has  been  said,  "  he  gave  England  a  continent  —  and  no  one 
know\s  his  burial-place,"  thrusts  it  aside.  In  1498,  with  two  ships 
and  300  men,  Cabot  sailed  from  Bristol,  England,  to  search  for  the 
northwest  passage   to  China   and  Japan.     From  Labrador  to  Mary- 


Gay    Head    Light. 


Till';  Early  Vovagkrs. 


19 


Bfnton's  Reef   Lightship. 

land  he  sailed  along  the  coast,  and  then  went  back  to  England.  lie 
had  opened  a  new  world  to  English  enterprise,  and  almost  regal 
lionors  greeted  his  return. 

Next,  a  ship  from  the  pleasant  shores  of  France  comes  sailing 
into  view.  I'he  Italian  Verrazani,  is  her  commander;  he  bears  a 
commission  from  King  Francis  I.  In  the  spring  of  1524  Verrazani 
sailed  alonfr  the  coast  from  North  Carolina  to  Newfoundland.  To 
the  whole  country  he  gave  the  name  of  New  France.  Of  his  voy- 
age, an  account,  which  is  generally  received  as  authentic,  may  be 
found  in  llakliiyt's  Voyao-cs.  It  contains  the  earliest  full  descrip- 
tion of  the  North  American  coast.  For  more  than  a  fortnight  the 
ship  of  Verrazani  lay  at  anchor  in  the  harbor  of  Newport,  and  every 
day  the  natives  of  the  country,  "  the  goodliest  people  "  he  had  found 
in  his  voyage,  repaired  to  see  his  ship.  As  we  read  his  picturesque 
narrative  their  dusky  forms  seem  to  rise  in  bodily  presence  before  us, 
so  vividlv  and  perfectly  does  he  describe  them. 


20 


Picturesque  Rhode  Island. 


The  bark  of  Bartholomew  Gosnold  follows  in  the  wake  of  the 
French  exploring  ship.  Friday,  March  26,  1602,  Captain  Gosnold 
sailed  from  Falmouth,  England.  His  vessel,  the  "  Concord,"  carried 
thirty-two  men,  tw^enty  of  whom  were  intending  to  remain  as  settlers 
in  the  New  World.  Gosnold  sighted  land  on  Friday,  May  14.  The 
next  day  he  anchored  near  a  cape,  in  fifteen  fathoms  of  water,  and 
"  took  a  great  store  of  codfish."  The  name  Cape  Cod  is  due  to  that 
chance  anchorage.  Sailing  by  No  Man's  Land,  then  a  "  disinhab- 
ited  island,"  and  Gay  Head,  which  he  called  "  Dover  Clift',"  the 
Englishman  landed  upon  the  shores  of  Cuttyhunk.  This  island  was 
also  "  altogether  unpeopled  and  disinhabited."  The  name  of  Eliza- 
beth's Island  was  bestowed  upon  it.  The  colonists  determined  to 
make  their  abode  and  plantation  upon  a  rocky  islet  in  a  pond  of 
fresh  water  not  far  from  the  place  where  they  had  landed.  The 
project  was  afterwards  given  up,  but  the  fact  remains  that  upon  this 
island  was  founded  the  first  English  settlement  in  North  America. 
In  1797  the  "  cellar  of  Gosnold's  store-house"  w^as  easily  found  by  a 


Landing  of  Gosnold,    1602. 


The  Early  Voyagers. 


21 


Newport. 


company  of  antiquarians;  in  1848  another  company  "examined  the 
locality,  described  with  minute  exactness  in  the  journals  of  Gosnold's 
voyage,  and  the  outlines  of  their  works  were  then  distinctly  visible." 
'  Adrian  Block,  the  Dutch  navigator,  who  first  of  all  Europeans 
sailed  through  Ilurlgatc,  succeeds  Gosnold.  Sailing  into  Narra- 
gansett  Bay  he  "  commemorated  the  fiery  aspect  of  the  place,  caused 
bv  the  red  clay  in  some  portions  of  its  shores,  by  giving  it  the  name 
oi"  Roodt  Eylandt,  the  Red  Island.  The  names  Rhode  Island  and 
Block  Island  still  testify  to  his  visit. 

The  shadow V  sails  thicken  upon  the  ocean.  With  their  faces 
lighted  with  the  stern  joy  that  danger  always  gave  them,  the  men  of 
Plymouth  and  of  Boston  urge  their  little  shallops  over  the  boiling 
surges.  The  ships  of  Rhode  Island  come  next.  The  expanding 
commerce  of  the  little  colony  stretches  out  over  all  seas.  Into  the 
harbors  of  Newport  and  Bristol  and  Providence  sail  vessels  from  the 
West  Indies,  from  the  Spanish  Main,  from  the  ports  of  Northern  and 
Southern  Europe.  From  a  greater  distance  still  come  some  of  these 
little  craft.  Thev  are  engaged  in  a  hideous  traflic.  though  the  world 
did  not  then  regard  it  as  such.  The  dark-skinned  forms  that  lie  list- 
lessly about  their  decks  have  been  torn  from  the  wilds  of  their  native 
Africa  to  serve  as  slaves  in  the  country  that  called  itself /"rrr  America. 


22 


Picturesque  Rhode  Island. 


Peaceful  merchantmen  give  place  to  black  war-ships,  and  the  thun- 
ders of  a  naval  battle  reverberate  over  the  waters  as  the  French  and 
English  fleets  of  D'Estaing  and  Howe  engage  in  a  contest  which  is 
terminated  by  the  irresistible  force  of  outraged  Nature.  Primitive 
steamboats  succeed  the  sailing-vessels.  At  lirst  they  pick  their  way 
cautiously  from  point  to  point,  but  gradually  plow  fearlessly  on- 
ward through  the  opposing  waves.  Waking  at  last  from  the  dreams 
of  the  past  to  the  wonderful  realities  of  the  present,  we  behold  within 
the  horizon's  rim  the  ocean  studded  with  sails  so  numerous  that  the 
eyes  grow  wearied  as  we  attempt  to  count  them.  Almost  every  day, 
during  the  warm  months,  more  vessels  than  the  coasts  of  America  saw 
during  the  first  two  centuries  after  the  discovery  of  Columbus,  pass 
within  sight  of  the  Brenton's  Reef  Lightship. 


^Li£^A^'Tdri'n'i;v 


The    Beach    at    Newport, 


CHAPTER   II. 


NEWPORT— HOW  llll:;  I  (n\  X  CAMK  1  <)  UK  1-OlNDKU  -  ALONG  THE  WHARVES  — 
IMRATKS  AND  PKIXATKERS  —  THE  JEWS  —  FAMOl'S  MEN  AND 
PRINCEIA'  MERCHANTS  OF  THE  OLDEN  TIME  —  THE  BRITISH 
OCCUPATION  AND  ITS  RESULTS  —  THE  VISIT  OF  THE  FRENCH 
TROOPS— THE  BELLES  OF  AC^UIDNECK  —  AFTER  THE  WAIt-THi: 
WONDERFUL  REVIVAL  OF  THE  '•CITY  BY  THE  SEA." 

PON  the  shore  of  the  beautilul  island  of  Aquidneck, 
Nicholas  Easton,  William  Brenton,  and  Thomas  Haz- 
ard were  standinu-  one  day  in  great  perplexitv.  It  was 
in  the  Year  of  Our  Lord  1639.  A  few  weeks  before, 
tliey  had  chosen  a  site  for  the  town  they  proposed  to 
build.  The  great  forest  trees  that  shot  upward  from  its 
hillsides  had  been  felled,  but  a  low,  swampy  ground, 
covered  with  a  dense  growth  of  underbrush,  had  been 
reached,  which  seemed  to  render  additional  labor  futile. 
The  tremendous  waves  rolling  in  upon  Eai^ton's  Beach 
had  shown  them  it  was  useless  to  hope  for  a  safe  anchor- 
Reluctantly  the}'  had  turned  away,  and  had  decided  to 
place  their  dwellings  upon  the  spot  where  the  citv  of  Newport  now 
stands.  Nature  again  appeared  to  def\'  their  feeble  powers.  An 
Indian  canoe  approached  the  spot  where  the  three  men  were  stand- 
ing. One  of  the  \vhite  men  addressed  its  occupants  and  asked  them 
'•  How  much  they  would  take  to  clear  tliat  swam]-*."'  After  a  short 
consultation  one  of  thr  Indians  rejilicd.  "If  \()u  will  gi\e  me  \'our 
coat,  the  pale-faces  shall  have  the  land  made  clear."  The  coat  was 
given.  The  warrior  cut  from  it  its  large  brass  buttons,  and  put  them 
upon  a  string.  Then  he  tied  tlie  co\eted  ornament  around  his  neck, 
and  went   to    summon    his  companions  to   assist   him   in    I'ullilling  his 


ape 


24 


Picturesque  Rhode  Island. 


agreement.  The  Indians  shortly  afterwards  set  fire  to  the  under- 
brush, and  thus,  without  any  difficulty,  disposed  of  one  great 
obstacle  that  had  hindered  the  work  of  the  colonists.  By  the  united 
efforts  of  the  Indians  and  Englishmen  the  swamp  was  cleared  of 
timber,  filled  in  with  gravel  and  sand,  and  made  sufficiently  firm  for 
building  lots. 

The  founders  and  first  officers  of  the  little  settlement  were  :  Wil- 
liam Coddington,  Judge  ;  Nicholas  Easton,  John  Coggeshall,  William 
Brenton,  John  Clarke,  Jeremy  Gierke,  Thomas  Hazard,  and  Henry 
Bull,  Elders  ;  William  Dyre,  Clerk.  All  these  men  had  once  been 
prominent  citizens  of  the  Massachusetts  Ba}'  Colon}-.  Having  es- 
poused the  weaker  side  in  the  famous  Hutchinson  controversy,  they, 
with  nine  others,  had  been  first  disarmed  and  afterwards  forced  to 
leave  Massachusetts  by  their  triumphant  opponents.  After  examin- 
ing various  lands  that  had  been  offered  them  for  settlement,  they  de- 
termined to  make  their  new  home  in  Delaware.  Wiljh  this  end  in 
view  the  colonists  had  sent  their  household  goods  hf  ship  around 
Cape  Cod,  intending  themselves  to  go  overland  and  take  the  vessel 
at  Providence.  After  they  had  reached  Providence  the  representa- 
tions of  Roger  Williams  and  his  influence  with  the  Indian  owners  of 

the  island  in- 
duced them  to 
change  their 
plans,  and  to 
take  up  their 
abode  upon 
Aquidneck.  Ac- 
cordingly, on  the 
24th  of  March, 
1638,  they  began 
a  settlement  at 
Pocasset,  now 
called  Ports- 
mouth, upon  the 
northern  end  of 
the  island.  So 
rapidly  did  the 
colony  increase, 
that  in  the  follow- 

ThaiT.es   Street,    Newport.  .  ^'''i?      yCar     it     WaS 


Newport. 


fhe    Casino,    tNev.poit. 


<leci(led  to  Ibund  the   new  town  upon  the  southwestern   part  ol   the 
island,  whose  bc<rinnin,i(  has  just  been  traced. 

On  the  first  day  of  May.  1639.  they  landed  near  the  site  of  New- 
port:  on  the  i6th  the  town  was  laid  out  and  named.  Four  acres 
were  assigned  for  each  house-lot,  and  six  acres  were  granted  to  Mr. 
Coddington  for  an  orchard.  (This  was  the  second  orchard  planted 
in  the  State.  William  Blackstone  had  planted  the  first  in  1635.) 
The  first  street  marked  out  was  Thames  Street.  It  was  about  a  mile 
in  length,  and  was  laid  out  "according  to  the  convenience  of  the 
shore,"  as  the  quaint  phrase  of  the  olden  time  puts  it.  Almost  all 
of  the  dwelling-houses  were  placed  upon  the  east  side  of  the  street. 
It  was  hardly  supposed  that  buildings  would  ever  be  placed  upon  the 
west  side,  except  in  a  few  unusually  favorable  locations.  No  room 
was  therefore  left  for  the  purpose.  But  in  course  of  time  the  neces- 
sities of  commerce  called  for  the  erection  of  stores  and  warehouses, 
the  owners  of  the  adjoining  land  encroached  more  and  more  upon 
the  highway,  and  the  narrow  street  which  now  so  surprises  the  visi- 
tor, is  the  result. 


26 


Picturesque  Rhode  Island. 


As  the  traveler 
lands  to-day  upon 
the  wharves  of  New- 
port, it  is  almost  im- 
possible for  him  to 
realize  that  he  has 
reached  the  most 
lamoiis  summer  re- 
sort upon  the  West- 
ern Continent.  In- 
stead of  the  beauti- 
tul  residences  he 
had  expected  to  see 
—  those  palatial 
structures,  rich  with 
all  the  treasures 
wealth  and  taste  can 
gather  together, 
which  have  made 
the  Newport  ''  Cot- 
tage" so  famous 
throughout  Amer- 
ica,—  his  eye  rests 
onl}'  upon  old  and 
weather-worn  build- 
ings, standing  like 
monuments  to  commemorate  the  spot  where  once  a  world-wide  com- 
merce found  its  home.  He  hardly  needs  to  be  told  in  his  guide-book 
that  Newport  was  once,  with  the  exception  of  Boston,  the  most 
flourishing  commercial  town  in  America.  Every  old  building  seems 
to  speak  in  pathetic  accents  of  that  dead  past.  It  requires  only  a 
slight  effort  of  the  imagination  to  make  these  old  wharves  groan 
once  more  beneath  the  load  of  rich  freight,  and  to  crowd  these  old 
warehouses  again,  almost  to  bursting,  with  the  varied  merchandise 
Irom  lands  that  lie  far  be3'ond  the  swelling  seas.  The  eighteenth 
century  was  the  period  of  Newport's  commercial  importance.  Dur- 
ing the  fifty  years  that  preceded  the  American  Revolution  it  reached 
the  zenith  of  its  maritime  prosperity.  When  the  Revolutionary  War 
broke  out  its  population  was  over  11,000.  In  the  town  were  seven- 
teen manufactories  of  sperm   oil  and  candles,  five  rope-walks,   three 


^^ 


The   Channing   Memorial  Church,    Newport. 


Newport. 


27 


sugar  relineries,  one  lircwcry.  and  tw  L-ntx-two  distilleries  for  the 
manufacture  of  rum.  In  its  foreign  counnerce  upwards  of  two  hun- 
dred ships  were  employed  ;  its  domestic  trade  called  for  the  services 
of  nearly  four  hundred  coasting  vessels.  Tn  the  two  months  of  June 
and  July,  i774?  sixty-lbur  vessels  from  foreign  voyages  were  entered 
at  the  Newport  Custom  House.  In  the  same  time  one  hundred  and 
thirty-two  coastwise  vessels,  and  seventeen  engaged  in  the  whale- 
fishery,  were  also  entered.  A  regular  line  of  packets  kept  up  com- 
munication A\  ith  London.  At  this  time  at  least  three  thousand  sea- 
men thronged  the  streets  of  the  port,  or  found  employment  upon  the 
ships  Avhich  lined  its  docks.  In  many  cases  goods  could  not  be 
stored    for    lack    of  room. 

though  the  coasters  would       -^— _    _^^ ^ — ^_ — ^ 

take    the    foreign     freight       if 
directly  from  the  wharx'es       y 
to  the  less  important  j^orts        T^^^j^rf^ 
which  depended  upon  New  - 
])ort  for  their  supplies.      As 
many  as  eighteen  Indiamen 
are    recorded    to  have   ar- 
rived in  one  day.     It  was 
about  this  time  that   a   far- 
seeing  writer  in  the   New- 
port  jl/rrr/iry,    after    con- 
gratulating New  York  upon 
its  healthy  growth,  ventured 
to  predict  that  the  home  of 
the  Knickerbockers  might 
one  day,  in  the  far-distant 
future,   "  rival   Newport  in 
commercial  prosperitv  and 
greatness."      The    British 
fleet  which  anchored  in  its 
harbor  in   1775,    gave  the 
death-blow  to  its  commercial  supremacy.      '*  Its  manufactories  were 
soon   closed,  its  ships,  one  by  one,  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  enemy, 
and  its  patriotic  population,  impoverished  and  despairing,  were  forced 
to  flee  for  safety  to  the  inland  towns.      From  the  efTects  of  '  the  British 
occupation '  Newport  never  recovered.     Not  until  1850  did  it  again 
number  as  many  inhabitants  as  in  1775  ;  its  lost  ships   have  never 
been  replaced."' 


Spouting    Rock. 


28  Picturesque  Rhode  Island. 

The  oldest  wharf  in  the  city  is  Long  Wharf.  This  has  lately 
been  more  than  doubled  in  size  by  the  "  filling-in  "  of  the  shallows 
near  it.  There,  in  the  very  earliest  days,  the  nine  founders  of 
the  town  and  those  who  joined  fortunes  with  them,  used  to  land. 
*' Queen-hithe, "    the   wharf  was  then    called,    and    on    the    earlier 


Lime   Rocks. 


maps  this  name  always  appears.  Hithe  or  Hythe  means  a  small 
harbor;  the  termination  is  found  in  many  English  names.  Many  a 
strange  scene  has  this  old  wharf  beheld.  Thither,  in  1729,  rushed 
the  Rev.  Mr.  Honeyman,  prayer-book  in  hand,  to  welcome  a  "  great 
dignitary  of  the  Church  of  England,  called  the  Dean."  Mr.  Honey- 
man  was  holding  a  service  in  Trinity  Church  when  the  letter  from 
Dean  Berkeley  was  handed  to  him.  He  read  it  aloud,  and  then, 
accompanied  by  all  his  flock,  ran  down  to  the  wharf  to  greet  the 
distinguished  stranger.  There,  during  the  wars  with  France,  that 
began  in  1744  and  in  1756,  were  landed  the  freights  the  swift-sailing 
privateers  had  plundered  Irom  the  Spanish  Main.  In  the  year  i745 
more  than  twenty  prizes  were  sent  into  Newport,  and  from  175^  t^"* 
1763  almost  fifty  private  armed  vessels  of  war  sailed  out  from  the 
port.  Along  the  old  wharf  Washington  and  Rochambeau  walked 
bare-headed  between  lines  of  enthusiastic  soldiers,  when,  in  March, 
1781,  the  American  Commander-in-Chief  came  to  confer  with  his 
French  allies.  Washington  wore  that  day  the  insignia  of  a  Marshal 
of  France.  The  office  had  been  bestowed  upon  him  when  the 
French  troops  were  sent  to  aid  the  struggling  Americans.  Without 
the  honor  he  could  not  have  commanded  the  French  army.  Once 
it  was  used  as  a  market-place.  Upon  the  side  of  the  patient  crea- 
ture that  was  waiting  to  be  slaughtered,  each  hungry  purchaser 
marked  with  a  piece  of  chalk  the  cut  he  desired  to  have  from  the 
fresh  carcass.  A  refinement  of  cruelty  the  practice  seems,  as  we 
look  back  upon  it.  How  hideous  would  have  been  the  thoughts  of 
the  victim,  could  it  have  understood  the  speech  of  those  who  sur- 
rounded it. 


Newport. 


29 


Upon  the  southern  side  of  the  Long  Wharf  of  to-day  is  a  row 
of  boat-builders'  shops,  carefully  placed  to  catch  the  brightest  rays 
of  the  winter's  sun.  Various  other  buildings  also  encumber  its  sur- 
face. The  intricate  by-ways  among  them  recall  the  days  when  ves- 
sels of  doubtful  antecedents  lay  at  anchor  in  the  outer  harbor,  and 
the  swarthy  ruffians  who  manned  them  lurked  about  the  wharves  to 
meet  the  cautious  purchasers  of  their  ill-gotten  merchandise.  Men- 
tion of  pirates  is  frequently  made  in  the  colonial  records  of  Rhode 
Island.  In  1723  two  sloops,  which  had  been  committing  extensive 
piracies  in  the  West  Indies,  and  robbing  the  vessels  that  plied  along 


m^f^ 


The  Drives. 


the  coast  of  the  Southern  Colonies,  sailed  northward  in  search  of 
more  profitable  cruising-grounds.  Near  the  coast  of  Long  Island 
they  made  several  valuable  captures,  and  at  last  attacked  what  they 
supposed  was  a  rich  merchant  ship.  It  proved  to  be  His  Britannic 
Majesty's  sloop-of-war  "Greyhound,"  of  twenty  guns.  The  pirate 
vessels  were  not  long  in  finding  out  their  mistake.  One  of  them  suc- 
ceeded in  making  its  escape  ;  the  other  was  not  so  fortunate.  After 
a  desperate  struggle  it  was  captured,  and  llu*  ihirty-si.x  men  who 
formed  its  crew  were  taken  into  Newport  to  be  tried.  Their  trial 
lasted  two  days,  and  resulted  in  the  conviction  of  twenty-six  of  the 
number.  Thev  were  straightway  sentenced  to  be  hung.  The  ex- 
ecution took  place  July   19,   on   Gravelly   Point   (called  also   Bull's 


so 


Picturesque  Rhode  Island. 


Point).  The  bodies  were  buried  on  the  Goat  Island  shore,  between 
high  and  low-water  mark.  It  was  a  great  event  for  Newport.  Peo- 
ple flocked  into  the  town  from  all  the  surroundino-  country  to  see  the 
wonderful  sight.  One  of  the  more  aisthetic  spirits  among  the  pirates 
composed  a  poem  for  the  occasion,  and  almost  all  of  them  took  ad- 
vantage of  the  unequaled  opportunity  which  was  afforded  them  to 
address  the  spectators  in  most  edifying  terms. 

North  of  the  Long  Wharf  light  row-boats  pass  to-day  over  sub- 
merged capstones.  The  merry  oarsmen  little  think  of  the  tales  of 
departed  commerce  those  immense  masses  of  granite  tell.  Through 
those  great  iron  rings,  that  are  sometimes  seen  in  the  depths  of  the 
clear  waters,  were  passed  the  detaining  cables  of  many  a  stout  ship  ; 
and  where  the  tide  each  day  sweeps  onward  without  obstruction,  the 
products  of  many  lands  once  lay  piled  in  rich  profusion.  At  qne 
___  time  this  was  the  busiest  portion 


The  Jewish  Cemetery. 


of  the  busy  port.  The  Revolution- 
ary' War  caused  this  part  of  the 
harbor  to  be  deserted.  The  feeble 
commerce  that  was  revived  after 
peace  came  chose  other  wharves 
for  its  home.  The  old  piers  had 
survived  their  usefulness,  and 
when  the  great  gale  of  1815 
burst  in  fury  upon  the  town,  the 
swelling  seas  of  that  terrible  Sep- 
tember day  found  nothing  here 
to  oppose  them.  Exultingly  they 
seized  the  opportunit}'^  to  satiate 
their  vengeance  upon  the  solid  walls  that  had  so  long  withstood  the 
ocean's  power.  Along  the  abandoned  wharves  scarcely  one  stone 
was  left  upon  another  when  the  wind  went  down. 

Upon  some  of  the  smaller  wharves,  to  the  southward,  the  battered 
warehouses  of  past  generations  are  ^-et  standing.  A  grisly  tale  is 
told  of  one  of  them.  Instead  of  the  stout  wooden  shutters  which 
now  close  its  windows,  rows  of  iron  bars  once  shocked  the  gaze, 
and  the  dark  faces  of  those  to  whom  libert}'  had  forever  ceased  to 
be  anything  more  than  a  name,  looked  despairingly  through  them. 
The  building  was  used  for  a  slave-pen  many,  manyj'ears  ago,  before 
the  consciences  of  Englishmen  had  been  awakened  to  a  sense  of  the 
sinfulness  of  the  traffic  in  human  ffesh.      In  the  second  story  of  some 


Xi:\\i'()U'i- 


The  Old   Coddington    House. 


of  these  warehouses 
\vere  the  countini;- 
rooms  of  the  Jews, 
whose  enterprise  did 
so  much  to  enliance 
the  e  o  111  111  ere  i  a  1 
jirosperitx  ol  thi' 
town.  The  name 
of  Aaron  Lopez  is 
connected  with  one. 
J^opez  is  said  at  one 
time  to  have  own- 
ed eiffht\'  vessels. 
Many  of  these  were 
^\  hivlers  :  twenty- 
seven  were  stjuare- 
i-i(roed.  All  were  of 
li<Xht    tonnage ;    a 

ship  of  three   hundred   tons  was   considered   an   enormous  vessel   in 
those  days. 

The  first  Jews  came  to  Newport  during-  the  last  quarter  ol  the 
se\-enteenth  centur\-.  ^Jlie  deed  of  their  burial-place  is  dated  in  1677. 
T'heN-  were  of  Dutch  extraction,  and  came  from  Cura(;oa.  Alter  the 
Lisbon  earthquake  of  1755,  many  of  their  Portuguese  countrymen 
came  to  settle  with  them.  There  were  more  than  sixty  families  of 
the  Hebrew  faith  in  the  town  in  1763.  Many  of  these  Portuguese 
Jews  became  naturalized  citizens.  The  privilege  of  naturalization 
was  sometimes  denied  them,  though  it  is  difficult  to  conjecture  why  tlu- 
distinction  was  made.  Thus,  in  1761  "  Lucena  the  Portuguese  "  was 
naturalized  bv  the  General  Assembly,  and  in  the  following  year  the 
petition  of  Aaron  Lopez  for  the  same  privilege  w^as  rejected.  The 
case  of  Lopez  was  peculiar  in  every  respect.  When  the  Court  re- 
jected his  petition,  a  svnagoguc,  the  only  one  in  America,  had  been 
commenced.  It  was  dedicated  in  the  follow  ing  year,  and  the  Hebrew 
faith  was  here  most  amply  protected,  while  in  every  other  colony 
it  was  denounced. 

The  Jew  s  brought  many  new  branches  of  industry  into  the  town. 
Thus,  Jacob  Rodriguez  Riveira  introduced  the  manufacture  of  .sperma- 
ceti, of  which  Newport  enjoyed  the  monopoly  before  the  Revolution  ; 
and  Moses  Lopez  obtained  from  the   Colonial  Assembly  a  patent  for 


32 


Picturesque  Rhode  Island. 


Ancient   Days." 


an  improved  method 
of  making  potash. 
In  1774  there  were 
three  hundred  Jew- 
ish families  in  New- 
port. All  of  them 
left  the  place  very 
soon  after  the  war 
began,  and  very  few 
ever  came  back. 
Joseph  Lopez  was 
the  onl}^  one  of  the 
race  who  resumed 
business    in    the 


ruined  town.     Not  one  of  the  descendants  of  those  princely  merchants 
now  remains  in  the  island  metropolis. 


"  Closed  are  the  portals  of  their  synagogue, 

No  Psalms  of  David  now  their  silence  break, 
No  Rabbi  reads  the  ancient  Decalogue 
In  the  grand  dialect  the  Prophets  spake. 

Gone  are  the  living,  but  the  dead  remain, 

And  not  neglected  ;  for  a  hand  unseen, 
Scattering  its  bounty  like  a  summer  rain, 

still  keeps  their  graves  and  their  remembrance  green." 

Isaac  Touro,  the  priest,  fled  to  Jamaica  when  the  British  troops 
took  possession  of  the  town.  His  son  Abraham,  who  died  in  Boston 
in  1822,  left  a  fund  of  $10,000  for  the  support  of  the  synagogue  and 
cemetery,  and  $5,000  to  keep  in  repair  the  street  on  which  they  front 
—  Touro  Street.  Another  son,  Judah  Touro,  born  in  Newport  in 
1775,  was  a  philanthropist,  and  a  staunch  patriot  also.  When  a 
young  man  he  removed  to  New  Orleans,  and  there  acquired  a  large 
fortune.  He  served  as  a  volunteer  at  the  battle  of  New  Orleans,  and 
was  wounded  by  a  cannon-ball  in  the  hip.  In  1842  he  erected  the 
granite  entrance  and  the  railing  around  the  cemetery,  at  a  cost  of 
$11,000.  Though  a  Jew,  he  contributed  generously  to  many  Chris- 
tian church  enterprises.  Towards  the  erection  of  the  Bunker  Hill 
Monument  he  gave  $10,000. 

A  story  told  of  Abraham  Riveira  illustrates  the  sterling  worth  of 
those  Hebrew  merchants.     At  one  time,  losses  upon  the  sea  had  so 


Xkwi'ort 


crippled  his  resources  that  hv  was  ohHgecl  to  make  an  assi«(nment  ot" 
his  propert\-.  Rccoirniziiii;-  his  honesty  and  his  great  abihty,  his 
English  creditors  oflered  him  \  erv  easv  terms  ol' settlement,  and  pro- 
vided him  with  mone\'  and  goods  with  which  to  resume  business. 
Success  once  more  smiled  upon  liim.  .Vlter  a  tew  prosperous  years 
he  gave  a  great  dinner-part\  .  to  which  he  invited  all  ot  his  old 
creditt)rs  wlio  could  possibK   hv  reached,     iieside  his  jilate,  e\ery  one 


I  t   Cottage 

of  his  guests  Ibund  a  check  ibr  the  amount  that  was  originally  due 
him,  with  interest  added  from  the  date  of  the  failure. 

The  names  of  many  of  the  founders  of  Newport  are  heard  upon 
its  streets  to-dav.  The  family  of  Coddington  has  become  extinct. 
William  Coddington,  the  lirst  governor,  was  born  in  England.  He 
was  a  man  (jf  considerable  influence,  and  of  large  landed  property  in 
his  native  countrv,  and  was  named  an  Assistant  in  the  Massachusetts 
Colony  before  he  left  England.  In  the  records  of  the  early  days  of 
Boston  he  is  often  spoken  of  as  one  of  its  j-)rincipal  citizens,  and  is 
said  to  have  built  the  fn-st  brick  house  in  that  town.  lie  became 
perhaps  the  largest  land-holder  upon  Rhode  Island,  and  was  probably 
the  wealthiest  of  the  Newport  settlers.  All  things  went  well  with 
him  until  his  ambition  led  him  to  procure  for  himself  greater  official 
station  than  his  own  qualili cations  or  the  wishes  of  his  associates 
seemed  to  w  arrant.  Then  he  fell  from  his  high  estate,  and  never 
recovered  his  lost  influence.  At  present  a  shadow  rests  upon  his 
name,  and  Rhode  Island  historical  authorities  by  no  means  agree  as 
to  the  place  he  should  hold  in  the  records  of  the  State.  The.  story 
goes  that  his  last  male  descendant  in  his  early  years  inherited  an 
ample  estate.     This  he  gradually  w  asted  away  in  reckless  dissipation, 

3 


34  Picturesque  Rhode  Island. 


until  at  length  nothing  was  left  to  him  but  the  ancestral  shield  which 
bore  the  arms  of  his  lamily.  Through  all  his  reverses  this  degenerate 
scion  of  a  noble  race  maintained  the  lofty  bearing  of  a  high-toned 
gentleman.  One  day,  when  his  well-worn  suit  of  clothes  had  for  a 
long  time  been  shining  with  the  unwelcome  gloss  of  age,  he  was 
offered  a  new  suit  in  exchange  for  the  old  escutcheon.  With  the 
greatest  indignation  he  repulsed  the  offer.  "  What,*'  said  he.  "  sell 
the  coat-of-arms  of  a  Coddington  !  "  The  ancient  relic  hangs  to-dav 
in  the  City  Hall,  for  the  old  roue  ended  his  days  in  the  poor-house, 
and  the  cit}*  inherited  this  last  remnant  of  his  patrimonial  estate. 

Upon  the  Brenton  family,  Fate  has  smiled  more  kindlv.  William 
Brenton,  the  surveyor,  was  the  first  of  the  race  in  America.  Coming 
to  this  country  in  1634,  he  brought  Avith  him  a  commission  from  King 
Charles  I.,  which  allowed  him  a  certain  number  of  acres  per  mile  on 
all  lands  he  should  survey  in  the  New  England  Colonies.  The  tract 
he  chose  for  his  home  in  Newport  comprised  very  nearly  two  thousand 
acres  of  the  best  land  in  the  Colony.  Brenton's  Point,  at  the  extrem- 
ity of  which  Fort  Adams  now  stands,  formed  a  part  of  it.  Upon  this 
farm  was  built  the  edifice  commonly  called  "•  The  Four  Chimney 
House,"  said  to  be  the  largest  house  in  the  colonies  at  the  time  of  its  • 
erection.  It  was  one  hundred  and  fifty  feet  square.  Through  it  ex- 
tended a  hall  that  was  sixteen  feet  wide.  Upon  its  roof,  which  was 
surrounded  by  a  railing,  seats  were  built  and  a  promenade  was  con- 
structed. The  grounds  surrounding  it  were  laid  out  in  the  most 
artistic  manner,  and  were  kept  in  a  high  state  of  cultivation.  The 
fruit  trees  in  the  orchards  were  mostlv  imported  from  England. 
Among  theni  were  found  many  varieties  never  before  cultivated  in 
this  countr}'.  It  is  said  that  the  "  vellow  russet"  apple  was  first 
grown  upon  the  Brenton  grounds.  A  wall  of  granite,  five  feet  in 
height,  surrounded  the  estate,  which  was  named  Hammersmith,  from 
its  owner's  English  birth-place. 

In  1660  Mr.  Brenton  was  chosen  President  of  the  Rhode  Island 
Colon}',  and  thus  happened  to  be  its  chief  officer  when  the  family  of 
the  Stuarts  was  placed  again  upon  the  English  throne.  The  Court  of 
Commissioners  for  the  Colonv  was  sitting  at  Warwick  when  the  news 
of  the  Restoration  was  received.  President  Brenton,  as  a  loyal  sub- 
ject of  King  Charles  II.,  immediately  appointed  a  day  of  thanksgiv- 
ing and  rejoicing,  to  be  observed  throughout  the  Colony.  He  also 
directed  that  processions  in  each  town  should  commemorate  the 
event,  and  that  a  holidaA'  should  be  given  to  servants  and  children. 


Newport. 


35 


The   Lorillard   Cottage. 


Tradition  savs  that  a  Ioiil;-  jirocossion  passed  through  the  streets  ol 
Newport  on  the  night  of  the  celebration.  The  thronging  people  car- 
ried lanterns  with  which  to  illumine  the  darkness,  and  kettle-drums, 
hand-bells,  and  tit'es 
for  the  more  perfect 
manifestation  o t 
their  joy.  Upon  a  ^- 
platform  was  carried 
a  person  dressed  to 
represent  the  late 
Lord  Protector.  Be- 
hind him  stood  one 
who  was  supposed 
to  personate  Ilis 
Satanic  Majesty. 
One  of  the  hands 
of  the  ruler  of  the 

lower  world  was  placed  upon  CromwelFs  head,  while  the  other 
brandished  a  spear  in  air.  From  time  to  time  the  procession  halted 
to  listen  to  the  repetition  of  these  lines  : 

"  OKI  Cromwell  —  man  '.  your  tiim.-  is  come. 
We  tell  it  here  with  life  and  drum  : 
And  Satan's  hand  is  on  your  head. 
He's  come  for  you  before  you  're  dead, 
And  on  his  spear  he  '11  throw  you  in 
The  very  worst  place  that  ever  was  seen. 
For  good  King  Charles  is  on  his  throne. 
And  Parliament  now  you  '11  let  alone." 

This  practice  of  marching  through  the  streets  on  the  anniversary 
of  the  Restoration  was  maintained  for  many  years.  At  last  it  became 
simply  a  nuisance,  and  as  such  was  suppressed  by  the  town  author- 
ities. 

Admiral  Sir  Jahleel  Brenton  and  Captain  Edward  Pelham  Bren- 
ton,  both  of  the  Bridsh  navy,  and  Sir  I^renton  Halliburton,  long  the 
Chief  Jusdce  of  Nova  Scotia,  were  all  descended  from  William 
Brenton,  and  were  all  born  in  Newport. 

WiUiam  Brenton's  son,  Jahleel,  was  about  twenty-one  years  of 
age  when  King  Philip's  War  broke  out.  When  the  news  of  the 
destruction  of  Providence  by  the  Indians  was  received  in  Newport, 
he  quickly  manned  a  schooner  and  hastenetl  to  the  relii-f  of  llu-  home- 


36  Picturesque  Rhode  Island, 

less  fugitives.  Jahleel  Brenton,  after  serving  as  His  Majesty's  Col- 
lector of  Customs  in  Boston,  for  some  years,  came  back  to  end  his  days 
in  Newport.  He  was  for  a  time  Collector  of  Customs  for  Newport 
also,  and  thus  became  very  prominently  identified  with  the  commercial 
history  of  the  port.  In  1720,  he  built  the  famous  Channing  House, 
which  is  still  standing  upon  Thames  Street. 

Says  the  novelist  Cooper,  in  the  Red  Rover:  ••Enjo^•ing  the 
four  great  requisites  of  a  safe  and  commodious  haven,  —  a  placid 
basin,  an  outer  harbor,  and  a  convenient  roadstead  with  a  clear 
offing, — Newport  appeared  to  the  eyes  of  our  European  ancestors 
designed  to  shelter  fleets  and  to  nurse  a  race  of  hardy  and  expert 
seamen."'  During  the  collectorship  of  Brenton,  and  from  that  time 
forward  until  the  Revolution,  Newport  seemed  in  a  fair  wav  to  realize 
that  splendid  commercial  future  of  \\  hich  its  people  dreamed. 

The  name  which  stands  forth  most  prominenth'.  as  we  peruse  the 
records  of  those  golden  days,  is  that  of  Wanton.  Four  of  the  family 
— William,  John,  Gideon,  and  Joseph — were  at  difl^erent  times  elected 
governor  of  the  Colony  ;  another,  Joseph.  Jr.,  held  for  two  vears  the 
office  of  deputy-governor.  The  Wantons  were  shipwrights  when 
they  took  up  their  abode  upon  Aquidneck.  Edward  Wanton,  first 
of  the  name  in  America,  was  an  officer  of  the  y-uard  at  Boston  when 
Mary  Dyer  (wife  of  the  first  secretary  of  Newport)  suffered  death 
because  guilty  of  the  unpardonable  crime  of  being  a  Quaker.  The 
unshaken  firmness  with  which  she  submitted  to  her  fate  moved  Wan- 
ton p;reatlv.  "Alas!  Mother!"  said  he,  as  he  went  into  his  house 
after  the  execution,  ''We  have  been  murdering  the  Lord's  people;'' 
and,  taking  off  his  sword,  he  made  a  solemn  vow  never  to  wear  it 
again.  Not  long  afterward  he  became  a  member  of  the  societv  of 
Friends,  and,  moving  to  Scituate,  Mass.,  established  a  shipyard  in 
that  town.  Like  their  father,  the  sons  were  also  members  of  the 
society  of  Friends,  but  the  spirit  sometimes  moved  them  to  deeds 
their  quiet  sire  bv  no  means  approved.  For  resenting  an  insult  to 
their  father  they  were  forced  to  flee  from  Scituate.  This  is  the 
story  of  one  of  their  exploits  after  they  had  taken  up  their  abode 
upon  Rhode  Island.  It  \von  them  fame  not  only  throughout  the 
length  and  breadth  of  the  American  Colonies,  but  in  England  as  well. 
"A  piratical  ship,  of  three  hundred  tons,  mounting  twenty  cannon, 
appeared  ofl'  the  harbor  of  Newport,  cruising  between  Block  Island 
and  Point  Judith,  interrupting  everv  vessel  that  attempted  to  pass, 
capturing  property,  and  treating  the  officers   and   crews  with   great 


Xia\i'()K-r.  37 

severity.  To  renioNt.'  an  annoNanee  so  injurious  to  the  comfort  and 
prosperity  ot'  the  inhabitants  of  .W-wport,  two  Nouni;  infii.  WilHani 
and  John  Wanton,  sons  of  the  lirst  Edward,  determined  to  attempt 
her  capture,  and  the  means  the\-  resorted  to  were  as  novel  as  the  suc- 
cess was  glorious.  No  sooner  had  thc\  made  known  their  intention 
than  they  were  joined  by  about  thirt\-  \()un<*-  men  ot'  their  acquaint- 
ance, and  a  sloop  ot' thirty  tons  was  en^-a<(ed  lor  the  enterprise.  The 
bra\e  lellows  went  on  hoard  with  onl\  their  small-arms  to  defend 
themsebes.  and  sailed  out  of  the  harbor,  apparenlh'  on  a  little  coast- 
ing excursion.  e\ery  jierson  beini;-  concealed  below  except  the  few- 
required  to  naxigate  the  \-essel.  After  cruisini;-  a  few  dax's  the\' 
espied  the  object  of  their  search.  As  the\  dn-w  near  the  piratical 
vessel,  with  the  intention,  apparentlv,  to  pass,  the  pirate  tired  a  shot 
at  them.  This  was  what  they  desired,  in  order  to  <»-i\e  them  an 
opportunity  to  approach  the  pirate.  The  sloop  immediatelx  lowered 
the  peak  of  her  mainsail  and  lutl'ed  uj")  lor  the  iiirati-.  but  instead  of 
going  alongside  thev  came  directh"  under  her  stern.  Iler  men  at 
once  sprang  upon  deck,  and,  with  irons  prepared  for  tlu'  purpose, 
grappled  their  sloop  to  the  ship  and  wedged  lier  iHiddei-  to  the  stern- 
post  so  as  to  render  it  unmanageable.  Haxing  so  far  succeeded  in 
their  purpose  without  alarming  the  piratical  crew,  or  leading  them  to 
suppose  the}'  were  approached  by  an\  thing  but  a  littk-  coaster,  each 
man  seized  his  musket,  and  taking  deliberate  aim,  shot  e\ery  pirate 
as  he  appeared  on  deck.  After  making  great  etlbrts  to  disengage 
themseh'es,  and  finding  it  impossible  so  to  do,  the  rest  sun-endered, 
and  were  taken  into  the  harbor  of  Newport  b\  tlu-ir  bra\  i-  and  gallanl 
captors,  and  turned  o\'er  to  the  authorities,  where,  alter  a  trial,  they 
suffered  the  penaltv  of  their  crimes  b\'  being  hanged.  When  this 
affair  took  place  W^illiam  Wanton  was  but  twent\-four,  and  John 
twent\'-t\vo  vears  of  a<;e."'  Man^•  like  stories  miii'ht  be  told  con- 
cerning  these  brothers.  They  were  fit  leaders  for  the  acbenture- 
loving  voung  men  who  thronged  the  streets  of  New  jiort.  In  1702 
the\'  went  to  London,  and  were  receixed  at  court  with  other  heroes 
who  had  contributed  to  swell  the  renown  of  the  English  na\y. 
Qi_ieen  Anne  granted  them  an  addition  to  their  coat-of-arms,  and 
presented  them  each  with  two  jiieces  ol  jilate.  .\  complimentarx 
inscription  (in  Latin,  of  course.)  adorneil  each  silver  \essel. 

William  Wanton  did  not  long  remain  a  (^laker.  W^hen  he  was 
twent\-one  \ears  old  he  married  Kulh.  llu'  lu-autitul  daughter  of 
Deacon  John    Hrxant.  of  Scituate.      Then-   was   much   ojijiosition   to 


Xi:\\  I'ORi-.  39 

the  match  rnmi  both  ihcir  faniihcs.  Deacon  Hrxant  was  a  riijid 
Presbyterian.  He  detested  Quakers.  The  Wanton  taniilv,  on  the 
other  hand,  frowned  whenever  the  idea  of  a  Presb\terian  daughter- 
in-huv  was  brought  forward.  Tlie  eager  lover  quickly  cut  the 
Gordian  knot.  •'  Ruth."  said  hv  to  the  maiden  one  day,  as  they 
were  standing  in  the  spacious  '•  sitting-r(K)m  "' of  her  father's  house. 
"  let  us  break  from  this  unreasonable  bondage,  /will  give  up  ///v 
religion,  and  ///o//  shalt  thine  :  we  will  both  go  to  tiie  Ciiurch  of 
England  and  to  the  de\il  together."  A  happ\-  marriage  it  pro\ cd 
to  be. 

Joseph  Wanton  was  the  last  of  his  race  to  hold  the  otHce  of  gov- 
ernor. The  Revolution  terminated  his  j")olitical  life.  lie  was  a  Tory, 
and  his  large  estates  were  therefore  confiscated  and  sold.  But  though 
he  was  thus  despoiled  of  his  property,  he  never  lost  the  respect  of  his 
fellow-townsmen.  During  the  British  occupation  he  remained  in 
Ne\vport,  living  ver}'  quietlv  and  unostentatiousl\'.  After  the  de- 
parture of  the  troops  he  was  not  molested  by  the  patriot  party,  but 
continued  to  reside  until  his  death  in  the  town  of  which,  for  almost  a 
centur\',  his  ancestors  had  been  the  most  conspicuous  citizens. 

Another  famous  merchant  of  that  early  time  was  Godfrey  Malbone. 
When  a  mere  lad  he  ran  awav  to  sea.  and  was  not  heard  from  for 
many  a  year.  About  the  beginning  of  the  last  century  he  settled  in 
Newport,  and  soon  became  the  most  noted  of  all  its  merchant  princes. 
Dark  and  full  of  mvsterv  are  some  of  the  tales  that  are  told  concern- 
ing him.  His  \entures  upon  the  sea  seem  to  ha\  e  been  unusually 
lawless,  even  for  that  lawless  age.  and  the  fair  fame  of  the  city  in 
which  he  dwelt  suffered  in  consequence.  During  tiie  French  war. 
which  began  in  1744,  Newport  sent  forth  more  than  a  score  of  pri- 
vateers. The  Frenchmen  called  the  town  a  "  nursery  of  corsairs,"  and 
planned  its  capture.  "  Perhaps  we  had  better  burn  it  as  a  pernicious 
hole,  from  the  number  of  privateers  there  fitted  out,  as  dangrroiis  in 
■peace  as  in  n'ar,"  wrote  one  officer  to  his  superior  in  rank.  Smuggling, 
Malbone  of  course  indulged  in.  It  was  hardly  deemed  discreditable 
to  anv  one.  —  not  at  all  to  be  censured  if  he  who  engaged  in  it  hap- 
pened to  be  a  man  of  wealth.  Persons  now  living  have  seen  upon 
the  estate  Malbone  once  owned,  the  entrance  to  an  underground  jias- 
sage  which  afforded  easv  communication  with  the  beach,  and  thus 
enabled  him  to  elude  the  vii^ilance  of  the  custom-house  officers.  It  is 
said  that  his  *■  corsairs  "  jirexed  upon  both  Spaniard  and  Frenchman 
with  an  impartial  disregard  for  treaties  :   and   it   is   a   well-established 


40  Picturesque  Rhode  Island. 


lact  that  large  sums  of  money  were  recovered  from  him  in  England, 
by  legal  process,  for  the  spoliations  he  systematically  practiced  upon 
the  Dutch.  In  1745  two  of  his  privateers,  large  and  beautiful  ves- 
sels, fresh  from  the  stocks,  sailed  out  of  the  harbor  on  the  day  before 
Christmas,  bound  for  the  Spanish  Main.  A  violent  snow-storm  came 
up,  and  the  gale  soon  changed  to  a  hurricane.  Newport  had  two 
hundred  widows  in  consequence,  lor  the  ships  were  never  heard  of 
afterward. 

The  hospitality  of  Malbone  was  proverbial.  Sometimes  tempered 
with  shrewdness  it  was,  withal.  Thus,  the  gossips  affirm  that  after  a 
successful  voyage  he  was  accustomed  always  to*  invite  his  buccaneer- 
ing crews  to  a  splendid  feast  in  his  princelv  banquet-hall.  At  the 
close  of  the  repast,  when  the  fun  was  waxing  fierce  and  furious,  the 
shipping-books  were  produced,  and  his  impulsive  guests  were  easily 
induced  to  enroll  themselves  for  new  ventures. 

The  building  of  the  famous  country-house  of  Godfrey  Malbone 
was  commenced  in  1744.  It  was  without  doubt  the  finest  mansion  in 
the  colonies  when  it  was  completed.  It  was  built  of  stone  brought 
from  a  Connecticut  quarry  (some  of  this  stone  was  used  in  the  con- 
struction of  the  house  which  now  occupies  its  site),  was  two  stones 
high,  and  had  in  the  centre  a  circular  staircase,  leading  to  the  cupola 
upon  its  roof.  This  staircase  was  esteemed  an  architectural  marvel, 
and  is  reputed  to  have  cost  much  more  than  an  ordinar\'  house.  In 
the  construction  of  the  edifice  $100,000  was  expended  :  an  enormous 
sum  for  the  days  when  one  might  li\'e  in  elegant  style  for  $500  a 
year.  One  day,  in  the  vear  1766,  the  owner  of  the  mansion — 
Co/oncl  ISl'dlbont^t  he  was  then  —  had  bidden  a  select  company  of  the 
eliU'  of  Aquidneck  to  a  more  than  usually  magnificent  feast.  More 
costly  than  even  his  lavish  hospitality  had  designed,  it  proved  to 
be.  Just  as  the  slaves  were  placing  the  viands  upon  the  table,  the 
house  caught  fire,  and  the  flames  spread  so  rapidh'  that  all  attempts 
to  save  it  were  in  vain.  It  was  earlv  summer,  and  with  one  of  those 
great  oaths  that  rolled  so  easilv  from  his  lips,  the  owner  swore  that 
though  his  house  was  undoubtedlv  lost,  his  dinner  should  not  be.  B3' 
his  orders  the  tables  were  spread  once  more  upon  the  lawn,  the  rare 
old  wines  were  brought  forth  from  the  cellar,  and  so,  by  the  light  of 
the  burning  dwelling,  the  feast  was  finished.  One  ^'ersion  of  the 
storv  ascribes  the  loss  of  the  house  to  the  fastidious  pride  of  Mrs. 
Malbone.  That  elegant  lady  refused  to  allow  the  rude  tread  of 
plebeian  feet  to  soil   her  beautiful  drawing-rooms,  even  for  the  pur- 


Xi;\\  I'oK'i' 


41 


Redwood    Lioiai 


pose  of  savin*;-  tlu-  mansion  IrDni  lirstruction.  'I'lu-  ii,ult  which  st-p- 
arated  the  two  chisses  ofsociotx-  was  mucli  broader  and  dci-pcr  in  the 
old  colonial  davs  of  Newport,  than  that  which  the  more  enlii;htenetl 
judgment  of  a  later  a<i^e  deems  necessary  for  the  welfare  ot   mankind. 

The  most  jirominenl  of 
the  contemjioraries  ol  Mal- 
bone  was  Abraham  Ked- 
wood.  Radically  ditferent 
\vere  the  characters  and  li\es 
of  the  two  men.  Redwood 
Avas  a  Qiiaker,  a  nati\e  ot' 
the  island  of  Antigua.  lie 
was  born  the  heir  to  an  im- 
mense estate,  and  w  as  edu- 
cated at  Philadelphia  in  the 
enjovment  of  all  the  advan- 
tages that  unlimited  wealth 
could  command.    Very  early 

hi  life  he  became  a  resident  of  Newport.  l-'or  almost  sexenty  years 
(he  died  March  8,  1788).  his  stately  presence  graced  the  streets  ot 
the  town.  "He  lived  in  a  style  of  opulence  becoming  his  fortune, 
mixed  with  the  elegant  simplicity  of  a  Qiuiker.  His  town  house  and 
countrx-  house  were  appointed  with  every  ri-tined  luxury,  and  his 
munificence  not  only  made  his  name  famous  by  donations  to  public 
institutions,  but  inspired  a  hundred  private  charities  which  made  it 
blessed."  The  famous  "Literary  Club."  wliicli  nunilnTed  among  its 
members  such  men  as  Callender,  Ellery,  Ward,  1  loneyman,  Checkley, 
Updike  and  Johnson,  flourished  with  wondrous  vigor  in  those  days. 
That  genial  societv  of  scholars  did  much  to  maki-  Dean  Herkeley  (ot 
whom  more  will  be  said  in  another  chapter)  such  an  ardent  lover  ol 
the  town.  The  gentle  English  scholar,  charmed  with  the  unusual 
attainments  and  pleasant  converse  of  his  companions,  —  all  tin-  mon- 
delightful  to  him  because  entirely  unlooked  tor. — is  said  to  have 
suggested  the  formation  of  a  permanent  literary  society  which  should 
perpetuate  these  happy  features  of  Acpiidneck  lite. 

The  Redwood  Library  is  the  result  of  that  suggt-slion.  although 
the  •' Librarv  Company"  was  not  tormed  until  several  years  alter 
Berkeley  had  gone  back  to  England.  In  1747  the  society  was  incor- 
porated. Toward  the  purchase  of  the  books  that  were  most  nei-ded, 
Abraham  Reilwood  contributed  1'500.     Stimulated  by  this  rt-ady  'j^>.'nc- 


42  PlCTUKESQlIE    RnODE    IsLAXD. 


rosity,  his  fellow-townsmen  experienced  but  little  difficulty  in  raising- 
£5,000  for  the  erection  of  the  building  to  which  they  gratefully  gave 
his  name.  A  more  beautitlil  and  more  enduring  monument  than  the 
chaste,  Doric  structure,  it  would  be  difficult  to  hnd.  Henry  Collins, 
"•the  Lorenzo  de  Medici  of  Rhode  Island,"  presented  to  the  society 
the  lot  of  land  upon  which  the  edifice  was  erected.  Peter  Harrison 
was  the  architect  employed.  In  this  age  of  cheap  books  and  free 
libraries,  it  is  almost  impossible  for  us  to  realize  how  much  the  Red- 
wood Library  has  done  for  Newport.  When  it  was  founded  books 
were  a  rare  luxury  in  America.  The  acquisition  of  learning  was  re- 
garded as  the  happy  priyilege  of  the  few,  and  not  the  inherent  birth- 
right of  the  many.  There  were  then  only  four  colleges  in  the  colonies. 
All  of  these  were  poorly  endowed,  and  the  eager  aspirants  for  knowl- 
edge were  for  the  most  part  obliged  to  seek  it  in  the  lands  beyond  the 
sea.  To  this  little  temple,  with  its  precious  store  of  books,  flocked 
not  only  thoughtful  students  of  limited  means,  but  polished,  scholarly 
gentlemen  also,  from  all  parts  of  the  country.  Thus  the  town  quickly 
acquired  the  enyiable  distinction  which  it  enjoyed  in  the  days  that  pre- 
ceded the  Revolution  -^  of  being  the  most  congenial  abode  for  learned 
opulence  which  could  be  found  in  America.  The  ruthless  hands  of 
the  British  invaders  despoiled  the  Library  of  the  greater  portion  of  its 
treasures,  and  in  those  dreary,  hopeless  years  that  followed  the  war, 
it  seemed  hardly  possible  that  its  lost  fortunes  could  ever  be  repaired. 
Of  those  years,  one  of  Newport's  most  eminent  sons,  who  was  then 
in  his  quiet,  studious  boyhood,  William  Ellery  Channing,  afterward 
wrote  :  "•  The  edifice  was  then  so  deserted  that  I  spent  day  after  day, 
and  sometimes  week  alter  week,  amidst  its  dusty  volumes,  without 
interruption  from  a  single  visitor."  Gradually  the  wounds  the  war 
had  inflicted  were  healed,  but  it  was  not  until  late  in  the  present  cen- 
tury that  a  healthy  life  w\as  infused  again  into  the  languid  veins  of 
the  historic  society.  Then  such  generous  contributions  of  money, 
books,  and  works  of  art  were  poured  in  from  all  quarters,  that  the 
old  building  was  no  longer  able  to  accommodate  its  ever-increasing 
treasures,  and  in  1875  its  enlargement  became  an  imperadve  necessity. 
The  most  prominent  benefactor  of  the  Library  in  these  later  days 
was  Charles  Bird  King.  At  his  death  he  bequeathed  to  it  real  estate 
amounting  in  value  to  $9,000,  his  valuable  librar3%  his  carefully 
selected  engravings,  and  more  than  two  hundred  of  the  paintings 
which  now  adorn  its  walls.  The  jealous  restrictions  which  once  kept 
the   general   public   awa}'  from   its  carefull\'-guarded  precincts   have 


Newport. 


43 


been  (jradually  rcnioNcd.  and  tlu-  Library  has  bi-coiiu-  a  popular  and 
much  frequented  reading-room. 

Peter  Harrison  was  the  assistant  architect  of  lilenheim  House  — 
that  magnilicent  residence  which  grateful  England  erected  at  a  cost 


ot 


.500.000.    as    a    s 


lin-ht 


token  of  its  esteem  for  the 
Duke  of  Marlborough.  He 
was  for  many  years  a  resi- 
dent of  Newport,  and  the 
Redwood  Library  is  not  the 
only  evidence  of  his  skill 
which  the  city  possesses. 
The  ancient  State  House, 
from  the  balcony  of  whicii 
the  election  of  the  governor 
of  the  "  State  of  Rhode  Isl- 
and and  Providence  Planta- 
tions" is  annually  proclaimed 
with  a  pomp  that  saxors  of 
the  dusty  flavor  of  colonial 
days,  was  designed  b}'  him. 
From  the  steps  of  this  old 
building  the  Declaration  of 
Independence  was  read  on 
the  twentieth  day  of  July. 
1776.  During  the  war  which 
followed,  it  was  used  as  a 
hospital,  both  by  the  En- 
glish and  French  troops. 
Stuart's  famous  life-size  portrait  of  Washington  —  a  jiresent  from  the 
artist  to  the  city  in  which  he  once  dwelt  —  graces  its  senate-chamber. 
In  the  early  part  of  the  eighteenth  century  it  is  recorded  that  the 
street  leading  to  this  building  was  jia\ed  from  tin-  funds  drrixed  from 
the  importation  of  slaves. 

Trinit}'  Church  is  another  of  his  buildings.  This  cdilici.'.  "  ac- 
knowledged hv  the  people  ol  that  day  to  be  the  most  beautiful  limber 
structure  in  America,"' was  completed  in  1726.  Harrison  also  de- 
signed King's  Chapel,  Boston.  He  was  the  recognized  head  of  his 
profession  in  New  England,  and,  as  a  late  writer  has  well  said,  '•  he 
did  what  he   could  to   drajj;    architrcture  out  of  tin-   nnrc  of  Puritan 


Trinity  Church 


44  Picturesque  Rhode  Island. 


ugliness  and  neglect."     Notwithstanding  the  frequent  changes   that 
have  been  made  in  Trinity  Church  since  the  day  when  the  first  ser- 
vices were  held  within  its  walls,  it  still  retains  many  of  the  features 
with  which  those  who  built  it  were  familiar.      Upon  its  spire  is  fixed 
the  crown  which  typified  the  sovereignty  of  Great  Britain.      Below 
the  crown,  the  clock  Jahleel  Brenton  presented  even  now  holds  an 
honored    place.     William    Claggett,   a  Welshman  who   lived   tor  a 
quarter  of  a  century  in  the  town,  was  the  maker  of  this   clock.      A 
"  cunning  workman,"  was  this  old  horologer  ;   he  is  said  to  have  con- 
structed the  first  electrical  machine  ever  known  in  America.     Within 
the  church,  the  organ  Berkeley  presented,  and  the  pulpit  from  which 
the   famous  dean  was  wont  to  preach,  still  greet  the  eye.     The  or- 
ganist tells  us  that  his  quaint  instrument,   after  a  hundred  and  fifty 
years  of  service,  still  possesses  some  pipes  of  unrivaled  excellence. 
A  crown  surmounts  it,  supported  by  a  mitre  on  either  side.     A  huge, 
old-tashioned   sounding-board   over   the    pulpit,    and    square,    high- 
backed    pews,  with    their    seats  facing    in    four    directions,    quickly 
awaken  the  mind  of  the  visitor  to  recollections  of  the  earlier  days  of 
the  town.      Sitting  in  one  of  these  pews,  when  the  mellow  notes  of 
the  old  organ  are  floating  through  the  air,  it  is  easy  to  fancy  the 
church  filled  once  more  with  the  congregation  of  a  hundred  years 
ago, — with  the  forms  of  those  now  sleeping  peacefully  in  the  quiet 
graves  around  it.      All  the  other  places  of  worship  were  converted 
into  riding-schools  or  hospitals  when  the  English  troops  held  pos- 
session of  the  town.      The  old  church,  which  their  own  "■  Society  lor 
Propagating  the  Gospel  in  Foreign  Parts "  had  fostered  for  many 
years,  they  did  not  desecrate.     Its  congregation  continued  to  worship 
within  its  walls  during  all  the  Sundays  of  the  British   occupation. 
The  greater  proportion  of  the  Church  of  England  people  were,  very 
naturally.  Royalists.     They  followed  the  troops  to  New  York,  and 
adversity  seized  upon  Old  Trinity.      The  hot-blooded  young  patriots 
of  the  town  hastened  to  despoil  the  edifice  that  had  been  cherished 
by  their  hated  foes.     The  emblems  of  royalty  upon  the  spire  and  the 
organ  they  were  unable  to  reach.     Thus  those  relics  happily  remain, 
to  delight  the  eye  of  the  antiquarian.     The  altar-piece,   a  most  con- 
spicuous feature  of  the  church,  was  the  principal  object  upon  which 
their  wrath  was  expended.     It  had  been  placed  against  the   great 
east  window,   and  consisted   of  the   king's    arms,    the   lion   and   the 
unicorn.      These  the  iconoclasts  quickly  tore  from  their  place,  and 
vengefully  trampled  under  foot.      Afterward,  they  carried  them  away 


Ne\vi'()rt. 


45 


Perry   Monumer.t. 


from  the  church  and  used  thtMU  lor  a  tari^a-l  until  so  riddled  with 
musket-balls  as  to  be  no  Ioniser  serviceable,  even  for  that  jiurpose. 
The  church  itself  was  closed,  and  no  services  were  held  in  it  for 
several  years. 

On  Sunda\-.  the  eighth  day  of  De- 
cember. 1776.  the  Jiritish  fleet  and  anm  . 
under  conunand  of  (leneral  Clinton,  took 
possession  of  the  island  of  Rhode  Island. 
The  land  forces  consisted  of  fi\e  Jiritish 
regiments  and  four  regiments  of  Hessians. 
They  were  quartered  in  farm-houses  scat- 
tered over  the  whole  island,  as  well  as  in 
the  larger  dwellings  of  Newport.  For 
three  years  they  nuiintained  their  jiosition 
upon  Aquidneck,  and  almost  as  terrible 
as  one  of  the  plagues  of  Egypt  their  sta\ 
proved  to  be.  Not  only  on  this  one  island 
was  their  destructixe  presence  telt.  All 
along  the  shores  of  the  Bav.  desolation 
and  devastation  marked  the  path  of  their 
foraging  parties.  Most  dreaded  of  all  foragers  were  the  German 
mercenaries.  Frightful  excesses  not  seldom  attended  their  steps. 
The  unfamiliar  language  the  Hessians  spoke  naturally  intensified 
the  feeling  of  abhorrence  with  which  they  were  regarded,  but  their 
conduct  upon  the  island  only  ser\ed  to  deepen  the  cordial  haired 
their  first  coming  had  excited. 

How  could  it  be  otherwise  I  For  the  luunblesl  and  most  ignorant 
soldier  among  the  British  troops  there  w  as  a  possibility  of  future  ad- 
yancement.  Chance  might  some  day  open  for  him  the  way  to  honor- 
able distinction,  if  only  his  courage  and  his  manhood  did  not  fail 
when  the  hour  of  trial  came.  For  the  Hessian  there  \\  as  no  such 
jx)ssibility.  Never  could  he  ho]")e  to  attain  to  exalted  station.  To 
procure  lor  himself  the  means  with  which  to  indidgi-  in  more  ex- 
tended debaucheries,  the  petty  tyrant  in  whose  dominions  he  had 
been  born  had  sold  him  aiul  his  companions  to  a  foreign  king. 
From  these  unfortunate  creatures  every  incentive  to  honorable  con- 
duct had  been  taken  away,  and  the}'  had  been  nuide  to  feel  that 
the}'  were  hardly  better  than  brute  beasts.  Whether  they  lived  or 
died  was  a  matter  of  but  little  concern  to  their  cAreless  owner.  Fresh 
victims  to  fill  their  places  he  could  easil\  draw  from  his  loo-crowded 
dominions  when  they  fell. 


46 


PiCTURESQLJE    RhODE    IsLAND. 


Forty  Steps. 


There  are  few  tales  in  the  story  of  the  Revolution  more  pathetic 
than  that  of  the  fate  which  betell  so  man}-  of  these  poor  wretches 
during  the  terrible  winter  of  1778.  Never,  since  the  settlement  of 
the  English  colonists  upon  the  shores  of  the  Narragansett,   had  such 

a  season  of  cold  been  known.  For 
six  weeks  the  bay  was  frozen  from 
shore  to  shore,  and  as  far  as  the 
eye  could  reach  the  ice  extended 
out  to  sea.  On  the  twelfth  day  of 
December,  when  immense  drifts  of 
snow  already  covered  the  earth, 
another  blinding  storm  came  sweep- 
ing over  the  island,  and  raged  for 
hours  with  irresistible  fury.  The 
intensity  of  cold  also  was  unpar- 
alleled, yet  the  Hessian  sentinels 
were  stationed  at  their  posts,  as  on 
the  balmy  days  of  summer. 
Though  the  snow  was  whirling  in 
stifling  sheets  around  them,  and  the  piercing  wind  was  congealing 
their  very  life-blood,  they  were  compelled  to  perform  their  accus- 
tomed duty.  After  the  storm  had  ceased,  the  frozen  bodies  of  some 
of  them  were  found  standing  bolt  upright,  amid  the  deadly  drifts, 
with  the  useless  weapons  tightly  grasped  in  their  icy  fingers.  So 
many  perished  from  cold  and  exposure  on  that  awful  night,  that  the 
gale  has  ever  since  been  known  in  Newport  as  the  "  Hessian  storm." 
On  the  twenty-ninth  day  of  July,  1778,  the  first  ray  of  light  broke 
through  the  dark  war-cloud  that  had  for  so  long  a  time  shrouded 
Aquidneck.  On  that  day  twelve  ships  of  the  line  and  four  frigates, 
under  command  of  Count  D'Estaing,  arrived  oft'  Newport.  Most  of 
the  English  ships  in  the  harbor  were  at  once  scuttled  or  burnt,  to  pre- 
vent them  from  falling  into  the  hands  of  the  enemv.  But  the  gleam 
of  hope  which  the  coming  of  the  French  fleet  had  lighted,  quickl}^ 
faded  away.  Lord  Howe,  with  an  English  fleet  of  thirty-six  sail, 
came  in  sight  of  the  island  on  the  ninth  of  the  following  month,  and 
a  few  days  later  D'Estaing  sailed  forth  to  meet  him.  A  most  violent 
hurricane  prevented  the  conflict,  although  some  of  the  ships  at- 
tempted to  fight  in  the  midst  of  the  gale.  Three  of  the  French  ves- 
sels were  dismasted ;  all  were  more  or  less  disabled,  and  the  ad- 
miral deemed  it  necessary  to  proceed  to  Boston  to  refit.     Not  until 


Xi;\\  I'oK  r 


47 


Oct.  25,  1779.  was  Newport  rclievt'd  iVoni  ihc  presence  of  the  enemy. 
At  sunset  of  that  day  the  KnirHsh  i^rarrison  sailed  away,  and  the 
town's  peojile  reahzed  that  they  wcri-  once  more  tree. 

To  the  (Hsmal  period  of  the  British  occupation,  the  brilhant  epi- 
sode of  the   French   sojourn   succeedech      N\-\ cr   was   there  contrast 


Land  s    End 


more  marked.  Lite  and  jirojierty  had  ne\  er  been  sate  whik'  the 
mercenaries  of  Kino-  Georij^e  iield  possession  ot"  the  town.  The 
country  people  who  came  to  \iew  the  French  camp  ("the  different 
deputations  of  savages."  our  polished  allies  called  them,  in  the  epis- 
tles the\-  sL'ni\yAc\^\o  La  BcHc  France.)  "could  not  recover  trom 
their  astonishment  at  seeing  apple-trees  loaded  with  fruit  above  the 
tents  which  the  soldiers  had  been  occupying  tor  three  months."* 
Ordinarilx  .  in  lime  of  war  the  property  of  llu-  citizens  ot"  a  garrisoned 
town  is  almost  equallx  preyed  uj^on  by  l"riend  and  t"oe.  The  French 
soldiers,  w  iili  the  most  scrupulous  care,  paid  t"or  the  slightest  article 
of  value  they  converted  to  their  own  uses.  Their  coming  had  been 
dreaded,  but  their  departure  was  lamentid  by  all. 

Some  of  the  most  accomplished  soldiers  and  gentlemen  of  France 
were  numbered  among  these  troops.  It  nuist  be  confessed,  however, 
that  their  militar\-  career  in  America -did  not  add  lustre  to  the  reputa- 
tion these  distinguished  soldiers  had  gained  by  their  bravery  and 
skill  upon  the  famous  battle-tields  of  KuroiH-.  The  unfamiliar  con- 
ditions of  their  lit"e  in  this  country,  and  their  disgust  at  being  obliged 
to  serve  under  American  gt-nerals,  w  iio  w  i-re  not  soldiers  but  ••(»nly 
lawyers,  shoemakers,  and  blacksmiths.""  may  have  had  something  to 
do   with   this.      The\-  could  not  realize   that  patriotism  might  inspire 


4« 


PlCTURKSQLE    RhODE    IsLAND. 


in  these  same  blacksmiths,  shoemakers,  and  lawyers,  a  courage  that 
could  not  be  subdued,  an  invincible  determination  that  not  even  a 
regular  militar\'  education  in  the  most  famous  military  schools  of 
Europe  could  supph".      When  their  own  fair  land  was  deluged  with 

blood,  not  many  years  afterward, 
the  ideas  of  many  of  these  gay 
courtiers  were  strangely  broadened, 
and  not  a  few  of  them  paid  the 
penalty  for  their  lack  of  knowledge 
upon  the  crimson  platform  of  the 
guillotine. 

The  Chevalier  de  Tiernay  com- 
manded the  fleet,  the  Count  de 
Rochambeau  the  French  army. 
Admiral  de  Tiernay  died  not  long 
after  his  arrival  in  Newport,  and 
was  buried  in  Trinity  Church- 
vard.  He  covdd  not  endure  the 
reproaches  heaped  upon  him  for 
his  seeming  lack  of  energy  and 
courage.  The  brave  old  Rocham- 
beau was  made  of  sterner  stuff,  but 
even  this  gallant  ijeneral  was 
scarcely  able  to  bear  the  taunts  of 
his  impetuous  allies.  It  is  quite  possible  that,  hampered  by  his 
instructions,  he  was  unable  to  act  as  his  own  judgment  dictated. 
This  is  the  note  he  wrote  to  one  of  his  young  oflicers  who  had  urged 
him  at  once  to  join  battle  : 


Purgatory. 


'*  I  owe  it  to  the  most  scrupulous  examination  of  my  conscience, 

that   of   about   flfteen   thousand   men   killed   or   wounded   imder   my 

orders  in  different  grades  and  in  the  bloodiest  actions,  I  have  not  to 

reproach  myself  with  having  caused  the  death  of  a  single  one   to 

gratify  my  own  ambition. 

•'■  Z^' z'/67^v_^e7'f  Rochambeau." 

How  many  names,  famous  in  French  history,  greet  the  eye  as  we 
peruse  the  records  those  brilliant  officers  have  left  us  of  their  stay  in 
Newport.  That  of  the  Due  de  Lauzun,  the  most  noted  gallant  of  his 
times,  a  man  whose  amours  were  almost  as  endless  as  they  were 
entirely  unscrupulous,   heads  the  Hst.     The  Viscount  de  Noailles  is 


Newport.  49 

almost  as  proiiiincnl ;  in  his  rci;'iinent  Xapolcoii  aftt-rwards  served 
as  a  subaltern  :  to  his  hai-)py  lot,  when  ambassador  to  England,  it 
fell  to  convey  to  Lord  Weymouth  the  tidings  of  the  acknowledgment 
of  the  independence  of  the  American  Colonies.  The  Marquis  de 
Chastellux  was  the  "host  beyond  compare."  Tender  recollections 
of  his  fctits  soiipcrs  continued  tor  long  years  to  tantalize  the  thoughts 
of  those  who  had  sat  aroimd  his  festal  board.  \'ionn'nil,  I^ozon  de 
Talle\rand,  Dumas,  Desoteux,  afterward  a  Chouan  leader  in  the 
French  Revolution,  Broglie,  Jourdan,  the  future  commander  of  the 
arniv  of  the  Satubrc  cl  Mensi\  Berthier,  friend  of  Napoleon,  all  these 
we  fmd,  —  many  others  beside  might  be  mentioned. 

These  men  were  fresh  from  the  intrigues  of  the  most  licentious 
capital  of  Europe.  From  earliest  youth  they  had  been  accustomed 
to  breathe  its  tainted  air.  and  they  had  engaged  in  this  expedition 
mainU  because  it  seemed  to  promise  distraction  and  fresh  excite- 
ments to  their  wearied  senses.  The  stern  patriots  who  remained 
with  their  families  in  the  city,  looked  forward  with  the  gloomiest 
apprehension  to  their  coming.  Very  different  from  the  picture  pater- 
nal fears  had  painted,  its  realization  proved  to  be.  He  who  reads 
the  French  memoirs  of  that  period  will  note  with  astonishment  the 
tona  of  respectful  admiration  their  authors  use  in  speaking  of  Ameri- 
can women.  From  the  easy  smiles  of  the  noble  ladies  whose  pres- 
ence graced  the  Court  of  France  at  the  very  culmination  of  the  old 
regime,  these  jaded  voluptuaries  fled  with  delight  when  the  prospect 
of  new  conquests  in  untried  fields  was  held  out.  The  most  hardened 
debauchee  among  them  was  forced  to  kneel  in  reverence  before  the 
beauty,  the  dignity,  and  the  purity  of  the  daughters  of  Newport.  In 
the  reputation  of  these  fair  maidens,  the  busy  tongue  of  scandal 
could  find  no  vulnerable  point  through  which  to  thrust  its  envenomed 
darts. 

The  daughter  of  Abraham  Redwood  was  one  of  the  leading  belles. 
It  is  said  that  when  she  walked  the  streets  of  the  town,  even  the 
rough  sailors  involuntarily  raised  their  hats  in  homage,  and  turned 
to  look  back  with  sincerest  admiration  upon  her  retreating  form. 
••  The  beautiful  Miss  Champlin  "'  attained  even  a  higher  fame.  Her, 
Washington  selected  for  his  partner,  at  the  ball  the  citizens  gave  in 
honor  of  his  visit  to  his  allies,  and  asked  to  select  the  dance.  She 
chose  "A  Successful  Campaign,"  and  the  gallant  French  officers, 
taking  the  instruments  from  the  hands  of  the  musicians,  themselves 
furnished  the  music  for  the  distinguished  couple,  as  they  stepped 
4 


Picturesque  Rhode  Island. 


through  the  stately  minuet.  The  two  Misses  Hunter,  ''of  noble 
aspect,  an  air  of  high  breeding,  and  spiritual  face  and  grace  of 
movement,"  also  attracted  universal  admiration.  Both  these  ladies 
afterwards  found  homes  in  Europe.  The  elder  became  the  bride  of 
the  Count  de  Cardignan  :  the  younger  was  married  to  M.  Falconnet, 
an  opulent  Swiss  banker,  who  was  engaged  in  business  at  Naples. 

But  by  unanimous  consent,  the  most  charming  of  all  that  galaxy 
of  beauties  was  the  Quaker  vestal,  Polly  Lawton.  (With  the  in- 
genuous disregard  for  the  plain  and  simple  English  orthograph^^ 
which  always  characterizes  the  French  nation,  her  infatuated  ad- 
mirers either  spelled  her  name  Leighton  or  Levton  ;  never  Lawton.) 
This  is  the  account  of  his  visit  to  the  maiden,  which  the  Prince  de 
Broglie  has  sent  down  to  an  appreciative  posteritv.  In  companv 
with  his  friend,  M.  de  Vauban.  he  entered  the  house  of  her  father. 
"'A  silent,  serious  old  man,  who  very  seldom  bared  his  thoughts, 
and  never  his  head,"  received  them  with  a  gravity  somewhat  amus- 
ing from  its  singularity,  and  yet  hardly  satisfactorv  to  their  fevered 
imaginations.  "•  Suddenh'  we  beheld  the  Goddess  of  grace  and  of 
beauty,  Miner\-a  in  person  ha^■ing  exchanged  her  sterner  attributes 
for  pastoral  charms.  It  was  the  daughter  of  the  Quaker,  Polly  Law- 
ton.  In  accordance  with  the  customs  of  her  sect,  she  addressed  us 
lamiliarly  iyuoiis  paria  cii  iioits  tutoxant).  but  with  a  simplicit}'  and 
grace  which  I  can  only  compare  to  that  of  her  toilet.  It  was  a  kind 
of  English  dress,  fitting  the  figure  closelv,-  and  was  white  as  milk, 
a  muslin  apron  of  the  same  color,  and  a  large  handkerchief  gathered 
close  around  the  neck.  Her  coiffure,  composed  of  a  simple  little 
cap  of  bap/istc,  with  round  plaits,  and  permitting  only  a  half-inch 
of  hair  to  be  perceived,  completed  the  virgin  attire  of  Poll}'  Lawton. 
I  confess  that  this  seductive  Lawton  appeared  to  be  the  chef  (f  oeiivrc 
of  Nature ;  and  whenever  I  recall  her  image,  I  am  tempted  to  write 
a  great  book  against  the  finerv,  the  factitious  graces,  and  the  co- 
quetry of  many  ladies  whom  the  world  admires."  The  Count  de 
Segur  is  equally  enthusiastic  :  '-So  much  beauty,  so  much  simplicity, 
so  much  elegance,  and  so  much  modest^■,"  says  he,  enchanted,  '•  were 
perhaps  never  combined  in  the  same  person."  We  can  readily  be- 
lieve these  fascinated  swains  when  thev  confess  that  the  beautiful 
Quakeress  drew  their  minds  awav  from  the  frivolities  which,  up  to 
that  time,  they  had  deemed  so  necessary  to  their  happiness. 

Even   after   the   war   had   ceased  the    gallant    Frenchmen    came 
back  from  time  to  time,  across  the  ocean,  to  bask  once  more  in  the 


Ni-;\\i'()i{i- 


The  Old   Mill. 


light  of  the  sniik's  that  had  so  chaniiocl  ihciii.  Hut  wliik'  they  still 
dilate  with  unraiHng  rajHure  upon  the  neNer-fadini;-  beauty  ol  its 
maidens,  thev  all  lament  the  decay  that  seemed  the  inevitable  lot  ol 
the  town.  Most  melancholy  is  this  description,  from  tlie  pen  ol 
Brissot  de  Warville,  the  exiled  Girondist : 

"The  solitude  which  reigns  here,  and 
which  is  onl}'  interrupted  by  groups  of 
idlers  who  stand  listlessly  at  the  street 
corners,  the  general  dilapidation  of  tiie 
houses,  the  wretched  look  of  the  shops, 
which  offer  for  sale  nothing  but  bunches 
of  matches  and  baskets  of  apples,  or  other 
articles  of  little  \alue,  the  grass  growing 
in  the  square  opposite  the  Court  House, 
the  muddy  and  ill-paved  streets,  the  rags 
at  the  windows  or  which  cover  either  hid- 
eous women  "  (the  citizen  l^rissot  sighed  in 
^■ain  to  enter  that  charmed  circle  which 
had  welcomed  the  members  of  the  okl 
noblesse),  "lean  cliildren.  or  pale,  wan 
men,  wath   deep   eyes   and  sinister   looks, 

making  the  observer  very  uncomfortable,  all  prochiim  misery,  the 
reign  of  bad  faith,  and  the  influence  of  a  bad  government."  Not 
without  some  reason,  this  dismal  chronicler  believes  paper  money 
to  be  the  principal  cause  of  all  this  misery  wliich  he  beholds. 

For  almost  half  a  century  the  town  remained  in  this  state  of  ex- 
treme prostration.  The  feeble  symptoms  of  reviving  life  which  it 
manifested  in  the  early  part  of  this  century,  quickly  vanished  when 
the  War  of  1812  beifan.  From  181  <  to  1828  not  a  house  was  built 
withm  its  liniits.  Not  until  1830  did  its  renaissance  commence.  In 
that  year  boarding-house  keepers  began  to  find  their  resources  taxed 
to  furnish  accommodations  for  the  summer  visitors.  From  Providence, 
from  the  Southern  States,  and  from  Cuba  came  the  first  of  the  return- 
ing tide  of  pilgrims  to  this  island  Mecca.  Ten  years  later  the  hotels 
could  no  longer  contain  the  swelling  throngs.  About  that  time  some 
man  of  genius  conceived  the  idea  of  building  for  himself  a  habitation 
which  might  protect  him  from  the  mikl  inclemencies  of  the  summer 
months.  It  did  not  cost  much  to  live  in  Newport  in  those  days. 
Land  was  cheap,  and  a  very  respectable  dwelling  could  be  erected  at 
a  comparatively  slight  cost.     So,  without  a  llioughi  of  the  immense  de- 


Picturesque  Rhode  Island. 


velopment  it  would  afterwards  attain,  the  system  which  is  the  marked 
teature  of  this  great  watering-place  was  begun.  According  to  the 
guide-book  of  last  year,  more  than  two  hundred  and  fifty  persons 
owned  "  summer  cottages"  in  the  city.  For  the  last  thirt}'  years  the 
annual  sales  of  real  estate  have  averaged  more  than  half  a  million 
dollars.  In  all  that  time  the  value  of  land  has  been  steadilv  increas- 
ing. There  have  been  no  "  real  estate  panics  "  in  this  "■  City  by  the 
Sea."' 

To  the  eye  of  the  visitor,  searching,  like  Dr.  Syntax,  for  "  the 
picturesque,"  Newport  presents  very  many  attractive  features.  Nat- 
urall}^  and  properly,  on  the  first  favorable  day,  the  venturesome 
enthusiast  turns  his  steps  toward  the  Scouting  Rock,  just  beyond  the 
western  end  of  Bailey's  beach.  Huge  rocks  surround  on  every  side 
a  great  cavern.  During  the  violent  easterlv  storms  that  sometimes 
sweep  along  this  coast,  fierce  seas  rushing  in  from  the  open  ocean 
fill  this  cavern  with  a  boiling  mass  of  water.  The  waves,  following 
steadily  in  constant  succession,  force  the  imprisoned  surges  out  through 
an  opening  in  its  roof,  and  fill  the  air  with  dense  clouds  of  foam. 
Not  far  from  Sachuest  Beach  is  Pu7'gaiory  (represented  in  the  cut 
upon  page  48).  The  story  common  to  such  places, — of  the  careless 
maiden  who  tested  her  lover's  devotion  by  requiring  him  to  leap 
across  the  chasm  (it  is  from  eight  to  fourteen  feet  wide), — is,  of 
•course,  told  concerning  it.  The  guide-books  also  speak  of  satanic 
(  ?)  foot-prints,  plainly  visible  in  the  rough  grayzvacke,  and  give 
vague  traditions  of  the  terrible  fate  that  once  befell  a  sinning  Indian 
maiden  in  this  romantic  spot.  Toward  the  Liiuc  Rock  Lighthotisc, 
the  eyes  of  all  those  who  enter  Newport  from  the  Bav  instinctively 
turn.  It  is  the  home  of  Ida  Lewis,  "the  Grace  Darling  of  America.'" 
In  Touro  Park  stands  the  monument  which  commemorates  Com. 
M.  C.  Perry,  of  the  United  States  Navy,  the  officer  who  commanded 
the  lamous  expedition  to  Japan.  In  the  Island  Cemetery,  a  plain, 
granite  shaft  marks  the  grave  of  Oliver  Hazard  Perry,  the  hero  of 
Lake  Erie  ;  he,  also,  was  a  son  of  Newport.  On  Bellevue  Avenue, 
not  far  from  the  Ocean  House,  stands  the  Casino,  the  pioneer  build- 
ing of  its  class  in  America.  On  Easton's  Beach  stands  the  cool  and 
commodious  structure,  called  "  The  Tent  on  the  Beach."  On 
Church  Street  stands  the  Rogers  High  School.  For  the  erection  of 
this  building,  William  Sanford  Rogers  left  in  his  will  the  sum  of 
$100,000.  To  prolong  the  enumeration  is  needless.  More  than  to 
mention   the   places   of  interest  would  be  impossible.      In  the  guide- 


Newport. 


53 


nt   0'-.   tne    bea 


books  glowing  descriptions  of   llu-ni   can    hv  read.      To   tlu-    guide- 
books,  therefore,   the  reader  is  respectfully  referred. 

For  the  transportation  of  visitors,  the  facilities  are  ample  and  con- 
venient. Tiie  city  may  be  reached  by  the  Old  Colony  Line,  of  which 
J.  H.  Jordan,  is  the 

agent  in  Newport :  ^ 

by  the  Newport  and 
Wick f o r d  Li  n  e  . 
Theodore  Warren , 
agent ;  or  by  the 
Continental  Steam- 
boat Line. 

The  leading  ho- 
tels of  Newport  to- 
dav,  are  the  Ocean 
House,  J.  G.  Weav- 
er &  Sons,  proprie- 
tors, with  accom- 
modations for  300  guests  :  Hotel  Aquidncck,  L.  P.  Attleton,  pro- 
prietor, accommodating  150;  Perry  House,  100  guests,  E.  Y.  West- 
cott,  proprietor;  United  States  Hotel,  100  guests,  W.  B.  Hathaway, 
proprietor:  Clifl' Cottage  Hotel,  75  guests,  M.  S.  Flagg,  manager; 
and  Hall's  Clift'  House,  50  guests,  William  T.  Hall. 

Newport  is  not  a  manufacturing  city.  The  two  manufactories  ol 
special  note  are  the  Perry  Mill  and  the  Aquidneck  Mill,  both  cotton 
factories. 

Among  the  manv  enterprising  business  men  of  to-day,  to  whom 
the  city  is  indebted  for  much  of  its  revixing  prosperity,  may  be 
mentioned :  T.  M.  Seabury,  John  C.  Seabury,  Wm.  C.  Cozzens  & 
Co.,  A.  C.  Titus,  J.  F.  Marden,  M.  Cottrell,  Bateman  &  Gardner, 
JuHus  Sayer,  J.  H.  Crosby,  Jr.,  Slocum  &  Black,  Bull  &  Powell, 
Job  T.  Langley,  J.  B.  Finch,  Albert  Hammett,  H.  D.  Scott,  J.  D. 
Richardson,  Swinburne  &  Peckham,  R.  S.  &  W.  B.  Franklin,  Cas- 
well, Hazard  &  Co.,  H.  E.  Turner  &  Co.,  King  &  McLeod.  Wm. 
Sherman,  Caswell,  Massey  «&Co.,  Walter  Sherman,  B.  F.  Downing. 
R.  H.  Taylor,  W.  H.  Colton,  W.  S.  N.  Allan.  J.  S.  Hazard  &  Co.. 
Wm.  Fludder  &  Co.,  G.  P.  Lawton,  A.  L.  Burdick.  W.  C.  Lang- 
lev,  J.  Alderson,  C.  S.  Murray  &  Co.,  A.  H.  Ilayward.  A.  Stewart 
&'Co.,  H.  M.  CasttotL  W.  T.  Bowler,  lliram  Murray,  E.  P.  Swan. 
Gould   c^'    Son,   Geo.    A.    Weaver.    Langley    c\:    Bennett,   J.    M.    K. 


54  -    Picturesque  Rhode  Island. 

Southwick,  C.  H.  Burdick  &  Co.,  J.  T.  Burdick  &  Co.,  H.  A. 
Heath  &  Co.,  E.  C.  Blain,  D.  C.  Denham,  D.  L.  Cummings,  G.  O. 
Herrmann,  Geo.  C.  Barker  &  Son,  J.  C.  Stoddard,  T.  Gladding  & 
Son,  Ira  E.  Wilson,  W.  K.  Covell,  Jr.,  Langley  &  Sharpe,  Alfred 
Smith  &  Sons,  F.  B.  Porter  &  Co.,  T.  G.  Ford,  J.  N.  Howard 
&  Co.,  C.  P.  Barber,  Peckham  &  Manchester,  Stafford  Bryer, 
McAdam  &  Openshaw,  C.  Sherman  &  Co.,  R.  S.  Barker,  E.  P. 
Allan,  A.  C.  Landers,  Smith  Bosworth  &  Co.,  J.  H.  Hammett, 
Carry  Brothers,  G.  B.  Reynolds  &  Co.,  Pinniger  &  Manchester, 
Wm.  Swinburne,  Perry  Brothers,  Brown  &  Howard,  C.  E.  Ham- 
mett, W.  P.  Clarke,  E.  W.  Lawton,  J.  H.  Cozzens  &  Son,  A. 
Goffe,  Wm.  B.  Sherman,  and  Taylor  &  Bennett. 

"  It  is  more  difficult  to  tind  the  end  of  this  oration  than  the  begin- 
ning," said  the  immortal  Tully,  almost  two  thousand  years  ago,  when 
he  was  about  to  pronounce  that  splendid  panegyric  upon  the  eminent 
virtues  and  the  extraordinary  talents  of  Gneius  Pompey,  with  which 
every  classical  student  is  so  familiar.  Again  and  again  will  the 
words  of  the  Roman  orator  recur  to  the  mind  of  him  who  attempts  to 
describe  the  ancient  glories  of  Newport, — to  tell  the  fascinating- 
story  of  its  later  days.  Even  before  the  task  is  fairly  outlined  the 
reluctant  pen  must  be  forced  away  from  the  enchanting  theme.  To 
do  it  justice  would  require  not  one  book  but  many.  As  the  eye  of 
the  philosopher  scans  the  varied  and  peculiar  phases  of  its  social 
life,  the  flying  hours  glide  by  unheeded.  The  heart  of  the  biog- 
rapher swells  with  delight  as  he  thinks  of  the  fame  the  city's  sons 
have  won  bv  their  achievements  in  literature,  in  science,  and  in  art  — 
of  their  matchless  valor  upon  land  and  sea.  The  imaginative  writer, 
be  he  novelist  or  poet,  grows  rapturous  as  he  contemplates  the  pos- 
sibilities one  only  of  its  treasures  —  the  Old  Stone  Mill  —  affords 
him.  Already  volumes  have  been  written  concerning  this  quaint 
structure,  and  volume  upon  volume  must  follow  in  the  years  to  come. 
The  brain  of  the  soberest  historian  reels  as  he  strives  to  pierce  the 
mystery  of  its  erection.  We  can  never  hope  to  know  surely  who  its 
builders  were — whether  it  is  a  relic  of  the  old  Vikings,  a  martello 
tower  of  the  years  between  Guanahani  and  Plymouth  Rock,  or 
simply  the  "  stone  built  wind  mill"  of  Gov.  Benedict  Arnold.  Why 
should  we  seek  to  know  it?  Better  the  old  ruin  as  it  is  ;  better  than 
any   certainty  is  the  unique  position  it  holds  in  American  history. 


CHAPTER  III. 


MiDDi.i:  I  <)\\  \  —  i)i:.\\  1!i;i;ki;i.i;^  —  isA.vf  hakkkk's  sekvkks  i)ri:i.\(.  i  iik  re\"- 

OIXllON.  I'ORrs.VK^UTlI— THE  SETTLEMENT  AT  I'OCASSET  — 
THE  CAPTURE  OF  I'RESCOTT.  LITTLE  COMPTON  —  AWASIIOXKS, 
THE  SCiJ-'AW  SACHEM,  AXD  CAPT.  BEN'JAMI  N  CHIRCH.  TIVER- 
TON —  WEETAMOE,  cy.EEX  OK  pocAssj-n  —  rni:  cArruRE  of 

Till-;  '-PlGOl"  GAI.I.EV. 


(^u- 


^  IDDLETOWX  owes  its  existence  to  the  leeling  ot'jeal- 
()us\'  and  opposition  whicli  is  sure  to  arise,  sooner  or 
later,  between  those  who  chvell  in  tlie  ••  compact  part " 
ot"  a  town  and  those  who  Hve  in  ••  tlie  woods."  In 
, '/^  Newport  more  than  a  century  elapsed  before  the  feel- 
ing- became  sutFicientlv  strong  to  necessitate  dixision. 
It  was  not  until  x\ugust,  1743,  that  the  inhabitants  of 
"the  woods"  secured  the  incorporation  of  the  new 
town.  Before  that  time  the  people  of  Middletown 
rightly  claim  for  their  own  a  share  in  the  fame  which' 
fell  to  Newport.  When  Dean  Berkeley  came  to  re- 
side in  the  chief  city  of  Rhode  Island,  it  was  in  what 
is  now  the  town  of  Middletown  that  he  chose  the  sj-)ot  ujion  which 
to  build  his  house.  An\  sketch  ol'  our  colonial  claws  would  be  in- 
complete in  which  mention  was  not  made  of  George,  liishop  of 
Clo\ne.  and  of  his  sojourn  upon  Acpiiihu-ck.  It  woidd  be  diflicult 
to  select  a  verse  which  has  been  more  familiar  to  Americans  (and 
more  Irequenth-  mistjuoted)  than  tin-  four  lines  in  \\'hich,  one  him- 
dred  and  tlftv  \ears  ago,  he  foretold  the  destim  that  awaited  the 
Nation. 

••  Wc>l\v;iril  the  cimrsc-  (ifiiiipirc-  takes  it  way: 
The  four  first  acts  alrcadj  past, 
A  tifth  shall  clnsc  the  ilraina  with  the  ilay  ; 
'rime's  noblest  ofl'spriiii;  is  the  last  '" 


56  Picturesque  Rhode  Island. 


George  Berkeley  was  born  at  Kilcrin,  County  Kilkenny,  Ire- 
land, March  12,  1684.  His  father  was  Collector  of  Belfast.  He 
came  from  a  family  noted  for  its  loyalty  to  Charles  I.  Before  he 
was  twenty,  young  Berkeley  had  written  a  famous  book.  In  1707 
he  became  a  fellow  of  Trinity  College,  Dublin.  His  unusual  talents 
secured  for  him  the  acquaintance  of  the  famous  men  of  his  time  ; 
his  sweet  and  gentle  disposition  quickly  won  their  friendship.  With 
Swift  and  Steele  he  became  specially  intimate.  Pope  has  left  a 
striking  testimonial  of  his  friendship,  in  the  line  in  which  he  ascribes 

"  To  Berkeley  every  virtue  under  Heaven." 

Bishop  Atterbury  said  of  him  :  "-So  much  understanding,  so  much 
knowledge,  so  much  innocence,  and  such  humility,  I  did  not  think 
had  been  the  portion  of  any  but  angels,  until  I  saw  this  gentleman." 

In  1713  Berkeley  accompanied  the  Earl  of  Peterborough  to  Italy, 
as  Chaplain  and  Secretary  of  the  Legation.  Two  years  later  he  paid 
his  famous  visit  to  Malebranche,  the  celebrated  French  philosopher. 
The  two  entered  into  a  discussion  on  the  theory  of  the  non-existence 
of  matter,  and  the  arguments  of  the  EngHsh  scholar  so  excited  his 
opponent  that  his  frail  system  was  not  able  to  withstand  the  shock, 
and  he  died  a  few  days  afterward.  In  1724  Berkeley  was  made 
Dean  of  Deny,  with  an  income  of  £1,100  per  annum.  The  follow- 
ing year  he  published  A  Profosal  for  the  better  supplying  of 
Churches  in  our  Foreign  Plantations,  and  for  converting  the  Savage 
Americans  to  Christianity  by  a  College  to  be  erected  upon  the  Sum- 
mer Islands,  otherzuise  called  the  Isles  of  Bermuda.  It  was  in  de- 
lightful anticipation  of  the  results  about  to  follow^  the  carrying  out  of 
his  scheme,  that  he  wrote  the  stanzas  On  the  Prospect  of  Planting 
Arts  and  Sciences  in  America,  from  which  the  verse  lately  quoted 
is  taken. 

The  possession  of  w^orldly  w^ealth  seems  to  have  afforded  the 
gentle  enthusiast  but  little  gratification.  As  soon  as  his  proposal 
was  published,  he  offered  to  resign  his  living  and  devote  his  life  to 
the  instruction  of  the  "  Savage  Americans,"  for  the  sum  of  £100 
a  year.  Wridng  of  him  at  this  time  to  one  of  his  noble  friends, 
Swift  says  :  "  His  heart  will  break  if  his  deanery  be  not  taken  from 
him  and  left  to  go  to  your  lordship's  disposal."  In  1728  Berkeley's 
plan  was  laid  before  Parliament  by  Sir  Robert  Walpole,  and  but 
little  difficult\'  was  experienced  in  obtaining  a  preliminary  grant  of 
£20.000.      Full  of  hope,  the  philosopher  sailed  at  once  for  the  New 


MiDDLETOWN. 


57 


Whitehall 


World.  Alter  a  tedious  passage  of  li\e  inontlis,  he  reached  New- 
port, intending  thence  to  sail  for  Bermuda  alter  he  should  have  re- 
covered from  the  debilitating  elVects  of  the  long  voyage.  His  wile, 
whom  he  had  just  married,  accompanied  him.  Several  gentlemen 
of  note  also  came  in  the  ship.  One  of  these  was  the  painter,  John 
Smybert ;  his  presence  for  some  years 
in  Newport,  and  the  paintings  he  left 
behind  him,  did  nuich  to  stimulate  the 
love  of  art  in  America,  and  to  encour- 
age the  young  etlbrts  of  Copley,  Trum- 
bull, Allston,  and  Malbone.  This  is 
the  w^ay  a  letter  from  Newport  in  tlu' 
A'rzc  England  WccMy  Journal  (ol 
Boston),  notes  the  arrival  :  "  Vester- 
dav  arrived  here  Dean  J^erkeley,  of 
Londonderry,  in  a  prett}'  large  ship. 
He  is  a  gentleman  of  middle  stature,  of  an  agreeable,  pleasant  and 
erect  aspect.  He  was  ushered  into  town  with  a  great  number  ol 
gentlemen,  to  whom  he  behaved  himself  after  a  very  complaisant 
manner.  'T  is  said  he  purposes  to  tarry  here  with  his  family  about 
three  months.'' 

One  account  savs  that  it  was  not  Dean  Berkeley's  intention  to 
land  at  Newport,  but  that  the  captain  of  the  ship,  after  searching  in 
vain  for  the  Summer  Islands,  was  forced  to  turn  the  prow  of  his 
vessel  northward,  toward  lands  more  accurately  placed  on  his  chart. 
He  who  on  (me  of  the  calm,  bright  days  of  spring  has  seen  the 
'•  Still  vexed  Bermoothes"  rising  just  above  the  tossing  billows  that 
always  encircle  them,  can  easily  realize  how  difficult  it  was  lor  the 
earlier  vovagers  to  descry  the  little  group  when  the  whole  horizon 
was  foaming  with  raging  waxes.  It  is  related,  moreover,  that  one 
of  the  Newport  captains  of  half  a  century  ago,  who  had  sailed  lor 
Bermuda  with  an  assorted  cargo,  came  back  after  a  voyage  ol  some 
months  .with  his  hatches  unopened,  conlidently  allirming  that  the 
islands  had  sunk. 

This  account,  however,  is  not  the  correct  one.  'i'he  dean's  own 
letters  show  that  Rhode  Island  was  his  intended  destination.  Hav- 
ing once  tasted  the  sweets  of  Aquidneck  life,  he  became  so  en- 
amored of  the  spot  that  he  determined  to  fix  his  residence  there. 
To  his  friend  Smvbert,  who  did  not  agree  with  him  in  his  sanguine 
views  respecting  the  coming  importance  of  the  town,  he  is  reported 


58  Picturesque  Rhode  Island. 


to  have  said:  "Truly,  you  have  very  little  foresight,  for  in  fifty 
years'  time  ever}'  foot  of  land  in  this  place  will  be  as  valuable  as  in 
Cheapside."  He  was  but  a  centur}^  out  of  the  wa}'  in  his  reckon- 
ing. Very  shortly  afterward  he  purchased  a  farm  of  a  hundred 
acres,  some  three  miles  distant  from  the  town.  Upon  this  yet  stands 
the  unpretentious  mansion  which  he  built.  Whitehall  was  the  name 
he  gave  it,  the  name  of  the  best-loved  residence  of  the  king,  for  whom 
his  ancestors  had  suffered  so  much.  This  house  is  placed  not  upon 
the  summit  of  a  hill,  where  one  would  naturally  expect  to  find  it, 
but  in  a  valle}'.  Its  builder  feared  that  the  magnificent  view  the 
hill  commands  might  lose  its  charm  if  seen  too  constantly.  Not  far 
away  is  Sachuest  Beach.  In  a  natural  alcove,  in  the  most  elevated 
part  of  the  hanging  rocks  which  overlook  this  beach,  Berkeley  had 
his  chair  and  writing-materials  placed.  There,  without  doubt,  Alci- 
■phron^  the  Minute  Philosopher,  was  meditated  and  composed.  ' '  Anti- 
quated," the  critics  of  to-day  call  the  book  ;  and  yet  the  sermon  it 
preaches  will  never  be  out  of  date  as  long  as  the  world  lasts.  The 
work  is,  of  course,  mainly  argumentative,  but  it  abounds  in  delight- 
ful paragraphs,  descriptive  of  the  scenery  and  customs  of  the  country, 
like  these  which  follow  : 

"  The  Library  is  a  gallery  on  the  ground  floor,  with  an  arched 
door  at  one  end,  opening  into  a  walk  of  limes,  where,  as  soon  as  we 
had  drunk  tea,  we  were  tempted  by  fine  weather  to  take  a  walk, 
which  led  us  to  a  small  mount  of  easy  ascent,  on  the  top  whereof  we 
found  a  seat  under  a  spreading  tree.  Here  we  had  a  prospect,  on 
one  hand,  of  a  narrow  bay,  or  creek,  of  the  sea,  inclosed  on  either 
side  by  a  coast  beautified  with  rocks  and  woods,  and  green  banks 
and  farm  houses.  At  the  end  of  the  bay  was  a  small  town,  placed 
upon  the  slope  of  a  hill,  which  from  the  advantage  of  its  situation, 
made  a  considerable  figure.  Several  fishing-boats  and  lighters  glid- 
ing up  and  down  on  a  surface  as  smooth  and  as  bright  as  glass,  en- 
livened the  prospect.  On  the  other  hand,  we  looked  down  on  green 
pastures,  flocks  and  herds  basking  beneath  in  sunshine,  while  we 
in   our  superior  situation,  enjoyed  the  freshness  of  air  and  shade." 

"  We  had  hardly  seated  ourselves  and  looked  about  us,  when  we 
saw  a  fox  run  by  the  foot  of  our  mount  into  an  adjacent  thicket.  A 
few  minutes  after,  we  heard  a  confused  noise  of  the  opening  ot 
hounds,  and  winding  of  horns,  and  the  roaring  of  country  squires. 
While  our  attention  was  suspended  by  this  event,  a  servant  came 
running  out  of  breath,  and  told  Crito  that  his  neighbor   Ctessipus,  a 


]Minm,i:To\vN. 


59 


Happ)    Val. 


sciuire  of  notf.  was  fallen  from  his  horse,  attempting  to  leap  over  a 

hedge,  and    brought   into  the  hall,  where  he  lay  for  dead.     Upon 

which  we  all  rose  and  walked  hastily  to  the  house,  where   we   found 

Ctessipus  just  come  to  himself,  in  the  midst  of  half  a  dozen  sun-burnt 

squires  in  frocks,  and  short  wigs,  and  jockey  boots.     Being  asked 

how  he  did,  he  answered  it 

was  onlv  a  broken  rib.   With 

some    difllculty    Crito    per- 
suaded  him  to  lie  on  a  bed 

till    the     chirurgeon     came. 

These    fox-hunters     liaving 

been  up  early  at  their  sport. 

were  eager  for  dinner,  which 

was    accordingly   hastened. 

Thev  passed  the  afternoon 

in  a  loud,  rustic  mirth,  gave 

proof  of  their  religion   and 

lovalty  by  the  healths  they 
drank,    talked    of    hounds, 

and  horses,  and  elections,  and  country  fairs,  till  the  chirurgeon.  wlio 
had  been  employed  about  Ctessipus,  desired  he  might  be  put  into 
Crito's  coach,  and  sent  home,  having  refused  to  stay  all  night." 

A  very  short  residence  in  Newport  was  sufficient  to  convince 
Berkeley  that  his  college  should  be  established  upon  the  main  land 
rather  than  upon  the  Summer  Islands.  "  The  truth  is,  I  should  like 
it  better  than  Bermuda,"  he  wrote  to  a  friend.  But  the  money 
promised  for  his  college  never  came,  and  after  a  residence  of  two 
and  a  half  years  in  America  he  went  back  to  his  native  country, 
confessing,  w^hen  he  went,  that  "no  spot  on  earth  has  helped  to 
form  me  so  much  as  that  beach."  (Sachuest  Beach,  he  meant,  of 
course.)  It  may  well  be  questioned  whether  any  man  ever  did  more 
in  so  short  a  time  to  form  the  society  in  which  he  lived.  The  genial, 
elevating  influence  of  his  presence  in  Rhode  Island  was  felt  for 
many  years  after  the  gracious  bishop  had  passed  away  from  earth. 
He  was  appointed  to  the  See  of  Cloyne  in  1734,  and  died,  full  of 
vears  and  of  honor,  in  1753- 

Middletown  has  always  been  simply  an  agricultural  town.  \'ery 
naturally,  therefore,  the  historian  searches  in  vain  for  striking  events 
in  its  history.  Isaac  Barker's  conduct  during  the  Revolution  well 
deserves  notice.     When  the  P)ritish  took  possession  of  the  island   he 


6o  Picturesque  Rhode  Islanj 


]->retended  to  be  a  Tory,  and  remained  on  his  farm.  This  was  situ- 
ated on  the  east  side  of  the  island.  His  dwelling  could  plainly  be 
seen  from  the  Seaconnet  shore.  In  this  house  a  British  colonel  es- 
tablished his  quarters.  From  this  officer  Barker  was  often  able  to 
learn  the  plans  of  the  enemy.  Between  him  and  Lieutenant  Chapin, 
oi  Colonel  Sherburne's  regiment  of  Rhode  Island  troops,  a  system 
ot  signals  was  arranged.  It  consisted  of  a  peculiar  arrangement  of 
bars  and  stakes  in  a  stone  wall,  and  was  easily  visible  to  one  using  a 
sp3'-glass  upon  the  main  land.  When  any  information  of  importance 
had  been  gained,  a  letter  would  be  deposited  by  Barker  in  a  certain 
crevice  in  a  neighboring  ledge  of  rocks.  He  would  then  arrange 
his  signals,  and  the  lieutenant  would  cross  over  at  night  and  get  the 
letter.  For  more  than  fourteen  months,  at  the  constant  risk  of  his 
lite.  Barker  continued  to  perform  this  service.  The  departure  of  the 
English  troops  at  last  released  him  from  his  perilous  employment. 

The  population  has  not  increased  very  largely  during  the  138 
years  of  the  town's  existence.  In  1748,  680  people  were  numbered 
within  its  limits.  The  last  census  showed  it  to  contain  1,139  ^^- 
habitants.  The  residents  of  the  town  are  awakening  at  last  to  a 
sense  of  the  possibilities  within  their  grasp,  and  are  stretching  out 
their  hands  to  secure  a  portion  of  the  summer  throng  that  fills  each 
3^ear  the  cottages  of  the  mother-town.  Broad  avenues,  sweeping 
along  the  shores,  and  winding  over  the  hills  that  command  a  pros- 
pect over  the  ocean,  are  projected.  On  these  hills  some  of  the  most 
beautiful  villa-sites  in  America  are  yet  unoccupied.  In  the  years  to 
come,  stately  residences  will  rise  upon  them.  The  avenues  may 
one  day  be  crowded  with  a  concourse  rivaling  that  which  now  rolls 
onward,  in  the  bright  days  of  summer,  along  magnificent  Bellevue. 

PocAssET,  was  the  Indian  name  of  the  place  where  the  first 
English  settlement  upon  Aquidneck  was  established.  Not  until  the 
Newport  settlers  had  withdrawn  from  it  was  the  name  of  Portsmouth 
given  to  the  town.  By  the  Indians,  the  opposite  shore  of  the  main- 
land and  the  narrow  strait  lying  between  was  also  called  Pocasset. 
For  the  fee  of  the  island,  and  for  the  grass  upon  the  neighboring- 
islands,  forty  fathoms  of  white  peage  were  paid.  Ten  coats  and 
twenty  hoes  were  given  to  the  resident  Indians  to  vacate  the  lands, 
and  five  fathoms  of  wampum  were  paid  to  the  local  sachem. 

Before  leaving  Providence  this  civil  compact  was  drawn  up  and 
signed  : 


Portsmouth. 


6r 


7  rii   Day 


oi-  TiiK  FiKST  Month    (March),  1638. 

'>  We  whose  names  are  underwi-itten  do  hereby  solemnly,  in  the 
presence  of  Jehovah,  incorporate  ourselves  into  a  body  politic;  and 
as  he  shall  help,  will  submit  our  persons,  lives  and  estates,  unto  our 
Lord  Jesus  Christ,  The  King  of  Kings  and  Lord  of  Lords,  and  to 
all  those  perfect  and  most 
absolute  laws  of  his  given 
us  in  his  holy  word  of  truth 
to  be  guided  and  judgi-d 
thereby.  Exod.  xxiv.,  3,  4  : 
2  Chron.  xi..  3;  2  Kings, 
xi.,  17." 

Its  signers  were  William 
Coddington,  John  Clarke, 
William  Hutchinson.  John 
CoireeshalL  William  Aspin- 
wall,  Samuel  Wilbore,  John 
Porter,  John  Santord.  Ed- 
ward Hutchinson.  Jr..  Tho- 
mas Savage,  William  Dyre, 
William  Freeborne,  Philip 
Shearman,     John     Walker, 

Richard  Carder,  William  Baulstone,  Edward  Hutchinson,  Sr.. 
Henry  Bull.  Randall  Holden's  name  is  also  affixed  to  the  document, 
but  the  historian  Arnold  believes  that  Holden  was  not  one  of  the 
proprietors,  but  simply  one  of  the  witnesses  to  the  compact.  The 
other  witness  was  Roger  Williams. 

In  his  settlement  at  Providence,  the  great  founder  of  the  State 
made  no  provision  whatever  for  religious  worship.  He  welcomed 
gladly  all  persons  who  desired  to  cast  in  their  lot  with  him,  asking 
no  questions  whatever  concerning  their  religious  beliefs.  Whether 
they  were  ''Jews,  Turks,  Infidels  or  Heretics"  mattered  not  to  him. 
The  Aquidneck  settlers  were  not  quite  so  liberal.  But  while  they  pro- 
posed to  lay  the  foundation  of  a  Christian  State,  they  also  meant  that  in 
that  State  every  man  should  be  allowed  to  worship  God  according  to 
the  dictates  df  his  own  conscience.  The  ditTerences  between  the  fol- 
lowers of  Roger  Williams  and  those  of  Coddington  and  Hutchinson 
were  but  slight,  and  yet  they  served  to  bring  to  the  island  a  more 
desirable  class  of  inhabitants  than  those   who  settled  at  Providence. 


The    Glen. 


62  Picturesque  Rhode  Island. 


It  was  the  higher  education  and  the  superior  social  standing  of  the  peo- 
ple of  the  island  of  Rhode  Island  which  secured  for  it  the  controll- 
ing influence  in  the  aflairs  of  the  State  it  enjoyed  for  so  man}^  years. 
The  building  of  the  town  of  Portsmouth  was  begun  March  24, 
1638.  Around  the  head  of  a  cove  on  the  northeastern  part  of  the 
island,  the  first  dwellings  were  erected.  From  this  cove,  an  outlet 
deep  enough  for  the  passage  of  small  vessels  then  extended  to  the 
bav.  The  people  supposed  that  water  sufficient  to  float  the  largest 
ships  of  the  time  might  easily  be  tbund  not  far  away.  This  deeper 
water  could  not  be  found,  however,  the  action  of  the  winds  and  waves 
gradually  closed  the  outlet,  and  the  first  settlement  was  in  time  aban- 
doned. Not  many  years  ago  traces  of  some  of  the  houses  could 
with  difficulty  be  perceived  ;  modern  ''  improvement"  has  since  swept 
them  entirely  away.  The  second  hamlet  received  the  name  of  New- 
town, a  designation  still  retained  by  that  part  of  the  town. 

Portsmouth  is  still,  and  always  has  been,  mainly  an  agricultural 
community,  but  for  an  agricultural  town  it  is  unusually  rich  in  histori- 
cal incident.  Within  its  borders  one  of  the  most  daring  exploits  of 
the  Revolution  was  performed.  Just  north  of  the  northern  boundary 
line  of  Middletown,  stands  what  is  left  of  the  house  that  was  once 
the  headquarters  of  the  English  General  Prescott.  Very  little  of  the 
old  dwelling  remains,  and  the  house  wears  a  decidedl}'-  modern  as- 
pect. In  May,  1777,  Lord  Percy  departing  from  Newport,  left  Brig.- 
Gen.  Richard  Prescott  in  command  of  the  British  forces.  ^'  Prescott 
was  a  man  advanced  in  years,  of  small  stature,  of  harsh  temper,  who 
carried,  even  beyond  the  common  measure  of  militar}^  insolence,  his 
contempt  and  hatred  for  those  whom  he  persistently  refused  to  regard 
in  any  other  light  than  as  rebels  against  their  king.  He  had  brought 
with  him  to  Rhode  Island  a  reputadon  stained  with  many  acts  of 
cruelty  ;  his  conduct  upon  the  island  more  than  sustained  the  repu- 
tation he  had  before  acquired.  Thus,  he  ordered  300  lashes  to 
be  given  to  Thomas  Austin,  because  he  refused  to  yoke  his  team 
to  carry  a  cannon  across  the  island  for  use  against  the  American 
troops.  The  remonstrances  of  attending  physicians,  who  assured 
the  tyrant  that  his  bleeding  victim  could  not  possibly  survive  such 
torture,  alone  prevented  the  carrying  out  of  the  inhuman  order. 

In  the  latter  part  of  the  year  1776  General  Charles 'Lee,  second 
in  command  of  the  American  forces,  had  been  captured  by  a  British 
scouting  party,  under  circumstances  that  were  deemed  peculiarly 
disgraceful  by  all  true  patriots.     The  character  of  Lee  was  not  un- 


l^ouisMoriii 


63 


A  Glimpse  cf   Bristol    Ferry. 


derstood  at  the  time:  his  entire  hick  of  principle  had  not  then  been 
made  manifest.  Tlie  Americans,  for  the  most  part,  felt  that  a 
gallant  officer  was  likely  to  be  held  in  captivity  for  an  indefinite 
time,  because  they  held  no  English  officer  of  equal  rank,  for  whom 
to.  exchange  him.  No  one  felt  the  humiliation  more  keenly  than 
Maj.  William  Barton,  of  the  Second  Rhode  Island  Regiment,  a 
}"oung  man  not  \-et  t\\en'ty-nine  }ears  of  age.  Major  Barton,  w  ith 
his  own  hand,  afterward  prepared  an  account  of  the  capture  of 
Prescott.  which  is  still  preserved  in  the  cabinet  of  the  Rhode  Island 
Historical  Society.  In  it  he  says:  *•  He  had  a  very  high  opinion 
of  the  general's  ability,  and  used  the  greatest  endeavors  to  get 
intelligence  of  some  l^ritish  oflicers  of  the  same  rank,  and  thus  effect 
an  exchange  of  that  great  man." 

On  the  tenth  day  of  June.  1777.  a  fugili\e  from  the  island  carried 
to  the  quarters  of  Barton  at  ^Fiverton,  the  intelligence  that  Prescott 
was  quartered  at  Mr.  Overing's  house,  distant  about  fi\e  miles  from 
Newport,  and  one  luile  from  the  west  shore  of  the  island.  He 
also  reported  that  no  troops  were  stationed  near  the  house,  and 
that  the  general's  only  protection  was  the  guard-ship  that  lay  oppo- 
site his  quarters.  Major  Barton  at  once  determined  to  effect  his 
capture.      Five  whale-boats,  large  enough  to  contain  fort\'  men,  \\  ere 


64  Picturesque  Rhode  Island. 

quickly  secured.  His  regiment  having  been  assembled,  Barton 
explained  that  a  secret  expedition  of  great  danger  was  to  be  under- 
taken, and  called  for  volunteers.  The  whole  regiment  at  once  stepped 
forward.  Barton  selected  forty  men,  expert  in  rowing,  and  practiced 
his  crews  daily  until  he  had  become  satisfied  with  their  proficiency. 
On  the  4th  of  July  the  little  flotilla  left  Tiverton,  passing  first  to  Bris- 
tol, and  afterward  to  Warwick,  as  the  most  suitable  point  for  the  final 
departure.  While  ofi'  Hog  Island,  in  full  view  of  the  British  ships, 
the  object  of  the  expedition  was  announced  to  the  crews.  Its  tre- 
mendous risk  deterred  no  one  from  continuing  it.  On  the  9th  of 
July  the  party,  forty-one  men  in  all,  left  Warwick.  Their  leader  com- 
manded them  "  to  preserve  the  strictest  order ;  to  have  no  thought 
of  plunder ;  to  observe  the  profoundest  silence,  and  to  take  with 
them  no  spirituous  liquors."  Wise  directions  they  were,  and  most 
faithfully  carried  out.  Barton  closed  his  short  address  by  invoking 
the  Divine  blessing  upon  his  undertaking.  With  muflled  oars,  the 
boats  pulled  silently  onward  through  the  friendly  darkness  of  the 
summer  night,  passing  so  near  the  enemy's  ships  that  they  heard  dis- 
tinctly the  sentinel's  "  all's  well,"  as  the  hours  were  called. 

On  reaching  the  shore,  one  man  was  left  in  charge  of  each  boat. 
The  rest  of  the  party,  forming  in  five  divisions,  crept  cautiously  on 
toward  the  house.  They  found  their  way  beset  with  dangers  greater 
than  those  their  leader  had  reckoned  upon.  On  their  left  w^as  a 
guard-house  in  which  a  squad  of  soldiers  had  been  quartered.  Two 
hundred  yards  away,  on  their  right,  a  company  of  light  cavalry  had 
been  stationed.  Twenty-five  yards  from  the  gate  of  the  house  they 
encountered  a  sentinel.  When  the  gate  was  opened  this  sentinel  at 
once  challenged  the  party.  He  was  seized  and  bound,  and  threat- 
ened with  instant  death  if  he  made  the  slightest  noise.  In  the  first 
chamber  they  entered  was  found  Mr.  Overing,  the  owner  of  the 
house.  At  the  noise  of  their  entrance,  Prescott  awoke,  and  at  once 
called  out  to  know  what  the  matter  was.  Almost  immediately  he 
found  himself  a  prisoner.  The  story  often  told  is,  that  the  door  of 
Prescott's  room  was  forced  open  by  the  ram-like  stroke  of  a  negro's 
head,  but  Barton,  in  his  narrative,  mentions  no  such  incident.  The 
British  general  made  no  attempt  to  conceal  his  identity.  Clad  in 
exceedingly  scanty  attire,  he  was  hurried  from  the  house  and  across 
the  fields,  rough  with  wheat-stubble  and  with  brambles,  to  the 
boats.  The  sentinel  who  had  been  first  captured,  and  Major  Bar- 
rington,  Prescott's  aid,  who  had  leaped  from  the  window  at  the  first 


Portsmouth. 


65 


alarm,  were  also  carried  a\va\'  prisoners.  Hardly  had  the  party 
pushed  oft'  from  the  shore,  before  the  whole  island  seemed  aroused, 
but  the  darkness  of  the  night  efiectually  concealed  the  Americans. 
Not  until  they  received  a  dispatch  from  him  at  Providence,  did  his 
troops  learn  the  fate  of  their  commander.  The  track  of  his  captors 
was  easily  traced  to  the  water-side,  but 
the  rippling  waves  rendered  further 
search  hopeless.  The  party  reached 
Warwick  Neck  at  day-break,  having 
been  absent  six  hours  and  a  half. 
The  effect  of  Barton's  exploit  cannot 
be  better  told  than  in  the  words  of  the 
late  Professor  Diman,  the  orator  of  the 
celebration  of  the  one-hundredth  anni- 
versary of  the  event.  "  Wherever  the 
news  spread,  it  made  a  great  impres- 
sion. It  came  at  a  period  of  discour- 
agement, when  men  were  weary  of  the 
long  inactivity  of  Spencer,  and  were 
watching  with  apprehension  the  ad- 
vance of  Burgoyne  ;    and,  of  however 

slight  importance  in  its  bearing  on  military  operations,  it  had  a 
prodigious  effect  in  rousing  the  popular  spirit.  Thatcher  w^rites,  in 
his  Journal,  that  when  the  intelligence  reached  the  northern  armv 
'  it  occasioned  great  joy  and  exultation.'  It  even  lifted  the  dark 
cloud  w^hich  hung  over  the  face  of  Washington,  who  at  once  sent  a 
dispatch  to  Congress  announcing  the  capture  of  Prescott,  and  de- 
scribing it  as  '  a  bold  enterprise.'" 

On  the  hills  of  Portsmouth  was  fought  the  battle  of  Rhode  Island, 
which  the  illustrious  Lafayette  is  reported  to  have  described  as 
"the  best-fought  battle  of  the  war."  It  showed  the  heroism  undis- 
ciplined American  troops  could  display,  even  when  confronted  with 
the  veteran  regiments  of  Great  Britain.  It  was  a  victory  for  the 
Americans,  but  was  followed  by  their  retreat.  Its  moral  effect  was 
most  important. 

Among  the  most  prominent  features  of  the  Portsmouth  landscape 
to-day  are  the  great  wind-mills  that  surmount  some  of  the  loftiest  hills 
of  the  town.  No  traveler  passes  by  on  the  waters  of  the  bay  who 
does  not  admire  their  picturesque  appearance,  as  .their  long  arms 
revolve    against  the  eastern  sky.     There  are  four  of  these  antique 


Old  Wind-mill. 


66  Picturesque  Rhode  Island. 


structures  in  the  town.  The  town  is  also  noted  for  its  coal  mines. 
The  coal  obtained  is  said  to  be  most  valuable  for  smelting-  purposes, 
but,  probably  from  the  ignorance  of  those  who  have  attempted  to  use 
it,  has  not  w^on  great  commendation  for  its  heating  properties.  It 
only  needs  more  intelligence  in  the  methods  of  using  it  to  become  of 
great  value.  ''  It  is  hard  to  light  it  up,  but  it  is  harder  to  extinguish 
it."     The  poet  Bryant  thus  apostrophizes  it : 

"  Yea,  they  did  wrong  thee  foull)'  —  they  who  mocked 
Thy  honest  face,  and  said  thou  would  'st  not  burn  ; 
Of  hewing:  thee  to  chimney-iiieces  talked, 
And  grew  profane  —  and  swore  in  bitter  scorn. 
That  men  mig;ht  to  thy  inner  caves  retire, 
And  tliere,  uiisinwed,  abide  the  day  of  fire." 

The  Name  of  Awashonks,  the  "squaw  sachem,"  often  greets 
the  eye  as  we  peruse  the  pages  of  the  history  of  King  Philip's  War. 
She  ruled  over  the  Seaconnet  Indians,  in  the  territor}^  now  mainly 
comprised  within  the  limits  of  the  town  of  Little  Compton.  The 
Indian  queen  was  a  kinswoman  of  Philip  of  Pokanoket.  For  years 
before  the  war  w^as  planned  her  tribe  had  acknowledged  his  superior 
authority.  The  great  chieftain  very  naturally  reckoned  her  warriors 
among  his  surest  allies  in  war,  and  his  most  steadfast  friends  in  peace. 
But  for  one  seemingly  unimportant  circumstance,  the  famous  sachem 
would  perhaps  never  have  had  occasion  to  bemoan  their  defection, 
and  the  horrors  of  Philip's  War  would  have  been  prolonged  for  years. 

In  the  year  1674  the  first  white  settler  took  up  his  abode  upon 
the  lands  belonging  to  the  Seaconnet  tribe.  He  was  a  tall  and  well- 
proportioned  Englishman,  with  a  frame  so  firmly  knit  and  so  finely 
developed  that  he  seemed  able  to  bid  defiance  to  ph3'sical  infirmity 
and  bodily  fatigue.  Benjamin  Church  was  then  in  the  juicy  prime 
of  life,  being  about  thirty-five  years  of  age.  His  unusual  muscvdar 
vigor,  his  constitutional  cheerfulness,  his  remarkable  tact,  and  above 
all,  his  dauntless  courage,  quickly  compelled  the  respect  of  his  sav- 
age neighbors.  In  the  course  of  a  year's  residence  among  them  he 
gained  a  keener  insight  into  the  Indian  character,  and  a  greater 
power  to  influence  the  Indian  mind,  than  any  man  of  his  race  has 
since  been  able  to  acquire.  That  year's  residence  at  Seaconnet  was, 
perhaps,  the  one  thing  that  was  needed  to  make  Captain  Church  the 
unequaled  "  Indian  fighter"  that  he  soon  proved  himself  to  be.  He 
was  a  native  of  Duxbury,  a  carpenter  by  trade,  and  had  lived  in 
many  towns  of  Massachusetts,  working  at  his  trade  in  journeyman 


Little  Compton.  67 


fashion,  as  was  the  custom  in  the  colony  at  that  time,  before  he 
determined  to  make  for  himseh"  a  home  at  Seaconnet.  Having  pur- 
chased a  larm,  he  at  once  erected  two  buildings  upon  it,  and  set  him- 
self diligently  at  work  to  improve  it,  "and  had  a  fme  prospect  of 
doing  no  small  things.  Behold  !  the  rumor  of  a  war  between  the 
English  and  the  natives  gave  check  to  his  projects." 

No  one  needs  to  be  told  of  the  part  he  took  in  that  war.  History 
has  delighted  to  bestow  her  choicest  encomiums  upon  him.  The 
old  hero  himself,  in  the  last  years  of  his  life,  recognizing  the  fact 
that  "every  particle  of  historical  truth  is  precious,"  wrote  a  very 
careful  account  of  his  participation  in  it.  His  narrative  is  told  in 
plain  and  simple,  and  yet  in  exceedingly  graphic  style,  is  acknowl- 
edged to  be  singularly  trustworthy  in  all  its  statements,  and  is  writ- 
ten, as  its  author  states  in  his  preface,  "with  as  little  reflection  as 
might  be  upon  any  particular  person,  alive  or  dead."  From  it,  two 
striking  descriptions  of  events  which  have  made  the  territory  of  Little 
Compton  historic  ground,  have  been  transferred  to  these  pages. 

The  "  rumor  of  a  war"  was  soon  confirmed  by  a  messenger  sent 
from  Awashonks  to  invite  Mr.  Church  to  be  present  at  a  great  dance 
shortly  to  take  place  in  her  dominions.  King  Philip  had  already 
sent  envoys  urging  the  Seaconnets  {Sogkonatcs,  Captain  Church 
always  culls  them)  to  join  their  fortunes  with  his,  and  at  this  dance  the 
part  they  were  to  take  in  the  war  was  to  be  decided.  Mr.  Church 
therefore  hastened  to  accept  the  invitation.  He  found  hundreds  of 
warriors  gathered  together  at  the  place  appointed.  Awashonks  her- 
self was  leading  the  dance  ;  but  as  soon  as  she  learned  of  Church's 
arrival  she  broke  off  from  it,  called  her  nobles  around  her,  and  ordered 
him  to  be  invited  to  her  presence.  After  some  minutes'  conversation 
with  him,  during  which  she  seemed  much  convinced  by  his  arguments, 
she  summoned  the  Mount  Hope  men,  —  the  messengers  from  Philip. 
They  presented  a  most  formidable  appearance;  their  faces  were 
painted,  "  their  hair  was  trimmed  up  in  comb  fashion,"  /.  f:.,  like  the 
comb  of  a  cock ;  and  their  powder-horns  and  shot-bags  were  at  their 
backs,  as  was  the  custom  of  their  nation  when  war  had  been  deter- 
mined upon. 

"Stepping  up  to  the  Mount  Hopes,  Mr.  Church  felt  of  their 
bags,  and  finding  them  filled  with  bullets,  asked  them  what  those 
bullets  w^ere  for.  They  scoflingly  replied,  '  To  shoot  pigeons  with.' 
Then  Mr.  Church  turned  to  Awashonks  and  told  her  that  if  Philip 
were  resolved  to  make  war,  her  best  way  would  be  to  knock  these 


68  Picturesque  Rhode  Island. 

six  Mount  Hopes  on  the  head,  and  shelter  herself  under  the  pro- 
tection of  the  English ;  upon  which  the  Mount  Hopes  were  for  the 
present  dumb.  But  those  two  of  Awashonks'  men  who  had  been  at 
Mount  Hope,  expressed  themselves  in  a  furious  manner  against  his 
advice.  And  Little  Eyes,  one  of  the  queen's  counsel,  joined  with 
them,  and  urged  Mr.  Church  to  go  aside  with  him  among  the  bushes, 
that  he  might  have  some  private  discourse  with  him,  which  other 
Indians  immediately  forbid  ;  being  sensible  of  his  ill  design.  But 
the  Indians  began  to  side  and  grow  very  warm.  Mr.  Church,  with 
undaunted  courage,  told  the  Mount  Hopes  that  they  were  bloody 
wretches,  and  thirsted  after  the  blood  of  their  English  neighbors, 
who  had  never  injured  them,  but  had  always  abounded  in  their  kind- 
ness to  them.  That,  for  his  own  part,  though  he  desired  nothing 
more  than  peace,  yet,  if  nothing  but  war  would  satisfy  them,  he  be- 
lieved he  should  prove  a  sharp  thorn  in  their  sides  ;  bid  the  company 
observe  these  men  that  were  of  such  bloody  dispositions,  whether 
Providence  would  suffer  them  to  live  to  see  the  event  of  the  war, 
which  others,  more  peaceably  disposed,  might  do,  etc.,  etc." 

Moved  by  Church's  advice,  Awashonks  requested  him  to  go  to 
Plymouth  in  her  behalf,  to  arrange  a  compact  between  her  tribe  and 
the  English  authorities.  The  war,  breaking  out  sooner  than  was 
anticipated,  rendered  his  mission  useless  at  that  time,  but  the  part 
Church  had  taken  had  a  very  important  bearing  upon  the  issue  of 
the  contest.  About  a  year  afterward  the  English  Captain  happened 
to  meet  one  of  the  Seaconnets,  whose  friendship  he  had  won  at  this 
conference,  and  through  him  was  enabled  once  more  to  open  nego- 
tiations with  the  squaw  sachem.  A  meeting  was  arranged  between 
them.  Church  specifying  that  not  more  than  three  persons  should 
attend  the  princess.  He  himself  went  to  the  place  appointed  in  a 
canoe,  with  one  man  to  attend  him.  Another  canoe,  with  two  other 
men  in  it,  was  stationed  off  the  shore,  to  observe  the  fate  which 
might  befall  the  bold  warrior. 

"  He  was  no  sooner  landed,  but  Awashonks  and  the  rest  that  he 
had  appointed  to  meet  him  there  rose  up  and  came  down  to  meet 
him ;  and  each  of  them  successively  gave  him  their  hands,  and  ex- 
pressed themselves  glad  to  see  him,  and  gave  him  thanks  for  expos- 
ing himself  to  visit  them.  They  walked  together  about  a  gun-shot 
from  the  water,  to  a  convenient  place  to  sit  down,  when  at  once  rose 
up  a  great  body  of  Indians,  who  had  lain  hid  in  the  grass  (that  was 
as  high  as  a  man's  waist),  and  gathered  around  them,  till  they  had 


Little  Compton, 


69 


Mount    Hope 

closed  thorn  in  :  being  all  armed  with  guns,  spears,  hatchets,  etc., 
with  their  hairs  trimmed  and  faces  painted,  in  their  war-like  appear- 
ance. It  was  doubtless  somew^hat  surprising  to  our  gentleman  at 
tirst,  but  without  any  visible  discovery  of  it,  after  a  small  silent 
pause  on  each  side,  he  spoke  to  Awashonks,  and  told  her  that 
George  (the  Indian  through  whom  he  had  arranged  the  conference) 
.  had  informed  him  that  she  had  a  desire  to  see  him,  and  discourse 
about  making  peace  with  the  English.  She  answered,  '  Yes.'  '  Then,' 
said  Mr.  Church,  '  it  is  customary  when  people  meet  to  treat  of  peace, 
to  lay  aside  their  arms,  and  not  to  appear  in  such  hostile  form  as 
your  people  do.'  lie  desired  of  her,  that  if  thev  might  talk  about 
peace,  which  he  desired  they  might,  her  men  might  lay  aside  their 
arms,  and  appear  more  treatable.  Upon  which  there  began  a  con- 
siderable noise  and  murmur  among  them  in  their  own  language, 
till  Awashonks  asked  him  what  arms  they  should  lav  down,  and 
where?  He  (perceiving  the  Indians  looked  very  surlv  and  much 
displeased)  replied:  •  Only  tlu-ir  guns  at  some  small  distance,  for 
formality's  sake.'  Upon  which,  with  one  consent,  the\-  hiid  aside 
their  guns  and  came  and  sat  down. 

"  Mr.  Church  jnilled  out  his  cd/a/xis/i.  and  asked  Awashonks 
whether  she  had  lived  so  long  at  W'c/iiset  (Wachuset)  as  to  tbrget  to 
drink  occafcchcs  !*  and  drinking  to  her,  he  perceixed  that  she  watched 
him  very  diligently,  to  see  whether  he  swallowed  any  of  the  rum. 
He   offered  licr  the  shell,  but  she   desired  him    to   drink   aiiain   rirst. 


70  Picturesque  Rhode  Island. 

He  then  told  her  that  there  was  no  poison  in  it ;  and  pouring  some  in 
the  pahii  of  his  hand  sipped  it  up.  And  took  the  shell  and  drank  to 
her  again,  and  drank  a  good  swig,  which  indeed  was  no  more  than 
he  needed.  Then  they  all  standing  up  he  said  to  Awashonks,  '  You 
ivon't  drink  for  fear  there  should  be  poison  in  it,'  and  then  handed  it 
to  a  little  ill-looking  fellow,  who  catched  it  readil}^  enough,  and  as 
greedily  would  have  swallowed  the  liquor  when  he  had  it  at  his 
mouth.  But  Mr.  Church  catched  him  by  the  throat,  and  took  it  from 
him,  asking  him  whether  he  intended  to  swallow  it  shell  and  all ; 
and  then  handed  it  to  Awashonks.  She  ventured  to  take  a  good 
hearty  draw,  and  passed  it  among  her  attendants.  The  shell  being 
emptied,  he  pulled  out  his  tobacco  ;  and  having  distributed  it,  they 
began  to  talk. 

"Awashonks  demanded  of  him  the  reason  wh}^  he  had  not 
(agreeable  to  his  promise  when  she  saw  him  last)  been  down  at 
Sogkonate  before  now?  Saying,  that  probably  if  he  had  come  then, 
according  to  his  promise,  they  had  never  joined  with  Phihp  against 
the  English.  He  told  her  that  he  was  prevented  by  the  war's  breaking 
out  so  suddenly  ;  and  yet  he  was  afterwards  coming  down,  and  came 
as  far  as  Punkateese,  where  a  great  many  Indians  set  upon  him,  and 
fought  him  a  whole  afternoon,  though  he  did  not  come  prepared  to 
fight,  and  had  but  nineteen  men  wdth  him,  whose  chief  design  was  to 
gain  an  opportunity  to  discourse  some  Sogkonate  Indians.  Upon 
this  there  at  once  arose  a  mighty  murmur,  confused  noise,  and  talk 
among  the  fierce-looking  creatures,  and  all  rising  up  in  a  hubbub. 
And  a  great  surly-looking  fellow  took  up  his  tomhog,  or  wooden  cut- 
lass, to  kill  Mr.  Church,  but  some  others  prevented  him.  The  inter- 
preter asked  Mr.  Church  if  he  understood  what  it  was  that  the  great 
fellow  they  had  hold  of  said?  He  answered  him  '  No.'  '  Why,'  said 
the  interpreter,  '  he  says  you  killed  his  brother  at  Punkateese,  and 
therefore  he  thirsts  for  your  blood.'  Mr.  Church  bid  the  interpreter 
tell  him  that  his  brother  began  first ;  that  if  he  had  kept  at  Sog- 
konate, according  to  his  desire  and  order,  he  should  not  have  hurt 
him.  Then  the  chief  captain  commanded  silence ;  and  told  them 
they  should  talk  no  more  about  old  things,  etc.,  and  quelled  the  tu- 
mult so  that  the}^  sat  down  again,  and  began  upon  a  discourse  of 
making  peace  with  the  English." 

The  arguments  of  Captain  Church  were  successful.  At  last  "the 
chief  captain  rose  up,  and  expressed  the  great  value  and  respect  he 
had  for  Mr.   Church  ;   and  bowing  to  him,   said,    '  Sir,   if  you  will 


Little  Comi'Ton. 


71 


please  to  accept  of  me  and  my  men,  and  will  head  us,  we  will  fight 

for  you,  and  will  help  you  to  Philip^s  head  before  the  Indian  corn  be 

ripe.'     And  when  he  had  ended,  they  all  expressed  their  consent  to 

what  he  had  said,  and  told  Mr.  Church    tliey   loved  him,  and  were 

willing  to  go  with  him  and  light   for  him  as  long  as  the  English   had 

one  enemy  left  in  the    coun- 
try."    The  defection  of  Awa- 

shonks  and    her   tribe   sealed 

the    doom     of    Philip.      The 

broken-hearted     sachem    was 

never  known  to  smile  after  the 

news  was  received.      He   felt 

that  his  days  were  numbered, 

and  that   henceforth   he  must 

live  like  a  wild  beast,  hunted 
from    one    hiding-place     to 

another   by   Indians   and  En- 

ijlishmen  alike. 

Not  until  many  years  after 

the  w^arhad  ceased  did  Captain 
Church  go   back  to  dwell   at 

Seaconnet.  When  the  town  of  Bristol  was  founded  he  became  one 
of  its  most  prominent  citizens,  and  continued  to  live  for  several 
years  upon  the  land  that  had  once  belonged  to  his  dead  foe.  From 
Bristol  he  removed  to  Fall  River,  and  at  last  went  back  to  end  his 
days  at  Little  Compton.  Returning  one  da}^  from  a  visit  of  con- 
dolence which  he  had  paid  his  only  sister,  his  horse  stumbled,  and 
the  old  hero  was  thrown  with  great  force  upon  the  frozen  ground. 
He  had  become  exceedingly  corpulent,  and  the  fall  ruptured  a  blood- 
vessel.    From  the  effects  of  this  accident  he  died  Jan.  17,  1718. 

Little  Compton  probably  took  its  name  from  the  Little  Compton 
of  Oxfordshire,  England.  It  w^as  incorporated  as  a  town  in  1682. 
Its  Indian  inhabitants  condnued  for  many  years  to  reside  within  its 
borders  in  perfect  harmony  with  their  white  neighbors.  In  1790 
there  were  1,542  white  inhabitants  and  twenty-three  slaves  in  the 
town.  Its  population,  according  to  the  census  of  1880,  is  1,201.  It 
was  one  of  the  five  tow-ns  transferred  from  Massachusetts  to  the 
colony  of  Rhode  Island  in  January,  1746-7.  Once  a  popular  sum- 
mer resort,  it  still  attracts  many  visitors,  by  reason  of  the  unequaled 
advantages    for    fishing    which    it    affords.      A   stone  in    the   village 


Cold   Spring   Monui 


72  Picturesque  Rhode  Island. 


cemetery  marks  the  resting-place  of  Elizabeth  Alden,  said  to  have 
been  the  first  white  woman  born  in  New  England.  She  became  the 
wife  of  WilHam  Pabodie,  and  died  May  31,  1717,  in  the  ninety- 
fourth  year  of  her  age. 

Tiverton  was  another  of  the  five  towns.  Its  Indian  name  was 
Pocasset.  Punkateest  it  was  also  called  sometimes  ;  but  this  name 
properly  belonged  to  its  southern  portion  only.  It  was  purchased 
from  the  Indians  by  the  Plymouth  colonists  in  1680,  and  was  b}^ 
them  sold  to  Edward  Gray  and  seven  other  Englishmen,  for  £1,100 
(about  $3,666).  The  fact  has  already  been  noted  that  Portsmouth 
was  originally  called  Pocasset.  It  was  probably  the  greater  prom- 
inence of  the  mainland  Pocasset  that  compelled  the  islanders  to 
change  the  name  of  their  town.  Not  until  1694  was  the  town  of 
Tiverton  incorporated.  The  powerful  Indian  tribe  to  whom  the 
territory  had  once  belonged  had  then  almost  entirely  disappeared.. 
The  Indian  designation  was  therefore  dropped,  and  an  English  name 
was  taken  in  its  stead.  One  point  in  connection  with  the  early 
history  of  the  town  is  specially  worthy  of  notice.  It  had  no  settled 
minister,  and  maintained  no  regular  rehgious  services,  until  almost 
half  a  centurv  had  elapsed  from  the  year  in  which  it  was  founded. 
On  this  account  presentments  against  the  town  were  frequently  made 
to  the  General  Court  of  Massachusetts,  but  without  any  apparent 
effect  upon  the  actions  of  its  people.  In  striking  contrast  with  the 
other  towns  of  Massachusetts,  it  continued  during  this  long  period  of 
time  almost  entirely  to  neglect  its  religious  and  educational  duties. 
Not  until  August  20,  1746 — five  months  before  it  became  a  part  of 
Rhode  Island — was  the  First  Congregational  Church  organized  by 
the  people  in  the  sovith  part  of  the  town. 

Like  its  neighbor,  Seaconnet,  Pocasset  was  governed  by  a  ''squaw 
sachem  "  when  King  Philip's  War  broke  out.  Weetamoe  was  the 
queen  of  the  Pocasset  tribe.  When  the  conflict  began,  the  part  she 
might  take  in  it  seemed  somewhat  doubtful.  Captain  Church,  pass- 
ing through  lier  dominions  on  his  way  from  Seaconnet  to  Plymouth, 
thought  she  might  be  induced  to  take  the  side  of  the  English. 
Events  soon  proved  him  to  have  mistaken  both  her  temper  and  her 
designs.  She  espoused  the  side  of  her  kinsman,  and  upon  the 
broad  hunting-grounds  of  her  tribe  many  a  deadly  combat  was 
fought.  The  writers  of  that  period  agree  that  "the  'squaw 
sachem'  of   Pocasset  was  next  unto  Philip  in  respect  to    the    mis- 


Ti\I":rton, 


73 


chief  tliat  hath  becti   done,  and  the  blood  that  hath  been  shed  in  the 
war." 

'•  A  severe   and  proud  dame 'was  she,"  wrote  an   Enjj^hshwonian 
who  was  once  her  captive,  "  bestowing  every  day  in  dressing  herself 
near  as   much   time  as  any    of  the  gentry  of  the    land. 
She  had  a  Kearsev  coat,  covered  with  girdles  of  wampum   from  the 


"The    Northmen's    Rock,"    Mount    Hope   Bay. 

loins  upward.  Her  arms,  from  her  elbows  to  lu-r  hands, -were  cov- 
ered with  bracelets  ;  there  were  handfuls  of  necklaces  about  her  neck, 
and  several  sorts  of  jewels  in  her  ears.  She  had  tine  red  stockings 
and  white  shoes,  her  hair  powdered,  and  her  face  painted  red." 

Many  of  her  tribe,  discouraged  by  the  apparent  hopelessness  of 
their  cause,  in  time  sought  the  alliance  of  the  English.  (It  was  a 
Pocasset  Indian  from  whom  at  last  Philip  received  his  death-wound.) 
Weetamoe  wavered  never.  Faithfully  she  clung  to  the  fortunes  of 
the  great  chieftain,  and  a  fate  more  tragic  even  than  his  fell  to  her 
unhappy  lot.  From  300  fighting  men,  her  tribe  was  at  last  reduced 
to  twenty-six  warriors.  In  August,  1676,  the  colonists  learned  from 
a  deserter  that  the  princess,  with  her  few  remaining  adherents,  had 
taken  refuge  at  Mettapoiset  (now  Gardiner's  Neck,  in  Swansey). 
Twenty  men  at  once  volunteered  to  hunt  down  the  defenceless 
woman.  With  the  Indian  traitor  tor  a  guide,  tlu-y  had  no  dilliculty 
in  surprising  the  Pocassets  in  their  hiding-place,  and  capturing  all 
but  two  or  three  of  their  number.  Weetamoe  was  one  of  the  tew 
who  escaped.  The  wretched  princess  seems  to  have  preferred  any 
form  of  death  to  capture.  In  the  tumult  which  tbllowed  the  on- 
slaught of  the  attacking  party,  she  hastily  gathered  for  a  raft  a  few 
broken  pieces  of  timber  tiiat  had  been  cast  by  the  waves  upon  the 
shore,  and  boldly  pushed  out  upon  the   dark    waters.      No   one   alter- 


74  Picturesque  Rhode  Island. 

wards  saw  her  alive.  In  a  few  days  the  naked  body  of  an  Indian 
woman  was  thrown  upon  the  beach  by  the  in-coming  tide.  The 
white  settlers  seized  upon  it  without  knowing  whose  it  was,  and 
with  the  brutality  that  was  the  prevailing  characteristic  of  the  age, 
decapitated  it.  Then,  carrying  the  head  to  Taunton,  they  set  it  up 
upon  a  pole.  Some  Indian  prisoners  beholding  it,  broke  forth  at 
once  in  cries  of  heart-rending  grief.  To  use  the  words  of  the  Rev. 
Increase  Mather,  ''  they  made  a  most  horrid  and  diabolical  lamenta- 
tion, crying  out  that  it  was  their  Queen's  head."  The  ill-starred 
Weetamoe,  though  dead,  is  not  yet  forgotten.  On  the  banks  of 
that  river,  over  whose  waters  the  cry  of  the  despairing  princess  once 
rang  upon  the  startled  air,  a  great  cotton-factory  bears  her  name. 
The  whirl  of  its  thousand  spindles,  and  the  throb  of  its  mighty 
engines,  daily  sound  her  requiem. 

Into  the  dismal  recesses  of  a  great  cedar  swamp  in  the  Pocasset 
Country,  King  PhiHp  once  fled  when  hard  pressed.  This  swamp 
was  seven  miles  long.  Amid  its  trembling  bogs  the  Wampanoag 
king  calmly  awaited  the  assault  of  the  white  soldiers.  With  great 
bravery  the  colonists  charged  the  Indian  stronghold,  and  were  re- 
pulsed with  the  loss  of  sixteen  men.  Then  they  resolved  to  close 
the  avenues  leading  to  it  and  starve  the  Indians  to  surrender.  Philip 
was  well  pleased  with  the  plan  ;  he  was  plentifully  supplied  with 
provisions,  and  was  able  to  sustain  a  very  protracted  siege.  For 
thirteen  days  he  remained  in  his  retreat.  Then,  having  constructed 
canoes  enough  to  carry  all  his  party,  he  took  advantage  of  an 
unusually  dark  night,  fled  from  the  swamp  unperceived,  and  passed 
to  the  Nipmuck  Country. 

When  the  British  held  Rhode  Island,  during  the  Revolutionary 
War,  upon  Tiverton  Heights  was  pitched  one  of  the  most  important 
camps  of  the  American  army.  It  served  as  the  great  rallying-place 
for  the  patriot  forces  in  the  State.  From  it  most  of  the  attacking 
parties  that  so  annoyed  the  British  went  forth.  From  Tiverton,  as 
has  lately  been  related,  Barton  set  out  on  the  ''  bold  push"  which 
resulted  in  the  capture  of  Prescott.  It  will  be  remembered  that  Bar- 
ton wisely  ordered  his  men  to  abstain  entirely  from  intoxicating 
liquors.  After  the  object  of  the  expedition  had  been  accomplished 
and  the  boats  were  leaping  joyfully  homeward,  the  prohibition  was 
removed.  As  a  consequence,  the  courage  of  the  crews  rose  to  such 
a  pitch,  that  it  was  seriously  (  ?)  debated,  as  they  rowed  past  Bristol 
Ferry,  whether  it  was  not  their  duty  at  once  to  turn  back  to  capture 
the  whole  British  fleet. 


Tiverton.  75 

With  the  waters  of  Tiverton  a  brilliant  naval  exploit  is  also   con- 
nected.    In  the  Seaconnct  Passage  an  English  nian-ot-war  had   been 
stationed  to  prevent  the   escape  of  the  privateers  that  swarmed  like 
wasps  along  the  path  of  British  commerce,    it  was  the  "Pigot"  galley, 
a  vessel   of  200  tons  burden.      The   "l^igot"    carried    eight  twelve- 
pounders,  was  defended  by  strong  boarding-nettings,  and  had  a  crew  of 
forty-five  men.     Major  Silas  Talbot,  of  Providence,  resolved  to  effect 
her  capture.      For  this  purpose  he  procured  a  small  sloop  called  the 
"  Hawk,"'  placed  on  board  two  three-pounders  and  a  crew  of  sixtv  men 
under  Lieutenant  Baker,  and  proceeded  down  the  river.      Anchoring 
his  little  craft  in  Mount  Hope  Bay,  he  started  alone  for  Little  Compton, 
that  he  might  ascertain  the  exact  position  of  the  English  vessel.      He 
tound  the  "  Pigot "  armed  at  all  points,  and  much  more  thoroughly 
defended  than  he  had   believed  was  possible.      He  therefore  secured 
fifteen    more  men  from  Popham's  regiment,  under  the  command  of 
Lieut.  William  Helme.   The  next  night  (Oct.  28,  1778,)  was  favorable 
for  his  purpose.    With  a  gentle  wind  the  "■  Plawk  "'  sailed  slowly  down 
toward  the  British  fort  at  Fogland  Ferry.     There  the  sail  was  lowered, 
and  the  little  sloop  drifted  unperceived  past  the  dreaded  batteries. 
The  night  was  so  dark  that  Major  Talbot  found  it  necessary  to  send 
out  a  boat,  with  mutTled  oars,  to  find  the  gallev-     This   having  been 
done,  he  crowded  all  sail  and  bore  down  upon  her.     The  British  cap- 
tain was  taken  entirely  unawares.     Before  he  could  bring  his  guns 
to    bear  upon  his  unseen  foe,    the    jib-boom  of  the  "Hawk"    tore 
through  tile  nettings  of  the   "Pigot"  and  caught  in  its  fore-shrouds. 
Immediately  a  line  of  boarders,  with  Lieutenant  Ilehne  at  their  head, 
ran  along  the  bowsprit  of  the  sloop  and  leaped  upon  the  deck  of  the 
enemy.      The   combat  that  followed  was  short  but    decisive.       The 
crew  of  the  galley  were  quickly  driven  below,  her  commander  alone 
disdaining  to  leave  the  deck,   and  fighting  bravely  after  his  men   had 
deserted  him.      The  English    vessel  was  taken  without  the  loss  of  a 
man  on   either  side.      The    "Ilawk"'   and   her  jiri/.e   innnediateh'   set 
sail,  and  both  reached  Stonington  in  safet\".      The   "  I'igot"  was  not 
long    after  purchased  by    the  American   government,   and  stationed 
permanently  in   the  bay.      For  this  gallant  exploit  Talbot  was  made 
a  lieutenant-colonel.      During    the    war   he   dislinguished   himself  bv 
many  like  deeds  of  daring,  seeming  equally  at  home,  whether  on  land 
or  water.      The   Rhode   Island  Assembly   voted  sw(jrds  both  to  him 
and  Lieutenant  Helme. 

The  interests  of  Tixerton  to-da\'  are   mainK'    agricultural.       Some 


76 


PiCTUHESQUE    RhODE    IsLAND. 


attention  is  also  paid  to  "the  fisheries. "  The  old  hotel  at  Stone 
Bridge  —  the  Stone  Bridge  House  —  has  been  in  the  past,  and  still 
is.  a  noted  summer  resort.  The  town  has  not,  of  late  years,  shown 
any  marked  increase  in  the  number  of  its  inhabitants.  In  1862  a 
change  in  the  boundary  line  between  Rhode  Island  and  Massachu- 
setts transterred  a  large  portion  of  its  territory  to  the  jurisdiction  of 
Fall  River.  It  is  quite  possible  that  in  the  course  of  time  it  will  de- 
velop into  a  manufacturing  community.  Already  the  mills  of  Fall 
River  are  crowding  upon  it.  It  may  be  that  the  next  generation  will 
see  tall  chimnevs  rising  from  its  valleys,  and  its  breezy  hill-sides 
covered  with  a  monoton(^us  arrav  of  factorv  tenement-houses. 


Residence  of  A.  O.  Bourn,  Esq.,  Bristol. 


:Z-^ 


CHAPTER  IV. 


BKIsroi.-THE  VOYAGES  OF  THK  NORTHMEN  — PIIIMP  OF  POKANOKET  — THE 
PKIVATEER  "YANKEE"  —  THE  SLAVE-TRADE  —  COMMERCIAL 
PROSPERITY  AND  DECAY.  WARREN  — MASSASOIET,  THE  FRIEND 
OF  THE  WHITE  MAN— SOME  FAMOUS  SHIPS.  HARRINGTON  — 
THE  THREE  RANKS  OF  INHABITANTS— CAPT.  THOMAS  WILLETT. 

HE  history  of  Bristol  is  unusually  varied  and  interesting. 
It  goes  back  to  the  earliest  ages  of  historic  America, 
and  claims  for  its  own  a  share  in  the  Icelandic  sagas 
of  six  hundred  vears  ago.  A  large  number  of  anti- 
quarian scholars,  in  Europe  as  well  as  in  America, 
have  united  in  pronouncing  its  Mount  Hope  to  be  the 
Hop  of  the  old  Norse  voyagers.  That  the  Northmen 
were  familiar  with  these  shores,  and  even  dwelt  for 
many  years  upon  them,  no  unprejudiced  man  can 
doubt.  The  established  antiquity  of  the  sagas,  the 
fact  that  at  the  time  they  were  written  there  could 
have  been  no  possible  motive  for  manufacturing  such 
a  mass  of  circumstantial  evidence,  makes  it  impossible 
for  any  one  to  deny  that  they  are  substantially  true. 
It  is  only  because  the  advocates  of  the  claims  of  the  Northmen  have 
attempted  to  prove  too  much,  that  they  have  thus  far  failed  to  win  a 
more  favorable  verdict  at  the  bar  of  puliHc  opinion.  It  must  be 
granted  that  it  is  impossible  for  us  to  determine  with  absolute  cer- 
tainty the  exact  spot  where  the  Vikings  dwelt  during  their  sojourn 
upon  the  coasts  of  America.  The  formidable  array  of  details  pre- 
sented in  the  ancient  parchments  makes  the  conjecture  that  the 
booths  of  Leif  Ericson  were  erected  upon  the  shores  of  Mount  Hope 
Bay  seem  a  very  reasonable  one. 


78 


Picturesque  Rhode  Island. 


Up  the  Seaconnet  River,  in  the  year  of  our  Lord  looo,  the  pio- 
neer vessel  of  Leif  is  supposed  to  have  come.  Near  the  foot  of 
Mount  Hope  itseh',  it  is  beheved  that  his  dwelhngs  were  erected. 
He  found  the  waters  of  the  bay  crowded  with  many  varieties  offish  ; 
through  the  forests  that  lined  its  shores  wild  animals  of  manv  kinds 

roamed  unmolested. 
The  winter  that  fol- 
lowed his  coming- 
happened  to  be  one 
of  the  unusually  mild 
ones  which  some- 
times visit  us  to  as- 
tound our  bitter  New 
England  climate. 
Not  much  snow  fell 
that  year,  and  the 
grass  hardly  seemed 

The   Oldest   House   in    Bristol.  tO     witllCr.        SubsC- 

quent  voyagers  had 
a  very  ditferent  experience.  One  of  Lief's  party  was  a  German. 
Tyrker  was  his  name.  One  day  he  strayed  away  from  the  explor- 
ing part}^  Leif  had  sent  out  from  the  camp,  and  when  he  returned 
he  hardly  seemed  to  recognize  his  companions.  His  eyes  rolled 
strangely  about.  He  appeared  to  have  forgotten  the  Norse  language, 
and  in  German  vaguely  answered  those  who  accosted  him.  After  a 
while  he  came  to  his  senses  and  his  mysterious  behavior  was  ex- 
plained. He  had  found  some  vines  with  grapes  yet  remaining  upon 
them,  and  the  sight  of  the  almost-forgotten  fruit  had  awakened  such 
a  host  of  recollections  that  his  mind  was  for  a  brief  time  thrown  off 
its  balance.  The  Vikings  deemed  his  discovery  so  important  that 
they  gave  to  the  country  the  name  of  Vinland,  the  land  of  vines. 
They  aK^"^  cured  a  quantity  of  grapes,  and  carried  them  with  them  in 
their  ship  when  they  went  back  to  Iceland. 

Of  the  voyagers  who  came  after  Leif,  Thorlinn  Karlsefni  was 
the  most  prominent.  He  came  with  three  ships  and  151  men.  Gudrid, 
his  wife,  and  six  other  women  sailed  in  the  expedition.  Thorfinn's 
object  was  to  found  a  colony.  He  carried  with  him  many  kinds  of 
live  stock.  His  first  winter  is  supposed,  from  his  description  of  the 
country,  to  have  been  passed  upon  the  shores  of  Buzzards  Bay. 
There, in  the  year  1007,  his  wife  Gudrid  bore  him  a  son,  the  first  child 


l^RISTOI..  79 

of  European  blood  born  upon  the  soil  of  this  continent.  In  the  fol- 
lowing spring  Thortinn  sailed  up  to  the  place  the  Northmen  called 
Hnp.  The  dwellings  Leif  had  built  were  not  large  enough  to  accom- 
modate his  men  :  additional  booths  were  therefore  erected  not  far 
away.  The  colonists,  although  well  pleased  with  the  quality  of  the 
lands,  were  yet  deterred  from  making  a  permanent  settlement  by  rea- 
son of  the  hostility  of  the  natives.  The  expedition  returned  to  Green- 
land in  loio. 

Accounts  of  other  voyages  are  also  preserved,  but  the  expedi- 
tions to  Vinland  soon  became  so  frequent  that  they  were  no  longer 
deemed  worthy  of  record.  From  the  annals  of  Iceland  it  would  appear 
that  in  1121  a  permanent  colony  had  been  established  in  the  country 
Leif  had  discovered.  Two  hundred  years  later,  the  arrival  of  a 
Greenland  ship,  bound  to  Markland  (a  country  also  discovered  by 
Leif,  supposed  to  be  Nova  Scotia),  is  recorded.  The  Greenland  col- 
ony disappeared  from  history  in  1406,  the  year  when  its  last  bishop 
was  appointed.  Its  280  villages  were  never  afterwards  heard  of. 
Extensive  ruins  along  the  shores  mark  the  places  where  they  once 
stood. 

Upon  the  western  shore  of  Mount  Hope  Bay,  between  Mount 
Hope  and  the  Narrows,  lies  a  mass  oi  graywacke,  about  ten  feet  long 
and  six  feet  wide,  which  is  commonly  known  as  "  The*  Northmen's 
Rock."  At  high  tide  its  broad,  flat  surface  affords  a  secure  landing- 
place  for  those  who  approach  it  from  the  water :  at  low  tide  it  pre- 
sents an  inviting  seat  to  every  one  who  chances  to  wander  along  the 
beach.  (Upon  page  73  a  representation  of  it  may  be  found.)  It 
was  otten  noticed  by  the  early  settlers  of  the  town,  and  several  refer- 
ences to  it  attest  the  curiosity  its  strange  inscription  aroused  in  their 
minds.  For  many  3'ears  it  was  lost  sight  of,  and  has  only  recently 
been  rediscovered.  This  is  not  remarkable  ;  for  the  inscription  covers 
but  a  small  part  of  its  surface,  and  is  by  no  means  prominent.  The 
record  graven  upon  it  cannot  be  an  Indian  one,  for  the  Ind'ans  had 
no  written  language.  Popular  conjecture  has  always  associated  it 
with  the  visits  of  the  Northmen.  It  is  supposed  that  one  of  their 
number,  who  had  been  left  in  charge  of  a  boat  while  his  comrades 
were  exploring  the  country  roimd  about,  seated  himself  upon  it,  just 
as  would  one  of  us  to-day,  and  amused  himself  by  tracing  his  name 
and  the  figure  of  his  boat  upon  it. 

More  prominent  than  any  other  in  the  long  list  of  the  famous 
names  that  appear  in  connection  with  the  history  of  Bristol,  is  that  of 


8o 


Picturesque  Rhode  Island. 


Residence  of  William   T.    C.   Wardwell,    Esq. 


the  Indian  warrior  and  statesman,  Philip  of  Pokanoket.  Massasoiet, 
the  father  of  King  PhiHp  {Massasoit  the  name  is  usually  spelled), 
was,  throughout  his  long  life,  one  of  the  most  faithful  friends  of  the 
Plymouth  colonists.  He  had  hastened  to  conclude  a  treaty  with 
them  as  soon  as  he  had  learned  of  their  arrival.  Until  his  death  he 
observed  all  its  provisions  with  unequaled  good  faith,  fidelity,  and 
honesty.  The  English  repaid  flie  many  favors  received  at  his  hands 
by  killing  his  son  and  successor  before  the  turf  was  green  upon  the 
grave  of  the  aged  sachem.  Before  the  unfortunate  Alexander  had 
given  any  decided  indications  of  what  his  policy  was  to  be,  the  Eng- 
lish, assuming  that  it  would  be  hostile,  summoned  him  to  Ply- 
mouth to  answer  a  false  accusation  of  treacher}^  that  had  been 
brougl:)i  against  him.  The  haught}-  chieftain  could  not  endure  the 
indignity.  The  brutal  treatment  received  at  the  hands  of  his  unfeel- 
ing persecutors  so  wrought  upon  his  sensitive  spirit,  that  he  sickened 
and  died  before  the  first  year  of  his  reign  was  concluded. 

With  the  fate  of  his  brother  before  his  eyes,  Philip  was  careful 


I^Kis  roi. 


8i 


to  furnish  his  white 
neighbors  no  possible 
grounds  for  doubting  his 
tidelitN'  towards  them. 
He  showed  no  sign 
whatever  of  the  rage 
that  burned  within  him. 
In  the  earHer  years  o\ 
his  reign  he  gave  the 
EngHsh  ever}'  reason  to 
suppose  that  he  would 
follow  the  peaceful  pol- 
icy his  father  had  al- 
ways pursued.  He  was 
only  biding  his  time.  He 
saw  that  his  people  must 
inevitably  disappear  be- 
fore them  unless  the  ad- 
vance of  the  white  men 
was  checked,  and  his 
clear  brain  was  ever  de- 
vising measures  by  which 
to  ward  otT  the  impend- 
ing calamit}'.  Very  dif- 
ferenth-  the  page  of  Ne\\- 
England  history  would 
run  to-day,  if  his  re- 
sources had  been  at  all 
commensurate  w^th  his 
wonderful  genius. 

Philip's  plan  was  to 
unite  all  the  tribes  of 
New  England  in  a  con- 
spiracy against  the  Eng- 
lish. From  the  Penob- 
scot to  the  Hudson,  his 
r  ed-s  k  i  n  n  e  d  w  a  r  r  i  or  s 
were  to  descend  upon 
the  settlements  of  the 
whites,    and    sweep    the 


Picturesque  Rhode  Island. 


St.    Michael's   Church. 


English  back  again  into  the 
sea.  His  consummate  abil- 
ity very  nearly  brought 
about  the  accomplishment 
of  his  design.  But  for  an 
accident,  which  forced  him 
to  begin  the  war  sooner 
than  he  had  intended,  he 
would,  without  doubt,  have 
been  successful.  The  col- 
(^nists  here  and  there  heard 
vague  rumors  of  impending 
danger,  but  hardly  deemed 
them  worthy  of  serious  con- 
sideration. Thirty-eight 
years  of  peace  had  made 
them  strangely  careless. 
When  the  report  of  the  Hrst  hostile  gun  was  heard,  it  seemed  to 
many  like  a  thunderbolt  shot  from  a  cloudless  sky. 

On  Sunday,  June  20,  1675,  the  war  was  begun.  Its  harrowing 
details  need  not  here  be  given.  ''  Driven  from  his  paternal  domains 
at  Mount  Hope,  Philip  threw  himself  into  the  depths  of  those  vast 
and  trackless  forests  that  skirted  the  settlements,  and  were  almost 
impervious  to  anything  but  a  wild  beast  or  an  Indian.  Here  he 
gathered  together  his  forces,  like  the  storm  accumulating  its  stores 
of  mischief  in  the  bosom  of  the  thunder-cloud,  and  would  suddenly 
emerge  at  a  time  and  place  least  expected,  carrying  havoc  and  dis- 
may- into  the  villages.  In  this  way 
Philip  became  a  theme  of  universal 
apprehension.  The  mystery  in 
which  he  was  enveloped  exagger- 
ated his  real  terrors.  He  was  an 
evil  that  walked  in  darkness,  whose 
coming  none  could  foresee,  and 
against  which  none  knew  w^hen  to 
be  on  the  alert.  Philip  seemed  al- 
most possessed  of  ubiquity.  In 
whatever  part  of  the  widely  ex- 
tended frontier  an  eruption  from 
the    forest   took  place,  Philip  was 

said   to   be    its   leader."  Chapel  of  St.   Michael's  church. 


J^KISTOL 


83 


High  Street,  from    Church    to    5-  .•■■. 

For  more  than  a  year  the  bloody  combat  was  prolonged.  The 
colonists  mourned  the  loss  of  more  than  six  hundred  men,  the  flower 
and  strength  of  the  country.  Thirteen  towns  were  entirely  destroyed; 
manv  others  were  greatly  damaged.  Six  hundred  buildings,  mostly 
dwelling-houses,  were  consumed  by  fire.  The  loss  of  the  Indians 
was  still  more  terrible.  One  by  one,  the  followers  of  Philip  deserted 
him  :  da\-  b\-  chw,  his  dominions  became  more  and  more  contracted 
as  the  deadly  coil  of  colonial  troops  was  slowly  tightened  around  him. 
The  capture  of  his  wife  and  only  son  seemed  almost  to  crush  the  very 
life  out  of  the  unfortunate  monarcli.  From  the  woes  that  were 
heaped  so  heavih-  upon  him,  no  refuge  seemed  to  be  left  but  death. 
He  came  back  to  the  green  fields  and  waving  forests  he  had  known 
from  earliest  childhood,  and  wailed  for  his  end  to  come.  From  the 
rifle  of  a  renegade  Indian  sped  the  fatal  bullet,  and  in  the  "  miery 
swamp,"  near  the  foot  of  Mount  Hope,  the  chieftain  fell.  Disap- 
pointed in  the  vengeance  they  had  planned  to  execute  upon  him  when 
living,  his  relentless  foes  procei-ded  to  wreak  their  fury  upon  Philip's 
dead  bodx'.  To  the  Indian  who  had  shot  him  was  given  the  scarred 
hand  bv  which  his  corpse  had  been  identitied.  His  head  was  also 
severed  from  his  bod\'.  ^Fhe  headless  trunk  w  as  quai'teretl  ami  hung 
up  to  rot  above  the  ground.  The  fate  the  savage  chief  had  brought 
upon  so  manv  Englishmen,  his  Christian  captors  visited  upon  him. 


84 


Picturesque  Rhode  Island. 


The  genius  of  Irving  has  summed  up  the  character  and  life  of 
the  dead  king  in  this  eloquent  paragraph  :  "  Such  is  the  scanty 
story  of  the  brave,  but  unfortunate  King  Philip  ;  persecuted  when 
living,  slandered  and  dishonored  when  dead.  If,  however,  we  con- 
sider even  the  prejudiced  anecdotes  furnished  us  by  his  enemies,  we 
may  perceive  in  them  traces  of  amiable  and  lofty  character  sufficient 
to  awaken  sympathy  for  his  fate,  and  respect  for  his  memory.  We 
tind  that,  amidst  all  the  harassing  cares  and  ferocious  passions  of 
constant  warfare,  he  was  alive  to  the  softer  feelings  of  connubial 
love  and  paternal  tenderness,  and  to  the  generous  sentiment  of 
friendship.  The  captivity  of  his  'beloved  wife  and  onl}^  son'  are 
mentioned  with  exultation,  as  causing  him  poignant  misery ;  the 
death  of  ahy  near  friend  is  triumphantly  recorded  as  a  new  blow  on 
his  sensibilities  ;  but  the  treachery  and  desertion  of  many  of  his  fol- 
lowers, in  whose  affections  he  had  confided,  is  said  to  have  desolated 
his  heart,  and  to  have  bereaved  him  of  all  further  comfort.  He  was 
a  patriot  attached  to  his  native  soil  —  a  prince  true  to  his  subjects, 
and  indignant  of  their  wrong, —  a  soldier,   daring  in  battle,  firm  in 


Residence  of  Mrs     R.    D.   Smith. 


Bristol. 


•  adversity,  patient  of  fatigue,  of  hunger,  of  every  variety  of  bodily 
suffering,  and  ready  to  perish  in  the  cause  he  had  espoused.  Proud 
of  heart'^and  with  an  untamable  love  of  natural  liberty,  he  preferred 
to  enjov  it  among  the  beasts  of  the  forest,  or  in  the  dismal  and 
famished    recesses    ot 

swamps    and     morasses,  ^^  ^^- ^-^^^^^= 

rather   than    b o w    h is  4-  i- 

haughtv  spirit  to  submis- 
sion, and  live  dependent 
and  despised  in  the  ease 
and  luxury  of  the  settle- 
ments. With  heroic  qual- 
ides  and  bold  achieve- 
ments   that    would    have 


m-aced    a    civilized    war- 

rior,   and    have  rendered 

him  the  theme  of  the  poet 

and  the  historian,  he  lived 

a  wanderer  and  a  fugitive 

in    his   native    land,    and 

went  down,  like  a  lonely 

bark  foundering  amid  darkness  and  tempest,  without  a  pitying  eye 

to  weep  his  tall  or  a  friendly  hand  to  record  his  struggle.'" 

The  echoes  of  the  death-cry  of  the  last  sachem  of  the  Wampa- 
noags  had  only  I'ust  died  away  when  a  dispute  concerning  the  suc- 
cession to  his  lands  arose  between  the  neighboring  colonies  of  Ply- 
mouth, Massachusetts  Bay,  and  Rhode  Island.  Another  claimant 
also  appeared  in  the  person  of  John  Crowne,  an  English  poet,  who. 
was  at  the  time  a  prominent  figure  at  the  court  of  King  Charles  II. 
The  committee  to  whom  the  whole  subject  was  referred  by  the  Privy 
Council,  decided  in  favor  of  the  Plymouth  Colony.  To  that  colony, 
therefore,  bv  special  grant  from  the  king,  the  lands  were  conveyed, 
a  quit  rent  of  seven  beaver-skins  per  annum  being  reserved  to  the 

Crown. 

On  the  fourteenth  day  of  September,  1680,  the  Mount  Hope 
Lands  were  sold  bv  the  General  Court  of  Plymoutii  to  four  mer- 
chants of  Boston  :  Nathaniel  Bylield,  John  Walley ,  Nathaniel  Oliver, 
and  Stephen  Burton.  In  that  same  year  the  settk-ment  of  Bristol 
was  begun.  Its  four  "First  Proprietors"  were  men  of  unusual  prom- 
inence in  the  colonv  of  Massachusetts  :    the   advanced  ideas  which 


The    Rogers    Free    Library. 


\ 


86 


Picturesque  Rhode  Island. 


they  held  concerning  its  future  were  made  manifest  in  the  plans 
they  adopted  for  its  welfare  and  development.  Not  a  town  in  New 
England  had  before  been  laid  out  upon  such  a  liberal  scale  ;  not 
a    town    had  been   founded    in   which   such    liberal  provisions    were 

made  for  the  support  of 
religion  and  for  the  main- 
tenance of  public  schools. 
The  name  Bristol  was  prob- 
ably taken  because  of  the 
prominence  which  Bristol, 
England,  then  held.  The 
English  city  was  the  most 
important  sea-port  in  Great 
Britain.  Its  people  hoped 
that  the  American  Bristol 
might  become  the  great 
sea-port  of  New  England. 
It  was  intended  by  its 
proprietors  that  the  new 
town  should  be  "  a  town 
tor  trade  and  commerce," 
and  prominent  in  trade  and 
commerce  it  immediately 
became.  Its  principal 
commercial  relations  were 
with  the  West  Indies  and  the  Spanish  Main.  For  almost  a  century 
and  a  half  the  streets  of  Havana  and  the  other  prominent  West 
Indian  cities  were  more  familiar  to  the  feet  of  its  enterprising  sailors 
than  even  the  streets  of  the  great  cities  of  their  native  land. 

In  January,  1746-7,  the  Mount  Hope  peninsula  became  a  part  of 
Rhode  Island,  and  Bristol  was  at  once  accorded  an  honored  place 
among  the  towns  of  the  little  colony.  Puritan  ideas  had  governed 
its  early  legislation,  but  its  nearness  to  the  territory  Roger  Williams 
once  governed  had  worn  away  almost  every  trace' of  Puritan  prefu- 
dices.  In  one  respect  Bristol  was  far  in  advance  of  any  other  town 
in  Rhode  Island.  The  Rhode  Island  towns,  for  the  most  part,  had 
almost  entirely  neglected  to  make  provision  for  the  support  of  good 
public  schools.  The  records  of  the  first  Bristol  town-meetings  per- 
petuate the  votes  that  were  passed  concerning  the  ''  maintaining  of 
an  able  school  master." 


The  Town   Hall. 


Bristol. 


87 


The   Congregational   Cburch 


*       In  the  events  which  preceded  the  Revolution,  Bristol  gave  forth  no 
uncertain  sound  as  to  the  course  it  intended  to  pursue.      It  sent  out  a 
boat's  crew  to  assist  in   the  de- 
struction of  the  British  armed 
schooner  "  Gaspee."     Its  con- 
tributions  flowed  freely  to   the 
relief  of  the  distressed  citizens 
of  Boston.     When  the  liritish 
held  possession  of  the  bay,  all 
these  thincrs  were  remembered 
against  it.     On  the  7th  of  Oc- 
tober, 1775,  three  English  ships 
of  war  and  several  smaller  ves- 
sels    cast    anchor    before    the 
town.       Their  commander  de- 
manded that  some  representa- 
tive man  of   the   place   sh(Hild 
visit  his  ship  to  learn  the    pro- 
posals he  had  to  make.      Answ  er  \\  as   made  that  the  people  ol   the 
town  would    consider  his  demands   the   next    morning,    whereupon, 
almost  immediately,  the  British  vessels  began  to  bombard  the  place. 
For   an  hour  and  a  half,  until  one  of  the  citizens  went  on  board  the 
flag-ship,  a  very  heavy  fire  was  kept  up.     Very  many  buildings  were 
struck,   but.   strange  to  sa}',    no   one  was   hurt  by   tlie  flying  balls. 
One  man  only,  the  Rev.  John  Burt,  was  tbund  dead  in  a  corn-tield 
the  next   morning.      For   a   long   time   he   had  been  sick  and  feeble, 
and  the  iiorrors  of  the  night  were  too  much  for  his  weakened  spirit 
to  endure.     The  next  day  the  requisitions  of  the  British  comman- 
der were  partiallv  complied  witli.  and  the  fleet  sailed  back    to   New- 
port. 

Three  years  later  came  a  heavier  calamit}-.  A  band  of  500 
British  and  Hessian  troops  descended  upon  I^ristol,  and  burned 
almost  all  the  houses  upon  tlue  principal  street.  Even  the  Episcopal 
Church,  which  had  alwa}s  been  under  tiie  charge  of  the  Englisii 
*'  Society  for  Propagating  the  Gosperin  Foreign  Parts,"  was  burned, 
the  English  soldiers  believing  it  to  be  a  "Dissenters'  Meeting-house"' 
when  they  set  it  on  tire.  Very  many  of  the  town's  people  were  car- 
ried to  Newport  as  ]-)risoners. 

In  the  War  of  181 2  came  the  day  of  retaliation.  In  less  than  a 
month  alter  the   President  of  the  United  States  had  issued  his  proc- 


88 


PicTURESQjjE  Rhode  Island. 


lamation  of  war,  the  private  armed  brig  "Yankee"  sailed  away 
from  the  harbor  of  Bristol  upon  its  first  cruise  against  the  ships  of 
Great  Britain.  The  success  of  the  "  Yankee  "  is  unparalleled  in  the 
history  of  American  privateers.  Six  cruises  she  made  in  all.  In 
her  first  cruise  of  less  than  three  months  she  captured  ten  prizes,  one 
of  which  netted  over  $200,000.  The  coast  of  Africa  was  her  second 
cruising-ground  (many  of  her  crew  were  familiar  with  all  its  promi- 
nent ports,  but  of  that  more  in  future).  She  was  absent  one  hun- 
dred and  fift}'  days.  Then  she  came  leisurely  sailing  up  the  bay 
with  a  prize  on  either  side.  Eight  vessels  she  had  captured,  and 
one  only  of  them  had  been  retaken.  The  amount  of  prize-money 
apportioned  to  each  share  as  the  result  of  the  third  cruise  was  $173.54, 
—  very  respectable  wages  for  a  common  sailor  to  earn  in  the  short 
space  of  three  months.  The  fourth  cruise  was  a  comparative  fail- 
ure, but  the  fifth  more  than  made  up  for  it.  The  owners  received 
more  than  $200,000  as  their  share  of  its  profits.  The  share  of  the 
smallest  cabin-boy  was  more  than  seven  hundred  dollars.  The  sixth 
and  last  cruise  opened  auspiciously,  but  the  richest  prize  was  lost 
upon  Charleston  bar,  and  only  one  vessel  of  any  value  was  brought 

into  port.  The  ' '  Yankee  "  was 
in  service  less  than  three  years, 
yet  in  those  years  she  captured 
British  property  amounting  in 
value  to  almost  a  million  of 
pounds.  Many  of  her  prizes 
were  of  course  retaken,  but  she 
sent  into  Bristol  a  million  of 
dollars  as  the  profit  from  her 
cruises. 

The  stain  upon  the  history  of 
Bristol  is  the  share  which  it  took 
in  the  infamous  African  slave- 
trade,  a  stain  which  is  also  to  be 
observed  upon  the  records  of 
many  of  its  sister  towns.  New- 
port was  more  prominent  in  this 
business  than  Bristol,  and  it  was 
upon  Providence  ships  that  the 
most  noted  of  the  Bristol  captains  first  learned  the  route  to  the  African 
slave-pens.     The  age  was  in  fault  as  well  as  the  moral  sentiment  of 


The   Methodist  Episcopal  Church. 


Bristol. 


Sq 


Residence  of  Gen.   A.   E.   Burnside. 

the  Rhode  Ishiiul  towns.  I'he  world  has  grown  better  since  the  last 
slaver  sailed  out  from  Narragansett  Bay,  and  the  moral  sentiment  ot 
Bristol  has  more  than  kept  pace  with  the  general  progress  of  the 
age.  Bitterly  the  town  mourns  to-day  .over  those  black  pages  that 
canpot  be  suppressed,  and  nowhere  in  the  United  States  is  there  leit 
a  deeper  abhorrence  for  the  sin  of  slavery. 

The  "  round  trip  "  of  a  slaver  was  usually  an  exceedingly  profit- 
able one.  Most  of  the  vessels  engaged  in  the  trade  were  either 
schooners  or  sloops.  From  the  disdlleries  near  the  wharves  in  Bris- 
tol, they  were  filled  with  great  casks  of  newly-made  New  England 
rum.  (Hardly  palatable  would  such  a  fiery  beverage  seem  to  the 
more  delicate  tastes  of  the  present  day  :  but  like  the  nectar  ot  the 
gods  it  was  to  the  well-seasoned  throats  of  our  hardy  ancestors. ) 
Some  goods  of  the  gorgeous  hues  most  pleasing  to  barbaric  eyes 
were  also  placed  on  board,  and  the  vessel  was  cleared  for  the  coast 
of  Africa.  The  voyage  to  the  coast  was  almost  always  a  long  one. 
The  earlier  slave-ships  were  not  built  for  speed,  but  simply  to  carry 
freight.  The  stav  upon  the  coast  was  also  of  considerable  length. 
One  by  one.  the  hogsheads  of  rum  were  bartered  for  sla\es,  until  the 
necessarv  return  cargo  was  obtained.  Then  the  captain  sailed  lor 
the  West  Indies,  where  his  living  freight  was  always  disposed  ot 
without  trouble.  There  he  would  take  on  board  a  load  of  molasses 
for  his  owner's  distillery,  and  hasten  back  to  Bristol.  All  this  w^as 
done  in  the  \ears  befori-  the  sla\e-trade  was   declared  to    be    illegal. 


90 


Picturesque  Rhode  Island. 


For  the  slave-trade  after  the  year  1808,  when  the  "horrors  of  the 
Middle  Passage"  drew  upon  it  the  execrations  of  the  whole  world, 

the  merchants  of  Bristol  should 
not  be  held  responsible. 

In  the  year  1804  the  ports 
ot  South  Carolina  were  opened 
for  the  importation  of  slaves. 
They  remained  open  for  four 
years,  and  almost  fort}^  thou- 
sand negroes  were  imported 
during  that  time.  Of  the  two 
hundred  and  two  slave-vessels 
entered  at  the  Charleston  Cus- 
tom-House, sixty-one  be- 
longed to  Charleston  mer- 
chants, seventy  belonged  to 
natives  of  Great  Britain,  and 
fifty-nine  were  owned  in 
Rhode  Island.  In  the  Rhode 
Island  vessels  were  imported 
8,238  slaves.  Of  these,  ^^914 
are  credited  to  Bristol,  3,488  to  Newport,  556  to  Providence,  and 
280  to  Warren.  Manv  of  the  vessels  entered  as  beloncxinp-  in 
Charleston  were  really  owned  by  Rhode  Island  men,  as  any  one 
lamiliar  with  the  names  of  the  merchants  of  that  day  can  easily 
learn  from  examining  the  full  tables.  The  number  to  be  set  down 
to  the  credit  (or  discredit)  of  Bristol,  should  therefore  be  even 
larger  than  that  which  is  here  Hven. 

Some  idea  of  the  commercial  importance  of  the  town  during  the 
first  quarter  of  the  present  centur^^  may  be  gained  from  the  amount 
of  duties  paid  at  its  custom-house.  These  are  some  of  the  statistics 
preserved  upon  the  official  books.  The  middle  column  mves  the 
number  of  foreign  arrivals  in  each  year  : 


The    Baptist   Church. 


I8IO  . 

96  . 

.  $152,380  92 

1816  . 

48  . 

•  $78,543  97 

I8II   . 

89  . 

109,181  78 

1817  . 

53  • 

74,095  28 

I8I2  . 

55  • 

100,137  ^i 

1818  . 

68  . 

.  103,665  69 

I8I3  . 

30  . 

.  .  152,966  04 

1819  . 

69  . 

•  126,437  87 

I8I4  . 

19  . 

72,468  42 

1820  . 

50  . 

.  121,570  40 

I8I5  . 

n   • 

.  120,693  53 

1821  . 

44  • 

.  137^275  06 

Bristol. 


91 


Durintr  these  years  the  average  popuhition  of  tlie  town  was  con- 
siclerabl}-  less  than  3,000  people.  The  disproportionate  amount  of 
its  business  is  therefore  plainly  evident.  It  maintained  extensive 
commercial  relations  with  the  ports  of  Northern  and  Southern  Europe, 
with  China,  with  the  "  Northwest  Coast,"  with  Africa,  and  of  course 
with  the  West  Indies.  In  the  year  1825  Bristol  merchants  began  to 
make  large  in\estments  in  the  whale-fishery,  and,  as  a  consequence, 
the  general  commerce  of  the  port  began  to  decline.  In  1837  twenty 
whale-ships  bore  the  name  of  Bristol  upon  their  sterns  ;  the  aggre- 
gate tonnage  of  this  fleet  was  6,256  tons.  After  the  discovery  of 
gold  in  California  the  whale-fishery  was  gradually  abandoned.  The 
feeble  remnant  of  the  town's  foreign  commerce  almost  entirely  dis- 
appeared in  the  late  civil  war. 

Very  different  is  the  thriving  manufacturing  town  of  to-day  from 
the  bustling  little  sea-port  of  half  a  centurv  ago,  and  yet  every  sum- 
nu-r  finds  it  crowded  with  \isitors,  who  seem  never  to  tire  of  gazing 
uj-xju  its  tranquil  beauty.  A  passing  traveler,  wandering  through  it 
on  a  pleasant  July  afternoon,  could  form  no  idea  of  the  energy  which 
is  the  birthright  of  the  place.  Its  broad  and  shady  streets  are  then 
almost    deserted.      Heav\    loads  of   merchandise    pass    along  them 


Residence  of   S.    P.   Coif,   Esq. 


9^ 


PlCTURESQL'E    RlIODE    ISLANU. 


from  time  to  time,  but  they  seem  strangely  out  of  place  beneath  the 
waving  branches  of  the  magnificent  elms.  Everything  wears  the 
restful  air  one  expects  to  behold  only  in  the  verdant  lanes  of  some 
remote  countrv  village.  When  the  great  engines  cease  to  throb, 
and  the  shadows  of  evening  fall,  the  old  town  wakes  from  its  sleep, 
and  for  a  few  hours  its  streets  are  as  crowded  as  are  the  thorough- 
fares of  a  great  city  at  mid-dav.  Then  the  noise  dies  away,  and  at 
midnight  onlv  the  firm  tread  of  the  watchman  echoes  feebly  through 
the  sleepy  air. 

Warren. — Not  far  from 
Baker's  wharf,  in  the  town  of 
Warren,  a  stream  of  water  "the 
size  of  a  man's  arm  "  flows  out 
from  a  sluice-wa}"  under  the 
ground,  and  downward  to  the 
river,  during  all  but  one  of  the 
twelve  months  of  t'he  year.  It 
comes  from  a  spring  in  the  mid- 
dle of  one  of  the  public  streets. 
This  spring  was  once  distant 
about  eight}'  feet  from  the 
'•  high-water  mark'"  of  the  early 
davs  of  the  village.  When  the 
wharf  near  it  was  built,  and 
buildings  rose  thickl}^  around, 
the  land  about  it  was  gradually 
raised,  and  the  spring  itself  was 
walled  up  like  a  well.  It  is  now 
about  eight  feet  deep.  For  un- 
known ages  the  waters  of  this  fountain  have  been  gushing  forth. 
Pure  and  clear  are  they  to-day,  in  their  basin  of  stone,  as  when  they 
cooled  the  parched  throat  of  the  tirst  white  man  who  halted  beside 
its  verdant  banks. 

A  little  more  than  two  centuries  and  a  half  ago,  the  wigwams  of 
an  Indian  village  were  standing  about  this  spring.  Giant  forest 
trees  waved  their  green  branches  above  the  dusky  forms  that  reclined 
in  placid  enjovment  along  its  banks.  Great  heaps  of  clam-shells  and 
of  oyster-shells,  scattered  ever3'where  about,  showed  that  the  spot 
had  been  for  many  ages  a  favorite  camping-ground  of  the  red  men. 
The  name  of  this  Indian  village,  in  the  year  1621,  was  Sowams.     Its 


The   Methodist   Episcopal   Church. 


w 


93 


ruler  was  the  sachem  of 
the  Pokanoket  tribe,  the 
ehieltainMassasoiet.  The 
name  of  the  I'ountain  is 
to-day  ahnost  the  only 
thing  which  remain<!  to 
keep  the  fact  in  mind.  It 
is  still  called  Massaspiet's 
Spring. 

Massasoiet  was  one  of 
the  most  prominent  char- 
acters in  the  early  history 
of  this  country.  The 
writers  of  the  seventeenth 
century  tell  us  that  he 
w^as  "  a  very  lust}'  man. 
grave  of  countenance, 
spare  of  speech,  in  his 
attire  dithering  little  or 
nothing  from  his  tbllow- 
ers."  On  ceremonial  oc- 
casions his  face  was 
painted  a  •'  sad  red"  and 
oiled.  He  wore  a  chain 
of  white  bone  beads  about 
his  neck,  and  a  Ion  a- 
k n i f e  in  his  b o s o m  . 
From  the  chain  of  beads 
a  little  bag,  filled  with 
tobacco,  w^as  usually  sus- 
pended. In  addition  to 
the  singular  shrewdness 
and  the  unusiuil  insight 
into  the  motives  of  men 
w  h  i  c  h  was  t  h  e  d  i  s  - 
tinguishing  characteristic 
of  his  race,  Massasoiet 
possessed  genius  which 
would  have  been  called 
statesmanlike,     had     his 


94  Picturesque  Rhode  Island. 

skin  been  less  dark,  or  his  lot  cast  in  other  lands.  When  the  Eng- 
lish landed  at  Plymouth,  he  hastened  to  bid  them  welcome  and  to 
form  an  alliance  with  them.  All  his  life  he  remained  their  steadfast 
friend,  never  wavering  in  even  the  slightest  degree  from  the  faith 
pledged  at  his  first  interview  with  them.  More  than  once,  when  fam- 
ine laid  its  terrible  hand  upon  the  feeble  white  settlements,  the 
princely  generosity  of  this  illustrious  savage  rescued  the  starving 
settlers  almost  from  the  jaws  of  death.  Conspiracies  against  the 
English,  which  neighboring  tribes  had  formed,  were  oftentimes 
thwarted  by  his  wise  counsels  and  his  fearless  assertions  of  friend- 
ship. Before  his  death  the  faintly  visible  trail  which  had  formerly 
connected  Sowams  with  Plymouth  had  become  a  well-defined  bridle- 
path, deeply  marked  by  the  tread  of  thousands  of  passing  feet. 

Two  visits  paid  by  Plymouth  men  to  Massasoiet  are  worthy  of 
special  mention.  The  first  was  made  in  162 1,  when  Edward  Win- 
slow  and  Stephen  Hopkins  were  sent  by  Governor  Bradford  to  return 
the  visit  the  sachem  had  lately  made  to  the  infant  settlement.  The 
two  white  men  carried  with  them  as  presents  a  horseman's  laced  coat 
of  red  cotton,  and  a  copper  chain.  The  chieftain  was  absent  when  the 
envoys  reached  his  residence.  One  of  them  attempted  to  discharge 
his  musket  in  order  to  give  notice  of  their  arrival,  but  was  forced  to 
desist  because  of  the  terror  manifested  by  the  women  and  children. 
The  salute  they  gave  to  Massasoiet  on  his  arrival  pleased  him  greatly. 
The  presents  seemed  to  afibrd  him  extreme  delight,  and  he  yielded 
a  ready  and  willing  assent  to  all  the  proposals  the  Englishmen  had  to 
make.  No  notice  had  been  sent  to  the  sachem  of  the  intended  visit; 
he  had  therefore  had  no  opportunity  to  make  any  preparation  for  the 
reception  of  his  guests,  and  the  proverbial  scantiness  of  Indian  fare 
was  more  than  borne  out  on  tliis  occasion.  The  whole  party  were 
forced  to  go  supperless  to  bed ;  not  until  noon  of  the  next  day  was 
any  food  procured,  and  the  few  fishes  some  of  the  tribe  had  shot  were 
then  bv  no  means  sufficient  to  appease  the  hunger  of  the  throng  who 
had  crowded  in  to  gaze  upon  the  two  Englishmen.  In  the  large 
wigwam  of  Massasoiet,  Winslow  and  Hopkins  found  shelter,  but  not 
rest,  during  the  night  of  their  stay.  The  sleeping-place  was  a  plat- 
form of  rough  boards,  thinly  covered  with  a  mat  of  skins.  On  this 
rude  couch,  Massasoiet  placed  his  visitors,  "  with  himself  and  his 
wife,  they  at  one  end  and  the  Englishmen  at  the  other,  and  two  more 
of  Massasoiet's  men  pressed  by  and  upon  them,  so  that  they  were 
worse  weary  of  the  lodging  than  the  journey."  The  next  day  they 
went  back  to  Plymouth. 


W  AKUKN. 


95 


A  View  of    Main    Street. 


Two  years  later  news  came  to  Plymouth  that  Massasoiet  was 
sick  and  likeh'  to  die, —  also  that  a  Dutch  ship  had  been  stranded 
upon  ihe  shore  of  the  Sowams  River,  not  far  from  the  sachem's 
residence.  Again  Edward  Winslow  ^vas  sent  to  \isit  the  Indian 
king.  (He  was  also  to  communicate  with  the  captain  of  the  Dutcli 
vessel,  but  the  ship  had  left  the  bay  before  he  reached  Sowams.) 
John  Hampden,  he  who  in  later  years  bore  such  a  glorious  part  in 
the  struiTple  which  <rave  to  England  a  free  constitution,  went  with 
him  as  his  companion.  When  Winslow  and  his  friend  reached 
Sowams  thev  found  the  chieftain's  wigwam  so  crowded  that  they 
could  hardh'  etTect  an  entrance,  thou<;h  the  Indians  readih'  made 
wav  for  them  as  thev  pressed  in.  "  There  were  they  in  the  midst 
of  their  charms  for  him,  making  sucii  a  hellish  noise  as  it  distem- 
pered us  who  were  w^ell,  and  therefore  unlike  to  ease  him  that  was 
sick.  About  him  were  six  or  eight  women,  who  chafed  his  arms, 
legs,  and  thighs,  to  keep  heat  in  him.  When  they  had  made  an 
end  of  their  charming,  one  told  hhn  that  his  friends,  the  English- 
men, were  come  to  see  him."  The  chieftain's  sight  was  gone,  but 
his  understanding  was  still  left  him.  Feebly  he  welcomed  Winslow  , 
and  in  tlie  same  breath  bade  him  farewell.  But  the  self-reliant 
colonist   had   come  to   restore    Massasoiet   to    health,    and    was    not 


96  Picturesque  Rhode  Island. 

daunted  by  the  extremely  unfavorable  state  in  which  he  found 
his  patient.  The  remedies  at  his  command  were  few  and  simple, 
but  his  excellent  common  sense  enabled  him  to  use  them  so  well 
that  the  sick  man  was  soon  out  of  danger  and  rapidly  recovering. 
The  gratitude  of  the  chief  knew  no  bounds.  "  Upon  his  recovery 
he  brake  forth  into  these  speeches  :  '  Now  I  see  that  the  English 
are  mv  friends  and  love  me,  and  whilst  I  live  I  will  never  foro-et 
the  kindness  they  have  showed  me.''"  Faithfully  he  kept  his  word. 
Says  Cotton  Mather:  "The  fees  he  paid  his  English  doctor  were 
a  confession  of  a  plot  among  several  nations  of  the  Indians  to  destroy 
the  English." 

It  is  believed  that  the  deed  of  "  Sowams  and  parts  adjacent"  was 
the  last  document  that  Massasoiet  signed.  The  deed  is  given  in 
the  name  of  "  Osamequen  and  Wamsetto,  his  son,"  and  is  dated 
''  29th  March,  1653."  (Osamequen  was  the  name  the  sachem  had 
taken  a  few  years  before.  The  Indians  often  changed  their  names 
to  commemorate  important  events  in  their  lives.)  The  territory  of 
Warren  was  originally  included  in  the  town  of  Swansea.  In  the 
Swansea  town  records  the  site  of  the  village  is  spoken  of  as  Brooks' 
Pasture.  When  the  first  house  was  built  upon  it  cannot  be  ascer- 
tained. There  were  eighteen  houses  in  the  village  when  Philip's 
War  broke  out.  All  these  were  burned ;  their  inhabitants  fled  to 
the  Island  of  Rhode  Island.  Soon  after  the  close  of  the  war  Brooks' 
Pasture  was  carefully  surveyed  and  laid  out  in  house-lots.  A  new 
settlement  was  begun  upon  it,  and  its  inhabitants  were  divided  into 
three  ranks,  according  to  the  peculiar  system  then  in  vogue  in 
Swansea.  (Of  this  strange  regulation  more  will  be  said  in  another 
place.)  In  the  year  1746  it  was  enacted  by  the  Legislature  of 
Rhode  Island  that  "  that  part  of  the  territory  confirmed  to  Rhode 
Island,  which  has  heretofore  been  part  of  Swansey  and  Barrington, 
with  a  small  part  of  Rehoboth  thereto  adjoining,  with  the  inhabit- 
ants thereon,  be  incorporated  into  a  township  by  the  name  of  War- 
ren." "The  name  of  this  town  was  given  in  honor  of  Admiral  Sir 
Peter  Warren,  who  the  year  before,  June,  1745,  had  commanded  the 
English  fleet,  which  in  conjunction  with  the  colonial  army  of  4,400 
men,  under  the  command  of  Gen.  William  Pepperell,  captured 
Louisburg  and  the  Island  of  Cape  Breton,  after  a  storming  and 
siege  of  six  weeks'  continuance." 

On  the  25th  of  May,  1778,  a  band  of  British  troops  made  a  raid 
upon  the  town.     The  special  object  of  the  expedition  was  to  destroy 


Warren. 


97 


The   Baptist   Church. 


a   lk)lilla  of  boats  that  had  been   collected  bv  the   Americans  in  the 
Kickemuit  River.      Seventy  or  more  of  these  boats  the  British  piled 
together  and  burnt.      They  also  burnt  the  row-galley  "Washington/* 
an^'d  a  Ln-ist-mill.      Returning  to  Warren,  they  set  tire  to  the  Baptist 
Church,  the  Baptist  parson- 
age,    a     powder    magazine, 
and  several  other  buildings. 
Having  pillaged  many  houses 
and    taken    many   prisoners, 
they  hastened   southward  to 
the    destruction    of    Bristol. 
Mr.  Fessenden,   in  his  Ilis- 
torv  of  Wa?')-cn    (published 
in  1845),  thus  notes  the  pas- 
sage of  the  troops:    "Aged 
people,  still  living  among  us, 
well  remember    the  appear- 
ance of  these  soldiers  as  they 
passed   through     the     town. 
The  British  were  dressed  in 
old-foshioned  red  coats,  cocked  hats,  and  small-clothes,  with  a  great 
display  of  laced  trimmings,  shoe  and  knee  buckles.     The  Hessians 
wore  enormous  fur  caps  and  large,  wide,  and  loose  boots,  into  which 
they  thrust  all  kinds  of  articles  pilfered  from  the  houses  ;  and  these 
articles  hanging  over  the  tops  of  their  boots  gave  them  a  singularly 
grotesque   appearance  as  they  left  the  town.     A  lady  now^  living, 
and  several  others  were  at  the  time  in  the  house  which  was  after- 
wards Bradshaw's    bake-house,    on   the    east  side   of  Main   Street. 
They  saw^  the  troops  pass  by  in  hasty  retreat,  and  at  a  short  distance 
in  the  rear  a  single  individual,  encumbered  with  a  big  drum,  unable 
to  keep  up  wdth  the  main  body.     These  heroic  women  ran  out  and 
surrounded  him,   and  told  him  he  was  their  prisoner,   when  he  im- 
mediately surrendered,  saying  he  was  glad  of  it,  for   he   was   lamt 
and  tired.     This  prisoner  was   afterward  exchanged  for  one  of  the 
citizens  of  Warren." 

Before  the  Revolutionary  War,  Warren  was  largely  engaged  in 
the  whale-fishery  and  in  foreign  commerce.  Fourteen  of  its  vessels 
were  lost  during  the  war,  and  it  was  many  years  before  others  were 
procured  to  take  their  places.  The  whale-fishery,  indeed,  was  not 
again  prosecuted  until  the  year  182 1,  when  the  ship  "  Rosalie  "  was 
7 


9^  Picturesque  Rhode  Island. 

purchased  and  fitted  for  a  voyage  to  the  whaling-grounds  in  the 
Pacific  Ocean.  The  Warren  whalers  were  the  last  vessels  of  the 
class  owned  in  Rhode  Island.  At  one  time  the  fleet  numbered  about 
thirty. 

The  ship-yards  of  the  town  in  other  days  turned  out  some  very 
remarkable  vessels.  The  United  States  frigate  "  General  Greene," 
of  600  tons  burden,  was  launched  from  the  yard  of  Cromwell  & 
Child.  Her  cost,  when  completed  and  fitted  for  sea,  was  $105,- 
492.32.  She  sailed  from  the  port  in  1799.  In  1814  she  happened 
to  be  lying  at  the  Washington  Navy  Yard  when  that  city  was 
attacked  by  the  British,  and  was  destroyed,  to  prevent  her  from  fall- 
ing into  their  hands.  The  United  States  sloop-of-war  "  Chippewa  " 
was  built  by  Capt.  Caleb  Carr.  Captain  Carr  contracted  with  the 
Government  to  build  this  vessel  in  the  shortest  time  possible.  Fifty- 
seven  days  after  her  keel  was  laid  he  delivered  her  to  Com.  O.  H. 
Perry,  ready  for  her  rigging  and  armament.  From  Captain  Carr's 
yard  was  also  launched  the  famous  Bristol  privateer,  "Macdonough," 
of  300  tons  burden.  The  "  Macdonough  "  was  celebrated  for  her 
wonderful  speed.  Her  model  was  justl}^  regarded  as  a  marvel  of 
beauty.  During  the  war  she  made  but  one  cruise.  Although  she 
effected  man}^  captures,  all  her  prizes  were  retaken.  She  was 
finally  sold  in  Cuba,  and  went  to  pieces  in  the  harbor  of  Matanzas 
with  a  cargo  of  slaves  on  board. 

The  commerce  of  Warren  has  now  entirely  vanished.  All  the 
energies  of  the  town  are  devoted  to  manufactures.  In  its  three  great 
cotton-mills  more  than  a  thousand  operatives,  are  employed.  The 
annual  value  of  their  manufactured  product  is  almost  $1,200,000. 

Barrington. — The  municipal  career  of  Barrington  has  been 
more  varied  than  that  of  an}^  other  town  in  Rhode  Island.  It  was 
once  a  part  of  Swansea,  Mass.  Within  its  present  boundaries  the 
first  English  settlement  in  that  ancient  town  was  made  in  1632.  In 
17 17  it  was  set  off"  from  Swansea  under  the  name  of  Barrington., 
For  thirty  years  it  was  numbered  among  the  towns  of  the  Com- 
monwealth of  Massachusetts,  but  in  1747,  when  the  long-disputed 
"  boundary  question  "  was  settled,  it  lost  its  identity  completely,  and 
became  a  part  of  Warren,  R.  I.  In  1770  it  was  again  awarded  a 
separate  existence,  under  the  name  it  has  ever  since  retained. 

Of  the  early  settlers  of  Barrington,  Arnold  gives  this  brief 
account  in  his  History  of  Rhode  Island,  Vol.  II.,  page  158  :    "  Swan- 


Barrington. 


99 


Nayatt  Point. 


zea  was  settled  b}'  men  whose  views  on  the  subject  of  rehgioiis  free- 
dom were  too  liberal  even  for  the  tolerant  spirit  of  the  Pilgrims. 
Rev.  John  Miles,  a  Baptist  minister  from  Wales,  with  his  friends, 
had  settled  in  Plymouth,  where  their  dissent  from  the  prevailing 
creed  soon  placed  them  under  the  ban  of  the  authorities.  They 
were  required  to  remove  from  the  immediate  neighborhood,  but 
were  permitted  to  settle  within  the  limits  claimed  by  Plymouth. 
Soon  afterward  the  Court  granted  to  Capt.  Thomas  Willett,  Mr. 
Miles,  and  others,  all  the  land  west  of  Taunton  and  Rehoboth,  as  far 
as  the  Ba}',  which  included  the  present  towns  of  Swanzea  and  Som- 
erset. The  act  of  incorporation  secured  freedom  of  conscience  to 
the  settlers,  who  were  thus  left  in  the  unmolested  enjoyment  of  their 
religion.  The  place  was  called  Swanzea  from  the  Welch  town 
whence  Miles  and  most  of  his  church  had  emigrated." 

The  Plymouth  assumption  of  jurisdiction  over  this  territory  was 
the  beginning  of  the  boundar}'  trouble.  Four  years  before  Swansea 
was  incorporated,  the  charter  granted  to  Rhode  Island  had  conveyed 
to  that  colon}'  jurisdiction  over  the  countr}'  extending  eastward  three 
miles  from  the  shores  of  Narragansett  Bay.  It  seems  most  remarka- 
ble that  the  legal  claim  of  Rhode  Island  to  this  territorv  should  have 
been  disputed  tor  more  than  four-score  years.  Yet  in  the  face  of  the 
unusually  explicit  terms  of  the  charter  from  King  Charles  II., 
the  question  was  kept  undecided  during  all  that  time.  The  nurthcrn 
boundar}'  has  not  yet  been  finally  settled. 

The  peculiar  feature  in  the  early  history  of  the  town  was  the 
division  of  its  inhaljitants  into  three   •'  Ranks."     The  three  Roman 


lOO  Picturesque  Rhode  Island. 

orders — the  Patrician,  the  Equestrian,  and  the  Plebeian  —  probably 
suggested  the  arrangement.  The  power  to  make  the  division  was 
assumed  by  the  live  persons  appointed  in  1667  by  the  Court  of  Ply- 
mouth to  regulate  the  admission  of  inhabitants  to  the  town.  It  was 
afterwards  exercised  by  committees  appointed  by  the  town,  and  by 
the  selectmen.  The  committees  were  allowed  to  make  promotions 
from  one  rank  to  another,  and  also  to  degrade  whom  they  pleased. 
Sometimes  degradations  were  made  by  request  of  the  person  de- 
graded. The  amount  of  land  owned  b}'  each  man  at  first  determined 
the  rank  to  which  he  should  be  assigned.  Nowhere  else  in  America 
did  such  a  strange  system  prevail. 

It  worked  well  enough  at  first,  but  in  168 1  the  committee  of 
admission  granted  to  five  persons  and  "  their  heirs  and  assigns  for- 
ever T  the  full  right  and  intent  of  the  highest  rank.  This  step  of  the 
committee  of  course  made  the  rank  hereditary,  and  disclosed  to  the 
eyes  of  the  people  of  the  town  the  dangers  of  the  path  in  which  they 
were  treading.  Secret  dissatisfaction  quickly  broke  out  into  open 
revolt ;  the  action  of  the  committee  was  bv  unanimous  consent 
declared  to  be  void  and  of  none  efiect,  and  the  uncouth  remnant  of 
feudalism  soon  faded  away. 

The  first  name  in  the  first  rank  was  that  of  Capt.  Thomas  Wil- 
lett.  Captain  Willett  was  one  of  the  most  noted  men  in  the  colony 
of  Massachusetts.  The  story  of  his  life  belongs  to  the  town  of  Har- 
rington. 

Thomas  V/illett  was  one  of  the  last  of  the  "  Leyden  Company" 
who  came  to  this  country.  He  arrived  at  Plymouth  in  1629  ;  although 
but  nineteen  years  of  age,  he  had  already  won  an  enviable  reputa- 
tion for  business  ability.  The  people  of  Plymouth  had  some  time 
before  established  a  trading-post  at  Kennebec.  Almost  immediately 
after  his  arrival  in  the  colony  young  Willett  was  sent  thither  to  take 
charge  of  it.  Resolute,  ambitious,  and  independent,  he  was  just  the 
man  for  the  place.  His  previous  mercantile  career  had  given  him 
an  unusual  knowledge  of  the  ways  of  men  :  he  was  an  excellent 
linguist ;  he  possessed  rare  executive  ability.  For  six  years  or  more 
he  remained  at  Kennebec.  This  singular  anecdote  concerning  him 
is  related  in  Governor  Winthrop's  yournal. 

"  At  Kennebec,  the  Indians  wanting  food,  and  there  being  store 
in  the  Plymouth  trading-house,  they  conspired  to  kill  the  English 
there  for  their  provision  ;  and  some  Indians  coming  into  the  house, 
Mr.  Willett,  the  master  of  the  house,  being  reading  the  Bible,  his 


BaRKINc;  TON. 


lOI 


The   Old    Watson    Houie. 


countenance  was  more  solemn  than  at  other  times,  so  as  he  did  not 
look  cheerfully  upon  them  as  he  was  wont  to  do  ;  whereupon  they 
went  out  and  told  their  lellows  that  their  purpt)se  was  discovered. 
They  asked  them  how  it  could  be.  The  others  told  them  thai  ihey 
knew  it  by  Mr.  Wil- 
lett's  countenance, 
and  that  they  had 
discovered  it  by  a 
book  he  was  read- 
ing. Whereupon 
they  gave  over  their 
design."' 

hi  1647  Mr.  Wil- 
lett,  having  returned 
to  Plymouth,  was 
chosen  to  the  com- 
mand of  its  military 
company.       Miles 

Standish,  the  intrepid  warrior  who  had  asked  for  but  eight  men 
with  which  to  subdue  all  the  Indians  of  Massachusetts,  had  held 
the  office  before  him.  Advancing  years  had  compelled  the  fiery 
captain  to  lay  his  sword  aside.  No  higher  tesdmoniai  could  be 
afforded  of  Willett's  worth  than  this  election.  In  165 1  he  became 
an  "Assistant"  in  Plymouth,  and  was  annually  re-elected  until  1665, 
when  he  declined  to  hold  the  ollice  longer. 

A  more  important  office  was  to  be  forced  upon  him.  The  prov- 
ince of  New  Amsterdam  had  lately  become  a  part  of  the  Bridsh 
possessions,  and  Captain  Willett  had  been  summoned  to  New  York 
by  the  English  Commissioners  to  act  as  their  official  interpreter.  His 
thorough  acquaintance  with  the  language  and  customs  of  the  Dutch 
rendered  his  services  invaluable.  No  other  Englishman  in  the  coun- 
try was  so  well  iitted  for  "modeling  and  reducing  the  aflairs  in 
those  settlements  into  good  English."  So  admirably  did  he  perform 
the  duties  assigned  him,  that  after  the  reorganization  of  the  prov- 
ince had  been  perfected,  he  was  elected  the  first  Mayor  of  New 
York  City.  At  the  close  of  his  first  term  he  was  re-elected.  His 
integrity  was  so  highly  esteemed  by  the  Dutch  that  they  appointed 
him  their  umpire  to  determine  the  disputed  boundary  between  New 
York  and  New  Haven.  About  the  year  1667,  he  returned  to 
Plvmouth  Colony,  and   continued   until  the  end  of  his  life  to  reside 


I02  Picturesque  Rhode  Island. 

upon  his  plantation  in  Swansea.  His  sword,  and  one  of  the  doors  of 
the  house  in  which  he  dwelt,  are  in  the  possession  of  the  city  of  New 
York. 

The  principal  associate  of  M^illett,  in  the  founding  of  Swansea, 
was  the  Rev.  John  Miles.  Mr.  Miles  had  been  the  pastor  of  the 
Baptist  Church  in  Swansea,  Wales,  and  had  been  ejected  from  his 
living  lor  "  non-conformity."  With  a  very  large  portion  of  his  flock 
he  came  to  this  country,  and  in  1663  founded  at  Rehoboth  the  fourth 
Baptist  church  in  America.  This  action  of  the  Baptists  being  offen- 
sive to  the  Congregationalists,  the  former  were  advised  to  remove 
from  the  town.  The  settlement  at  Swansea  w^as  the  result.  It  took 
its  name  from  the  Welch  Swansea.  (Its  name  is  also  written  Swan- 
sey  and  Swanzea  —  Swansea,  the  sea  of  Swans,  is  the  original  s'pell- 
ing.)  In  the  northern  part  of  the  present  town  of  Barrington,  the 
first  Baptist  church  in  Swansea  was  erected.  Mr.  Miles"  own  house 
was  near  the  residence  of  the  late  Mason  Barney,  at  "•  Barneysville." 
The  bridge  near  his  house  was  called  Miles'  Bridge.  The  house 
was  used  as  a  fortress  in  Philip's  War,  and  was  often  called  "  Miles' 
Garrison."  Mr.  Miles  was  the  school-master,  as  well  as  the  pastor,  of 
the  new  settlement.  In  1673  the  town  voted  to  establish  a  school 
"  for  the  teaching  of  grammar,  rhetoric,  and  arithmetic,  and  the 
tongues  of  Latin,  Greek  and  Hebrew,  also  to  read  English  and  to 
write."  Mr.  Miles  was  elected  school-master.  For  his  services  in 
conducting  his  scholars  through  this  simple  curriculum,  he  received 
the  munificent  sum  of  "  forty  pounds  per  annum  in  current  country, 
funds.'"  Notwithstanding  his  double  employment,  Mr.  Miles  did  not 
acquire  great  wealth.  A  portion  of  the  people  considered  it  unnec- 
essary to  pay  his  salary  as  a  minister  ;  another  part  held  learning  in 
light  esteem.  Strange  to  say,  the  son  of  this  Baptist  who  had  fled  to 
America  for  the  enjoyment  of  his  religious  beliefs,  took  orders  in 
the  Church  of  Enj^land,  and  came  back  to  assume  the  charcfe  of 
King's  Chapel,  in  Boston. 

The  most  noted  dwelling  in  Barrington  is  the  house  which  for 
six  generations  has  been  the  home  of  the  Watson  family.  The 
"  Old  Watson  House"  w^as  built  of  brick,  made  by  hand  upon  the 
"plantation"  just  north  of  it.  Its  mortar  was  mixed  with  lime 
obtained  by  burning  the  heaps  of  oyster-shells  that  numberless  gene- 
rations of  Indians  had  left  scattered  about.  Matthew  Watson,  first 
of  the  name  in  America,  was  its  builder.  It  was  finished  A.  D. 
1660.     The  house,   as  first  constructed,  was  one  of  the  "  lean-tos," 


Harrington.  103 


so  dear  to  the  hearts  of  the  early  settlers  of  Massachusetts.     Two 
stories   high   it  was  in  front :    in    the   rear  its  roof  terminated  in  a 
wood-pile.      "Modern  improvement"  took  away  its  second  story  a 
crreat  manv  years  ago.      It  was  the  first  dwelling  of  brick  erected  in 
the  county,  and  was  an  unusually  elegant  mansion  for  its  day.     Its 
hearths,  chimney-jambs,  and  mantels  were  all  of  imported  marble. 
Quaint  Dutch  tiles,  imported  from  Amsterdam,  were  freely  employed 
for  decoration.     A  generation  or  so  ago  a  fire  destroyed  some  of  the 
partitions  of  the  old  building,  but  its  exterior  walls  remain  firm  as  of 
yore.     Upon  one  of  its  floors  was  laid  the  first  woolen  carpet  known 
in  Barrington.     The  first  wall-paper  seen  in  the  town  was  also  hung 
in  the  same  room.     One  of  the  Matthew  Watsons  of  the  family  "  w  as 
born  in  the  seventeenth,  lived  through  the  eighteenth,   and  died  in 
the    nineteenth    century,    at    the    age    of  107  years."     Some  of  his 
descendants   aver  that  he  lived  to  be    no   years  of  age,    but   the 
inscription  upon  his  tombstone  made  him  but  107.     The  additional 
tliree  years  do  not  matter  much.     Almost  to  the  very  last  he  retained 
his  unusual  muscular  vigor.     When  100  years  old  he  was  able  to 
place  his  foot  in  the  stirrup  and  mount  his  horse  with  more  than  the 
ordinary  ease  of  a  man  of  fifty.      He  lived  a  life  of  great  energy  and 
usefulness,   and  amassed  what  was  considered   at  the  time   of  his 
death  to  be  an  immense  forti.me. 

Barrington  abounds  in  delightful  bits  of  scenery,  but  by  far  the 
most  beautiful  spot  wuthin  its  borders  is  Nayatt  Point.  No  one. 
gazes  upon  it  from  the  waters  of  the  bay,  or  drives  quietly  past  its 
well-kept  lawns,  without  bestowing  a  spontaneous  tribute  of  admira- 
tion. Nature  has  done  much  for  Nayatt ;  the  art  of  man  has  been 
employed  mainly  to  carry  out  the  plans  her  lavish  hand  suggested. 
Its  little  cluster  of  houses  has  not  been  allowed  to  grow  up  in  the 
careless,  hap-hazard  way  that  has  marred  the  beauty  of  so  many 
American  towns.  Upon  the  most  picturesque  sites  the  tasteful  villas 
have  been  erected.  The  grounds  about  them  have  been  laid  out 
according  to  a  simple  but  well-ordered  plan.  The  owners  of  the 
little  peninsula  do  not  intend  that  it  shall  become  only  a  summer 
camninfr-frround.  It  is  meant  to  be  a  home,  a  place  to  which  one 
can  flee  for  shelter  when  the  snow-flakes  are  covering  all  the  land- 
scape with  a  fleecy  pall,  as  well  as  when  city  streets  are  stifling  those 
who  dwell  upon  them  with  a  pent-up  volume  of  heated  air.  Happy 
would  the  State  be,  if  all  its  villages  were  managed  under  the  excel- 
lent system  which  has  done  so  much  for  tliis  favf)red  community. 


CHAPTER  V. 


EAST  PROVIDENCE  — SILVER  SPRING— OCEAN  COTTAGE —  SQUANTUM  — A  RHODE 
ISLAND  CLAM-BAKE  — TRISTAM  BURGES.  PAWTUCKET  FALLS 
—  THE  FIRST  SETTLERS— THE  JENKSES  —  CAPT.  PIERCE'S  FIGHT— 
THE  FALLS  AT  VARIOUS  TIMES  — SAM  PATCH  — SAMUEL  SLATER 
AND  THE  DEVELOPMENT  OF  MANUFACTURES.  NORTH  PROV- 
IDENCE.     LINCOLN. 


,T  is  quite  probable  that  not  one-tenth  part  of  those  who 
have  visited  East  Providence  during  the  nineteen 
years  of  its  existence,  are  aware  that  their  feet  have 
ever  been  placed  upon  its  soil.  And  yet  there  are  few 
y^^^s  towns  in  the  State  more  frequented  by  visitors  during 
the  warm  summer  months.  The  numerous  trains  of 
the  Bristol  railway  are  often  stopping  at  its  stations ; 
excursion  steamers,  "  decked  with  flags  and  streamers 
gay,"  are  ever  landing  great  loads  of  human  freight 
upon  its  bending  piers.  Silver  Spring  is  the  destina- 
tion of  most  of  these  excursionists.  Some  of  them  stop 
at  Ocean  Cottage.  A  few  favored  mortals  enter  the 
well-kept  grounds  over  which  the  flag  of  the  Squantum 
Club  waves  enticingly.  The  steps  of  all  are  turned 
towards  one  common  goal.  Some,  to  whom  the  spot  is  already 
familiar,  press  confidently  on  with  poorly-concealed  eagerness. 
Others  advance  with  the  air  of  hesitation  which  is  always  so  becom- 
ing to  the  neophyte.  A  "  genuine  Rhode  Island  clam-bake"  is  the 
magnet  which  draws  them  forward.  Your  pardon,  reader,  if  we 
attempt  a  feeble  description  of  this  world-famed  production  of  our 
glorious  State. 


East  Providence. 


105 


The  history  of  the  chim-bake  has  never  yet  been  written.  To 
unfold  in  fitting  terms  its  mysteries,  to  describe  the  successive  steps 
througii  which  perfection  has  at  last  been  reached,  requires  a  pen  of 
more  than  ordinary  ability.  Frankly  we  confess  ourselves  to  be 
incompetent  to  perform  the  task.  Had  Charles  Lamb  lived  in  this 
most  favored  land,  his  unequaled  fancy  might,  perhaps,  have  done 
justice  to  the  fruitful  theme.  Had  the  gentle  Elia  been  a  Rhode 
"islander,  the  •'  succulent  clam,"  rather  than  the  "  tender  crackling," 
would  have  held  the  place  of  honor  upon  his  never-to-be-forgotten 

A  little  encvclopivdic  information  may  not  be  out  of  place  just 
here.  Mya  arenaria,  is  the  scientific  name  of  the  common  "long 
clam"  of  Narragansett  Bay.  The  "long  clam,"  or,  as  it  is  some- 
times called,  the  "soft  clam,"  must  not  be  confounded  with  the  qua- 
haug.  The  latter  is  a  very  diflerent  creature.  Scientific  men  call  it 
Venus  nicrccnaria.  Those  who  have  not  penetrated  the  secrets  of 
its  mechanism  are  often  greatly  puzzled  when  they  attempt  to  extract 
it  from  its  hard,  round  shell.  All  along  the  shores  of  the  bay  the 
mxic  are  tbund.  Thousands  of  bushels  are  dug  each  year,  but  the 
supply  does  not  seem  to  diminish.  The  distinguishing  feature  of  the 
clam  is  the  "  siphon."  The  American  Cyclofiedia  describes  it  thus  : 
"  The  siphon  is  neither  head  nor  tail,  but  a  double  retracdle  tube  for 
respiratory  and  feeding  purposes."  This  "  siphon  "  is  a  perpetual 
joy  to  those  unfamiliar  with  the  bivalve.  Not  long  ago  a  learned 
doctor  of  divinity  from  one  of  our  Western  States  came  to  the  shores 
of  the  Narragansett  for  a  short  visit.  All  his  life  he  had  sighed  for 
an  opportunity  to  "  entrap  a  clam  in  its  lair."     At  last  he  realized 


Silver  Spring. 


io6  Picturesque  Rhode  Island. 

the  object  of  his  ambition.  The  "  siphon  "  drew  out  his  unbounded 
admiration.  Upon  its  admirable  adaptation  of  means  to  an  end,  he 
enlarged  with  eloquent  tongue,  and  seemed  never  to  weary  in  the 
expatiation.  Hastening  to  the  railway  station,  after  a  stay  far  too  brief 
for  those  who  had  enjo3'ed  his  genial  society,  he  espied  a  basket  of 
clams  exposed  for  sale  in  front  of  a  market.  Never  again  could  he 
hope  to  possess  a  more  favorable  opportunity  for  observing  the 
"  siphon."  Stopping  short  in  his  walk,  at  the  risk  of  losing  his  train, 
the  grave  and  dignified  divine  tested  for  the  last  time  with  eager  fin- 
ger its  wonderful  powers  of  contraction,  then  with  visions  of  luscious 
myce  dancing  before  his  eyes,  and  their  fragrant  odors  tantalizing  his 
olfactory  nerves,  went  sorrowfully  back  to  the  unromantic  routine  of 
his  city  life. 

Upon  nearly  all  the  shores  of  New  England  the  clam  is  found. 
•  Several  times,  in  the  early  history  of  Massachusetts,  the  white  settlers 
would  have  perished  but  for  this  lavish  food-supply  which  nature  had 
provided  for  them.  From  the  Indians  the  English  learned  the  way 
in  which  it  should  be  cooked.  Upon  the  shores  of  the  Narragansett 
the  "clam-bake"  has  gradually  been  brought  to'its  state  of  perfec- 
tion. 

The  modus  operandi  oi  a  "bake"  is  as  follows:  In  the  first 
place  a  rude  floor  of  stones  is  laid.  Upon  this  floor  a  pile  of  ordinary 
"  cord-wood  "  is  thrown.  The  wood  is  set  on  fire  and  allowed  to  burn 
until  the  stones  beneath  begin  to  crack  with  the  heat.  The  half- 
burned  brands  are  then  pulled  away,  and  a  thin  layer  of  sea-weed 
—  the  ordinary  "rock-weed"  of  the  shore  —  is  thrown  upon  the  heated 
.  stones.  (This  lirst  layer  is  not  absolutely  essential.  It  serves  to 
prevent  the  lowest  clams  from  being  burned  or  discolored  by  the  too 
great  heat.)  Next  the  clams  are  thrown  upon  the  pile  in  a  layer  of 
uniform  thickness,  and  another  coating  of  "rock-weed"  is  placed 
over  them.  A  piece  of  old  canvas  is  spread  over  the  whole  (to 
keep  in  all  the  steam),  and  the  fragrant  pile  is  left  to  itself  for  about 
forty  minutes.  Then  the  "bake"  is  opened  and  the  repast  begins. 
Sometimes  ears  of  green  corn,  baskets  of  potatoes  and  other 
vegetables,  lobsters,  fresh  fish  rolled  in  corn-husks,  and  various 
other  edibles  are  deposited  in  the  midst  of  the  rock-weed.  The 
steaming  vapors  from  the  clams  permeate  the  whole  mass,  and 
impregnate  everything  with  their  rich  odor.  Many  men  would,  any 
day,  willingly  leave  the  well-appointed  table  of  the  "  Narragansett 
Hotel  "  to  partake  of  such  a  feast.  The  relish  for  it  seems  to  increase 
rather  than  to  diminish,  as  it  becomes  more  familiar. 


East  Providence. 


107 


Squantum. 


Washington  Bridge  connects  East  Providence  with  the  city  of 
Providence.  On  the  brow  of  the  first  hill  the  traveler  surmounts  as 
he  drives  away  from  the  river  and  through  the  well-cultivated  fields 
that  border  the  road  which  leads  to  Bristol  County,  stands,  at  a  little 
distance  from  the  broad  thoroughfare,  a  somewhat  pretentious  man- 
sion. It  is  guarded  on  every  side  by  a  row  of  sentinel  columns,  like 
one  of  the  heathen  temples  of  the  olden-  days  of  Greece.  Almost 
every  one  who  has  passed  by  must  have  noticed  it,  and  admired  its 
comrqanding  position.  The  view  from  its  upper  windows  to-day  is 
wonderfully  fine.  Much  more  charming  it  must  have  been  half  a 
century  ago,  before  the  long  lines  of  city  streets  and  the  monotonous 
array  of  tenement-houses  crowded  themselves  into  tiie  landscape,  to 
the  exclusion  of  the  waving  branches  and  the  emerald  banks  kindly 
Nature  had  provided.  In  this  house  one  of  Rhode  Island's  most 
eminent  men  once  lived.  The  little  State  can  claim  for  its  own  an 
unusually  large  number  of  famous  names.  As  a  soldier  of  the 
Revolution  the  fame  of  Nathaniel  Greene  is  second  onlv  to  tiiat  of 
Washington  ;  as  a  sailor  the  name  of  Oliver  Hazard  Perry  shines 
with  unequaled  lustre;  as  an  orator  hardly  a  man  throughout  the 
length  and  breadth  of  the  land  was  better  known,  as  a  debater  no 
antagonist  was  more  greatly  feared,  than  Tristam  Purges. 

Mr.  Burges  was  born  in  Pl}'mouth  C()unt\',  Massachusetts,  in 
February,  1770.  His  father  was  by  trade  a  cooper,  and  the  future 
lawyer's  early  years  were  full  of  the  severe  manual  lalior  which 
usually  falls  to  the  lot  of  the  ciiildren  of  the  poor.      He  was  taught  to 


io8  Picturesque  Rhode  Island. 


read  by  his  sister ;  his  father  gave  him,  according  to  his  abiHty, 
scant}''  instruction  in  mathematics,  but  at  twent3''-one,  he  had  been 
at  school  but  twelve  week«  during  his  whole  life.  In  1792  he 
became  a  student  in  the  Academv  at  Wrentham,  Mass.,  and  there  he 
made  his  first  appearance  as  an  orator.  The  attempt  was  almost  a 
complete  failure.  A  natural  impediment  in  his  speech  was  intensified 
by  the  unfamiliar  circumstances  of  his  position  ;  he  found  himself 
uttering  but  a  succession  of  unintelligible  syllables,  and  was  com- 
pelled to  retire  in  confusion  from  the  rostrum. 

As  he  was  returning  to  his  home,  one  of  his  companions  sug- 
gested to  him,  in  a  rather  unfeeling  way,  that  he  "ought  to  get 
some  one  to  do  his  speaking  for  him."  The  words  were  like  gall  to 
the  ambitious  young  man,  but  they  spurred  him  on  to  success  ;  like 
the  late  Lord  Beaconsfield  he  resolved  that  his  sneering  associates 
should  one  day  listen  with  respect  to  whatever  he  had  to  say.  The 
difficulties  in  his  path  seemed  almost  insurmountable ;  with  resolute 
will  he  set  himself  to  work  to  overcome  them.  Day  by  day,  amid 
the  cool  shades  of  the  neighboring  tbrest,  he  labored  to  change  his 
stammering  utterances  to  distinct  articulations.  After  a  long  time 
he  was  successful,  so  successful  that  at  the  graduation  of  his  class  he 
w^as  chosen  not  only  to  speak  for  himself,  but  for  the  class  also,  as  its 
valedictorian.  In  1793  he  entered  Brown  University  as  a  member 
of  the  sophomore  class,  and  at  once  assumed  a  leading  position 
among  the  students.  His  unusual  powers  of  application  made  him 
facile  ^rincc^s  whenever  he  chose  to  be  so.  He  was  the  orator  of 
his  class,  and  was  chosen  a  second  time  to  deliver  a  valedictory 
oration,  at  its  "  Commencement  Exercises." 

In  1799  Mr.  Burges  was  admitted  to  the  Rhode  Island  bar.  Able 
lawyers  then  adorned  it,  but  the  young  advocate  was  immediately 
accorded  an  unusually  prominent  place  among  them.  To  every 
case  entrusted  to  his  charge  he  devoted  himself  with  an  enthusiasm 
that  was  remarkable,  even  in  that  age  of  hard  work.  Whenever  he 
rose  to  speak,  he  was  sure  of  a  most  attentive  audience.  His  pro- 
found knowledge  of  the  law,  his  apt  illustrations,  and  his  exquisite 
command  of  language,  rarely  failed  to  win  for  him  a  favorable 
verdict.  In  1825  he  was  elected  a  Representative  to  Congress,  and 
his  fame  at  once  became  national.  The  National  House  of  Repre- 
sentatives afforded  him  an  ample  field  for  the  display  of  his  wonder- 
ful skill  as  a  debater.  It  was  the  fashion  at  that  time  for  the  men 
from  the  South  to  revile  New  England,  and  the  Northern  members 


East  Providence. 


109 


The   Falls  at   Hunt's   Mills. 


were,  perhaps,  not  so  ready  in  debate  as  they  should  have  been  to 
resent  the  insults  cast  upon  their  states.  After  Mr.  Burges  took  his 
seat  the  insults  were  not  otTered  with  such  frequency.  Not  a  man 
in  the  House  could  cope  with  Rhode  Island's  representative  when 
once  his  wrath  had  been  aroused.  Even  the  proud  spirit  of  John 
Randolph,  of  Roanoke,  could  not  withstand  the  torrent  of  fiery 
indignation  and  the  terrible  bursts  of  sarcasm  which  the  "  bald  eagle  " 
of  Rhode  Island  poured  out  against  those  who  had  dared  to  slander 
his  friends  and  neighbors.  Mr.  Burges  served  but  two  terms  in 
Congress.  He  had  espoused  the  losing  side  in  politics,  and  thus 
w^as  forced  to  retire  from  active  political  life  before  his  work  was 
half  accomplished.  The  last  years  of  his  life  were  spent  in  com- 
parative retirement  upon  his  farm.      He  died  in  1853. 

East  Providence  became  a  town  of  Rhode  Island  in  1862. 
Before  that  date  it  formed  a  part  of  Seekonk,  Mass.  It  wall,  doubt- 
less, in  course  of  time  become  one  of  the  wards  of  the  city  of  Prov- 
idence. Every  day  its  relations  with  the  principal  capital  of  the 
State  become  more  intimate.  Its  final  annexation  to  its  powertul 
neighbor  is  only  a  question  of  years. 


no 


Picturesque  Rhode  Island. 


The  "  Wilkesbarre  Pier"  is  one  of  the  most  prominent  features  of 
the  town.  The  pier  was  designed  to  accommodate  the  immense 
coal  business  of  the  Worcester  railway.  The  first  cargo  was  landed 
upon  it  about  eight  years  ago.  It  is  very  nearly  one  thousand  feet 
long,  and  covers  about  five  acres  of  land.  The  head  of  the  pier  is 
not  "  made  land, "as  most  people  imagine  it  to  be.  A  large  number 
of  piles,  driven  deep  into  the  yielding  mud,  sustain  a  floor  of  stout 
planks,  covered  with  a  coating  of  earth  two  or  three  feet  deep.  Last 
year  (in  July,  1880)  these  piles  were  forced  apart  by  the  pressure  of 
the  great  weight  above  them,  and  a  very  general  collapse  was  the 
result.  During  the  year  1880,  473  cargoes  were  landed  upon  this 
pier.  From  it  more  than  250.000  tons  of  coal  were  carried  away  in 
the  railway  cars.  It  appears  somewhat  strange  at  first  sight  to  read 
that,  while  the  number  of  tons  of  coal  landed  upon  this  great  wharf 
increases  each  year,  the  number  of  vessels  bringing  cargoes  steadilv 
diminishes.  The  age  of  small  vessels  has  gone  by.  Large  steamers, 
and  great  barges  towed  by  steam-tugs,  have  taken  the  place  of  the 
"  fore-and-aft"  schooners  of  the  early  days  of  the  pier.  The  average 
tonnage  of  the  schooners  engaged  in  the  business  is  now  about  750 
tons  ;  of  barges  rather  more  than  1,000  tons. 

The  great  manufacturing  establishment  of  the  town  is  the  Rum- 
ford  Chemical  Works.  The  corner-stone  of  the  main  structure  was 
laid  in  1854.  George  F.  Wilson  and  Eben  N.  Horsford  were  the 
originators  of  the  enterprise.  Mr.  Horsford  was  at  that  time  the 
'■^  Rumford  Professor"  of  Chemistr}^  in  Harvard  University,  hence 
the  name  of  the  works.      On  "Seekonk  Plains,"  once  apparently  a 


Ocean  Cottage. 


Pawtucket,  North  Providence,  and  Lincoln. 


Ill 


Pawtucket   Falls,    1881  . 


barren  waste,  but  now  abounding  in  well-cultivated  tields,  tlie  factory 
is  placed.  Tbe  buildings  cover  about  two  acres  of  land.  Legions 
of  iiouse-keepers  throughout  the  countrv  have  learned  to  value  the 
productions  sent  forth  from  them. 

It  is  almost  impossible  to  select  from  the  tangled  mass  of  histori- 
cal detail  which  clusters  around  the  Pawtucket  Falls,  the  portion 
which  specially  applies  to  the  several  towns  that  have  been  formed 
in  their  neighborhood.  The  attempt  at  separation  has  not  therefore 
been  made,  and  the  rise  and  progress  of  the  manufactures  has  been 
considered  as  a  whole. 

The  First  Settler  withiA  the  limits  of  the  present  Town  of 
Pawticki:'!'  was  Joseph  Jenks.  He  was  born  in  Buckinghamshire, 
England,  in  1632,  and  came  to  America  in  1645.  His  father,  who 
bore  the  same  Christian  name,  had  settled  in  Lynn,  Mass.,  some 
years  before.  In  L\nn  the  son  remained  until  his  removal  to 
Pawtucket,  about  1655.  The  interval  between  the  two  dates  was 
spent  by  him  in  Axorking  with  his  father  in  the  manufacture  of  iron 
tools,  etc.      The  elder  Jenks  is  credited  with  being  the  "  first  founder 


112 


Picturesque  Rhode  Island. 


who  worked  in  brass  and  iron 
on  the  Western  Continent.  By 
his  hands  the  first  models  were 
constructed,  and  the  first  cast- 
ings made,  of  many  domestic 
implements  and  iron  tools." 
From  his  father  the  younger 
Jenks  acquired  the  skill  of 
which  he  afterwards  made  good 
use  in  his  new  home. 

A  virgin  forest  covered  the 
banks  of  the  river  at  Pawtucket 
Falls.  As  yet  no  white  man 
had  made  a  clearing  when  Jo- 
seph Jenks  established  his  home 
upon  it.  He  built  a  forge  in  a 
deep  ravine,  on  the  west  bank 
of  the  river,  a  short  distance 
below  the  falls.  Here  he  plied 
his  trade,  finding  customers  for 
the  products  of  his  skill  in  the 
neighboring  village  of  Prov- 
idence, and  in  the  settlements  around  him.  As  the  working  of  iron, 
including  the  making  of  tools,  is  one  of  the  most  important  and 
necessary  occupations  in  a  new  country,  Mr.  Jenks'  forge  quickly 
became  the  nucleus  of  an  industrial  settlement.  New  settlers  were 
continually  coming  into  the  neighborhood,  clearings  were  made,  and 
houses  built,  and  the  materials  for  a  future  New  England  town  were 
gradually  brought  together. 

Joseph  Jenks  had  four  sons,  Joseph,  Nathaniel,  Ebenezer,  and 
Wilham.  All  followed  their  fathers  trade.  The  family  was 
influential  in  political  affairs  as  well  as  in  business.  The  eldest  son, 
Joseph,  was  governor  of  the  Colony  of  Rhode  Island  from  1727  to 
1732. 

About  a  score  of  years  after  Mr.  Jenks  came  to  Pawtucket, 
King  Philip's  War  burst  upon  the  land.  The  settlement  was  broken 
up  ;  the  buildings  were  burned  by  thelndians,  and  the  place  was  for 
a  time  entirely  deserted.  As  soon  as  peace  was  restored  the  hamlet 
was  rebuilt,  and  again  the  hum  of  industry  was  heard  on  the  banks 
of  the  Pawtucket  River,  never  again  to  be  interrupted  by  war  or 
bloodshed. 


The   Universalist    Church. 


Pawtucket,  North  Providence,  and  Lincoln.         113 


One  of  the  most  disastrous  engagements  of  the  war  took  place  on 
the  banks  of  the  river,  between  Pawtucket  and  Valley  Falls.  Wan- 
dering parties  of  the  Indians  were  committing  great  havoc  among  the 
settlements,  and  Captain  Pierce,  of  Scituate,  with  a  force  of  sixtv- 
three  Englishmen  and  twenty  friendly  Indians,  was  ordered  to  follow 
thc  enemy  and  disperse  them.      lie  was  on  his  march   into  the  Nar- 


Pawtucket  Faiis,    1789. 

ragansett  Country,  having  iieard  that  many  of  the  enemy  had  collected 
at  Pawtuxet,  a  few  miles  to  the  southward  of  Providence.  "  Beino- 
a  man  of  great  courage,  and  willing  to  engage  the  enemy  on  any 
ground,  he  was  led  into  a  fatal  snare.  On  crossing  the  Pawtucket 
River  he  found  himself  encircled  by  an  overwhelming  number.  He 
retreated  to  the  side  of  the  river  to  prevent  being  surrounded  ;  but 
this  only  alternative  failed ;  for  the  enemy,  crossing  the  river  above, 
came  upon  their  backs  with  the  same  deadly  eflect  as  those  in  front. 
Thus  they  had  to  contend  witii  triple  numbers  and  a  double  disad- 
vantage. Means  were  found  to  dispatch  a  messenger  to  Providence 
for  succor,  but  through  some  unaccountable  default  in  him  or  them 
to  whom  it  was  delivered,  none  arrived  until  too  late.  The  scene  was 
horrid  beyond  description.  Some  say  that  all  the  English  were  slain, 
others  that  only  one  escaped,  which  was  effected  as  follows  :  A 
friendly  Indian  pursued  him  with  an  uplifted  tomahawk,  in  the  face 
of  the  enemy,  who,  considering  his  fate  certain,  and  that  he  was  pur- 


114 


Picturesque  Rhode  Island. 


Trinity  Churcn. 


sued  by  one  of  their  own  men,  made  no  discovery  of  the  stratagem, 
and  both  escaped.  Another  friendly  Indian,  seeing  that  the  battle 
was  lost,  blackened  his  face  with  powder,  and  ran  among  the  enemy, 
A.\h6m   they  took  to  be  one  of  themselves,  who    also  were    painted 

black,  then  presently  escaped 
into  the  woods.  Another  was 
pursued,  who  hid  behind  a 
rock,  and  his  pursuer  lay 
secreted  near  to  shoot  him 
when  he  ventured  out.  But 
he  behind  the  rock  put  his 
hat  or  cap  upon  a  stick,  and 
raising  it  up  in  sight,  the 
other  fired  upon  it.  He, 
dropping  his  stick,  ran  upon 
him  before  he  could  reload 
his  gun  and  shot  him  dead. 
It  appears  that  Canonchet,  a 
Narragansett  chief,  who 
afterwards  fell  into  the  hands 
of  the  brave  Captain  Danton,  commanded  in  this  battle." 

In  the  records  of  the  disputes  which  early  arose  between  the 
colonies  of  Massachusetts  and  Rhode  Island  as  to  their  boundaries, 
Pawtucket  Falls  is  frequently  mentioned.  From  the  Falls  the  line 
was  ''to  be  run  north  to  the  Massachusetts  south  line."  Permission 
was  granted  by  the  General  Assembly  in  1761  for  a  lotter}',  to  raise 
money  for  making  a  passage  around  Pawtucket  Falls,  "  so  that  fish 
of  almost  every  kind  who  choose  fresh  water  at  certain  seasons  of 
the  year  may  pass  with  ease."  This  trench  was  built,  but  failed  of 
its  end,  and  was  afterwards  used  by  the  owners  of  the  mill-privileges 
for  their  business.  In  17 13  a  bridge  was  built  across  the  river  at 
the  Falls,  and  the  cost  divided  between  the  two  colonies.  This 
bridge  was  pulled  down  in  1730,  rebuilt  in  1731-32,  and  in  1741, 
the  expense  being  in  every  case  shared  equally  between  Rhode 
Island  and  Massachusetts.  Five  bridges,  three  of  iron  and  two  of 
stone,  now  span  the  stream. 

The  abundant  water-power  was  early  made  use  of,  and  small 
manufacturing  establishments  of  various  kinds  sprang  up  along  the 
banks  of  the  river.  Not,  however,  until  after  the  Revolution,  did  the 
manufactories  increase  to  any  considerable  extent.    Then  the  restric- 


Pawtucket,  North  Providence,  and  Lincoln. 


115 


A  View   in   Main   Street. 


tions  which  the  IJriti.sh  Government  had  imposed  on  the  colonies 
were  swept  aw  a}-,  leaving-  a  large  and  promising  field  open  to  new 
enterprises. 

Oziel  Wilkinson,  with  his  famil\',  remox'ed,  in  17H3.  from  Smith- 
field,  and  settled  in  Taw  tncket,  being  induced  to  do  so  by  the  ample 
water-power  and  convenient  nearness  of  the  mills  and  forges  at  the 
Falls.  He  and  his  sons,  of  whom  there  were  five,  were  all  black- 
smiths. They  were  good  mechanics  and  gifted  with  the  inventive 
faculty.  Some  of  the  largest  anchors  in  the  country  were  made  by 
them.  They  are  said  to  have  been  the  first  in  the  world  to  make  cut- 
nails,  and  were  also  the  first  to  cast  cannon  solid.  The  cannon  were 
afterwards  bored  by  water-power.  Through  the  exertions  of  these 
men  and  of  the  Jenkses  who  had  preceded  them,  the  village  of  Paw- 
tucket, on  both  banks  of  the  river,  became  the  principal  centre  of  the 
iron  manufacture  in  this  part  of  the  country  during  the  last  quarter  of 
the  eighteenth  and  the  lirst    quarter  of  the    present    century.     The 


P.WVTlLKKT,     XoRTII    PkO\  1 1)  h:N(.'K ,     AM)    LlNCOLN.  II7 


famous  Samuel  Slater  married  Hannah,  a  daughter  of  Oziel  Wilkin- 
son. The  Wilkinsons  were  afterward,  in  connection  with  Slater, 
extensively  engaged  in  the  nianufaclure  of  cotton  goods. 

The  following  description   ot   the  village  of  Pawtucket,  as  it  was 
in  1810,  is  taken  tVom  /Jzc/o/z/'s  Travels: 

"  In  the  northwestern  corner  of  Rchoboth,  there  is  a  compact  and 
neat  settlement  on  the  Pawtucket  or  Proxidence  River.  This,  with 
another  on  the  western  bank,  form  what  is  called  North  Providence  ; 
although  this  name,  in  strict  propriety,  belongs  only  to  the  latter. 
This  village  is  well  built,  and  wears  a  flourishing  aspect.  The  river 
is  a  large  mill-stream  :  and  just  below  the  \illage  becomes  navigable 
for  boats.  Directly  under  the  bridge  commences  a  romantic  fall, 
vs'hich,  extending  obliquely  down  the  river,  furnishes  a  number  of 
excellent  mill-sites.  Of  this  ad\  antage  the  inhabitants  have  availed 
themselves.  There  is  probabh  no  spot  in  New  England,  of  the 
same  extent,  in  which  the  same  tjuantity  or  varietv  of  manufacturing 
business  is  carried  on.  In  the  year  1796,  there  were  here  three 
anchor-forges,  one  tannin*/  mill,  three  snuir-mills,  one  oil-mill,  three 


ii8  Picturesque  Rhode  Island.  , 

fulling  mills,  one  clothier's  works,  one  cotton-factory,  two  machines 
for  cutting  nails,  one  furnace  for  casting  hollow-ware,  all  moved  by 
water;  one  machine  for  cutting  screws,  moved  by  a  horse;  and 
several  forges  for  smiths'  work. 

*'The  whole  descent  of  the  river  is  said  to  be  fifty  feet.  The 
principal  fall  is  about  thirty.  The  mass  of  rocks  by  which  it  is  pro- 
duced, is  thrown  together  in  the  wildest  confusion.  When  we  passed 
this  place  the  river  was  low.  In  1807,  while  crossing  the  feny  just 
below  in  an  oblique  direction  nearly  a  mile  in  extent,  during  the 
whole  of  which  it  was  visible,  I  had  a  remarkably  fine  view  of  the 
cataract." 

The  following  extract  from  an  old  Gazetteer  of  Rhode  Island  and 
Connecticut,  pubhshed  in  Hartford  in  1819,  gives  an  idea  of  the  place 
at  a  later  date  :  "  The  river  here  forms  the  boundary  line  between 
the  two  States.  .  .  .  That  part  of  the  village  which  is  in  Rhode 
Island  is  principally  built  on  four  streets,  and  comprises  eighty-three 
dwelling-houses,  twelve  mercantile  stores,  two  churches,  a  post  office, 
an  incorporated  bank,  an  academy,  and  two  or  three  flourishing 
schools.  Of  the  ten  cotton-mills  in  the  town  (North  Providence), 
three  are  at  this  place,  and  upon  an  extensive  scale.  There  are  six 
shops  engaged  in  the  manufacture  of  machinery,  having  the  advan- 
tage of  Water-power,  and  various  other  mechanical  establishments, 
aflbrding  extensive  employment  and  supporting  a  dense  population. 
Upon  the  Massachusetts  side  of  the  river  there  is  a  village  of  nearly 
equal  size  and  consequence,  for  its  manufacturing  and  other  inter- 
ests.'"' 

The  present  town  of  Pawtucket  has  been  in  existence  but  a  few 
years.  The  east  side  of  the  river  originally  formed  a  part  of  the 
old  town  of  Rehoboth.  Seekonk  was  separated  from  Rehoboth 
in  1812  ;  it  comprised  all  of  Pawtucket  now  on  the  east  side  of  the 
river.  This  portion  was  taken  from  Seekonk  and  formed  into  the 
township  of  Pawtucket  by  an  act  of  incorporation  from  the  Mas- 
sachusetts General  Court,  dated  March  i,  1828.  The  first  town- 
meeting  after  its  incorporation  was  held  on  the  seventeenth  day  of 
the  same  month.  There  were  manufactories  on  both  sides  of  the 
river,  but  those  on  the  Rhode  Island  side  predominated.  On  the 
Massachusetts  side  agriculture  received  more  attention.  As  the  two 
portions  of  the  village  were  in  different  States,  much  inconvenience 
and  local  jealousy  arose,  operating  against  its  business  interests. 
These  disadvantages  were  overcome  to  some  extent  by  the  cession 


Pawtucket,  North  ProvidExNce,  and  Lincoln. 


119 


'of  the  town  of  Pawtucket  to 
Rhode  Ishincl,  in  iSOi.  The 
act  took  effect  in  March,  1802. 
On  tlie  west  side  the  \ilhii;e  was 
originalh'  in  the  town  of  Pro\'- 
idence,  and  was  within  the  limits 
of  North  Proxidence  when  that 
town  was  incorporated  in  1765. 
It  continued  an  integral  part  of 
North  Providence  until  187}. 
At  that  time  the  latter  town  was 
dismembered,  a  part  was  oi\-c'n 
to  Pawtucket,  another  part  to 
Providence,  and  about  one-lhii"d 
of  its  territory  was  left  in  the 
original  town.  By  this  arrange- 
ment the  arbitrary  boundaries 
which  for  some  vears  had  di- 
vided what  should  ha\'e  been  a 
united  communit}'  were  removed. 
The  new  act  of  incorporation 
was  dated  May  i,  1874.  ^^^  ^'^^S 
the  population  of  Pawtucket  was  5,000,  and  its  area  6.9  miles  —  an 
average  of  724.6  to  the  square  mile.  In  1875,  after  the  consolidation, 
the  population  was  18,464;  area,  10. i,  and  the  average  population 
to  the  square  mile,  1,828.1.  The  population,  according  to  the  United 
States  census  of  1880,  was  19,030. 

The  celebrated  "Sam  Patch"  began  Ids  career  at  Pawtucket. 
He  was  born  at  Marblehead,  Mass.,  about  1796,  and  worked  as  a 
mule-spinner  in  Pawtucket  in  the  early  part  of  the  present  century. 
While  here  he  attempted  and  successfully  accomplished  many 
hazardous  leats,  such  as  iumping  from  the  bridges  and  Irom  the 
roofs  and  windows  of  mills  into  the  river.  In  fulhllment  of  a  wager 
he  jumped  the  Genesee  Falls,  at  Rochester,  N.  Y.,  and  afterwards 
performed  the  more  ditlicult  feat  of  jumping  Niagara  Falls.  After 
many  other  prodigies  of  daring.  In-  at  last  lost  his  life  in  again 
attempting  to  jump  the  Genesee  Falls.  The  saying,  "Some  things 
can  be  done  as  well  as  others,"  is  attributed  to  him.  It  indicates 
the  sanguine  temperament  which  prompted  him  to  undertakings  that 
seemed  to  be  phvsical  impossibilities.      W.  ]).  Ilowells  says  of  him. 


The  Congregational  Church. 


I20  Picturesque  Rhode  Island. 

in  Their  Wedding  Journey:  ''It  (Sam  Patch)  is  as  good  a  name 
as  Leander,  to  my  thinking,  and  it  was  immortahzed  in  support  of 
a  great  idea,  —  the  feasibility  of  all  thincrs." 

To  Pawtucket  belongs  the  honor  of  being  the  first  place  in 
America  where  the  manufacture  of  cotton  goods  was  successfully 
accomplished.  This  industry,  starting  here  from  insignificant  begin- 
nings, made  rapid  progress  to  perfection,  caused  the  fcfunding  of 
many  new  towns  and  villages  throughout  the  country,  and  has  now 
assumed  proportions  of  immense  magnitude.  The  story  of  the  strug- 
gles of  the  first  projectors,  the  success  which  ultimately  crowned 
their  eflbrts,  the  progress  of  the  industry  established  with  such  difh- 
culty,  and  the  changes  in  many  directions  following  as  a  consequence, 
form  a  chapter  in  history  more  wonderful  than  any  tale  of  battles  or 
sieges. 

Until  a  little  more  than  a  hundred  years  ago,  all  cloth,  of  what- 
ever material,  was  mainly  the  result  of  manual  labor.  The  machines 
in  use  were  of  small  value,  being  little  better  than  frames  to  hold 
the  material  in  position  for  convenience  in  working.  The  first 
improvement  of  note,  as  applied  to  the  treatment  of  cotton,  was 
made  in  England  by  James  Hargreaves,  in  the  year  1767.  This 
invention  was  the  spinning-jenny.  By  the  method  of  spinning  then 
practiced,  only  one  thread  could  be  spun  at  a  time.  Hargreaves' 
machine  had  eight  spindles,  and  of  course  could  spin  as  many 
threads  at  once.  Shortly  afterwards,  Richard  Arkwright  invented 
roller-spinning,  and  was  the  first  to  associate  all  the  preliminary  pro- 
cessess  of  the  cotton  manufacture,  together  with  that  of  spinning, 
under  the  same  roof.  He  was  the  originator  of  the  English  fac- 
tory system.  Through  the  agency  of  these  two  inventions  the 
business  increased  largely.  Many  factories  were  built,  and  im- 
provements in  machinery  followed  in  rapid  succession.  The  prin- 
ciples of  the  spinning-jenny  of  Hargreaves,  and  the  "  water- frame  " 
of  Arkwright,  were  combined  in  the  spinning-mule  invented  by 
Samuel  Crompton,  of  Bolton,  in  1779,  which  gave  a  still  further 
impetus  to  this  industry.  The  yarn  spun  in  the  mills  was  made  into 
cloth  on  hand-looms,  which  were  to  be  found  in  many  private  houses. 
All  these  inventions  were  made  within  the  limits  of  a  narrow  district 
in  England,  where  for  a  time  this  industry  was  confined,  and  which 
has  continued  to  this  day  the  centre  of  the  cotton  manufacture  in 
the  world. 

The  British  Government  at  that  time  prohibited  the  exportation 


Pavv'tucket,  North  Providkxce,  and  Ltxcoln. 


121 


of  machinery.  It  also  forbade  any  plans,  drawings,  or  models  of 
the  new  inventions  to  be  carried  away  from  the  kingdom.  Manv 
attempts  were  made  in  this  country  to  construct  the  various  machines 
of  the  Arkwright  patents,  but,  owing  to  imperfect  drawings,  the  lack 
of  models,  and  the  absence  of  any  person  skilled  in  their  construction 
and  use,  but  little  success  was  attained.  "  The  lirst  machines  for 
carding,  roving,  and  spinning,  made  in  the  United  States,  were  the 
work  of  two  mechanics  from  Scotland,  Alexander  and  Robert  Barr, 
employed  by  Mr.  Orr,  of  East  Bridgewater,  Mass.  The  State  made 
a  grant  in  1786  of  £200  lawful  money  for  the  encouragement  of  the 
enterprise.  The  Beverly  Company,  in  the  same  State,  commenced 
operations  in  1787,  and,  after  expending  £4,000,  obtained  in  1790 
a  grant  of  1' 1,000  from  the  Legislature,  by  the  aid  of  which  they 
succeeded  in  introducing  the  manufacture  of  cotton  goods,  but  with 
very  imperfect  machinery.  In  1788  a  company  was  formed  in 
Providence,  R.  I.,  for  making  '  home-spun  cloths.'  and  they  con- 
structed their  machinery  from  the  best  drawings  to  be  obtained  of 
the  English  models  and  plans,  which  were  afforded  them  by  Mr. 
Orr  and  the  Beverly  Company.  The  carding  and  roving  with  these 
macliines  was  effected  in  a  \er}-  imperfect  and  slow  manner,  by 
hand-lalior :   the  spinning-frame,   with    thirtv-two   spindles,    differing 


122  Picturesque  Rhode  Island. 


little  from  a  common  jenny,  was  worked  at  first  by  a  crank,  turned 
by  hand.  The  machinery  was  sold  to  Moses  Brown,  of  Prov- 
idence, who,  together  with  Mr.  Almy,  had  several  hand-jennies 
employed  in  private  houses  in  Providence,  making  3^arn  for  the  weft 
of  mixed  linen  and  cotton  goods.  Such  operations  could  accom- 
plish little  in  competition  with  the  Arkwright  machinery,  and  all 
attempts  to  procure  plans  of  this  failed." 

At  this  juncture  Samuel  Slater,  who  may  with  justice  be  called 
the  father  of  the  cotton  industry  in  this  country,  appeared  on  the 
scene.  Slater  was  born  in  the  town  of  Belper,  Derbyshire,  England, 
June  9,  1768,  the  year  after  the  invention  of  the  spinning-jenny.  He 
learned  the  business  of  manufacturing  cotton  with  Jedediah  Strutt, 
who,  in  connection  with  Sir  Richard  Arkwright,  was  then  engaged 
in  conducting  a  factory  at  a  place  called  Milford.  Here  young 
Slater  remained  for  more  than  eight  years,  learning  thoroughly  the 
processes  of  manufacturing,  and  also  becoming  an  excellent  machin- 
ist, skillful  in  the  construction  of  cotton  machinery.  During  the  latter 
years  of  his  apprenticeship  his  attention  was  called  to  the  oppor- 
tunities for  advancement  offered  in  America  to  one  familiar  with 
the  cotton  manufacture.  Soon  after  the  term  of  his  apprenticeship 
had  expired,  he  observed  in  a  Philadelphia  paper  notice  of  a  reward 
offered  by  a  society  for  a  machine  to  make  cotton  rollers.  He 
decided  to  go  to  the  New  World,  and  on  the  13th  of  September, 
1789,  sailed  from  London  for  New  York,  where  he  arrived  in 
November,  after  a  passage  of  sixty-six  days.  He  went  to  work  for 
the  New  York  Manufacturing  Company  soon  after  his  arrival ;  but 
their  machinery  was  very  imperfect  and  their  available  water-power 
unsatisfactory.  While  here  he  heard,  from  the  captain  of  one  of  the 
Providence  packets,  of  Moses  Brown,  of  Providence,  and  his  attempts 
to  manufacture  cotton.  Slater  wrote  to  this  gentleman,  offering  his 
services,  and  said:  "I  flatter  myself  that  I  can  give  the  greatest 
satisfaction  in  making  machiner}',  making  good  3'arn,  either  for 
stockings  or  twist,  as  any  that  is  made  in  England,  as  I  have  had 
opportunity,  and  an  oversight  of  Sir  Richard  Arkwright's  works, 
and  in  Mr.  Strutfs  mill,  upwards  of  eight  years."  A  favorable 
answer  was  returned,  and  in  January,  1790,  he  completed  an 
arrangement  with  Almy  &  Brown  to  go  to  Pawtucket. 

"  On  the  eighteenth  day  of  the  same  month,  the  venerable  Moses 
Brown  took  him  out  to  Pawtucket,  where  he  commenced  making  the 
machinery,  principally  with  his  ow'n  hands,  and  on  the  twentieth  of 


Pawtucket,  North  Providence,  and  Lincoln. 


123 


The    Pumping-Station. 


December,  following,  he  started  three  cards,  drawing  and  roving, 
and  seventy-two  spindles,  which  were  worked  by  an  old  fulling-mill 
water-wheel  in  a  clothier's  building,  in  which  the}'  continued  spin- 
ning about  t\vent\'  months,  at  the  expiration  of  wliich  time  lhe\'  had 
several  thousand  pounds  of 
yarn  on  hand,  notwithstand- 
ing every  exertion  was  used 
to  weave  it  up  and  sell  it. 

•'  Early  in  the  year  1793, 
Almy,  Brown,  and  Slater, 
built  a  small  factor\'  in  that 
village  (known  and  called  to 
this  day  the  •  Old  Factory  "). 
ill  \vliich  they  set  in  motion 
July  12,  the  ^reparatiou  and 
seventy-two  spindles,  and 
slowh'  added  to  that  number, 
as  the  sales  of  the  varn  ap- 
peared more  promising, 
which  induced  the  said  Slater 

to  be  concerned  in  erecting  a  new  mill,  and  to  increase  the  machinerv 
in  the  old  mill." 

Mr.  Slater  had  great  ditiiculties  to  contend  with  in  his  first 
attempt  to  spin  cotton  in  Pawtucket.  The  machinery  his  emplovers 
had  been  using  he  declared  unsuitable,  and  proceeded  to  construct 
maciiines  on  the  English  models.  An  important  drawback  was,  that 
he  had  no  plans  or  drawings,  but  had  to  trust  entirelv  to  his  memor\'. 
Though  at  times  almost  discouraged  b\"  his  apparent  want  of  success, 
he  nevertheless  succeeded  in  constructing  the  machines.  A  partner- 
ship was  formed  by  Slater  with  William  Almy  and  Smith  Brown, 
April  5,  1790.  "In  1798  Mr.  Slater  entered  into  companv  with 
Oziel  Wilkinson,  Timothy  Green,  and  William  Wilkinson,  the  two 
latter,  as  well  as  himself,  having  married  daughters  of  Oziel  Wil- 
kinson. He  built  the  second  mill  on  the  east  side  of  Pawtucket 
River,  the  fn-m  being  Samuel  Slater  &  Co.,  himself  holding  half  the 
stock."'  Mr.  Slater  superintended  both  these  establishments,  receiv- 
ing $1.50  per  day  for  each  mill.  The  business  progressed  under 
his  management,  and  a  number  of  mills  in  which  he  was  interested 
were  built  in  neigiiboring  villages,  both  in  Rhode  Island  and  Mas- 
sachusetts.     Other  parties,  mostl\"  men  who  had  learned  the  business 


124  Picturesque  Rhode  Island. 


in  the  factories  of  Mr.    Slater  and  his  partners,  built  factories,  and 
the  business  was  gradually  extended  throughout  New  England. 

The  original  factories  of  Slater  and  his  partners,  like  those  of  Ark- 
wright  in  England,  were  engaged  solely  in  the  manufacture  of  yarn. 
The  weaving  was  at  first  done  on  hand-looms  in  private  houses. 
After  the  more  general  introduction  of  the  power-loom  (invented 
by  the  Rev.  Edmund  Cartwright,  in  1785),  it  was  performed  in 
establishments  erected  for  the  purpose.  The  first  mill  in  the  world 
in  which  all  the  processes  for  the  manufacture  of  cotton,  from  the  raw 
material  to  the  perfected  cloth,  were  combined,  was  erected  at  Wal- 
tham,  Mass.,  in  181 3. 

Mr.  Slater  was  unostentatious  in  his  habits,  and  was,  as  he  him- 
self says,  "  a  candid  Englishman."  His  life  outside  of  his  business 
was  uneventful.  In  his  own  sphere,  however,  he  was  a  tireless  worker 
and  a  consummate  manager,  as  the  extent  of  his  business  and  his 
financial  success  testify.  He  was  ever  ready  to  help  those  of  his 
countrymen  who  needed  his  assistance,  and  man}^  were  the  emi- 
grants who  were  aided  by  his  quiet  benevolence.  He  and  his  part- 
ners established  schools  at  their  factories  for  the  benefit  of  their 
operatives,  and  Mr.  Slater  is  said  to  have  established  the  first  Sun- 
day School  in  this  country.  His  school  was  conducted  upon  the 
well-known  plan  of  Robert  Raikes.  In  the  later  years  of  his  life 
Mr.  Slater  became  largely  interested  in  both  woolen  mills  and 
machine  shops.  The  life  of  Samuel  Slater  is  more  worthy  of  honor 
than  that  of  many  a  statesman  or  warrior  whose  renown  is  world- 
wide. His  triumphs  were  peaceful,  but  the}^  produced  changes 
greater  than  the  downfall  or  upbuilding  of  an  empire.  He  died  at 
Pawtucket,  April  21,  1835.  Many  descendants  in  the  United  States 
still  bear  his  name. 

From  the  "old  mill"  at  Pawtucket,  with  its  few  imperfect 
machines,  to  the  large  factories  of  the  present  day,  is  an  immense 
advance.  Yet  there  has  been  no  invention  since  that  time  embody- 
ing new  principles.  All  this  change  has  been  brought  about  by  the 
improvement  and  adaptation  of  the  existing  machinery.  The  process 
of  development  is  still  going  on.  The  tendency  is  toward  making 
all  the  machinery  automatic.  Much  has  been  accomplished  in  this 
direction  ;  no  doubt  there  is  room  for  further  progress.  The  follow- 
ing statistics  will  convey  an  idea  of  the  growth  of  the  business 
throughout  the  country  : 

"  The  number  of  cotton-factories  in  the  United  States   in   1810 


Pawtl'l'ket,  North  Promdenci;,  and  Lincoln, 


12^ 


w'us  reported  to  be  241  :  the  num- 
ber ot'  spindles  was  estimated  at 
96,400,  an  averai^e  ot'  400  lor 
each  mill.  Accordincr  to  a  re- 
port  of  a  committee  of  Congress 
in  1815.  $40,000,000  was  then 
invested  in  cotton  manufacture, 
and  100,000  persons  were  em- 
ployed: 27,000,000  pounds  of 
cotton  were  consumed,  produc- 
ing 81,000,000  yards  of  cloth, 
valued  at  $24,300,000.  In  Rhode 
Island,  Massachusetts,  and  Con- 
necticut were  165  mills,  witli 
119,310  spindles;  and  it  has 
been  estimated  that  the  total 
number  of  spindles  at  that  time 
w  as  350,000.  Power-looms  soon 
alter  ward  coming  into  general 
use,  as  already  stated,  the  num- 
ber of  spindles  increased  to 
1 ,500,000  in  1830,  and  1,750.000 
in  1835.  Complete  and  trustwortlu'  statistics  of  cotton  manufacture 
seem  to  have  been  lirst  reported  by  the  census  of  1840.  There 
were  then  in  the  United  States  1,240  mills,  with  2,284,631  spindles, 
and  129  dyeing  and  printing  establishments.  These  establish- 
ments employed  72,119  hands,  and  produced  goods  valued  at  $46,- 
350,430.  The  amount  of  capital  invested  was  $51,102,359.  The 
leading  cotton  manufacturing  States  were  Massachusetts,  liaving 
278  mills,  with  665,095  spindles;  Rhode  Island,  209  mills,  with 
518,817  spindles;  New  York,  117  mills,  with  211,659  spindles;  and 
Connecticut,  116  mills,  with  181,319  spindles.  There  were  no 
cotton-millij  in  Illinois,  Missouri,  Michigan,  Florida,  Wisconsin, 
Iowa,  or  the  District  of  Columbia.  The  following  totals  for  the 
United  States,  from  the  federal  census,  will  aflbrd  a  comparison  of 
this  most  im]>()rtant  industr\-,  with  its  condition  prior  to  tlie  Civil 
War : " 


The   First   Baptist   Church. 


126 


Picturesque  Rhode  Island. 


Establishments. 

Looms 

Spindles 

Hands 

Capital 

Wages 

Raw  Cotton,  lbs 
All  materials.. . . 
All  products 


iSSo. 


230,223 

10,931,147 

181,628 


Bales,  i,5,86',4Si 


1S70. 


956 

157,810 

7.132.415 

135.369 

$140,706,291 

$39,044,132 

398,302.257 

$111,736,936 

*  177.489.739 


i,ogi 

126,313 

5.235.727 

122,028 

$98,585,260 

$23,938,236 

422,704,975 

$57,285,534 
$115,681,774 


1850. 


1,094 


92,286 

$74,500,931 

288,558,000 
$34,835,056 
$65,501,687 


The  growth  of  a  large  manufacturing  industry  brings  with  it 
more  changes  than  many  agencies  which  occupy  a  larger  place  in 
municipal  and  state  records.  Though  not  so  noticeable  as  an  act  of 
a  Legislature,  nor  so  liable  to  be  observed  and  commented  upon,  the 
building  of  a  factory  often  means  far  more,  and  its  influence  is  much 
broader  and  deeper.  A  new  industry  in  a  community  growing  grad- 
ually to  large  proportions,  will,  in  the  course  of  events,  produce  new 
social  combinations  ;  may,  perhaps,  create  a  new  class  ;  and  will  in 
some  instances  induce  changes  leading  almost  to  social  and  political 
revolutions.  This  is  true  of  the  cotton  industry  in  New  England, 
and  particularly  in  this  State. 

When  Slater  began  to  construct  the  Arkwright  cotton  machiner}^ 
at  Pawtucket  there  was  no  dominant  mechanical  pursuit  in  this  part 
of  the  country.  The  farmers  had  a  very  limited  market  for  their 
produce.  Poverty  pressed  hard  upon  many  ;  the  means  of  nearly 
all  were  small.  What  was  needed  was  work,  and  the  necessity  was 
supplied  by  the  cotton  business.  As  the  industry  increased,  and  new 
improvements  were  made  each  year  in  the  machinery,  mills  were 
erected  wherever  water-power  was  available,  and  villages  soon  grew 
up  around  them.  The  operatives  were  at  first  drawn  from  the  native 
population  ;  they  were  the  children  of  the  farmers  and  mechajiics  in 
the  surrounding  towns  and  villages,  reinforced,  perliaps,  by  a  few 
foreigners  lamiliar  with  the  business.  The  majority  of  the  strangers 
were  English.  The  factory  population  thus  formed  was  homogene- 
ous in  its  character,  with  similar  habits  and  customs,  and  a  common 
ancestr}^  There  was  a  large  class  that  fluctuated  between  work  on 
the  farm  and  work  in  the  factory.  An  easy  independence  was  thus 
maintained  by  the  working-class.  The  opportunity  for  diversity  of 
employment  preserved  and  nurtured  that  individuality  which  is  the 
peculiar  characteristic  of  New  England,  and  which  is  only  in  very 


Pavvtucket,  North  Providence,  and  Lincoln 


127 


rare  instances  found  in  a  people  compelled  by  the  force  of  circum- 
stances to  follow  one  calling.  The  population  of  these  factory  xW- 
lages  were  orderly,  well-belia\ed,  and  moral. 

Tlie  change  which  has  taken  j-)lace  was  brougiu  about  b}'  the 
stream  of  emigration  wiiicii  began  to  ilow  from  Europe  to  America 
during  the  second  quarter  of  this  century.  The  Irish  came  in  the 
largest  numbers.  In  1850  there  were  in  this  State  15,944  nati\  es  of 
Ireland,  —  sixty-nine  per  cent,  of  its  entire  foreign  population.  At 
the  same  time  the  English  numbered  4,490,  or  a  little  over  nineteen 
in  every  hundred  of  the  foreign  population.  Both  nationalities  on 
their  arri\'al  engaged  in  factorv  labor :  the  English  were  already 
skilled  in  the  business ;  the  Irish  soon  became  so.  While  these 
accessions  were  made  to  the  ranks  of  the  factor}'  population,  an 
exodus  was  at  the  same  time  taking  place.  The  native  American 
sought  emplo3'ment  in  directions  where  more  opportunities  were  to 
be  had  for  individual  enterprise.  In  the  city  and  the  larger  towns 
carrving  on  diversified  industries  the  proportion  of  native  Ameri- 
cans was  larger  than  in  the  small  factory  villages.  Since  the  War 
of  the  Rebellion  the 
French  Canadians  ha\  c 
]")een  thronging  to  the  fac- 
tory districts.  The  increase 
in  their  numbers  between 
the  years  1865  and  1875 
was  a  little  more  than  tliat 
of  the  Irish  within  the 
same  period.  In  man\"  \  il- 
lages  in  the  State  the\-  at 
j-)resent  outnumber  the 
Irish,  wiiom  tiiev  have 
supplanted  as  the  Irish  did 
the  Americans. 

The  factory  \'illage   of 
to-day  is  very  different  from  ir,.  o,d  siat.,  Mhi. 

that  of  half  a  century  ago. 

The  various  nationalities  are  not  welded  together.  They  remain 
distinct,  in  a  measure  preserving  their  own  peculiarities  and  customs. 
What  the  result  of  this  condition  of  things  is  to  be,  is  a  question  of 
grave  importance.  If  the  "  cotton  industry  "  is  maintained  in  New 
l""ngland.    tlie   children   of  these   aliens   nuist   be    American   citizens. 


128  Picturesque  Rhode  Island. 

Dr.  Snow,  the  superintendent  of  the  last  State  census,  who  is  prob- 
ably more  familiar  with  the  characteristics  of  the  operatives  than  any 
other  man,  says  that  the  French  Canadians,  "  more  than  any  other 
class  of  the  population,  keep  every  child  possible  at  work  in  the  mills, 
to  the  utter  neglect  of  schools  and  education.  It  is  an  urgent  duty  to 
them  and  to  the  State  to  compel  them  and  their  employers  to  obey 
the  laws  in  relation  to  the  employment  of  children."  This  may  with 
truth  be  applied  to  all  the  elements  composing  the  factory  population. 
It  is,  however,  very  doubtful  if  these  laws  can  be  enforced.  The 
situations  of  most  of  the  villages  in  districts  where  the  factories, 
houses  and  lands  belong  to  a  single  firm,  by  placing  such  power  in 
the  hands  of  a  few  makes  improvement  depend  too  much  upon  the 
material  interest  of  the  owner.  Where  that  interest  conflicts  with 
the  enforcement  of  educational  laws,  law  in  too  many  cases  inevi- 
tably yields  to  interest. 

According  to  the  special  report  of  the  tenth  census  on  the  cotton 
manufacture,  b}^  Edward  Atkinson,  the  number  of  persons  employed 
in  this  industry  in  Rhode  Island  in  1880,  was  22,228;  spindles  in 
motion,  1,649,295;  looms,  30,274:  and  cotton  consumed,  161,694 
bales. 

In  Pawtucket,  according  to  the  state  census  of  1875,  there  were 
nineteen  establishments  engaged  in  various  branches  of  cotton  manu- 
facture, employing  2,322  persons,  and  wdth  an  invested  capital  of 
$2,492,600.  The  principal  firms  manufacturing  cotton  cloth  are  the 
Slater  Cotton  Co.,  the  Bridge  Mill  Manufacturing  Co.,  and  the  Uni- 
ted States  Flax  Manufacturing  Co.  Quite  a  number  of  establish- 
ments are  employed  in  making  spool-cotton  and  cotton  yarns.  The 
leading  concerns  are  the  Conant  Thread  Co.,  manufacturers  of  cot- 
ton thread  ;  the  Greene  &  Daniels  Manufacturing  Co.,  Stafford  &  Co., 
and  the  Hope  Thread  Co.,  manufacturers  of  spool-cotton  and  cotton 
yarns.  In  the  surrounding  villages,  within  the  limits  of  the  towns  of 
Lincoln,  Cumberland,  and  North  Providence,  there  are  many  facto- 
ries employed  in  the  manufacture  of  cotton  cloth,  the  principal  com- 
panies being  the  Lonsdale  Co.,  with  mills  at  Lonsdale  and  Ashton, 
in  Lincoln  ;  Albion  Mills  Co.,  Albion,  Lincoln  ;  Manville  Co.,  Man- 
ville,  Cumberland;  and  the  Berkeley  Mills  Co.,  Berkeley,  Cumber- 
land. There  are  also  mills  at  Allendale,  Centredale,  and  Lyman- 
ville.  North  Providence.  The  Stafford  Manufacturing  Co.,  and  the 
Cumberland  Mills,  at  Valley  Falls,  are  engaged  in  the  manufacture 
of  spool-cottons  and  cotton  yarns.  The  Union  Wadding  Co.  carries 
on  an  extensive  business  in  white  and  colored  waddings  and  battings, 


Pawtucket,  North  Providence,  and  Lincoln.         129 


A  Glimpse  of   Lonsdale. 


and  machine  waste  in  Pawtucket.  The  lower  floor  of  the  *' Old 
Slater  Mill"  is  at  present  occupied  by  J.  L.  Spencer  in  the  manufac- 
ture of  cotton  yarns,  twine,  and  thread. 

The  woolen  manufacture  is  represented  by  the  Pawtucket  Ilair- 
Cloth  Co.,  manufacturers  of  hair  seatings  ;  D.  Goft'  &  Son,  alpaca 
braids;  George  Mason  &  Co.,  braids;  and  in  Central  Falls,  by  the 
Central  Falls  Woolen  Mill,  cloth. 

The  existence  of  so  many  factories  creates  a  demand  for  manu- 
facturers' supplies  of  all  descriptions.  Among  the  establishments 
supplying  this  demand  are  E.  Jenckes  &  Co.,  Pawtucket,  manufac- 
turers of  many  kinds  of  small  supplies,  and  dealers  in  belts,  lacing, 
etc.,  Weatherhead,  Thompson  &  Co.,  Central  Falls,  manufacturers 
of  beking  and  thread  spools  :  and  Myron  Fish  &  Co.,  Valley  Falls, 
manufacturers  of  loom-harness,  and  dealers  in  general  supplies.  Sev- 
eral extensive  machine  shops  are  employed  in  the  construction  of 
cotton  machinery.  Among  the  principal  establishments  are  those  of 
James  Brow^n,  the  Fales  &  Jenks  Machine  Co.,  and  George  W. 
Payne  &  Co.  The  latter  also  construct  woolen  machinery.  Wil- 
liam H.  Haskell  &  Co.,  bolt,  nut,  washer,  and  coach-screw  manu- 
facturers; J.  S.  White,  machinist  and  iron-founder;  and  Cole  Bros., 
steam-fire,  and  stationary  engine  builders,  are  among  the  prominent 
firms  engaged  in  the  general  machine  business. 

The  Bunnell  Manufacturing  Co.  have  one  of  the  largest  print- 


130  Picturesque  Rhode  Island. 

works  in  the  State.  These  works  are  located  on  Prospect  Street. 
Robert  D.  Mason  &  Co.,  on  East  Avenue,  are  extensively  engaged  in 
dyeing  and  bleaching.  This  firm  was  formed  in  1805.  Upon  the 
same  premises,  for  more  than  three-quarters  of  a  centur3^  the  busi- 
ness has  been  carried  on  without  interruption.  The  present  firm 
name  was  adopted  in  1870.  Other  large  establishments,  specially 
'worthy  of  note  in  this  connection,  are  those  of  the  Pawtucket  Dyeing 
and  Bleaching  Co.,  and  the  Moshassuck  Bleachery,  at  Saylesville, 
Lincoln,  owned  by  Messrs.  W.  F.  &  F.  C.  Sayles. 

Among  the  manv  prominent  merchants,  business-men,  and  firms 
engaged  in  various  manufactures,  we  may  also  mention  the  Bridge 
Mill  Paper  Co.  :  D.  D.  Sweet  &  Co.,  and  Gelinas  &  Chappell,  sash, 
doors,  and  blinds;  the  Joseph  Smith  Co.,  coal,  lumber,  etc.  ;  James 
Davis  &  Son,  tanners  and  manufacturers  of  belting  and  lacing; 
J.  O.  Draper  &  Co.,  soap  ;  the  Perry  Oil  Co.,  oil  and  soap  :  Linton 
Brothers,  card-board  and  glazed  paper;  L.  B.  Darling  &  Co., 
artificial  fertilizers;  the  New  American  File  Co.,  Central  Falls; 
P.  E.  Thayer  &  Co.,  brushes;  J.  Crocker  &  Son,  coftin-trimmings  ; 
W.  W.  Dexter,  watches  and  jewelry  ;  Charles  A.  Warland,  and 
Charles  P.  Adams,  real  estate  ;  Daniel  A.  Clark,  coflins  and  cas- 
kets ;  Loring  M.  Monk,  carriages;  S.  Grant  &  Co.,  coal,  wood, 
etc.;  E.  M.  Hunt  &  Co.,  coal;  Carpenter  &  Co.  and  Pawtucket 
Furniture  Co.,  furniture;  Small  &  Harle}',  dr}' goods  ;  George  H. 
Fuller,  jewelers'  findings  ;  A.  F.  Bray  and  C.  M.  Read,  hardware  ; 
Fisk  &  Co.,  C.  E.  Davis  &  Son,  G.  T.  Dana  &  Co.,  Pawtucket, 
and  Jones  &  Davis,  Central  Falls,  druggists  ;  C.  A.  Luther,  cloth- 
stretchers  ;  A.  F.  Salisbury,  photographer ;  J.  N.  Polsey  &  Co., 
packing-boxes  ;  Havens  &  DeWitt,  bakers  ;  IL  H.  Sager,  and  H. 
N.  Wilkinson,  book-sellers  and  stationers  :  Lee  &  Burnham,  and  G. 
E.  Woodbury,  dentists. 

Pawtucket  and  Lincoln,  like  most  other  busy  and  thriving  local- 
ities, have  their  indispensable  newspapers  ;  in  Pawtucket,  the  Gazette 
and  Chronicle,  published  every  Friday  by  Messrs.  Sibley  &  Lee, 
Mill  Street;  in  Central  Falls,  Lincoln,  The  Weekly  ]^isttor,  issued 
every  Friday,  by  Messrs.  E.  L.  Freeman  &  Co.,  publishers. 

The  leading  hotels  in  Pawtucket,  to-day,  are  the  Benedict  House, 
J.  L.  McFarland,  proprietor  ;  and  tlie  Pawtucket  Hotel,  D.  W.  Buck- 
lin,  proprietor. 

To  the  traveler  who  obtains  his  first  view  of  Pawtucket  from  the 
windows  of  the  cars  of  the  Boston  and  Providence  Railroad,  the  place 


Pawtucket,  North  Providenck,  and  Lincoln. 


131 


presents  the  appeiirance  ol'  a  lar^e  and  Inisv  citv.  Before  him  the 
entire  hindscape  to  the  southward  is  wholly  occupied  by  build- 
inos,  closely  packed  together,  —  dwelling-houses  of  all  descriptions, 
with  here  and  there  a  factory  or  a  church  standing  out  prominently. 
Tiie  whole  of  this 
busy  scene,  how- 
ever, is  not  located 
within  the  limits  of 
the  town  of  Paw- 
tucket ;  a  consider- 
able portion  is  in  the 
town  of  Lincoln,' 
and  is  known  as 
Central  Falls.  Since 
the  consolidation  of 
Pawtucket  in  1874, 
various  attempts 
Ikuc  been  made  to 
unite  Central  Falls 
with  it,  but  thus  far 
without  success.  As 
the  line  which  di- 
vides these  two  pla- 
ces is  an    arbitrar}- 

one,  while  the  communities  are  in  realit}'  a  unit,  with  no  \isible 
natural  separation,  a  union  in  the  future  is  inevitable.  Valley  Falls, 
situated  partly  in  Lincoln  and  partly  in  Cumberland,  is  in  realitv 
only  a  suburb  of  Pawtucket  and  Central  Falls,  and  is  a  short  dis- 
tance from  the  latter  place. 

Manv  new  and  fine  buildings  have,  within  the  past  few  years, 
been  erected  in  the  central  portion  of  Pawtucket,  thereby  adding  to 
the  appearance  of  the  place,  and  giving  it  more  of  the  air  of  a  cit\'. 
Music  Hall,  owned  by  L.  B.  Darling,  is  the  latest  erected,  and  one  of 
the  finest  of  these  buildings.  The  Blackstone  River  flows  through 
Valley  Falls,  Central  Falls,  and  Pawtucket,  affording  water-power 
for  the  numerous  factories  on  its  banks.  A  succession  of  dams 
thrown  across  the  stream  make  the  water  available.  Five  bridges 
now  span  the  river  in  Pawtucket  and  Central  Falls.  The  lowest 
bridge  is  a  substantial  stone  structure  of  nine  arches,  and  is  very 
high  above  the  water.     The  next  bridge,   also  built  of  stone,  with 


Old   Butterfly    Factory,    Lincoln. 


132  Picturesque  Rhode  Island. 

two  arches,  is  almost  directly  over  the  falls.  The  falls  do  not  now 
exist  in  their  original  condition,  but  have  been  supplemented  bv  a 
dam.  Below  the  dam,  however,  are  the  rag-^ed  ledijes  over  which 
the  waters  still  foam  and  boil  as  they  have  done  for  countless  ages. 
When  the  water  is  abundant,  or  the  river  is  in  flood,  the  view  of  the 
falls  from  this  bridge  is  worth  a  visit.  The  other  three  are  iron 
suspension  bridges.  At  V^alley  Falls  is  an  iron  bridge,  for  foot  and 
carriage  travel,  and  the  railroad  bridge  of  the  Providence  and  Wor- 
cester Railroad.  The  Boston  and  Providence  Railroad  crosses  the 
Blackstone  on  an  iron  bridge  just  before  its  junction  with  the  Provi- 
dence and  Worcester. 

In  the  neighborhood  of  Lonsdale  and  Saylesville,  in  the  town 
of  Lincoln,  the  country  presents  a  unique  appearance.  Hills  and 
hollows  succeed  each  other  quickly  and  abruptly.  From  the  roads, 
alternately  in  the  depressions  and  the  elevations,  fine  views  mav 
often  be  obtained  of  the  surrounding  country.  Where  the  lands  in 
the  neighborhood  of  the  Blackstone  River  are  low,  in  many  places, 
forced  back  by  the  dams  on  the  river,  the  water  has  overflowed  and 
formed  shallow  ponds.  Between  Lonsdale  and  Saylesville  a  large 
pond  is  now  in  existence,  mainly  the  result  of  a  dam  thrown  across 
the  old  Blackstone  Canal.  The  old  canal  trench  is  in  the  centre  of 
the  pond,  and  the  water  is  of  considerable  depth. 

Pawtucket  has  an  excellent  system  of  water-works,  which  were 
put  in  operation  Jan.  31,  1878,  and  have  since  that  time  worked  well, 
supplying  not  only  Pawtucket  but  also  East  Providence,  Central 
Falls  and  other  small  places  in  the  neighborhood.  The  engine  used 
at  the  pumping-station  is  one  made  by  George  H.  Corliss,  and  has 
given  good  satisfaction.  A  reservoir,  300  feet  above  tide-water,  situ- 
ated on  Reservoir  Heights,  two  and  a  half  miles  from  the  business 
centre,  was  completed  Nov.  6,  1878.  Its  area  is  about  three  acres, 
depth  twenty-one  feet,  and  capacity  20,000,000  gallons.  The  water 
is  obtained  from  Abbott's  Run,  which  has  a  water-shed  of  26.6  miles. 
Up  to  this  time  the  cost  of  the  works  has  been  about  $633,000. 

As  has  already  been  stated.  North  Providence  until  1874  ^oj\- 
tained  within  its  limits  all  of  Pawtucket  on  the  east  side  of  the  river. 
In  that  year  a  partition  was  made,  one  part  was  given  to  the  city  of 
Providence,  another  to  the  town  of  Pawtucket,  and  only  a  small  frag- 
ment of  the  original  town  was  left.  This  portion  is  mainly  peopled 
by  an  agricultural  community ;  there  are  only  a  few  small  manufac- 
turing establishments  within  its  bounds.     "  Fruit  Hill,"  in  this  town,  is 


Pawtucket,  North  Pkovidence,  and  Lincoln.         133 


The   Baptisi  Church,   Central    Falls. 


an  extensive  upland,  beautifully 
situated :  it  was  early  settled, 
and  the  sites  of  the  dwellings  of 
the  first  settlers  are  yet  pointed 
out  by  antiquarians.  An  educa- 
tional institution,  known  at  the 
outset  as  the  Fruit  Hill  Semi- 
nary, and  subsequently  as  the 
Fruit  Hill  Classical  Institute,  was 
started  on  the  old  Fruit  Hill  es- 
tate in  1835,  ^^^^^  continued  in 
existence  until  1861.  The  his- 
tory of  the  other  portions  of 
North  Providence  will  be  found 
in  the  accounts  of  Providence 
and   Pawtucket. 

Lincoln  was  formed  from  the 
old  town  of  Smithfield  in  1871. 
The  cotton  manufacture  is  here 
extensively  carried  on  in  the  vil- 

lai^^es  of  Central  Falls,  Valley  Falls,  Lonsdale,  Ashton,  Berkeley, 
and  Albion.  Since  its  incorporation  various  eflbrts  have  been  made 
to  annex  portions  of  the  town  to  neighboring  towns,  but  without  suc- 
cess. "The  principal  if  not  the  only  peculiarity  of  this  town  in 
its  government,  as  distinguished  from  other  towns  of  this  State,  is,  that 
while  it  is  governed  bv  a  town  council,  as  other  towns  are,  yet  the 
southeasterly  portion  of  it,  embracing  the  most  thickly  settled  part, 
is  specially  incorporated  by  the  Legislature  under  the  name  of  '  the 
Central  Falls  Fire  District,'  with  power  to  elect  a  moderator,  clerk, 
treasurer,  three  assessors,  and  a  collector  of  taxes  ;  to  elect  fire-wards 
and  presidents  f)f  fire-wards  ;  to  order,  assess  and  collect  taxes  on 
persons  and  property  within  such  district  for  fire-extinguishing 
apparatus,  and  keeping  the  same  in  order  and  using  it ;  to  prescribe 
the  duties  of  fire-wards  and  of  the  citizens  of  said  district  in  case  of 
conflagration  :  to  provide  for  suppressing  disorder  and  tumult,  for  the 
lighting  of  streets,  and  the  maintaining  of  such  police  force  as  they 
mav  deem  necessary."  Altiiough  so  recently  incorporated,  Lincoln  is 
one  of  the  most  important  towns  of  the  State,  and  its  manufacturing 
business  is  constantlv  on  the  increase. 


p^-- 

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fym 



CHAPTER  VI. 


Cl'MlJKHI.AM)  WII.I.IAM  BI.Ac  KSTOXK  —  NIN  )■:  MEN'S  M  ISKItN.  W  OONSOCKET  — 
KDWAKD  IIAURIS  ANOTHI-:  HARRIS  IXSTITITK— MANUFACTURES 
—  EDICATIOX.  SMITIIFIEI.D  AND  NOJtTH  SMITIII- lELI).  RUR- 
RIIJ.\'II.I.E— |AMi;s   I5URRILI,  — THE  l-OIUJERS  CAVE. 


HE  torni  of  William  Blackstone,  sitting  upon  his  bull, 
rides  slowh-  along-  before  the  eyes  of  the  historical  stu- 
dent as  he  approaclies  the  town  of  Cumberland.  With 
the  single  exception  of  Roger  Williams,  no  figure  in 
the  earlv  historv  of  the  State  is  more  prominent  than 
that  of  this  old  "  non-cortformist  preacher."  The  cloud 
of  mystery  which  enveloped  him  when  the  Massachu- 
setts colonists  found  him  living  in  tranquil  seclusion 
upon  the  peninsida  of  Shawmut,  was  never  entirely  dis- 
pelled. Until  the  day  of  his  death  he  maintained  the 
same  singular  reticence  and  lived  in  the  same  studious 
solitude,  those  who  had  met  him  hfty  years  before  had  noted  with 
such  wonder. 

When  Governor  W^inthrop  and  those  w^ho  came  with  him  landed 
at  Charlestown,  in  1630,  Mr.  Blackstone  had  been  living  at  Shaw- 
mut (the  peninsula  upon  which  the  city  of  Boston  now  stands)  long 
enough  "to  have  raised  apple-trees  and  planted  an  orchard."  Tradi- 
tion sa\s  that  the  would-be  colonists  were  at  first  inclined  to  thrust 
out  Blackstone  from  his  home  upon  the  peninsula,  upon  the  specious 
pretence  that  they  had  received  a  grant  of  the  tract  from  the  king. 
As  the  old  story  runs,  it  would  seem  that  the  young  hermit  had  lost 
nothing  of  his  talent  for  argument  during  his  residence  in  the  wilds 
of  America.  Haughtily  he  made  answer  to  the  claims  of  the  men 
of  "the  Bay."     "The  king,"  said  he,   "  asserteth  sovereignty  over 


136  Picturesque  Rhode  Island. 

this  new  Virginia  in  respect  that  John  and  Sebastian  Cabot  sailed 
along  the  coast,  without  even  landing  at  any  place  ;  and  if  the  qual- 
ity of  sovereignty  can  subsist  upon  the  substratum  of  mere  inspec- 
tion, surely  the  quality  of  property  can  subsist  upon  that  of  actual 
occupancy,  which  is  the  foundation  of  my  claim." 

This  story  is  a  most  excellent  one,  and  the  speech  put  into  the 
mouth  of  Blackstone  so  well  accords  with  his  character  that  we  can 
almost  beHeve  the  statement  of  the  case  to  be  a  true  one.  It  is  quite 
possible,  however,  that  the  account  may  be  a  little  overdrawn. 

In  Prince's  Chrotiology  it  is  stated  that  the  settlers  of  Charles- 
town  having  become  sickly  by  reason  of  the  poor  water,  Mr.  Black- 
stone  {Blaxton,  Prince  spells  the  name)  invited  them  to  come  over 
and  settle  upon  the  peninsula,  teUing  the  governor  he  had  found 
there  a  most  excellent  spring  of  water.  Under  such  circumstances, 
the  attempt  to  dispossess  him  would  have  evinced  extreme  ingratitude 
on  the  part  of  theBay  colonists.  Moreover,  it  stands  perpetuated  in 
the  Massachusetts  records  "•  that  WiUiam  Blackstone  shall  have  fifty 
acres  of  ground  set  off  for  him  near  to  his  house  in  Boston,  to  enjoy 
forever." 

When  or  how  Blackstone  came  to  America  is  not  known.  In 
the  year  1628  his  name  was  mentioned  for  the  first  time  in  the 
Massachusetts  records.  It  is  likely  that  he  had  then  lived  for  two  or 
three  years  upon  Shawmut.  Of  this  fair  peninsula  he  was,  without 
doubt,  the  first  white  settler.  That  he  had  occupied  it  several  years, 
"  and  with  no  slight  advantage,  we  may  presume  from  the  expenses 
assessed  on  the  several  plantations,  from  Plymouth  northward,  for 
the  campaign  against  Morton  at  Merry  Mount,  in  1628  ;  his  propor- 
tion, though  the  least,  being  more  than  one-third  of  that  to  be  paid 
by  the  settlers  of  Salem,  before  the  coming  of  Endicott."  (Savage's 
Winfkrop,  Vol.  I.,  page  44.)  Almost  all  that  we  know  of  his  fife 
in  England  is,  that  he  was  "  a  non-conformist  minister  of  the  English 
Church."  He  is  supposed  to  have  graduated  from  Emmanuel  Col- 
lege, Cambridge,  in  161 7. 

Mr.  Blackstone  did  not  long  remain  upon  Shawmut  after  his 
countrymen  had  built  their  houses  upon  it.  Their  society  did  not 
prove  congenial.  In  1634  he  sold  out  his  title  to  the  peninsula, 
each  of  the  other  inhabitants  paying  him  six  pence  or  more  therefor. 
Having  purchased  a  drove  of  cattle,  he  started  in  search  of  a  new 
home  in  the  wilderness.  When  asked  the  reason  for  his  unusual 
course,  he  said,  "  I  left  England  to  get  from  under  the  power  of  the 


Cumberland. 


137 


Lord-Bishops,  but  in  America   I   am  fallen  under  tiie  power  of  the 
Lord-Brethren." 

About  three  miles  above  the  Pawtucket  Falls,  in  what  is  now  the 
town  of  Cumberland,  he  chose  the  spot  for  his  new  home.  On  the 
Plymouth  patent  this  tract  of  country  is  known  as  "  Attleborough 
Gore."  "  Study  Hill,"  was  the  name  he  gave  to  his  estate.  There, 
for  the  rest  of  his  life,  he  lived  in   studious  seclusion.      His  few  dis- 


Vaiiey   of   tne   Abbult  s   Run. 


tant  neighbors  learned  to  love  him  for  his  kindly  heart  and  generous 
nature.  Respecting  his  upright  character,  they  did  not  attempt  to 
interrupt  the  eccentric  course  of  his  life.  How  he  built  his  house 
we  know  not.  It  is  said  that  he  had  a  servant  named  Abbott.  This 
man  Abbott  possessed  some  of  the  peculiarities  that  were  so  marked 
in  his  master.  To  this  servant  Mr.  Blackstone  gave  a  tract  of  land 
upon  the  stream  which  now  bears  the  name  of  Abbott's  Run. 

Mr.  Blackstone  planted  upon  his  farm  at  Study  Hill  an  orchard, 
the  tirst  in  the  colony  of  Rhode  Island.  *'  Many  of  the  trees  which 
he  planted  about  one  hundred  and  thirt}'  years  ago  (wrote  Governor 
Hopkins  in  1765),  are  still  pretty  thrifty  fruit-bearing  trees.  He 
had  the  first  of  that  sort  called  yellow  sweetings,  that  were  ever  in 
the  world,  perhaps  the  richest  and  most  delicious  apple  of  the  whole 
kind.  Mr.  Blackstone  used  frequently  to  come  to  Providence  to 
preach  the  Gospel,  and,  to  encourage  his  young  hearers,  gave  them 
the  first  apples  they  ever  saw.  It  is  said  that  when  he  was  old,  and 
unable  to  travel  on  foot,  and  not  having  any  horse,  he  used  to  ride  on 
a  bull  which  lie  had  tamed  and   tutored  to  that  use."     Mr.    Newman, 


138 


Picturesque  Rhode  Island. 


in  his  discourse  delivered  July  4,  1855,  said  that  as  late  as  1830,  when 
they  were  nearly  two  hundred  years  old,  three  of  these  trees  were 
living,  and  two  were  still  bearing  apples. 

Blackstone  died  at  Study  Hill  only  a  few  days  before  the  com- 
mencement of  Philip's  War.  Unusually  fortunate  was  he  in  his 
death,  for  not  long  afterward  the  destroying  torch  of  an  Indian 
incendiarv  was  applied  to  the  house  in  which  he  had  lived  so  long. 
With  the  books  and  everything  else  it  contained,  the  dwelling  was 
entirely  consumed.  In  the  "  Inventory  of  the  Lands,  Goods  and 
Chattels  of  Mr.  William  Blackstone,"  taken  May  28,  1675, — two 
days  after  their  owner's  death,  —  his  library  was  prized  as  follows  : 


"  Library. 

3  Bibles,  los. — 6  English  books  in  folio,  £2, 

3  Latin  books  in  folio,  15s.  — 3  do.,  large  quarto,  £ 

15  small  quarto,  £1,  17s.  6d.  — 14  small  do.,  14s., 

30  large  octavo,  £4  —  25  small  do.,  £1,  5s.,    . 

22  duodecimo,  ...... 

53  small  do.,  of  little  value,      .... 

10  paper  books,        ...... 


Remainder  personal. 

Total  personal, 


£2    lOS. 

2,           2    15 

2    II 

6d. 

5     5 

I  13 

13 

5 

£15     I2S. 

6d. 

40    II 

£56     3s.   6d." 


This  library  of  186  volumes  was  a  very  unusual  one.  Not  many 
of  the  private  gentlemen  of  America  could  boast  of  such  a  collection. 
The  "  10  paper  books"  were  supposed  to  contain  the  record  of  his 
life,  the  well-digested  reflections  of  half  a  century  of  study. 

Like  his  neighbor  and  friend,  Roger  Williams,  Mr.  Blackstone 
was  more  than  a  century  in  advance  v  of  the  age  in  which  he  lived. 
When  the  air  of  England  was  heavy  with  the  life-destroying  dews  of 
religious  intolerance,  his  free  spirit  sought  in  America  the  liberty  he 
could  not  enjoy  in  his  native  country.  Hardly  had  he  become  settled 
in  his  home  in  the  new  world,  before  he  saw  rising  up  about  him  the 
house-walls  of  a  company  of  men  far  more  bigoted  than  those  he 
had  left  England  to  avoid.  ''He  uttered  no  complaints,  he  pro- 
voked no  quarrels,  but  quietly  sold  his  lands  and  again  retired  from 
the  face  of  civilization  and  again  took  up  his  solitary  abode  in  the 


Cumberland. 


139 


The   Blaokstone  at 
Woonsocket. 


wilderness  ;  and.  luckilv  for  his  peace, 
the  tide  of  civiHzation  had  but  just 
reached  him  at  the  period  of  his 
death."  • 

By  the  side  of  the  hill  upon  which  |' 

so  much  of  his  life  was  spent,  the  gentle  hermit  lies  buried. 
Although  no  ponderous  monument,  rich  with  sculptured  decora- 
tion, marks  the  spot,  the  river  gliding  along  through  the  meadows 
below  will  ever  perpetuate  his  name.  Only  the  hill  and  the  ri\er 
remain  of  all  the  landscape  with  which  he  was  so  familiar.  The 
forests  that  stretched  away  on  every  side  in  never-ending  aisles  of 
green  have  been  gradually  leveled  as  the  steady  growth  of  popula- 
tion made  their  destruction  necessary.  Prosperous  villages  have 
sprung  up  at  almost  every  bend  of  the  winding  river.  The  waters 
that  once  crept  peacefully  onward  through  the  verdant  fields,  or 
halted  here  and  there  in  timorous  hesitation  at  the  brink  of  some 
miniature  cataract,  are  now  lashed  into  angrv  foam  by  the  revolving 
blades  of  hundreds  of  whirling  mill-wheels,  as  they  hasten  on  to 
mingle  with  the  sparkling  waves  of  Narragansett  Ba}'. 


140  Picturesque  Rhode  Island. 

Cumberland  was  one  of  the  five  towns  received  from  Massachu- 
setts in  1746-7.  Before  its  incorporation  as  a  town  of  Rhode 
Island  it  had  formed  a  part  of  Attleborough,  and  from  its  peculiar 
shape  had  received  the  name  of  Attleborough  Gore.  The  name  of 
Cumberland  was  gfiven  it  in  honor  of  William,  Duke  of  Cumberland. 
Possibly,  also,  the  name  may  have  been  bestowed  upon  it  because  of 
its  geological  features,  which  resemble  somewhat  those  of  the  Eng- 
lish Cumberland. 

The  town  possesses  some  very  valuable  mineral  deposits.  Per- 
haps in  the  course  of  years  it  may  prove  profitable  to  reopen  its 
disused  mines.  From  the  Diamond  Hill  granite  quarry  some  of  the 
finest  building-stone  in  New  England  is  obtained. 

Very  much  might  be  written  concerning  the  "  Indian  history"  of 
the  town.  One  very  noted  spot  within  its  borders  is  known  as  "  Nine 
Men's  Misery."  On  the  day  of  "Pierce's  Fight"  nine  men  here 
lost  their  lives.  Daggett,  in  his  History  of  Attleborough,  gives  this 
•  version  of  the  story  :  "A  company  of  nine  men  were  in  advance  of, 
or  had  strayed  from  their  party  for  some  purpose,  when  they  discov- 
ered a  number  of  Indians  near  the  spot,  whom  they  immediately 
pursued  and  attacked,  but  a  large  number  of  the  enemy  rushed  out 
from  the  swamp  and  surrounded  them.  The  whites,  placing  their 
backs  to  a  large  ro,ck  near  by,  fought  with  desperation  till  every  one 
of  them  was  killed  on  the  spot.  The  rest  of  their  party,  who  were  in 
hearing  of  their  guns,  hastened  to  their  succor,  but  arrived  too  late  to 
render  them  any  assistance.  Their  bodies  were  buried  on  the  spot, 
which  is  now  designated  by  a  large  pile  of  stones."  One  tradition  says 
that  these  nine  men  were  prisoners  who  had  been  reserved  for  torture 
by  the  Indians.  "They  were  carried  to  a  sort  of  peninsula  of  upland, 
nearly  surrounded  by  '  Camp  Swamp,'  and  seated  upon  a  rock  in  a 
kind  of  natural  amphitheatre  formed  by  the  elevated  ground  around  it. 
The  savages  commenced  the  war-dance  around  them,  and  were  pre- 
paring to  torture  them ;  but,  disagreeing  about  the  manner  of  torture, 
they  fell  into  a  quarrel  among  themselves,  in  which  some  of  the  Indians 
dispatched  the  prisoners  with  the  tomahawk.  The  Indians,  having 
scalped  them,  left  their  bodies  upon  the  rock  where  they  had  slain 
them,  and  here  they  remained  unburied  till  they  were  discovered  by 
the  English  some  weeks  after.  They  were  then  buried,  all  in  one 
grave.  A  heap  of  small  stones,  in  the  shape  of  the  earth  on  a  newly- 
made  grave,  still  marks  the  spot  where  they  lie." 


WOONSOCKET.  141 


WooNSOCKET. —  The  origin  of  the  name  Woonsocket,  if  not 
precisely  lost  in  the  mists  of  antiquity,  still  does  not  stand  out  in  tht- 
clear  light  of  certainty.  Its  old  Indian  form  is  Woonesuckete,  which 
has  been  explained  with  a  good  degree  of  probability  as  derived 
from  two  Indian  words,  Woone  thunder,  and  Siickctc  mists,  meaning, 
in  composition,  thunder  mists.  When  one  imagines  how  the  falls 
must  have  thundered  through  the  solitude  of  the  forest,  and  sees  in 
fancy  the  column  of  mist  which  arose  from  their  foot,  it  is  easy  to 
believe  that  this  explanation,  although  not  insisted  upon  by  its 
author,  is  the  true  one. 

The  town  of  Woonsocket,  at  least  so  much  of  it  as  lies  upon  the 
east  side  of  the  river,  was  until  1867,  a  period  of  one  hundred  and 
thirty  years,  a  village  in  the  town  of  Cumberland.  At  the  January 
session  of  the  State  Legislature  of  that  year  it  was  incorporated  as  a 
separate  township,  and  in  1871  its  area  was  increased  by  the  addition 
of  that  part  of  Smithfield  which  constituted  Western  Woonsocket. 
The  Blackstone  River  flows  through  it  and  the  Woonsocket  hills  lie 
around,  enclosing  it  in  a  kind  of  amphitheatre. 

The  first  settlers  in  the  town  were  Richard  Arnold  and  Samuel 
Comstock.  Arnold  made  the  humble  beginning  of  this  present  pros- 
perous borough  by  building  a  saw-mill  on  the  river  about  the  year 
1666.  The  precise  date  cannot  be  determined.  Comstock  settled  at 
a  point  west  of  Union  Village.  Their  lands,  which  were  held  in 
common  during  their  lives,  were  divided  by  their  heirs.  By  this 
division  the  Arnold  family  came  into  possession  of  a  great  estate  in 
the  vicinity  of  the  falls,  and  may  be  looked  upon  as  the  forefathers 
of  the  town.  Richard  Arnold  himself  was  an  able  and  judicious 
man,  ready  and  useful  in  the  colonial  council,  and  active  and 
energetic  in  carrying  his  plans  into  efTect.  He  left  four  sons,  the 
eldest  of  whom  was  also  named  Richard.  This  Richard  built  a 
house  on  the  site  now  occupied  by  Mr.  Albert  Mowry.  To  any  one 
of  an  antiquarian  turn  of  mind,  it  may  be  interesting  to  know  that  a 
part  of  the  house  is  still  standing,  and,  dating  from  1690,  is  doubtless 
the  oldest  building  in  town. 

Among  the  numerous  descendants  of  the  original  Arnold  was 
James  Arnold,  known  in  Woonsocket  as  "  Uncle  Jim."  He  owned 
large  tracts  of  land  upon  the  river.  He  was  not  a  manufacturer  him- 
self, but  for  several  years  he  prospered  and  apparently  grew  rich 
by  putting  up  buildings  on  his  property  and  letting  them  out  to 
manufacturers.     The  first  one  of  these  was  erected  in  1808.      It  was 


1^2  Picturesque  Rhode  Island. 


a  grist-mill,  and  its  upper  stories  were  used  for  carding  wool.  He 
erected  building  after  building  and  leased  them  to  others,  until  in 
1814,  by  an  unfavorable  turn  of  Fortune's  wheel,— ;- which  seems  at 
this  time  not  to  have  been  a  mill-wheel,  as  formerly,  —  he  was  com- 
pelled to  sell  a  part  of  his  property.  This  sale  is  known  as  the 
''Arnold  and  Lyman  Purchase."  This  was  but  the  beginning. 
Again  and  again  he  was  forced  to  part  with  portions  of  his  riveij 
property,  until  he  found  himself  stripped  of  all  that  vast  estate  with 
which  he  commenced  life,  excepting  "the  old  saw-mill  lot."  This 
lot  he  had  in  1822  leased  to  OHver  Ballon  and  his  son  Dexter,  who 
built  thereon  a  wooden  cotton-mill.  This  mill,  after  various  vicissi- 
tudes of  fortune,  finally  settled  down  to  steady  work  as  a  yarn- 
spinning  establishment,  under  the  auspices  of  Mr.  George  C.  Ballon. 
To  give  even  a  slight  sketch  of  the  career  of  all  the  noted  manufac- 
turers of  a  place  like  Woonsocket,  would  require  more  space  than  we 
are  at  liberty  to  occupy  in  this  work.  And  of  Mr.  Ballon  and  his 
brother  Dexter,  who  is  called  fhe  "pioneer  of  cotton-spinning  in 
Woonsocket,''  it  must  suffice  to  say  that  the  town  is  greatly  indebted 
to  them  for  much  of  its  present  prosperity. 

Let  us  now  retrace  our  steps.  The  early  settlers  were  not  slow 
to  see  that  the  place  was  admirably  adapted  to  manufacturing  pur- 
poses, and  in  the  latter  part  of  the  seventeenth  century  they  began  to 
utilize  the  waters  of  the  Blackstone  to  the  turning  of  mill-wheels. 
All  around  was  the  great  forest,  which  must  be  converted  into  farms 
and  dwellings,  and  a  saw-mill  was  an  urgent  necessity.  One  was 
consequently  erected  where  the  tower  of  the  Ballon  Manufacturing 
Company's  cotton-mill  now  stands.  This  is  the  one  already  mentioned 
as  having  been  built  about  the  year  1666.  In  17 12  Mr.  John  Arnold 
built  a  "  corn  and  fulling-mill  "upon  the  "  Island."  The  "  Old  Forge" 
dated  from  some  time  between  1712  and  1720,  and  stood  upon  the  site 
of  the  boiler-house  of  the  Ballon  Manufacturing  Company.  It  did 
quite  an  extensive  business  in  iron.  Later,  a  scythe-factory  was 
established  below  the  grist-mill.  These  include  all  the  manufactories 
of  Woonsocket  up  to  1807.  In  that  year  there  was  a  great  freshet. 
The  river,  as  if  angry  at  the  restraints  that  man  had  imposed  upon 
it  (it  is  more  submissive  now),  rose  in  its  might,  shook  itself  free, 
and  tore  along  between  its  banks,  "scattering  ruin  and  spread- 
ing ban,"  until  there  was  nothing  left  of  these  mills  but  wrecks, 
damaged  beyond  all  hope.  This  is  the  historical  freshet  of  the  Black- 
stone.     Even  that  of  1876,  which  was  considered  rather  a  brilliant 


WOONSOCKKT. 


143 


i.f*^i^ 


The   Falls  at   Woonsocket. 


performance  for  a  river  ordinarily  so  well  conducted,  failed  to  reach 
the  high-water  mark  of  1807  by  two  and  a  half  feet.  For  three  years 
the  river  enjoyed  complete  rest,  except  that  its  otherwise  unrestrained 
waters  were  forced  to  turn  tlie  wheel  of  that  grist-mill,  now  grown 
familiar  to  the  reader  by  repeated  allusions,  built  by  James  Arnold, 
in  1808. 

Eras  of  great  enthusiasm  are  common  in  all  enterprises,  and 
such  an  era  in  manufactures  had  its  beginning  in  Woonsocket  in 
1810.  Mr.  Samuel  Slater  had  built  the  first  cotton-mill,  and  so  suc- 
cesstul  had  its  operation  been,  that  the  attention  of  capitalists  and 
manufacturers  was  turned  to  the  making  of  cloths.  Hitherto,  onh- 
the  first  process  of  woolen  manufacture,  viz.  :  the  carding  of  wool,  had 
been  carried  on.  But  now  the  waters  of  the  Blackstone,  which  as 
yet  had  only  frolicked  and  chattered  among  the  wheels  of  a  few  grist 
and  carding  mills,  were  to  be  bound  down  to  steady,  every-day  labor. 
The  lirst  enterprise  started  under  this  new  impulse  was  known  as  the 
Social  Manufacturing  Company,  which  began  operations  with  a  capi- 
tal stock  of  $16,000,  a  mill  containing  2,000  spindles,  together  with 


144  Picturesque  Rhode  Island. 

cards  and  repairing  machinery.  I'his  mill  was  known  as  the  "  Pis- 
tareen,"  on  account  of  its  size.  It  was  burned  down  in  1874,  having, 
however,  before  that  been  much  enhirged  and  improxed.  The  com- 
pan  V  immediately  began  the  erection  of  their  present  imposing  brick 
structure.  The  village  belonging  to  these  mills  is  a  model  of  a  fac- 
tory village.  The  following  description  is  quoted  from  one  of  a  series 
of  able  papers  published  recently  in  the  Rhode  Island  Pres§,  called 
"  Looms  and  Spindles,"  to  which  the  present  writer  is  indebted  for 
much  of  the  information  upon  this  subject:  "It  consists  of  twelve 
double  cottages,  two  long  blocks,  one  containing  nine  tenements  and 
the  other  eighteen,  fourteen  four-family  houses,  and  the  mill  boarding- 
house.  The  double  cottages  are  of  brick,  one  and  a  half  stories  high, 
have  gas  and  water,  and  rent  for  $100  per  year  for  each  tenement. 
The  blocks  are  also  of  brick,  not  quite  so  well  finished  as  the 
cottages,  and  rent  for  from  $48  to  $96  per  year.  The  others  are  of 
wood,  and  rent  for  $50  per  tenement.  The  boarding-house  is  four 
stories,  and  can  accommodate  125  persons,  but  at  present  has  only 
abovit  fifty  occupants.  The  three-story  building  at  the  westerly  edge 
of  the  village  is  termed  the  Social  Block,  and  is  used  for  the  com- 
pany's offices  and  store.  It  also  includes  a  large  hall  for  lectures, 
dancing,  etc.,  and  two  of  the  rooms  are  occupied  for  dav  and  evening 
schools." 

In  1827  the  second  wooden  mill  was  begun.  This  building  has 
reached  a  low  estate,  and  has  become  a  tenement-house  known  as 
the  Castle. 

The  largest  woolen-factory  in  the  countr}-  is  at  Woonsocket.  It 
was  built  by  Edward  Harris,  whose  name  is  identified  with  this 
branch  of  industry  in  Woonsocket.  Mr.  Harris  was  born  at  Lime 
Rock,  in  1801.  He  was  forced  to  earn  his  living  while  still  a  mere 
child.  Thus  business  talent  and  a  native  shrewdness  were  developed 
in  him  at  the  expense  of  a  social  and  mental  training  which  he  never 
ceased  to  miss  in  his  after  life.  At  the  age  of  twenty-one  he  began 
life  with  a  capital  of  25  cents.  He  learned  the  business  of  cotton 
manufacture  by  actual  experience  as  an  ill-paid  employe  of  his 
uncle.  Afterwards  he  went  into  the  employ  of  another  uncle  at  the 
princely  sum  of  $1.30  per  day.  After  a  while  this  uncle  promoted 
him  to  the  superintendency  of  the  mill.  This  was  at  Albion.  When, 
at  the  age  of  twenty-seven,  he  left  Albion  he  became  agent  of  the 
Harris  Lime  Rock  Company.  By  the  time  he  had  reached  his 
thirtieth  year,   his  capital  had  increased  to  $2,500.     With   this  he 


W.  H.  TILLINGHAST,  D.  D.  S., 

No.  220  Westminster  Street. 


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AND — 

Strictly  First-Class. 


HORSFORDS 

ACID  PHOSPHATE. 

(I^iqiiid.) 

Jor  gy^pep^ia,  Rental  and  physical  pxhau^tion,  ^er- 

Vo\x6m6^,  ^imini^hed  pitalitg,  ^rinarij 

giMcultie^,  gtc. 

gj  i-^ —s^  PREPARED     ACCORDING    TO    THE     DIRKCTIONS     OF-r-^ '^S g 

Prof.  E.  N.  HORSFORD,  of  Cambridge,  Mass. 

There  seems  to  be  no  difference  of  opinion  in  high  medical  authority,  of  the 
value  of  the  Phosphates,  and  no  preparation  has  ever  been  offered  to  the  public  which 
seems  to  so  happily  meet  the  general  want  as  this. 

It  is  not  nauseous,  but  agreeable  to  the  taste.    No  danger  can  attend  its  use. 
Its  action  will  harmonize  with  such  stimulants  as  are  necessary 
to  take.     It  makes  a  delicious  drink  with 
water  and  sugar  only. 

It  is  a  pleasant  and  nutritious  Substitute  for  Lemons  or  Lime  Juice  in  the 
preparation  of  "  Lemonade "  or  other  acidulated  drinks,  with  or  without  alcoholic 
stimulants. 

Dr.  M.  H.  henry,  the  widely  known  and  eminent  family  physician  of  N.  Y.,  says: 

"  Horsford's  Acid  Phosphate  possesses  claims  as  a  beverage,  beyond  anything  I 
know  of  in  the  form  of  medicine,  and  in  nervous  diseases  I  know  of  no  preparation  to 
equal  it." 

Dr.  C.   O.  files,  of  Portland,  Me,,  says : 

"  Through  the  summer  I  find  that  Horsford's  Acid  Phosphate  affords  the  most 
refreshing  drink  I  have  ever  used.  After  perspiring  freely,  when  cold  water  has  utterly 
failed  to  satisfy  my  thirst,  it  has  accomplished  the  purpose  with  the  most  perfect  success." 


Prices  Reasonable. 


Pamphlet  giving  further  particulars  mailed  free  on  application  to 
manufacturers.     Manufactured  by  the 


MFORD  Chemical  Works 


PROVIDENCE,  R.  I. 


*- 


WOONSOCKET. 


MS 


came  to  Woonsocket  and  commenced  the  manufacture  of  satinets. 
From  this  time  his  business  life  \Vas  steadily  successful,  until  at  his 
death  he  stood  the  foremost  woolen  manufacturer  of  the  country. 
The  Harris  Mills  include  the  property  known  as  the  "  Privilege 
Mill,"  on  Mill  River,  a  branch  of  the   I^lackstone,   and  the  mills  on 


A   View  on   Main   Street. 


the  Blackstone  proper,  near  Main  Street,  in  the  business  portion  of 
the  town.  Three  of  these  are  woolen-mills  and  one  a  cotton-mill.  It 
is  said  on  reliable  authority  that  not  an  ounce  of  shoddv  was  ever 
used   in   Edward   Harris"  mills. 

The  town  is  one  of  the  busiest  towns  of  its  kind  in  the  coimtry. 
In  1875,  according  to  the  State  census,  it  had  nine  establishments 
for  the  manufacture  of  cotton  goods,  employing  2,350  persons,  with 
a  valuation  of  $2,283,500;  six  establishments  for  the  manufacture  of 
woolen  goods,  employing  1,611  persons,  and  with  an  invested  capital 
of  $1,155,500.  The  factories  are  large,  but  the  business  is  concen- 
trated within  a  more  limited  area  than  in  any  other  locality  in  the 
State. 

The  principal  cotton-mills  are  those  of  the  Clinton  Manufactur- 
ing Company,  the  Enterprise  Manufacturing  Company,  the  Groton 
Manufacturing  Company,  the  Social  Manufacturing  Company,  the 


146 


Picturesque  Rhode  Island. 


Woonsocket  Company,  the  Hamlet  Mills,  the  Woonsocket  Mill,  and 
the  Woonsocket  Yarn  Company. 

Among  the  producers  of  woolen  goods  are  the  Harris  Woolen 
Company,    already   mentioned,   the    Stafford    Braid    Company,  the 

Li  p  pi  tt  Woolen 
Company,  and  the 
American  Worsted 
Company. 

Woonsocket  is 
extensively  engaged 
in  the  production  of 
machines  for  domes- 
tic uses,  the  leading 
makers  in  this  line 
being  the  Bailey 
Wringing  Machine 
Company,  and  the 
Relief  Washing  Ma- 
chine Company. 
Among  the  builders 
of  various  kinds  of 
machinery  we  mention  the  Bailey  Tool  Company,  the  Hautin  Sew- 
ing Machine  Company,  the  Woonsocket  Nail  Company,  the  Woon- 
socket Machine  Company,  the  Kendrick  Loom  Harness  Company, 
H.  Jeffrey  &  Co.,  H.  C.  Lazell,  and  the  Woonsocket  Rubber  Com- 
pany, the  last  doing  a  large  business  in  the  manufacture  of  rubber 
goods. 

The  records  of  the  town  would  seem  to  indicate  that  the  early 
inhabitants  were  not  of  a  kind  to  whom  church-going  was  a  neces- 
sity. Not  until  1 7 18  does  there  seem  to  have  been  any  facility  for 
assembling  together  for  worship,  unless  indeed  some  ma}^  have  done 
so  at  private  houses.  In  that  year  the  Society  of  Friends  began  to 
hold  services  there,  attracted  by  its  accessibility,  it  being  situated  at 
a  "  Cross  Roads."  In  the  language  of  her  historian,  Richardson, 
"  Woonsocket  became,  not  so  much  from  the  piety  of  its  inhabitants 
as  from  the  natural  advantages  of  its  location,  first  a  religious  and 
afterwards  an  educational  centre  of  the  large  territor}^  now  comprised 
within  the  counties  of  Worcester,  Mass.,  and  Providence,  R.  I." 
Among  the  early  preachers  of  this  sect  was  Elisha  Thornton,  of 
blessed  memory.     For  more    than   a   hundred  years,   in   the  whole 


Harris   Block. 


WOONSOCKET. 


147 


settlement  of  Woonsocket,  there  was  no  place  of  public  worship 
except  the  Friends'  Meeting-house.  But  the  clang  of  the  mill-bell 
was  speedily  followed  b}'  the  peal  of  the  church-bell.  From  1832  to 
1834,  inclusive,  sprang  up  all  the  religious  denominations  to  be 
found  in  Woonsocket  to-day,  viz,  :  Episcopalians,  Baptists,  Meth- 
odists, Congregationalists,  Universalists,  and  Roman  Catholics,  all 
of  w^hom  own  substantial  church  edifices.  On  the  twelfth  of  May, 
of  the  present  vear,  the  old  Friends'  Meeting-house,  at  Bank  Vil- 
lage, burned  down.     It  was  erected  in  1775. 

The  indilference  of  the  early  villagers  to  religious  matters 
extended  also  to  those  of  education.  In  the  latter,  as  in  the  former, 
it  was  the  Friends  who  undertook  the  initiative.  They  were  the  first 
to  proclaim  that  the  children  of  the  poor  ought  to  be  "schooled," 
and  to  take  measures  for  establishing  a  free  school  under  their  own 
auspices.  Their  zeal  awoke  that  of  the  "world's  people,"  and  steps 
were  taken  to  open  a  school  free  to  all.  This  plan  was  defeated 
"  bv  a  vote  of  the  ignorant  backwoodsmen  of  Smithfield,  many  of 

whoTn  were  unable  to  write  .        _^ 

their  names."  In  1800-1801 
Smithfield  raised  the  sum  of 
$2,200  for  the  support  of 
twenty-four  schools.  From 
which  statement  it  may  be 
inferred  that  time  spent  in 
discussing  the  free-school 
system  of  that  region,  of 
four-score  years  ago,  is  but 
w^asted  time. 

There  w'  e  r  e  private 
schools,  however,  of  a  high 
grade  of  excellence.  These 
were  the  Thornton  Acad- 
emy, founded  by  the  Quaker 
preacher,  Elisha  Thornton, 
which  terminated  its  short 
but  useful  existence  with 
the  last  century  ;  the  Smithfield  Academy,  whose  career  ended  in 
1853,  and  the  Cumberland  Academy,  at  Cumberland  Hill.  But 
private  seminaries  are  only  for  the  favored  few,  and  the  people  at 
length  awoke  to  the  fact  ,that  if  their  children  were  to  be  educated 


Hign  Sc 


148  Picturesque  Rhode  Island. 

at  all,  it  must  be  in  the  public  schools.  This  was  about  the  year 
1840.  ''  The  system  of  education  within  the  town  has  made  a 
marked  advancement  since  the  introduction  of  public  schools.  The 
rude  and  often  ill-constructed  school-house  has  given  place  to  the 
present  fine  and  convenient  buildings,  furnished  with  all  the  modern 
appliances  for  the  comtbrt  and  convenience  of  both  teacher  and 
pupil.  These  excellent  institutions  are  presided  over  by  competent 
and  accomplished  teachers,  and  the  citizens  of  Woonsocket  have  just 
reason  to  be  proud  of  their  present  educational  interests."  One  is 
hardly  willing  to  leave  this  subject  without  allusion  to  that  good  man, 
the  Rev.  John  Boyeden,  whose  name  is  one  of  the  earliest  and  longest 
upon  its  records,  and  whose  memor}'  is  held  in  veneration,  not  only 
in  his  own  town,  but  throughout  the  length  and  breadth  of  the  State. 

"  Aside  from  its  public  schools,  the  town  enjoys  the  use  of  a 
magnificent  building  through  the  munificence  of  the  late  Edward 
Harris.  Here  the  Woonsocket  Lyceum  holds  its  meetings,  a  public 
reading-room  is  daily  visited,  and  a  large  and  well-selected  library 
is  opened  to  all.  A  portion  of  this  library  was  originally  a  district 
organization,  and  named  in  honor  of  its  most  liberal  benefactor,  Mr. 
Edward  Carrington.  This  was  afterwards  annexed  to  a  library 
tbunded  and  endowed  by  Edward  Harris,  and  the  whole  now  bears 
the  name  of  the  Harris  Institute  Library." 

Woonsocket,  being  located  as  has  been  said,  at  a  "  Cross  Roads," 
has  always  been  well  connected  with  the  world  outside.  In  early 
times  it  lay  upon  the  stage  route  from  Providence  to  Worcester,  and 
was  also  itself  one  terminus  of  a  stage  route  to  Boston.  There  were 
many  notable  taverns  in  those  days,  but  these  disappeared  with  the 
stages  of  which  they  were  the  consequences.  The  Providence  and 
Worcester  Railroad  now  passes  through  the  town,  and  the  New 
York  and  New  England  Railroad  connects  it  with  Boston. 

Woonsocket  is  finely  located  in  the  valley  of  its  encircling  hills, 
from  whose  summits  extensive  prospects  of  the  surrounding  country 
are  to  be  had.  It  is  almost  needless  to  say  that  the  highest  point 
of  land  in  the  State,  Woonsocket  Hill,  is  in  this  vicinity,  although 
not  belonging  to  the  town  of  that  name.  The  falls,  from  which 
the  original  village  which  tbrms  the  nucleus  of  the  present  town 
takes  .its  name,  are  worth  a  visit.  The  river,  as  has  been  said, 
flows  through  the  town.  But  there  are  geological  indications  that, 
ages  ago,  its  bed  was  in  the  valley  on  the  north  side  of  the  town, 
near  the  railroad.     Workmen  digging  below  the  surface  find  great 


Smithfield  and  North  Smithpield. 


149 


hollows  in  the  rock, 
such   as  have  been 
worn  by  the  falls  in 
their  descent  upon 
the    rocks   at  their 
feet.     The  falls  are 
in    three    ditTerent 
s  t  r  e  a  ni  s  —  t  h  e 
Blackstone  and  its 
tributaries,    the 
Mill,  and    the    Pe- 
ters.   The  total  fall 
of   the    Blackstone 
is   about  thirty-one 
feet ;     that    of    the 
Peters   River    is 
fifty-two  feet;    that 
of  the    Mill,    sixty 
feet.      This    is    in 
two    falls,     one   of 
forty  feet,  which  is 
used  at  the  Harris 
Privilege,    and  the 
other  of  twenty  feet, 
used  at  the  Social. 

Smithfield  was 
one  of  the  three 
towns  into  which 
the  "outlands"  of 
Providence  were 
divided  in  the  year 
1730.  A  wild  coun- 
try it  was  then, 
with  beasts  of  prey 
roaming  through 
its  forests  and  some- 
times carrying  de- 
vastation to  the 
homes   of   the   set- 


150  Picturesque  Rhode  Island. 

tiers.  Along  the  banks  of  its  streams  and  in  the  all-embracing 
forest  were  to  be  found  the  wigwams  of  the  red  men,  who  had  not 
as  yet.  entirely  disappeared.  No  mill-dams  impeded  the  course  of 
the  streams,  forming  dark,  deep,  and  sluggish  mill-ponds,  over- 
flowing the  low  lands  in  their  neighborhood ;  but  the  waters  flowed 
on  in  their  original  channels,  overshadowed  by  dense  woods,  and 
undisturbed  save  by  the  chance  passage  of  an  Indian,  a  white  man, 
or  a  wild  animal  of  the  forest. 

The  original  territory  of  Smithfield  extended  from  what  are  now 
the  northern  boundaries  of  Johnston  and  North  Providence  to  the  Mas- 
sachusetts south  line,  on  the  west  bounded  by  Glocester,  and  on  the 
east  and  northeast  by  the  Blackstone  River.  Within  its  limits  were 
comprised  the  present  towns  of  Lincoln,  North  Smithfield,  Smithfield, 
and  part  of  Woonsocket.  The  dismemberment  took  place  March  8, 
1871,  and  reduced  the  territory  known  by  the  name  of  Smithfield 
from  seventy-three  to  twenty-seven  square  miles,  and  from  a  popula- 
tion in  i860  of  13,283,  to  2,605  ^^  1870.  The  centres  of  population 
were  in  the  town  of  Lincoln  and  in  the  portion  set  ofl'  to  Woon- 
socket. Accounts  of  those  places  have  already  been  given  under 
their  respective  heads.  The  present  Smithfield  is  the  southwestern 
portion  of  the  original  territory,  and  its  population  in  1880  was 
3^085. 

Smithfield  is  watered  by  the  Woonasquatucket  River,  which  flows 
through  the  town  in  a  circuitous  course.  The  country  is  diversified 
by  hill  and  dale,  and  in  many  places  the  river  flows  between  high, 
steep  banks.  From  these  elevations  views  of  the  river  and  the  sur- 
rounding country  may  be  had,  which,  while  they  are  not  grand,  are 
still  picturesque  and  pleasing. 

The  water-power  of  the  Woonasquatucket  was  first  made  avail- 
able early  in  the  century  to  run  saw  and  grist  mills  ;  soon  after,  when 
the  cotton  manufacture  had  begun  to  spread,  small  cotton-factories 
sprang  up  along  its  banks.  During  the  summer  seasons  great  incon- 
venience was  caused  to  these  factories,  and  they  were  often  obliged 
to  stop,  by  reason  of  the  scarcity  of  water.  There  was  always  an 
abundance  in  the  spring,  but  the  factories  could  only  use  a  limited 
quantity,  and  the  remainder,  for  their  use  at  least,  was  entirely  lost. 
The  idea  occurred  to  some  wide-awake  manufacturer  that  if  this  sur- 
plus water  could  be  stored  up,  it  would  supply  the  deficiency  in  the 
summer.  Accordingly,  the  Slack  reservoir,  covering  153  acres, 
near  the  village  of  Greenville,  was  built  in  1823.     A  corporation  was 


Smithkikld  and  North  Smithfield. 


151 


A  View  of  Greenville. 


formed  in  1824,  and  was  chartered  b\'  the  General  Assembly  under 
tlie  name  of  the  Woonasquatucket  River  Company,  to  carry  on  the 
work  of  building  reservoirs  for  the  storage  of  the  surplus  water. 
This  was  the  first  corporation  chartered  for  this  object  in  Rhode 
Island,  and  it  was  also  the  pioneer  in  this  work.  Among  the  mem- 
bers of  this  corporation  wer.e  Zachariah  Allen,  Philip  Allen,  Samuel 
G.  Arnold,  Thomas  Thompson,  and  Samuel  Nightingale.  The 
Sprague  lower  reservoir,  of  seventy  acres,  was  built  in  1827  :  the 
Sprague  ui)iier  reserxoii",  of  t\\  ent\'-five  acres,  in  1836;  and  the 
Waterman  reservoir,  of  318  acres,  in  1838.  These  reservoirs  were 
formed  by  danuning  up  the  head  waters  of  the  river  in  low,  marshy 
localities,  and  tlie  ponds  thus  formed  iuive  all  tiie  irregularity  of 
outline  that  characterizes  natural  ponds.  In  the  summer,  by  means 
of  sluice-gates,  the  water  can  be  let  down  as  it  is  needed.  The  cost 
of  this  work,  which  always  included  the  price  of  the  land  overflowed 
by  the  reservoir,  was  assessed  on  the  owners  of  the  water-pri\ileges 
along  the  river,  in  a  ratable  proportion  to  the  head  of  water  and 
the  number  of  feet  of  fall  they  had.  A  fifth  reservoir  was  projected 
a  number  of  years  ago,   l)ut  has  not  been  as   vet  completed.      The 


152  Picturesque  Rhode  Island. 


entire  area  covered  by  the  four  reservoirs  is  about  565    acres,   and 
the  average  depth  of  water  about  ninety-two  feet. 

The  most  important  village  in  the  town  is  Georgiaville,  at 
which  place  are  the  cotton-factories  of  the  Smithfield  Manufacturing 
Company.  Other  small  factories  are  those  at  AUenville,  Stillwater, 
Greenville,  Knight's  Mills,  Granite  Mills,  and  Winsor  Mills.  In  all 
these  places  the  tenement-houses  and  the  land  in  their  vicinity  are 
mostly  owned  by  the  proprietors  of  the  factories. 

The  Providence  and  Springfield  Railroad  runs  through  the  centre 
of  the  town,  along  the  banks  of  the  river,  and  has  been  instrumental 
in  developing  the  territory.  In  the  north  part  of  the  town  there  is  a 
station  at  the  village  of  Smithfield,  which  serves  as  a  centre  for  a 
large  farming  district.  Smithfield  ranks  third  among  the  towns  in 
the  State  in  the  extent  and  importance  of  its  milk  business  ;  a  con- 
siderable amount  of  farming  is  also  carried  on. 

The  churches  in  the  town  are  as  follows  :  a  Baptist  church  at 
Greenville,  a  Freewill  Baptist  church  at  Georgiaville,  at  Allendale 
a  free  church  which  has  no  settled  minister,  but  in  which  any 
Protestant  clergyman  is  allowed  to  hold  services  ;  the  Central  Union 
Church,  at  the  extreme  northern  part  of  the  State,  a  short  distance 
north  of  the  Providence  and  Douglas  turnpike,  which  is  on  the  same 
footing  as  the  Allendale  church  ;  and  two  Roman  Catholic  churches, 
St.  Philip's  and  St.  Michael's. 

North  Smithfield  is  the  northwestern  portion  of  the  original  terri- 
tory of  Smithfield.  It  is  situated  directly  north  of  the  town  which 
retains  the  parent  name.  When  it  was  incorporated,  March  8,  1871, 
the  name  Slater  was  given  to  it,  but  sixteen  days  afterward  its  present 
name  was  bestowed  upon  it.  Its  history  is  comprised  in  that  of 
Smithfield.  The  population  of  the  town  in  1875  was  2,797;  in 
1880,  3,088. 

The  only  stream  of  importance  is  the  south  branch  of  the  Black- 
stone  River,  which  flows  through  the  northern  part  of  the  town.  On 
this  stream  is  the  village  of  Slatersville,  at  which  place  Almy,  Brown 
and  Slater  erected  a  cotton-factory  in  1806.  Two  other  mills  were 
subsequently  built  here,  and  the  three  factories  have  at  various  times 
been  enlarged  or  rebuilt,  as  occasion  demanded.  John  Slater  was 
associated  with  Samuel  in  these  mills,  and  eventually  these  two 
bought  out  the  other  owners.  The  factories  and  village  remain 
in  the  possession  of  the  Slater  family.  The  village  has  good  educa- 
tional advantages,  and  a  fine  library.     Forestdale,  about  two  miles 


BURRILLVILLE.  I53 


below  Slatersville,  has  two  cotton-factories,  and  at  Watcrford  is  the 
mill  of  the  I'nion  Worsted  Compan\',  which  is  partly  in  Massa- 
chusetts. 

The  Providence  and  Springfield  Railroad  runs  across  the  south- 
west corner  of  the  town,  and  has  a  station  at  Primrose,  which  is  the 
railroad  centre  for  a  farming  district.  The  country  is  in  general 
undulating,  and  from  the  hills  many  fine  landscape  views  may  be 
had.  In  some  parts  the  land  is  rocky,  and  quantities  of  coarse  gran- 
ite are  quarried. 

BuRRiLi.viLLE. —  All  Rhode  Island  revolves  around  Providence. 
To  the  native  of  the  soil  Providence  is  "  the  city"  without  qualifica- 
tion or  reserve.  Indeed,  some  one,  in  a  fit  of  ill-temper  born  of 
political  disappointment,  has  gone  so  far  as  to  bring  railing  accusa- 
tion against  the  State  by  saying  that  Providence  is  Rhode  Island. 
However  this  may  or  may  not  be  politically,  it  was  for  generations 
half  of  the  State,  extending  to  the  borders  of  Massachusetts.  A 
great  extent  of  territory,  when  it  contains  but  few  or  no  inhabitants, 
is  easily  controlled  by  the  centre  of  government.  When  Roger 
Williams  commenced  this  colony,  whose  first  settlement  was  at  the 
head  of  Narratjansett  Bav,  he  sent  out  commissioners  to  consider 
the  matter  of  organizing  three  towns  at  the  north.  They,  convinced 
that  no  one  would  ever  wish  to  settle  in  this  uninviting  wilderness, 
made  report  to  that  effect.  Common  experience  has  proved  that  it 
is  quite  impossible  to  answer  for  the  actions  of  others,  especially  for 
those  of  generations  yet  unborn.  Settlers  did  go  out  into  this  wil- 
derness, and  hew  down  trees,  and  build  houses,  and  increase  and 
multiply,  until,  in  1730,  the  colony  of  Providence  had  become  so 
unwieldy,  and  tne  management  of  its  affairs  so  bin-densome,  that  it 
was  found  necessary  to  erect  the  three  new  towns  which  a  hundred 
years  betbre  existed  in  the  imagination  only  of  Roger  Williams. 

These  were  che  towns  of  Smithfield,  Glocester,  and  Scituate.  In 
time,  the  population  of  Glocester  increased  to  such  an  extent,  and  the 
dwellers  in  the  northern  part  found  it  so  inconvenient  to  go  to  Che- 
pachet  to  town-meeting,  that  the  town  was  divided  by  an  east  and 
west  line  into  two.  In  this  wav,  in  the  vear  1806,  Burrillvillebeg'an 
its  corporate  existence.  Its  location  is  that  of  the  most  northwestern- 
town  of  the  State,  bordering  upon  Connecticut  and  Massachusetts. 
It  covers  an  area  of  some  sixty  miles,  its  surface  diversified  by  craggy 
hills  and  smiling  vales,  by  quiet  lakes  and  sparkling  rills,  and  dotted 


154  Picturesque  Rhode  Island. 

by  trim  and  thriving  villages,  and  old-fashioned  and  not  always  trim 
farm-houses  clinging  to  the  rough  and  rocky  soil ;  and  over  all,  the 
solemn  forests  keep  perpetual  watch. 

The  town  received  its  name  from  the  Hon.  James  Burrill,  at  that 
time  attorney-general  of  the  State  of  Rhode  Island.  Mr.  Burrill 
was  a  native  of  Providence,  having  been  born  there  in  1772.  He 
was  graduated  at  Brown  University  in  1788,  and  immediately  com- 
menced the  study  of  law.  So  rapid  was  his  acquirement  of  the  neces- 
sary knowledge,  that  before  he  reached  his  majority  he  was  admitted 
to  the  bar.  While  still  a  young  man,  he  stood  at  the  head  of  his  pro- 
fession in  the  State.  For  seventeen  years  he  held  the  office  of 
attorney-general  of  Rhode  Island.  He  was  speaker  of  the  House 
of  Representatives  from  1814  to  1816.  In  the  latter  year  he  was 
appointed  chief  justice  of  the  Supreme  Court,  and  in  the  following 
year  the  General  Assembly  elected  him  to  the  Senate  of  the  United 
States.  Here  he  served  faithfully  the  interests  of  the  State  imtil  his 
death,  which  occurred  on  Christmas  day  in  the  year  1820.  As  a 
token  of  his  appreciation  of  the  honor  done  to  him,  he  presented  the 
new  town  with  a  set  of  record-books. 

Burrillville,  like  most  places,  has  its  traditions.  Wild  tales  of 
Indian  warfare,  of  desolate  hearth-stones,  of  blackened  ruins  of  once 
happy  homes,  may  still  be  heard, —  stories  of  the  giant  strength  of 
far  back  ancestors — of  a  huge  skeleton  unearthed  (this,  however, 
in  quite  modern  times),  of  spells  and  incantations,  of  haunted  houses 
and  ghostly  miners. 

In  early  days  the  town  was  rich  in  animal  life,  a  fact  which  has 
been  perpetuated  in  the  nomenclature  of  many  of  its  hills  and  waters, 
which  names,  if  not  always  romantic,  are  certainly  suggestive.  Eagle 
Peak  tells  of  the  time  when  that  kingly  bird  had  his  haunts  there ; 
Buck  Hill,  of  the  deer  which  bounded  through  the  forests  ;  Wolf 
Hill,  of  those  fierce  creatures  whose  howl  strikes  terror  into  the 
stoutest  heart ;  Herring  Pond,  of  the  delicious  fish  which  once 
haunted  its  waters  ;  Pascoag,  of  the  snakes  which  made,  and  still 
make,  their  fastness  of  the  rocky  ledge  of  that  name. 

Away  up  in  the  northwestern  part  of  the  town,  at  the  foot  of  the 
range  of  hills  which  crosses  that  part  of  the  State,  lies  Wallum  Lake, 
a  charming  sheet  of  water,  with  long,  deep  coves,  where  fish  love  to 
resort,  shadowed  by  grand,  centuries-old  trees,  and  boasting  of 
a  beach,  hard  and  white,  and  so  safe  that  the  most  timid  bather  need 
feel  no  alarm.     This  lake  is  the  source  of  a  river  of  some   impor- 


BURRILLVILLE. 


155 


The  Village  of  Slatersville. 

tance,  the  Clear,  which  "  winds  about,  and  in  and  out,"  through  busy 
villages  and  lonely  roads,  until,  together  with  the  Chepachet,  it  loses 
its  identity  in  the  Branch,  which  finally  pours  its  accumulated  waters 
into  the  Blackstone. 

The  most  extensive  forest  in  this  State  is  a  part  of  this  town  —  a 
forest  covering  6,000  acres  of  land,  and  full  of  the  charm  of  bird  and 
leaf  and  flower,  of  towering  trunk  and  spreading  branch.  A  clear- 
ing upon  the  summit,  near  the  Connecticut  line,  gives  a  wide  view 
of  the  surrounding  country. 

In  the  Buck  Hill  Woods,  on  the  edge  of  Round  Pond,  is  a  cave, 
which,  although  not  remarkable  in  itself,  derives  interest  from  the 
fact  that  It  w\is  at  one  time  the  hiding-place  of  a  gang  of  counter- 
feiters who  plied  their  nefarious  trade  here.  Arrests  were  made, 
and  a  suit  commenced,  but  for  some  unexplained  reason  proceedings 
lagged,  and  the  lame  goddess  became  so  exceedingly  lame  that  she 
never  fairly  overtook  the  off'enders. 

A  singular  cave,  sometimes  called  "Coopers  Den,"  sometimes 
"Forger's  Cave,"  is  one  of  the  curiosities  of  the  town.  It  is  situ- 
ated on  the  road  leading  from  Glendale  to  the  old  Stephen  Cooper 
house.  At  the  entrance  of  the  wood  is  a  craggy  ledge  of  rock,  the 
hicrhest  in  the  town.     Half-way  up  the  steep  clifl'is  a  narrow^  open- 


156  PicTURESciUE  Rhode  Island. 

ing,  through  which  one  can  crawl.  It  is  the  entrance  to  an  irregular 
room,  thirty  feet  by  eight,  and  twelve  teet  high.  It  is  an  eerie  place, 
with  its  torn  and  convulsed  rocks,  looking  as  if  they  might  fall  at 
an\'  moment,  and  stirring  up  the  imagination  to  picture  all  kinds  of 
frightful  forms  in  their  startling  outlines. 

Burrillville  is  not  as  rich  in  history  as  man}'  of  the  older  towns  of 
the  State.  Among  the  early  honorable  names  of  the  town  are  those 
of  John  Smith,  the  first  pioneer,  and  Edward  Salsbury,  who  served 
in  the  French  War  and  helped  build  Fort  Stanwix.  But  the  best  part 
of  its  history  is  to  be  read  in  its  thriving  villages,  clustering  around 
its  solid  and  sometimes  imposing  mills,  and  in  the  record  of  those 
men  who  have  attested  by  their  energy  and  means  that  "  Peace  hath 
her  victories  no  less  than  war."  The  most  important  industry  is  the 
manufacture  of  woolen  cloths.  Several  mills  which  were  built  for 
other  purposes  have  been  torn  down,  and  new  ones  have  been  erected 
for  this  branch  of  manufactures.  The  Glendale  Mill  was  originally 
a  saw  and  grist-mill.  After  the  property  passed  into  the  hands  of 
Mr.  Anthony  Steere,  he  built  a  cotton-mill  on  the  site,  which  shortly 
after  burned  down.  Before  it  was  completely  rebuilt  it  was  bought 
by  Mr.  Lyman  Copeland,  who  converted  it  into  a  woolen-mill.  The 
Clear  River  Woolen  Mills  beg-an  their  career  as  iron-mills.  The 
Harrisville,  Mapleville,  Oakland,  and  Fisk,  Sayles  &  Co.'s  mills,  are 
all  woolen-mills.  Spindles  and  machinery  are  also  made  in  the 
town.  Without  its  mills,  Burrillville  would  be  still  comparatively  a 
desert  place.  Its  soil  is  thin  and  poor,  much  of  its  surface  is  stony. 
There  are  large  extents  of  marsh  which  could  be  made  available 
only  by  a  severe  course  of  draining.  The  farmers  .generally  do  not 
keep  pace  wath  the  times,  but  cling  to  the  old-fashioned  implements 
of  their  forefathers.  With  such  unfavorable  prospects  for  agricul- 
tural prosperity,  and  with  a  good  supply  of  water,  naturally  the 
inhabitants  turned  their  attention  to  manufactures.  The  first  mill 
was  built  on  the  Tar  Kiln  River  in  1810,  by  Solomon  Smith,  tor  a 
Mr.  Thurber,  of  Providence.  The  machinery  was  of  the  simplest, 
but  very  durable,  and  as  it  was  run  many  years,  it  probably  did  its 
work  satisfactorily.  This  was  the  beginning  of  that  great  manutac- 
turing  interest  which  has  since  spread  over  the  length  and  breadth 
of  the  town. 

The  dwellers  in  Burrillville  take  pride  in  the  fact  that  the  first 
Freewill  Baptist  Church  in  the  State  was  organized  within  their 
limits.      It    is   in    the    village    of  Pascoag.     There  is  an  Episcopal 


BURRILLVILLE. 


157 


churcli  in  Harrisville,  which  was  built  in  1857,  under  the  auspices  of 
the  Rev.  Dr.  Eames,  afterwards  of  the  diocese  of  New  Hampshire, 
and  who  died  a  few  years  since  on  the  passage  to  Bermuda,  whither 
he  was  going  for  his  health,  liesides  these,  there  are  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  Church  at  Laurel  Hill,  which  dates  from  1847,  the  Berean 
Baptist  Church,  organized,  as  lately  as  1874,  the  Society  of  Friends, 
which  held  meetings  as  early  as  1783,  and  the  Roman  Catholic 
Church  of  St.  Patrick,  at  Harrisville,  instituted  about  the  year  1856. 
The  Manton  Library,  at  Pascoag,  is  an  institution  of  the  town  that 
well  deserves  mention. 


A   View   of   Pascoag 


CHAPTER  VII. 


GLOCESTER— THE  TORY  EXILES  — THE  DORR  WAR.     FOSTER  — THEODORE  FOSTER 
AND    SOLOMON    DROWNE.       SCITUATE  — COMMODORE    HOPKINS  — 
^  STEPHEN  HOPKINS.     JOHNSTON  — LOTTERIES.     CRANSTON— THE 

SPRAGUES.      PAWTUXET  — STATE  INSTITUTIONS. 


HE  town  of  Glocester  constitutes  a  part  of  that  terri- 
tory of  which  Roger  Williams'  commissioners  thought 
with  such  scorn,  when,  in  the  early  days  of  these 
settlements,  he  sent  them  up  the  Woonasquatucket  to 
examine  the  countr}^  and  report  upon  the  advisability 
of  constructing  three  new  towns  north  of  Providence. 
The  impression  that  the  region  was  a  howling  wil- 
derness, and  the  soil  worthless  for  cultivation  pre- 
vailed for  a  long  time.  But  at  length  a  few  daring 
spirits,  feeling  themselves  crowded,  perhaps,  in  the 
fast  growing  colony  of  Providence  (like  the  western  man  when 
a  neighbor  settled  within  twenty  miles  of  him),  ventured  into  this 
unknown  and  hitherto  despised  region,  and  actually  began  a  set- 
tlement in  1706.  Among  them  was  a  Frenchman  named  Abram 
Tourtelotte,  who  made  for  himself  a  home  about  a  mile  south  of 
Acote's  Hill.  He  was  the  grandson  of  Gabriel  Bernon,  in  honor  of 
whom  the  Bernon  Mill  at  Woonsocket  was  named.  The  forests  were 
found  to  yield  excellent  timber,  the  virgin  soil  proved  abundantly  pro- 
ductive, and  water  was  plentiful.  Owing  either  to  the  ignorance  of 
the  primitive  settlers,  or  to  their  practice  of  a  false  economy,  or  both, 
the  soil  was  soon  exhausted  by  constant  cropping  without  renewing  ; 
the  inhabitants  consequently  turned  their  attention  to  manufactures. 
There  are  numerous  ponds  within  the  limits  of  the  town,  three  of 
which,  Ponegansett,  Smith  and  Sayles',  and  Woonasquatucket,  are 


Glocester.  159 

known  as  reservoirs.  The  largest  natural  body  of  water  is  Keech's 
Pond,  near  Smith  and  Sayles'  reservoir.  The  most  important  stream 
is  the  Chepachet,  a  tributary  of  the  Blackstone,  upon  which  is  situ- 
ated the  village  of  Chepachet,  the  business  centre  of  the  town. 

It  is  interesting  to  note  how  long  the  idea  prevailed  that  Gloces- 
ter was  far  from  being  a  desirable  residence.  In  the  early  days  ot 
the  Revolution  it  was  thought  necessary  to  exile  from  their  home  in 
Newport,  certain  loyalists  whose  presence  was  naturally  obnoxious 
to  the  patriots  of  that  town.  The  Colonial  Assembly  therefore 
passed  an  act  in  June,  1776,  banishing  Thomas  Vernon,  Richard 
Beale,  John  Nichols,  and  Nicholas  Lechmere  to  the  town  of  Glo- 
cester. The  act  states  that  these  gentlemen,  "  having  been  examined 
before  the  Assembly,  refused  to  subscribe  to  the  Test  ordered  by  the 
Assembly  to  be  tendered  to  suspected  persons,  and  that  while  they 
continued  in  the  principles  avowed  by  them  before  the  Assembly, 
thev  were  justly  deemed  unfriendly  to  the  United  Colonies." 

The  long  journey  from  Newport  to  Glocester  —  for  it  was  long  in 
those  days  —  consumed  one  day  and  part  of  another.  The  exiles  left 
Newport  at  four  o'clock  in  the  afternoon  of  June  20,  1776,  in  the  boat 
of  one  William  Green,  and  arrived  in  East  Greenwich  at  seven  in  the 
evening.  The  sheriff  of  Newport  County  and  his  deputy  who  accom- 
panied them,  together  with  the  prisoners,  spent  the  night  at  the  house 
of  Mr.  Arnold.  The  next  morning,  with  much  difficulty,  a  negro 
obtained  for  their  transfer  to  the  wilds  of  Glocester,  "an  old  crazy 
chaise  with  a  very  bad  horse  &  two  led  horses  quite  as  indifferent." 
In  this  way  they  arrived  at  Glocester  at  night,  much  fatigued,  having 
ridden  through  a  "very  Rocky  Country."  That  night  they  lodged 
at  a  public  house,  whose  host  was  a  man  "  very  moderate  in  his  senti- 
ments," from  which  we  infer  that  his  patriotism  was  not  rampant. 
The  next  day,  having  refused  to  give  their  parole,  the  liberty  of  the 
town  was  denied  them,  and  they  were  placed  at  the  house  of  Mr. 
Stephen  Keetche  to  await  further  orders. 

Life  here  passed  quietly  enough,  after  the  gayety  of  Newport. 
The  party,  sustained  by  the  consciousness  that  they  were  suffering 
for  the  sake  of  a  principle,  were  disposed  to  make  the  best  of  their 
fate.  The  farm  upon  which  they  were,  consisted  of  five  hundred 
acres,  only  one  hundred  of  which  were  under  cultivation.  The  fam- 
ily were  friendly,  and  Mr.  Vernon,  upon  whose  diary  we  depend  for 
a  knowledge  of  this  curious  passage  of  Glocester  history,  seems  to 
have  been  a  cheerful  man,  with  a  keen  sense  of  humor.      Daily  life 


i6o  Picturesque  Rhode  Island. 

commenced  at  four  o'clock  in  the  morning,  and  ended  early  at  night, 
ten  o'clock  being  regarded  as  a  rather  dissipated  hour.  The  various 
dishes  for  breakfast,  dinner,  and  tea  are  chronicled  day  by  day  by 
Mr.  Vernon,  with  the  minuteness  of  one  whose  time  hangs  heavy  on 
his  hands.  The  taking  down  of  a  vane  is  an  event,  a  quiet  game  of 
whist  an  excitement.  Frequent  messages  to  Providence,  the  result 
of  which  was  rum,  lemons,  and  sugar,  over  which,  when  mixed  in 
due  proportion,  they  "  remembered  their  Newport  friends,"  consti- 
tute a  part  of  this  diary.  One  item  reads  oddly  in  these  days,  when 
one  feels  himself  in  a  benighted  region  unless  he  has  access  to 
two  or  three  daily  papers.  "  Sunday,  Aug.  ii.  Our  Landlord  this 
A.  M.  early  sent  his  youngest  son  (as  he  always  does  on  Sunday), 
about  a  mile  for  the  Providence  newspaper,  and  the  whole  forenoon 
is  generally  spent  in  perusing  it,  and  this  afternoon  in  hearing  Mr. 
Johnson  read  it,  such  is  the  fondness  of  people  for  news."  Mr.  Ver- 
non states  that  the  inhabitants  of  the  town  belonged  to  the  religious 
sect  called  the  New  Light  Baptists,  and  says  that  they  had  "  preach- 
ers and  Exhortors  innumberable."  Notwithstanding  which,  and  that 
they  made,  great  pretensions  to  religion,  they  were  not  a  church-going 
people.  During  the  month  of  August,  Mr.  Keetche  took  steps  to 
lay  his  account  for  the  board  of  his  prisoners  before  the  State  Legis- 
lature, which  was  quite  unjust,  as  most  of  the  food  which  they  had 
eaten  at  his  table  had  been  sent  them  by  Newport  friends,  and  had 
been  shared  with  the  family.  Whether  these  Tories  had  during  their 
sojourn  rendered  themselves  actively  obnoxious,  or  whether  the 
increasing  earnestness  of  the  patriots  as  the  war  progressed  pro- 
duced the  same  effect,  there  is  no  means  of  knowing.  But  it  is  a  fact 
that  by  September,  the  people  of  Glocester  would  no  longer  receive 
them  into  their  homes,  and  the  governor  of  the  State  could  give  no 
farther  directions  for  their  bestowal.  So,  without  any  very  elaborate 
ceremony,  they  took  leave  of  the  place  of  their  captivity,  and  started, 
some  for  Providence,  and  the  rest,  Vernon  being  one  of  these,  for 
Newport.  The  latter  party  took  the  Scituate  road,  and  arrived,  tired, 
hungry,  and  drenched,  at  East  Greenwich  at  nine  in  the  evening. 
After  a  while,  the  whole  party  were  bestowed  in  safe  places,  and  their 
banishment  ended. 

Shay's  RebelHon,  which  was  brought  about  partly  by  suffering 
caused  by  heavy  taxes,  and  partly  by  the  selfishness  and  folly  of  a 
party  calling  themselves  "Reformation  men,"  who  would  neither 
fight  nor  pay  taxes  had  its  origin  here.     The  disaffection  towards 


Glocester.  i6i 

State  authority  spread  into  Massachusetts,  whither  the  rebellion 
betook  itself  bodily,  and  flourished  until  finally  suppressed  by  the 
State  troops.  The  dissatisfaction  with  political  duties  and  privileges 
only  slumbered,  however,  and  two  generations  later  broke  out  in 
that  remarkable  event  of  Rhode  Island  history,  the  Dorr  War. 
This  "  tempest  in  a  teapot,"  which  shook  the  State  well-nigh  from 
her  foundations,  culminated  in  Chepachet,  the  most  important  village 
of  the  town  of  Glocester. 

From    its    earliest  history,  Rhode    Island,  although  nominally  a 
democracy,  had  placed  certain  healthful  restrictions  upon  the  right 
of  suffrage.     That   one  which  limited  the  right  of  suffrage  to    the 
owner  of  a  freehold  worth,  at  least,  $134,  vvas  held  in  especial  abhor- 
rence by  those  who  possessed  no  such  freehold.     The  right  of  the 
oldest  son  of  such  a  freeholder  to  vote  was  also  regarded  with  great 
disfavor.     Statistics  added  their  share  to  the  general  dissatisfaction. 
Of  the  seventy-two  representatives  chosen  in  1840,  thirty-eight  were 
elected  by  towns  having  an  aggregate  population  of  29,020  and  less 
than    3,000    voters,  and  the  remaining  thirty-four  by  towns  whose 
population  numbered  79,804,  and  whose  voters  were  nearly  6,000. 
Providence,  which  had  greatly  outgrown  her  former  rival,  Newport, 
sent  to  the  Council  of  the  State  but  four  representatives,  while  New- 
port sent  six.     The  irritation  and  bitterness  engendered  by  this  state 
of   affairs     had    been   increasing   and    gaining   strength    for   years. 
Appeals  to  the  General  Assembly  for  a  change  in  the  constitution  to 
meet  the  difficulty  had  produced  no  result,  and  at  length  an  appeal 
was  made  directly  to  the  people.     Meetings  were  held  during  the 
last  part  of  1840  and  the  first  part  of  1841.      Polidcal  leaders  on  the 
side  of  free  suffrage  left  no  means  untried  for  inflaming  the  public 
mind,  and  so  well  did  they  succeed,  that  on  the  5th  of  July,  1841,   a 
mass-meedng  was  held  in  Providence,  and  the  State  Committee  was 
instructed  to  call   a  convention   for   the   formation   of  a  constitudon 
which  should  represent  their  views.     This  convention,  composed  of 
delegates   duly  elected,  met  on  the  4th  of  October,  framed  a  consti- 
tution, and  promulgated  it  as  the  "  People's  Constitudon."     Under 
this  instrument,  those  of  the  people  whose  will  it  expressed  elected 
Thomas  Wilson  Dorr,  of  Providence,  governor,  April  18,  1842.     At 
the  same  time  the  "  Law  and  Order"  party,  with  the  old  and  tried 
constitution  of  the   State  at  their  back,  elected  Samuel  Ward  King 
governor.     As  soon   as   the  new  government   attempted  to    test  its 
power  by  performing  execudve  functions,  it  found  itself  confronted 


Foster.  163 

by  the  old,  and  that  either  a  collision  or  a  peaceable  abdication  must 
follow.  But  the  "  Dorrites "  were  lionest  in  the  belief  that  thev 
should  accomplish  the  thing  wliich  they  desired,  and,  inflamed  b}'  the 
eloquence  of  their  leaders,  they  were  incapable  of  perceiving  that 
they  were  not  taking  the  right  and  effectual  way  of  doing  it.  They 
therefore  girded  themselves  for  a  conflict.  On  the  3d  of  May 
Governor  Dorr  made  an  attempt  to  displace  Governor  King,  which 
failed.  On  the  eighteenth  his  party  made  an  abortive  attempt  to 
capture  the  Arsenal.  The  insurgents  then  began  to  retreat  north- 
ward until,  on  the  25th  of  June,  they  had  concentrated  and  made'  a 
stand  at  Chepachet.  Here  the  valiant  troops  remained,  displaying 
the  greatest  bravery,  so  long  as  no  enemy  was  in  sight.  But  as  soon 
as  the  State  troops,  augmented  by  volunteers  from  the  various  towns 
of  the  State  appeared,  they  became  suddenly  impressed  with  the 
majesty  of  the  law,  and  rather  than  defy  it  by  actual  bloodshed 
turned  and  fled  in  dismay.  Three  days  after,  the  insurrection  was  a 
thing  of  the  past,  and  the  insurgents  had  metaphorically  beaten  their 
swords  into  ploughshares,  and  their  spears  into  pruning-hooks. 
Dorr  himself  was  taken,  tried  and  sentenced  to  be  imprisoned  for 
life.  The  rigor  of  his  sentence  was  soon  abated,  and  in  1847,  by  an 
act  of  general  amnesty,  he  was  set  free,  and  in  185 1  was  restored  to 
his  rights  as  a  citizen. 

Foster  is  a  farming  town,  situated  on  the  western  border  of  the 
State,  fifteen  miles  from  Providence.  Its  area  is  fifty  square  miles. 
The  surface  is  rugged  and  hilly,  and  much  of  the  land  stony,  rough, 
hard  to  cultivate,  and  unproductive.  Some  of  the  best  farming  land 
in  the  State  is,  however,  to  be  found  within  its  borders.  In  1820, 
the  population  was  2,900,  —  the  largest  number  in  the  town's  history  ; 
by  the  census  of  1880,  it  was  1,552.  Foster  was  taken  from  Scituate, 
and  was  incorporated  as  a  separate  town  August  24,  1781.  It  was 
named  after  the  Hon.  Theodore  Foster,  then  a  United  States  Senator 
from  this  State. 

The  materials  for  romance  are  meagre  in  the  life  of  a  community 
like  this.  The  early  settlers  had,  no  doubt,  their  adventures  with 
the  Indians,  and  the  usual  number  of  hair-breadth  escapes.  As  the 
years  passed  slowly  on,  bringing  exemption  from  the  attacks  of  sav- 
age foes  and  deliverance  from  the  control  of  the  mother  country,  the 
lives  of  the  inhabitants  became  monotonous  and  uneventful.  In  such 
isolated  places  the  New  England  speech,  embalmed  by  Lowell  in 


164  Picturesque  Rhode  Island. 


the  Bigloxu  Papers,  flourished  with  remarkable  vigor.  A  certain 
shrewdness  of  character  and  an  unusual  physical  pluck  was  devel- 
oped, which  made  these  farming  towns  the  fountains  from  which 
were  drawn  the  energetic  business  men  of  the  cities. 

The  first  settlement  in  Foster,  according  to  tradition,  was  made  in 
the  year  1717,  by  Ezekiel  Hopkins,  whose  descendants  are  at  present 
numerous  in  the  town.  A  large  tract  of  land  called  West  Quanaug 
was  early  purchased  from  the  Indians  by  WilHam  Vaughan,  Zacha- 
riah  Rhodes,  and  Robert  Westcott.  A  number  of  the  prominent  men 
of*  Newport  were  afterward  associated  with  the  original  purchasers. 
The  time  of  the  settlement  of  this  purchase  is  not  definitely  known, 
but  it  was  no  doubt  occupied  soon  after  its  acquisition.  The  How- 
ards, who  settled  here  very  early,  have  always  been  a  prominent 
family  in  the  town.  The  Hon.  Daniel  Howard,  lately  deceased,  was 
a  man  of  influence  in  town  affairs.  He  was  conversant  with  its  early 
history,  and  was  for  many  years  town  clerk.  He  was  also  judge  of 
the  Court  of  Common  Pleas. 

An  episode  in  the  history  of  the  town,  though  only  a  personal  one, 
is  well  worth  mention.  A  short  time  before  the  war  of  the  Revolu- 
tion two  young  men,  Theodore  Foster  and  Solomon  Drowne,  were 
students  in  the  Rhode  Island  College.  They  were  close  friends  and 
inseparable  companions,  having  all  things  in  common,  and  confiding 
each  to  the  other  his  inmost  thoughts.  One  of  their  youthful  dreams 
was  that  sometime  in  the  future  they  would  withdraw  from  the  haunts 
of  men,  to  a  "  lodge  in  some  vast  wilderness,"  where  they  might  have 
the  unrestrained  pleasure  of  each  other's  society,  and  might  engage 
in  the  pursuits  of  literature,  art,  and  science.  For  many  years  they 
were  prevented  by  circumstances  from  carrying  their  project  into 
execution,  but- never  gave  up  the  idea. 

Foster  engaged  in  public  life.  He  was  town  clerk  of  Providence 
for  twelve  years,  and  United  States  Senator  from  1790  to  1803. 
Drowne  became  a  physician,  served  in  the  Revolutionary  War,  trav- 
eled and  studied  in  foreign  countries,  and  was  a  pioneer  in  the  settle- 
ment of  the  West.  He  was  celebrated  as  a  botanist,  and  for  many 
years  taught  that  science  in  Brown  University.  For  a  quarter  of  a 
century  the  friends  had  only  occasional  and  hurried  meetings.  At 
length,  in  the  year  1800,  they  were  able  to  take  steps  to  bring  about 
the  accomplishment  of  their  long  cherished  design.  Foster  was  inter- 
ested in  the  town  which  had  taken  his  name,  and  wished  to  live  within 
its  borders.     In  connection  with  Drowne  he  purchased  a  farm  in  an 


SCITUATE.  •  165 

elevated  and  eligible  situation.  They  named  the  place  "'  Mount 
Hygeia,  after  the  goddess  ol"  health,  of  the  Greek  mythology.  Here, 
with  their  families,  they  took  up  their  abode,  Drowne  in  1801,  and 
Foster  in  1803,  at  the  close  of  his  senatorial  career,  surrounded  by 
such  comforts  as  the  time  and  their  means  allbrded.  They  com- 
muned together,  as  in  tiieir  boyhood  they  had  planned,  writing  verses 
lull  of  classical  allusions,  as  was  the  fashion  of  the  age,  and  engag- 
ing in  their  favorite  studies.  To  spots  on  their  farm  and  in  its  neigh- 
borhood they  gave  classical  names.  While  enjoying  their  "  learned 
leisure"  they  found  time  to  advance  the  interests  of  the  town, 
l^rincipally  through  Foster's  means,  a  bank  and  a  library  were  estab- 
lished, and  a  road  from  Providence  to  Hartford  was  built.  The  por- 
tion of  the  road  which  passed  through  Foster's  farm  was  made  ol 
great  widtli,  and  was  named  by  him  the  "  Appian  Wa}." 

Within  the  limits  of  Foster  are  the  head  waters  of  the  north 
branch  of  the  Pawtuxet  River,  besides  various  other  small  streams. 
There  are  manv  good  sites  for  small  factories,  but  the  distance 
inland,  combined  with  the  small  available  water-power,  render  them 
of  comparatively  little  \alue. 

SciTUATE.  —  The  lands  granted  to  Roger  Williams  and  his  asso- 
ciates, when  they  first  settled  in  Providence,  were  extensive  tracts 
whose  bounds  were  not  accurately  defined.  As  the  original  settle- 
ment increased,  portions  of  the  outlying  territory  were  occupied  as 
farms  by  pioneers.  In  time,  these  farming  districts,  because  of  their 
remoteness  from  Providence,  were  formed  into  separate  towns  as  their 
situation  and  w-ants  required.  Scituate  was  one  of  the  towns  so 
formed.  It  was  incorporated  Feb.  20,  1730-^1.  At  that  time  an  act 
was  passed  "■  for  erecting  and  incorporating  the  outlands  of  the  town 
of  Providence  into  three  towns."  The  two  other  towns  were  Gloces- 
ter  and  Smithfield. 

Judging  from  the  following  verses,  by  Stephen  Hopkins,  the  first 
settlers  in  this  region  must  have  been  in  a  sad  plight.  There  is  a 
possibility,  however,  that  reference  is  made  to  individuals  striving  to 
make  a  house  in  the  forest  to  which  afterwards  they  could  bring  their 
families.  No  doubt  in  all  the  early  settlements  were  many  pioneers 
who  had,  in  their  first  essays  to  conquer  the  wilderness,  undergone 
hardships  equal  to  those  depicted  here  : 

"  Nor  housL-,  nor  hut,  nor  fruitful  field, 
Nor  lowing  herd,  nor  bleating  flock, 
Or  garden  that  might  comfort  yield, 
Nor  cheerful,  early  crowing  cock. 


1 66  Picturesque  Rhode  Island. 

No  orchard  yielding  pleasant  fruit, 

Or  laboring  ox,  or  useful  plow; 
Nor  neighing  steed,  or  browsing  goat, 

Or  grunting  swine,  or  feedful  cow. 

No  friend  to  help,  no  neighbor  nigh, 

Nor  healing  medicine  to  relieve; 
No  mother's  hand  to  close  the  eye, 

Alone;  forlorn,  and  most  extremely  poor." 

Emigrants  with  more  means  soon  followed.  In  1710  some 
arrived  from  Scituate,  Mass.,  and  through  their  agency  when  the 
town  was  incorporated  it  was  named  after  their  old  home. 

The  first  settler  is  supposed  to  have  been  John  Mathewson.  He 
built  a  hut  near  Moswansicut  Pond.  The  nearest  trading  town  was 
Boston,  to  which  he  made  journeys  occasionally.  Each  of  these  trips 
occupied  a  number  of  days,  and  the  traveler  generally  stopped  at  all 
the  houses  on  the  route.  The  roads  were  only  paths  through  the 
woods.  On  one  of  these  expeditions  Mathewson  proposed  marriage 
to  a  Miss  Malary,  whose  acquaintance  he  had  made  during  some  of 
his  preceding  journeys.  She  assented  to  his  proposal,  and  the  pair 
were  married.  Soon  after  his  marriage  Mr.  Mathewson  built  a  house 
at  some  distance  from  his  hut,  and  in  this  house  his  children  were 
born.  John,  one  of  his  sons,  was  the  direct  ancestor  of  the  Hon. 
Elisha  Mathewson,  at  one  time  United  States  Senator  from  this 
State.     Others  of  that  name  settled  in  the  neighborhood  of  the  pond. 

In  1775  James  Aldrich  removed  from  Smithfield  to  Scituate. 
After  the  Revolution  he  was  active  in  local  politics,  and  represented 
the  town  for  nineteen  consecutive  years  in  the  General  Assembly. 
His  house  was  a  rendezvous  for  prominent  men  in  the  town  and 
State.  Here,  at  times,  ^^lisha  Mathewson,  John  Harris,  Col.  Ephraim 
Bowers,  and  others  were  welcome  guests.  Gov.  Arthur  Fenner  fre- 
quently came  down  from  Providence  to  visit  Mr.  Aldrich  and  enjoy 
the  hunting  to  be  had  in  the  neighborhood.  "Political,  as  well  as 
social  and  hunting  propensities  doubtless  mingled  in  these  expedi- 
tions, for  Mr.  James  Aldrich  and  his  friend,  Elisha  Mathewson, 
were  said  to  control  the  votes  of  Scituate,  and  the  people  loved  to  see 
a  governor  among  them  in  such  a  free  and  eas}^  spirit  and  costume, 
and  gladly  gave  him  the  favor  of  their  votes." 

Gideon  Harris,  who  died  in  1777,  was  a  noted  man  in  the  town. 
For  many  years  he  was  town  clerk.  His  disposition  was  benevolent, 
and  having  property  and  influence,  he  used  both  to  a  good  purpose  in 
benefiting  his  neighbors.      Those  who  were  in  distress  were  sure  of 


SCITUATE. 


167 


Lake    Moswansicut. 


his  counsel  and  assistance  as  soon    as  they  made  their  necessities 
known  to  him. 

About  the  year  1703,  Joseph  Wilkinson  moved  from  Providence 
into  the  north  part  of  Scituate,  then  known  by  the  Indian  name  of 
Chapumishcock.  He  was  a  surveyor,  and  his  services  were  always 
in  great  demand.  Mr.  Beaman,  in  his  Historical  Sketch  of  tlie  town, 
relates  the  following  anecdote  of  Mr.  Wilkinson's  wife  :  "■  Her  hus- 
band being  absent  at  work  some  two  miles  oft\  she  discovered  a  bear 
upon  a  sweet  apple  tree,  shaking  off  the  fruit  that  he  might  devour  it 
on  the  <rround.  As  it  was  the  onh'  tree  of  the  kind  thev  had,  and 
highly  valued,  Mrs.  Wilkinson  not  a  little  regretted  the  absence  of 
her  husband,  whose  gun,  kept  loaded  for  such  emergencies,  was  in 
its  place  on  the  pegs  at  the  side  of  the  wall.  The  apples  continued  to 
fall  and  rattle  on  the  ground,  and  there  was  no  other  help  at  hand  but 
the  gun,  which  Martha,  in  a  fit  of  desperation  took  into  her  hands, 
and  going  out  of  the  door  which  stood  open,  she  took  aim  and  fired. 
Dropping  the  gun  on  the  ground  immediately  after  the  discharge, 
alarmed  and  trembling  at  what  she  had  done,  she  ran  back  into  the 
house  and  shut  the  door,  afraid  to  look  back  and  see  the  effect  of  her 
shot.  When  Mr.  Wilkinson  returned  home,  he  found  the  bear  dead 
on  the  groimd,  so  that  his  faithful   and   resolute  wife   had  not  only 


i68  Picturesque  Rhode  Island. 

saved  the  cherished  apples,  but  had  secured  some  good  meat  as  a 
supply." 

In  1765,  or  thereabout,  William  Hopkins,  whose  wife  was  a  sis- 
ter of  Joseph  Wilkinson,  settled  near  him.  Two  of  his  sons,  Stephen 
and  Esek,  acquired  national  reputations.  Esek,  the  younger  of 
the  two,  was  born  in  Scituate  in  the  year  1718.  In  his  youth  he 
became  a  sailor,  and  very  soon  rose  to  the  command  of  a  vessel.  On 
the  22d  of  December,  1775,  he  was  appointed  by  the  Continental  Con- 
gress "  commander-in-chief"  of  the  American  naval  forces.  He  was 
thereafter  commonly  known  b}^  the  title  of  commodore,  though 
Washington  addressed  him  as  admiral.  In  February,  1776,  with  four 
ships  and  three  sloops,  he  sailed  from  the  Bahama  Islands  and  cap- 
tured the  forts  at  New  Providence.  The  ammunition  and  stores 
obtained  here  were  of  great  advantage  to  the  patriot  cause.  The 
squadron  on  the  return  voyage  captured  two  small  British  vessels,  for 
which  exploit  Commodore  Hopkins  was  officially  complimented. 
Two  days  after,  three  of  the  vessels,  having  engaged  the  "  Glasgow," 
a  vessel  of  twenty-nine  guns,  were  repulsed,  and  the  British  vessel 
escaped.  For  this  affair  the  commodore  was  censured,  and  was 
shortly  afterwards  brought  to  trial  on  this  and  other  charges,  but  wa'S 
defended  by  John  Adams,  and  acquitted.  Commodore  Hopkins 
found  many  difficulties  in  organizing  a  navy.  Neglecting  to  obey  a 
citation  summoning  him  to  appear  at  Philadelphia,  to  answer  charges 
preferred  against  him,  he  was  dismissed  the  service  Jan.  2,  i777- 
He  was  subsequently  engaged  in  private  armed  vessels,  and  after  the 
war  was  for  many  years  a  member  of  the  General  Assembly.  He 
died  Feb.  26,  1802.  John  Paul  Jones,  afterwards  famous  as  a 
naval  commander,  was  one  of  Commodore  Hopkins'  first  lieutenants 
during  the  expedition  that  resulted  in  the  capture  of  the  forts  at  New 
Providence. 

Stephen  Hopkins  became  much  more  celebrated  than  his  brother. 
He  was  born  on  the  7th  of  March,  1707,  O.  S.  ;  of  his  early  educa- 
tion absolutely  nothing  is  known.  At  the  age  of  nineteen  he  mar- 
ried. He  engaged  in  business  as  a  surveyor,  and  was  noted  for  the 
accuracy  of  his  work.  When  Scituate  was  incorporated,  in  1730,  Mr. 
Hopkins,  though  only  twenty-three  years  of  age,  was  elected  its  first 
moderator.  In  1731  he  became  town  clerk,  and  the  year  following 
was  elected  to  the  General  Assembly  ;  of  this  body  he  remained  a 
member  for  some  years.  From  this  time  forth  he  was  engaged  in 
various  public  duties  as  a  town  officer,  judge  and  surveyor.     In  1742 


Johnston.  169 

he  removed  to  Providence,  where  he  continued  to  reside  until  his 
death  on  the  13th  of  July,  1785.  During  the  forty-three  years  of  his 
residence  in  Providence,  Stephen  Hopkins  held  very  many  puhlic 
offices.  He  was  often  elected  to  the  General  Assembly ;  was 
chosen  speaker  of  the  House  a  number  of  times,  and  was  for 
ten  years  chief  justice  of  the  Superior  Court.  In  1754  he  was  one 
of  the  commissioners  to  the  Albany  Convention,  and  in  1755  was 
elected  governor  of  the  Colony.  '*  From  1755  to  1768  the  great 
political  w^ar  known  as  the  Ward  and  Hopkins  controversy  raged 
w^ith  violence.  Of  these  thirteen  exciting  political  years,  Governor 
Hopkins  held  the  office  of  governor  nine  years."  In  literary  and 
educational  matters.  Governor  Hopkins  was  quick  to  act.  His  name 
stands  first  among  the  incorporators  of  Rhode  Island  College  (now 
Brown  University)  ;  and  it  also  heads  the  list  on  the  petition  for  a 
charter  for  the  Providence  Library  Company.  In  1774  both  Ward 
and  Hopkins  were  elected  members  of  the  Continental  Congress. 
Ward  died  just  previous  to  the  Declaration  of  Independence  ;  Hop- 
kins was  one  of  the  signers  of  that  famous  document. 

Governor  Hopkins  was  the  author  of  a  famous  tract  entitled  The 
Rights  of  the  Colonies  JSxaniincd,  which  was  one  of  the  most  impor- 
tant of  the  revolutionary  writings.  During  his  controversy  with  Gov- 
ernor Ward  he  published  in  his  own  defence  A  True  Representation 
of  the  proceedings  of  the  convention  at  Albany  in  regard  to  the  plan 
for  a  union  of  the  colonies.  Other  literary  fragments  by  him  remain, 
principal  among  which  are  the  preliminary  chapters  of  a  history  of 
the  town  of  Providence,  first  printed  in  the  Providence  Gazette. 
In  1767  he  assisted  the  astronomer.  West,  in  his  observation  of  the 
transit  of  Venus. 

In  a  recently  published  historical  tract  the  writer  calls  Stephen 
Hopkins  "  the  ablest  man  of  his  time  within  her  (Rhode  Island) 
borders."  With  slight  opportunities  for  early  education,  he  steadily 
worked  his  way  by  the  force  of  his  own  genius  to  a  position  of  emi- 
nence. His  knowledge  of  the  needs  of  the  communit}'  in  which  he 
lived,  his  interest  in  science  and  education,  his  grasp  of  the  great 
principles  upon  which  government  is  based,  and  his  fearless  and 
devoted  patriotism  at  critical  times,  all  render  him  an  object  of 
admiration,  a  patriot  of  whom  not  only  Rhode  Island,  but  the  whole 
nation,  may  be  proud. 

John  Adams  says  of  Stephen  Hopkins  :  "The  pleasantest  part  of 
mv  labors  for  the  four  vears  I  spent  in  Congress,  from  1774  to  1778, 


lyo  Picturesque  Rhode  Island. 


was  in  the  naval  committee.  Mr.  Lee  and  Mr.  Gadsden  were  sensi- 
ble men,  and  very  cheerful,  but  Governor  Hopkins,  of  Rhode  Island, 
above  seventy  years  of  age,  kept  us  all  alive.  Upon  business,  his 
experience  and  judgment  were  very  useful.  But  when  the  business 
of  the  evening  was  over,  he  kept  us  in  conversation  till  ii  and  some- 
times 12  o'clock.  His  custom  was  to  drink  nothing  all  day  until  8  in 
the  evening,  and  then  his  beverage  was  Jamaica  spirits  and  water. 
It  gave  him  wit,  humor,  anecdotes,  science,  and  learning.  He  had 
read  Greek,  Roman,  and  British  history,  and  was  familiar  with  Eng- 
lish poetry,  particularly  Pope,  Thompson,  and  Milton  :  and  the  flow 
of  his  soul  made  all  his  reading  our  own,  and  seemed  to  bring  up 
recollections  in  all  of  us  of  all  we  had  ever  read.  I  could  neither  eat 
nor  drink  in  those  days ;  the  other  gentlemen  were  very  temperate. 
Hopkins  never  drank  to  excess,  but  all  he  drank  was  immediately 
not  only  converted  into  wit,  sense,  knowledge,  and  good  humor,  but 
inspired  us  with  similar  qualities." 

In  the  days  before  the  advent  of  railroads  the  wayside  inns  were 
notable  places.  The  old  Angell  tavern  in  Scituate  was  a  well-known 
hostelry.  It  was  built  before  the  incorporation  of  the  town.  In  its 
rooms  the  town-meetings  were  held ;  the  weary  traveler  here  found 
rest  and  refreshment,  and  entertainment  also,  if  he  chose  to  take  it. 
Here  would  the  local  worthies  congregate  to  discuss  the  politics  of 
the  day,  and  sometimes  the  young  men  and  maidens  of  the  town 
would  assemble  in  the  old  house  for  a  dance.  General  Washington 
was  at  one  time  a  guest,  and  Lafayette,  on  his  march  through  the 
town  during  the  war  of  the  Revolution,  lodged  in  the  tavern. 

The  people  of  Scituate  are  mostly  engaged  in  farming.  Through 
the  southern  part  of  the  town  flow  two  small  streams,  which  on  unit- 
ing form  the  north  branch  of  the  Pawtuxet  River.  The  water- 
power,  though  small,  is  well  used.  There  are  in  the  town  ten  or 
twelve  cotton-mills,  besides  various  other  establishments.  Hope 
Village,  the  terminus  of  the  Pawtuxet  Valley  Railroad,  is  in  the  south- 
eastern part  of  Scituate,  on  the  Pawtuxet  River.  In  the  early  days 
there  was  a  furnace  located  here,  at  which  the  ore  obtained  from  the 
Cranston  "  ore-bed"  was  worked. 

The  local  history  of  the  town  of  Johnston,  because  of  its-  prox- 
imity, is  so  interwoven  with  that  of  Providence,  that  it  is  difficult  to 
separate  the  one  from  the  other.  Until  shortly  before  the  Revolu- 
tion it  was  a  part  of  Providence.      The  inhabitants   of  this  western 


Johnston.  171 

part  t'ouiul  it  incomcniL-iit  Id  atti'iul  the   tow  n-mcctiiiLj's.  ami  a   move- 
ment to  erect  a  separate  town  w  as  made. 

The  petition   lor  a   (Hxision   represented   that   within   the   Hmits  ol' 
Providence  there  were  ••  ujnvards  ot"  lour  hiuuhx'd    freemen,   part  ot* 


A  View  on  the  Woonasquatucket. 

wliom  live  ten  miles  from  the  place  where  the  town-meetings  are 
usually  holden  and  the  prudential  allairs  of  said  town  are  transacted; 
and  that,  when  met,  they  are  \er\'  much  crowded,  to  the  great  hin- 
drance of  business,  wiiich  being  inconvenient,  they  pray  to  be  set  off, 
made  and  created  into  a  distinct  township."  The  new  town  was  incor- 
porated March  6,  1759,  '^"^^  named  in  honor  of  the  Hon.  Augustus 
Johnston,  then  the  attornex-general  of  the  Colonw  The  pojiulation 
in  1880  was  5.765.  Agriculture  is  the  j^rincipal  occupation  of  the 
iniiabitants,  the  nearness  of  the  citv  affording  a  good  market  tor  all 
kinds  of  garden  produce  and  \'egetables.  Some  manufactures  are 
carried  on  along  the  banks  of  the  Woonasquatucket  River,  which 
divides  the  town  from  Pro\idence.  These  are  mainly  cotton  and 
woolen  mills  in  Olnevville,  Merino,  and  Simmonsville. 

In  the  deed  C!)n\-e\'inLr  the  oriu'inal  urant  of  land  from  the  Indian 


172  Picturesque  Rhode  Island. 

chieftains,  Canonicus  and  Miantonomi,  to  Roger  Williams,  one  of  the 
bounds  of  the  grant  is  "  the  great  hill  of  Neutaconkanut."  This  hill 
is  also  mentioned  in  a  subsequent  deed  executed  by  Roger  Williams 
to  the  other  purchasers.  There  is  no  doubt  that  the  hill  mentioned 
is  the  one  known  at  present  in  the  town  of  Johnston  by  the  same 
name.  From  its  summit  a  line  view  ma}^  be  obtained  of  the  city 
of  Providence,  and  of  the  valley  of  the  Woonasqautucket  River. 

In  the  colonial  days  lotteries  were  allowed  by  the  Legislature  for 
the  purpose  of  raising  money  for  nearly  all  objects.  The  General 
Assembly  in  the  year  1761  passed  the  following  grant:  "  Whereas^ 
several  of  the  inhabitants  of  the  town  of  Johnston  preferred  a  petition 
and  represented  unto  this  Assembh'  that  there  is  no  meeting-house  in 
said  town  ;  that  Daniel  Manton  will  give  an  acre  of  land  near  Ben- 
jamin  Belknap,  whereon  to  set  a  meeting-house  ;  that  the  circum- 
stances of  said  town  are  low,  and,  therefore,  pray  that  a  lottery  might 
be  granted  to  them  to  raise  money  sufficient  to  build  a  meeting-house 
for  public  worship,  free  to  the  Baptist  Society  of  the  Ancient  Order, 
in  the  said  place,  of  the  dimensions  of  fort}^  feet  long  and  thirty  feet 
wide."  This  lottery  was  granted,  and  from  it  was  realized  almost 
money  enough  to  build  the  church.  The  remainder  was  obtained 
by  a  second  lottery. 

Both  before  and  after  the  Revolution  it  was  customary  through- 
out New  England  for  towns  having  no  work-houses  to  let  out  their 
paupers  to  the  lowest  bidders.  A  town  being  obliged  to  support  the 
poor  wished  to  do  it  as  cheaply  as  possible,  and  the  person  who 
would  support  a  pauper  for  the  smallest  sum  paid  out  of  the  town 
treasury,  would  have  that  opportunity.  The  paupers  were  sold  at 
public  auction,  and  the  treatment  they  received  under  this  arrange- 
ment depended  entirely  upon  the  character  of  their  purchaser.  In 
some  instances  individuals  were  treated  with  great  harshness.  There 
was,  perhaps,  some  excuse  for  this  practice  ;  but  gradually  public  sen- 
timent caused  it  to  be  discontinued.  (In  several  of  the  Southern 
States  the  same  practice  prevails  to-day.)  This  incident  is  found  in 
the  records  of  the  town  of  Johnston  :  A  resolution  was  passed  Oct.  8, 
I79i,that  the  poor  supported  by  the  town  should  be  sold  at  public 
vendue  for  a  period  of  six  months,  except  all  those  whom  the  over- 
seer of  the  poor  had  agreed  to  support  for  one  year.  Under  this  res- 
olution Jabez  Westcott  was  sold  to  Josiah  King  at  the  rate  of  four 
shillings  per  v\^eek,  and  Nathan  Pearce  at  eight  shillings. 

About  five  miles  from  Providence,  in   the   town   of  Johnston,  is'  a 


Cranston. 


173 


A   View  on   tlie    Pawtuxet. 


romantic  spot  on  the  Pocasset  Brook  which  is  worth  a  visit.  The 
hrook  flows  into  a  deep  ravine,  the  banks  of  which  are  thirty  or  t'orty 
feet  in  height,  at  the  upper  end  falling  over  a  series  of  cascades. 
When  the  water  is  abundant,  or  during  a  freshet,  the  effect  is  pictur- 
esque, —  much  more  so  than  that  of  many  spots  tourists  go  hundreds 
of  miles  to  visit.  The  bottom  and  sides  of  the  ravine  below  the  falls 
are  well  wooded  with  tall,  straight  trees,  whose  tops  rise  as  high  as 
those  of  their  brethren  of  the  surrounding  forest. 

Cranston. — Very  early  in  the  histor\'  of  the  colony,  attempts 
were  made  to  have  this  territory  set  off  from  Providence,  but  for  a  time 
without  success.  The  principal  reasons  for  these  repeated  failures 
were  the  disagreements  in  regard  to  a  name  for  the  proposed  town. 
Among  those  suggested  were  Mashapaug,  Pawtuxet,  Meshanticut, 
Lvnn,  and  Pocasset.  Finally  the  town  was  incorporated  June  14, 
1754,  'i"^^  named  in  honor  of  Samuel  Cranston,  the  governor  of  the 
Colony  from  1698  to  1727.  Portions  of  the  town  were  reunited  to 
Providence  June  10,  1868,  and  March  28,  1873.  Its  population  in 
1880  was  5,941. 

Iron  ore  was  early  found  here,  and  in  1767  a  company  was  formed 
to  mine  the  ore  at  a  place  known  as  the  "•  ore-bed."  This  business 
was  successfully  carried  on  for  a  number  of  years.     Large  quantities 


174  Picturesque  Rhode  Island. 

of  ore  were  sent  to  supply  the  numerous  furnaces  in  various  parts  of 
the  countr}^  Much  was  sent  to  the  Hope  Furnace,  in  Scituate. 
From  the  metal  there  extracted,  cannon  were  cast  which  were  used 
in  the  Revolutionary  War.  At  present  the  mine  is  filled  with  water. 
Coal  was  at  one  time  mined  on  the  slope  of  the  Sockanosset  Hill  in 
Cranston.  The  deserted  mine  and  the  buildings  at  its  mouth  yet 
remain,  and  are  situated  between  the  Sockanosset  Reservoir  and  the 
pumping-station  of  the  Providence  Water  Works.  Various  attempts 
have  been  made  to  bring  the  coal  obtained  there  into  common  use, 
^nd  about  ten  years  ago  efforts  were  made  to  interest  capital  in  the 
enterprise,  but  without  success.  The  coal  would  burn,  but  required 
great  watchfulness  ;  there  is  no  doubt,  however,  that  for  some  pur- 
poses it  has  superior  qualities. 

In  the  Cranston  records  of  the  pre-Revolutionar}^  times  an  action 
is  mentioned  which  is  much  to  the  credit  of  the  place.  By  some 
means  the  town  became  possessed  of  a  negro  slave,  named  Jack,  on 
the  22d  of  August,  1767.  Having  ascertained  that  the  slave  was 
industrious  and  likely  to  earn  his  own  living,  the  town  gave  him  his 
liberty  five  days  thereafter. 

During  the  years  immediately  following  the  Revolution  various 
attempts  were  made  to  establish  manufactures.  Before  181 2  there 
were  four  establishments  for  the  manufacture  of  cotton  yarn.  In  the 
succeeding  years,  down  to  the  present  time,  many  similar  enterprises 
have  been  started.  It  is  a  singular  fact,  however,  that  with  one 
important  exception  all  these  undertakings  have  failed.  At  present 
the  only  manufacturing  concern  of  any  extent  within  the  limits  of  the 
town  is  the  print-works  of  the  A.  &  W.  Sprague  Manufacturing 
Company. 

At  Arlington  are  quarries  where  work  was  commenced  in  1820, 
and  is  still  carried  on.  In  1859  ^  brewery  was  built  at  Spectacle 
Pond,  and  "  lager  beer"  is  now  made  there. 

The  first  beginning  from  which  has  grown  the  immense  business 
of  the  Spragues,  was  made  by  William  Sprague,  who  built  a  mill  at 
Cranston  Village  in  1807  for  the  spinning  of  cotton  yarn.  This  mill 
was  burned  in  181 5,  but  was  immediately  rebuilt  and  enlarged.  In 
the  meantime  Sprague  had  hired  the  Union  Mills  in  Olneyville.  In 
1825  he  began  to  print  cloth,  at  first  from  blocks.  In  1827  he  intro- 
duced one  printing  machine.  This  William  Sprague  died  in  1836. 
He  was  the  father  of  Amasa  and  William  Sprague,  the  original  mem- 
bers of  the  firm  of  A.  &  W.  Sprague.  The  two  sons  continued  the 
business  after  their  father's  death. 


^RANSTON. 


175 


William  was  the  master  spirit,  and  one  of  the  most  remarkable 
men  of  his  time.  He  was  governor  of  the  State  from  1838  to  1840, 
and  in  1842  became  United  States  Senator.  He  w^as  subsequently 
known  as  the-  "Old  Governor."    William  Spraouc  was  an  exaggerated 


A  View  of  the   State   Prison. 


type  of  the  Rhode  Island  factory  magnate.  With  greater  ability 
than  his  compeers  (perhaps  he  was  a  little  more  unscrupulous  than 
thev),  he  accompHshed  his  ends  with  more  daring,  but  by  the  same 
methods  ;  shrewd,  practical,  and  far-seeing,  by  the  position  of  his 
business,  in  comparative  isolation,  he  was  enabled  to  exercise  the 
authoritv  of  an  autocrat.  His  w^orkmen  he  could  control ;  they 
would  vote  at  his  bidding.  He  was  a  feudal  lord  in  the  nineteenth 
centurv,  accomplishing  his  own  will,  not  by  brute  force,  but  within 
the  bounds  and  with  the  sanction  of  law. 

On  Sunday,  the  31st  day  of  December,  1843,  Amasa  Sprague  was 
murdered.  The  deed  was  done  in  the  afternoon,  by  the  side  of  a 
beaten  path  constantly  traveled,  and  within  sight  of  the  windows  of 
many  houses,  yet  no  one  saw^  it.  The  body  was  shockingly 
mutilated,  and  the  gun  with  which  the  murder  was  committed  was 
found  lying  in  a  damaged  condition  at  a  distance  of  about  a  hundred 
rods  from  the  corpse.  Three  brothers,  Nicholas  S.,  John  and  Wil- 
liam Gordon  were  arrested  on  suspicion.  Nicholas  was  accused 
of  being  an  accessory,  and  the  other  tw^o  were  charged  wdth  having 
perpetrated  the  crime.  They  were  natives  of  Ireland.  Nicholas 
had  been  in  this  country  a  number  of  years ;  John  and  William 
but  a  few  months.  The  motive  for  the  murder  was  said  to  be  the 
enmitv  which  Nicholas  Gordon  felt  towards  Amasa  Sprague,  because 


176  Picturesque  Rho^e  Island. 

of  the  latter's  opposition  to  the  granting  to  Gordon  of  a  license  to  sell 
liquor.  The  trial  began  April  8,  1844,  and  resulted  in  the  acquittal  of 
Nicholas  and  William  Gordon.  John  Gordon  was  adjudged  guilty, 
wholly  on  circumstantial  evidence,  and  was  executed  Feb.  14,  1845. 
This  was  the  last  hanging  which  took  place  in  Rhode  Island. 

The  present  Amasa  and  William  Sprague  are  the  children  of  the 
murdered  man.  The  business  was  built  up  by  the  "  Old  Governor," 
who  resigned  his  seat  in  the  United  States  Senate  very  soon  after 
the  murder  of  his  brother. 

The  village  of  Pawtuxet,  about  five  miles  below  Providence,  on 
the  west  side  of  Narragansett  Bay,  is  partly  in  Cranston  and  partly 
in  Warwick.  It  is  pleasantly  situated  at  the  mouth  of  the  Pawtuxet 
River.  The  river  divides  the  village  into  two  portions,  which  are 
connected  by  a  bridge.  From  this  bridge  a  fine  view  of  the  water-fall 
a  short  distance  above  may  be  obtained.  A  long,  narrow  peninsula, 
jutting  out  into  the  bay,  encloses  a  basin  at  the  mouth  of  the  river 
just  below  the  bridge,  which  forms  a  good  harbor.  This  peninsula 
is  known  as  Pawtuxet  Neck,  and  is  said  to  have  been  a  favorite 
feasting-place  with  the  Indians  before  the  arrival  of  Europeans.  A 
small  amount  of  foreign  commerce  was  at  one  time  brought  to  the 
wharves  of  Pawtuxet,  but  now,  like  those  of  many  other  small  har- 
bors, they  are  almost  entirely  deserted. 

In  1638,  two  years  after  the  arrival  of  Roger  WiUiams  at  Provi- 
dence, William  Arnold,  William  Carpenter,  Zachariah  Tucker,  and 
WiUiam  Harris,  removed  from  Providence  and  began  the  settlement 
at  Pawtuxet.  Four  years  afterwards  the  principal  settlers  in  the 
place,  because  of  their  dissatisfaction  with  the  insubordinate  conduct 
of  Samuel  Gorton  and  his  followers,  put  themselves  under  the  pro- 
tection of  the  Massachusetts  Colony.  After  the  removal  of  Gorton 
to  Warwick  they  withdrew  their  allegiance  from  Massachusetts,  and 
came  under  the  jurisdiction  of  Rhode  Island.  A  dispute  which  had 
existed  from  the  first  settlement,  about  the  boundary  between  Provi- 
dence and  Pawtuxet,  was  finally  setded  in  1712.  Gaspee  Point, 
where  the  British  armed  schooner  "Gaspee"  was  destroyed,  is  a 
short  distance  below  Pawtuxet. 

In  the  year  1869  a  farm  containing  417.7  acres,  situated  in  the 
town  of  Cranston,  about  six  miles  from  Providence,  was  purchased 
by  the  State  for  the  purpose  of  locating  there  the  State  institutions  for 
the  punishment  and  reformation  of  criminals,  for  the  insane,  and  for 
the  State  paupers.     The  farm  is  in  an  elevated  situation,   and  com- 


Cranston. 


177 


niancls  a  fine  \-i(.'\v  of  the  c\[\,  ba\',  and  suiTonndini;-  connti'N'.  At  fn'st 
temporary  quarters  were  erected  for  those  guilty  of  minor  otVences. 
In  a  short  time,  however,  a  permanent  work-house  was  built,  which 
was  gradually  followed  by  a  house  of  correction,  an  asylum  for  the 
insane,  and  an  almshouse  for  paupers  luuing  no  town  settlement. 
The  State  Prison  was  commenced  in  1874  '^"<^^  fniished  in  1878, 
being  ready  ff)r  occupancy  in  N()\ember  of  that  ^•ear.  '"  A  large  part 
ot  the  tarni  was  very  rough  when  the  State  bought  it.  (jreat  quanti- 
ties ot  stone  ha\e  been  dug  out  of  the  meadows,  drains  have  been 
laid,  bushes  cut,  and  roads  opened.  A  very  convenient  and  spacious 
barn  has.  been  built,  great  storehouses  have  been  erected,  and  num- 
bers of  smaller  buildings,  such  as  blacksmiths'  and  carpenters'  shops,  a 
bakery,  a  laundry,  a  basket-shop,  etc.,  luive  been  put  up.  An  exten- 
sive system  of  water  works  has  been  established,  gas  has  been  intro- 
duced, and  altogether  a  great  amount  of  work  has  been  done." 

The  Sockanosset  Reservoir  and  the  Pettaconset  pumping-station  of 
the  Providence  Water  Works  are  situated  in  Cranston,  within  a  short 
distance  of  the  State  Farm.  The  reservoir  is  185.5  ^^^^  above  high- 
water  mark  at  Providence,  and  is  about  1,000  feet  long  by  860  wide. 
The  base  of  the  reservoir  with  the  embankment  covers  14.0719 
acres;  reservoir  bottom,  9.5383  acres;  the  area  of  water  surface  is 
10.9467  acres:  length  of  embankments  on  centre  line,  2,885.29  feet; 
capacity.  United  States  gallons,  51,156,544;  the  embankment  is  19 
feet  high  from  bottom  of  reservoir,  15  wide  on  top,  and  the  surface 
of  the  water  is  four  feet  below  the  top  of  the  bank.  The  pumping- 
station  is  about  a  niilc  distant  from  the  reservoir.  From  the  banks  of 
this  reservoir  is  obtained  one  of  the  finest  views  to  be  had  in  the 
environs  of  Providence.  To  the  north  the  city  is  seen  in  nearly  its 
whole  extent,  to  tlu-  south  are  the  buildings  on  the  State  Farm,  while 
eastward  can  be  seen  Warren  and  Bristol,  and  on  a  clear  da\'  h^ill 
River  is  visible. 


Field's   Point. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 


PROVIDENCE— ROGER   WILLIAMS    AND    "SOUL    LIBERTY  "  —  MANNERS    AND    CUS- 
TOMS    IN     EARLY     DAYS  —  OLD-TIME     "CONVENIENCES"     FOR 
TRAVELING  —  ROGER    WILLIAMS    PARK  — CHURCHES     AND    EDU- 
^]t)l  CATIONAL     INSTITUTIONS  —  DETAILS     RESPECTING     THE     COM- 

MERCE—THE  RISE   OF  MANUFACTURES. 


UCH  time  and  labor  have  been  spent  in  tracing  the 
events  in  the  life  of  the  founder  of  Providence,  pre- 
vious to  his  appearance  on  this  side  of  the  Atlantic.  Un- 
til quite  recently  no  very  satisfactory  results  have  fol- 
lowed these  efforts.  The  grand  difficulty  in  the  way  of 
identifying  these  events  lay  in  the  fact  of  the  existence 
of  two  others  of  the  same  name,  contemporary  with 
him.  His  name,  Roger  Williams,  is  indicative  of  his 
Welch  origin.  He  was  born  in  Wales,  in  the  year 
1599.  The  precise  locality  cannot  be  fixed,  although 
Arnold,  the  historian  of  Rhode  Island,  thinks  it  not 
unlikely  that  it  was  Maestroiddyn.  Authorities  dis- 
agree upon  many  matters  concerning  his  early  life. 
It  is,  however,  quite  certain  that  he  was  educated  at 
Pembroke  College,  Cambridge.  Pie  was  ordained  to  the  ministry 
of  the  Established  Church  of  England,  from  whicli  he  afterwards 
dissented,  and  became  a  rigid  separatist. 

This  w'as  an  age  of  great  religious  agitation  and  of  little  religious 
toleration.  The  attempt  to  force  a  uniformity  of  liturgy  and  the 
supremacy  of  the  Church  of  England  upon  the  people  had  resulted 
in  driving  many  out  of  that  church.  The  Dissenters,  as  they  were 
called,  soon  found  that  they  had  fallen  upon  troublous  times.  Long 
and  bitter  was  the  persecution  waged  against  them,  and  many  sought 


i8o 


Picturesque  Rhode  Island. 


Old   City   Building. 


religious   liberty  in    strange  lands. 
Among    these    were    the    Pilgrims     at 
Plymouth,     and    the    Puritans    at   the 
head    of  Massachusetts    Bay.     Where 
better,  than  among  these  heroic  men, 
who  for  conscience'  sake    had  braved 
the  perils  of  the  wintry  ocean  and  the 
greater    perils    of    inhospitable    shores 
and  their  savage  inhabitants,  could  one 
enjoy  freedom  to   worship    God   unre- 
strained by  rules  made  and  imposed  by 
mortals  as  weak  and  erring  as  himself? 
Surely,  in  this  new  world,  a  new  order 
of  things  would  reign,  and  one  would 
be  allowed  to  possess  one's  own  opinion 
in    peace.     So,    to    the    Massachusetts 
Bay  Colony,  in  163 1,  came  Roger  Williams.     The  colonists  received 
him  most  gladly,  for  he  was  a  profound  scholar,  and  a  "  godly  min- 
ister," and  likely  to  become  to  them  a  tower  of  strength.     But  they 
were    narrow,  rigid,  and  sectarian,  incapable  of  understanding  the 
breadth  of  mind  and  liberality  of  thought  which  Williams  brought  to 
bear    upon  the  sub- 
jects that  were  agi- 
tating    their     own 
minds.     The   perse- 
cution which    had 
developed  in  them  a 
heroism    which    has 
been  the  admiration 
of  the    Christian 
world    ever    since, 
seems  to  have  stop- 
ped   the    springs    of 
that    charity    which 
St.  Paul  has  taught 
us  is  the  first  of  all 
virtues.      When  dif- 
ferences    arose,     as 
they  soon     did,    the 

Puritan         colonists  The   state   House. 


Providence. 


i8i 


showed  themselves  quite  ready  to  inaugurate  a  persecution  quite  as 
rancorous  as  that  which  they  themselves  had  sulVered.  Curiously 
enouoh,  the  tirst  issue  wii^  raised  upon  a  question  of  cluirch  suprem- 
acv,  not  of  the   English   Church,  hut  of  tliat  ecclesiastical  organiza- 


Thc    Nc.v    City    HjII 

tion  of  which  they  themselves  were  the  authors.  The  church  at 
Salem  had  the  hardihood  to  call  Mr.  Williams  to  assist  their  pastor, 
Mr.  Skelton,  without  consulting  the  Boston  authorities.  Upon  Mr. 
Williams'  acceptance,  the  church  at  Boston  remonstrated  with  that 
of  Salem  for  such  a  course,  hut  without  result.  When,  therefore, 
an  opportunity  presented  itself  for  more  active  measures,  they  were 
by  no  means  slow  to  avail  themselves  of  it.  Among  otlu-r  advanced 
opinions,  Mr.  Williams  taught  that  the  civil  power  had  no  authority 
to  punish  a  "breach  of  the  Hrst  table,"  that  is,  an  oflence  purely 
against  God.  This  was  tiie  iirst  assertion  of  religious  freedom,  so 
broad   in  its  application,   so  catholic   in  its    spirit,   that  it  seemed  to 


l82 


Picturesque  Rhode  Island. 


the  narrow-minded  Massachusetts  colonists  the  rankest  heresy.  The 
fearlessness  with  which  he  proclaimed  this  doctrine  "  gave  rise  to  a 
system  of  persecution  which,  before  the  c^ose  of  summer,  obliged 
him  to  seek  a  refuge  beyond  the  jurisdiction  of  Massachusetts  in 
the  more  liberal  colony  of  the  Pilgrims." 

He  remained  at  Plymouth  two  years.  During  his  stay  he 
became  well  acquainted  with  the  sachems  of  the  neighboring  Indian 
tribes,  and  more  or  less  familiar  with  their  languages.  This  familiar- 
ity stood  him  in  good  stead  when,  later,  he  was  forced  to  make  a  new 
settlement  among  them. 

Although  the  Plymouth  Colony  was  far  more  liberal  than  the 
Massachusetts  Bay  Colony,  both  in  religious  and  secular  matters, 
and    although    they    showed  a   generous    disposition    towards    him, 

they  could  not   keep  pace 

'  "  ,  with    his    theory    that    the 

^^W  ""^N,,  mind    should    be   a    free 

agent  in  spiritual  matters. 
His  attachment  to  his  first 
charge  never  wavered,  and 
when  at  length  he  obtained 
his  dismissal  from  Plym- 
outh, he  returned  to  Salem, 
many  of  his  Plymouth  con- 
gregation either  going  with 
him  or  following  soon  after. 
Here  the  bitter  controversy 
and  persecution  broke  out 
again.  Mr.  Williams  de- 
clared his  belief  that  the 
king  of  England  had  no 
right  to  confer  patents  upon 
companies  or  individuals, 
entitling  them  to  lands  in 
America,  without  purchas- 
ing such  right  from  the 
aboriginals.  This  was  not 
only  in  accordance  with  the  theory,  but  also  the  practice  of  the  colo- 
nists, yet  for  this  declaration  they  summoned  him  to  appear  and 
answer  for  himst  If  before  a  court  of  law.  Later,  a  still  more  serious 
cause  of  complaint  was  found  against  him,  and  again  he  was  cited  to 


The  Soldiers'   and    Sailors'    Monument. 


Pro\idence. 


183 


A  View  of   Crystal    Lake,    Roger  Williams    Park. 

appear  before  the  council,  tor  teaching  "•  that  a  magistrate  ought  not 
to  tender  an  oath  to  an  unregenerate  man."  His  defence  was,  that 
an  oath  is  an  act  of  worship,  and  that  the  person  who  takes  it,  by  the 
very  act  acknowledges  the  existence  of  God.  He  reasoned  that  in 
accordance  with  liis  own  belief  in  the  liberty  of  conscience,  no  man 
had  a  right  to  enforce  an  oath. 

The  church  at  Salem  had  some  time  before  presented  a  peti- 
tion to  the  General  Court  for  certain  "  land  in  Marblehead  Neck," 
which  they  said  belonged  to  their  town.  This  had  been  refused  upon 
the  extraordinary  ground  that  "they  had  chosen  Mr.  Williams  as 
their  teacher."  Indignant  at  such  injustice,  Mr.  Williams  united 
with  his  church  in  a  letter  of  protestation,  which  met  with  but  scorn- 
ful reception.  The  "contempt  of  authority"  evidenced  first  by 
their  unauthorized  call  of  Mr.  Williams,  and  now  by  this  contuma- 
cious epistle,  apparently  had  more  weight  with  the  council  than  all 
the  heresies  of  which  he  stood  accused.  For  two  years  a  threat  of 
sentence  at  the  next  session  of  the  Court  was  kept  hanging  over 
him,  until  at  length  his  health  broke  down  under  the  accumulation 
of  vexations.      Worn    in    bodv   and    mind,  he   wrote   a   letter   to   his 


Providence. 


i8S 


The    Hoppin    Homestead    Building. 


church,  declaring  "  that  he  woukl  not  communicate  with  the  churches 
in  the  Bay  ;  neither  would  he  communicate  with  them  except  they 
would  refuse  communion  with  the  rest."  Summoned  before  the 
Court  for  the  fifth  time,  he  was  confronted  with  these  letters,  which 
constituted  the  only  charges  against  him.  Although  he  justified 
their  contents,  sentence  of  banishment  was  pronounced  against  him, 
and  he  was  ordered  to  be  beyond  the  jurisdiction  of  the  colony  within 
six  weeks.  The  period  was  afterwards  extended  to  spring,  on  con- 
dition that  he  would  not  teach  any  of  his  mischievous  doctrines. 
But  suddenly,  upon  the  plea  that  he  had  imparted  some  of  his  views 
to  friends  at  his  own  house,  he  was  ordered  to  go  to  Boston,  in  order 
to  embark  in  a  vessel  ready  to  sail  for  England.  Upon  his  refusal  to 
do  so,  a  boat  was  dispatched  to  take  him  b\'  force,  but  upon  its  arri- 
val he  had  been  gone  from  his  home  three  days.  Alone,  and  in  the 
depth  of  winter,  he  had  set  out  upon  that  "sorrowful  journey," 
through  the  trackless  forest,  and  after  fourteen  weeks,  during  which 
he   knew  not   what  "  either  bed  or  bread  did  mean,"  he  arrived  at 


i86 


PicTUREsc^UE   Rhode  Island. 


the  settlement  of  the  Wampanoags,  from  whose  friendly  chief,  Mas- 
sasoiet,  he  obtained  a  grant  of  land  on  the  Seekonk  River.  He  was 
soon  warned  by  his  friend,  Governor  Winslow,  that  it  would  be  better 
for  him  to  cross  the  river,  and  thus  be  beyond  the  jurisdiction  of  the 
Plymouth  Colony,  who  wished  to  keep  on  good  terms  with  that  of 
Massachusetts  Bay.  He  accordingly  did  so,  with  five  others  who  had 
joined  him  from  Salem.  The  names  of  these  were  William  Harris, 
John  Smith,  Joshua  Verin,  Thomas  Angell,  Francis  Wickes.  They 
landed  at  Slate  Rock,  with  which  tradition  will  always  associate  the 
Indian  welcome,  "  What  cheer,  netop."  From  this  point  they  passed 
down  the  river  and  around  the  headlands  into  the  Moshassuck,  now 
the  Providence  River,  to  a  point  a  little  north  of  the  present  site  of  St. 
John's  Church.  Here  a  spring  of  water  decided  them  to  stop,  and  here 
they  commenced  the  settlement  which  its  pious  Ibunder  named  Provi- 
dence—  "  God's  Providence."  Afterwards,  in  the  apportionment  of 
"  home  lots,"  this  part  of  the  settlement  became  the  property  of  Mr. 

Williams,  and  w^as 
known  as  "  What 
Cheer."  In  accord- 
ance with  his  prin- 
ciples concerning  the 
tenure  of  lands,  he 
obtained  a  grant  of 
Providence,  at  or  be- 
fore its  settlement, 
from  Canonicus  and 
Miantonomi,  uncle 
and  nephew,  and 
chief  sachems  of  the 
Narragansetts.  This 
was  in  1636.  Two 
years  after,  he  made 
over  by  the  "Initial 
Deed  "  an  equal  right 
m  this  grant  to  his 
companions,  now 
twelve  in  number, 
and  to  such  others  as 
they  should  after- 
u.  s.  Custom  House.  Ward    receive    as 


Providence. 


187 


members  of  their  company.  In  the  year  1661,  a  committee  from 
the  town  waited  upon  him  to  procure  a  deed  of  the  hrst  purchase, 
which  was  accepted  and  placed  upon  record. 

The   thirteen    original    proprietors   determined,    upon  the  accejit- 


The   Butler  Exchange. 

ance  of  the  Initial  Deed,  to  divide  their  purchase.  Little  informa- 
tion in  regard  to  this  division  can  be  obtained  from  the  records, 
except  that  the  "home  lots"  began  at  the  "  Mile-end  Cove,"  which 
lay  between  Fox  Point  and  what  is  now  Wickenden  Street,  and  lay 
between  the  streets  known  now  as  North  and  South  Main  Streets, 
and  Hope  Street.     Great  difficulties  grew  out  of  this  division. 

During  the  first  summer  of  the  Providence  Colony  the  Pequots, 
a  warlike  tribe  of  Connecticut,  stirred  up  the  neighboring  tribes  to  a 
war  of  extermination  upon  the  whites.  The  Narragansetts,  who 
lived  in  the  south  and  western  parts  of  Rhode  Island,  debated  for  a 
long  time  whether  they  should  join  the  confederacy,  and  upon  their 
decision  hung  the  fate  of  the  colonists.     At  this  crisis,  Roger  Wil- 


1 88 


Picturesque  Rhode  Island. 


The   Providence  Athenaeum. 


Hams,  the  only  man  in 
the  colony  whose  in- 
fluence could  avert  the 
threatened  disaster,  at  the 
request  of  the  Boston 
magistrate,  alone  and  at 
the  constant  risk  of  his  life 
undertook  to  prevent  this 
alliance.  Three  days  and 
nights  he  labored  with 
their  sachems,  and  at 
length  succeeded,  not 
only  in  the  original  under- 
taking, but  also  in  form- 
ing a  league  between  the 
English,  the  Narragan- 
setts  and  Mohegans, 
which  soon  after  resulted  in  the  disastrous  Pequot  War  and  the  total 
destruction  of  that  tribe. 

The  government  of  the  infant  colony  was  at  first  a  pure  democ- 
racy. All  the  voters  met  and  transacted  the  business  of  the  com- 
monwealth in  town-meeting  once  a  month.  The  gradual  change 
to  a  representative  government  cannot  be  traced,  because  the  records 
have  not  been  preserved.  But  the  reasons  therefor  are  plain  enough. 
The  first  record  of  delegated  power  dates  from  1640.  The  colonists, 
although  forced  to  resort  to  such  power,  were  exceedingly  jealous  of 
it,  and  hedged  it  around  with  innumerable  restrictions.  Meanwhile, 
the  report  of  the  freedom  enjoyed  by  the  new  colony  had  spread 
abroad,  and  many  in  the  neighboring  settlements  who  wished  to  be 
free  from  restraint  entered  it,  bringing  with  them  all  sorts  of  hetero- 
dox notions  upon  civil  and  religious  subjects,  and  the  result  was 
that  hberty  which  is  freedom  under  the  law  degenerated  into  license 
which  is  freedom  unrestrained  by  law.  So  turbulent  did  the  con- 
dition of  affairs  become,  that  some  of  the  colonists  hastened  to  place 
themselves  under  the  protection  of  Massachusetts,  where  they  con- 
tinued until  1658. 

Meantime,  in  1638,  a  new  colony  had  settled  at  the  north  end  of 
the  island  of  Rhode  Island,  driven  thither  by  the  fury  of  the  Antino- 
mian  controversy.  Their  numbers  increased  so,  that  in  the  following 
spring  a  part  of   them  withdrew  and  planted  the  colony   of  New- 


Providence. 


189 


port.  On  the  main  land,  the  town  of  Warwick  was  settled  in  1643. 
under  the  leadership  of  Samuel  Gorton.  A  charter,  dated  1644, 
but  which  really  went  into  etl'ect  in  1647,  united  these  four  colonies 
under  the  name  of  the  "Providence  Plantations  in  Narragansett  Bay 
in  New  England."  Roger  Williams  had  been  sent  to  England  to 
obtain  this  charter.  Upon  his  return  with  it  he  was  received  with 
the  utniost  enthusiasm.  In  165 1,  Coddington,  who  had  been  to 
England,  returned  with  a  charter  appointing  him  governor  of  New- 
port for  life.  This  appointment  broke  up  the  colonial  government. 
The  separation  lasted  until  1654,  when,  by  the  efforts  of  Roger  Wil- 
liams, who  again  went  to  England  for  the  purpose,  the  colonies  were 
reunited. 

Mr.  Williams'  good  ollices  were  in  constant  requisition,  not  onh- 
to  preserve  peace  and  unity  between  the  colonies  themselves,  but 
also  between  the  colonies  and  the  surrounding  Indian  tribes,  with 
whom  his  personal  influence  was  almost  unbounded.  Again  and 
again  did  he  preserve 


the  colonists  from  de- 
struction  at  their 
hands.  The  first  time 
was  when,  as  we  have 
seen,  he  went  alone 
and  at  the  constant 
risk  of  his  life,  among 
the  Narragansetts  and 
persuaded  them  to 
stand  by  their  white 
allies.  Again,  in 
1645,  the  Narragan- 
setts threatened  to  de- 
stroy the  Massachu- 
setts Bay  Colon  v. 
The  year  before,  while 
Williams  was  in  Enn- 
land  negotiating  for 
the  first  charter,  Mian- 
tonomi,  the  noble, 
high-souled  ally  of 
the  whites,  had, 
through  the  treacherv 


The   New   Court   House. 


ipo 


Picturesque  Rhode  Island. 


of   two    of  his  captains, 
fallen    into   the  hands  of 
the  cruel  Uncas,  sachem 
of  the  Mohegans.     With 
the  shameful  connivance 
of    the    Massachusetts 
Colony,  which   had   be- 
come prejudiced   against 
Miantonomi,  —  either 
because  of  certain  calum- 
nies spread  by    his  ene- 
mies, or  because  of  his 
mistaken  act  of  kindness 
in  selling    Shawomet   to 
that  "  arch-heretic,"  Gor- 
ton,   or    both,  —  he   was 
put  to  death  in  the  most 
cowardly  manner.    Great 
was  the  rage  of  the  Nar- 
ragansetts.       But  it  was 
not    until    the    spring  of 
1645  that  it  broke    forth 
into  action.     A  thousand  of  their  warriors  salHed  out  ag-ainst  the  Mo- 
hegans ;   the  latter  met  them   with   Uncas   at  their  head,  and  were 
defeated  with  considerable  slaughter.     The  colonies  of  Connecticut 
and  New  Haven  espoused  the  cause  of  Uncas,  and  sent  troops  to  his 
aid.     The  General  Court  sent  a  letter  to  the  Narragansetts,  laying 
commands  upon  them  to  desist  from  the  war,  and  a  very  short  time 
afterwards  sent  Benedict  Arnold   as  a   messenger  to  them  with   a 
similar  requisition.     The  Narragansetts  declared  afterwards  that  he 
misrepresented  their  reply,   and  sent  for  Roger  Williams  to  come  to 
their  help.     The  New  England  commissioners  held  a  meeting  at  this 
crisis,  and  again  sent  messengers  to  require  both  the  Narragansetts 
and  the  Mohegans  to  send  deputies  to  Boston,  who  should  explain 
the  cause  of  the  war,  receive  satisfaction,  and  make  terms  of  peace. 
The  Narragansetts,  bent  upon  revenge  for  the  death  of  their  chief, 
would  not  be  satisfied  except  with  the  head  of  Uncas.     Mr.  Williams, 
instead  of  personally  accepting  their  invitation  to  come  among  them 
and  help  them  out  of  their   difficulty,  sent  a  letter  by  their  deputies 
upon    their  return   from   Boston,  saying  that  since  the  Indians  had 


The   Arcade. 


Providence. 


191 


made  terms  of  neutrality  with  the  Rhode  Ishmd  Colonies,  they,  the 
colonies,  did  not  feel  called  upon  to  interfere,  and  that  the  war  must 
be  regarded  as  inevitable.  The  United  Colonies  —  who,  having  left 
the  Rhode  Island  Colonies  entirely  out  of  their  calculations  in  form- 
ing their  league,  would  gladly  have  made  use  of  their  superior 
influence  with  the  Indians,  now  that  danger  threatened  them  — 
immediately  declared  w^ar,  and  made  such  energetic  preparations  for 
carrying  their  declaration  into  etlect,  that  the  Narragansetts,  alarmed 
in  their  turn,  sued  for  peace.  At  this  crisis  Mr.  Williams  came 
forward  and  threw  the  weight  of  his  influence  in  favor  of  peace, 
and  through  his  mediation  Pessicus  and  two  other  principal  sachems 
were  induced  to  go  to  Boston  and  conclude  a  treaty  of  peace.     The 


The   Infantry  Armory. 

conditions  of  this  treaty  were  very  severe  upon  the  Narragansetts, 
but  by  its  means,  the  colonists  w^ere  saved  from  the  horrors  of  an 
Indian  war,  which,  disastrous  at  the  best,  might  have  terminated 
fatally  for  them. 

It  is  quite  useless  to  attempt  to  deny  to  the  founder  of  these  Plan- 
tations a  disputatious  temperament,  —  his  enemies  would  and  did  say, 
a  factious  and  contentious  one.  But  it  must  be  remembered  that  the 
spirit  of  the  age  was  controversial,  and  all  thoughtful  minds  were 
exercised  upon  the  practical  settlement  of  dithcult  questions.  Roger 
Williams"  w^as  the  master  mind  of  the  time,  and  his  clear  and  unpreju- 


192 


Picturesque  Rhode  Island. 


diced  perception  of  the  great  truths  for  which  he  made  such  a  good 
fight,  would  often  raise  issues  where  inferior  minds  could  see  no 
necessity  for  discussion.  As  a  matter  of  course,  he  was  often 
engaged  in  controversy,  in  many  cases  entered  into  deliberately  and 
voluntarily,  in  others  thrust  upon  him  by  the  ignorance  of  his  oppo- 
nents, or  by  their  willful  misunderstanding  of  his  words.  In  the  tur- 
bulent times  of  the  early  years  of  the  Providence  settlement,  his 
ready  pen  was  often  busy  in  making  clear  to  the  dull  or  prejudiced 
perception  of  others,  the  principles  which  were  so  well  defined  in  his 
own  mind.  Many  could  not,  or  would  not,  understand  the  difference 
between  liberty  and  license.  They  reasoned  that  since  liberty  of  con- 
science was  the  foundation  principle  of  the  colony,  that  therefore  they 
could  in  all  things  do  precisely  as  they  chose.  This  was  to  them  the 
meaning  of  the  phrase. 

The  winter  of  1654- 
55  was  one  of  unusual 
disorder  in  Providence. 
A  general  training  was 
made  the  excuse  of  a 
riot  of  such  magnitude, 
that  some  of  the  lead- 
ing citizens  were  impli- 
cated in  it.  A  paper 
was  sent  to  the  town, 
in  which  the  author 
asserted  that  "  it  is 
blood-guiltiness  to  exe- 
cute judgment  upon 
transgressors  against 
the  public  weal."  This 
absurd  doctrine,  so  ut- 
terly subversive  of 
organized  society,  was 
met  by  the  following 
masterly  letter  from 
Mr.  Williams,  in  which 
he  again  explains  the  much  abused  doctrine  of  "  liberty  of  con- 
science." 

"  There  goes  many  a  ship  to  sea,  with  many  hundred  souls  in 
one  ship,  whose  weal  and  woe  is  common,    and  is  a  true  picture  of 


The   High  School. 


Providence. 


193 


a  commonwealth  or  a  human  combination  of  society.  It  hath  fallen 
out  sometimes  that  both  Papists  and  Protestants,  Jews  and  Turks, 
may  be  embarked  in  one  ship  ;  upon  which  supposal  I  aflirm  that 
all  the  liberty   of  conscience,   that   ever  I   pleaded  for,   turns  upon 


The    Buildings  of  the    Brown   &.   Sharpe    Manufacturing   Company. 

these  two  hinges  :  that  none  of  the  Papists,  Protestants,  Jews,  or 
Turks,  be  forced  to  come  to  the  ship's  prayers  or  worship,  nor  com- 
pelled from  their  own  particular  prayers  or  worship,  if  they  prac- 
tice any.  I  further  add,  that  I  never  denied,  that  notwithstanding 
this  liberty,  the  commander  of  this  ship  ought  to  command  the  ship's 
course,  yea,  and  also  command  that  justice,  peace,  and  sobriety,  be 
kept  and  practiced,  both  among  the  seamen  and  all  the  passengers. 
If  any  of  the  seamen  refuse  to  perform  their  service,  or  passengers 
to  pay  their  freight;  if  any  refuse  to  help,  in  person  or  purse, 
towards  the  common  charges  or  defence  ;  if  any  refuse  to  obey  the 
common  laws  and  orders  of  the  ship,  concerning  their  common 
peace  or  preservation  ;  if  any  shall  mutiny  or  rise  up  against  their 
commanders  and  officers ;  if  any  should  preach  or  write  that  there 
ought  to  be  no  commanders  or  officers  because  all  are  equal  in 
Christ,  therefore  no  master  nor  officers,  no  laws  nor  orders,  no  cor- 
rections nor  punishments;  I  say,  I  never  denied,  but  in  such  cases, 
whatever  is  pretended,  the  commander  or  commanders  may  judge, 
resist,  compel,  and  punish  such  transgressors,  according  to  their, 
deserts  and  merits." 


194 


Picturesque  Rhode  Island. 


ate   4' 

The    Roger   Williams    Monument. 

mony  of  the  dispute  engendered 
Hams  which  never  died  out  dur 
of  controversy,  so  far 
forgot  what  they  owed 
to  their  own  dignity,  as 
to  descend  to  personal 
invective.  Harris  had 
published  '•  that  his 
conscience  would  not 
allow  him  to  be  subject 
to  any  man,"  and  had 
attempted  to  sustain  his 
position  by  perverting 
texts  from  Scripture  in 
its  support.  It  was  the 
same  mischevious  doc- 
trine which  had  called 
forth  the    letter  quoted 


This  letter,  however  con- 
vincing to  an  unprejudiced 
mind,  by  no  means  ended 
the  controversy.  The  idea 
set  forth  in  the  paper  re- 
ferred to,  although  absurd 
upon  the  face  of  it,  found 
ready  supporters  among  the 
lawless,  and  notably  one  in 
William  Harris,  who,  how- 
ever, can  hardly  in  fairness 
be  called  lawless,  since,  al- 
though he  did  many  un- 
principled things,  he  seems 
to  have  done  them  under 
an  honest  conviction  of  their 
lawfulness.  He  was  a  man 
of  pleasing  address,  culti- 
vated mind,  and  strong  feel- 
ing, all  of  which  he  brought 
to  bear  upon  the  discussion 
of  the  subject.  The  acri- 
a  hostility  between  him  and  Mr.  Wil- 
ing their  lives,  and  both,  in  the  heat 


The   Park  Garden    Pav 


Providence. 


195 


above.  Gentle  means  having  failed,  Mr.  Williams,  as  president  of 
the  colony,  resorted  to  harsher  measures,  and  issued  a  warrant  for 
his  arrest,  on  a  charge  of  high  treason  against  the  Commonwealth 


The  Works  of  the   Nicholson   File   Company. 

of  England,  and  he  and  his  son,  Andrew,  were  placed  under  bonds 
of  £500. 

The  year  1656  is  memorable  as  the  time  of  the  advent  of  the 
Qj^iakers  into  the  Puritan  colony.  If  the  colonists  meted  out  such 
persecution  to  those  who,  while  offending  in  a  few  points  of  doctrine, 
yet  held  many  of  the  essentials  in  common  with  themselves,  how 
direful  was  the  punishment  which  they  inflicted  upon  this  "  cursed 
sect  of  heretics,"  who  differed  so  totally  from  them.  A  stringent  law 
was  enacted  and  rigidly  enforced  for  their  suppression,  and  in  1658, 
to  hold  Qiiaker  tenets  was  punishable  with  death.  "  Fines,  impris- 
onment, banishment,  mutilation,  death  were  denounced  and  inflicted 
upon  them.  .  .  .  The  wildest  fanaticism  on  their  part  was  met 
with  frenzied  bigotry  on  the  other."  The  persecutions  which  they 
had  suffered  were  productive  of  morbid  conditions  of  mind,  and 
many  committed  acts  which  could  be  accounted  for  only  upon  the 
ground  of  insanity,  but  which  were  visited  with  the  extremity  of  the 
law.  So  great  was  the  fear  of  them,  and  the  hatred  cherished 
towards  them  by  the  Puritans,  that  they  were  not  content  with 
inflicting   punishment  upon   overt   acts  of  offence,  but  visited  their 


196 


Picturesque  Rhode  Island. 


The   Betsey   Williams   House. 


severity  upon  persons  of  blame- 
less life  and  character,  who  held 
their  heretical  opinions.  This 
persecution  lasted  five  years,  and 
was  only  stayed  then  by  an  order 
from  King  Charles  II.  that  it 
should  cease,  and  that  obnoxious 
persons  should  be  sent  to  Eng- 
land, to  be  dealt  with  by  the  home 
government.  Like  others  who  had 
been  driven  from  the  Massachu- 
setts Colony  for  daring  to  differ 
from  its  founders,  many  Quakers 
fied  into  Rhode  Island,  where 
they  led  peaceable  lives,  cherish- 
ing their  own  belief  without  let  or 
hindrance.  This  state  of  affairs 
was  almost  as  vexatious  to  the 
Puritans  as  their  presence  among 
themselves.  Their  commissioners 
assembled  at  Boston  and  framed  a  letter  requesting  the  Rhode  Island 
Colony  to  banish  those  who  were  already  within  the  limits  of  the 
colony,  and  to  take  immediate  measures  to  prevent  the  entrance  of 
any  more.  Mr.  Williams,  who  w^as  then  president  of  the  Rhode 
Island  Colonies,  and  his  assistants  met  in  Providence,  and  replied 
to  this  request,  that  there  was  no  law  in  Rhode  Island  by  which  any 
one  could  be  pun- 
ished for  his  opin- 
ions;  that  the 
Qj.iakers,  being 
allowed  to  hold 
and  to  s^t  forth 
their  doctrines 
without  molesta- 
tion, had  met  with 
so  little  success  in 
converting  others 
to  them,  that  they 
were     becominef 

o 
discouraged  ;      and  The   what   Cheer   cottage. 


Providence. 


197 


finally,  that  if  they  committed  any  extravagancies,  such  as  they  had 
been  guilty  of  in  Massachusetts,  the  next  General  Assembly  would 
provide  a  corrective.     Tiie  charter  of  Rhode   Island  guaranteed  that 


The   Rhode   Island   Hospital. 

every  person  shovdd  be  free  to  enjoy  his  own  opinions  so  long  as 
they  did  not  militate  against  the  general  good.  So  the  Quakers 
were  allowed  free  access  to  the  coIoun',  and  during  the  years  which 
immediately  followed,  great  numbers  made  it  their  home.  They 
found  it  a  convenient  central  point  from  which  to  make  excursions 
abroad  for  the  purpose  of  disseminating  their  doctrines.  So  bigoted 
were  tlie  surrounding  colonies,  that  thev  could  not  comprehend  that 
a  thing  might  be  tolerated  which  yet  might  not  be  believed. 

Seeing  that  the  Qiuikers  were  neither  burned  nor  hanged,  they 
asserted  that  tlie  colony  was  actuated  by  an  imdue  friendliness 
towards  the  teachings  of  Fox.  Some  color  was  given  to  this  asser- 
tion by  the  fact  that  some  of  its  magistrates  belonged  to  the  hated 
sect.  Roger  Williams,  true  to  his  character  of  champion  of  intel- 
lectual and  religious  freedom,  undertook  to  prove  them  in  the  wrong, 
and  that  his  colony,  while  faithful  to  their  ruling  idea,  yet  had  no 
sympathy  with  Q^uiker  dogmas,  even  altiiough  some  of  the  highest 
places  in  the  governmeni  were  filled  by  their  supporters.  For  this 
purpose  he  drew  up  a    statement  of  fourteen  propositions,  in  which 


198 


Picturesque  Rhode  Island. 


The    Butler    Hospital 


he  denoun- 
ced in  un- 
measured 
terms  the 
tenets  of 
the  Quak- 
ers. He 
challenged 
Fox  to  a 
public  dis- 
cussion of  these,  seven  to  be  debated  in  Newport  and  seven  in  Prov- 
idence. The  challenge  was  sent  to  Deputy-Governor  Cranston,  to 
be  delivered  by  him,  but  so  long  was  it  in  reaching  the  governor, 
that  Fox  had  left  the  island,  and  consequently  did  not  receive  it.  It 
was  accepted,  however,  in  his  behalf  by  his  disciples,  Burnyeat, 
Edmundson,  and  Stubbs,  —  all  thoroughly  qualified  by  natural  gifts 
and  by  training  to  discuss  the  subject  in  all  its  branches.  Roger  Wil- 
liams, then  seventy-three  years  old,  performed  the  remarkable  feat 
of  rowing  himself  from  Providence  to  Newport  in  order  to  meet  his 
engagement.  The  first  seven  of  the  propositions  were  debated  in 
Newport,  and  then,  according  to  agreement,  the  discussion  was 
resumed  in  Providence,  but  only  for  one  day.  No  special  good 
resulted  from  the  debate,  as  far  as  convincing  either  party  of  error 
is  concerned,  but  the  immediate  object  of  Williams  was  attained,  — 
that  of  convincing  the  neighboring  colonists,  especially  those  of  Mas- 
sachusetts, that  while  protecting  the  persons  of  the  unpopular  sect, 
they  refused  to  be  identified  in  the  remotest  way  with  their  creed. 

When     King 
Philip's     War  .-  -"         -t^^^^^-^j=-^ 

broke  out,  Roger  __  _""-    ~    ~  '~^-  —  _ 

Williams  was  an 
old  man.  Not- 
wi  t  h  standing 
which,  he  accep- 
ted a  commission 
of  captain  of  mi- 
litia in  the  year 
1676.  Provi- 
dence had  been 
nearly   deserted. 


The   Friends'    School. 


Providence. 


199 


Less  than  thirty  men  remained  for  its  protection.  Two  phices  in  the 
town  liad  been  fortified,  chiefly  through  Mr.  Williams'  efforts.  Tra- 
dition relates  that  upon  the  approach  of  the  enemy  the  venerable 
captain  went  out  alone  to  meet  and  rerson  witii  them.  "  Massachu- 
setts,"   said    he. 


MP' 


■0 


1  ?;-''»  NjiiijI 


"  can  raise  thous- 
ands of  men  at  this 
moment,  and  if  you 
kill  them,  the  Kinej 
of  E n g  1  a n d  will 
supph'  their  place 
as  fast  as  they  fall."  • 
''Well,  let  them 
come,"  was  the 
reply,  "we  are 
ready  for  them. 
But  as  for  you, 
Brother  Williams, 

,     .     :.      ■  ^       '       tt    Hotel. 

you     are     a    good 

man  ;  you  have  been  kind  to  us  for  many  years  ;  not  a  hair  of  your 
head  shall  be  touched."  The  savages  were  true  to  the  man  who  had 
kept  faith  with  them  all  those  years,  and  although  they  burnt  the 
town,  he  was  not  harmed.  The  town  records  were  saved  Irom 
destruction  by  being  thrown  into  the  mill-pond  of  John  Smith,  the 
miller,  who  was  town  clerk  at  the  time. 

Early  in  the  year  1683,  at  the  ripe  age  of  eighty-four,  Roger  Wil- 
liams was  gathered  to  his  fathers.  Precisely  how  or  when  his  death 
occurred  is  not  known.  He  was  buried  in  a  spot  said  to  have 
been  selected  by  himself  on  Wiiat  Cheer,  not  tar  from  the  place  where 
he  first  landed  on  Rhode  Island  shores.  At  the  head  of  his  grave  an 
apple-tree  stood  for  many  years.  Not  long  ago,  when  the  grave  was 
opened,  the  roots  of  this  tree  were  found  to  have  passed  through  the 
space  the  body  is  supposed  to  have  occupied.  •  From  the  main  root 
smaller  branches  had  followed  the  course  o£  the  arms  and  legs.  This 
singular  specimen  is  still  preserved,  and  may  be  seen  in  the  Museum 
of  Brown  University. 

Arnold  thus  sums  up  the  character  of  this  "Christian  statesman"  : 
"  He  suffered  more  than  most  men  from  the  slanders  of  those  who 
should  have  been  his  friends,  as  well  as  from  the  oppression  of  ene- 
mies.      .      .       .       But  posterity  has  rendered  justice  to  his  memory. 


Providence. 


20I 


and  the  founder  of  Rhode  Island,  the  great  champion  of  intellectual 
liberty,  has  outlived  the  efforts  of  his  detractors.     The  leading  pecu- 


Unl^^- 


Hotel    Dorrance 


liarities  of  his  mind  may  be  briefly  sketched.  A  firmness,  amounting 
in  some  cases  perhaps  to  obstinac}-,  enabled  him  to  sutler  hardships, 
rarely  if  ever  surpassed  by  those  of  any  exile  for  opinion's  sake.  His 
generosity  amounted  to  prodigality  ;  for  after  having  purchased  of 
the  Indians  all  the  lands  around  his  new  plantations  with  his  own 
money,  he  divided  them  equally  among  those  who  followed  him. 
His  charity  was  an  active  principle,  that  led  him  to  brave  all  peril  to 
effect  good  to  the  natives,  or  to  reconcile  feuds  among  his  fellow- 
citizens.  Of  his  forgiving  spirit,  his  conduct  towards  the  neighboring 
colonies  furnishes  ample  evidence.  He  harbored  no  feelings  of 
revenge  for  injuries  received,  but  pitied  the  weakness,  or  lamented 
the  delusion  whence  they  arose.  His  consistency  and  love  of  truth 
are  alike  apparent  in  his  controversy  with  the  Quakers  at  Newport, 
which  has  been  so  much  misrepresented  :  yet  he  would  have  laid 
down  his  life  rather  than  have  a  hair  of  their  heads  injured  on  account 
of  their  doctrinal  views.  His  industr}-  was  unwearied;  he  valued 
time  and  he  well  improved  it.  '  One  grain  of  its  inestimable  sand,' 
said  he,   '  is  worth  a  golden  mountain.'     His  faults  were  those  of  an 


202 


Picturesque  Rhode  Island. 


Low's    Opera    House. 


ardent  mind,  sometimes  hasty,  ever  slow  to  yield ;  but  these  are  few 
beside  his  exalted  virtues.  He  was  a  varied  scholar,  a  profound 
philosopher,  a  practical  Christian,  a  true  philanthropist, —  one  whose 

deep  knowledge  of 
men,  and  whose 
acute  perception  of 
principles  as  dis- 
played in  the  foun- 
dation of  an  Amer- 
ican State,  entitle 
him  to  the  rank, 
which  posterity  has 
bestowed,  among 
the  far-sighted 
statesmen  of  his 
age  —  one  who, 
were  it  his  only  praise  to  have  been  the  first  of  modern  legislators  to 
embody  the  principles  of  universal  toleration  in  the  constitution  of  a 
State,  would,  by  this  act  alone,  secure  a  niche  in  the  temple  of  fame, 
and  cause  his  name  to  be  handed  down  through  all  future  time  as  the 
great  Apostle  of  Religious  Freedom." 

It  is  a  matter  of  lasting  regret  that  no  portrait  of  Roger  Williams 
exists.  Probably  none  was  ever  painted.  Historians,  in  the  descrip- 
tions of  him,  although  acknowledging  the  influence  of  his  personal 
presence,  quite  ignore  his  personal  appearance.  Undoubtedly  the 
grandeur  of  his  character  and  actions  quite  overshadowed  it.  The 
statue  of  him  in  the  Old  Representatives'  Hall  at  Washington  —  the 
first  statue  presented  by  any  state  to  the  Nation  —  is  a  purely  ideal 
one. 

In  the  early  years  of  Providence  there  was  a  sheet  of  water  called 
the  Mile-end  Cove,  between  Fox  Point  and  Wickenden  Street.  This 
has  been  filled  up  for  many  years.  Within  the  last  century,  the  tide 
flowed  over  Westminster  Street  and  all  north  of  it.  At  the  head  of 
Long  Wharf  was  a  round  hill,  which  was  then  an  island.  The  first 
vessel  which  sailed  from  Providence  to  the  West  Indies  was  loaded 
at  a  wharf  a  little  west  of  the  canal  market.  Large  vessels  used  to 
lie  at  wharves  adjoining  the  present  Smith  Street.  There  was  a  draw 
in  the  great  bridge,  which  was  fifty  or  sixty  feet  longer  than  it  now 
is.  Two  highways  originally  led  from  the  Moshassuck  to  the  See- 
konk  River, — one  where  Power  Street  now  is,  and  the  other  at  Meet- 


Providence.  203 


ing  Street.  Before  the  year  1770  very  little  attention  was  given  to 
the  subject  of  education.-  Some  small  schools  were  kept  soon  after 
that  time,  having  about  a  dozen  scholars  each.  The  text-books  used 
in  them  were  the  Bible,  spelling-book,  and  primer.  One  was  taught 
by  George  Taylor,  for  the  special  benefit  of  church  scholars,  and  was 
partly  or  entirely  supported  by  England.  There  were  also  some 
"  dames'  schools."  "When  one  had  learned  to  read,  write  and  do  a 
sum  in  the  rule  of  three,  he  was  fit  for  business."  About  1770,  the 
first  school-house  was  built,  through  the  exertions  of  Dr.  Jonathan 
Arnold.  It  was  situated  near  the  north  end  of  Benefit  Street,  and 
was  called  Whipple  Hall. 

The  customs  and  fashions  of  Providence  in  those  days  were 
necessarily  plain  and  simple.  Durability  in  the  materials  of  dress 
was  consulted  rather  than  beauty.  Men  generally  wore  breeches  of 
wash-leather  :  laborers  of  all  kinds  wore  leather  aprons  ;  those  whose 
aspirations  and  means  were  equal  to  it  wore  clothes  of  English 
manufacture,  but  made  in  the  plainest  of  styles.  Most  of  the  cloth 
used  in  the  settlement  was  made  by  those  who  used  it.  Occasionally 
one  with  an  inordinate  passion  for  dress  would  appear  in  a  cocked 
hat,  or  a  powdered  wig.  W^omen  made  neighborly  calls,  dressed 
in  a  striped  loose-gown,  a  checked  apron,  a  handkerchief  folded 
over  the  shoulders  and  across  the  bosom,  and  a  sun-bonnet  upon  the 
head.  The  more  opulent  among  them  wore  silk  gowns,  or  calico 
ones,  long  rufiles  at  the  wrist,  and  a  lawn  apron  in  place  of  the  com- 
mon check.  The  hair  was  dressed  high  over  a  roll,  upon  which  was 
worn  a  low-crowned  chip  hat,  covered  with  thin  silk  of  whatever 
color  individual  taste  suggested. 

The  amusements  of  young  men  were  chiefly  games  of  ball,  shoot- 
ing at  poultry  or  at  a  mark,  wrestling,  jumping  and  dancing,  in  the 
latter  of  which,  as  a  matter  of  course,  the  young  women  shared. 
Occasionally  a  pack  of  hounds  would  be  kept,  and  a  fox-hunt  would 
give  variety  to  their  ordinary  amusements. 

People  lived  to  be  very  old  in  those  days.  Mr.  Samuel  Thurber, 
himself  then  in  his  eighty-first  year,  gives  an  account  of  several 
whom  he  knew  personally,  who  had  reached  a  great  age.  A  Mrs. 
Eddy  died  at  the  age  of  105,  and  a  Mr.  Miller,  at  the  same  time, 
at  about  the  same  age.  Mr.  Thurber  met  a  man  in  Newport  who 
told  him  he  was  a  hundred  years  and  one  month  old  that  day.  Mr. 
Richard  Brown,  who  lived  somewhere  in  the  northeastern  part  of  the 
town,  was  so  active  and  cheerful  that  on  his  hundredth  birthdav  he 


204  Picturesque  Rhode  Island. 

played  a  violin  which  his  family  presented  to  him,  and  to  which  in 
his  younger  days  he  had  been  much  attached. 

The  machinery  used  was  of  the  simplest  kind.  Furniture  was 
very  plain,  and  hard,  ornamental  woods  but  little  used.  Chairs  and 
tables  were  straight  and  smooth,  without  paint  or  polish,  and  kept 
white  by  constant  scouring.  China  and  glass  were  almost  unknown, 
and  the  few  crockery  dishes  in  use  were  of  the  coarsest.  Most  of 
the  dishes  were  made  of  pewter  or  wood,  and  often  a  family  did  not 
possess  enough  of  these  to  allow  each  person  one. 

The  first  coach  in  town  was  owned  by  Mr.  Merritt,  an  English- 
man. Its  advent  upon  the  street  created  as  much  excitement  as  the 
street  parade- of  a  circus  does  now.  Windows  and  doors  were  full 
of  excited  faces  watching  the  passage  of  the  wonderful  object.  Col. 
William  Brown  kept  a  vehicle  which  he  called  a  "  curricle,"  in  which 
he  would  take  an  occasional  passenger  to  Boston.  The  round  trip 
occupied  three  days.  Thomas  Sabin,  in  1767,  advertised  that  a 
stage  would  "start  every  Tuesday  morning  from  the  house  of 
Richard  Olney,  inn-holder,  to  carry  travelers  to  Boston  on  the 
most  expeditious  and  cheap  rate."  The  coach  returned  on  Thurs- 
day. Olney's  inn  was  nearly  opposite  the  Court  House  parade  on 
North  Main  Street.  The  owners  of  stages  used  occasionally  to  give 
notice  a  week  or  ten  days  beforehand,  that  on  a  certain  day,  if  suffi- 
cient encouragement  were  given,  they  would  start  for  Boston.  The 
object  of  this  long  notice  was,  that  passengers  might  settle  their 
worldly  affairs  and  ma*ke  their  wills,  preparatory  to  entering  upon 
such  a  perilous  undertaking.  In  1783  a  stage  ran  twice  a  week 
to  Boston,  and  it  was  possible  to  look  with  calmness  upon  a  man 
who  had  been  to  New  York.  In  1763  a  line  of  two  boats  began 
to  ply  between  Providence  and  Newport  twice  a  week,  and  oftener 
if  the  number  of  passengers  and  amount  of  freight  warranted  it.  The 
line  of  packets  which  soon  after  began  to  ply  between  Providence 
and  New  York  were  said  "  not  to  be  surpassed  in  speed  and  accom- 
modation by  any  in  the  world."  In  1820  the  New  London  turnpike 
was  built,  and  a  line  of  stages  put  upon  it  connected  with  steamboats 
to  New  York  from  New  London.  The  following  charge,  extracted 
from  the  account-book  of  Richard  Brown,  gives  some  idea  of  trav- 
eling expenses  150  years  ago. 

Oct.  the  25,  1737,  Mary  Tillinghast,  Dr. 
For  the  use  of  my  mare  the  three  days  last  past,  a  journey  to  East 
Greenwich,  and  carrying  double  on  said  mare,  £0.12.0 


Providence. 


205 


On  the  third  of  June,  1769,  a  transit  of  Venus  occurred.  Great 
interest  in  this  phenomenon  was  shown  in  Providence,  and  no  expense 
was  spared  in  securing  all  the  instruments  necessary  for  observing  it. 


The  Cathedral. 


A  temporary  observatory  was  erected  upon  a  cross  street,  about  one 
hundred  feet  east  of  Benefit.  The  street  has  ever  since  borne  'the 
name  of  Transit  Street.  Dr.  West  published  an  account  of  the  obser- 
vation, which  compares  most  favorably  in  point  of  accuracy  with 
those  published  in  Europe. 

The  winter  of  1779-80  was  one  of  unprecedented  severity;  and  is 
the  historical  "  cold  winter."  Providence  Harbor  was  closed  by  the 
ice  as  early  as  November,  and  continued  so  two  months.  The  island 
of  Rhode  Island  became  practically  a  part  of  the  main  land,  beaten 
paths  over  the  ice  leading  to  it  from  Providence,  East  Greenwich  and 


2o6  Picturesque  Rhode  Island. 

Wickford.  The  ground  was  covered  with  snow  the  whole  time,  but 
its  depth  was  not  sufficient  to  interfere  materially  with  travel. 

The  ecclesiastical  history  of  Providence  began  with  the  founding 
of  the  First  Baptist  Church,  in  1639.  The  first  settlers  were  mem- 
bers of  the  Plymouth  and  Massachusetts  churches.  These  organiza- 
tions possessed  a  Congregational  government,  were  moderately  Cal- 
vinistic  in  doctrine,  and  held  to  infant  baptism.  From  the  beginning 
of  the  settlement,  meetings  for  public  worship  were  held  with  regu- 
larity and  frequency,  and  the  service  was  conducted  either  b}^  Mr. 
Williams  or  Mr.  James,  both  of  whom  were  ordained  ministers.  In 
March,  1639,  active  steps  were  taken  to  organize  a  church.  Before 
this  they  had  denied  the  doctrine  of  infant  baptism,  and  Mr.  Holy- 
man,  a  layman,  had  baptized  Mr.  Williams  by  immersion,  after 
which  Mr.  Williams  baptized  Mr.  Holyman  in  the  same  manner. 
By  this  act  they  disowned  the  churches  of  which  they  had  been  mem- 
bers, and  were  therefore  excommunicated  by  them.  They  formed 
a  church,  and  called  Mr.  Williams  to  the  pastorate  of  it.  This  was 
the  commencement  of  the  First  Baptist  Church,  the  oldest  organiza- 
tion of  its  kind  in  the  country. 

Mr.  Williams  held  this  position  for  four  years,  at  the  end  of  which 
he  resigned  it.  Mr.  Holyman  was  his  colleague.  Their  successors 
were  Chad  Brown,  William  Wickenden,  Gregory  Dexter,  Pardon 
Tillinghast,  Ebenezer  Jenckes,  James  Brown,  Samuel  Winsor, 
James  Manning,  Jonathan  Maxcy,  Stephen  Gano,  Robert  E.  Patti- 
son,  William  Hague,  Robert  E.  Pattison,  J.  N.  Granger,  W.  C. 
Richards,  Dr.  Francis  Wayland,  S.  L.  Caldwell,  and  the  present 
pastor.  Dr.  Edward  Glenn  Taylor. 

Dr.  James  Manning  removed  to  Providence  with  the  Rhode  Island 
College,  of  which  he  was  president.  He  was  invited  by  the  pastor  of 
the  church  to  preach  before  the  society,  and  afterwards  to  partake  of 
the  communion  with  them.  His  acceptance  gave  great  offence  to 
some  members  of  the  church,  because  he  did  not  hold  that  the  doc- 
trine of  the  laying  on  of  hands  was  an  essential  one,  although  he  had 
submitted  to  the  rite,  and  was  in  the  habit  of  administering  it  whenever 
desired.  So  great  a  schism  did  this  create,  that  at  length  the  pastor 
withdrew  and  joined  the  separates  in  May  of  the  year  1771.  With  the 
advice  of  some  other  Baptist  churches.  President  Manning  was  elected 
to  the  vacancy  in  the  following  July.  It  was  not  the  custom  to  make 
singing  a  part  of  public  worship.  Mr.  Manning  held  that  it  should 
be  such,  but  to  Mr.  Winsor,  the  idea  was  "  disgustful." 


Providence. 


207 


The     records     o\     tin- 
church    state    that    -'the 
church  at  tirst  met  for  wor- 
ship in  a  grove,  unless  in 
wet    and    stormy  weather, 
when     they    assembled    in 
private  houses  ;"  that  after- 
wards   Pardon   Tillinghast 
"  at  his  own  expense   built 
the     hrst    meeting-house 
about  the  year  1700."  This 
house  stood  on  the  west  side 
of  North  Main  Street,  nearly 
opposite  Star  Street.     Mr. 
Tillinghast      afterwards 
made    a    free    gift   of    the 
house  and  lot  to  the  society 
and  their  successors  in  the 
same  faith    and  order.     A 
new    house    was    built    in 
1726,  on  the   lot    south    of 
this  one.    In  1740  the  Gen- 
eral Assembly,  for  reasons 
which  have  not  been  hand- 
ed down,    allowed   the   so- 
ciety to  hold  service  in  the  Court  House.     The  house  now  occupied 
by  them  was  first  opened  for  public  worship  on  May  28,  1775.     The 
lot  upon  which  it  stands  belonged  to  John  Angell,  whose  orchard  it 
was.      They  had  reason  to  think  that  nothing  would  induce  him  to 
let    it   pass   into   their   hands,   knowingly,   to   become   the    site  of  a 
Baptist  meeting-house.     They  therefore  arranged  that  it  should  be 
purchased  by  an  Episcopalian  and  conveyed  to  them. 

The  church,  or  meeting-house,  as  it  is  still  most  commonly  called, 
stands  in  the  middle  of  the  lot,  surrounded  with  grass,  and  enclosed 
by  a  fence.  It  is  of  wood,  80  feet  square,  of  the  Roman  Ionic  order, 
with  a  symmetrical  and  graceful  spire  at  the  west  end,  196  feet  high, 
said  to  have  been  modeled  after  designs  by  Sir  Christopher  Wren. 
The  story  is  told  of  a  student  of  Brown  University,  now  living  in 
Kansas,  that  he  once  climbed  to  the  top  of  tins  steeple.  Another 
tradition  relates  that    at  one    time,    when   it    required    painting,    no 


Grace   Church, 


2o8  Picturesque  Rhode  Island. 


painter  would  take  the  contract,  until  one,  quicker  witted  than  the 
rest,  agreed  to  do  it,  and  fulfilled  his  agreement  by  importing  sailors 
from  Boston  for  the  purpose. 

The  harmony  of  construction  has  been  marred  of  late  years  by 
substituting  slips  for  the  old-fashioned  square  pews,  and  a  pulpit  of 
modern  style  for  the  old-fashioned  one,  with  its  sounding-board.  The 
first  bell  weighed  2,515  pounds,  and  had  the  following  inscription  : 

"  For  freedom  of  conscience,  the  town  was  first  planted; 

Persuasion,  not  force,  was  used  by  the  people. 
This  church  is  the  eldest,  and  has  not  recanted. 

Enjoying  and  granting-  bell,  temple  and  steeple." 

The  present  bell  weighs  2,387  pounds,  and  is  thus  inscribed  :  "  This 
church  was  founded  A.  D.  1639,  the  first  in  the  State,  and  the  oldest 
of  the  Baptists  in  America." 

In  the  year  1871,  more  than  two  hundred  years  after  Roger  Wil- 
liams had  made  the  purchase  of  Providence  and  Pawtuxet,  and  had 
made  his  companions  equal  owners  thereof  with  him,  a  part  of  the 
original  grant  came  into  the  possession  of  the  city.  In  that  year 
Miss  Betsey  Williams,  a  lineal  descendant  of  the  fifth  generation 
from  Roger  Williams,  died,  and  by  her  will  bequeathed  to  the  city 
of  Providence  the  farm  which  had  been  in  the  possession  of  her  fam- 
ily ever  since  it  was  given  to  her  great  ancestor  by  the  sachem, 
Miantonomi.  It  lies  partly  in  Providence  and  partly  in  Cranston, 
and  consists  of  about  one  hundred  acres  of  plain  and  woodland,  with 
gently  rising  elevations  and  a  stream  of  water.  It  was  given  to  the 
city  for  a  public  park  forever,  to  be  called  Roger  Williams  Park. 
The  testatrix  made  but  few  conditions  upon  which  the  city  should 
receive  it,  but  among  these  few  was  one  that  it  should  erect  in  it  a 
memorial  to  Roger  Williams,  at  a  cost  of  not  less  than  five  hundred 
dollars.  In  1872  the  city  formally  accepted  this  bequest,  and 
straightway  began  to  plan  for  a  monument  on  a  much  more  expen- 
sive scale  than  stipulated  in  the  will.  The  result  was,  that  in  Octo- 
ber, 1877,  the  present  monument,  designed  by  Mr.  Franklin  Sim- 
mons, of  Rome,  and  executed  by  the  Smith  Granite  Company,  was 
unveiled  and  dedicated  with  great  pomp  in  the  presence  of  many 
thousands  of  people.  It  stands  facing  the  west,  on  an  elevation  west 
of  the  lake,  and  is  visible  from  the  Cranston  road,  and  from  most 
parts  of  the  park.  The  old  gambrel-roofed  homestead,  with  its  well- 
sweep,  is  in  close  proximity,  and  the  immediately  surrounding  land 
has  been  reduced  to  order  and  beauty.  The  monument  is  of  Westerly 


Providence.  209 


granite  of  the  finest  quality,  and  uniform  throughout  in  shade.  A 
pedestal  of  great  solidity,  reached  by  a  flight  of  steps,  supports  the 
statue  of  Roger  Williams,  which  was  cast  in  bronze  of  a  peculiarly 
brilliant  color,  in  Munich.  It  is  seven  and  a  half  feet  in  height,  and 
represents  the  founder  of  these  Plantations  holding  in  his  left  hand, 
against  his  breast,  a  volume  entitled  "  Soul  Liberty,"  and  with  his 
right  hand  extended  as  if  in  the  act  of  addressing  an  audience.  He 
wears  low  shoes,  long  stockings  meeting  his  knee-breeches,  a 
straight  vest  buttoned  the  whole  length  and  finished  at  the  bottom  by 
a  frill,  a  broad,  turned-down  collar,  fastened  with  cord  and  tassel,  a 
long  cloak,  and  hair  falling  upon  his  shoulders.  Although  the  statue 
is  an  ideal  one,  the  artist  has  succeeded  in  infusing  into  its  outlines 
all  those  characteristics  with  which  w^e  are  wont  to  invest  the  orig- 
inal. At  the  foot  of  the  statue,  in  front  of  the  pedestal,  stands  a  fig- 
ure of  History,  clad  in  classic,  flowing  drapery,  and  holding  in  her 
right  hand  the  stylus,  in  the  act  of  completing  the  inscription  :  "  Roger 
Williams,  1636."  At  the  right  of  this  figure  is  a  group  of  bronze 
emblems,  comprising  a  shield  with  the  anchor,  a  scroll,  book,  and  a 
laurel  wreath.  On  the  opposite  tablet  is  the  inscription:  "Erected 
by  the  City  of  Providence,  A.  D.  1877." 

When  the  natural  charms  of  this  park  shall  have  been  enhanced 
by  taste  and  money,  as  they  gradually  will  be  in  process  of  time,  the 
city  will  own  a  public  pleasure-ground  which  will  be  of  inestimable 
benefit  to  itself,  and  an  honor  to  him  whose  name  it  bears. 

The  great  gale  of  181 5  wrought  terrible  havoc  in  the  town  of 
Providence.  The  tide  rose  nearly  ten  feet  higher  than  had  ever  been 
known  before,  and  all  but  two  of  the  vessels  in  the  harbor  were 
driven  from  their  moorings.  Only  one  bridge,  the  Weybosset,  then 
connected  the  two  sides  of  the  town.  Against  this  the  flying  vessels 
were  impelled  with  irresistible  force.  Very  quickly  the  bridge  gave 
way,  and  "  vessels,  lumber,  buildings,  and  property  of  every  descrip- 
tion, in  one  crowded  mass,  were  hurled  with  great  velocity  up 
the  Cove.  Thirty-five  vessels,  including  four  ships,  nine  brigs,  seven 
schooners,  and  fifteen  sloops,  have  been  enumerated  on  its  shores." 
The  great  ship  "  Ganges,"  as  it  sped  by  the  Washington  Buildings, 
thrust  its  bowsprit  into  the  rooms  of  the  Washington  Insurance  Com- 
pany. Very  many  smaller  vessels  were  dashed  against  the  sides  of 
this  same  building.  All  the  cellars  near  the  river  were  filled  with 
water.  In  many  cases  the  inhabitants  were  compelled  to  leave  their 
houses  and  to  take  refuge  upon  the  hills.      Everywhere  chimneys 

H 


2IO  Picturesque  Rhode  Island. 


were  thrown  down,  out-buildings  overturned,  and  fences  demolished. 
Five  hundred  buildings  in  all,  were  said  to  have  been  destroyed.  It 
was  estimated  that  the  loss  of  property  amounted  to  considerably 
more  than  a  miUion  of  dollars.  Not  for  many  a  day  was  the  dam- 
age repaired. 

All  the  churches  were  more  or  less  injured.  The  Second  Baptist 
Meeting  House,  with  several  dwellings  near  it,  was  entirely  destroyed. 
When  the  gale  subsided,  the  shores  of  the  Cove  were  covered  with 
wrecked  vessels  and  their  cargoes,  with  the  remnants  of  dwelling- 
houses,  and  with  the  household  furniture  they  had  contained.  Upon 
nearly  all  the  wharves  some  vessel  or  wrecked  dwelling  was  left 
when  the  tide  went  down.  At  India  Point,  the  bridge  was  carried 
away,  and  two  men,  David  Butler  and  Reuben  Winslow,  lost  their 
lives.  The  buildings  that  had  stood  upon  these  wharves  were  nearly 
all  swept  into  the  river. 

Notwithstanding  the  immense  losses  the  gale  had  caused,  the 
energy  of  the  merchants  of  Providence  soon  repaired  the  damage 
done  to  its  commerce,  and  in  a  very  short  time  the  trade  was  going 
on  as  prosperously  as  before. 

In  the  colonial  days  the  commerce  of  Providence,  although  not  so 
large  as  that  of  Newport,  was  still  very  considerable.  As  early  as 
1708  the  town  carried  on  a  large  trade  with  the  West  Indies,  and  in 
a  report  made  to  the  Board  of  Trade  in  that  year  it  was  said  that  in 
the  twenty  years  preceding,  its  shipping  had  increased  four-fold. 
Many  subsequent  reports  show  a  continued  and  steady  increase. 
The  war  of  the  Revolution  interfered  greatly  with  the  trade  of  the 
port,  but  did  not  paralyze  it  so  completely  as  it  did  the  commerce  of 
Newport. 

In  1776,  after  Commodore  Esek  Hopkins  had  made  his  famous 
expedition  to  New  Providence,  his  fleet  made  a  rendezvous  at  Provi- 
dence, but  never  left  the  port  in  company  again  to  engage  in  any 
naval  enterprise.  Two  armed  vessels,  the  "  Warren"  and  the  "  Provi- 
dence, "  were  here  built  under  the  authority  of  the  Continental  Con- 
gress. Commodore  Hopkins  found  great  difficulty  in  procuring 
sailors  for  the  new  vessels,  as  the  privateers  which  then  frequented 
the  harbors  of  the  bay  offered  much  more  advantageous  terms. 
Both  the  privateers  and  the  government  vessels  had  either  to  fight 
their  way  through  the  British  fleet  stationed  at  the  mouth  of  the  bay, 
or  to  elude  the  enemy  by  speed  or  strategy.  As  all  the  avenues  to 
peaceful  trade  were  closed  to  the  Providence  sailors,  they  engaged 


Providence. 


211 


extensively  in  privateerinnr,  and  "  were  generally  successful  in  elud- 
ing the  British  cruisers  which  swarmed  on  our  coast,  and  in  making 
prizes  of  merchantmen,  transports,  and  small  vessels  of  war." 


The  Union   Congregational   Church. 

After  the  close  of  the  Revolutionary  War  the  foreign  trade,  having 
been  quickly  resumed,  began  slowly  to  increase,  though  under  great 
disadvantages.  While  the  American  states  were  independent  of 
Great  Britain,  they  had  not  as  yet  perfected  a  union  among  them- 
selves. Each  was  an  independent  commonwealth,  exercising  all  the 
functions  of  a  sovereign  state.  In  its  sovereign  capacity  each  state 
immediately  proceeded  to  levy  duties  upon  all  merchandise  imported 
from  other  states. 

The  records  of  the  Providence  Custom  House  from  the  year  1785 
to  the  year  1789  present  some  interesting  figures  in  this  connection. 


212  Picturesque  Rhode  Island. 


In  those  years  the  majority  of  the    arrivals    were   from  ports  in   the 
other  American  states.     Quite  a  large  number  came   from  the  West 
Indies,  and  occasionally  a  vessel  sailed  into  the  harbor  from  some 
European  port.     An  import  duty  of  2.5  per  cent,  was  collected  on  all 
goods  imported  from  the  West  Indies,  or  from  abroad,  and  on  manu- 
factured   articles  from    the  other  states.       Country  produce,   flour, 
lumber,  oil,  fish,  and  all  kinds  of  raw  material  from  American  ports 
were  admitted  free  of  duty.     The  duties  were  estimated  and  paid  in 
pounds,  shiUings  and  pence.     Sometime  in  the  year  1787  the  rate 
was  increased  to  5  per  cent.     A  large  amount  of  merchandise  was 
brought    from    Boston    by    "  land   transportation"  in    those   years. 
This  business  was  nearly  all  carried  on  by  Dexter  Brown  and  Moses 
Guild.    From  the  records,  they  seem  to  have  made  one  trip  per  week 
each.     The  first  importation  of  cotton  to  Providence  of  which  record 
has    been   found,  was    a   bag  of  ninety  pounds   of   "cotton    wool," 
brought  by  the  sloop   "Fox,"  May,   1785,    from   "  Hyspaniola,"  to 
Thos.  L.   Halsey.     At  the  beginning  of  the  year  1790  there  were 
owned  in  Providence,   "no  sail  of  10,590  tons,  exclusive  of  river 
craft."    The  statement  was  then  made,  in  a  petition  to  Congress,  that 
"there  is  a  greater   number  of  vessels  belonging  to  the  port  than 
to  New  York,"  and  that  "  it  is  a  place  of  more  navigation  than  any 
of  its  size  in  the  Union." 

Rhode  Island  adopted  the  new  Constitution  of  the  United  States 
in  May,  1790.  An  import  "  act  to  provide  more  efl'ectually  for  the 
duties  imposed  by  law  on  goods,  wares,  and  merchandise  imported 
into  the  United  States,  and  on  the  tonnage  of  ships  or  vessels,"  had 
passed  through  several  stages  in  the  United  States  Congress.  By  its 
provisions,  Rhode  Island  was  divided  into  the  two  customs  districts 
of  Providence  and  Newport.  The  act  was  approved  Aug.  4,  1790. 
The  first  entry  recorded  under  its  operation  in  the  books  of  the  Prov- 
idence Custom  House,  is  that  of  the  sloop  "  Betsey,"  William  Young, 
master,  from  Port  au  Prince,  with  a  cargo  of  salt,  molasses,  sugar, 
coffee,  and  oil,  on  which  the  duties  paid  were  $244.45.  Under  this 
new  condition  of  affairs,  business  increased  rapidly,  and  the  trade 
with  the  West  Indies  and  Europe  assumed  greater  proportions. 

During  the  year  1 791,  sixty-four  vessels  arrived  from  foreign  ports, 
the  duties  on  the  cargoes  of  which  amounted  to  nearly  $80,000.  Of 
these  vessels,  fifty-three  were  from  ports  in  the  West  Indies,  one  from 
Canton,  China,  one  from  Cape  de  Verde  Islands,  and  the  remainder 
from  European  ports.     The  following  is  a  summary  of  the  foreign 


Providence. 


213 


commerce  of  tlie  port  from  the  year  1810  to  182 1  inclusive,  showing 
the  number  of  arrivals  each  year,  and  the  amount  of  duties  paid : 


Year. 

*  No  of  vessels. 

American  vessels. 

Foreign  vessels. 

181O          .... 

84 

$336,098    83 

$2,074    40 

181I 

73 

207,989    90 

8,985    96 

1812 

41 

184,624    31 

1813 

33 

72,117    87 

87,093  68 

1814 

21 

13427     50 

58,623  49 

r8i5 

35 

99,830    85 

559  88 

1816 

58 

269,650    12 

10  17 

1817 

57 

210,359    40 

1818 

70 

210,163    03 

1819 

70 

399,837    81 

5'Oi2  37 

1820 

65 

118,439    93 

1821 

61 

99,626    99 

The  trade  to  Canton,  China,  was  important.  The  first  direct  arri- 
val from  this  port  was  the  ship  "General  Washington,"  July  5,  1789. 
A  continuous  trade  existed  for  more  than  half  a  century,  the  last 
arrival  being  the  ship  "  Lion,"  Jan.  30,  1841.  For  the  years  covered 
by  the  preceding  table,  the  arrivals  from  Canton  and  the  duties  paid 
were  as  follows  : 


Year. 

Vessels. 

Duties. 

Year. 

Vessels. 

Duties. 

1810  .        . 

1811  .        . 
1816       .        . 

I 
I 

I 

53.130  74 
118,503  86 
104,973  13 

1817        .        . 
1819        .        . 

2 

3 

106,886    44 
278,467     10 

The  cargoes  brought  from  Canton  were  mainly  of  teas,  and  the 
duties  w^ere  more  in  amount  than  those  paid  on  cargoes  from  any 
other  port.  In  some  cases,  indeed,  a  single  vessel  from  Canton 
paid  more  duty  than  all  the  other  vessels  entered  during  the  year. 
The  principal    imports   from    the  West  Indies   and  South    America 


*  Of  these  vessels  only  twenty-nine  were  foreign;  most  of  the  foreign  vessels  re.iched  the  port  dur- 
ing the  War  of  iS:2,  when  the  American  merchant  ships  had  been  almost  swept  from  the  ocean.  This 
fact  accounts  for  the  large  amount  of  duties  recorded  in  the  fourth  column  of  the  foregoing  table  for  the 
years  1813  and  1S14. 


214  Picturesque  Rhode  Island. 

were  rum,  molasses,  sugar,  salt,  and  limes.  From  Europe  came 
manufactured  articles  and  cloths.  About  the  beginning  of  the  cen- 
tury the  European  trade  began  to  increase,  and  vessels  arrived  from 
Liverpool,  London,  Bordeaux,  Copenhagen,  Cronstadt,  St.  Peters- 
burg, Lisbon,  and  other  European  ports.  Occasionally  a  vessel 
arrived  from  Bombay,  Calcutta,  or  Africa. 

The  War  of  1812  seriously  affected  the  trade  of  Providence. 
During  its  continuance,  the  duties  paid  on  merchandise  imported  in 
foreign  vessels  largely  exceeded  the  amount  paid  on  goods  imported 
in  American  ships.  As  a  small  compensation,  some  of  the  vessels 
captured  from  the  British  by  privateers  were  brought  into  this  port. 
In  the  year  1813  three  prizes  were  entered;  the  duties  paid  on  their 
cargoes  amounted  to  $28,127.49.  In  1814  three  more  arrived,  on 
which  the  duty  was  $12,495.66.  In  November,  1814,  the  private 
armed  brig  "  Scourge,"  Samuel  Eames,  master,  returned  from  a 
cruise  with  seventeen  bales  of  raw  silk,  captured  from  the  enemy, 
on  which  the  duty  amounted  to  $488.31. 

The  ship  "  Governor  Tompkins"  arrived  at  Providence  in  .Octo- 
ber, 1819,  with  a  cargo  of  1, 981  bushels  of  coal  from  New  Castle,  Eng., 
on  which  a  duty  of  $99.20  was  paid.  During  the  early  years  of  the 
century,  and  until  1 83 1,  nearly  every  Liverpool  ship  brought  coal  as 
part  of  its  cargo.  In  July,  1831,  a  vessel  arrived  from  Sidney,  N.  S., 
with  a  cargo  of  coal,  and  from  that  time  forth  all  the  coal  received 
in  Providence  from  outside  the  United  States,  came  from  Nova 
Scotia,  principally  from  the  port  of  Pictou.  Since  the  development 
of  the  Pennsylvania  coal  mines  the  Nova  Scotia  coal  has  been 
crowded  out  by  protective  duties. 

A  great  change  has  taken  place  in  the  ownership  of  the  vessels 
engaged  in  the  American  foreign  trade.  Until  the  war  of  the  Rebel- 
lion they  were  nearly  all  owned  by  citizens  of  the  United  States  ;  now 
the  majority  are  owned  in  foreign  countries.  The  arrivals  for  the 
past  two  years  will  illustrate  this  fact.  At  the  port  of  Providence  in 
1879  there  were  116  arrivals,  only  27  of  which  were  American;  in 
1880,  139  arrivals,  of  which  only  39  were  American.  The  foreign 
commerce  of  Providence  has  not  increased  in  proportion  with  the 
growth  of  the  city.  In  fact,  there  has  been  a  very  marked  decrease. 
The  growth  of  the  city  has  been  in  the  direction  of  manufactures, 
and  this  growth  has  brought  a  large  coasting  trade  to  the  port. 

The  first  steamboat  that  ever  sailed  on  the  waters  of  the  Provi- 
dence River  was  one  invented  by  Elisha  Ormsbee,  of  Providence, 


Providence. 


215 


in  1792.  It  was  run  by  an  atmos- 
pheric engine,  and  attained  a  speed 
of  four  or  five  miles  an  hour.  David 
Wilkinson,  of  Pawtucket,  made  all 
the  iron  work  for  this  vessel.  After 
a  few  trials  the  engine  was  taken  out 
of  the  boat  and  the  attempt  aban- 
doned. The  lirst  steamer  embody- 
ing the  invention  of  Robert  Fulton 
which  was  seen  in  Providence  was 
the  "Firefly."  This  vessel  came 
from  New  York,  and  arrived  at 
Newport,  May  26,  1817,  and  at 
Providence  two  days  later.  For  four 
months  the  "Firefly"  plied  between 
Providence  and  New  York,  but,  ow- 
ing to  the  competition  and  opposition 
of  the  captains  of  the  packets,  was 
obliged  to  discontinue  her  trips.  No 
steamer  again  appeared  in  Narra- 
gansett  Bay  until  the  "Robert  Ful- 
ton" came  from  New  York,  August, 

182 1.  She  brought  an  excursion  party,  and  stopped  at  Newport, 
Bristol,  and  Providence.  At  all  these  places  great  crowds  were 
assembled  on  the  wharves  to  see  her.  The  year  following,  the 
Rhode  Island  Steamboat  Company  was  organized.  This  company 
had  two  steamers,  the  "Robert  Fulton"  and  the  "Connecticut," 
which  made  regular  trips  between  Providence  and  New  York, 
touching  at  Newport  each  way.  These  vessels  continued  to  run  for 
a  number  of  years,  and  new  boats  were  constantly  added  to  the  line. 
Many  opposition  boats  were  put  on  from  time  to  time,  and  much 
competition  existed.  In  183 1  there  were  two  lines  to  New  York, 
each  with  two  steamers.  In  those  days  races  frequently  took  place 
between  the  opposition  vessels.  From  that  time  onward  the  business 
has  continued,  many  changes  occurring  in  the  companies  engaged 
in  it.  During  all  these  years  the  vessels  have  been  growing  larger, 
more  elegant,  and  in  every  way  better  suited  for  travel  than  were 
their  predecessors.  The  existing  lines  are  the  Fall  River  line  be- 
tween Providence  and  Fall  River,  stopping  each  way  at  Bristol  and 
Bristol  Ferry  ;    the  Providence  line  to  New  York  ;    the  Providence, 


The   First   Congregational   Church. 


2i6  Picturesque  Rhode  Island. 

Norfolk  and  Baltimore  line ;  the  Winsor  line  to  Philadelphia ;  and 
the  Continental  Steamboat  Company,  whose  steamers  ply  to  New- 
port and  all  the  shore-places  on  Narragansett  Bay. 

When  the  first  steamer  came  to  Providence  the  only  means  of 
traveling  or  carrying  merchandise  on  the  water  was  by  sailing  vessel, 
and  the  quickest  way  of  traveling  on  land  was  in  a  stage-coach. 
Between  Providence  and  New  York  a  number  of  packets  plied. 
They  were  sloop-rigged  vessels,  built  with  an  eye  to  speed,  and 
with  accommodations  for  passengers.  The  captains  and  owners  of 
these  vessels  were  much  opposed  to  the  steamers,  and  used  every 
means  in  their  power  to  drive  them  out.  As  we  have  seen,  the  first 
steamer  that  appeared  at  Providence  was  unable  to  compete  with  the 
packets,  but  this  was  owing  more  to  the  clumsiness  of  her  construc- 
tion than  any  other  cause.  The  triumph  of  the  steamers  was  only 
a  question  of  time.  In  those  days,  as  now,  a  great  deal  of  the  travel 
and  trade  between  Boston  and  New  York  passed  through  Providence. 

To  accommodate  this  trade  a  large  number  of  stages  were  run, 
making  connections  with  the  New  York  packets  at  Providence. 
These  vehicles  carried  both  freight  and  passengers,  and  made  the 
journey  rapidly  by  means  of  relays  of  horses.  When  the  sailing 
packets  were  succeeded  by  the  steamers,  the  business  of  the  stages 
was  largely  increased.  "  During  the  summer  of  1829  there  were 
328  stage-coaches  a  week  to  and  from  Providence,  not  counting  the 
local  stages  running  to  points  within  a  dozen  miles  of  the  city." 
Very  exciting  races  often  occurred  between  coaches  of  opposing 
lines  when  they  happened  to  come  together  on  the  road.  The  arrival 
of  a  number  at  once,  as  was  usual,  to  connect  with  the  New  York 
boats  was  a  daily  event  of  great  interest.  It  could  not  be  otherwise, 
when  the  ten  or  twelve  large  coaches,  each  drawn  by  four  horses,  all 
filled  with  passengers,  and  their  tops  loaded  with  freight,  came  dash- 
ing furiously  down  the  street.  In  those  days  the  "wayside  inns" 
flourished.  At  present  we  know  them  only  through  Longfellow's 
poems,  Dickens'  novels,  and  other  kindred  sources.  Let  us  be  con- 
tent with  that  knowledge,  since  both  the  stage-coach  and  the  wayside 
inn,  viewed  through  the  vista  of  the  past,  appear  more  inviting  than 
they  were  in  reality.  The  Boston  and  Providence  Railroad  was 
completed  in  1835,  ^^^  the  death-blow  thereby  given  tojhe  general 
stage-coach  business  between  the  two  cities. 

,  Previous  to  the  Revolution,  Providence  was  engaged  in  the  whale- 
fishery  to  an  extent  almost  equal  to  that  of  any  port  in  Rhode  Island. 


Providence. 


217 


The  war  interfered  with  the  business,  but  did  not  destroy  it.  as  soon 
after  the  peace,  in  the  year  1785,  record  is  found  of  the  arrival  of  six 
vessels  from   whalincr  voyages.       The  amount  of  oil  these  vessels 


The    Beneficent  Congregational   Church. 

brought  was  small,  but  with  one  or  two  exceptions  they  also  brought 
cargoes  from  the  West  Indies,  and  other  foreign  ports.  From  that 
time  very  few  vessels  were  fitted  out  until  about  the  year  1820,  when 
a  sHght  revival  of  the  business  occurred.  Between  1830  and  1840  a 
more  marked  revival  took  place,  and  in  the  year  1841  seven  ships 
cleared  from  Providence  on  whaling  voyages.  For  a  number  ot 
years  there  were  nine  vessels  licensed  to  engage  in  the  whale-fishery 
belonging  to  Providence,  but  the  number  gradually  diminished,  most 
of  the  vessels  being  sold  to  New  Bedford,  and  the  remainder  lost  or 
burned  at  sea,  until  not  one  remained.  The  last  whaler  was  the  ship 
"  Lion,"  which  sailed  July  17,  1854,  for  the  Pacific  Ocean,  and  was 
lost  at  sea  Nov.  30,  1856.  The  ship  "South  America,"  which  cleared 
at  Providence  Nov.  10,  1843,  for  the  Northwest  Coast,  and  arrived 
home  March  5,  1846,  made  the  best  whaling  voyage  on  record  up  to 
that  date.     She  had  sent  home  800  barrels  of  whale  oil,  100  barrels 


2i8  Picturesque  Rhode  Island. 

of  sperm,  36,000  pounds  of  bone,   and  had  sold  at  Bahia,  Brazil, 
1,000  barrels  whale  oil. 

Providence  is  one  of  the  great  industrial  centres  of  the  United 
States.  Because  of  the  great  variety  of  its  manufactures,  less  disas- 
ter befell  it  during  the  years  of  financial  distress,  from  which  the 
country  has  only  just  emerged,  than  almost  any  city  in  the  Union. 
And  yet,  the  stranger  who  walks  its  streets  for  the  first  time  does  not 
notice  much  in  the  appearance  of  the  city  to  lead  him  to  suppose  that 
he  is  in  the  midst  of  a  "perfect  bee-hive  of  industry."  A  purely 
commercial  town,  the  place  seems  to  the  chance  visitor  to  be,  unless 
he  has  the  curiosity  to  inquire  carefully  as  to  the  secret  sources  of 
the  wealth  that  is  so  plainly  proclaimed. 

In  1875,  before  the  efi:ects  of  the  panic  had  worn  away,  the  num- 
ber of  manufacturing  establishments  in  the  city  was  940.  In  these 
factories  20,271  operatives  were  employed;  their  invested  capital 
was  $16,393,734;  the  value  of  their  product  manufactured  each 
year,  was  $52,782,875.  Ever  since  that  time  there  has  been  a 
gradual  and  healthy  growth  of  business.  The  statistics  of  the  last 
census  will  undoubtedly  show  that  a  much  greater  business,  propor- 
tionally to  the  population,  is  now  done  than  was  done  five  years  ago. 

One  of  the  most  prominent  industries  is  the  manufacture  of  jew- 
elry. There  were  in  the  State,  in  1875,  133  establishments  where 
jewelry  was  manufactured.  Very  nearly  all  of  these  factories  are 
within  the  limits  of  Providence.  The  business  is  yearly  increasing 
in  magnitude.  It  is  mainly  confined  to  the  territory  bounded  by 
Chestnut,  Ship,  Eddy  and  Broad  streets. 

Within  the  city  limits  are  a  number  of  cotton-factories.  Among 
the  principal  establishments  are  the  Oriental  Mills,  the  Providence 
Steam  Mill,  the  Grant  Mill,  and  the  James  Y.  Smith  Manufacturing 
Company. 

In  1875,  according  to  the  census  report,  about  one-fourth  of  all  the 
woolen  goods  in  the  State  were  manufactured  in  Providence.  Among 
the  principal  concerns  are  the  Geneva  Worsted  Mills,  and  the  Prov- 
idence Worsted  Mill  (worsted  goods)  ;  the  Valley  Worsted  Mills 
(braids,  yarns  and  hosiery)  ;  the  Elba  Woolen  Mills  and  the  Wey- 
bosset  Mills  (cassimeres)  ;  the  Wanskuck  Mill  (coatings)  ;  and  the 
Riverside  Worsted  Mills  (suitings). 

The  Fletcher  Manufacturing  Company,  established  in  1793  and 
incorporated  in  1865,  manufacture  boot,  shoe,  and  corset  laces,  lamp 
wicks,  yarns,  braids  and  twines.  Their  mills  are  situated  on  Charles 
Street,  in  the  north  part  of  the  city. 


Providence. 


219 


The  Allen  Print  Works  is  one  of  the  best-known  establishments  of 
the  kind  in  the  country.  In  the  tirst  ward,  near  the  North  Burying 
Ground  their  buildings  stand.      Other   establishments  in  the  printing 


,,«•"  L^gMCasfe^. 


The  First   Universalist  Church, 


and  bleaching  business  are  the  Woonasquatucket  Print  Works,  on 
the  river  of  that  name,  the  Silver  Spring  Bleaching  and  Dyeing  Co., 
the  Rhode  Island  Bleaching  and  Dye  Works,  and  tlie  Sun  Bleach- 
ing, Dyeing  and  Calendering  Works. 

In  the  manufacture  of  silver-ware,  Providence  has  one  establish- 
ment whose  reputation  is  world-wide,  both  in   regard  to   the  quality 


220  Picturesque  Rhode  Island. 

and  workmanship  of  the  articles  produced,  and  the  extent  of  the 
business  carried  on.  It  is  the  Gorham  Manufacturing  Company. 
The  business  was  founded  by  Jabez  Gorham  in  1831,  and  at  first 
only  one  small  room  was  needed  for  it.  Now  the  tall  buildings  of 
the  factory  cover  nearly  an  entire  square  between  North  Main  and 
Canal  streets. 

Very  many  large  establishments  are  engaged  in  the  manufacture 
of  machinery.  One  of  the  largest  works  is  that  of  the  Corliss 
Steam  Engine  Co.,  situated  in  the  northern  part  of  the  city,  just 
above  the  Charles  Street  railroad  crossing,  on  the  line  of  the  Boston 
and  Providence,  and  Providence  and  Worcester  Railroads.  The 
buildings  cover  several  acres  of  ground.  Everybody  knows  that  the 
engine  which  supplied  the  power  for  the  machinery  at  the  Centennial 
Exhibition  at  Philadelphia,  in  1876,  was  made  in  these  shops. 

The  Brown  &  Sharpe  Manufacturing  Company  are  engaged  in 
the  construction  of  the  Wilcox  &  Gibbs  sewing  machine,  the  mak- 
ing of  fine  tools,  and  various  machines  and  contrivances  for  special 
uses.  Their  factory  is  on  Promenade  Street,  a  short  distance  west  of 
the  Cove  basin.  This  company  has  a  most  enviable  reputation  for  the 
exactness  and  accuracy  of  its  tools  and  machines.  Darling,  Brown 
&  Sharpe,  rule  and  gauge  makers,  occupy  a  part  of  the  factory  of  the 
Brown  &  Sharpe  Manufacturing  Company. 

The  works  of  the  Providence  Tool  Company  are  among  the  largest 
of  their  kind  in  the  country.  The  company  was  organized  in  1845, 
and  incorporated  in  1847.  Sewing  machines  and  ship-chandlers' 
hardware  are  now  made  in  its  shops,  but  its  specialty  is  the  Peabody- 
Martini  breech-loading  rifle.  Trustworthy  military  authorities  say 
that  but  for  these  wonderful  Providence  rifles,  the  Turks  could  never 
have  held  out  half  so  long  against  their  adversaries,  the  Russians,  in 
the  late  sanguinary  war.  The  factories  of  the  company  are  situated 
on  West  River  and  Burt  streets,  in  the  Tenth  Ward,  and  on  Wick- 
enden  Street,  not  far  from  Fox  Point. 

The  American  Screw  Company,  organized  in  i860,  is  the  largest 
screw  manufacturing  company  in  the  United  States.  The  works 
comprise  five  large  brick  mills — the  Eagle  Mills,  Stevens  Street, 
and  the  New  England  Mills,  Eddy  Street.  When  working  at  their 
full  capacity  they  give  employment  to  2,500  persons. 

The  works  of  the  Nicholson  File  Company  are  located  on  a  plat  of 
about  four  acres,  on  the  banks  of  the  Woonasquatucket  River,  fifteen 
minutes'  walk  from  the  railroad  station.     The  company  was  organ- 


Providence. 


221 


ized  in  1865.  The  work  of 
making  the  files  is  nearly 
all  done  by  machinery.  A 
large  prop>ortion  of  this  ma- 
chinery was  patented  by  W. 
T.  Nicholson,  the  founder 
of  the  company.  About  250 
persons  are  employed  in  the 
works. 

Other  large  manufac- 
tories are  the  Rhode  Island 
Locomotive  Works,  corner 
of  Hemlock  and  Valley 
streets  ;  the  Franklin  Foun- 
dry and  Machine  Company, 
Charles  Street,  incorporated 
in  1836,  manufacturers  of 
cotton  machinery  ;  the  Prov- 
idence Steam  Engine  Com- 
pany, 373  South  Main 
Street ;  Providence  Machine 
Company,  manufacturers  of 
cotton  and  worsted  roving 
frames,  and  other  machines 
used  in  the  manufacture  of 

cotton  and  wool,  564  Eddy  Street ;  the  Granger  Foundr}-  and  Ma- 
chine Companv,  bleaching,  dyeing,  printing  and  paper  machinery, 
Gaspee,  corner  of  Francis  Street ;  Spicers  &  Peckham,  manufac- 
turers of  the  most  approved  patterns  of  American  ranges,  furnaces, 
and  stoves,  foundry  on  Cove  Street;  the  Barstow  Stove  Company, 
works  on  Point  Street,  corner  of  Chestnut ;  City  Machine  Company, 
Harris  Avenue,  corner  of  Acorn  Street ;  Phenix  Iron  Foundry,  Elm, 
corner  of  Eddy  Street,  manufacturers  of  machinery  for  bleaching, 
dyeing,  printing  and  finishing  cotton  goods,  etc.  ;  Volney  W.  Mason 
&  Co.,  elevators  and  hoisting  machinery,  Lafayette  Street,  rear  405 
High,  and  the  Rhode  Island  Braiding  Machine  Compan}',  Aborn 
Street. 

Providence  is  situated  almost  at  the  head  of  navigation,  on  Narra- 
gansett  Bay.  Two  fresh-water  rivers,  the  Woonasquatucket  and  the 
Moshassuck,  flow  into  the  Providence  River,  and  at  their  confluence 


The  First   Baptist   Church. 


222  Picturesque  Rhode  Island. 

form  a  broad  sheet  of  water  called  the  "  Cove."  This  body  of  water 
was  originally  much  more  extensive  than  at  present,  but  its  area  has 
from  time  to  time  been  reduced  by  filling  in  the  surrounding  low 
lands.  It  is  now  a  circular  basin  about  a  mile  in  circumference,  the 
sides  of  which  are  built  up  with  stone.  A  public  walk,  the  Cove 
Promenade,  encircles  it.  The  central  passenger  station  is  on  the 
southeast  of  the  Cove,  and  the  railroads  converging  there  run  along 
its  banks  in  both  directions  for  a  short  distance.  The  Woonasqua- 
tucket  River  flows  into  the  Cove  from  the  west,  the  Moshassuck  from 
the  north,  and  the  Providence  River  flows  outward  to  the  east. 
Rising  from  the  valleys  of  these  three  streams  are  the  hills,  on  the 
slopes  of  which  the  city  is  built. 

One  of  the  best  places  from  which  to  get  a  view  of  the  city  is  Pros- 
pect Terrace,  a  little  park  near  the  summit  of  Prospect  Hill,  on  the 
east  side  of  the  river.  From  this  point  of  view,  the  central  portion 
of  the  city, — where  the  business  is  mainly  transacted, — in  the 
neighborhood  of  Westminster,  Weybosset,  and  Dorrance  Streets,  the 
railroad  station  and  Exchange  Place,  lies  to  the  southward.  The 
buildings  of  this  section  are  mostly  large  blocks  ;  red  brick  is  the  most 
common  material  seen.  The  principal  buildings  of  the  city  stand 
out  in  bold  relief,  the  City  Hall,  the  Butler  Exchange,  and  the  Nar- 
ragansett  Hotel,  being  the  more  prominent.  To  the  southwest,  almost 
directly  at  the  foot  of  the  hill,  is  the  circular  basin  of  the  Cove,  with 
its  fringe  of  trees  ;  and  beyond  it,  to  the  westward,  the  broad  expanse 
of  lowlands  through  which  flows  the  Woonasquatucket  River.  On 
these  lands  a  number  of  large  manufacturing  establishments  are 
located.  Rising  up  on  either  side  of  these  lowlands,  are  high  sand- 
blufts.  On  the  north  side  of  the  valley  is  Smith's  Hill,  and  on  the 
south  is  Federal  Hill. 

To  the  southward  of  the  Cove  lies  the  most  densely  populated 
part  of  the  city ;  spires  of  churches  are  seen  shooting  up  here  and 
there,  huge  school-houses  thrust  their  solid  walls  upward  from  the 
hills,  and  a  few  monster  gasometers,  with  the  great  domes  that  give 
such  an  oriental  appearance  to  the  landscape,  stand  out  prominentl}'" 
against  the  quiet  sky. 

The  stately  Rhode  Island  Hospital  tells  how  well  private  benefac- 
tions have  provided  for  public  suflering,  and  the  twin  towers  of  the 
new  Cathedral,  on  High  Street — the  largest  place  of  worship  in  the 
city  —  of  the  wonderful  strides  the  Roman  Catholic  Church  has  been 
making   in    Rhode   Island    during    the   last  quarter    of    a    century. 


Providenck 


223 


Unlike  most  American  cities, 
Providence  lias  but  few 
blocks  of  tenement-houses. 
Apart  from  each  other  and 
overshadowed  by  \\avin<r 
branches,  stand  the  homes 
of  the  great  mass  of  her 
citizens.  Almost  like  a 
forest  appears  the  portion 
of  the  city  which  is  occu- 
pied by  dwelling-houses,  to" 
one  who  looks  upon  it  from 
the  "  Terrace."' 

Providence  is  divided  into 
three  well-defined  parts  by 
the  two  fresh-water  rivers, 
the  Woonasquatucket  and 
the  Moshassuck,  and  the 
Providence  River  in  its  pro- 
gress from  the  Cove  to  the 
bay.  The  most  important 
and  populous,  though  not 
perhaps  in  territorial  extent 
the  largest  division,  is  that 
on  the  west  side  of  the  Prov- 
idence River,  having  this  river  for  one  of  its  sides,  the  Woonasqua- 
tucket for  the  other,  and  for  the  base  of  the  triangle  the  towns  of 
Johnston  and  Cranston.  This  division  includes  within  its  borders 
the  fourth,  fifth,  sixth,  seventh,  eighth,  and  ninth  wards,  and  most 
of  the  business  portion  of  the  city.  In  this  section,  also,  are  Roger 
Williams  Park,  at  the  extreme  south  of  the  city  ;  the  Park  Garden, 
on  Broad  Street ;  Mashapaug  Pond  ;  Long  Pond  ;  Benedict  Pond  ; 
and  Field's  Point,  the  first  shore-resort  on  the  ba}^  as  we  go  down 
the  river. 

The  eastei;n  part  of  the  city  is  situated  on  a  range  of  hills  extend- 
ing from  Fox  Point  some  distance,  along  the  banks  of  the  Moshas- 
suck River.  In  this  portion,  commonly  called  the  "  east  side,"  are 
many  of  the  finest  residences. 

At  the  head  of  College  Street  are  the  buildings  of  Brown  Uni- 
versity, and  further  to  the  north  are  the  Hope  Reservoir  and  Pump- 


The   Cheitnut    btreet    Methodist   Episcopal    Church. 


224  Picturesque  Rhode  Island. 

ing-Station  of  the  Providence  Water  Works.  Within  this  portion 
are  the  Friends'  School,  the  Dexter  As3dum,  the  Butler  Hospital, 
the  Reform  School,  the  Athenaeum,  the  Court  House,  the  Normal 
School,  and  Swan  Point  Cemetery.  On  the  water-front  and  the 
banks  of  the  Moshassuck  River  are  many  manufacturing  establish- 
ments. Until  very  recently  this  was  the  principal  part  of  the  city, 
but  of  late  years  the  business  has  moved  across  the  river. 

The  third  triangle  includes  Smith's  Hill,  and  the  country  in  its 
neighborhood,  and  is  bounded  on  the  east  by  the  Moshassuck,  on 
the  south  by  the  Woonasquatucket,  on  the  north  and  northwest  by 
North  Providence  and  Pawtucket.  This  portion  is  perhaps  the 
largest  in  territorial  extent,  but  is  the  most  thinly  populated.  Smith's 
Hill  proper  is  mostly  occupied  by  dwellings.  In  this  part  are  several 
manufacturing  villages,  among  which  are  Dyerville,  Wanskuck, 
Geneva,  and  part  of  Olneyville. 

A  good  view  of  the  lower  part  of  the  city  and  the  central  portion 
is  obtained  from  the  cupola  of  the  City  Hall.  Other  points  from 
which  extended  views  of  the  city  may  be  had  are  Fort  Hill,  in  East 
Providence,  the  heights  at  Field's  Point,  Smith's  Hill,  and  Neutacon- 
kanut  Hill,  in  Johnston. 

The  principal  hotel  in  Providence  is  the  Narragansett,  a  massive 
building,  seven  stories  in  height.  Externally  it  is  not  a  beautiful 
structure.  The  money  which  might  have  been  expended  to  no  pur- 
pose in  outside  decoration  was  wisely  spent  in  furnishing  its  interior 
in  the  best  style  possible.  It  is  situated  on  the  corner  of  Broad  and 
Dorrance  streets,  and  is  visible  from  any  elevated  out-look  in  the  city 
or  its  suburbs.  The  next  important  pubHc  house  is  the  Hotel  Dor- 
rance, which  attracts  notice  by  its  imposing  front. 

Brown  University  crowns  the  educational  system  of  Rhode  Island. 
It  began  its  career  in  Warren,  under  the  name  of  Rhode  Island  Col- 
lege. Dr.  WilHam  Rogers,  afterward  for  many  years  a  distinguished 
professor  in  the  University  of  Pennsylvania,  was  its  first  student. 
The  first  Commencement  was  held  in  the  Warren  Meeting  House  in 
1769.  In  the  following  year  the  college  was  moved  to  Providence, 
and  in  May,  1770,  the  foundations  of  the  first  college-building  were 
laid.  A  year  afterward  a  portion  of  the  building  was  ready  for  the 
use  of  students,  but  it  was  not  until  1788  that  the  structure  was  com- 
pleted. During  the  Revolutionary  War  all  college  exercises  were 
suspended.  From  1776  to  1782  the  "  College  Edifice"  (this  was  the 
only  name  applied  to  University  Hall  —  the  central  building  —  until 


Providence.  225 


1822)  was  devoted  to  the  use  of  the  American  troops  and  their  French 
alHes,  first  for  barracks,  afterwards  as  a  hospital.  Under  such  cir- 
cumstances, it  is  not  to  be  wondered  at  that  the  close  of  the  war  found 
it  "in  a  very  dilapidated  condition."  In  1804  the  name  of  the  college 
was  changed  to  Brown  University,  in  honor  of  Nicholas  Brown,  its 
irenerous  friend  and  benefiictor.  In  1822  Mr.  Brown  erected  and 
presented  to  the  corporation  Hope  College  —  the  building  at  the  ex- 
treme left  of  the  cut  on  page  134.  (The  name  was  given  it  in  honor 
of  his  sister,  Mrs.  Hope  Ives.)  Manning  Hall  —  next  to  Hope  Col- 
lege —  (Dr.  James  Manning  was  the  first  president  of  Rhode  Island 
College)  he  gave  to  the  University  in  1835.  Towards  the  erection 
of  Rhode  Island  Hall  —  at  the  extreme  right  —  and  the  President's 
House  he  subscribed  $10,000.  In  all  he  gave  more  than  $160,000 
to  advance  the  interests  of  the  institution  which  bears  his  name.  Of 
the  newer  buildings,  the  Chemical  Laboratory  was  completed  in 
1862.  The  beautiful  Library  Building,  which  testifies  to  the  inherited 
interest  of  the  late  John  Carter  Brown  (the  son  of  Nicholas)  ;  the 
stately  Slater  Hall  —  next  to  Rhode  Island  Hall  —  which  com- 
memorates the  liberality  of  Mr.  H.  N.  Slater,  and  the  magnificent 
Sayles  Memorial  Hall,  the  monument  erected  by  Mr.  W.  F.  Sayles 
to  the  memory  of  a  son  who  died  before  his  college  course  was  half 
completed,  have  all  been  erected  since  the  Rev.  Dr.  E.  G.  Robinson 
took  his  seat  as  the  president  of  the  University. 

St.  John's  Church  is  the  oldest  of  the  Protestant  Episcopal 
churches  in  Providence.  The  first  clergyman  to  officiate  in  the  par- 
ish was  probably  the  Rev.  James  Honeyman,  of  Newport,  though 
Dr.  McSparran,  in  his  America  Dissected,  claims  the  honor  for 
himself.  In  1722  Mr.  Honeyman  preached  "in  the  open  fields  to 
more  people  than  he  had  before  seen  together  in  America."  The 
Rev.  George  Pigot  was  the  first  settled  minister  of  the  parish,  but  his 
stay  was  not  a  long  one.  On  St.  Barnabas'  Day,  June  11,  1722,  the 
erection  of  the  first  church-edifice  was  begun.  It  was  called  King's 
Church.  In  its  steeple  was  placed  the  first  church-bell  hung  in  the 
town.  This  old  building,  having  stood  for  almost  a  century,  was 
pulled  down  in  1810  to  make  way  for  the  present  edifice.  Grace 
Church,  now  the  largest  of  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Churches  in 
the  State,  is  a  comparatively  new  parish,  having  been  organized  in 
1829. 

The  First  Congregational  Church  was  formed  about  the  year  1720. 
In  1723  its  first  house  of  worship  was  erected  upon  the  lot  where  the 


226  Picturesque  Rhode  Island. 

new  Court  House  now  stands.  In  1794  this  building  was  sold  to  the 
town,  and  was  ever  after  known  as  the  "  Old  Town  House."  The 
second  building  of  the  society  was  erected  at  the  corner  of  Benevo- 
lent and  Benefit  streets.  It  was  destroyed  by  fire  in  1814 ;  two 
years  afterward  the  present  structure  was  finished.  The  Beneficent 
Congregational  Church  was  erected  in  1808.  The  building  has  been 
greatly  enlarged  since  that  time. 

Jesse  Lee,  the  leading  apostle  of  Methodism  in  New  England, 
was  the  first  of  the  sect  to  preach  in  Providence.  The  first  Meth- 
odist meetings  were  probably  held  in  the  "  Old  Town  House."  Not 
until  1816  was  the  society  able  to  build  a  church.  This  house  stood 
at  the  corner  of  Aborn  and  Washington  streets.  In  the  course  of  a 
few  years,  having  become  too  small  to  accommodate  its  congrega- 
tion, it  was  sold,  and  converted  into  a  dwelling-house.  The  second 
meeting-house,  at  the  junction  of  Chestnut  and  Cliftbrd  streets,  was 
dedicated  Jan.  i,  1822. 

The  meetings  of  the  Universalist  Church  Societ}'^  were  begun  in 
1772.  In  1822,  the  first  house  of  worship  was  erected,  corner  of 
Washington  and  Union  streets.  This  was  burnt  in  1825,  and  in  the 
following  year  a  new  one  took  its  place. 

The  Rev.  Robert  D.  Woodley  was  the  first  Roman  Catholic 
priest  regularly  stationed  in  Providence.  He  was  sent  to  the  town 
by  Bishop  Fenwick  in  1827,  and  remained  in  the  place  about  three 
years.  At  that  time  there  may  perhaps  have  been  two  hundred 
members  in  his  congregation.  The  first  services  of  the  church  were 
held  in  Mechanics'  Hall;  afterward  for  four  or  five  years  the  "  Old 
Town  House"  was  used.  In  1832,  a  lot  of  land  was  purchased,  and 
on  this  the  Church  of  St.  Peter  and  St.  Paul  was  erected  five  years 
later.  The  diocese  of  Providence  was  set  off"  from  that  of  Hartford 
in  1872.  The  imposing  Cathedral,  on  High  Street,  which  is  just 
approaching  completion,  is  altogether  the  largest  house  of  worship 
in  the  city. 


CHAPTER  IX. 


WARWICK  — SAMUEL  GORTON  — FAMOUS  SHORE  RESORTS  — ROCKY  POINT  — OAK- 
LAND BEACH  — BUTTONWOODS  — MANUFACTURES  — CAPTURE  OF 
THE  "GASPEE."  COVENTRY  —  EARLY  DAYS  AND  SETTLERS. 
EAST  GREENWICH— JEMIMA  WILKINSON.  WEST  GREENWICH — 
THEOPHILUS  WHALLEY.     EXETER  AND   HOPKINTON. 


:•  ii'^Jc^S- 

.■-... 

H 

••••  >  ■-"■^1?%.'--. 

I.. 

4 


ARWICK.  —  The  settlement  at  Shawomet,  as  the  town 
of  Warwick  was  first  called,  was  due  to  the  determined 
persistency,  not  to  say  obstinacy,  of  one  of  the  most  re- 
markable men  that  ever  dwelt  within  the  boundaries  of 
New  England.  Hardly  a  name  arrests  the  eye  more 
frequently  from  the  pages  of  early  Rhode  Island  history, 
than  that  of  the  "  most  prodigious  minter  of  exorbitant 
novelties,"  the  "proud  and  pestilent  seducer,"  Samuel 
Gorton.  Even  in  their  strangely  copious  vocabulary  the 
Puritan  writers  of  his  age  could  not  find  epithets  harsh 
enough  to  express  their  hatred  of  him  and  of  the  ideas 
he  promulgated.  And  yet,  notwithstanding  the  load  of  obloquy  that 
has  been  heaped  upon  him,  it  must  appear  to  those  of  unprejudiced 
minds  who  scan  the  record  of  his  life  that  his  character  was  greatly 
misunderstood.  Faults  he  undoubtedly  had,  and  great  ones,  but  the 
same  were  to  be  found  in  the  career  of  every  one  of  his  opponents. 
They  belonged  to  the  age  rather  than  to  the  individual.  The  historian 
Arnold  well  says  that  "  his  career  furnishes  an  apt  illustration  of  the 
radicalism  in  action,  which  may  spring  from  conservatism  in  theory. 
The  turbulence  of  his  earlier  history  was  the  result  of  a  disregard  for 
existing  law,  because  it  was  not  based  upon  what  he  held  to  be  the 
only  legitimate  source  of  power  —  the  assent  of  the  supreme  authority 
in  England.    He  denied  the  right  of  a  people  to  self-government,  and 


228  Picturesque  Rhode  Island. 

contended  for  his  views  with  the  vigor  of  an  unrivaled  intellect,  and 
the  strength  of  an  ungoverned  passion.  But  when  this  point  was 
conceded,  by  the  securing  of  a  patent,  no  man  was  more  submissive 
to  delegated  law." 

In  1636  Gorton  came  to  Boston.  Of  his  life  before  his  coming  to 
America,  almost  nothing  is  known.  Cotton,  Hubbard  and  Mather, 
those  fierce  old  partisans,  who  could  never  see  anything  to  commend 
in  those  who  disagreed  with  them,  assert  that  he  left  England  "  to 
escape  the  claims  of  a  creditor."  This  seems  rather  absurd,  inas- 
much as  his  removal  to  America  would  not  have  secured  to  him 
immunity  from  arrest.  Less  prejudiced  and  more  trustworthy  histo- 
rians make  no  mention  of  such  a  reason.  The  charge  is  undoubtedly 
a  portion  of  the  persecution  which  fell  to  Gorton's  lot  in  this  country. 
About  a  year  after  his  arrival  at  Boston  he  incurred  the  enmity  of 
one  Ralph  Smith,  who  had  once  been  a  minister  in  Plymouth.  Of 
him  Gorton  had  hired  a  portion  of  his  house,  and  some  of  Smith's 
household  were  at  once  drawn  to  attend  the  religious  services  the 
new  comer  held  daily,  morning  and  evening,  in  his  own  family.  The 
ex-minister,  a  man  of  very  moderate  mental  capacity,  seems  to  have 
been  endowed  with  an  unusually  fiery  temper.  He  could  not  endure 
the  preference  thus  plainly  shown  for  his  tenant's  glowing  discourses, 
and  therefore  ordered  him  to  leave  his  house.  Gorton,  who  was 
nothing  if  not  pugnacious,  refused  to  go,  and  Smith  had  recourse  to 
a  warrant  from  the  General  Court. 

Very  shortly  after  the  "  beast,"  "  miscreant,"  and  "  arch-heretic" 
had  thus  called  to  himself  the  attention  of  the  public,  he  was  guilty 
of  an  almost  unpardonable  offence.  One  of  his  female  servants  was 
seen  to  smile  in  church.  To  escape  the  direful  consequences  of  her 
levity  she  fled  into  the  woods,  having  before  her  flight  received  an 
assurance  from  her  master  that  he  would  undertake  her  defence. 
At  the  session  of  the  court  which  followed,  Gorton  conducted  him- 
self in  such  a  "rude  and  contemptuous"  manner  that  he  was  bound 
over  to  appear  at  the  next  session,  and  ordered  to  find  sureties  for  his 
conduct  until  that  time.  Immediately  he  left  Plymouth  and  went  to 
Aquidneck.  June  20,  1638,  he  was  admitted  an  inhabitant  of  the 
latter  colony,  and  somewhere  about  this  time  he  was  banished  in 
due  process  of  law  from  Massachusetts. 

The  reception  accorded  to  Gorton  upon  his  arrival  at  Pocasset 
was  most  cordial.  The  fact  that  his  is  one  of  the  four  names, 
on  the  list  of  fifty-nine  inhabitants,  which  bear  the  prefix  Mr.  (Mr. 


Warwick. 


229 


A  View  of  Phenix. 


was  used  as  a  special  mark  of  respect  in  those  days),  shows  the 
esteem  in  which  he  was  held.  This  esteem  was  quickly  forfeited 
by  his  outrageous  conduct  upon  tlie  island.  He  carried  his  doctrine 
of  "  soul-liberty  "  to  such  an  extreme,  and  showed  so  many  repulsive 
traits  of  character,  that  he  was  soon  thrust  out  from  Aquidneck,  with 
even  more  severity  than  had  attended  his  expulsion  from  Plymouth. 
Not  only  was  sentence  of  banishment  pronounced  against  him,  but 
he  was  soundly  whipped  as  well. 

Respecting  tliis  matter,  Gorton  says  in  his  own  defence,  that  he 
conducted  himself  "obediently  to  the  government  of  Plimouth, 
so  farre  as  it  became  me  at  least,  for  I  understood  that  they  had 
commission  wherein  authoritie  was  derived,  which  authoritie  I  rev- 
erenced ;  but  Rhode  Island  at  that  time  had  none,  therefore  no 
authoritie  legally  derived  to  deale  with  me.  Neither  had  they  the 
choice  of  the  people,  but  set  up  themselves.  I  know  not  any  man 
that  was  present  in  their  creation  but  a  clergie  man,  who  blessed  them 
in  their  inauguration,  and  I  thought  myselfe  as  fitt  and  able  to 
governe  myselfe  and  family  as  any  that  were  then  in  Rhode  Island." 
The  account  of  his  "  contention  "  with  the  islanders,  though  most 
interesting,  is  yet  too  long  to  be  transcribed. 

From  Aquidneck  the  twice-exiled  man  went  to  Providence,  and 


230  Picturesque  Rhode  Island. 

there  stirred  up  so  much  strife  that  Roger  Williams  deliberated 
seriously  whether  he  should  not  himself  abandon  the  plantation  and 
remove  to  Patience  Island.  While  in  religious  matters  Gorton  "  main- 
tained with  Williams  the  great  doctrine  of  the  underived  indepen- 
dence of  the  soul,  in  civil  concerns  he  was  an  absolutist,  a  stickler 
for  authority,  yielding,  theoretically  at  least,  entire  obedience  to  char- 
tered power,  but  ignoring  any  other,  and  steadily  denying  the  right  of 
the  people  of  Aquidneck  or  Providence  to  govern  themselves,  and 
hence  refusing  to  be  controlled  by  them.  And  because  of  this  defect 
in  the  basis  of  their  government  he  used  every  effort  to  weaken  or 
destroy  it,  assuming  for  that  object  the  attitude  of  the  veriest  leveller 
recorded  in  history."  So  entirely  subsersive  of  all  order  was  his 
course,  that  his  application  for  admission  to  the  rights  of  citizenship 
was  denied.  In  November,  1641,  the  tumult  this  "insolent,  railing 
and  turbulent  person  "  had  aroused,  culminated  in  a  riot.  Some  blood 
was  shed  upon  both  sides,  and  many  of  the  inhabitants,  following  a 
strange  precedent  which  had  been  established  some  time  before, 
invoked  the  aid  of  the  neighboring  colony  of  Massachusetts  in  the 
interests  of  peace. 

Finding  that  the  sentiment  of  the  colony  was  so  strongly  against 
him,  Gorton  and  his  adherents  moved  to  Pawtuxet,  whereupon  its 
few,  scattered  inhabitants,  well  knowing  what  was  coming,  hastened 
to  submit  themselves  to  the  government  of  Massachusetts  Bay.  The 
"letter"  this  action  drew  forth  from  Gorton  is  a  most  marvelous 
composition,  but  one  that  is  not  likely  to  receive  a  very  careful  exam- 
ination at  the  hands  of  this  impatient  generation.  It  occupies  nearly 
twenty-six  closely  printed  octavo  pages,  and  is  filled  from  beginning 
to  end  with  scorching  invective  and  bitter  sarcasm.  To  its  writer  it 
brought  trouble  without  end  ;  for  the  Massachusetts  magistrates  were 
able  on  every  page  to  single  out  heretical  doctrines  upon  which  to 
ground  the  pretexts  for  their  vengeance.  The  Gortonists  (Gorton- 
oges,  the  Indians  called  them)  left  Pawtuxet  soon  after  it  was  written, 
and  having  purchased  land  from  the  Indians,  began  at  Shawomet,  in 
the  wilderness,  and  beyond  the  jurisdiction  of  Providence,  the  settle- 
ment which  now  bears  the  name  of  Warwick. 

As  the  purchasers  of  Shawomet  were  but  twelve  in  number,  they 
deemed  it  unnecessary  at  first  to  adopt  any  regular  form  of  govern- 
ment. Until  a  charter  from  England  could  be  obtained  they  pro- 
posed to  adjust  any  differences  that  might  arise  by  arbitration.  The 
action  of  the  authorities  of  the  Massachusetts  Colony  soon  rendered 


Warwick. 


231 


the  acquisition  of  the  desired  charter  an  absolute  impossibility.  By 
the  men  of  the  Bay  the  Warwick  sachem  was  induced  to  submit  him- 
self to  the  authority  of  the  Massachusetts  government,  and  to  deny  the 
sale  he  had  made  to  Gorton.     A  voluminous  correspondence,  con- 


A  View  of  Rocky   Point 

ducted  on  Gorton's  part  with  consummate  ability,  and  with  a  most 
exasperating  weight  of  argument  upon  his  side,  followed  this  submis- 
sion. The  upshot  of  the  matter  was,  that  in  the  early  fall  of  1643  a 
company  of  Massachusetts  soldiers  were  sent  against  the  contuma- 
cious Gortonoges. 

The  approach  of  these  troops  caused  the  greatest  alarm  among 
the  people  of  the  new  settlement.  The  women  and  children  lied  for 
refuge  to  the  neighboring  woods  :  the  men  hastily  fortified  one  of  their 
strongest  dwellings  and  there,  "as  men  prepared  for  slaughter," 
awaited  the  attack  of  the  assailing  party.  Negotiations  looking 
toward  a  peaceful  settlement  of  difficulties  having  failed,  the  cattle  of 
the  besieged  were  seized  and  an  assault  upon  the  improvised  fortress 
was  begun.  Thereupon  a  strange  spectacle  was  presented  to  view. 
As  English  citizens,  the  men  of  Warwick  hung  an  English  flag  from 
one  of  their  upper  windows.  Immediately  it  was  riddled  with  bullets 
from  English  muskets.  The  assaulting  troops,  knowing  w^ell  that  no 
aid  would  come  to  the  relief  of  the  beleaguered  garrison,  entrenched 
themselves,  and  opened  a  regular  system  of  approaches.  For  several 
days  the  siege  lasted,  and  all  the  time  the  Gortonoges,  acting  solely 
upon  the  defensive,  did  not  fn-e  a  shot.      On  the  8th  of  October,  the 


232  Picturesque  Rhode  Island. 

works  approached  so  near  the  house  that  an  attempt  was  made  to  set 
it  on  fire.  It  failed,  but  the  determined  assailants  were  not  to  be 
baffled,  and  immediately  sent  back  to  Massachusetts  for  more  troops. 
The  Gortonists  saw  that  unless  they  surrendered  a  bloody  conflict 
must  ensue,  and  that  death  would  surely  come  to  them,  either  among 
the  ruins  of  their  house,  or  else  upon  the  scaffold  under  cover  of  the 
law.  •  Wisely,  they  surrendered,  and  were  at  once  carried  to  Boston 
as  prisoners  and  placed  on  trial  for  their  lives. 

The  courage  of  most  men  would  have  given  way  under  such  a 
combination  of  circumstances,  but  the  untamable  spirit  of  Gorton  was 
not  daunted  even  by  the  desperate  strait  in  which  he  found  himself. 
In  his  SimfUcities'  Defence  he  taunts  his  captors  with  the  extent  of 
their  triumph — "  a  whole  county  to  carry  away  eleven  men."  Not 
in  the  slightest  degree  did  he  moderate  the  harsh  epithets  he  was 
accustomed  to  apply  to  .his  adversaries,  and  the  result  was  that  all 
but  three  of  the  magistrates  who  sat  in  judgment  upon  him  united  in 
condemning  him  to  death.  To  the  credit  of  the  Bay  Colony  it  is  re- 
corded that  the  majority  of  the  House  of  Deputies  refused  to  sanction 
the  barbarous  decree.  (It  should  be  borne  steadily  in  mind  all  the  while 
that  the  crime  of  which  Gorton  was  accused  was  "  heresy.")  The 
sentence  was  therefore  modified,  and  Gorton  and  six  others  were 
ordered  to  be  confined  in  chains  during  the  pleasure  of  the  court. 
"  Should  they  break  jail,  or  in  any  w^ay  proclaim  heresy,  or  reproach 
the  Church  or  State,  then  upon  conviction  they  should  suffer  death.' 
In  the  course  of  a  year  after  the  sentence  was  carried  into  effect 
public  opinion  had  changed  to  such  an  extent  that  the  prisoners  were 
given  their  liberty,  but  sent  away  into  banishment.  The  island  of 
Aquidneck  having  received  most  of  them,  found  that  the  bitter  expe- 
rience they  had  passed  through  had  left  its  trace  upon  them,  and  had 
made  them  much  better  and  less  quarrelsome  citizens.  Gorton  him- 
self soon  afterwards  went  to  England,  and  through  his  efibrts  he  and 
his  partisans  were  at  last  placed  in  quiet  possession  of  the  lands  they 
had  purchased.  The  name  Warwick  was  given  to  the  town  in  honor 
of  the  great  earl  through  whose  influence  Gorton's  mission  was  at 
last  successful.  When  at  last,  by  the  Royal  Charter,  the  jurisdiction 
of  Rhode  Island  was  extended  over  Shawomet,  a  wonderful  change 
came  over  the  cavilling  Gortonoges.  "  Their  rigid  adherence  to  all 
the  forms  of  law,  as  well  as  to  its  spirit,  was  no  less  remarkable  than 
had  been  their  previous  neglect.  The  charter  supplied  their  theo- 
retical wants,  and  devotion  to  its  letter  and  spirit  marked  all  their 


Warwick. 


233 


The   Restaurant. 


subsequent  conduct."  Gorton 
himself  settled  down  into  a 
peaceful,  quiet  and  law-abid- 
ing citizen,  and  his  great 
abilities  soon  secured  for  him 
tlie  leading  position  in  the 
colony.  He  lived  tor  thirt\" 
years  atlter  the  events  thai 
have  just  been  narrated,  and 
died  in  1677.  Says  his  bi- 
ographer :  ••  The  exact  spot 
where  his  ashes  repose,  is 
marked  by  no  pious  stone  or 
monumental    marble.      Yet, 

if  without  other  honors,   mav  it  at  least  ever  be   their   privilege  to 
sleep  beneath  the  green  sward  of  a  free  state." 

The  history  of  the  town  that  was  founded  more  than  two  hundred 
years  ago,  amid  such  turmoil  and  strife,  is  peculiarly  rich  in  roman- 
tic incident.  Many  a  noble  son  it  has  sent  forth  from  its  borders  to 
win  distinction  and  honor  for  himself  and  it.  Of  one  such  man  the 
fame  is  national  —  that  one  who  was  second  only  to  Washington  in 
the  ability  displayed  upon  man}?^  a  bloody  field  during  the  gloomy 
days  of  the  American  Revolution.  While  the  Union  he  did  so 
much  to  perfect  shall  last,  the  name  of  Nathaniel  Greene  shall  not 
cease  to  be  cherished  and  held  in  veneration. 

Many  a  stirring  deed  also,  has  the  old  towm  witnessed.  Upon 
Gaspee  (then  called  Namquit)  Point  it  was  that  the  British  armed 
schooner  **  Gaspee  "  ran  aground  on  the  ninth  day  of  June,   1772. 

What  Rhode  Islander  is  not 
familiar  with  the  story  of  the 
vessel's  destruction  !  The 
' '  Gaspee"  had  been  stationed 
in  the  bay  to  prevent  smug- 
gling. Her  commander  had 
discharged  his  duty  with 
needless  severity  and  with 
an  entire  disregard  of  the 
rights  of  the  colonists.  One 
day,  while  chasing  a  sloop 
The  Flying  Horses  "P  thc  bay,  the  uiau-of-war 


234  Picturesque  Rhode  Island. 

ran  aground.  The  "chase"  escaped  and  announced  in  Providence 
the  condition  of  its  would-be  captor.  Immediately  a  drummer  went 
through  the  streets  of  the  town  proclaiming  the  situation  of  the  hated 
vessel,  and  calling  for  volunteers  to  destroy  her.  It  was  not  difficult 
to  find  men  ready  to  engage  in  such  an  expedition.  At  nightfall 
eight  long  boats,  with  muffled  oars  to  enable  them  to  reach  the  enemy 
unperceived,  started  down  the  bay.  As  they  approached  the  "Gas- 
pee  "  they  were  joined  by  another  boat  from  Bristol,  under  the  com- 
mand of  Capt.  Simeon  Potter.  The  approach  of  the  boats  was 
after  a  while  perceived  by  the  people  upon  the  schooner,  who  dis- 
charged at  them  a  volley  of  musketry.  The  assailants  promptly 
returned  the  fire  and  dashed  forward  to  board  the  vessel.  The  com- 
bat which  followed  was  short  but  decisive.  The  English  commander 
was  wounded,  his  vessel  was  captured,  set  on  fire,  and  entirely 
destroyed.  Without  any  attempt  at  concealment  the  victorious  party 
rowed  joyfully  homeward.  For  information  which  might  lead  to  the 
conviction  of  those  who  had  participated  in  the  affair  the  British  gov- 
ernment offered  a  reward  of  £i,ooo.  Almost  every  one  in  Provi- 
dence and  Bristol  was  familiar  with  some  of  the  attacking  party,  yet 
no  one  of  any  character  in  Rhode  Island  could  be  found  to  testify 
against  them.  The  blood  of  Lieutenant  Duddingston  was  the  first 
British  blood  shed  in  the  contest  which  resulted  in  the  independence 
of  America.  The  effect  of  the  destruction  of  the  "  Gaspee  "  was  felt 
throughout  the  length  and  breadth  of  the  American  Colonies,  and  the 
wave  which  closed  over  the  charred  timbers  of  the  burning  vessel 
swept  onward,  gathering  might,  across  the  ocean,  until  at  last  it 
broke  with  irresistible  fury  against  the  rocky  coasts  of  the  British  Isles. 
On  the  shores  of  Warwick  are  many  of  the  most  noted  summer 
resorts  upon  Narragansett  Bay.  Of  these,  Rocky  Point  is  the  best 
known  and  the  most  picturesque.  It  is  situated  about  twelve  miles 
from  the  city  of  Providence,  and  was  first  opened  to  the  public  by 
Captain  Winslow  in  1847,  who  in  that  year  purchased  the  property 
and  began  to  carry  excursionists  to  it  in  a  steamboat.  During  his 
ownership,  Captain  Winslow  spent  nearly  the  whole  income  of  the 
place  in  improvements.  He  sold  it,  at  last,  to  Byron  Sprague  for 
$60,000.  Mr.  Sprague  still  further  improved  it,  spending  about 
$300,000,  and  in  1869  sold  it  to  the  American  Steamboat  Company. 
The  Continental  Steamboat  Company,  the  present  owners,  are  their 
successors.  The  hotel  has  accommodations  for  three  hundred 
boarders,  and   the  dining-hall  for  shore-dinners  will  seat  1,500  per- 


Warwick. 


235 


sons.  The  grounds  are  ample  and  the  means  of  enjoyment  many, 
comprising  a  bathing-beach,  a  large  dance-hall,  a  summer  theatre, 
an  observatory,  swings,  flying  horses,  etc.  Shore-dinners  are  served 
every  day  during  the  summer. 

Oakland  Beach,  about  two  miles  southwest  from  Rocky  Point,  at 
the  extremity  of  the   peninsula   of  Horse    Neck,  is    on  Cowesett,  or 


Oakland   Beach. 


Greenwich  Bay.  Compared  to  Rocky  Point  this  resort  is  new, 
having  been  first  opened  in  1873.  It  has  a  fine  hotel,  and  the  grounds 
are  well  laid  out.  On  these  grounds  it  is  proposed  to  hold  the 
annual  encampment  of  the  Rhode  Island  State  Militia.  The  Warwick 
Railroad,  a  branch  of  the  Providence  and  Stonington,  which  forms  a 
junction  with  the  main  line  in  the  southeastern  part  of  the  tow^n  of 
Cranston,  has  its  terminus  at  Oakland  Beach.  It  was  opened  in 
1874,  discontinued  in  1876,  and  remained  idle  for  a  number  of  years. 
It  is  at  present  running  under  the  management  of  the  New  York, 
Providence  and  Boston  Railrf)ad. 

Buttonwood  Beach  is  a  lar^re  stretch  of  shore  on  the  north  side  of 
Greenwich  Bay  which  has  always  been  a  noted  resort  for  clam-bakes. 
In  1871  the  Buttonwood  Beach  Association  purchased  a  tract  of  land 
at  the  eastern  end  of  this  beach,  erected  a  large  hotel,  and  laid  out 
their  land  in  cottage-lots,  many  of  which  are  now  occupied  by  taste- 
ful structures  of  the  style  of  the  Martha's  Vineyard  cottages.  Directly 
across  Greenwich  Bay,  to  the  southward  from  the  Buttonwoods,  lies 
Pottowomut  Neck,  a  part  of  Warwick  which  is  occupied  by  farms  and 
summer  residences. 

Apponaug,  at  the  head  of  the  river  of  that  name  (which  is  an  inlet 


236  Picturesque  Rhode  Island. 

from  Greenwich  Bay),  is  a  small  manufacturing  and  fishing  village, 
on  the  line  of  the  Providence  and  Stonington  Railroad.  As  early  as 
1690,  a  fulling  mill  was  erected  here.  This  mill  was  kept  in  opera- 
tion until  within  sixty  or  seventy  years,  but  whether  uninterruptedly 
from  its  first  establishment  in  the  place,  is  unknown.  Permission 
was  given  by  the  General  Assembly,  in  1796,  for  the  erection  of  a 
tide-mill ;  the  power  thus  obtained,  with  that  derived  trom  the  stream 
that  flowed  into  the  inlet,  was  used  at  first  for  running  grist  and  saw 
mills,  and  eventually  some  small  cotton  and  woolen  factories.  The 
principal  industrial  establishment  in  the  place  at  present  is  the  Orien- 
tal Print  Works,  one  of  the  largest  concerns  of  the  kind  in  the  State. 
Ship-building  was  at  one  time  carried  on  in  Apponaug,  and  also  a 
brisk  trade  with  neighboring  parts.  Fond  dreams  were  indulged 
in  by  its.  inhabitants  of  the  future  importance  of  the  place,  and 
one  individual  declared  that  "Apponaug  will  yet  be  bigger  than 
London." 

The  Pawtuxet  River  flows  through  a  portion  of  Warwick.  On 
both  of  its  branches  are  many  reservoirs  for  the  storage  of  the 
superabundant  spring  waters.  The  water  thus  stored  up  is  not  suffi- 
cient to  last  through  a  very  dry  season,  but  in  ordinary  cases  it  ren- 
ders effectual  aid  to  the  thirsty  mills.  For  the  town  is  no  longer 
devoted  to  agriculture,  as  in  olden  days.  It  has  become  one  of  the 
great  manufacturing  centres  of  the  State,  and  very  many  factory  vil- 
lages have  grown  up  within  its  borders.  In  some  of  these  villages 
the  owners  of  the  mills  are  also  the  owners  of  the  tenement-houses 
which  cluster  about  them.  The  great  store,  with  its  miscellaneous 
assortment  of  groceries,  dry  goods,  hardware  and  crockery,  in  many 
cases  likewise  belongs  to  "the  corporation."  The  earliest  attempt 
to  manufacture  cotton  goods  in  this  part  of  the  State  was  made  in 
Centreville  in  the  year  1794.  The  second  cotton-mill  in  the  country 
is  said  to  have  been  erected  in  that  village  during  that  year. 

During  the  early  part  of  the  present  century  most  of  the  estab- 
hshments  here  located  were  started.  Since  the  war  of  the  Rebellion 
few  new  cotton-mills  have  been  erected,  but  many  of  the  old  factories 
have  been  very  greatly  enlarged.  One  of  the  most  noted  of  the 
early  manufacturers  was  Dr.  Stephen  Harris.  He  was  one  of  the 
original  members  of  the  Greene  Manufacturing  Company,  which 
began  the  manufacture  of  cotton  at  what  is  now  the  village  of  River 
Point,  in  1813.  In  1818  the  business  came  under  Dr.  Harris'  exclusive 
control,  and  from  that  time  has  been  steadily  prosperous.     Two  more 


Warwick  and  Coventry. 


^31 


■le  Falls  at   Washington   Village,   Coventry. 


mills  were  built,  and  many  cjianges  and  improvements  made  bv  Dr. 
1  larris,  as  his  pecuniary  means  increased.  "The  tract  of  land  which 
in  1798  was  taxed  for  $800,  and  for  which  he  subsequently  paid  about 
$2,500,  he  saw  taxed,  with  its  improvements,  before  he  died  for 
$190,000."  Dr.  Harris  died  Oct.  10,  1858,  aged  72.  His  heirs  still 
carry  on  his  business  under  the  name  of  the  Greene  Manufacturing 
Company.  The  Hon.  Simon  Henry  Greene,  a  grandson  of  Col.  Chris- 
topher Greene,  of  revolutionary  fame,  was  the  successful  conductor  of 
a  business,  which,  from  small  beginnings,  has  attained  to  consider- 
able proportions.  In  1828,  in  company  with  Edward  Pike,  he  began 
the  bleaching  business,  on  the  lowest  water  privilege  on  the  north 
branch  of  the  river.  The  firm  subsequently  engaged  in  calico  print- 
ing. After  Mr.  Pike's  death  the  interest  of  his  heirs  in  the  business 
was  purchased  by  Mr.  Greene,  by  whom  and  his  sons  the  business 
has  been  continued  until  the  present  time,  under  the  name  of  the 
Clyde  Print  Works  and  Bleachery. 

In  the  year  1741    the  town  of  Warwick   had  become  sufficiently 


238  Picturesque  Rhode  Island. 


populous  to  render  its  division  advisable.  On  the  21st  of  August,  in 
that  year,  the  western  part  was  set  off  and  incorporated  into  a  new 
town,  under  the  name  of  Coventry.  The  area  of  the  portion  thus 
incorporated  was  fifty-eight  square  miles.  In  the  original  town  only 
forty-four  square  miles  were  left.  The  new  town,  however,  was 
much  more  sparsely  settled  than  the  old,  and  has  always  continued 
to  be  so.  In  1748  the  population  was  792,  while  at  the  same  date 
that  of  Warwick  was  1,782.  The  population  of  Coventry  in  1880 
was  4,520;  of  Warwick,  12,167. 

The  greater  portion  of  this  township  is  rugged  and  hilly,  though 
some  parts  are  quite  level  and  fertile.  Flat  River,  the  name  which 
the  south  branch  of  the  Pawtuxet  receives  in  the  first  part  of  its 
course,  for  more  than  six  miles  beyond  Washington  does  not  fall 
more  than  sixteen  inches  to  the  mile.  From  this  fact  it  derives  its 
name.  West  of  Washington  Village,  and  south  of  the  river,  the  land 
is  low  and  marshy ;  here  are  located  some  of  the  largest  reservoirs 
for  the  storage  of  water.  Further  west,  along  the  line  of  the  New 
York  and  New  England  Railroad,  are  extensive  granite  ledges.  One 
is  known  as  Nipmuc,  and  is  situated  a  short  distance  from  the  rail- 
road station  of  that  name.  Another  is  located  between  Coventry 
Centre  and  Summit  stations.  Summit  obtains  its  name  from  the  fact 
that  it  is  on  the  ridgfe  between  the  water-sheds  of  the  Flat  River  and 
the  Moosup,  a  tributary  of  the  Thames.  A  small  stream,  which  here 
issues  from  a  ledge,  divides  into  two  streamlets,  and  one  reaches  the 
sea  through  Narragansett  Bay,  and  the  other  through  the  Thames 
River  in  Connecticut. 

Carbuncle  Hill,  in  the  northwestern  part  of  Coventry,  near  the 
Connecticut  border,  is  a  natural  curiosity,  with  which  are  connected 
some  Indian  legends.  Tradition  says  that  the  Indians  in  its  neigh- 
borhood had  once  in  their  possession  a  valuable  carbuncle.  The 
settlers  desiring  to  obtain  this  gem,  resorted  to  many  expedients,  but 
without  success.  Fearing  that  the  white  men  might  accomplish  their 
purpose,  the  Indians  buried  the  jewel  in  the  pond  near  by,  which  is 
known  by  the  name  of  Carbuncle  Pond. 

Before  the  Revolutionary  War  an  anchor  forge  stood  on  the  south 
branch  of  the  Pawtuxet,  between  the  present  villages  of  Anthony 
and  Quidnick.  At  what  time  the  working  of  iron  was  begun  here 
is  unknown.  Arnold,  in  his  History  of  Rhode  Island,  states  that 
"James  Greene  and  others  petitioned  for  the  right  to  place  a  dam 
across    the    south    branch   of  Pawtuxet  River  in   the  town  of  War- 


East  Greenwich.  239 


wick,  and  to  erect  works  thereupon  for  the  refining  of  iron."  This 
was  in  April,  1741,  before  the  incorporation  of  Coventry.  No  doubt 
the  anchor  forge  was  afterwards  built  near  the  locality  mentioned. 
Gen.  Nathaniel  Greene,  in  company  with  his  brother,  here  engaged 
in  business  just  before  the  Revolution. 

The  town  of  East  Greenwich  was  founded,  not  like  Provi- 
dence, Newport  and  Warwick,  by  fugitives  from  persecution  for 
opinion's  sake,  but  by  a  deliberate  act  of  legislation.  At  the  session 
of  the  General  Assembl}^  held  in  Newport,  May,  1677,  it  was 

"  Ordered  that  a  certain  tract  of  land  in  some  convenient  place  in 
the  Narragansett  country,  shall  be  laid  forth  into  one  hundred  acre 
shares,  with  the  house  lots,  for  the  accommodation  of  so  many  of  the 
inhabitants  of  this  colony  as  stand  in  need  of  land,  and  the  Gen- 
eral Assembly  shall  judge  fit  to  be  supplied. 

"In  pursuance  of  said  act  of  the  General  Assembly,  this  present 
court  do  enact  and  declare,  that  the  said  tract  of  land  be  forthwith 
laid  forth  to  contain  five  thousand  acres,  which  shall  be  divided  as 
follows  ;  five  hundred  acres  to  be  laid  in  some  place  near  the  sea, 
as  commodious  as  may  be  for  a  town,  which  said  five  hundred  acres 
shall  be  divided  into  fifty  house  lots,  and  the  remainder  of  said  five 
thousand  acres,  being  four  thousand  five  hundred  acres,  shall  be 
divided  into  fifty  equal  shares,  or  great  divisions,  and  that  each  person 
hereafter  named  and  admitted  by  this  Assembly,  to  land  in  the  said 
tract,  shall  have  and  enjoy  to  him  and  his  heirs  and  assigns  forever, 
in  manner  and  form  and  under  the  condidons  hereafter  expressed, 
one  of  the  said  house  lots  and  one  great  division,  containing  in  the 
whole  one  hundred  acres." 

Then  follows  a  list  of  forty-eight  names  of  persons  to  whom 
this  tract  was  granted  in  consideration  of  services  rendered  during 
King  Philip's  War,  who  thus  became  the  proprietors  of  the  town 
and  founders  of  the  new  settlement  of  East  Greenwich,  this  being  the 
name  which  by  act  of  legislature  it  was  to  be  known.  Farther  legis- 
lation in  regard  to  its  settlement  extended  to  very  minute  details. 

The  early  settlers  expected  great  things  of  the  town.  They  antici- 
pated, in  view  of  its  excellent  harbor,  that  it  would  become  a  place 
of  great  commercial  importance,  and  that  its  healthful  location  would 
attract  thither  many  in  search  of  homes.  The  liberality  with  which 
they  laid  out  the  streets  shows  that  they  meant  that  it  should  be  worthy 
of  its  future  greatness.     The  names  which  they  bestowed  upon  them, 


240  Picturesque  Rhode  Island. 


King,  Queen,  Marlboro,  Duke,  London,  etc.,  are  proofs  of  their 
loyalty  to  the  mother  country.  Main  Street  is  sixty  feet  wide,  as  are 
also  some  of  the  cross  streets.  The  town  is  situated  on  an  arm  of 
a  bay  of  the  same  name,  which  is  itself  an  arm  of  Narragansett  Bay. 
Its  harbor  is  almost  land-locked,  and  aftbrds  safe  anchorage  from 
storms  which  may  visit  the  outer  bay.  The  entrance  to  it  is  clear  of 
sand-bars  and  rocks,  so  that  it  is  easy  of  access,  and  its  shores  rise 
abruptly,  giving  sufficient  depth  of  water  to  float  large  vessels. 
According  to  its  local  historian,  the  climate  is  healthful,  and  so  mild 
that  a  number  of  delicate  plants  live  out-doors  during  the  entire  win- 
ter, which  in  other  places  in  the  same  latitude  can  only  be  preserved 
under  cover. 

In  the  year  1709  the  town  purchased  a  tract  of  land  adjoining  its 
western  border,  containing  35,000  acres.  Until  1740  the  township 
extended  from  the  bay  on  the  east  to  Connecticut  on  the  west.  In 
that  year  it  was  divided  into  two  parts  which  have  ever  since  been 
called  East  and  West  Greenwich.  On  the  15th  of  June,  1750,  the 
General  Assembly  formed  a  new  county  of  the  southern  part  of 
Providence  County,  comprising  the  towns  of  Warwick,  Coventry, 
East  and  West  Greenwich.  It  received  the  name  Kent,  and  East 
Greenwich  was  selected  to  be  the  county-town,  much  to  the  disgust 
of  Warwick,  which  craved  the  honor.  It  was  also  made  a  port  of 
entry. 

The  first  collector  was  Thomas  Arnold,  formerly  an  officer  in  the 
Revolutionary  army.  At  the  battle  of  Monmouth  he  lost  a  leg, 
and  its  place  was  supplied  by  a  wooden  one.  At  that  time  the  town 
carried  on  quite  an  extensive  trade  with  the  Dutch  colony  of  Surinam. 
The  officers  of  the  vessels  belonging  to  the  trade  seem  to  have  been 
possessed  with  the  common  delusion  that  it  is  no  sin  to  cheat  the 
government,  and  generally  managed  to  enter  the  harbor  during  the 
night  and  smuggle  taxable  articles  ashore  before  morning,  the  col- 
lector never  venturing  out  in  the-  night  on  account  of  his  infirmity. 
At  one  time  a  vessel  was  obliged  to  stay  outside  until  morning  on 
account  of  the  fog.  Its  officers,  at  a  loss  how  to  outwit  the  collector 
in  broad  daylight,  invoked  the  aid  of  his  son,  by  whose  connivance 
his  wooden  leg  disappeared  and  could  not  be  found  until  all  articles 
on  board  the  vessel,  subject  to  duties,  were  safe  beyond  the  reach  of 
custom-house  officers.  A  part  of  the  collector's  duty  was  to  issue 
licenses  for  the  sale  of  spirituous  liquors,  the  revenue  from  which 
helped  to  fill  the  treasury  of  the  general  government. 


East  Greenwich. 


241 


At  the  becrinnincr 
of  the  Revokition,  a 
Mr.  Upton  came 
from  Nantucket  and 
set  up  tlie  Hrst  man- 
ufacturing establish- 
ment of  the  town.  It 
was  a  pottery,  and 
stood  on  the  corner 
of  King  and  Marl- 
boro streets.  The 
articles  made  in  it 
were  of  coarse  ma- 
terial and  very  rude 
in  form.  The  clay 
used  was  obtained 
from  Gould's  Mount, 
in  Quidnesett,  where 
it  is  still  found  in 
great  quantities.  At 
the  close  of  the  war 
Mr.  Upton  returned 
to  Nantucket,  and 
his  short-lived  un- 
dertaking came  to 
an  end. 

The  record  of 
first  undertakings  is 
always  interesting. 
East  Greenwich  has 
the  honor  to  have 
printed  the  first  cal- 
i c o  in  America. 
Some  time  previous 
to  1794,  a  man  nam- 
ed Dawson  erected 
print-works,  and 
carried  on  the  busi- 
ness. The  material 
used  was  linen,  spun 


242  Picturesque  Rhode  Island. 

and  woven  in  the  families  of  the  town.  "  A  calico,  or  as  it  was  then 
called,  a  chintz  dress,  was  at  that  time  a  rare  and  costly  article,  and 
ranked  as  high  in  the  scale  of  fashion  as  the  silks  and  velvets  do 
now.  .  .  .  Every  family  made  their  own  cloth,  and  then  carried 
it  to  the  printing  establishment  to  be  printed,  each  person  selecting 
their  own  pattern  and  colors.  The  patterns  were  very  neat  and 
prettv,  and  the  colors  remarkably  brilliant." 

The  first  establishment  in  the  country  for  the  manufacture  of 
woolen  cards  was  located  at  East  Greenwich,  in  the  dwelling-house 
opposite  the  Updike  house.  During  the  Revolution,  saltpetre  and 
wire  were  manufactured  in  the  town.  Previous  to  the  year  1800 
there  were  several  tanneries  in  existence. 

The  first  cotton-mill  within  the  limits  of  the  township  was  Til- 
linghast's  Factory,  situated  on  a  small  stream  at  the  head  of  Hunt's 
River.  It  is  now  owned  by  Mr.  Moon.  It  was  built  about  the  year 
18 12.  Green's  Dale  Bleachery  was  built  by  the  East  Greenwich 
Manufacturing  Company  in  company  with  some  private  individuals. 
It  was  situated  on  the  Maskerchugg,  but  operated  by  steam.  It  was 
used  at  first  as  a  bleachery,  but  after  it  came  into  the  possession  of  Mr. 
George  J.  Adams  it  was  converted  into  an  establishment  for  printing 
mouseline  de  laine.  These  were  so  elegant  in  material,  design,  and 
color,  that  they  were  readily  imposed  upon  the  public,  which  saw  no 
reason  for  doubting  the  genuineness  of  the  labels,  as  of  French  make. 
Mr.  Adams  afterwards  removed  his  business  to  Taunton,  but  for 
some  reason  he  could  not  produce  clear  colors,  and  the  undertaking 
proved  a  failure.  He  therefore  returned  to  Maskerchugg,  and  de- 
voted himself  to  calico-printing,  which  was  attracting  much  atten- 
tion among  printers  upon  cloth.  The  buildings  have  been  twice 
destroyed  by  fire,  and  each  time  rebuilt  on  a  larger  scale.  The 
works  have  been  operated  by  Adams  &  Butterworth  since  1862. 

Sixty  years  ago  the  town  could  boast  a  brass  foundry.  It  was  not 
extensive,  but  the  articles  manufactured  in  it  were  very  elegant.  It 
was  owned  by  Mr.  Cromwell  Salisbury.  He  was  a  very  ingenious 
mechanic,  made  his  own  metal,  designed  his  own  patterns,  and  him- 
self did  all  the  iron-work  necessary  at  his  own  forge.  He  made  tongs, 
shovels,  andirons  and  supporters.  In  the  year  1845  a  machine-shop 
was  erected  on  the  corner  of  Division  and  Marlboro  streets  by  Mr. 
Asa  Arnold.  Mr.  Arnold  is  known  as  the  inventor  of  compound 
motion,  or  diff'erential  wheels,  as  applied  to  cotton  speeders,  an  inven- 
tion which  has  never  been  superseded  during  the  fifty  years  in  which 


East  Greenwich. 


24: 


it  has  been  in  general  use  throughout  the  world.  The  shop  was  at 
first  used  for  the  manufacture  of  various  kinds  of  macliinery,  but  is 
now  confined  to  that  for  making  seine  and  fish  nets. 

In  1873  Mr.  Earnshaw  commenced  the  manufacture  of  mats  and 
scrubbing-brushes  out  of  coir.     This  is  a  product  of  the  fibrous  part 


The  Academy,    East  Greenwich. 

of  the  husk  of  the  cocoanut.     This  manufactory  is  the  only  one  of  its 
kind  in  the  United  States. 

There  is  no  place,  however  small,  without  its  local  celebrity, 
famous  either  for  good  or  for  evil,  for  wisdom  or  for  folly.  Such  a 
one  in  East  Greenwich  was  Jemima  Wilkinson,  and  her  claim  to  fame 
was  her  almost  incredible  folly.  She  was  not  a  native  of  the  town, 
having  been  born  in  Cumberland,  in  the  year  1751,  but  she  included 
East  Greenwich  in  her  periodical  visitations,  and  had  here  a  meedng- 
house  which  was  called  by  the  irreverent  "the  Jemima  Meeting- 
house." From  a  gay,  worldly  girl,  fond  of  dress,  society  and  amuse- 
ment, in  the  year  1774  she  suddenly  became  a  religionist,  gave  up 
all  society,  and  studied  the  Bible  continually.  After  about  two  years 
of  retirement,  she  pretended  to  be  ill,  remaining  in  bed  and  exciting 
mucli  sympathy  and  solicitude.  She  recounted  to  her  nurses  and 
watchers  marvelous  stories  of  celestial  visitors  and  visions.  At  length 
she  went  into  a  trance  which  lasted  several  days,  from  which  she 
suddenlv  awoke,  asked  for  her  clothes,  rose  and  dressed,  and  went 
about  in  perfect  health.  She  announced  that  although  it  was  the  bod}^ 
of  Jemima,  the  soul   had  gone  to  heaven,  and  she  blasphemously 


244  Picturesque  Rhode  Island. 


asserted  that  the  spirit  of  Jesus  Christ  now  dwelt  in  her  body.  She 
declared  that  she  should  live  and  reign  a  thousand  years  on  earth, 
and  then  be  translated,  and  that  her  name  was  the  "Universal 
Friend."  Notwithstanding  the  arrogance  and  absurdity  of  her  claims, 
she  collected  about  her  some  very  devoted  adherents,  not  only  among 
the  ignorant,  but  also  among  the  intelligent,  who  are  not  supposed  to 
be  so  susceptible  to  imposition  as  the  former.  This  can  be  partly 
explained  by  the  fact  that  she  possessed  great  personal  beauty,  both 
of  face  and  form,  was  graceful,  and  apparently  believed  supremely 
in  herself. 

Her  object  seems  to  have  been  to  found  a  new  religion,  of  which 
she  should  be  the  head.  Disaffected  members  of  various  societies 
became  her  disciples,  and  three  or  four  meeting-houses  were  built  for 
her  in  different  parts  of  the  State.  The  form  of  worship  which  she 
imposed  upon  her  followers  was  modeled  after  that  of  the  Friends, 
but  she  continually  varied  it  by  enforcing  capricious  and  tyrannical 
rules  from  which  she  allowed  no  appeal.  Her  moral  character  was 
by  no  means  above  reproach,  several  scandals  having  been  coupled 
with  her  name.  At  one  time  she  was  convicted  of  having  stolen 
$2,000  from  the  general  treasurer  of  Rhode  Island,  either  directly 
or  through  the  instrumentality  of  one  of  her  satellites  who  was  enter- 
tained at  his  house  during  one  of  her  visits.  Immediately  after  this, 
in  the  spring  of  1779,  she  removed  with  her  adherents  to  Ontario 
County,  New  York,  and  founded  a  settlement  which  she  called  "  New 
Jerusalem."  Here  she  administered  affairs  with  shrewdness  and  skill, 
and  died  in  1819,  at  the  age  of  sixty-eight,  some  nine  hundred  and 
odd  years  before  she  intended  to. 

She  pretended  to  work  miracles,  which,  however,  invariably 
proved  failures,  "  owing  to  want  of  faith  on  the  part  of  the  specta- 
tors." One  of  these  attempts  at  miracles  was  openly  turned  into  ridi- 
cule by  the  wit  of  a  military  officer  who  was  present.  A  favorite 
"  apostle  "  had  been  ill,  and  his  death  was  announced.  Jemima  gave 
public  notice  that  after  he  had  slept  four  days,  she  would  restore  him 
to  life.  An  immense  throng  of  people,  believers  and  sceptics,  assem- 
bled to  witness  the  act.  Jemima  discoursed  briefly  on  death  and  the 
resurrection,  and  then  declared  that  then  and  there  she  would  con- 
vince them  of  her  heavenly  mission  by  raising  the  "  apostle  "  from  the 
dead.  At  this  crisis,  the  officer  stepped  forward  with  drawn  sword 
and  remarked  that  he  would  just  run  his  sword  through  the  body,  to 
make  sure  that  the  man  was  dead.     Whereupon  the  top  of  the  coffin 


East  Greenwich. 


245 


was  violent!}-  thrown  back,  and  the  ghostly  tenant  incontinently  fled, 
to  the  dismay  of  the  faithful  and  the  amusement  of  the  unbelieving. 
It  is  a  little  remarkable  that  this  fanaticism  of  Jemima  Wilkinson 
is  the  only  one  that  has  ever  had  birth  within  the  limits  of  Rhode 
Island,  a  colony  whose  foundation-stone  is  religious  toleration. 


A   Street  View  in   East  Greenwich. 

The  Society  of  Friends  has  always  been  identified  with  East 
Greenwich.  Driven  from  the  Massachusetts  colonies,  they  found 
rest  and  security  within  the  borders  of  Rhode  Island.  The  first  house 
of  worship  in  the  town  was  built  by  them.  The  society  organization 
consists  of  a  Yearly  Meeting,  made  up  of  several  quarterly  meetings, 
which  in  their  turn  are  made  up  of  sundry  monthly  meetings,  and 
these  are  composed  of  preparative  meedngs.  The  Yearly  Meetings, 
of  which  there  are  several  in  the  country,  are  organizations  entirely 
independent  of  each  other,  and  of  equal  importance  and  authority. 
The  New  England  Yearly  Meeting  comprises  the  quarterly  meetings 
of  Rhode  Island,  New  Bedford,  Falmouth,  Dover,  and  some  others, 
and  is  held  on  alternate  years  in  Newport  and  Portland.  Until 
within  three  years,  it  was  held  in  Newport  every  year.  Great  eflbrts 
have  been  made  to  efiect  its  permanent  removal  to  Portland,  but  they 
have  been  unsuccessful,  the  tenure  of  some  of  the  property  of  the 
meeting  being  dependent  upon  its  being  held  in  Newport.  The  East 
Greenwich  meeting  is  a  quarterly  one,  comprising  its  own  monthly 
meetings,  and  those  of  South  Kingstown,  Providence,  and  Swansea. 
East  Greenwich  monthly  meeting  includes  the  preparative  meetings 
of  itself  and  Coventry,  which  are  held  on  alternate  First-days  in 
the  two  towns.     This  meedng  was  organized  June  12,  1699,  at  the 


246  Picturesque   Rhode  Island^ 

house  of  John  Briggs,  Kingstown,  and  was  first  called  the  Narragan- 
sett  Monthly  Meeting.  First-day  meetings  were  held  in  Kingstown, 
near  Wickford,  in  Joseph  Hull's  house,  and  afterwards  in  that  of 
WiUiam  Gardiner.  Three  monthly  meetings  were  held  in  the  house 
of  John  Briggs,  after  which  they  were  held  in  that  of  Jabez  Greene, 
of  Warwick.  Before  the  close  of  the  year  it  was  resolved  to  build  a 
meeting-house.'  This  was  erected  about  half  a  mile  southwest  of  the 
village,  near  Payne's  grist-mill.  It  was  not  finished  until  1703, 
although  it  was  used  lor  First-day  meetings  for  some  time  before 
that.  In  the  third  month  of  that  year  Peter  Greene,  Jabez  Greene, 
and  Thomas  Greenall  were  appointed  a  committee  to  finish  it.  The 
records  of  the  next  month  contain  the  following  minute:  "Upon 
further  consideration  of  ye  finishing  our  meeting  house,  it  is  seen  con- 
venient by  this  meeting  yt  those  three  Friends  may  omit  ye  finishing 
at  ye  present,  yt  they  may  propagate  ye  building  a  small  addition  to 
ye  meeting  house  as  they  may  see  convenient."  The  addition  could 
have  hardly  been  extensive  enough  to  warrant  much  delay,  as  the 
bill  presented  therefor  amounted  to  only  £1,  los.  3d.  The  meedng- 
house  in  which  the  society  now  worships  was  built  in  1804. 

Many  able  ministers  of  the  society  have  lived  ,within  the  limits  of 
the  East  Greenwich  meeting.  Among  them,  in  the  early  part  of  the 
eighteenth  century,  was  James  Scrivens,  or  Scribbens,  as  he  was  com- 
monly called.  His  preaching  was  wonderful,  but  he  himself  had  so 
little  common  sense  that  he  could  not  earn  his  own  living.  He  gen- 
erally attended  the  Yearly  Meeting  at  Newport.  Returning  thence, 
at  one  time,  he  boasted  that  he  had  preached,  and  preached  well. 
"No,  James,"  said  a  Friend  who  had  been  present,  and  who  thought 
it  his  duty  to  rebuke  such  spiritual  pride,  "thou  art  greatly  mis- 
taken ;  thou  hast  not  preached  to-day,  it  was  thy  gift  that  preached." 

East  Greenwich  is  the  site  of  a  classical  school  of  a  high  order  of 
excellence.  At  its  incorporation,  in  1802,  it  was  known  as  Kent 
Academy.  It  was  opened  to  pupils  in  1804,  under  Mr.  Abner  Alden, 
a  very  successful  instructor.  In  the  year  1841  the  estabhshment 
was  sold  to  the  Providence  Methodist  Episcopal  Conference,  and  is 
now  known  as  the  Greenwich  Academy. 

West  Greenwich.  —  The  town  of  West  Greenwich  was  origi- 
nally a  part  of  the  "Vacant  Land  Tract."     In  the  year    1709  East 
Greenwich  found  it  expedient  to  enlarge  her  borders,  and  accordingly 
.purchased  a  tract  of  land  adjoining  her  western  boundary  containing 


West  Greenwich.  247 


some  thirty-five  thousand  acres.  Its  owners,  thirteen  in  number, 
"  made  Saile  *'  of  this  tract  to  the  governor  and  company  of  "  her 
Majestie's"  Colony  of  Rhode  Island  and  Providence  Plantations,  in 
consideration  of  the  sum  of  one  thousand  one  hundred  pounds  of 
current  money  of  New  England  "well  and  truly  paid"  to  them. 
This  tract  became  part  of  the  town  of  East  Greenwich,  and  remained 
so  until  1740,  when  a  petition  was  laid  before  the  General  Assembly 
to  set  oft'  the  western  part  into  a  separate  township.  Tliere  seems  to 
have  been  no  reluctance  upon  the  part  of  the  inhabitants  of  the  eastern 
part  of  the  town  to  agree  to  this  petition,  and  they  laid  no  restraint 
upon  the  departure  of  their  western  neighbors  from  their  control. 
Indeed,  the  care  which  thev  took  to  record  that  thev  gave  their  con- 
sent  "by  a  great  majority,"'  would  seem  to  indicate  a  rather  unflat- 
tering willingness  to  be  rid  of  them. 

In  1740.  therefore.  West  Greenwich  commenced  existence  as  an 
independent  township.  It  is  an  inland  town,  mathematically  regular 
in  outline,  being  a  rectangle  three  times  as  long  as  wide,  it  greatest 
length  being  from  east  to  west.  Its  surface  is  somewhat  hilly.  The 
most  considerable  eminence  is  Hopkins  Hill,  from  whose  summit  a 
fine  view  of  the  surrounding  country,  with  its  forests  and  streams, 
its  hamlets  and  out-lying  tarms  can  be  obtained.  The  town  is  an 
agricultural  one,  although  in  many  places  the  soil  is  light  and  thin, 
and  in  others  the  advantages  which  a  more  favorable  condition  of 
the  soil  would  naturally  give,  are  in  a  great  measure  neutralized  by 
want  of  proper  cultivation. 

A  large  part  of  the  town  is  still  forest,  white  pine,  oak,  chestnut 
and  birch  growing  in  great  quantities.  These  forests  are  a  source 
of  considerable  revenue  to  their  owners,  and  there  are  not  less  than 
twelve  saw  and  shingle  mills  for  their  conversion  into  lumber. 
There  are  several  ponds  within  the  limits  of  the  town,  the  principal 
of  which  are  Teppecansett  and  Bailey's  ponds  on  the  Connecticut 
line,  Wickaboxet  Pond,  a  little  east  of  these,  and  Mishnock  and 
Carr's  ponds  in  the  eastern  section  of  the  town.  The  streams  in  this 
section  flow  north  into  the  Pawtuxet  River,  while  those  of  the  west- 
ern half  of  the  town  flow  south  and  find  their  wa}'  into  the  ocean 
through  the  Pawcatuck.  In  the  northwestern  part  of  the  town, 
there  is  a  mass  of  gray  granite  call  Rattlesnake  Ledge.  It  was 
formerly  the  fastness  of  great  numbers  of  those  deadly  reptiles. 
They  were  so  numerous  years  ago,  that  the  inhabitants  of  the  vicinity 
used  to  make  a  practice  every  year  of  assembling  on  a  fixed  day  and 


248  Picturesque  Rhode  Island. 

going  out  to  wage  a  war  of  extermination  against  them.  In  this  way 
they  succeeded  in  greatly  reducing  their  numbers,  but  they  have  not 
been  altogether  destroyed,  a  few  lurking  around  the  ledge  to  this 
day. 

When,  at  the  Restoration  of  the  Stuarts  to  the  throne  of  Eng- 
land, the  regicide  judges  found  it  necessary  for  the  safety  of  their 
lives  to  flee  from  their  native  land,  they  came  to  America,  and 
Theophilus  Whalley  found  his  way  into  the  Rhode  Island  Colony. 
After  a  short  stay  in  North  Kingstown,  he  removed  to  West  Green- 
wich, where  he  lived  to  a  very  old  age  in  exile.  His  remains  were 
buried  on  his  farm  near  Hopkins  Hill.  This  custom  of  having  a 
private  burying-ground  on  the  family  estate  is  one  very  commonly 
followed  in  the  town.  There  is  but  one  pubHc  cemetery,  and  that  is 
connected  with  the  West  Greenwich  Centre  Baptist  Church. 

There  are  several  villages  within  the  township,  all  of  which  are 
small.  Nooseneck  Valley  is  the  largest  of  these.  It  is  almost  at  the 
centre  of  the  town,  and  lies  in  the  valley  of  the  Big  River,  a  branch 
of  the  Pawtuxet,  which  at  this  point  in  its  course  has  a  very  rapid 
fall.  It  derives  its  name,  "  Nooseneck,"  from  the  fact  that  numbers 
of  deer  were  formerly  entrapped  here  in  a  running  noose.  The 
mill  privilege  formed  by  the  rapid  fall  of  the  river  is  quite  valuable, 
and  has  been  improved  at  various  times  by  different  mill-owners.  A 
fatality,  which  extended  to  other  mills  in  the  town,  seems  to  have 
attended  those  built  upon  this  privilege.  One  built  by  David  Hopkins 
for  the  manufacture  of  yarn  was  three  times  destroyed  by  fire,  and 
another  one  on  the  opposite  bank,  the  property  of  Jonathan  Hopkins, 
twice  suffered  the  same  disaster.  A  short  distance  above  the  site  of 
these  two  mills,  one  was  erected  in  181 2  by  the  West  Greenwich  Man- 
ufacturing Company  for  the  purpose  of  spinning  yarn.  They  became 
involved  in  a  lawsuit  arising  out  of  the  question  of  the  title  deeds, 
and  the  property  was  sold  according  to  a  decision  of  the  United  States 
Circuit  Court.  Passing  through  several  hands,  it  finally  came  into 
the  possession  of  its  present  owner,  Mr.  R.  K.  Edwards,  who  having 
enlarged  and  improved  the  mill,  manufactures  yarn  and  carpet- 
warps.  This  is  the  most  extensive  business  of  the  town  and  employs 
twenty  hands.  There  is  one  other  yarn-factory  about  a  quarter  of  a 
mile  above  this  one,  owned  by  the  firm  of  Hopkins  &  Edwards. 
Two  establishments  for  distilling  pyroligneous  acid  are  in  operation, 
which  together  produce  about  a  thousand  and  fifty  gallons  a  day. 
Various  other  industrial  enterprises  have  been  attempted  in  different 


Exeter. 


249 


parts  of  the  town,  but  have  not  proved  successful.  The  mills  already 
mentioned,  together  with  four  grist-mills,  constitute  the  principal 
claims  which  the  town  can  bring  to  be  considered  as  interested  in 
manufactures. 


Episcopal  Church,    East  Greenwich. 

West  Greenwich  Centre,  which  one  \vould  naturally  expect  to 
find  in  the  middle  of  the  town,  is  a  village  in  the  northwestern  cor- 
ner, and  is  probably  so  called  in  accordance  with  the  principle  enun- 
ciated by  that  amiable,  witty,  and  altogether  admirable  young  man, 
the  younger  Mr.  Weller,  when  he  explained  that  certain  persons 
were  called  laundresses,  "because  they  has  such  a  mortal  aversion 
to  washing  anything." 

Exeter. — That  part  of  the  State  comprised  within  the  limits  of 
the  town  of  Exeter  has  been  called  the  "  Alps  of  Rhode  Island.'" 
This  name  applies  more  properly  to  the  western  portions  of  the  town. 
Numerous  small  streams,  tributaries  of  the  Pawtuxet  and  Pawcatuck 
rivers,  have  their  sources  among  these  hills.  Because  of  its  remoteness 
and  physical  features,  this  region  remained  for  a  longer  period  than 
neighboring  sections  of  the  country  a  haunt  of  the  red  men.  Previous 
to  King  Philip's  War  no  settlements  had  been  made  in  it,  and  not  until 
the  power  of  the  Indians  was  etfectually  broken  were  its  hill-sides 
and  valleys  occupied    by  white    settlers.      It   formed  a   part   of  the 


250  Picturesque  Rhode  Island. 


"  Pettaquamscot  Purchase,"  which  was  bought  from  the  Indians  in 
1657,  and  for  many  years  portions  of  it  were  inchided  in  the  cele- 
brated "  vacant  lands."  Exeter  continued  an  integral  part  of  North 
Kingstown  until  March  8,  1742-43,  at  which  date  it  was  incorporated, 
and  was  named  after  Exeter,  in  England. 

Queen's  River  flows  through  the  eastern  part  of  the  town,  and 
Wood  River  through  the  western  portion.  The  source  of  one  of  the 
branches  of  the  last-named  river  is  Deep  Pond.  An  unsuccessful 
attempt  was  made  by  the  fish  commissioners  in  1872  to  stock  this 
pond  with  black  bass.  Beach  Pond,  on  the  border  between  Exeter 
and  Connecticut,  witnessed  in  by-gone  days  many  exciting  scenes. 
On  its  shores  on  the  last  Saturday  in  June,  the  people  from  all  the 
surrounding  country  w^ere  accustomed  to  congregate  and  engage  in 
various  athletic  sports.  The  favorite  horses  of  the  neighborhood 
were  pitted  against  each  other  in  trials  of  speed.  In  foot-races  and 
trials  of  strength  the  young  men  found  enjoyment  and  afforded 
amusement  to  the  spectators.  In  many  other  sports  and  pastimes 
was  the  day  passed,  the  people  finding  thereby  "  relaxation  from  the 
busy  toil  of  the  farm  and  the  drudgery  of  the  household."  This  prac- 
tice has  now  been  discontinued. 

Five  hundred  acres  of  land  within  the  present  limits  of  Exeter 
had  been  given,  about  the  year  1696,  by  "  Samuel  Sewell,  of  Boston, 
one  of  the  original  purchasers  of  Pettaquamscot,"  to  support  a  school 
for  the  children  of  the  inhabitants.  Previous  to  the  incorporation  of 
Exeter  this  gift  had  not  been  used.  In  1766  the  General  Assembly, 
in  response  to  a  petition  to  that  effect,  conferred  power  to  render  the 
gift  available  according  to  the  original  design,  and  "the  town  of 
Exeter  had  leave  to  build  a  school-house  near  the  east  end  of  the 
town,  on  the  public  highway,  which  was  laid  out  ten  rods  wide." 

The  celebrated  James  Lillibridge  is  said  to  have  been  born  in 
Exeter,  about  the  year  1765.  He  was  the  natural  child  of  a  Miss 
Mowrey,  and  was  known  by  the  name  of  his  reputed  father,  James 
Lillibridge.  In  the  records  of  Exeter  there  is  no  mention  of  his 
birth  or  of  the  residence  of  his  mother  in  the  town.  "  He  lived  on 
the  Long  Wharf  in  Newport,  with  his  mother  and  sisters,  in  the  house 
now  known  as  'the  Bohanna  House.'  It  is  said  that  his  mother  and 
sisters  were  disreputable  persons,  and  that  in  consequence  of  a  family 
quarrel  he  left  home  and  went  to  sea.  Lillibridge  changed  his  sur- 
name to  that  of  Murray,  and  was  afterwards  known  as  James  Murray. 
He  was  bound  as  an  apprentice  to  some  mechanical  trade  before  he 


Exeter. 


251 


became  a  sailor.  After  following  the  sea  for  a  time  he  arrived  at 
Tranqiiebar,  on  the  coast  of  Coromandel,  about  1790,  and  some 
time  in  that  3'ear,  having  heard  that  certain  Frenchmen  who  had 
entered  the  service  of  the  Indian  ]-)rinces  had  risen  rapidly  in  rank 
and  fortune,  he  determined  to  take  service  under  some  one  of  the 
Mahratta  chiefs.  He  reached  the  province  and  entered  the  service 
of  Holkar,  one  of  the  most  formidable  of  these  leaders.     Instead  of 


Beach   Pond.    Exeter. 


uniting  against  the  common  enemy,  these  petty  sovereigns  for  a  half 
century  had  been  engaged  in  an  intestine  warfare.  In  the  hazardous 
enterprises  of  these  inglorious  wars,  Murray  '  became  conspicuous  for 
his  invincible  courage  and  undaunted  presence  of  mind,  as  well  as  for 
his  personal  prowess.'  He  remained  in  the  Mahratta  service  for  fif- 
teen years,  during  which  he  was  actively  engaged  in  every  species 
of  peril  and  hardship  known  to  that  terrible  warfare,  from  Cape  Cor- 
morin  to  the  borders  of  Persia." 

He  was  brought  to  the  notice  of  the  British  government  in  India, 
by  having  saved  the  lives  of  a  number  of  British  officers  whom  he 
had  captured,  but  who  had  been  condemned  to  death  by  Holkar. 
At  the  risk  of  his  own  life  Murray  prevented  their  execution,  but  by 
this  act  he  lost  the  confidence  of  Holkar,  and,  disgusted  with  the  ser- 
vice of  his  barbarous  master,  he  revolted  and  contrived  to  get  pos- 
session of  a  considerable  tract  of  country,  which  he  governed  as  an 
independent  ruler.  On  the  breaking  out  of  the  War  between  the 
British  government  and  Scindia,  Murray  surrendered  his  sovereignty 
and  proclaimed  the  supremacy  of  the  British  government  in  his 
principality.      At  the   head  of  7,000   native  cavalry  he  entered   the 


252  Picturesque  Rhode  Island. 

British  service  and  rendered  valuable  aid  throughout  the  war.  He 
retained  his  independent  command,  and  was  treated  with  much 
deference  and  respect  by  the  British  generals.  "  At  the  siege  of 
Bhurtpore,  where  the  British  arm}^  lost  nearly  ten  thousand  men  in 
four  successive  attempts  to  storm  the  place,  Murray  was  in  continual 
action,  and  earned  the  title  of  being  '  the  best  partisan  officer  in  India.'" 
At  the  conclusion  of  the  war  Murray  was  retired  on  half-pay,  and  as 
he  had  acquired  a  large  fortune,  he  determined  to  visit  his  native 
country.  A  further  reason  that  caused  him  to  determine  upon  this 
course  was  that,  while  during  the  war  he  had  Been  treated  by  the  Brit- 
ish officers  with  great  consideration,  on  the  restoration  of  peace  they 
manifested  indifference  toward  him. 

"A  few  days  before  the  time  fixed  for  his  embarkation  he  gave 
a  splendid  entertainment  to  his  acquaintances  in    Calcutta.     After 
dinner,  when  elated  with  wine,  he  undertook  the  entertainment  of 
his  guests  by  riding  his  Arabian  charger,  which  had  carried  him  in 
the  war,  over  the  dining-table.     The  horses  foot  became  entangled  in 
the  carpet  and  threw  his  rider.     Murray  received  internal  injuries, 
which  induced  mortification,  and  he  died  in  a  few  days.     He  was 
said  to  have  been  the  best  horseman  in  India,  and  unrivaled  in  the 
use  of  the  broad-sword.     He  is  described  as  having  been,  in  ordinary 
life,  a  mild  and  amiable  man,  but  when  aroused  in  anger  he  became 
ferocious  and  ungovernable.     He  was  of  middling  height,  pleasing 
expression  of  countenance,  and  had  great  bodily  strength  and  agility. 
He  is  said  to  have  been  attacked  upon  one  occasion  by  seven  Mah- 
ratta  horsemen,  of  whom  he  killed  three  and  then  effected  his  escape 
from  the  other  four.     Many  were  his  wild  and  romantic   adventures 
and  hair-breadth  escapes,  but  their  history  is  but  imperfectly  known, 
for  he  was  modest,  and  not  given  to  boasting  of  his   own  exploits. 
Though  he  had  been  from  his  home  since  his  boyhood,  he  retained 
a  wonderful  attachment  for  his  native  country,  and    he    sometimes 
loaned  considerable  sums  of  money  to  persons  upon  no  other  assur- 
ance than  that  they  were  Americans.     After  his  death  a  portion  of 
his  fortune,  some  $20,000,  it  is  said,  was  transmitted  to  his  mother 
and  sisters  at   Newport,  upon  the    receipt  of  which  they    changed 
their  residence  and  became  candidates  for  respectabihty,  but  they 
afterwards  returned  to  Newport. 

"The  history  of  India  for  twenty  years  is  the  record  of  his  achieve- 
ments and  "of  his  wonderful  daring.  He  not  only  fought  Scindia, 
but  the  forces  of  the  nabobs  of  Arcot,  of  Oudre  and  Surat,  and  under 


HOPKINTON.  253 


the  direction  of  Major-General  Arthur  Wellesley,  at'terwards  Duke  of 
Wellington,  and  Lord  Lake,  he  took  Indore  and  Malwa,  and  with 
equal  valor  he  fought  on  the  plains,  in  the  mountain  passes,  and 
among  the  jungles  of  Hindostan,  either  under  the  cross  of  St.  George 
or  in  defence  of  the  claims  of  some  savage  master." 

The  town  of  IIopkixtox  comprises  an  oblong  section  of  country 
in  the  southern  part  of  the  State,  bounded  on  the  north  by  Exeter, 
on  the  east  by  Richmond,  on  the  south  by  Westerh^  and  on  the 
west  by  Connecticut.  In  the  northern  part  the  country  is  rather 
hilly,  and  there  are  numerous  ponds.  The  land  is  rough  and  stony, 
and  was  originally  covered  with  a  strong  growth  of  trees.  Farmino- 
is  the  principal  occupation  of  the  inhabitants.  Wood  River  is  the 
boundary  between  Richmond  and  Hopkinton,  and  on  its  banks  and 
those  of  its  tributaries  within  the  tow^n  are  many  grist  and  saw  mills 
and  other  small  manufacturing  establishments.  The  most  considera- 
ble village  in  Hopkinton  on  this  river  is  Hope  Valley,  where  there 
are  a  number  of  cotton  and  woolen  factories.  Here  also  are  located 
the  works  of  Nichols  &  Langworthy,  machinists  and  iron  founders, 
and  builders  of  engines,  boilers,  and  printing  presses.  The  Wood 
River  branch  of  the  New  York,  Providence  and  Boston  Railroad, 
which  connects  wdth  the  main  line  at  Wood  River  Junction  in  the 
town  of  Richmond,  terminates  at  Hope  Valley.  This  railroad  was 
opened  in  the  year  1874.  Through  the  southern  part  of  the  town, 
near  the  Connecticut  border,  flows  the  Ashaway  River,  a  tributary 
of  the  Pawcatuck.  On  this  stream  are  several  manufacturingvillages, 
the  principal  one  of  which  is  Ashaway,  where  the  w^oolen  manufac- 
ture is  the  leading  industry.  Hopkinton  originally  formed  part  of 
Westerly,  but  on  March  19,  1757,  it  was  incorporated  as  a  separate 
town. 

The  first  settlement  in  Hopkinton  is  supposed  to  have  been  made 
in  1704,  by  Daniel  Lewis.  He  was  a  fuller  by  trade,  and  carried  on 
his  business  near  the  present  village  of  Laureldale,  at  which  place 
he  built  a  dam  across  the  Ashaway  River.  Many  of  his  descendants 
still  reside  in  the  town.  One  of  them,  Christopher  C.  Lewis,  was 
town  clerk  from  181 7  to  1858,  when  he  resigned.  During  that  entire 
period  he  was  present  and  officiated  at  every  town-meeting  except 
one,  at  which  his  son,  Dea.  Nathan  K.  Lewis,  took  his  place.  Qn 
his  retirement  from  office  the  town  passed  a  vote  thanking  him  "  for 
the  able  and  impartial  manner  in  which  he  had  discharged  the  duties 
of  said  office  for  the  term  of  forty-one  years." 


254  Picturesque  Rhode  Island. 

i  ,  Hopkinton  City  is  the  name  given  to  a  small  village  in  the  central 
part  of  the  town,  a  short  distance  from  the  Connecticut  border. 
When  it  was  first  laid  out  great  were  the  expectations  of  its  future 
importance.  In  the  days  of  stage-coaches,  as  the  New  London  and 
Providence  turnpike  passed  through  it,  some  business  was  brought 
to  the  place,  and  here  was  located  one  of  the  "  wayside  inns."  But 
the  new  methods  of  traveling  by  railroad  left  it  stranded  high  and 
dry,  out  of  reach  and  sight  of  the  current  of  modern  commercialinter- 
course.  Among  the  other  small  villages  in  the  town  are  Laureldale, 
Locustville,  Bethel,  Woodville,  Rockville,  and  Centreville. 

Many  of  the  people  of  Hopkinton,  like  their  neighbors  of  West- 
erly, are  Sabbatarians,  and  there  are  in  the  town  four  churches  of 
the  Seventh-day  Baptist  denomination.  There  are,  besides,  a  Metho- 
dist Episcopal  church,  a  Second  Advent,  and  two  First-day  Baptist 
churches,  and  two  Friends'  meeting-houses.  In  1828  public  schools 
were  first  established,  and  from  that  time  until  the  present,  good  pro- 
gress has  been  made  in  the  erection  of  suitable  school  buildings,  and 
in  general  educational  growth.  A  printing  ofiice  was  established 
Nov.  I,  1866,  in  the  village  of  Hope  Valley,  by  Mr.  L.  W.  A.  Cole, 
and  in  1876  the  same  gentleman  started  a  newspaper  under  the  name 
of  the  Wood  Rive7'  Advertiser. 

"  The  first  settlers  of  Hopkinton,  puritanical  though  they  were  in 
many  things,  had  their  amusements.  Muster  or  training  days  were 
special  seasons  of  amusement  and  recreation,  at  which  business  was 
generally  suspended,  and  both  old  and  young  went  to  see  the 
'  trainers,'  to  hear  the  fife  and  the  drum,  and  to  feast  on  molasses 
candy  and  gingerbread.  General  or  regimental  and  brigade  train- 
ings would  call  together  a  large  portion  of  the  population  from  miles 
around.  On  these  occasions  all,  with  scarcely  an  exception,  imbibed 
freely  of  cider,  rum  and  cherry  brandy,  until  story-telling  and  social 
hilarity  became  general.  Temperance  consisted  in  not  getting 
drunk,  but  a  little  boozy.  Stated  holidays  were  special  seasons  of 
merry-making.  In  addition  to  these,  the  young  people  would  have 
huskings,  bush-cuts,  quiltings,  spinning-bees  and  apple-cuts.  At  all 
these  there  was  some  work  and  a  good  deal  of  fun,  much  of  story- 
telling, of  love-making,  singing  and  joking." 

Before  the  spread  of  intelligence  had  become  general,  many 
superstitious  notions  prevailed.  One  of  the  most  common  of  these 
was  a  belief  in  witches  and  wizards.  Tradition  tells  of  two  noted 
diviners  who  resided  in  Hopkinton.     One  was  an  old  woman  named 


HOPKINTON. 


255 


Granny  Mott,  who  lived  in  Hopkinton  while  it  was  still  a  part  of 
Westerly.  While  on  a  hunting  expedition,  one  of  her  neighbors 
was  much  troubled  by  a  flock  of  heath-hens,  one  of  which  would 
flv  close  to  him,  but  which  he  was  unable  to  shoot.     At  last  he  cut  a 


A  Bit  of   Hope  Valley,   Hopkinton. 

silver  button  from  his  coat,  and  with  it  loaded  his  gun  and  shot  the 
bird.  Shortly  after.  Granny  Mott  was  reported  to  be  sick,  and  soon 
died,  and  as  her  daughter  would  not  allow  any  one  to  assist  in  pre- 
paring the  body  for  burial,  it  was  at  once  surmised  that  the  bird  the 
sportsman  had  shot  with  the  silver  button  had  been  the  old  woman  in 
disguise.  The  other  "  uncanny"  personage  was  a  "  little  old  negro 
man,  jet  black,"  who  was  supposed  to  have  bewitched  a  young  lady 
whose  father  would  not  allow  him  to  fiddle  at  the  marriage  of  her 
sister.  The  result  of  this  refusal  was  that  the  3^oung  lady  became 
subject  to  fits,  which  could  only  be  alleviated  by  fiddling,  and  her 
father  was  obliged  to  engage  a  fiddler  by  the  month,  as  the  spasms 
occurred  every  evening.  She  was  ultimately  partially  cured  by  the 
prayers  of  a  man  from  Connecticut.  Several  peculiar  religious  sects 
have  at  times  been  found  in  Hopkinton.  Toward  the  close  of  the  last 
century  a  few  Shakers  were  living  here.  Some  years  after,  however, 
another  sect,  called  Beldenites,  arose.  Those  in  Hopkinton,  from  one 
of  their  preachers,  were  called  Morseites  ;  in  their  meetings  they 
went  through  a  ridiculous  performance  of  dancing,  leaping,  shouting 
and  hooting.  They  also  practiced  what  they  called  the  ''  Holy 
Kiss,"  and  were  accused  of  great  looseness  in  their  manner  of  life. 
After  a  few  years  the  sect  died  out. 


CHAPTER  X. 


WESTERLY— THE  NIANTIC  INDIANS  — THE  FIRST  WHITE  SETTLERS  — THE  GREAT 
AWAKENING  —  WESTERLY  GRANITE  —  FOUR  NOTED  MEN. 
CHARLESTOWN  —  NINIGRETS  FORT  —  THE  CORONATION  OF 
QUEEN  ESTHER.  RICHMOND  —  THE  FIGHT  AT  SHANNOCK 
MILLS. 


ESTERLY.  —  Centuries  ago,  before  the  white  man 
had  thought  of  seeking  a  home  in  these  distant  lands, 
when  the  broad  Atlantic  rolled  its  surf  against  a  shore 
whose  trackless  forests,  extending  far  inland,  were  the 
abodes  of  savage  Indians  and  prowling  wild  beasts, 
Misquamicut,  as  the  southern  shore  of  Rhode  Island 
was  called,  was  the  home  of  the  aboriginal  tribe  of 
the  Niantics.  Their  territory  extended  from  Wecapaug 
in  Charlestown  to  the  Connecticut  River,  and  reached 
back  twenty  or  thirty  miles  from  the  coast.  Their  kings  were  the 
celebrated  Ninigrets.  When  the  first  white  settlers  came  hither  the 
tribe  was  divided  into  the  Eastern  and  the  Western  Niantics,  the 
Eastern  section  holding  Misquamicut  and  the  Western  having  their 
home  in  Connecticut. 

The  history  of  the  Niantics  is  interwoven  with  that  of  all  of  the 
present  towns  of  Westerly,  Charlestown,  Richmond,  and  Hopkinton, 
which  constituted  the  original  tract  of  Misquamicut,  which  after  its 
settlement  by  Europeans  was  called  Westerly ;  and  although  the 
reservation  upon  which  the  remnant  of  the  tribe  lives  is  in  Charles- 
town, it  is  as  well,  perhaps,  that  their  story  should  be  told  as  part  of 
the  portion  which  retains  the  name  of  Westerly. 

According  to  tradition,  the  Niantics  were  comparatively  mild  in 
their  manners,  and  disposed  to  live  peaceably  with  the  surrounding 


Westerly. 


-D/ 


tribes.  But  the  Pequots,  who  were  not  only  cruel  but  also  grasping, 
cast  covetous  e3'es  upon  their  fair  possessions,  and  descended  upon 
them  from  the  head  waters  of  the  Hudson  with  such  slaughter  that 
the  tribe  was  almost  destroyed.  The  Eastern  Niantics  were  glad  to 
place  themselves  under  the  protection  of  the  Narragansetts,  an 
ancient  and  powerful  tribe,  which  occupied  almost  the  whole  of  the 


A  View  on   Bioad   Street,   Westerly. 

western  part  of  Rhode  Island.  Now  that  the  Niantics  had  become 
tributary  to  them,  their  sway  extended  to  the  ocean  on  the  south  and 
to  the  Pawcatuck  or  "  Narragansett  River  "  on  the  west.  Historians 
always  speak  of  the  two  tribes  under  the  common  name  of  the  Nar- 
ragansetts, although  the  remnant  of  the  tw'O  is  largely  Niantic,  and 
dw^ells  upon  Niantic  land,  and  although  at  the  death  of  the  Narra- 
gansett sachem,  Canonchet,  his  sceptre  passed  into  the  hands  of 
Ninigret,  who  with  his  descendants  ruled  the  tribes  until  the  death  of 
George,  the  last  of  the  Ninigrets. 

The  Ninigret  who  held  sway  when  the  first  whites  came  to  these 

J7 


258  Picturesque  Rhode  Island. 

shores,  was  a  chief  of  great  military  reputation,  haughty  and  spirited, 
but  honorable  in  his  dealings  with  the  whites.  In  the  year  1664,  he 
was  at  war  with  the  Montauks,  who  lived  at  the  eastern  end  of  Long 
Island,  and  whose  king  was  the  notable  Wyandan.ce.  The  latter 
was  represented  by  his  sachem,  Ascassassatic.  Of  him  and  his 
opponent,  Roger  Williams  says  :  "  The  former  is  proud  and  foolish, 
the  latter  proud  and  fierce."  Victory  perched  on  Ninigret's  banner. 
The  Connecticut  settlers  with  some  arrogance  declared  that  they  had 
taken  the  Montauks  under  their  protection,  and  demanded  peace  in 
their  behalf.  Ninigret's  answer  to  this  demand  was,  '*  The  Long 
Island  Indians  began  the  war,  killed  one  of  my  sachem's  sons,  and 
sixty  men.  If  your  governor's  son  were  killed,  and  several  men, 
would  you  ask  counsel  of  another  nation  how  and  when  to  right 
yourself  ?  "  Incensed  at  this  scornful  reply,  they  straightway  sent 
forces,  horse  and  foot,  against  Ninigret,  who,  however,  entrenched 
himself  in  a  swamp,  and  the  troops  were  fain  to  acknowledge  them- 
selves outwitted  and  to  return.  This  swamp,  is  doubtless  the  cedar 
swamp,  near  Burden's  Pond,  Westerly. 

The  feud  between  the  two  tribes  continued  in  all  its  bitterness. 
At  length  each,  without  the  knowledge  of  the  other,  determined  to 
make  an  onslaught  which  should  be  final.  It  so  happened  that  they 
fixed  upon  the  same  night  for  the  purpose.  It  was  a  clear  moonlight 
night.  The  Niantics  starting  out,  saw  the  canoes  of  the  Montauk 
warriors  approaching  their  shores  swiftly  and  silently.  Immediately 
they  fell  back,  and  themselves  unseen,  awaited  the  landing  of  the 
enemy.  As  they  were  forming  into  line,  the  Niantics  descended 
upon  them  like  a  tempest,  and  dealt  destruction  among  them  until 
there  was  scarcely  a  remnant  of  the  invading  host  left.  This 
slaughter  took  place  near  Watch  Hill.  Not  content  with  this  suc- 
cess, Ninigret  embarked  for  Montauk,  where  Wyandance,  weakened 
by  the  loss  of  his  warriors  and  taken  by  surprise,  fell  an  easy  prey, 
and  the  strength  of  the  Montauks  was  forever  broken. 

Ninigret  remained  a  pagan  all  his  life.  Indeed,  the  practice  of 
many  of  the  whites  went  but  little  way  to  commend  their  preaching. 
When  asked  to  favor  the  spread  of  Christianity  among  the  Indians, 
he  replied  that  it  would  be  better  to  confine  its  preaching  to  the 
English  until  they  brought  forth  some  good  fruits.  One  of  his  des- 
cendants, however,  known  as  "  King  Tom,"  became  a  Christian, 
and  during  his  reign  an  Indian  church  was  established.  The  last  of 
the  Ninigrets  was  George,  who  was  reigning  during  the  American 


Westerly.  259 

Revolution.  By  his  untimely  death  at  the  age  of  twenty-two,  the 
dynasty  came  to  an  end.  Since  this  event  the  tribe  has  been  ruled 
by  a  president  or  governor,  elected  annually,  assisted  by  a  council 
of  four.  Ever  since  the  year  1707  they  have  been  under  the  juris- 
diction of  the  State.  They  are  allowed  their  own  government,  but 
it  must  harmonize  with  that  of  Rhode  Island.  The  tribe  has  dwindled 
away  to  a  very  small  number,  and  has  lost  most  of  its  characteristics 
through  intercourse  with  the  whites.  At  present  there  is  not  a  pure- 
blooded  Indian  among  them. 

The  first  Europeans  who  visited  the  shores  of  Misquamicut  were 
Dutch  traders,  who  came  hither  in  search  of  furs.  They  made  no 
settlement,  they  did  not  even  set  up  any  trading-houses,  but  came 
up  the  rivers  and  inlets  and  made  exchanges  with  the  Indians. 
Adrian  Block,  the  Dutch  navigator,  explored  the  coast  in  his  little 
vessel,  the  "  Restless,"  in  the  year  1614,  and  the  Dutch  geographer, 
DeLast,  sketched  it  in  1616,  from  the  journal  kept  by  Captain  Block. 
The  outline  of  the  coast  has  changed  quite  materially  since  this  first 
map  of  it  was  sketched.  What  is  now  Qiidnocontaug  Pond,  was 
formerly  a  harbor,  open  to  the  ocean,  but  which  has  since  been  cut 
otV  from  the  ocean  by  the  filling  up  of  its  mouth  during  heavy  gales. 

Tradition  and  poetry,  neither  of  which  can  be  relied  upon  in  mat- 
ters of  history,  have  preserved  an  account  of  the  first  colonists  of 
Westerly.  With  that  disregard  of  strict  accuracy  which  character- 
izes them,  they  have  both  overlooked  the  date  of  the  event  which 
they  commemorate.  But  it  was  probably  somewhere  near  the  year 
1630.  In  those  days  there  came  to  Newport,  then  a  hamlet,  a 
young  man  by  the  name  of  John  Babcock,  who  entered  the  employ 
of  Thomas  Lawton.  Mr.  Lawton  had  a  daughter  Mary,  and  the 
two  young  people  fell  in  love  with  each  other.  Mary's  father  refused 
his  consent  to  their  marriage,  but  they,  nothing  daunted,  determined 
to  marry  without  it,  which  they  accordingly  did.  So  far  the  story 
is  commonplace  enough.  The  romance  of  it  is  found  in  their 
journey  —  or  voyage,  rather  —  to  the  mainland,  to  escape  the  wrath 
of  the  angry  father.  They  embarked  in  a  small  boat  and  sailed  past 
Point  Judith,  out  upon  the  stormy  Atlantic.  Turning  westward,  they 
skirted  the  coast  until,  having  passed  Watch  Hill,  they  came  to  the 
mouth  of  the  Pawcatuck.  They  sailed  up  the  river  as  far  as  Pawca- 
tuck  Rock.  Here  they  landed,  and  were  cordially  welcomed  by  Nin- 
igret,  and  here  founded  the  first  home  of  white  men  in  this  wilder- 
ness.   Such  is  the  tradition  sacredly  preserved  among  the  early  fam- 


26o  Picturesque  Rhode  Island. 

ilies  of  the  town,  dearer  to  them,  no  doubt,  than  the  strictest  truth 
would  be,  if  it  were  possible  to  know  it. 

The  first  really  historic  white  men  w^ho  ever  penetrated  the 
primeval  forest  of  the  town,  were  the  heroes  who  marched  through  it 
to  the  aid  of  their  brethren  and  the  discomfiture  of  the  terrible 
Pequots,  in  the  year  1637.  They  came  with  Capt.  John  Mason  as 
their  leader  from  the  shores  of  the  Narragansett,  halted  over  night  at 
Ninigret's  Fort,  and  persuaded  him,  although  he  had  determined  to 
preserve  a  neutral  position,  to  send  some  of  his  warriors  against  the 
Pequots.  When  they  reached  the  Pawcatuck,  they  rested  and 
refreshed  themselves  at  the  ford,  and  then  pursued  their  march  into 
the  enemy's  country,  to  aid  in  what  proved  to  be  a  w^ar  of  extermina- 
tion upon  the  Pequots. 

A  rehable  date  meets  us  at  1660.  In  this  year  Misquamicut 
became  the  property  of  a  company  organized  in  Newport  for  its  pur- 
chase. The  principles  of  the  Rhode  Island  colonies  forbade  that 
land  should  be  acquired  from  the  Indians  in  any  other  way.  Efforts 
had  been  made  as  early  as  1658,  to  obtain  a  deed  of  this  tract.  In 
1660  the  purchase  was  made  of  Sosoa,  a  renegade  Pequot,  who,  for 
conspicuous  services  rendered  to  the  Rhode  Island  tribes  in  one  of 
their  many  fierce  battles,  was  rewarded  by  Miantonomi  and  Ninigret 
with  the  title-deeds  of  Misquamicut.  Some  doubt  was  felt  as  to  the 
legality  of  Sosoa's  claim  and  consequent  right  to  make  the  transfer, 
which  was  set  at  rest  by  a  document  signed  by  Wawaloam,  widow  of 
Miantonomi,  confirming  his  claim.  The  company  forming  the  other 
party  to  the  transaction  consisted  of  William  Vaughan,  Robert  Stan- 
ton, John  Fairfield,  Hugh  Mosher,  and  James  Longbottom.  They 
organized  a  colony  the  next  year,  which  was  incorporated  as  a  town 
in  1669,  although  it  then  contained  but  thirty  white  families.  The 
town  was  called  Westerly,  from  its  position.  A  portion  of  it  was 
erected  into  a  new  township  in  1738,  under  the  name  of  Charlestown. 
In  1757  another  portion  was  set  oft'  and  called  Hopkinton.  In  the 
year  1747  Charlestown  was  divided,  the  new  township  thus  formed 
receiving  the  name  of  Richmond. 

In  the  year  1740  there  occurred  a  remarkable  religious  move- 
ment, known  as  the  "Great  Awakening."  Its  influence  extended 
throughout  the  settlements  of  the  land,  but  was  especially  felt  in  New 
England.  In  Westerly  it  produced  great  results,  leading  to  the  for- 
mation of  no  less  than  five  rehgious  societies  within  the  limits  of  the 
original  town.     Previous  to  this  revival  the  Sabbatarians  had  held 


Westerly.  261 

regular  services,  and  a  missionary  had  been  sent  by  the  New  England 
Society  for  the  Propagation  of  the  Gospel,  to  preach  to  the  Indians 
and  such  English  as  chose  to  attend  upon  his  ministrations.  As  he 
was,  in  his  own  words,  '*  a  moral  religious  person,  but  awfully  in 
the  dark  as  to  the  way  of  salvation,"  it  is  fair  to  infer  that  his  mis- 
sionary efforts  were  not  specially  productive  of  good.  The  revival 
owed  its  immediate  origin  to  the  eloquent  preaching  of  George 
Whitefield.  He  had  spent  three  days  in  Newport,  preaching  and 
praying  for  a  land  waiting  and  longing  for  spiritual  relief.  When 
the  awakening  came  it  spread  like  wildhre  over  the  hind.  It  was 
viewed  with  disfavor  by  the  churches  already  established,  which, 
indeed,  were  sore  shaken  and  torn  by  it.  The  Sabbatarians  or 
Seventh  Day  Baptists  were,  by  their  own  showing,  especially  opposed 
to  it,  and  spoke  scornfully  of  it  as  the  "New  Light  Stir."  It  pro- 
duced a  particularly  happy  effect  among  the  Indians  of  Westerly, 
bringing  many  of  them  out  of  pagan  darkness  into  the  light  of  the 
Gospel.  ''The  movement  resulted  in  the  separation  of  scores  of 
churches  from  the  standing  order,  and  in  the  general  renovation  of 
the  State  churches  themselves.  In  fact,  the  revival  was  the  blow 
that,  in  its  consequences,  led  to  the  separation  of  Church  and  State, 
and  resolved  the  Presbyterians  into  Congregationalists.  And  how 
much  the  American  Revolution  owes  to  the  Great  Awakening,  as  a 
preparation,  both  in  spirit  and  principles,  might  well  engage  a  chap- 
ter of  our  national  history.  ...  If  the  old  churches  of 
Massachusetts  had  cordially  accepted  the  New  Light  diffused  by  the 
Spirit,  through  the  testimony  of  Whitefield,  Tennent,  Backus  and 
the  Separatists,  they  would  have  been  spared  the  pain  and  loss  that 
finally  came  upon  them,  through  their  half-way  covenants,  in  the 
apostasy  of  multitudes  in  the  bosom  of  the  churches  and  societies, 
who,  under  the  plea  of  liberalism,  went  over  to  the  ranks  of  Unitari- 
anism,  and  rent  the  churches  and  societies,  and  bore  away  from  them 
much  of  their  invested  property."  (The  passage  just  quoted  is  from 
the  Rev.  F.  Denison's  History  of  Weslerlv .) 

The  coast  of  Westerly  is  a  very  dangerous  one,  being  partly 
sand  and  partly  rock.  Watch  Hill  Point  runs  far  out  into  the  ocean, 
and  with  its  out-lying  reefs  has  been  the  scene  of  many  a  dreadful  dis- 
aster. Napatree  and  Sandy  points  are  a  continuation  of  this  prom- 
ontory. They  curve  around,  enclosing  a  portion  of  the  sound  called 
Little  Narragansett  Bay.  Watch  Hill,  looks  down  upon  the  scene 
of  many  a   bygone  event.      Its  elevation   makes  it  a  good  point  of 


262  Picturesque  Rhode  Island. 

lookout.  From  it,  Ninigret  watched  the  Pequot  canoes  stealthily 
approaching  for  his  destruction,  and  at  its  foot  is  the  old  battle-ground, 
where  he  and  his  warriors  descended  upon  them,  surprised  in  their 
turn,  and  vanquished  them.  During  the  dreadful  French  and  Indian 
wars,  a  watch-tower  stood  here  and  a  signal  station,  the  signal  being 
fire  by  night  and  smoke  by  day.  The  tower  was  renewed  during 
the  Revolution,  and  from  it  the  coast  guardsmen  kept  watch  for  the 
coming  of  British  vessels.  The  neck  which  connects  Napatree  Point 
with  the  mainland  was  then  so  broad  that  it  contained  a  swamp  and  a 
pond,  and  was  so  well  wooded  that  it  would  have  been  easy  for  an 
enemy  to  land  there  unseen.  A  story  which  the  incredulous  might 
look  upon  as  a  "yarn,"  is  told  of  this  vicinity,  celebrating  the  exploit 
of  an  old  negro  man  named  Vester.  He  was  of  huge  stature  and 
proportionate  strength.  It  is  said  that  he  could  lift  a  tierce  of 
molasses.  He  was  in  the  habit  of  swimming  off  to  the  Spindle  at 
low  tide  and  fishing  until  the  returning  flood  drove  him  off,  when  he 
would  swim  ashore  with  the  products  of  his  labor.  One  day  he  was 
captured  by  a  party  of  British  foragers,  who  took  him  to  Fisher's  Island 
and  compelled  him  to  work  as  a  slave.  He,  however;  had  no  mind 
to  waste  his  strength  in  slavery,  when  by  a  proper  exertion  of  it,  he 
might  recover  his  freedom.  One  evening,  at  ebb-tide,  he  plunged 
into  the  waters  of  the  sound,  swam  out  to  the  current,  turned  over 
upon  his  back  and  floated  until  opposite  Watch  Hill,  where  he  resumed 
his  swimming,  and  so  reached  the  shore  and  regained  his  liberty. 

From  this  same  promontory,  the  awe-struck  gazers  watched  the 
ghostly  burning  of  the  phantom  Palatine.  On  its  shores  tradition 
tells  that  some  of  Captain  Kidd's  ill-gained  riches  were  buried.  But 
treasures  far  surpassing  any  of  the  pirate-king  lie  at  the  bottom  of 
the  ocean  that  washes  its  base,  where  many  a  good  ship  has  gone 
down  with  its  freight  of  precious  lives.  Some. of  these  have  gone  to 
wreck  in  storm  and  darkness,  some  in  broad  day  and  smooth  waters. 
"  In  1850  a  brig  and  a  schooner  bound  eastward  on  a  calm  morning 
were  swept  by  the  tide  upon  a  reef  west  of  the  light,  and  were  lost." 
The  story  of  the  ill-starred  "  Metis,"  which  was  wrecked  here  in  1872, 
is  too  fresh  to  need  more  than  a  passing  allusion.  A  lighthouse  was 
erected  upon  Watch  Hill  in  the  year  1802.  Its  first  keeper  was  Mr. 
Jonathan  Nash,  who  guarded  the  light  for  twenty-seven  years.  In 
May,  1806,  a  vote  of  the  town  transferred  the  jurisdiction  of  Watch 
Hill  Point  and  light  to  the  general  government  at  Washington. 
There  is  a  good  beach  upon  the  shore,  and  this,  with  its  fresh  breezes 


Westerlv 


263 


from  the  ocean,  has 
earned  for  it  a  line 
reputation  as  a  sum- 
mer sea-side  resort. 

The  inhabitants  of 
Westerly  have  found 
in  its  rugged  and  un- 
sitj^htlv  rocks  a  mine 
of  wealth  far  exceed- 
ing any  foreign  treas- 
ure which  their  wild- 
est ima<;inin<j^s  could 
picture  as  hidden  in 
caves  and  recesses 
with  mysterious  cere- 
monies, and  under 
the  cover  of  dark- 
ness.      There    is   no 

J- 

jjranite  in  the  coun-    ? 
try,  if  indeed  there  is    ^ 
in  the  world,   which    5 
in  fineness  of  grain,    | 
beauty    of    coloring,    ' 
susceptibility  to   pol- 
ish,  and  strength  of 
resistance  to  the  de- 
stroying power    of 
time  and  the  natural 
elements,     surpasses 
that    quarried    in 
Westerly.  Its  "crush- 
ing   power"   far    ex- 
ceeds   that    of   other 
granites,     for     while 
they   vary    from    six 
thousand  to  thirteen 
thousand  pounds  to  a 
square  inch,  this  will 
not  be  acted  upon  b\' 
less  than  nineteen 


264  Picturesque  Rhode  Island. 

thousand  pounds.  There  are  seven  quarries  of  granite  in  thie  town, 
and  the  varieties  produced  are  the  white,  red,  blue,  and  maculated 
or  mottled.  Their  fame  has  spread  abroad  in  all  directions,  and 
"  Westerly  granite  "  is  as  familiar  a  phrase  as  ever  "  Carrara  marble  " 
was.  It  has  in  a  great  measure  superseded  marble,  which  although 
very  much  more  easily  chiseled,  is  wanting  in  the  enduring  qualities 
of  the  former.  The  block  which  is  Rhode  Island's  contribution  to 
the  national  monument  at  Washington  was  taken  from  the  Westerly 
quarries. 

The  first  of  these,  which  is  also  the  largest  and  whose  products 
are  considered  the  most  valuable,  was  discovered  in  1845,  by  Mr. 
Orlando  Smith.  Certain  boulders  and  rubble  stones  upon  the  sur- 
face caused  him  to  suspect  the  existence  of  valuable  stone  beneath. 
Mr.  Smith  bought  the  farm  containing  these  indications,  which  was 
formerly  the  property  of  Dr.  Joshua  Babcock.  He  opened  a  quarry 
at  the  top  of  Rhodes'  Hill,  between  the  old  Babcock  house  and  the 
site  of  the  old  Hill  Church.  This  was  in  1847.  Since  his  death,  a 
few  years  ago,  it  has  been  worked  in  the  interest  of  his  estate  by  a 
firm  called  the  Smith  Granite  Company.  The  monument  erected  to 
Roger  Williams,  at  Roger  Williams  Park,  Providence,  was  cut  by 
this  company  from  granite  obtained  from  their  quarry. 

In  1866  Mr.  George  Ledward  opened  a  second  quarry,  which 
proved,  however,  to  be  a  continuation  of  the  first.  It  is  operated 
under  the  name  of  the  Rhode  Island  Granite  Works,  the  head- 
quarters for  business  being  at  Hartford,  with  the  New  England  Gran- 
ite Works.  Immense  quantities  of  the  stone  have  been  quarried  here 
for  building,  monumental,  and  ornamental  purposes.  Perhaps  the 
most  famous  work  of  this  company  is  the  "  Antietam  Soldier,"  for 
the  battle-field  of  Antietam.  It  was  cut  from  a  single  block  which, 
when  lifted  from  its  bed  weighed  sixty  tons,  but  which  was  reduced 
by  cutting  to  half  of  that  weight.  The  figure  was  designed  by  Carl 
Conrads,  and  with  its  pedestal  measures  forty-five  feet  in  height.  It 
represents  a  Union  soldier  of  the  Rebellion,  standing  at  parade  rest. 

Half  a  mile  north  of  the  second  quarry,  a  vein  of  red  granite, 
much  prized  for  building  purposes,  is  worked.  On  Vincent  Hill 
there  is  a  deposit  of  blue  and  white  granite,  with  here  and  there  a 
vein  of  red.  East  of  these  two,  in  the  line  of  the  railroad,  are  two 
quarries  which  produce  line  building  material.  The  seventh  is  situ- 
ated on  Cormorant  Hill.     The  stone  which  it  yields  is  of  a  very  fine 


Westerly. 


265 


quality,  but  lyiug  as  it  does  mainly  in  thin  strata,  it  is  used  for  curb- 
ing, flag-ging,  and  such  other  purposes  as  require  thin  stones. 

There  is  also  in  the  town  a  small  quarry  of  soapstone,   which  is 
not  worked  at  present.      The  aborigines  pri/ed  this  quarry  liighly, 


Congregationa)   Chufch,    Westerly. 

and  obtained  material  from  it  for  such  rude  implements  as  they  could 
fashion. 

In  the  list  of  noted  men  whom  Westerly  holds  in  grateful  remem- 
brance should  be  especially  mentioned  the  two  Wards,  father  and  son, 
of  Revolutionary  times,  and  the  Dixons,  father  and  son,  of  our  own 
day.  The  elder  Ward  was  the  son  of  Governor  Ward  of  New- 
port. He  removed  to  Westerly  when  he  was  about  twenty.  He 
was  three  times  chosen  governor  of  the  colony.  In  the  exciting  times 
which  ushered  in  the  Revolution,  his  pen  did  good  service  in  inciting 
the  colonists  to  resist  the  aggressions  of  England.  In  1774  he  was 
chosen  as  colleague  of  Stephen  Hopkins  to  represent  Rhode  Island 
in  the  first  Continental  Congress  at  Philadelphia.  He  was  re-elected 
to  the  position  the  next  year,  and  while  in  discharge  of  his  duty  died 
at  Philadelphia,  March  25,  1776. 

Samuel  Ward,  his  son,  was  born  in  Westerl3Mn  1756.  He  fought 
in  the  Revolutionary  War,  having  risen  to  the  rank  of  captain  when 
he  was  nineteen  3'ears  old.  He  joined  in  the  siege  of  Boston,  and 
accompanied  General  Arnold  in  tiie  expedition  against  Q^iebec. 
He  was  taken  prisoner,  but  was  soon  after  exchanged.  He  helped 
defend  Rhode  Island  under  Generals  Greene,  Lafayette,  and  Sullivan. 
He  commanded  a  regiment  here,  and  received  a  commission  as  lieu- 


266  Picturesque  Rhode  Island. 

tenant-colonel.  Afterwards  he  joined  Washington's  army  in  New 
Jersey.  At  the  close  of  the  war  he  became  a  merchant.  He  died 
at  Jamaica,  Long  Island,  in  the  year  1832. 

No  name  upon  the  public  records  of  Westerly  is  more  familiar, 
not  only  to  the  tow^n  itself,  but  also  to  the  whole  State,  than  that  of 
Nathan  Fellows  Dixon,  a  name  borne  by  a  father  and  son  whose 
public  careers  were  very  similar.  Both  were  leading  lawyers  ;  both 
represented  their  town  in  the  General  Assembly  of  the  State,  one  for 
seventeen  and  the  other  for  eighteen  years,  and  both  sat  in  the  councils 
of  the  Nation  at  Washington,  the  one  as  a  Senator  and  the  other  as  a 
Representative.  Their  names  will  always  be  held  in  proud  esteem 
by  the  town  and  State  they  served  so  long  and  faithfully. 

Westerly  is  one  of  the  most  thriving  and  enterprising  towns  in 
the  State.  Here  are  located  many  cotton  and  woolen  factories, 
machine-shops,  and  manufacturing  establishments  of  various  kinds. 
It  is  also  a  business  centre  and  a  depot  of  supplies  for  the  manufacto- 
ries throughout  the  surrounding  country. 

The  principal  cotton-factories  are  those  of  the  Moss  Manufactur- 
ing Company,  situated  on  Mechanic  Street;  and  the  establishment 
of  B.  B.  &  R.  Knight,  at  White  Rock  village,  about  a  mile  above,  on 
the  Pawcatuck  River.  Among  the  companies  and  firms  in  the  town 
engaged  in  the  woolen  manufacture  are  the  Phenix  Woolen  Com- 
pany, the  Stillman  Manufacturing  Company,  the  Westerly  Woolen 
Company,  Latimer  Stillman  &  Co.,  and  at  Stillmanville,  O.  M. 
Stillman  &  Co. 

There  are  several  machine-shops,  where  excellent  work  is  done. 
Among  these  are  the  establishments  of  Cottrell  &  Babcock,  iron- 
founders  and  manufacturers  of  printing-presses  ;  T.  V.  &  V.  C. 
Stillman,  makers  of  wood-working  machinery  ;  andN.  A.  Woodward 
&  Co.,  transacting  a  general  machine  business. 

During  the  last  decade,  Watch  Hill,  the  extreme  southwestern 
point  of  Rhode  Island,  has  become  a  noted  summer  resort.  It  is 
about  live  miles  from  the  town  of  Westerly,  from  which  place  it  is 
easily  reached  by  steamer  or  carriage.  A  number  of  well-appointed 
and  elegant  hotels  are  here  located.  The  largest  is  the  Larkin 
House,  D.  F.  Larkin  &  Co.,  proprietors,  with  accommodations  for 
260  guests.  Watch  Hill  House,  with  ample  room  for  many  guests, 
is  the  oldest  hotel.  Besides  these  are  the  Atlantic  House,  the 
Plympton  House,  the  Ocean  House,  the  Narragansett  House,  and 
the  Bay  View  House. 


Charlestown  and  Richmond.  267 


The  present  town  of  Ciiarli:stown',  which  until  the  year  1738 
was  a  part  of  Westerly,  comprises  the  extreme  eastern  portion  of  the 
territory  which  was  formerly  the  home  of  the  ancient  and  powerful 
tribe  of  the  Niantics.  Here,  upon  Fort  Neck,  was  Ninigret's  Fort, 
the  historic  resting-place  of  Capt.  John  Mason  and  his  little  band 
of  white  men,  when  on  their  long  and  dreary  march  into  the  Pequot 
country,  they  halted  for  one  night.  Sitting  around  their  council  fires 
with  the  Niantic  braves,  he  persuaded  Ninigret  to  send  a  band  of 
his  warriors  with  him  against  their  ancient  enemy.  Not  far  from  the 
site  of  this  old  fort  stands  the  mansion  now  owned  by  Mr.  James  N. 
Kenyon.  It  was  built  by  that  one  of  the  Ninigrets  known  as  "  King 
Tom."  Under  the  influence  of  the  Gospel,  he  became  civilized  and 
christianized,  and,  wishing  to  live  like  other  civilized  men,  had  this 
house  built  for  his  use.     The  plan  of  it  was  brought  from  England. 

Coronation  Rock,  in  the  vicinity,  was  the  scene  of  the  coronation 
of  his  sister  Esther,  who  succeeded  him.  This  event  having  taken 
place  since  the  white  man  settled  here,  the  account  of  it  has  been 
transmitted  to  us.  The  tribes  of  which  she  was  the  head,  although  fast 
fading  away,  still  held  to  the  customs  of  their  ancestors,  and  the  cor- 
onation was  attended  with  as  much  pomp  and  circumstance  as  their 
enfeebled  condition  was  able  to  compass.  Esther,  escorted  by  about 
twenty  Indian  soldiers  carrying  guns,  marched  to  Coronation  Rock, 
where  the  council  of  her  braves  waited  to  receive  her.  Surrounded 
by  them  and  by  all  her  subjects,  who  had  assembled  to  witness  the 
pageant,  she  stood  upon  the  rock,  in  the  sight  of  the  multitude,  and 
those  nearest  to  the  royal  blood  placed  upon  her  head  the  crown. 
It  was  made  of  cloth,  covered  with  blue  and  white  peage.  ("  Peage 
w^as  the  coin  used  among  the  Indians,  in  the  manufacture  of  which 
the  Narragansetts  excelled.  It  was  more  commonly  called  "  wam- 
pumpeage,"  or  simply  "  wampum,"  and  was  strung  upon  cord  and 
reckoned  by  the  fathom.  The  w^ord  "  peage,"  seems  to  be  precisely 
the  Latin  ^^peagv"  or  ^^pcdag-c,"  from  ^^pcs,''  a  foot.  This  latter 
was  a  toll  exacted  from  foot  passengers  for  their  safe  conduct.  The 
resemblance  of  the  two  words  is  suggestive  of  that  often-recurring 
question  of  the  common  origin  of  the  human  race."*)  As  the  crown 
rested  upon  Esther's  head,  the  Indians  fired  a  salute  and  cheered. 
They  then  escorted  her  to  her  home  with  great  dignity  and  ceremony, 
and  upon  leaving  her,  again  saluted  her  with  the  firing  of  guns.  Her 
son  George,  who  succeeded  her,  was  the  last  sovereign  who  reigned 
over  the  Niantics,  or  Narragansetts,  as  they  have    been   called  ever 


268  Picturesque  Rhode  Island. 

since  they  placed  themselves  under  the  pi^otection  of  the  latter  after 
the  invasion  of  their  country  by  the  Pequots.  The  feeble  remnant 
of  the  two  tribes  whose  united  sway  extended  over  the  whole  west- 
ern part  of  Rhode  Island,  now  occupy  a  small  reservation  in  the 
centre  of  Charlestown.  They  are  in  a  certain  way  under  the  juris- 
diction of  the  State,  although  they  have  a  government  of  their  own. 
The  following  extract  from  a  report  which  appeared  in  the  Provi- 
dence yourual  oi  Oct.  17,  1866,  gives  a  clear  idea  of  their  condition, 
powers  and  privileges  : 

"In  1707  the  colonial  authorides  procured  from  the  chief  sachem 
of  the  Narragansetts,  a  title  deed  of  all  the  lands  belonging  to  the 
tribe  within  the  colonial  jurisdiction,  excepting  and  reserving  a  tract 
situate  in  what  is  now  the  town  of  Charlestown,  and  by  that  deed 
the  Indians  were  prohibited  from  making  any  further  grants  of  their 
lands  without  the  consent  of  the  General  Assembly.  The  Indians 
contend  that  the  provisions  of  this  grant  constituted  a  treaty  between 
the  colony  and  the  tribe,  and  that  by  the  terms  to  be  implied  from 
the  treaty,  the  colony  bound  itself,  and  consequently  the  State  is  now 
bound  to  preserve  to  them  their  tribal  jurisdiction,  and  the  right  to 
improve  and  occupy  their  lands.  Whatever  may  be  the  true  con- 
strucdon  of  this  grant,  we  cannot  believe  that  it  will  be  seriously  con- 
tended that  the  colony  bound  itself,  or  that  there  is  any  just  pre- 
tence for  saying  that  the  State  is  bound,  to  preserve  to  the  tribe 
a  jurisdiction  foreign  to  and  independent  of  the  State  ;  or  that  it  is 
bound  to  extend  to  the  members  of  the  tribe  any  peculiar  or  special 
privileges  not  enjoyed  by  all  the  inhabitants  of  the  State. 

"  The  tribe  elect  their  own  officers,  and  are  governed  by  their  own 
laws,  which  embrace  their  customs  and  usages  as  they  are  gathered 
from  tradition.  Their  council  is  of  annual  elecdon,  and,  subject  to 
an  undefined  supervising  power  resdng  with  the  General  Assembly, 
is  the  arbiter  of  all  their  aflairs.  About  two  thousand  acres  of  their 
tribal  lands  are  Iield  by  individual  members  of  the  tribe  as  their  sep- 
arate estate.  Their  dUes  were  derived  originally  from  the  tribe,  and 
rest  upon  tradition.  The  council  grant  the  dUes.  Their  mode 
of  grant  is  interesdng.  The  council  go  with  the  grantee  upon  the  lot 
proposed  to  be  granted.  After  the  lot  is  marked  out  and  bounded, , 
the  council  cut  a  rod  and  place  it  upon  the  bare  head  of  the  grantee, 
and  then,  while  he  is  upon  the  land  and  under  the  rod,  they  admin- 
ister to  him  a  solemn  oath  of  allegiance  to  the  tribal  authority.  This 
mode  of  investiture  of  dtle  bears   considerable   analogy  to  the   old 


Charlestown  and  Richmond. 


269 


common-law  livrrv  of  siczoi,  c\\u\ 

if  this  Indian  custom  antedates  the 

landing  of  the   Pilgrims,  it  might 

be  suggested  that  there  is  a  possi- 
bility that  there  was  a  community 

of  origin  in  the  two  modes  of  grant. 

The  individual   lands  of  the  tribe 

cannot   be    alienated    without    the 

consent  of  the  General  Assembly  ; 

they  descend  to  the  heir  upon  the 

decease    of    the    holder,    subject, 

however,  to  the  right  of  occupancy 

in  the  next  of  kin  who  remains  with 

the  tribe,  the  possession,  however, 

to  be  restored  to  the  heir  when  he 

returns  to  the    tribal    jurisdiction  ; 

but  should   the  owner  die  in  debt 

to  the  tribe,  the  council  let  or  im- 
prove the  lands,  or  sell  the  wood 

from  them  to  pay  the  debts  due  to 

the  tribe,  and  when  these  are  paid, 

they  surrender  the  lands  to  the  heir  or  the  holder  entitled  to  possess 

them.  The  tribe  maintain  their  poor,  and  support  public  worship  : 
and  the  State  supports  their  school.  The  tribe  numbers  fifty-eight 
males  and  seventy-five  females  ;  in  all,  133.  They  own  in  all  about 
3,000  acres  of  land  in  the  centre  of  the  town  of  Charlestown." 

The  "  public  worship"  referred  to  in  the  above  report,  dates  from 
1750.  The  Great  Revival  numbered  among  its  converts  several 
Indians.  At  first  they  \vorshiped  with  the  Presbyterians,  but 
becoming  dissatisfied  with  the  ceremonials  of  that  body,  withdrew, 
and  under  the  leadership  of  Samuel  Nlles,  an  "Indian  exhorter," 
formed  a  new  society.  The  faith  which  these  simple  red  men  exhib- 
ited is  beautifully  illustrated  by  an  incident  related  upon  good  author- 
ity by  the  Rev.  F.  Denison  : 

"  In  a  time  of  severe  drought,  when  their  gardens  and  fields  were 
withering  and  dying,  the  devout  who  had  faith  in  prayer,  made  an 
appointment  and  met  in  their  meeting-house  to  pray  for  rain.  With 
one  heart  they  united  in  their  humble,  earnest,  trusting  petitions.  No 
sooner  had  they  commenced  praying  than  a  Httle  cloud,  the  size  of 
an  apron,  was  seen  in  the  southwest,  that  steadily  drew  near   and 


Christ   Church,    Westerly. 


270  Picturesque  Rhode  Island. 


increased  in  volume,  till  it  came  over  the  settlement  and  poured  down 
its  water  on  the  thirsty  earth.  Said  one  of  the  praying  Indians,  '  We 
had  a  glorious  shower,  and  went  home  dripping  and  praising  God.'" 

The  house  which  the  society  occupied  from  the  middle  of  the 
last  century  was  replaced  in  i860  by  the  stone  one  of  the  present 
time.  The  church  began  its  career  as  a  New-Light  Baptist,  but  it 
has  been  shaken  by  many  winds  of  doctrine.  It  has  been  described 
as  being  at  present  "  a  Free-Will  Baptist  Church  in  a  weak  condi- 
don,  agitated  by  Advent  doctrines,  and  conspicuous  chiefly  for  its 
annual  mass-meetings  in  August,  after  an  old  Indian  custom." 

Of  Indian  burying-grounds  several  exist  within  the  original  limits 
of  the  town  of  Westerly.  Many  of  them  are  small  and  obscure,  and 
only  to  be  traced  by  relics  occasionally  turned  up  by  the  plow.  The 
royal  burying-ground,  known  to  be  the  most  ancient,  is  situated  in 
Charlestown,  about  a  mile  north  of  Cross'  Mills.  Undoubtedly  the 
imaginadon  which  could  picture  the  dead  warrior  as  roaming  over 
the  happy  hundng-grounds  with  his  dog  and  his  gun,  would  also 
suggest  that  his  body  would  rest  more  peacefully  in  a  pleasant  spot 
than  on  a  barren  and  stony  hill-side,  far  from  all  pleasant  sights  and 
sounds.  Whether  it  was  their  materialisdc  ideas  of  death  and  the 
hereafter  or  not  which  influenced  them  in  the  selection  of  this  ground, 
they  chose  a  picturesque  place  for  their  purpose.  On  a  plateau  ele- 
vated some  fifteen  feet  above  the  surrounding  high  lands,  with  a 
pretty  sheet  of  water  at  the  south,  and  overlooking  the  sea,  lie  the 
remains  of  the  kings,  queens,  and  other  members  of  the  royal  family 
of  the  Narragansetts.  Their  resdng-places  are  marked  by  mounds, 
which  are  identified  only  by  tradition. 

In  the  year  1859  ^  P^^'^Y  visited  this  ancient  cemetery  and  opened 
a  grave,  which  proved  to  be  that  of  a  sachem.  The  body  had  been 
enclosed  in  a  coffin  made  of  two  logs,  split,  and  kept  in  shape  by 
heavy  bands  of  iron.  At  one  end  was  a  brass  kettle  and  at  the  other 
an  iron  one.  Various  smaller  relics  were  found  and  exhibited  as 
curiosides.  Some  of  the  tribe,  indignant  at  this  act  of  vandalism, 
arraigned  the  guilty  persons,  but  upon  trial  before  an  enlightened 
court  of  their  peers,  they  were  honorably  acquitted.  Encouraged  by 
this  judgment,  others  committed  like  acts,  and  many  relics  were 
obtained  in  a  manner,  which,  if  pracdced  upon  our  own  dead,  would 
fill  every  one  with  horror  at  its  profanity. 

The  burial-place  of  the  Ninigrets  is  at  Fort  Neck,  and  is  of  more 
recent  date  than  this  of  the  Narragansetts. 


ChARLESTOWN    AM)    RICHMOND. 


271 


Seventh-Day  Baptist  Cni-rcr,,  Woslerly. 


Of  Indian  relics  which 
one  may  legitimately  see, 
one  remains  upon  the 
land  owned  by  Mr.  Oliver 
D.  Clarke.  It  is  a  sta- 
tionary mortar,  of  which 
several  are  to  be  found 
in  the  adjoining  town  of 
Richmond.  This  is  the 
largest  in  the  vicinity, 
and  is  hollowed  out  of  a 
boulder  weighing  about 
two  tons,  on  the  margin 
of  Charlestown  Pond.  It 
measures  three  feet  in 
diameter  and  is  tifteen 
inches  deep.  As  its  name 
signifies,  it  was  used  by 
the  aboricjines  for  crush- 
ing  corn  and  seeds. 

In  the  early  days  of  this  settlement  planters  held  great  estates. 
"The  great  estate  of  the  Champlins  "  consisted  of  2,000  acres.  Of 
Joseph  Stanton  it  is  recorded  that  he  "  owned  a  lordship  in  Charles- 
town."  lie  was  descended  from  Thomas  Stanton,  the  Indian  inter- 
preter, who,  a  generadon  earlier,  had  a  trading  house  upon  the 
Pawcatuck,  where  he  received  furs  from  the  Indians.  A  Narragan- 
sett  princess  had  been  captured  by  the  Manisses  in  one  of  their 
inter-tribal  wars,  and  carried  ofl'  to  their  home  on  the  island  which 
then  bore  their  name,  but  which  is  now  known  as  Block  Island.  The 
number  of  fathoms  of  wampum  which  they  demanded  for  her  ransom 
was  so  great  that  her  people  could  not  obtain  it  among  themselves. 
They  therefore  applied  to  Mr.  Stanton,  who  had  become  rich  by 
his  trade  in  furs,  and  who  had  great  quantises  of  it.  Mr.  Stanton 
gave  his  assistance  promptly,  and  the  princess  was  restored  to  her 
people.  In  gratitude  to  Mr.  Stanton  for  his  aid  at  this  crisis,  the 
Indian  authorities  gave  him  this  tract  of  land.  Mis  third  son,  Joseph, 
setded  upon  it.  From  him  descended  the  Rhode  Island  branch  of 
the  Stanton  family.  He  was  one  of  the  first  United  States  Senators 
under  the  Constitution,  and  sat  in  the  upper  house  of  Congress  from 
1790  to  1793.  He  afterwards  represented  the  town  in  the  national 
assembly  from  1801  until  1807. 


272  Picturesque  Rhode  Island. 

The  Rev.  Dr.  McSparran,  whose  name  is  very  familiar  to  read- 
ers of  the  early  church  history  of  Rhode  Island,  was  sent  as  a  mis- 
sionary into  the  Narragansett  country  by  the  Society  for  the  Propaga- 
tion of  the  Gospel,  in  the  year  1721.  The  centre  of  his  extensive 
parish  was  at  South  Kingstown.  In  his  volume,  America  Dis- 
sected, which  he  wrote  just  before  his  second  visit  to  England,  he 
says,  "  By  my  excursions  and  out  labors,  a  church  is  built  twenty- 
five  miles  to  the  westward  of  me,  but  not  now  under  my  care."  This 
was  the  first  Episcopal  Church  in  Charlestown,  and  stood  upon 
ground  given  by  George  Ninigret,  "Chief  Sachem  and  Prince"  of 
the  Indians  of  that  region,  "  for  the  benefit  of  the  Church  of  England 
in  Charlestown  and  Westerly."  The  deed  conveys  a  tract  of  land 
forty  acres  in  extent,  in  consideration  of  the  sum  of  five  shillings. 
The  existence  of  this  church  was  of  short  duration. 

Until  the  year  1747,  Charlestown  extended  as  far  north  as  the 
southern  boundary  of  Exeter.  In  that  year  all  that  part  of  the  for- 
mer town  which  lay  north  of  the  Pawcatuck  River  was  erected  into 
a  new  township  and  received  the  name  of  Richmond.  The  tradition 
of  a  terrible  Indian  battle  which  took  place  at  the  dividing  line  of 
these  two  towns  has  been  handed  down  with  the  greatest  care,  but  it 
possesses  all  the  vagueness  which  must  accompany  such  a  mode  of 
transmission.  Neither  the  date  nor  anything  like  full  particulars  of 
the  event  are  known.  Nevertheless,  there  is  no  doubt  that  the  affair 
really  happened.  The  exact  spot  is  still  pointed  out  where  the  san- 
guinary contest  took  place,  near  Shannock  Ford,  now  Shannock 
Mills.  Nothing  except  the  fact  of  a  fight  is  certainly  known, 
although  it  is  reasonable  to  adopt  the  commonly  received  supposition 
that  it  grew  out  of  a  dispute  concerning  the  right  to  fish  at  that  point. 
Even  at  the  present  day,  the  plow  occasionally  brings  to  light  the 
bones  and  warlike  implements  of  the  slaughtered  hosts. 

Shannock  "  is  an  Indian  name, and  means  '  squirrel.'"  It  is  applied 
not  only  to  the  ford  and  tails,  but  also  to  the  hills  in  the  southeastern 
part  of  the  town,  in  whose  primitive  forests  large  numbers  of  squirrels 
made  their  home.  During  the  "hard  winter"  of  1740-41,  a  great 
many  of  these  little  creatures  were  found  dead,  having  perished  from 
cold. 

Charlestown  is  not  to  be  regarded  as  a  manufacturing  town  ; 
many  of  its  citizens,  however,  and  much  of  its  capital  are  interested 
in  cotton  and  woolen  mills  in  Richmond,  which  contains  several  man- 
ufacturing villages.     Of  these,   Carolina  Mills,    named  in  honor  of 


Charlestown  and  Richmond. 


■/o 


the  wife  of  its  founder,  Mr.  R.  G.  Hazard,  possesses  some  interest 
because  of  the  fact  that  at  the  time  of  the  Rebellion,  or  soon  after,  a 
college  or  school  for  freedmen  existed  here  for  a  short  time. 


The  Dixon   House,   Westerly. 


The  early  records  of  Richmond  show  that  its  inhabitants  took 
prompt  measures  to  bear  their  share  of  the  danger  and  expense  which 
fell  upon  the  colonies  during  the  disastrous  French  and  Indian  wars. 
They  do  not,  however,  appear  to  have  shown  any  undue  haste  in 


Watch   Hill   Light. 


proffering  their  assistance  in  the  struggle  for  independence,  although 
it  is  but  just  to  say  that  when  they  did  cast  in  their  lot  with  the 
patriots  thev  did   it  heartily.     Their  first  record  in  support  of  the 


274 


Picturesque  Rhode  Island. 


war  bears  date  of  June  4,  1776,  more  than  a  3'ear  after  the  first  blood 
was  shed  at  Lexington,  and  just  one  month  before  the  adoption  of  the 
Declaration  of  Independence. 

At  the  close  of  the  Revolution,  when  the  present  Constitution  of 
the  United  States  was  submitted  to  the  colonies  for  approval  or  rejec- 
tion, Rhode  Island  was  the  last  one  to  give  in  her  adherence  to  it. 
In  the  town  of  Richmond,  the  discussion  over  its  adoption  resulted  in. 
a  vote  of  sixty-eight  to  one  against  it.  The  brave  man  who  dared  to 
make  a  stand  against  such  an  overwhelming  majority  was  Jonathan 
jNIaxson.  It  is  a  satisfaction  to  know  that  he  lived  to  see  the  decision 
reversed,  and  Rhode  Island  take  her  place  "last"  —  it  would  be 
pleasant  to  feel  that  the  rest  of  the  quotation  was  equally  applicable, 
but  every  one  knows  that  it  is  also  the  least  —  among  the  sisterhood 
of  States. 


An   Indian   Burial-Ground,  Charlestown. 


CHAPTER  XI. 


NOIMII  AM)  sorill  KINGSTOWN  — KICHARD  SMITH— THE  GREAT  SWAMP  FIGHT- 
LARGE  ESTATES  —  ANCIENT  NARRAGANSETT  —  SLAVE  ELEC- 
TIONS—XARRAGAXSETT  PACERS— DR.  McSPAKRAN— THE  "  UN- 
FOKTUNATE  HANNAH  R015INS0N  "  —  GILBERT  CHARLES  STUART. 
JAMESTOWN.  HLOCK  ISLAND  — THE  LEGEND  OF  THE  "PALA- 
TINE." 


^AITIGGONSIK,    24    July,    1679  {iit  vulgo.) 

I,  "I,  Roger  Wjlljams  of  Providence  in  ye  Nahig- 
gonsik  bay  in  N.  Engl,  being  (by  God's  mersie)  ye 
£SJ  first  beginner  of  ye  mother  Towne  of  Providence  and 
of  ye  Colony  of  Rhode  Island  and  Providence  Planta- 
tions being  now  neere  to  Foure  Score  years  of  age. 
Yet  (by  God's  mersie)  of  sound  understanding  and 
memorie ;  doe  humbly  and  faithfully  declare  yt  Mr. 
Richard  Smith  Sen.,  who  for  his  conscience  to  God 
left  faire  Possessions  in  Gloster  Shire  and  adventured 
with  his  Relations  and  Estate  to  N.  Engl,  and  was  a 
most  acceptable  Inhabitant  and  prime  leading  man  in  Taunton  in 
Plymouth  Colony.  For  his  conscience  sake  (many  differences  aris- 
ing) he  left  Taunton  and  came  to  ye  Nahiggonsik  Country  where  by 
God's  mersie  and  ye  fave  of  ye  Nahiggonsik  Sachems  he  broke  ye 
Ice  (at  his  great  Charge  and  Hazards)  and  put  up  in  ye  thickest  of 
ye  Barbarians  ye  first  English  House  amongst  them. 

II.  "  I  humbly  testifie  yt  about  forty  years  (from  this  date)  he 
kept  Possession  Comming  and  going  himselfe  children  and  servants 
and  he  had  quiet  Possession  of  his  Howsing,  Lands  and  medow,  and 
there  in  his  own  house  with  much  serenity  of  soule  and  comfort  he 
yielded  up  his  spirit  to  God  ye  Father  of  Spirits  in  Peace." 

Thus  the  great  founder  of  Rhode  Island  "  as  leaving  this  country 


276  Picturesque  Rhode  Island. 

and  this  world,"  gave  his  testimony  in  favor  of  Richard  Smith's  title 
to  his  lands  in  the  Narragansett  Country.  Never  a  claim  to  land  in 
New  England  was  involved  in  greater  uncertainty  than  this.  The 
fight  for  its  possession  lasted  long  after  Roger  Williams  had  been 
placed  in  his  grave.  All  the  surrounding  colonies  became  gradually 
involved  in  it,  and  for  a  while  the  country  was  erected  into  an  inde- 
pendent jurisdiction  under  the  name  of  King's  Province,  until  judg- 
ment could  be  had  from  the  Royal  Court  of  Great  Britain.  The 
decree  which  finally  confirmed  it  to  Rhode  Island,  has  by  some  wri- 
ters been  supposed  to  have  saved  that  little  colony  from  being  entirely 
absorbed  by  Massachusetts  and  Connecticut. 

The  Indians,  as  well  as  the  white  men,  realized  that  the  land  was 
well  worth  fighting  for.  Many  were  the  traditions  of  long-continued, 
wars  and  bloody  conflicts  his  Indian  neighbors  had  to  tell,  when 
Richard  Smith  settled  at  Wickford  in  the  year  of  our  Lord  1639.  A 
few  of  these  traditions  have  been  handed  down  even  to  our  own  times. 
Some  of  them  have  been  narrated  in  the  pages  of  this  book,  but  by 
far  the  greater  portion  perished  with  those  whose  ancestors  had  par- 
ticipated in  the  encounters  they  related.  Of  the  last  great  combat  in 
the  Narragansett  Country,  a  well-authenticated  account  has  been  pre- 
served. It  was  fought,  not  between  two  tribes  of  savages,  but  be- 
tween the  savages  on  the  one  side  and  the  English  on  the  other ;  and 
yet  the  atrocity  which  crowned  the  success  of  the  victorious  party  is 
much  more  horrible  than  any  that  was  commemorated  in  the  vague 
traditions  of  the  heathen  aborigines. 

On  the  nineteenth  day  of  December,  1675,  six  months  after 
Philip's  War  had  begun  its  course  of  devastation,  a  large  body  of  Nar- 
ragansett Indians  were  resting  in  fancied  security  within  the  walls  of 
their  great  stronghold.  The  fortress  was  situated  on  some  rising 
ground  in  the  centre  of  a  dense  swamp  in  what  is  now  the  town  of 
South  Kingstown.  The  position  would  have  been  deemed  an  unusu- 
ally strong  one,  even  by  those  deeply  skilled  in  the  art  of  civilized 
warfare.  To  the  Indians,  accustomed  only  to  the  hastily-contrived 
refuges  of  colonial  days,  it  seemed  impregnable.  An  impenetrable 
hedge  surrounded  it ;  it  was  fortified  by  palisade  and  breast-work 
constructed  with  unusual  art,  and  its  one  narrow  entrance  was  entirely 
commanded  by  the  loop-holes  of  a  neighboring  block-house.  Five 
hundred  wigwams  there  were  within  its  walls.  Into  them  almost  all 
the  grain  and  the  other  provisions  the  tribe  had  laid  up  for  the  winter 
had  been  carried.     Thus  the  ordinarily  thin  walls  had  been  made 


North  and  South  Kingstown, 


277 


The   Court    Hou.. 


thick  enough  not  only  to  furnish  a  perfect  protection  from  the 
piercing  winter  winds,  but  to  be  bullet-proof  as  well.  Not  alone 
was  the  fort  thronged  with  warriors.  The  wigwams  were  filled  with 
old  men,  with  w^omen  and  with  children,  w^ho  had  flocked  into  the 
place  as  to  the  one  stronghold  their  white  enemies  could  not  pos- 
sibly capture. 

The  force  that  was  to  attempt  its  reduction  was  made  up  of  troops 
from  Massachusetts,  Plymouth,  and  Connecticut ;  in  all,  thirteen  com- 
panies of  infantry  and  one  troop  of  cavalry.  Governor  Winslow,  of 
Plymouth,  was  its  commander.  Some  Rhode  Island  soldiers  accom- 
panied the  expedition  as  volunteers,  but  Rhode  Island,  as  a  colony, 
was  allowed  no  part  in  the  war.  "  To  the  confederated  Puritans, 
heathens  and  heretics  were  classed  together  as  beneath  the  regard  of 
Christian  fellowship." 

The  English  troops  reached  the  borders  of  the  swamp  at  about 
one  o'clock  in  the  afternoon,  fatigued  and  disheartened  by  a  long 
march  of  fifteen  miles  over  a  very  rough  countr3%  through  deep  drifts 
of  snow.  A  renegade  Indian  w\as  found  to  conduct  them  to  the  one 
entrance  to  the  fort.  At  the  first  attempt  to  cross  the  narrow  bridge, 
so  murderous  a  fire  was  poured  out  from  the  block-house  that  six 
captains  and  a  very  large  number  of  the  soldiers  sank  before  it.    But 


278  Picturesque  Rhode  Island. 

with  the  death  of  their  comrades,  weariness  for  a  time  fled  away 
from  the  limbs  of  the  survivors,  and  an  insane  desire  for  vengeance 
took  possession  of  every  heart.  "  Over  the  mangled  corpses  of  their 
comrades,  the  desperate  assai-lants  climbed  the  logs  and  breastworks 
to  effect  an  entrance.  The  struggle  on  either  side  was  one  for  life. 
Whichever  party  triumphed,  there  was  no  hope  of  quarter  to  the 
vanquished.  Christian  and  savage  fought  alike  with  the  fury  of 
fiends,  and  the  sanctity  of  a  New  England  Sabbath  was  broken  by 
the  yells  of  conflict,  the  roar  of  musketry,  the  clash  of  steel,  and  all 
the  demoniac  passions  which  make  a  battle-ground  an  earthly  hell. 
It  was  the  great  conflict  of  New  England.  A  century  was  to  roll  by 
before  the  sons  of  the  Puritans  were  again  to  witness  upon  their  own 
soil  so  fierce  a  struggle." 

For  three  hours  the  Indians  held  their  assailants  in  check.  At 
one  time,  indeed,  it  seemed  likely  that  they  would  succeed  in  beating 
them  back.  All  at  once  the  exulting  warriors  were  stricken  down 
by  a  withering  fire  poured  upon  them  from  behind.  Some  of  the 
Connecticut  troops,  crossing  over  the  frozen  trenches,  had  succeeded 
in  breaking  through  the  barricades  when  there  were  none  to  oppose 
them,  and  had  entered  the  fort. 

After  that  the  fight  was  quickly  turned  into  a  massacre.  The 
Indians  with  desperate  valor  continued  to  wage  the  combat,  but  their 
powder  was  long  since  exhausted,  and  even  their  stock  of  arrows 
began  to  fail  them.  At  last  the  torch  of  an  infuriated  soldier  was 
applied  to  one  of  the  wigwams.  Despitp  the  earnest  protest  of 
Capt.  Benjamin  Church,  whose  humane  spirit  revolted  at  the  need- 
less cruelty,  and  whose  military  forecast  plainly  discerned  the  exceed- 
ing folly  of  the  act,  a  hundred  others  were  immediately  set  on  fire,  and 
the  doom  of  the  Narragansetts  was  sealed.  When  the  curtain  of 
night  was  mercifully  drawn  over  the  scene  the  fort  was  only  a  smoul- 
dering ruin,  the  sickening  stench  from  hundreds  of  half-consumed 
corpses  marked  where  its  wigwams  had  been.  Almost  all  of  the 
women  and  children  perished  amid  those  terrible  flames.  Only  the 
more  active  of  the  Indians  escaped  to  the  neighboring  swamp,  and 
there,  in  the  bitter  cold  of  the  night  which  followed,  many  of  them 
lay  down  to  die  from  the  combined  effects  of  exposure  and  of  weari- 
ness. 

In  October,  1674,  just  before  King  Philip's  War,  and  a  generation 
after  Richard  Smith  had  taken  up  his  abode  within  its  borders.  King's 
Townc  was  incorporated.      It  thus  became  the  seventh  town  in  the 


North  and  South  Kingstown. 


279 


colony  of  Rhode  Island,  altiiough  in  point  of  fact  it  was  probably 
the  third  settlement.  In  1679  the  incorporation  was  reallirmed.  Dur- 
ing the  years  of  the  "  usurpation  "  of  Sir  Edmund  Andros,  the  name 
King's  Towne  was  changed  to  Rochester,  but  with  his  deposition 
the  old  name  was  resumed.  In  1722  the  town  was  divided  into 
North  and  South  Kingstown,  the  act  of  the  Legislature  providing 
that  North  Kingstown  should  be  considered  the  elder  town. 


The  Congregational  Church,   Peacedale. 

Four  years  later  the  title  to  the  Narragansett  Country,  which  had 
been  so  long  held  in  dispute,  was  finally  confirmed  by  the  king  to 
Rhode  Island,  and  from  that  time  forward,  until  the  breaking  out  of 
the  Revolutionary  War,  prosperity  attended  the  fortunes  of  its 
inhabitants. 

The  tract  of  country  Richard  Smith  secured  from  the  Indians 
was  almost  nine  miles  long  by  three  miles  wide,  large  enough,  one 
would  suppose,  to  comfort  him  for  the  loss  of  the  "  faire  posses- 
sions "  he  had  left  in  his  native  Gloster  Shire.  A  considerable  portion 
of  this  land  was  not  at  first  sqld  outright,  but  was  simply  leased  — 
for  a  thousand  years.  Before  the  lease  had  been  a  long  time  in 
force  Mr.  Smith  was  prudent  enough  to  secure  a  cjuit-claim  deed  to 
the  territory  it  covered. 

Like  the  first  settler  in  -the  fair  King's  Province,  his  successors  of 
a  century  later  were  also  men  of  great  wealth  and  large  landed  pos- 
sessions.     Farms  of  fifteen  hundred  acres  were  verv  common.     The 


28o  Picturesque  Rhode  Island. 


ordinary  farms  contained  three  hundred  acres.  "  They  were  im- 
proved by  slaves  and  laboring  Indians.  The  slaves  and  horses  were 
about  equal  in  number."  Douglass,  in  a  summary,  printed  in  1760, 
says  of  the  Rhode  Island  Colony  :  "  It  is  noted  for  its  dairies,  whence 
the  best  of  cheese  made  in  any  part  of  New  England,  is  called 
abroad  Rhode  Island  cheese.  The  most  considerable  farms  are  in 
the  Narragansett  Country.  Their  highest  dairy  of  one  farm,  com- 
nnmibus  annis,  milks  about  one  hundred  and  ten  cows,  cuts  two 
hundred  loads  of  hay,  makes  about  thirteen  thousand  pounds  of 
cheese,  besides  butter,  and  sells  oft'  considerable  in  calves  and  fatted 
bullocks." 

Very  charming  is  the  account  that  Updike,  in  his  Narragansett 
Church,  gives  of  those  halcyon  days  :      "  Ancient  Narragansett  was 
distinguished  for  its  frank  and  generous  hospitahty.     Strangers  and 
travehng  gentlemen  were  always  received  and  entertained  as  guests. 
If  not  acquainted  with  some  family,  they  were  introduced  by  letter, 
and  an  acquaintance  with  one  family  of  respectability  was  an  intro- 
duction to  all  their  friends.     Public  houses  for  the  entertainment  of 
strangers  were  rare."      The    landed   aristocracy    showed   a  proper 
sense  of  the  value  of  educadon.     For  the  instruction  of  their  children 
the  very  best  tutors   possible  were   employed.       In  the   families   of 
AlHson,  the  learned  Irish  clergyman,  of  Dr.  McSparran,  of  Wick- 
ford,  and  of  Dr.   Checkley,  the  minister   at  Providence  (and  an  Ox- 
ford  graduate),  many  of  the  sons  of  Narragansett  were   educated. 
"Festivity  was  the  natural  outcome  of  a  hfe  of  wealth  and  leisure. 
Excursions   to   Hartford,  to  luxuriate  on   bloated  salmon,  were  the 
annual  indulgencies  of  May.     Pace  races  on  the  beach,  for  the  prize 
of  a  silver  tankard,  and  roasts  of  shelled  and  scaled  fish  were  the  social 
indulgencies  of  summer.    When  autumn  arrived  the  corn-huskingies- 
ttvals  commenced.    Large  numbers  would  be  gathered  of  both  sexes  ; 
expensive  entertainments  prepared,  and  after  the  repast  the  recreation 
of  dancing  commenced     .     .     .     the  gentlemen  in  their  scarlet  cloaks 
and  swords,  with  laced  ruffles  over  their   hands,  hair  turned  back 
from  the  forehead  and  curled  and  frizzled,  clubbed  or  queued  behind, 
highly  powdered  and  pomatumed,  small-clothes,  silk  stockings,  and 
shoes  ornamented  with  brilliant  buckles  ;  and  ladies  dressed  in  brocade, 
cushioned  head-dresses,  and  high-heeled  shoes,  performed  the  formal 
minuet,  with  its  thirty-six  different  positions  and  changes     ...    At 
Christmas  commenced  the  Holy  days.     The  work  of  the  season  was 
completed  and  done  up,  and  the  twelve  days  were  generally  devoted 


North  and  South  Kingstown. 


281 


to  festive  associations.  Every  gentleman  of  estate  had  his  circle  of 
connections,  friends,  and  acquaintances,  and  they  were  invited  from 
one  plantation  to  another.  Every  member  of  the  fi^mily  had  his 
particular  horse  and  servant,  and  they  rarely  rode  unattended  by  their 


A   Bit  of   Wickford. 


servant,  to  open  i^ates  and  to  take  charge  of  the  horse.  Carriages 
were  unknown  .  .  .  The  fox-chase,  with  hounds  and  horns, 
fishing  and  fowling,  were  objects  of  enchanting  recreation.  Such 
were  the  amusements,  pastimes,  festivities  and  galas  of  Ancient  Nar- 
ragansett." 

A  very  easy  life  the  slaves  of  Narragansett  led  in  those  days. 
They  assumed  among  themselves  the  power  and  the  rank  of  their  mas- 
ters, and  many  of  their  amusements  were  borrowed  from  the  domi- 
nant race.  Every  year,  on  the  third  Saturday  in  June,  they  elected  a 
governor,  and  the  electioneering  expenses  were  comparatively  more 
expensive  than  those  of  the  gubernatorial  elections  in  Rhode  Island 
of  to-day  are  supposed  to  be.  The  masters  of  the  respective  candi- 
dates paid  all  the  election  expenses.  It  is  told  of  the  late  E.  R. 
Potter  that  after  one  of  these  elections  he  summoned  his  servant,  the 
governor  for  that  year,  to  him  and  announced  that  one  of  the  two 
must  give  up  politics  or  both  would  be  ruined.  On  election-day  the 
horses  upon  the  plantations  were  all  surrendered  to  the  use  of  the 
colored  servants.  The  election  proper  commenced  at  ten  o'clock, 
though,  of  course,  many  weeks  before  had  been  devoted  to  election- 
eering {farmatccring,  i.  e.,  parlia-menteering,  the  negroes  called  it.) 
At  that  time  tables  would  be  spread  and  loaded  with  various  refresh- 
ments.     Of  these    viands    all    the    friends   of  the    candidates    were 


282  Picturesque  Rhode  Islajs'd. 

invited  to  partake,  and  at  one  o'clock  the  vote  was  taken.  The  friends 
of  the  respective  candidates  were  ranged  in  two  lines  under  the  direc- 
tion of  a  chief  marshal,  and  no  one  was  allowed  to  change  sides 
until  the  vote  was  counted.  Then  the  marshal  announced  the  result, 
and  proclaimed  the  victor  governor  for  the  3^ear.  A  "  treat,"  as  ex- 
tensive as  the  means  of  the  master  permitted,  followed  the  election. 
As  the  number  of  slaves  decreased  these  elections  became  more  and 
more  rare.     About  the  year  1800  they  ceased  to  be  held. 

A  century  and  a  half  ago  a  very  considerable  trade  was  carried 
on  between  the  planters  of  the  King's  Province  and  those  of  the 
West  India  Islands.  Great  numbers  of  a  famous  breed  of  horses, 
the  "  Narragansett  Pacers,"  were  exported  at  that  time.  Dr. 
McSparran,  in  his  America  Dissected,  termed  these  horses  "  the 
best  in  the  world."  "  I  have  often,"  said  he,  "  rode  fifty,  nay,  sixty 
miles  a  day,  even  here  in  New  England,  where  the  roads  are  rough, 
stony  and  uneven."  In  another  place  he  writes  :  "  I  have  seen 
some  of  them  pace  a  mile  in  little  more  than  two  minutes,  a  good 
deal  less  than  three."  The  motion  of  these  horses  is  described  as 
differing  from  all  others,  in  that  "  the  back-bone  moved  through  the 
air  in  a  straight  line,  without  inclining  the  rider  from  side  to  side 
as  the  common  racker  or  pacer  of  the  present  day."  The  pacers 
were  of  great  power  and  endurance,  although  small  in  size,  like  the 
mustangs  of  the  western  plains.  They  could  easily  perform  journeys 
of  one  hundred  miles  in  a  day,  if  .properly  cared  for.  Like  the 
mustangs,  they  were  of  Spanish  origin,  having  been  introduced  into 
Rhode  Island  from  Andalusia.  By  the  Narragansett  planters  they 
were  raised  in  great  numbers  for  the  Cuban  market.  One  gentleman 
raised  about  a  hundred  each  year  upon  his  estate,  and  often  sent  in 
one  season  two  cargoes  of  them  to  the  West  Indies.  The  breed  is 
now  extinct.  Before  the  Revolution,  the  pacers  became  so  much 
sought  after  in  Cuba,  that  all  the  better  animals  were  shipped  thither. 
Thus  it  happened  that  when  the  war  broke  out  only  inferior  horses 
were  left  upon  the  farms.  During  the  war  a  taste  sprang  up  for 
trotting-horses.  Most  of  the  great  landed  proprietors  were  ruined 
by  the  contest,  and  no  care  was  afterward  taken  to  restore  the  pacer 
to  the  place  he  had  once  held  in  the  popular  esteem. 

The  Dr.  McSparran  whose  name  has  been  several  times  men- 
tioned in  this  chapter,  was  an  Irishman,  born  of  Scotch  parents  in 
the  County  of  Derry.  He  came  to  America  in  June,  17 18,  as  a 
licentiate  of  the  Presbytery  in  Scodand.     Shortly  after  his  arrival  in 


North  and  South  Kingstown.  283 


Boston  he  went  to  Bristol  to  visit  one  of  his  relatives  who  was  re- 
siding in  that  town.  The  pulpit  of  the  Bristol  church  (Bristol  was 
then  a  town  of  Massachusetts,  and  its  church  was  of  the  '"standing 
order")  was  vacant  at  the  time,  and  in  it  the  young  Irisiiman  was 
invited  to  preach  upon  the  Sunday  following.  His  wonderful  oratory 
made  such  an  impression  upon  his  hearers  that  he  was  shortly  after- 
ward invited  to  settle  in  the  town  as  its  pastor.  This  invitation 
having  been  accepted,  a  dav  was  set  apart  for  his  ordination.  Mr. 
McSparran  was  not  destined  to  become  the  pastor  of  the  Bristol 
church.  Although  he  liad  been  in  America  but  a  short  time,  he 
had  yet  managed  to  draw  upon  himself  the  implacable  hatred  of  the 
Rev.  Dr.  Mather,  of  Boston.  No  sooner  had  he  accepted  the  call  to 
Bristol,  than  Dr.  Mather  wrote  to  the  people,  "by  no  means  to 
settle  him."  Very  soon  the  air  of  the  little  town  was  full  of  the  most 
scandalous  reports  concerning  the  pastor-elect. 

Never  since  that  time  have  the  people  of  Bristol  been  so  bitterly 
stirred  up.  Mr.-  McSparran  bravely  faced  his  accusers,  and  soon 
showed  that  he  was  innocent  of  the  charges  brought  against  him. 
A  second  day  was  set  apart  for  his  ordination,  and  a  second  time  Dr. 
Mather  interfered  to  prevent  it.  The  ferment  was  greater  than 
before,  and  its  result  is  a  curious  commentary  upon  the  times.  Tiie 
young  minister  offered  to  go  to  Ireland  to  procure  a  confirmation  of 
his  credentials,  the  genuineness  of  which  had  been  called  in  ques- 
tion. He  went,  but  he  never  come  back  to  the  Congregational 
Church.  Somewhat  less  than  a  year  from  that  time  he  was  admitted 
to  the  priesthood  by  the  Archbishop  of  Canterbury,  and  on  the  23d 
of  October,  1720,  he  was  commissioned  by  the  "  Society  for  the 
Propagation  of  the  Gospel  in  Foreign  Parts,"  its  missionary  "to  Nar- 
ragansett  in  New  England,  who  is  to  officiate  as  opportunity  shall 
offer,  at  Bristol,  Freetown,  Swansey,  and  Little  Compton,  where 
there  are  many  people,  members  of  the  Church  of  England,  destitute 
of  a  minister." 

The  life  of  Dr.  McSparran  in  Narragansett  furnished  the  best  pos- 
sible answer  to  the  accusations  that  had  been  brought  against  him 
in  Bristol.  Long  and  useful  it  was,  and  its  years  of  usefu-lness  were 
entirely  blameless.  Never  in  the  slightest  degree  was  the  good  name 
of  the  missionary  seared  by  any  breath  of  scandal.  With  his  change 
in  religious  belief  he  had  taken  away  from  Dr.  Mather  the  power  to 
influence  his  career  in  America,  and  the  stern  old  partisan  from  that 
time  forward  troubled  him  no  more.      Mr.  McSparran  continued  from 


284  Picturesque  Rhode  Island. 

1721  until  his  death  in  1757  to  be  the  missionary  of  the  "  Propaga- 
tion Society,"  and  the  rector  of  St.  Paul's  Church,  Narragansett. 
In  1 73 1  he  received  the  degree  of  Doctor  of  Sacred  Theology  from 
the  University  of  Oxford,  an  honor  more  unusual  in  those  days  than 
at  present.  In  1868,  by  authority  of  the  diocese  of  Rhode  Island,  a 
monument  was  erected  to  his  memory  in  the  old  church-yard  of 
North  Kingstown.  His  portrait  is  still  preserved  in  the  cabinet  of 
the  Rhode  Island  Historical  Society. 

The  old  church  in  which  Dr.  McSparran  officiated  for  so  many 
years  was,  in  1800,  removed  from  the  spot  upon  which  it  was  erected 
(in  1707),  and  carried  to  Wickford,  then  a  large  and  prosperous 
village.  In  1847  it  had  become  unfit  for  further  use,  and  was  conse- 
quently abandoned.  Battered  by  the  storms  of  more  than  a  century 
and  a  half,  and  shorn  of  its  olden  comeliness,  it  is  yet  standing,  the 
oldest  Episcopal  church  in  New  England.  Sometimes,  in  the  plea- 
sant days  of  summer,  the  doors  of  the  old  building  are  opened,  and 
the  people  of  the  parish  again  assemble  to  worship  within  it ;  but  the 
quaint  structure,  with  its  old-fashioned  arrangement  of  pulpit,  pews, 
and  gallery,  belongs  to  the  past  and  not  to  the  present,  and  it  seems 
almost  a  desecration  to  expose  the  aged  walls,  that  are  hallowed  by 
so  many  precious  associations,  to  the  carelessly-curious  gaze  of  a 
nineteenth  century  congregation. 

The  story  of  the  "Unfortunate  Hannah  Robinson"  was  one  very 
famihar  to  the  people  of  Narragansett  half  a  century  ago.  She  was 
the  most  celebrated  beauty  of  her  day  ;  as  gende  and  as  accomplished 
as  she  was  beautiful,  her  praises  were  daily  upon  the  lips  of  all  who 
knew  her.  A  young  gentleman  of  Newport  with  whom  she  had 
been  acquainted  from  childhood,  and  who  was  in  every  way  worthy  of 
her  love,  became  greatly  attached  to  her.  His  affection  was  recip- 
rocated, but  from  some  unknown  reason  the  father  of  the  young  lady 
refused  his  consent  to  their  marriage.  Mr.  Robinson  was  harsh,  and 
stern,  and  unyielding.  When  he  had  once  made  up  his  mind  respect- 
ing his  course  of  conduct  neither  entreaties  nor  arguments  could 
move  him  from  it  in  the  slightest  degree.  He  adopted  the  most  vio- 
lent and  unreasonable  measures  to  prevent  the,  to  him,  hateful  union. 
The  conduct  of  his  daughter  was  "  constantly  subjected  to  the  strict- 
est scrutiny  ;  if  she  walked  her  movements  were  watched ;  if  she 
rode  a  servant  was  ordered  to  be  in  constant  attendance  ;  if  a  visit 
was  contemplated,  he  immediately  suspected  it  was  only  a  pretence 
for  an   arranged  interview  ;   and  even  after   departure,   if  the  most 


North  and  South  Kingstown. 


285 


ss-ST'^— =^^ 


The  Site  of  the  Old   Swamp   Fort,   South  Kingstown. 

trilling  circumstance  gave  color  to  the  suspicion,  he  would  immedi- 
ately pursue  and  compel  her  to  return.  In  one  instance  she  left  home 
to  visit  her  aunt  at  New  London  ;  her  father  soon  afterwards  dis- 
covered from  his  windows  a  vessel  leaving  Newport  and  taking  a 
course  for  the  same  place.  Although  the  vessel  and  the  persons  on 
board  were  entirely  unknown  to  him,  his  jealousies  were  immediately 
aroused,  coni'ecturing  it  was  Mr.  Simons,  intending  to  fulfd  an  ar- 
rangement previously  made.  He  hastened  to  New  London,  arrived 
a  few  hours  only  after  his  daughter,  and  insisted  upon  her  immediate 
return." 

The  obstacles  Mr.  Robinson  threw  in  the  way  of  the  lovers  only 
served  to  strengthen  their  attachment  for  each  other.  His  daughter, 
though  entirely  unlike  him  in  other  respects,  yet  showed  his  steady 
determination  in  this,  the  great  crisis  of  her  life.  Her  maternal  uncle, 
sympathizing  with  her  in  her  misfortunes,  and  knowing  well  that  her 
resolution  could  not  be  broken  down  by  any  measures  of  her  father, 
however  tyrannical  they  might  be,  contrived  at  his  house  meetings 
between  the  young  lady  and  Mr.  Simons.  These  interviews  were 
fraught  with  exceeding  peril.  For  such  was  Mr.  Robinson's  ungov- 
ernable temper,  thai  he  would  undoubtedly   have  killed  the  man  to 


286  Picturesque  Rhode  Island. 


whom  his  daughter  was  so  deeply  attached,  had  he  discovered  them 
together. 

At  last  the  unhappy  maiden,  seeing  no  prospect  of  ever  reconcil- 
ing her  father  to  her  marriage,  consented  to  make  arrangements  for 
an  elopement.  "  Having  obtained  her  fathers  consent  to  visit  her 
Aunt  Updike,  near  Wickford,  she  left  home,  accompanied  by  the 
servant  who  usually  attended  her.  On  arriving  at  the  gate  that  led 
to  her  aunt's  house,  Mr.  Simons  was  in  waiting  with  a  carriage,  as 
had  been  previously  arranged,  and,  disregarding  the  expostulations 
of  the  servent,  who  feared  for  his  own  safety  should  he  return  with- 
out her,  she  entered  the  carriage,  and  that  evening  they  were 
married  in  Providence.  The  intelligence  of  the  elopement,  when 
communicated  to  Mr.  Robinson  by  the  servant,  roused  all  the  fury 
of  his  ire.  He  offered  a  reward  for  their  apprehension,  but  no  dis- 
covery could  be  made.  Every  friend  and  relative  became  accessory 
to  their  concealment.  Even  the  name  of  the  clergyman  who  per- 
formed the  nuptial  ceremony  could  never  be  ascertained." 

"But  the  anticipated  happiness  of  the  beautiful  and  ill-fated  lady 
was  destined  to  be  short  lived.  The  severity  with  which  she  had 
been  treated,  the  unkind  and  harassing  perplexities  she  had  endured, 
had  so  materially  affected  her  health  and  preyed  upon  her  constitu- 
tion, that  in  a  few  short  months  the  fairest  of  her  sex  exhibited  evi- 
dent symptoms  of  a  speedy  decHne.  At  the  urgent  solicitations  of  her 
mother,  Mr.  Robinson  finally  permitted  the  daughter  once  more  to 
return  ;  but  it  was  too  late  :  the  ceaseless  vigils  of  a  mother's  love 
could  not  restore  her  ;  and  in  a  few  short  weeks,  this  beautiful  and 
unfortunate  woman  —  the  victim  of  a  father's  relentless  obstinacy  — 
expired  in  the  arms  of  her  husband." 

An  English  embassador,  about  to  leave  his  native  country  upon  a 
foreign  journey,  called  one  day  at  the  ,studio  of  the  famous  painter, 
Benjamin  West.  "  I  am  going  abroad,"  said  he,  "and  wish  to  have 
my  portrait  painted  —  what  artist  would  you  recommend?" 

"Where  are  you  going?"  asked  Mr.  West.  "To  the  United 
States,"  was  the  answer.  "Then,  sir,"  said  Mr.  West,  with  great 
emphasis,  "you  will  find  there  the  best  portrait  painter  in  the  world, 
and  his  name  is  Gilbert  Stuart." 

Gilbert  Charles  Stuart  was  born  in  what  is  now  North  Kingstown, 
in  a  gambrel-roofed  house,  not  far  from  the  head  of  Pettiquamscutt 
River.  His  father,  Gilbert  Stuart,  was  a  Scotchman,  brought  over 
from  Glasgow  by  Dr.  Moffat,  to  build  a  snuff-mill  upon  his  mill 


North  and  South  Kingstown. 


287 


stream.  The  mill  which  the  fiither  built  was  th_e  first  of  its  kind  in 
New  England,  and  was  a  very  profitable  investment  tor  its  owner.  Gil- 
bert Charles  Stuart  was  the  younsrest  child  of  the  Scotch  millwright. 
Ilis  middle  name,  Charles,  was  due  to  the  Jacobite  principles  of  his 
sire.  Stuart  never  used  it  after  he  had  grown  to  manhood.  He  was 
about  thirteen  years  old  when  he  began  to  display  his  artistic  talents. 
Cosmo  Alexander,  a  Scotch  gendeman  who  was  ostensibly  a  painter, 
but  was  surmised  to  have  come  to  America  upon  a  political  mission. 


Hazard's    Castle,   Narragansett   Pier. 

was  his  first  instructor.  With  Mr.  Alexander  young  Stuart  made  a 
tour  of  the  Southern  Colonies,  and  also  went  to  Scotland.  He  after- 
ward studied  for  a  time  in  London  with  Benjamin  West,  the  great 
historical  painter  of  the  day.  The  earlier  years  of  his  life  as  an 
artist  were  years  of  struggle,  but  after  all  his  genius  was  not  long  in 
making  itself  felt. 

When  he  had  achieved  a  wonderful  reputation,  and  was  living  in 
a  style  of  unusual  splendor  in  Great  Britain,  lie  suddenly  refused 
any  new  engagements  in  England,  and  came  back  to  his  native 
country.  "  His  great  ambidon  was  to  paint  Washington  ;  it  overcame 
all  other  entreades,  and  seems  to  have  been  the  great  object  of  his 
mind."  One  of  his  best  portraits  of  the  great  President  hangs  to-day 
in  the  State  House  at  Newport. 


288  Picturesque  Rhode  Island. 

Mr.  Stuart  was  not  only  a  wonderful  artist,  but  a  man  of  varied 
accomplishments,  and  of  remarkable  conversational  powers.  When 
he  first  went  to  London,  his  unusual  musical  abilities  secured  for  him 
the  position  of  organist  in  one  of  the  churches,  and  the  means  of  pur- 
suing his  studies  as  a  painter.  The  anecdotes  that  have  been  pre- 
sented respecting  him  would  fill  many  pages. 

"  He  was  traveling  in  England  in  a  stage-coach  with  some  gen- 
tlemen who  were  strangers  to  him,  but  all  were  sociable  and  lively. 
The  party  stopped  to  dine  at  an  inn,  and  after  dinner,  the  conversa- 
tion being  animated  and  various,  Stuart  became  conspicuous  in  it, 
not  only  for  his  wit  and  humor,  but  for  his  correct  judgment,  rapid 
thought,  and  apt  phrases.  The  curiosity  of  his  companions  was 
aroused,  and  with  Yankee-like  inquisitiveness,  they  desired  to  know 
who  and  what  he  was. 

Mr.  Stuart,  with  a  grave  face  and  in  a  serious  tone  of  voice,  rephed 
that  he  sometimes  dressed  gentlemen's  and  ladies'  hair.  "  Oh  !  3^ou 
are  a  hairdresser,  then,"  returned  one  of  the  company,  with  a  some- 
what derogatory  stare.  "What !  do  I  look  like  a  barber?"  demanded 
the  incognito  artist,  sternly.  "  I  beg  your  pardon,  sir,"  replied  the 
subdued  cockney  ;  "  but  I  inferred  it  from  what  you  said.  If  I  mis- 
took you,  may  I  take  the  hberty  to  inquire  what  you  are,  then?" 

"  Why,  sometimes  I  brush  a  gentleman's  coat  or  hat,  and  adjust 
his  cravat."  "Oh  !  you  are  a  valet,  then,  to  some  nobleman."  "  A 
valet!"  retorted  Stuart,  with  mock  indignation;  "indeed,  sir,  I  am 
not.  I  am  not  a  servant.  To  be  sure  I  make  coats  and  waistcoats 
for  gentlemen."  "Ah!  you  are  a  tailor !"  "Tailor!  do  you  take 
me  for  a  tailor?  I'll  assure  you  I  never  handled  a  goose,  other  than 
a  roasted  one." 

By  this  time  the  joke  was  beginning  to  be  fully  appreciated,  and 
the  whole  company  were  in  a  roar  of  laughter.  "  What  in  the  world 
are  you,  then?"  demanded  another  gentleman,  taking  up  the  office  of 
interlocutor.  "  I  will  tell  you,"  said  Stuart,  with  great  apparent  sin- 
cerity ;  "  be  assured  all  I  have  told  you  is  strictly  true.  I  dress  hair, 
brush  hats  and  coats,  adjust  cravats,  and  make  coats,  waistcoats  and 
breeches,  and  likewise  boots  and  shoes,  at  your  service.'"  "  Oho,  a 
boot  and  shoe  maker,  after  all,"  contemptuously  returned  the  ques- 
tioner. "Guess  again,  gentlemen,"  continued  Stuart,  good  humor- 
edly.  "I  never  handled  boot  or  shoe  but  for  my  own  feet  or  legs; 
yet  all  I  have  told  you  is  true."  "  We  may  as  well  give  up  guessing ; 
it  is  of  no  use." 


North  and  Sorni   Kincjstown. 


289 


ite,    Narrapansett    Pier. 


The  fun-loving 
painter,  checking  his 
own  laughter,  which 
was  on  the  point  of 
bursting  forth,  and 
stimulatincr  a  fresh 
flow  of  spirits  by  a 
huge  pinch  of  snull". 
said,  gravely,  as  if 
bringing  the  matter 
to  a  satisfactory  con- 
clusion, "  Now,  gen- 
tlemen, I  will  not 
play  the  fool  with 
you  any  longer,  but 
will  tell  you,  upon 
mv  honor  as  a  gen- 
tleman, my  bona fdc 
profession.     I  get  my 

bread  by  making  faces."  He  then  screwed  up  his  countenance  and 
twisted  his  features  in  a  manner  the  most  skillful  clown  might  have 
envied.  When  the  loud  peals  of  laughter  had  subsided,  the  com- 
pany with  one  accord  declared  that  they  "  had  all  the  while  sus- 
pected that  the  gentleman  belonged  to  the  theatre  ;"  ''  they  all  knew 
he  must  be  a  comedian  by  profession."  But  when  Stuart  informed 
them  that  he  never  was  on  the  stage,  and  very  rarely  inside  of  a 
play-house,  their  chagrin  and  astonishment  equaled  their  previous 
merriment. 

•'  Gentlemen,"  said  Stuart  to  his  companions,  as  he  was  about  to 
leave  them,  "you  will  find  all  I  have  said  in  regard  to  my  various 
employments  is  comprised  in  these  few  words  :  I  am  a  portrait  painter. 
If  you  will  call  upon  me  at  York  Buildings,  London,  I  shall  be  ready 
and  willing  to  brush  you  a  coat  or  hat,  dress  your  hair  a  la  modc^ 
supply  you,  if  in  need,  with  a  wig  of  any  fashion  or  dimensions, 
accommodate  you  with  boots  or  shoes,  give  you  ruffles  or  cravats,  and 
make  faces  for  you." 

While  taking  a  parting  glass  at  the  inn,  he  was  asked  in  what 
part  of  England  he  was  born.  He  told  them  he  was  not  born  in 
England,  Scotland,  Ireland,  or  Wales.  "Where,  then?"  persisted 
the    English    Yankees.       "  I    was    born    in    Narragansett,"   replied 


290 


Picturesque  Rhode  Island. 


Bathing    Scene,    Narragansett    Pier 


Stuart.  "And 
where  is  that? " 
"  Six  miles  from 
Pottawoom,  and  ten 
from  Poppasquash, 
and  about  four  miles 
west  of  Conanicut, 
and  not  far  from  the 
spot  where  the  fam- 
ous battle  with  the 
warlike  Pequots  was 
fought,"  was  the  in- 
stant reply.  "  In 
what  part  of  the  East  Indies  is  that,  sir?  "  inquired  a  pompous  Eng- 
lishman. "  East  Indies,  my  dear  sir  I  It  is  in  the  State  of  Rhode 
Island,  between  Massachusetts  and  the  Connecticut  River."  And 
with  this  novel  lesson  in  geograph3s  Gilbert  Stuart  took  leave  of 
his  traveling  companions. 

Narragansett  Pier,  in  the  town  of  South  Kingstown,  has  within  a 
few  years  become  a  noted  summer  resort.  Tourists  sometimes  call 
it  "  a  city  of  hotels."  Many  of  its  buildings  are  large  and  commodi- 
ous structures,  furnished  with  "  all  the  modern  conveniences,"  and 
placed  in  positions  chosen  for  their  "  prospect  far  and  wide  over  the 
sea."  These  are  some  of  the  leading  hotels,  and  the  number  of 
guests  each  will  accommodate  :  The  Atwood  House,  James  A. 
Tucker,  proprietor,  150  guests;,  the  Revere  House,  James  H. 
Rodman,  125  guests  :  Adantic  House,  Abijah  Browning,  100  guests ; 
Massasoit  House,  N.  G.  Burr,  150  guests;  Elmwood  House, 
F.  P.  W.  Tefft,  125  guests;  Metatoxet  House,  J.  H.  Caswell,  100 
guests;  Narragansett  House,  E.  S.  Taylor,  50  guests.  Besides 
these  are  the  Mount  Hope  House,  the  Condnental  Hotel,  the 
Mathewson  House,  the  Delevan  House,  the  Hotel  Columbus,  the 
Tower  Hill  House,  the  Ocean  House,  the  Sea  View  House,  the 
Congdon  House,  and  the  Whalley  House. 

Jamestown.  —  In  the  days  before  any  Europeans  had  settled 
upon  the  shores  of  Narragansett  Bay,  Canonicus,  the  great  sachem 
of  the  Narragansetts,  had  his  royal  residence  on  the  island  of  Conan- 
icut. He  ruled  over  all  the  tribes  from  the  borders  of  Connecticut  to 
Cape  Cod,  and  was  "  a  wise  and  peaceful  prince,  aiming  to  advance 


Jamestown. 


2QI 


9^ 


his  race  in  the  arts  of  civilized  life,  even  before  any  contact  with  the 
English  had  made  them  acquainted  with  the  means  and  appliances 
of  civilization.  When  conquest  had  secured  his  kingdom,  war  was 
laid  aside  ;  commerce  and  manufactures — limited  and  rude  to  be  sure 
—  were  encouraged,  and  the  Narragansetts  became  rich  as  well  as 
strong,  spreading  the  knowledge  of  their  language  and  the  customs  of 
their  tribe  over  a  region  of  more  than  six  hundred  miles  in  extent." 
In  his  dominions  the  settlers  of  Rhode  Island  found  a  refuge  from  the 
oppression  of  their  own  countrymen.  By  the  Indian  chief  they 
were  always  treated  with  kindness,  and  from  him  they  received  many 
grants  of  land.  The  jealousy  engendered  among  the  other  colonies 
by  his  treatment  of  tiiese  "  exiles  for  conscience  sake,""  was  a  princi- 


Narragansett    Pier. 


pal  cause  of  the  subsequent  misfortunes  of  his  family  and  nation. 
He  died  in  June,  1647. 

When  Aquidneck  was  purchased  from  the  Indians,  only  theg-rass 
upon  the  neighboring  islands  was  conveyed  in  the  deed ;  the  lau(i 
still  remained  the  property  of  the  Indian  tribe.  In  January,  1654-5, 
the  town  of  Portsmouth  appointed  a  committee  to  treat  with  New- 
port as  to  the  joint  purchase  of  the  islands.  Two  years  later  Conan- 
icut  Island  was  purchased  from  the  Indians  by  William  Coddington 
and  Benedict  Arnold,  Jr.  In  a  short  time  others  became  associated 
with  these  as  proprietors,  and  sturdy  farmers,  many  of  whose  descen- 
dants still  occupy  the  land,  established  their  homes  upon  the  island. 

November  4,  1678,  Conanicut  was  incorporated  as  a  township 
under  the  name  of  Jamestown,  so  called  in  honor  of  King  James  I. 
The  commission  William  Coddington  obtained  from  the  English  Par- 


292 


Picturesque  Rhode  Island. 


Indian    Rock,    Narragansett    Pier. 


liament  in  165 1  gave 
him    authority   "to 
govern  the  islands  of 
Rhode  Island    and 
Conanicut  during  his 
life."      Towards    the 
close  of  King  Philip's 
War,  when  the  Indi- 
ans   were    becoming 
disheartened,     many 
of    them     went    to 
Conanicut  and  deliv- 
ered   themselves    up 
to  the  Rhode   Island 
authorities.       In    1704  the  whole  island  was  surveyed.     Highways 
were  laid  out  upon   it,  and  the  boundaries  of  the   farms  were  more 
carefully  defined  than  had  been  possible  under  the  rude  system  of 
surveving  which  had  prevailed  before  that  time. 

Conanicut  is  at  the  mouth  of  Narragansett  Bay.  It  lies  between 
the  island  of  Rhode  Island  and  the  townships  of  North  and  South 
Kingstown  on  the  main  land.  It  is  nine  miles  in  length  by  about  two 
m  breadth,  and  is  divided  into  two  unequal  parts  by  Mackerel  Cove. 
The  southern  portion,  which  is  much  smaller  than  the  other,  was 
thought  to  resemble  a  beaver,  and  from  that  fancy  its  northern  point 
was  called  Beaver  Head,  and  its  southern  Beaver  Tail.  The  light- 
house on  this  last  named  point  was  first  established  in  1749.  The 
physical  features  of  Conanicut  are  similar  to  those  of  the  adjacent 
main  land.  Owing  to  the  limited  extent  of  the  island,  there  are  no 
streams  to  furnish  water-power,  consequently  in  early  days  there 
were  no  attempts  at  manufactures.  Power  for  the  working  of  grist- 
mills has  been  obtained  by  means  of  wind-mills.  The  principal 
occupation  of  the  inhabitants  is  agriculture.  Sheep-farming^  is  car- 
ried on  to  some  extent. 

In  the  Revolutionary  War  the  inhabitants  suffered  greatly.  Dur- 
ing the  years  of  the  British  occupation  of  Newport  they  were  contin- 
ually exposed  to  the  ravages  of  the  English  forces.  Some  continental 
troops  were  stationed  for  a  time  upon  the  island.  By  reason  of  their 
batteries  they  became  so  annoying  to  the  enemy's  vessels  in  the  bay, 
that  it  became  absolutely  necessary  to  dislodge  them.  "  A  British 
fore-  landed  on  Conanicut  at  the  east  ferry,  and  crossing  the  island. 


Jamestown 


^93 


burned  all  the  dwel- 
lings near  the  road, 
twelve  in  number, 
besides  barns,  plun- 
dering the  inhabitants, 
and  carrying  off  a 
quantity  of  live  stock." 
After  this  raid  many 
of  the  inhabitants  tied 
to  the  main  land,  and 
did  not  return  inUil 
the  restoration  of 
peace.  In  June, 1775, 
a  packet  was  detained 
by  the  British  frigate 
"Rose,"   and  the  de-  h-^,t  uun^p^n^, 

mand  of  the   colonial 

authorities  for  its  restoration  was  not  only  disregarded,  but  the  ves- 
sel was  converted  into  a  tender  for  the  frigate.  Capt.  Abraham 
Whipple,  in  command  of  a  war  sloop  in  the  service  of  the  colony, 
captured  this  tender  after  a  sharp  fight.  The  action  occurred  off 
the  Conanicut  shore,  and  is  said  to  have  been  the  first  naval  fight 
of  the  Revolutionary  War. 

Ferries  were  early  established  between  Conanicut  and  the  main 
land  on  one  side  and  the  island  of  Rhode  Island  on  the  other.  In 
the  vear  1700  they  were  both  in  operation,  and  in  succeeding  years 
additional  accommodations  were  from  time  to  time  provided  for  the 
increasing  travel.  The  colony  purchased  all  the  ferries  in  1748,  but 
two  years  afterwards  ordered  them  to  be  sold  at  public  auction.  In 
1872    the    steam    ferry    now  in    operation  was  established    between 

Newport  and  Jamestown. 
The  "west  ferry,"  from 
Conanicut  to  South  Kings- 
town, is  run  only  as  pas- 
sengers and  business  re- 
quire. At  the  east  landing 
is  a  little  hamlet ;  from  it 
the  principal  thoroughfare 
of  the  island  extends  to  the 
west     landing.       Near    the 


Point  Judith. 


294  Picturesque  Rhode  Island. 


east  landing  once  stood  a  brick  building  that  was  occasionally  used 
for  a  dancing-hall.  A  terrible  accident  prevented  the  last  dance 
arranged  to  take  place  within  its  walls.  Just  at  nightfall  the  party 
of  gay  young  people  left  Newport  in  a  sail-boat.  The  wind  was 
rising  at  the  time,  but  they  paid  no  heed  to  it.  When  they  were  still 
at  a  considerable  distance  from  the  landing  a  tremendous  gale  was 
sweeping  over  the  waters.  A  great  wave  swamped  the  boat,  and 
all  on  board  were  drowned.  Into  the  hall  that  was  to  have  resounded 
with  the  tread  of  their  flying  feet,  slowly  the  pitying  islanders  bore 
the  dripping  corpses.  No  more  parties  were  afterwards  held 
within  the  building. 

Jamestown  also  includes  Dutch  and  Gould  Islands.  These  are 
both  quite  small.  The  first  is  situated  about  midway  between  Conan- 
icut  and  the  main  land ;  its  area  is  about  three  hundred  acres. 
Before  settlements  were  made  at  Providence  or  Newport  it  was  used 
as  a  trading-station  by  the  Dutch.  It  was  purchased  from  the  Indians 
in  1658,  and  for  many  years  was  a  common  pasturage  for  sheep  and 
cattle.  In  1864  it  came  into  the  possession  of  the  United  States  gov- 
ernment. At  that  time  the  erection  of  extensive  batteries  designed  to 
command  the  entrance  to  the  bay  were  begun.  The  fortifications 
have  not  yet  been  completed.  During  the  War  of  the  Rebellion  it 
was  the  rendezvous  of  the  Fourteenth  Regiment,  Rhode  Island  Heavy 
Artillery.  Dutch  Island  Harbor  is  one  of  the  best  havens  of  refuge 
on  the  New  England  coast.  Hundreds  of  vessels  flee  to  it  each  month 
for  shelter.  Gould  Island,  on  the  east  side  of  Conanicut,  is  about 
one  hundred  acres  in  extent,  and  is  the  property  of  the  New  York 
Yacht  Club. 

Of  late  years  Conanicut  Island  has  begun  to  assume  some  impor- 
tance as  a  summer  resort.  Near  the  east  ferry-landing  many  summer 
residences  have  been  built,  and  considerable  land  in  its  neighbor- 
hood has  been  laid  out  in  lots  suitable  for  building  purposes.  A  tract 
of  more  than  five  hundred  acres  of  land  in  the  northern  part  of  the 
island,  now  known  as  Conanicut  Park,  was  purchased  in  1873  by 
the  Conanicut  Park  Association,  The  grounds  have  been  tastefully 
laid  out.  During  the  summer  the  steamers  of  the  Continental  Steam- 
boat Company  and  the  boat  that  runs  from  Wickford,  touch  at  the 
park  on  their  passages  to  and  from  Newport.  From  this  park  many 
beautiful  views  of  the  bay  are  obtained. 

The  following  notice  is  taken  from  the  Providence  Daily  Tribune 
of  Jan.    10,   1857  :   "James  Howland,  the  last  of  the  Rhode  Island 


Block  Island. 


-95 


Block  Island   Light 


slaves,  died  at  the 
residence  of  John 
Howland,  James- 
town, R.  I.,  on  the 
3d  inst.,  at  the  ripe 
old  affe  of  one  hun- 
dred  years.  He  had 
always  been  a  faith- 
ful servant  in  the 
Howland  family.  Up 
to  the  time  of  liis 
death  he  retained  all 
his  faculties  unim- 
paired, and  on  the 
night  of  Jan.  2  at- 
tended to  his  usual  duties  about  the  house.  On  the  morning  of  the 
3d  he  rose,  dressed  himself,  and  was  about  to  ascend  the  stairs  from 
his  chamber,  when  he  fainted,  and  expired  in  a  few  moments." 

The  first  religious  services  held  on  Conanicut  were  conducted  by 
members  of  the  Society  of  Friends.  Atone  time  the  Qi.iakers  were 
very  numerous.  At  present  the  houses  of  worship  on  the  island  are 
one  Friends' meeting-house,  two  Baptist  meeting-houses,  and  one  Epis- 
copal chapel.  This  last  is  an  outlying  mission  of  one  of  the  New- 
port churches. 

"  Circled  by  waters  that  never  freeze, 
Beaten  by  billows  and  swept  by  breeze, 
Lieththe  Island  of  Manisses." 

Block  Island,  by  which  unromantic  name  the  "  Island  of  Man- 
isses "  is  know^n  to  us,  lies  thirty  miles  southwest  of  Newport,  and 
twelve  miles  from  the  nearest  main  land,  a  solitary  island  exposed  to 
the  full  fury  of  the  storms  which  sweep  the  Atlantic.  Its  general 
shape  is  that  of  a  triangle,  its  greatest  length  being  from  northwest 
to  southeast.  There  are  three  very  noticeable  features  about  tliis 
island,  —  its  absolute  destitution  of  forest  trees,  its  hills,  and  its 
ponds.  "  Lonely  and  windshorn,  woodforsaken,"  —  that  is  just  the 
impression  which  one  receives  upon  seeing  it,  an  impression  which 
is  not  in  the  least  affected  by  the  few  frAiit  and  siiade  trees  around 
the  cottages  near  the  landing,  all  of  which  may  be  seen  at  a  single 
glance.  It  is  customary  to  say  in  explanation  of  this  barrenness, 
that  trees  will  not  grow  here  on  account  of  the  bleak  winds  from  the 


296  Picturesque  Rhode  Island. 


ocean.  But  Verrazani,  who  first  reported  the  existence  of  the 
island  in  1524,  explicitly  states  that  it  was  "  covered  with  trees." 
The  Rev.  Samuel  Niles,  in  an  account  of  a  sea-fight  which  took 
place  off  its  shore  in  1689,  more  than  one  hundred  and  fifty  years 
later,  says  that  the  artillery  echoed  from  the  woods  on  shore.  Besides 
these  statements,  there  is  ample  historical  evidence  that  for  years 
after  its  first  settlement,  there  was  an  abundance  of  timber  upon  the 
island.  Of  course,  some  of  it  was  used  for  fuel  and  for  building  pur- 
poses, but  there  has  never  been  any  adequate  explanation  of  the  total 
extinction  of  the  primeval  forest.  In  1874,  the  oldest  inhabitants 
had  no  personal  knowledge  of  the  previous  existence  of  forest  trees 
upon  the  island. 

Verrazani  reported  that  the  island  was  "full  of  hills."  Of  its 
remarkable  surface,  the  Rev.  S.  T.  Livermore  gives  the  following 
graphic  description.  "  No  person  ever  saw  the  surface  of  the  ocean 
more  uneven  than  is  the  land  of  Block  Island,  excepdng  those  who 
witnessed  the  flood  in  the  days  of  Noah.  .  .  .  Imagine  several 
tidal  waves  moving  in  nearly  the  same  direction,  from  west  to  east, 
each  rising  about  one  hundred  and  fifty  feet  above  the  level  of  the 
sea,  and  their  bases  nearly  touching  each  other ;  and  on  the  tops, 
sides  and  intervals  of  these,  '  chop  waves  '  in  every  conceivable 
shape  and  position,  covering  completely  the  tidal  waves  ;  and  when 
the  reader  has  done  this,  he  has  an  outline  of  the  view  under  the 
observer's  eye  who  stands  in  a  good  light  upon  Beacon  Hill." 

Nestled  among  these  hills  are  numberless  ponds,  varying  in  size 
from  the  little  ones  in  which  the  farmers'  geese  and  ducks  swim,  to 
the  "  Great  Pond"  which  covers  a  thousand  acres.  It  is  on  the  west 
side  of  the  island  and  is  separated  from  the  sea  by  a  narrow  strip  of 
land.  It  is  fresh,  although  undoubtedly  fed  by  the  sea,  which,  ac- 
cording to  Lord  Bacon,  "passing  or  straining  through  the  sands 
leaveth  its  saltness."  The  highest  and  most  beautiful  of  all  the  ponds 
is  "  Sands'  Pond."  It  is  situated  more  than  one  hundred  feet  above 
the  sea,  whose  nearest  point  is  more  than  a  mile  distant.  The  inter- 
est excited  by  its  natural  beauty  is  enhanced  by  the  mysterious  man- 
ner in  which  it  is  fed.  No  streams  of  any  account  flow  into  it,  and 
yet,  although  having  but  few  feet  of  average  depth,  it  is  never  dry. 
The  nature  of  the  soil  forbids  the  suggesdon  that  it  is  fed  from  the 
higher  land  at  the  southeast,  and  there  are  no  signs  of  volcanic  ori- 
gin. Its  waters  are  very  clear,  and  fish  are  to  be  found  in  them. 
The  whole  number  of  ponds  on  the  island  which  do  not  become  dry 
once  in  ten  years  is  not  less  than  a  hundred. 


Block  Island.  297 


The  aborigines  of  the  ishind  were  the  Manisses,  who,  notwith- 
standing their  "  soft-flowing''  name,  were  a  particularly  warlike  and 
turbulent  tribe.  They  were  constantly  at  odds  with  the  neighboring 
tribes  on  the  main  land  and  Long  Island.  An  incident  of  one  of  their 
wars  with  the  Mohegans  illustrates  their  ferocity  and  utter  want  of 
all  soft  feelings.  They  were  on  their  way  to  the  country  of  the  Mo- 
hegans, some  forty  miles  away.  When  but  a  short  distance  from 
their  own  shores,  the  moonlight  revealed  to  them  the  canoes  of  the 
Moheo-ans,  on  their  silent  way  to  the  shores  of  Manisses.  Hastily 
turning  back,  they  escaped  unseen,  and  landing,  hauled  up  their 
canoes  on  the  shore,  and  concealed  themselves  until  the  enemy  had 
landed.  Hastening  down  to  the  shore,  they  waylaid  the  latter,  stove 
their  canoes  into  pieces,  and  drove  them  to  the  opposite  side  ot  the 
island,  until  they  came  to  some  clifls  which  overhung  a  perpendicu- 
lar height  of  nearly  two  hundred  feet.  Here,  penned  in  with  the 
pitiless  sea  before,  and  the  still  more  pitiless  enemy  behind,  without 
shelter,  food,  or  water,  they  all  perished  miserably. 

That  the  Manisses  did  not  make  themselves  particularly  trouble- 
some to  the  first  settlers,  whom  they  far  outnumbered  and  whom  they 
could  easily  have  destroyed  at  one  fell  swoop,  was  probably  owing 
to  the  fact  that  at  almost  their  first  intercourse  with  the  English,  they 
were  taught  to  stand  in  wholesome  fear  of  the  firearms,  which,  even 
when  few  in  number,  had  proved  so  much  more  destructive  than  the 
multitude  of  their  own  arrows.     In  the  year  1636,  Captain  Oldham, 
of  Boston,  visited  the  island  on  a  friendly  trading  voyage.      The 
contents  of  his  boat  tempted  the  cupidity  of  the  natives,  who  deter- 
mined to  get  possession  of  them.      "  Having  laid  the  plot,  into  the  boat 
they  came  to  trade,  as  they  pretended ;  watching  their  opportunities, 
knocked  him  on  the  head  and   martyred    him    most    barbarously." 
When  this  became  known  in  Boston,  Governor  Vane  sent  a  hundred 
men    under  Capt.  John  Endicott,  Captain   Underbill  and  others,  to 
mete   out    justice  to  them.       They  killed  several  of  the    Manisses, 
burned  a  good  deal  of  property,  and  "  peaseably  departed,"  carrying 
with    them    such    spoils  as   "well  wrought  mats"  and   "delightful 
baskets."      This  expedition  only   punished  the   islanders.      It  by  no 
means  conquered    them.      A    second    attack,    by  a   company    com- 
manded by  Israel  Stoughton,  so  far  reduced  them  that  Miantonomi, 
grand  sachem   of  the   Narragansetts,   to  whom  the   Manisses  were 
Tributary,  acknowledged  the  claim  of  Massachusetts  to  the  island  by 
right   of  conquest.       In    1658  it  was  transferred  to  John  Endicott, 


298  Picturesque  Rhode  Island. 

Richard  Bellingham,  Daniel  Denison,  and  William  Hawthorne,  who 
in  1660  sold  it  to  a  company  of  sixteen  men.  In  the  year  1672  it  was 
incorporated  as  a  town  of  Rhode  Island,  under  the  name  of  New 
Shoreham,  a  name  which  has  not  wholly  succeeded  in  displacing 
that  of  its  sturdy  Dutch  explorer,  Adrian  Block. 

During  the  terrible  French  and  Indian  Wars,  as  also  during  the 
Revolution,  its  exposed  condition  laid  it  open  to  constant  attacks  and 
depredations.  The  inhabitants  could  expect  but  little  aid  from  the 
settlers  on  the  main  land,  who  had  all  they  could  do  to  defend  them- 
selves. But  they  fought  their  own  battles  bravely,  and  kept  up  stout 
hearts  to  the  end.  When  the  War  of  181 2  broke  out,  Block  Island 
was  proclaimed  neutral.  So  well  was  this  proclamation  respected  by 
the  English,  that  the  island  did  not  suffer  at  all  during  the  war. 
These  were,  in  fact,  halcyon  days  for  the  islanders,  for  not  only 
were  they  exempt  from  military  duty  and  taxes,  but  they  also  found 
a  ready  market  for  their  produce  on  the  English  men-of-war  which 
frequently  anchored  off  their  shores. 

For  the  last  twenty  years  the  "  Isle  of  the  Manisses  "  has  been 
steadily  rising  into  prominence  as  a  summer  resort.  Since  the  erec- 
tion of  the  government  break-water,  and  the  more  frequent  trips  of 
steamboats  consequent  thereupon,  several  excellent  hotels  have  been 
built,  and  the  island  has  each  season  been  crowded  with  summer 
visitors.  The  principal  hotels  are  the  Ocean  View  Hotel,  Nicholas 
Ball,  proprietor  (accommodations  for  350  guests),  and  the  Spring 
House,  B.  B.  Mitchell,  proprietor  (150  guests)  ;  among  the  other 
hotels  are  the  Highland  House ;  the  United  States  Hotel ;  the  Con- 
necticut House ;  the  Woonsocket  House ;  the  Central  Hotel ;  the 
Bellevue  House,  and  the  Sea  Side  House. 

Of  the  traditions  which  hang  about  this  island,  none  is  more  fas- 
cinating, and  at  the  same  time  more  unreliable  in  its  details,  than  that 
of  the  "  Palatine."  The  versions  of  it  are  numerous,  but  the  one  most 
commonly  received  is  that  which  Whittier  has  used  as  the  foun- 
dation of  his  poem,  the  "Wreck  of  the  Palatine."  According  to  this 
version,  the  "  Palatine,"  a  Dutch  trading-vessel,  lured  by  false  lights 
from  her  course,  was  driven  ashore  near  Sandy  Point  during  the 
equinoctial.  The  wreckers  descended  upon  her,  and  after  barba- 
rously murdering  all  on  board,  despoiled  her,  set  her  on  fire,  and 
watched  her  burn  to  the  water's  edge.  Retributi6n  soon  overtook 
them,  however,  in  the  shape  of  a  phantom  ship  which  from  time  to 
time  blazed  up   and  burned  itself  out  before  their  frightened  gaze. 


Block  Island. 


299 


This  tradition  places  the  early  inhabi- 
tants in  a  very  repulsive  light,  and 
the  historian  of  the  island  has  been  at 
great  pains  to  compare  the  different 
forms  which  it  takes,  and  to  sift  all 
the  attainable  evidence  in  order  to 
vindicate  them  from  its  unjust  asper- 
sions. The  result  of  his  researches 
is  as  follows  : 

About    one     hundred     and    thirty 
years   ago,  the   Dutch  trading-vessel 
"  Palatine  "was  either  cast  ashore,  or 
else  anchored  here.     She  put  ashore 
several    sick    and  dying   passengers. 
Most  of  these  died,  and  were  buried 
on  the  land  now  owned  by  Mr.  Jere-    z 
miah  C.  Rose,  where  the  "Palatine    ^ 
graves"  are  still  to  be  seen.    The  ves-    I 
sel  was  neither  wrecked  nor  burned,     I 
but  in  due  time  sailed  away  to  other    „ 
shores,  and,  according  to  the  records    5- 
of  the  Dutch  Trading  Company,  was    s- 
WTecked  years  after,  in  1784,  in  the    ^ 
Bay  of  Bengal.     Among  the  passen- 
gers left  on  the  island  was  a  low-bred 
woman  called  Kattern.     She    recov- 
ered  and  married  a  negro.     She  en- 
joyed the  reputation  of  a  witch   and 
fortune-teller.      Ignorant  and  vindic- 
tive, she  gained  considerable  ascen- 
denc}'  over  others  by  fostering  their 
superstitious  fears.     It  is  to  her  that 
the  story  of  the  burning  of  the  "  Pala- 
tine "  is  to  be  traced,  she  having  taken 
this  childish  way  of  revenging  herself 
upon  its  captain  for  leaving  her  upon 
this  foreign  shore.      Undoubtedly  the 
phenomenon  which  came  to  be  known 
as  the  "Palatine  Light"  gave  color  to  the  story,     ^fhat  such  a  light 
has  been  seen  is  too  well  established  to  admit  of  doubt.    Whether  it 


300  Picturesque  Rhode  Island. 

suggested  the  tradition,  or  whether  the  tradition  already  in  existence 
gained  credence  because  of  the  light,  no  one  can  say.  But  it  is 
quite  certain  that  an  unexplained  light  has  been  seen  at  various 
times  off  Sandy  Point,  where  the  vessel  is  said  to  have  gone  ashore, 
and  been  seen,  not  only  by  the  islanders,  but  by  credible  witnesses 
on  the  main  land.  A  suggestion  that  it  is  caused  by  an  inflammable 
gas  rising  through  the  water,  is  the  nearest  approach  to  an  explana- 
tion of  its  origin  which  has  ever  been  attempted.  Dr.  Aaron  C. 
Willey,  in  a  letter  to  Dr.  Samuel  Mitchell,  of  New  York  City,  gives 
a  detailed  account  of  this  remarkable  apparition,  which  he  witnessed 
twice  during  a  residence  of  several  years  upon  the  island.  His 
residence  was  six  miles  from  the  shore,  and  shut  in  from  it  by 
high  land.  The  sight  was  so  familiar  to  the  dwellers  upon  the  shore, 
that  they  never  thought  of  notifying  those  inland  of  its  appearance. 
These  are  the  reasons  why  he  saw  it  but  twice.     He  says  : 

"■This  curious  irradiative  rises  from  the  ocean  near  the  northern 
point  of  the  island.  Its  appearance  is  nothing  diflerent  from  a  blaze 
of  tire.  Whether  it  actually  touches  the  water  or  only  hovers  over 
it  is  uncertain,  for  I  am  informed  that  no  person  has  been  near 
enough  to  decide  accurately.  It  beams  with  various  magnitudes,  and 
appears  to  bear  no  more  analogy  to  the  ignis  faiuus  than  it  does  to 
the  aurora  borealis.  Sometimes  it  is  small,  resembling  the  light 
through  a  distant  window,  at  others  expanding  to  the  highness  of  a  ship 
with  all  her  canvas  spread.  When  large,  it  displays  a  pyramidical 
form,  or  three  constant  streams.  In  the  latter  case  the  three  streams 
are  somewhat  blended  together  at  the  bottom,  but  separate  and  dis- 
tinct at  the  top,  while  the  middle  one  rises  higher  than  the  other  two. 
It  may  have  the  same  appearance  when  small,  but  owing  to  distance 
and  surrounding  vapors  cannot  be  clearly  perceived.  The  light  often 
seems  to  be  in  a  constant  state  of  insulation,  descending  by  degrees 
until  it  becomes  invisible,  or  resembles  a  lurid  point,  then  shining 
anew,  sometimes  with  a  sudden  blaze,  at  others  b}^  a  gradual  increas- 
ment  to  its  former  size.  Often  the  instability  regards  the  lustre  only, 
becoming  less  and  less  bright  until  it  disappears,  or  nothing  but  a  pale 
outline  can  be  discerned  of  its  full  size,  then  returning  to  its  former 
splendor  in  the  manner  related.  The  duration  of  its  greatest  and 
least  state  of  illumination  is  not  commonly  more  than  two  or  three 
minutes.  This  inconstancy,  however,  does  not  appear  in  every  in- 
stance. 

"  After  the  radiance  seems  to  be  totally  extinct  it  does  not  always 


Block  Island. 


301 


return  in  the  same  place,  but  is  not  unfrequently  seen  shining  at  some 
considerable  distance  from  where  it  disappeared.  In  this  transfer  of 
locality  it  seems  to  have  no  certain  line  of  direction.  When  most 
expanded  tliis  blaze  is  generally  wavering  like  the  llame  of  a  torch  ; 
at  one  time  it  appears  stationary,  at  another  progressive.  It  is  seen 
at  all  seasons  of  the  year,  and  for  the  most  part  in  the  calm  weather 
which  precedes  an  easterly  or  southerly  storm.  It  has,  however, 
been  noticed  during  a  severe  northwestern  gale,  and  when  no  storm 
immediately  followed.  Its  continuance  is  somedmes  but  transient, 
and  it  has  been  known  to  appear  several  nights  in  succession. 

"  This  blaze  actually  emits  luminous  rays.  A  gentleman  whose 
house  is  situated  near  the  sea,  informs  me  that  he  has  known  it  to  illu- 
minate considerably  the  w^alls  of  his  room  through  the  windows. 
This  happens  only  when  the  light  is  witliin  half  a  mile  of  the  shore, 
for  it  is  often  seen  blazing  at  six  or  seven  miles  distant,  and  strangers 
suppose  it  to  be  a  vessel  on  fire.'' 

That  this  phenomenon  has  no  connection  with  the  ship  "Palatine," 
except  in  the  distempered  and  easily  inflamed  imaginations  of  the 
ignorant  and  superstitious,  no  one  would  have  the  hardihood  to 
doubt.  And  yet,  who  is  there  that  willingly,  even  under  the  pres- 
sure of  the  most  reasonable  of  reasons,  casts  aside  his  belief  in  the 
traditions  endeared  to  him  by  age  and  constant  repetition  ?  Let  us 
still  seem  to  believe  that  the  Palatine  Light  is  the  Palatine  Light, 
although  in  our  inmost  consciousness  we  are  well  assured  that  it  is 


not. 


'  Nor  looks  nor  tones  a  doubt  lictray. 
It  is  known  to  us  all,'  they  quietly  say 
\\'<',  tor),  have  seen  it  in  our  day.'  " 


INDEX. 


Abbott's  Run,  137. 

Aldrich  Jas.,  of  Scituate,  166. 

Ancient  Narragansett,  280. 

Angell's  Tavern  in  Scituate,  170. 

Angell  Thomas,  186. 

Apponaug,  235. 

Arnolds  of  Woonsocket,  141. 

Arnold,  Collector  of  E.  Greenwich,  240. 

Aspinwall  William,  61. 

Awashonks,  the  Squaw  Sachem,  66. 

Barker  Isaac,  59. 

Barrington,  98. 

Barton  Major  William,  63. 

Baulston  William,  61. 
Beale  Richard,  159. 

Berkeley  Dean,  28,  55. 

Blackstone  Rev.  William,  25,  135. 

Block  Adrian,  21. 

Block  Island,  295. 

Brenton  Family  The,  23,  24,  34,  35. 

Bristol,  77. 

British  Occupation  of  Newport,  45. 

Brooks'  Pasture  96. 

Browns  The  of  Providence,  122,  225. 

Brown  University,  224. 

Bull  Henry,  24,  61. 

Burges  Tristam,  107. 

Burrill  James,  154. 

Burrillville,  153. 

Burton  Stephen,  85. 

Buttonwood  Beach,  235. 

Byfield  Nathaniel,  85. 

Cabot  Sebastian,  18. 

Canonicus,  290. 

Carbuncle  Hill,  238. 

Carder  Richard,  61. 

Carolina  Mills,  272. 

Carr  Capt.  Caleb,  98. 

Central  Falls,  131. 

Channing  William  Ellery,  42. 

Charlestown,  267. 

Church  Capt.  Benjamin,  66. 

Clams  and  Clam-bakes,  105. 

Clarke  John,  24,  61. 

Clarke  Jeremy,  24. 

Coddington  William,   24,  25,  33,  61 

Coggeshall  John,  24,  61. 


Cold  Winter  (of  1779-80),  205. 

Collins  Henry  of  Newport,  42. 

Commerce  of  Bristol,  90. 

Commerce  of  Providence,  210. 

Comstock  Samuel,  Woonsocket,  141. 

Conanicut  Island,  291. 

Coronation  Rock,  267. 

Cotton    Manufactures,    Development 
and  Growth,  120,  125. 

Coventry,  238. 

Cranston,  173. 

Crowne  John,  the  Poet,  85. 

Cumberland,  135. 

Diman  Prof.  J.  L.,  Oration,  65. 

Dixons  of  Westerly,  265. 

Dorr  War  The,  161. 

Drowne  Solomon,  164. 

Dutch  Island,  294. 

Dyre  William,  24,  61. 

Early  Fashions,  Amusements,  etc., 203. 

East  Greenwich,  239. 

Easton  Nicholas,  23,  24. 

East  Providence,  104. 

Education  in  Bristol,  86. 

Exeter,  249. 

Factory  Villages  and  Operatives,  126. 

Fairfield  John,  260. 

First  Baptist  Church,  Providence,  206. 

First  Coach  in  Providence,  204. 

First  Cong.  Church,  Providence,  225. 

Forger's  Cave,  155. 

Foster,  163. 

Foster  Theodore,  164. 

"  Four  Chimney  House  "  at  Hammer- 
smith, 34. 

Freeborne  William,  61. 

French  at  Newport,  46. 

Freshet  at  Woonsocket,  142. 

Fruit  Hill,  132. 

"  Gaspee  "  The  Capture  of  the,  233. 

Gaspee  Point,  176. 

Glocester,  158. 

Gorton  Samuel,  227. 

Gosnold  Barthol'jmew,  20. 

Grace  Church,  Providence,  225. 

Gray  Edward,  72. 

Great  Awakening,  The,  260. 


Index. 


303 


Great  Estates,  279. 

(Ireat  Swamp  Fight,  276. 

Greene  Nathaniel,  233,  239. 

Harris  Edward,  144. 

Harris  Gideon,  of  Scituate,  166. 

Harris  Dr.  Stephen,  236. 

Harris  William,  1S6,  194. 

Harrison  Peter,  the  Architect,  42,  43. 

Hazard,  T.,  23,  24. 

Helme  Lieut.  William,  75. 

Hessian  Soldiers,  45. 

•'  Hessian  Storm  "  The,  46. 

Holden  Randall,  61. 

Honeyman  Rev.  Mr.,  28. 

Hopkins  Commodore  Esek,  168,  210. 

Hopkins  Governor  Stephen,  168. 

HoPKiNTON,  253. 

Howard  Family  of  Foster,  164. 

Hutchinson  Pxlward,  61. 

Hutchinson  William,  6f. 

Indian  Burying-Grounds  and    Relics, 

270,  271. 
Jamestown,  290. 
Jenks  Family  of  Pawtucket,  11 1. 
Jews  of  Newport,  31. 
Jewish  Cemetery  at  Newport,  32. 
Johnston,  170. 

King  Charles  Bird,  42. 

King  Philip's  War,  81. 

Lechmere  Nicholas,  159. 

Lee  Rev.  Jesse,  226. 

Leif  Ericson,  18,  77. 

Lewis  Family  of  Hopkinton,  253. 

Lillibridge  James.  250. 

Lincoln,  133. 

Little  Compton,  66. 

Longbottom  James,  260. 

Long  Wharf  at  Newport,  28. 

Lonsdale,  132. 

''  Macdonough,"  Bristol  Privateer.  98. 

Malbone  Godfrey,  39. 

Manisses  Indian  Tribe,  297. 

Manisses  Island  of,  295. 

Manning  Dr.  James,  206,  223. 

Mason  Captain  John,  260. 

Massasoiet,  80,  93. 

Massasoiet's  Spring,  92. 

Mathewson  John,  166. 

Maxson  Jonathan,  274. 

McSparran  Dr.  James,  282. 

Methodists  in  Providence,  226. 

Miantonomi,  190. 

MiDDLETOWN,  54. 

Miles  Rev.  John,  99,  102. 


Mosher  Hugh,  260. 

Mount  Hope,  77. 

Murray  James,  250. 

Narragansett  Dairies,  280. 

Narragansett  Indians,  268. 

Narragansett  Pacers,  2S2. 

Narragansett  Pier,  290. 

Nayatt  Point,  103. 

Newport,  23. 

Newport  l-!elles  in  last  Century,  49. 

Newport  Literary  Club,  41. 

Newport  Scenery,  52. 

New  Shoreham,  295. 

Niantic  Indians,  256. 

Nichols  John,  159. 

"Nine  Men's  Misery,"  140. 

Ninigrets  The,  257. 

Nooseneck  Valley,  248. 

North  and  South  Kingstown,  275. 

North  Providence,  119,  132. 

North  Smithfield,  152. 

Northmen  The,  18,  77. 

Northmen's  Rock  The,  79. 

Oakland  Beach,  235. 

Ocean  Cottage,  104. 

Old  Factory  at  Pawtucket,  123. 

Old  Forge  at  Woonsocket,  142. 

Oldham  Captain  of  Boston,  297. 

Old  Stone  Mill  at  Newport,  54. 

Old  Watson  House  at  Barrington,  102. 

Oliver,  Nathaniel,  85. 

Orchards,  25,  137. 

Palatine  Light,  299. 

Palatine,  Wreck  of  the,  298. 

Pawtucket,  hi. 

Pawtucket  Bridges,  131. 

Pawtucket  W^lter  Works,  132. 

Paw'tucket  Falls,  114,  117,  118. 

Pawtuxet,  176. 

Peage,  267. 

Philip  of  Pokanoket,  80. 

Pierce's  Fight,  113. 

Pigot  Galley  Capture  of,  75. 

Pirates,  29,  37. 

Pocasset,  72. 

Porter  John,  6. 

Portsmouth,  60. 

Potter  Simeon  of  Bristol,  234. 

Prescott  Capture  of,  62. 

Prospect  Terrace,  222. 

Providence,   179. 

Providence  Water  Works,  177. 

Quakers  in  R.  I.,  195,  245,  295. 

Queen  Esther,  267. 


304 


Picturesque  Rhode  Island. 


Quonocontaug  Pond,  259. 

Redwood  Abraham,  41. 

Redwood  Library,  41. 

Restoration  Procession  The,  35. 

Rhode  Island  Coal,  66. 

Rhodes  Zachariah,  164. 

Richmond. 

Riveira  Abraham,  32. 

Riveira  J.  R.,  31. 

Robinson  Unfortunate  Hannah,  284. 

Rochambeau,  French  General,  28,  48. 

Rocky  Point,  234. 

Roger  Williams  Park,  208. 

Roman  Catholic  Church,  226. 

Salsbury  Edward  of  Burrillville,  156. 

Sam  Patch,  119. 

Sanford  John,  61. 

Savage  Thomas,  61. 

Sayles  W.  F.,  225. 

Saylesville,  132. 

SciTUATE,  165. 

Scrivens  James,  246. 

September  Gale  of  18 15,  30,  209. 

Shan nock  Ford,  272. 

Shawomet,  227.  • 

Shay's  Rebellion,  160. 

Shearman  Philip,  61. 

Silver  Spring,  104. 

Slater  H.  N.,  225. 

Slater  Samuel,  122. 
Slave  Pens,  30. 

Slaves  and  Slave  Elections,  281,  295. 

Slave  Trade,  88. 

Smith  John  of  Burrillville,   156. 

Smith  John  of  Providence,  186. 

Smithfield,  149. 

Smith  Richard  Narragansett,  275,  279. 

Snorri  Thorfinnson,  18. 

Spragues  of  Cranston,  174. 

Squantum,  104. 

Stage  Coaches,  216. 

Stanton  Family  of  Charlestown,   271. 

Stanton  Robert,  260. 

State  Farm  The,  176. 

Steamboats,  215. 

St.  John's  Church,  Providence,  225. 

St.   Paul's  Church,  Narragansett,  284. 

Stuart  Gilbert  Charles,  43,  286. 

Superstitions,  etc.,  254. 

Swansea  "  Ranks,"  99. 

Talbot  Major  Silas,  75. 

Thames  Street,  Newport,  25. 

Thornton  Elisha,  147. 

Thorfinn  Karlsefni,  78. 


Tiverton,  72. 

Tory  Exiles  at  Glocester,  159. 

Touro,  the  Jewish  Family,  32. 

Tourtellotte  Abram,  158. 

Transit  of  Venus,  205. 

Traveling  Conveniences,  204. 

Trinity  Church,  Newport,  43. 

Tyrker,  78. 

Universalist  Church,  Providence,  226. 

Upton's  Pottery,  East  Greenwich,  241. 

"Vacant  Land  Tract,"  246. 

Vaughn  William,  164,  260. 

Verin  Joshua,  186. 

Vernon  Thomas,  159. 

Verrazani,  19. 

Vester,  the  Negro  Swimmer,  262. 

"  Vinland,  the  Good,"  18. 

Visits  to  Massasoiet,  94. 

Walker  John,  61. 

Walley  John,  85. 

Wallum  Lake,  154. 

Wanton  Family  of.  Newport,  36. 

Ward  Family  in  Westerly,  265. 

Warren,  92. 

Warren  Ship-yards  and  Ships,  98. 

Warwick,  227. 

Washington  Bridge,  107. 

Washington  at  Newport,  28. 

Watch  Hill.  261. 

Watson  Family  of  Barrington,  102. 

Weetamoe.  Queen  of  Pocasset,  72. 

Westcott  Robert,  164. 

Westerly,  256. 

Westerly  Granite,  263. 

West  Greenwich,  247. 

Whale  Fishery,  97,  217. 

Whalley  Theophilus,  248. 

Whipple  Capt.  Abraham,  293. 

Wickes  Francis,    186. 

Wickford,  276. 

Wilbore  Samuel,  61. 

Wilkesbarre  Pier,  no. 

Wilkinson  Jemima,  243. 

Wilkinson  Joseph  of  Scituate,  167. 

Wilkinson  Family,  Pawtucket,  115, 123. 

Willett  Captain  Thomas,  99,  100. 

Williams  Miss  Betsey,  208. 

Williams  Roger,  24,  179. 

Wind-mills  of  Portsmouth,  65. 

Woodley  Rev.  R.  D.,  226. 

Woonasquatucket  Reservoirs,  150, 

WooNSOCKET,  141. 

Woonsocket  Churches,  146. 

"Yankee,"  Bristol  Privateer,  88. 


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►i.. 


private  instruction,  and  will  not  be  kept  back  in 
his  course  by  others  of  less  ability  and  application. 
YI.  To  supplement  the  work  of  the  public 
schools  and  colleges  with  a  complete  course  of 
Business  Instruction. 

VII.  That  this  Institution  has  the  confidence  of 
the  business  community,  and  that  its  graduates  are 
in  constant  demand. 

VIII.  That  our  elegant  rooms,  thoroughly 
lighted  and  ventilated,  complete  with  every  ap- 
liliance  for  giving  practical  instruction,  the  large 
corps  of  thorough  and  experienced  teachers,  make 
this  college  superior  to  any  similar  institution  in 
New  England. 

BOOK-KEEPING,    PENMANSHIP,,   BUSINESS    ARITHMETIC,    CORRESPONDENCE,    BUSINESS    LAW 
POLITICAL  ECONOMY,   RHETORIC,  GRAMMAR,  ANALYSIS  OF  WORDS,  SPELLING, 

PHONOGRAPHY,   ELOCUTION,   LANGUAGES. 
Students  may  enter  at  any  time.     Circulars  Free,  by  calling  on  or  atldressiug 

T.  B.  Stowell,  Principal^ 

Hoppin  Homestead  Building,  283  Westminster  St.,  Providence,  R.  I. 


-* 


*■ 


k)^  BasiitE 


Our  Specialty— First-Class  Work. 

SUPKinORITY  OF 

THE  NEW  MODEL 

RANGES 

Demonstrated  over  t2  Competitors  at  the  New  England  Fair,  Sept.,  1880. 

These  eleg-iint  groods  are  now  ready  for  Doinestio  and  Exjiort  Trade,  in  all  styles  and  sizes,  and  are 
eiiuipped  with  the  Patent  Reflex  Coal  Ciratc,  tlie  Patent  Reflex  Double  €heck, 

Masiic  Kinillint;  Dnuiper,  Doulile  Widtli  I'ulislied   l'kl<{'es.  Automatic  and  . 

ONcillatini;  Oven  8lielf ,  New  .Tlodel  To^vel  Dryer  and  Actli 

^iiCter,  with  other  important  patente<l  speeialtie.s,  ineliiding- 

the  Patent    CJIaws    Oven    Door 

and  llent  Indicator. 

ENTERPRISING  DEALERS  SELL  THE    XEW  MODEIi    EAST  AND  WEST. 


FffiST  PREMIUM  ^T 

^   •     :    FOR  THE    .        \  -^ 

^'?  MODEL  RANGE  r^f 


Also,  Founders  of  the  Most  Approved  Patterns  of 


r 


J 


J 


r\TTT 


KING  ^HEATING  APPARjl 

Inoludiug  the  Celebrated  NEW  HARVARD  and  3IODEL.  PARLORS, 


And  respectfully  solicit  the  attention  of  Ruyers,  both  at  home  and  abroad,  to  their  TIIIRTV  YEARS' 

Honorable  and  Successful  nuinag-eineiit,  and  assure  them  tliat  they  will  find  all  our  goods 

fully  up  to  our  acknowledtfcd  hifrh  standard,  ami  offered  at  favorable  prices. 

Our  productions  will  be  found  especially  adapte<l 

for  Export  Trade. 


ON  DAILY  EXHIBITION  TO  THE  TRADE. 

^22  EXCHANGE  PLACE,  PR0yiI>ENCE,3|f^ 

And  113  Blackstone  Street,  Boston. 

Spicers  &  Peckham,  Stove  Founders. 


*- 


->±» 


*- 


t^v^BlI^II2B^§   IP^II^IIE^^S  J    HHODE    ISL^BD.  i 


Corner  of  ELM  AND  EDDY  STREETS,  PROVIDENCE,  R.  I., 


MANUFACTURERS  OF 


MACHINERY, 


FOR 


Bleaching,  Dyeing,  Printing  and  Finishing  Cotton  Goods,  Shafting, 

Gearing,  and 

(3etterar*Mtrf*Wof6. 

Have    an    extensive  assortment  of   Gear,  Pulley,  Machinery  and 
other  Patterns,  from  which  they  are  prepared  to  furnish  Castings. 

Particular  attention  paid  to  the  manufacture  of  Cotton,  Paper, 
and  Husk 

CALENDER  ROLLS, 

For  Calendering  either  Cotton,  Paper,  or  Silk  Goods. 


A  large  assortment  of  Gear,  Pulley  and  Machinery  Patterns  of  various  kinds. 
Catalogues  of  Gears  and  Pulleys  furnished  upon  application. 


J.   S.   ANTHONY,   Agent. 


BENJ.   C.  GLADDING,  Treas. 


qf. 


-* 


-* 


>  BUSIBES^    m^M 


KSTABLISIIKI),    1840. 


WILLIAM  B,  BL 


WHOLESALE 


-m^^^mK 


DRUGGIST, 


*^^t^@ig)>>^ 


Surgical 

Instruments 

and 
Appliances, 

Trusses, 

Supporters, 

London    Braces, 

Etc. 


Elastic 

Stockings 

and 

Knee-Caps, 

Abdom  inal 

Belts, 

Physicians'   Cases, 

Etc. 


/ly 


ImI'OHTKK    A.MJ    Dh-ALtK     IN 


Drugs,  Medicines,  Chemicals,  Druggists'  Sundries  and  Jewelers'  Supplies. 

Straiton  &  Storm's  Popular  New  York  Cigars.    Fine  Chemicals  a  Specialty. 

(^TWO^RETAIL^STORls:^) 


(Prescriptions  compounded  only  by  experienced  (Registered  'Pharmacists. 

54  AND  58  Weybosset  Street.    48  North  Main  Street, 


*- 


-* 


'fb- 


;^ ]BII^IEJ&^§   in ^J&HJE^^^  d^  HffODE    I S li^ JZ  D 


Granger  Foundry  £  Machine  Co. 


MANUFACTURERS  OF 


BLEACHING,  DYEING.  FINISHING,  AND  PAPER 


^m^*-- 


^^ 


MACHINERY, 


HUSK,  PAPER  ^^  COTTON  ROLLS, 

CALENDERS, 

Mangles,  Drying  Machines,  Tentering  Machines,  Hydraulic  Presses,  Etc., 

Cor.  Gaspee  and  Francis  Streets, 

■W.  S.  GRANGER,  Treas.  PROVIDENCE,     R.     I. 


^ ^ 


m"-  BIISI«B«  Sii  IR^  j& 


INCORPORATED,    1854. 


DWELLING-HOUSE  INSURANCE. 


Franklin  Mutual  Fire  Ins.  Co, 


(WOODS  BUILDING,) 


No.  12  South  Main,  corner  College  Street, 


■^  DIRECTORS.^ 

A.  B.  Dike,  Resolved  Waterman,  Scott  W.  Mowry,  Charles  F.  Mason, 

Benj.  B.  Adams,  Thomas  Brown,  A.  E.  Burnside,  Matthew  W.  Ingraham, 

Edward  A.  Greene,  Wm.  H.  Chandler,  Lewis  Dexter,  R.  H.  I.  Goddard, 

Geo.  C.  Nightingale,  Francis  M.  Smith,  Amos  M.  Bowen,  Chas.  D.Owen, 

Eugene  W.   Mason. 


This  Company  insures  Dwelling-Houses  and  Household  Furniture 

only.     Also,  insures  against  loss  or  damage  by  Lightning. 

Dividends  paid  at  expiration  of  Policies. 

JOHN  R.  WHEATON,  Sec'Y.                   AMOS  M,  BOWEN,  Pres'T. 
4" 4> 


*.  *- 


-*,* 


YOLNEY  W.  MASON  &  CO., 


Manufacturers  of  Patent 


Friction  Clutch  Pulleys, 

HOISTING  MACHINERY  AND  ELEVATORS. 

p^vfiwDEDBy  ^m\   «jro,.  Compactness'' an«l  "  ^Veil-Studied  Details." -Judges'  Award,  Cen- 
'"mATfej  tenuial,  IS76.       Medal,  Paris  Exposition,  187S. 

PROVIDENCE,  R.  1. 


*- 


-* 


^ ■ '. * 


fcv  BUSINESS    in^ERESrS  .      RHODE     1 81.3 12  D. 


Mason.  Chapin 


&  Co..^^ 

33  ^o  37  Canal  Street,       -       Providence,   R, 

STATE  AGENTS  FOR 

-^=HOME  LIGHT  OIL,e^- 

Safe  to  Burn  and  Odorless. 


New  York  Dye-Wood  Extract  and  Chemical  Co.'s 

EXTRACT  LOGWOOD, 

Solid  and  Liquid  Form. 


UNITED  STATES  AGENTS 


-Hie  ADAMS'  AMMONIA  SCOURING  SALTS,3|k- 

FOR  FLEECE  WOOL. 

Adams'  Elbeuf  Fulling  Soap.         Adams'  M.  C.  Scouring  Soap. 


WE  OFFER  FOR  SALE  DYE-WOODS,  DYE-STUFFS  AND  CHEMICALS,  PAINTS,  OILS, 
WINDOW-GLASS,   VARNISHES,  BRUSHES,  AND  A  FULL  LINE  OF 

PAINTERS'  MATERIALS. 


Madder,    Indigo,    Blue    Vitriol,  Sumac,    Tin    Crystals,    Gambier, 
Cochineal,  Soda  Ash,  Sal  Soda,  Bleaching  Powders. 
For  sale  at  lowest  market  prices. 


PATRONAGE  INVITED. 

* 


^. 


10 


3<^>^BII§II2E^§    112 g£RE S  ^^  e^  RHQBE    1 8  L H 12  D . 


Clarence  H.  Carpenter, 

DEALER   IN 

EASTERN  AND  WESTERN 

LUMBER 


270   DYER   STREET. 


Yard   formerly  occupied   by   ALBERT    DAILEY    &    COMPANY. 


PROVIDENCE,  R.  I. 

Connected  with  all  Railroads.   Can  ship  by  Water 

or  Rail.      Orders  by  Telephone 

promptly  executed. 


— * 


^ _ ij, 


i  iz»»OH*:aitigpz?i'^ 


j^  BUSIHi>S«   ID^JEHES^S  >t5?^BHD2)E    IS  lUR  12  © . 


in^OOI^Z^OIE^J^TEnD,    1836. 


FRANKLIN 

Foundry  and  Machine  Company 

PB0¥IB11C1,  1.  L, 


■is^f     *^e   *tf 
MANUFACTURERS  OF 


Cotton  Machinery,  Shafting 


"^^-t^^K-*— 


GENERAL  MACHINERY, 
GEARING,  CASTINGS,  Etc. 


SPECIALTIES: 

Common  Top  Flat,  Foss  &  Pevey,  and  Roller  Cards, 

Railways,  Drawing   Frames,  Ring  Spinning   Frames   for 

Warp  and  Filling. 

Mules,    Spoolers,    Twisters,    Reels,    Quillers,    Ball 

Winders,  Etc. 


>!fPIi^N?  FOR  CGTT0N  MIIiIi3.> 


*- 


*- 


12 


'* 


gfS^  BUSINESS   IR^EHES^^^-   RHODE    is la^B  D 


Id,- 


G^ofd^3ifver  Refiner^ 


ASSAYER,  AND  SWEEP  SMELTER,  ANALYTICAL 

AND  Manufacturing  Chemist, 


29131  PAGE  ST., 


PROVIDENCE,  R.  I. 


*- 


'* 


13 


')#BUSIDESS;^in^JE 


RH05)i>    rSL^DB. 


-»^  Established,  1867.*^ 


Rhode  Island  Horse  Shoe  Company, 


-MAMFACTl  H?.IIS    OF- 


Horse,  Mule  and  Snow  Shoes 


-OF  THK- 


^PERKINS  PATTERN.^ 


Office  at  Providence,  R.  I.—^:-^— Works  at  Valley  Falls,  R.  I. 


F.  W.  CARPENTER.  Pres'T.  C.  H.  PERKINS.  Gen'L  MANAGER. 

R.  W.  COMSTOCK,  Sec'Y. 


-V 


<^ 


14 


-»^ 


itb>^BlI^IEKSS    II^^IMIE S^^  J    RHODE    ISLHI^D.  j 


HOPKINS,  POMROY  &  CO., 


DEALERS  IN 


COAL 


BY  THE  CARGO  AND  AT  RETAIL. 


Also,  Sawed  Wood  and  Kindlings, 


TEAMING  IN  All  ITS  IIANGIES. 


OFFICE,   NO.   35   WEYBOSSET    STREET. 


^tci'vbd-^  330  ^bbtj,  ciiib  184  ^Dijcr  St"<^eet.v,  'J^o uibe-Hce. 


WM.   H.  HOPKINS, 
G.  P.  POMROV, 


JOHN  H.  HOPKINS, 
E.  A.  HOPKINS. 


^- 


-* 


15 


BaSffiESS    IP^ERES^ 


OJ)E     ISL^n  D 


-RECEIVER- 

OF 

Ffoiir* 


FINE 


A     SPECIALTY. 


SYmt 


-AJVD- 


A 


\^omiiiU4iALiU  Jffle 


-il00f&^102* 


DYER  ST.,  COR.  CRAWFORD  SQUARE, 


Cil^-^^^Ti 


Providence.  R.  I.' 


-Wa 


PARTICULAR    ATTENTION     GIVEN     TO 

Teas. 


-*b 


ib- 


16 


-* 


Braiding  Machine  Co. 


89  Aborn  Street, 
Providence,  R.  I. 

A.  S.  HOOD,  Supt. 

G.  K.  WINCHESTER,  Treas. 

B.  B.  EDMANDS,  Agt. 

General  Machinists. 

Our  Specialty  being  the  Manufacture 


53-STRAlVI>    FLAX    BRAIDER. 


-^icBRAIDINC  IVIACHINES,3|e^ 

Of  which  we  have  a  full  line  of  Patterns  for  all  the  various  classes  of  Machines,  viz.  :^ 

Machines  for  making  Flat  Braids  of  sizes  running  from  3  to  109  strands,  and 
Round  Braids  from  8  to  96  strands, 

Hercules  Braiders,   Packing  Braiders,  Whip   Braiders,    Coir  Matting   Braiders,    and 

Braiders  for  Covering  Telegraph  Wire.      Also,  Singeing  Machines, 

Polders  or  tappers,  Quillers  for  Looms,  Etc.,  Ktc.    Also, 

constantly  on  hand  and  for  sale, 


Including,  with  all  the  separate  parts  of  a  Braiding:  Machine, 

BOBBINS,  Carriers,  Tension  Weights,  Etc.,  etc. 


FINE  BOOTS  AND  SHOES, 

OJ^  E  VER  Y  DESIRABLE  STYLE, 

Made  to  measure  from  the  Very  Choicest  Brands  of  Imported  Stock. 

No  Nailed  or  Second-Class  Work. 

Jg^All  work  Hand-sewed, 'giving^  a  flexibility  wliicli  insures  tlie  wearer  ease  and  comfort,  and  gives  a  stjde  and 
durability  that  cannot  be  obtained  any  other  way. 

mi^Mt  BATim  Amu  QTBEB  BBMGAWB  MAT'EBIAIi^  MABB  UP  INj  ^WWIiB, 
Fit  aad'  WQ^kwssisshipi  msgajpassg^* 


179  Broad  Street, 


Providence,  R.  I. 


*- 


-* 


-* 


■* 


18 


ik^^  BUSINESS   IP ^E^BESM^ 


MANUFACTURED  BY 


'Wm.  H.  Haskell  &  Co., 

•277  MAIN  STREET,  PAWTUCKET,  R.  I. 


*- 


-* 


-* 


*■ 


*■ 


20 


-* 


SPINDLES  &  GRAY  IRON  CASTINGS. 


AU]NIH3VN  N0U03 


a 


*- 


-* 


^7jM■^^tGITjafe^'«.'^'^tfJ^?vv-«'f^-^i-'|'^TI•S■'I'--^J':^'p.^»'^'.v.''^^■.^■ 


fev^  BU^IEE 


it^jy^t^ 


ODE    ISLHBD. 


^m 


Charles  A.  Warland, 
REAL  ESTATE  AGENT 


(^ut^tioueei% 


Coinniissioner  for  the  Contmon= 
iveaWi  of  Massaclmsetis. 


56  EAST  AVENUE, 
Pawtucket,  R.  I. 


Geo,  Mason  &  Bros, 

Afitmifiittiiitrs  of 

:mohair,  aijPaca,  luster  cotton, 

AM)    KMIiROIDEKING 


BRAIDS 


From  No.  9  to  8o. 

ALSO 

DRESSERS   OF  YARNS 

KOIJ    M\MTKA(TrHi;KS  OF  ELASTIC  OK  SiLK  GOODS, 

ruoM  Xo.  ~<i  to  (iO. 

Mill,  115  Pine  St., 

PAWTUCKET,  11.  I. 

BOX  SjS: 


DANIEL  A.  CLARK, 

DEALER    /.V 

Coffins  .^Caskets, 


Black  "Walnut,  Cloth  Covered,  Rosewood 
and  Imitation. 

Boxes,  Robes,  Plates,  Handles,  Etc. 


Preservers  furnished  if  wanted.    Chairs  to  let 
ut  Funerals. 

Hearse  and  Carriages  Furnished    at  Short 
Notice.    Teleplione  Coniie<'tion. 

No.  5  PARK  PLACE,  PAWTUCKET,  R.  L 


COLE  BROS., 


UriIjDKKS  OF 


SteamFireEngines, 

S£^I>    MACHINES,    STATIONARY 

ENGINES t  irQin  2  tQ  SlQ  Eqssq 
PQWQr>    The  best  in  tbei 

STEAM    PUMPS 

For  /ire  and    other   jnirposes. 
Also  (/eneral  3farJiinery. 

BAILEY  STREET, 
Pawtucket,  R.  I. 


*- 


— * 


.* 


Ifov^ BUSINESS    IP^XRE  S^^  o    RHOBE    ISIi^BD. 


A  Prnwim^Mei  imMiitmM&Mi 


-THE 


G^ajette  and  wfiromcfe^ 

Established  November  12,  1825. 

Among  the  "Institutions"  of  the  Town  of  Pawtucket  (the  largest  community  with  a 
town  government  in  the  United  States),  and  one  that  has  helped  its  growth,  prosperity  and 
fame  In  no  small  degree,  is  its  only  newspaper,  the 

PAWTDCKET  GAZETTE  AND  CHRONICLE, 

which  has  had  a  continuous  existence  since  its  publication  was  begun,  over  fifty-five  years  ago. 
In  many  respects  it  is  the  leading  weekly  journal  of  Rhode  Island.  Its  editorials  are  marked 
by  a  vigor  and  scholarship  that  have  won  the  highest  encomiums  on  all  sides.  Its  local  news, 
poetry  and  miscellaneous  selections  are  prepared  and  selected  with  great  care,  always  bearing 
in  mind  the  desirability  of  such  matter  as  shall  promote  and  sustain  the  reputation  of  the 
sheet  as 

A  First-class  Family  Newspaper. 

Its  type  is  large,  its  columns  of  ample  dimensions,  its  mechanical  appearance  unexcep- 
tionable, and  it  is  sent  to  any  address,  free  of  charge  to  subscribers,  for  $2. .50  a  year, 
or  $2.25  if  paid  in  advance.  Those  who  desire  to  put  a  first-class  weekly  newspaper  in  their 
families,  cannot  do  better  than  to  subscribe  for  the  Paivtucket  Gazette  and  Chronicle, 

SIBLEY  &  LEE, 


John  S.  Sibley. 


-PUBLISHERS.- 


Charles  a.  Lee. 


BOOK  AND  JOB  PRINTING. 

In  connection  with  their  newspaper  establishment,  Messrs.  Sibley  &  Lee  have  one  of  the 
largest  and  best-arranged  Job  Printing  Offices  in  New  England,  where  they  are  prepared  to 
do  any  kind  of  printing. 

AT  FAIR  PRICES  AND  AT  SHORT  NOTICE. 

Call  or  send  for  Samples.      Our  reputation  for  Fancy  Printing  is  second  to  none. 

Office  in  Manchester  Block. 

29  nv^ILL  STK.EET. 


^- 


-* 


flN   business;    IDg£RES^^c?-.-HHOi3E     ISL7IR  D 


p,UCTION£f;, 


l^pPRAISffl 


REHL  ESTATE, 

INSURANCE, 

MORTGAGE, 

STOCKS. 


CHAS,  P 


No.  94  Main  Street, 

PSWTUCKET,  R,  1. 


'^'^^^RY  PUBV.\^' 


^^/VVEYANC^^* 


Ch- 


Iiif<inn;itic)ii  obtaliiccl  tliriiugh  our  ullici-  entitles 
us  to  commissions. 

Information  in  relation  to  property  ofVered  which 
ninv effect  the  sale  thereof,  obtained  diri'clly  or  inJi- 
reclly  throu>;h  our  office,  or  the  introiluction  of  a 
customer  to  the  owner  entitles  to  commission  in  case 
of  sale. 


liC5< 


l'roi)erty  once  placed  on  our  list,  will  be  consid- 
ered on  sale  at  the  price  stated,  until  notified  by  the 
owner  lo  the  contrary. 

The  sellers  of  property  are  looked  to  for  the 
commissions. 

For  exchan>);in^  property  full  commissions  are 
charjreable  to  both  i)arties. 


SCALE    OF    CHARGES. 


Sale  or  exchanffc  of  town   or   city    property,    on 
!?5,<xx)  and  upwards  value,  i  per  cent. 

On  less  than  $5,<X)0  and  over  if  2,500,   ij^  per  cent. 

On  less  than  $2,500,  J,\^  per  cent. 

Provided,  however,  that  no  sale  will  be  negotiated 
for  less  than  Sicocj. 


Perscmal  Property  sales,  5  to  10  per  cent. 

Appraisinjj  Property  at  oflice,  $5.c». 

Appraising;  Property  recpiirini;  personal  inspec- 
tion, ;f5.oo  to  $10.00,  acconliiit;  to  value  of  property. 

All  property  placed  in  f)ur  hands  for  sale,  whether 
verbally  or  in  any  other  way,  will  be  subject  to  the 
forefjoinj;  Rules  aiul  Kates,  from  w'hich  there  will 
be  no  deviation,  except  it  be  stated  in  writing-  at 
the    tinieof  placinjj  the   same   on  01  r  list. 


CHAS.    P.   ADAMS, 

No.  94  Main  St.,  Pawtucket,  R.  I. 


-^ 


24 


->¥< 


k)>^BU^IBE^§   IR^EHES^^  o    BHOBE    ISL3BD.  'i 


PERRY  OIL  CO., 


MANUFACTURERS  OF 


Perry's  Champion  Harness  Oil, 

HARNESS  OIL  SOAP,  STAR  AXLE  OIL, 

WME  QEItEMMATEB  MA&MlE  MMEW  &IEi,j 

Cylinder,  Machine,  Spindle,  Sewing  Machine,  and  Lubricating  Oils  of  all  kinds.     Dealers 
in  Castor,  Sperm,  Lard,  Paraffine  and  Neats  Foot  Oils. 

Exchange  St.,  Pawtucket,  R.  I. 

ESTABLISHED,   1847. 


J".   S.  "W^HIITE, 

Iron  Founder  i&  lYIachinisf, 

Machinery  Castings,  Shafting,  Hangers,  Pulleys,  Steam  and  Water  Pipe,  Gilding 

Furnaces,  Mufflers,  Forges,  Clay,  Fire  Brick,  Etc.    Machinery  of  all 

kinds  Promptly  Repaired.     Pattern-Book  mailed  to 

any  address  on   application. 

21  DEXTER  STREET,  PAWTUCKET,  R.  I. 


J@M  M.  MPEM€EM,  Ami 


'J9j 


Manufacturer  of  every  kind  of 


$otton  Twines  and  Tfti"scids 

Used  by  Print  Works  and  Bleacheries. 

'fhread  f or  the  RAYER  &  LINCOLN  and  DINSMORE  MACHINES  a  specialty.     Machine 
Thread  on  Wooden  Cones  always  on  hand.     Single  and  Twisted 
Yarns,  from  No.  10  to  30. 

ALL  ORDERS  PROMPTLY  FILLED. 

OLD  SLATER  MILL,        -        -        PAWTUCKET,  R.  I. 


*- 


* 


25 


^- 


BUS  I R  E  ^  §    I P  ^  E  RE  S  o  S 


E1S'X*.A.]BXjZ8XZEI]3,    1800. 


'(S^' 


J.  0.  DRAPER  &  COm 

QQ  ApiANUFACTURERS^Q^P 

Snqlidh  Biq  Soap, 

FOR  WASHING  WORSTEDS,  WOOL  AND  WOOLEN  GOODS. 

Nottingham  gurd  goap, 

FOR  CALICO  PRINTERS,  THREAD  AND  STRAW  GOODS  MANUFACTURERS. 

Palm  Oil,  Bleaching,  Fulling  and  Scouring  Soaps, 

FOR  ALL   FACTORY  USES. 
^ 


Also  Manufacturers  of  all  kinds  of  Family  and  Toilet  Soaps.    Orders 
by  mail  or  express  will  receive  prompt  attention. 

J.O.  Draper  &  Co., 

PAWTUCKET,  R.  1. 


>J<- 


-^ 


*h- 


26 


Established    1865,  by  PAYNE  &  MATHEWSON. 


-^ 


GEORGE  W.  PAYNE  &  CO., 


]TIachiiii!iits,  ami  ISiiiliIer.«  of  the  Iniprovetl  IJpi-ight  Spoolers,  to  spool  from  cop,  skein  or  bobbin. 

Also,   1>oubliiig  Wpoolei-8,   to   double  two,   tliree  or  more  threads  into   one.     Pat.  Cone 

Wiiniers,  for  hosiery  manufacturers,  winds    from   con,    skein,   or   bobbin.      Uprialit 

QiiillerN,  quills  from  oop,  skein  or  bobbin.    Rius,  Dresser,  Spooler  and  Reel 

i^piiiiiles.  Cop  Skewers,  'Warp  Spools,  Spooler  Ouiales,  Bolsters 

and    Steps,  made   and   repaired   at  short  notice. 


G.  W,  Payne, 
G.  M.  Fanning. 


Shop,  24  East  Ave.,  Pawtucket,  R.  I. 


p.  E.  Thayer  &  Co., 

(Successors  to  Thayer  Brothers,) 

Manufacturers  and  Wholesale  Dealers  in  all  kinds  of 

— "^m. 


-FOR- 


COTTON  AND  WOOLEN  MILLS,  PRINT  WORKS, 


AND 


MANUFACTURING    JEWELERS, 

34  East  Ave.,  Pawtucket,  R.  I. 


>h- 


■•*' 


*. 


-* 


^BllSlffE  SS    IR^f^^    S  ^S    -   ilHOBE    ISLHBD. 


D.  D.  SWEET  &  CO., 

Manufacturers  ol"  ami  Dealers  in 

Windows,  Doors,  Blinds, 

SHUTTERS,  MOULDINGS, 

I  nside  Finish,  Stair  Kails,  Balusters,  Newel 
Posts,  Slate  Mantels,  Ktc. 

15  EDDY,  Corner  >Voicester  Street, 
PKOvinK^'ci!:, 

And  4<)  Broad  Street,  Pawtiieket,  H.  I. 


CHAS.  W.  CLOUCH, 
Watch  Maker  and  Jeweler, 

And   DcmIci-  in 
Fine  M'nl«-li<>>i,  C'lorkw,  .l<-\i 
t'Iry,  0|>rr]i>4alnMMeM,  Mpec- 
tnclrit  kikI  Kye-4iilnHHes. 

Wjiti'lies    ("arel'nilv    Hei)air('fl, 

.ilsii   Kiljusted    tu  Hunt.  Cold,    Isncli- 

^l>ni^i|n,  HMir-S[>rin(f.«.  nnd  po.-itioii. 

All  Woik  Fully  Wunui\li;d. 

1 7   :mii.t^   strkkt, 

I'lmlnckrl.  K.  I. 


Charles  E.  Chickering's 


General  Teaming  and  Jobbing. 

llouaeliold  Fiiriiilure  Removed  and  Pnrliea 
Accoiiiniodnied. 

PAWTUCKET     OFFICE, 

13  Norlh  Union  St.,  cor.  Summer. 

■*i-ovid«-iice  Oiliee.  Karker,  ChndMey  iL  Co.'s, 
'■i'i  uikI  '^'1  \l'e!»tiiiiiiMli-r  $mreet. 


ESTABLISHED  IN  1831. 


JOSEPH  SMITH  CO., 


DEALERS  l.\ 


Coal,  Lumber,  Brick,  Lime  and  Cement. 

DOORS  AND  BLINDS.    Also.  Manufacturers  of  GUTTERS, 
CONDUCTORS  AND   MOULDINGS. 


)1.   K.  SMITH. 

.1.  T.  COriliKLI.. 


■>    — >»      <■ 


PAWTUCKET,  R.  I. 


TUREF 


MANUFACTUREHS    OF 


09 


'%r 


Every  Description  of  CARD  BOARD, 


*- 


-^^PAWTUCKET,   R.  I.  V 


-* 


«■ 


28 


^BlISIEESS    IIl^ERES^S  .     HHOBE    ISL^BD. 


LORING  M.  MONK, 


Dealer  in 


Of  every  description, 

Harnesses,  Robes,  Whips  and 
Rubber  Goods. 

No.  21  High  St.,  Pawtucket,  R.  I 

Agent  for  the  Harper  Combination  Gear. 


GELINAS  &  CHAPPELL, 

MANUKACTUREUS  OK 

Boors,  SasUlMs, 

WINDOW  AND  DOOR  FRAMES. 

Also,  Proprietors  of 


PAWTUCKET  PLANING  MILL, 


-=-*^I^-*=- 


NO.  52  PLEASANT  STREET, 

PAWTUCKET,  R.  I. 


STAIR-BUILDERS. 

inOlJI.DIIVOS,  GUTTERS,  CONDUCTORS, 
STAIR-RAII.S,   BANISTERS, 

Ne^velM  and  BracketH 
of  all   kin<ls,  on   hand  and   made  to  order. 

Planing,  Sawing,    Jig-Sawing,  Etc., 

PROMPTLY  ATTENDED  TO. 

Georg-e  Gelinas.  George  D.  Chappell. 


GEO.  H.  LOMAS, 

TE^CKEI^-f0F-fPI^J^0-f^JVID-{-0^6^N. 


-Vt) 


-Dealer  in- 


-Va    ^V/«^>^ 


K^^- 


ORGANS,  SHEET-MUSIC,  MUSIC- 
BOOKS,  ETC.,  ETC. 

Orders  for   Tuning  Pponnptly    attended,   to. 

Spencer  Building,  Pawtucket,  R.  I. 


(established,  1S73.) 

J.CROCKER  &  SON, 


-manufacturers  of- 


COFFIN  TRIMMINGS, 

Coffin  Studs,  Escutcheons, 

THUMB-SCREWS    AND    CORNER 
MOULDINGS. 

PAWTUCKET,  n,  I. 


W.  A.  MARTIN, 

(Successor  to  I.  F.  Crocker  &  Son,)  Dealer  in 

Factory  Supplies,  Agricultural  Implements, 
Tools,  Stoves,  Tin  and  Wooden 
Ware,  Pocket  Cut- 
lery, Etc. 

49  CENTRAL  ST.,  CENTRAL  FALLS,  R.I. 


A.  F.  SALISBURY 


►•iS^ 


mm^ 


FOR  $1.00  A  DOZEN, 

Best  Work  in  the  State  for  the  money. 


*- 


-* 


*. 


a<3#BlTSIM>i 


t^yii^jy;ia>fsra^g|? 


ODElSIiHB 


^;^.i.^^^.;^^^^..e.t.-— ..^.^^^l'-IlL. 


JAMES  DAVIS  &  SON 


Established,  1847. 


-MANUFACTURERS  OF- 


LEATHER  BELTIHG, 


RAW  HIDE  LACE, 

3Batent  liacc  Kcathcr,  gatent  pcker  geather, 

Hame  String  Leather,  Loom  Straps,  Pickers, 
Belt  Leather,  Etc. 


CORRESPONDENCE    SOLICITED 


Nos.  22,  24  and  26  Pleasant  Street, 

►^PAWTUCKET,  R.  L-i^^ 


*- 


'if- 


30 


■•i" 


iir 


\cci.:>oM   o 


-5/^- 


f  IS8I. 


Hotel  Aquidneck, 


NEWPORT,  R.  I. 

This  elegant  and  popular  house,  so  long  known  to  the  public,  will  reopen 
May  I  St,  and  remain  open  the  year  round.  It  has  been  thoroughly  renovated 
and  refurnished  from  top  to  bottom,  illuminated  throughout  with  gas,  steam 
has  been  introduced  and  applied  to  the  sleeping  apartments,  making  it  one 
to  be  desired  by  the  traveling  public.  Its  location  is  A,  No.  i,  the  rooms 
are  large  and  airy,  and  tastefully  furnished. 


The  Proprietor,  well  known  as  a  public  caterer,  will  have 
every  department  under  his  immediate  supervision,  and  will  be 
unsparing  in  his  efforts  to  please  the  most  exacting  guest. 
For  terms,  address 

L.  F.  ATTLETON, 

Hotel  Aquidneck, 

4  Newport,  R.  I. 


*- 


31 


j#BlISIRi> 


mKSmnm^ 


WWI.  K.  COVELL  JR. 


IKiilcr  ill  Chuicc 


House-Furnishing  Goods, 

STOVES ! 

RANGES!! 

FURNACES!!! 

Woo<lon  Ware,  Willow  Ware,  (rorkory. 
Tin  Ware,  Ktc. 

Tin  Kooliiig  ami  HcpairiiiK- of  sill  kinds 
done  at  sliDrt  notice. 

95  and  97  Thames  Street, 
Newport,  R.  I. 

{^^Sole  Agent  lor  Eddy  Uelrif^erators",  Hccbu 
Rans-es  and  l{ci)air<.-'".ft 


Kstablished,   isr>}). 


JOHN  M.  SWAN, 

100  Thames  Street, 

Would  call   the  c^lx'iiiil  attciilioii  of  tin-  citizens  an<l 
\isitorsof  Newport  to  the 

Ladies'*  Misses'  Fine  Shoes, 


Franidin  Bakery 

Cor.  SPRING  and  MARY  STS, 

Newport,  R.  I. 


Families  Supplied 


In  any  part  of  the  City,  with 


Of  all  Varieties, 


Cakes,  Pies,  Crackers,  Etc. 


FroMi  tlic  nianiilacloiy  ol   I>«-nrborii  A."  «lin«, 


These  goods  were  intrudiieed  in  tlie  .Season  of  '79, 
and  as  they  have  ki^  en  universal  satisfaetion  to 
those  usiDfr  them,  and  ffclinff  the  \itmost  eonfidciicc 
in  the  durable,  v'omfortahlf,  and  tittiii},'-  unalitics 
of  the  woods,  he  will  continue  the  sale  of  thcin  lor 
the  Season  of  'X\.  assurinj?  all  who  want  tine,  perfect 
tilting  shoes  at  low  prices,  that  they  can  lie  accom- 
modated at  his  store.  For  Gent's  tine  {joods.  a  full 
line  from  t  he  eclebrated  '  "r^w  Maini/tidiny  of  IJos- 
ton,  tofrether  with  a  general  assortment  of  goods 
from  the  best  manufactories  in  the  eoniitry. 


Opposite  Covell's   BIcck. 
Xi- wroKT,  K.I. 


JOHN  M.  SliJAN,  Agl. 


Swinburne,  Peckham  0[  C 


0. 


DEAI.KKS    IN 


Lumber, 

Hardware,  Lime,  brick, 
cement,  etc.. 

145  Thames  St.  and  PedLham's  Wharf. 


U.S(J,    MAM  1  AC  Tl' 1(1'.  UN    Ol 


DOORS,  SASH,  BLINDS, 

Anil  all  ItiiiilH  of  .1IoiiI<Iiiikm.  iil  I'iniiiufc 

.Tlill  niKl  Miinh   WorkM,  on  I'eclt- 

iinin'n  Whiirf, 

Newport,  R.  I. 


*- 


32 


<^- 


-*sf 


Gardiner  B.  Reynolds 


<  &  CO.,  )^ 


NEWPORT,    R.   I., 

Wholesale  and  Retail  Dealers  in  the 
best  varieties  of 

fAJLYlANKSfEAM 

•S\WWV""~" — " — 


English  and  American  Cannel. 

Hickory,  Oak  i  Pine  Wood 

For  Grates  and  Fire-places.    Also, 

PREPARED  KINDLINGS. 

Best  Goods  and  Prompt  Delivery. 


Undertakers. 


Cloth-Covered 


%^  \Caskets 


SHROUDS, 

And  everything  in 
the  line  on  hand, 
with    all    atten- 
tion paid  to  or- 
ders  at  once. 


Oia   'S8SS9IHBK 

xi'BH  pti'B  aoqi^aj 
's8iqBi  noisuaixa 

SQ'avoaaais 

'Sims  HOlHVd 

'sxas  HaaMVHO 


"Greeae,  tie  Halter," 

Ilk  THAMES  ST., 

Newport,  R,  I., 

Dealer  in  Men's 

Furnishing  Goods. 

Upon  his  tree 
You  can  always  see 
The  latest  style 
Of  H-A-T. 

John  Alderson, 

Fi-esh  Importations  of 

Elegant  Suitings. 

Latest  Styles  of  Domestic  Woolens. 


Skillful  and  experienced  workmen  employed. 
Our  suits  are  made  in  the  most  thorough  manner. 
Prices  rang-e  from  $35. OO  upwards.  Perfect  fit 
and  workmanship  guaranteed.  Ladies'  Cloaksi 
Ulsters  and  Walking-Coats  a  specialty.  Liveries 
of  every  description. 

REMEMBER  THE  NUMBERS, 

Moonns,  over 

210  &  212  Thames  Street^ 

Newport^  R.  I. 


•Gjn^^injn^ 


No  Trouble  to  Show  Goods. 


*- 


■^ 


*■ 


33 


:n^ Basii^ESS  in^EiUES^S 


<&-o 


Washington  Square,  Newport,  R.  I. 


fiM  '  ^ 


fl,ffl,fli  na  mri  la 


Location  unsurpassed.  In  its  apnointnicnts  it  is  adininililv  ;ula|)ti<I  to  iiRct  tlio  iciiuircnicnti  ot"  the  public. 
Thoroughly  renovated  and  refurnislica.  Steam  has  heen  adilid  to  tlie  slec|iini;-apartimiits  as  an  additional  luxury. 
Its  present  management  is  securing  a  world-wide  reputation,  and  its  L,'^ciilliiii;mlv  iimpriitur  is  unsparing  in  his 
efforts  to  merit  the  full  approbation  of  its  numerous  patrons.     I-'or  terms,  address 


E.  V.  WESTCOTT,  Proprietor. 


William  C.  Langley, 

BrapFr  f^  bailor, 


.\iifl  Dealer  in 


Men's  Furnishing  Goods. 


4^ivil,  4^iHtary,  ^^aval   and  -^l^ivcrii 
tailoring  in  all  itA  |^ranchcA. 

The  lai-ge.st  and  best  stfick  of  eloths  in  the  city  to 
select  from. 

New  Goods  Constantly  Arriving. 


104  and  106  Thames  Street^ 
Newport,  R.  I. 


The  Newport  Gas  Light  Co. 


Dealers    in 


^Sias  Fixtures  §^ 

A  N  I ) 

GAS4-ST0YES, 

And  all  SUPPLIE.S  CONNECTED  THEHEWnil. 


Contractors  for  Heating  Buildings 

Hv  Stka.m  ok  Hot  W'a'jeh. 

Estimates  and  advice  in  regard  to  Heating  and 
Ventilation  furnished  without  e.xpense.  The  IJronz- 
ing,  Ueflnishingand  Polishing  Department  is  eijuipped 
with  the  best  machinery  and  facilities  for  doing  all 
work  promjitly,  and  in  the  best  manner. 


Office,  113  THAMES   STREET, 

WM.  A.  STEDMAN,  Treas. 


•J*. 


34 


-^ 


oV^BlISIEES^    IB^ERES^^  J.     RHODE    ISLHBD. 


OF  1881.  - 


OcESN  House 


]^EWP@1W,  ^.  I. 


0^enjune  Smenf/tj-J'iflh 


WITHIN  200  FEET  OF  CASINO. 


J,  G.  Weaver  &  Sons, 


FRANK  B.  PORTER  &  CO. 

"^AND*^]lGENTS> 
BELLEVUE  AVE  ,  NEWPORT,  R.  I. 


FRANK  B.   PORTER. 


JOHN   A.  JUDSON. 


New  York  Correspondents : 
Messrs.  Homer  Mokgan  and  K.  11.  Ludlow  &  Co. 
Boston  Correspondent : 
Samuel  Parkman  Blake,  Jr. 


JOHN/.  JUDSON,  Civil  Engineeii, 

(member   '•  AMEBICAM  SOCIETY  OF  CIVIL    ENGINEERS,    ') 
OF   THE 

Firm  of  FRANK  B.  PORTER  &  CO..  Newport,  R.  I. 


1©¥ 


0)        Y    ^ 


REi^Ii  EP^TE 


i 


OFFICE  : 

Bellevue  Avenue,  near  Kay  Street, 

Newport,  r.  i. 


Furnished  and  Unfurnished  Cot- 
tages by  the  Season  or  Year. 


H 


t      -L    _L  I 


H 


H 


^^) 


J^ljricitltitrHl ;  mjjkmenis, 

HARDWARE, 

FIELD,  LAWN  AND  GARDEN  SEEDS.        FERTIL- 
IZERS OF  ALL  MANUFACTURES. 

Newport   Agency   for   Champion   &  Wood's 

Mowers,   Lane's  Hay  Rake,  and 

Mudgett  Hay-Tedder, 

Full  line  of  MEH  iSE, 

Repairing  of   Lawn-Mowers.  Agricultural  Implements.       Rubber 
Hose  and  Clothes  Wringers  a  specialty. 

^qIq  AgQot  ior  NiewpQirt 

FOR  THE  MACOMBER  WELL-CURB. 

GEO.  A.  Weaver, 


-* 


^. 


.3n 


k^  BUvSIRE  88    IP^ERE  S^S  .-   RHODE    IS  L  H  R  D 


J.  E.  SEABURY, 

-v-&s(138&140'»- 
Jhamt.',  .St,  ■  J'mpoH,  S!.  <J. 


ANI>    IIKAI.KH    IN 


ATS9  Ff  TMB9 

Gents'  Fine  Furnishing  Goods, 


Ladies'  and  Misses'  Sacques  and  Cloaks. 


"  SPECIALTIES." 

I'ine  Shirts  to  order;   Tennis,  Bicycle,  iind  Boating  Shirts 
Ciiuchnien's  Furnishlng^s,  and  Oil  and  Rubber  Clothinsj. 


WWW  INGE, 


/-V 


LADIES' HAIR-DRESSING 

In  all  the  latest   and  dill'crent  styles.      Ladies    attended    at 
their  residences.     Shampof>inii  a  speeialtv. 

-COSTUMES    AND     WIGS     TO    HIRE 
for   Private  Theatricals. 

lei   I'oii   iKirle   I'"raiii;ais. 


J.  M.  K.  SOUTHWICK, 

117  Thames  Street,  Newport-  R.  I. 

House-Furnistiing  Hardware, 

WOOD    AND   TIN    WARE,    STON'ES,    KURNACES 

and  Ranges,  Table  and  Pocket  Cutlery,   Encaustic 

Tile,  Fishing  and  Sporting  Tackle,  Powder 

and  Shot,  Yacht,  Boat  and  Ship  Chandlery,  Cordage  and 

Twines,  Bunting  and  Flags,  Manufacturers' Agent 

lor  Machine-made  Netting,  Plymouth  Cord- 
age, I-afiin  &  Rand  Powder,  Stevens'  Upward  Filter, 
Gold's  Heaters'  Furnaces. 


McADAM  &  OPENSHAW, 


w 


^i^-> 


Sanitary  Engineers, 

Give  special  attention  to  the  ventilation  of  house  drainage. 
Smith's  Syphon  Jet  Water  Closets  (from  California*, 
the  very  best  yet  produced,  can  be  seen  in  oper- 
ation at  our  store, 

6  Mill  Street,  ^^^i"-^ 


JQHM  1.  JILLEM, 

■IJoui^e  and  -^Jign  -Igainter. 

Glazing,  Gilding,  Marbling  and  Paper  Hanging,  Grain- 
ing in  Oak,  Black  Walnut,  Chestnut,  Et(!. 

No.  6  Broadway,  Newport,  R.  I. 

Particular  attention  paid  to  Whiting  or  Tinting  Ceilings 
or  Walls  in  Oil  or  Water  Colors.  All  orders  promptly  at- 
tended to  with  neatness  and  dispatch,  and  at  reasonable 
prices. 


Pf ill  fetnte  ^$tnt  mti 

BELLEVUE  AVENUE,  NEWPORT.  R.  I 


n. 


Furnished   Cottages    for   Rent.     Cottages,  Farms  and  Building- 
Lots  in  Newport  and  Vicinity  for  Sale. 


*- 


-* 


36 


.* 


c  c  V at:jrt:  a dc vE u C CctA u .■ 


GEORGE  0.  HERRMANN, 

PR/lCFICTIIt 

Watchmaker  f  Jeweler, 

No.  149  THAMES  ST.,  NEWPORT,  S,.  I. 

All  kinds  of  Ucpairing-  doiu-  in  the  \>e?t  iiuiniier. 

l^^IiOtifi'  j-eai-s  of  experience  in  tiielarg-est  e.stabli.sh- 
mentsof  Europe  and  this  country,  I  claim  as  suflficient 
experience  in  my  favor. 


SMITH  BOSWORTH  &  CO., 

MANUFACTIIREKS  Oh' 

Doors,  Sashes,  Blinds, 

WINDOW- FRAMES,  MOULDINGS,  ETC. 

A  Fine  Slock  of 

Lattice,  Fence  Capping',  Stair  Rails,  always  on  hand. 

Sawing  and  J'laning  of  eveiy  dcscri]iti(in. 

COR.  GREEN  LANE  and  WEST  BROADWAY, 

NEWPORT,  R.  I. 

Smith  Bos-wortii,    Pklkg  S.  Boswokth,     Edward  T.  Bosvvorth, 


Charles  F,  Frasch 


CONFECTIONER, 

102  THAMES  STREET, 
Newport,  R.  I. 


WILLIAM  T.  BOWLER'S 

^^POPULARIk,^ 


D.  J.  LAMBERT, 

litre  I  ailoring, 

^-m,  10  PELHAM  STREET,-!^^ 
NEWPORT,*R.*I. 


FRED.    W.    FADDEN  &  CO., 

BBLIiEVUE  AYEU.  ana  BATH  EQAB,, 

Newpi>1{t,  K.  I. 


Xj:h3:e3  :B:FLon7X3::E3Xi.s, 


DEALERS    IN 


Fresh,  Salt  ami  Smoked  Fish, 

Oysters,  Clams,  Lobsters  and  Quahaugs. 
179  THAMES  STREET,  NEWPORT,  R.I. 

Wni.  11,  Lee.     Ciinncctedby 'role])honc.     T.J.  Lee,  2d. 

R.  H.  TILLEY, 

Dealer  in  Newspapers  1  Periodicals,  Stationery, 

Blank  J{o(dvs,  Playing' Cards,  Toy-Books,  Stereoscopes, 
Stereoscopic  Views,  Etc.    Box  Stationery  a  speeialtJ^ 

128  THAMES  ST.,  NEWPORT,  R.  I. 

Office  of  publication  of  the  Nezvport  Historical  Magazine. 


c-a)^3  cis'-i  t^V."(5^5r3      '^^j  ^  6-G)^c^«^  '^^  *<>>j  u^J:»  .-oi-j'i 

Families  Supplied  -with  Fresh  Vegetables  everj' morn- 
ing.   Cess-pools  emptied  at  reasonable  rates. 

WARNER  STREET,  opp.  NEWPORT  AVE. 


PABM   HOUSB, 

Right  Hand  Side  of  State  House, 

WASHINGTON  SQUAEE,       -        NEWPORT,  R.  I. 

WILLIAM  ALDERSON,  Prop. 

p.  O.  Box,  473.  No  Liijuor  Sold  on  the  Premises. 


ARK  SITUATED  AT 


No.  3^  BRINLEY  STREET, 

Near  Kay  St.,      -      Newport,  R.  I., 

Where  first-class  teams,  both  single  and  double,  can  be  had 
at  short  notice  and  reasonable  prices. 


oislTTORSE-SHOEING  done  in  the  most  neat  and  approved 
'^lill.manner.     Also,  Carriage  Work  and  General 
Jobbing  in  Blacksmithing  done 
with  neatness  and  dispatch. 

CHAS.  F.  D.  FAYERWEATHER, 

No.  7  West  Broadway,  Newport,  R.  I. 


Washington  Square,      Newport,  R.  I. 


Edward  Otto, 

Fine  Tailoring, 


-* 


37 


cc  \aivTvadc:ix\CUi\n. 


gp:orc;k  gratrix. 
Saddle.  Harness,  and  Trunk  Manufacturer, 

IN  HKOAI)\\.\^  ,  lO  THAN  KKS'  BI.OfK, 
Newport,  K.   1. 

Hepiiiriiifr  llMfiii's^i-^  iiml  'rriinks  ii  Spccialt>. — 


RICHARD   WRIGHT, 

^IGjcalcr  in    »:Papcr  ^^-^tock  and  ^J^ctalA. 

Wdolcii  Kai;s  ;iii(l  H.ittli's  dfovorv  ilescription. 

12  Ferry  Wliarf,        -        Newport,  l{.  I. 

All  Onlii-  l*n.inj)tly  Atl.iKK'd  to. 


Geo.  N.  LiNEHAM. 


♦  Surgeon 


Dentist. 


Sick  or  I,aiiu>  Horses  IJouidetl  or  attended  at  Owners' 
StaliU's.     Colts  broken,  Ilol'scs  Trained. 

21  WKST  BROADWAY,  XF^WPOKT,  R.  I. 

W.   H.    H.   LAWTON. 

(SiKitssor  to  Is:i;ic  Lawtoii,) 

Dealer  in  Fresh.  Salt,  and  Smoked  Fish 

Of  all  kinds.     0\>-tirs,  Clams,  Lobsters, 
and'  (^laluniijs. 

13  Long  Wharf,        -        Newport,  R.  I. 


T-R-cqi.!)tcrcd    : Pharmacist. 

Puic  Drugs,  Fine  'r.>il(.-l  Rciiuisites,  Soaps,  Brushes, 
and  PerfuMu-ry  in  threat  variety. 

36  and  38  Broadway,  Newport,  R.  I. 


KSTABLISIIKD,  1848. 

GEORGE  DENNISTON, 

Ag-i'iit  lor  the 

Allan,  Cunard,  Guion,  Inman,  and  Hambufg 

Mail  Steainsliip.s. 

Cabin  and  Stceia!,''e  Pa-^sa^e  Tickets  to  and  from 
Liverpool,  Viieenstown,  (Jalway,  Hamburg',  Bremen, 
Paris.  Kte.  Information  regarding  the  lines  will  lie 
cheerfully  given. 

26  Kinsley's  Wharf,  Newport,  R.  I. 


Done  in  the  nicsl  luiit  and  rart  In!  niannir  h\- 

JOHN  E.  LEDDY, 

No.  7  Farewell  Street,  Newport,  R.  I. 

(,)uarter-Craeks,  Thrust-(."orns.  and  all  disea.ses  of  the 
foot  treatccl  carefully  and  i)roinptly. 


Park  Place  Stables. 

Wii'crtr  and  '^^oanliug  ^tablc.**. 

Particular  Attention  Paid  to  Transient  Horses. 

Cor.  Spring  and  Touro  Sts.,  near  State  House. 
Newport,  R.  I. 


YOUNG  &  POTTER, 

Meats,  Poultry,  Game,  Hams,' Tongues,  Lard,  Etc. 

hruil  and  \'ei;elaliks  in  lluir  Season. 

42  Broadway,         -         Newport,  R.  i. 

Goods  delivered  to  any  part  of  the  City  free  of  Charge. 


KS  r.'VIiLiSHKD,   iSio. 

OKO.    I.    SPENCKR 

No.  43  Bridi^e  .Stieet,  Ne\>  port,  R.  I. 


NOAH  THOMPSON, 

Wholesale  Dealer  in  and  Shipper  of  FISH, 

r.ohsters,  Etc.      Bait  of  all  kinds  in  their  Season. 

Also,  Pleasure  Boats  to  Let. 

KINSLEY'S   ^A;•HARF,    NEWPORT,    R.   L 


J.  D.  JOHNSTON, 

NEWPORT,    R     I. 

Jobbing  of  all  kinds  a  specialty.     Orders  can  be  left 

at  iy2  Thames  Street. 

Kvsiileiice,  44  Elui  Sii-eet.  P.  O.  J?o.\,  lOi. 


SCOTT  BEOTHERS, 

Manufacturers  of  garryalb,  juggled, 

Light  Or<lerAVagons,  Top  and  Express  Wagons. 
All  work  \\'arranted.     Special  attention  paid  to  Repairing. 
Cor.  Npi-iii;;  niid  .Nlicrniiiii  fits,,  IVcwiiorl,  K.  1. 


A.   M.    HOLM, 
^GAEBIAGE  ^  MAKING,-^ 

BL.VCKSMITniNG    AND    Pa  l.\TI.N<,. 

LONG  WHARF,      -      NEWPORT,  R.  I. 


I^ABIL   llAMiPhlOTiHlH  ^   H&MH.) 


KALJUiS    IX 


Office,  2  Westminster, 


CITY  DEPOT:  JUNCTION  OF  CO vir  S ABIN,  AND  UNION  STREETS. 


Corner  of  Dyer  Street. 


The  business  of  this  tirm 


*- 


established  by  Eaki,  Cahi'k.ntkr  in  iSjj,  and  it  liys  maintained  the  reputation  for  fair 
prices  and  prompt  service  earned  by  its  founder. 


■* 


Dyspeptic  Remedy 

and   Piiritter  of  the 

Blood.       Operating' 

WITHOUT 

Pain  or  Sickness 

of  the  stomach. 
Always  Safe. 


DR.  SETH   ARNOLD'S   LABORATOKY. 


Dr.  Seth  Arnold's  Cough  Killer. 

A    Sure,    Safe,    and   Speedy   remedy  for    Colds,     Coughs,    and   all 


>^. 


^MALIGNANT  FEVERS^ 


'^ 


That  afflict  the  human  family.     It  has  cured  inany  zvho  have  been  pronounced 

by  eminent  physicians  to  have  seated  CONSUM'TTION  and  to 

be  past  all  hope. 

We  warrant  the  above  to  give  satisfaction,  or  to  refund  the  money,  to  parties  strictly 
following  directions.    Price,  25  cts.,  50  cts.,  and  $  1.00  per  bottle. 


Dr.  Seth  Arnold's  Eye- Water,  or  Rose  Compound, 

For  Recent  or  Chronic  Inflammation  of  the  Eyes. 

IT    IS    ALSO    GOOD    FOR    ERYSIPELAS    AND    CANCEROUS    HUMORS. 


-* 


^ 


39 


-* 


DR.  SETH  ARNOLD'S 

BREAT  INFANTILE  REGULATOR. 


For  CHOLERA  INFANTUM, 

AND    KOH 

CHILDREN  WHILE  TEETHING, 

//  relieves  Infantile  pains  and  all 
spasmodic  affections  of  the  stomach 
and  bowels.  (Recom^mended  by  w,ulti= 
iudes  of  Mothers  and  Nurses  who 
have  extensively  used  it. 

^rice,  25  ^^-S-  P^'^  bottle. 


Tlirne  MefliciiieH  are  all  conipoiiiidrd  and 

put  up  M-ith  great  care,  and  ^vilh 

iinrnryiii};  uuiforiiiily,  niid 

from  the  purcHt  and  bent 

drugs  iu  the  market, 

by   the 


DU.  SETH  ARNOLD. 


DR,  SETH  ARNOLD  MEDICAL  CORPORATION, 

At  their  Laboratory,  Woonsocket,  R.  I. 


CO 

pq 
Eh 
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w 
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CO 

o 


'  ^  T  TT  T -TTurr  ■»  •» 


^•lRp!f&^'=i 


UK.  SI. I  ]i    M,  Mil,!)  S    UKSIDKNCi;. 


l-H 
CO 

>-^ 
CO 

»— '• 

o 
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CI 


*- 


40 


ffW'-y^B^'^K'^^^iJtiiitogE^^^gj^^ 


■^ 


3<'^Y^-i*i^e:iF-7.'N?^^h.nL4^w^i<^'.i^'i^A^WA,'-v^^^ 


F.  H.  STAFFORD. 


WM.  1TIA!90!V. 


A.  T.  PIFRCE. 


STAFFORD  &  CO. 


MANUFACTURERS    OF 


Cotton  Yarns  i  Twilled  Goods, 

SP001.-C0TT0P¥    APVD    HOi^IERY    YARIVS. 

^11  Uos.   Yarn,  from  J\/o.  6  to  bo,  Single  or  Tivisted. 

POTOWOMUT,    EAST    GREENWICH,  R.  I.,  BARROWS- 
VILLE,  AND  NORTH   DiGHTON,  MASS. 

Office,  27  Custom  House  Street,  Providence,  R.  L 


JAMES  K.  HANKET, 


Dealer  in 


HOT-AIR  FURNACES,  RANGES, 

PARLOR  AND  COOKING   STOVES, 
Hollow    Ware,  and  Sheet  Zinc. 


Manufacturer  of 

Copper,  Sheet 

Iron, and 

Tin  Ware, 


295  Broad  St.,  Providence,  R.  I. 

General  Job  Worlc  done  to  order  at  Short  Notice. 


B.  O'DONNELL 


Manufacturer  of 


PACKING  BOXES, 

Cloth,  Soap,  Candle,  Boot,  Shoe,  and 
IMediciiie  Boxes, 

City  Planing  Mills, 

22  SOUTH  ST,  PROVIDENCE,  R.  I. 

All  vork  luaryantid  to  ffive  satisfaction,  and 
OKI-  pritcs  low  as  the  lov'est. 


Ladies'  and  Gentlemen's  Fine  Boots  and  Shoes, 

Of  every  desirable  style,  made  to  measure  from  the  very    Choicest  Brands  of  hnported  Stork. 

NO    NAILED     OR    SECOND-CLASS     WORK. 

4^ All  work  Hand-sewed,  giving'  a  ilexibility  which   insures  the-  wearer  ease  and    comfort,   and    jjives  a  style 
and  dnrability  that  cannot  he  obtained  any  other  way. 

SIL.K,   SATIN,   AND   OTHFR    DFI>ICATE    ITIATFRIAIiS   ITIADF    III*    IN 
STVI.E,   FIT    AND    WORKMANSHIP    UNSURPASSED. 

179  Broad  St,   J.  S.  BAGLEY,Mil«nc«.Ai: 


*■ 


*- 


41 


-^ 


^miSUlESS   IBKE^S^S  J'^BMa^ 


HENRY  T.  ROOT, 


144    WESTMINSTER    ST.. 


PROVIDENCE.    R.  I, 


HOT-AIR  FURNACES, 

Healiiiji^  and  Cooking  Stoves  of  the  most  approved  patterns,  Refrigerators, 
('hildren's  Carriages,  Tin,  >Vooden,  and  Japanned  AVare. 

Kitchen  Furnishing  Goods. 

An  unequaled  ass  )rti"nent  of  First-Class  Goons. 
TIN  ROOFING  and  work  in  Copper,  Tin  and  Sheet  Iron,  at  Satisfactory  Prices. 


THE  OLDEST  HOUSE    TJ^   THIS    LINE    IW   THE    CITY, 

Formerly  James  Famks,  then  Fames  &  Root,  and  now 

HENRY  T.  ROOT,  -  144  Westminster  Street,  Providence,  R,  1. 

Charles  F.  Taylor, 


(IIIJCCKSSOR    TO 


IJURGESS 

Cop  Tube 

COMPANY, 


00  LD   >rEr>AL. 


GOLn  MEDAL. 


5  Custom  House  Street,    -     Providence,  R.  I. 

I  mil  prcpiircd  to  fiirnisli  my  I'litciit  Miichim-   Paper  Cop  Tubes  for  Mulos  of  all  inukfs,  iiicluiiing  tlic 

Fniiiklin  Foiniilr,\-,  Hill,  Slnsoii,  .Janu's  S.  Mrown,  Sharp  &  itoberts,  Uiildi'ford,  Lowi'll,  Kail  lUAt-r, 

Smith  ami  Uriiit'shiir;*-  Mules  of  American  .Manufacture  ;  and  the  Piatt  Urothors.  Parr,  Curtis 

\-   Madcly,  'J'aylor,  Lan>f  &  Co.,  Win.  HiKKins&  Sons,  and  Dobsrm  &  Hiirlow  Mules 

of  Enjflish  manufacture,  and  other  sizes  to  order. 

A  OOIiD  MEDAIi  was  awarded  those  Tubes  at  the  E.xhibltlon  of  the  Massachusetts  CImtitable 

Mechanic  Association  in  IHO'j,  and  for  the  opinion  of  practical  manufacturers  1  refer  to  the  following-; 


Lonsdale  Company, 

Providence,  U.  I. 

Merrimack  Manura(;turln(i:  Co., 

Lowell,  Mass. 

A.  &  W.  Sprag-ue  .Manufg 

Co., 

"             " 

Mas.-taohusetts  Cotton  Mills, 

"           " 

Manyille  (.'ompany, 

"             " 

Appli'ton  (.'ompaiiv. 

"           " 

Wauregan  Mills, 

"             " 

Auioskeag  ManufacturiiiK  Co., 

Manchester,  N.  H. 

Harmony  Mills, 

Cohoes,  N.  y. 

Lockwooii  Company, 

Waterville,  Me. 

I'tica  Steam  Cotton  Mills, 

Utica,  N.  Y. 

Peppcrell  .Mills, 

Biddetord,  Me. 

Lyinan  Mills, 

Holyoke,  Mass. 

Brownsville  Manufacturing  Co., 

Brownsville,  Tenn. 

* 


42 


^^iMEiMiaiiii^^aM 


-* 


1861 


PROVIDENCE 


1881 


Blank  Book  Manufactory, 


No.  37  CUSTOM  HOUSE  STREET, 


REAR  OF  POST   OFFICE. 


^ 


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AT    WHOLESALE    OR    RETAIL, 

Or  Made  to  any  Desired  Pattern. 


BOOK   BINDING,    rAPER    RULING,    JEBGB    GILDING, 

GILT   LETTEIiING,    3IACHINE    FEBFORATING, 

BAPER    CUTTING, 


H.  M.  COOMBS  &  CO. 

BINDERS  TO   THE  STATE. 

H.  M.  Coombs.  N.  J.  Smith. 


*- 


43- 


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gBllMBES^-I^ 


Vi.¥enn 


•^DEALERS  IN  FIRST-CLASS^- 


-^^-v-- 


S  '?'      a) 


AND 


I^if^rfFn  Si^Fnsils. 


MANUFACTURERS'  AGENTS  FOR 

chilson's:™m™fijrnaces 

AND  BRICK-SET  AND  PORTABLE 
RANGES. 

Boynton  Improved  Gas-Tight  Furnaces  I  Eddy's  Standard  Refrigerators. 

Manufacturers  of  COPPER,  TIN  and  SHEET-IRON  GOODS.     Plumbing  and 

Plumbers'  Materials.      Particular  attention  given 

to  Metal  Roofing. 


Nos.  129  &  131  Broad  Street, 


(Opposite  Narragansett  Hotel,) 


*- 


45 


-* 


BaSIRES^    ID^ERESJT.S  J    RHODE     ISL  ;q  R  D 


Brown  &  Sharpe  Mf'g,  Co,, 

PROVIDENCE,  RHODE  ISLAND, 

Manufacturers  of  Fine  Machinery,  Sewing  Machines, 


Patented  Articles,  Universal  and  Plain  Milling-  Machines,  Grinding,  Screw  and  Tapping  Machines.  Screw 

Finishing  and  Polishing  Machines,  Reels,  Assortcrs,  Scales  and  Testers  for  Koving  and  Yarn, 

lor  Cotton  and  Woolen  Manufacturers'  use.  Patent  Cutters  for  Gear  Wheels,  and 

for  Taps,  Reamers,  Twist  Drills,  Irregularly  Formed  Sewing  Machine 

and  Gun  Parts,  Milling  and  Screw  Slotting  Cutters. 

PATTERN  AND  WORKING  GEARS  Made  or  Gut.    INDEX  PLATES  Made  or  Drilled  to  Order. 


Darling.  Brown  &  Sharpe, 


PROVIDENCE,  RHODE  ISLAND, 


MANUFACTURERS    OF 


UNITED  STATES  STANDARD  RULES. 


AMES'  UNIVERSAL  SQUARES. 


Patent  Hardened  Cast  Steel  Try  Squares,  the  American  Standard  Wire  Gauge,  Bevel  Protractors, 
Hardened  T  Squares  and  Bevels,  Centre  Gauges. 

Steel.  German  Silver,  and  Boxwood  Triangular  Scales,  Vernier  Calipers,  Caliper  Scjuares  and  Rules,  Plumb 
Bobs,  Paper  Drawing  Scales,  "Willis"  Odontographs,  Steel  Straight  Edges  and  T  Square  Blades. 


-Hf 


46 


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<>^EUSIBI>gS   IB^JEBES^^  tf    BHOBE    ISIxHBD 


^188i> 


Nicholson  File  Company 


'       tfiNi  W^  e<^  c^  ;^  "a-^is  tS3  ^aJj  ttgb  z^  '      c<s^         :^     '    * 


MANUFACTURERS   OF 


Filers  Tools,  Butchers'  Steels, 


Etc.,  Etc. 


•i<- 


* 


47 


2^  BUS  I  n  E  S  S  ;  I P  ^  ME8  o       --•  ■  RjBaJDE^S  L^ 


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HENRY  G.  CRANSTON 


an/eei    an 


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Ro,  31  Weybosset  Street. 


UNITED  STATES  BONDS  AND  COMMERCIAL  PA- 
PER BOUGHT  AND  SOLD.  STOCKS  AND  BONDS 
BOUGHT  AND  SOLD  IN  ALL  MARKETS  ON  COM- 
MISSION, PARTICULAR  ATTENTION  BEING  GIVEN 
TO  FIRST-CLASS  INVESTMENT  BONDS  AND  STOCKS. 


mmaf  t 


*b- 


^9 


>^BaSIRESt^.  IP^ERESerS         RHODE     ISL^IRD 


C.  P.  LOBDELL, 

No.  575  High  Street, 

PROVIDENCE,  R.  I. 

^-!-5 ♦» 5^- 

-McA  LARGE  ASSORTMENT  OF^i^ 

Marble  and  Granite  Work  Constantly  on  Hand. 

ALL  WORK  FINISHED  IN  THE  BEST  MANNER,  AND  AT 

THE  Lowest  Prices. 

SATISFACTION  GUARANTEED. 

I.    p.    EDDY, 


-255-        7^X7X11^7  QT^     'BURROWS' 

HIGH  ST., ,;  J_-/1_j1  N     1    lO    1    ,i     BLOCK. 


Cor.  High  and  Dean  Streets,  Proyidence,  U.  I. 


TIBBITTS  &  SHAW^, 

BOOK-SELLERS,  STATIONERS, 

Blank  Book  Manufacturers  and  Lithographic  Printers, 

21  Westminster  Street,  Providence,  R.  I. 


-* 


►J.. 


50 


--^ 


!# BH^IEE^S S    II? ^JEJXE  S  ^S  ^  KHODE    I^  ILJl  12 1) 


CARRIAGE-MAKERS'  &  BLACKSMITHS'  SUPPLIES. 


WHEELS, 


SPRINGS, 


E.  WINSOR  &  CO., 


135  EDDY   STREET, 


«i>?~^~^'t"»)   ■    ki*- 


PROVIDENCE,   R.  I. 


Ofl&ce  and  Salesroom,  11  Maiden  Lane,  New  York;  Factory,  104  Eddy  St.,  Providence,  B.  I. 


Sole  Manufacturers  of  the 

Patent  Stiffened 

Watc ft  Seises* 


The  Best  and  Most  Durable, 

And  the  Cheapest 

STIFFENED  GOLD  WATCH 

For  the  Money, 
MADE  IN   THE  WORLD. 


All  genuine  Watch  Cases  of  our  manufacture  have  "  G.  W.  Ladd's  Patent,  June  ii,  1S67,"  stamped 
upon  the  side  band,  underneath  the  glass  bezel. 


S—  BIFUSE  ALL  OTHllS.  —5 

Key  and  Stem-winding,  Hunting  and  Open-face,  in  Flat,  Bevel,  Mansard  and  Oval  Shapes,  adapted  to  the  various 
American-made  movements,  in  8,  lo,  14,  16  and  jS  sizes.     Send  for  full  Descriptive  Circular  to  the 

OFFICE  AND  SALESROOMS,  11  MAIDEN  LANE,  NEW  YORK 

Dealers  can  obtain  them  of  the  Wholesale  Watch  and  Je\velry  Houses,  or  their  Traveling  Agents  throughout  the  United 

States  and  British  Provinces. 


^- 


^ 


51 


-9 


it^^BUSII^E 


i»^3fJlSt:^->tsKg^J 


ODE     ISLJ^R  D 


<^NflRRKGHNSETT«  HOTEL,^ 


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One   of    the    Largest,   Best   Appointed,   Most   Elegant,   and   Comfortable 

Hotels  in  New  England,  for  either  Transient  or  Permanent  Guests, 

AND  the  only  First-Class  Hotel  in  Providence. 

CHAPIN  &  ROBINSON,  Lessees. 


JOHN   R.  DORRANCE, 


No.  9  WEYBOSSET  STREET,  PROVIDENCE,  R.  I. 


(^LEEN  INSrRANCK  CO..  Liverpool. 
FIKKMAN'S   rrND  INSUKANCE  CO.,  Californiii, 
UNION'   INSI'KANCP:  CO,  California. 
W  II,LI.\MSHIKGII  CITY  I.N.«^L'R.\N'CE  CO.,  New  Y. 
I.OUILI.AKD  IXSIRANCE  CO.,  Xew  York,      - 


irk, 


I 
1. 


ooo.ooo 

OviO.OOO 
OIO.OOO 
4.10,000 


Poliri«-»  >vritlfii  for  lirr  VfiirM  on  biiMiiia-HH,  buililiiiVH,  <lMrliiiiy;n  mid  t'lii-iiitiii-f. 


French,  Mackenzie  &  Co. 


AXD 


tfJ  If  If   Wh  ^7^  HB  <<! 


No.  69  FRIENDSHIP  STREET. 

Providence,  R.  I. 

STAIRS  OK  AI.I.  I)i:.sCKII'riON'S  lU'II.T  TO 
OUnER. 


WARREN    A.    FRENCH. 
HECTOR   MACKENZIE. 


*- 


KMTABI.IHIIED,  l«>«33. 

A,  BURGESS  &  SON, 

MANUf ACTUHERS    OF 

Irooiii  t^i^fierst 

r.i:.\  I  m:K  i!i:i.rs, 

PICKER  AM)  LACK  I.KA TllKK.  AND  DKALEKS 

IN  .MANUKACrURKRS'  KINDINCiS 

(.K\KI{AI.I.Y. 

FACTORY,  692  NORTH  MAIN  STREET, 

39  Woybosset  S<.,  Providonro,  R.  I. 


ijr- 


52 


-•» 


FLINT  &CO;S  EMPORIUM! 


The  Great  House-Furnishing  Depot 


^OF+nGOJ+GnGLAnD.^ 

Their  Palatial  Store  is  filled  to  repletion  with  all  the  articles  necessary  to  house-keepers,  at 
PRICES  LOWER  THAN  THE  LOWEST. 


CARPETS ! 


CARPETS ! ! 


500    ROLLS.  500    ROLLS. 

Body  and  Tapestry  Brussels.  Extra  Supers.  C-Plys,  Ingrains  and  Hemps,  at  lowest  living  prices. 

■^i^ar  tor  t  Furititur  s^«^ 

In  Hair-Cloth,  Rep,  Raw  Silk,  Plush  and  Terry,  at  prices  from  $35.00  to  $350.00. 

Chaiber  Furniture. 


In  Black  Walnut,  Mahog-any.  Ash,  Chestnut.     Also, 

our  own  Painted  Chainlier  Sets  at  priues  from 

$,20.00  to  $150.00. 


Kitchen  Furniture. 

Everything  the  House-keeper  needs. 

Math  J  ^mrmmge^S  Mmkj  Qmi'FmgeM! 

The  finest  assortment  Providence  has  ever  seen.    Your  choice  from  $6.00  to  $4:0.00. 

REFRIGERATORS  !  REFRIGERATORS  ! 

The  celebrated  PALACE  and  QUEEN  are  superior  to  all  for  their  peculiar  cooling'  and  preserving  qualities 
EXAMINATION   AND    CRITICISM    INVITED. 
Everything  at  Hard  Pan  Prices  for  CASH,  or  on  their  Liberal  System  of  CREDIT, 

FLINT  &  CO.'S  EMPORIUM ! 

Broad  and  Eddy  Streets,  Providence,  R.  I. 


*- 


-* 


'-  ■     -  -  -^ff-'^|-~'^"^'^^y-'™5 


m 


ESTABI^IMIIED,  1793. 


IIVCOKPOKATED,   IStiS. 


Fletcher  Manufacturing  Co. 


MANlIFACTlJUEnS  OK 


BOOT,  SHOE,  AND  CORSET  LACES.  xM 


FLETCHER  WICKS  FOR  KEROSENE  OILS. 

IN    ROLLS   OR   CUT    INTO    STANDARD    LENGTHS. 


STOVE  WICKS,  all  sizes,  in  Stock  and  to  Order. 


TORCH  and  FUSE  WICKS 


TO    OKDKH 


STAR, 
RICK-RACK, 

SPECIAL  WICKS    /^'^^ '"*'*""*"'■  GLACE,  PLAIN, 

^:^^  Braids  and  Bobbins. 

YARNS, 

From  No.  5  to  60,  in  Skeins  or  on  Spools. 

Harness  and  Seine  Twines,  Wrapping  Twines,  Braided  and 
Twisted  Spindle  Banding. 
FACTORIES  AT  PROVIDENCE,  R.  h 

If  Complaints  are  made  of  the  Burning  Qualities  of  any 
"Petroleum  Oils,''  try  the 

"NEW  ACME "  WICK. 
Fletcher  Manufacturing  Co., 

Sole  Manufacturers  of  the  "NEW  ACME"  Wick. 


FACTORY  AND  SALESROOM  AS  ABOVE. 


*- 


04 


Hf 


X^Wl^lTtE^^^   IB^U^^^B  o    BHOjDE    I SJuJl  12  D 


JOHN  AUSTIN, 


Gold  and  Silver  Refiner, 


^MD  SHILTEI, 

74  Clifford  Street,  Providence,  H.  I. 


Fine  Gold,  Silver  and  Copper 

CRUCIBLES,  ETC.,  ETC.,  ALWAYS  ON  HAND. 


')  ^*V'J  ^^v.. 


Gold  and  Silver  Coin  for  the  Trade. 


•* 


a^^^^yPffu^i..YiMHUij 


Manchester  &  Hudson 


n/lOLE.SALE  AND  RETAIL  DEALERS  AV 


MASONS'  Building  Materials 


OF  ALL  KINDS. 


Pressed,  Moulded  and  Common  Brick. 

American  and  Scotch  Fire  Brick  in  all  Qualities. 


SOIiK  AC.KXTS   FOR 


F.  0.  NORTON'S 

ROSENDALE 

Cement. 


TANDARD 

AKRON 

SALT  GLAZED  /^\ 

.SEWER 

^ACRINSTTHEWORLD" 


Axn 


Saylor's 

PORTLAND 

Cement. 


BEARDMORE  S  WIRE-CLOTH  RUBBER  PACKING. 

A  LARGE  STOCK  OF 

North  River  Blue  Stone. 

AMERICAN,  PORTLAND,  ROMAN,  AND  KEENE'S  CEMENTS, 

COBB'S  EASTERN  LIME,  PLASTERING  HAIR, 

RHODE  ISLAND  LIME,  FIRE    CLAY, 

CALCINED  PLASTER,  KAOLIN,   ETC., 

CONSTANTLY  ON  HAND.    ALSO, 

Chimney  Caps,  Chimney  Tops,  Wind  Guards,  Oven  Tile,  Land  Plaster,  Marble  Dust,  Etc.,  Etc. 

Kstiinates  furnished  on  any  Avork  connet'ted  witli  our  l>ii.sinc.ss, 
and  satisfaction  guaranteed. 

Offices,  354  EDDY,  and  35  WEYBOSSET  STREETS, 

Wharf  and  Yards,  foot  of  Elm  Street, 
PROVIDENCE,  R.  I. 


56 


IN    ELEGANT   DESIGNS. 


The  Leading  Orp  of  the  World 


FOR    CHURCH    AND    HOME. 


W 

O 

t—H 

Oh 


o 


> 

< 
in 


Is  the  Only  Upright  Piano-forte  ever   used  as  a  Solo 
Instrument  in  public  concerts  by  eminent  artists. 


Made  from  the  best  materials  and 

FULLY    WARRANTED. 


168  Westminster  St.,  Providence,  R.  I. 


-* 


«!*- 


->.t 


Fire^Marine  Insurance. 


INCORPORATED,   1799. 


Providence  Washington 


MSWIAHCE 

CASH  CAPITAL,  400,000.00 


J.  H.  DeWolf,  President.    J.  B.  BRANCH,  Secretary, 

George  E.  Bixby,  isst  secretary. 


■DI  RECTO  RS.«: 


Wm.  S.  Slater,        Resolved  Waterman,        Howland  Hazard,       J.  11.  DeWolke,       \Vm.  Grosvenor,  Jr., 

W.M.Ames,        IIenkv  J.  Steere,        Chas.  E.  Paine,       Hknrv  L.  1'arso.ns,       F.  W.  Carpenter, 

R.  I.  Gammell,        E.  Philip  Mason,        Royal  C.  Taft,        Elgene  W.  Mason, 

John  S.  Palmer,  Daniel  Day. 


Providence,  R.  1. 


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58 


*. 


-* 


CONTINENTAL  STEAMBOAT  CO. 


Daily  Excursions!     Summer  Time-Table ! 


Rocky  Point,  Conanicut  ParkiMewport. 

Commencing  Monday,  June  27th, 

{SVNDATS   EXCEPTED,) 
STEAMERS  LEAVE  PROVIDENCE. 

Crystal  Wave,  for  Rocky  Point,  Conanicut  Park  and  Newport,  at 8.55  A.JM. 

DayStar,  "       "  "  '  |y-XX      .. 

C^^  W^l^to^'lSy  I&rc^nanicut  PaVk-^ 

Day  Star,  for  Rocky  Point  only,  at.   4.W 

Bay  Queen,  for  Rocky  Point,  Conanicut  Park  and  Newport,  at o.OO 

STEAMERS    LEAVE    NEWPORT. 

Bay  Quepn,  for  Conanicut  Park,  Rocky  Point  and  Providence,  at 7.00  A.M. 

&ystaiwave,     ;;       ;;      ::     :    ,,      .,       ";••;■■:■.■  :"■.■.■.•.■.■.■.;■::.:::::;;.::;;  lioo P.M. 

Daybtar.                                  ^^            ^,           .,       .i            ,;              ,,  ,  or,      i. 

Crystal  Wave,  "  *•"*" 

STEAMERS  LEAVE  ROCKY  POINT  FOR  PROVIDENCE. 

,  at  8.30A.M.    i    DayStar,at 2.00  P.  M. 


Bay  Queen, 
Bay  Queen,  at. 


.12.00 


Day  Star,  at 5.00 

Crystal  Wave,  at 5.30 


Crystal  Wave,  at 12.30  P. 

STEAMERS    FOR    SHORE    PLACES. 

Leave  Providence  at  9-00  A.  M.,  10.00  A.  M.,  11.00  A.  M.,  13.10  P.  M.,  1.05  P.  M.,  3.00  P.  M.,  3.00  P.  M.,  4.00  P.  M., 


side  for  Providence  and  intermediate  landing-s  at  7.50  A.  M. 

EXCURSION   TICKETS. 

Providence  to  Rocky  Point  and  retm-n ... ._. 40  cts. 

Children  over  4  and  under  13  years,  3o  cts. 

Providence  to  Conanicut  Park  and  return 60  cts. 

Providence  to  Newport  and  return —  •■■■•••;,; ;;  •  ■ ; '^  ^^^' 

^  Children  over  4  and  under  13  years,  50  cts. 

Newport  to  Rocky  Point  and  return.    40  cts- 

*^  Children  over  4  and  under  15  years,  25  cts. 

SINGLE  FARES. 

Providence  to  Rocky  Point 2.^  cts. 

Conanicut  Park tn    t 

"  -Newport o^   +  ' 

Newport  to  Rocky  Point -^  cts. 

EXCURSION  TICKETS  TO  SHORE  PLACES. 

To  Field's  Point,  Ocean  Cottage  and  Silver  Spring 20  cts. 

To  Riverside  and  Bullock's  Point «q  m  ^ 

30  Passage  Tickets,  10  Round  Trips  to  Rocky  Point. :»d.w 

3Q  "  "10  "  Prudence  or  Conanicut  Park o.UO 

20  "  "10  "  Newport 6.00 

10 
10 


4^  "   5  "  Field's  Point,  Ocean  Cottage  and  Silver  Spring 80  cts. 

•'  "   5  "  Riverside  or  Bullock's  Point —    1-00 

I^^  No  Intoxicating  Drinks  sold  on  the  Boats  or  Grounds.    Special  arrangements  for  Sabbath  Schools, 
Societies,  Military  Organizations,  Moonlight  Excursions,  or  Special  Charter  can  be  made  upon  application  to 

N.  F.  HALIiETT,  Superintendent, 

At  the  Office,  Dyer,  Foot  of  Hay  Street. 


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I^i. 


59 


CEORGE  HUTCHINS 


P 


WHOLESALE  AND  RETAIL  DEALER  IN 


CROCKERY  i6LA88, 

Siluer  piatci  Parcilanci)  ^ooh, 


Gas  Fixtures  and  Kerosene  Goods,  Etc.,  Etc. 


n  ^''^■j 


Special  attention  given  to  Furnishing  Hotels,  Restaurants  and  Boarding-Houses. 


Aiajoricci  Ware  in  Vartetj|* 

ICE   CREAM   SETS,    FRUIT   SETS,    PITCHERS, 

SUGARS   AND   CREAMS,   TEA   SETS,    SALAD   BOWLS, 

COVERED   BUTTERS   AND   BERRY   SETS. 


W,  6,  DINNER  SETS,  "i::iL.  126  PIECES  FOR  $10. 

'I'hc  liirK-t'St  set  of  I'KUhKCT  Croi'kcry  ever  olI'iTcil  in  Xow  KiijflHiul. 

The  very   best  quality  of  Three  Dollar  Plated  Knives,    and    a    large    store    full    of 
desirable  goods,    which   I   offer  at  the  lowest  prices. 

GEORGE    HUTCHINS, 

176  and  178  Westminster  Street,  Corner  Union. 


OPPOSITE    BOSTON    STORE, 


PROVIDENCE,    R.    I. 


*- 


I 


60 


*- 


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*- 


61 


* 


LARKING 
>5?H0nSE, 


-€ 


WatcKHffLKef, 


¥5  i«l  3€ 


LARKIN  HOUSE" 


X  I  li  If  il  IS.-  ia  ^  tJE  ffi  QE 

JL1LS_UL1L 


This  magnificent  Hotel,  with  facil- 
ities for  the  accommodation  of 
Three  Hundred  Guests, 
will  Re-open 

-{Js^^  FOB  TMK  ^E 

It  is  surrounded  by  a  Piazza  500  feet  long  and  12  feet  wide,  and  is  illuminated  Uiroughout  witli  gas.  Each  room 
is  supplied  with  hot  and  cold  water.  Billiard-Rooms  and  Bowling  Alleys  are  among  other  attractions.  A  fine  bath- 
ing Beach  lies  in  close  proximity,  connected  with  the  hotel  by  concrete  walks.  The  Beach  is  unsurpassed  as  a  prom- 
enade, and  the  advance  and  receding  of  the  boisterous  waves  from  the  mighty  deep  on  the  calm,  level  land,  when 
viewed  from  the  Blufts,  presents  a  scene  which  one  never  tires  of  gazing  at. 

This  hotel  directly  faces  the  open  sea.  The  rooms  are  large  and  airy,  commanding  a  fine  view  of  the  broad 
Atlantic,  which  stretches  out  as  far  as  the  eye  can  reach,  to  where  the  sea  and  sky  seem  to  meet.  Watch  Ilill  is  easy  of 
access  from  Boston  and  New  Vork,  being  within  a  few  hours  ride  of  either.      For  terms,  etc.,  address 


D.  F.  LARKIN  &  CO., 


Watch  Hill  P.  0.,  R.  I. 


t§^^' 


l^^^^tMil 


I/ARKIN*HOESE,*FAUTXA,*,ft.i)iaDA. 

Your  attention  is  called  to  the  accommodations  and  advantages  afforded  to  Winter  boarders  by  the  Larkin  Housb, 
situated  on  the  St.  John's  River,  Palatka,  Florida,  which  will  be  open  about  December  15,  iSSi,  for  the  reception  of 
guests  in  pursuit  of  an  equable  climate,  combined  with  the  recreations  of  fishing,  gunning,  boating,  etc.  Persons  of 
delicate  health,  seeking  the  protection  of  a  mild  and  steady  temperature,  where  the  thirmometer  seldom  falls  below 
60  degrees,  will  find  our  House  the  largest  and  finest  on  the  St.  John's  River.  It  is  south  of  Jacksonville  and  St.  Au- 
gustine,  and  has  room  fi>r  two  hundred  and  fifty  persons,  and  is  arranged  with  all  the  modern  conveniences. 

For  further  particulars,  address 

LARKIN  &  ALLEN,  PROPRIETORS. 

D.  F.  LARKIN,  of  Larkin  House,  w*tch  h.ll  r  i 


*■ 


-* 


« 


Old  Colony  Steamboat  Company. 
FALL  RIVER  LINE. 


The  Magnificent  Steamers  of  this  Line,  the 


BRISTOL  AND  PROVIDENCE, 


are  now  on  the  route  for  the  season  of  1881.  During  the  past  winter  they  have  undergone  the  usual 
thorough  overhauling,  and  are  now  fitted  with  every  requirement  for  the  convenience,  comfort,  and 
safety  of  passengers. 

Leave   Newport  for   New   York  daily,  week   days,   at   8.45   P.  M.      Sundays,  at 
9.45  P.  M.,  or  on  arrival  of  boat  from  Fall  River. 


JvQwport  l^tne* 


On  Monday,  June  20,  the  Steamers 


NEWPORT  AND  OLD  COLONY, 


Commanded  hy  careful  and  experienced  officers,  will  commence  their  trips  for  the  summer  season, 
between  New  York  and  Newport.  Tliese  vessels  have  undergone  a  thorough  overhauling,  and  extensive 
repairs  and  improvements  have  been  made,  greatly  increasing  their  attractions.  It  is  the  determination 
of  the  management  to  make  this  a  strictly  first-dass  line,  and  nothing  will  be  spared  which  will  add  to  the 
comfort  and  convenience  of  patrons.  It  will  be  run  for  the  accommodation  of  travel  to  and  from  the 
summer  resorts  and  important  points  local  to  the  Old  Colony  R.  R.  (there  will  be  no  Boston  connection), 
and  is  especially  designed  for  the  better  accommodation  of  the  Newport  travel.  Double  the  number  of 
stale-rooms  heretofore  assigned  to  Newport  have  been  allotted  for  the  present  season. 

Steamers  leave  Newport  daily  (Sundays  excepted),  at  8.00  P.  M. 
Leave  New  York,  from  Pier  28  North  River,  at  6.00  P.  M. 

State-rooms  and  Tickets  for  both  of  above  lines  can  be  secured  at  the  New  York  and 
Boston  Dispatch  Kxpress  Co.'s  Office,  Newport  Gas  Light  Co.'s  Building,  109  Thames 
Street.  Tickets  sold  and  Baggage  Checked  through  to  Philadelphia,  Baltimore  and 
Washington. 

J.  R.  KBNDRICK,  Supt. 

J.  A.  JORDAN,  Agent,  Newport. 


*■ 


'til 


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63 


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ATLANTIC    HOUSE, 

NARRAGAN8ETT  PIER. 
ABIJAH    BROWNING,  Proprietor. 


Season 


of  1881 


Tliis  delightful  house  li;is  one  of  the  finest  locations  on  the  Island,  giving  the  most  commanding  and  pleasing 
views.  Arraiigcd  for  tlie  accommodation  of  lOo  guests.  Easily  accessible  to  the  landing  and  bathing  beach,  and  also 
to  the  boating  and  tishing  grounds.  It  is  well  lighted  and  ventilated.  The  rooms  are  cosy  and  particidarly  adapted 
to  the  convenience  of  guests.  Its  immediate  surroundings  afford  every  comfort  and  luxury.  From  its  superior  loca- 
tion it  is  one  of  tlie  most  famous  Hotels  on  the  Island.  The  gentlemanly  proprietor  is  well  known  as  a  caterer  to  the 
public,  and  his  table  will  always  be  supplied  with  the  delicacies  of  the  season  to  add  to  its  attractions.  Tourists 
will  do  well  to  visit  this  resi>rt.     Ke-opcns  June  15,  iSSi.     For  further  information  aildress  the  proprietor, 

ABIJAH    BROWNING,  Narragansett  Pier,  B.  I. 


* 


This  Hotel  is  pleasantly  located  at  Narragansett  i-'ier,  R.  I.,  being  fifty  feet  above,  and  only  live  hundred   feet  from 

tlie  Sea.     Nearly  every  room 

OVEKLOOKS     g^HK     HROAD     ^TITANTIC, 

And  all  are  well  furnished.  It  is  within  convenient  distance  from  the  Post  Office  and  Bathing  ISeach.  The  Surf 
Bathing  of  Narragansett  Pier  is  unsurpassed  on  the  Atlantic  Coast.  Guests  will  receive  every  attention  to  make  their 
stay  at  the  MASSASOIT  pleasant  and  agreeable.     Those  desiring  rooms  for  the  season  should  apply  early. 

N.  G.  BURR,  Superintendent. 


64 


*- 


iil#t§»  4WW  41881.1- 


Southern  Hotel, 

H.  W.  GREENE,   Proprietor, 

Narragansett  Pier,  R.  I. 


OPEN   ALL   THE   YEAR. 


This  Hotel  is  the  finest  located  of  any  on  the  Bay.  It 
directly  faces  the  open  sea.  Its  view  from  the  piazza  pre- 
sents a  scene  of  grandeur  that  beggars  description.  The 
rooms  are  airy,  and  command  a  fine  view  of  the  broad  At- 
lantic; the  Beach  is  the  finest  in  the  country,  and  is  unsur- 
passed as  a  promenade.  The  House  has  been  newly 
painted,  thoroughly  renovated,  re-furnished  from  top  to 
bottom,  and  it  is  the  intention  of  its  Manajjer  to  rank  this 
Hotel  on  the  list  as,  "A  No.  1."  Its  immediate  surround- 
ings afford  every  comfort  and  luxury  to  pleasure -seekers. 
Here  Boating,  Bathing,  and  Fishing  abound.  Well 
knowing  the  demands  made  by  the  public  for  a  hotel  the 
year  round,  the  proprietor  takes  the  liberty  to  inform  the 
Guests  and  Patrons  that  he  will  be  unsparing  in  his  efforts 
to  merit  their  fullest  approbation.  The  table  will  be  sup- 
plied at  all  times  with  a  variety  of  the  best  the  market 
affords.     For  terms,  address 

Southern  Hotel, 

H.    W.   GREENE,  Proprietor. 
A  Good  Livery  Connected  with  the  House. 


Geo.  H.  Spicer, 


eC^pfekt®!^  ^Wlt  K.  U. 


New  and  Second-Hand  Carriages 

Al^vay8  on  Hand,  for  Sale  or 
Exchange. 

Painting,  Repairing ,  Etc, 

DONE  AT  SHORT  NOTICE. 


Narragansett  Pier  R.  R. 

Connecting  at  KINGSTON  with  the  New  York,  Provi- 
dence, and  Boston   Railroad,  and  at  NARRAGAN- 
SETT  PIER  with  Steamer  H.  S.  Caswell 
for  NEWPORT. 

Summer  Arrangement, 

Beginning   JUNE    27,  1881. 

Leave  Providence  for  Narragansett  Pier  6.45  and  9.40  A. 
M.,  2  05,  4.00,  7.10  and  7.35  P.  M. 

Return  leave  Narragansett  Pier  7.15  and  11.00  A.  M., 
2-oS.  i-iS  ^nd  6.50  P.  M. 

Leave  Boston  for  Narragansett  Pier  at  8.00  A.  M.,  i.oo, 
2.00,  5.30  P.  M. 

Return  leave  Narragansett  Pier  at  7.15  and  11.00  A.  M., 
2.05,  5.3s  and  6.50  P.  M. 

Leave  New  London  for  Narragansett  Pier  at  6.25  and 
10.20  A.  M.,  i.io,  4.55  and  6.10  P.  M. 

Return  leave  Narragansett  Pier  at  7.15  and  9.50  A.  M., 
2.05  and  4.10  P.  M. 

Leave  New  York  for  Narragansett  Pier  via  Shore  Line  at 
S.oo  and  S.05  A.  M.,  i.oo  and  2.00  P.  M.  via  Stonington 
Line  at  5.00  P.  M. 

Return  leave  Narragansett  Pier  via  Shore  Line  at  9.50  A. 
M.,  2.45  and  2.05  P.  M.  via  Stonington  Line  at  7.30  and 
*8.oo  P.  M.  *  Sundays  only. 

G.  T.  LANPHEAR,  Supt. 


NEW  LINE 


BETWEEN- 


NEWPORT  &  NEW  YORK 

Via  Narragansett  Pier, 

COMMENCING   JUNE   27,  1881. 


Steamer  HERMAN  S.  CASWELL 

Leaves  NEWPORT  at  T.-SO  A.  M.  and  1.00  P.  M.;  pas- 
sengers arriving  at  NEW  YORK  at  l.SS  and  7.45  P.  M. 

Passengers  leave  NEW  YORK  (Grand  Central  Depot) 
at  8.05  A.  M.  and  1.00  P.  M. ;  arriving  at  NEWPORT 
at  4.15  and  7.40  P.  M. 

LOCAL  TIME  TABLE. 

Newport   and    Narragansett   Pier. 

Leaves  NEWPORT  at  7.30  A.  M.,  1.00  and  5.30  P.  M. 
Leaves   NARRAGANSETT   PIER  9.30  A.  M.,  and 
3.20  and  6.40  P.  M. 

REGULAR  FARE,   50  cts. 
ROUND  TRIP,      -     75  cts. 

J.  C.  TUCKER,  Jr.,   Agent. 


-* 


TOam 


THE  NARRA6AN8ETT  HOUSE, 

ESTABLISHED  JULY    11.    1856. 

I'ndcr  the  iiiaiiasrtineiitof  its  iircscnt owner  and  proprietor, 
E.  S.Taylor.  It  commands  an  unbroken  view  of  the  Ocean, 
and  is  within  a  few  rods  of  the  Beach.  Since  its  erection 
it  has  underjrone  vast  improvements.  Mr.  Taylor  needs  no 
comments  of  the  press  to  phice  him  on  the  list  as  an  un. 
rivaled  hotel  caterer.  The  table  will  maintain  its  former 
reputation,  and  be  supplied  with  all  the  delicacies  of  the 
season.  The  Pier  is  well  known  to  possess  properties 
highly  recommended  by  physicians  for  invalids.  The 
Narragansett  will  reopen  for  the  season  of  iSSi,  June 
15.     All  communications  should  be  addressed  to 

E.  S.  TAYLOR,  Proprietor, 

Narragansett  Pier,  B.  T. 


ELMWOOD  HOUSE 

F.  P.  W.  TEFFT,  Prop., 
NARRAGANSETT  PIER,  R.  I. 


Having  leased  the  above  house,  I  would  inform  the  pub- 
lic th.1t  I  shall  open  for  the  season  of  iSSi,  June  22.  Its 
present  management  will  be  under  the  supervision  of 
Mr.  F.  P.  \V.  Tkfft,  late  of  the  Atlantic.  Havinsi 
severed  my  connection  with  Mr.  Browning,  after  eleven 
years  as  a  public  caterer,  I  feel  contident  in  oflcring  to  the 
numerous  patrons  of  shore  resorts  a  place  that  will  merit 
their  fullest  approbation.  The  house  has  been  thoroughly 
cleansed  and  renovated,  and  the  manager  will  guarantee 
for  its  excellence,  standing  second  to  none  at  the  Pier; 
its  grounds  are  adorned  with  beautiful,  shady  trees,  from 
which  it  derives  its  name;  its  appointments  are  for  the 
accommodation  of  100  guests  and  it  is  in  close  proximity  to 
tlie  beach.  Particular  attention  will  be  given  to  the 
cuisine,  and  nothing  will  be  left  undone  that  would  please 
the  most  exacting  guest.     For  terms,  address 

ELMWOOD  HOUSE, 
F.  P.  W.  TEFFT,  Prop., 
Narragansett  Pier,  R.  I. 


x^ 


n 


NARRAGANSETT  PIER,  R.  I. 


This  imposing  structure,  which,  by  its  late  improve- 
ments is  rendered  one  of  the  most  desirable  hotels  at  the 
Pier,  will  reopen  for  the  season  of  iSSi,  June  lath.  In 
1S54,  its  present  owner  and  proprietor,  J.  H.  Rodman,  well 
knowing  the  requirements  of  tlie  public,  erected  this  build- 
ing and  opened  its  doors  to  the  pleasure-seekers  of  New 
England,  and  has  since  then  maintained  a  reputation 
well  worthy  of  the  public  approbation.  Its  commanding 
location,  combined  with  many  noteworthy  improvements, 
commends  this  widely-known  house  totliose  seeking  first- 
class  quarters  for  tlie  summer.  Description  and  prices  of 
rooms  cliei-rtully  given  by  addressing 

J.   H.   RODMAN, 

Sole  Owner  and  Proprietor,  Revere  House, 
Narrasansett  Pier,  R.  I. 


METATOXET  HOUSE. 

Having  made  improvements  the  past  winter,  this  house 
will  open  its  fifteenth  season  on  Monday,  June  13,  1S81. 

This  popular  ht>use  is  retired  from  Main  Street,  on  which 
it  is  situated,  having  an  elegant  lawn  in  front.  The  jiurest 
water,  spacious  and  well-ventilated  rooms,  together  with 
pleasant  drives  in  the  vicinity,  ofl'er  attractions  to  the 
seeker  after  health  and   pleasure  that  cannot  be  suri)assed. 

The  table  will  be  supplied  with  the  best  the  market  af- 
fords.    My  terms  are  moderate. 

The  climate  here  is  superior  to  that  of  Newport,  and 
cannot  be  surpassed  in  New  England.  The  beach,  tvhich 
is  not  equaltd  in  the  United  States,  might  with  propriety 
be  termed  the  principal  attraction.  At  no  time  does  the 
surf  become  dangerous,  and  there  is  no  uiuUrtow,  as  the 
beach  is  well  protected  by  outlying  headlands,  tlius  making 
it  quite  free  from  the  dangerous  undertow  so  prevalent  at 
many  of  our  popular  bathing  resorts. 

James  Thomas,  who  has  been  with  me  as  clerk  and 
steward  for  the  past  eleven  years,  will  be  with  me  again  as 
Clerk.     All  applications  should  be  addressed  to 

JOHN  H.  C'ASWKLL,  Prop., 
Hetatozet  House,  Narragansett  Pier,  £.  I. 

Two  Cottages  to  let  (urni>licd  about  120  yards  frmn  my  hotel. 


*- 


* 


66 


ATWOOD  HOUSE, 

NARRAGANSETT  PIER,       -       -       R.  I. 

This  House,  having'  been  improved  and 
enlarged  to  twice  its  former  size,  is  now 
capable  of  accommoiiating'  from  one  hun- 
dred and  fifty  to  two  hundred  guests.  The 
sleeping-  apartments  are  large  and  airj-,  and 
the  view  cannot  be  excelled  at  the  Pier. 
Every  effort  on  the  part  of  the  Proprietor 
and  employes  will  be  made  to  make  the 
House  attractive  and  home-like.  Will  open 
its  15th  season  JTUIVE  SO,  1881. 

The  Beach  for  Bathing  and  Driving  is 
uneciualed  on  the  Atlantic  coast— a  good 
surf  and  always  safe.  Sailing,  Fishing, 
Shooting,  and  the  drives  over  the  country 
are  attractive.  Hot  and  cold  Salt  Water 
Baths  are  among  the  added  attractions  at 
the  Beach  at  Narragansett.  Termn  Reason- 
ahlr.  All  applications  promptly  responded 
to.  J.  A.  TUCKEK,  Prop'r. 


■^ 


A.  A.  STILLMAN, 

fSuccessor  to  Westerly  Carriage  Co.,1 

OF  ALL  DESCRIPTIONS. 


Especial  attention  given  to  jftrst-class  CUSTOM  Work. 
Remember  the  place,  IBo.  16  HIGH  ST,  WESTERLY,  R.  I. 


BLAKE    &    MAXSON, 

MUSIC  DEALERS, 

Westerly,    -   R.  I. 

We  sell  all  the  leading  Organs  and  Pianos  at  lowest 
figures,  and  are  Special  Agents  for  the  J.  K  Blake,  Chick- 
ering,  Knabe,  Geo.  Woods,  and  Weber  Pianos;  New 
England,  Geo.  Woods,  and  Smith  American  Organs. 

Sheet  Music,  Music  Books,  Stationery,  Brackets, 
Pictures,  Croquet,  and  Ba'se-Ball  Supplies. 

Cornice  and  Room  Mouldings.  Our  Picture  Framing 
Department  is  by  far  the  most  complete  in  this  section. 
Frames  cheaper  than  ever. 

WIL,IjIA3I    POL/LiOCK, 

Dealer  in  Fine  Coach  and  Single  Harness, 

West  Broad  St.,  Westerly,  K.  I. 


Dealer  in  Cement  Pipe,  Coal,  Wood,  Hay, 

,)iid  .S7/-,77!'.  E..F.  Cars  Phosphate  and  Storkhridge 

Ferlilizers. 

Blain  Street,  Westerly,  R.  I. 

SCHOFIELD^  BROTHERS, 

#'tiMi©  ^hslaf mplefg, 

30  MAIN  ST.,  WESTERLY,  R.  I. 

ALBERT    B.   COLLINS, 

48  MAIN  ST.,  WESTERLY,   R.   I. 


*- 


-* 


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67 


■* 


'ygr'-yi  -."^Ti 


iUt.:nUal:.fc«*ihsi3*!>>!k:»^ 


O^Hf    ISTlRUD 


Q.  C.  DOUGLASS, 

MAM  lACTUKER  OF 

Boot,  Shoe  and  Corset 
LACES, 

No.  9  Calender  St.,  Providence,  R.l. 


F.  S.  THAYER  &  CO., 
LADIES'  AND  GENTS' 

Dining -Rooms. 

Weddings  and  Parties  Supplied  with  Cake,  Ice 
Cream,  Etc.,  Etc. 

JVos.  171  and  J7:j  3/ a  in  Street, 
WOONSOCKET,  R.  I. 


DR.  H.  C.  SPENCER'S 
BfM  |B.ooins, 

275  High  street,  -  Providence,  R.  I. 


/■:  S  TAB  LI  SHE  IJ,  /S6j. 


ARTIFICIAL  TEETH 


Made  on  Patent  Plate. 

S.  S.  White's  Teeth, 


Chemically  Pure  Cias  used  for  extracting 
teeth  without  pain. 


PATENT  PERFORATED  HARNESS  PADS. 


Keeps  the  Horse's  Hack 
'    Cool, 


Manufactured  by 


TESTON  &  HORTON. 


— AND — 

Prevents  Chafling. 

WOONSOCKET,  R.  I, 


Arc  maclc  in  all  st>  Ics  ami  colors  of  biiiiliiiy^s.  for  ('oncli,  (^oiipc,  ICx|>r<-HN,  llciivy  or  'I'rack  Ilai-nciia, 

and  tor  the  Micccliintr  and  lirca.st|ilat<-. 
For  Niilt;  Ity  all   ■■'irMl-f 'laMM  llariiCNM  ITIakrrH  niifi  .lobbfrn  of  Nn<l<ll<>ry. 


Buttonwood  Beach  Hotel ! 

'I'liis  Hotel,  lotitf  known  to  the  public  as  a  fa\'oiit(,', 
will  reopen  June  O,   ISSl. 

Its  api)oiiitnients  are  for  the  accommodation  of 
about 90 (guests.  Its  location  is  very  desirable  to  those 
wishing  a  (luiet  and  retired  place.  The  rooms  are  latRc 
and  in  suites,  richly  and  tastefully  furnished.  The cin- 
xini:  of  the  house  is  eiiual  to  any  in  the  country.  The 
surf  for  bathinjf  here  is  always  moderate,  and  the 
rooms  command  a  delightful  view.  The-  I'roprictor, 
well  known  as  a  i)Ublic  cati;rer,  will  be  unsparing  in  liis 
efforts  to  merit  the  full  approbation  of  its  uumuruus 
patrons.     For  terms,  a<idress, 

SAMUEL  D.  SPINK,  Proprietor, 

Biiitoiruiood  Biiick  Hotel,   Warwick,  R.  /. 


*- 


vBILLINGTON'StC  AFE,^ 

WM.  H.  BILLINGTON,  Prop'r., 

('or.  Ocean  Ave.  ami  Kxelianu:e  Place, 

NARRAGANSETT  PIER,  R.  1. 


CRANSTON  COLLINS, 

CARRIAGES^^BUGGIES, 

Top  and  Kxpress  \>'agoiis,  etc. 
HKAVY  WACiONS  A  SPKCIAI/rV. 

Kepairing'  and  all  kinds  of  IllacksmithiniLC  done  with 

neatness  and  dispatch. 
ITIrclinnic,  cor.  IVchI  Broad  Ml.,AVciitcrly,  R.  I. 


-* 


THE  FAVORITE  HOME  IN  THE  OCEAN. 


BLOCK  ISLAND,  R.  L 

This  popular  "  Home  in  the  Ocean,"  enlarged  and  improved  to  meet  the  demand  of  its  extended  patronage  is 
situated  upon  a  beautiful  green  bluff,  over  one  hundred  feet  above  the  surf.  It  is  fanned  continually  by  Tresh 
breezes  from  the  Atlantic,  and  commands  a  magnificent  view  of  OCEAN  SCENERY  from  three  sides.  " 


The  house  is  lighted  with  gas,  furnished  with  bath-rooms,  has  perfect  drainage,  large  airy  rooms,  runnino-  water 
on  each  floor,  steam  laundry,  good  livery,  regular  physician,  dailv  mails.  " 

Every  room  in  the  Hotel,  including  Parlors,  Reception-Rooms,  etc.,  connected  with  the  Office  with  the  latest 
system  of  Electric  Bells,  and  Haltzer's  Indicator. 

The  Table  and  Service  will  be  kept  at  the  Highest  Standard. 

Supplies.  Fresh  fruits  and  meats  received  daily  from  the  best  markets;  the  chickens,  ego-s,  milk  and 
vegetables  will  be  furnished  from  the  Ocean  View  farm. 

Drinking  Water.  A  new  spring  has  recently  been  discovered  near  the  hotel,  which  will  be  amply  sufficient 
to  supply  the  whole  house  with  delicious  drinking  -water. 

Library.     A  choice  library  has  been  placed  in  the  bazar  of  the  hotel  for  the  accommodation  of  guests. 
Ocean  View  Cottage.     A  large  and  beautiful  double  cottage  has  been  built  for  families  who  desire  the  privacy 
and  quiet  of  their  own  homes. 

The  cottage  is  situated  on  high  ground,  a  short  distance  northwest  of  the  Ocean  View,  and  commands  a  fine 
vieiv  of  the  ocean  and  harbor.  It  contains  nineteen  elegant  rooms  (t\vo  parlors  and  seventeen  sleeping-rooms),  and 
has  broad  piazzas  extending  on  three  sides  of  the  building. 

The  whole  building  is  lighted  with  gas,  is  supplied  with  running  water,  and,  in  short,  has  all  the  improvements 
which  are  necessary  for  convenience  and  comfort. 

The  cottage  is  connected  with  the  hotel  by  telephone. 

Sub-Marine  Cable.  A  sub-marine  cable  (an  item  of  great  interest  to  business  men)  has  been  laid,  connecting 
the  island  with  the  mainland.     Transmitting  office  near  the  hotel.     Send  for  circular. 


0.  S.  MARDEN,  Manager. 


NICHOLAS  BALL  PROPRIETOR. 


^ 


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-^ 


-^^BLOCK  ISLAND.  R.  I> 


This  Hotel  (situated  close  to  the  beach)  has  recently  come  umicrthe  manajjenicntof  the  Ocean  View  Hotel,  and  will 
he  run  in  connection  with  it;  where  those  who  may  desire  a  more  quiet  or  less  expensive  summer  home,  and  at  the  same 
time  be  privileged  with  the  social  enjoyments  of  tlie  larger  house,  can  be  pleasantly  and  agreeably  entertained. 

The  Peqj.'OT  was  built  in  1S79,  and  is  located  only  a  short  distance  from  the  Ocean  View,  near  the  steamboat 
landing  and  bathing  beach.  The  rooms  are  pleasant,  newly  lurnished,  and  nearly  all  of  them  have  a  fine  ocean  view; 
the  parlors  attractive,  the  dining-hall  cool  and  comfortiible,  the  table  excellent,  and  the  service  throughout  prompt  and 
efficient.     Offices  of  the  PEquor  and  Ocean  \'iew  arc  connected  by  telephone.     Send  for  Circular. 


O.  S.  HARDEN.  Manager. 


NICHOLAS  BALL,  Proprietor. 


BENEDICT   HOUSE, 

Cor.  Broad  and  Main  Streets,  Pawtucket,  R.  I. 

Pleasantly  sitiiiited.      Flrst-cliiss  in  all  its  iippKiiitmi'iits.      I^cry  iittt'iitioii  given  to  the  wants  and  com- 
fort of  its  guests.     Tables  well  supplied  with   the  be.st  the  market  affords. 
PRICKS    REASONABLE. 

3VLH..    J".    Xj.    l\Xor'-A-I=LXj-A.3MI>,    X^ro^D., 

Late  uf  the  Rollstone  Hotel,  Fitiliburg,  Mass. 

Special   Rates  to  Troupes  and   Commercial  Travelers. 


SEASON  OF  1881. 


BLOCK  ISLAND. 


The  Celebrated  Spring  from  which  it  derives  its  name,  supplies  the  House,  and  possesses  properties,  as  a  tonic, 
highly  recommended  for  invalids.  Here  the  weak  may  seek  and  find  rest.  The  rooms  are  neat  and  tastefully  fur- 
nished. The  proprietor,  well-known  to  tin-  jMililii-,  will  be  iin-pariiiu  of  lii>.  ctlo!!'-  to  nu-rit  the  approval  of  its  guests. 
The  Heach  offers  iiulucements  for    BATHING,    BOATING   AND    FISHING. 

F„„ TKUMs  a,..„:kss,        g   g   MITCHELL,  Jr., 

ProprJrtov  Sj>i'fnf/  ironsc,        -        -         BLOCK  ISLAND,  h\  I. 


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70 


.* 


Wm.  Russell,  Jr., 


PROPRIETOR  OF 

Anti -Bilious  Pills. 

RUSSELL'S 

Camphorated  Ice 

WITH  GLYCERINE. 


Special  Attention 

Paid  to  Dispensing 
PHYSICIANS' 


■DecLlei^  VTX 


DRUGS,    MEDICINES,    CHEMICALS,    PAINTS, 

OILS,    COLORS,     VARNISHES,    WINDOW 

GLASS,  BRUSHES,  mid  PAINTERS' 

MATERIAL    GENERALLY. 

913, 915  and  921  Eddy  Street,  Providence,  R.  I. 

COVINGTON  &  HOWLAND, 

PRACTICAL  ROOFERS, 

Sole  Agent!*  t'oi- 

FELT  and  COMPOSITION  KOOFIISG, 

For  the  State  of  Rhode  iMlniKl. 

Office,   No.  12  Market  Square, 

Resideiu-e,  Carter  Street,  P.  O.  I5ox,  769. 

PH0¥IDINCE;  b,  l 


Malei-ini!)  ITIanufactiiretl  by       / 
IVe^v  Enslaiid  Felt  Roofiug  C'o.  \ 


UNRIVALED  FACILITIES  FOR  BEATING  AND  CLEANSING  CARPETS  ! 

The  New  York  Carpet  Beating  and  Steam  Cleansing  Co., 

106  HOSPITAL  STREET,  near  Point, 


the  Carpets  are  thoroughly  steamed,  which  results  in  g-iving  them  a  deeidedly  bright  and  new  appearance. 
Thirdly,  the  Carpets  are  dried  by  a  hot  cylinder  — thus  the  renovating  and  restoring  the  carpet  to  its  original 

condition  is  assured.  .....=  ^i,   ^  c.^  n         <.         /i     „ 

We  positively  have  in  our  possession  the  Only  Machine  in  the  State  that  Steams  Carpets,  and  we 
also  have  the  Only  Machine  in  this  Scction''that  will  Wash  and  Scour  woolen  and  rag  carpets  without 
ripping  or  in.iuring  the  colors. 


T.  F.  COLLINS,  Prop. 

P.  S.    Orders  may  be  left  by  Telephone  at  Mr.  Charles  Peterson's  News  Depot,  Butler  Exchange. 


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71 


'^^ySrr^Hr  iil'M*'-  >t^* 


fe^'^BUglllK 


New«York^»  Furnishing*:^  house, 

..?|z=II.>.f3=|<.> 

Arnold,  Buker  &  Miller, 


■DEALERS  IN- 


(^ 


Furniture,  Carpets.  Feathers,  Mattresses,  Curtains,  Furnaces,  Stoves,  Cutlery.  Crockery, 

Glass    Tin,  Japan,   iron  and  Wooden  Wares,  Etc.     Also,  Manufacturers  of 

Tin  and   Sheet  Iron  Ware.     Furniture  neatly  repaired. 

Also,  Agents  for 

THE  CELEBRATED  MODEL  RJMGES  AKD  PARLOR  STOVES. 


254  and  256  Hig-h  St.,  cor.  Summer,  Providence,  R.  I. 


D.   ARNOLD,   JR. 


C    W.    BUKER. 


L.   G.    MILLER. 


-^w 


J&h»iONEY,c- 


(successors  to  wood  «■   WINSOR  ) 

MA.MFAC'jrJiEJiS  OF  A.\J>  DEALERS  IN 


Steam,  Gas  and  Water  Fittings 

■**0K  KVERY  UES<!R11"JI0N.**- 

Steam  Heating  Apparatus  for  Public  Buildings,  Private  Dwellings,  Etc. 

Steitin,  Gas  aud  Water  IMpliiy;  In  all  Its  IJiaiH-ht's.     IJrass  Finishing. 
Steam  Gauges  Tested  and  Repaired. 

Agents  for  Rue's  "  LITTLE  GIANT  "  Injector. 


IRA  WINSOR 

D.  A    S.    MONEY. 


122  DORRANCE  STREET,  PROVIDENCE,  R.  I. 


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72 


:* 


^18813^ 


RKLSNDf  SEffiCH*  v  OTEL,^ 


Warwick  Neck,  R.  I. 


This  Magnificent  Hotel  will  be  opened  for  the  second  season  about  June  15,  1881,  under  the  man- 
agement of  Elias  Hotchkiss,  formerly  and  for  ten  years  proprietor  of  the  St.  James  Hotel,  New  York. 
No  pains  .will  be  spared  to  render  to  his  guests  every  luxury  and  convenience  known. 

This  Hotel  is  the  finest  located  of  any  on  our  Bay,  and  offers  attractions  that  none  other  affords;  it 
presents  a  scene  of  grandeur  that  beggars  description.  The  rooms  are  airy  and  command  a  broad  view 
of  the  Atlantic. 

The  Beach  is  unsurpassed  as  a  promenade.  A  beautiful  lake  is  in  close  proximity  to  the  house. 
Bowling  Alleys  and  Billiard  Rooms  are  among  its  many  attractions,  and  directly  face  the  open  sea. 

In  the  construction  of  the  Hotel  the  interests  of  its  patrons  were  at  heart,  and  every  department  will 
be  under  the  immediate  supervision  of  the  proprietor,  who  will  guarantee  for  its  excellence,  standing 
second  to  none  in  the  country.  It  is  easily  accessible  by  boat  or  rail,  and  the  grounds  are  adorned  by 
grand  old  oaks,  from  which  the  place  derives  its  name.     For  terms,  address 

ELIAS   HOTCHKISS, 

Proprietor  Oakland  Beach  Hotel, 

WARWICK  P.  O.,  R.  I 

Or,  until  July  ist,  37  West  Thirty-Seventh  St.,  New  York  City. 


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73 


1# 


^i»M'*t>»»j^a|iGg5Elj^^ 


IM.1 


m^li^ 


m 


SAFETY  LAMP  CO. 

No.  52    NORTH    MAIN    STREET, 

PROVIDENCE,    R.    I. 

R.   L  HULL,     -     -    General   Manager. 


THE    WESTLAND    SAFETY   Lamp  is  the  only   Lamp  in  which 

Kerosene   Oil  can  be  used  with  perfect  safety,  and  is  adapted 

to  all    places  where   artificial   light   is   required. 


Also,  Dealers  in 


Gas  Fixtures. 

Chandeliers,    Pendants, 

Brackets,   Hall  Lights, 

Portable   Stands,   Etc. 


Clocks. 

With  best  American   and    French    Move- 
ments, all  Qualities. 


Kerosene   Fixtures. 

Chandeliers,    Pendants, 

Brackets,    Library  Lamps, 

Hall    Lights,   Etc. 


Stand   Lamps. 

In  Bronze,   Brass,    Decorated,  Etc. 


Bronzes  and  Ornaments, 

Polished  Brass  Goods, 
Sconces,  Mirrors, 
Candlesticks, 

Card-Stands,  Etc. 

Glassware. 

Finest  Cut,  Engraved  and  Etched.     Also, 

Opal   Goods. 

Plain  and  Decorated. 


CORRESPONDENCE    AND     INSPECTION     INVITED. 


*- 


*- 


74 


fev^  BUSIRE  §  §    112  ^  JEHE  S  ^^  .-  BHOBE    I  SL^BB.  i 


HoRTON  Bros.' 


No.  87  Westminster  Street. 

CRAYON,  CeitORg  ^ND  INK  n  gPECI^IiTY. 

PrOVIdENCEIaND)  VlfORCESTEgl  BAiLBOADi) 

THE  PIONEErTiNE 


^f 


^f) 


®E 


® 


TICKETS 


EVERYWHERE  WHITE  MOUNTAINS, 


And  all  Points  North. 

l^^ew  Yot^Ji:,  I*hiladelphia,  Balfiniot'e,  Washington^ 

And  all  Points  SOUTH. 

^^^  Portland f  Bangor ^  and  all  points  in  the  famous  Lake  and 

Fishing  Regions  of  Maine  and  the  Provinces. 

'^'  Albany f  Saratoga^  Niagara  Falls,  and  all  points  West. 
THROUGH  EXPRESS  TRAINS. 

DADI     r\T^      r^ADO     TO    THE     WHITE    3IOUNTAINS     DURING    THE 

nAriLl^ri    ^/\r\0  su3Ix>ier  season. 

Send  to  O.  H.  BRIGGS,  Providence,  R.  I.,  for  the  New  Book  of  Suiiiuier  Exciir^^ions. 

'^"'' 'vZ\Z^TZ'::^2^u. R.        W.  E.  CHAMBERLAm,  Snpt. 

ROBERT  D.  MASON  &  CO., 


-OF 

Spool  Threads,  Knitting  Cotton,  Cords,  Braids,  Tapes,  Jind  all  kinds  of  Single 
and  Two-ply  Yarns,  Indigo  Blues  and  Fast  Black,  for  Milling  purposes. 

ALSO 

Of  Everjr  Description. 

No.  75  East  Avenue,       -         Pawtucket,  R.  I. 

Jt^^All  Goods  in  process  insured  against  loss  by  tire.=CS 


*- 


-* 


*- 


^rfljitfrt*. 


JAMES    C.    BUCKLIN, 

AltCHIIlX  |-. 

NO.  '29    WKlJiOSSET  STREET, 

Hooin   17.  Providen'CK,  R.  I. 


JAMES   A.  BUCKLIN, 

ARCIIITKCT, 

NO.  'i<»    HEiJiOSSEr  .STREET,  Room  ly. 

Providence,  K.  I. 


GEORGE    W.    CADY, 

ARCIHTECT, 

AND 

SUPERINTKNDENT. 
\'''.    l«4    WE.STAftNSTER  STREET,  Room   ,-. 
Pri.vidcncf,   R.    1. 
.'^tirrevor  of   U'or/:. 


W.  H.  COLWELL, 

ARCHITKCT, 

.VO.  «5    HEST.W/.VSTER    STREET, 

Rdiiin   u>.  Pnivklcncc,  R.  I. 

HOWARD  HOPPIN, 

ARCHITKCr, 

NO.  33    WESTMINSTER   STREET, 

Providence,  R.  I. 

WALTER  J.  PAINE, 

AKcmiKcr, 

NO.  a9    WETROSSET  STREET, 


.Spixial  alltntion  given  to  Church 
Architecture. 


Providence,  R.  I. 


F.  J.  SAWTELLE, 

ARt  im  i:c  r, 

NO.  9   C(/STO.\f  HOUSE    STREET, 
Providence,  15 .  I. 


C.    F.  WILCOX, 
ARCIIITECr, 
Elevator,  NO.  6  EXCHANGE  ST., 

Atlantic  Building.  Pruvidcnci-,  R.  I. 


Ai'tiote. 


W.  M.  DROWN, 

ARTIST, 

General  Afanagcr  of  tlie  N.  Y.  Crayon  Co.  for  tlie  U.  S. 

Pictures  sold   in  Europe  and   in  all  the  principal  cities  in 

the  U.  S.     Room  3,  Iloppin  Homestead  Building, 

Providence,  R.  I. 

H.  W.  WHITEMAN, 

ARTIST.     SOLAR   PRINTING, 

NO.  231*   WESTMINSTER    STREET, 

Providence,  K.  1. 


(•*iutl  0*-ugiinccv9. 


ORVILLE    FISHER, 

CIVIL  AND  S.VN'n  ARV  ENCJINEER,  ■ 

NO.  33    WESTMINSTER  STREET,  Room  3, 

Sanitary  Inspection  a  Specialty.  Providence,  R.  I. 


JOSEPH  A.  LATHAM, 

suRVl•:^■()K  .\\i)  ti\  II.  i;\(.ineI';r, 

14    WESTMI.VSTER  ST.,  Merchants  Rank  Building, 

Room  S,   Providence,   R.    I. 

City  and  Suburban  Surveyinfj  in  all  its  branches. 

I-itlioj^raphed    .Map?-. 


J.   HERBERT  SKEDD. 

civil.    ENGINEER, 
Sanitary  Eng'inecrinfr  a  Specialty. 

SHEDD  &  SAWYER, 

C1\II.,  .VIEt  1I.\NIC.-\E  AXU  MILE  ENGINEERS, 

NO.  05    WESTMINSTER    STREET, 

Providence,  R.  I. 

GEO.  C.  TINGLEY, 

Civil.  .\NI)   IIS  Dlt.M  I.IC   EN(;iNEER, 

NO.  ill   SOimi   MAIN   STREET, 

Room  No.  C.  Providence,  R.  I. 


« 


76 


-* 


p  rofc-^^ionat  -t-  ®  i  r 


in 


^tnttdt«. 


GEOBGE  H.  AMES,  D.  M.  D., 

DENTIST, 
Successor     1 7  MA  THE  WS ON  S TREE T, 
To  Dr.  William  B.  Dennis.  Providence,  R.  I. 


WILLIAM   BARKER,  D.  D.  S., 
NO.  983    WESTMINSTER  ST., 
Office  Hours  :  Hoppin  Horhestead  Building, 

9  to  12.30  and  2  to  5.  Providence,  R.  I. 


W.  W.  BRIDGE,  D.  D.  S., 

363    WESTMINSTER    ST., 

Providence,  R.  I. 


DENTISTRY. 

OPERATIVE,  ARTIFICIAL,  AND  SURGICAL. 

L.  L.  Buckland,  D.  D.  S., 

146    WESTMINSTER    ST.,  Providence,  R.  I. 


W.  p.  CHURCH,  D.  D.  S., 

360    WESTMINSTER    ST., 
Providence,  R.  I. 


A.  B.  HAWES. 

Everything  pertaining  to  the  art  of  dentistry  (both  opera- 
tive and  mechanical)  is  executed  in  the  most  careful  and 
perfect  manner  at  this  long  established  office, 

88    WESTMINSTER   ST., 


M.  W.  &  E.  P.  SMALL, 

DENTISTS, 
Room  19,  Brownell  Building, 
91    WESTMINSTER  ST., 

31    EXCHANGE  PLACE, 
Providence,  R.  I. 

Filling  Teeth  a  Specialty. 

;6®"  Take  tlie  Elevator  and  stop  on  third  floor. 


G.    SPENCER, 

DENTIST, 
369   WESTMINSTER  ST.,  Providence,  R.  I. 

Best  Sets  of  White's  Permanent  Gum  Teeth  for  $10,  and 
Warranted  for  3  years. 


DR.  J.  C.  WALTON, 

DENTIST, 

19  MANTON  AVENUE,  Ohieyville  Square, 

Olneyville,  R.  I. 

Open  Tuesdays,  Thursdays,  and  Saturdays. 


H.  F.  MARSHALL,  D.  D.  S., 
354    WESTMINSTER   ST., 

Providence,  R.  I. 
Office  Hours — 9  to  i,  2  to  j. 


DR.  W.  B.  MEAD, 

DENTIST, 

349   WESTMINSTER    ST. 

Providence,  R.  I. 


F.  N.  &  F.  W.  SEABURY, 

DENTISTS, 

35.   UNION  ST.,  Rear  0/  Boston   Store. 

Special  attention  given  to  the  manufacture  of  Artificial 
Teeth  on  Gold,  Platinum,  Rubber,  and  Celluloid  Plates. 

BY  NEW  MODE  PROCESS. 


N.   B.  WHITAKER, 

DENTIST, 

305   WESTMINSTER    ST., 

Providence,  R.  I. 


^wifttt^r*  nntf  ©ttgravcrs  un  itti>oJ»* 


J.  C.  THOMPSON, 

DESIGNER  AND  ENGRAVER  ON  WOOD, 

196    WESTMINSTER  ST., 

Providence,   K.   T. 


*- 


-* 


* 


xlortore. 

DR.    THOMAS    SWEET, 
NATURAL   BONE    SETTER, 
Clfli.  r,   |'i7    I!ii>;id   Street.  Ri-sidoncc,  19  Chapiii  Av< 

rK()\ii)i:N(.  i;. 


iittttnerft. 


7 


Cyt^^/c^^-iite^i^    tZ'7^iZ 


tH4''yide-^€^'t 


■o/yi^'C^ 


Spicialties  :     Equity  and  Probate  Practice,  and 
Com merctal  Litigation . 


CORNELIUS  C.  PLUMMER, 

.Vn OUNE'i     .\NU    C()L".\Si:i,()K    AT   LAW, 

Oilicc,  No.  04  Norlli  Main  Street,  Room  3,  up  one  flight, 

Opp.  First  Bai)tlst  Church,  Providence,  R.  \. 


CHAS.   A.  WILSON, 

.ATTORNEY    AT    L.WV, 
liutler  Exchange,  Providence,  R.  L 


IHrcljantral  Ilraui;(l|t(vmntt. 


H.  W.  HUBBARD, 

.MECIL\NIC-.\L    I)l(.\l  (.lllS.MAN, 

SI  Westminster  St.,  Providence,  R.  \. 

Designer  and  Inventor  of  Special  Machinery,  and  Tools 

or  Fixtures.     Inventors  or  others  assisted  in  perfecting  and 

putting   their  ideas  in   form  on   paper,  on    in    iron  or   other 

materials.     Patent  Drawings  and  .Slodels  made. 


lltrlitral  (r-lrctriciiiit. 


DR.  C.  H.  LEFFINGWELL, 

.MEDICAL    ELi;crKICI,\N, 
.i:W  liroad  St. 
J/r.c.   Leffingv.;ll. 


Utitl  C'ttciinrrr. 


F.   P.  SHELDON, 

MILL    ENGINEER, 
Cotton. Mills  a  Specialty.  91   Westminster  St. 


(Optician*. 

E.    D.    CUMMINGS   &    CO., 

OPTICIANS, 
3S  Dorrance  Street,  Providence,  R.   I. 
Don't  Fail  to  Try  our  Patent  Eye-Glasses.      Special  Atten- 
tion  yiveii  to  Repairing. 


Oolicitoi-0  of  Vatcnto,   anli  O'.vvcrte. 

JOSEPH  A.   MILLER  &  CO., 

SOLICI  TORS  OF  P.VTENTS,  AND  EXPERTS. 

U.  S.  and  Foreign  Patents. 


A  thorough,  jiractical,  and  scientific  knowledge  of  the 
useful  arts,  and  extensive  experience,  enables  us  to  be  of 
great  assistance  to  Manufacturers  and  Inventors  in  perfect- 
ing useful  improvements. 

OFFICES,  «5  -V.ND  36  BUTLER  E.KCIIANGE, 
Fourth    Floor. 


*tti\t\)tv^  of  Oinciiit^  anb  lllueic. 


GEO,  W.  HASELWOOD, 

TE.XCHER    OF  SINGING  AND   CULTIVATION  OF 
THE   VOICE, 

Room   14,  Iliippin  Homestead  Building, 
Providence,  R.  I. 


C.  C.  HEINTZEMAN, 
TEACHER  OF  VOCAL  &  INSTRUMENTAL  MUSIC, 
ire  Broad  St.,  Providence,  R.  I. 
Agent  for  the  Woodward  &  Brown  Piano ;     an  instru- 
ment superior  in  volume,  quality  of  tone,  and  elegance  of 
workmanship. 


JULIAN   JORDAN, 

Cl'LTIVATION  OF  THE  VOICE, 
Rooms    in    Butler    Exchange,  Providence. 

r   $40  per  quarter  of  20  Lessons,  i  Lesson  per 

TERMS  •   >         ^^■'-■'-■'^  '^^*  '"'"''• 

1    .$30  per   quarter  ot  20  Les.sons,  1  Lesson  per 
(.         week,  ^  hour. 
Special  Price  for  occasional  lessons.         Use  Elevator. 


EBEN  A.  KELLY, 

PROFESSOR  OF  MUSIC  AND  TEACHER  OF  THE 
PIANO-FORTE, 

Hoppin   Homestead   Building,   Room  23,  3rd  Floor. 
Residence,   No.    | 'j  |    BOWKN    S'I\ 


yrtrrinart)  Our^roit. 


DR.  WALTER  L.  BURT, 

VETKRI.N.MIV    SI  RGEO.N, 

Graduate   of  American     I'etcrinarj'   College, 

Office  at  A.  R.  Darling  &  Co.'s  St,nble, 

'i!i4   /!rne/it   Street.       Residence,  '.263    //<«///   Street, 

Connected  by  Telephone.  Providence,  R.  /. 

Office  Hours  :  9  to  10  a.  m.  ;  2  to  3  p.  m. 


78 


-* 


^nnUinij  ^netittttiotts. 


RHODE  ISLAND   HOSPITAL   TRUST 
COMPANY. 

Office,  60  South  Main  Street,  Providence,  R.  I. 
Capital,  $Soo,ooo. 

Officers. — President,  William  Binney;  Vice-President, 
Alex.  Farnum ;   Secretary,  H.J.  WuUs. 

Directors.— Alfred  Anthony,  Amos  C.  Barstow,  Zecha- 
riah  Chafee,  Christopher  Lippitt,  Samuel  M.  Noyes, 
Edward  D  Pearce,  William  S.  Slater,  C.  Fiske  Harris, 
Royal  C.  Taft,  Amos  D.  Lockwood,  R.  H.  I.  Goddard, 
Henry  Howard,  G.W.  R.  Matteson,  S  S.  Sprague,  William 
D.  Ely,  Chas.  Morris  Smith,  Geo.  I.  Chase,  Robert  I.  Gam- 
mell,  William  Binney,  Wm.  B.  Weeden. 


THE  PROVIDENCE  INSTITUTION  FOR 
SAVINGS, 

IN  THE  CITY  OF  PROVIDENCE. 
Incorporated  A.  D.  1S19. 

President,       -      -      WILLIAM  GODDARD. 

Vice-Presidents,    ROYAL  C.  TAFT,   THOMAS  P.  I. 

GODDARD,  AMOS  D.  LOCKWOOD. 


William  W.  Hoppin, 
W^illiam  Gammell, 
Henry  L.  Kendall, 
.Samuel  R.Dorrance, 
Charles  E.  Paine, 
Robert  Ives  Gammell, 


-DIRECTORS- 


Robert  H.  I.  Goddard, 
Rufus  Waterman, 
Geo.  W.  R.  Matteson, 
Samuel  M.  Noyes, 
William  B.  Weeden, 
Lucian  Sharpe. 


Officers—Samuel  C.  Blodget,    Treasurer,   Wm.  A.  Hoppin, 
Ass'i  Treasurer,  Le  B.  Bradford,  Teller. 


PROVIDENCE  COUNTY 

Savings  Bank, 

(OVER  THE  POST  OFFICE,) 

PAWTUCKET,   R.   I. 

Deposits,       -       -       -       -        $2,000,000 
officers  : 

D.  G.  LITTLEFIELD,         .  .         .         .  President. 

ROBERT  CUSHMAN,  -        -        -     Vice-President. 

OLNEY  ARNOLD,     -        -        Secretary  and  Treasurer. 


DIRECTORS : 


Mowry  Taft, 
H.  F.  Barrows, 
P.  E.  Tillinghast, 
Henry  B.  Metcalf, 
Wm.  Newell, 


Joseph  E.  Dispeau, 
Edwin  Jencks, 
George  L.  Walker, 
Edmund  Mason, 
Wm.  H.  Park. 


BANKING  HOURS: 

From  9  o'clock,  A.  M.  to  4  o'clock,  P.  M. 


Divide7ids  Payable  Jait^iary  atid  yuly. 


PEOPLE'S    SAVINGS   BANK, 

/.V  PROVIDENCE,  R.  I. 
NO.    1    MARKET     S  Q^U  A  R  E  . 

[Incorporated,  May,  iSji.] 
President — Edward  A.  Greene.         Vice-Presidents  — 
Robert  Knight,  Francis  W.  Carpenter,  Chas.  Morris  Smith. 
Directors  —  Charles  E.  Carpenter,  Edward  P.  Taft,  Henry 
J.    Smith,   Daniel   Day,    George  C.  Nightingale,  John    B". 
Anthony,   Daniel   E.   Day,    Eugene   W.    Mason,    Andrew 
Comstock,  Horatio  N.  Campbell,  Alfred  A.  Reed,  Jr. 
Albert  C.  Howard,  Treasurer  and  Secretary. 
Gilbert  H.  Hagan,  Assistant  Treasurer. 
p'ranklin  D.  Ford,  Clerk. 
Quarters  commence  on  the  first  days  of  January,  April, 
July  and  October.     Money  deposited  prex'ious  to  the  third 
Monday  of  these  months  will  draw  interest  from  the  first. 
Dividends,  third  Mondays  in  January  and  July. 
Office  Hours  from  lo  A.  M.  to  2  P.  M. 


MERCHANTS   SAVINGS   BANK, 

63  Westminster  Street,  -         -         I>rovidence,  R.  I. 

Jas.  S.  Phetteplace,  Pres.   Chris.  R  .  Drnwne.  Treas.  and  Sec. 

Quarters  commence  first  of  July,  October.  January  and 
April,  and  money  deposited  before  the  i6th  of  these  months 
commences  Interest  with  the  quarter.  Dividends,  January 
and  July. 


THIRD   NATIONAL   BANK, 

OF  PROVIDENCE,  R.  I. 

Capital $500,000. 

O.  A.  WASHBURN,  Jr.,  C.  H.  CHILDS,  Jr., 

President.  Cashier. 

No.  13  Market  Square. 


^I(tclt0mtth9. 


S.  H.  BRUCE, 
HORSE  -  SH  OE  R, 
Cor.  Potter  and  Friendship  Sts.,  Providence. 

4ti"  Particular  attention   paid  to  Shoeing  Driving  and 

Trotting   Horses.     Interfering,  Over-reaching 

and  Lameness  a  Specialty. 


A.  CROWELL  &  CO., 

Manufacturers  of 

IRON  FENCES,  RAILINGS,  SHUTTERS. 

Machine  and  Tool   Forgings,  Bolts,   Rods  and  Straps   for 

Building  Bridges,  etc.,  made  to  order.    Jewelers'  and 

Silversmiths'  Dies,  Cutters,  Tools,  etc.,  a  specialty. 

161   Eddy  Street,   Providence. 


LEWIS  E.  DAVIS, 
PRACTICAL     HORSE-SHOER, 

Corner  Orange  and  Pine  Sts.,  Providence. 

Particular  attention  given  to  Interfering  and  Over-Reach- 
ing  Horses. 


SCIENTIFIC    HORSE-SHOEING, 

By  J.  A.  FOLSOM,  Farrier. 

Particular  attention  given  to  Balancing  and  Squaring  the 

Action  of  Green  Horses.     FORGING  a  specialty. 
484  Broad  Street,     -  Providence,  R.  I. 


* 


* 


79 


-M 


Tbc •:; 5  tv  c  c  X a  I vT r  ^ d c  -M  x\  ( ( c i \ rt . 


GILBERT  SISSON,  Blacksmith, 
Machinery  and  Tool  Forging,  Iron  Doors  &  Shutters, 

Ami  all  kiiuls  nt"  Huililiiii;  Work.      A  si.icialty  mail.-  of 

Jcwclcis'  ami  Silvi-rsinitlis"  Dies,  CuUcrs,  and  TooU. 

Gas- Pipe  Toniis  Made  and  Repaired. 

ri    Clifford  Str.et,  ror.  Po^i,.  ProiiJriuf. 

N.    D.    THURBER,    Agent. 

H()KSK-SIIOKI{. 

No.   13  Arsenal  I-ane,  — 

Pkovidknce,  K.  T. 


iloate  to  ict. 
JOHN  H.  EDWARDS, 

Oppo-iii'  lOG  South  Watir  Strut,     .      -      Providence,  R.  I. 

SAIL  AND  ROW  BOATS  TO  LET. 
Boat    Building   and    Repairing.       Also,   the   commodious 
Va.:ht  "CAMILLA." 
Sailing  and  Fishing  Parties  Accommodated. 


JOHN   HAUGHEY. 

SAIL  .\M)  ROW  BOATS  TO  LK  I  . 

Also,  Boats  of  Every  Description  Bought  and 
Sold. 


Iliir>  Wh;irl'. 


■  t  of"  IKniUrson  Strict. 


iJootft  anb  !5hor». 


FINE     BOOTS     AND     SHOES, 

And  Low  Prices, 

A    I      S  T  I  L  L  M  A  \  '  S  , 

.'$05   I liirli  Street,  Providence.  R.  I. 


tU'a^o  I'ounlirra  anb  ftnishcro. 
AMOS      D.     SMITH,     2d, 

BRASS   FOlNDliK. 

'il.9   Kddy  Street,  Providence,  K.  L 

Brass.  Copper,  Zinc,  and  all  kinds  of  Bronze  Castings. 

Babbitt  and  Anti-Friction  Metals. 

Cash  paid  for  Old  Copper,  Brass,  I^ead  and  other  Metals. 


M.    V.    B.    DARLING, 

Manufacturer  of 

SPECI.VL  BR.A.SS  WORK, 

Boik?      Tube    Cleaners,    and     Portable     (iarden    Pump--, 

fi'i  Elm  Street,  Providence,  R.  I. 


i!  vol:  ere. 
A.  L.  ANDREWS, 

—  Deakr  in— 

RE.XL    ESTATE    ANT)    MOK  ItJACiES. 

143  Westmin.ster  Street,      -      -  Providence,  R.  I. 

Loans  Negotiated. 

ROGER  F.  CAPWELL, 
Real  Estate,  Money   and  Mortgage 


l3uoinc60  anb  Ci'hroino  li*ari»s,  ('*tc. 

C.    H.    HEMENWAY,    Jr., 

CHRO.MO    BISINESS, 

BIRTHDAY  AND  HOLIDAY    CARDS, 

I'j  Westminster  Street,  -         -         Providence,  R.  I. 

NARRAGANSETT   CARD   CO.. 

JEWELERS-  CARDS, 

Printers".  Engravers'  and   Photographers'  Cards  and  Card 

Board, 

II  Mi.liuioMil  Str.rl,  Providcnct-,  i:.  I. 


^tttlbtitgi  itiatcrtalo. 


JAMES  C.  GOFF, 

(Successor  to  Geo.  \V.  Hall  &  Co.,) 

LI.ME,  CEMENT,  IL^IR,  CALCINED  and  GROUND 

PLASIER, 

Building  Brick,    Fire    Brick,    Fire  Clay,    Drain   Pipe, 

PERUVIAN  GUANO,  Etc.,  Etc. 

Nos.  6tf  and  67   SOUTH    WATER    STREET, 

PROVIDEXCE.  R.  I. 


J.  B.  &  M.   PAINE, 

Dealers  in 

B  U  I  L  D  E  R  S  •     H  A  R  D  W  .\.  K  E  , 

Carpenters'  and  Masons'  Tools,  Farmers'  Implements,  etc. 

193  &  199   Cranston  Street,  Providence,  R.  I. 

All  orders  promptly  attended  to. 


SECURITY     BLIND    FASTS, 
BLIND   HINGES, 

N'ortliup  Window  Springs, 

Sweet's  Window  Springs, 

And  Hardware  Specialties. 
Manufactured  by 
SECl-RITY  BLIND  FA.ST  CO., 
I !>  Calender  Street,  Pro\  i<Unie,  R.  1 . 


(i^otton  anb  yrinto  t^rokrr. 

VIRGIL    FISHER, 

liROKER, 

COTTON    AND    P  R  I  NT- C  LOT  HS, 

Cotton  Bought  on  Orders  in  Southern  Markets. 


131  Charles  Street,  Providence. 


•i*- 


(Tarvcntcr*  anb  itnilbrro. 

JOHN  A.  BAYLISS, 

ARCHITECT  AND   BUILDER, 

No.  80  Orange  Street,      ....      Providence,  R.  I. 
aS'-Stores  and  Offices  lifted  up.   Also,  all  kinds  of  Jobbing 

nroniptlv  attended  to. 
All  work  personally  attended  to  and  satisfaction  guaranteed. 


C.  S.  BRIGGS, 

CO.NTR.A.CTOR    AND    BUILDER, 
N".).  a33  Washington  Street,  .  Providente,  R.  I. 


-* 


*- 


so 


.* 


^i)cv 5 ^ c c  \ a i:Tt a dc  :•! u C tct\n . 


Ciitpcntff*  ittti>  ^tttl^ct•e. 


JOHN  BUTLER, 

CARPENTER  AND  BUILDER, 

CAKAL  AVi:AmE,       -       -        PROVIDENCE,  R.  I. 

46g=-Stores  and  Offices  fitted  up.     All  kinds  of  Jobbing- 

and  Stair-Building  promptly  attended  to. 


HENRY  R.  EVANS, 

CONTRACTOR  AND  BUILDER. 

All  Kinds  of  Wooden  Vats,  Dye-Tubs,  Tanks,  Wash- 
Trays,  Soaking  Tubs  made  to  order. 
Jobbing  and  Fitting  up  Stores  and  Offices. 
Estimates  given  for  building-s  of  every  description. 


99  Dorrance  Street, 


Providence,  R.   I. 


DAVID  GLOVER, 

CARPENTER  AND  JOINER, 

135   South  Main  Street,  -  -  Providence,  R.  I 

Contracts  a  specialty,  and  Particular  Attention 

Paid  to  Jobbing. 


DEXTER  GORTON  &  CO., 

375  Dyer  Street,  -  Providence,  R.  I. 

CARPENTERS,  JOINERS  AND  CONTRACTORS. 

All  kinds  of  Jobbing  done  with  neatness  and  dis- 
patch.    Stock  furnished  when  ordered. 


MASON  &  COPPELL, 

CONTRACTORS  AND  BUILDERS. 

Jobbing  of  all  kinds  Promptly  Attended  to. 

Mechanics  Exchange,  33  Weybosset  St., 

Providence,  R.  I. 

Henry  F.  Mason.  Oliver  J.  Coppell. 


F.  C.  SHAFFORD  &  CO., 

CARPENTERS  AND  BUILDERS, 

164  Eddy  St.,  Providence,  R.  I. 

Particular  Attention   given  to  Putting  up  Shafting  and 

Other  Machinery. 

S^fes  Moved  to  Order  at  Short  Notice. 

Offices,  Stores,  Jewelry  Shops,  Etc.,  Etc.,  Fitted  up  in 

the  Best  Manner  at  the  Lowest  Rates. 


A.  W.  STANLEY, 

CARPENTER   AND   BUILDER. 

First-Class  Dwellings  a  Specialty. 

179  Washington  Street,  near  Dean,  Providence,   R.  I. 

Residence,  Webster  Ave.,  Arlington,  Cranston,  R.  I. 

Address,  179  Washington  St.,  Providence,  R.  I. 


GEORGE    B.    UNDERWOOD, 

CARPENTER  AND  BUILDER, 

313    Fountain    Street,  -  -  Providence,    R.    I. 

All  Orders  for  Jobbing  Promptly  Attended  to. 


(Catriagc  piitnufitcturcr©  itnii  fttatjeriitld. 


N.  C.  BRIGGS,  Agt., 

CARRIAGE  MANUFACTURER, 

530  and  533  High  Street, 

Providence,  R.  I. 

4®°'Carriages  of  all  kinds  constantly  on  hand  and  for  sale. 


JOHN   EATOUGH, 

CARRIAGE  MAKER, 

199    Washington   Street,         -         -        Providence,   R.  I. 

Repairing  done  on  reasonable  terms,  and  satisfaction 

guaranteed.     N.  B.—  Particular  attention  to  the 

manufacture  of  bodies  for  the  trade. 


LEWIS  L.  FALES, 

CARRIAGE 

M  ANUF  ACTUR  ER. 

Repairing  in  all  its  branches. 

New  and  Second-Hand  Car- 
riages for  sale. 

Providence,  R.  I. 


No.  157  Gaspee  Street, 

TELEPHONE   CONNECTION 


L.  T.  MANCHESTER, 

CARRIAGE  MANUFACTURER, 
347,  349  and  351  Fountain  Street,  Providence,  R.  I. 
Carriages  constantly  on  hand  and  made  to  order.  Re- 
pairing in  all  the  various  branches  done  on  reasonable 
terms  and  at  short  notice.  Carriages  to  be  repaired  taken 
and  returned  without  extra  charge.  


RYAN  &  SULLIVAN, 

Manufacturers  of 

FINE   LIGHT  CARRIAGES, 

36  Fountain  Street,  -  -         -         Providence,  R.  I. 

We  make  a  specialty  of  Light  Phaetons,  wliich  we 
build  to  order  for  $275,  and  warrant  equal  to  the  best 
carriage  built  in  this  city.  All  work  done  at  reasonable 
rates  and  satisfaction  guaranteed.  Vour  orders  are 
respectfully  solicited. 


GEORGE  W.    STICKLES, 

CARRIAGE  MAKER, 
5  Otis  Street,  rear  139  Canal  Street,  Providence,  R.  I. 
Repairing  in  all  its  branches  promptly  attended  to.    New 
and  Second-hand  Carriages  constantly  on  hand  and  for  sale. 


A.  SHACKFORD, 

Manufacturer  of  Half  Patent,  and  Patent  Concord  and 
Common 

A  X  L  E  S  . 

Also,  Springs  of  all  descriptions  made  and  repaired. 
105  Orange  Street,  Providence. 


DEWING,  MONSELL  &  CO., 

Manufacturers  of 

DERRY'S   ELASTIC    OIL    FOR  CARRIAGE  TOP 

DRESSING. 

S.  G.  DERRY,  General  Manager, 

Office,  34  Exchange  Place,  Providence,  R.  I. 


t<^^ 


c c  \ a  ( vT V i\ d c vfi u 1 1 c i \n .- 


dement  lUcUe. 


WILLIAM   MASON'S 

PATENT  IMPROVED  CEMENT  WELl.S, 

Oflice,  V.  W.  Mason's  Machine  Shop,  Lalayctte  Street. 

Residence,  378  Cranston  Street,  Providence. 


(Circulatimji  fibrary. 
BOSTON  CIRCULATING  LIBRARY  CO., 

Di;il(.rs  ill 

KINE  STATIONERY,  BLANK  HOOKS,  and  I  ANCV 

ARTICLES, 

ai3  II iirh  Street,  -  -         Provideiui-,  15 .  I. 

\\'ELCOME  ARNOLD. 

CriortU  JHahcr. 


P.  A.  TERBRIGGEN, 

L  A  D I E  S  •    C  L  O  A  K    MAKER  , 

Has  opened  Rooms  at  Butler  Exchanfje,  Providence. 

^gj-  All  orders   promptly  attended  to,  and  made  up  in  tlie 

best  manner  and  in  the  latest  styles.     A  Perfect 

Fit  Guaranteed. 

Knoni  No.   11,  Filth  Floor. 


(Tommiodion  |l!crclt«»nt«. 


E.    E.    HAWKINS&CO., 

COMMISSION  MERCII.\NTS, 

And  Wholesale  Dealers  in  Country  Produce,  Fruits,  ]?utter, 
Cheese,  Effgs,  etc. 

No.  55  Dvcr  Street. 


©Ottffttioturtt,  C-tc. 


GEO.  H.  DAVIS, 

Manufacturer  of 
SPECIALTIES  IN  FINE  CONFECTIONS. 
The  Original  Dr.  Davis'  Pawtucket  Candies. 
Try  our  Caramels,  the  finest  in  the  city,  6  varieties,  fresh 
every  day. 
Cut  Flowers  and  Fruits  of  all  kinds  in  their  season. 
I  have  lately  fitted  up  a  nice  PARLOR,  to  serve  my  cus- 
tomers with  the  best  of  Ice  Cream,  Water  Ices,  etc. 
397  Westminster  St.,  Providence,  R.  I. 


MRS.  HAWKSWORTH, 

DEALER  IN  FRl'lT  AND  CONFECTIONERY, 

Bread,   Cake   and    Pastry,    Ice   Cream   and    Soda,   Cigars 

Tobacco,  etc. 


'ilt   High  Street, 


Providence,  R.I. 


Wte  ^inhere. 


J.  A.  CHARNLEY 

Maker  and  Engraver  of 

FIGURE  BND  EMBOSSING 

Aotis 

of  all  kinds.     Also,  Maker  of    Ball  and    Fig 
ured  Wires  and  Gallery  Settings 

131  Dorrance  St..  cor.  Dyer  St., 

PKOYlUK.NCi;.  U.  1. 


EDWIN   A.   CALDER, 

REGIS  IKKKD     I'U.VRMACIST, 

a87   High  Street, 

Providence,  R.  I. 


NORMAN    N.    MASON, 
No.   129  North   Main,   cor.   of  Meeting  St., 

Prescriptions  compounded  with  care. 

WM.    W.    HANDY, 

BOTANIC    DRUGGIST,    W  IIOLESALE  &  RETAIL. 

A  large  assortment  of  fresh  gathered 

Roots,  Herbs  and  Barks. 

I40  and  Wa  Broad  Street,  Providence,  R.  I. 


F.  J.  PHILLIPS, 

HOMCEOPATHIC  &  ALLOP.\THIC  PHARMACIST, 
155  Charles  Street.  99  Main  Street, 

Providence,  R.  I.  Pawtucket,  R.  I. 

Sole  Proprietor  Hepin's  English  Balsam,  Dr.   Warren's 
Croup  Syrup,  Bates'  Balsam  for  Dysentery,  and 
"  Children's  Syrup"  for  Colds, 


STEPHEN   L.    TALBOT, 

GRADUATE    IN    PHAR.MACY,    DRUGGIST  AND 

APOTHECARY, 

'i'iX    Westminster    Street,    Providence,   R.    J. 

The  careful  selection  of  Pure  Drugs  and  Chemicals,  and 
their  proper  manipulation  a  specialty. 

None  but  Registered  Pharmacists  permitted  to  compound 

Prescriptions. 

A  Fine  Assortment  of  Toilet  Articles. 


GEO.   H.   BURLINGAME. 

Manufacturer  ol  and  Dealer  in 
CllE.MKALS,    DRUGS,    DYE-STUFFS,  SPERM 

AND  ALL  KINDS  OF  LUBRICATING 

OILS. 

DowNtR's  Illumi.nating  Oil. 

Office  and  Salesroon\,  I7!i  Broad  Street,  Providence,  R.  I. 
''/ev.'elers'  and  Colorers'  Supplies  a  Specialty. 


(r-lccttical  Oupvltre. 


REGINALD    C.    BROWN, 

Manufacturer  and  Dealer  in  Telegraph,  Electrical  and  Tele- 
phone Supplies,  Batteries,  Zincs, Carbons  and  Connections 
for  Coloring,  always  on  hand.  Also,  State  Agent  for 
Watts'  Mechanical  Telephones,  the  best  and  cheapest  Tel- 
ephone ever  presented  to  the  public — no  Battery,  no  Bell — 
warranted  to  work  better  than  any  transmitter.  Call  and 
examine,  and  see  for  yourself,  Building^  and  carc  taken 
of  private  lines  a  apec'ialty. 

180  Friendship  St.,  Providence,  R.  I. 


*■ 


•* 


*- 


82 


-^ 


The  •:•  5  pA  c  va  f  ^^u^^  ^  c  yg  u  cut  Vtt . 


©Icctrtcnl  guvvUfft. 


EUGENE  F.    PHILLIPS, 

Manufacturer  ot  Patent  Finished  Insulated  Telegraph  Wire, 
Telephone  and  Klectric  Cordage,  Magnet  Wire,  Patent 
Rubber  Covered  Wire,  Burglar  Alarm  and  Annunciator 
Wire,  Lead  Encased  Wire,  Elevator,  Aerial,  and  Under- 
ground Cables,  etc. 

67  STEWART  ST.,    PROVIDENCE,  R.  I. 


glgfirs,  ^Icachtfft,  C5tc. 


PROVIDENCE  DYEING,    BLEACHING, 
AND  CALENDERING  CO., 

>Jo.  14  Sabin  Street,  Providence,  R.  I. 
STEPHEN  CORNELL,  Agent. 


ELMWOOD   DYE   HOUSE, 

303  Potter's  Avenue.       Office,  47  Mathewson  Street. 

Every  description  of  Dyeing  and  Cleansing  dune  in  the  best 

manner. 

PROVIDENCE,  R.  I. 

J.  J.  STERLING,         .  -  -  -  Proprietor. 


NEWCOMB'S   DYE   HOUSE, 

aaS  Broad   St.,  Providence,   R.   I. 
Garments  Cleansed,  Dyed,  and  Repaired.     Kid  Glovt 
Cleansed  and  Dyed. 
E.  R.  &  F.  P.  BABCOCK,         -         -  -         Proprietn 


i'xU  pianttfactiirrre. 


NEW  ENGLAND  FILE  CO., 

Manufacturers  of  an  extra  grade  of  Hand-cut  Files.    These 

Files,   being  of  Superior  Temper,  will  stand  the 

Hardest  Test  of  any  File  in  the  market. 

Old  Files  Re-cut  and  warranted  to  give  entire  satisfaction. 

lOl  FRIENDSHIP  ST.,  PROVIDENCE. 

E.  B.  Snow,  Treas.  Frank  Fenner,  Agent. 


THE   RHODE  ISLAND  COUPLING  CO. 

Dealers  in  and  Manufacturers  of 

FIRE    DEPARTMENT    SUPPLIES, 

3'^  Middle  Street,      -     'Rear  of  Adams  Express  Office 

E.  M.  Waldron,  Supt. 


^t^h  Dealtre* 


JOSEPH   G.   MATHEWS, 

(Successor  to  Jolin  Mathews  &  Co.,) 

Wholesale  and  Retail  Dealer  in  Fresh  and  Salt  Fish, 

OYSTERS,  LOBSTERS,  CLAMS,WILD  GAME,  ETC. 

No.  'i3  Exchange  Place,  Providence,  R.  1. 

Families  and  Parties  Supplied  with  Oysters  of  First  Qiiality, 

at  short  notice.     Live  Bait  in  the  Season.     Bull(<ck's 

Point  Oysters  a  Specialty. 

WILLIAM  H.  MIDWOOD, 

Dealer  in  all  kinds  of 
FRESH  AND  SALT  FISH,  OYSTERS,    LOBSTERS, 

CLAMS,  ETC. 

119  North  Main  Street,  Providence,  R.  I. 
Orders  called  for  and  delivered. 


^litttortng  ©.vtractft* 


C.  E.  NICHOLS, 

Manufacturer  of 

—  NEW   STANDARD   FLAVORING    EXTRACTS,— 

Colognes,  Perfumery,  Etc. 

40  Bridgham  Street,         -         Providence,  R.  I. 


4fl«»vt$t»* 


ELMWOOD  GREENHOUSE, 

Greenwich  Street,  cor.  Congress,  Providence,  R.I. 

Walter  McNaughton. 

WREATHS,  CROSSES,  CUT-FLOWERS,  ETC.,  ETC., 

Furnished  at  short  notice. 

Weddings,    Parties   and    Funerals   supplied. 


MRS.    M.    J.    MANNING, 

FLORIST. 
Cut  F"lowers,  Bouquets,  and  Designs   for  Funerals,   Wed- 
dings, etc.     New  and  First-class  styles.      Prices  Low. 
Plants,  Seeds,  Bulbs,  Etc.     Gardens  Laid 
Out  and  Kept  in  Order. 
Greenhouse,  No.  630  Broad  Street,  Providence,  R.  I. 


JOHN  A.  NISBET, 

FLORIST  AND  LANDSCAPE   GARDENER. 

Pruning  and  care  of  Graperies  a  Specialty. 
ISO  Hope  Street,        -         -         Providence,  R.  I. 


HIGH  STREET  GREENHOUSES. 

In  the  way  of  tirst-class  Floral  Work  notliing  can  be  better 
than  that  furnished  by 
Mr.  Charles  Wright,  No.  S  Franklin  Street. 
In  Funeral  Designs  he  prepares  most  beautiful  and  appro- 
priate offerings,  his  extensive  facilities  enabling 
him  to  fill  all  orders  promptly. 


f  ttrnttwrc  SJcaUi'e,  Jtlfre.  *^  Hylj<»l«rtcr«r«. 

N.  BLOCK, 

FURNITURE  MADE  TO  ORDER. 

Furniture  Repaired  and  Mattresses  Made  and  Renovated. 

.348  Westminster  Street,  Providence,  R.  I. 

Formerly  with  Potter,  Dennison  &  Co. 


STEPHEN  F.  CHACE, 

GENERAL  REPAIRER  OF 

FURNITURE, 

And  Mattress   Manufacturer. 


Agent  for 


389  Broad  Street, 


HARWOOD  FIBRE    CHAIR 
SEA  TS. 

Providence,  R.  I. 


JAMES  J.  EASTON, 

CARPET  AND  SHADE  UPHOLSTERER. 

Special  attention  given  to 

Making  and  Laying  Plain  and  Bordered  Carpets. 

Window  Shades  made  and  put  up. 
Hoppin  Homestead  Building, 

383  Westminster  Street,  -  -  Providence,  R.  I. 

Orders  by  Telephone  promptly  attended  to. 


*- 


S3 


T  be  •:•?>?>  cc  \a  ( vT  V  ^  d  c  •:  B  u  1 1  c  i  \  u . 


i'urnituvc  Zlralrro,  lUtVo.  »S,  |lviiolotcrrro. 
JOHN  D.  LINDSEY, 

Dciilcr  ill 

NKW   AM)  SECONn-HAM)  II  RMH  Iti:. 

Also,  Furniture  l'|>l)()lstcri;<l  and  Uci)airt-ii. 

IS2  Broad  Street,         ....  Providence,  K.  I. 


D.  PINKHAM, 

C.\RPET    AND    CURT.MX     L  IMIOLSTEHV, 

'■iO  I  loppin  Homestead  Buildinjj,      .     -     l>rovideni-e.  I{    I. 

Rooms  Furnished  to  Order. 


J.  HARRY   WELCH, 

INTERIOR  DECORATIONS,  I  I'lIOLSTERY  GOODS 

and   'rrininiin<;s.    Silk   Cords,   Pillow  Tassels,  Gimps, 

F'rinjjes,  (jilt  Nails,  Curtain  Rin^js,   Draperies, 

Reps,  Lace  Curtains,  Salines,  Picture 

Cords,  Curtain  Loops. 

188  Westminster  St.,  cor.  Union,  (Room  3,)  Providence. 


(Orauitc  aui>  IHiivlilc  Ulorhrr«. 
GEORGE    A.  MUMFORD, 

Manufacturer  cifaiid  Dealer  in 

MAKBLK  MONLMKNTS,   HEADSTONES, 

Tablets,    Wash. Howl    Slabs,  etc.     Marble  and  Marbleized 

Slate  Mantels      Also,  Granite  Monuments,  Tablets. 

and  Curbing.     Satisfaction  Guaranteed. 
444  High  Street,  -  Providence,  R.  I. 


F.  P.  KNOWLTON  &  CO., 

Manufacturers  and  Dealers  in  I'nrcign  and  Native  Granite 

MONUME.NTAL  AND  CK.MKTERV   WORK, 

KOCKI>A.M),    .Mk. 

C.  II.  KNOWLTON,  Agent. 
Refer  to  11.  F'airbrother,  Pawtucket. 

Providence  address,  I4(>  Westminster  Street. 


fiitir  (fyooti^  itni>  tViiriJvcoocro. 


WIG  MAKING  AND  HAIR  WORK 

of  every  description,  by 
MRS.  THOMAS  W.  CAMM, 
40  Westminster  Street,      -        -        -      Providence,  R.  L 


MRS.  S.  E.  HEMINGWAY, 

Fornurly  Mrs.  Sahh, 
DE.VLER     IN    lU  .M.\N     HAIR     GOODS. 

Hair  Combings  carefully  headed.     F'aded  Bands  Dyed  to 

any  shade  of  Brown.  • 

48tf  Westminster  Street,  two  doors  above  Music  Hall, 
Providence,  R.  I. 


DANIEL  J.  MAHLER, 

PRIVATE    TONS(JRL\L    PARLOR, 

No.  :i:il   Westminster,  Opposite  Hurrill  Street, 


I'ro 


lence,  l{.   1. 


lint  Ant>  i3onnrt  ilUuchrro. 


B.  K.  AMES, 

HAT  A.ND  BO.NNET  liLK.VCII  I:R  V. 

Straw  Goods  Refinished  in  all  shapes. 
ti'iO  Westminster  Street,       .       .       -      Providence,  R.  I. 


J.  E.  SANGER, 

199   Westminster  Street,  Providence. 
The  Oldest   HAT  and  BONNET  BLIiACHFlR   in   the 

State. 
Ladies' Straw  or  Felt  Hats  or  Bonnets  Bleached  or  Colored, 

and  finished  in  the  latest  style. 
Gent's  Felt  or  Straw  Hats   Cleaned,  Dyed  and  Trimmed. 


ijiittcfo. 

HARSON'S 

NEW    YORK    HAT    HOUSE. 

1  he  largest  and  most  tashionabic  assortment  of  Men's  and 
Boys'  Hats,  at  the  very  lowest  prices. 
Sole  .\gent  for  the  World-renowned  KNOX  H.ATS. 
Ui'i   Wotniinster  Street,  Providence,  R.  I. 


{jotrle. 


CENTRAL    HOTEL, 

f  )N  THE   EUKOI'EAN  PLAN. 

HOPKINS  &  SK.\RS Proprietors, 

Nos.  6  to  10  Canal  Street,  and  14  .North  Main  Street, 
Opposite  Horse-Car  Depot.    One  minute'' s  walk  from  Union 

Depot. 
House  Never  Closed.        Lodgings,  :;o  and  75  cents  per  day. 
Meals  served  at  all  liours,  day  or  night. 


3cc  Zlcalers. 


POCA^SET    ICE, 


Office  and  Depot,  No.  373  High  Street,  Providence. 
WALCH     BRorilERS. 


^nh  IManufacturcre. 


JAPANESE   INK   COMPANY, 

Manufacturers  of 
BL.VCK    AND    COLORED    INKS, 

No.   II    Hayniarket  Street,         -         .         Providence,  R.  I. 


^uduratKr  4\0i;ttt«. 


A.     MUERRLE, 

Agent  for  the 
GERM.\NIA   LIFE  AND  FIRE  INSURANCE  CO., 
of  New  York, 
For  Rhode  Island, 

OtVuo,  S4    North  Main  Street,   Providence,  R.  I. 


Zfcmclri)  itlfro.,  (Tliaocr*,  (T'lioraucro,  (T'tr. 

CAHOONE.  ALEXANDER  &  CO., 


I)  I  A  M    ^^-Jy    ONUS, 

Manufacturers   and    Repairers  of 

ALL   KINDS   OF   SOLID   GOLD   JEWELRY, 

l'^9   Westminster  St.,  Up-stairs,  Phenix  IhiiUling, 

PRO  VIDENCE,  R.  I. 

E.  R.  Cahoone.        W.  H.  Alexander.        H.  C.^\^^ittier. 


J.  W.  GRANT  &  CO., 

M  A  N  U  F  A  C  T  V  R  I  N  G    J  E  W  E  L  E  R  S  , 
il5   Calender  Street,  Providence,  R.  I. 

Specialties  :  Lockets  and  Bracelets. 


4.- 


* 


84 


-* 


:■  Tt)C-:-5l>C'J 


\af:Tvadc:ix\Clci\n. 


HAMILTONS    &    HUNT, 

Manufacturers  of 

FINE   PLATED  CHAINS, 

AND  Patent  Buckle   Bracelets. 

C.    F.    FAIRBROTHER, 

WATCHES,    CLOCKS    AND    JEWELRY, 
314  South  Main  Street,         -         -        -         Providence. 

Branch  Office,  176  Broadway,          -          -        New  York. 
Factory,  336  Eddy  Si.,  Providence,  R.  I. 

F.   W.   GRISWOLD, 

J.  W.  HENRY  &  CO., 

Manufacturers  of 

FINE    ROLLED    P  L  A  T  E  -  C  H  A  I N  S , 

No.  34  Calender  Street, 

Providence,  R.  I. 

WATCHMAKER    AND   JEWELER, 

493    High  St.,  Providence. 

Watches,  Clocks,  Jewelry,  Spectacles,  Musical  Instrument 

Trimmings,  Strings,  Etc.     A  full  line  of  Sevsring 

Machine  Needles  and  Oil. 

JAMES   C.   PRAY, 

HOWARD  &   SCHERRIEBT.E, 

Manufacturers  of 

GOLD-PLATED  JEWELRY. 

Also,  the  Celebrated  American  Lever  Sleeve-Buttons. 

DEALER   IN  WATCHES,  CLOCKS  and  JEWELRY, 

86  South  Main  Street,  Providence. 
j8®~  Fine  Repairing  a  Specialty. 

103  Orange  St.,  Providence,  R.  I. 

A    J    ROBINSON   &   CO., 

W.    R.    RICHARDS, 

MANUFACTURER  OF  GILT  JEWELRY, 
No.  17C  Broadway,                 -         -        New  York. 

W.  H.  Williams,  Agent. 

Cheap  Sets,  Drops,   Shawl-Pins,  Buttons,  Studs,   Etc. 

Manufacturer  of  the  "  Improved  Separable  Sleeve-Button." 

333  Westminster  Street,          -         Providence, 

WATCHES, 

DIAMONDS,  JEWELRY,  AND    SILVERWARE, 

At  Lowest  Prices. 

Factory,  107  Friendship  St.,  Providence,  R.  I. 

Il^wdere'  |i<>bbm0. 

A.  J.  ROBINSON  &  CO. 

Mamtfacture  to  Order  Any  Kind  of 

JEWELRY     OR    SILVERWARE. 

333  Westminster  Street, 
Providence,  R.  I. 

THOMAS    H.    EGAN, 

TIN,  COPPER,  ZINC,  and  SHEET  IRON  WORKER, 

Blow  and  Stove  Pipe. 

Jewelers'  Patent  Polishing  Machines  a   Specialty. 

Stove  Piping  and  Jobbing  of  all  kinds  promptly  attended  to. 

194   Pine  Street,  Providence. 

Israel  R.  Sheldon.                                  Nathan  F.  Mathewson. 

I.  R.    SHELDON   &   CO., 

MANUFACTURING     JEWELERS. 

Lockets  a  Specialty. 

Ill  Summer  Street,        -        Providence,  R,  I. 

KEEP'S    SHIRTS. 

HARRINGTON  «&   SON, 

CHASERS, 

No.  176  Broad  Street,  corner  Page, 

Providence,  R.  I. 

KEEP'S    PERFECT-FITTING    CUSTOM     SHIRTS, 

Made  to  Measure,  6  for  $9. 
The  best  that  can  be  produced  at  any  price.     Bosoms  three- 
ply;   best  Irish  Linen. 

THOMAS   WILLIS, 

ORNAMENTAL    ENGRAVER, 
94  Friendship  Street,       -       -      Providence,  R.  I. 

J.    L.    WEBSTER, 

Sole  Agent  for  Providence, 

371   Westminster  Street. 

Carving  and  Lettering-  neatly  done. 

^attttl»ri«»» 

%fiw»\vxs  |i«tailer». 

JOSHUA    GRAY, 

WALTHAM,     ELGIN,    AND     SWISS      WATCHES, 

Diamonds,  Fine  Jewelry,  Solid  Silver  and  Plated  Ware, 

Wholesale  and  Retail. 

Watches  and  Jewelry  Repaired. 

No.  341  Westminster  Street,        -       -        Providence. 

RIVERSIDE    STEAM    LAUNDRY    CO., 

33  and  35  Beverly  Street, 
MAIN  OFFICE,      -      -      34   DORRANCE  STREET, 

Branch  Offices  : 
119,  121  &  270,  273  Westminster  Street, 
22  South  Main  Street, 

43  North  Main  Street,  and 

59  Weybosset  Street, 

Providence. 
GEO.  E.  CRANDALL,  Agent. 

HERBERT   L.   CLARK, 

DEALER    IN    WATCHES,    CLOCKS,    JEWELRY, 
and  SPECTACLES. 

Watches,  Clocks  and  Jewelry  Repaired  . 

395   High  Street,  Providence. 

i^' 


-* 


85 


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cc  xal-.-Tvadc vfiuticau. 


iumlicr,  Jloore,  Oaolj,  illtnbo,  (i*tr. 

FRANK   F.    CARPENTER, 

EASTERN     AND     WK.STKRN     EUMIIICIJ, 
Also,   Conductors,    Mouliliiifjs,    Gutters,    Shingles,    Clap- 
boards, Laths,  Pickets,  Posts,  Etc., 
All  kinds  of  Mill  Work  done  to  order. 

'2'i  Branch  Avenue,  Providence. 

GEO.    D.    L.VXSING.    Salesman. 


ARNOLD   &   McGOWAN, 

O  Exchange  Place,  Providence. 

WINDOWS,  DOORS,  BLINDS,  WIXDOW  GLASS, 

Etc.,  Etc. 


J.    C.    DODGE    &    SON, 

Manufacturers  of  and  Dealers  in 

DOORS,  WINDOWS,  BLINDS,  WINDOW  FRAMES, 

Mouldings,  Brackets,  and  every  description 

of  House-finish. 

Planing  and  Sawing, 

And  all  kinds  of  Work  done  by  Machinery. 
430  South  Main  Street,  Providence,  R.  I. 


MARTIN   &   NORRIS, 

PLANING     AND     MOULDING     MILL, — 

Manufacturers  of  Sash,  Doors  and  Blinds, 
319  and  331   Fountain  Street,  Providence,  R.  L 


E.  R.  RANDALL, 

PLANING  AND  MOULDING  MILL. 

Lumber  Received  on  Wharf,  and   Planed  at  Low  Prices. 
Foot  of  South  Street. 


Itliirhiitern,  |ltarhtntftt«,  ©te. 


D.  B.  CRUICKSHANK, 

MACHINIsr  A. NX)  KXGINKER, 

Dealer  in  New  and  .Secoiulliand  Machinery,  Steam  Enjjine? 

and  Boilers,  Pumps,  Sliaftinjf,  Pulleys,  Wood  and  Iron 

Working  Macliincry,  Steam  and  Water  Guaees,  Oil 

Cups,  and  Engineers'  Supplies  Generally. 

No.  343  Dyer  Street,         -  Providence,  R.  I, 

Chase  GovernorSi  Little  Giant  Injectors. 


PROVIDENCE  SAW  and  TOOL  WORKS, 

-Manufacturers  of 

SAWS  AND  MACHINISTS'  TOOLS, 

And  Dealers  in 

M/LL  SUPPLIES. 

Special  Tools  and  Machinery  made  to  order. 

Dies  and  Punches  a  Specialty. 

Circular,  Mill,  Cross-cut,  Buck,  Hand,  Jig  and  Band  Saws 

carried  in  stock. 

Machinery  Bought  on  Commission. 

35  Calender  Street,         -        -         -        Providence,  R.  I. 


MORRIS   B.  DEMING, 

-NEW  .\ND   SECOND-ILVNI)     .M.VCHINERV 

Bought  and  Sold  on  Conimission 

Pulleys,  Shafting  and  Hangers  on  hand  and  for  sale 

r«  ami  IH  Orange  Street,  Pnividiiice,  R.  I. 


ItlilliitrrQ. 


MRS.  B.  K.  AMES, 

.M  I  L  L  I  N  E  R  Y     R  O  O  M  S, 

No.  104  Westminster  Street,  Providence,  R.  I. 


E.  A.  BROWN. 

MIL  L  I N E  R  y\ 

'i90    Westminster  Street,  Pnnidence,  R.  I. 


ttt«tC   ^\CVt9. 


HERBERT  L.   EDDY, 

Dealer  in 
PL\.NO-FORTES,   I'ARLOR  and  XESIRV  ORGANS, 

MELODEONS,  Etc. 

383  Westminster  St.,  Hopjiin  Homstead  Building,  Prov. 

Orders  for  Repairing,  Polishing  and  Tuning  attended  to. 


Ittrtitrtnro. 


LIQUID  OZONE  or  CATARRH  VAPOR. 

Prof.  Pai.N'e's  Ozonized  Medicines  are  not    Patent    Medi- 
cines, but  Scientific  Prescriptions. 
THE  LUyJID  OZONE  is    a  positive,    never-failing  cure 
for  Catarrh.     Testimonials  at  the  Office,  340 
Westminster  Street. 
— Also— 
Agency   for  the  Old-established     STATE JV   ISLAND 
DYEING  CO., 
Goods  received  and  delivered  free  of  express. 
A.  E.  ARNOLD, 
340  Westminster  Street,  a  few  doors  above  Grace  Church. 


Itichd  |)httrr«,  (Tnamrlcre  %S:  ^aV'tiiticro. 


RHODE  ISLAND   NICKEL  PLATING 
WORKS. 

Liciiisid  by  Unit,  J  Ni.k.l   Co.,  of  N.  1'. 

-iHK    POTTER    STREET,      -       PRO\aDENCE,  R.  I. 

Hervey  Pinkhain,  Manager.        G.  W.  Carpenter,  Agt. 

J  no.  L.  Draper,  Prest.     Chas.  A.  Gamwell,  Treas.  and  Sec. 

AMERICAN   ENAMEL   COMPANY, 

M(i>ii//ii</iirirs  vj  Enam,l,\i  i'tiiiiy  (Uwjs.      Knuiiiilim; 
on   H  'ood  or  Mi-tal.  P.  O.  Pox  44. 

17    Warren  .Street,   Providence,  R.   I. 

L.   STONE, 

PLAIN    AND    ORNAMENTAL   JAPANNER 

on  Wood  and  Metal.  Pearl  Inlaid  Work  a  Specialty. 

No.  386  Fountain   Stri'tt,  Providence. 

P.  J.   CONWAV,   Supt. 


iif. 


86 


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^bc:v5i> cc  x^  (::-^t  adc vgu t Utxu. 


mxt  3roii,  Plftale,  ®tc» 


H.    HUNT   &  BRO., 

Dealers    in 

PAPER    STOCK,   OLD    IRON   AND   METALS. 

A/so  all  kinds  of  Bottles,  etc. 

I03  and  105  DoRRANCE  St.,      -       Providence,  R.  I. 


yattttcre,  Vituttrre'  platcrtal,  (C^tc* 

TOWNE'S  EXCELSIOR  LiaUID  BRONZE. 

Improved  iSSo  and  iSSi. 

FOR   YACHT   AND   BOAT   BOTTOMS. 

Manufactured  and  for  sale  by  A.  Towne,  Proprietor  and 

Inventor, 

II    HAYMARKET   ST.,   PROVIDENCE. 

JOHN   LEONHARD    &   SON, 

CARRIAGE,    SIGN,   AND   ORNAMENTAL 

PAINTERS, 

374    High   Street,         .         -         .         -         Providence,  R.  I. 


H.   R.   BAKER, 

HOUSE  AND    DECORATIVE   PAINTING, 

Glazing,    Graining,   and  Papering,    Polishing  of    Wood 

particularly  attended  to. 

No.  33  South  Water  Street,  Providence. 


S.    li.    CARPENTER, 

HOUSE    AND    SIGN    PAINTER,    GRAINER, 
GLAZIER,  AND  PAPER  HANGER. 

i5i5=  Kalsomining  a    Specialty,  "©ft 

65   and   6/   Summer   Street,    Providence. 


EDWARD    R.    CROWELL, 

At  the  old  stand.  House  and  Sign 
PAINTING,  GLAZING,  GRAINING   &  PAPERING. 

Also,  Filling  the  Grain  and  Polishing  Hard  Wood. 
No.  61  SOUTH  MAIN   STREET,  PROVIDENCE. 

JOSEPH   R.    DUNHAM, 

PRACTICAL    HOUSE    PAINTER. 

Graining,  Plain  and  Decorative  Paper  Hanging  a  Specialty. 

Rear  340  Friendship  St.,  June,  of  Point.     House,  10 

Linden  St.,  Providence. 


CHARLES   FENN, 

HOUSE   AND   SIGN    PAINTER,    GRAINER, 

Glazier,  and  Paper-Hanger, 
43  BEACON  STREET,  PROVIDENCE,  R.  I. 


G.   M.    FREEBORN  &  CO., 

HOUSE,     SIGN     AND     DECORATIVE    PAINTING 
AND  PAPERING. 

Filling  the  Grain  and  Polishing  Hard  Woods 

Particularly  Attended  to. 

30  South  Water  Street Providence. 


CHAS.   E.  MILLARD  &  CO., 

Plain  and  Ornamental 
PAINTERS      AND      PAPER      HANGERS. 

Sign-Painting,    Glazing,   Graining,  Etc. 

135  South  Main  Street,  Providence. 

Fillino-    and    Polishing    Hard     Woods,     Whitening    and 

Tinting  'of  Walls  a  Specialty. 


JAMES  D.   STUART, 

HOUSE,     SIGN     AND      DECORATIVE     PAINTER. 

Plain  Painting  in  all  its  Branches. 

Ceilings  and  Walls  Kalsomined,  White  or  Tinted. 

Gilding,  Graining,  Paper  Hanging,  Etc.     All  Kinds   of 

Hard  Wood  Filled  and  Polished. 

379  Broad  Street,  Providence. 


T.   E.   SWEET, 

No.  344  High  Street,  Providence. 

HOUSE    AND    SIGN    PAINTING   AND    GLAZING, 

Paper  Hanging  and   Graining,  Etc. 


WILLIAM  TO  YE,  JR., 

HOUSE,     SIGN    AND     DECORATIVE     PAINTER, 
GLAZING,  GRAINING  AND  PAPERING. 

Cor.  James  and  South  Water  Streets,  Providence. 


l^-Atfitx  Hangings,  %\u 


CHARLES  CARGILL, 

Dealer  in 

PAPER    HANGINGS,    BORDERS,    CURTAINS, 

Fixtures,   Cords,    Tassels,  Knohs,  Etc. 

Nos.  495  and  497   High,  near  Knight  St.,  Providence. 

White  Holland  Curtains  Made  and  Put   Up. 

House  Painting,  Graining  and  Glazing  done  to  Order. 


FRANCIS  READ  &  SON, 

W^holesale  and  Retail  Dealers  in 

PAPER   HANGINGS,  CLOTHCURTAINS, 

Curtain    Fixtures    and    Gilt    Mouldings. 

357   Westminster  Street,   Providence. 


T^h0\«^v^V\xtvi* 


L.  WRIGHT, 

PHOTOGRAPHER, 
159    Westminster  Street,  Providence,  R.  I. 


PHOTOGRAPHER, 
FINE     WORK    AT    LOW    PRICES. 
357  Westminster  Street,  Providence. 


IHiteter^fft  attl»  gtucco  P<»rlter»» 


GEO.  W.  LEWIS, 

PLASTERER  AND  STUCCO  WORKER. 

Repairing,    White7iing  and  Coloring. 

Constantly  on  Exhibition  a  Fine  Collection  of  Centre  Pieces. 

No.  8  Gilmore  Street,  Providence. 


WOOD  &  SHERIDAN, 

PLASTERERS    AND  STUCCO  WORKERS, 

Cornices,   Centre  Pieces,  Brackets,  Etc. 
Repairing,  Plastering,  Whitening  and  Tinting. 

Also 

Manufacturers   of  Fire   Proof  Building  Material   and   the 

Improved  Beton  Coignet  Stone  Sidewalk. 
Factory  and  Office,  19  and  31  Washington  St.,  Providence. 


*- 


-* 


87 


-* 


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c  c  \ a  I vT V  ^ <l <^/''M x\ licl'x u . 


))Itttnbrr0,  (5ao  llipc  fittrr*,  (f-tc. 


R.     W.     ALLEN, 

PRACTICAL    STEAM    AND    (JAS    I'lPK    MTTEK 

Liri-nsed  Plumber, 

And  Dealer  in  Gas  Fixtures,  Globes,  Etc., 

'i4   Market  Square,   (What  Cheer  Buildinff,)    Providence 

All   work   estimated  at  the  lowest   rates,   and 

orders  promptly  tilled. 


D.     H.     FINLEY, 

STEAM,    (;AS    .V.\n    WATER    PIPE     MTTEK, 

And  Licensed  Plumber, 

33  and  35  Peck  Street,  Providence,  K.  I. 

HUDSON     &     GOFF, 

PLUMBERS,      S  T  E  A  M      AND      G  A  S      PIPE 

F  I  r  T  E  R  S  , 

NO.    6    CRANSTON   STREET, 

Providence. 

CHARLES      LAW, 

DEALER      IN      GAS      F  I  X  T  l'  R  E  S , 

13  Mathewson  Street,        ....         Providence, 

Opposite  Grace  Church, 

Gas  Piping  and  Plumbing  for  Pawtuxet  Water. 


M. 


LE  N  AH  AN, 


LICICXSED 

PRACTICAL      PLl'MBER       AND      GAS     FITTER. 

.Sanitary   Ventilation  a    Specialty. 

Globes,  Shades,  Gas  Burners,  Etc.,  on  liaiid.     Jobbing 

promptly  attended  to. 

13   Waterman    Street,    Providence. 


JAMES   B.    MANCHESTER, 

C  O  P  P  E  R  S  M  I  Til      .\  N  D      P  L  U  M  B  H  K  , 
No.  190  Eddy  Street,   Providence,   R.   1. 


All  kinds  of  Copper   Work  made  to  order   zvith    dispateli. 

Plumbing  materials  of  the  best  quality  constantly 

on  hand  and  put  up  in  the  best  manner. 


JOHN  McKENZIE  &  CO., 
LICENSED     PLUMBERS      .\ND     GAS      FITTERS, 

4aO  Ilitfh  Street,  Providence,  R.  I. 
Connections  made  with  Public  Sewers  and  Private  Drains. 


ONSLOW   &    SPAULDING, 

LICENSED    PLUMBERS, 

Steam,  Gas  and  Water   Pipe    Fittiiif^,    Plumbinji;    ami 
General  jobbinj;. 

a  Post  Gflice  Court,  Providence. 

J.\.MES    H.    ONSLOW.  EDMUND    W.    SPAULDING. 


CHARLES    PEARCE, 

LICENSED      PU.VCTIC.VL      P  L  L.M  IJ  E  R  , 

Manufacturer  of  and  Dealer  in  Water  Fittinfjs. 

78  Wickendcn  Street,  Providence. 


HENRY   A.    RUTH, 

L  I  e  \i  \  ,s  E  I)     p  L  l;  m  b  e  r  , 

Gas  Piping;,  Jf)bbinff,  Bronzinj;;,   Etc.     All   work  done   by 
competent  workmen  and  warranted. 
No.  3  Crawford  Street,  Providence. 


T.    SMITH   &   BROTHER, 

PI.UMBKKS     AM)     COPPERSMITHS, 

Dealers  in  all  articles  necessary  in  the  plumbing-  business. 

Attention  paid  to  putting  in  Pawtuxet  Water. 

83  and  8S  Friendship  Street,  Providence,  R.  I. 


P.    &    J.    TIERNEY, 

PR.\CnCAL    PLUMBERS    AND     (iAS      FITTERS, 

Dealers  in  Boilers,  Baths,  Water  Closets,  Sinks, 

Basins,  Pumps,  Etc. 

Estimates  made  for  work  at  short  notice. 

No.  81   High  St.,  Providence. 


ilrintcvo  anl«  ilubtiohrre. 

J.  C.  HALL  &  CO., 

PRINTP:rs,  LITHOGRAPHERS, 
Also,  Sole  Manufacturers  of 

SISSON'S  PATENT  MAGIC  BINDERS,  PATENT  POCKET  CHECK, 
TELEGKAPH  AND  OKDEK  HOOKS. 

6'.2  W'eybosset  Street,      -        -       -      Providence,  R.  I. 


T.A.&.R.A.DEID, 

O  Book  and  Job    IVPrlnters, 

56  WEYBOSSET  ST.    PROV.R.I. 


|Uci»  anil  ftaritrod  Itlnttufnrturiniji  (•*<». 

I  l-;>tablislK-(l  iSvlI 

J.   A.  GOWDEY  &  SON, 

R  i:  !•:  I )   .\  N  1)   II  .\  R  \  1 ;  s  s   m  .\  k  !•:  r  s  , 

.Vnd  Dealers  in  .Mill  Supplies. 
X«.  40    Clifford  Street,       ■  -       Providence,  R.  I. 

.Also.  I-all    River,  .Mass. 


llcotauraitt. 


THE  BRUNSWICK, 

.■JS    Eddy  .Street,  Rear  City  Hall,     -      -      Providence,  R.  I. 

Ladies'  and  Gentlemen's   Restaurant. 
I-adies'  entrance  on  Fulton  St. 


Everything  First-  CI  a 


II.  L.  Carter,  Phoi'kiktkk. 


«i<- 


83 


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^atl  Pakcrft, 


T.   J.    TALES, 

SAIL     MAKER,— 

Cor.  Planet  and  South  Water  Sts.,  Providence,  R.  I. 

Tents,  Awnings  and  Wagon  Covers  made  to  order. 

O/d  Canvas  Bouffht  and  Sold. 


§ft»»i«g  piacljtne*. 


Unparalleled  Success  of  the 
WHITE    SEWING   MACHINE. 

In  the  third  year  of  its  existance  its  Sales  amounted  to 
54,853  Machines. 

No  otinr  Machhie  ever  had  such  a  Record  of  Popularity. 

it  is  the  Lightest  Running,  Easiest  Selling  and 

Best  Satisfying  Machine  in 

the  world. 

Sole  Agency,  i240  Westminster  St.,  Providence. 


§tabk». 


RAY  GREENE'S 

HACK,  SALE,  BOARDING  AND  LIVERY  STABLE, 

75  Washington  Street, 

Providence,  R.  I, 


CHARLES  W.  MILLER, 

Boarding,  Livery  &  Transient 

STABLE, 

No.  !jO  Mill  Street, 

Providence,  R.  1. 


E.   R.  SIMMONS' 
BOARDING,   TRANSIENT   AND  SALE  STABLE, 

No.  71   Pine  Street,  Providence,  R.  I. 
Horses  and  Carriages  for  Sale.  Horses  Doctored. 


FRED.   J.   SMITH'S    STABLE, 

8  &  10  Spring  St.,  rear  of  290  High  St.,  cor.  Pond, 

Providence,  R.  I. 

Carriages  at  all  hours.  Horses  taken  on  Livery. 

Horses,  Hacks  and  Carriages,  To  Let  and  For  Sale. 


§t0tit0,  Hitttges,  ®tc. 


A  large  assortment  of 

STOVES,     RANGES     AND    REPAIRS, 

Tin  Ware  of  my  own  manufacture,  oil  and  gas  stoves, 
patent  steamless  kettles,  farmers'  tools,  and  all  articles  usu- 
ally found  in  a  stove  store.  Tin  roofing,  furnace  work  and 
all  kinds  of  jobbing.     Stoves  stored. 

W.    E.    LOVEGROVE, 

No.  397  High  Street,  Providence,  R.  I. 


*- 


^^\\CV9, 


P.     T.     BANIGAN, 

No.  333  Westminster  Street,  Providence,  R.  I. 
FINE      TAILORING. 


WILLIAM     GOERNER, 

TAILOR, 

First-class  work  at  reasonable  prices. 

No.  199  Westminster  Street,  Providence,  R.  I. 


TALLY     &     SLATTERY, 

TAILORS, 

No.  iJSl  Westminster  Street,  Providence. 
Hoppin  Homestead  Building. 


WALTER    M.     WEBSTER, 

-DRAPER      AND      TAILOR.- 

Clothes  Cleaned  and  Repaired. 
No.  14  Snow  Street,  Providence,  R.  I. 


JOSHUA     H.     WORK, 

TAILOR, 

51   Dorrance  St.,  Room  No.  6,  3d  floor.  Providence,  R.  I. 

Will  cut,  make  and  trim  gentlemen's  garments 

to  order,  in  good  style. 

Also,  Ladies'  Cloaks,  Sacks  and  Dolmans  cut  and  fitted. 


®ca»,  ®<»ff«e»,  Apices,  ®tc. 


Established,  1857. 

DAVID     LESTER, 

WHOLESALE     DEALER     IN     TEAS,     COFFEES, 

SPICES,     CREAM     TARTAR,    ETC., 

NOS.    112   AND   114   DORRANCE    STREET, 

PROVIDENCE,    R.    I. 


®in  |Hat«  anl»  ^htti  Uron  Porkers, 


FRANK   P.  BOLAND, 

TIN,  COPPER,  ZINC,  and  SHEET  IRON  WORKER. 

Jewelers'  Patent  Polishing  Machines  and  Jobbing 

a  specialty. 

Stove  Piping,  Jewelers'   Blow  Pipes,   and  Jobbing  of  all 

kinds  promptly  attended  to. 

116  Pine  Street,  cor.  Potter,  Providence. 


EVERETT     R.     OSGOOD, 

UNDERTAKER, 

Warcrooms  and  Residence,  346  High  Street,  Providence. 

Also  connected  with  telephone. 


*- 


.9^~» 


A 


cc  \a(vTva<lc  :Bx\ltcau 


£^t 


Providence,  Pawtucket,  and  Central  Falls. 


Uloolini  anJ>  Ulilloro  Uliirc,  (C-tc. 

JOHN     H.     EDDY     &     CO., 

WOODEN  WAKE.  WIl.l.OW   WAKE,  UKOOMS, 

Paper  Bags,  Cords,  Brushes,  Matches,  Baskets,  Etc. 

Also,  Manufacturera  of  Brooms, 

Xos.  5  and   7    K\chani;c   Strict,   rn.vidence. 


Uloobrn  dtationrrt). 


ATWATER'S  PATENT  I 

LIBRARY  M«W SPARER  FICE 
LIGHTEST,  NEATEST,  BEST. 


J.     H.     ATWATER, 

MANUFACTUIIEK    OF    WOODEN    STATIONERY, 

and  wood-turiu'd  articles  of  ahnost  every  description 

on  both  hand  and  machine  lathes,  in  woods  do. 

mestic   or   loreigrn,  and    plain,  polished    or    enamelled,    at 

'i4,  '.26  and  'iS  Potter  Street,  Providence,  K.  I. 

Also,   job    sawins;:    and    turiiiiiij    at    low    cash    prices. 


JAMES  ELLEMAN, 
-ELECTRO-SI  I. \KK   I'l.  A  U.K.  AND  GILDER,— 

lifpair-r  of  Ev,rYthiiii:^, 
And  Manufacturer  of  Silver-Kluid  for  Silver  Coating,  Elec- 
tric Brass  Polisher,  .Magic  Powder  for  Cle:uiing  Silver, 
Batteries  for  Medical  and  Family  I'se.  and  Electric  Cock- 
roacli  Destroyer,  Ant,  Rat,  Moiise,  Bed-Bug  and  Moth 
Poison.  9  ALvTiiEwsoN  St.,  Pkovidence,  R.I. 


|Ulii>lr«alr  attb  llrtail  (Oy&trv  ilcalcr*i. 
DEWING    &    MONSELL, 

Wli,.ksale  and  Kitail  ncaicrs  m 

OYSTERS,    CL.\.MS,    .scALLOPS,  ETC., 

No.  24  Exchange  Place,  Providence,  R.  1. 

Oysters  put  up  in  the  best  in, inner  anti  sent  to  any  part 

of  the  country. 


5akrr. 


C.   O.  ARNOLD, 

— BREAD,    CAKE    AND    PASTRY,— 

Plain  and  Fanry  Crackers. 
92    Mill    Street,  I'awtu.ket,  K.  I. 


(Tarvft  iliiotino  Ulorko. 


PAWTUCKET  CARPET  DUSTING 
WORKS, 

E.  M.  ARNOLD,  Pkoimuktor. 

Works  and  Ofhce  in  Greene's  Mill,  rear  ,56  East  Avenue. 

Work  done  promptly,  and  satistaition  in  every 

case  ifuarnnteed. 


Carriage  !ttanttfarturrr«* 


F.   N.   BLAKE, 
CARRIAGE      M  .\  .\  V  V  A  C  T  O  R  \ , 

ilorse-Shoeing  and  Jobbing  on  Iron  and  Wood 

promptly  attended  to. 

A'(-7t'  and  second-hand   Wairons  for  sale  cheap. 

Rear  2!J1  Main  Street,  .         .         .  Pawtucket,  R.  I. 

Carriai,',-  I'ointivi,',  5S  Brond  Street. 


* 


ijair  (Ooobo,  (i*tc. 

MISS    ANNIE     M.    LEDYARD, 

II.MK   STORE, 

a03  Main   .Street,  Pa-j.  tucket,  li.  I. 
All  kinds  of  Ladies'  Hair  Wtrk  made  to  order  at  reasonable 
prices.    Hair-dressing,  .Switches,  Pufls,  Etc.    Comb- 
ings made  into  .Switches  at  ^octs.per  ounce. 

II 


fiat  anil  t?onnrt  t?lcarl)rr. 

MRS.    E.     R.     HARRINGTON, 

HAT  AND  BONNE  I    BLEACHER, 

Ladies'  and  Gents'  Straw  or  Felt  Hats  Cleaned,  Bleached, 

or  Colored,  and  Finished  on  Fashionable 

Shapes,  ;ind  Styles, 

90    111. ,11    SxKtET,  -         P.VWTUCKET,   K.   I. 


Utrttirtnro. 


DR. 


GREENE'S  Celebrated  EYE  WATER. 

Perfectlv  .Safe,  and  a  Sure  and  Effectual  Reme- 
dy for  all  AFFECTIO.NS  (JF  THE  EYE. 

Twenty  years  have  been  expended  in  perfecting 
~  invaluable  remedy.  It  soothes  and  heals  all  diseases 
ol  tlie  Eye,  and  imparts  to  that  delicate  organ  a  quality  of 
strength  and  vigor.  Beware  of  imitations.  Ask  for  Dr.  H. 
P.  Greene's  Celebrated  Eye  Water.     Take  no  other. 


MRS.  H.    P.    GREENE'S   TONIC 

For  I'lirifying  and  Kenovaling  llic  Blood  and  System. 
It  is  good  for  Cancer  Hmiiors.  Scrofula  and  Salt  Rheum. 
It  will  cure  Sore  Throats  and  Lungs,  Coughs  and  Colds, 
regulate  the  bowels,  and  destroy  worm.s.  For  FEMALE 
WEAKNES.SES  it  is  unrivaled  as  a  Corrective  and  Alter- 
ative.    Address 

H.  P.  GREE.NE,  147  Broadway,  Pawtucket,  R.  I. 


yaiiito,  ilaintcvo  anl«  Vapci'-fianofvo* 

WILLIAM  A.  BRAYMAN, 

CARRIAGE  AND  ORNAMENTAL  PAINTER, 

No.  48  Broadway,      -      Pawtucket,  R.  I. 

All  work  warranted  to"  give  satisfaction.  


A.  W.  CROWELL, 

Dealer  in 
-PAPER  I/A.VO/NGS,  PAINTS,  OILS- 

and  H'indoz'.'   Glass. 

3!i  &  'ZA  Cross  Street,  Central  Falls,  R.  I. 

Painting  and  Papering  a  Specialty. 


JAMES    R.    HORNBY, 

HOFSE   P.MNIEK, 

Grainek,  and Paper  Hangbr. 

Also,  Paper  Hangings  furnished  to  order. 
No.  3  Read  Street,      -       -       -      Pawtucket,  R.  I. 
Residence,  69  West  Ave. 

MATTHEWS  &  ALLEN, 

PAINTERS      AND      P.\P1;k      HANGERS, 

Dealers  in  Sash,  Blinds  and  Doors. 

Also,  Paper   Hangings   and   Window  Shades. 

!J9  and  31  Main  Street,  Pawtucket,  R.  I. 


A. 


T.   MILLMAN, 

Dealer  in 

PAINTS,  OILS,    WINDOW  GLASS   AND   PAPER 

HANGINGS. 

;t44     Mill     Street,     Central    balls,    R.    I. 


yiaotrrcro  anb  Otucco  Utorhcro. 
ELLIOTT  &  HAWKINS, 

61    Mill   Street,         .         .         .  Pawtucket,  R.   I. 

Plain  and   Ornamental 
PLASTERERS    AND     STUCCO     WORKERS. 
Also,  Repairing  in  all  its  branches.     Whitening,  Color- 
ing, Tinting  and   Whitewashing  promptly  attended    to  and 
rieatlv  done.     Mason  work  in  all  its  depa'rtmcnts   promptly 
ilteiuled  to.  W.   W.   Elliott.       G,    N.   Hawkins. 


>!<' 


Pawtucket,  Central  Falls,  Woonsocket,  Bristol,  and  East  Providence. 


stable*. 


JAMES  FOURNIER, 
SALE,  LIVERY  AND  TRADING  STABLE. 

Broad  Street,     .       .        Centra/  Falls,  R.  I. 


Stitttcttcri),  |Itt•t^>^trals,  ©tc. 


Periodical  Depot.     H.  H.  SAGER, 

Dealer  in 

BOOKS,     STATIONERY,    FANCY     GOODS,     ETC. 

No.  3  Mill  Street,     Pa7vtucket,  R.  I. 


®atl<»r»* 


ROBERT  Mcelroy, 

FASHION  x\BLE      TAILOR, 

46  Central  Street,    Over   Jones    &  Davis'  Drug  Store^ 

Central  Falls,  R.  I. 

Fine  Work  at  the  Lowest  Possible  Prices. 


S.  R.  PIERCE  &  SON, 

MERCHANT       TAILORS, 

No.  90  Main  Street,       ....       Pawtucket,  R.  I. 

S.  R.  Pierce.  Henry  A.  Pierce. 


HENRY  C.  LAZEIiLE, 

REED    AND     HARNESS     MANUFACTURER, 

Double-Knotted  Machine  Harness. 
Woonsocket,  R.  I. 


H.  BAXTER, 

Manufacturer  of 

OAK-TANNED     LEATHER      BELTING, 

Picker  and  Lace  Leather. 

Dealer  in  Manufacturers'  Findings  Generally. 

Shop  rear  Fletcher's  Building,  Woonsocket,  R.  I. 


LAKE  «&  LARNED, 

LUMBER    DEALERS,      .      .      .       Woonsocket,  R.  I. 

Mouldings,  Doors,  Sash  and  Blinds,  Brick, 

Lime  and  Cement. 


A.  C.  SIBLEY, 

DEALER     IN     LUMBER, 

Manufacturer    of  Packing  Boxes,    Cloth    Boards,    Etc. 

Planing,  Sawing,  and  Jobbing  of  all  kinds. 

ISr  North  Main  Street,  Woonsocket,  R.  I. 


|lV'»«»l»t<'*''^**» 


CHARLES  RITTMANN, 

UPHOLSTERER     AND      DECORATOR, 

Parlor  Furniture,  Lounges,  Easy  Chairs,  Etc. 
19  and  31  Broad  Street,  Paiutucket,  R.  J. 
Curtains,  Lambrequins  and   Shades   made   in   the  latest 
style.      Particular  attention   paid   to   Repairing  in   all   its 
branches. 


|)ri>fc«0t«>nal  (Cari>e. 


J.  r.  BLISS, 

ARCHITECT    AND    BUILDER. 

Prompt  Attention  Given  to  all  Calls  for  Estimates. 

48  Pleasant  Street Pazvtucket,  R.  I. 

THOS.  P.   BARNEFIELD, 

AITORNEY      AND      COUNSELOR     AT      LAW, 

And    Solicitor  of  Patents. 

Music  Hall  Building,    .     .     .  Pawtucket,  R.  I. 


WOONSOCKET   HORSE   NAIL   CO., 

Manufacturers  of 

SUPERIOR     HORSE     SHOE     NAILS, 

Woonsocket,   R.   I. 

L.  A.  Cook,  President.  F.  M.  Perkins,  Treas. 

Joseph  Banigan,  Gen'l  Agt.   W.  S.  Phillips,  Supt. 


W.  T.  C.  WARDWELL, 

Dealer  in 
BOARDS,  PLANK, TIMBER,  JOIST,  CLAPBOARDS, 

Shingles,  .Laths,  Pickets,    Posts,    Doors,    Sash, 

Blinds,  Lime,  Brick,  Cement,  Etc. 

Foot  of  Bradford  Street,  Bristol,  R.  I. 


HERRESHOFF   MANUFACTURING    CO., 

Bristol,  R.  I.     Sole  Manufacturers  of  the 
"HERRESHOFF  PATENT  SAFETYCOILBOILER." 
Builders  of  Steam  Vessels,  Yachts,  Launches,  Portable, 
Stationary  and  Marine  Engines,  Pumps,  Propeller  Wheels 
and  Safety  Valves. 

John  B.  Herreshoff,  President  and  Treasurer. 


DR.  J.  C.  GALLUP, 

DENTIST, 
No.  114  Hope  Street,        .        .        Bristol,  R.  I. 


GEO.  E.  WOODBURY, 

DENTIST, 

Spencer  Building Pawtucket,  R.  I. 

Sixteen  Years  in  Practice. 


J.  R.  GOOD  ALE,  M.  D., 

133  Main  Street,  Pawtucket,  R.  I. 

SPECIALTY. 

TREATS  CATARRH  SORE  THROAT,  CANCERS, 

And  Tumors,  and  all  diseases  of  the  Blood. 
Office  Hours  from  i  to  2,  7  to  9. 


E.  J.  LUTHER, 

PHARMACIST, 
31  Warren  Avenue,         East  Providence,  R.  I. 


MASON  B.  WOOD, 

DRUGGIST    A  ND    P  HA  R  MA  CIST, 

\'alley  Street, 
Cor.  Taunton  Ave.,  Watchemoket,  R.  I. 


^■ 


■* 


91 


« 


c<;\a(:Trad<:Bu(lcX\n. 


East  Greenwich,  River  Point  and  Arctic. 


RHODE  ISLAND   PENDULUM. 

[A    Weekly   Newspaper,    Kstahlislieil    in     1S54.J 

THE    GKNERAL    ADVERTISER   FOR    CENTRAL 
RHODE    ISLAND, 

Has  the  largest  circulation  of  any  local  paper  published  in 
Kent  County.  Daniel  C.  Kenyon,  Editor  and  Publisher, 
East  Greenwich,  R.  I.  Issued  every  Friday.  Annual 
subscription,  $2.00  in  advance.  Favorable  contracts  for 
Quarterly  or  Yearly  advervising. 


ISAAC    F.  CHASE, 

Pl:iii>  and  Orn;inicMU:il 

JOB  PRINTER, 

BOOKSELLER  and  STATIONER, 

ARCTIC,  R.  I. 

Dealer  in  Xewspapei-s,  Periodicals,  Fancy  Goods,  Etc. 
Also,  Circulating:  Library. 


GEORGE  G.  LAWTON  &  CO., 

Main  Slreit,   J.asl  Giiinwicli,  K.  I., 

HLACKS.MITHING      AM)      CARRIAt;iC       WORK 

Ciirriitgi-  Makini!,  Ripairinir  and  Poiiitintf  in 

all  lis  liranchfs. 

The   Horse-Shoeing   Department    is   in    charge    of    Mr, 

John  R.  Whitford. 


GEO.  W.  NILES, 

Dealer  in 

FRCIT,  CONFECTIONKRV,  TOBACCO  &  CIGARS' 

Table  Boarders  by  the  Day  or  Week. 

Stiible  in   Connection   with   the    House. 

Odd  Fellows'  Hall  Building,  River  Point,  K.  I. 


HENRY  DAVIES, 

BOOTS  KWD  SHOES, 

CUSTOM  MADE. 

KEl'.VIRIXC;    Ni:ArLV     DONE. 

Work  for  all  kiiid«of  Deformed  Feel  nntl  Short 
£iegM  a  Specialty. 

River  Point,        -        -       Arctic  Crossing. 


VIRGIL   FISHER      x    cotton  and  print-cloths. 


No.  33  Westminster  Street. 


g 


%  COTTON  BOUGHT  ON  ORDERS 

IN  SOUTHERN  MARKETS. 


H.  L.  REID, 

Always  open  to  engagements  for  Furnishing  First-class 
Theatres,  Opera  Houses,  .Summer  G  ird.-ns,  etc., 
wiUi  FINEST  OF  SCENERY. 

Permanent  Address, 

Providence,  r.  i. 

Bo.sTON  Address, 

Adams  House. 


"  The  type  on  which  the  body  of  this  book  is  printed  is  from 
the  Boston  Type  Foundry,  No.  104  Milk  St.,  Boston." 

JOHN  K.  ROGERS,  Treas. 


-* 


•I* 


92 


-« 


?^f>^ BUSINESS    IR^J&RES^S  J  JaH013E    ISLHKD. 


CARRIAGE-fflARERS'  &  BLACKSMITHS'  SUPPLIES. 


WHEELS, 


SPRINGS, 


SPOKES, 


RIMS, 


SHAFTS, 


SEATS, 
HUBS, 
HORSESHOES. 


E.  WINSOR  &  CO., 

1,  3  &  5  EDDY  STREET, ..f— i-t-^-^^^ PROVIDENCE,  R.  I. 


"The  GUARANTEE" 


^eiiIxI]V6-^PI^IjM6 


Will  enable  all  who  use  it  to  enjoy  the  g^reatest 
possible  luxury  in  sleeping. 


Light,  Strong,  and  always  Elastic  and  Soft. 
4  HIGH  STREET,  PROVIDENCE,  R.  I. 


-* 


93 


PROMINENT:  OUTSIDE  BUSINESS:  HOUSES 


UNITED  STATES  HOTEL,  BOSTON. 


UNDER    AN   ENTIRE   NEW   MANAGEMENT. 


REPAINTED,  REFURNISHED,  |  GREATLY  IMPROVED 

Hy  an  erpenditurr  during    ir^^sp"  *iJi^^4^     4^4'^i'^  ▼ 
the  past  season  of  over        li-^      SJ^«_F^^5^^V^^_F  - 

New  PaK»eiigcr  Elevator,  Electric  Bells,  a  perfec   •ystem  of  Sewerage  and  Ventilation,  and  every  c<inven- 
ience  that  lu-alth  and  comfort  can  suggest.     Located 

DIRECTLY  OPPOSITE  THE  BOSTON  AND  ALBANY, 

A.VI>   ONLY   ONE    BLOCK    UtOM    THE 

OLD  COLONY  AND  FALL  RIVER  LINES,   three  blocks  only  from  the   NEW  YORK  AND  NEW 

ENGLAND,  and  PROVIDENCE  AND  STONINGTON  STATIONS,  and  connectins  directlv  by 

HORSE  CARS    EVERY   5   MINUTES    with  all   the   Northern   and   Eastern   Railroads 

and   Steamboats,  giving    Guests  every  poasible  facility   and    convenience  of   rapid 

and  economical  transfer  from  all  points. 

3^=  UNEQUALLED    BY  ANY  HOTEL    IN    BOSTON. 

Paucngers  to  or  from  all  .">oiiM«m  or   Weftei-v  Povits.  by  either  hoat  or  Hail,  Mat  Save  all 
Cakriaob  Fakes. 

ITS   OEINTTI^^^L  LOGJ^TIOIT, 

BEING  IN  THE  BUSY  TRADE  CENTRE  OF  ALL  THE 

Great  Mercantile  KstabliHhiiientM,  KleKimt  Shopping.  Theatres, 

Post-Offlce,  Custom  House,  and  all  Places  of  Amosement, 

AND  EVEKT  OaiECT   OK  INTEKE.ST, 

MAKES  IT  ALTOGETHER  THE   MOST  ACCESSIBLE  AND  CONVEN- 
IENT HOTEL  IN  THE  CITY. 

The  notable  character  of  it*  Guests,  its  Unexceptionable  Table,  its  Broad  Halls,  and  Grand  Old 
Parlors,  all  recommend  the  United  State.s  as  pofieseing  more  substantial  comforts  than  any  Hotel  m 
Boston,  and  offers  to  Guests,  either  permanent  or  transient,  the  Largest  Variety  of  Spacious  Rooms, 
and  the  most  Liberal  Scale  of  Prices. 

PLEASURE  PARTIES,  LADIES  AND  FAMILIES 

visiting  or  passin?  through  the  Citv,  may  secure  Rooms  with  or  without  MeaU,  and  will  find  every 
attention  at  the  ITmted  States,  tlie  nearest  flrst-eluss  lintel  to  all  the  Great  Retail  8tore«  ;  having 
Waiting  and  Toilet  Rooms,  Ladies'  Package  Room,  and  every  convenience. 

fflif- Poisengers  to  or   from  all    Southern  kt    Wtsleni    /'oinr*  by  either    Hout  or    Anii  MAY  SAVE  ALL 
CARRIAGE    FARES. 

POPULAR    RATES. 
Room  Only,  $1.00,  1.30,  and  $2.00.   |  Areordiun  to 

"    and  Board,  $2. SO,  $3,  and  $3.30.  |  Size,   Location,  and   Conveni^nrr, 

Single   Meals,   73  cents.  [  "'"'  nhrt/irr 

Eooms  may  te  engaged  with  or  without  board.  I  ""-"p''''  '-i/  "'"■  <>'■  "•<"•'■  persons. 

Guests  will  notify  the  Clerk,  on  registering,  the  elus*  of  a<'eoiiimodulioM  required,  and  thuB  avoid  all 
possible  miBuiiderstun<ling. 

Special  Rates  will  be  made  for  Large  Parties  or  Penuunent  Guests. 

t3a~  fJrdert  for  Jlouins  by  Mail  or  Trlrtfraph  jirompllt/  alieiuleii  to. 


ISAAC   N.  ANDREWS,  Manager 


TILLY  HAYNES,  Proprietor. 


94 


-« 


^f>^Ba§II2E^§   IP^J&RES^S  er    IIHOBE    ISlaHBD. 


W ©   J^m   m3^Mj%p  WW  1^    ral  ^L^IJ'®^ 

OflB.ce  and  Salesroom,  11  Maiden  Lane,  New  York;  Factory,  104  Eddy  St.,  Providence,  R.  I. 

sole  Manufacturers  of  the  ^^^  j^^  g^^^  ^^^  ^^^^  Durable. 

^K^^  T  >■  /V  T^  T^  ^.^•i  'WiPJ' 

y*^  ■■^■.X'^   ■  WM^M  ^'\^  ^W  And  the  Cheapest 


Patent  Stiffened 

(uotd 


STIFFENED  GOLD  WATCH 


For  the  Money, 

MADE  IN  THE  WORLD. 


All  genuine  Watch  Cases  of  our  manufacture  have  "  G.  W.  Ladd's  Patent,  June  ii,  1S67,"  stamped 
upon  the  side  band,  underneath  the  glass  bezel. 


;i  ALL  OTHEBS. 


Key  and  Stem-winding,  Hunting  and  Open-face,  in  Flat,  Bevel,  Mansard  and  Oval  Shapes,  adapted  to  the  various 
American-made  movements,  in  S,  10,  14,  16  and  iS  sizes.     Send  for  full  Descriptive  Circular  to  the 

OFFICE  AND  SALESROOM,  11  MAIDEN  LANE,  NEW  YORK. 

Dealers  can  obtain  them  of  the  Wholesale  Watch  and  Jewelry  Houses,  or  their  Traveling  Agents  throughout  the 

United  States  and  British  Provinces. 


7| 


J.  A.  &  R.  A.  REID, 


-^1^56  WEYB088ET  STREET,'!^ 


*- 


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95 


PROMINENT  tDUTSIDE  BUSINESS- HOUSES, 


■ 


AMERICAN  HOUSE, 

BOSTON. 


Central  Location.        Perfect  Ventilation. 

UNEXCEPTIONABLE  TABLE. 

PARTICULARLY     DESIRABLE 

FOR     FAMILIES     AND     TOURISTS. 

LEWIS  RICE  k  SON, 

HANOVER,  near  Washington  Street. 

ij, — * 


96 


-* 


H.  Q.  MORTON 


PHOTOGEAPHEE 


WORK    FINISHED    IN 


CRAYONS,  OIL,  OR  WATER  COLORS. 


Having  leased  the  large  Photograph  Rooms  lately  constructed  with  all 
modern  improvements,  for  the  photographic  business,  am  prepared  to  execute 
all  -work  with  promptness  and  in  a  thoroughly  first-class  manner. 

[IreSTiNSTER  ST,,  ^78^  PROVIDENCE,  R.  L 


*- 


-* 


APK  u  m\