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Rhode  Island 

Historical    Society 

Collections 

Vol.  XIV  January,  1921  No.  1 

CONTENTS 


PAGE 

Ninigret's  Fort 

By  Leicester  Bradner            1 

The  Ancestry  of  John  Greene 5 

Early  Sessions  of  the  General  Assembly  ....  7 

The  Inscribed  Rocks  of  Narragansett  Bay 

By  Edmund  B,  Delabarre 10 

Muster  Roll  of  Sloop  Providence 22 

Notes 24 

List  of  Members  of  the  Rhode  Island  Historical  Society  27 

William  Coddington's  Seals 32 


$3.00  per  year  Issued  Quarterly  75  cent&<per  copy'^ 


RHODE 
HISTORICAL 


ISLAND 
SOCIETY 


COLLECTIONS 


Vol.  XIV 


January,  1921 


No.  1. 


Howard  W.  PRESTON,Presiden(      EDWARD  K.  ALDRICH,  Jr.  ,Treaturer 
George  T.  SPICER,  Secretary  HOWARD  M.  CHAPIN,  Librarian 

Please  address  communications  to  Howard  M.  Chapin,  Librarian, 
68  Waterman  Street,  Providence,  R.  I. 

The  Society  assumes  no  responsibility  for  the  statements   or  the 
opinions  of  contributors. 

Ninigret's  Fort 

A  Refutatiofi  of  the  Dutch   Theory 
By  Leicester  Bradner. 

With  the  naive  creduHty  of  old  style  historians,  Mr.  S.  G. 
Arnold,  in  a  note  to  page  155  of  his  "History  of  the  State  of 
Rhode  Island,"  states  that  "the  Dutch  had  two  fortified  trading 
posts  on  the  south  shore  of  Narragansett,  in  what  is  now 
Charlestown."  No  proof  presented,  no  references  given.  So 
far  as  I  have  been  able  to  discover,  this  is  the  first  occurrence 
in  print  of  the  theory  that  the  Dutch  owned  the  fort  popularly 
known  as  Ninigret's.  All  later  historians  have  trustingly  fol- 
lowed Arnold's  lead  in  this  particular  and  the  comparative 
insignificance  of  the  subject  has  preserved  it  from  the  cold 
eye  of  historical  research.  Where  this  theory  originated,  I 
.have  not  been  able  to  discover,  unless  it  sprang  full-fledged, 
like  Pallas  Athene,  from  the  head  of  Mr.  Arnold.  The  dis- 
covery of  Dutch  implements  in  the  graves  of  the  Niantic 
sachems  in  1863  gave  plausible  authority  to  it  and  it  grew  and 
flourished  mightily  until,  in  1902,  it  found  its  most  vigorous 
champion  in  the  redoubtable  Sidney  S.  Rider. 


2  RHODE  ISLAND  HISTORICAL  SOCIETY 

Mr.  Rider  bases  his  argument  on  the  belief  that  the  Indians 
would  not  have  built  a  fort  on  the  lines  of  this  one  and  on  the 
not  sufficiently  proved  claim  that  the  Indians  never  used  it.  He 
heightens  the  effect  of  his  thesis  by  passing  over  the  reliable 
history  of  Elisha  R.  Potter  and  pouring  his  satire  on  the  sen- 
timental and  romantic  inaccuracies  of  the  Rev.  Frederic 
Denison.  (Cf.  Rider's  "Lands,"  p.  295,  where  he  accuses 
Denison  of  being  responsible  for  the  Indian  theory.  Potter, 
p.  23,  evidently  had  no  idea  that  the  origin  of  the  fort  was 
other  than  Indian.)  Denison  had  no  historical  sense  and,  like 
all  local  historians,  was  prone  to  embroider  facts  according  to 
his  taste.  Consequently,  he  left  ample  opportunity  for  the 
sharp-eyed  and  sharp-tongued  Rider.  The  latter  pricks  Deni- 
son's  toy  balloon  in  several  places  and  leaves  it  in  a  very 
deflated  condition.  The  real  essence  of  the  matter  remained, 
however,  as  I  shall  endeavor  to  show,  unharmed  by  Rider's 
caustic  attacks. 

The  propounders  of  the  Dutch  theory  have  omitted  one 
very  important  aspect  of  the  case.  They  make  no  reference 
to  the  Dutch  sources,  published  by  the  New  York  Historical 
Society  and  the  State  of  New  York.  It  is  from  these  sources 
and  not  from  guess-work  or  tradition  that  any  reliable  history 
of  the  Dutch  activities  in  Rhode  Island  must  be  formulated. 
In  1614  Adrian  Block  sailed  along  the  New  England  coast 
and  was  the  first  Dutchman  to  explore  Rhode  Island.  By  1622, 
as  we  learn  in  DeLaet's  "New  World,"  the  "Dutch  shallops 
trafficked  with  the  Indians  as  far  east  as  Narragansett  and 
Buzzard's  Bay."  This  trade  was  already  so  considerable  that 
when  the  Plymouth  colonists  made  a  trip  to  Narragansett  Bay 
the  next  year  they  had  no  success  in  trading  with  the  Indians 
because  the  Dutch  were  already  supplying  them  with  more 
desirable  goods  than  they  could  offer.  In  1636  the  Dutch 
obtained  formal  possession  of  Quotenis  (Now  Dutch  Island) 
and  maintained  a  permanent  trading  post  there  (Doc.  Col. 
Hist.  N.  Y.,  I,  p.  565).  All  this  these  historians  are  acquainted 
with  and  use,  but  next  they  make  a  jump  which  I  cannot  fol- 
low.    Because  the  Dutch  had  a  large  trade  in  Rhode  Island 


NINIGRET  S    FORT  3 

and  because  two  forts  are  found  in  Charlestown,  they  state 
the  conclusion  that  these  forts  were  Dutch.  Now,  such  a 
conclusion  would  be  quite  justified  in  the  case  of  anyone 
but  a  historian.  He,  however,  is  supposed  to  back  up  his 
statements  with  facts  and  not  imagination.  It  so  happens 
that  in  all  the  available  Dutch  sources  there  is  no  mention 
of  any  fort  located  on  the  south  shore  of  Rhode  Island. 
In  fact,  the  statement,  made  in  1652,  that  "the  subsequent 
circumstances  of  the  country  alone  prevented  the  occu- 
pation by  forts  of  Pequatoos  focket  (Pawcatuck  River)  and 
Marinkansick  (Narragansett),  otherwise  called  Sloops  Bay" 
(Doc.  Col.  Hist.  N.  Y.,  I,  p.  565),  makes  it  seem  that  even 
Quotenis  was  unfortified,  in  spite  of  Rider's  unproved  state- 
ment to  the  contrary.  Furthermore,  in  1649  the  West  India 
Company,  protesting  to  the  States  General  in  Holland  that  the 
English  were  occupying  Dutch  territory,  presented  a  list  of 
all  "Forts  and  Hamlets"  by  which  they  laid  claim  to  the  pos- 
session of  the  New  England  coast  (Doc.  Col.  Hist.  N.  Y.,  I, 
pp.  543,  544).  In  this  list,  which  was  undoubtedly  the  most 
inclusive  they  could  prepare,  there  is  no  mention  of  any  place 
within  the  present  Rhode  Island  boundaries  except  Quotenis. 
After  1649  the  Dutch  trade  waned  rapidly  under  the  spread 
of  English  colonization  in  New  England  and  it  is  not  likely 
that  any  new  forts  were  built  after  that  date. 

Besides  omitting  reference  to  Dutch  records,  it  seems  to  me 
that  the  followers  of  this  theory  have  failed  to  note  the  signifi- 
cance of  certain  passages  in  the  English  sources.  Mason,  in 
the  account  of  his  campaign  against  the  Pequots  in  1637,  tells 
that  in  marching  westward  from  Narragansett  Bay  he  spent 
the  night  "at  a  place  called  Nyantic,  about  eighteen  or  twenty 
miles  distant,  where  another  of  those  Narragansett  sachems 
lived  in  a  fort,  it  being  a  frontier  to  the  Pequots."  The  loca- 
tion of  Nyantic  is  settled  by  a  letter  from  Roger  Williams  to 
Governor  Winthrop,  written  in  the  preceding  year,  in  which 
he  advises  "that  Niantick  be  thought  on  for  the  riding  and 
retiring  to  of  vessels,  which  place  is  faithful  to  the  Narra- 
gansetts  and  at  present  enmity  with  the  Pequods."    This  fort, 


4  RHODE  ISLAND  HISTORICAL  SOCIETY 

therefore,  was  at  a  point  on  the  shore,  where  vessels  could 
ride,  some  twenty  miles  from  Narragansett  Bay.     This  leaves 
no  doubt  that  it  was  at  the  head  of  Charlestown  inlet,  where 
the  remains  of  "Ninigret's  Fort"  are  now  to  be  found.    Neither 
can   anyone   doubt   that   Mason's   "sachem,"   whom   Williams 
declared  "faithful  to  the  Narragansetts,"  was  either  Ninigret 
or  his   father,   chief    of   the   Niantics,   a   tribe   subsidiary   to 
Canonicus.     In  1637,  then,  we  find  an  Indian  sachem  occupy- 
ing his  fort  at  the  same  place  where  the  remains  of  a  fort  now 
exist  and  no  mention  made  of  any  Dutch  fort  there  or  else- 
where on  the  southern  coast.    As  for  the  fort  on  Chemunga- 
nuck   Hill,   Rider   says   it  was   a   Dutch   outpost  against  the 
Pequots.    This  is  pure  imagination,  for  the  Dutch  were  never 
at  war  with  the  Pequots  and  traded  with  them  as  well  as  with 
the  Niantics.     The  latter,  on  the  other  hand,  were  perenially 
fighting  with  their  neighbors  to  the  west  and  had  good  use 
for  such  an  outpost.     It  is  also  to  be  noticed  that  there  is  no 
mention  of  any  Dutch  fort,  in  the  location  under  discussion, 
in  any  English  document  or  record.    This,  taken  in  connection 
with  the  similar  silence  of  the  Dutch  sources,  should  be  con- 
vincing proof  of  the  nonentity  of  this  imaginary  station. 

In  denying  that  the  Dutch  owned  or  occupied  these  forts, 
I  have  no  intention  of  omitting  the  fact  that  the  Dutch  were 
in  close  relations  with  the  Niantics  and  carried  on  a  busy  trade 
with  them.  The  Charlestown  inlet  (with  no  name  attached) 
appears  on  two  Dutch  maps  (DeLaet's  and  Fischer's),  which 
would  indicate  that  Dutch  traders  stopped  there  often  enough 
to  know  its  location  but  maintained  no  post.  The  quantity  of 
Dutch  articles  found  in  the  Indian  graves  there  shows  that 
the  Niantics  were  well  supplied  by  the  Dutch.  That  Ninigret 
himself  was  in  close  relations  with  the  government  of  New 
Netherlands  is  well  known.  These  relations  culminated  in 
his  spending  the  winter  of  1652-1653  in  New  Amsterdam  (cf. 
Potter,  p.  50).  Cromwell's  war  with  Holland  began  in  1652 
and  Governor  Stuyvesant  received  directions  to  make  use  of 
the  Indians  against  the  English  colonists  if  necessary  (Doc. 
Col.  Hist.  N.  Y.).     As  a  result,  we  learn  that  in  the  spring 


THE  ANCESTRY  OF  JOHN  GREENE  5 

Ninij:^ret  returned  with  arms  and  ammunition  in  a  Dutch  sloop 
(Potter,  p.  50).  It  may  be  that  on  this  visit  Ninigret  observed 
Dutch  fortifications  and  remodelled  his  fort  with  bastions, 
although  the  Niantics  may  quite  possibly  have  learned  these 
engineering  improvements  through  earlier  contact  with  Euro- 
peans. Rider's  objection  to  the  Indians  using  "rifle  pits"  may 
be  met  with  Roger  Williams'  statement  that  the  Indians  were 
"filled  with  artillery  by  the  Dutch."  In  1664  New  Amsterdam 
was  captured  and  held  by  the  English.  The  Dutch  trade  in 
Rhode  Island,  however,  must  have  ceased  before  this — the 
greater  part  of  it,  at  least — for  the  Indians  re-sold  Dutch 
Island  to  Benedict  Arnold  and  his  partners  in  1658. 

The  facts  I  have  presented  are  conclusive  and  their  impor- 
tance can  only  be  altered  by  the  discovery  of  new  sources.  On 
the  present  evidence,  I  consider  it  impossible  that  the  Dutch 
ever  owned  or  occupied  the  forts  in  Charlestown. 


Seal  of  John  Greene,  Jr. 

The  Ancestry  of  John  Greene 

George  Sears  Greene,  in  "The  Greenes  of  Rhode  Island," 
page  30,  traces  the  ancestry  of  John  Greene  of  Warwick  back 
to  Richard  Greene  and  his  wife.  Mary  Hooker,  daughter  of 
John  Hooker  alias  Vowell,  chamberlain  of  Exeter  and  uncle 
of  Richard  Hooker,  Prebendary  of  Salisbury. 

In  Westcote's  Devonshire  the  ancestry  of  this  chamberlain 
John  Hooker  is  given  as  follows,  page  326 : 


6  RHODE  ISLAND  HISTORICAL  SOCIETY 

John  Hooker,  alias  Vowel,  chamberlain  of  Exeter,  was  son 
of  Robert  Hooker  and  his  wife  Agnes,  daughter  of  John  Doble 
of  Woodbridge  in  Suffolk.  This  Robert  Hooker  was  son  of 
John  Vowel  and  his  wife,  Alice  Drewel,  daughter  and  heiress 
of  Richard  Drewel  of  Exeter  and  his  wife,  Joan  Kelly,  daugh- 
ter and  heiress  of  John  Kelly  and  his  wife  Julyan,  daughter 
and  co-heiress  of  Robert  Wilford  of  Oxton. 

John  Hooker  had  three  wives,  but  his  daughter  Mary  is 
not  mentioned.  It  would  seem  probable  that  she  was  his 
daughter  by  his  second  wife,  Anstice,  daughter  of  Edmund 
Bridgman  of  Exeter. 

John  Keble  in  his  edition  of  the  works  of  Richard  Hooker, 
volume  I,  appendix  to  preface  I,  folding  plate  opposite  page 
cvi,  gives  the  pedigree  of  John  Hooker  as  follows : 

John  Vowel  alias  Hooker  was  son  of  Robert  Vowell  alias 
Hooker  and  his  wife  Agnes  daughter  of  John  Doble  of  Wood- 
bridge  in  Suffolk.  This  Robert  was  son  of  John  Voell  alias 
Hooker  by  Alice  daughter  and  heir  of  Richard  Druitt  and  his 
wife  Joan  Kelly  daughter  and  heir  of  John  Kelly  and  his  wife 
JuHan  daughter  and  co-heir  of  Robert  Wilforde  of  Oxenham 
in  Devon. 

John  Voell  alias  Hooker  was  son  of  Robert  Voell  alias 
Hooker  of  Hants  gent  and  his  wife  Margery  daughter  and 
heir  of  Roger  Bolter  of  Bolterscombe,  Devon. 

Robert  Voell  alias  Hooker  was  son  of  John  Voell  alias 
Hooker  who  was  son  of  Jago  Voell  and  his  wife  Alice  daugh- 
ter and  the  heir  of  Richard  Hooker,  of  Hurst  Castle,  Hants. 

Jago  Voell  was  son  of  Gevaph  Voell  of  Pembroke  in  South 
Wales.    No  mention  is  made  of  John  Hooker's  daughter  Mary. 

It  will  be  noted  that  the  two  pedigrees  differ  only  in  the 
spelling  of  names  and  such  minor  details.  A  slight  amount  of 
research  work  in  England  would  probably  settle  all  of  the 
questions  raised  by  the  pedigrees  and  also  disclose  additional 
information. 


EARLY   SESSIONS    OF    THE    GENERAL    ASSEMBLY 


Early  Sessions  of  the  General  Assembly 

The  first  meeting  of  the  General  Assembly  of  Providence 
Plantations  (Rhode  Island),  under  the  Charter  of  1643  un- 
doubtedly took  place  soon  after  the  arrival  of  Roger  Williams 
with  the  Charter  in  September,  1644. 

Inasmuch  as  both  Richard  Scott  and  Samuel  Gorton  record 
that  the  Charter  was  received  with  jubilation,  it  would  seem 
probable  that  a  meeting  under  it  was  soon  held,  and  according 
to  Edward  Winslow,  John  Brown  was  on  November  8,  1644, 
ordered  to  go  to  Rhode  Island  to  prevent  any  meetings  under 
the  Charter,  and  that  when  he  got  to  Rhode  Island,  pre- 
sumably in  November,  1644,  he  found  "a  publique  meeting 
was  appointed  for  your  new  Magistrates  and  people."  It 
would  seem  natural  for  them  to  choose  Williams  as  chief 
officer  at  this  time,  and  in  confirmation  of  this  view,  we  find 
that  Williams  was  "Chief  Officer"  in  August,  1645.  Williams 
was  still  Chief  Officer  in  December,  1646,  for  at  that  time, 
acting  as  Chief  Officer,  he  issued  a  warrant.  Henry  Walton 
was  Secretary  of  the  Colony  in  August,  1645,  and  Samuel 
Gorton  was  a  Magistrate,  probably  Assistant,  previous  to 
going  to  England  in  1645. 

The  most  reasonable  deduction  from  the  fragmentary  evi- 
dence is  that  the  first  General  Assembly  was  held  on  Rhode 
Island  (probably  Portsmouth,  for  the  second  or  third  was  held 
at  Newport  in  August,  1645)  '■>  ^^d  that  Roger  Williams  was 
elected  Chief  Officer ;  Gorton,  Assistant ;  and  Walton,  Sec- 
retary. 

It  is  possible  that  a  second  General  Assembly  was  held  in 
May  at  which  these  officers  were  re-elected,  or  at  which 
Williams  was  re-elected  and  Gorton  and  Walton  elected.  The 
only  reasons  for  assuming  that  an  Assembly  was  held  in  May 
is  the  subsequent  choice  of  May  as  the  beginning  of  the 
political  year,  and  the  reference  under  the  date  of  May  14, 
1645,  in  Winthrop's  Journal  to  John  Brown's  visit  to  Aquid- 
neck  to  oppose  Williams'  authority  there.     Brown  may  have 


8  RHODE  ISLAND  HISTORICAL  SOCIETY 

made  two  trips,  one  in  November,  1644,  and  the  other  in  May, 
1645,  or  Winthrop's  entry  may  be  the  delayed  account  of  the 
November,  1644,  trip. 

Another  General  Assembly  (the  second  or  third)  was  held 
at  Newport  on  August  9,  1645. 

It  would  certainly  seem  probable  that  another  annual  Gen- 
eral Assembly  must  have  been  held  either  in  November,  1645, 
or  more  probably  in  May,  1646  (the  third  or  fourth).  WiUiams 
must  have  been  re-elected,  for  he  was  still  serving  as  chief 
officer  in  December,  1646.  Gorton,  having  gone  to  Europe, 
was  probably  superseded  by  someone  else. 

In  May,  1647,  the  so-called  "First  General  Assembly"  was 
held,  which  must  in  reality  have  been  the  fourth  or  fifth  assem- 
bly. John  Coggeshall  was  chosen  President.  The  records  of 
this  meeting  have  been  printed  by  Bartlett  in  the  Rhode  Island 
Colonial  Records  and  in  pamphlet  form  by  Staples,  and  so  are 
easily  accessible.  The  Providence  Commissioners'  names  are 
given  in  Providence  Town  Papers,  09. 

The  next  General  Assembly  of  which  we  have  record  was 
held  at  Providence  on  May  16,  1648.  John  Coggeshall,  the 
President,  had  died  since  the  last  session.  Nicholas  Easton 
was  chosen  Moderator  and  Coddington  was  elected  President, 
but  failed  to  qualify.  The  records  of  the  meeting  are  printed 
by  Bartlett. 

The  next  meeting  of  the  General  Assembly  (the  sixth  or 
seventh)  was  a  special  session  held  at  Portsmouth,  March  10, 
to  14th,  1648/9.  John  Warner  acted  as  clerk  of  the  Assembly, 
charters  were  issued  to  Providence,  Warwick,  Portsmouth  and 
probably  to  Newport.  The  act  was  passed,  by  which  the 
colony  seized  a  supposed  gold  mine,  an  act  of  oblivion  was 
passed,  and  Roger  Williams  was  chosen  Deputy  Governor 
(i.  e.,  Acting  Governor).  The  Warwick  and  Providence  Char- 
ters are  extant,  and  have  been  reprinted  in  The  Documentary 
History  of  Rhode  Island,  vol.  I,  252  &  269,  the  gold  mine  act 
is  printed  in  Providence  Town  Papers  012,  and  the  oblivion 
act  in  Providence  Town  Papers  010. 

The  annual  General  Assembly  was  held  at  Warwick,  May 


EARLY   SESSIONS    OF    THE    GENERAL    ASSEMBLY  9 

22,  1649.  Roger  Williams  acted  as  IModerator  and  John  Smith 
was  chosen  President.  The  records  are  printed  by  Bartlett  in 
the  Rhode  Island  Colonial  Records. 

A  special  session  of  the  General  Assembly  was  held  at  Ports- 
mouth in  October,  1649.  No  records  of  this  meeting  are 
extant,  but  Williams  wrote  that  it  was  held  on  account  of  the 
riotous  conduct  of  some  Dutch  sailors. 

The  1650  General  Assembly  was  held  at  Newport  on  May 

23.  Nicholas  Easton  was  chosen  Moderator.  The  records  are 
printed  by  Bartlett  in  The  Rhode  Island  Colonial  Records. 
The  names  of  the  Commissioners  are  not  given,  but  the  Ports- 
mouth Commissioners  are  named  in  the  Portsmouth  records 
(p.  49). 

A  special  session  of  the  General  Assembly  (the  tenth  or 
eleventh)  was  held  October  26,  1650.  The  records  are  printed 
by  Bartlett  in  The  Rhode  Island  Colonial  Records,  and  the 
Warwick  commissioners  are  named  in  the  Warwick  records 
(typewritten  copy,  p.  91). 

The  annual  General  Assembly  was  held  in  May,  1651.  No 
records  of  this  meeting  are  extant.  Nicholas  Easton  was 
re-elected  President.  The  Portsmouth  and  Warwick  Commis- 
sioners are  named  in  the  town  records. 

The  next  session  of  the  General  Assembly  (the  twelfth  or 
thirteenth)  was  a  special  session  called  on  October  8,  1651,  at 
Providence  (Warwick  Records,  typewritten  copy,  page  98). 
No  records  of  this  meeting  are  extant.  It  may  have  been 
postponed  until  November  4th.  The  records  of  the  meeting 
of  November  4,  1651,  are  printed  by  Bartlett  in  The  Rhode 
Island  Colonial  Records. 

Table  of  Early  General  Assemblies. 

Date  Place  Records 

Nov.,  1644  Aquidneck  No  records 

May,  1645  Aquidneck  Inferred  from 

Winthrop 
Aug.,  1645  Newport  Walton's  letter 

May,  1646  No  records 

May,  1647  Portsmouth  Bartlett 


10  RHODE  ISLAND  HISTORICAL  SOCIETY 

Date  Place  Records 

May,  1648  Providence  Bartlett 

Mar.,  1648/9  Portsmouth  Frag^ments 

May,  1649  Warwick  Bartlett 

Oct.,  1649  Portsmouth  No  records 

May,  1650  Newport  Bartlett 

Oct.,  1650  Bartlett 

May,  165 1  No  records 

Oct.,  1651  Providence  No  records 

perhaps  same  as 

Nov.,  165 1  Providence  Bartlett 

The  Inscribed  Rocks  of  Narragansett  Bay 

III.    The  Arnold's  Point  Cup  Stone  and  the 
Fogland  Ferry  Rock  in  Portsmouth 

By  Edmund  B.  Delabarre. 

Besides  the  rocks  that  were  described  in  our  last  paper, 
there  is  another  stone  in  Portsmouth  with  curious  and 
puzzling  artificial  markings,  and  formerly  at  least  there  was 
one  in  still  a  third  locality  in  the  same  town.  We  know  of 
the  latter  only  through  notes  by  Dr.  Stiles,  no  one  else  having 
mentioned  it.  In  the  fourth  volume  of  his  manuscript 
"Itineraries,"  on  page  215,  under  date  of  September  15,  1788, 
is  written  the  following:  "Mem''.  Take  off  a  new  copy  of 
the  characters  on  the  Dighton  Rock,  &  those  at  Fogland  &  on 
Col''  Almys  Farm."  He  shortly  carried  out  this  intention 
with  respect  to  all  three  localities.  Concerning  the  second  he 
remarks,  October  6,  1788,  on  page  255:  "Visited  &  copied  a 
markt  Rock  about  half  a  m.  above  Fogland  Ferry  on  Rh.  I. 
on  shore  ag'.  or  just  below  M"^  M'^Corys  Farm." 

There  can  be  little  question  as  to  the  approximate  position 
of  this  marked  rock.  Fogland  Ferry  ran  from  Fogland  Point 
in  Tiverton  across  to  the  island  of  Rhode  Island.  On  the 
Portsmouth  side,  its  landing  place  was  probably  about  half  a 
mile  to  the  south  of  McCurry  Point,  shown  on  the  upper  chart 


THE    INSCRIBED    ROCKS    OF    NARRAGANSETT    BAY  II 

on  our  Plate  XIV.  This  Point  is  part  of  an  estate  still  known 
as  the  McCorrie  Farms.  The  diversity  of  spelling  does  not 
obscure  the  fact  that  here  was  doubtless  the  "Mr.  McCorys 
Farm"  referred  to  by  Dr.  Stiles ;  and  since  the  rock  was 
"against  or  just  below"  this  farm,  it  was  probably  situated 
just  to  the  south  of  the  first  division  line  shown  on  the  chart 
south  of  McCurry  Point,  this  being  the  southerly  border  of 
the  property. 

On  May  5,  1920,  I  made  a  careful  search  of  the  shore  not 
only  at  the  place  thus  indicated  but  for  half  a  mile  both  to  the 
south  and  to  the  north  of  McCurry  Point,  examining  each 
promising  rock  and  boulder.  In  the  vicinity  of  the  probable 
location  of  Stiles's  "markt  Rock,"  I  saw  a  few  small  boulders 
with  shallow  scratches,  probably  not  artificial.  On  one  of 
them,  the  scratches  were  somewhat  in  the  form  of  a  letter  Z ; 
on  another,  roughly  like  an  S.  It  is  not  very  likely  that  either 
of  these  was  the  one  that  drew  Stiles's  attention.  Mr.  George 
Peirce,  owner  of  the  McCorrie  Farms,  writes  me  that  he  has 
never  heard  of  an  inscribed  rock  in  that  vicinity.  It  is  prob- 
able, therefore,  that  this  one,  like  those  at  Melville  Station, 
has  disappeared.  Since  Stiles's  drawing  has  not  been  pre- 
served, we  cannot  know  what  its  markings  were  like  unless 
some  later  search  for  it  proves  successful. 

The  other  stone  lies  on  the  shore  near  one  of  the  Ports- 
mouth coal  mines,  a  little  to  the  south  of  Arnold's  Point.  Its 
position  can  be  found  easily  on  the  lower  chart  of  our  Plate 
XIV,  and  its  appearance  is  shown  in  the  two  photographs 
of  Plate  XV.  To  reach  it,  follow  the  road  that  leads  west- 
ward near  the  lower  centre  of  the  chart,  crossing  the  railroad 
tracks  to  the  Portsmouth  railroad  station ;  thence  walk  along 
a  lane  or  path  north  of  the  "stack"  indicated  on  the  chart, 
westerly  to  the  dilapidated  wharf  shown  just  above  the 
figure  2.  North  of  this,  about  opposite  or  a  little  south  of 
figure  3  on  the  chart,  lies  the  rock.  Its  exact  position  is 
indicated  by  a  child  sitting  upon  it  in  our  upper  photograph, 
which  was  taken  looking  northward   from  the  wharf.     The 


12  RHODE  ISLAND  HISTORICAL  SOCIETY 

Other  photog^raph  shows  its  nearer  appearance  and  that  of  the 
markino^s  upon  it. 

The  rock  is  of  sandstone,  merging  somewhat  into  con- 
glomerate at  the  in-shore  end.  It  is  near  the  edge  of  the 
beach  at  low  tide,  and  is  covered  by  high  water.  It  measures 
about  3  feet  in  width,  4^^  in  length,  and  in  thickness  from 
16  to  22  inches.  It  is  nearly  flat  and  smooth  on  top,  with 
rounded  edges,  and  a  slight  lateral  inclination  shoreward.  Its 
long  axis  is  directed  about  N.  50°  E.  Its  artificial  markings 
are  unique  among  the  inscribed  rocks  of  this  region.  They 
consist  of  six  relatively  deep  holes  or  cups,  connected  together 
by  shallow  channels.  The  holes  vary  in  depth  from  2^  to 
2J4  inches.  Beginning  in-shore  and  following  the  channels, 
their  distances  apart  from  centre  to  centre  are  respectively 
9>4,  8,  9,  io>4  and  g%  inches;  and  of  the  second  from  the 
sixth,  15  inches.  They  appear  to  have  been  drilled,  and  are 
not  circular,  but  more  like  triangles  with  rounded  angles. 
Their  diameter  at  the  top  is  i^  to  i^  inches,  narrowing 
slightly  below.  The  top  edges  are  not  smooth-cut,  but  broken 
and  roughly  beveled.  The  channels  are  pecked  in,  and  like 
the  crudely  pecked  lines  of  other  rocks  of  this  region,  are 
very  irregular  in  width  and  depth.  Their  typical  width  is 
9^  to  ^  inch,  narrowing  rarely  to  3^,  and  widening  rarely  to 
}i  or  I  inch.  Their  depth  is  usually  3/16  to  ^  inch,  with 
extremes  from  ^  down  to  a  mere  trace. 

In  the  more  conglomerate  portion  of  the  surface,  near  the 
first  and  second  holes,  the  stone  is  roughly  and  irregularly 
much  pocked  and  scaled,  and  here  it  is  doubtful  whether  or 
not  there  was  another  shallow  curved  channel  leading  of? 
from  the  one  between  these  two  holes  to  a  seventh  very 
shallow  depression,  and  whether  or  not  there  was  a  shallow 
irregular  half-ring  about  hole  number  2.  The  marks  so 
described  might  be  either  natural  or  artificial,  but  are  prob- 
ably natural. 

The  history  of  this  stone  is  unknown  earlier  than  1910, 
when  it  was  shown  by  a  native  of  Portsmouth  to  Mr.  David 
Hutcheson  of  Washington,  D.  C.     He  writes  me  concerning 


THE   INSCRIBED    ROCKS   OF    NARRAGANSETT    BAY  I3 

it:  "At  first  sight  I  thought,  from  the  arrangement  of  the 
holes,  that  it  was  an  attempt  to  represent  The  Dipper,  but 
the  seventh  star  was  missing.  On  a  sheet  of  paper  I  drew  a 
rough  outHne  of  the  face  of  the  stone  showing  the  position 
of  the  holes.  I  sent  this  to  Mr.  Babcock  and  he  showed  it  to 
some  of  the  Washington  anthropologists,  and  they  thought  it 
was  an  Indian  Cup  Stone."  In  19 13  it  was  mentioned  by 
William  H.  Babcock  in  his  Early  Norse  Visits  to  America, 
on  page  44.  We  have  quoted  his  belief  that  the  inscription 
near  Mount  Hope  was  "almost  certainly  Wampanoag  work ;" 
and  he  remarks  that  "the  same  may  be  said  with  less  con- 
fidence" of  this  Portsmouth  stone. 

Before  considering  the  probable  origin  of  these  markings, 
it  will  be  profitable  to  discuss  first  the  peculiar  shape  of  the 
drill-holes,  and  then  the  general  nature  of  cup-stones.  Since 
observing  these,  I  have  seen  and  examined  with  interest  many 
other  isolated  drill-holes  in  rocks  along  shore.  At  other  places 
in  Portsmouth  and  on  Assonet  Neck,  and  probably  abundantly 
enough  elsewhere,  they  can  be  seen  here  and  there.  Those 
that  I  have  observed  occur  singly,  in  boulders  often  near  low- 
water  mark,  sometimes  near  the  edge  of  high  water.  Some 
of  them  are  circular,  but  more  often  they  are  round-triangular 
like  those  of  the  cup-stone,  and  very  often  identical  with  the 
latter  in  diameter,  but  usually  deeper.  Some  of  them  may 
have  been  made  to  hold  ringbolts  or  stakes  for  boat  moorings, 
some  for  attaching  the  nets  of  fish-weirs.  One  or  two  near 
Dighton  Rock  probably  held  ringbolts  for  the  guy-ropes  of  a 
surveying  standard  that  was  placed  there  when  Taunton 
River  was  surveyed  by  Capt.  A.  M.  Harrison  of  the  Coast 
Survey  in  1875.  These  are  examples  of  the  fact  that  isolated 
drill-holes  of  both  circular  and  round-triangular  shape  are 
apparently  not  uncommon  along  shore,  and  may  have  had 
commonplace  uses.  But  no  such  use  can  be  attributed  to  this 
constellation  of  six  holes  connected  by  channels. 

A  drill-hole  in  Minnesota  similar  to  these  in  Portsmouth 
has  recently  attracted  attention  in  an  interesting  connection. 
Some  years  ago  a  stone,  on  which  was  engraved  an  extensive 


14  RHODE    ISLAND   HISTORICAL   SOCIETY 

record  in  runic  letters,  was  found  at  Kensington  in  that  State. 
It  speaks  of  a  journey  of  exploration  westward  from  Vinland 
in  the  year  1362,  and  says  that  the  men  left  their  vessel 
guarded  by  the  sea,  made  camp  by  a  lake  with  two  small  bare 
islands  or  skerries  in  it  a  day's  journey  distant  from  the  stone, 
went  fishing  there,  and  one  day  found  ten  men  of  their  party 
slaughtered.  No  one  questions  the  fact  that  the  letters  are 
runic  and  form  an  intelligible  record,  but  there  has  been  much 
debate  as  to  whether  the  inscription  dates  really  from  the 
year  mentioned  or  is  a  hoax  of  modern  manufacture. 
Recently,  H.  R.  Holand  has  defended  its  historical  authenticity, 
and  has  discovered  new  evidence  that  an  expedition  from 
Norway,  under  Paul  Knutson,  was  actually  in  America  at  the 
time.  He  has  also  sought  for  and  found  the  lake  with  two 
skerries.  Lake  Cormorant,  75  miles  north  of  Kensington — the 
only  lake  with  skerries  in  that  region,  and  the  required  stand- 
ard "day's  journey"  distant.  On  its  shore  was  a  boulder  with 
a  hole  drilled  in  it,  triangular  in  shape  with  rounded  angles, 
134  inch  in  diameter  and  7  inches  deep.  He  believes  that 
the  explorers  of  1362  made  a  raft  near  this  point  on  which  to 
go  fishing,  and  fastened  it  to  the  shore  by  means  of  a  flexible 
withy  wedged  into  the  triangular  hole.^  The  similarity  in 
size  and  shape  between  this  far  away  drill-hole  and  those  that 
we  are  discussing  is  worthy  of  remark ;  but  they  cannot  have 
had  the  same  use,  and  there  is  no  reason  to  attribute  these  at 
Portsmouth  to  Norsemen. 

While  this  peculiar  triangular  shape  may  at  first  sight  sug- 
gest crude  implements  and  unskilled  workmanship,  and  hence 
perhaps  great  age  and  primitive  workmen,  yet  after  all  it 
turns  out  to  be  in  no  way  remarkable.  On  trial,  I  have  found 
that  with  a  drill  having  one  cutting  edge  only,  like  a  cold 
chisel,  it  is  exceedingly  difficult  to  make  a  true  circular  hole. 
As  the  drill  is  turned,  the  cutting  edge  rarely  crosses  an 
exact  centre,  but  constantly  deviates  somewhat  to  one  side 
or  another.     The  result  is  that  one  end  of  the  edge  tends  to 


iH.  R.  Holand,  in  Wisconsin  Magazine  of  History,  December,  1919 
id  March,  1920,  vol.  iii,  pp.  153-183,  332-338. 


THE    INSCRIBED    ROCKS    OF    NARRAGANSETT    BAY  1 5 

remain  relatively  fixed  in  position  for  several  strokes  while 
the  other  end  swings  more  widely.  The  easiest  kind  of  a  hole 
to  make  is  one  in  which  this  tendency  is  followed  and  empha- 
sized. One  end  of  the  edge  is  held  fixed  in  position  while 
the  other  swings  gradually  through  about  a  third  of  the 
circumference,  thus  making  three  well  defined  corners ;  then 
the  fixed  edge  is  transferred  to  one  of  the  other  corners 
while  the  swinging  edge  cuts  a  second  side ;  and  in  this  man- 
ner three  fixed  points  or  corners  are  used  in  succession,  and 
the  resulting  hole  is  triangular  with  rounded  corners  and 
somewhat  curving  sides.  Even  when  the  intention  is  to  make 
a  round  hole,  it  is  nevertheless  likely  to  turn  out  triangular 
or  otherwise  irregular.  When  a  stake  or  bolt  is  to  be  wedged 
into  the  hole,  there  is  some  advantage  in  making  the  latter 
deliberately  triangular.  So  the  mystery  of  the  shape  of  these 
holes  disappears,  and  no  conclusion  can  be  drawn  from  it  as 
to  their  age  or  their  makers. 

Since  one  of  the  possibilities  concerning  this  boulder  at 
Portsmouth  is  that  it  is  a  genuine  cup-stone  of  considerable 
antiquity,  it  will  not  be  amiss  to  look  briefly  into  the  distribu- 
tion, character  and  significance  of  stones  so  marked.^  Cup- 
like excavations,  usually  in  irregular  groups,  are  among  the 
most  primitive  of  markings  on  stone,  are  found  widely  dis- 
tributed over  nearly  the  entire  world,  and  are  nearly  every- 
where similar.  They  are  exceedingly  numerous  in  the  British 
Isles  and  in  Brittany,  where  they  are  closely  associated  with 

^For  best  sources  of  information,  see : 

James  Y.  Simpson,  On  Ancient  Sculpturings  of  Cups  and  Concentric 
Rings.  In  Proc.  Soc.  of  Antiq.  of  Scotland,  1867,  Appendix  to  vol.  vi,. 
pp.   1-147. 

Archaic  Rock  Inscriptions;  an  Account  of  the  Cup  and  Ring  Mark- 
ings on  the  Sculptured  Stones  of  the  Old  and  New  Worlds.  Published 
by  A.  Reader,  1891. 

Alexander  MacBain,  Celtic  Mythology  and  Religion,  1917. 

Garrick  Mallery,  chapter  on  Cup  Sculptures,  in  10th  Ann.  Rep.  Bureau 
of  Amer.  Ethnol.  for  1888-89   (1893),  pp.  189-2-00. 

Handbook  of  Amer.  Indians,  Bur.  of  Amer.  Ethnol.  Bulletin  30,  vol. 
i,  p.  372,  article  Cupstones. 

T.  Eric  Peet,  Rough  Stone  Monuments  and  Their  Builders,  1912, 
pp.  127f. 

Encyc.  Brit.,  11th  ed.,  vol.  xxv,  pp.  964f,  article  Stone  Monuments. 


l6  RHODE  ISLAND  HISTORICAL  SOCIETY 

cromlechs,  stone  circles  and  other  primitive  stone  monuments. 
They  occur  less  numerously  in  other  parts  of  Europe,  in 
Africa  and  Australia,  and  frequently  in  India.  Many 
examples  of  them  have  been  reported  from  both  North  and 
South  America.  Usually  they  are  shallow  depressions,  from 
1/2  to  I  inch  deep  and  i  to  3  inches  in  diameter.  Larger  ones 
occur  rarely,  extending  up  to  basins  nearly  3  feet  in  diameter 
and  9  inches  in  depth.  A  few  of  the  common  narrow  type  are 
of  unusual  depth,  thus  resembling  more  nearly  those  at  Ports- 
mouth. Thus,  on  the  shore  in  Scotland  they  have  been  found 
23/2  inches  in  depth,  always  more  than  one,  irregularly  placed; 
and  the  Handbook  of  American  Indians  speaks  of  many  cups 
prolonged  below  by  a  secondary  pit  as  though  made  with  a 
flint  drill  or  gouge.  The  cups  occasionally  occur  singly,  more 
often  in  constellation-like  groups,  most  often  irregularly  dis- 
tributed over  the  surface,  in  number  often  up  to  20,  in  rare 
instances  up  to  50,  100  or  even  200  on  one  rock  or  ledge. 
Very  commonly,  but  not  always,  they  are  surrounded  by  from 
one  to  seven  concentric  rings,  which  sometimes  have  a  straight 
radial  groove  running  out  through  them.  Not  infrequently 
the  cups,  whether  with  or  without  rings,  are  connected 
together  by  grooved  lines.  In  Scotland,  France,  Switzerland 
and  Germany,  cups  alone  are  found  as  a  general  rule ;  in 
England,  Ireland  and  Sweden,  rings  and  grooves  are  almost 
always  associated  with  them. 

The  variety  of  theories  that  have  been  advanced  to  account 
for  the  meaning  of  these  simplest,  most  primitive  and  most 
wide-spread  of  sculptured  marks  recalls  the  similar  confusion 
of  tongues  and  opinions  that  has  attended  the  attempt  to 
explain  Dighton  Rock.  Among  views  that  have  little  impor- 
tance, but  nevertheless  are  of  a  deep  psychological  interest  as 
showing  the  inexhaustible  budding-out  process  of  man's 
speculations  about  things  that  are  mysterious,  are  these:  they 
are  natural,  not  artificial ;  there  is  no  clue  to  their  purpose  ; 
they  are  plans  of  neighboring  camps,  or  maps  of  neighboring 
peaks;  enumeration  of  families  or  tribes;  representations  of 
sun,  moon  and  constellations;  a  primitive  form  of  writing; 


H 


a     —    — 


E  :s  = 


h 


PETROGLYPHS  OF  NARRAGANSETT  BAY-PLATE  XIV 


(Chart  of  Arnold's  Pt.  nnd  vicinity) 


(Chart  of  Fogland   Pt.  and  \icinily) 
Sections  of  Chart  of  Narragansett  Bay.     See  text  for  exact  location  of 
Portsmouth  Cup  Stone,  Fogland  Ferry  Rock,  and   Rocks  in  Ti\crton. 


PETROGLYPHS  OF  NARRAGANSETT  BAY-PLATE  XV 


~'^^'^^*-«; 


^r^^ 


Distant  view  of  Rock) 


\ 


(Near  view  of  Rock) 
The  Portsmouth  Cup  Stone. 


THE    INSCRIBED    ROCKS   OF    NARRAGANSETT    BAY  17 

tables  for  some  gambling  game ;  moulds  for  casting  rings ; 
representations  of  shields ;  totems ;  small  wine-presses  or  grain 
mortars ;  depressions  for  cracking  nuts,  or  grinding  paint,  or 
for  steadying  drills,  spindles  or  fire-sticks,  or  for  collection 
of  water ;  sun-dials ;  relics  of  sun-worship  of  the  Phoeni- 
cians, or  of  Roman  Mithras-worship ;  basins  for  holding  the 
blood  of  sacrifice  or  libations  to  spirits  or  to  the  dead ;  objects 
for  the  practice  of  magic  and  necromancy. 

The  most  widely  accepted  view  of  them,  so  far  at  least  as 
their  occurrence  in  Europe  is  concerned,  is  that  they  are 
symbols  connected  with  the  religious  rites  or  beliefs  of  the 
Druids,  the  philosophers  and  priests  of  the  Celtic  tribes.  This 
is  a  natural  consequence  of  their  close  association  with  the 
numerous  stone  circles  and  other  crude  stone  monuments 
which  popular  opinion  still  connects  with  the  Druids.  This 
belief,  however,  was  invented  by  Stukely  and  other  antiquaries 
of  the  i8th  century,  has  no  confirmation,  and  is  now  unani- 
mously opposed  by  well  informed  students.  MacBain  says 
that  these  monuments  are  all  pre-Celtic.  He  tells  of  at  least 
two  races  in  Great  Britain  who  preceded  the  Celts,  and 
believes  that  one  of  these  built  the  oval  barrows  or  burial 
mounds,  the  other  the  round  barrows,  the  circles,  dolmens 
and  cromlechs,  and  perhaps  also  made  the  rock-carvings. 
The  circles  were  used  both  for  burial  and  worship,  especially 
the  latter;  and  the  only  worship  appropriate  at  the  grave  is 
that  of  deceased  ancestors,  which  is  about  the  earliest  shape 
in  which  religion  manifests  itself.  "Our  own  memorial  stones 
over  graves  are  but  descendants  of  the  old  menhirs  and  dol- 
mens." These  matters  are  still  too  controversial  to  permit 
confident  agreement  or  disagreement  with  these  views ;  but 
MacBain  seems  at  least  to  have  decisively  disproven  the  Druid 
hypothesis.  Many  authorities  point  out  the  fact  that  the  cups, 
rings  and  grooves  could  not  have  served  as  attachments  to 
Druid  or  other  altars,  since  they  are  often  found  on  the  verti- 
cal or  under  surface  of  the  stones. 

A  more  fruitful  hypothesis  than  the  Druidical,  and  one  that 
certainly  applies  to  these  small  excavations  in  some  parts  of 


l8  RHODE  ISLAND  HISTORICAL  SOCIETY 

the  world,  is  that  they  are  phallic  symbols.  Mallery's  exposi- 
tion of  this  explanation  is  lucid.  "These  cupels  are  corre- 
lated with  the  worship  of  Mahadeo,  one  of  the  many  names 
given  to  Siva,  the  third  god  of  the  Hindu  triad,  whose  emblem 
is  the  serpent.  *  *  *  At  this  very  day  one  may  see  the 
Hindu  women  carrying  the  water  of  the  Ganges  all  the  way 
to  the  mountains  of  the  Punjab,  to  pour  into  the  cupules  and 
thus  obtain  from  the  divinity  the  boon  of  motherhood 
earnestly  desired.  Mahadeo,  more  accurately  Mahadiva,  is 
the  god  of  generation.  *  *  *  It  is  suggested  that  in  a 
common  form  of  the  sculptures  the  inner  circle  represents 
the  Mahadeo  or  lingam,  and  the  outer  or  containing  circle  the 
yoni.  No  idea  of  obscenity  occurs  from  this  representation 
to  the  Hindus,  who  adore  under  this  form  the  generative 
power  in  nature."  The  book  on  "Archaic  Rock  Inscriptions" 
also  regards  the  phallic  explanation — the  worship  of  the 
creative  and  regenerative  forces  of  nature — as  the  most  prob- 
able. "It  is  not  to  the  gross  forms  of  the  Priapus  used  in 
ancient  Greek,  Roman,  or  Egyptian  festivals  that  we  allude, 
but  to  the  much  more  refined,  or,  if  we  may  so  call  it,  modest 
lingam  worship  of  India.  This  explanation  is  natural  when 
we  consider  the  vast  extent  to  which  phallic  worship  pre- 
vailed, and  the  disposition  of  men  everywhere  to  represent 
in  the  sculptured  form  the  organs,  male  and  female,  to  which 
they  rendered  obeisance.  The  symbolism  was  very  much 
veiled,  and  often  unrecognizable — mysterious  and  unmeaning 
to  all  not  in  the  secret." 

If  this  must  be  accepted  as  the  true  explanation  of  these 
carvings  in  India,  does  it  follow  that  the  same  symbolism 
must  be  attributed  to  them  in  Europe  and  in  America? 
Mallery  says  that  a  large  number  of  stones  with  typical  cup 
markings  have  been  found  in  the  United  States ;  and  the 
Handbook  of  American  Indians  tells  us  that  cupstones  are 
the  most  abundant  and  widespread  of  the  larger  relics. 
According  to  A.  C.  Lawson,^  the  Indians  of  the  present  day 
have  no  traditions  about  these  inscriptions  beyond  the  suppo- 

lAmerican  Naturalist,  1885. 


THE    INSCRIBED    ROCKS    OF    NARRAGANSETT    BAY  I9 

sition  that  they  must  have  been  made  by  the  "old  people  long 
ag-o."  Mallery  makes  a  similar  statement,  and  continues  with 
what  we  must  probably  accept  as  the  true  solution  of  the 
problem.  "Inquiries  have  often  been  made,"  he  says,  "whether 
the  North  A/nerican  Indians  have  any  superstitious  or 
religious  practices  connected  with  the  markings  under  con- 
sideration, e.  g.,  in  relation  to  the  desire  for  offspring,  which 
undoubtedly  is  connected  with  the  sculpturing  of  cup  depres- 
sions and  furrows  in  the  eastern  hemisphere.  No  evidence 
is  yet  produced  of  any  such  correspondence  of  practice  or 
tradition  relating  to  it.  In  the  absence  of  any  extrinsic 
explanation  the  prosaic  and  disappointing  suggestion  intrudes 
that  circular  concentric  rings  are  easy  to  draw  and  that  the 
act  of  drawing  them  suggests  the  accentuation  of  depressions 
or  hollows  within  their  curves.  Much  stress  is  laid  upon  the 
fact  that  the  characters  are  found  in  so  many  parts  of  the 
earth,  with  the  implication  that  all  the  sculptors  used  them 
with  the  same  significance,  thus  affording  ground  for  the 
hypothesis  that  anciently  one  race  of  people  penetrated  all  the 
regions  designated.^  But  in  such  an  implication  the  history 
of  the  character  formed  by  two  intersecting  straight  lines  is 
forgotten.  The  cross  is  as  common  as  the  cup-stone  and  has, 
or  anciently  had,  a  different  signification  among  the  different 
people  who  used  it,  beginning  as  a  mark  and  ending  as  a 
symbol.  Therefore,  it  may  readily  be  imagined  that  the  rings 
in  question,  which  are  drawn  nearly  as  easily  as  the  cross, 
were  at  one  time  favorite  but  probably  meaningless  designs, 
perhaps,  in  popular  expression,  "instinctive"  commencements 
of  the  artistic  practice,  as  was  the  earliest  delineation  of  the 
cross  figure.  Afterward  the  rings,  if  employed  as  symbols  or 
emblems,  would  naturally  have  a  different  meaning  applied 
to  them  in  each  region  where  they  now  appear." 

We  are  now  in  a  position  to  discuss  the  probable  nature  of 
the  Portsmouth   Cup   Stone  as   intelligently   as  the   available 

^Mallery  omits  mention  of  an  alternative  hypothesis  which  has  often 
been  suggested,  that  the  sculptures  symbolize  some  simple  religious 
idea  common  to  all  primitive  races. 


20  RHODE    ISLAND    HISTORICAL   SOCIETY 

facts  concerning  it  permit.  Before  considering  the  really 
probable  theories,  however,  it  will  be  worth  while  to  mention 
one  fanciful  speculation  that  would  undoubtedly  have  been 
applied  to  it  if  the  authors  of  the  suggestion  had  ever  heard 
of  these  cup-sculptures.  It  is  probably  not  widely  known, 
and  at  any  rate  is  likely  to  become  wholly  forgotten,  that  the 
Druid  theory  has  been  advanced  in  explanation  of  American 
mounds  and  monuments.  Impossible  as  the  theory  is,  never- 
theless it  is  one  of  the  most  picturesque  fancies  that  have 
been  devised  concerning  the  class  of  relics  that  we  are  dis- 
cussing, and  it  should  not  be  allowed  to  pass  wholly  into 
oblivion.  Its  first  advocate  appears  to  have  been  John  Finch, 
who  claimed  in  1824  that  the  aborigines  of  America  originated 
from  the  Celts  or  Scythians,  whose  Druidical  monuments  are 
to  be  found  in  every  part  of  America.'  He  gave  instances 
of  various  types,  including  Indian  "stones  of  memorial  or 
sacrifice,"  numerous  examples  of  which  had  been  described 
by  Kendall,  2  in  w4iich  class  he  placed  the  "figured  rock  at 
Dighton"  and  also  other  sculptured  rocks  at  Tiverton,  Rut- 
land, Newport  and  other  places  in  the  list  first  compiled  by 
Dr.  Stiles  and  later  published  by  Kendall.  The  theory  was 
greatly  and  interestingly  elaborated  by  James  N.  Arnold  in 
1888,  with  particular  application  to  this  region.^  His  free- 
soaring  imagination  pictured  not  only  the  Dighton  and  Tiver- 
ton rocks,  but  also  the  Hills  of  South  County,  the  Wolf  Rocks 
in  Exeter,  the  soapstone  ledge  in  Johnston,  and  many  rocks 
besides,  as  monuments  of  Druid  worship  mingled  with 
influences  from  Atlantis.  Holding  such  beliefs,  there  can  be 
no  doubt  that,  had  he  known  of  the  Cup  Stone  in  Portsmouth, 
he  would  have  welcomed  it  as  a  striking  and  convincing 
example  of  Druid  workmanship. 


*0n  the  Celtic  Antiquities  of  America.     In  the  American  Journal  of 
Science  and  Arts,  1824,  vii.  149-161. 

^Edward  A.  Kendall,  Travels,  1809. 

3  Four  papers  in  the  Narragansett  Historical  Register,  1888,  vi,  1-24, 
97-110,  205-222,  317-330. 


THE    INSCRIBED    ROCKS   OF    NARRAGANSETT    BAY  21 

Among  serious  possibilities,  there  seem  to  be  three  plausible 
alternatives.  The  first  of  these  is  that  it  is  an  example  of 
Indian  cup-stone,  which  Mallery  and  the  Handbook  describe 
as  so  numerous,  and  which  the  latter  authority  says  some- 
times have  drilled  pits  at  the  bottom  of  the  cups.  If  so,  it 
may  be  of  almost  any  period  down  to  and  into  Colonial  times. 
As  to  its  meaning,  it  may  or  may  not  have  had  one.  Mallery 
makes  it  very  clear  that  such  cuttings  may  often  have  been 
the  result  of  a  mere  aimless  desire  for  activity,  or  a  crude 
attempt  to  fabricate  something  ornamental.  On  the  other 
hand,  it  may  have  symbolized  something  to  the  individual 
who  madg  it,  and  which,  of  course,  no  one  uninstructed  by 
him  could  possibly  decipher.  Such  private  symbolism  must 
have  been  the  first  step  beyond  the  activity-impulse  and  the 
ornament-urge  already  alluded  to;  and  the  further  step,  to  a 
commonly  accepted  symbolism  for  such  figures,  had  appar- 
ently not  been  taken  by  the  American  Indians. 

There  are  two  arguments  against  its  being  an  Indian 
product :  the  fact  that  no  one  ever  reported  its  existence 
before  1910,  and  the  fact  that  its  holes  are  deeply  drilled  and 
are  not  typical  cups.  It  may  therefore  seem  more  probable 
that  the  holes  were  drilled  by  miners  in  idle  moments,  or  by 
their  children  at  play.  Coal  mines  were  opened  at  Portsmouth 
apparently  as  early  as  1808,  and  have  been  worked  frequently 
at  intervals  since  then.^  The  longest  continuous  period  of 
operation  was  by  the  Taunton  Copper  Company,  from  about 
i860  until  1883.  They  built  a  dock,  railroad  connections,  and 
a  copper  smelter,  and  mined  about  ten  thousand  tons  a  year. 
There  was  plenty  of  opportunity,  therefore,  for  the  idle  drill- 
ing of  these  holes  at  a  relatively  recent  date  by  white  workmen. 
But  while  the  holes  may  incline  one  strongly  to  the  belief 
that  they  were  hollowed  out  by  these  miners'  drills,  yet  the 
connecting  grooves,  crudely  pecked  between  them  and  unques- 
tionably of  considerable  age,  are  distinctly  characteristic  of 
more   primitive    races    who   made   cup-stones    and    inscribed 

^George  H.  Ashley,  Rhode  Island  Coal.     In  U.  S.  Geol.  Survey,  Bul- 
letin 615,  1915. 


22  RHODE  ISLAND  HISTORICAL  SOCIETY 

rocks  habitually.  The  pecking  exactly  resembles  the  known 
examples  of  Indian  rock-carving  in  this  region.  Though 
possible,  it  does  not  seem  likely  that  white  men  equipped  with 
drills  and  hammers  would  have  made  them  as  additions  to 
the  holes.  With  the  holes  arguing  against  the  Indians  and 
the  grooves  against  more  recent  white  men,  we  have  neverthe- 
less a  third  or  combination  alternative  as  a  possible  solution. 
The  rock  may  have  been  originally  a  typical  Indian  cup-stone, 
devoid  of  any  important  symbolism ;  and  the  miners  or  miners' 
children,  seated  there  at  play  or  on  an  idle  day,  with  drills 
accidentally  at  hand,  may  have  deepened  the  original  cups. 
This  hypothesis  is  certainly  not  at  all  unlikely.  But  it  is  not 
probable  that  we  can  ever  be  sure  which  of  the  three  hypothe- 
ses is  the  true  one. 

Muster  Roll  of  Sloop  Providence 

A  Muster  Roll  of  all  the  Officers  Seamen  &  Marines  belong- 
ing to  the  Continental  armed  Sloop  Providence  Commanded 
by  John  Peck  Rathbun  Esqr.  dated  June  19  1777.  From 
original  manuscript  now  in  the  collection  of  Col.  George  L. 
Shepley. 

Names  Stations  Promotions 

John  Peck  Rathbun  Captain 

Joseph  Vesey  ist  Lieutenant 

Daniel  Bears  2d  ditto 

George  Sinkins  Master 

John  Trevett  Capt  Marines 
William  P.  Thurston  ist  Mastrs  Mate 

William  Gregory  2d  ditto  do 
3d  do 

Richmond  Surgeon 

James  Rogers  Purser 

Saml  Bailey  Clerk  from  Clerk  to  Purser 

Oliver  Whitwell  ist  Midshipmn 

Joseph  Deveber  2d  ditto 


MUSTER  ROLL  OF  SLOOP  PROVIDENCE 


23 


Names 

Stations                    Promotions 

Thomas  Pain 

Steward 

Lillibridge  Worth 

Gunner 

John  Webster 

Boatswain 

Thomas  Brewer 

Carpenter 

Amos  Potter 

Gunnr  M[ate] 

Boatsn   do 

Andrew  Brewer 

Carpnr  do 

Surgs  do 

Andrew  Burnet 

Cook 

Richard  Grinnell 

Ar[mo]rer 

Peleg  Swe[et] 

Coxswain 

James  Bridges 

Cooper 

John  Willson 

Sail  maker 

Joseph  Claghorn 

do  mate 

Joseph  Stewart 

Gunr  Yeoman 

Francis  Simons 

Mastr  at  Arms 

Alexr  Ballingall 

Qur  Master 

Dowty  Randall 

do 

James  Clarke 

Serjt  Marines 

Toby  Jacobs 

Seaman 

Anabony 

ditto 

Thomas  Perfect 

ditto 

William  Nichols 

ditto 

John  Nichols 

ditto 

Isaac  Read 

ditto 

Edward  Clanning 

Marine                      Promoted  to  S 

Joseph  Weeden 

do 

James  Vial 

Marine 

Barzillai  Luce 

ditto 

Danl  Paddock 

Seaman 

Niccols  Stoddard 

do                         reduced  to  a  ^ 

Thomas  Allen 

Marine 

Thomas  Collens 

ditto 

John  Tinckom 

ditto 

Esek  Whipple 

ditto 

Joseph  Shaw 

ditto 

24 


RHODE  ISLAND  HISTORICAL  SOCIETY 


Names 

Stations 

Saml  Browning 

ditto 

Seth  Baker 

ditto 

Thomas  Bailey 

Boy 

John  Shaw 

Seaman 

Andrew  Burnet 

Boy 

Samuel  Wood 

Seaman 

Samuel  Woggs 

do 

Thomas  Hay 

do 

Thomas  Connant 

do 

Zaccheus  Hinckley 

do 

Benj  Harding 

Marine 

Nathl  Arnold 

do 

Joshua  Joy 

Seaman 

Elnathan  Lake 

Marine 

Stephen  Read 

do 

Michael  Wiser 

Coxswain 

Tristam  Luce 

Pilot 

Henry  Stoddard 

Marine 

William  Howell 

ditto 

Solomon  Hallet 

ditto 

Thomas  Hawes 

Landsman 

James  Blossom 

ditto 

James  Morton 

Seaman 

Richard  Sampson 

ditto 

Robert  Falle 

ditto 

William  Sinnett 

Boy 

Imml  Dusnaps 

Seaman 

Joseph  Allen 

Marine 

Promotions 


Reduced  to  a  marine 


Notes 

Col.  George  L.  Shepley  has  presented  the  Society  with  a- 
new  Remington  typewriter. 

The  volume  of  photographs  illustrating  the  work  done  by 
the  National  Society  of  Colonial  Dames  in  America,  which  is 


NOTES 


25 


being  sent  from  state  to  state,  has  been  on  exhibition  at  the 
Society  during  the  autumn. 

An  exhibition  of  early  Rhode  Island  broadsides  from  the 
collection  of  Col.  George  L.  Shepley  was  held  in  the  Society's 
rooms  during  October.  Accounts  of  this  exhibition  were  pub- 
lished in  the  Providence  Journal  and  the  Boston  Evening 
Transcript. 

During  November  and  December  a  loan  exhibition  of  ship 
pictures  and  log  books  was  held,  over  lOO  pictures  being  ex- 
hibited. On  Tuesday  evening,  December  7,  1920,  Professor 
Wilfred  H.  Munro  delivered  an  instructive  lecture  on  "The 
Romance  of  Old-Time  Shipping"  in  connection  with  the  exhi- 
bition. 

A  List  of  the  Donors  of  Ship  Pictures^  Log  Books,  Etc. 


Mrs.  Clarence  A.  Brouwer 
Miss  M.  Frances  Dunham 
Miss  MaryF.  Salisbury- 
Mr.  F.  B.  Taylor 
Brown  &  Ives 
Mr.  T.  H.  D'Arcy 
Miss  Ida  H.  Spencer 
Mr.  S.  F.  Babbitt 
Miss  Jane  W.  Bucklin 
Mr.  Edward  Carrington 
J.  A.  Whaley  &  Company 
Dr.  H.  G.  Partridge 
Col.  George  L.  Shepley 
Mr.  S.  N.  Sherman 
Mr.  H.  Ross  Matthews 
Dr.  &  Mrs.  Charles  V.  Chapin 
Mr.  W.  R.  McDowall 
Mr.  A.  H.  Fiske 
Mr.  Thomas  F.  McCarthy 
Mr.  Thomas  Amos 
Mr.  William  A.  Chandler 
Miss  Mary  L.  Brown 
Mr.  Frederick  Nordstrom 
Mr.  James  De  Kay 
Mr.  John  F.  Street 


Mr.  T.G.  Hazard,  Jr. 

Mr.  George  Stevens 

Mr.  E.  F.  Gray 

Mr.  L.  M.  Robinson 

Miss  L.  W.  Reynolds 

Mr.  Albert  W.  Qaflin 

Mr.  Richard  B.  Comstock 

Dr.  M.  H.  Merchant 

Mr.  L.  Earle  Rowe 

Mr.  Benjamin  M.  Jackson 

Mr.  Albert  Fenner 

Mr.  J.  K.  H.  Nightingale,7r. 

Mr.  Frank  Douglas 

Mr.  A.  R.  Madden 

Dr.  W.  Louis  Chapman 

Mr.  Richard  W.  Comstock,  Jr. 

Mr.  Harald  W.  Ostby 

Mr.  F.  W.  Arnold 

Mr.  H.  M.  C.  Skinner 

Mr.  Duncan  Hazard 

Mr.  Lawrence 

Mr.  Paul  C.  Nicholson 

Mr.  Robert  V.  S.  Reed 

Dr.  Peter  P.  Chase 

Mrs.  Gardner  T.  Swarts 


26  RHODE   ISLAND   HISTORICAL  SOCIETY 

Rev.  Henry  I.  Cushman  Mr.  W.  M.  Murdie 

Mr.  Edward  K.  Aldrich,  Jr.  Mr.  Clarence  A.  Mathewson 

Mr.  S.  H.  Brower  Mrs.  Hugh  Williamson  Kelly 

Mr.  Willliam  McCreery  Miss  M.  F.  Babcock 

Mrs.  John  W.  Vernon  Mr.  Edward  Aborn  Greene 

Mrs.  H.  E.  Newell  Mr.  George  A.  Smith 

Mr.  George  L.  Miner  Mr.  Joseph  M'cCoid 

The  following  persons  have  been  elected  to  membership: 
Miss  Isabel  Eddy  Mr.  Hugh  F.  MacColl 

Miss  Mary  Olcott  Mr.  Victor  H.  King 

Miss  Mary  Elliott  Davis  Prof.  Verner  W.  Crane 

Mrs.  W.  E.  Heathcote  H.  G.  Partridge,  M.  D. 

Mr.  George  C.  Dempsey  Frank  T.  Calef,  M.  D. 

Dr.  George  T.  Spicer  was  elected  Secretary  of  the  Society 
at  the  October  meeting. 

Mr.  Walter  N.  Buffum  presented  to  the  Society  a  manu- 
script genealogy  of  the  Buffum  family.  Manuscript  genealo- 
gies of  this  type  are  of  great  use  to  persons  making  out  papers 
for  patriotic  societies. 

Among  the  more  interesting  of  the  museum  accessions  are 
a  snuff  box  which  formerly  belonged  to  Samuel  Slater,  which 
was  presented  by  Mr.  Thomas  Durfee  and  Miss  Dorothy 
Durfee ;  a  cane  formerly  the  property  of  Thomas  W.  Dorr, 
which  was  presented  by  Mr.  Edward  Carrington;  and  a  cane 
made  out  of  a  narwhal's  tooth,  which  was  presented  by  Pro- 
fessor Wilfred  H.  Munro. 

Mr.  J.  N.  Kimball  of  New  York  gave  to  the  Society  one  of 
the  political  banners  that  was  carried  in  the  Dorr  War.  This 
makes  the  ninth  Dorr  War  banner  in  our  museum. 

Mile.  Marie  Louise  Bonier's  "Debuts  de  la  Colonic  Franco- 
Americaine  de  Woonsocket"  is  a  very  valuable  contribution  to 
Rhode  Island  history. 

The  Netopian  for  September,  1920,  published  a  reproduc- 
tion of  the  Society's  oil  painting  of  the  "September  Gale,"  and 
in  the  October  number  published  a  reproduction  of  Col.  Shep- 
ley's  rare  lithograph  of  the  same  subject. 

An  illustrated  monograph  on  the  "Ships  and  Shipmasters  of 


ACTIVE    MEMBERS 


27 


Old  Providence"  has  been  issued  by  the  Providence  Institu- 
tion for  Savings. 

The  October  Bulletin  of  the  Newport  Historical  Society  con- 
tains a  paper  by  Dr.  Terry  on  "The  Early  Relations  between 
the  Colonies  of  New  Plymouth  and  Rhode  Island." 

Governor  Bourn's  "Rhode  Island  Addresses"  has  been  print- 
ed as  an  attractive  volume. 


List  of  Members  of  the 
Rhode  Island  Historical  Society 

Active  Members. 

No  list  of  members  of  the  Society  has  been  printed  for  sev- 
eral years,  and  as  we  have  had  numerous  requests  for  such  a 
list,  we  have  decided  to  include  it  in  this  number  of  the  Col- 
lections. 


Abbot,  Gen.  Charles  W.,  Jr. 
Adams,  Mr.  Benjamin  B. 
Addeman,  Hon.  Joshua 'M. 
Aldred,  Mr.  Frederick  W. 
Aldrich,  Mr.  Charles  T. 
Aldrich,  Mr.  Edward  K.,  Jr. 
Aldrich,  Mr.  Richard  S. 
Allen,  Mrs.  Crawford  C. 
Allen,  Mr.  Francis  O. 
Allen,  Mr.  Frederick  W. 
Allen,  Mr.  Philip 
Angell,  Mr.  Walter  F. 
Anthony,  Mr.  Albert  L. 
Anthony,  Mr.  Edwin  P. 
Armour,  Mr.  William 
Arnold,  Mrs.  Arthur  H. 
Arnold,  Mr.  Christopher  B. 
Arnold,  Mr.  Edward  E. 
Arnold,  Mr.  Fred  A. 
Arnold,  Mr.  Frederick  W. 
Arnold,  Mrs.  Howard  C. 
Austin,  Mr.  Leonard  N. 
Atwood,  Mr.  James  A.,  Jr. 


Babcock,  Mr.  Albert 
Babcock,  Mrs.  Albert 
Bacon,  Mrs.  Nathaniel  T. 
Baker,  Mr.  Albert  A. 
Baker,  'Miss  Esther  H. 
Balch,  Miss  Mary  H. 
Baldwin,  Mr.  Luther  C. 
Ballou,  Mr.  Frederick  D. 
Barker,  Mr.  Henry  A. 
Barnes,  Harry  Lee,  M.  D. 
Barnes,  Mrs.  Nellie  A. 
Barrows,  Mr.  Arthur  C. 
Barrows,  Hon.  Chester  W. 
Bates,  'Mr.  Francis  E. 
Bates,  W.  Lincoln,  M.  D. 
Beckwith,  Mrs.  Daniel 
Beeckman,  Hon.  R.  Livington 
Belcher,  Mr.  Horace  G. 
Bennett,  Mr.  Mark  N. 
Binney,  Mr.  William,  Jr. 
Blanding,  Mr.  William  O. 
Blumer,  G.  Alder,  M.  D. 
Bogert,  Mrs.  Theodore  P. 


28 


RHODE   ISLAND   HISTORICAL   SOCIETY 


Bosworth,  Hon.  Orrin  L. 
Bourn,  Hon.  Augustus  O. 
Bowen,  Mr.  Henry 
Bowen,  Mr.  Richard  M. 
Brayton,  Miss  Elizabeth  H. 
Bridgham,  Miss  Ida  F. 
Briggs,  Mrs.  Annie  M. 
Brigham,  Mr.  Herbert  O. 
Brightman,  Miss  Eva  St.  C. 
Brouwer,  Mrs.  Clarence  A. 
Brown,  Mr.  Clarence  Irving 
Brown,  Col.  Cyrus  P. 
Brown,  Mr.  Frank  Hail 
Brown,  Mrs.  Frank  Hail 
Brown,  Hon.  George  T. 
Brown,  Col.  H.  Martin 
Brown,  Col.  Robert  P. 
Bubier,  Mr.  Charles  W. 
Bucklin,  Mr.  Edward  C. 
Bucklin,  Mr.  Harris  H. 
Bucklin,  Miss  Jane  W. 
Bufifum,  Miss  Clara 
Buffum,  Mr.  Frederick  H. 
Burchard,  Hon.  Roswell  B. 
Burlingame,  Mr.  Edwin  A. 
Buxton,  G.  Edward,  M.  D. 
Cady,  Mr.  JohnH. 
Calder,  Mr.  Albert  L.,  2nd 
Calef,  Frank  T.,  M.  D. 
Calef,  Mr.  Herbert  C. 
Callender,  Mr.  Walter  R. 
Callender,  Mr.  Walter 
Capwell,  Miss  Caroline  E. 
Carpenter,  Mr.  Francis  W. 
Carr,  Mr.  Frederick  D. 
Carr,  Mrs.  George  W. 
Carrington,  Mr.  Edward 
Carrington,  Mrs.  Edward 
Carroll,  Mr.  William 
Case,  Mr.  Norman  S. 
Chace,  Miss  Anna  H. 
Chace,  Mrs.  Henry  R. 
Chace,  Mr.  James  H. 


Chace,  Mr.  Malcolm  G. 
Chandler,  Mr.  George  Allen 
Chapin,  Charles  V.,  M.  D. 
Chapin,  Mrs.  Charles  V. 
Chapin,  Mr.  Howard  >M. 
Chapin,  Mrs.  Howard  M. 
Chapin,  Mr.  William  W. 
Chapman,  W.  Louis,  M.  D. 
Chase.  Julian  A.,  M.  D. 
Chase,  Rev.  Loring  B. 
Cheesman,  Mr.  Merton  A. 
Claflin,  Mr.  Albert  W. 
Claflin,  Mr.  Arthur  W. 
Clark,  Mr.  Harry  C 
Coggeshall,  Mrs.  James  H. 
Collier,  Prof.  Theodore 
Collins,  Mrs.  Clarkson  A.,  Jr. 
Collins,  George  L.,  M.  D. 
Colt,  Hon.  LeBaron  B. 
Colt,  Col.  Samuel  P. 
Comstock,  Mr.  Andrew  B. 
Comstock,  Mr.  Louis  H. 
Comstock,  Mr.  Richard  B. 
Comstock,  Mr.  Richard  W.,  Jr. 
Comstock,  Mrs.  W.  A.  H. 
Comstock.  Mr.  Walter  J. 
Conant,  Mr.  Samuel  M. 
Cook,  Mr.  C.  D. 
Craig,  Mr.  Ernest  S. 
Crane,  Prof.  Verner  W. 
Cranston,  Mr.  Frank  H. 
Cross,  Mr.  Harry  Parsons 
Curtis,  Mr.  Harold  R. 
Danf  orth,  Murray  S.,  M.  D. 
Dart,  Mr.  William  C. 
Davis,  Mr.  Jeffrey 
Davis,  Miss  Mary  Elliott 
Davol,  Mr.  Charles  J. 
Day,  Frank  L.,M.D. 
Delabarre,  Prof.  Edmund  B. 
Dempsey,  Mr.  George  C. 
Denham,  Mr.  Edward 
Dexter,  Mr.  George  W. 


ACTIVE    MEMBERS 


29 


Dexter,  Mr.  Henry  C. 
Diman,  Miss  Louise 
Dooley,  Mr.  Michael  F. 
Douglas,  Hon.  William  W. 
Downes,  Mrs.  Louis  W. 
Doyle,  Miss  Sarah  E. 
Draper,  Mr.  William  Henry 
Drown,  Mr.  Charles  L. 
Dunlop,  Mr.  Charles  D. 
Dyer,  Col.  H.  Anthony 
Easton,  Mr.  Charles  G. 
Easton,  Mr.  Frederick  W. 
Eddy,  Miss  Isabel 
Edgren,  Mr.  J.  Urban 
Edwards,  Miss  Edith 
Edwards,  Mr.  Walter  A. 
Elgar,  Mr.  James 
Ely,  Mr.  William 
Emerson,  Mr.  Frank  W. 
Estes,  Mr.  William  W. 
Fanning,  Mr.  Martin  S. 
Faunce,  Pres.  William  H.  P. 
Fifield,  Mr.  HenryA. 
Fiske,  Mr.  Augustus  H. 
Fiske,  Rev.  George  McC. 
Fletcher,  Mrs.  Charles 
Flint,  Mr.  Dutee  Wilcox 
Flint,  Mr.  Elliot 
Ford,  Mr.  William  H. 
Foster,  !^Ir.  Charles  S. 
Foster,  Mr.  Theodore  W. 
Foster,  Mr.  William  E. 
Freeman,  Hon.  James  F. 
Freeman,  Mr.  John  R. 
Freeman.  Hon.  Joseph  W. 
Fuller,  Mr.  Frederick  H. 
Gainer,  Hon.  Joseph  H. 
Gammell,  Mr.  William 
Gammell,  Mr.  William.,  Jr. 
Gamwell,  Mr.  William  A. 
Gardner,  Prof.  Henry  B. 
Gardner,  Hon.  Rathbone 
Gibson,  Mr.  S.  Ashley 


Gillespie,  Mr.  Lawrence  L. 
Goddard,  Mr.  Robert  H.  L 
Goddard,  Mrs.  William 
Goodwin,  Rev.  Daniel 
Goss,  Mr.  Harry  Hale 
Green,  Hon.  Theodore  Francis 
Greene,  Mr.  Edward  Aborn 
Greene,  Mr.  W^illiam  C. 
Greenough,  Hon.  William  B. 
Gross,  Col.  Harold  J. 
Guild,  Miss  Georgiana 
Hadley,  Mrs.  Ralph  V. 
Hallett,  Rev.  Frank  T. 
Ham,  Mr.  Livingston 
Harrington,  Mr.  Ernest  S. 
Harrington,  Mr.  Gilbert  A. 
Harris,  Mr.  Robert 
Harrison.  Mr.  George  A. 
Hatch,  ^Ir.  Willard  T. 
Hathaway,  Mr.  William  A. 
Hazard,  Miss  Caroline 
Hazard,  Mr.  Rowland 
Hazard,  Mr.  Thomas  G.,  Jr. 
Healy,  Mr.  Frank 
Healy,  Mrs.  Frank 
Heathcote,  Mrs.  W.  E. 
Henius,  Mr.  Arthur 
Henshaw,  Mr.  John 
Hodgman,  Mr.  William  L. 
Holden,  Mr.  George  J. 
Horton,  Mr.  Charles  A. 
Horton,  Mr.  Walter  E. 
Howard,  Mr.  Elisha  H. 
Howe,  Mr.  M.  A.  DeWolfe 
Hoyt,  Mr.  David  W. 
Hunt,  Mr.  Horatio  A. 
Hurley,  Mr.  Richard  A. 
Hyde,  Mr.  James  Hazen 
Isham,  Mr.  Norman  M. 
Jackson,  Mr.  Benjamin  A. 
Jackson,  Mr.  Benjamin  M. 
Jepherson,  Mr.  George  A. 
Johnson,  Mrs.  Edward  L. 


30 


RHODE  ISLAND  HISTORICAL  SOCIETY 


Joyce,  Mr.  Edward  C. 
Kimball,  Hon.  Charles  D. 
Kimball,  Mrs.  Charles  D. 
King,  Eugene  P.,  M.  D. 
King,  Mr.  George  Gordon 
King,  Col.  H.  Irving 
King,  Mr.  Victor  H. 
Kingsley,  Mr.  Nathan  G. 
Knight,  Miss  Amelia  S. 
Knight,  Mr.  Robert  L. 
Knight,  Mrs.  Robert  L. 
Knight,  Mr.  Russell  W. 
Koopman,  Prof.  Harry  L. 
Lawton,  Hon.  George  R. 
Lee,  Hon.  Thomas  Z. 
Lenz,  Mrs.  Sarah  G. 
Leonard,  Charles  H.,  M.  D. 
Leonard,  Miss  Grace  F. 
Lewis,  Mr.  George  H. 
Lewis,  Mr.  Joseph  W. 
Lincoln,  Mr.  Ferdinand  A. 
Lippitt,  Hon.  Charles  Warren 
Lippitt,  Mrs.  Charles  Warren 
Lippitt,  Mr.  Charles  Warren,  Jr, 
LipRitt,  Mr.  Gorton  T. 
Lippitt,  Hon.  Henry  F. 
Lisle,  Mr.  Arthur  B. 
Littlefield,  Mr.  Charles  W. 
Littlefield,  Hon.  Nathan  W. 
Lord,  Rev.  Augustus  M. 
Loring,  Mr.  W.  C. 
Luther,  Mr.  Frederick  N. 
Lyman,  Mr.  Richard  E. 
MacColl,  Mr.  Hugh  F. 
Mackinney,  Mr.  Charles  B. 
Maine,  MV.  Herbert  E. 
Marshall,  Mr.  Charles  C. 
Mason,  Mr.  Fletcher  S. 
Mason,  Mr.  Harold 
Mason,  Mr.  John  H. 
Matteson,  Mr.  Frank  W. 
McAuslan,  Mr.  William  A. 
McDonnell,  Mr.  T.  F.  L 


McDonnell,  Mrs.  T.  F.  L 
Meader,  Mr.  Lewis  H. 
Merriman,  Mr.  Isaac  B. 
Metcalf,  Harold,  M.  D. 
Metcalf,  Mr.  Jesse  H. 
Metcalf,  Mrs.  Jesse  H. 
Metcalf,  Mrs.  Stephen  O. 
Miller,  Mr.  William  Davis 
Miner,  Mr.  George  L. 
Moriarty,  Mr.  G.  A.,  Jr. 
Mowry,  Mr.  Wendell  A. 
Mulchahey,  Mr.  Edward  I. 
Munroe,  Hon.  Addison  P. 
Munro,  Walter  L.,  M.  D. 
Munro,  Prof.  Wilfred  H. 
Muncy,  William  M.,  M.  D. 
Murdie,  Mr.  Walter  M. 
Newell,  Mr.  James  S. 
Newhall,  Mr.  George  H. 
Newman,  Mr.  Louis  C. 
Nicholson,  Mr.  Paul  C. 
Nicholson,  Col.  Samuel  M. 
Nightingale,  Mr.  George  C,  Jr. 
Nightingale,  Mr.  George  C. 
Noyes,  Mr.  Charles  P. 
Olcott,  Miss  Mary 
Olney,  Mrs.  Frank  F. 
Ostbv,  Mr.  Erling  C. 
Ostby,  Mr.  Harald  W. 
Over,  Mr.  Spencer  H. 
Paddock,  Mr.  Miner  H. 
Parsons,  Mr.  G.  Richmond 
Partridge,  H.  G.,  M.  D. 
Peck,  Miss  Elizabeth  A. 
Peck,  Mr.  Frederick  S. 
Peck,  Mrs.  Frederick  S. 
Peck,  Mrs.  Leander  R. 
Peck,  Mr.  Stephen  I. 
Peckham,  Charles  F.,  M.  D. 
Peirce,  Mr.  George  E. 
Peirce,  Mrs.  George  E. 
Peirce,  Mr.  Thomas  A. 
Perry,  Mr.  Charles  M. 


ACTIVE    MEMBERS 


31 


Perry,  Rt.  Rev.  James  DeWolf ,  Jr. 
Perry,  Mr.  Marsden  J. 
Peters,  John  M.,  M.  D. 
Philbrick,  Mr.  Charles  H. 
Phillips,  Mrs.  Gilbert  A. 
Pierce,  Mr.  Augustus  R. 
Pierce,  Mr.  Byron  A. 
Pierce,  Mr.  Frank  L. 
Pitts,  Hermon  C,  M.  D. 
Poland,  Prof.  William  C. 
Porter,  Lewis  B.,  M.  D. 
Potter,  Mrs.  Dexter  B. 
Powel,  Mrs.  Samuel 
Preston,  Mr.  Howard  W. 
Preston,  Mrs.  Howard  W. 
Quinn,  Mr.  Patrick  H. 
Radeke,  Mrs.  Gustav 
Ranger,  Mr.  Walter  E. 
Raps,  Mrs.  Henry  G. 
Rathbun,  Hon.  Elmer  J. 
Rathom,  Mr.  John  R. 
Rawson,  Mr.  Thomas  B. 
Remington,  Mr.  Charles  C. 
Remington,  Mr.  John  A. 
Rhode  Island  State  College 
Rice,  Hon.  Herbert  A. 
Richmond,  Mr.  Henry  Isaac 
Richmond,  Mrs.  Howard 
Robinson,  Mr.  Louis  E. 
Rockwell,  Mr.  Charles  B. 
Rodman,  Mr.  Robert 
Roelker,  Mr.  William  G. 
Rogers,  Rev.  Arthur 
Sabre,  Mr.  George  W. 
Sackett,  Mr.  Henry  W. 
Seabury,  Miss  Irene  T. 
Sharpe^  Mr.  Henry  D. 
Sharpe,  Mr.  L. 
Shaw,  Mrs.  Frederick  E. 
Shepley,  Col.  George  L. 
Sioussat,  Prof.  St.  George  L. 
Sisson,  Mrs.  Charles 
Slade,  Mr.  William  A. 


Slader,  Mr.  Henry  L. 
Smith,  Mr.  Charles  Morris,  Jr. 
Smith,  R.  Morton,  M.  D. 
Smith,  Mr.  Nathaniel  W. 
Smith,  Mr.  Walter  B. 
Spicer,  George  T.,  M.  D. 
Sprague,  Mr.  Henry  S. 
Stark,  Mr.  Charles  R. 
Staton,  Mrs.  James  G. 
Stearns,  Hon.  Charles  F. 
Steedman,  Mrs.  Charles  J. 
Steere,  Mr.  Thomas  E. 
Stevens,  Miss  Maud  Lyman 
Stillman,  Mr.  Elisha  C. 
Stiness,  Mr.  Edward  Clinton 
Stites,  Mr.  Henry  Y. 
Stockwell,  Mr.  George  A. 
Stone,  Mr.  William  S. 
Straight,  Mr.  Charles  T. 
Street,  Mr.  John  F. 
Studley,  Hon.  J.  Edward 
Sturgess,  Mr.  Rush 
Swan,  Mr.  Frank  H. 
Swarts,  Gardner  T.,  M'.  D. 
Sumner,  Hon.  Arthur  P. 
Sweeney,  Hon.  John  W. 
Taft,  Mr.  Royal  C. 
Taft,  Mr.  Robert  W. 
Thornley, 'Mr.  William  H. 
Tillinghast,  Mr.  William  R. 
Tower,  Mr.  James  H. 
Tripp,  Mr.  Frederick  E. 
Tully,  Mr.  William  J. 
Updike,  Mr.  D.  Berkeley 
Viall,  Mr.  William  A. 
Vincent,  Hon.  Walter  B. 
Wall,  Mr.  A.  Tingley 
Warner,  Mr.  Clarance  M. 
Warren,  Mr.  Charles  H. 
Washburn,  Rev.  Arthur  L. 
Waterman,  Mr.  Lewis  A. 
Watrous,  Hon.  Ralph  C. 
Watson,  Col.  Byron  S. 


32 


RHODE  ISLAND  HISTORICAL  SOCIETY 


Watson,  Mr.  John  J. 
Weeden,  IVfrs.  William  B. 
Welling,  Mr.  Richard 
West,  Mr.  Thomas  H.,  Jr. 
Westcott,  Mr.  Charles  E. 
Westcott,  Mrs.  Charles  E. 
Wetmore,  Hon.  George  Peabody 
White,  Mr.  Hunter  C. 
White,  Mr.  Willis  H. 


Wilbour,  Mr.  Victor 
Wilder,  Mr.  Frank  J. 
Wilkinson,  Mrs.  E.  K. 
Williams,  W.  Fred,  M.  D. 
Willson,  Miss  Amey  L. 
Wing,  Mr.  William  A. 
Winship,  Mrs.  George  P. 
Woods,  Hon.  John  Carter  Brown 


William  Coddington's  Seals 


Wilham  Coddmgton  used  two  seals  while  residing  in  New  England 
one  of  these  seals  bears  the  Belliugham  armorial  shield.  This  seal 
appears  on  several  of  Coddington's  letters  which  are  preserved  in  the 
Massachusetts  Historical  Society  and  differs  slightly  from  a  similar  ar- 
morial seal  used  by  Gov.  Bellmgham.  Theother  seal  used  by  Coddington 
bears  the  initials  -R  C."  These  seals  may  serve  as  genealogical  clews  - 
The  latter  seal  Coddington  may  have  inherited  from  his  father  or  grand^ 
father  and  the  former  one  may  have  come  from  his  maternal  grand- 
be?nareladv?'''"""'''°"  '"'°^  °'  Bellingham  and  may  have 


Rhode  Island 

Historical    Society 

Collections 

Vol.  XIV  April,  1921  No.  2 

CONTENTS 


PAGE 

An  Account  of  the  English  Homes  of  the  Three  Early 
"Proprietors"  of  Providence 
By  Fred  A.  Arnold 33 


Early  Powder  Horns 

By  Charles  D.  Cook 50 

Notes 57 

Report  of  the  Treasurer 59 

Books  and  Objects  desired  by  the 

Rhode  Island  Historical  Society          ...  64     \ 

$3.00  per  year  Issued  Quarterly     j    ;.  75  cents  poi^pv 


r*^ 


t 


RHODE 
HISTORICAL 


ISLAND 
SOCIETY 


COLLECTIONS 


Vol.  XIV 


April,  1921 


No.  2. 


WILFRED  H.MUNROE,  President       EDWARD  K.  ALDRICHjr.,  Treasurer 
Howard  W.Preston,  Secretary   Howard  M.Chapin,  Librarian 

Please  address  communications  to  Howard  M.  Chapin,  Librarian, 
68  Waterman  Street,  Providence,  R.  I. 


The  Society  assumes  no  responsibility   for  the  statements  or  the 
opinions  of  contributors. 


An  Account  of  the  English  Homes  of  the  Three 
Early  "Proprietors"  of  Providence 

By  Fred  A.  Arnold 

On  June  24,  1635,  there  arrived  in  Massachusetts  Bay  a 
group  of  neighbors,  nearly  all  related,  either  by  blood  or  mar- 
riage. They  had  sailed  from  Dartmouth  in  Devonshire  May 
I  of  the  same  year,  all  but  one  of  the  party,  William  Car- 
penter, coming  from  Ilchester,  in  southern  Somersetshire  or 
within  about  five  miles  of  that  place.  The  leader  of  the  party 
was  William  Arnold  whose  48th  birthday  was  the  day  of  their 
arrival.  His  oldest  son  Benedict  one  of  the  party,  a  lad  19 
years  of  age  at  that  time,  has  given  us  the  only  account  that 
we  have  of  their  embarkation,  in  his  own  family  record, 
written  probably  soon  after  his  removal  to  Newport  in  1651. 
which  begins  as  follows. 

"Memorandom.  We  came  from  Providence  with  our 
ffamily  to  Dwell  at  Newport  in  Rhode  Island  the   19th   of 


34  RHODE  ISLAND  HISTORICAL  SOCIETY 

November,  Thursday  in  afternoon,  &.  arived  ye  same  night 
Ano.  Domina  165 1. 

Memorandom  my  father  and  his  family  Sett  Sayle  ffrom 
Dartmouth  in  Old  England,  the  first  of  May,  friday  &. 
Arrived  In  New  England.  June  24"  Ano  1635. 

Memm.  We  came  to  Providence  to  Dwell  the  20th  of 
April  1636.  per  me  Bennedict  Arnold." 

No  other  account  of  the  sailing  of  this  vessel,  its  name,  or 
passenger  list,  has  been  found  either  in  Old  England  or  New. 
Gov.  Winthrop  records  that  within  six  weeks  from  June  4 
1635,  there  had  arrived  in  the  Bay  15  ships  with  store  of 
passengers  and  cattle,  but  gives  the  names  of  only  two,  the 
James,  Captain  Graves,  and  the  Rebecka,  Capt.  Hodges. 
Much  complaint  was  being  made  at  this  time  in  England,  and 
stringent  laws  and  orders  passed  in  order  to  prevent  the  sail- 
ing of  passengers  without  registration.  But  while  we  have 
no  official  list  of  those  coming  with  William  Arnold's  family, 
sufficient  evidence  has  been  found  to  show  that  the  following 
persons  may  have  come  on  the  same  vessel  or  if  not  on  the 
same  ship,  certainly  at  about  the  same  time  and  from  the 
same  locality;  that  upon  arriving  in  New  England,  they  sep- 
arated for  a  while,  each  family  in  its  own  way  seeking  a  good 
location  for  settlement  and  that  while  so  engaged  in  the  fall 
and  winter  of  1635,  they  met  with  Roger  Williams  and  others, 
his  friends  then  planning  a  new  settlement,  abandoned  plans 
of  there  own  partially  made,  joined  forces  with  him,  and  so 
became  among  the  first  settlers  and  proprietors  of  Providence 
— they  were  William  Arnold,  aged  48.  son  of  Nicholas  and 
Alice  (Gully)  Arnold  of  Ilchester;  his  wife,  C^hristian  Peak, 
aged  51,  daughter  of  Thomas  Peak  of  Muchelney,  anciently 
Mochelney;  their  children  Elizabeth  Arnold,  aged  23.  Bene- 
dict Arnold,  aged  19.  Joane  Arnold  17.  Stephen  Arnold  12. 
Thomas  19,  and  Frances  Hopkins  21,  children  of  William  and 
Joane  (Arnold)  Hopkins.  William  Man,  husband  of  Frances 
Hopkins,  William  Carpenter,  son  of  Richard  Carpenter  of 
Amesbury,  Wiltshire,  husband  of  Elizabeth  Arnold.  Stukeley 


ENGLISH  HOMES  OF  THREE  EARLY  "PROPRIETORS"    35 

Westcott  43.  of  Yeovil  and  his  Wife  name  unknown  with 
children,  RoUert  Westcott,  Samuel  Westcott,  13.  born  at 
Yeovil  Mar.  31  1622  Damaris  Westcott,  later  wife  of  Bene- 
dict Arnold;  Amos  Westcott,  4.  Mercy  Westcott,  and  Jere- 
miah Westcott. 

The  evidence  upon  which  this  list  of  names  and  places  is 
based  is,  first  the  "family  record"  brought  from  England  by 
William  Arnold,  Second  a  deed  from  William  Carpenter, 
recorded  at  Providence,  third,  researches  made  in  the  summer 
of  1902  at  Northover,  Wells,  and  elsewhere  in  England,  by  the 
late  Edson  Salisbury  Jones  Esq.  of  Port  Chester,  N.  Y.  and 
fourth  the  Bishop's  Transcripts  of  Somerset  parish  records  now 
being  published  by  Mr.  Dwelly  of  Hants,  Eng.  The  "family 
record"  of  William  Arnold,  preserved  and  extended  for  six 
generations  in  the  family  of  his  son  Gov.  Benedict,  and  cov- 
ering a  period  of  two  hundred  and  twenty  three  years,  was 
found  in  1878,  by  the  Hon.  Isaac  N.  Arnold,  president  of  the 
Chicago  Historical  Society  in  the  hands  of  Mr.  P.  A. 
McEwan  Esq.  of  Windsor,  Canada,  and  is  printed  in  the  N. 
E.  Gen.  Register  for  1879.  Vol  23,  p.  427.  I  quote  the  portion 
that  seems  to  have  been  written  by  William  Arnold  himself, 
and  gives  only  records  of  baptisms  and  births.  No  marriages 
or  burials. 

"A  Register,  or  true  account  of  my  owne  agge,  with  my 
Mother,  my  Wife,  my  Brothers  and  Sisters,  and  Others  of 
my  frinds  and  acqaufitance. 

1.  Imprimis  Alee  Gully  the  Daughter  of  John  Gully  of 
Northover.  Who  was  my  Mother,  was  Baptized  ye  29: 
Septem  1553. 

2.  Tamzen,  my  Sister  was  Baptised  the  4°  of  Jany.  1571. 

3.  Joane  Arnold,  my  Sister  was  Baptized  the  30°  of 
November  in  the  yeare  I577- 

4.  Margery  Arnold,  my  Sister  was  Baptized  the  30°  of 
August,  1 581. 

5.  I  William  Arnold,  their  Brother  was  Borne  the  24°  of 
June,  1587. 


36  RHODE  ISLAND  HISTORICAL  SOCIETY 

6.  Robert  Arnold,  my  Brother  was  Baptized  the   i8th  of 
October,  1593. 

7.  Elizabeth  Arnold,  my  Sister  was  borne  the  9°  of  April, 
1596. 

[2] 

8.  Thomas  Arnold  my  Brother,  my  Mother  in  lawes  Sonne, 
was  Baptized  the  18°  April,  1599. 

9.  Elenor  Arnold,  my  Sister  was  Baptized  the  31°  of  July,' 
1603. 

The  age  of  my  Sister  Tamzens  Children. 

1.  Robert  Hacker  was  Baptized  the  22°  of  Jany.  1597. 

2.  Francis  Hacker  was  Baptized  the  24°  of  Jany.  1599. 

3.  John  Hacker  their  brother    was    Baptized  the  25°   of 
October,  1601. 

4.  William  Hacker  was  Baptized  the  31°  of  October,  1604. 

5.  Alee  Hacker  was  Baptized  the  25  of  August,  1607. 

6.  Mary  Hacker  was  Baptized  the  4th  of  March,  1609. 

7.  Thomas  Hacker  was  Baptized  the  7th  of  April,  1616. 

[3] 

1.  Christian  the  Daughter    of    Thomas    Peak  of  Muoheny 
my  wife  was  Baptized  the  15°   of  February,  1583. 

2.  Elizabeth  Arnold  our  Daughter  was  borne  the  23°   of 
November,  1611. 

3.  Benedict    Arnold    her    Brother    was    borne    the    21°    of 
December,  1615. 

4.  Joane  Arnold  their  Sister  was  borne  the  2^°   of  Feby, 
1617. 

5.  Steven  Arnold  their    Brother    was    borne    the  22°    of 
December,  1622. 

The  age  of  my  Sister  Joane's  Children. 

1.  Frances  Hopkins  was  Baptized  the  28°  of  May,  1614. 

2.  Thomas  Hopkins  her  brother  was  Baptized  the  7°  of 
April,  1 61 6. 

3.  Elizabeth  Hopkins  was  Baptized  the  3°  of  July,  1619. 
The  age  of  some  of  my  Brother  Thomas  Children. 

1.  Thomas  his  Sonne  was  born  the  3°  of  May,  1625. 

[4] 

2.  Nicholas  Arnold  was  Baptized  the  15°  of  January,  1627. 
I.     Tamzen  Holman  was  Baptized  the  16°  Deer,  1619. 


ENGLISH  HOMES  OF  THREE  EARLY  "PROPRIETORS"    37 

2.  Mary  the  Daughter  of  Julian  Kidgill  was  Baptized  24° 
July,  1627. 

Jeremiah  Rhodes  the  Sonne  of  Zachary  Rhodes  was  borne 
at  Pawtuxet  the  29°  of  ye  4  month  commonly  called  June  in 
Anno  Dom.  1647." 

It  is  in  evidence  that  this  record  was  known  in  other  branches 
of  the  family  before  this  printing,  but  it  does  not  seem  to  have 
come  to  the  general  attention  of  others,  and  has  not  received 
the  recognition  its  importance  deserved,  perhaps  from  the  fact 
that  no  corroborative  evidence  was  then  known  or  could  easily 
be  procured,  short  of  an  expensive  trip  to  England  with  much 
hard  work.  It  was  not  until  1902,  that  any  successful  attempt 
was  made  to  verify  it  by  a  search  for  the  Northover  record  with 
which  it  commences.  In  that  year  Mr.  Edson  Salisbury  Jones 
a  descendant  of  Thomas  and  Phebe  (Parkhurst)  Arnold  of 
Watertown,  Mass.,  and  Providence,  R.  I.,  who  had  been  en- 
gaged for  several  years  in  genealogical  research  in  New  Eng- 
land, visited  Somersetshire,  located  the  only  place  known  to 
English  gazetteers  as  Northover,  found  its  rector  at  Liming- 
ton,  (he  being  in  charge  of  both  branches),  and  saw  the  ancient 
register  with  the  original  entry  of  the  baptisms  of  Alice 
Gullye,  and  Tomsine  Arnold,  William  Arnold's  mother  and 
sister. 

The  following  account  of  his  visit  to  Somersetshire,  is 
quoted  from  letters  of  Mr.  Jones  to  the  writer  in  1914-15: 
"When  I  was  there  in  1902,  I  devoted  all  the  time  I  could  to 
Arnolds'.  On  this  visit,  I  rushed  by  express  train  from  Can- 
terbury, Kent,  to  London,  got  a  bite,  then  by  train  to  Yeovil, 
5  miles  south  of  Ilchester.  Next  morning,  hired  a  pony  and 
cart  and  drove  to  Northover  through  Ilchester  (they  are  small 
places  adjoining;  Limington  is  about  i  mile  east).  I  was  in 
the  locality  only  half  a  day  (working  all  the  time).  Rector  of 
Northover  and  Limington  was  the  same  man,  living  in  latter 
place.  Saw  him  and  earliest  register  of  Limington  (Began 
1681).  Northover  register  was  in  hands  of  a  church  warden 
there  (began  with  sparce  entries  in  1531).  Rector  of  Ilchester 
was  away,  but  clerk  got  out  first  extant  register  (began  1690). 


38  RHODE   ISLAND   HISTORICAL   SOCIETY 

at  former's  house.  I  also  searched  the  Yeovil  register  (began 
1563) — devoting  all  the  time  that  the  curate  could  give  me.  A 
Thomas  Arnold  was  married  there  1572  to  Agnes  Bowden ; 
and  a  Mary  in  1578  to  Tom  Collins.  No  other  Arnolds  seen. 
But,  Stukly  Westcott  had  a  son,  Samuel,  baptized  there 
March  31,  1622.  You  give  Stukely  as  a  Devonshire  man,  but 
my  notes  from  Judge  Bullock's  Westcote  Genealogy  have-^ 
born  1592  probably  in  Co.  Devon.  I  never  learned  why  the 
Judge  made  the  guess,  and  recall  nothing  really  suggesting  it. 
Don't  say  that  the  Yeovil  Stukly  was  the  Providence  man,  but 
the  item  shows  that  one  of  the  name  was  of  Co.  Somerset  in 
1622." 

This  letter  shows  that  in  this  vicinity  he  found  only  two 
parish  registers,  at  Northover  and  Yeovil,  with  dates  earlier 
than  1635,  but  later  at  Wells  he  found  in  the  "Bishops  Tran- 
scripts" many  returns  from  St.  Mary's,  the  parish  church  of 
Ilchester — from  1595  to  1635 — The  finding  of  the  original  reg- 
ister of  Northover  is  to  us  the  most  interesting  fact  connected 
with  his  search  here,  containing  as  it  does  the  baptismal  rec- 
ord of  Alice  Gully,  and  Tomsine  Arnold,  the  mother  and  sister 
of  William  Arnold,  names  and  dates  agreeing  to  the  minutest 
particular,  and  thus  conclusively  proving  the  accuracy  of  the 
William  Arnold  "family  record,"  and  with  the  additional  in- 
formation, now  for  the  first  time  found,  that  the  father  of 
Tomsine  and  William,  was  Nicholas  Arnold  Jan.  4,  1571. 
(1571/2)  15  Elizabeth,  this  being  the  earliest  recorded  date  so 
far  found  in  the  direct  line  in  this  branch  of  the  Arnold  fam- 
ily. These  facts  cannot  be  too  strongly  stated ;  such  evidence 
would  be  received  as  final  in  any  court  of  law  in  England. 

The  Arnold  entries  found  are  as  follows :  "Baptizat,  Alice 
lilia  John  Gullye  29°  Septembris  A°  D  m  1553.  Tamsine  filia 
Nicholas  Arnolde  4°  January  A°  D  m  1571."  (The  mother, 
sister  and  father  of  William  Arnold.)  No  other  Arnold  bap- 
tisms are  found,  although  the  entries  appear  to  be  complete 
for  several  years ;  the  real  reason  being  that  between  the  birth 
of  Tomasine  in  1571.  and  Joane  in  1577  their  father  Nicholas 
had  removed  with  his  family  into  the  compact  part  of  Ilches- 
ter and  estabhshed  himself  there  in  business,  as  a  Merchant 


ENGLISH  HOMES  OF  THREE  EARLY  "PROPRIETORS"    39 

tailor.  The  only  Arnold  marriages  found  are  those  of  "1558 — 
Margaret  Arnold  and  Christopher  Tuck.  1603.  Margery 
Arnold  and  Thomas  Burnard."  (The  latter  being  the  sister  of 
William,  born  in  1581.)  No  Arnold  burials  are  found  at 
Northover  before  1700.  John  and  Alice  Gully  the  parents  of 
Alice  Arnold  were  propably  born  there  before  1508,  the  last 
year  of  the  reign  of  Henry  VTL,  before  the  era  of  registration 
had  commenced  in  England,  but  the  Northover  records  show 
the  birth  to  them  of  8  children  before  that  of  Alice  in  1553, 
the  burial  of  3,  Elizabeth,  Robert  and  Christian  between  1543 
and  1546,  and  the  burial  of  a  grand  daughter  lone,  the  daugh- 
ter of  John  Gully,  Jr.,  in  1550.  From  this  last  date  we  ap- 
proximate the  birth  date  of  John  Sen.,  John  Gully  Jr.  was 
buried  1559,  his  mother  and  father,  "Alice  Gullye  ye  wife  of 
John  Gullye  11°  Aprilis  Anno  Dm  1583°  aged  about  y^y  John 
Gullye  was  buried  15°  Septembris  Anno  Dm  1591°"  age  about 
81.  At  this  latter  date  their  grand  son  William  Arnold,  4  years 
eld  was  living  at  Ilchester.  All  of  the  Gully  family  except 
Alice  (Arnold,)  are  buried  in  the  church  yard  of  "Old  St. 
Andrew."  The  records  furnish  us  nothing  more  than  these  bare 
names  and  dates,  to  throw  any  light  upon  their  history  or 
character.  We  only  know  that  they  were  of  strong,  virile 
stock,  raised  a  large  family  and  lived  here  four  score  years,, 
during  one  of  the  most  interesting  and  important  periods  in 
English  history,  that  of  the  reformation,  which  redeemed  it 
from  popish  rule,  and  placed  the  Church  and  nation  under  the 
supremacy  of  the  King. 

A  short  sketch  of  the  location,  and  the  times  in  which  they 
lived  will  be  of  interest  and  perhaps  serve  as  a  background  for 
what  little  personal  knowledge  we  have  gleaned  of  them  from 
the  records. 

The  little  parish  or  hamlet  of  Northover  is  on  the  Foss 
road,  on  the  north  side  of  the  river  Ivel,  at  its  crossing  by 
the  ancient  Roman  ford,  and  is  really  only  a  suberb  of  Ilches- 
ter, on  the  south  side  of  the  river,  with  which  it  is  now  con- 
nected by  an  arched  stone  bridge.  The  living  is  a  vicarge  in 
the  deanery  of  Ilchester.     Its  church,  "St.  Andrew,"  has  a 


40  RHODE  ISLAND  HISTORICAL  SOCIETY 

square  tower  with  four  bells,  and  is  in  sight  of,  and  but  half 
a  mile  distant  from  "St.  Mary  Major"  in  Ilchester. 

The  rector  of  St.  Andrew,  at  the  date  of  the  baptism  of 
Alice  Gully,  1553,  was  Thomas  Mayster,  who  held  that  office 
48  years,  from  his  appointment  in  1508,  until  his  death,  Aug. 
18,  1556.  Her  parents,  John  and  Alice  Gully,  were  born  about 
the  time  of  his  appointment  and  may  have  been  christened  and 
married  by  him ;  It  is  certain  that  all  their  children  were 
recorded  in  his  time.  His  incumbancy,  commencing  in  the 
last  year  of  the  reign  of  Henry  VH.,  covered  the  entire  reign 
of  Henry  VHI.,  38  years ;  6  years  under  his  son  "the  boy 
King"  Edward  VI.  and  3  years  of  that  of  his  daughter,  the 
"Bloody  Queen  Mary,"  who  came  so  near  restoring  the  popish 
regime  that  had  been  overthrown  by  her  father. 

During  this  time  he  saw  the  destruction  of  the  monasteries 
and  Abbeys  of  the  old  religion,  .the  supremacy  of  the  Pope 
overthrown,  and  the  substitution  of  that  of  the  King  pro- 
claimed ;  he  had  been  already  in  office  30  years  when  the  royal 
injunction  of  Henry  VIII.  was  issued,  making  it  the  duty  of 
the  clergy  to  keep  a  parish  register.  He  commenced  his  regis- 
ter that  year  and  continued  it  until  his  death  in  1556.  Mr. 
Jones  says,  it  commenced  with  sparce  entries  in  1531,  those 
before  1538  being  some  privately  kept  by  him  before  receiving 
the  order.  Mr.  R.  E.  Chester  Waters  in  his  "History  of  Par- 
ish Registers  in  England,"  says  that  but  812  of  these  registers, 
commenced  in  1538,  have  survived  the  negligence  of  their  legal 
guardians,  and  of  these,  8  only  have  been  discovered  with 
dates  earlier  than  1538,  those  of  St.  James,  Garlickhithe,  St. 
Mary  Bothaw,  of  London  and  6  others,  which  begin  in  1536. 
As  the  Northover  register  antedates  all  of  these,  it  must  be 
the  earliest  extant  register  in  England.  The  injunction  of 
1538,  was  sent  by  Thomas  Cromwell,  Lord  Privy  Seal,  to  all 
Bishops  and  Curates  throughout  the  realm  "charging  them 
to  God  that  in  every  parish  church  the  Bible  of  the  largest 
volume  should  be  placed  for  all  men  to  read  on :  and  that  the 
Curate  of  every  parish  should  keep  one  book  of  record,  which 
book  he  shall  every  Sunday  take  forth,  and  in  the  presence 


•S^f^' 


pZ-f-  jj^ 


?^if>»"»    ^i^**^'* 


L- 


ENGLISH  HOMES  OF  THREE  EARLY  "PROPRIETORS"   4I 

[The  dark  mark  at  top  is  no  doubt  due  to  nut  gall  or  other  solu- 
tion applied  to  document  to  make  it  more  legible,  while  helping  to 
obliterate  it  in  the  photo,  it  makes  writing  clear  in  original.  The  8 
items  before  "Elizabetha  filia  Thome  Bartlet"  are  given  on  the  fol- 
lowing page  (I  translated  them  when  copying  from  original  so  can- 
not give  literatim  copy)  It  is  one  of  the  few  instances  I  have  come 
across  where  the  human  eye  can  read  writing  easier  than  the  camera. 
The  blur  was  on  the  transcript  when  I  copied  it  but  by  getting  the 
skin  at  various  angles  the  items  were  deciphered  with  a  little  care.] 

1622.  Baptisms 

Baptizat 

Elizabetha  filia  Thome  Bartlet  baptizat  prima  die  Novembris. 

Stephanus  filius  williami  Arnolde  baptizat  vicessimo  sexto  die  decem- 

bris. 

Dorothea  filia  Thome  Avorde  baptizat  quinto  die  Januarij. 

Elizabetha  filia  Richardi  Hancocke  baptizat  decimo  nono  die  Januarij. 

Gratia  filia  Williami  Hopkins  baptizat  septimo  die  Februarij. 

Robertus  filius  Johanis  Hacker  baptizat  vicessimo  die  Februarij. 

Francisca  filia  Gervasii  Saunders  baptizat  octavo  die  Marti j. 

Thomas  filius  Williami  Spracklin  baptizat  nono  die  Martij. 

Maria  filia  Johais  Sims  baptizat  eodem  die  nono  Martij. 

1622.  Sepulti 

Sepult 

Edwardus  filius  Edwardi  Howman  sepultus  decimo  nono  die  Aprilis. 

Rose  James  sepulta  fuit  vicessimo  quinto  die  Aprilis. 

Alicia  Bartlet  uxor  Stephani  sepulta  vicessimo  quarto  die  Maij. 

Joana  Gullie  sepulta  fuit  tricessimo  die  Maij. 

Richardus  Mannsell  sepultus  vicessimo  primo  die  Julij. 

Elizabetha  filia  Thome  Golde  sepult  vicessimo  quinto  die  Julij. 

Gawin  filius  Johais  Sharlocke  sepultus  tricessimo  primo  die  Julij. 

Maria  serva  Walteri  Glover  sepulta  duodessimo  die  Augusti. 

Alicia  Lacie  vid :  sepulta  vicessimo  secundo  die  Septembris. 

Ambrosius  Baunton  sepult  vicessimotertio  die  Septembris. 

Joanna  Philips  vid :  sepult :  fuit  quinto  die  Octobris. 

Nicholaus  Arnolde  sepultus  vicessimo  sexte  Januarij. 

Maria   filia  Stephani  Geiland  sepulta  quarto   die   Martij. 

Thomas  Pawley  sepultus  vicessimo  primo  die  Martij. 

1622.  Mariages. 

Nuptiae. 

Henricus  Collens  et  Elizabetha  Brangwell  nupt.  sexto  die  Maij. 
Williamus  Lockier  et  Deanes  Jeanes  nupt  duodecimo  die  Maij. 
Jasper  Alambert  et  Maria  Hodges  nupt  decimo  octavo  die  Julij. 
Christopherus  Bennet  et  Thomason  nupt  septimo  die  Novembris 
pr  me  Johnne  Ravens 

rectore  de  Ilchester 

melchesadeek  Jones  I    ^u      u         a 

W„.         A        \A  C    church  wardenes 

illiam  Arnold         ) 


42  RHODE  ISLAND  HISTORICAL  SOCIETY 

1622.  Baptisms. 

Cicely  daughter  of  John. 

Joanna  daughter  of  John  Ourbury  (Overbury). 

Thomas  son  of  William  Dawe.  May  6. 

Walter  son  of  Walter  Glover. 

William  son  of  Robert  Morris  Aug.  6. 

Edward  son  of  Dawber  als  Trowe  Sept.  21. 

Angell  daughter  of  John   Smith   Sept.  28. 

Thomason  daughter  of  Edward  Bartlett  Oct.  26. 

Elizabeth  daughter  of  Thomas  Bartlet  baptised  1st  day  of  November. 

Stephen  son  of  William  Arnold  baptised  26th  day  of  December. 

Dorothy  daughter  of   Thomas  Avorde  baptised  5th  day  of  January. 

Elizabeth  daughter  of  Richard  Hancock  baptised  19th  day  of  January. 

Grace  daughter   of   William    Hopkins   baptised   7th    day   of   February. 

Robert  son  of  John  Hacker  baptised  20th  day  of  February.   [l622i/3] 

Frances  daughter  of   Gervaise   Saunders  baptised  8th   day  of   March. 

Thomas  son  of  William  Spracklin  baptised  9th  day  of  March. 

Mary  daughter  of  John  Sims  the  same  day  9th  of  March. 

162.2..  Burials. 

Burials. 

Edward  son  of  Edward  Howman  buried  19th  day  of  April. 

Rose  James  was  buried  25th  day  of  April. 

Alice  Bartlet  wife  of  Stephan  buried  24th  day  of  May. 

Joan  Gullie  was  buried  30th  day  of  May. 

Richard  Mannsell  buried  21th  day  of  July. 

Elizabeth  daughter  of  Thomas  Gold  buried  25th  day  of  July. 

Gavin  son  of  John  Sharlock  buried  31st  day  of  July. 

Mary  servant  of  Walter  Glover  buried  12th  day  of  August. 

Alice  Lacy  widow:  buried  22nd  day  of  September. 

Ambrose  Baunton  buried  23rd  day  of  September. 

Joan  Philips  widow :  was  buried  5th  day  of  October. 

Nicholas  Arnold  buried  26th   day  of  January.    (1622/3) 

Mary  daughter  of  Stephen  Geiland  buried  4th  day  of  March. 

Thomas  Pawley  buried  21st  day  of  March. 

1622.  Marriages. 

Marriages. 

Henry  Collens  and  Elizabeth  Brangwell  married  6th  day  of   May. 
William  Lockier  and  Deanes  Jeanes  married  12th  day  of  May. 
Jasper  Alambert  and  Mary  Hodges  married  18th  day  of  July. 
Christopher  Bennet  and  Thomason  married  7th  day  of  November. 

by  me  John  Ravens 

Rector  of  Ilchester. 

Melchizedek  Jones  }     u       u  a  ^^ 

iTT-u-         A        ij       f   church    wardens 
William  Arnold 


ENGLISH    HOMES    OF    THREE    EARLY    "PROPRIETORS"         43 

of  the  church  wardens  or  one  of  them,  write  and  record  in 
the  same  all  the  weddings,  christ'nings  and  burials  made  the 
whole  week  before ;  and  for  every  time  that  the  same  shall 
be  omitted,  shall  forfiet  to  the  said  church  4  shillings,  4 
pence." 

The  Wardens  were  not  appointed  by  Rectors  as  assistants 
but  elected  by  the  parishioners,  to  see  that  he  attended  to  his 
duties,  and  to  attest  his  returns.  The  first  records  commenced 
under  this  order  were  written  on  paper,  and  it  was  soon  real- 
ized that  something  more  durable  was  necessary,  and  so  Oct. 
25,  1597,  a  new  ordinance  respecting  registers  was  adopted  at 
Canterbury  and  approved  by  Queen  Elizabeth  under  the 
Great  Seal.  Under  this  "every  parish  was  to  provide  itself 
with  a  parchment  book  in  which  the  entries  from  the  old 
paper  books  were  to  be  fairly  transcribed  and  signed  by  the 
minister  or  church  wardens,  to  be  kept  in  a  sure  coffer  with 
three  locks,  of  which  the  minister  and  wardens  was  to  keep  a 
key;  and  for  further  security  against  loss,  a  true  copy  of  the 
names  of  all  persons,  christened,  married  or  buried  in  the  year 
before  was  to  be  transmitted  to  the  bishop  of  the  diocese 
within  a  month  after  Easter  to  be  preserved  in  the  Episcopal 
archives."  A  note  in  Vol.  i.,  Somerset  Parish  Registers, 
Northover  marriages,  page  14,  says,  "The  earliest  register  is 
a  transcription  parchment,  made  in  1598,  by  Thomas  Lover- 
ige.  Vicar,  of  the  paper  Register  that  began  in  1534.  Three 
entries  appear  to  be  of  the  date  1531." 

It  was  this  transcript,  that  Mr.  Jones  found  at  Northover 
in  1902,  and  it  was  from  this  same  book  that  William  Arnold 
before  embarking  for  the  new  world,  copied  the  baptism  of 
"Alee  Gully  the  daughter  of  John  Gully  29,  Sept.,  1553," 
adding  so  lovingly,  "who  was  my  mother." 

Having  finished  his  search  of  the  two  old  records  of  North- 
over  and  Yeovil,  and  finding  that  at  Ilchester,  Limington,  Yeo- 
vilton  and  Muchelney  there  were  no  records  earlier  than  1635 ; 
Mr.  Jones  then  went  to  Wells  to  examine  the  "Bishop's 
Transcripts"  there,  and  see  if  they  contained  any  additional 
information  from  this  locality.    This  was  a  new  field,  and  his 


44  RHODE    ISLAND    HISTORICAL   SOCIETY 

search  here  was  amply  rewarded.  First  he  found  that  the 
"Transcript"  was  not  a  record  book,  such  as  was  kept  in  the 
parishes,  but  that  they  were  the  original  yearly  reports, 
usually  in  the  full  autograph  of  the  Rector  or  Vicar  and 
attested  by  the  church  wardens,  and  filed,  not  recorded,  just 
as  received.  From  Ilchester  he  found  very  few  remaining, 
and  many  of  these  badly  mutilated  and  much  decayed.  Evi- 
dently the  clergy  in  many  years  had  failed  to  make  returns, 
and  the  bishops  had  at  times  neglected  their  care,  while  many 
more  had  been  destroyed  during  the  wars  of  the  Common- 
wealth and  James  II. 

From  the  few  he  did  find,  he  copied  the  following  items, 
in  some  way  connected  with  his  search : 

1594,  June  30.  Earliest  record.  "1595/6  Feb.  15,  christened 
Mary,  daughter  of  Melchiseck  Joanes."  He  was  warden 
with  William  Arnold  in  1622,  and  had  then  been  living  here 
more  than  26  years.  "1595,  Oct.  5.  Married,  Robert  Hacker 
and  Thomasine  Arnoll."  See  baptism  of  their  oldest  son  Rob- 
ert, Jan.  22,  1597/8  and  six  more  children  on  family  record. 
"1595,  Oct.,  Burial,  Agnes  d.  of  Nicholas  Arnoll."  Not  on 
family  record,  probably  died  young.  ''1596,  April  25.  Burial, 
Alee  W.  of  Nicholas  Arnoll  tailer."  (mother  of  William.) 
These  items  have  since  been  printed  by  Mr.  Edward  Dwelly 
in  Vol.  II.,  Wells  Transcripts,  p.  31,  with  this  note,  "The 
above  three  years  are  written  on  paper  now  very  much 
decayed  and  are  not  signed."  1616,  christened,  April  7, 
"Thomas  son  of  William  Hopkins"  (son  of  Joane  Arnold, 
see  family  record.)  1622,  December  22,  Baptizat,  "Stephanus 
filius  William  Arnoldi,  1622/3  Janury  26,  Sepultus.  Nicha- 
laus  Arnold." 

This  transcript  of  1622,  has  not  as  yet  been  printed  by  Mr. 
Dwelly  but  will  be  soon,  with  others  already  copied.  It  is  the 
first  time  that  the  name  of  William  Arnold  has  been  found 
on  a  public  record,  and  strange  to  say,  in  it,  under  his  own 
hand,  as  church  warden,  he  attests  the  record  of  the  baptism 
of  his  youngest  son  Stephen,  and  the  burial  of  his  father 
Nicholas.  Through  the  kindness  of  Mr.  Dwelly,  I  am  enabled 


ENGLISH  HOMES  OF  THREE  EARLY  "PROPRIETORS"   45 

to  .^ive  reproductions  from  photographs  of  this  record,  and 
also  the  churches  of  "St.  Mary"  at  Ilchester,  and  "St. 
Andrew"  at  Northover,  where  his  parents  and  grand  parents 
are  buried.  In  the  Probate  Registry  of  Wills,  lib.  43,  fol. 
5,  is  found  "The  Will  of  Nicholas  Arnold." 

In  the  name  of  god  Amen  the  i8th  Day  of  January,  1622, 
I  Nicholas  Arnold  of  Ilchester  in  the  Countie  of  Somersett, 
Tayler,  Doe  make  &  constitute  and  ordeyne  this  my  last  will 
&  testament  in  manner  &  forme  following:  First  I  revoke 
recall  &  DisanuU  all  former  wills  made  before  the  Date  of 
this  my  last  will. 

Item.  I  give  &  bequeath  my  soule  into  the  hands  of  god 
my  blessed  saviour  and  redeemer  hopinge  by  him  alone  to  be 
saved  and  my  body  to  be  buried  in  Christian  buriall  at  the 
Discretion  of  my  executrix. 

Item.  I  give  and  bequeath  unto  Grace  Arnold  my  wief  all 
my  goods  movable  and  immovable  w'thin  and  wth  thout 
Dores  to  thintent  she  shall  guid  &  bringe  up  my  two  youngest 
Daughters,  her  children,  and  when  it  shall  please  god  to  take 
her  out  of  this  mortall  lief  to  Dispose  the  said  goods  at  her 
pleasure  unto  theis  two  children. 

Item.  I  make  &  ordeyne  the  said  Grace  my  wief  my  sole 
and  only  executrix  to  this  my  last  will  &  testament  to  see  my 
Debts  and  funeral  chargs  paid  and  Discharged.  Alsoe  I  Doe 
by  theis  presents  constitute  ordeyne  and  appoynte  my  sonne 
Wam  Arnold  &  Ambrose  Chappell  my  frend  over  seers  to 
this  my  last  will  &  testament.  Witnesses  hereunto  John  Raven, 
Thomas  Arnold." 

Proved  at  Wells,  28  July,  1623.  Inventory  £7.  i6s.  5d. 
Going  back  to  the  transcripts,  we  find,  1623,  Oct.  18,  Burial, 
"Margaret  W.  of  Thomas  Arnold,"  If  this  is  the  first  wife 
of  Thomas,  the  half  brother  of  William,  he  soon  married  (2) 
Jane — and  had  sons,  Thomas,  1625,  and  Nicholas,  1628,  as 
shown  in  the  family  record.  "1635,  Oct.  15,  Baptised,  George 
son  of  Thomas  and  Jane  Arnold."  This  son  George  was  born 
more  than  six  months  after  his  unckle  William  had  sailed 
for  New  England.     No  proof  has  been  found  that  his  father 


46  RHODE  ISLAND  HSTORICAL  SOCIETY 

Thomas  the  half  brother  of  WilHam,  ever  emigrated,  or  that 
Thomas'  children  died  young,  as  stated  by  Somerby  and  Aus- 
tin, but  without  any  evidence  of  record  by  either.  The  Thomas 
Arnold  who  was  in  Watertown,  Mass.,  before  July,  1636,  and 
who  removed  about  1656  to  Rhode  Island,  is  not  that  half 
brother,  but  is  probably  the  son  of  Richard,  and  grand  son 
of  William  and  Katherine  Arnold  of  Kelsale  Co.,  Suffolk, 
about  20  miles  N.  E.  of  Ipswich  where  his  wife  Phebe  Park- 
hurst,  daughter  of  George  Parkhurst  was  baptised  29  Nov., 
1612,  and  where  they  were  probably  married.  His  cousin 
Richard  Arnold,  Goldsmith,  London,  in  his  will  8  Nov.,  1644, 
leaves  a  legacy  of  20  shillings  to  be  paid  to  "Thomas  Arnold 
who  is  now  supposed  to  be  in  New  England  or  some  other 
part  beyond  the  seas"  or  to  his  assigns.  No  other  Thomas 
Arnold  appears  in  N.  E.  before  1644.  See  N.  E.  His.  &  Gen. 
Register  Vol.  48,  p.  374;  Vol.  68,  p.  373  and  Vol.  69,  p.  68. 

1635  Jan.  15,  (1635/6),  "Burial  Jane  W.  of  Ambrose 
Chappell"  (Overseer  of  Will  of  Nicholas  Arnold.) 

This  last  item  concludes  all  the  record  evidence  found  l)y 
Mr.  Jones  during  his  visit  of  1902  at  the  close  of  which  he 
writes,  "in  the  time  I  devoted  to  the  matter  I  could  not  find 
the  father  of  Nicholas  Arnold  of  Ilchester ;  more  investiga- 
tion is  necessary.  I  do  not  pretend  to  have  covered  the  whole 
field,  let  somebody  do  better."  But  the  mine  has  been  dis- 
covered and  the  leade  is  very  promising;  Mr.  Dwelly  who 
commenced  publishing  the  Wells  Transcripts  in  191 3  is  work- 
ing the  same  vein,  and  cannot  fail  I  believe  to  uncover  much 
more  material  to  be  added  to  that  already  secured.  From 
the  Somerset  records  already  collected,  in  spite  of  some  larg' 
gaps,  the  following  pedigree  of  the  Arnolds  of  Northover  is 
compiled. 

I.  Nicholas  Arnold,  the  testator  of  1622,  was  born  about 
1550.  He  appears  on  the  register  of  Northover,  Co.  Som- 
erset, as  the  father  of  Thomasine  .Arnold,  4  Jan.  1 571/2, 
and  was  buried  at  Ilchester  26  Jan.  1622/3.  He  married 
before  1571,  Alice,  daughter  of  John  and  Alice  Gulley  who 


ENGLISH  HOMES  OF  THREE  EARLY  "PROPRIETORS"    47 

was  baptised  at  Northover  29  Sept.  1553,  and  buried  at  II- 
chester  25  April  1596.  Married  (2.)  before  1599.  Grace 
who  survived  him. 

Children  by  first  wife: 

I.  Thomasine,  bap.  4  Jan.  1 571/2  at  Northover.  Mar- 
ried, 5  Oct.  1595,  Robert  Hacker  at  Ilchester.  Chil- 
dren: I.  Robert,  bap.  22  Jan.  1597/8.  2.  Francis, 
bap.  24  Jan.  1599/1600.  3.  John,  bap.  25  Oct.  1601. 
4.  William,  bap.  Oct.  1604.  5.  Alee,  bap.  25  Aug. 
1607.  6.  Mary,  bap.  4  March,  1609/10.  7.  Thomas, 
bap.  April  1616. 

II.  Joane,  bap.  30  Nov.  1577  at  Ilchester,  and  was  buried 
10  March,  162 1/2  at  Yeovilton,  in  the  church  yard  of 
"St.  Bartholomew."  Married  before  1613,  William 
Hopkins  of  Yeovilton.  Children:  i.  Frances,  bap.  28 
May,  1 614.  Came  with  her  husband,  William  Man,, 
to  N.  E.  in  1635,  and  died  26  Feb  1700  at  Dartmouth. 
Mass.     Children :  Abraham  and  Mary. 

2.  Thomas,  bap.  7  April,  1616.  Came  with  his  sister 
"^ranees  Man,  and  their  uncle  William  Arnold,  and  died 
1684  at  Littleworth,  in  the  township  of  Oyster  Bay, 
Long  Island,  N.  Y.  where  he  had  gone  during  the  In- 
dian War.  Children :  William  and  Thomas.  He  was 
the  great  grand  father  of  Gov.  Stephen  Hopkins,  Signer 
of  the  Declaration  of  Independence,  and  Esek  Hopkins, 
who  was  the  first  Commander  in  Chief  of  the  American 
Navy. 

3.  Elizabeth,  bap.  3  July,   1619. 

III.  Margery,  bap.  30  Aug.  1581  at  Ilchester  and  mar- 
ried 1603  Thomas  Burnard  at  Northover. 

IV.  William,  born  24  June,   1587  at  Ilchester. 

V.  Robert,  bap.  18  Oct.  1593.    (No  more.) 

VI.  Elizabeth,  born,  9  April  1596.  No  baptism  or  burial 
is  recorded.  As  her  mother  Alice,  was  buried  at  11- 
Chester  the  25th  of  the  same  month,  it  seems  probable 


48  RHODE  ISLAND  HISTORCAL  SOCIETY 

that  both  died  in  child  bed,  and  were  buried  in  one 

grave. 

Children  by  second  wife  Grace  . 

VII.  Thomas,  bap.  i8  April,  1599,  at  Ilchester.  Mar- 
ried before  1623,  Margaret  ,  who  was  buried 

18  Oct.  1623,  at  Ilchester,  married  (2),  Jane...., 
Children  by  second  wife:  i.  Thomas,  born,  3  May, 
1625.  2.  .Nicholas,  born,  15  Jan.  1627/8.  4.  George, 
bap.  15  Oct.  1635. 

VIII.  Elenor,  bap.  31  July,  1603. 

IX.  A  daughter  mentioned  in  fathers  Will  but  not 
named. 

2.  WilHam  Arnold  (Nicholas),  born  24  June,  1587,  at  Il- 
chester, where  he  was  Church  Warden  in  1622,  died  prob- 
ably in  the  early  spring  of  1676.  at  Pawtuxet,  Rhode  Is- 
land, during  the  Indian  War.  He  married  before  1610, 
Christian,  daughter  of  Thomas  Peak  of  Muchelney 
Somerset,  who  was  bap.  there,  15  Feb.  1583/4.  and  died 
after  1659,  at  Pawtuxet. 
Children : 

I.  Elizabeth,  born,  23  Nov.  1611.  at  Ilchester.  died  after 
7  Sept.  1685.  at  Pawtuxet.  Married,  before  1635,  Wil- 
liam son  of  Richard  Carpenter  of  Amesbury,  Wiltshire, 
who  died  7  Sept.  1685,  at  Pawtuxet.  Children:  i.  Jo- 
seph. 2.  Liddea.  3.  Pricilla.  4.  Silas.  5.  Benjamin.  6. 
Timothy.    7.   Ephraim. 

II.  Benedict,  born  21  Dec.  1615,  at  Ilchester,  died  19 
June,  1678,  at  Newport,  Rhode  Island.  Married  17 
December,  1640,  Damaris  daughter  of  Stukley  West- 
cott  at  Providence.  She  was  born  about  1620,  prob- 
ably at  Yeovil,  Somerset  and  d.  at  Newport  after  1678. 
He  removed  to  Newport  19  Nov.  165 1,  and  19  May 
1657,  succeeded  Roger  Williams  as  President  of  the 
Colony  under  the  Patent.  In  1663,  he  was  named  in 
the  Charter  of  King  Charles  II,  as  the  first  Governor, 
holding  that  office  by  seven  re-elections  until  his  death 


ENGLISH  HOMES  OF  THREE  EARLY  "PROPRIETORS"    49 

in  1678.  Children:  i.  Benedict,  b.  lo  Feb.  1641/2.  2. 
Caleb,  b.  19  Dec.  1644.  3.  Josiah,  22  Decern.  1646.  4. 
Damaris,  23  Feb.  1648/9.  5.  William  b.  21,  Oct.  1651. 
d.  22,,  Oct.  1651.  Named  for  his  grand  father  William 
and  the  first  death  in  the  family  after  their  emigration, 
just  as  his  father  was  about  to  move  to  Newport,  he 
was  probably  buried  at  Pawtuxet.  6.  Penelope,  10  Feb. 
1652/3.  7.  Oliver,  25  July,  1755.  8.  Godsgift,  27  Aug. 
1658.   9.   Freelove  20  July,  1661.  

III.  Joane,  b.  27  Feb.  1617,  at  Ilchester,  d.  after  11  Feb. 
1692/3.  Married  (i)  Zachary  Rhodes  of  Rehoboth. 
Mass.  as  early  as  7  March  1646.  who  was  drowned 
"off  Pawtuxtt  Shore"  late  in  1665.  M.  (2)  11  Jan. 
1665/6.  Samuel  Reape  of  Newport,  who  d.  after  11 
Feb.  1692/3.  Children  by  first  husband:  i.  Jeremiah, 
b.  29  June  1647.  2.  Malachi,  3.  Zachariah,  4.  John, 
b.  about  1658.  M.  12  Feb.  1684/5.  Waite,  d.  of  Re- 
solved and  Mercy  (Williams)  Waterman.  5.  Peleg,  b. 
about  1664. 

IV.  Stephen,  baptised  22  Decem.  1622,  at  Ilchester,  died 
15  Nov.  1699,  at  Pawtuxet.  Married  24  Nov.  1646. 
Sarah,  daughter  of  Edward  Smith  of  Rehoboth,  Mass. 
She  was  born  J629  and  died  15  April  171 3.  at  Paw- 
tuxet. Children:  i.  Esther,  b.  22  Sept.  1647.  2.  Israel, 
b.  30  Oct.  1649.  3-  Stephen,  b.  2y  Nov.  1654.  4.  Eliza- 
beth, b.  2  Nov.  1659.  5.  Elisha,  b.  18  Feb.  1661/2.  6. 
Sarah,  b.  26  June,  1665.   7.  Phebe,  b.  9  Nov.  1670. 

(Concluded  in  the  July  Number) 


50  RHODE  ISLAND  HISTORICAL  SOCIETY 

Early  Powder  Horns* 

By  Charles  D.  Cook. 

Berthold  Schwartz,  a  monk  of  Freiburg,  Germany,  began 
to  manufacture  gun-powder  about  the  year  1320.  Long  be- 
fore this  time  the  horns  of  animals  had  been  used  for  many 
practical  things,  as,  for  instance,  the  ink  horn,  horn  books, 
drinking  horns,  and  hunting  horns  which  are  still  in  use  to- 
day ;  so  that  their  use  as  powder  horns  was  a  natural  sequence 
of  these  other  uses. 

But  there  were  other  reasons  why  horn  was  adapted  as  a  re- 
ceptacle for  powder.  It  was  easy  to  obtain,  cheap,  light  in 
weight  and  readily  worked.  Horn  would  not  create  a  spark 
and  therefore  could  be  used  safely.  For  the  reason  that  they 
were  spark  proof,  copper  and  zinc  were  chiefly  used  in  later 
years  in  the  manufacture  of  powder  flasks.  Horn  also  kept 
the  powder  dry  which  was  of  course  very  necessary.  When 
used  in  its  natural  shape  and  suspended  from  the  shoulder  of 
the  soldier  or  hunter,  it  fitted  snugly  to  the  waist  line.  When 
scraped  thin  the  powder  could  be  plainly  seen  through  its  sides 
which  at  times  was  an  advantage.  European  powder  flasks  of 
the  sixteenth  century  and  earlier  were  frequently  made  from 
stag  horns.  Their  mountings  were  often  of  gold,  silver,  or 
steel,  beautifully  wrought,  carved,  pierced  and  engraved.  Ex- 
amples of  such  flasks  may  be  seen  in  the  museums  of  Europe 
and  at  the  Metropolitan  Museum  of  Art  in  New  York  City. 

The  August,  1916,  number  of  the  "Connoisseur"  illustrates 
many  such  specimens.  One  I  remember  in  particular,  is  an  ex- 
quisite sixteenth  century  flask  of  highly  polished  stag  horn, 
having  on  its  front  a  beautiful  carving  in  high  relief  of  the 
Crucifixion,  with  the  Lamb  and  Banner  at  the  foot  of  the  cross. 
The  mountings  of  this  flask  are  of  steel.  But  you  are,  I  feel 
sure,  more  interested  in  the  quaint  old  powder  horns  of  our 
Colonial  times,  many  specimens  of  which  are  to  be  seen  here 
to-night.     These  receptacles   for  powder  were  usually  made 

*  Read  at  the  Society's  Exhibition  of  Powder  Horns  on  March  5,   1921. 


EARLY   POWDER    HORNS 


51 


from  the  horns  of  cows,  bullocks,  or  oxen,  and,  were  prepared 
for  scraping,  cleaning,  and  shaping,  by  first  soaking  or  boiling 
in  hot  water  to  which  may  have  been  added  potash  if  obtain- 
able. 

The  small  end  of  the  horn  was  then  cut  off  and  the  end 
bored  to  the  required  size.  Then  a  stopper  was  fitted  usually 
of  wood,  but  sometimes  of  horn.  We  have  here  an  unusually 
fine  collection  of  horn  stoppers  exhibited  by  Mr.  Thomas  G. 
Hazard,  Jr.,  of  Narragansett  Pier.  Also  a  number  of  horns 
that  are  conspicuous  by  the  fineness  and  plainness  of  their 
workmanship.  Mr.  Hazard's  ancestor  was  a  manufacturer  of 
these  fine  specimens.  The  stoppers  are  particularly  interesting 
as  we  do  not  often  find  them  in  old  horns.  Some  displayed 
by  Mr.  Hazard  carry  out  the  decorative  scheme  of  the  horn, 
while  others  are  carved  in  the  shapes  of  fowl  or  birds. 

It  is  said  that  Washington,  when  a  young  man,  made  a 
powder  horn,  and,  cut  the  end  well  back  so  as  to  get  a  charge 
of  powder  at  a  single  lift  or  tilt  of  his  horn.  It  is  claimed 
that  this  horn  is  still  in  existence  and  has  his  initials  cut  in  it. 

The  large  end  of  the  horn  was  closed  with  a  tight  fitting 
wooden  bottom,  as  a  rule.  This  was  fastened  in  place  by 
wooden  pegs  or  nails.  When  a  presentation  horn  was  made 
by  a  professional  workman,  the  base  was  often  covered  with 
silver  or  copper,  properly  inscribed.  In  later  years  both  the 
United  States  and  England  issued  to  their  soldiers  horns  that 
were  fitted  with  brass  or  copper  devices,  having  thumb-piece 
and  spring  to  take  the  place  of  wooden  stoppers.  The  base, 
which  was  of  wood,  was  fitted  in  the  center  with  a  wooden 
screw  or  plug.  These  improvements  made  the  horn  much 
handier  to  fill  and  pour  from.  There  are  two  of  these  horns 
stamped  with  the  broad-arrow  and  the  inspectors'  marks  of 
England  and  one  stamped  U.  S.  by  the  United  States  Govern- 
ment inspectors. 

In  volume  one  of  the  Colonial  Records  of  Rhode  Island 
under  the  date  of  the  year  1647,  I  found  the  following:  "Every 
inhabitant  of  the  island,  above  sixteen  and  under  sixty  years 


52  RHODE   ISLAND    HISTORICAL   SOCIETY 

of  age,  shall  always  be  provided  of  a  musket,  one  pound  of 
powder,  twenty  bullets  and  two  fadom  of  match,  with  sword, 
rest,  bandaleers  all  completely  furnished."  A  bandalleer  was  a 
shoulder  strap  hung  with  many  little  boxes,  usually  cylindrical, 
each  of  which  held  a  charge  of  powder  and  a  ball.  They 
jangled  like  sleigh  bells.  They  were  probably  discarded  as 
soon  as  cartridge  boxes  and  horns  could  be  provided  as  they 
made  it  impossible  to  surprise  the  enemy.  Cartridge  boxes 
were  much  alike  regardless  of  nationality,  with  one  exception. 
A  few  of  the  American  soldiers  were  provided  by  Congress 
with  the  cartridge  boxes.  The  one  shown  is  typical.  It  may 
have  been  carried  by  a  British  soldier  before  it  fell  into  Co- 
lonial hands.  The  interior  is  made  of  wood  and  has  seventeen 
holes,  each  to  contain  a  cartridge  and  prevent  damage  by  rub- 
bing together.  The  exterior,  as  you  may  see,  is  covered  with 
leather  now  very  hard  and  brittle  from  age. 

We  know  that  powder  horns  were  used  in  the  Colonies  as 
early  as  the  year  1652,  because  of  the  account  book  of  John 
Pynchon,  merchant  of  Hadley,  Mass.  In  it  we  find  where  horn 
powder  flasks  were  sold  for  5s,  and  powder  horns  for  8d.  An 
act  of  Congress  of  the  United  States  of  May  8,  1792,  providing 
for  the  militia,  reads  as  follows,  in  part :  "That  every  citizen 
shall  provide  himself  with  a  good  rifle,  knapsack,  blanket  and 
a  powder  horn."  This  regulation  was  not  repealed  until  1820. 
Of  course,  powder  horns  were  in  use  later  than  that  date.  It 
was  a  military  rule  that  each  powder  horn  should  be  marked 
with  the  owner's  name,  in  order  to  secure  its  prompt  return 
from  the  powder  wagon  after  being  filled,  thus  avoiding  dis- 
putes as  to  ownership.  The  probable  reason  for  making  this 
rule  is  that  the  powder  was  always  in  charge  of  a  sergeant,  and 
he  attended  to  the  filling  of  all  flasks  and  horns.  One  can 
readily  understand  why  a  man  would  want  his  own  particular 
horn  given  back  to  him,  as  he  would  get  used  to  the  feel  or 
fit  of  it  and  could  probably  load  with  his  own  horn  much 
quicker  than  with  a  strange  shaped  one. 

A  finer  grade  of  powder  was  often  used  to  prime  the  pan  of 
a  rifle  or  musket,  and  this  powder  was  always  carried  in  a 


EARLY    POWDER    HORNS  53 

separate  horn  or  flask  usually  much  smaller  than  that  used  for 
carrying  the  powder  to  charge  the  arm.  Small  horns  and 
small  flasks  of  horn  were  also  used  as  pistol  chargers.  These 
small  horns  were  often  pressed  or  moulded  into  flat  or  oval 
shapes  which  could  be  carried  in  the  pocket,  saddle  bag,  or 
holster  with  greater  comfort.  There  is  a  particularly  fine  one 
exhibited  here  by  Mr.  Hugh  W.  Kelly,  made  of  a  whale's  tooth 
and  wonderfully  etched.  I  have  seen  specimens  of  this  type 
of  charger  or  primer  that  had  sash  or  belt-hooks  of  iron  or 
steel  fastened  on  one  side,  as  did  many  of  the  Spanish  pistols 
of  the  Dagg  type,  also  contract  pistols  made  for  the  U.  S. 
Government  by  Simeon  North  of  Berlin,  Conn.,  as  late  as  the 
year  1808. 

There  is  also  a  specimen  shown  here  with  three  keys  at- 
tached to  its  side  so  that  the  flask  or  horn  could  be  used  both 
as  a  primer  and  spanner.  The  spanner  was  a  type  of  wrench 
used  to  wind  up  the  lock  mechanism  of  a  wheel-lock  gun, 
pistol  or  arquebuse.  This  is  a  very  old  horn.  Another  flask 
which  appears  to  have  been  made  of  cow's  horn  steamed  and 
straightened,  has  its  base  and  a  portion  of  its  sides  covered 
with  black  leather.  It  is  equipped  with  a  device  used  as  a 
stopper  and  swivel  for  carrying  strap  which  is  made  of  brass. 
The  horn  is  said  to  have  been  used  by  a  Hessian  soldier  during 
the  Revolution.  The  Italians  made  beautiful  powder  flasks 
in  the  fifteenth  century,  which  were  often  covered  with  em- 
bossed leather,  bound  with  metals  cleverly  pierced  and  en- 
graved and  etched. 

You  have  probably  noted' that  attached  to  some  of  the  horns 
by  thongs  or  cords  are  small  receptacles  of  horn  or  ivory. 
These  were  called  chargers  and  were  used  to  measure  the 
powder  charge.  They  are  made  of  parts  of  whales'  teeth  and 
the  tips  of  cows'  horns. 

It  seems  to  have  been  the  custom  for  centuries  for  man  to 
decorate  implements  of  war  and  the  chase ;  and,  perhaps  we 
have  nothing  else  exhibited  in  our  museums  and  those  of  Europe 
that  shows  the  progress  of  so  many  of  the  arts  as  are  shown  in 
arms,    armor,    and    other   equipment    for   war    and    hunting. 


54  RHODE  ISLAND  HISTORICAL  SOCIETY 

Hence  it  was  natural  that  our  forefathers  of  Colonial  times 
should  decorate  their  powder  horns  by  carving  and  engraving 
them.  It  is  likely  that  many  a  long  and  weary  night  in  camp, 
fort,  or  trenc'h  was  passed  in  this  manner.  Some  of  the  work 
seen  on  horns  is  very  crude  and  was  evidently  done  with  a 
knife,  but  there  are  many  examples  that  show  the  work  of  the 
skilled  craftsman,  who  must  have  used  the  tools  of  his  trade. 
The  subjects  engraved  on  horns  are  many  and  varied.  Scenes 
of  battles  on  land  and  sea.  Sketches  of  forts  and  towns,  maps, 
ships,  coats  of  arms,  records  of  battles,  deaths,  and,  the  cap- 
ture of  prisoners.     Often  rhymes  were  engraved  on  them. 

Elizabeth  Lounsberry,  in  a  fascinating  article  on  powder 
horns,  written  for  American  Homes  and  Gardens  in  the 
August  number  of  191 5,  says  that,  "The  Colonial  powder 
horns,  which,  with  but  few  exceptions,  represent  the  most 
skilfully  executed  decoration,  were  unquestionably  the  work 
of  the  professional  gun-makers  and  engravers  of  those  times, 
who  made  them  as  articles  for  sale."  She  also  states  that, 
"The  horns  used  during  the  early  French  and  Indian  wars 
from  1739  to  1745  where  the  fighting  was  principally  in  New 
England,  are  plain  compared  to  those  of  the  later  French  wars. 
1755-1760." 

"During  this  later  period  the  finest  horns  were  made,  sur- 
passing even  those  of  the  Revolution.  The  British  coat  of 
arms  was  a  prominent  feature  in  their  decoration,  and  the  most 
elaborate  detail  was  carried  out."  This  is  without  doubt  true, 
for  the  Colonists  during  the  Revolution  could  not  afford  either 
time  or  money  to  have  such  work  done,  and  the  better  powder 
horns  of  the  Revolutionary  period  were  mostly  made  in  camp. 

At  the  time  of  the  early  French  wars  the  British  Govern- 
ment caused  horns  to  be  made  with  maps  engraved  upon  them 
of  the  territory  between  New  York  and  Canada.  As  a  rule 
starting  with  a  view  of  New  York  and  the  compass  pointing 
to  the  North  at  the  base  of  the  horn,  the  engraving  would  run 
towards  the  tip  or  small  end,  showing  the  different  routes, 
towns,  forts,  villages,  supply  stations,  Rivers  and  lakes  were 
carefully  and  accurately  laid  out.    The  lines  were  often  rubbed 


EARLY    POWDER    HORNS  55 

with  a  brown  or  vermilion  dye  to  make  them  show  plainly. 
These  powder  horn  maps  must  have  been  a  great  aid  to  offi- 
cers in  command,  for  in  those  days  it  must  be  remembered 
that  even  a  general  carried  a  musket  or  rifle  and  its  furniture. 
Two  such  horns  may  be  seen  here  this  evening,  those  of  Mr. 
William  G.  Roelker  and  Dr.  G.  L.  Church. 

To  us  Rhode  Islanders  perhaps  the  most  interesting  horn* 
here  is  that  loaned  by  Col.  George  L.  Shepley,  which  gives  us 
an  earlier  view  of  Providence  than  that  engraved  by  William 
Hamlin  in  1798.  This  horn  was  made  and  owned  by  Stephen 
Avery  in  1777,  and  gives  a  general  view  of  the  town  and  its 
water-front  as  it  appeared  at  that  time.  The  engraving  is  very 
faint  as  the  horn  shows  that  it  has  seen  much  service.  The 
New  Hampshire  Historical  Society  has  in  its  possession  a 
powder  horn  that  refers  to  the  Declaration  of  Independence. 
It  is  marked  John:  Abbot:  H:  H:  1776:  Independence  Ded : 
July:  1776:.     The  H:  H:  stands  for  his  horn. 

W.  M.  Beauchamp  has  written  for  the  Journal  of  American 
Folk-Lore  two  articles  on  rhymes  from  old  powder  horns. 
They  can  be  found  in  Volumes  two  and  five.  They  are  very 
interesting,  and  although  the  spelling  is  often  quaint,  it  com- 
pares favorably  with  that  of  many  prominent  men  of  Colonial 
times. 

One  reads  as  follows : 

When  Bows  and  weighty  Spears  were  used  in  Fight, 
"twere  nervous  Limbs  Declard  a  man  of  might. 
But  now.  Gun  Powder  Scorns  such  strength  to  own 
And  heros  not  by  Limbs  but  Souls  are  shown. 
W.  A.  R.  Thomas  Williams 


•R.   I.   H.  S.   Collections,  vol.  II,  page  84. 


56  RHODE    ISLAND    HISTORICAL   SOCIETY 

This  horn  was  made  at  Lake  George  the  Battle  8th  Sepr 
A.  D.  1755. 

I    Powder,   with    my   brother   ball 
Im  hero  Like  I  Conker  all 
John  Bush  Fecit. 


The  last  couplet  has  many  variations ;  I  will  give  another ; 

I  powder  with  my  brother  Baul 

a  Hero  Like  I  Conquer  All 

the  Rose  is  red  the  Grass  Is  Green 

the  Years  are  Past  Which  I  Have  Sen. 

Another  reads : 

The  Memorial  of  a  Franzy  Cow 

I  write  on  it  to  tell  you  how 

That  when  she  was  tied  she  struck  the  tree 

And  by  her  unlucky  stroke 

This  horn  fell  to  me. 

Stephen  Clark. 


These  are  some  of  the  interesting  features  I  have  learned 
about  old  powder  horns  both  from  my  experience  as  a  col- 
lector, for  twenty  years,  and  from  general  reading  and  in- 
quiries on  this  subject. 

I  have  come  to  regard  them  as  curious  records  of  trying 
Colonial  times,  which  were  in  intimate  touch  with  the  lives 
and  sentiments  of  the  hardy  pioneer  fighters ;  and,  as  types  of 
the  progress  made  by  mankind  in  providing  implements  for 
the  defence  or  support  of  its  safety  and  liberty. 


NOTES  57 


Notes 


The  following  persons  have  been  elected  to  membership  in 
the  Society: 

Miss  Alice  S.  Dexter,  Mr.  Arthur  M.  McCrillis, 

Mr.  R.  Clinton  Fuller  ;  Mr.  Harold  T.  Merriman 

George  F.  Johnson,  M.  D.       .  Mr.  John  H.  Wells 


The  annual  meeting  of  the  Society  was  held  on  January  ii, 
1 92 1.  Officers  were  elected  for  the  year  and  the  regular  rou- 
tine business  transacted,  after  which  Professor  Harry  Lyman 
Koopman,  Litt.  D.,  read  his  new  poem,  "Character  Passages 
in  the  Life  of  George  Washington." 

During  March  the  Society  held  a  loan  exhibition  which  in- 
cluded 185  powder  horns,  in  connection  with  which  on  March 
r5th,  Mr.  Charles  D.  Cook  gave  an  interesting  and  instructive 
talk.  The  Providence  Journal  for  Sunday,  March  20,  192 1, 
contained  an  illustrated  account  of  this  exhibition. 


The  following  persons  loaned  powder  horns  or  flasks: 

Miss  Alice  S.  Carroll,  Mr.  Hugh  W.  Kelly, 

Mr.  William  G.  Roelker,  Mr.  George  E.  Perry, 

Mr.  W.  M.  Newton,  Dr.  Frank  T.  Calef , 

Mr.  H.  Bradford  Clark,  G.  L.  Church,  M.  D. 

Mr.  Alfred  L.  Lawton,  Mr.  William  F.  Allison, 

Mr.  A.  C.  Walker,  Mr.  Thomas  G.  Hazard,  Jr. 

Mr.  Charles  D.  Cook,  Mr.  Willard  Kent, 

Col.  George  L.  Shepley,  Mr.  J.  A.  Haines, 

Mr.  Charles  D.  Bartle,  Mr.  Wilbur  D.  Brown, 

Mrs.  Dexter  B.  Potter,  Mr.  Walter  M.  Murdie, 

Mrs.  George  W.  Harris,  Miss  C.  Katherine  Clarke, 

Mrs.  Nellie  A.  Barnes,  Mrs.  Robert  Hall, 

Mr.  Howard  M.  Chapin,  Mrs.  Jesse  Metcalf, 

Hon.  E.  J.  Rathbun,  Mr.  Allston  E.  Thorpe. 
Mrs.  A.  Warren  Kimball, 


58  RHODE  ISLAND  HISTORICAL  SOCIETY 

Mr.  Harald  W.  Ostby,  chairman  of  the  Exhibition  Com- 
mittee, contributed  the  cost  of  hiring  two  extra  cases  for  the 
powder  horn  exhibition. 

Col.  Robert  P.  Brown,  former  treasurer  of  the  Society  for 
many  years,  died  on  March  6,  1921.  The  Society  is  a  ben- 
eficiary under  his  will  to  the  extent  of  $2,000.00. 

Mr.  William  F.  Allison  presented  to  the  Society  the  powder 
horn  which  he  brought  in  for  the  loan  exhibition.  The  Society 
previously  owned  one  powder  horn.  It  was  carried  by  Eseck 
Burlingame  of  Gloucester  in  the  Revolution  in  1871  and  pre- 
sented to  the  Society  by  his  son,  Elisha  S.  Burlingame  of 
Pawtucket. 

An  old  Rhode  Island  fire  bucket  with  the  inscription,  "R.  H. 
Ives,  No.  I,  1827,"  was  given  to  the  Society  by  Mr.  Milton  H. 
Glover. 

A  set  of  the  publications  of  the  Naval  History  Society  has 
been  presented  by  Mr.  Edward  Aborn  Greene. 

A  file  of  the  "Juvenile  Gazette"  of  Providence  for  1827  and 
1828  is  the  gift  of  Mr.  Emerson  F.  Beaman. 

Mrs.  Henry  R.  Chace  has  recently  given  to  the  Society  the 
vast  collection  of  manuscript  notes  that  her  husband  made 
while  compiling  his  volumes  of  early  plats  of  Providence. 

A  blueprint  of  the  original  layout  of  Pocasset  (Tiverton) 
has  been  presented  by  Dr.  Charles  V.  Chapin. 

A  large  and  very  important  collection  of  original  papers  re- 
lating to  the  surveys  and  land  divisions  of  the  Proprietors  of 
Providence  has  been  given  to  the  Society  by  Mr.  Fred  A. 
Arnold.  These  papers  fill  to  a  considerable  extent  the  gaps 
made  in  early  Providence  land  records  by  the  loss  of  the  Rec- 
ords of  the  Proprietors  of  Providence  in  the  Aldrich  Block 
fire. 

The  Bulletin  of  the  Newport  Historical  Society  contains  an 
article  on  old  Newport  Houses  by  Mrs.  Marie  J.  Gale. 


REPORT  OF    THE   TREASURER  59 


Report  of  the  Treasurer 


GENERAL  ACCOUNT  FOR  THE  YEAR  1920. 

Edward  K.  Aldrich,  Jr.,  Treasurer,  in  account  with  the  Rhode  Island 
Historical  Society.    For  current  account,  viz. : 


Dr. 

Cash  on  Hand  January  1,  1921 : 

In  Rhode   Island   Hospital   Trust   Company $287  00 

"    Providence    Institution    for    Savings 832  CO 

"    National    Exchange    Bank 299  20 

"    National    Bank   of    Commerce    (Checking   Ac- 
count)    ' 356  42 

"    National  Bank  of  Commerce   (Special  Account 

No.    1) 1,650  00 


$3,424  62 


Receipts  from  Annual    Dues $1,311  00 

Books     89  30 

"            "       Books    (Colonial    Dames'    Fund)..  10  00 

"            "       Expenses    33  50 

"  "      Franklin   Lyceum    Memorial    Fund 

(Interest)     29  66 

"            "       Interest    and    Dividends 3,403  63 

"             "       Investments    50  00 

"            "       Life  Membership  250  OO 

"            "       Newspaper  Account 83  33 

Publications 378  50 

Publication  Special 120  25 

Rentals  of  Rooms    30  OO 

Salaries   8  50 

"            "       State    Appropriation    1,500  00 

"  "       State    Appropriation    for    Marking 

Historical     Sites     15  00 

"            "       Special   Account    No.    1 2,421  07 

"            "       Special   Account   No.   2 1,364  73 

"      James   H.   Bugbee   Fund 3,000  00 

f 


14,098  46 
$17,523  08 


6o 


RHODE  ISLAND  HISTORICAL  SOCIETY 


Cr. 

Ashes   .  .   $49  65 

Binding 179  15 

Books 431  66 

Books    (Colonial   Dames'   Fund) 2  00 

Dues 3  00 

Electric  Lighting 16  30 

Exhibitions   139  17 

Expenses   .   280  44 

Franklin  Lyceum   Memorial   Fund    64  00 

Fuel 758  33 

Gas  8  74 

Grounds  and  Building  202  60 

Insurance 225  00 

Investments   .   3,348  11 

Janitorial   Services  309  05 

Life    Membership    50  00 

Newspaper  Account  84  93 

Publications   720  25 

Salaries    3,019  49 

Supplies   156  85 

Telephone 54  92 

Water 8  00 

Special   Account    No.    1    1,(519  49 

Publication  Special 120  25 

Cash  on  hand  December  31,  1920: 

In  Providence   Institution   for  Savings    $832  00 

"    Rhode  Island  Hospital  Trust  Company  287  00 

"    National  Exchange  Bank 547  45 

"    National  Bank  of   Commerce    (Checking   Ac- 
count)      30  61 

"    National  Bank    of    Commerce     (Special    Ac- 
count No.  1)   435  00 

"    National  Bank    of    Commerce     (Special    Ac- 
count   No.    2)    1,364  73 

"    United    States    Treasury    Certificates    (Special 

Account   No.    1)     2,013  23 

"    Rhode  Island  Hospital  Trust  Company  (Bal- 
ance of  James  H.  Bugbee  Fund) 149  58 

Checks  and  P.  O.  'Money  Order 11  50 


$11,851  38 


5,671  70 


$17,523  08 


REPORT    OF    THE    TREASURER  6l 

Edward  K.  Aldrich,  Jr.,  Treasurer,  in  account  with  the  Rhode  Island 
Historical  SoaETY. 

January  1,  1921. 
Liabilities. 

Ground   and   Building    $25,000  00  $25,000  00 

Permanent  Endowment  Fund  : 

Samuel    M.   Noyes    $12,000  OO 

Henry   J.    Steere    10,000  00 

Charles  H.   Smith    5,000  OO 

Charles    W.    Parsons     4,000  00 

James    H.    Bugbee    3,000  OO 

William  H.  Potter    3,000  00 

Esek    A.    Jillson    2,000  00 

John  Wilson  Smith    1,000  00 

William  G.  Weld  1,000  OO 

Charles   C.   Hoskins    1,000  00 

Charles  H.  Atwood    1,000  OO 

$43,000  OO 

Publication  Fund : 

Ira  B.  Peck   $1,000  00 

William    Gammell   1,000  00 

Albert  J.  Jones    1,000  00 

William  Ely  1,000  00 

Julia    Bullock   500  00 

Charles  H.  Smith   100  OO 

$4,600  00 

Life   Membership   Fund    $4,700  00   $4,700  00 

Franklin  Lyceum  Memorial  Fund   (Principal) 734  52        734  52 

Calvin   Monument   Memorial   Fund    10  00          10  OO 

Special  Account,  No.  1   (National  Bank  of  Com- 
merce)      435  60         435  60 

Special  Account,  No.  2   (National  Bank  of  Com- 
merce)       1,364  73      1,364  73 

Special  Account,  No.  1    (United   States   Treasury 

Certificates)    2,013  23     2,013  23 

State  Appropriation  for  Marking  Historical  Sites  15  00          15  00 

Book  Fund  (Colonial  Dames)   8  00            8  00 

$81,881  08 
Accumulated    Surplus    9,491  53 

$91,372  61 


62  RHODE  ISLAND  HISTORICAL  SOCIETY 

Assets. 

Investments : 

Ground   and   Building    $25,000  00  $25,000  00 

$6,000.00  Bonds,  Minneapolis,      Lyndale      and 

Minnetonka  Railway $5,850  00 

$3,000.00  Bonds,  Lacombe  Electric  Company..  2,835  00 
$3,000.00  Bonds,  The    Cleveland    Electric    Il- 
luminating    Company     2,565  42 

$500.00  Bond,    Western    Electric    Company, 

Inc 497  69 

125  Shares  New  York  Central  Railroad  Com- 
pany      12,500  00 

111        "        Pennsylvania  Railroad   7,188  45 

30        "       Lehigh   Valley   Railroad    2,112  50 

6        "       Lehigh    Valley    Coal    Sales    Com- 
pany     241  85 

40        "       Milwaukee    Electric   Railway   and 

Light  Company,  preferred 3,900  00 

55       "       American     Telephone     and     Tele- 
graph  Company 7,123  61 

60        "       Providence  Gas  Company  5,005  68 

Mortgage,  P.  A.  and  H.  A.  Cory 2,975  00 

10  Shares  Duquesne  Light  Company  1,060  00 

$1,000.00  Bond.  Denver      Gas      and      Electric 

Company 950  00 

$1,000.00  Bond,  Columbus      Railway,      Power 

and    Light    Company    970  00 

30  Shares  Merchants   National    Bank    1,800  00 

45        "        Blackstone  Canal  National  Bank..  1,050  00 

$l,0O0J00  Liberty  Bond    (U.  S.),  2nd,  4^....  956  19 

$100.00  Liberty  Bond    (U.   S.),   V 100  00 

5  Shares  Narragansett  Electric  Lighting  Com- 
pany     285  00 

$59,966  39 

Cash  on  hand : 

In  Providence  Institution  for  Savings $332  OO 

"    Industrial    Trust    Co.     (Franklin    Lyceum 

Memorial  Fund)  734  52 

"    Rhode  Island  Hospital  Trust  Company 287  00 

"    National  Exchange  Bank   547  45 

"    National  Bank    of    Commerce     (Checking 

Account)  30  61 


REPORT    OF    THE    TREASURER  63 

In    National  Bank  of  Commerce   (Special  Ac- 
count,  No.   1)    435  60 

"    National  Bank  of  Commerce  (Special  Ac- 
count,  No.  2)    1,36-i  73 

"    U.    S.   Treasury   Certificates    (Special    Ac- 
count, No.  1 )    2,013  23 

"    Rhode    Island    Hospital    Trust    Company 

(Balance  James  H.  Bugbee  Fund) 149  58 

Checks  and  P.  O.  Money  Order 11  50 

6,406  22 

Total  Assets  $91,372  61 

Respectfully  submitted, 

EDWARD  K.  ALDRICH,  Jr., 

Treasurer. 


64  RHODE   ISLAND    HISTORICAL   SOCIETY 

Books  and  Objects  desired  by  the 
Rhode  Island  Historical  Society 

In  1822  The  Rhode  Island  Historical  Society  was  incorpo- 
rated by  the  General  Assembly  "for  the  purpose  of  procuring 
and  preserving  whatever  relates  to  the  topography,  antiquities, 
and  natural,  civil  and  ecclesiastical  history  of  this  state." 

Therefore  what  the  Society  desires  to  receive  is  anything 
and  everything  relating  to  Rhode  Island,  as  for  instance : 

1.  Every  book  or  pamphlet  on  any  subject  relating  to 
Rhode  Island  or  any  part  of  it,  also  every  book  or  pamphlet 
written  by  a  Rhode  Island  citizen,  whether  published  in  Rhode 
Island  or  elsewhere. 

2.  Source  material  for  Rhode  Island  History,  old  letters, 
journals,  diaries,  ship's  logs,  account  books,  and  manuscripts  of 
various  sorts. 

3.  Biographies  of  Rhode  Island  citizens,  either  living  or 
dead ;  portraits  or  photographs  of  Rhode  Islanders. 

4.  Documents  printed  by  the  State  or  by  any  of  the  Cities 
or  Towns  in  the  state,  tax  books,  directories,  reports  of  com- 
mittees, etc. 

5.  Pamphlets  of  all  kinds  relating  to  Rhode  Island  organiz- 
ations, such  as  annual  and  special  reports  of  Societies  and 
Churches,  minutes  of  conventions,  railroad  reports,  etc. 

6.  Catalogues,  reports  and  leaflets  of  any  schools  or  col- 
leges in  Rhode  Island,  educational  pamphlets  and  papers  of 
every  kind. 

7.  Advertisements,  price  lists,  and  reports  of  Rhode  Island 
business  houses. 

8.  Files  of  old  Rhode  Island  newspapers  and  magazines, 
especially  complete  volumes,  or  even  single  numbers  of  obscure 
publications. 

9.  Maps  and  plats  of  all  sorts  relating  to  Rhode  Island. 

10.  Views,  engravings,  prints,  photographs  or  drawings  of 
any  places  of  local  historical  interest. 

11.  Briefs  of  legal  cases  tried  in  Rhode  Island  Courts. 

12.  Books  or  pamphlets  printed  in  Rhode  Island. 

13.  Flags  or  medals  of  Rhode  Island  interest. 

14.  Any  objects  of  historical  interest  or  association  which 
will  serve  to  illustrate  graphically  the  history  of  the  State. 


Rhode  Island 

Historical    Society 

Collections 

Vol.  XIV  July,  1921  No .  3 

CONTENTS     fy''  ^f/^ 


% 


PAGE 

Roger  Williams'  Tablet  in  the  Hall  of  Fame  65 

An  Account  "of  the  English  Homes  of  Three  Early 
"Proprietors"  of  Providence 

By  Fred  A.  Arnold 68 

Addenda  to  Imprint  List 87 

Notes 97 


$  3.00  per  year  Issued  Quarterly  75  cents  per  copy 


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SOVi. 


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S5 


Bronze  Tablet  to  the  Memory  of  Roger  Williams  un- 
veiled in  the  Hall  of  Fame,  New  York  on  May  21,  1921. 


Reproduction  of  thumb  print  made  by  Roger  Williams 
in  sealing  wax  in  1654,  front  original  now  in  the  Massa- 
chusetts Historical  Society  Library,  Winthrop  2,  122. 


'*Mh^ 


NATURAL   SIZE 


^     '-"^ 


ENLARGED 


Reproductions  of  the  thumb  prints  of  Roger  Williams 
made  by  him  in  sealing  wax,  from  original  seals 
now  in  The  Massachusetts  Historical  Society  Library, 
Winth.  2,  120,  1650;  and  2,  124,  1664. 


RHODE 
HISTORICAL 


ISLAND 
SOCIETY 


COLLECTIONS 


Vol.  XIV 


July,  1921 


No.  3 


Howard  W.  Preston,  Pretident    Edward  K.  ALDRICHJf.,  Treasurer 
George  T.  SPICER,  Secretary  HOWARD  M.CHAPIN,  Librarian 


The  Society  assumes   no  responsibility  for  the  statements  or  the 
opinions  of  contributors. 


Roger  Williams'  Tablet  in  the  Hall  of  Fame 

On  May  21,  192 1,  a  bronze  tablet  in  honor  of  Roger  Wil- 
liams was  unveiled  in  the  Hall  of  Fame  in  New  York. 

The  tablet  bears  the  following  inscription: 
"ROGER  WILLIAMS 
I 607- I 684 

TO  PROCLAIM  A  TRUE  AND  ABSOLUTE  SOUL  FREEDOM  TO 
ALL  THE  PEOPLE  OF  THE  LAND  IMPARTL\LLY  SO  THAT  NO  PER- 
SON BE  FORCED  TO  PRAY  NOR  PAY  OTHERWISE  THAN  AS  HIS 
SOUL  BELIEVETH  AND  CONSENTETH." 

That  Roger  Williams  was  the  pioneer  of  Religious  Liberty 
in  America,  and  that  Providence  is  the  first  town  in  the  New 
World  founded  upon  that  principle,  with  a  complete  separa- 
tion of  the  church  and  state,  is  so  universally  known,  that  it 


66  RHODE  ISLAND  HISTORICAL  SOCIETY 

seems  scarcely  to  need  emphasis  again.  Yet  it  may  be  well 
to  call  attention  to  a  few  salient  facts. 

Roger  Williams  was  banished  from  Massachusetts  in  1635 
on  four  counts.  The  first  was  for  maintaining  "that  the  mag- 
istrate ought  not  to  punish  the  breach  of  the  first  table,  other- 
wise than  in  such  cases  as  did  disturb  the  civil  peace;"  (Win- 
throp  I,  162).  By  the  first  table  is  meant  the  four  command- 
ments, those  which  deal  only  with  religious  matters.  Here 
then  is  a  clear  cut  statement  of  Williams'  views  in  1635,  the 
principle  of  religious  liberty,  qualified  carefully  so  that  it 
might  not  be  used  as  a  cloak  to  cover  civil  disorders. 

In  1644,  Williams,  in  writing  of  his  trials  in  1635,  said 
that  he  was  justly  accused  of  holding,  "that  the  Civill  Magis- 
trates power  extends  only  to  the  Bodies  and  Goods,  and  out- 
ward state  of  men,  &c."     (Cotton's  Letter  Examined,  p.  4.) 

In  a  letter  written  21  July,  1637  to  Governor  Winthrop, 
Williams  said :  "I  know  and  am  persuaded  that  your  mis- 
guidings  are  great  and  lamentable,  and  the  further  you  pass 
in  your  way.  the  further  you  wander,  and  have  the  further 
to  come  back,  and  the  end  of  one  vexation,  will  be  but  the 
beginning  of  another,  till  Conscience  be  permitted  (though 
erroneous)  to  be  free  Amongst  you."  (N.  C.  6,  51.) 

That  religious  liberty  then  known  as  liberty  of  conscience 
was  established  at  Providence  in  1636  is  shown  by  Winthrop's 
comment  made  in  1638.  viz: 

"...at  their  first  coming  thither,  Mr.  Williams  and  the 
r.est  did  make  an  order,  that  no  man  should  be  molested  for 
his  conscience...,"  (Winthrop  i,  283)  and  William  Arnold's 
statement  in  May,  1638,  "...and  their  order  was,  that  no 
man  should  be  censured  for  his  conscience."  (Winthrop  i, 
283.)  Roger  Williams'  own  statements  in  regard  to  the 
founding  of  Providence,  made  later  in  1661  that,  "I... called 
the  place  Providence ;  I  desired  it  might  be  for  a  shelter  for 
persons  distressed  for  conscience,"  and  in  1677.  that  it  was 
"agreed  that  the  place  should  be  for  such  as  were  destitute 
(especially  for  Conscience  Sake)"  substantiate  this  fact. 

Richard   Scott,    who     like     William    Arnold,   mentioned 


ROGER  WILLIAMS'  TABLET  IN  THE  HALL  OF  FAME    67 

above,  was  a  bitter  enemy  of  Williams,  wrote  in  regard  to 
Williams ;  "Though  he  professed  Liberty  of  Conscience  and 
was  so  zealous  for  it  at  the  first  coming  home  of  the  Charter 
that  nothing  in  Government  must  be  acted,  till  that  was 
granted,. .  ."  (Fox  2,  248). 

Williams'  writings,  Williams'  friends  and  Williams'  ene- 
mies  all  testify  to  his  advocacy  of  Liberty  of  Conscience  and 
to  its  establishment  at  Providence.  The  Verin  case  of  May, 
1638,  proves  it  to  be  in  efifect  at  that  time  and  previously. 
Verin  was  disenfranchised  for  not  allowing  Liberty  of  Con- 
science to  his  wife.  The  "Combination"  of  July  27,  1640, 
states,  "we  agree  as  formerly  hath  been  the  libertyes  of  the 
lowne;  so  still  to  hold  forth  Liberty  of  Conscience."  (P.  T. 
P.  02.) 

To  sum  up :  We  have  the  statements  of  Williams,  that 
when  Providence  was  founded,  Liberty  of  Conscience  was 
■established  there ;  we  have  the  statement  of  Gov.  Winthrop, 
written  in  1638,  that  Liberty  of  Conscience  was  established 
at  "their  first  coming"  to  Providence ;  we  have  the  statement 
of  Arnold,  made  in  1638,  that  that  order  existed  previous  to 
this  time ;  the  Verin  case  in  1638  proves  that  the  order  in 
regard  to  Liberty  of  Conscience  was  enforce.d ;  and  the  Com- 
bination of  1640,  which  recognizes  the  fact  that  Liberty  of 
'Conscience  is  one  of  the  regulations  of  the  town. 


68  RHODE  ISLAND  HISTORICAL  SOCIETY 

An  Account  of  the  English  Homes  of  Three 
Early  "Proprietors"  of  Providence 

Fred  A.  Arnold 
{Concluded  from  April  Issue) 

No  pulblic  record  had  been  found  of  the  birth  or  marriage 
of  William  Arnold,  nor  of  the  birth  or  baptism  of  any  of  his 
children,  until  the  Ilchester  transcript  of  1622,  signed  by  him 
as  church  warden,  giving  the  baptism  there  of  his  youngest 
son  Stephen,  as  of  Dec.  26,  1622  (four  days  later  than  his 
birth  as  given  in  the  family  record),  and  the  burial  of  his 
father  Nicholas.  This  is  of  course  easily  explained  by  the 
entire  loss  of  all  the  earlier  Ilchester  registers,  but  the  Well's 
transcript  of  1596,  giving  the  record  of  the  burial  at  Ilchester 
of  "Alice  wife  of  Nicholas  Arnold  taller."  is  like  a  flasb 
from  a  light  house  illuminating  the  whole  situation.  It  is  the 
key  that  explains  why  the  name  of  Nicholas  Arnold  appears 
and  disappears  from  the  Northover  records,  with  the  one 
entry  of  the  Birth  of  his  daughter  Thomasine  in  1572,  shows 
where  he  went,  and  the  reason  of  his  removal.  The  explana- 
tion is  that  at  the  time  of  his  marriage  he  was  working  at 
Northover  as  a  journeyman  tailor,  having  already  served 
seven  years  as  an  apprentice,  and  desiring  to  go  into  business 
as  a  merchant,  he  moved  across  the  river  half  a  mile  into  a 
larger  community,  the  compact  part  of  Ilchester,  established 
himself  as  a  merchant  tailor  and  carried  on  that  business  there 
from  about  1575  until  his  death  in  1623.  It  was  the  common 
usage  at  this  period  for  men,  on  legal  documents,  to  add  their 
title  or  occupation,  but  it  was  unusual  if  not  unique  to  do  this 
in  case  of  a  wife  as  was  done  by  the  Rector  Joseph  Collier 
A.  M.,  in  recording  the  burial  of  Alice  as  the  wife  of  Nicho- 
las Arnold  tailcr  in  1596.  John  Raven  A.  M.,  who  wrote  and 
witnessed  his  will  in  1622/3  ^^so  called  him  tailer.  It  could 
only  mean  that  he  had  become  and  remained  an  influential 
merchant,  and  a  member  of  the  Gild  of  Taylors  in  Ilchester 
nearly  50  years. 


ENGLISH  HOMES  OF  THREE  EARLY  "PROPRIETORS"   69 

In  this  period  the  trade  g-ild  was  an  important  feature, 
formed  for  the  association  of  all  the  members  of  a  ^iven 
trade,  for  its  re^ilation  and  support.  No  person  could  work 
at  any  trade  in  any  capacity  unless  he  belonged  to  its  gild. 
These  trade  gilds  grew  to  be  very  influential  in  local  politics 
taking  to  a  great  extent  the  place  that  political  parties  do,  at 
the  present  time.  From  their  ranks  were  taken  the  mayors, 
burgesses  and  aldermen,  both  in  small  towns  and  large  cities ; 
they  became  very  wealthy,  and  built  magnificent  gild  houses, 
in  all  the  great  cities,  those  of  London,  Bristol,  Exeter,  and 
many  other  places  remain  to-day,  next  to  the  great  cathe- 
drals and  churches,  the  finest  'buildings  in  England.  These 
trade  gilds  should  not  be  confounded  with  the  older  church 
gilds,  devoted  entirely  to  religious  work,  that  disappeared 
with  the  destruction  of  the  monasteries  and  nunnerys  under 
the  edict  of  Edward  VI.  Nor  should  they  be  compared  with 
the  labor  unions  of  to-day,  organized  as  a  class,  to  fight 
against  their  employers,  another  class,  Hke  an  army  of  pri- 
vates clashing  against  their  officers  for  control.  In  the  trade 
gild,  master,  journeyman,  and  apprentice  were  banded  to- 
gether for  the  protection  of  his  trade,  not  his  class.  They 
were  chartered  by  the  Sovereign,  with  many  privileges,  recog- 
nized by  the  church ;  each  had  its  patron  saint,  that  of  the 
tailors  being  St.  John  the  Baptist,  whose  feast  day  was  their 
election  day,  and  celebrated  with  great  displays.  A  curious 
account  of  one  of  their  festival  occasions  at  Wells  is  found 
in  Phelp's  History  of  Somerset,  on  the  occasion  of  a  visit  of 
Queen  Anne  the  wife  of  James  I  in  1613.  As  Nicholas 
Arnold  was  living,  and  an  active  member  of  his  gild  at  that 
time,  he  may  have  been  present  as  a  participant  or  spectator, 
and  this  description  gives  us  some  idea,  of  the  manner  of  the 
man,  and  under  what  conditions  and  surroundings  he  lived 
at  Northover  and  Ilchester  from  about  1575  to  1623. 

"The  order  and  manner  of  the  shews  by  the  masters  and 
wardens  of  every  trade  and  occupac'on  within  the  citie  or 
buroughe  of  Welles,  as  it  was  presented  before  the  Queenes 


70  RHODE    ISLAND    HISTORICAL   SOCIETY 

Matie   in  Welles,  upon   Fridaie  the   XX °    dale  of   Auguste,. 
Anno  D'ni  1613. 

"It  is  ordered  that  the  Mayor  and  his  brethren  shall  attend 
in  their  scarlet  gownes  neere  about  Brownes  Gate,  and  the 
residue  of  the  XXiiij  or  to  attend  likewise  in  person  in  blacke 
gownes,  and  the  residue  of  the  burgesses  to  attend  likewise 
in  their  gownes  and  best  apparell ;  and  this  be  done  by  the 
oversight  of  Mr.  Mayor,  Mr.  Baron,  and  Mr.  Smyth. 

"The  Hammer-men,  which  were  the  carpenters,  joyners,. 
cowpers,  masons,  tylers  and  blackesmthes.  And  they  pre- 
sented a  streamer  with  their  armes ;  and  Noath  building  the- 
arke ;  Vulcan  workinge  at  the  fforge ;  Venus  carried  in  a  char- 
riot,  and  Cupid  sittinge  in  her  lapp  with  his  bowe  bent ;  a 
Morrice  daunce ;  the  Dragon  which  devoured  the  virgins. 

"The  Shermen  and  Tuckers,  and  they  presented  a  streamer 
with  their  armes. 

"The  Tanners,  Chaundlers,  and  Butchers  and  they  pre- 
sented a  carte  of  old  virgins,  the  carte  covered  with  hides 
and  homes,  and  the  Virgins  with  their  attires  made  of  cow- 
tayles,  and  braceletts  for  their  attires  made  of  cowtayles,  and' 
braceletts  for  their  neckes  of  homes  sawed  and  hanged  about 
their  neckes  for  rich  Jewelles.  Their  charriot  was  drawne 
by  men  and  boys  in  oxe  skins,  calves  skins,  and  other  skins. 

"St.  Clement  their  St,  rode  allsoe  with  his  booke.  And  his 
Frier  rode  allsoe,  who  dealt  his  almes  out  of  Mrs's  bagge- 
(which  he  carried  very  full  of  graynes)  verie  plentifullie. 
Acteon  with  his  huntsmen. 

"The  Cordyners,  who  presented  St.  Crispian  and — 

both  of  them  sonnes  to  a  kinge,  and  the  youngest  a  shoemaker, 
who  married  his  master's  daughter.  They  allsoe  presented  a 
morris  daunce,  and  a  streamer  with  their  arms. 

"The  Taylors,  who  presented  a  streamer,  Herod  and 
Herodias,  and  the  daughter  of  Herodias  who  dannced  for 
St.  John  the  Baptists  hedd ;  St.  John  Baptiste  beheaded. 

"The  Mercers,  who  presented  a  streamer;  a  morris 
daunce  of  young  children;  The  giant  and  the  giantesse; 
Kinge  Ptolemeus,  with  his  Queene  and  daughter  which  was 


ENGLISH  HOMES  OF  THREE  EARLY  "PROPRIETORS"   7I 

to  be  devoured  by  the  Dragon ;  St.  George  with  his 
knightes,  who  slew  the  Dragon  and  rescued  the  Virgin ; 
Diana  and  her  nymphes  carried  in  a  charriot,  who  tured 
Acteon  to  a  Harte." 

I  have  here  shown  where  Nicholas  Arnold  was,  and  what 
he  was  doing  from  the  time  he  disappeared  from  North- 
over,  soon  after  the  birth  of  his  daughter  Thomasine  until 
we  find  the  record  of  her  marriage,  at  Ilchester,  and  the 
next  year  1596,  the  death  there  of  his  wife.  He  had  now 
been  established  there  as  a  merchant  tailor  for  about  20 
years,  and  the  sudden  death  of  his  wife  and  her  infant  child 
was  not  only  a  sad  blow  to  him,  but  out  of  it  grew  some 
great  changes  in  the  future  plans  of  his  children. — He  was  now 
left  with  a  family  of  four  children,  the  oldest  of  which  was 
Joane,  just  of  marriageable  age  18,  Margery  14,  William  8,  and 
Robert  2.  Joane  remained  with  her  father  until  she  was  36 
years  of  age,  and  although  he  married  later  a  young  wife 
Grace,  Joane  was  indeed  the  foster  mother  of  his  young  sons, 
William  and  Robert. 

Between  William  and  Joane  there  grew  up  a  most  tender 
relationship.  They  were  both  married  about  the  same  time, 
as  is  shown  by  the  birth  dates  of  their  children,  Joane  died 
suddenly,  early  in  the  same  year  1622,  with  their  father 
Nicholas,  leaving  three  small  children  between  the  ages  of 
2  and  7.  She  was  buried  at  Yeovilton  the  home  of  the 
family  of  her  husband  William  Hopkins.  William  Arnold 
now  the  head  of  the  Arnold  family  at  Ilchester,  seems  to 
have  taken  her  children  into  his  own  family  of  little  ones 
of  about  the  same  age,  and  when  he  emigrated  in  1635, 
they  accompanied  him  to  New  England. 

What  has  been  accomplished  since  1902,  by  Mr.  Jones 
and  Mr.  Dwelly  is  the  finding  at  Northover  of  the  early 
parish  register  giving  the  date  of  baptism  of  Alice  Gulley 
the  mother,  and  Thomasine  Arnold  the  oldest  sister  of  Wil- 
liam, as  the  daughter  of  Nicholas  Arnold,  fully  confirming 
the  "family  record"  and  giving  us  for  the  first  time  the  true 
name  of  their  father.     Next  the  finding  at  Wells  of  the  II- 


72  RHODE  ISLAND  HISTORICAL  SOCIETY 

Chester  transcript  of  1595/6  showing  that  Nicholas  Arnold 
and  his  family  had  been  living  at  Ilchester,  where  he  had 
been  in  business  as  a  Merchant  tailor  since  about  1575,  the 
date  of  their  removal  from  Northover,  and  that  all  his  chil- 
dren except  Thomasine  were  born  there.  Next  the  Ilches- 
ter "transcript"  of  1622,  with  the  autograph  signature  of 
William  Arnold  as  church  warden,  showing  that  he  was 
there,  a  child  8  years  old,  when  his  mother  Alice  died  in 
1596,  and  in  1622  when  his  youngest  son  Stephen  was  born. 
The  very  fact  of  his  election  as  warden  in  1622,  is  sufficient 
to  show  that  he  must  have  been  long  there  and  well  known, 
and  as  all  his  four  children  were  born  in  the  ii  years  between 
161 1  and  1622,  it  follows  that  they  were  all  born  there,  al- 
though the  records  of  all  but  one,  Stephen,  have  disap- 
peared. 

To  connect  these  three  generations  of  the  Arnold  and 
Gulley  families  for  about  127  years,  from  John  Gulley's 
birth  about  1508,  to  William  Arnold's  emigration  in  1635, 
with  the  English  history  of  their  time,  we  note,  that  John 
Gulley's  life,  beginning  in  the  last  year  of  the  reign  of 
Henry  VII,  lasted  through  that  of  Henry  VIII,  38  years, 
Edward  VI,  6  years,  Mary  Tudor  5  years,  and  33  years  of 
tjie  reign  of  Q.  Elizabeth,  until  his  death  in  1591,  about  83 
years  of  age.  His  daughter  Alice  Arnold  born  in  1553  the 
first  year  of  Mary  Tudor's  reign,  lasted  through  that,  and 
48  years  of  the  reign  of  her  sister  Q.  Elizabeth.  Her  hus- 
band Nicholas  Arnold  born  about  1550,  lived  through 
those  reigns,  and  to  the  20th  of  James  I.,  while  William 
Arnold  born  the  29th  of  Queen  Elizabeth,  lived  through  the 
reign  of  James  I.,  22  years  and  emigrated  1635  in  the  loth  of 
Charles  I.  All  of  William  Arnold's  children  were  born  in 
the  reign  of  James  I. 

Going  back  to  the  William  Arnold  "family  record,"  let  us 
examine  some  of  its  peculiarities.  He  does  not  mention  his 
father,  or  give  any  marriages  or  burials.  He  gives  the  bap- 
tisms, or  christenings  of  his  mother,  and  all  her  children  except 


ENGLISH  HOMES  OF  THREE  EARLY  "PROPRIETORS"    73 

himself  and  the  infant  sister  Elizabeth,  and  then  in  his  own 
case  gives  only  the  births  of  himself  and  his  children.     Why 
does  he  make  this  difference?     In  1622,  he  served  one  year  as 
church  warden,  under  the  tutelage  of  John  Ravens,  A.  M.,  an 
educated  man,  and  Rector  at  Ilchester,  and  it  was  to  him  a 
school  in  which  he  learned  not  only  the  system  of  parish  reg- 
isters and  diocesan  returns,  but  also  to  realize  the  great  value 
to  himself  of  keeping  a  family  record  as  he  was  contemplating 
the  possibility  of  emigration.     His  father  had  not  kept  a  rec- 
ord himself  and  so  the  son  went  to  the  two  registers  of  Il- 
chester now  lost,  and  Northover  close  by,  and  accessible  to  him, 
for  he  could  have  found  them  nowhere  else,  and  copied  the 
baptisms.     Then  he  took  a  step  in  advance  of  his  times,  and 
began  to  keep  a  family  record,  beginning  with  his  own  birth, 
1587,  which  was  continued  in  one  line  of  his  family  for  four 
generations.     Here  we  see  in  the  case  of  his  son  Stephen, 
listed  in  the  family  record  as  born  22  Dec.  1622,  and  on  the 
transcript,  as  baptised,  four  days  later,  26  Dec.  1622  (the  rule 
being  that  all  children  should  be  baptised  three  days  after  birth 
or  on  the  succeeding  Sunday).     Comparing  these  two  records 
and  those  given  of  the  baptism  of  his  mother  and  sister  in  the 
family  record  and  on  the  Northover  register,  agreeing  as  they 
do  so  exactly,  gives  us  the  greatest  confidence  in  the  reliability 
of  the  entire  family  record.    While  some  records  supporting  it 
are   still   missing,    not    one   has    been    found   which   weakens 
or  disproves  a  single  statement  in  it,  the  one  record  explaining 
and  showing  the  connections  with  the  other.     Taken  together 
they  completely  prove  that  WilHani  Arnold  and  all  his  children 
were  born  in  Ilchester,  Somersetshire,  and  lived  there  until 
their  departure  for  New  England  in  1635.    Just  as  surely  and 
completely,  it  disproves  all  the   fables  and  errors  of   family 
tradition,  that  have  grown  up  and  been  spread  broadcast  be- 
tween that  date  and   1850,  seeming  to  show  that  they  were 
born  and  lived  elsewhere.     Savage  thought  that  they  were 
born  in  Co.  Nottingham,  but  offers  no  evidence  to  support  his 
opinion.     Mr.  H.  G.  Somerby  says  that  William  Arnold  was 
the  son  of  Thomas  Arnold  of  Cheselbourne,  Co.     Dorset,  by 


74  RHODE  ISLAND  HISTORICAL  SOCIETY 

his  first  wife  Alice,  daughter  of  John  Gulley  of  North  Over, 
in  the  parish  of  Tolpuddle,  a  short  distance  from  Chesel- 
bourne,  gives  him  a  brother  John,  and  makes  Elizabeth,  the 

youngest  daughter  of  Alice  Gully,  the  daughter  of  Grace , 

the  second  wife  of  Nicholas  Arnold,  and  marries  her  to  John 
Sayles,  Jr.  No  record  evidence  is  given  to  support  these  state- 
ments. None  exist.  He  did  not  go  to  Northover,  Somer- 
setshire, where  he  would  have  found  the  Gully  records,  there 
then,  and  there  now.  There  is  no  place  called  North  Over 
in  Dorset,  or  in  any  other  county  in  England,  excepting 
Somerset.  There  is  no  record  showing  that  Alice  Gully  mar- 
ried Thomas  Arnold,  or  had  a  son  John  born  in  1585.  Mr. 
Somerby  carried  with  him  from  America  the  W.  A.  "family 
record"  then  printed,  with  instructions  to  find  a  father  Thomas 
for  him.  The  most  regrettable  feature  in  Somerby's  work  is, 
that  in  the  absence  of  any  English  record,  known  here  to  dis- 
prove it,  so  rehable  a  genealogist,  as  Mr.  John  O.  Austin  was 
lead  to  accept  and  use  it  in  his  dictionary,  although  neither 
give  any  record  evidence.  Very  rarely  has  Mr.  Austin 
accepted  another's  statement,  unless  he  has  himself  seen  evi- 
dence to  support  it. 

The  Rev.  Charles  T.  Brooks,  in  his  "Old  Stone  Mill  at  New- 
port." suggests  still  another  birthplace  for  the  Arnolds,  namely, 
Leamington,  Warwickshire.  This  pamphlet  was  published  at 
Newport,  by  Charles  E.  Hammett,  Jr.,  in  1851.  It  is  an  ac- 
count of  a  controversy  between  certain  "Antiquarians"  at 
Brown  University,  Providence,  and  "one  of  the  oldest  inhabi- 
tants of  Newport."  as  to  whether  the  old  mill  was  built  by  the 
Northmen,  or  by  Gov.  Arnold,  and  has  been  commonly  called 
the  Mill  Hoax.  Both  sides  of  this  controversy  accuse  the 
other  of  filling  their  communications  "with  fabulous  stories, 
founded  on  deceptions,  entirely  without  foundation."  These 
accusations  were  true,  and  about  the  only  truth  in  the  pam- 
phlet. Mr.  Brooks  only  suggests  that  Gov.  Arnold  may  have 
seen  mills  of  this  kind  in  his  youth,  as  he  was  living  in  Eng- 
land at  the  precise  period  with  Inig  o  Jones  who  designed  the 


ENGLISH    HOMES    OF    THREE    EARLY    "PROPRIETORS"        75 

"•'Leamington  Mill,"  and  again  page  84,  he  says,  "The  Chester- 
ton Mill  is  only  5  miles  from  Leamington  in  the  west  of  Eng- 
land from  which  part  we  have  ascertained  the  Arnold's  came." 
The  Arnolds  did  come  from  the  west  of  England,  hut  War- 
wick is  in  the  centre.  Mr.  Hammett,  who  printed  this  book 
in  1851,  in  his  Bibliography  of  Newport  of  1887,  says,  "At 
the  time  of  writing  this  book  much  labor  was  bestowed  on  an 
attempt  to  ascertain  the  exact  birthplace  of  Gov.  Arnold,  but 
without  result.  About  20  years  later  (1871)  Dr.  David  King 
visited  England  and  found  satisfactory  proof  that  he  was 
torn  in  Warwickshire."  Neither  Brooks,  Hammett  nor  King 
have  given  a  single  record  to  substantiate  their  statements, 
and  yet  there  is  not  a  Newport  historian  to-day  that  ever 
mentions  the  Stone  Mill  or  Gov.  Arnold  in  connection  with 
it,  but  what  repeats  the  old  hoax,  that  he  was  born  in  Leaming- 
ton, Warwickshire,  because  in  his  will  he  mentions  his  Lem- 
mington  farm.  The  record  evidence  I  have  given  that  he 
was  born  in  Ilchester  near  Limington  shows  this  Warwick- 
shire story  to  be  pure  fiction. 

Stukeley  Westcott  whose  initials  S.  W.  stand  first  on  the 
proprietors  deed  of  1637,  at  Providence,  was  in  Salem  where 
"he  was  received  in  1636,  and  in  1637  had  a  one  acre  house  lot 
laid  out  to  him,  the  record  showing  that  his  family  then  con- 
sisted of  eight  persons.  And  as  the  names  of  only  five  of 
his  children  appear  later  on  Rhode  Island  records,  he  must 
have  lost  one  by  death,  perhaps  Samuel,  after  1636.  At 
Providence,  he  signed  the  agreement  of  1640.  for  a  form  of 
civil  government,  and  about  1645,  ^e  removed  to  Warwick  : 
and  in  1651  his  daughter  Damaris  went  with  her  husband 
Benedict  Arnold  to  Newport.  His  oldest  son  Robert  bought 
land  soon  at  Quidnessett,  and  was  killed  there,  during  King 
Philips  War,  the  other  children  all  dying  at  Warwick.  We 
cannot  without  further  research  say  with  certainty  where  he 
was  born,  or  lived  before  coming  to  New  England  in  1635. 
Hon.  Jonathan  Russell  Bullock,  who  published  in  1886,  "The 
life  and  times   of   Stuckley  Westcott,"   says — "He   was   born 


76  RHODE    ISLAND    HISTORICAL   SOCIETY 

in  England  about  1592,  probably  in  Co.  Devon,  and  died  at 
Portsmouth,  R.  I.,  12  Jan.  1676/7,  aged  about  85."  These  dates 
are  taken  from  the  unsigned  will,  made  the  day  of  Westcott's 
death.  Judge  Bullock  gave  much  time  himself  to  the  work 
of  investigation  and  had  the  co-operation  of  more  than  a  score 
of  persons,  both  here  and  in  England,  who  had  done  more  or 
less  work  in  the  same  line,  before  him,  among  whom  was  Sir 
George  Stuckley,  of  Stuckley,  Baronet,  the  present  owner,  by 
succession  of  Hartland  Abbey  and  Affeton  Castle,  West 
Worlington,  Devon,  the  seat  of  the  Stuckleys  in  England. 
He  suggested  that  the  name  implied  that  he  was  a  descendant 
of  St.  Ledger  Westcot  who  about  the  year  1300  married  a 
daughter  of  the  Stuckleys  of  Affeton.  This  place  is  on  a 
stream  called  the  Lesser  Dart,  about  10  miles  W.  of  Tiverton 
and  15  miles  N.  W.  of  Exeter  in  Devonshire. 

Thomas  Westcott  Gent.,  in  his  "View  of  Devonshire  1630,"' 
says  p.  271,  Af¥ton,  the  seat  of  the  Worshipful  family  of 
Stuckeley  stands  between  the  two  Worlingtons  East  and  West. 
It  came  to  Stuckeley  grand  son  of  St.  Leger  who  also  owned 
Westcot  wherein  lived  a  tribe  of  the  name.  A  grand  son  Sir 
Hugh  Stuckeley  lived  here  in  36th  of  Henry  VHL  (1545), 
owned  "Westcot,"  and  had  two  grand  daughters  named  Da- 
maris.  His  Arms — Argent,  a  chevron  between  3  escalops 
sable,  a  crescent.  The  arms  here  given,  describe  the  arms 
on  the  tombstone  of  Benedict  Arnold,  Jr.  The  oldest  son 
of  Gov.  Benedict  at  Newport,  whose  mother  was  Damaris 
Westcott,  except  that  the  crescent  has  been  changed  to  a  5 
pointed  star,  one  appearing  at  the  top  of  the  chevron  and 
another  at  the  top  of  a  helmet  on  the  crest.  The  Arms  on  this 
stone  have  always  been  called  "Arnold  Arms"  by  those  who 
have  seen  it,  but  it  seems  more  likely  to  have  been  "Westcott."' 
The  Arnold  arms  on  the  tomb  of  Hon.  Oliver  Arnold  in  the 
North  burying  ground  in  Providence,  as  well  those  found  by 
Gov.  Samuel  G.  Arnold  in  the  Herald's  College  in  London, 
are  described  thus  Gules,  a  chevron  ermine,  between  3  pheons 
Or. 

Before  1900,  every  county  in  England  had  been  combed  to 


ENGLISH  HOMES  OF  THREE  EARLY  "PROPRIETORS"   7/ 

find  the  name  of  Stukeley  Westcott,  without  success,  until  in 
1902,  Mr.  Edson  S.  Jones  found  the  name  at  Yeovil,  as  the 
father  of  a  son  Samuel,  baptized  there  March  31,  1622.  This, 
without  support  of  record,  does  not  prove  that  he  was  the 
Stukeley  who  came  in  1635  to  New  England,  but  circumstan- 
tial evidence  very  strongly  favors  that  conclusion.  The  name 
of  Stukeley,  and  of  Westcott  is  common  in  Devon  and  Somer- 
set, but  the  combination  of  these  names  has  so  far  been  found 
nowhere,  before  1622  at  Yeovil,  and  so  far  as  we  know  is 
•unique,  and  the  name  of  his  daughter  Damaris  is  also  very 
unusual.  In  Westcott's  "Devonshire,"  containing  thousands 
of  family  names,  Damaris  appears  but  twice,  and  both  times 
in  Stuckley  families  near  Afifton.  At  the  time  of  the  Yeovil 
record,  Damaris  was  about  two  years  of  age  and  of  course  with 
"her  father  there.  About  five  miles  down  the  river  Ivel,  at 
Ilchester,  was  living  her  future  husband  Benedict  Arnold  a 
lad  of  7.  Both  came  to  New  England  in  1635  and  to  Provi- 
-dence  in  1636  or  ^y,  where  they  were  married  in  1640.  In 
165 1,  with  five  small  children  born  in  Providence,  they  re- 
moved to  Newport.  Here  Benedict  was  chosen  President,  the 
highest  office  in  the  gift  of  the  Colony,  under  the  first  Charter, 
"before  1663  ;  and  that  year  under  the  second  Charter  granted 
by  King  Charles  II.  he  was  chosen  the  first  Governor,  which 
office,  he  contined  to  hold,  with  the  exception  of  6  years,  until 
his  death  19  June  1678.  His  wife  Damaris  survived  him,  and 
'both  lie  buried  in  the  plot  appointed  in  his  will,  as  "being  be- 
tween my  dwelling  house  and  my  stone  built  wind-mill."  Dur- 
ing the  progress  of  the  Indian  war  of  1675/6  Stukeley  West- 
cott now  84  years  old,  wifeless  and  infirm,  was  carried  to  the 
Tiouse  of  his  grand  son  Dr.  Caleb  Arnold  in  Portsmouth,  while 
two  of  his  sons,  Amos  and  Jeremiah,  were  granted  temporary 
lots  of  land  on  the  nearby  island  of  Prudence  for  the  support 
of  their  families,  as  were  many  of  the  refugees  from  the  main- 
land. On  the  12  of  January  1677;  seeing  his  end  approaching 
the  aged  man  attempted  the  making  of  his  will,  which  was 
drawn  up  under  his  direction.  l)ut  never  signed  ;  night  approach- 
ing, he  was  persuaded  by  his  g.  s.  Caleb  Arnold  to  wait  until 


yS  RHODE  ISLAND  HISTORICAL  SOCIETY 

morning,  expecting  his  sons  from  Prudence,  but  before  their 
arrival  he  had  passed  away  and  his  remains  were  carried 
across  the  bay,  the  war  now  over,  and  laid  beside  his  wife  at 
their  old  Warwick  homestead. 

William  Arnold  whose  name  appears  second  upon  the 
"Initial  deed"  at  Providence,  upon  his  arrival  in  Massachusetts 
Bay,  June  24,  1635,  itound  a  party  from  Hingham,  Co.  Suffolk, 
lately  arrived,  and  about  to  establish  a  new  township  to  be 
called  Hingham  which  was  done  September  18,  William  Arnell 
appears  as  No.  13,  on  the  first  list  of  those  who  "drew 
house  lots  from  the  Cove  on  the  north  side  of  the  road  to  Fort 
Hill."  H  he  really  intended  to  settle  here,  he  soon  changed  his 
plan  for  in  1636  we  find  him  in  Providence  where  he  was  as- 
signed a  home  lot  in  the  row  of  lots  on  North  Main  St.,  north 
of  Star  St.,  the  east  end  of  this  lot  is  now  covered  by  a  part 
of  Hope  reservoir.  Here  he  probably  built  and  lived  a  short 
time  for  a  contemporary  deed  of  land  in  this  vicinity  is 
bounded  on  William  Arnold's  "Wolf  trap"  evidently  built  by 
him  for  protection  of  his  cattle.  The  initial  deed  of  1637, 
which  made  him  one  of  13  proprietors  of  Providence  was  fol- 
lowed by  another  which  divided  all  the  meadow  ground  on  the 
Pawtuxet  river  between  the  same  13  persons  and  about  1638 
William  Arnold  and  William  Carpenter  with  their  families 
settled  here  at  the  ford  or  Indian  wading  place,  where  the 
Pequot  trail  crossed  the  Pawtuxet  river.  This  ford  is  quite 
a  distance  up  the  river  from  the  present  centre  at  the  falls  and 
the  bridge,  and  lies  a  few  rods  only  below  the  present  bridge 
on  Warwick  Ave.  From  this  ford  northerly  the  "Pequot  road 
was  made  the  dividing  line  between  William  Carpenter's  home- 
stead extending  from  it,  west  to  Pauchasset  river,  and  that  of 
William  Arnold  extending  from  it,  easterly  to  the  salt  water.. 
Later  Arnold's  son  Stephen,  and  son-ih-Law  Zachery  Rhodes 
settled  at  the  falls,  where  with  Joseph  Carpenter  they  built  a 
corn  mill  and  laid  out  to  it  a  road  through  the  woods  northerly 
(now  Broad  St.)  which  joined  the  Pequot  Path,  near  the  pres- 
ent Junction  of  Broad  St.  and  Warwick  Ave.  Upon  this 
homestead,  situated  very  much  as  was  his  old  home  at  Ilches- 


ENGLISH  HOMES  OF  THREE  EARLY  "PROPRIETORS"    79 

ter  at  the  Roman  Ford  on  the  Ivil,  WilHam  Arnold  passed  37 
years,  until  July  1675,  when  the  horrors  of  King  Phillip's 
burst  in  all  its  fury  upon  the  Colony.  The  story  of  what  hap- 
pened to  him,  is  'best  told  by  an  affidavit  made  by  his  young 
nephew  Major  William  Hopkins,  the  original  of  which  is  pre- 
served in  Prov.  Town  papers,  0268.  "Oct.  16,  1678  William 
Hopkins  aged  31,  testified  before  John  Whipple,  Asst.  that  at 
the  beginning  of  the  war,  and  at  the  desire  of  some  neighbors, 
he  went  to  Pawtuxet  to  try  to  persuade  William  Arnold  to  go 
to  some  garrison  or  down  to  his  son  Benedict's,  at  Newport, 
on  account  of  the  danger  he  was  in.  That  he,  William  Arnold, 
refused  to  go  to  Newport,  but  would  go  to  Providence,  but 
afterwards  said  that  that  was  too  far,  but  he  would  go  to  his 
son  Stephen's  garrison,  so  presently  his  son  Stephen  went  to 
his  father  and  desired  his  father  to  goe  to  his  garrison,  and 
the  sayd  William  Arnold  did  goe  along  with  his  son  Stephen 
and  this  deponent  to  his  son  Stephen's  Garrison." 

The  "garrison"  to  which  William  Arnold  was  carried  in  such 
a  feeble  condition,  and  now  88  years  old,  and  where  he  prob- 
ably died,  was  the  Mansion  house  of  his  son  Stephen,  whose 
homestead  covered  nearly  all  the  land  west  of  Broad  St.  to  the 
Pawtuxet  river,  and  from  the  falls,  north  to  the  swamp  where 
the  brook  from  the  east  runs  under  Broad  St.  to  the  river 
The  driveway  to  his  house  from  Broad  St.  is  now  Lockwood 
St.,  and  behind  it  now  stands  the  Rhodes'  Casino,  and  the 
canoe  club  houses.  On  the  bluff  at  the  north  end  of  this  home- 
stead farm,  overlooking  the  swamp  was  the  burial  lot  of 
Stephen  Arnold's  family.  This  burial  lot  has  now  been  built 
upon,  the  only  grave  stones  upon  the  lot  those  of  Stephen  and 
Sarah  (Smith)  Arnold,  were  removed  about  i860,  to  Swan 
Point  Cemetery.  As  this  Stephen  was  the  last  survivor  of  the 
emigrant  party  of  1635,  I  give  the  inscription: 

"Here  Lies  the  Body  of 

Stephen  Arnold. 

Aged  yy  Years 

Deceased  15TI1  Nov 

1699. 


Church  of  St.  Mary  major,  Ilchester 


Nicholas  Arnold  and  wife  Alice,  parents  of  William  Arnold,  are  buried 
in  this  yard.       William  Arnold  and  all  his  children  were  baptized    here. 


ENGLISH  HOMES  OF  THREE  EARLY  "PROPRIETORS"    8l 

Arnold  late  of  pautuxett,"  made  a  warrantee  deed,  on  the 
nominal  condition  of  one  hundred  Pounds  to  his  "Brother 
Stephen  Arnold  of  Pawtuxett  afore  sayed,"  of  all  Land  of  our 
sayd  father  lieing-  within  the  Bounds  of  patuxett,  between 
patuxett  river  and  Providence  bounds"  &c. 

This  was  not  an  uncommon  way  at  this  period  of  settling  an 
■intestate  estate,  and  shows  that  as  soon  as  the  war  was  ended 
and  civil  government  restored,  a  mutual  agreement  between 
William  Arnold  while  living,  and  his  two  sons,  was  honorably 
carried  into  effect  by  the  legal  heir  under  English  law,  after 
Tiis  death. 

We  do  not  know  with  certainty  the  birthplace  or  age  of  Wil- 
liam Carpenter  the  third  member  of  our  party  who  was  as  the 
"head  of  a  family  named  in  the  initial  deed  as  one  of  13  propri- 
etors of  Providence.  Assuming  that  he  was  about  the  same 
age  as  his  wife,  Elizabeth  Arnold  and  born  before  1611,  he  was 
about  60  years  of  age  and  had  been  living  at  Pawtuxet  more 
than  30  years  when  14  Dec,  1671  he  made  a  deed  of  free  gift 
to  his  sister  Fridgswith  Vincent  of  "my  dwelling  house  and  all 
what  land  belongith  to  me  adjoining  to  the  said  house  the 
which  said  house  is  standing  in  the  town  of  Amesbury  in  Wilt- 
shire and  in  a  street  commonly  called  Frogg  lane,  my  sister 
being  an  inhabitant  of  the  said  town,  the  which  said  house  did 
in  the  original  belong  to  my  father  Richard  Carpenter  now  de- 
ceased, but  fell  to  my  right  as  I  was  the  son  and  heir  of  my  said 
father."  It  does  not  necessarily  follow  that  Richard  was  in 
Amesbury  in  161 1.  or  that  William  was  born  there,  although 
possible.  Fridgswith  Carpenter  married  Thomas  Vincent  be- 
fore 1635,  and  had  children: — Thomas,  bap  Oct  18,  1635,  2. 
William,  bap  June  17,  1638,  and  3.  Joan.  William  and  Joan 
Vincent  came  to  Providence  about  1660.  where  Joan,  married 
John  Sheldon  that  year,  and  received  a  deed  of  land  from  her 
imcle  William  Carpenter  Aug.  2,  1660 — May  31,  1670.  Wil- 
liam Vincent  was  married  to  Priscilla  Carpenter  his  cousin  by 
Tier  father  William  Carpenter,  assistant.  Jan.  20,  1676,  his 
iiouse  was  attacked  by  about  300  Indians,  his  son  William,  and 
a  servant  killed,  two  hundred   sheep,   50  neat  cattle  and    15 


82  RHODE    ISLAND    HISTORICAL   SOCIETY 

horses  carried  off,  and  his  buildings  left  in  flames,  but  saved' 
by  the  defenders. 

April  25,  1683,  he  made  a  confirmatory  deed  to  the  heirs  of 
the  13  original  proprietors  of  Pawtuxet  lands,  calling  himself 
the  last  survivor  and  owning  three  shares.  His  will,  Feb.  10, 
1670,  was  proved  Oct.  i,  1685.  He  died  Sept.  7,  1685,  and  was 
buried  on  his  homestead  by  the  side  of  his  wife  Elizabeth 
Arnold. 

In  Dwellys'  Wells  parish  transcripts,  Vol.  H.,  at  Nettle- 
combe,  15  miles  west  of  Taunton,  I  find  some  records  that  seem 
to  connect  in  some  way  with  a  John  and  Richard  at  Salisbury 
7  miles  from  Amesbury.  I  give  it,  hoping  to  assist  further 
search. 

Married,  Sept.  i,  1606,  Mr.  Richard  Carpenter  and  Mrs. 
Susanna  Trevelian. 

Christened,  Oct.  28,  1607,  Susanna,  dau.  of  Mr.  Richard 
Carpenter.    Clarke,  (i  e.  Minister.) 

On  the  same  register  occurs  the  unusual  names  of  Fridiswade 
Clark,  1607,  and  Frediswade  Davis,  1640. 

In  Somerset  Wills,  11. 109.  I  find  the  will  of  Richard  Car- 
penter, Pastor  of  Sheviock  Devenport  (near  Plymouth),  Aug- 
ust 9,  1625.  Proved  Feb.  17.  1627/8,  by  the  relict,  Susan 
Carpenter  daughter  of  John  Trevelian  Esq.  of  Nettlecombe, 
mentions,  son  John  Carpenter,  student  at  Exeter  College, 
Oxon,  eldest  dau.  Susan,  dau.  Mary,  my  son  Richard,  3d,  dau. 
Ann,  4th  dau.  Elizabeth,  3d.  son  Edward,  5th  dau.  Sarah,  4th 
son,  and  youngest  child  Thomas,  my  brother  John  Carpenter  of 
Salisbury  (1628),  and  3  sisters  Jane,  Ann  &  Agness. 

The  Rev.  A.  W.  Phelps,  Rector  of  the  church  at  Amesbury, 
Wilts,  writes  Oct.  25,  1800,  "The  register  has — 18.  Oct.  1635 
baptised — Thomas  son  of  Thomas  and  Frittisweed  Vincent.  17 
June  William  son  of  Thomas  and  Frittisweed  Vincent.  The 
first  book  of  Amesbury  records  begin  1610  and  end  1638,  has 
Elizabeth  d.  of  John  Carpenter  bap.  Nov.  30,  1628.  John,  son 
of  John  Carpenter  bap.  Aug.  5,  1632.  Margaret,  dau.  of  John 
and  Joan  Carpenter  bap.  March  2,  1635;  and  Richard  Car- 
penter buried  Sept.  21,  1625. 


ENGLISH    HOMES    OF    THREE    EARLY    ''PROPRIETORS"        83 

William  Man,  who  came  with  his  wife  Frahces  Hopkins  in 
-635,  was  town  clerk  of  Providence  in  1646,  (see  Prov.  town 
papers  07),  and  died  before  1650.  His  son  Abraham,  was 
wounded  in  the  Indian  war,  and  was  allowed  by  the  Colony 
Oct.  29,  1684,  £3  for  the  curing  of  his  wound.  His  widow 
Frances  Man  removed  to  the  home  of  her  daughter  Mary,  who 
had  married  John  Lapham  at  Dartmouth,  IMass.,  where  she 
died  26  Feb.  1700  aged  84. 

The  parishes  whose  records  prove  them  to  have  been  the 
homes  of  our  emigrants,  are  situated  on  the  little  river  Ivel  or 
Yeo,  a  branch  of  the  Parret.  The  valley  of  the  Ivel  is  de- 
scribed in  Camden's  Brittania,  Edition  of  1610 — (about  the 
date  of  Wm.  Arnold's  marriage)  as  follows :  "The  river  Ivel 
springeth  in  Dorsetshire  and  no  sooner  entereth  Somerset  but 
he  giveth  name  to  Evil  (Yeovil)  a  great  market  town,  which 
rose  by  the  decay  of  Ilchcster,  and  taketh  into  him  a  rill,  near 
which  is  Camelct  a  steep  hill,  hard  to  get  up :  on  the  top  whereof 
be  tokens  of  a  decayed  castle,  surrounded  by  triple  rampires  of 
earth  and  ditches,  enclosing  many  acres  of  ground.  The  in- 
habitants name  it,  King  Arthur's  Palace :  Near  by  is  Cadbury 
where  K.  Arthur  defeated  Saxons  in  battle.  At  the  junction  of 
these  two  rills,  lie  Yeovilton  on  the  north  bank,  and  Liming- 
ton  on  the  south,  and  runneth  on  a  mile  to  Northover,  and 
Ilchester,  called  Ischalis  by  Ptlomee,  and  Ivelcestre  by  Nin- 
nius,  and  by  others  Pontavel-coit  (Ivel  bridge  in  the  Wood), 
and  Givelcestre.  at  this  day  of  small  account  for  its  antiquity. 
At  the  time  of  the  Normans  coming  in,  it  was  well  populated, 
at  one  time  having  107  Burgesses.  A  little  beneath  by  Lang- 
port  the  rivers  Ivel  and  Pcdred  (Parret)  running  together, 
make  between  them  the  island  called  Mulchcncy  that  is  to  say 
the  Great  Island.  Wherein  are  to  be  seen  the  defaced  wall  and 
ruins  of  an  old  Abbey."  The  map  accompanying  this  article  is 
from  Camden  1610. 

Muchelney,  the  island  at  the  junction  of  the  rivers  Ivel  and 
Parret,  was  the  home  of  Christian  Peak,  William  Arnold's 
wife.  Retracing  our  steps  up  the  Ivel  five  miles  is  Northover, 
the  home  and  burial  place  of  John  and  Alice  Gully,  and  just 


84  RHODE    ISLAND    HISTORICAL    SOCIETY 

across  on  the  south  bank,  Ilchester,  where  Nicholas  Arnold  was 
a  Merchant  tailor  about  47  years,  and  where  he  and  his  wife 
Alice  are  buried,  and  where  William  Arnold  and  all  his  children 
were  born.  A  mile  further  up  the  river  on  the  north  bank  is 
Yeovilton  the  home  of  William  Hopkins,  where  his  wife  Joane 
was  buried  in  1622,  the  sister  and  foster-mother  of  William 
Arnold.  Across  the  river  on  the  south  side  is  Limington  with 
its  parish  church,  "St.  Mary  Virginis,"  and  its  ancient  Free 
Grammar  School,  where  Thomas  Wolsey,  afterward  Lord 
Cardinal,  and  Primate  of  England,  was  both  curate  and  school- 
master from  1500  to  1509,  and  where  the  children  of  the  Gully, 
Arnold,  Hopkins  and  other  families  of  the  neighborhood  were 
probably  educated. 

In  his  will  Gov.  Arnold  mentions  his  Lemmington  farm, 
named  evidently  from  some  place  near  his  English  home. 
When  he  wrote  this  word  Lemmington,  in  its  broad  Wessex 
pronunciation,  he  meant  Limington  in  Somerset,  and  not  Leam- 
mgton  in  Warwickshire,  or  Lymington  in  Hants,  places  that  it 
is  not  at  all  likely  that  he  or  his  father  William,  ever  saw. 

From  the  date  1623,  of  Nicholas  Arnold's  will,  until  his  de- 
parture in  the  spring  of  1635  for  New  England,  William  Ar- 
nold's name  does  not  appear  on  any  Somerset  record.  On  his 
own  "family  record"  the  latest  English  date  he  gives  is  that  of 
the  baptism  of  Nicholas,  the  son  of  his  half  brother  Thomas, 
Jan  1627/8. 

We  can  only  conjecture  when  and  where  he  gathered  his 
large  party  together  with  their  baggage  and  supplies,  or  the 
route  they  took  from  the  valley  of  the  Ivel,  to  their  point  of  de- 
parture. The  nearest  and  most  practicable  route  would  be 
from  Ilchester  through  Yeovil,  Crewkerne,  and  Axminster  to 
Exeter,  and  then  turning  south,  down  the  Devonshire  coast,  by 
Teignmouth  and  Torquay  to  Dartmouth,  a  seaport  about  25 
miles  east  of  Plymouth  and  the  same  distance  south  of  Exeter. 
A  modern  writer  Mr.  Charles  G.  Harper  in  "A  summer  tramp 
from  London  to  Landsend"  thus  pleasantly  describes  it.  "A 
waft  of  more  spacious  times  has  come  down  to  us,  and  lingers 
yet  about  the  steep  streets  and  strange  stairways,  the  broad 


ENGLISH  HOMES  OF  THREE  EARLY  "PROPRIETORS"    85 

eaves  and  bowed  and  bent  frontages  of  Dartmouth.  An  air  in 
essence  salty,  and  ringing  with  the  strange  oaths  and  stranger 
tales  of  the  doughty  hearts  who  adventured  hence  to  unknown 
or  unfrequented  seas,  or  went  forth  to  do  battle  with  the 
Spaniards. 

"The  mouth  of  the  river  widens  into  a  deep,  land-locked  har- 
bour with  an  entrance  to  the  English  Channel  through  a  narrow 
opening  between  tall  cliffs.  Here  to  guard  it  there  were  built 
in  ancient  times,  the  twin-towers  of  Dartmouth  and  Kingswear 


Ancient  ironwork,  south  door  of  St.  Saviour's 
Church,  Dartmouth,  Devon. 

Castles,  facing  one  another  across  the  water,  and  between  them 
was  stretched  an  iron  chain  drawn  taut  by  windlasses  in  time 
of  peril. 

"The  parish  church  of  St.  Saviour,  is  old  and  decrepit  and 
rendered  dusky  by  wooden  galleries,  a  wonderful  and  almost 


86  RHODE  ISLAND  HISTORICAL  SOCIETY 

inconceivably  picturesque  building,  without  and  within  and 
what  is  not  often  seen  nowadays  a  very  much  unrestored 
church.  It  is  closely  girdled  with  steep  streets,  paved  with 
painful  but  romanic  looking  cobbles,  and  the  churchyard  rears 
itself  high  above  the  heads  of  wayfarers  in  its  narrow  lanes. 
The  doorway  of  the  south  porch  has  a  gate  or  grille  of 
wrought  iron  dated  1631." 

In  this  quaint  old  seaport,  some  of  our  party  must  have 
spent  several  days,  in  the  process  of  collecting  their  goods,  and 
loading  their  vessel,  and  although  they  were  strangers,  here 
only  for  a  few  days,  I  cannot  help  fancying  that  the  steep 
streets  of  Dartmouth  the  last  spot  of  English  earth  upon  which 
their  feet  were  to  tread,  its  ancient  St.  Saviour  church  with  its 
then  new  gate,  the  beautiful  harbour  where  had  lain  only  a  few 
years  before  them,  the  ships  of  Drake  and  Raleigh,  and  the  May- 
flower and  Speedwell  of  the  Pilgrims,  never  faded  entirely  from 
their  memory.  While  their  eyes  rested  upon  these  last  scenes 
in  the  home  land,  the  minds  of  the  young  people,  Joane  Arnold, 
soon  to  become  the  mother  of  all  the  Rhodes'  of  Rhode  Island, 
Damaris  Westcott  later  to  be  the  first  lady  in  the  Colony,  as 
the  wife  of  Gov.  Benedict  Arnold,  and  their  younger  brothers 
and  sisters  were  perhaps  thinking  more  of  the  village  greens  of 
Ilchester  and  Yeovil,  remembering  that  it  was  the  first  of  May. 
Mayday,  "the  maddest,  merriest  day  of  all  the  glad  new  year" 
in  England,  and  that  their  playmates  from  whom  they  were 
now  separated  were  engaged  in  the  happy  songs  and  dances  so 
dear  to  their  young  hearts ;  while  the  older  ones  were  more 
likely  turning  their  thoughts  toward  the  unknown  sea  with 
some  doubts  and  misgivings  mayhap,  but  yet  with  stout  hearts 
and  strong  hopes  facing  the  great  adventure  that  lay  before 
them  in  a  new  world. 


ADDENDA    TO    IMPRINT    LIST  87 

Addenda  to  Rhode  Island  Imprint  List 

Imprints  not  included  in  the  list. 

1730  NEWPORT 
.A  Perpetual  Almanack.  Shepley 

1734  NEWPORT 
Auchmuty.     The  Copy  of  Some  Queries.  Rosenbach 

1739  NEWPORT 
Governor's  Proclamation  in  regard  to  Counterfeiting. 

(News-Letter) 
1742  or  1743  NEWPORT 

Short   Narrative  of   Unjust   Proceeding  of   George   Gardner. 

Mass  HS 
General  Assembly.     An  Act  in  addition  to  an  Act. .  .Fire. .  . 

Terry 
1759  NEWPORT 
The  Strange  and  Wonderful  Predictions  of  Mr.  Christopher 
Love.  (Evans) 

1762  NEWPORT 

Reflections  on  Governor  Hopkins'  Vindication,  April  17. 

Terry 

General   Assembly.     An   Act    in    Addition   to . .  .  Manner   of 

admitting  Freemen.  RISL 

1763  NEWPORT 

Wanton,  J.  Observations  and  reflections  on  the  present  state 
of  the  Colony.  Shepley 

1764  NEWPORT 

To  the  Public,   Newport,    i6  April    (signed   Samuel   Ward) 

Shepley 

Peter  Mumford,  Post  Rider,  doth  upon  oath  declare  (signed) 

Henry  Ward,  (dated)  August  9.  LCP 

1764  PROVIDENCE 

To  the  Inhabitants  of  the  Colony  of  Rhode  Island   (signed) 
Stephen  Hopkins,   (dated)  April  12.  LCP 

1765  PROVIDENCE 

A  Table  of  Value.  .  .Lawfull  Money.  Shepley 

1769  NEWPORT 
Rhode  Island  College  (Subscription  List)  Terry 


88  RHODE  ISLAND  HISTORICAL  SOCIETY 

1770  NEWPORT 
The  Prodigal  Daughter  Shepley 

1771  PROVIDENCE 
A  Word  of  Counsel  and  Warning  Shepley 

Providence  Fire  Rules  RIHS 

The  Sum  of  Religion  Terry 

1773  NEWPORT 

Blakes,  James,  Jun.     A  Sermon.  Terry 

1774  NEWPORT 

The  first  book  of  American  Chronicles  RIHS 

General  Assembly.  October.  An  Act  for  Assessing  £4000. 

Shepley 
1774  PROVIDENCE 
General  Assembly,  December.  RIHS 

1775  NEWPORT 

The  Crisis  No.  VIII  RIHS 

The  following  was  received  by  a  Vessel  arrived  at  New  York, 
last  week,  September  12,  1775.  RIHS 

1777  PROVIDENCE 
General  Assembly.    July  21     By  an  Express  Shepley 

The  Death  of  General  Montgomery  (Printed  by  McDougall) 


General  Assembly,  October.  W'hereas,  owing  to  Divers 
Causes. .  .Town  Councils. .  .have  not  yet  collected  the 
Monies  due.  RISL 

General  Assembly.     March,  2nd   Session.     List   of   Persons. 

Shepley 

General  Assembly.  September  Session.  An  Act  in  regard  to 
drafting  militia.  RIHS 

1778  PROVIDENCE 

General  Assembly,  May,  2nd  Session,  Resolved  that  all  Per- 
sons. .  .equip  themselves.  Shepley 
Greene,  William  Thanksgiving  Proclamation.  RISL 

1779  PROVIDENCE 

Providence  Gazette,  February  2^,  1779,  Supplement,  variant 

edition.  RISL 

General    Assembly    March    20.      Attack     on     Rhode     Island. 

Shepley 


ADDENDA    TO    IMPRINT    LIST  89 

1780  NEWPORT 
Fresh  Intelligence,  Weeden  NHS 

Announcement  of  N.  A.  Calendar  for  1781  Shepley 

Calendrier  Francais  pour  1781   (with  eight  additional  pages) 

Shepley 

1780  PROVIDENCE 

Return  of  2nd  Rhode  Island  Regiment.  Shepley 

1 781  PROVIDENCE 

A  Poetical  Epistle  to  George  Washington.  Wheeler 

(Amer.  Journal) 
Three  o'clock   (Surrender  of  Cornwallis).  Carter  MHS 

1782  NEWPORT 
Letter  from  Sir  Guy  Carleton.    Barber.  Terry 

1783  PROVIDENCE 

Varnum,  J.  M.     Oration  on  Masonry  delivered  in  1782. 

Shepley 
Proposals  for  printing  the  United  States  Chronicle. 

H.  R.  Drowne 
important  Intelligence.    Carter.  Shepley 

1784  PROVIDENCE 

•Goldsmith,  Oliver.     The  Deserted  Village.  RIHS 

1785  PROVIDENCE 

Scheme  of  a  Lottery.  RIHS 

To  the  Editor  of  the  Providence  Gazette,  "Fair  Play." 

Shepley 

■General  Assembly.     February.     Whereas     certain  classes . .  . 

recruits.  Terry 

1786  NEWPORT 

Champlin,  Christopher.     Cargo  of  Ship  Hydra  Shepley 

Verses  for  the  New  Year,  1787.  Shepley 

1786  PROVIDENCE 

Pool,  Equestrian  Feats  of  Horsemanship.  Shepley 

General  Assembly.     May  Session  £100.000  RISL 

General  Assembly.     August  Session  i  100.000  RIHS 

1787  PROVIDENCE 

General  Assembly.     Four  per  cent,  notes  Shepley 


go  RHODE  ISLAND  HISTORICAL  SOCIETY 

1788  PROVIDENCE 

Mr.  John  Brown.    Invitation  for  a  dance.  JCB. 

1789  PROVIDENCE 

Webster,  Noah     American  Spelling  Book.     Carter  AAS 

Drawbacks  on  duties.  RIHS 

1792  PROVIDENCE 

Thornton's  R.  I.  Almanac  for  1793  printed  "for  Richardson" 

Arnold 

1793  NEWPORT 

Wells,   Elizabeth.     Some    Melancholy    Heartfelt   Reflections. 

Sihepley 

1793  PROVIDENCE 

Fenner,  Arthur.  Proclamation  in  regard  to  Small  Pox,  21 
September  1793  Carter  .... 

Proceedings  of  seven  gentlemen  sitting  themselves  an  Eccle- 
siastical Council.  RIHS 

New  Year's  Address  January  i,  1793.  "Now  our  Grandame 
Earth."  Shepley 

Whitefield,  George.   The  Knowledge  of  Jesus  Christ.     Carter 

Shepley 

1794  NEWPORT 

Murder.     Narrative  of  the  trial  of  William  Corran     Shepley 

1794  PROVIDENCE 

General  Assembly,  March.  Act  to  repair  highways  in  Scituate. 

Terry 
General  Assembly.    June  16.    Condition  on  which  Non  Com- 
missioned Ofifiicers Shepley 

Rhode  Island  Register  for  1795  Shepley 

1795  NEWPORT 

Rhode  Island  Bank,  Charter  of  Terry 

1795  PROVIDENCE 

Street  Lattery  RIHS 

An  Essay  on  the  Fall  of  Angels  &  Men.     Wheeler        Shepley 

1795  WARREN 
Patten,  William.    Reminiscences  of  Samuel  Hopkins 

(Bartlett) 


ADDENDA    TO    IMPRINT    LIST  9I 

1796  PROVIDENCE 

Whitney,  Josiah.  Sermon  on  the  death  of  Rev.  Noadiah 
Russell.     Carter  &  Wilkinson  RIHS 

1797  PROVIDENCE 

Adams,  John.    "President's  Answer."  Shepley 

New  Year  Verses  of  the  Carrier  of  the  Gazette  Jan.  i,  1798. 

RIHS 

1798  NEWPORT 

Interesting.     By  Capt.  Earl  Shepley 

Adams,  John.    President's  Speech.    Farnsworth  Terry 

1798  PROVIDENCE 

Life  of  Zilpha  Smith.    Wheeler  (U.  S.  Chronicle) 

Pawtucket  Cannon  Factory  5  Dec.  1798    (Broadside)      

Adams,  John.     President's  speech  C  &  W  RIHS 

1799  NEWPORT 

The  Gentlemen  &  Lady's  Companion,  containing  the  Newest 
Cotillions  and  Country  Dances.     O.  Farnsworth.     Terry 

The  Affecting  History  of  the  Children  in  the  Wood.  H.  & 
O.  Farnsworth.  A.  C.  Bates 

Newport  Insurance  Company.  Terry 

The  Travels   of    Robinson    Crusoe.      H.    &  O.   Farnsworth. 

Terry 

The  Trifle  Hunters.     O.   Farnsworth.  Terry 

1799  PROVIDENCE 

The  Companion  :  being  a  Selection  of  the  Beauties  of  the 
Most  Celebrated  Authors.  RIHS 

1800  NEWPORT 

Beckley,   John  James.    Address   to  the   People.    Second   Ed. 

H.  B.  Tompkins 
A  Law  to  establish  a  Uniform  System  of  Bankruptcy.  Barber. 

Shepley 

UNDATED 

Champlin,  Christopher.  Goods  for  sale.  Providence  (about 
1790).  Shepley 

Champlin,  Christopher.     Ship  Hydra.     See  1786 


92  RHODE  ISLAND  HISTORICAL  SOCIETY 

An  Exposition  of  the  Emblems  of  the  Providence  Associa- 
tion  of    Merchants  and   Manufacturer's   Certificate. 

Shepley 

Engraved  Certificate  referred  to  in  above  Table  of  Values 
see  1765  Shepley 

Phillis.    An  Elegiac  poem  to  George  Whitefield.    Southwick. 

NHS 

Advertisement  of  Nathaniel  Croade  of  Pawtucket  (Warren 
1797?)  RIHS 

The  Bride's  Burial  Penn.  HS 

Unlocated  Listed  Imprints  now  located,  and  Imprints  located 
outside  of  Providence  in  the  List  of  191 5.  of  which 
copies  are  now  in  Providence. 

1728 

Webb,  John.     The  Believer's  Redemption.  Shepley 

1731 
Fox;,  John.     The  Door  of  Heaven.  Shepley 

1733 

Hale,  Sir  Matthew.  Some  Necessary  and  Important  Consid- 
erations.    (Only  copy  located)  Shepley 

1750 
The  Case  and  Complaint  of  Samuel  Maxwell.  JCB 

1751 
Williams,  Solomon.    The  Sad  Tendency.  Shepley 

1752 
MacSparren.   The  Sacred  Dignity.  Shepley 

1754 
The  111  Policy  of .  .  .  .Imprisoning  Insolvent  Debtors.     Shepley 

1759 

By  the  Governor.    Thanksgiving  Proclamation.      (Only  copy 

located)  Shepley 

1760 

Tweedy.     A  Catalogue  of   Drugs.  Shepley 

1762  PROVIDENCE 
Prospectus  of   Providence  Gazette  Shepley 


ADDENDA    TO    IMPRINT    LIST  93 

1765  PROVIDENCE 
Davies.   A  Sermon.  Shepley 

1766  NEWPORT 
Hymns  and  Spiritual  Songs.  Shepley 

1770  NEWPORT 
Trial  of  Sir  Richard  Rum.  Shepley 

1775  NEWPORT 
Mr.  Samuel  Adams.     Portrait.  Shepley 

1776  PROVIDENCE 

Paine.    Common  Sense.    loth  ed.  Shepley 

1777  PROVIDENCE 

General  Assembly.   December  4.   An  Act.  RISL 

1780  PROVIDENCE 

General  Assembly,  July,  2nd  Session.     An  Act  for  assessing 

10,000  Pounds.  Terry 

General  Assembly,  July,  2nd  Session.    An  Act  for  assessing 

£400,000.  RISL 

General  Assembly  July  7,  1780.    Act  Shepley 

General  Assembly.    May,  Act.  80,000  Pounds  Terry 

1781 

General  Assembly,  May,  2nd  Session.    An  Act  for  granting 

£6000.  RISL 

1782  NEWPORT 

General  Assembly.  Oct.   An  Act  for  granting  $20,000    Terry 

Verses  Made  on  the  Death.  Shepley 

1782  PROVIDENCE 

General  Assembly.  January.  An  Act  for  numbering  the  Fam- 
ilies. RISL 

General  Assembly.  February.  An  Act  for  granting  Tax  of 
£6000.  RISL 

1784  NEWPORT 

The  Instructive  Fables  of  Pilpay.  Shepley 

1785  NEWPORT 

Laws  of  the  Marine  Society.  Shepley 


94 


RHODE  ISLAND  HISTORICAL  SOCIETY 

1786  PROVIDENCE 


Backus,  Testimony  Shepley 

General  Assembly.  June.    An  Act... 20,000  pounds         Terry 

1787  NEWPORT 

Gessner.     The  Death  of  Abel.  Shepley 

1787  PROVIDENCE 

Wheeler's  North  American  Calendar  for  1788  Shepley 

1788  NEWPORT 

Cutler,  Manasseh.     An  Explanation.  Shepley 

Articles  of  Agreement,  Ohio  Company.  Shepley 

1788  PROVIDENCE 

Griffith.    Collection  of  Dances.  Shepley 

1789  PROVIDENCE 

Webster.    An  American  Selection.  Shepley 

1791  PROVIDENCE 

United  States  Inspector  General  Regulations  for  Troops. 

RIHS 

1792  PROVIDENCE 

Goldsmith.  The  Vicar  of  Wakefield.  Shepley 

1792  WARREN 
Lines  on  the  last  and  dying  Words  of  Rev.  Oliver  Williams. 

Shepley 

1793  PROVIDENCE 

Rhode  Island  College.    Laws.  Shepley 

1794  NEWPORT 
An  Address  of  the  Democratic  Society  RIHS 

1794  PROVIDENCE 

Dodsley.   The  Toy  Shop.  Shepley 

1795  PROVIDENCE 

Dodsley.    OEconomy  of  Human  Life.  Shepley 

1796  PROVIDENCE 

Holman.    Funeral  Oration.  RIHS 

1796  WARREN 
General  Assembly.    June  Session.    That  Two  Representatives 
..  .be  elected.  RISL 


ADDENDA    TO    IMPRINT    LIST  95 

1797  PROVIDENCE 
Hhode  Island  College.    Commencement.  Shepley 

Rhode  Island  College.   Illustrissimo  Jabez  Bowen.  BU 

1800  NEWPORT 
Beckley,  J.  J.  Address.  H.  B.  Tompkins 

Briggs,  J.    Oration.  Terry- 

Burroughs,  Peleg.   Oration  H.  B.  Tompkins 

Undated,  pages  74  and  75 
The  Justly  celebrated  Mrs.  Sophie  Hume's  advice.     Shepley 
A  List  of  Names  of  Family  of  John  Carter  1785.  Shepley 

In  Memory  of  Capt.  John  Crawford  1774.  Shepley 

Located  Imprints  not  listed  in  Rhode  Island  Historical  Society 
in  191 5,  but  now  in  Rhode  Island  Historical  Society. 

1750 
Frothingham.    The  Articles  of  Faith.  RIHS 

1754 
G.  G.    The  Divinity  and  Humanity  of  Our  Lord.  RIHS 

1758 
Pollen.   The  Duty  of  Defending  our  Countrymen.  RIHS 

1763  PROVIDENCE 
Aplin.    Both  editions  with  and  without  "lyre"  at  end.     RIHS 

1773 
Fothergill.    A  Sermon  at  Horsley  Downs.  RIHS 

1776  NEWPORT 
In  Congress.   A  Declaration  June  (for  July)   13  RIHS 

1778  PROVIDENCE 

Orders  of  the  Council  of  War.  RIHS 

1779  PROVIDENCE 

Resolves  and  Orders  of  the  Council  of  War.  RIHS 

1783  PROVIDENCE 

Thacher,  Peter.    Prayer  The  Breath  of  Rev.  Habijah  Weld 

RIHS 
1793  PROVIDENCE 

Rhode  Island  College.    Catalogue  of  Books  RIHS 

1796  PROVIDENCE 
Holman.    Funeral  Oration.  RIHS 


96  RHODE  ISLAND  HISTORICAL  SOCIETY 

1797  PROVIDENCE 

Thompson.    Funeral  Oration  on  Kingman.  RIHS 

1798  PROVIDENCE 

Rhode  Island  College  Catalogue.  RIHS 

1799  PROVIDENCE 

Congress  of  the  United  States.  RIHS 

1800  NEWPORT 
Dehon,  T.    Discourse.  RIHS 

CORRECTIONS. 
1736,  Page  10 

Beavan's  essay  should  be  under  date  of  1754,  Page  14. 
Anthony  or  Osborne  should  be  Anthony  and  Osborne. 

1777  PROVIDENCE,  Page  35 
Add  McDougall's  name    after    John    Carter  as   Providence- 
printers  for  that  year. 

1779  NEWPORT,  Page  38 

Vol.  I,  No.  35  of  the  American  Journal  was  printed  at  New- 
port. RIHS- 

1780  NEWPORT,  Page  40 
Add  the  name  of  J.  Weeden  to  list  of  printers. 

1781  PROVIDENCE,  Page  43 
American  Journal  should  be  No.  157  instead  of  1507. 

1782  NEWPORT,  Page  45 
Add  H.  &  O.  Farnsworth  to  list  of  printers. 

1782  PROVIDENCE,  Page  45 

Thacher  item  should  be  under  1783.  RIHS- 

1787  PROVIDENCE,  Page  51 
Emmons.    "On"  Franklin  instead  of  "in"  Franklin. 

1 791  PROVIDENCE,  Page  58 
R.  I.  College.    "Illustrissimo"  should  be  "Honoratissimo." 

1800  NEWPORT,  Page  'J2 
Omit  "The  R.  I.  Republican  Farnsworth." 


NOTES  97 


Notes 


The  manuscript  plat  of  the  original  layout  of  Block 
Island  has  been  given  to  the  Society  by  the  late  Mr.  Nathaniel 
Ray  Greene  of  Narragansett  Pier. 

The  Providence  Mutual  Fire  Insurance  Company  has 
given  to  the  Society  a  large  number  of  manuscript  books  cov- 
ering 'the  activities  of  that  organization  up  to  the  year  1850. 

The  following  persons  have  been  elected  to  membership 
in  the  Society; 

Mr.  Harvey  A.  Baker,  Miss  Anna  L.  Lestrade, 

Mr.  Raymond  E.  Ostby,  Mr.  Arthur  James, 

Mr.  Harry  C.  Owen,  Mrs.  Arthur  N.  Sheldon. 

Mrs.  Charles  BfiiSley  presented  to  the  Society  an  inter- 
esting and  valuable  collection  of  newspapers  and  manuscripts 
of  local  historical  interest. 

An  oil  portrait  of  Stephen  Dexter,  who  was  born  in  1764, 
was  given  to  the  Society  by  Miss  Abigail  Dexter  of  East 
Providence. 

Mr.  Charles  B.  Whipple  presented  to  the  Society  an 
autograph  letter  of  Governor  Nicholas  Cooke  written  Febru- 
ary 24,  1777. 

Two  Honorary  members  of  the  Society,  Mr.  David  W. 
Hoyt  and  Mr.  James  Phinney  Baxter  died  in  May. 

The  January  Bulletin  of  the  Newport  Historical  Society 
contains  a  paper  on  "Newport  Artists,"  by  Mrs.  Maud  Howe 
Elliott. 

The  "Honor  Roll — Rliode  Island  Masons  who  served  in 
the  World  War"  has  l)een  issued  in  attractive  form. 

The  Rhode  Island  S'tate  Board  of  Agriculture  has  pub- 
lished D.  J.  Lambert's  "History  of  the  R.  I.  Reds." 

Through  the  generosity  of  Col.  George  L.  Shepley,  the 
Society  now  has  two  new  and  attractive  exhibition  cases  which 
have  been  placed  in  the  Portrait  Gallery. 

In  the  October,   1920,  number  of  the  Collections  is  an 


98  RHODE  ISLAND  HISTORICAL  SOCIETY 

article  on  Roger  Williams  and  John  Milton.     The  author,  Mr. 
Potter,  has  contributed  the  following  additional  note : 

In  running  over,  recently,  the  files  of  Modern  Language 
Notes,  I  observe  that  the  criticism  of  Dr.  Carpenter's  conjec- 
ture about  Roger  Williams's  "reading"  Milton  Dutch,  which 
I  made  in  my  discussion  of  W'illiams  and  Milton  (R.  I.  His- 
torical Society  Collections,  Vol.  XIII.  No.  4,  pp.  119-20),  had 
already  been  made  by  Professor  G.  L.  Kittredge  in  1910. 
(Modern  Language  Notes,  Vol.  XXV,  p.  159;  May,  1910.) 
l\Iay  I  take  this  opportunity  of  acknowledging  the  priority 
of  Professor  Kittredge's  note  on  the  matter,  and  stating  that 
at  the  time  of  writing  my  discussion  of  the  subject,  I  l\ad  no 
knowledge  of  the  existence  of  his  note,  or  I  should  of  course 
have  mentioned  it  in  that  connection. 

One  additional  comment  on  the  list  of  books  read  by  Wil- 
liams, w^hich  I  gave  as  an  appendix  to  my  discussion,  may  be 
worth  mentioning.  On  page  128,  I  stated  of  Henry  VIII's 
"blasphemous  writing  against  Christ  Jesus  in  his  holy  truth 
proclaimed  by  Luther"  (P>loody  Tenent  yet  more  Bloody,  N. 
C.  P..  p.  163)  that  "this  work  I  have  not  been  able  to  deter- 
mine." The  book  referred  to  by  Williams  is  obviously 
Henry's  Defence  of  the  Seven  Sacraments,  "Assertio  Septem 
Sacramentorum,"  1521,  which  caused  the  Pope  to  give  Henry 
the  title  of  "Defender  of  the  Faith." 

George  R.  Potter. 


The  only  known  impression  of  Rhode  Island's  first 
seal.  From  the  Charter  of  the  Town  of  Warwick,  1648, 
now  in  the  Shepley  Library,  Providence. 


s-^^m^ 


BEAVERTAIL   LIGHT    IN    1798 


Engraved  by  William  Hamlin  of  Providence  for  The 
Certificate  of  the  Providence  Marine  Society.  From  origi- 
nal in  the  Rhode  Island  Historical  Society  Library. 


I 


k 


Rhode  Island 

Historical    Society 

Collections 


Vol.  XIV 


October,  1921 


No.  4 


CONTENTS 


jmerce  of  Rhode  Island  with  the  Southern 
Continental  Colonies  in  the  Eighteenth  Century 
Bv  Walter  Freeman  Crawford 


PAGE 


99 


The  Jamestown  and  Newport  Ferries 

By  Charles  V.  and  Anna  Augusta  Chapin 

Notes  


Ill 

121 


Rhode  Island  in  1768 
By  John  Lees 


122 


1 3.00  per  year 


Issued  Quarterly 


75  cents  per  copy 


RHODE 
HISTORICAL 


ISLAND 
SOCIETY 


COLLECTIONS 


Vol.  XIV 


October,  1921 


No.  4 


Howard  W.Preston,  President    Edward  K.  ALDRICHjr.,  Treasurer 
George  T.  SPICER,  Secretary  HOWARD  M.CHAPIN,  Librarian 


The  Society  assumes   no  responsibility   for  the  statements  or  the 
opinions  of  contributors. 


The    Commerce    of    Rhode    Island    with    the 

Southern  Continental  Colonies  in  the 

Eighteenth  Century* 

By  Walter  Freeman  Cr-^wford. 
In  few  respects  does  the  Rhode  Island  of  to-day  resemble 
the  Rhode  Island  of  colonial  times.  Many  of  the  customs  and 
institutions  which  occupied  prominent  places  in  the  activities 
of  an  earlier  day  have  now  been  superseded.  Commerce,  for 
instance,  which  was  highly  important  to  the  colonial  merchant 
has  been  displaced  almost  entirely  by  manufacturing;  where 
capital  was  once  utilized  in  building  ships  and  carrying  on 
trade,  we  to-day  find  it  invested  largely  in  mills  and  machinery. 

*The  Society  of  Colonial  Dames'  Prize  Essay  in  American  History 
for  1920-21.  This  paper  is  based  largely  upon  contemporary  materials 
drawn  from  the  following:  The  Commerce  of  Rhode  Island,  1726- 
180O,  2  vols.,  Mass.  Hist.  Soc.  Coll.,  7th  series,  vols.  IX,  X,  1914-1915; 
Newport  Commercial  Papers,  MSS.,  in  the  library  of  Col.  George  L. 
Shepley,  Providence;  and  Outward  Entries  and  Manifests,  MSS.,  m 
State  Archives. 


100  RHODE  ISLAND  HISTORICAL  SOCIETY 

It  is  interesting,  however,  in  view  of  the  recent  attempts  to 
make  the  Narragansett  Bay  once  more  the  scene  of  commer- 
cial activities,  to  study  the  early  development  and  growth  of 
trade  in  Rhode  Island. 

Commerce,  in  the  eighteenth  century,  has  somewhere  been 
designated  the  ''backbone"  of  Rhode  Island  in  its  life  as  a 
colony.  Certainly  in  the  days  immediately  preceding  and 
following  the  Revolution,  trade  came  to  be  the  one  cen- 
tral, dominating  interest,  and  the  number  of  prominent 
colonists  who  had  no  direct  connection  with  some  phase 
of  these  maritime  ventures  was  limited.  It  is  now  recog- 
nized that,  in  at  least  three  different  ways,  the  commerce 
of  these  early  colonial  days  had  an  important  relationship  to 
the  later  development  of  the  colony.  In  the  first  place,  from 
a  purely  financial  point  of  view,  commerce  was  largely  instru- 
mental in  the  establishment  of  many  Rhode  Island  fortunes. 
In  the  second  place,  trade  with  her  neighbors  and  with  foreign 
countries  fostered  that  spirit  of  independence  in  thought  and 
action  which  was  especially  characteristic  of  the  colony  in 
the  Revolutionary  period,  and  has  even  descended  to  the 
present  generation.  Finally,  it  was  out  of  the  commercial 
activities  of  Rhode  Island  in  colonial  times  that  the  manufac- 
turing interests  of  the  modern  era  were  to  spring;  the  founda- 
tion of  the  present  day  industrial  enterprises  is  to  be  found 
in  the  maritime  ventures  of  the  colony. 

There  is  always  a  tendency,  in  studying  a  particular  phase 
of  a  given  subject  to  over-emphasize  its  importance.  This 
must  be  especially  guarded  against  in  considering  the  origin, 
nature  and  results  of  the  commerce  of  Rhode  Island  with  the 
southern  continental  colonies.  Colonial  trade  in  the  eighteenth 
century  was  a  complicated  network  of  routes ;  ships  doubled, 
redoubled  and  turned  again  on  their  tracks ;  they  made  trian- 
gular voyages  on  the  slightest  excuses ;  seldom  indeed 
were  two  voyages  made  from  and  to  exactly  the 
same  ports.  For  this  reason,  the  trade  of  Rhode  Island  with 
the  South  cannot  in  any  strict  sense  be  isolated  from  the  other 
phases  of  colonial  commerce  which  are  tangled  about  it ;  and, 


COMMERCE    OF    RHODE    ISLAND  Id 

consequently,  an  understanding  of  the  nature  of  this  com- 
merce as  a  whole  is  necessary  before  the  true  importance  of 
this  relationship  can  be  appreciated.  We  must  have  some 
idea  of  the  whole  before  we  can  study  subdivisions. 

To  comprehend  the  trade  in  its  entirety,  it  must  first  be  re- 
membered that  the  American  continental  colonies  were  regarded 
by  England  as  a  part — and  a  rather  unimportant  part,  as  a 
matter  of  fact — of  her  Colonial  Empire.  From  an  economic 
point  of  view,  which  was  the  one  most  widely  adopted  in 
the  eighteenth  century,  when  Great  Britain  was  dominated 
by  the  policy  of  mercantilism,  the  continental  colonies  were 
generally  admitted  to  be  far  less  valuable  to  the  mother-coun- 
try than  the  West  Indian  sugar-producing  colonies.  It  is  only 
in  the  light  of  this  policy  that  the  purpose  underlying  the 
passage  of  the  Navigation  Acts  can  be  appreciated. 

Moreover,  as  a  part  of  this  same  economic  principle,  all 
colonies  were  thought  of  as  secondary  to  the  mother-country. 
The  needs  and  the  interests  of  the  citizens  at  home  were 
always  the  primary  considerations  of  the  British  government, 
and  it  was  believed  that  prosperity  in  England  would  naturally 
be  reflected  in  the  subject  countries.  Consequently,  at  least 
in  the  earlier  years  of  the  century,  all  the  English  colonies 
were  viewed  chiefly  as  sources  of  raw-materials ;  and  it  was 
probably  not  until  after  the  American  Revolution  that  these 
colonies  were  generally  looked  upon  as  the  markets  for  Eng- 
lish goods.  England  could  see  the  wisdom  of  encouraging 
<"hese  colonies  as  sources  of  supplies ;  but,  while  she  was  fos- 
tering the  development  of  British  commerce,  it  was  always 
the  domestic  merchants  and  the  British-built  ships  which  were 
especially  favored. 

The  whole  system  of  American  commerce  in  this  century, 
grew  up  with  little  direct  encouragement  from  the  mother 
country.  It  was  remarkable,  for  this  reason,  then,  that  trade 
should  become  so  widespread  before  the  Revolution,  and 
surprising  that  the  volume  of  intercolonial  trade  should  be 
so  large.  It  was  natural  that  the  home  country  should  main- 
tain  intimate   relations   with   all   of   her  colonial   possessions 


102  RHODE  ISLAND  HISTORICAL  SOCIETY 

along  the  coast,  but  whatever  intercourse  developed  between 
the  colonies  themselves  was  the  direct  result  of  their  own 
initiative  and  individual  activity.  Some  of  the  settlements 
along  the  coast  were  especially  favored  by  physical  conditions 
in  the  development  of  trade,  as  Charleston,  Philadelphia,  New- 
port and  Boston  ;  and  these  places  early  assumed  the  leader- 
ship in  commercial  enterprises.  The  West  Indies  had  l^ecome 
the  favorite  markets  for  New  England  vessels  in  the  latter 
part  of  the  seventeenth  and  in  the  early  years  of  the  eighteenth 
centuries,  while  Charleston  and  Philadelphia  shared  the  trans- 
atlantic trade  with  Boston.  Triangular,  quadrangular,  and 
even  more  complicated  routes  became  popular ;  vessels  were 
sent  wherever  a  cargo  might  be  purchased  or  sold  to  advan- 
tage. As  capital  accumulated  greater  and  more  extensive 
voyages  were  made,  until,  by  the  latter  half  of  the  eighteenth 
century — the  period  which  will  receive  the  preponderance  of 
attention  in  this  paper — an  intricate  maze  of  trade-routes 
had  developed. 

From  the  point  of  view  of  Rhode  Island,  the  commerce 
with  the  southern  continental  colonies  was  less  in  extent 
than  with  the  West  Indies  and  even  that  with  European 
countries,  throughout  practically  the  entire  century.  The  route 
from  Newport  to  Africa  to  the  West  Indies — the  famous  tri- 
angular voyage — was  always,  after  about  1730,  the  most  popu- 
lar and  the  most  lucrative ;  and  in  the  number  of  vessels 
engaged,  the  voyage  to  the  Southern  colonies  can  scarcely  be 
compared  with  it.  One  finds  difficulty,  however,  in  compiling 
statistics  in  support  of  this  conviction,  due  in  the  first  place 
to  the  lack  of  accurate  records,  and  secondly,  to  the  fact  that 
one  leg  of  the  voyage  from  Providence  or  Newport  to  a 
southern  port  was  frequently  extended  to  the  West  Indies — ^or 
even  farther. 

Moreover,  Rhode  Island  vessels  were  not  the  only  ones  to 
visit  the  southern  colonies.  A  few  colonial  vessels  were  engaged 
solely  in  going  to  and  from  the  West  Indies ;  many  more  were 
occupied  in  carrying  rice  and  tobacco  to  Europe  and  the 
mother  country ;  and  still  others,  owned  in  Philadelphia,  New 


COMMERCE    OF    RHODE    ISLAND  IO3 

York  and  Boston,  carried  on  an  intermittent  commerce  with 
these  southern  ports.  Toward  the  middle  of  the  century  com- 
petition was  particularly  keen  between  Newport  and  Boston, 
and,  while  the  vessels  from  the  latter  port  usually  out-num- 
bered those  from  the  former  in  the  principal  markets  of  the 
South,  such  as  Charleston,  Newbern  and  Norfolk,  the  mer- 
chants and  captains  of  the  Rhode  Island  ships  were  generally 
more  aggressive.  It  might  be  well  at  this  time  to  point  out 
the  doul)le  aspect,  or  two-fold  function,  of  this  trade  with 
the  south :  in  the  first  place,  the  Rhode  Island  merchants 
served  as  collectors  and  distributors  of  local  or  native  prod- 
ucts ;  and  secondly,  they  acted  as  middlemen  in  gathering 
goods  to  be  re-exported,  or  in  distributing  goods  which  had 
already  been  imported.  When  functioning  in  their  first  ca- 
pacity, the  Rhode  Islanders  seem  to  have  had  almost  a  com- 
plete monopoly  in  their  field ;  in  their  second  capacity,  the 
competition  of  the  Boston  merchants  appears  to  have  been 
much  keener. 

The  rivalry  of  individual  merchants  of  the  same  town, 
however,  was  just  as  effective  a  means  of  regulating  the 
prices  as  the  competition  l)etween  traders  of  different  colonies. 
No  individual,  in  any  phase  of  commercial  activitiy.  was, 
apparently,  ever  al)le  to  corner  a  market  and  so  dictate  prices ; 
the  fie'd  was  too  large,  commerce  was  too  complex,  and  tlie 
most  j:)Owerful  merchants  were  usually  too  far — in  distance 
and  in  time — from  the  scene  of  operations.  Finally,  there 
was  practically  no  one  who  was  interested  in  only  one  phase 
of  commerce;  combinations  of  voyages  and  of  interests  (such 
as  manufacturing  and  retailing  as  well  as  trade)  seem  to  have 
been  the  rule  rather  than  the  exception  in  the  commercial 
world  of  tb.e  eighteenth  century. 

The  earliest  beginnings  of  a  coastwise  trade  from  Rhode 
Island  are  difficult  to  trace.  Certainly,  voyages  to  \'irginia 
and  the  Carolinas  were  fairly  common  by  the  close  of  the 
seventeenth  century,  for  Governor  Cranston  in  his  answers 
to  queries  of  the  Board  of  Trade  submitted  Decem])er  5t]i, 
1708.  reported  the  exportation  of  a  cargo  of  rum,  sugar,  mo- 


104  RHODE    ISLAND    HISTORICAL   SOCIETY 

lasses,  butter  and  cheese  to  the  CaroHnas  in  1703,  and  another 
voyage  of  similar  type  made  the  following  year  to  Maryland 
and  Virginia  in  which  the  goods  carried  were  exactly  the 
same  except  for  the  omission  of  sugar.  Without  doubt,  this 
commerce  developed  as  a  concomitant  to  the  trade  with  the 
West  Indies ;  as  vessels  began  more  and  more  frequently  to 
make  trips  to  Antigua  and  the  other  lesser  ports  on  these 
islands,  the  advantages  of  a  direct  intercourse  with  the  con- 
tinental colonies  became  more  and  more  apparent.  The  six- 
fold increase  of  Rhode  Island  trade  in  general  between  the 
years  of  1688-1708  was  naturally  reflected  in  this  trade. 

Moreover,   besides   the   gradual    development   which   was 
due  to  the  widening  of  interests  of  the  local  merchants  through 
the  accumulation  of  capital,  there  were  other  factors  which 
influenced  the  growth  of  this  trade  and  caused  it  to  occupy 
a  fairly  prominent  place  in  Rhode  Island  commerce  after  the 
first  quarter  of  the  eighteenth  century.     For  one  thing,  the 
Southern  colonies  were  steadily  becoming  more  and  more  cen- 
tralized about  a  single  staple  product.     In  Virginia,  tobacco 
came  to  be  cultivated  to  the  exclusion  of  all  other  commodi- 
ties ;  in   North   Carolina,  tar  and  lumber  were   most   empha- 
sized ;  in  South  Carolina,  rice  was  most  important ;  and  later, 
toward   the   end   of   the   century,   Georgia   was   becoming  the 
recognized    center   of    the    cotton-growing   interests.      It    was 
natural  that  these  plantation  provinces  as  they  ceased  to  be 
even   relatively   self-supporting,   should   turn  to  the   northern 
continental   colonies    for    supplies   and   provisions.      That   the 
Southerners  recognized  their  growing  dependence  upon  Bos- 
ton and  Newport  is  partially  shov/n  by  such  acts  of  the  colo- 
nial legislatures  as  those  of  the  assembly  of  South  Carolina 
in    1 71 7   and    1721    in   which    discriminations    were    made    in 
favor  of  local  shipping. 

The  development  of  this  commercial  intercourse  be- 
tween the  north  and  south,  however,  was  slow  and 
somewhat  spasmodic.  Governor  Johnson  in  1708  reported 
that  South  Carolina  in  addition  to  a  trade  with  England  and 
the  West  Indies  also  had  "a  commerce  with  Boston,  Rhode 


COMMERCE    OF    RHODE    ISLAND 


105 


Island,  Pennsylvania,  New  York  and  Virginia,"  and  a  year 
earlier  there  is  a  record  that  "saddles  and  bridles  were  sent 

from  New  England  [to  Virginia]  to  be  exchanged for 

pork,  pitch,  tar,  wheat,  Indian  corn,  or  whatever  else  the 
country  produceth."  In  1732  this  trade  indirectly  benefited 
by  the  removal  of  certain  restrictions  on  the  exportation  of 
rice  from  the  Carolinas,  and  it  is  fairly  certain  that  by  1735, 
when  the  famous  triangular  voyages  were  becoming  popular, 
the  trade  with  the  southern  provinces  was  firmly  established. 
Nevertheless,  compared  with  the  commerce  with  other  places, 
it  was  still  rather  insignificant,  for,  in  1747,  the  amount  of 
rice  exported  to  Europe  was  nearly  eighteen  times  the  amount 
carried  to  the  northern  colonies,  and  even  the  exports  to  the 
West  Indies  were  approximately  four  times  as  great  as  those 
to  all  the  other  colonies  in  America.  The  ratio  between  the 
number  of  vessels  employed,  hov/ever,  was  not  as  high ;  86 
ships  were  bound  out  of  Charleston  for  Europe  during  the 
year  to  48  for  the  northern  colonies.  Moreover,  before  ac- 
cepting these  figures  as  a  criterion,  it  should  be*  remembered 
that  there  were  other  conditions  involved  not  taken  into  ac- 
count in  these  statistics ;  that  only  a  small  percentage  of  the 
New  England  trade  was  centered  in  Charleston,  while,  on  the 
other  hand,  the  great  bulk  of  the  English  trade  with  the 
southern  continental  colonies  was  with  that  port ;  and  that 
this  estimate  does  not  include  the  illegal  trade  which  even 
by  this  time  was  already  flourishing. 

The  period  from  the  middle  of  the  century  to  the  begm- 
ning  of  the  Revolutionary  War  saw  the  greatest  development 
in  this  trade,  though  it  was  interfered  with,  in  part,  by  the 
increase  in  privateering  during  the  wars  v»nth  France  and 
Spain  which  not  only  withdrew  many  ships  from  the  coast- 
wise trade,  but  also  made  commerce  of  any  sort  dangerous. 
The  restraints  upon  commercial  enterprises,  however,  result- 
ing from  the  scarcity  of  capital  before  this  time,  were  being 
raised  by  means  of  a  multitude  of  successful  maritime  ven- 
tures with  their  accompanying  profits ;  and  the  immigration 
to  Newport   of   some   sixty   families   of   wealthy   Portuguese 


I06  RHODE  ISLAND  HISTORICAL  SOCIETY 

Jews  after  the  great  earthquake  in  Lishon  in  1755  still  further 
lessened  the  number  of  voyages  which  had  to  be  cancelled  for 
financial  reasons.  Among  these  arrivals  from  Lisbon  seems 
to  have  been  the  Lopez  family,  which  was  destined  to  become 
widely  known  through  its  activity  in  the  commercial  field. 
Trade  between  Rhode  Island  and  the  southern  colonics  was 
reasonably  free  from  the  restrictive  regulations  of  the  mother 
country,  and  as  Weeden  points  out,  ''rarely  did  any  colony 
break  the  course  of  this  magnificent  interchange  by  any  foolish 
acts  of  legislation."  In  1764  there  were  some  252  vessels 
engaged  in  the  coastwise  trade  of  Rhode  Island  from  New- 
foundland to  Georgia,  the  great  preponderance  of  which  was 
with  the  South.  This  is  the  more  remarkable,  inasmuch  as 
there  was  a  general  depression  in  trade  during  that  year,  due 
to  the  fact  that  Parliament  then  for  the  first  time  attempted 
to  raise  an  appreciable  revenue  in  America.  With  the  more 
stringent  enforcements  of  the  old  Molasses  Act  in  1763,  and 
with  the  passage  of  measures  providing  additional  duties  in 
the  following. year,  and  of  the  Stamp  Act  in  1765,  trade  began 
to  dwindle.  George  Champlin  wrote  his  brother  Christopher, 
the  Newport  merchant,  from  Baltimore,  October  29th,  1765, 
that  "Markitts  are  Extream  low  principally  Aecation'd  by  the 
Stamp  Acct.  as  there  are  a  numljer  of  Vessels  here  a  driving 
to  load  by  the  time  the  Acct  takes  place,  selling  their  Cargoes 
at  any  rates  which  has  nock'd  down  the  markitts  to  nothing." 
The  depression  was  neither  lasting,  nor  very  severe, 
however,  for  in  1769  Newport  was  flourishing;  at  this 
time  the  town  was  said  to  be  at  the  height  of  its  pros- 
perity. Providence,  during  this  same  period  was  second  in 
size  and  in  commercial  activity  to  the  port  at  the  foot  of 
Narragansett  Bay,  but  her  merchants  and  shopkeepers  were 
laying  the  foundtition  in  trade  and  manufacturing  so  well  that 
it  was  to  be  on^^  a  few  years  before  she  surpassed  her  rival. 
The  Revolutionary  War  had  a  most  pronounced  efifect 
upon  Rhode  Island  commerce ;  it  was  necessarily  almost  wholly 
suspended.  The  interruptions  of  trade  occasioned  by  the  occu- 
pation of  Newport  harbor  by  the  British  fleet,  and  by  the  cap- 


COMMERCE    OF    RHODE    ISLAND  IO7 

tures  by  enemy  privateersmen,  interfered  decidedly  with  the 
hitherto  comparatively  steady  supply  of  products  from  the 
southern  colonies.  One  positive  effect  which  the  war  did  have, 
however,  was  to  bring  the  foreign  commerce  of  Rhode  Island 
under  French  influence.  Hitherto  transatlantic  trade  had  been 
largely  confined  to  England  and  the  Mediterranean  ports,  but- 
after  the  Revolution  voyages  were  made  to  more  distant 
markets ;  for  it  was  at  this  time  that  commerce  with  China  and 
the  East  Indies  began  to  develop.  Offices  of  American  mer- 
chants were  opened  in  France,  due  chiefly  to  the  appreciaton 
of  the  services  rendered  by  the  soldiers  of  that  country  during 
the  War,  not  only  in  Rhode  Island,  but  in  the  other  colonies  as 
well. 

After  1783,  the  coastwise  trade  was  resumed  again  much 
as  before  the  War,  and  it  was  not  long  before  it  was 
practically  as  great  in  volume  as  it  previously  had  been.  The 
bulk  of  the  commerce,  however,  was  beginning  to  shift  to  New 
York,  and,  though  trade  with  the  southern  colonies  was  once 
more  sufficient  to  merit  serious  attention,  it  was  not  proportion- 
ately as  large  when  compared  to  the  trade  as  a  whole.  In  1786, 
by  which  time  the  coastwise  trade  was  once  more  normal,  there 
were  2^2  clearances  registered  from  the  port  of  Providence. 
Of  these,  33  vessels  signified  their  intention  of  going  to  some 
southern  market,  32  were  bound  for  Connecticut,  and  44  had 
New  York  for  their  destination.  Probably  these  figures  in- 
cluded a  number  of  duplicate  voyages ;  two  vessels  were  each 
listed  several  times  as  they  made  periodic  trips  to  New  York, 
and  at  least  one  other  ship  of  19  tons  was  making  regular 
visits  to  Norwich,  Connecticut.  Moreover,  it  is  not  too  much 
of  an  assumption  to  include  approximately  one-third  of  the 
vessels  which  cleared  for  New  Jersey  and  Connecticut  during 
the  year,  in  the  number  which  ultimately  reached  the  Southern 
markets,  making  about  forty  odd  vessels  in  all.  This  figure 
does  not  compare  unfavorably  with  the  fourteen  coasters 
which  Moses  Brown  reported  as  belonging  to  the  port  of 
Providence  in  1764,  but  it  must  be  remembered  that  the  in- 
crease in  other  commerce  was  proportionately  even  greater. 


I08  RHODE  ISLAND  HISTORICAL  SOCIETY 

The  outstanding  feature  of  the  trade  with  the  South  after 
the  Revolution,  which  was  already  becoming  noticeable  by  the 
close  of  the  century  was  the  shifting  of  the  commercial  center 
of  Rhode  Island  from  Newport  to  Providence.  The  popula- 
tion of  the  latter  town  was  making  rapid  gains,  while  Newport 
lost  more  than  a  third  of  her  inhabitants  during  the  War  due 
to  the  occupation  of  the  harbor  by  the  British.  Many  of  the 
wealthy  Jewish  families  removed  to  other  places  and  failed  to 
return  after  1783.  Not  for  thirty  years,  however,  was  the 
leadership  of  Providence  to  become  marked;  meantime 
Newport  made  a  strong,  though  futile,  effort  to  regain  her 
former  position  in  the  commercial  world.  With  the 
beginning  of  the  new  century,  the  European  wars  seem  to  have 
had  some  effect  in  strengthening  and  widening  the  commerce 
of  Rhode  Island,  but  it  was  not  until  the  rise  of  manufacturing 
and  the  development  of  railroads  a  little  later,  that  any  notable 
decline  in  the  old  coasting  exchange  took  place.  In  fact,  this 
trade  never  did  actually  die  out  completely ;  to  some  extent, 
at  least,  the  commerce  with  the  south — but  for  the  slight  in- 
terruption during  the  Civil  War —  has  survived  to  the  present 
day. 

The  general  nature  of  the  trade  of  Rhode  Island  with  the 
southern  provinces  changed  very  little  during  the  entire  cen- 
tury; the  differences  between  the  voyages  themselves,  the 
goods  carried,  and  the  markets  visited,  in  1700  and  eighty 
years  later  were  so  slight,  comparatively,  that  the  subject  may 
be  considered  on  the  whole  as  static,  for  the  chief  fluctuation 
— in  volume  of  trade — has  already  received  sufficient  atten- 
tion. 

Perhaps  the  most  outstanding  feature  of  colonial  com- 
merce, and  the  one  which  most  appeals  to  the  modern  reader, 
concerns  the  nature  of  the  ships  themselves,  and  this  may  well 
be  studied  first.  The  kind  of  vessels  employed  was  primarily 
determined  by  the  nature,  or  physical  conditions,  of  the  country 
which  they  visited.  The  southern  plantation  districts  are  broken 
by  numerous  rivers,  running  almost  parallel  to  each  other,  up 


COMMERCE    OF    RHODE    ISLAND  IO9 

which  it  was  ahnost  impossible  for  large  vessels  to  travel  far. 
Moreover,  as  Joseph  Boone  and  John  Bornwell  pointed  out  in 
their  memorial  to  the  Board  of  Trade,  November  23,  1720,  ex- 
plaining the  peculiar  physiography  of  the  Carolina  coast,  there 
also  existed  a  "chain  of  sand  banks  with  barrs  so  shifting  and 
shallow  that  sloops  of  5  feet  water  runs  great  risqs,"  and  "this 
renders  the  place  uncapable  of  a  Trade  to  great  Brittain  and 
what  is  carryed  on  is  by  small  sloops  from  New  England  who 
brings  them  cloathing  and  Iron  Wear  and  exports  Pork  and 
Corn."  These  "small  sloops"  of  between  20  to  80  tons  burden 
were  also  especially  desirable  because  a  small  crew^  reduced 
the  overhead  expense  of  a  voyage ;  small  cargoes  were  pur- 
chased, transported,  and  sold  with  much  less  delay  than  larger 
ones  required ;  and  the  amount  of  the  initial  capital  needed  to 
finance  a  small  vessel  and  collect  a  cargo  for  her  was  more 
easily  available — so  that  the  risk  of  a  given  amount  was  scat- 
tered over  a  number  of  enterprises,  instead  of  being  limited  to  a 
single  one,  if  the  larger  types  of  brigs  and  schooners  had  been 
used.  This  last  factor,  in  particular,  influenced  the  merchants 
in  the  early  development  of  the  trade,  when  money  were  scarce 
and  had  to  be  expended  with  great  care.  Usually,  in  a  sloop 
of  about  30  or  40  tons — which  seems  to  have  been  the  most 
popular  size  throughout  this  whole  period — there  would  be, 
besides  the  captain,  four  or  five  or  six  sailors,  depending  some- 
what on  the  nature  of  the  cargo  and  the  rigging  of  the  vessels. 
The  average  pay  in  colonial  currency  about  the  middle  of  the 
century  was  £50  per  month  for  a  trained  sailor,  and  £55  ^ 
month  for  the  captain.  £3  sterling  for  the  captain,  £2  sterl- 
ing for  the  first  mate,  were  wages  frequently  named  in  agree- 
ments. 

The  voyage  from  Providence  or  Newport,  required  on 
the  average,  from  three  to  four  weeks.  Occasionally  it  was 
made  in  less  time;  more  often,  with  shifting  winds  and  rough 
weather,  the  time  consumed  was  greater  than  this.  Capt.  James 
Brown  in  a  letter  to  his  brother  Nicholas,  dated  February, 
1749,  wrote  that  he  had  "undergon  many  hardships  and  Difi- 


no  RHODE    ISLAND    HISTORICAL   SOCIETY 

culties  Which  I  shall  give  you  a  few  of  the  Perticulers  But  to 
Whrite  the  Whole  It  Would  take  a  quire  of  Paper.  I  had  a 
Passage  of  31  days.  .  .  .  Jhere  is  Vessels  hear  that  have 
had  30-35  and  40-45  Days  Passage  and  Vessels  are  Lucked 
for  that  have  Been  out  of  Boston  and  York  six  and  seven 
Weeks."  Again,  in  1784,  John  Burgwin,  a  merchant  of  Wil- 
mington, North  Carolina,  reported  to  Christopher  Champlin 
of  Newport,  "the  long  and  disagreeable  passage  I  had  from 
your  place  of  30  days  put  it  out  of  my  power  to  give  you  that 
early  intelligence  you  wished  to  receive  respecting  the  Cargo 
you  depended  on  my  house  preparing  for  your  Brigantine." 
Usually  it  required  about  three  months  to  dispose  of  the  goods 
brought  from  Rhode  Island  and  to  collect  a  cargo  for  the  re- 
turn voyage.  If  the  captains  were  extraordinarily  keen  bar- 
gainers, however,  two  voyages  might  be  made  during  a  year, 
but  the  great  majority  of  traders  made  only  one,  and  that  in 
the  fall,  since  just  after  harvest  time  the  staple  products  were 
most  plentiful  and  generally  cheapest.  In  1786,  for  instance, 
November  was  the  month  during  which  the  largest  number  of 
ships  cleared  for  southern  ports. 

Though  a  large  proportion  of  the  Rhode  Island  vessels 
which  visited  the  southern  colonies  carried  on  a  direct  barter 
with  the  plantation  owners,  there  were,  nevertheless,  in  each 
province  some  town  which  was  the  chief  center  of  commercial 
activity  for  the  surrounding  districts.  Baltimore  in  Mary- 
land, Norfolk  in  Virginia,  Wilmington  and  Newbern  in  North 
Carolina,  Charleston  in  South  Carolina,  and  Savannah  in 
Georgia,  were  the  principal  ports  south  of  Philadelphia. 
There  were  very  few  good  roads,  however,  connecting  these 
trade-centers  with  the  upcountry  regions,  especially  in  the 
first  half  of  the  century;  consequently,  it  was  found  to  be 
more  profitable  for  the  merchant-carriers  to  deal  directly  with 
the  ultimate  consumers,  or  "primary  producers.  "  It  was 
usually  easier  for  the  small  sloops  to  sail  up  the  rivers 
of  the  plantation  country,  than  for  the  owners  of  the 
(Concluded  on  Page  124) 


OLD     SHOP     SIGN 

Formerly  suspended  over  Waterman's  Shoe-Shop  on  Cheapside 

(now  North  Main  Street) 

The  Rhode  Island  Historical  Socit-ty  will  hoUi  a  loan  cxhiJMtion  of  old  signs  in 
December.  Members  are  requested  to  assist  the  (Onimittee  in  obtaining  signs 
for   this  exhibition. 


ifti^itMiit  mm  fltaiiittiagfafe*^-,.— .wad 


THE   JAMESTOWN    AND    NEWPORT    FERRIES  III 

The  Jamestown  and  Newport  Ferries 

By  Charles  V.  and  Anna  Augusta  Chapin. 

The  opposite  sides  of  most  Rhode  Island  ferries  were 
owned  by  different  persons  and  were  considered  different 
ferries.  Thus  at  Newport,  the  ferry  which  ran  from  the 
present  ferry  wharf  in  Newport  to  Jamestown  was  long 
owned  by  the  Carr  family.  The  ferry  which  ran  in  the  oppo- 
site direction,  from  Jamestown  to  Carr's  wharf  in  Newport, 
had  a  succession  of  owners  and  was  considered  another  ferry. 
The  title  of  this  paper,  following  the  colonial  usage  of  the  word 
ferry,  refers  only  to  the  ferries  from  Jamestown  to  Newport 
and  not  to  those  in  the  opposite  direction,  of  which  there  were 
several. 

Ferries  were  usually  called  after  the  names  of  the  owners, 
and,  as  there  was  much  early  legislation,  fixing  rates  of 
ferriage  and  otherwise  regulating  traffic,  much  information  can 
be  derived  from  this  source  as  to  ownership,  location  and  other 
matters.  Unfortunately,  most  of  the  acts  relating  to  the  ferries 
under  consideration  were  not  so  specific,  but  simply  mentioned 
the  Ferries  from  Jamestown  to  Newport.  This  is  one  reason 
why  the  history  of  these  ferries  is  not  so  complete  as  could  be 
wished. 

It  is  uncertain  when  ferries  were  first  operated  between  the 
islands  of  Conanicut  and  Rhode  Island.  At  the  earliest  period 
the  towns  seemed  to  have  licensed  ferries.  At  least  Ports- 
mouth did  so  as  early  as  1640.  Unfortunately  the  Newport 
records  have  been  lost,  and  the  earliest  Jamestown  records  are 
not  very  full  so  that  ferries  are  not  mentioned  until  the 
eighteenth  century.  By  the  close  of  the  seventeenth  century 
the  General  Assembly  had  assumed  control  of  ferries  and 
thereafter  information  is  to  be  sought  in  its  records. 

The  first  license  for  a  ferry  from  Jamestown  to  Newport, 
of  which  there  is  record,  was  granted  by  the  General  Assembly 
in  1700,  but  it  is  very  probable  that  ferries  had  been  operated 
between  Jamestown  and  Rhode  Island  and  between  James- 
town and  the  mainland  for  many  years.    In  1675,  when  Capt. 


112  RHODE  ISLAND  HISTORICAL  SOCIETY 

Church  was  summoned  from  Rehoboth  to  Wickford,  just 
before  the  Great  Swamp  Fight,  he  states  that  he  went  the 
nearest  way  over  the  ferries  and,  the  wind  being  fair,  he 
arrived  safe  in  the  evening.^  This  would  seem  to  mean  that 
he  went  over  Bristol  ferry  and  the  Newport — Jamestown — 
Narragansett  ferries,  for  if  he  had  gone  over  the  Providence 
ferries  the  wind  would  have  made  no  difference.  There  is  a 
tradition  that  Gov.  Carr  owned  a  ferry  from  Newport  to 
Jamestown  at  about  this  time.  The  ferry  between  Narragan- 
sett and  Jamestown  was  set  up  by  the  Smiths  in  1695.  In 
September,  1699,  Joseph  Mowry  of  Jamestown  carried  over 
Judge  Sewall  to  Newport  and  entertained  him  at  his  house, 
after  the  manner  of  ferrymen.-  The  licenses  which  were 
granted  in  1700  for  ferries  from  Jamestown  to  Newport  and 
from  Jamestown  to  Narragansett,  refer  to  them  as  "the" 
ferries,  as  if  they  were  already  in  operation,  and  not  licensed 
for  the  first  time. 

The  oldest  ferry  to  Newport  was  for  many  years  in  the 
possession  of  Samuel  Clarke  and  may  be  conveniently  desig- 
nated in  this  connection  as 

Clarke's  Ferry. 

The  first  license  which  was  granted  for  this  ferry  was  on 
4  May  1700  to  Thomas  Winterton  of  Jamestown.  The  ferry 
was  settled  on  Winterton  for  a  period  of  seven  years.^  Win- 
terton had  a  license  to  keep  a  house  of  entertainment  in  1696, 
but  the  records,  which  appear  to  be  far  from  complete  have 
no  reference  to  such  a  license  this  year."*  Winterton  did  not 
long  continue  to  be  the  proprietor  of  the  ferry,  for  we  find 
that  in  April  1703  Jonathan  Marsh  had  the  franchise.^  Marsh 
died  in  1704  and  his  will  gave  to  his  son  William  his  ferry 


^The  History  of  King  Philip's  War,  Church   (Dexter)   Boston,  1865> 
i9,    143,    156. 
^Mass.  His.  Coll.  .5th  ser.  V.  Sewall  Papers  I,  502. 
3R.  I.  Col.  Rec.  HI,  415. 
*Jamestown,  Proprietors  Rec.  I,  15. 
■'^R.  I.  Col.  Rec.  ni,  192. 


THE   JAMESTOWN    AND    NEWPORT    FERRIES  II3 

boats  on  the  east  side  of  Jamestown  and  to  his  son  Jonathan 
his  ferry  boat  on  the  west  side  of  the  Island,  (i.  copy  79).^ 
There  is  no  evidence  that  Marsh  ever  operated  a  ferry  on  the 
west  side  of  Conanicut  though  he  might  readily  have  done  so, 
or  he  might  have  had  his  boat  there  temporarily  for  some  other 
purpose. 

No  record  has  been  found  to  show  whether  the  sons  of 
Jonathan  Marsh  operated  the  ferry,  as  there  is  no  record  of 
a  license  granted  until  August  1709,  when  Robert  Barker  had 
the  franchise."  Robert  Barker  had  married,  7  October  1705, 
Phebe,  the  widow  of  Jonathan  Marsh  who  was  previously  the 
widow  of  Oliver  Arnold  and  the  daughter  of  Thomas  and 
Mary  Cook  of  Portsmouth.^  It  is  not  improbable  that  Phebe 
Marsh  operated  the  ferry  until  her  marriage  with  Robert 
Barker. 

The  next  offtcial  reference  to  this  ferry  that  has  been  found, 
was  in  an  action  of  the  General  Assembly  on  the  last  Tuesday 
in  February  1728.*  It  was  then  voted  that  Mr.  Samuel  Clarke, 
of  Conanicut,  provide  and  keep  one  other  good  ferry  boat  and 
ferry  man  more  than  he  now  hath,  to  ply  and  tend  the  ferry 
from  Jamestown  to  Newport  to  answer  the  Point  boat  during 
his  lease ;  and  to  be  ready  in  four  months  time. 

And  that  the  said  ferry  man  and  boat  be  under  the  same 
regulation  as  the  other  ferrymen  and  boats  are;  and  if  said 
boat  comes  in  to  the  old  ferry  place  of  the  town  she  shall  be 
obliged  to  call  at  the  Point  to  take  in  passengers  if  the  Point 
boat  is  out  of  the  way. 

Evidently  Samuel  Clarke  had  operated  the  ferry  for  some 
years.  It  is  possible  that  Joseph  Mowry  may  have  had  the 
ferry  for  a  while.  William  Brenton  was  the  owner  of  all  that 
large  tract  in  Jamestown  lying  south  of  the  present  Narra- 
gansett  Avenue  and  east  of  Mackerel  Cove  and  the  road  to 

^Figures  in  brackets  refer  to  volume  and  page  of  Jamestown  Land 
Evidence. 
2R.  I.  Col.  Rec.  IV,  144. 

^Genealogical  Dictionary  of  Rhode  Island,  Austin,  Albany,  1897,  130 
^R.  I.  Col.  Rec.  IV,  400. 


114  RHODE    ISLAND    HISTORICAL   SOCIETY 

Beaver  Tail.  Joseph  Movvry  was  a  tenant  of  this  property 
and  later  purchased  it.  In  his  inventory,  which  was  filed  31 
May  1716  was  mentioned  "one  boat  £50,  the  boat  which  was 
Phebe  Barker's  and  ye  old  boat,  all  £76.  (i.  Copy  150).  His 
granddaughter  Mary,  the  daughter  of  Daniel  Coggeshall,  was 
the  wife  of  Samuel  Clarke  and  to  her  he  left  the  north  part 
of  his  Rock  Hall  farm  bounded  north  and  west  on  the  high- 
way, and  east  on  the  sea  or  harbor,  together  with  buildings 
and  wharf.  Perhaps  it  was  the  possession  of  the  property 
which  induced  Samuel  Clarke  to  go  into  the  ferry  business, 
in  which  he  remained  until  1751.  It  is  in  the  highest  degree 
probable  that  the  first  ferry  was  located  on  the  southerly  side 
of  the  eastern  terminus  of  the  present  Narragansett  Avenue, 
for  from  very  early  times  this  highway  was  called  the  road 
from  ferry  to  ferry,  and  it  was  located  here  when  on  6  April 
1751  Samuel  Clarke  and  his  wife  Mary  deeded  it  to  their  son 
Joseph  for  love  and  affection  and  £500  current  money  and  he 
on  the  same  day,  for  £3000  old  tenor,  deeded  it  to  John  Rem- 
ington ferryman.     (3.91,  92) 

The  action  of  the  General  Assembly  in  1728,  referred  to 
above,  would  indicate  that  previous  to  that  time,  Clarke  ran 
his  ferry  boat  presumably  from  Narragansett  Avenue  to  Carr's 
wharf  in  Newport  and  that  the  General  Assembly  required 
him  to  run  another  boat  to  the  Point.  Nothing  was  said  about 
his  having  another  landing  place  in  Jamestown,  but  it  is  prob- 
able that  he  was  later  required  to  do  this,  for  in  May  1736,  he 
presented  a  petition  about  it  to  the  General  Assembly  then 
sitting  in  Newport.^  In  this  petition  he  alleges  that  he  finds  the 
charge  of  keeping  two  houses  and  families  too  great  and  he 
asks  that  he  be  required  to  keep  only  one  house  and  family. 
It  was  ordered  that  he  need  not  keep  more  than  one  house  and 
family  for  the  use  of  the  ferry  "And  that  he  keep  two  boats 
and  attend  as  heretofore  as  has  been  customary.  One  of  said 
boats  to  come  to  the  Point  and  attend  there  and  the  other  to 
the  other  part  of  the  town."     In  another  petition  to  the  Gen- 


iR.  I.  Acts  and  Resolves  May  1736  Ms.  37  (R.  I.  H.  S.). 


THE  JAMESTOWN    AND    NEWPORT    FERRIES 

eral  Assembly  in  October  1745  Clarke  refers  to  the  fact  that, 
when  requested,  he  built  another  boat  and  house  at  a  cost  of 
over  £300/  Where  the  second  ferry  house  was  located  has 
not  been  determined.  On  13  March  1729  Clarke  purchased 
85  acres  on  the  southerly  side  of  Taylor's  Point  but  this  would 
seem  to  be  too  near  the  old  ferry  for  a  second  landing  place. 

(1-513) 

When  the  Clarkes  sold  the  ferry  to  John  Remington  in  1751, 
as  stated  above,  the  deeds  described  the  lot  with  pier  and  wharf 
as  being  i^  feet  east  of  Clarke's  screw  house  and  this  refer- 
ence to  the  screw  house  appears  in  all  the  transfers  of  the 
property  up  to  the  time  of  its  sale  to  Wm.  H.  Knowles  in  1871. 
For  a  long  time  we  had  no  idea  what  this  "screw  house"  was. 
The  manufacture  of  spermaceti  was  a  flourishing  industry  of 
the  Point  in  Newport  during  the  period  in  which  Samuel 
Clarke  ran  his  ferry  boat  to  that  place.  An  important  part 
of  a  spermaceti  manufactory  is  a  powerful  screw  press,  but 
that  this  was  commonly  called  "a  screw"  we  did  not  know  until 
we  came  across  an  advertisement  of  the  sale  of  one  in  the 
New^port  Mercury  for  November  12,  1784.  It  seems  probable 
therefore  that  Clarke's  screw  house  was  a  place  for  the  manu- 
facture of  spermaceti.  The  wharf  and  pier  above  referred  to, 
occupied  substantially  the  site  of  Caswell's  wharf  which  may 
now  be  seen  on  the  southerly  side  of  the  eastern  terminus  of 
Narragansett  Avenue.  Casw'ell's  pier  is  shown  in  Fig.  3. 
Samuel  Clarke's  deed  to  his  son  included  "a  certain  lot  of  land 
and  one  mesuage  thereon  standing"  the  lot  containing  one  acre 
and  47  rods.  In  a  later  deed  this  is  called  "a.  certain  mesuage 
or  dwelling  house"  and  was  situated  a  little  west  of  the  screw 
house  and  at  the  southwest  corner  of  what  is  now  Narragan- 
sett Avenue  and  Canonicus  Avenue.  The  deed  also  included 
the  "ferry  boat  called  the  wall  boat  with  mast,  bowsprit,  boom, 
sails  and  rigging." 

After  the  death  of  John  Remington  the  ferry  property  came 
into  the  hands  of  his  sons,  Stephen  and  Gershom.  and  10  of 


^Petitions  to  General  Assembly,  Ms. 


Il6  RHODE    ISLAND    HISTORICAL    SOCIETY 

March  1775  was  sold  by  them  to  Samuel  Slocum  for  $1600 
silver  (3479).  Samuel  Slocum  was  the  son  of  Ebenezer 
Slocum  who,  in  the  early  part  of  the  century,  had  been  the 
proprietor  of  the  Conanicut  side  of  the  North  ferry  to  North 
Kingstown.  On  19  of  March  1785  Samuel  Slocum,  ferryman, 
sold  the  estate,  with  dwelling,  wharf  and  boat,  to  Benjamin 
Reynolds  for  $1900  silver  (3.503).  On  13  of  March  1792 
Benjamin  and  Sarah  Reynolds  sold  the  same  property  to 
Jonathan  Hopkins  for  $1900  silver  (3.622).  On  19  May  1794 
Jonathan  Hopkins  sold  it  to  Christy  Potter  for  $1800  (3.646) 
and  the  next  year  Potter  sold  it  to  Jonathan  J.  Hazard  (3.650). 
On  28  of  May  1802  Hazard  sold  it  to  Freeman  Mayberry  of 
Newport  for  $1600  (4.267).  It  then  passed  through  the  hands 
of  Thomas  Dennis  and  Gold  S.  Silliman  who  disposed  of  it, 
28  July  1806  to  Thomas  R.  Congdon  for  $1000,  but  no  boat 
is  mentioned  in  the  deed  (4.226,  349,  352,  355).  Congdon 
had,  in  1804  purchased  from  Joseph  Allen  the  Ellery  ferry  to 
the  Point  in  Newport  and  he  had  also  come  into  possession 
of  the  site  of  the  Hull  ferry.  On  9  March  1833  the  ferry 
property  was  purchased  l)y  Caleb  F.  Weaver  for  $7000  (5.248). 
This  sale  included  the  Clarke  ferry  property,  the  Ellery  ferry 
and  the  Hull  ferry  site. 

The  Ellery  Ferry. 

David  Greene,  during  the  early  part  of  the  eighteenth  cen- 
tury, was  the  owner  of  land  on  the  east  side  of  Jamestown, 
comprising  a  part  of  what  is  now  known  as  the  Greene  Farm. 
He  was  anxious  to  become  a  ferry  owner  and  several  times 
petitioned  the  General  Assembly  for  a  license,  but  was  refused, 
probably  through  the  influence  of  Samuel  Clarke,  proprietor 
of  the  existing  ferry,  who  frequently  represented  Jamestown 
in  the  General  Assembly  and  was  for  a  time  speaker  of  the 
House.^ 

On  10  ]\Iarch  1745-6,  when  Clarke  was  no  longer  in  the 
General  Assembly,  Greene  again  petitioned  the  Assembly,  say- 
ing that  he  had  a  good  house  on  the  east  side  of  Jamestown 


^Samuel  Clarke's  Petition  to  General  Assembly,  October  1745,  Ms. 


THE   JAMESTOWN    AND    NEWPORT    FERRIES  II7 

for  the  accommodation  of  travelers  and  a  good  wharf  for 
landing  passengers  and  for  laying  a  boat,  that  it  was  con- 
veniently situated  and  that  if  he  should  be  granted  a  license 
he  would  provide  a  sufficient  boat  and  keep  the  ferry  equal  to 
any  in  the  Colony.  It  was  thereupon  voted  that  he  be  per- 
mitted to  set  up  a  ferry  from  Jamestown  to  Newport  and  to 
begin  at  the  expiration  of  Mr.  Samuel  Clarke's  present  lease 
of  said  other  ferry. ^ 

On  6  of  July  1752  David  and  Sarah  Greene  sold  their  ferry 
to  William  ■Martin  (3.1 10)  who  just  previously,  had  been  in 
possession  of  one  of  the  ferries  on  the  west  side  of  the  island 
running  to  South  Kingstown.  The  purchase  price  was  iiooo 
bills  of  credit.  The  property  consisted  of  a  four  acre  lot  at 
the  northwest  corner  of  the  road  leading  from  ferry  to  ferry 
and  the  four  rod  road  leading  to  the  watering  place.  This  is 
the  site  now  occupied  by  the  Bay  View  House,  and  at  that 
time  contained  the  ferry  house,  a  blacksmith  shop  and  hen 
house.  The  sale  included  a  beach  lot  situated  on  the  opposite 
side  of  the  four  rod  road  along  which  it  extended  42  feet. 
There  was  also  a  ferry  boat  with  mast,  bowsprit,  boom,  sail 
and  rigging.  Greene  drove  a  shrewd  bargain,  for  he  required 
Martin  to  give  a  bond  that  he  would  always  transport  ferriage 
free,  David  Greene,  his  wife  and  family  and  what  they  may 
have  occasion  to  transport  over  the  ferry  and  also  all  his  chil- 
dren and  the  respective  husbands  and  wives  of  all  his  children, 
that  they  now  have,  or  may  hereafter  marry,  and  the  riding 
horses  of  his  said  children  (3.348). 

On  16  April  1770  William  Martin  and  his  wife  Eunice  con- 
veyed this  property  to  Benjamin  Ellery  of  Newport,  merchant. 
Ellery  had.  for  a  long  time,  owned  the  ferry  in  Newport  which 
ran  to  this  landing  and  by  this  purchase  became  proprietor  of 
both  terminals  (3-377). 

While  the  British  fleet  was  in  Newport  in  the  summer  of 
1775,  the  passage  of  the  ferry  boats  was  a  good  deal  inter- 
fered with,  though  they  continued  to  run,  with  more,  or  less, 


iR.  I.  Col.  Rec.  V,  169. 


Il8  RHODE  ISLAND  HISTORICAL  SOCIETY 

regularity,  but  on  lo  December  a  party  of  British  landed  on 
Conanicut  and  burnt  fifteen  houses,  including  two  belonging 
to  Benjamin  Ellery  and  two  belonging  to  the  widow  Franklin 
who  kept  the  ferry  on  the  west  side.  They  also  seriously 
wounded  John  Martin,  80  years  old,  who  was  standing  in  his 
door  way  unarmed/  He  was  the  father  of  the  William  Martin 
referred  to  above.  It  is  probable  that  after  this  date  none  of 
these  ferries  were  operated  during  the  war  except  the  Ellery 
ferry  which  seems  to  have  been  re-established  for  a  short  time 
in  1776.  When  Benjamin  Ellery  died,  12  of  December  1797, 
the  ferry  passed  to  his  son  Abraham  Redwood  Ellery  and  his 
daughter  Martha  Redwood  Champlain,  wife  of  Christopher 
Grant  Champlain.  On  7  November  1798  Abraham  Redwood 
Ellery  transferred  his  share  in  the  property  to  his  sister 
Martha  (4.58).  On  2  September  1799  the  Champlains  sold  to 
Joseph  Allen  of  Newport  the  "Ellery  Conanicut"  ferry  as  pre- 
viously described  (4.65). 

On  16  of  April  1804  Joseph  and  Mary  Allen  of  Jamestown 
sold  this  ferry  property  for  $4600  to  Thomas  R.  Congdon  of 
North  Kingstown  (4.304). 

A  portion  of  the  wharf  was  sold  by  Congdon  18  June  1829 
to  the  Narragansett  Bay  Company  (5.222),  the  company  which 
was  preparing  to  operate  a  horse  boat.  At  this  period  there 
were  a  number  of  places  where  ferry  boats  were  operated  by 
horse  power.  There  was  such  a  boat  at  Bristol  Ferry  and  at 
Slades  Ferry.  The  horse  boat  between  Newport  and  James- 
town was  not  operated  much  over  a  year.  Mr.  Henry  B. 
Tucker  of  Jamestown,  recalls  that  his  mother  made  several 
trips  on  this  boat,  but  that  his  father  predicted  its  failure  and 
stood  by  the  sloops.  The  wharf  where  the  horse  boat  landed 
was  about  where  the  bath  houses  begin  on  the  northerly  side 
of  Narragansett  Avenue.  On  the  failure  of  the  horse  boat 
the  wharf  was  reconveyed  to  Congdon  and  with  his  other 
ferry  property  sold  to  Caleb  F.  Weaver  9  March  1833  (5.248). 


iThe  Literary  Diary  of  Ezra  Stiles,  New  York  1901,  I,  642. 


Fig.   1.     Capt.  Job  S.  Ellis 


Fij.  4.      'riiL-   Fllct\-   l"crr\    Hou^l 


Old  fitr   )»  /I'crrtf  Bout 
Jo  'nc  s  e  V  ic  n  . 


mrf    ...vf;  ^>.ff;,  y-*'-^TJ 


SI.^^--^ 


.<£.  ?  "'='*%l  'T'ti'^'-o. 


-C 


t**^, 


•vjfea 


''*^^e?3 


"■■*^^^^  ^^--t'^^-o^-sai  V«*j^lt-. 


^>^^/  /'/er  y.  /er/y  Seal .  Ja/ztesiowri. 

Fig.   .1.      From  a   map  of   Conanicut,   published   by   Daniel    Watson,    1S75.      The    upper  pai 
shows  the  old  pier  whieh,  in  the  lower   portion,  is  ronceaiec]  by  the  new  jiier. 


THE   JAMESTOWN    AND    NEWPORT    FERRIES  I19 

Weaver  left  it  to  his  wife  Phebe  R.^  She  married  James 
Hamilton  Clarke  and  26  March  i860  they  sold  the  property  to 
Philip  Caswell  Jr.  (6.164)  and  Philip  and  Elizabeth  Caswell 
sold  it  to  William  H.  Knowles  25  March  1871  (6.346). 
Knowles  raised  the  price  of  ferriage  to  such  an  exorbitant 
figure  that  the  agitation  for  a  steam  ferry  was  renewed  and 
the  present  company  was  organized  and  the  steamer  James- 
town made  her  first  trip  12  May  1873. 

Hull's  Ferry. 

In  1756  Captain  John  Hull  of  Jamestown,  in  a  petition  to 
the  General  Assembly,  stated  that  there  was  a  ferry  from 
Long  Wharf  in  Newport  for  which  there  was  no  mate  boat 
and  he  prayed  for  the  liberty  of  setting  up  a  ferry  from  his 
wharf  in  Jamestown  to  Newport.  The  petition  was  granted.^ 
This  ferry  was  located  just  south  of  the  watering  place.  Be- 
fore the  island  was  cleared  and  drained  there  were  springs  and 
perhaps  a  rivulet  just  north  of  the  end  of  the  present  board 
walk.  This  was  reserved  as  a  watering  place  by  the  pro- 
prietors, and  a  four  rod  road  was  laid  out  northward,  along 
the  shore,  from  the  road  leading  across  the  island  from  ferry 
to  ferry, 

John  Hull  and  his  wife  Damaris  sold  this  property  to  Wil- 
liam Hazard  13  December  1760  for  ^1500  (3.206)  and  29 
January  1761  William  Hazard  sold  the  property  to  Oliver 
Hazard  for  £10000  lawful  money  (3.210).  On  18  of  Novem- 
ber 1773  Oliver  Hazard  sold  to  William  Tuck  of  Newport 
the  land,  dwelling,  wharf  and  ferry  boat  (3.415).  Undoubt- 
edly this  ferry  was  suspended  during  the  revolution  and  we 
have  found  no  evidence  that  it  was  ever  re-established.  The 
property  had  passed  through  several  hands  and  was  finally  pur- 
chased by  Thomas  R.  Congdon  who  was  the  owner  of  both 
the  Clarke  and  Ellery  ferries  and  perhaps  feared  that  the 
Hull  property  was  too  good  a  location  for  a  competitor. 


^Jamestown  Probate,  3.399. 
2R.  I.  Col.  Rec.  V,  543. 


120  RHODE  ISLAND  HISTORICAL  SOCIETY 

Often  the  owners  of  the  old  ferries  sailed  the  boats  them- 
selves and  often  they  hired  others  to  help  them,  or  perhaps  to 
do  all  the  navigating.  Captain  Job  S.  Ellis,  now  living  in 
Jamestown,  for  many  years  sailed  a  boat  for  Philip  Caswell 
and  later  for  William  H.  Knowles,  as  long  as  his  ferry  was 
in  operation.     His  likeness  is  shown  in  Fig.  i. 

Ever  since  the  first  Rhode  Island  ferry  at  Portsmouth  in 
1640  until  the  introduction  of  steam,  ferry  boats  plying  on 
the  bay  have  been  of  the  same  general  type  and  have  probably 
not  varied  much  in  size,  for  the  earliest  boats  were  intended 
to  transport  horses  and  cattle  as  well  as  persons.  The  ferry 
boats  running  between  Jamestown  and  Newport  during  the 
nineteenth  century  were  about  35  ft.  long,  14  ft.  wide  and  drew 
from  4^2  to  5  feet  of  water.  They  were  very  heavy  and 
planked  with  two-inch  oak.  There  was  a  place  for  passengers 
in  the  stern,  the  animals  were  in  the  middle  of  the  boat  and  a 
vehicle  could  be  carried  on  the  little  deck  forward.  They 
were  rigged  with  a  main  sail  and  jib.  One  of  these  boats, 
belonging  to  the  Carr  Ferry,  is  shown  in  Fig.  2. 

An  important  part  of  the  ferry  establishment  was  the  ferry 
house,  where  travelers  could  be  entertained  over  night  and 
where  a  waiting  room  was  provided  and  very  often  a  bar.  It 
is  suspected  that  much  of  the  profit  of  the  ferry  business  came 
from  the  latter  and  that  the  opportunity  to  obtain  this  was  the 
principal  reason  why  there  was  so  much  rivalry  in  seeking 
ferry  franchises.  The  ferry  houses  belonging  to  the  Clarke 
and  Hull  ferries  have  long  since  disappeared,  but  the  Ellery 
ferry  house  is  still  standing.  It  shows  evidence  of  having 
been  built  at  a  period  not  long  after  the  Revolution  and  is 
very  probably  the  house  built  to  replace  the  one  destroyed  by 
the  British  at  that  time.  Fig.  3  shows  the  old  ferry  wharf 
ajid  also  the  ferry  house  on  the  corner  where  now  stands  the 
Bay  View  Hotel.  Fig.  4  shows  the  house  where  it  now 
stands  some  two  or  three  hundred  feet  to  the  northwest.  The 
lower  right  hand  room  was  the  waiting  room. 


NOTES  •  121 


Notes 


Miss  Louise  B.  Bowen  presented  to  the  Society  a  collec- 
tion of  Eighteenth  Century  account  books  and  manuscripts 
including  an  interesting  account  book  of  the  "Codfishery  Com- 
pany  of    1784." 

Mr.  Hermon  Carey  Bumpus  has  been  elected  to  member- 
ship in  the  Society. 

F.  J.  Allen,  M.  D.,  read  before  the  Cambridge  Antiquarian 
Society,  a  paper  entitled  "The  Ruined  Mill,  or  Round  Church 
of  the  Norsemen  at  Newport,  Rhode  Island,  U.  S.  A.,  com- 
pared with  the  Round  Church  at  Cambridge  and  others  in 
Europe,"  which  has  been  issued  in  pamphlet  form. 

The  July  Bulletin  of  the  Newport  Historical  Society  con- 
tains the  annual  reports  of  the  Society  and  historical  notes. 

On  page  11  of  the  Imprint  List  under  1737  is  the  entry, 
^'Fox,  George  Instructions  for  right  spelling  N.  Y.  P.  L." 

The  original  volume  contains  neither  place  nor  date  of 
imprint,  although  it  has  been  ascribed  to  Newport  on  account 
of  the  type  ornaments  and  a  pencil  note  "(Newport?)  1737" 
has  been  added.  A  close  comparison  of  the  type  ornaments 
used  with  those  used  on  other  books  printed  by  Franklin 
indicate  that  this  book  was  probably  not  printed  at  Newport 
for  eight  pointed  stars  of  the  size  used  on  the  Fox  book  do 
not  appear  to  have  been  used  by  Franklin  on  any  books  known 
to  have  been  printed  by  him. 

"A  Friendly  Address"  printed  in  Providence  by  Bennett 
Wheeler  in  1794  as  a  broadside  has  recently  been  obtained  by 
Col.  George  L.  Shepley.  It  differs  from  the  copy  in  the 
Library  of  the  Rhode  Island  Historical  Society  which  is  men- 
tioned on  page  62  of  the  Imprint  List. 

The  original  manuscript  journal  of  John  Lees  of  Quebec. 
Merchant,  is  preserved  in  the  British  Museum  (Add.  Mss. 
No.  28,  605),  and  was  published  in  191 1  by  the  Society  of 
Colonial  Wars  in  the  State  of  Michigan.  That  part  which 
relates  to  Rhode  Island  is  reprinted  from  this  publication. 


122  RHODE  ISLAND  HISTORICAL  SOCIETY 

Rhode  Island  in  1768 

By  John  Lees. 

Set  out  from  Boston  loth  June  in  a  Stage  Coach,  that 
goes  to  Providence,  distance  42  mils.  The  land  along  this 
road,  is  but  very  poor,  being  a  light  Sandy  Soil,  not  much 
Grain  is  raised  here  about,  the  Country  being  chiefly  covered 
with  Orchards ;  a  few  miles  from  Providence  there  is  a  Con- 
siderable Iron  work  belonging  to 

At  this  work  a  good  many  Potts,  Pans,  Anchors,  and  such 
work  is  manufactured,  which  they  send  to  New  York  for 
sale,  The  Cheif  Trade  from  Providence  is  in  Lumber,  and 
stock  for  the  West  Indies,  their  principall  return  is  Molasses, 
great  part  of  which  is  made  into  Rum,  and  sent  to  New  York ; 
from  which  place  they  have  the  Cheif  of  their  Dry  goods,  as 
they  have  only  one  Vessell  yearly  from  London,  in  that  Trade 
a  good  deal  of  Connecticut  Tobacco  is  also  sent  from  this  place 
to  New  York,  from  which  it  is  afterwards  exported  to  New- 
foundland etc.  The  names  of  the  principall  Merchants  in 
the  place  were  Ward,  Levy,  Arnot  etc. 

There  is  water  in  coming  up  this  River  for  pretty  large 
Vessells.  Close  by  the  Town  is  a  Bridge  over  the  River,  built 
of  Wood  with  stone  Pillars,  it  Draws  up  in  one  part  to  lett 
Vessells  pass,  as  there  is  a  good  deal  of  shipping  built  above 
it.  The  River  is  called  Providence  River.  There  is  divers 
Sects  of  Riligion  here,  The  People  are  not  reckoned  so  strict 
as  in  Boston  Gouvernment.  There  is  a  Chapel  for  the  Church 
of  England  People ;  Presbeterians,  Anabaptists,  Quakers,  and 
Methodists  are  all  to  be  found  here.  At  Seven  o  Clock  in  the 
morning  of  the  nth  June,  set  out  in  a  passage  Sloop  down 
the  River  to  Newport,  the  Country  extreamly  pleasant  as  you 
go  down,  but  very  little  Corn  land  and  the  Soil  seems  light 
and  sandy,  the  Cheif  Grain  they  raise  is  Rye,  and  Indian 
Corn.  It  is  reckoned  30  miles  to  Newport,  many  Shoals  are 
in  this  River,  particularly  about  3  Leagues  from  the  Town, 
two  sand  Banks  run  across  from  each  side,  and  leave  a  pas- 
sage only  of  half  a  mile,  which  makes  the  pilotage  very  dan- 
gerous to  Strangers.     This  River  is  generally  frose  up  for  6 


RHODE    ISLAND    IN    I768  I23 

Weeks  in  the  Winter,  vast  Bodies  of  Ice  flotting  on  the  shoals 
along  the  Coast.  Ahout  5  leagues  helow  Providence  lye  three 
Islands,  called  Prudence,  Patience  and  Hope,  they  seem  ex- 
treamly  heautifull,  the  first  is  the  largest  being  about  8  miles 
long,  on  the  North  side  is  the  Town  of  Bristol,  being  al^out 
43^2  leagues  from  Providence,  almost  opposite  to  it,  is  War- 
wick Town,  and  Greenick.  Within  about  2  leagues  of  New- 
port is  a  fine  large  Island  called  Norragancet,  has  a  most 
heautifull  appearance,  and  raises  a  vast  deal  of  Stock,  and 
Indian  Corn,  is  about  8  miles  long.  About  4  o  Clock  arrived 
at  Newport,  on  the  Starboard  hand  in  coming  in,  is  a  small 
Fort  and  Battery  of  30,  18  and  24  pounders,  it  looks  ex- 
treamly  well  but  is  said  to  be  of  no  strength  ;  a  number  of 
Shipping  belongs  to  this  Port,  and  is  cheifly  employed  in  the 
West  India  Trade,  a  vast  quantity  of  Molasses  is  here  dis- 
tilled into  Rum,  and  sent  in  large  quantities  to  the  Coast  of 
Africa,  and  all  over  the  Continent  of  America,  Canada,  and 
Newfoundland.  They  have  severall  Vessells  in  the  Guinea 
Trade,  most  of  their  Dry-Goods  they  have  from  New  York ; 
a  few  Vessells  are  built  at  this  place,  a  great  many  Horses, 
Sheep,  &  oyr  Stock  is  shipped  from  this  Island,  to  the  W^ 
Indies ;  but  their  Lumber  for  that  Trade  is  generally  sent 
them  from  Providence.  The  Island  is  about  12  miles  long, 
&  2  Broad.  There  is  many  hatters  in  this  place,  as  they  Carry 
on  a  good  deal  of  Counterband  Trade  in  that  branch  to  the 
West  Indies.  They  are  supplied  with  their  Beaver  cheifly 
from  N.  York.  There  is  a  vast  number  of  Jews  in  this  place, 
the  Country  people  through  the  Island  are  in  general  Quakers. 
Their  last  Gouvernor  was  a  Quaker,  one  Hopkins,  their  pres- 
ent one  is  an  Anabaptist — 

Their  whole  Civill  officers  are  elective,  and  commonly, 
(Parties  running  so  high),  they  are  totally  changed  with 
their  Gouvernor ;  his  Salary  is  very  triffling ;  but  being  naval 
Officer  ex  officio,  that  employment  is  of  some  value  to  him ; 
of  about  1000  Dr.s  a  year,  the  Judge  of  Admirality  and  Cus- 
tom house  Officers  are  those  only  named  from  home.  The 
people  here  are  very  jealous  about  their  Charter  Privileges, 


124  RHODE  ISLAND  HISTORICAL  SOCIETY 

and  complain  greatly  of  the  decline  of  Trade,  and  say  it  is 
owing  to  the  large  Value  of  Cash,  that  is  sent  out  of  the 
Province  for  duties  on  Molasses,  however  I  believe  much 
Contraband  Trade  is  carried  on  here,  indeed  the  Kings  ofifi- 
cers  dust  not  venture  to  do  their  duty  with  Strictness ;  they 
send  a  great  deal  of  their  returns  from  the  West  Indies  to 
N.  York  for  Sale,  and  in  payment  of  English  Manufactures 
sent  them  from  that  place.  Their  most  considerable  Mer- 
chants, are  Mr.  Joseph  Wanton,  Mr.  Lopes,  a  Jew,  Mr.  Thurs- 
ton, Messrs.  Pollock  and  Hayes,  The  Beaver  stood  their  Hat- 
ters lately  from  6/6  to  7/ — York  Currency.  One  Mr.  Wil- 
liam M.  Campbell  an  Attorney  at  Greenwich  appeared  to  be 
rhe  most  able  Speaker  in  the  house  of  Assembly.  One  Samuel 
Bowers  was  their  Speaker. 

Sett  off  from  Newport  for  New  York  in  a  passage  Sloop, 
on  the  15th  of  June,  in  Company  with  Mr.  Bridges  and  Cap- 
tain Thomson  of  New  York,  and  one  Mr.  Monroe  from  Scot- 
land; by  Contrary  winds  and  Calms,  were  3  days  in  getting 
down  the  Sound  to  N.  York,  it  was  extream  pleasant  sailing 
along  this  Cost,  and  long-Island  on  the  left,  appeared  like  an 
intire  Garden  near  it  is  Fisher's  Island. 

Commerce  of  Rhode  Island 

(Concluded  from  Page  jio) 

products  to  be  exported  to  transfer  them  by  ferry  several 
times  until  they  finally  reached  Charleston  or  Norfolk,  as  the 
case  might  be.  The  emphasis  which  the  managers  of  the 
large  plantations  placed  upon  their  staple  product  during  prac- 
tically this  whole  period  preventing,  as  it  did,  these  colonies 
from  being  agriculturally  self-supporting,  had  a  profound  in- 
fluence upon  the  nature  of  the  goods  which  were  exported 
from  Rhode  Island. 

We  find  that  the  commodities  which  were  carried  from 
Providence  and  Newport  to  the  southern  markets  were  many 
and  varied.  Within  a  period  of  about  eighten  months,  for  in- 
stance, the  Sloop  "Polly",  John  Martin,  master,  made  three 


COMMERCE    OF    RHODE    ISLAND  12$ 

trips  to  Virginia.  On  the  first  voyage,  the  "Polly"  cleared  out 
of  the  port  of  Providence,  October  8th,  1785;  on  the  second, 
February  3rd,  1786;  and  on  the  third,  October  23rd  of  the 
same  year.  Out  of  thirty  different  commodities  which  were 
carried  by  this  vessel  (which  was  only  of  average  size,  30 
tons),  only  seven, — molasses,  rum,  butter,  cider,  leather  shoes, 
chocolate  and  cheese — were  common  to  each  of  the  three 
cargoes.  Nine  other  varieties  of  merchandise  and  produce 
were  taken  on  two  of  the  three  voyages,  as  follows:  candles, 
lime,  sugar,  "calves"  skins,  hay,  potatoes,  onions,  cranberries 
and  coffee.  Boards,  shingles,  fish,  beef,  oil,  apples,  tea,  axes, 
desks,  riding  carriages,  cotton  cards,  "boots  and  legs",  sole 
leather,  and  a  hogshead  and  barrel  of  general  merchandise 
complete  the  items  listed  in  the  exportations  of  this  one  vessel. 
The  bulk  of  the  cargo  in  each  case  was  made  up  of  rum, 
molasses,  shoes  and  cheese.  In  addition  to  these  articles, 
which,  however,  seem  to  have  been  characteristic  of  the  ordi- 
nary voyage  to  the  South,  one  might  name  flour,  oats,  pork, 
salt,  cotton  cloth,  iron-ware,  saddles,  chairs,  hoes,  bricks,  hoops 
and  staves,  medical  supplies  and  drugs,  brandy,  lemons  and 
cedar  pails  as  products  which  were  occasionally  carried  to 
these  provinces.*  The  nature  of  the  commodities  sent  out 
from  Rhode  Island  depended  upon  the  local  merchant's 
surplus  ;  or  upon  what  the  merchant  believed  might  be  most 
needed,  and  hence  most  readily  sold,  in  the  particular  region 
which  he  was  accustomed  to  visit. 

In  general,  the  exports  of  the  colony  were  of  two  kinds : 
those  which  had  been  previously  imported  from  England  or 
from  the  West  Indies ;  and  those  which  were  drawn  from  the 
neighboring  country  about  Providence  or  Newport.  The 
greater  part  of  the  goods  carried  to  the  southern  continental 
colonies  seems  to  have  belonged  to  the  former  class,  and  the 
extent  to  which  the  distilling  of  West-Indian  molasses  into 
rum  was  carried  on  in  Newport  during  the  century  shows  the 
importance    of    this    re-exporting  business.      But    the    purely 


*Out\vard  Entries  and  Manifests  in  State  Archives. 


126  RHODE  ISLAND  HISTORICAL  SOCIETY 

domestic  goods — chiefly  agricultural  products — are  perhaps 
more  interesting.  It  is  said  of  Capt.  James  Brown  of  Provi- 
dence that  he  "drew  on  Massachusetts  and  Connecticut  as  well 
as  Rhode  Island  for  his  cargoes  of  provisions  and  lumber." 
Candles  and  hemp  came  from  the  immediate  neighborhood ; 
butter  and  cheese  were  purchased  from  the  farms  of  the  in- 
terior of  the  colony;  cattle  and  horses  were  frequently  driven 
down  from  Worcester  and  Uxbridge  in  Massachusetts,  and 
from  Plainfield  and  Killingly  in  Connecticut ;  "boards,  shingles, 
staves  and  hoops  were  collected  from  Taunton  and  Green- 
wich ;"  oil,  fish  and  soap  were  brought  in  by  sloops  from  Nan- 
tucket ;  lumber  and  shingles  came  from  the  shores  of  the 
Kennebec  in  Maine ;  and  dry  goods  and  ship  supplies  were 
often  purchased  in  New  York.  Practically  the  whole  of  the 
surrounding  country  were  called  upon  to  supply  some  kind  of 
goods  or  provisions  to  be  sent  to  the  southern  colonies. 

Similarly,  many  of  the  products  which  were  imported 
from  the  southern  colonies  in  exchange  were  further  distrib- 
uted after  reaching  Rhode  Island.  The  traders,  who  were 
frequently  shop-keepers  and  manufacturers  as  well,  were 
usually  careful  to  load  their  vessels  for  the  return  voyage  with 
such  products  only  as  were  most  salable  at  home.  The  bulk 
of  these  cargoes  naturally  consisted  of  the  staple  products  of 
the  colony  or  colonies  which  they  visited.  In  a  few  cases  the 
raw  materials  w^ere  sent  to  Rhode  Island,  there  manufactured 
into  the  finished  products,  which  were  then  lirought  back  to 
the  southern  market  again.  A  notable  example  of  this  was 
the  wheat  which  was  rather  frequently  sent  to  Rhode  Island 
from  the  Carolinas,  only  to  be  later  returned  in  the  form  of 
flour.  Besides  wheat,  other  southern  agricultural  products 
which  sometimes  found  their  way  to  Rhode  Island  shops,  were 
corn,  potatoes,  peas,  beans,  and  bacon ;  while  references  to 
shipments  of  feathers,  live  hogs,  and  other  varieties  of  stock, 
deer  skins  and  ox-hides  are  occasionally  found.  The  chief 
imports,  throughout  the  century,  however,  seem  to  have  been 
rice   and    indigo    from    South    Carolina ;    tar,    turpentine    and 


COMMKRCE    OF    RHODE    ISLAND  12/ 

lumljer  Iroin  North  Carolina;  and  flour  and  tobacco  from 
X'iryinia  and  Alaryland. 

In  addition  to  the  numerous  merchant-traders  who  had 
little  capital  beyond  what  was  invested  in  a  single  vessel  and 
its  cargo — the  true  "peddlers''  in  coastwise  commerce — there 
were  a  number  of  outstanding  families  who  owned  several 
vessels  and  carried  on  a  regular  trade.  The  most  prominent 
seem  to  have  been  the  Champlin  and  Lopez  families  in  New- 
port and  the  Brown  family  of  Providence.  The  members  of 
these  three  families  alone  apparently  controlled  a  major  por- 
tion of  the  capital  invested  in  the  coastwise  commerce  just  be- 
fore the  Revolution ;  there  are  records  of  three  dififerent 
sloops — the  "Dolphin",  the  "Richmond"  and  the  "Industry" — 
all  belonging  to  the  Lopez  family,  setting  out  for  North 
Carolina  within  a  period  of  some  ten  days,  which  shows  how 
extensive  were  the  interests  of  this  one  group  in  the  coastwise 
commerce.  William  Minturn.  James  Robinson.  Philip  Wilk- 
inson, Henry  Collins,  Sueton  Grant.  John  Channing  and  the 
Hopkins  and  Malbone  brothers  are  some  of  the  other  names 
associated  with  the  commercial  activities  of  Newport; 
Stephen  Dexter,  Ebenezer  Knight,  Esek  Hopkins,  and  the  two 
Russell s  were  among  the  best  known  shop-keepers  of  Provi- 
dence. It  was  customary  for  these  "entrepreneurs"  in  the 
coastwise  commerce  to  allow  the  greatest  freedom  to  their 
captains  in  the  matter  of  selling  their  cargoes,  and  in  collect- 
ing and  purchasing  goods  for  the  return  voyages,  although 
many  of  them  maintained  correspondents  in  the  chief  ports  of 
the  South  to  look  further  after  their  affairs.  For  ex- 
ample, John  Scott  in  Charleston  occupied  a  similar  position  to 
that  which  Christopher  Champlin  held  in  Newport,  and  each 
frequently  acted  as  the  agent  for  the  other  in  his  respective 
town.  Josiah  Hewes  in  Philadelphia,  Josiah  Watson  in  Alex- 
andria, and  the  firm  of  Burgwin,  Jenkes  and  London  in  Wil- 
mington occupied  similar  positions. 

It  was  not  unusual  for  several  vessels  to  arrive  in  a  single 
port,  or  district,  at  one  time.     In   1768  George  Champlin  re- 


128  RHODE  ISLAND  HISTORICAL  SOCIETY 

ported  to  his  brother  Christopher  that  orl  the  same  day  on 
which  he  reached  Charleston,  a  ship  and  a  sloop  from  Boston 
and  only  eight  days  before  the  sloop  "Scammehorne"  from 
New  York  had  entered  the  same  port.  Competition  between 
these  various  traders  was  frequently  keen;  those  who  were 
the  first  to  arrive  naturally  sought  to  secure  for  themselves 
the  cheapest  and  most  accessible  goods,  leaving  the  higher 
priced  grades  for  the  late-comers.  George  Champlin,  whose 
voyages  to  Baltimore  were  quite  regular  during  this  period 
wrote  his  brother  on  November  30th,  1767,  that  he  had  "been 
50  Miles  in  the  back  Woods  Endeavouring  to  buy  Cheaper, 
but  all  to  no  purpose."  Most  of  the  complaints  as  to  the 
market,  however,  cannot  be  uniformly  accepted  at  their  face 
value ;  it  is  astonishing  that  any  successful  voyages  could  have 
been  made  w-hen  the  number  of  complaints  of  poor  markets 
and  bad  weather  in  the  letters  of  these  captains  is  considered. 
The  situation  was  further  complicated  by  the  method. of  buy- 
ing and  selling  in  small  quantities,  by  the  general  lack  of  means 
of  communication,  and  by  the  instability  of  the  markets  and 
their  decentralization.  Admittedly  wasteful  and  inefficient, 
the  only  possible  excuse  for  existence  of  this  system  was  that 
apparently  there  was  no  better  method  of  trading  which  could 
be  substituted.  For  example,  Governor  Burrington  of  North 
Carolina,  as  early  as  1730  saw  the  disadvantages  of  the  sys- 
tem of  barter,  and  he  advocated  the  establishment  of  a  new 
town  and  custom  house  to  be  located  on  Ocacock  Island,  which 
was  said  to  have  an  excellent  harbor,  but  nothing  ever  came  of 
the  plan.  This  peculiar  kind  of  trading,  as  it  developed  in 
the  plantation  provinces,  was  probably  as  well  adapted  to  the 
nature  of  the  country  as  any  other  which  might  have  been 
devised,  and  it  had  some  compensations — prices  were  usually 
kept  at  a  minimum. 

The  questions  of  governmental  protection,  of  in- 
surance on  vessels  and  their  cargoes,  of  the  influence  of  colo- 
nial finance,  of  the  development  of  manufacturing  in  its  rela- 
tion to  commerce,  and  of  the  early  attempts  to  establish  a 


COMMERCE    OF    RHODE    ISLAND  129 

monoply  by  the  candle  manufacturers,  all  fascinating  topics, 
unfortunately  must  be  omitted  in  this  discussion  of  the  coast- 
wise trade. 

Other  matters  having  a  more  or  less  vital  influence  upon 
the  coastwise  trade  can  only  be  superficially  pointed  out  at 
this  time.  The  rapid  development  of  privateering  toward 
the  middle  of  the  century  had  a  tendency  to  retard  all 
commerce  for  a  few  years ;  on  the  other  hand,  the  popularity 
of  smuggling  acted  as  a  stimulus  to  the  coasting  exchange. 
The  use  of  tobacco,  as  well  as  rum  for  money  on  the  Guinea 
coast  brought  the  trade  with  the  southern  colonies  into  a  close 
relationship  with  the  triangular  voyages. 

In  the  contemporary  accounts  by  travellers  and  others  of 
the  nature  and  extent  of  Rhode  Island  commerce  in  the 
eighteenth  century,  the  importance  of  the  coastwise  trade 
seems  to  have  been  more  frequently  under-estimated  than 
exaggerated.  Only  the  Duke  of  La  Rochefonucauld  Lian- 
court  in  1800  mentions  the  fact  that  "the  coasting-trade  is 
that  which  the  people  of  this  town  [Newport]  chiefly  prefer," 
and  "the  ships  from  Providence  carry  it  [barley]  chiefly  into 
the  southern  states,  from  which  they  bring,  in  return,  other 
cargoes. 

A  modern  consideration  of  the  question  would  seem 
to  demonstrate  that  this  coastwise  trade  was  of  somewhat 
greater  importance  than  the  judgment  of  contemporary 
writers  would  indicate.  In  general,  its  effect  seems  to  have 
been  out  of  proportion  to  its  volume.  The  partial  dependence 
of  the  South  upon  the  northern  colonies  made  the  final  break- 
ing off  of  relations  with  England  during  the  Revolution  less 
pronounced ;  and  through  this  intercourse  between  the  two 
sections,  sympathetic  ties  were  to  develop  which  were  later  to 
bind  the  colonies  in  one  unit,  and  to  solidify  them  finally  into 
a  single,  unified  nation. 


130  RHODE  ISLAND  HISTORICAL  SOCIETY 

In  191S  a  report  on  the  burial  place  of  Roger  Williams 
was  published  by  the  Society.  Since  then  a  manuscript  in 
the  handwriting  of  Samuel  Austin  has  come  to  light  which 
further  substantiates  the  findings  in  the  report.  It  is  as  fol- 
lows : 

"Roger  Williams 

E.  yi.  Stone  says  that  Rd  Brown  who  lived  in  a  gambrel- 
roofed  house  opposite  gate  to  Butler  Hospital  &  attained  the 
age  of  100  ys,  related  to  John  Howland,  who  was  accustomed 
to  call  there,  that  he  was  10  ys  old  when  R.  Williams  died, 
that  his  parents  attended  the  funeral  which  he  well  remem- 
bered, that  he  was  buried  in  his  home  lot  which  included  S. 
Dorrs  present  orchard,  that  he.  Brown,  was  in  the  habit  of 
passing  it  by  a  path  which  led  over  or  around  the  hill.  It 
seems  R.  W.  &  wife  &  a  descendant,  Ashton,  were  all  there 
buried.  S.  Dorr  has  the  stone  from  the  grave  of  the  latter 
broken  but  preserved  &  the  former  had  only  a  rough  unlet- 
tered stone  R.  Williams  house  was  in  Humphrey  Almys  yard 
on  Howlands  Alley  and  R.  Ws  spring  was  under  the  corner 
of  the  large  brick  house  opposite  built  by  A.  Dodge  and  the 
water  is  thence  led  into  a  reservoir  whence  it  is  now  pumped 
in  the  lane  extending  from  Benefit  to  Canal  St.  The  R.  Wil- 
liams home  lot  embracing  (as  perhaps  was  usual)  six  acres 
extended  from  the  water  eastward  probably  including  this 
lot." 

Note — Rd  Brown  is  Richard  Brown,  son  of  Henry  Brown  and 
Waite.  daughter  of  Richard  Waterman.  He  was  born  in  Newport  in 
1676  and  died  in  Providence  in  1774. 


Rhode  Island 

Historical    Society 

Collections 

Vol.  XV  January,  1922  No.  1 

CONTENTS 


/^    PAGE 


The  Inscribed  Rocks  of  Narragansett  Bi^y,,^--         \^ 
By  Edmund  B.  Delabarre    .        .       .^"^^SJ^ 


Muster  Roll  in  the  Canada  Expedition  1711  Newport      .  15 

Notes 17 

Indian  Graves  Unearthed  at  Charlestown       .        .        .  18 

Officers  of  the  Rhode  Island  Historical  Society    .        .  19 

Abstracts  of  Early  East  Greenwich  Wills 

By  Norman  M.  Isham  and  Howard  W.  Preston        .  22 


$3.00  per  year  Issued  Quarterly  75  cents  per  copy 


RHODE 
HISTORICAL 


ISLAND 
SOCIETY 


COLLECTIONS 


Vol.  XV 


January,  1922 


No.  1 


Howard  W.  Preston,  President    Edward  K.  AldrichJf.,  Treasurer 
George  T.  SPICER,  Secretary  HOWARD  M.CHAPIN,  Librarian 


The  Society  assumes   no  responsibility   for  the  statements  or  the 
opinions  of  contributors. 


The  Inscribed  Rocks  of  Narragansett  Bay 

By  Edmund  B.  Delabarre 
IV.  The  Contributions  of  Newport  and  Middletown 

There  have  been  numerous  rumors  of  the  existence  of  in- 
scribed rocks  in  the  vicinity  of  Newport.  Except  for  a  few 
incisions  that  were  not  meant  to  convey  any  significance,  and 
such  others  as  have  been  made  by  white  men  within  the  last 
two  hundred  years,  they  still  remain  unverified  and  improb- 
able rumors.  Nevertheless,  there  are  in  the  vicinity  several 
examples  of  markings  that  are  natural,  accidental,  or  the  inr 
cidental  result  of  operations  that  had  another  purpose,  and 
these  may  have  led  to  misinterpretation  as  intended  inscrip- 
tions. In  any  field  of  inquiry,  knowledge  is  not  complete  until 
not  only  the  true  details,  but  also  the  false  appearances  that 
may  simulate  fact,  are  understood;  and  to  a  psychologist  the 
latter  have  a  positive  and   fascinating  interest  of  their  own. 


2  RHODE  ISLAND  HISTORICAL  SOCIETY 

It  requires  error  outgrown  as  well  as  truth  comprehended  to 
make  a  universe.  Consequently,  it  will  not  be  a  waste  of  effort 
for  us  to  examine  what  this  locality  has  to  ofifer. 

If  there  had  been  any  genuine  foundation  for  the  rumors 
alluded  to,  it  seems  likely  that  Dr.  Stiles  must  have  heard  of 
them,  for  he  sought  indefatigably  for  inscriptions  on  rocks. 
His  notes,  we  may  be  sure,  record  every  instance  which  was 
brought  to  his  attention,  and  he  would  certainly  have  visited 
every  one  that  he  could  discover  and  would  have  made  draw- 
ings of  it.  In  fact,  he  wrote  in  1790:  "I  have  made  great  in- 
quiry these  20  years  past  for  similar  inscriptions  to  those  of 
the  Dighton  Rock."^  Yet  although  he  resided  in  Newport  for 
twenty-one  years,  he  gives  no  hint  of  there  being  any  ancient 
records  of  the  sort  nearer  than  Portsmouth.  He  does,  how- 
ever, mention  two  that  were  made  in  1728.  Our  own  interest 
is  principally  in  the  older  and  more  mysterious  rock-carvings, 
rather  than  in  these.  Yet  the  fact  that  at  least  one  white  man 
followed  the  impulse  to  write  upon  such  surfaces  at  so  early 
a  date  is  not  without  its  bearing  upon  our  interpretation  of 
the  more  puzzling  cases. 

Stiles's  descriptions  are  accompanied  by  sketch-maps  show- 
ing the  location  of  the  rocks  and  by  drawings  of  their  appear- 
ance, and  are  found  on  pages  251  and  252  in  the  second  volume 
of  his  manuscript  "Itineraries."  Both  instances,  without  the 
maps  and  drawings,  have  been  included  in  Professor  Dexter's 
"Extracts  from  the  Itineraries."  The  first  drawing  is  of  a 
rock  measuring  2>^  by  5J/2  feet,  upon  which  is  an  inscription 
in  capital  letters  reading:  ''1728.10.21.  Beleve  in  Christ  & 
Live  in  No  Sin."  The  accompanying  description  is  dated 
June  22,  1767,  and  says:  "This  is  an  Inscription  which  I  took 
off  a  Rock  on  the  Shore  at  Brenton's  Point  a  little  North  of 
the  Reef  &  at  the  SW.  corner  of  Rhode  Island,  5  miles  SW. 
from  Newport.  It  is  supposed  to  have  been  put  on  by  Rev'^ 
Nathaniel  Clap.  I  suppose  the  10  21  under  1728  denotes  21^' 
day  of  10''^  month,  or  Ocf  21,  1728.     M''  Clap  died  in  New- 

'Publications  of  the  Colonial  Society  of  Massachusetts,  1917,  xix.  96. 


THE    INSCRIBED   ROCKS    OF    NARRAGANSETT    BAY  3 

port  1745  having  Labored  in  the  Ministry  from  1695  or  50 
years." 

The  other  stone,  12  feet  by  4,  is  shown  lying  above  a  rocky 
shore  on  a  steep  bank  ten  feet  high  from  the  water,  at  the 
northwest  corner  of  Price's  Cove.  It  bears  the  inscription : 
"8.21. 1728.  God  Presarve  AH  Mankind."  Stiles  remarks: 
"July  8.  1767.  I  viewed  a  Stone  at  price's  Cove.  The  stone 
light  grey  &  hard.  The  Inscription  is  daylay  trodden  upon  by 
the  passing  fishermen.  The  figures  21  of  8  M°  1728  are  done 
by  seperate  Dots.  The  Letters  are  done  in  the  same  manner 
as  those  at  the  Point  above  a  Mile  Westward.  On  another 
stone  [shown  near  the  first  and  measuring  8  by  12  feet]  is  a 
number  of  seeming  Incisions  of  the  Wedge  or  Runic  Kind, 
but  evidently  the  Work  of  Nature  only."  The  two  inscrip- 
tions are  once  more  referred  to  by  Stiles  in  1774,  when  he 
writes:  "Jahleel  Brenton  Esq.  died  Nov.  8,  1732,  AEt.  ']'/. 
.  .  .  His  father  was  Gov.  Brenton.  The  words  PRE- 
SARVE and  BELEVE  in  the  Inscriptions  are  so  illy  spelled, 
that  I  sometimes  doubt  whether  M""  Clap  was  the  Author. 
Perhaps  M"^  Brenton  was.'" 

I  looked  for  these  rocks  on  July  11,  1920.  One  of  them 
has  been  moved  from  its  original  location  and  now  stands, 
with  its  inscription  still  clear  and  well  preserved,  close  to  the 
house  of  the  large  estate  situated  Just  where  the  "Shore  Drive" 
makes  its  turn  at  Brenton's  Point.  The  one  at  Price's  Cove 
I  failed  to  discover,  either  then  or  at  a  later  visit.  It  may  have 
been  blasted  out  or  covered  over,  for  many  changes  have 
occurred  at  this  place  since  Stiles's  day.  I  did,  however,  see 
one  or  more  rocks  with  the  wedge-like  marks  which  Stiles 
rightly  attributed  to  the  work  of  Nature  only.  His  doubts 
concerning  authorship  founded  upon  Mr.  Clap's  poor  spelling 
perhaps  do  not  take  changing  fashions  sufficiently  into 
account,  and  cannot  appeal  to  us  as  very  decisive  if  we  notice 
his  own  easy  deviations   from  modern  usage  in  this  respect. 

^Extracts  from  the  Itineraries  and  other  Miscellanies  of  Ezra  Stiles, 
1916,  pp.  230,  353. 


4  RHODE  ISLAND  HISTORICAL  SOCIETY 

His  statement  that  one  of  the  rocks  was  "daylay  trodden  upon 
by  the  passing  fishermen"  suggests  that  the  motive  for  these 
pious  exhortations  may  have  heen  to  call  constant  attention 
of  such  men  to  their  spiritual  welfare.  It  lies  within  the 
memory  of  many  of  us  still  living  that  not  so  very  long  ago 
numerous  rocks  for  many  miles  around  Providence  had 
painted  on  them  similar  exhortations  and  scriptural  verses, 
and  that  the  author  of  them  was  a  familiar  sight  upon  our 
streets,  wearing  garments  on  which  similar  verses  were 
painted,  mutely  urging  his  fellows  to  reflect  upon  their  sins  and 
to  lead  better  lives. 

The  first  indication  that  there  might  be  in  the  neighborhood 
rocks  with  more  ancient  records  is  contained  in  the  letter  which 
Dr.  Webb  wrote  to  Professor  Rafn  of  Denmark  on  October  31, 
1835,  ^"  which  he  says  that  John  Almy  of  Tiverton  thought  he 
had  heard  of  an  inscription-rock  at  Sachuest  Point.^  There 
exists,  however,  no  other  allusion  to  the  possibility  that  there 
might  be  one  there.  But  on  March  3,  1840,  Dr.  Christopher 
G.  Perry  of  Newport  reported  to  the  Rhode  Island  Historical 
Society  that  he  had  discovered  some  rocks  near  Newport  bear- 
ing inscriptions  resembling  those  on  the  rocks  at  Dighton  and 
Portsmouth.  The  records  of  the  Society  state:  "Since  then 
the  rock  has  been  visited  and  examined  by  John  R.  Bartlett. 
The  impressions  were  found  to  be  very  indistinct,  but  Mr.  B. 
succeeded  in  making  a  drawing,  which  will  be  presented  to 
the  Society.""  Unfortunately  no  such  drawing  has  been  pre- 
served, and  we  have  no  knowledge  even  of  the  approximate 
location  of  the  rock  or  of  the  appearance  of  its  characters. 
It  is  not  improbable  that  it  was  similar  to,  if  not  identical  with, 
those  seen  at  Price's  Cove  by  Stiles  and  myself,  bearing  seem- 
ing incisions  that  were  "evidently  the  Work  of  Nature  only." 

These  seem  to  be  the  only  published  allusions  to  any  petro- 
glyph   near   Newport,   though   one  hears   also   vague   rumors 


^Antiquitates  Americanae,  p.  404. 

^See  manuscript  volumes  of  the  Society:  Correspondence  and  Re- 
ports, iii.  68,  and  Trustees'  Records,  Sept.  21,  1840. 


THE    INSCRIBED    ROCKS    OF    NARRAGANSETT    BAY  5 

such  as  easily  arise  and  turn  out  on  investigation  to  have 
cither  no  foundation  or  to  be  based  on  superficial  inspection 
of  markings  that  have  only  natural  causes  as  their  source. 
But  besides  these,  there  is  one  set  of  markings  that  are  unques- 
tionably artificial — a  collection  of  basins  and  grooves  on  the 
rocks  of  the  Bluffs  near  Purgatory.  It  is  rather  remarkable 
that  the  only  allusions  to  them  in  print  that  I  have  been  able 
to  discover  are  such  as  speak  of  them  in  connection  with  fool- 
ish legends  only,  calling  them  the  Devil's  footprints,  or  the 
marks  of  his  dragging  a  sinful  woman  over  the  rocks,  or  of 
the  axe  that  he  used  in  beheading  her.  They  appear  never  to 
have  been  really  described,  though  they  are  familiar  to  the 
passing  visitor.  Yet  they  are  interesting  in  themselves  and 
deserving  of  inquiry  concerning  their  probable  origin.  And 
there  are  other  reasons  why  it  is  important  to  include  a  dis- 
cussion of  them  in  these  papers :  although  they  do  not  in  any 
sense  constitute  an  inscription,  yet  our  ability  to  distinguish 
genuine  from  merely  apparent  inscriptions  will  be  increased 
by  acquaintance  with  all  sorts  of  unintentional,  non-graphic 
effects  of  human  agency  as  well  as  with  accidental  resemblances 
to  inscriptions  that  are  the  result  of  purely  natural  causes ;  and 
knowledge  of  them  probably  clears  up  a  long-standing  mystery 
about  Bishop  Berkeley  and  his  reported  opinion  concerning 
Dighton  Rock. 

The  chart  and  photographs^  of  Plates  XVI  and  XVII  show 
the  location  of  the  Purgatory  rocks  and  the  appearance  of  the 
markings.  These  occur  on  narrow  sandstone  intrusions  in  the 
conglomerates  at  the  lowest  part  of  the  ledges  near  their 
northern  extremity  at  Sachuest  Beach,  just  before  the  rocks 
begin  to  rise  into  cliffs.  They  l)egin  about  250  feet  l:)eyond  the 
extreme  meeting-point  of  rocks  and  beach,  and  occur  at  inter- 
vals for  a  distance  of  about  100  feet  toward  the  south.  They 
are  of  two  kinds.  Some  of  them  are  shallow  oval  or  roundish 
depressions  or  basins,  somewhat  like  pot-holes  but  clearly  not 
due  to  natural  forces.     They  might  even  be  classed  as  large 

^Taken  hj-  the  writer  on  August  23,  19LM. 


O  RHODE  ISLAND  HISTORICAL  SOCIETY 

cup-markings,  such  as  were  described  in  our  last  paper.  There 
are  about  three  dozen  of  them  in  all,  ranging  in  size  from  long 
ovals  measuring  about  25  by  10  inches,  down  to  more  nearly 
circular  cups  about  7  to  10  inches  in  one  diameter  and  6  to  9 
in  the  other.  Their  depth  runs  from  a  little  less  than  an  inch 
to  about  2  inches.  Some  are  rather  rough  and  irregular, 
others  very  regular,  clear-cut  and  smooth.  The  grooves  of 
the  second  type  look  very  much  like  such  a  cut  as  would  be 
made  in  soft  material  by  a  clean  blow  with  a  sharp  axe.  The 
largest  is  14  inches  long,  i^  wide  and  i^  deep  at  the  centre, 
narrowing  and  curving  upward  to  a  point  at  either  extremity. 
Another  measures  9  by  i54,  and  ^i  deep.  Most  of  them  are 
7  to  10  inches  long,  %  to  y2  wide,  and  J/s  to  J4  deep.  I  counted 
twelve  of  them  in  all.  One  of  them,  shown  in  the  photograph, 
is  at  the  bottom  of  one  of  the  basins.  Besides  these  narrow 
grooves  and  wider  basins,  there  are  two  other  incisions  of 
interest,  besides  numerous  names  and  initials.  C^ne  is  a  rep- 
resentation of  an  arrow,  about  T,y2  inches  long,  shallow  but 
very  clear.  Tbe  other  is  a  figure  like  the  "eye"  of  a  dress- 
maker's hook-and-eye,  about  5  inches  long  and  wide,  with  a 
sort  of  U  between  the  small  circles  of  the  open  end.  The  U 
and  the  circles  are  made  of  very  small  clear  dots,  the  rest  is 
grooved.  Whether  these  two  figures  are  due  to  the  makers  of 
the  other  grooves  and  basins,  or  to  more  recent  visitors,  it  is 
impossible  to  determine. 

While  studying  these  basins,  I  heard  some  passers-by  speak 
of  them  as  "Devil's  Footprints,"  probably  because  of  the  fre- 
quently repeated  legends  already  referred  to.  Apparently  this 
name  gets  attached  everywhere  to  any  mysterious  holes  in 
rocks  that  in  the  least  resemble  the  prints  of  feet  or  hoofs. 
There  are  other  alleged  instances  of  marks  made  by  the  Devil 
in  Warwick,  in  Swansea,  near  New  Bedford,  and  probably  in 
other  places.  The  only  serious  account  of  the  origin  of  these 
near  Newport  that  I  have  heard  of  was  related  to  me  by  Dr. 
Eugene  P.  King  of  Providence.  He  was  told  about  30  years 
ago  that  the  basins  were  made  in  old  days  by  Indians  in  polish- 


THE    INSCRIBED    ROCKS    OF    NARRAGANSETT    BAY  "J 

ing  some  object  by  rubbing  it  round  and  round.  As  to  the 
"axe-cut"  grooves,  the  Indians  made  them  also,  he  was  in- 
formed, in  sharpening  their  arrow-points ;  and  we  shall  see 
that  this  same  theory  was  probably  advanced  nearly  200  years 
ago.  Doubtless  it  was  not  actually  stone  arrow-points  that 
were  thus  sharpened  there,  for  these  the  Indians  fashioned 
and  sharpened  by  flaking,  not  by  grinding.  But  others  of 
their  implements,  including  bone  and  horn  arrows  and  darts, 
were  polished  and  sharpened  by  grinding,  and  for  this  pur- 
pose, says  W.  H.  Holmes,^  "in  many  localities  exposed  sur- 
faces of  rock  in  place  were  utilized,  and  these  are  often  cov- 
ered with  the  grooves  produced  by  the  grinding  work.  These 
markings  range  from  narrow,  shallow  lines  produced  by  shap- 
ing pointed  objects,  to  broad  channels  made  in  shaping  large 
implements  and  utensils."  This  description  exactly  applies 
to  the  markings  on  these  Purgatory  rocks,  and  might  have 
been  written  with  especial  reference  to  them.  It  supplies  the 
natural  and  almost  certain  explanation  of  their  origin. 

The  possible  connection  with  Berkeley  is  this :  According 
to  Eugene  du  Simitiere,  writing  about  1781,  "there  is  a  tradi- 
tion very  current  in  New  England,  but  particularly  at  New 
Port  that  when  the  learned  Dean  Berkeley  resided  near  that 
last  mentioned  place  about  the  year  1732"  he  visited  the  rock 
at  Taunton,  and  had  began  an  Elaborate  dissertation  upon  the 
supposed  inscription,  when  a  farmer  in  the  neighborhood,  ob- 
serving the  Dean  one  day  employed  in  copying  the  unknown 
characters,  informed  him,  that,  that  rock  had  been  used  for- 
merly by  the  Indians  that  resorted  thither  to  Shoot  ducks,  and 
dart  fish,  to  wett  [whet]  and  Sharpen  the  points  of  their 
arrows  and  darts  on  that  Stone  which  was  the  cause  of  the 


^Handbook  of  American  Indians,  Bureau  of  Amer.  Ethnology,  Bulle- 
tin 30,  part  i,  page  7. 

"Berkeley  arrived  in  Newport  on  January  23,  1729,  and  resided  there 
and  at  Whitehall  until  a  few  days  before  he  sailed  for  England  on 
September  21,  1731. 


8  RHODE  ISLAND  HISTORICAL  SOCIETY 

various  hollow  lines  and  figures  formed  thereon.'"  Now 
although  we  have  evidence  from  other  sources  both  that  Ber- 
keley visited  Dighton  Rock  and  that  the  theory  mentioned  was 
applied  to  it,  yet  it  seems  incredible  that  Berkeley  or  anyone, 
after  really  seeing  the  rock,  could  have  believed  that  any  of 
its  carvings  could  have  been  produced  in  that  manner.  It 
seems  much  more  likely  that  the  legend  as  related  is  a  case 
of  transference  from  one  region,  of  which  it  may  be  true,  to 
another  where  it  cannot  possibly  apply.  Berkeley  wrote  much 
of  his  Alciphron  while  sitting  under  the  shelter  of  the  over- 
hanging ledges  at  Paradise  Rocks.  He  was  a  lover  of  nature, 
and  must  have  strolled  upon  the  beaches  and  climbed  over  the 
rocks  near  Purgatory,  close  by.  In  fact,  at  the  beginning  of 
the  second  dialogue  of  the  treatise  mentioned,  he  speaks  of 
going  down  to  a  beach,  "where  we  walked  on  the  smooth  sand, 
with  the  ocean  on  one  hand,  and  on  the  other  wild  broken 
rocks,"  and  this  was  doubtless  not  his  only  visit  there.  It  was 
there,  much  more  probably  than  at  Assonet  Neck,  that  "a 
farmer  of  the  neighborhood"  expounded  to  him,  and  perhaps 
with  truth,  the  same  explanation  of  the  marks  that  was  still 
current  when  Dr.  King  heard  the  story.  Afterwards,  when 
the  Dean  had  described  his  visits  and  observations  at  both 
places,  his  auditors,  unacquainted  with  either,  easily  mixed 
them  up  and  attached  the  arrow-sharpening  incident  to  the 
wrong  rock. 

If  we  could  trust  the  stories  that  were  told  in  i860  by  that 
inventor  of  marvelous  tales,  Francis  Loring,  Chief  Big 
Thunder,  of  whom  we  spoke  in  discussing  the  Mount  Hope 
rock,  then  King's  Rocks  near  Warren  would  constitute  another 
case  where  marks  were  made  by  Indians  without  intention, 
incidentally  to  their  other  operations.  Loring's  probably  my- 
thical "book  of  skins,  or  of  birch-bark,"  containing  the  picto- 
graphic  national  records  of  the  Wampanoags,  is  reported  to 
have  included  a  picture  which  "represented  four  men  rolling 
a  heavy  circular  stone,  by  a  stick  placed  through  a  hole  in  the 

^Publications  of  the  Colonial  Society  of  Massachusetts,  191G, 
xviii.  267. 


PETROGLYPHS  OF  NARRAGAXSKTT  B AY-Pi  ATE  XVI 


•■-•■ivr^^'-v---'^^' 


^-'*. 


The  basins  and  grooves  on  ledges  near  Purgatory 


PETROGLYPHS  OF  NARRAGANSETT  BAY— PLATE  XVII 


stl,-         i  -il 


■~-l'/f>iiVK- 


•1 


24 


32 


32 


37 


211 ' 

d 

I 

j 


26 


37 


42 


34 


.<v  27-  45 


43 


50 


Sheet-  IViiHit.* 

50  ,hrH  6.' 


33 


42J 


.•7-        33 


29      iO        3 


42 


54 


19 


36 


36 


^  5-7     .    ■      „ 

Section  of  Chart  of  Narragansett  Baj 


^^rluu-s 


I  V\ 


A  plough-scored  rock  on  Sachuest  Neck 


THE    INSCRIBED    ROCKS    OF    NARRAGANSETT    BAY  9 

centre,  back  and  forth  over  a  quantity  of  corn,  and  described 
as  the  Wampanoag  national  grinding  mill,  where  corn  was 
ground  for  war  parties  or  for  any  large  public  gathering  of 
the  people.'"  These  rocks  are  a  ledge  of  mixed  shale  and 
sandstone,  close  up  against  a  stone  wall  bordering  the  west 
side  of  the  road  leading  north  from  Warren  on  the  east  side 
of  Warren  River,  exactly  where  the  State  line  crosses  the  road 
about  two  miles  from  Warren.  There  is  a  long  trough  worn 
into  the  surface  of  the  ledge.  According  to  Loring,  this  trough 
was  made  by  Indian  men  rolling  their  heavy  corn-grinding 
stone.  Otis  Olney  Wright'  gives  a  similar  though  slightly 
differing  account  of  it.  Here,  he  says,  "the  Indians  from  all 
over  New  England  came  to  celebrate  their  victories.  .  .  . 
In  this  rock  can  be  seen  the  old  hollow  where  the  Indian 
women  ground  their  corn  for  the  feast,  and  the  actual  print 
of  their  knees  as  they  knelt  there  for  years."  But  Professor 
Charles  W.  Brown  tells  me  that,  in  the  opinion  of  geologists, 
the  rock  exhibits  nothing  more  than  the  results  of  glaciation. 
It  would  be  interesting  to  know  whether  the  marks  at  Pur- 
gatory, or  those  at  Price's  Cove,  or  others,  were  the  ones 
found  by  Dr.  Perry  and  drawn  by  Mr.  Bartlett.  To  search 
anew  the  entire  country  about  Newport  with  its  miles  of  rocky 
shore  would  be  a  hopeless  task.  It  seemed  to  the  writer,  how- 
ever, that  it  would  be  worth  while  to  make  a  casual  inspection, 
at  least,  of  Sachuest  Point  in  Middletown,  the  only  definite 
situation  mentioned  in  the  earlier  rumors.  Even  here,  the 
shore  is  lined  with  a  chaotic  mass  of  thousands  of  rocks  and 
boulders,  impossible  to  examine  thoroughly  and  offering  little 
promise  of  success  in  the  search.  I  visited  the  place  on  Sep- 
tember 2,  1919,  and  was  rewarded  by  the  discovery  of  a  rock 
that  appeared  at  first  sight  to  be  covered  with  rude  artificial 
characters.  Its  location  is  easily  discoverable  on  the  chart  of 
Plate  XVII.     It  lay  on  the  top  of  a  high  steep  bank  below 

'Wancn  Telegraph,  June  2,  1860,  p.  2,  col.  4 ;  V.  Baker,  Massasoit's 
Town.  1904.  p.  37. 

^'History  of   Swansea,  1917,  p.  239. 


XO  RHODE  ISLAND  HISTORICAL  SOCIETY 


\V 


hich  lies  the  sea,  about  250  feet  south  of  a  gate  closing  the 
road  just  beyond  the  group  of  buildings  near  the  curve  of  the 
shore  at  the  easterly  end  of  Sachuest  Beach.  Since  then  I 
have  found  there  other  rocks  similarly  marked,  and  some  of 
these  were  brought  to  Providence  for  more  convenient  study 
by  a  Committee  of  this  Society  appointed  in  February,  1920, 
to  secure  Inscribed  Rocks,  if  possible,  for  the  Museum  of  the 
Society.  Finding  no  others  that  could  be  moved,  the  Com- 
mittee, consisting  of  Livingston  Ham,  Judge  Elmer  J.  Rathbun 
and  myself,  on  July  17,  1920,  took  these  stones  for  examina- 
tion, without  as  yet  having  reached  any  conclusion  as  to 
whether  their  marks  constituted  inscriptions  or  were  due  to 
other  causes. 

The  lines  of  the  incisions  on  these  rocks  are  not  deep,  av- 
eraging two  or  three  millimeters,  often  shallower  and  rarely 
deeper;  and  their  width  is  usually  from  j/g  to  j^  inch.  They 
are  not  pecked  in,  but  are  semi-circular  smooth  cuts,  as  if  made 
with  a  half-round  chisel.  Plate  XVII,  from  a  photograph 
which  I  took  on  July  11,  1920,  gives  a  fairly  adequate  idea  of 
their  appearance.  Only  a  few  rocks  of  this  region,  modern  or 
of  doubtful  age,  were  thus  incised  ;  in  all  the  others,  the  lines 
are  pecked.  This  does  not  settle  the  ({uestion  as  to  whether 
the  marks  are  of  natural  origin,  or  are  purely  accidental  though 
of  human  agency,  or  are  intentionally  made  human  records. 
We  would  not  be  justified  in  calling  them  the  latter,  unless  they 
include  forms  that  could  not  be  due  to  either  of  the  other 
causes.  It  seems  clear  that  they  are  not  glacial  striae,  or  worn 
thus  by  pebbles  driven  by  waves,  or  the  result  of  any  other 
natural  agencies.  Mr.  Harry  E.  Peckham,  manager,  and  Jesse 
Vera,  lessee  of  the  farm,  report  that  these  rocks  were  all 
brought  there  from  the  neighboring  field  when  it  was  cleared 
for  planting,  about  17  years  ago  and  later.  It  is  not  impossi- 
ble, however,  that  some  of  them  were  placed  there  for  a  simi- 
lar reason  sufficiently  long  before  that  to  have  served  as  a 
foundation  for  the  rumor  that  was  related  to  Dr.  Webb  by 
John  Almy.     When  I  was  exploring  the  place  during  one  of 


THE    INSCRIBED    ROCKS    OF    NARRAGANSETT    BAY  li 

my  visits,  a  Portuguese  boy  living  on  the  farm  told  me  he  did 
not  believe  that  Indians  made  the  marks ;  instead,  "that's  all 
the  way  they  stick  an  iron  bar  to  move  the  rock  off  the  fields." 
This  surmise  of  his  cannot  be  the  full  explanation.  Yet  it  gives 
the  clue  to  what  may  have  been  the  real  agency. 

After  careful  study  of  the  incisions  I  am  now  fully  con- 
vinced that  on  all  these  stones  they  are  for  the  most  part  simply 
plough-marks,  with  a  smaller  number  due  to  the  action  of 
harrow  and  crowbar;  and  Mr.  Peckham  tells  me  that  this  is 
his  belief  also.  The  neighboring  cultivated  field  contains  many 
stones,  slabs  and  small  boulders,  buried  at  various  depths.  The 
stones  on  the  bank  have  been  drawn  out  from  this  field  from 
time  to  time.  A  stone  lying  with  a  flat  face  upward  at  just 
the  right  depth  to  engage  the  nose  of  the  plough  without  much 
interruption  to  its  progress  would  be  scored  by  just  such  lines 
year  after  year,  until  it  became  enough  of  a  nuisance  to  get 
dug  out  and  carted  to  the  dump  heap.  Naturally  few  of  the 
rocks  in  the  dump  would  show  such  scorings,  for  few  would 
have  possessed  the  necessary  combination  of  conditions :  kind 
of  stone  and  degree  of  hardness  such  as  can  be  so  marked, 
and  flat  face  lying  upward  at  exactly  the  right  depth. 

With  its  deceptive  partial  covering  of  lichens,  some  marks 
on  the  first  of  these  stones  that  I  discovered  looked  to  me  like 
an  Indian's  crude  drawing  of  a  human  figure,  and  others  like 
circles  and  curves  and  a  figure  4  that,  if  correctly  seen,  must 
have  been  deliberately  produced  by  human  beings.  But  after 
more  deliberate  study,  it  is  now  clear  to  me  that  the  surface 
contains  no  artificially  made  circles  and  no  lines  at  right  angles 
to  the  main  direction  of  the  grooves.  The  appearance  of  these 
was  in  every  case  due  to  the  peculiarities  of  lichen-growth  and 
of  natural  conformations  of  the  rock-surface.  There  remain 
only  straight  or  slightly  curved  furrows  running  all  in  one 
general  direction  across  the  stone  and  occasionally  down  its 
sides,  though  sometimes  meeting  to  form  the  vague  semblance 
of  artificial  characters;  and  these  are  without  doubt  due  tp 
the  agencies  named. 


12  RHODE  ISLAND  HISTORICAL  SOCIETY 

At  first  sight  it  may  seem  that  the  outcome  has  hardly  justi- 
fied SO  much  investigation  and  so  long  a  discussion.  Yet  a 
scientific  investigator  knows  that  he  must  pursue  many  paths 
that  lead  to  negative  results.  They  are  part  of  the  process  of 
progress.  These  rocks  are  instructive  as  showing  how  difficult 
it  often  is  to  trace  causes  and  distinguish  between  natural  and 
artificial  ones,  and  of  the  latter  between  those  that  are  casual 
and  accidental  and  those  that  are  deliberately  intended.  They 
illustrate  how  easily  accidental  collocations  of  lines  may  closely 
resemble  pictures  and  letters  of  the  alphabet,  especially  those 
of  unknown  tongues.  They  thus  throw  light  on  the  frequency 
with  which  unwary  observers  report  the  discovery  of  ancient 
records  that  turn  out  to  be  something  else,  and  how  naturally 
learned  men  in  the  past  have  advocated  futile  translations  of 
such  complex  genuine  records  as  those  of  Dighton  Rock.  It 
has  been  well  worth  while  to  have  studied  these  rocks,  solved 
their  mystery,  and  included  them  in  our  report  on  the  inscribed 
rocks  of  our  Bay. 

The  interest  and  value  of  this  case  will  be  enhanced  by  re- 
calling a  few  instances  in  which  wide  celebrity  as  ancient 
human  records  has  been  attained  by  rocks  and  tablets  without 
sufficient  warrant.^  Some  of  these  were  deliberate  forgeries, 
some  the  work  of  nature.  One  of  the  most  celebrated  of  them, 
the  Grave  Creek  tablet,  inscribed  with  regular  lines  of  what 
are  clearly  meant  to  be  alphabetical  characters  of  some  foreign 
type,    is   discussed   cautiously   in    Hodge's   Handbook,   classed 


'Critical  discussion  of  most  of  those  here  mentioned  and  of  some 
others  may  be  found  in  the  following  among  other  sources  : 

Hodge.  F.  W.,  editor.  Handbook  of  American  Indians  north  of 
Mexico,  Bureau  of  American  Ethnology,  Bull.  30,  1907,  1910;  i.  506. 

Mallery,  G.,  in  10th  Annual  Report,  Bureau  of  American  Ethnology, 
1893. 

Vignaud.  H..  Expeditions  des  Scandinaves  en  Amerique,  in  Journal 
de  la  Societe  des  Americanistes  de  Paris,  1910,  nouv.  ser.,  vol.  vii. 

Whittlesey,  C,  in  Western  Reserve  Historical  Society  TractN.  1879, 
no,  44;  1881,  no.  53. 

Wilson,  Sir  D..  Prehistoric  Man.  1862,  ii.  180,  194. 

Winsor,  J.,  Pre-Columbian  Explorations,  in  Narrative  and  Critical 
History  of  America,  1889,  vol.  i. 


THE    INSCRIBED    ROCKS    OF    NARRAGANSETT    BAY  1 3 

among  Controverted  Pictographs  by  Mallery,  regarded  by 
Wilson  as  "given  to  the  world  under  equivocal  circumstances, 
and  elucidated  with  indiscreet  zeal,"  and  called  definitely 
fraudulent  by  many  reputable  critics.  Whittlesey  describes 
an  unquestionable  forgery  from  Ohio ;  and  to  the  same  class 
belongs  an  "unmistakably  genuine  Scandinavian  inscription" 
reported  in  1867  from  the  banks  of  the  Potomac,  which  Wilson 
and  others  tell  us  was  a  "clever  hoax  fabricated  by  the  cor- 
respondent of  the  Washington  Union  out  of  genuine  Green- 
land inscriptions."  A  famous  case  is  that  of  Monhegan  Island 
in  Maine,  whose  "inscrii)tion,"  regarded  by  some  as  carved 
by  ancient  Phoenicians  and  by  others  as  due  to  the  Northmen, 
is  considered  by  Winsor,  Wilson  and  others  as  made  up  out 
of  freaks  of  natural  erosion.  Equally  famous  are  the  stones 
at  Yarmouth,  Nova  Scotia,  whose  writings  seem  to  declare  in 
unmistakable  Runic  letters  that  "Harko's  son  addressed  the 
men."  Wilson  and  others  deny  that  these  inscriptions  are 
genuine,  Init  apparently  they  have  not  yet  received  critical 
study.  This  seems  to  be  true  of  a  number  of  rocks  in  Maine, 
New  Hampshire  and  elsewhere,  as  it  has  been  heretofore  of 
those  of  Rhode  Island.  One  case  in  Massachusetts  is  that  of 
a  rock  in  West  Newbury,  in  the  valley  of  the  ^Merrimack,  de- 
scribed and  pictured  by  G.  L.  Pool  in  1854,'  celebrated  by 
Whittier  in  his  Double-headed  Snake  of  Newbury  as  a  "North- 
man's Written  Rock,"  but  apparently  never  mentioned  by  any 
competent  student.  So  experienced  an  observer  as  Professor 
W.  F.  Ganong,  who,  I  trust,  will  pardon  my  use  of  this  in- 
stance so  appropriate  to  our  present  argument,  writes  me  tliat 
he  once  found  markings  on  a  stone  in  Maine  which  at  first  he 
took  to  be  undoubtedly  Indian  and  of  which  he  even  pub- 
lished an  attempted  interpretation,  but  which  he  is  now  con- 
vinced are  glacial  scratches.  In  the  summer  of  191 9  I  en- 
countered a  rumor  that  there  was  a  "marked  or  inscribed 
rock"  on  the  farm  of  Stephen  O.  Metcalf  in  Exeter.  This 
turned    out  to  be,    however,  a  very  modern  tribute  "To    the 

'New  Eng.  Hist.  Genealog.    Register,  viii.    18J. 


14  RHODE  ISLAND  HISTORICAL  SOCIETY 

Memory  of  Wawaloam,  wife  of  Miantinomi,  1661,"  fully  de- 
scribed by  Sidney  S.  Rider  on  page  131  of  his  "Lands  of 
Rhode  Island."  I  have  also  traced  down  rumors  of  other 
alleged  "inscribed  rocks," — one  found  in  Tiverton,  whose 
marks  resembled  those  at  Sachuest  and  probably  were  due  to 
similar  causes ;  and  one  in  Swansea  which,  though  lost,  almost 
certainly  had  on  it  nothing  but  natural  veins  and  similar  marks. 
The  last  case  to  which  I  shall  refer  is  that  of  a  rock  in  Rut- 
land, Massachusetts.  This  was  apparently  first  mentioned  in 
Morse's  American  Universal  Geography  in  1805  as  an 
"Ethiopic  inscription."  Kendall,  in  his  Travels,  1809,  says 
that  he  visited  it  and  found  it  to  be  a  purely  natural  granite 
stone  with  veins  of  schoerl.  Yet  Webb,  in  his  letter  to  Rafn 
on  September  22.  1830.  indicates  that  it  was  still  rumored  to 
be  "a  line  of  considerable  length  in  unknown  characters ;"  and 
only  later,  after  further  inquiry,  as  he  announced  in  his  letter 
of  October  31,  1835,  did  he  discover  and  adopt  Kendall's  view 
of  it.'  Wilson  wrote  of  it  as  "an  American  counterpart  to  the 
famous  Swedish  Runamo  Inscription,  in  its  graphic  freaks 
of  natural  crystallization."  In  this  same  connection,  we  should 
not  forget  the  wholly  unfounded  yet  ardently  advocated  Norse 
theories  concerning  the  Fall  River  skeleton  and  Governor 
Arnold's  windmill  at  Newport. 

The  Sachuest  stones  and  these  additional  instances  not  only 
teach  us  caution  in  arriving  at  conclusions  concerning  apparent 
inscriptions,  but  they  acquaint  us  with  some  of  the  numerous 
possibilities  that  must  be  held  in  mind.  The  clearest  lesson 
conveyed  by  the  history  of  Dighton  Rock  is  that  even  in  the 
case  of  unquestionable  human  inscriptions  our  ultimate  inter- 
pretations must  rest  not  upon  emotional  preference  but  upon 
patiently  accumulated  and  calmly  weighed  evidence,  and  that 
it  is  very  easy  to  be  led  astray  by  imperfect  copies  and  by 
superficial  resemblances.  Our  whole  series  of  papers  is  em- 
phasizing as  one  conclusion  that  even  genuine  inscriptions  may 
often  contain  characters  that  are  meaningless  products  of  a 

^Antiquitates  Americanae,  pp.   360,  400. 


MUSTER   ROLL 


'5 


mere  activity-impulse,  or  in  other  cases  are  simply  ornamental 
designs.  These  last  considered  cases  show  that  besides  inten- 
tional design,  symbolic  or  meaningless,  we  must  entertain  as 
alternative  possibilities  not  merely  natural  forces  of  a  wide 
variety,  but  also  distorted  rumor,  deliberate  fraud,  and  human 
yet  unintended  agency  like  that  of  plough,  crow  bar  and  other 
tools,  or  like  that  resulting  in  grooves  incidental  to  grinding 
and  similar  processes.  These  facts  will  all  be  of  value  when 
we  attempt  to  formulate  our  final  conclusions  concerning  the 
rock-carving  activities  in  the  region  that  we  are  studying. 


Muster  Roll  in  the  Canada  Expedition  1711 

Newport 

A  List  of  all  the  Men  taken  onbd  the  Ship  the  18  July  1711 


1  Danll  Rogers 

2  Wm  Greenman 

3  Jere  Apleton 

4  Peleg  Remington 

5  Benony  Gardner 

6  Robe  Eldredge 

7  Ebenezr  Graves 

8  Duncan  Keley 

9  Jos  Moss 

10  John  Watkins 

1 1  John  Brown 

12  Richd  Williams 

13  Jonathn  Mot 

14  Josh  Aston 

15  Adam  Mot 

16  Thos  Wilcox 

17  Parley  Alsworth 

18  Peleg  Green 

19  John  Pitceher' 

20  Josh  Odell 

21  Wm  Pullen 

22  Josh  Hadwell 
2;^  John  Ostin 

24  Uriah  Edwards 


^5 
26 
27 
28 
29 
30 
31 
32 
33 
34 
35 
36 
37 
38 
39 
40 

41 

42 
43 
44 
45 
46 

47 
48 


Henry  Hall 
Edwd  Aston 
Henry  Millkin 
Nicholas  Hutchins 
John  Nicholls 
Jeremiah  Gardner 
Josh   Smith 
Danll   Munrow 
Danll   Greenall 
Wm  Case 
John  Voss 
John  All  in 
Eben  Powell 
Danll  Right 
Wm  Comins 
John  Thomas 
Toby  Wats 
James  Bently 
Nathll  Wood 
Peter  Butten 
Zachrey  Eddy 
Samll  Burlingham 
Thos  North 
John  Phileps 


i6 


RHODE  ISLAND  HISTORICAL  SOCIETY 


49  Richd  Sailes 

50  Josiah  Thornton 

51  Jonh   Scot 

52  Uriah   Davis 

53  Benj   Waite 

54  Wm  Gate 

55  Harrindon 

56  Nathl  Dogget 

57  John  North 

58  Stephen  Arnold 

59  Thos  Walls 

60  Richd   Nicholls 

61  Robt  Nicholls 

62  Steph  Capell 

63  Mark  Roberts 

64  Wm  Carewav 

65  Nathll  Williams 

66  John  Tarbox 

67  Edwd   Coxx 

68  Wm  Underwood 

69  Edwd  Greenman 

70  Wm  Granston 

71  Gornelus   Peck 
jz  Wm   Griffen 
"jl  John  George 

74  Benj  a  Palmer 

75  Richd  Gaverly 

76  David  Barrey 
JJ  Joseph   Palmer 

78  James  Russell 

79  Danll  Vaughan 

80  Timothy  Dredges 

81  Thos  Wells 

82  Jeremiah    Mot 

83  Jonathn  Baker 

84  Richd  Sweet 

85  John  Sukkuawgsser  ? 

86  Jacob  Papegan 

87  Robt  Drummer 

88  Danll  Indian 

89  Wm  Dinell 

90  Jonth  Month 

91  Job  Glute 

92  Ro])in  Slocum 


93  Peter   Wilboar 

94  Sampson   Dennis 

95  Thos  Talbut 

96  Huling  James 

97  Peter  Sweet 

98  James  Ghamplin 

99  John  Cook 

00  Johnath  Gook 

01  Toby   Babcook 

02  Wm  Babut 

03  Josh  Stanton 

04  John  Hazeard 

05  Samll  Greenman 

06  John  Babcock 

07  David  Potter 

08  Trewgo  Squibidge 

09  Ned  Stratten 

10  Thos  Larkin 

1 1  Antho  Indian 

12  Peter   Babcock 

13  Ephram  Morgin 

14  Isack  Settack 

15  Thos  Gardiner 

16  Isaac  King 

17  John   East 

18  Nimble  Harris 

19  Jeffrey  Pander 

20  John  Freman 

21  Robin  Teft 

22  Toby  Stevenson 
2}^  John  Jeffrey 

24  James  Foss 

25  Samll  Umpeton 
"2^  John  Nucomb 
2^  John  Setuck 

28  Gregory  Jeffrey 

29  Joseph   Spywood 

30  Wannamus 

31  John   Knight 

32  Simon    George 

33  John  Quack 

34  John   Tantiochen 

35  Samll  James 

36  Isack  Neby 


NOTES 

17 

137 

James  Hannah 

156 

Timo  Whiteing 

138 

Roger  Evens 

157 

John  Fuller 

139 

Frank  Smith 

158 

Tom  Coleson 

140 

Joseph   Rogers 

Officers 

John  Earle 

159 

Coll.  Lee 

141 

John  Theobolcls 

160 

Majr  Smith 

142 

Samll  Littlefield 

161 

Capt  Hinchman 

143 

Joshua  Clarke 

162 

Leiutt  Burlingham 

Edwd  Springer 

163 

Do  Jefferson 

John  DubHn 

164 

Do  Clarke 

James   Bowlyson 

165 

Ens.  Burlingham 

144 

Leynord  Cozens 

166 

Do   Green 

145 

Wm  Ashton 

167 

Do  Man 

146 

Shubell  Clinton 

168 

Capt  Brewer 

147 

Thos  Bucker 

169 

Mr  Gideons 

148 

Jamed  Yeats 

170 

Tho  Cranston 

149 

Peter  Low 

171 

Tom  Byfield  not  aboard 

Souldrs — 149 

Impressd 

Saile 

rs 

Ed: 

Springer 

150 

John  Griffith 

J :  Earle 

151 

James  Chadsey 

Jam€ 

;s  Bowlanson 

152 

Robt  Lees 

John 

Dublin 

153 

Ed  Nicholls 

(From  original  manuscript 

154 

Jno  Harrison 

in  State  Archives,  Providence, 

155 

Humphry  More 

R.  L) 

Notes 


An  article  on  ''King  Philip's  Chair,"  together  with  a  picture 
of  the  chair,  appears  in  the  October  number  of  "Old  Time  New 
England." 

Mrs.  Hiram  F.  Hunt  of  Kingston,  R.  L,  and  Alfred  Trego 
Butler,  Esq.,  of  the  College  of  Arms.  London,  England,  have 
been  elected  to  membership  in  the  Society. 

The  October  Bulletin  of  the  Newport  Historical  Society  con- 
tains an  article  by  Miss  M.  E.  Powcl  on  the  French  officers 
who  served  in  the  Revolution. 

The  Society  of  Colonial  Dames  in  Rhode  Lsland  have  issued 
in  pamphlet  form  the  addresses  delivered  at  the  Dedication  of 
the  Rhode  Island  Bay  at  Valley  Forge. 

The  volume  on  American  Samplers  by  Bolton  and  Coe.  which 


l8  RHODE    JSLAND    HISTORICAL    SOCIETY 

has  just  been  issued  by  the  Massachusetts  Society  of  the 
Colonial  Dames  of  America,  contains  considerable  material  of 
Rhode  Island  interest.  In  addition  to  listing  a  large  number 
of  Rhode  Island  samplers,  it  includes  an  account  of  the  work 
of  Polly  Balch's  school  in  Providence,  thus  throwing  light  on 
a  little  known  phase  of  local  education. 

We  have  received  several  requests  for  Volume  ii.  No.  4, 
and  Volume  13,  No.  2,  of  our  "Collections."  As  our  supply 
of  these  numbers  is  exhausted,  we  can  only  fill  these  requests 
through  the  generosity  of  some  of  our  members. 

The  manuscript  account  book  of  Joseph  Williams,  son  of 
Roger,  covering  the  years  1705  to  1731,  has  been  received  as 
a  bequest  from  the  late  Mrs.  Josephine  H.  White. 


Indian  Graves  Unearthed  at  Charlestown 

In  October,  Mr.  T.  L.  Arnold  of  Arnolda,  Charlestown, 
R.  I.,  while  digging  a  cellar  unearthed  an  old  Indian  burial 
ground.  The  first  object  discovered  was  an  ancient  breech- 
loading  cannon,  which  was  very  badly  rusted.  It  lay  only  a 
couple  of  feet  beneath  the  surface.  Near  it  but  slightly  deeper 
was  found  a  skeleton.  Beside  the  skeleton  was  a  rather  long 
sword  beyond  which  was  discovered  another  skeleton.  The 
graves  were  scarcely  three  feet  long  indicating  that  the  bodies 
were  probably  buried  in  a  curled  up  position  as  was  often  done 
by  the  Indians.  Three  copper  kettles,  some  beads,  a  clay  pipe 
stem  and  a  tube  of  blue  glass  which  evidently  was  the  mate- 
rial from  which  beads  were  to  be  cut,  although  most  of  the 
beads  found  were  shell  wampum.  A  few  pieces  of  very  coarse 
blue  cloth,  perhaps  a  sort  of  burlap,  were  found  attached  to 
pieces  of  copper  and  bone. 

The  sword  had  a  rather  elaborate  guard  and  although  badly 
rusted  still  retained  some  of  its  spring.  Within  the  distance 
of  fifteen  or  twenty  feet  parts  of  three  other  skeletons  were 


OFFICERS  OF  THE  R.  I.  HISTORICAL  SOCIETY 


l9 


discovered  although  the  skulls  of  these  latter  skeletons  were 
not  found.  Some  teeth  and  jawbones  of  some  small  animals 
such  as  dogs,  cats  or  skunks  were  also  found.  Two  Indian 
shell  heaps  were  discovered  nearby  the  graves.  These  shell 
heaps  had  been  covered  by  dirt  indicating  that  a  natural  sur- 
face deposit  had  taken  place.  A  large  hunk  of  red  coloring 
matter  (war  paint)  was  also  discovered. 

Officers  of  the  Rhode  Island  Historical  Society 


FROM   ITS   COMMENCEMENT  UNTIL  THE  PRESENT  TIME. 


PRESIDENTS. 


James  Fenner, 
John  How  land, 
Albert  Gorton  Greene, 
Samuel  Greene  Arnold, 
Zachariah  Allen, 
William  Gammell, 
Horatio  Rogers, 
John   Henry   Stiness, 
George  Taylor  Paine, 
Albert  Harkness,  . 
Wilfred  Harold  Munro 
Howard  Willis  Preston, 


FIRST  VICE-PRESIDENTS. 


Theodore  Foster, 
Henry  Bull, 
William  Hunter, 
Christopher  Grant  Champlin. 
Job   Durfee. 
William  Hunter,    . 
Albert  Gorton  Greene, 
Samuel  Greene  Arnold,     . 
George  Arnold  Brayton, 
Zachariah   Allen     . 
William  Gammell, 
Francis    Brinley,    . 
Charles  William  Parsons.     . 
George  Moulton  Carpenter,     . 


1822  to  1833 
1833  to  1854 
1855  to  1868 
1868  to  1880 
1880  to  1882 
1882  to  1890 
1890  to  1896 
1896  to  1903 
1903 

1904  to  1906 
1906  to  1920 
1920  to 


1822  to  1823 

1823  to  1832 
1832  to  1835 
1835  to  1840 
1840  to  1845 
1845  to  1849 
1 849  to  1855 
1855  to  1868 
1868  to  1870 
187010  1880 
1880  to  1882 
1882  to  1888 
1888  to  1890 
189010  1896 


20 


RHODE  ISLAND  HISTORICAL  SOCIETY 


William  Babcock  Weeden, 
John  Nicholas  Brown,   . 
John  Franklin  Jameson, 
George  Taylor  Paine, 
William  MacDonald,  . 
William  Chace  Greene, 
Elmer  Jeremiah  Rathbun, 

SECOND  V 

John  Howland, 

Theodore   Foster, 

Samuel   Eddy,    . 

John  Brown  Francis, 

Moses  Brown,    . 

Romeo  Elton, 

Albert  Gorton   Greene, 

William  Hunter,    . 

Elisha  Reynolds  Potter,  Jr 

George  Arnold  Brayton, 

William  Read  Staples. 

Zachariah  Allen.    . 

George  Arnold  Brayton, 

Francis   Brinley,    . 

Charles  ^William  Parsons, 

Elisha  Benjamin  Andrews, 

Horatio   Rogers, 

Elisha  Benjamin  Andrews 

William  Babcock  Weeden, 

William  Ames, 

John  Franklin  Jameson, 

Robert  Hale  Ives  Goddard, 

Stephen  Ostrom  Edwards, 

Charles    Sisson,     . 

St.  George  Leakin  Sioussat 

Harold  Redwood  Curtis, 


ICE-PRESIDENTS. 


SECRETARIES. 


William  Read  Staples.     . 
Thomas  Hopkins  Webb, 
William  Read  Staples. 
John  Power  Knowles,    . 
Thomas  Coles  Hartshorn, 
Charles  William  Parsons, 


1897  to  1899 
1899  to  1900 

1 901  to  1902 

1902  to  1903 

1903  to  1914 
1914  to  1920 
1920  to 


1822  to 

1823  to 
1828  to 
1 83 1  to 
1835  to 
1837  to 
1843  to 

1849  to 

1850  to 
1855  to 
1 868  to 
186910 
1870  to 
187310 
1882  to 
1888  to 
188910 
189010 
189610 
1897  to 

1900  to 

1901  to 

I9I310 

I9I410 
192010 
1 92 1  to 


823 
828 

831 
835 
837 
843 
849 
850 

855 

868 
869 
870 

873 
882 


889 
890 
896 

897 
900 
901 

913 
914 
919 
921 


1822  to  1830 
1830  to  1839 
1839  to  1841 
1 841  to  1845 
1845  to  1849 
184910  I85I 


OFFICERS    OF  THE  R.  I.  HISTORICAL   SOCIETY 


21 


Henry  Truman  Beckwith, 
Sidney   Smith   Rider, 
Edwin  Miller  Snow,  . 
Zachariah  Allen, 
George  Taylor  Paine, 
Amos  Perry, 
Wilfred  Harold  Munro. 
Amasa  Mason  Eaton,    , 
Howard  Willis  Preston, 
Eriing  Cornelius  Ostby, 
George  Thurston  Spicer, 


TREASURERS. 


John  Brown  Francis, 
John  Howdand, 
John  Russell  Bartlett, 
Thomas  Wilson  Dorr,    . 
George  Baker,    . 
Welcome  Arnold  Greene, 
Richmond  Pearl  Everett. 
Robert  Perkins  Brown, 
Henry  Tyler  Grant,   . 
Edward  Kimball  Aldrich, 


Jr., 


CABINET  KEEPERS  AND  LIBRARIAN 


William  Read  Staples,   . 
Walter  Raleigh  Dan  forth,   . 
Joseph  Howard,     . 
John  Gould  Anthony, 
Albert  Gorton  Greene,   . 
W^illiam  Read  Staples, 
George  Baker, 
Thomas  Coles  Hartshorn,   . 
George  Washington  Greene,  . 
Edwin  Martin  Stone, 
Amos  Perry, 

Clarence  Saunders  Bridgham, 
Howard  Malcolm  Rice, 
William  Arthur  Wing, 
Frank  Greene  Bates, 
Howard  Millar  Chapin, 


1851  to  1861. 
1861  to  1866. 

1866  to  1867. 

1867  to  1868. 

1 868  to  1873. 
1873  to  1899. 
1900  to  1906. 
1906  to  1914. 
1914  to  1920. 
1920 
192010 


1822  to  1824. 
1824  to  1833. 
1833  to  1836. 
1836  to  1842. 
1842  to  1854. 
1854  to  1867. 
1867  to  1903- 
1903  to  1914. 
i9i4toi9i5. 
1915*0 


1822  to  1823. 
182310  1824. 

1824  to  1825. 

1825  to  1826. 

1826  to  1836. 
1836  to  1841. 
1841  to  1845. 
1845  to  1849. 
184910  I85I. 
1851  to  1880. 
1880  to  1899. 
190010  1908. 
1908 

190910  I9I0. 
191010  I9I2. 
1912  to 


22  RHODE  ISLAND  HISTORICAL  SOCIETY 

Abstracts  of 
Early  East  Greenwich  Wills 

Contributed  By 
Norman  m.  Isham  and  Howard  w.  Preston 

Cooper,  James,  January  4,  1716; 

July  27,  1716. 
To   wife,  Elizabeth,  admx.  estate  during  widowhood. 
"     son,  James,  hrs.  and  assigns,  all  of  estate  at  marriage  or 
death  of  wife  afsd. 
James,   to    pay    brothers,    Stephen,    Samuel    and    Mathew,    five 

pounds  at  age  of  21. 
James,  to  pay  his  sisters,  Mary  and   Elizabeth,   seven  pounds 

at  age  of  18. 
To   my  negro  servant.  John,  his   life  and   liberty. 
Ex.:     Pardon  Tillinghast,  Jeremiah  Gould. 
Test:     Pardon  Tillinghast,  Jeremiah  Gould,  Richard  Briggs. 

I,  5 

Wcver,  William,  May  22,  1718 ; 

July  14,  1718. 
Admx.:     Widow,  Elizabeth. 
Test:     Cheman  Wever,  Joseph  Waver. 

I,  9 

Grinnell,  Matthew,  yeoman.  June  17,  1718; 

Auj^ust  30,  1718. 
Admx.:     Widow,  Mary, 

x\ppraisers:     Joshua      Coggeshall,     John     Willson,      Nicholas 
Whitford. 

I.  9 
Mary   Grinnell,   widow,   marries  John   Manchester.     They   pay 
Thomas  Grinnell,  eldest  son  of  Matthew,  5  pounds,  18  sh. 
at  age  of  21. 
To   Matthew,  second  son,  36  pounds  at  age  of  21. 

John,  third  souj.  36  pounds  at  age  of  21. 
If  any  of  three  die  before  the  age  of  21,  the  sum  shall  be  di- 
vided equally  between  the  remaining  two. 
Dated  January  21,  1719/0. 

I,  18 


EARLY    EAST    GREENWICH    WILLS 

Green,  Benjamin,  husbandman,  January  4.  1718 ; 

March  5.  1718/9. 
To   wife.  Humility,  estate  during  widowhood. 
son,  John,  and  hrs.,  farm  he  .now  Hves  on. 
Benjamin,  and  hrs.,   ?..  homestead. 
Henry,   other  half  of  homestead. 
"      "       Caleb. 

Minors. 
"      "      Joshua. 

To  daughters,  Mary  Spencer,  wife  of  Thomas,  20  sh. 
Ann  Tennant,  wife  of  Daniel,  20  sh. 
Phoebe  Wells,  wife  of  Thomas,  20  sh, 
"  "  Sarah    Green,    Dinah    Green,    Deborah    Green, 

Katharine  Green — under  18. 
Exec:     wife.  Humility,  Capt.  Benjamin  Nichols,  of  Kingston, 

John  Coggeshall,  and  Joshua  Coggeshall. 
Test:     Joseph  Maxon,  Joseph  Lewis,  Mary  Lewis. 

I.    11.    12.    U 

Davis,  William,  July  3,  1721 ; 

December  30,  1721. 
To   my  daughter,  Ida,  hrs.  and  assigns,  lands  and  orchards  at 
age  of  18. 
"     my  wife,  Katharine,  admx.  remainder  of  estate. 
Appraisers,  Capt.  Benjamin  Nichols,  Thomas  Spencer. 

I,  19 

Bundy,  James,  September  25,  1721 ; 

April  10.  1722. 

To    son,  Samuel,  sole  e.xec. 

I.  22 

Cory,  William,  July  23.  171!) ; 

August  31.  1710. 
To   wife,  Elizabeth,  exec,  estate  during  widowhood. 
"     som  William,  one  hundred  acres  of  land  and  one  grove. 
"       "     John,  one  grove. 
"      "      Anthony,  one  house  lot. 
"     my  four  daughters,  4  cowes. 
Test:    John  Moss,  Henry  Mattison,  John  Carpenter. 

I,  15 


24  RHODE  ISLAND  HISTORICAL  SOCIETY 

Spencer,  Michael,  February  23,  1722/3; 

May  30,  1723. 
To   wife,   Deborah,     admx.     whole     estate,     councilors,     Major 
Thomas  Ivy  and  Thomas  Spencer. 
"     son,   Thomas   and   hrs.,   at   widow's    death,   2-3   real    estate 

with  my  work  tools. 
"     son,  Jeremiah  and  hrs.  remaining  1-3. 
"     grandson  Joseph  Read,  one  bed  and  bedding  at  age  of  21. 

"     my  daughter,  Susannah,  wife  of  John ?,  •}4  of  whole 

estate  after  widow's  death. 
"     my  sonj.  Thomas,  remaining  Vi  at  widow's  death. 
Test:    John  Spencer,  John  Spencer,  2nd,  Thomas  Spencer. 

I,  23 

Nicholas,  John,  yeoman,  26th  September,  1725; 

18th  November,  1725. 
To    son.  John,    and    hrs..    ^i    of   farm,    north    side,    25    acres,    5 
pounds. 
"     son,  Thomas,  Vi  farm,  city  lot  lying  north  of  country  road 

and  salt  water,  and  5  pounds. 
"     son,  Robert,  other  half  of  farm. 

"       "       Joseph,  remaining  land,  buildings  and  improvements. 
"     daughter,  Susannah  Cahoon,  wife  of  Samuel,  of  Warwick, 
one    feather    bed,    three    blankets,    etc.,    one    coverlid,    IS 
pounds. 
"     daughter.  Mary,  2  feather  beds,  blankets,  coverlid,  pillows, 
etc.,  one  cow,  25  pounds,  2  brass  kettles,   all   my   pewter, 
except  half  a  dozen  pewter  spoons. 
"     my  wife,  Deborah,  10  pounds. 
Ex.:     Robert  Nicholas,  Joseph  Nicholas. 

Test:     David  Vaughn,   Christopher  Vaughn,  Thomas  Spencer. 

I,  34,  35,  36,  37 

Spink,  Robert,  January  14,  1724/5; 

April  26,  1726. 
Son  of  Israel  Spink,  Israel  Spink,  sole  exec. 

I,  40 

Long,  Philip,  October  3,  1726  ; 

November  5,  1726. 
Widow,  Hannah,  sole  exec. 

I,  43 


rt     >     ^ 


c    c  "5 

5   .-j'    5 


-  J  ^ 


r. 


U 


STEAM  BOAT 


<<*^°*=^     333«*" 


THE  PRO^  lUJbLM'E  BA^D 

Havhig  cliiirf.nd  flie  Steam  Bosit 

RVSH  I.IGHT, 

(Cap..  J.  D.  SCOTT)  -ill  n.ak. ..-..rsion  do  vW  th.  >ar. 

ragansett  and  i»I«u„t  H„pe  Bays    ^  /, 

OJV  FRID A  Y,  ^9TH  Ii^j^T 

The  BaiiH  «;?i  iw.       ,'*',*'"""  and  up  one  dollar.  •  *» 

Protuhnce,  Jultf  22,  1831. 


siOD  a. 


Old  adveriising  broadside  with  picture  of  one  of  the  early 
Narraganselt  Bay  steamboats. 

Byom  original  in  Rhode  Island  Historical  Society  Library 


EARLY    EAST    GREENWICH    WILLS  25 

Reynolds,  Henry,  died  intest.  August  8,  1726 ; 

November  5,  1726. 
Mary,  widow,  sole  exec,  estate  to  be  divided  among  children. 

I,  47 
Underwood,  William,  1726- 

September  15,  1726. 
To   wife,   Ann,  e.xec.  whole  estate  during  widowhood,  and  50 
lots  in  East  Greenwich. 
"     son,  Israel,  60  acres  of  land  at  age  of  21. 
"     sons,  William,  John,  Joseph,  Elizabeth,  Ruth  and  Alice. 
(Friend  Joseph  Edwards,  to  find  a  trade  for  the  sons). 

I,  49,  50 
Nicholas,  Phoebe,  5th  April,  1721; 

28th  March,  1727. 
To   son,  John,  1  sh. 

Stephen,  1  sh. 
"     granddaughter,   Phoebe,  my   chest. 

"    my  six  children,  Richard,  Robert,  Jane   Vaughn,  Elizabeth,- 
Sarah   Mattison,   Ann   Underwood,    the    remainder   of   the 
whole   estate. 
Ex.:     My  son,  Richard  Nicholas. 

Test:     John  ,  Elizabeth  Cahoon,  Thomas  Spencer. 

1.  53 

Coggeshall,  Capt.  Joshua,  October  2,  1727. 

Thomas   Coggeshall,   veoman,  sole  ex. 

I,  57 

Brayton,  Thomas,  yeoman,  7th  March.  1727/8; 

13th  April,  1728 
To   son,  Thomas,   during  lifej,   lands   in   Portsmouth,   rights  in 

hunting  swamps  (to  pay  wife  Mary  Brayton,  20  pounds  a 

year  after  age  of  21)     In  case  of  death  of  Thomas,  lands 

and   premises    to    be   given    to    sons,    Gideon   and    Francis 

Brayton. 
"     son  Gideon,  at  age  of  21,  farm  where  he  now  lives,  and  two 

city  lots,  swamps  and  all  the  rest  of  lands  at  age  of  21. 
"     son,  Francis,  and  hrs.  farm  and  swamps. 
"     my  two  daughters,  Mary  and  Hannah,  all  the  land  given 

me  by  my  father-in-law.  Gideon ? 

"     my  son,  Thomas,  my  negro  boy,  Pero. 

"     my  daughter.  Mary,  my  negro  girl.  Jessie. 

"     my  wife,   Mary,   my   negro   woman,   Betty,   the    remainder 

of  the  estate   to  be  divided  between  wife  and  children. 


26  RHODE    ISLAND    HISTORICAL   SOCIETY 

Ex.:     Wife,  Mary,  and  son,  Thomas,  when  he  arrive  at  aee  of 
21. 

Test:    John  Green,  Robert  Vaughn,  Thomas  Spencer. 

I,  72,  73,  74 

Straight,  Henry,  May  5,  172S  ; 

June  29,  1728. 
To   son,,  Henry,  5  sh. 

John,  one  half  of  farm, 
wife,  Mary,  sole  ex.  whole  estate,  goods  and  chattels. 
Test:     Robert  Vaughn, 
Samuel  Shippe, 
John  Carpenter, 

I,  83,  84 
Spencer,  Deborah,  Hth  November,  1728. 

(Widow  and  exec,  of  Michael  Spencer,  died  intest) 
Exec:     Thomas  Spencer  and  wife. 
Inventory,  69  pounds,  9s.  5d. 

I,  91 
Peirce,  Phillip,  13th  August,  1728 ; 

28th  September,  1728. 
To  wife,  Frances,  sole  exec.  1/3  estate. 

my    three    children,    Mary,    Benjamin,    and    Phillips,    2/3 

estate. 
Test:     Benjamin  Bentley,  John  Gay,  Thomas  Spencer. 
Inventory.     158  pounds,   14s.   lid. 

I,  91 

Goudwin,  John,  16th  January,  1728/9. 

Exec:     Peter  Mory. 

Inventory,  46  pounds,  12s,  2d. 

J,  95 
Vaughn,  David,  19th  December,  1728  ; 

28th  December,  1728. 
Mary  Vaughn,  widow,  sole  exec 
Inventory,   2138  pounds,    17s.  4d. 

I,  101 
Wells,  Thomas,  October  16,  1727 ; 

April  26,  1729. 
Exec:     Son  Peter  Wells  and  his  wife,  Mary. 
Inventory,   163  pounds,  7s.  6d. 

I,  101 


EARLY  EAST  GREENWICH  WILLS  27 

Vaughn,  George,  7th  November,  1729; 

29th  November,  1729. 
To    son,  George  and  heirs,  homestead,  farm  with  lot  lying  next 
to  John  Langford's  land,  with  small  lot  lying  adjoining  to 
William  Bennet,  housing  buildings,  fencings,  and  improve- 
ments, all  privileges  and  appurtenances  therein. 
"     son,  Daniel  and  heirs,  land  adjoining  Samuel  Gerrys',  with 
bogland   and   shore,  2  house   lots  between   Country   Road 
and  salt  water,  privileges  and  appurtenances  therein. 
"     sons  George  and  Daniel,  each  one  feather  bed  and  furni- 
ture. 
"     daughter,    Elizabeth,    60    pounds,    one    half    of    household 

goods,  except  what  is  given  to  sons. 
"     daughter,  Jane,   60  pounds,   one   half   of  household   goods 
except  aforementioned,  to  be  given  her  at  age  of  18  or  day 
of  marriage. 
"     son,  Daniel,  20  pounds,  one  pair  of  oxen,  three  cows,  20 

sheep,  when  he  is  21. 
"     son  George,  remainder  of  estate. 
Ex.:     Christopher  Vaughn,  brother,,  and  son,  George. 
Test:     John  Wever,  John  Peirce,  Thomas  Spencer. 
Inventory,  611  pounds,  19s.  4d. 

I,  105 

Hyams,  John,  November  27,  1729. 

John  Hyams,  son,  ex. 

Inventory,  60  pounds,  19s.  4d. 

Briggs,  Daniel,  yeoman,  9th  September,  1727; 

7th  April.  1730. 
To    daughter,    Hannah,    wife    of  Joseph    Gardiner,    and    heirs, 
70  shillings. 
"     daughter,   Martha,   wife  of  Samuel   Spencer,  and  heirs,   10 

pounds. 
"     daughter.    Deliverance   Briggs,   one   feather   bed    and   bed- 
ding, and  20  pounds. 
"     daughter,  Mary  Briggs,  one   feather  bed   and  bedding  and 

20  pounds. 
"     daughter.  Deliverance  and  Mary  Briggs,  all  my  movables 

within  doors. 
To    my    son,   Benjamin,   exec,    and    heirs,   dwelling    house   and 

farm,  and  remainder  of  estate. 
Test:     Thomas  Mattison,  William  Remington. 
Inventory,  323  pounds,  19s.  lOd. 


28  RHODE    ISLAND    HISTORICAL   SOCIETY 

Semeralt,  Hannah,  died  January  17.  1729/30. 

Henry   Semeralt,  brother,   gives   inventory  April    11,    1730.     39 
pounds,  3s,  Od. 

Dellenor,  Joseph,  yeoman,  July  5,  1729 ; 

April  5.  1731. 
To   son,  John  Dellenor,  5  shillings  after  death  of  wife, 
daughter,  Lidia  Parker,  1  shilling  after  death  of  wife, 
son,  William,  5   shillings  in  manner  aforesaid, 
daughter,  Mary  Joshling,  1  shilling  in  manner  aforesaid, 
my  daughter,  Abigail  Niles,  1  shilling  in  manner  aforesaid, 
my  wife,  Rachael  Dellenor,  exec,  all  my  estate  during  life, 
my  grandson,  William,  son  of  Abigail,  whole  estate  after 
death  of  wife   aforesaid. 
Test:     Jeremiah  Jones,  James  Reynolds,  Benjamin  Sweet. 
Inventory,   65  pounds,   07s.   6d. 

I,  118 

Straight,  Henry,  blacksmith.  25th  October,  1732; 

16th  November,  1732. 
To   son,  Samuel,  at  age  of  21,   1/3  of  estate  after  bequests. 
"     sons,  John,    Thomas,    Joseph,    and    Henry,    remainder    of 
estate  after  bequests  are  paid. 
To   my  daughter,  Rebekah  Beley,  5   shillings. 
"       "  "  Elizabeth  Straight,  5  shillings. 

"       "  "  Hannah  Westcote,  5  shillings. 

"       "  "  Mary  Straight,  5  shillings. 

"  Sarah  Straight,  5  pounds. 

"  Abigail  Straight,   5  pounds. 

Mary   Straight,  35  pounds   for   her  bringing 
up  and  education,  to  be  given  her  at  age  of  18. 
son,  Thomas,  to  be  the  guardian  of  Henry  and  Mary. 

Thomas,    Exec,    and    heirs,    remainder    of    estate    and 
lands,  after  legacies  are   paid. 
Test:     Mary  Sweet,  Nicholas  Whitford,  Jonathan  Picher,  John 

Jenkins. 
Inventory,    172   pounds,    19s.   6d. 

I,   122 

Slocum,  Joseph,  yeoman.  31st  October,  1732; 

27th  January,  1732/3. 
To   my  wife,  Mary,  exec,  all  movable  objects. 

my  child,  not  yet  born,  all  my  lands  and  house,  to  its  heirs 
and  assigns,  if  said  child  die  without  issue  after  death  of 
wife   aforesaid,   all   lands   to   be   given   to   cousin,   Thomas 


EARLY   EAST    GREENWICH    WILLS 


29 


Rogers.     If  Thomas  Rogers  die  without  issue  all  lands  to 
be  given  to  my  cousin,  Thomas  Green,  and  heirs. 
Test:     Caleb  Corry,  Joseph  Corr,  William  Corr. 
Inventory,  402  pounds,  05s   Id. 

I.  130 
Lewis,  George,  died  intestate. 

John  Nicholas,  sole  admx.  appointed  24th  February,  Mil/Z. 
Inventory,  44  pounds,  14s.   lid. 

I.  136 
Briggs,  Richard,  yeoman,  29th  March,  1733; 

28th  April,  1733. 
To   my    wife,   Exsperiance,   20   pounds    and   best   room  in   my 
dwelling  house  during  widowhood. 
"     son,  Richard,  5  pounds. 
"       "       Francis,   5   pounds   and  about  8  or   10  acres  of  land 

north   and  east   of  iny  homestead  farm. 
"     son,  John,    and    heirs,    all    my    homestead    farm,    with    all 
priviliges     and    appurtenances     therein,     except     otherwise 
bequeathed. 
"     son,  Caleb  10  acres  of  land  north  and  east  of  Capt.  Peter 
Mawney's  land,  and  south  of  highway,  and  west  of  Jona- 
than Nichols,  and  5  pounds. 
"     daughter,  Sarah  Aylsworth,  20  pounds. 
"  '■  Ann  King,  10  pounds,  5  sheep  and  5  lambs. 

"     sons,  Phillip  and  Daniel,  10  pounds  each,  to  be  paid  to  the 

guardian   of   said   sons. 
"     my  daughters,  Mary  and  Ada,  5  pounds  each. 
"      "      grandsons,  Richard  Briggs,  Caleb  Tarbox,  and  Richard 
Mattison,    (bequest   illegible)    to   be   paid   their   respective 
fathers. 

E.x. :     John  Briggs,  son.  

Test:     Thomas   Spencer,  Jeremiah  Jenkins,  John  Jenkins. 

Inventorv,  484  pounds,  Os.  Od. 

I,  136 

Drake,  John,  veoman,  16th  June,  1733 ; 

27th  June,  1733. 
To   my  wife,  Esther,  and  heirs,  1/3  estate. 
•'     Desier  A.rnold,  wife  of  John  Arnold,  5  pounds. 
"     Fear  Smith,  wife  of  Christopher  Smith,  5  pounds. 
"     my   daughter,  Elizabeth  Drake,   and   heirs,    100  pounds  at 

age  of  18. 
"     my  son,  .Francis  Drake,  and  heirs,  the  remainder  of  estate 

at  age  of  21. 


30  RHODE  ISLAND  HISTORICAL  SOCIETY 

If  Francis  or  Elizabeth  die  before  coming  to  age,  tiieir  portion 

shall  go  to  the  survivor. 
Ex.:     Joseph  Wever  and  Esther  Drake,  wife. 
Test:     William  Greene,  Benjamin  Bentley  &  William  Martin. 
Inventory,  707  pounds,    14s.   lOd. 

I,  341 

Hopkins,  Joseph,  15th  May,  1735; 

5th  July,  1735. 

To   my  wife,  Martha  Hopkins,  the  best   room  in  my  dwelling 

house,    1    cow,  2   hogs,   and   the   keeping   of  said  cow   and 

hogs  during  her  natural  life,  and  all  my  household  goods 

or  movables,   in   lieu  of  her  third  or   dowry  in   my   estate. 

"     my  son,  Joseph,  5   shillings. 

"       "     sons,  William   and   Samuel,   and    heirs,    my   household 

farm  to  be  divided  equally. 
"     my  son,  John,  30  pounds. 

"       "       '■       Robert,    Yi   my  outdoors  movables  except   afore- 
said and  30  pounds. 
"     my  son,  Thomas,  30  pounds  at  age  of  21,  if  he  dies  before 
age    of    21,    the    sum    to    be    divided    between    his    sisters, 
Phoebe  Picher,  Hannah  and  Theodosha  Hopkins,  and   Yz 
my  outdoors  movables   except   otherwise  bequeathed. 
To   my  daughter,  Phoebe  Picher,   1    cow. 
"       '■  "  Hannah   and   Theodosha,   25    pounds    and    1 

cow  each. 
Ex.:     Sons,  William  and  Samuel  Hopkins. 
Test:     Nicholas  Whitford,  Joseph  Berry,  John  Jenkins. 
Inventory,    173  pounds,   17s.   6d. 

I,  350 

Gardiner,  Samuel,  October  23,  1735 ; 

October  29,  1735. 
Mary  Gardiner,  wife,  exec. 
Inventory,  258  pounds,  45.   lid. 

I,  155 
Davis,  Joshua,  yeoman,  27th  May,  1734; 

31st  January,  1735/6. 
To   my   granddaughter,    Elda    Davis,    dau.    of    William    Davis, 
5   shillings. 

my  son,  Aaron  Davis,  5  shillings  and  my  wearing  apparel. 
"       "       "       John,  5  shillings, 

Samuel    Davis,    and    heirs,    all    my    rights    in    the 
forge   and   all   priviliges  therein, 
my  grandson,  Joshua   Davis,   and   heirs,    (son   of  William 


EARLY    EAST    GREENWICH    WILLS  3I 

Davis)  my  house  lot  in  East  Greenwich.     If  he  die  under 
age  or  without  issue,  the  house  lot  to  go  to  his  next  eldest 
brother,  his  heirs  and  assigns. 
"     my  daughter,  Rebekah   Briggs,   wife   of  James   Briggs,    10 

pounds. 
"     my  daughter,  Katharine    Godfree,    wife    of   John   Godfree, 
and    to    my    granddaughter,    Mary    Pain,    10    pounds    each. 
"     my  daughters,  Rebekah  Briggs  and  Katharine  Godfree,  all 
my   pewter,    marked   with    my   wife's   maiden    name,   to   be 
equally  divided  between  them. 
"     my   son,  Jeffrey   Davis,  my  negro   boy,   Fentain,  my  son, 
Jeffrey  Davis  to  pay  his  brother,  Samuel,  10  pounds,  within 
one   year,    and   to   pay   his    brothers,   Aaron,   and   John,   9 
pounds,   15s.  each  within  one  year  after  my  decease. 
"     my  wife,  Mary,  the  whole  profit  of  the  part  of  my  house 
I  now  dwell  in,  and  all  household  goods,  the  whole  profit 
of  the  northern  most  half  of  my  homestead   farm,  or  that 
my  two  sons,  Jeffrey  and  Samuel  Davis,  shall  provide  one 
milch   cow  and   riding  beast  between   them,   and  pay  my 
wife  10  pounds  each  year  of  her  natural  life,  instead  of  her 
lawful   thirds. 
Ex.:     Samuel  and   Jeffrey  Davis. 

Test:     Thomas  Mattison,  Joseph  Bery,  Thomas  Spencer. 
Inventorv,  241  pounds,  I5s.  Od. 

I.  157 

Spencer,  Martha,  27th  March,  1736. 

Ex.:     Walter  Spencer,  brother. 
Inventory,  33  pounds,  10s.  5d. 

I,  163 

Peckham,  Reuben,  .Tune  1,  1736 ; 

July  2.  1736. 
To  my  wife,  Sarah,  all  the  profit  my  tools  and  benches,  mare, 
colt  and  cow;  all  household  goods,  dwelling  house  in  New- 
port, now  in  possession  of  Andrew  Sherburn,  during 
natural  life,  after  her  decease  to  descend  to  Anthony 
Peckham,  son,  and  his  heirs.  In  case  of  death  ot  Anthony 
before   his   mother,   the   house   to   go   to   my   cousin,  John 

To  my  ^orAnthony.  and  heirs,  my  two  shops,  and  one  stable 
with  the  land  thereto  on  the  Main  street  in  Newport,  when 
at  age  of  21.  The  profits  in  the  meantime  to  be  given  to 
my  wife    Sarah.     In  case  said  son  shall  die  before  age  of 


32  RHODE    ISLAND    HISTORICAL    SOCIETY 

21,  said  shop  and  stable  and  land  shall  go  to  John  Peck- 
ham  and  heirs.  Anthony  to  be  sent  to  school  by  his 
mother  to  learn  a  trade. 

Ex.:     Sarah   Peckham,    wife    and    Ephraim    Weeks,    uncle,    of 
Newport. 

Test:     John  Brett,  Joseph  Nichols  &  Giles  Peirce. 

Inventory,  685  pounds,  Is.  5  and  l/4d. 

I,  165 

Spencer,  Robert,  died  intest.  August  3,  1736, 

Ex.:     Robert   Spencer,  yeoman. 
Inventory,  254  pounds,  12s.  lOd. 

I.  171 

Case,  Abigail,  widow  of  William  Case,  '^^nd  October,  1729 ; 

23rd   February,  1736/7. 
To   my  grandchildren,  Mary  Case  &  Abigail  Case  &  Margaret 
Case,  daughters  of  William  Case,  the  estate  to  be  equally 
divided   with   the   exception   of  20  shillings  more   to   Mar- 
garet. 
Ex.:     John   Manchester. 

Test:     Sarah  Tillinghast,  Elizabeth  Berry,  Pardon  Tillinghast. 
Inventory,  236  pounds,.  2s.  6d. 

I,  172 

Hope,  Mary,  widow  of  Edward  Hope,         14th  May,  1734; 

25th  December,  1736. 
To   my  son,  William  Hope,  5   shillings. 
"       "     daughter,  Mary   Roberts,   black   silk   hood 
"       "  "  Content    Hope,    feather    bed    and    furniture 

thereto   belonging. 
"   my  daughters,  aforesaid,    all    my   other   goods    and    money. 
Ex.:     John  Manchester,   my   cousin. 

Test.:     John  Nichols,  Thomas   Mattison,  John  Jenkins. 
Inventory,  113  pounds,  13s.  4d. 

I,  176 

Briggs,  Thomas,  January  4th,  1724; 

December  25,  1736. 
To   my  wife;  Martha,  residue  of  estate  after  debts  are  paid,  and 

after  her  death  to  go  to  my  daughter,  Ann  Gardiner. 
Test:  Joseph  Edwards,  Ishm.ael  Spink,  Thomas  Spencer. 
Inventory,   157  pounds,   5s.   lid. 

I,  181 

[CONTINUED  IN  THE  APRIL  NUMBER] 


Rhode  Island 

Historical    Society 

Collections 

Vol.  XV  April,  1922  No.  2 

CONTENTS 


PAGE 

TheWallum  Pond  Estates 

By  Harry  Lee  Barnes 33 


Abstracts  of  Early  East  Greenwich  Wills 

By  Norman  M.  Isham  and  Howard  W.  Preston        .       55 


Report  of  the  Treasurer 


Notes 


58 


62 


$3.00  per  year  Issued  Quarterly  75  cents  per  copy 


RHODE 
HISTORICAL 


ISLAND 
SOCIETY 


COLLECTIONS 


Vol.  XV 


April,  1922 


No.  2 


Howard  W.  PRESTON,Presidenf      Edward  K.  ALDRICH,  Jr.Jreaturer 
George  T.  SPICER,  Secretary        HOWARD  M.  CHAPIN,  Librarian 


The  Society  assumes  no  responsibility   for  the  statements   or  the 
opinions  of  contributors. 


The  Wallum  Pond  Estates 
By  Harry  Lee  Barnes 

Location  and  Surroundings. 

Wallum  Ponds  which  is  crossed  near  its  southern  end  by  the 
42nd  parallel,  lies  about  l>4  miles  east  of  the  Connecticut  h'ne, 
partly  in  Douglas,  Mass.,  and  partly  in  Burrillville,  Rhode 
Island.  It  is  situated  in  the  southern  part  of  what  in  early 
Colonial  times  was  called  the  Nipmuck  country.  The  Nipmuck 
lands  extended  from  Central  Massachusetts  northward  past  the 
Watchusett  Hills,  to  about  the  southern  line  of  New  Hamp- 
shire ;  northeastward  to  the  Pawtuckets  on  the  lower  Merrimac ; 
eastward  to  the  Massachusetts  Indians  by  the  Bay,  and  to  the 
Wampanoags  east  of  the  Blackstone ;  southward  to  the  northern 
Rhode  Island  bands  tributary  to  the  Narragansetts.  and  to  the 
Mohegans  of  east  central  Connecticut;  and  westward  to  the 
Indians  of  the  Connecticut  valley. 


1  For  information  concerning  Wallum  Pond  on  the  early  maps,  see 
appendix. 


34  RHODE    ISLAND    HISTORICAL    SOCIETY 

A  small  stream  rises  in  southern  Douglas,  easterly  of  Wallum 
Pond  and  flows  southerly  across  the  Rhode  Island  line  into  the 
Pascoag  River.  Its  sources  were  favorite  Indian  camping  sites 
and  it  has  been  called  Nipmuck  Brook  from  early  times.  Ten 
miles  southeasterly  of  Wallum  Pond  is  NipsachuckS  a  place 
through  which  King  Philip  passed  in  his  flight  westward  to  the 
Nipmuck  country.  Three  miles  northwesterly  of  Wallum  Pond, 
in  Webster.  Mass.,  lies  a  lake  called  Chaubunagungamaug,  a 
word  which  is  said  to  have  meant,  "The  Boundary  Fishing 
Place."  Six  miles  westerly  was  the  village  of  Ouantisset,  once 
plundered  by  the  Narragansetts  to  revenge  an  insult  to  their 
Sachem.  Twelve  miles  to  the  westward  liCAond  the  Quinebaug 
River  in  Woodstock  was  Wabbaquassef-.  "The  Mat  producing 
Countr}^,"  so  called  from  some  marsh  or  meadow  which  fur- 
nished reeds  for  mats  and  baskets.  Twelve  miles  to  the  south- 
west in  central  Killingly  was  Wahmunsqueeg,  "The  Spot 
resorted  to  for  Whetstones."  The  land  about  Plainfield,  Conn., 
south  of  Wabbaquasset  and  Wamunsqueeg  was  the  Quinebaug 
country. 

Wallum  or  Alliim? 

People  of  the  present  day  who  recall  events  before  1850 
pretty  generally  agree  that  in  their  youth,  the  name  "Allum 
Pond,"  was  more  frequently  used  by  the  old  people.  It  is 
worthy  of  note  that  "Alum"  is  the  name  given  two  ponds  about 
thirty  miles  to  the  westward  in  Massachusetts.  As  early  as 
1710,  the  Rhode  Island  deeds  referred  to  this  pond  as  Allum  or 
Allom  Pond  and  the  Report  of  the  Rhode  Island-Massachusetts 
Boundary  Commission  which  surveyed  the  line  in  1719  men- 
tioned Allum  Pond.  The  first  map  to  show  the  pond  spelled 
with  a  "W"  was  the  Douglas  map  of  1753.  It  must  be  conceded 
that  Dr.  Douglas  had  excellent  opportunities  to  get  information 
as  he  frequented  this  vicinity.  He  had  a  great  interest  in  history 
and  it  is  not  impossible  that  he  was  informed  by  local  Indians 
that  Walamp  was  more  nearly  like  the  Indian  pronunciation 

1  Hubbard,  Drake's  Edition,  Vol.   1,  page  90. 
-  Lamed's  History  of  Windham  County. 


THE    WALLUM    POND    ESTATES 


35 


than  Alium.  The  spelling  W'alamp  on  the  Douglas  map  was 
followed  for  decades  in  deeds  of  land  about  the  Massachusetts 
end  of  the  pond  by  owners,  many  of  whom  knew  Dr.  Douglas 
and  some  of  whom  may  have  seen  his  map.  The  name  W'alamp 
did  not  endure  probably  because  it  could  not  be  established 
against  local  tradition  without  the  schools,  which  did  not  flour- 
ish in  this  vicinity  until  after  Caleb  Harris  had  published  his 
map  in  1795  showing  "AUum  Pond."  It  is  certain  that  the  ear- 
liest Massachusetts  settlers  also  used  the  word  "Allum."  for  in 
Dr.  Douglas'  own  deed  from  the  Province  of  Massachusetts. 
we  find  that  his  land  extended  "southerly  on  the  Province  or 
Colony  line  which  runs  through  a  great  Pond  called  Allum 
Pond."  There  are  also  facts  which  cast  grave  doubt  on  the 
accuracy  of  the  spelling  on  the  Douglas  map.  On  this  map. 
Badluck  Pond.  2  miles  northerly  of  Wallum  Pond,  is  spelled 
Budluck  Pond  ;  Nipmuck  River  is  spelled  Nutmeg  River,  and 
Hemlock  Brook  is  spelled  Hembeck  Brook.  These  stupid  mis- 
takes could  hardly  have  been  made  by  Dr.  Douglas.  The  map 
was  published  in  England  after  his  death  and  these  errors  were 
almost  certainly  due  to  the  illegibility  of  the  manuscripts  or  to 
carelessness  of  the  pr^nters^  There  is  strong  probability  that 
the  illegible  handwriting  or  carelessness  which  converted  Bad- 
luck  into  Budluck.  Nipmuck  into  Nutmeg  and  Hemlock  into 
Hembeck  also  corrupted  Allum  into  \\'alamp.  Although  the 
name  W'alamp  did  not  endure,  there  is  evidence  that  it  was, 
perhaps,  inadvertently  changed  into  Wallum.  For  instance,  in 
1802.  when  Jonah  Brown  bought  land  of  John  Hunt,  the  first 
bound  is  located  "By  the  east  side  of  Wallomp  Pond  so  called." 
a  name  obviously  derived  from  the  Douglas  spelling,  as  it  con- 
tained both  the  initial  JV  and  the  terminal  /^.  When  Jonah 
Brown  sold  this  land  in  1811.  Wallomp  was  changed  to  \\'allum 
in  describing  the  same  bound.  On  April  25th.  1812.  the  Burrill- 
ville  Town  Council  records  refer  to  Wallum  Pond,  \\niether 
the  name  \\'allum  crept  from  the  Massachusetts  deeds  into  com- 


lA  committee  of  the  General  Court  of  MassachuseUs  found  Dr. 
Douglas'  map  very  erroneous  and  recommended  against  its  publication. 
Province  laws  1753-4.  Chapter  133. 


36  RHODE  ISLAND  HISTORICAL  SOCIETY 

mon  speech  and  on  to  the  map  makers  or  whether  the  latter 
were  advised  by  some  student  of  the  Indian  language  that  Wal- 
lum  was  preferable  to  Allum,  or  whether  some  of  the  map 
makers  were  influenced  by  seeing  the  Douglas  map.  is  unknown, 
but  at  all  events,  after  1855,  Wallum  established  its  place  on 
maps  by  \\'alling  and  others  and  was  taught  to  the  children  of 
the  ^^'allum  Pond  School  after  1860.  The  name  Wallum  gained 
ground  slowly  in  common  speech  among  the  natives  during  the 
latter  part  of  the  19th  century  until  by  1905  Allum  was  used 
only  by  people  past  middle  life. 

In  that  it  has  been  handed  down  from  the  old  settlers  and  is 
found  in  the  oldest  and  most  reliable  documents,  Allum  (Allam 
or  Allom)  is  preferable  to  Wallum.  Allum  is  almost  certainly 
the  word  which  was  received  from  the  Nipmucks  of  this  vicinity 
so  far  as  it  could  be  accurately  understood,  pronounced  and 
spelled  by  the  men  who  settled  these  parts.  The  opinion 
expressed  by  modern  students  of  the  Algonquin  language  that 
Wallum  was  more  nearly  correct  than  Allum,  will  be  presented 
later. 

Opinions  as  to  the  Meaning  of  Allum. 

Trumbull,  the  Connecticut  historian,  states  that  Allum  or 
Wallum  Pond  took  its  name  from  "A  Quinebaug  Captain  whose 
name,  meaning  Fox  (Peq.  A'Wumps)^  was  variously  written 
Allums,  Allumps.Hyems,  lams,  Hyenps."  In  view  of  the  similar- 
ity of  the  name  of  Allum  Pond  to  that  of  the  Sachem,  Allumps, 
of  Trumbull's  opinion  that  it  was  named  after  this  chief,  which 
has  been  accepted  by  other  historians,  and  of  Trumbull's  reputa- 
tion as  historian  and  student  of  the  Indian  language,  the  life  of 
Allumps  will  be  appended  in  some  detail". 

It  appears  that  after  leaving  Pawtuckquachooge  in  the  Nar- 
ragansett  Country,  Allumps  made  his  home  in  Egunk,  Conn., 
near  the  Rhode  Island  line,  about  24  miles  as  the  crow  flies, 
south  of  Allum  Pond.  Had  he  ever  lived  at  Allum  Pond,  it  is 
unlikely  that  this  fact  would  not  have  been  mentioned  by  his 

1  Indian  Names  in  Connecticut.    J.  H.  Trumbull,  page  3. 
-  See  appendix. 


THE    WALLUM    POND    ESTATES  37 

Indian  contemporaries  at  the  legislative  investigation,  as  they 
were  particularly  questioned  as  to  his  residence,  Passagcogon 
recalling  the  one  year  which  AUumps  spent  West  of  the  Quine- 
baug.  If  in  addition  to  this  documentary  evidence,  we  consider 
that  there  is  no  local  tradition  that  Allumps  ever  lived  here,  that 
it  was  not  customary  for  Indians  to  name  places  after  individ- 
uals, and  that  there  was  another  Alum  Pond  in  Sturbridge  and 
still  another  in  Brimfield.  Mass.,  Trumbull's  statement  that  this 
pond  was  named  after  Allumps,  is,  to  say  the  least,  improbable. 

Mr.  Sidney  S.  Rider,  in  his  "Lands  of  Rhode  Island,"  stated 
that  Allum  Pond  was  known  to  the  earliest  Englishmen  there 
as  Awamp's  Pond ;  Awumps  was  a  Nipmuck  Sachem  whom 
these  English  found  there.  The  name  became  in  time  AUum's 
Pond  and  at  last  ^^'allunl."  Mr.  Rider  was  unable  to  cite^ 
authority  for  the  above  statements  and  there  appears  to  be 
no  written  evidence  or  local  tradition  that  Wallum  Pond  was 
ever  called  Awamp's  Pond  or  that  a  Nipmuck  Sachem  by  that 
name  ever  lived  here. 

In  his  "Key."  Roger  Williams  gives  Alum  as  the  Nipmuck 
word  for  dog,  but  there  is  no  rock  or  striking  object  about  the 
pond  which  resembles  a  dog.  While  not  in  accordance  with  the 
usual  custom-  of  the  Indians  to  name  a  pond  after  an  animal 
not  naturally  found  nearby,  it  might  have  been  done  if  some 
unusual  incident  in  connection  with  a  dog  had  happened  here. 
However,  the  fact  that  two  other  ponds  to  the  westward  should 
be  named  Alum  makes  it  highly  improbable  tliat  these  three 
ponds  were  named  after  dogs.  There  is  also  good  authority  for 
the  view  that  the  word  Alum,  like  many  Indian  words,  had  more 
than  one  meaning, 

Wal  was  a  root  frequently  used  by  the  Nipmucks  of  this 
vicinity  in  naming  persons  as  well  as  places,  thus :  Walomachm, 
Walumpaw,  Walowononck,  etc. 

In  Ruttenber's  Indian  Geographical  Names,  the  meaning  of 
the  word  Allum  as  it  occurs  in  the  phrase,  Allum  Rocks,  is  thus 


1  Mr.  Rider's  statement  to  writer. 

2  Mr.  William  B.  Cabot,  in  a  personal  communication  to  the  writer 
so  states  as  pertains  to  the  present  Algonqums  of  Labrador. 


38  RHODE  ISLAND  HISTORICAL  SOCIETY 

explained  in  a  footnote  on  page  41 :  "  'Wallam' — the  initial  'W 
dropped — literally  'Paint  Rocks'  a  formation  of  Igneous  rocks 
which,  by  exposure,  become  disintegrated  into  soft  earthy 
masses.  There  are  several  varieties.  The  Indians  used  the  dis- 
integrated masses  for  paint.  The  name  is  met  in  some  forms 
in  all  xA.lgonquin  dialects." 

In  his  Key  to  the  Indian  Language,  Roger  Williams  gives  the 
following  Indian  words  and  their  definitions: 
Aunakesu  He  is  painted 

Aunakeuck  They  are  jiainted 

On  page  183  of  Dexter's  edition  of  the  Key,  the  word  "Wun- 
nam"  is  defined  as  "red  earth"  and  as  "Their  red  painting  which 
they  most  dehght  in."  If  the  Nipmuck  1  be  substituted  for  the 
Narragansett  n.  W'unnam  is  changed  into  Wullam.  In  the 
translation  of  the  sentence,  "Jezebel  painted  her  face,"  II.  Kings 
9:30,  in  Eliot's  Bible,  no  words  or  syllables  occur  which  have 
any  similarity  to  \\^allum  and  the  same  may  be  said  of  the  pas- 
sages in  Jeremiah,  22:14,  and  Ezekiel,  23:40,  which  refer 
to  painting.  Mr.  Lincoln  M.  Kinnicutt^  quotes  Mr.  Harry 
Wright  as  saying  that  "the  Indians  about  Hudson  Bay  used  the 
word  Woloman  or  Wolomon  as  meaning  something  red,  not  as 
a  synonym  for  red,  but  for  something  colored  red.  The  gum 
which  they  use  on  their  boats  and  which  they  color  red,  they 
call  Woloman."  In  the  translation  of  the  words  "dyed  red,"  in 
Eliot's  Bible,  Exodus  25:5,  26:14,  35:7  and  35:23,  Woloman 
is  not  used,  but  the  more  common  word  for  red,  Masquodsu. 
In  Eliot's  Bible  the  word  "Wunne"  is  frequently  used  to  express 
the  English  word  "good,"  and  "\\'unnetu"  to  express  the  word 
"beautiful."  If  the  Ni])muck  1  be  substituted  for  the  Massa- 
chusetts n,  Wunne  is  converted  into  Wulle,  which  is  very  sim- 
ilar to  Wallum,  especially  if  it  be  considered  that  the  Indians 
had  no  written  language,  the  settlers  writing  down  the  word  as 
it  sounded  with  considerable  variation  of  the  spelling,  depending 
on  who  wrote  it.  In  defining  the  word  "Wallum,"  Ruttenber 
comments  further  as  follows :  "It  is  from  a  generic  root  written 
in  different  dialects.  Walla,  Wara.  etc.,  meaning  'fine,   hand- 


1  Indian  Names  of  Places  in  Worcester  County. 


THE    WALLUM    POND    ESTATES  39 

some,  good,'  etc.,  from  which  in  the  Delaware,  Dr.  Brinton 
derived  Walam  Tainted,'  'from  the  sense  to  be  fine  in  appear- 
ance, to  dress,  which  the  Indians  accompHshed  by  painting  their 
bodies.'  "  Cabot^  also  states  that  "the  bottom  meaning  of  the 
word  Allum  is  fine,  beautiful."  As  no  red  rocks,  soil  or  other 
materials  which  the  Indians  could  have  used  for  paint  have  so 
far  been  found  about  the  Allum  ponds,  it  is  not  unlikely  that 
these  ponds  were  given  the  name  Allum  in  its  primary  meaning. 
Wallum  Pond  is  attractive  in  general  appearance  and  is  noted 
for  the  clarity  and  purity  of  its  water,  its  outlet  stream  having 
been  known  as  Clear  River  from  the  earliest  times.  Even  in  a 
country  where  g6od  water  is  plentiful,  one  must  go  a  long  way 
to  find  such  transparent  pond  water.  This  remarkably  fine  qual- 
ity or  clarity  of  the  water  is  the  most  striking  feature  common 
to  the  three  Alum  Ponds,  and  these  qualities  should  have 
impressed  the  Indians  as  much  as  their  white  successors.  There 
is,  in  fact,  a  tradition  or  belief-  in  Brimfield  that  the  Indian 
word  Alum  as  applied  to  these  ponds  meant  "clear  water." 
Assuming  that  "Allum"  or  "Wallum"  Pond  meant  to  the  Indian 
"fine"  pond,  "good"  pond,  or  "beautiful"  pond,  it  was  an  appro- 
priate name  for  these  ponds.  While  at  this  date  there  can  be 
no  certainty  what  the  Indians  meant  by  using  the  word  Allum 
or  Wallum  in  connection  with  this  pond,  the  evidence  favors  the 
definition  last  given. 

Indian  Relics  and  Traditions. 

A  tradition'  has  been  handed  down  from  early  times  that  the 
Indians  had  corn  fields  on  Wallum  Pond  Hill  and  that  the  set- 
tlers, on  opening  the  hills  of  corn,  found  sand  therein,  which 
the  Indians  had  carried  from  the  beach  at  the  northern  end  of 
the  pond  and  which  they  believed  aided  the  growth  of  the  corn. 
As  the  soil  about  here  is  wet  and  heavv,  it  seems  likelv  that  the 


^  In  a  personal  communication  to  the  writer. 

-  Information  obtained  from  Mr.  W.  C.  Davenport,  of  East  Brim- 
field,  Mass. 

">  Statements  to  the  writer  by  Seth  Ross  (1829-  ),  received  from 
several  men  in  his  youth,  by  Sylvester  Angell  from  his  father,  Brown 
Angell,  and  by  Barton  Jacobs  from  Otis  Buxton. 


40  RHODE  ISLAND  HISTORICAL  SOCIETY 

sand  might  have  given  their  corn  an  earlier  start.  About  a  third 
of  a  mile  eastward  from  the  Singleton  place  on  Wallum  Pond 
Hill,  a  ridge  of  gravel  about  ten  feet  high  and  fifty  feet  wide 
at  the  base,  rises  abruptly  from  the  low  land  and  extends  about 
1,500  feet  southerly  from  the  Massachusetts-Rhode  Island  line 
across  the  highway  leading  from  the  Singleton  place  to  the  Tas- 
seltop  road.  There  is  a  tradition^  -  that  this  ridge  which  lies 
between  the  swamp  by  the  brook  on  the  east  and  south  and  the 
southern  part  of  Bear  Swamp  on  the  west,  was  utilized  by  the 
Indians  for  a  fort.  The  Indian  forts  were  frequently  adjacent 
to  swamps,  and  this  ridge  possessed  great  natural  strength  for 
such  purpose.  Many  Indian  arrow  heads  and  highly  polished 
stones  of  various  colors  about  ^  inch  square  and  2  or  3  inches 
long  have  been  ploughed  out  of  the  narrow  strip  of  land  between 
the  ridge  and  the  brook".  A  few  hundred  feet  to  the  eastward 
of  the  ridge  on  the  old  Eddy  place  was  the  "Island  Lot,"  so 
called  because  many  years  ago  a  small  brook  dividing  southerly 
of  the  house  and  reuniting  about  800  feet  northerly  enclosed 
several  acres  of  land  with  tiny  streams  during  high  water.  On 
the  westerly  side  of  this  lot  as  late  as  1880  were  a  few  mounds 
spared  the  plough  by  Daniel  Buxton  because  they  were  Indian 
graves^-.  Many  Indian  arrow  heads  were  found  on  the  Ezra 
Stone  (Friery)  farm  westerly  of  the  gravel  ridge^,  and  on  the 
Charles  Arnold  farm".  Arrow  heads  were  found  but  with  less 
frequency  by  those  who  ploughed  the  lands  near  the  Sana- 
torium. 

On  the  Ernest  Singleton  (Asahel  Aldrich)  place  is  a  large 
egg  shaped  stone,  a  photograph  of  which  is  shown.  Old 
people  claimed  that  this  stone  was  formerly  on  the  Israel 
Aldrich  farm  on  the  northern  end  of  Wallum  Pond  Hill,  and 


^Received  from  Lippitt  Eddy  (1755-1838)  by  Daniel  Buxton,  given 
to  writer  by  the  latter's  son,  Wm.  Buxton. 

-Levi  Brown  and  Jos.  Bowdish  (1810-1900),  through  Nancy  Buxton 
Anderson  to  writer. 

■'  Ellen  Buxton  Church  to  writer. 

*  Wm.  Buxton  to  writer. 

^  James  Riley  to  writer. 

6  Fred  Arnold  to  writer. 


Wallum  Pond  Indian  Relics.     See  Page  40 


Map  of  Wallum  Pond  and  Vicinilv 


THE    WALLUM    POND    ESTATES 


41 


Key  to  Map. 
100  places  mentioned  in  the  text  and  numbered  on  the  map. 


1.  Ballard's  House 

2.  Store 
Blacksmith  Shop 
Cotton  House 
Gristmill 
Sawmill 
Cotton  Mill 
Shingle  Mill 
Woolen  Mill 

3.  Turning  Lathe 

4.  Middle  Mill 

5.  Sylvester  Anpfc'.l's  House 

6.  Angell's  Store 

7.  Kimball   House 

8.  Timothy  Jenne  House 

9.  Robbins  House 

10.  State   Sanatorium 
Jenne  Graveyard 

11.  Seth  Jenne  House 

12.  Lower  Sawmill 

13.  A.  Phillips  House 

14.  Sanborn  House 

15.  Green  House 

16.  King  House 

17.  Cranberry  Bog 

18.  Peters  House 

19.  Wells  House 

20.  Whipple  Angell  House 

21.  Chase  House 

22.  R.  Angell  Tavern 

23.  Scott  Cabin 

24.  Porter  House 

25.  Ward  House 

26.  Twist  House 

27.  Money  Rocks 

28.  Robbins   Cabin 

29.  Stanfiekl  House 

30.  Wm.  Trask  House 

31.  Whiting  House 

32.  Logee  Tavern 

33.  "Boiling"   Spring 

34.  Trask  Brook 

35.  Goat  Rock 

36.  Sawmill   Pond 

37.  Badger  Mountain 

38.  Cold  Spring  Brook 

39.  Leeson  Brook 

40.  Gaucher  Camp 

41.  Coon  Cave 

42.  Rattlesnake  Ledge 

43.  Worsley  House 

44.  Whitman   House 

45.  Starr  House 

46.  Thayer  Cabin 


47.  Buxton  House 

48.  Mason  House 

49.  Blacksmith  Shop 

50.  Coffee  House 

51.  The  Brass  Ball 

52.  The  Gore 

53.  Chamberlain  Pond 

54.  Aldrich  Pond 

55.  Snake  Den 

56.  Boarding  House 

57.  The  Ice  House 

58.  Brick  Yard 

59.  Dyer  Camp 

60.  Inman  Camp 

61.  Granger  Camp 

62.  Singleton  Camp 

63.  Moss   Pond 

64.  Indian  Rock 

65.  Lovers  Rock 

66.  Mormon  Church 

67.  Indian  Camp  Site 

68.  Bowdish  House 

69.  School  House 

70.  Israel  Aldrich  House 

71.  Graveyard 

72.  Vickers    House 

73.  Chas.  Arnold  House 

74.  A.  Ritchie  House 

75.  Bear  Swamp 

76.  Fairfield  Place 

77.  Olney  Angell  House 

78.  Singleton  House 

79.  Graveyard 

80.  Enoch  Angell  House 

81.  School  House 

82.  School  House 

83.  Tannery 

84.  Asahel  Alger  House 

85.  Adam  White  House 

86.  Samuel  White  House 

87.  Quarries 

88.  Joshua  Alger  House 

89.  Preserved  Alger  House 

90.  George  Stone  House 

91.  Stone  Graveyard 

92.  Jonah  Brown  House 

93.  Ezra  Stone  House 

94.  Gravel  Ridge 

95.  Indian  Fort  Site 

96.  Eddy  Graveyard 

97.  Dutee  Eddy  House 

98.  Island  Lot 

99.  Indian  Graves  Site 
100.  "The  Hemlock"  Woods 


42  RHODE  ISLAND  HISTORICAL  SOCIETY 

that  it  was  an  Indian  corn  grinding  stone.  The  stone  appears 
to  be  a  granite  similar  in  character  to  the  granite  boulders  of 
this  vicinity.  It  has  a  remarkably  symmetrical  ovoid  form  with 
a  fairly  smooth  surface,  evidently  shaped  and  finished  by  human 
agency.  One  end  of  the  stone  has  a  slightly  hollowed  facet 
about  six  inches  in  diameter.  From  one  side  of  this  facet,  a 
thin  piece  measuring  about  three  by  two  inches  has  been  chipped 
off.  As  the  stone  rests  on  its  flattened  end,  it  measures  thirteen 
inches  in  height  and  fourteen  and  a  half  inches  in  width  at  the 
widest  part.  Measvired  at  right  angles  to  its  vertical  axis,  as 
it  sets  on  end.  it  has  a  maximum  circumference  of  forty-two 
and  one-half  inches.  The  weight  of  the  stone  is  130  pounds. 
On  one  side  appears  the  figure  of  a  human  head,  cut  in  about 
one-sixteenth  of  an  inch.  The  part  about  the  nose  and  lips 
appears  imperfectly  drawn.  The  lines  shown  in  the  photograph 
were  traced  with  chalk,  excepting  the  line  of  the  back  which 
extends  a  little  farther  than  shown  in  the  photograph.  On  one 
side  of  the  stone  opposite  to  the  drawing  of  the  head,  is  the 
letter  A,  the  sides  of  the  A  being  about  one  and  one-half  inches 
long.  The  letter  surely,  and  the  figure  probably,  was  not  pro- 
duced by  uncivilized  red  men.  Stones  smaller  but  similar  in 
shape  are  still  used  by  backward  peoples,  in  husking  or  grinding 
grain^.  It  is  very  unlikely  that  the  settlers  would  fashion  or  use 
a  stone  in  this  way,  as  there  were  grain  mills  in  this  section 
when  the  Wallum  Pond  lands  were  cleared.  It  appears  to  be 
what  tradition  claims  for  it.  an  Indian  corn  grinding  stone. 
Although  so  heavy,  it  rolls  easily  and  grinds  corn  well,  as  has 
been  recently  demonstrated.  The  size  and  weight  of  the  stone 
are  evidence  in  favor  of  a  large  and  permanent  Indian  popula- 
tion in  this  vicinity,  as  a  small  population  would  not  need  it,  and 
without  beasts  of  burden,  it  would  have  been  impracticable  for 
Indians  to  transport  it. 

The  boulder  on  which  the  ovoid  stone  was  photographed  is 
a  quadrilateral  shaped  rock  about  eleven  feet  on  each  side,  the 
top  being  between  four  and  five  feet  above  the  ground.  It  is 
located  about  600  feet  westerly  of  the  James  H.  Singleton  place 

1  See  The  National  Geographic  Magazine,  Vol.  XLL,  Page  211. 


I 


THE    WALLUM    POND    ESTATES  43 

on  the  southwestern  slope  of  Wallum  Pond  Hill,  and  about  1 
mile  from  where  the  ovoid  stone  was  found.  Near  the  eastern 
side  of  the  flat  top  of  the  boulder  is  an  area  about  three  by  four 
feet  depressed  below  the  surface  from  two  to  five  inches,  and 
suggesting  a  fitting  place  for  the  use  of  the  corn  grinding  stone. 
There  is  no  convincing  evidence  of  the  use  of  the  boulder  by  the 
Indians,  and  no  traditions  in  regard  to  it,  are  known  to  exist. 
The  pestle  shown  in  the  photograph,  now  in  the  possession  of 
the  writer,  was  found  by  Alexander  Ritchie  on  his  farm  on 
Wallum  Pond  Hill  in  1906. 

Indian  relics  were  frequently  found  in  the  vicinity  of  the 
house  at  one  time  occupied  by  Reuben  Fairfield,  situated  on  the 
highway  leading  easterly  from  the  Israel  Aldrich  place  on  Wal- 
lum Pond  Hill  and  about  2  miles  therefrom.  About  300  feet 
easterly  of  this  house  is  a  small  graveyard  where  Simeon  Heren- 
deen  (1743-1820),  a  Revolutionary  soldier,  was  buried.  Heren- 
deen  owned  the  land  running  northward  from  the  graveyard  to 
the  house  of  his  son-in-law,  Jonathan  Marcy,  and  this  property 
has  been  continuously  in  possession  of  this  family,  including  the 
present  owner,  Edwin  Esten,  the  great-grandson.  The  latter's 
mother  told  him  that  the  Indian  cornfields  were  located  between 
the  Marcy  house  and  the  gravcA'ard  and  showed  him  two  rocks 
where  the  Indians  ground  their  corn.  One  of  these  boulders, 
near  the  corner  of  a  stone  wall  about  30  rods  southeasterly  of 
the  Marcy  house,  was  inspected  by  the  writer  in  1920.  It 
showed  a  shallow  depression  about  18  inches  in  diameter.  Near 
this  rock,  a  stone  pestle  was  found  by  Mr.  Esten.  about  1855. 
When  a  child.  Mr.  Esten  was  shown  several  poles  about  5  inches 
in  diameter  which  according  to  the  family  tradition,  were  frag- 
ments of  wigwam  poles.  About  100  feet  easterly  of  the  grave- 
yard, is  a  large  "boiling"  spring  said  to  liave  been  used  by  the 
Indians  at  this  camp  site.  It  is  likely  that,  after  1800.  some  of 
the  Indians  belonging  to  their  settlements  in  Natick.  Webster 
and  Woodstock,  were  allowed  to  camp  temporarily  at  some  of 
their  old  sites  and  that  it  was  the  poles  remaining  from  these 
camps  which  were  shown  Mr.  Esten.  About  a  mile  and  a  half 
northeasterly  from  the  northern  end  of  Wallum  Pond  and  about 


44  RHODE  ISLAND  HISTORICAL  SOCIETY 

100  feet  southerly  of  the  Grand  Trunk  road  bed,  is  a  large  flat 
topped  ledge  called  Indian  Rock^  According  to  lAIrs.  Syra  Jeph- 
erson  (Patty  Pease),  there  were  at  one  time  Indian  cornfields 
easterly  of  this  rock  and  also  to  the  northward  on  the  easterly 
side  of  what  is  now  Moss  Pond.  About  1853.  she  showed 
Edward  Esten  two  holes  in  this  rock  which  had  been  used  by 
the  Indians  for  grinding  corn.  Several  years  later,  part  of  this 
ledge  was  quarried  and  one  of  the  holes  destroyed.  The  remain- 
ing hole  was  shown  to  the  writer  by  ]\Ir.  Esten  in  1920.  It 
forms  a  shallow  basin,  about  one  foot  in  diameter,  and  the  rock 
has  the  appearance  of  having  been  worn  down  by  artificial 
means.  In  the  centre  of  the  depression  is  an  oval  hole  about 
5  inches  by  3  inches  by  4  inches  deep.  From  these  relics  and 
traditions,  it  is  certain  that  Wallum  Pond  and  vicinity  were 
much  frequented  by  the  Indians. 

Walomachin  or  Black  James. 

Before  1674.  the  Indians  of  several  villages  a  few  miles  to  the 
westward  in  Thompson,  Woodstock  and  Webster,  had  been 
converted  to  Christianity  by  Indian  missionaries  trained  by  the 
Rev.  John  Eliot.  Major  Daniel  Gookin-.  the  Indian  agent  of 
Massachusetts,  had  appointed  Black  James  constable  over  the 
"Praying  Towns,"  empowering  him  to  apprehend  delinquents, 
to  bring  those  guilty  of  minor  ofifences  before  Wattasacom- 
panum,  ruler  of  the  Nipmuck  country,  and  to  bring  those  guilty 
of  idolatry  and  powwowing  before  Gookin.  Black  James  at 
first  won  high  praise  from  Gookin  as  being  "zealous  to  sup- 
press sin,"  but,  on  the  outbreak  of  King  Philip's  War,  he  joined 
the  enemy.  By  convincing  the  Indians  outside  the  "Praying 
Towns"  that  they  would  all  be  killed'  because  they  were  not 
praying  Indians  and  by  forcing  the  praying  Indians'to  join  the 
hostiles  or  be  killed  by  them\  he  exercised  great  influence  over 
the  Indians  of  this  section.     Before  the  war.  he  lived  at  Chau- 

1  Many  old  people  of  this  vicinity  transmit  the  tradition  that  this  was 
an  maian  rock. 

''  Gookin's  Narrative.    Col.  Mass.  Hist.  Soc.  First  Series  Vol.  1. 
■■  Temple's  History  of  North  Brookfield.  p.  74. 
^Drake's  Book  of  the  Indians,  book  H.,  p.  118. 


THE    WALLUM    POND    ESTATES 


45 


bunagungamun  (Webster)  and  on  Oct.  23,  1700,  he  sold  240 
acres  of  land  on  the  north  end  of  lake  "Chaubungum."  situa'ted 
about  five  miles  northwesterly  of  the  northern  end  of  Wallum 
Pond,  the  plot  accompanying  the  deed  showing  the  location  of 
the  lake,  fort,  etc.^  As  late  as  1702,  Black  James  plotted  mis- 
chief with  other  Indians  near  lirookfield^  Walomachin  was 
the  most  important  Indian  to  deed  that  part  of  the  Nipmuck 
country  embracing  the  lands  about  the  northern  end  of  W^allum 
Pond  to  the  Colony  of  Massachusetts. 

The  Southern  Nipmncks. 

On  May  11,  1681,  Massachusetts  authorized  William  Stough- 
ton  and  Joseph  Dudley  to  investigate  the  Indian  titles  to  the 
Nipmuck  country  and  report.  About  a  month  later,  after  due 
notice,  a  meeting  of  the  Indian  claimants  was  called  in  Cam- 
bridge with  Mr.  Eliot  as  interpreter.  The  Indians  were  found 
"willing  enough  to  claim  the  whole  country,  but  litigious  and 
doubtful  among  themselves,"  and  were  therefore  dismissed  to 
settle  their  differences.  Before  the  second  meeting  in  the  fol- 
lowing September,  the  principal  claimants  were  "warned"  to 
travel  in  company  with  the  commissioners  as  far  and  as  much 
as  one  week  would  allow.  On  Oct.  17th,  Stoughton  and  Dudley 
reported  to  the  legislature  that  the  Southern  Nipmuck  country 
claimed  by  Black  James  &  Co.  was  "capable  of  good  settlement 
if  not  too  scant  of  meadow  though  uncertain  what  will  fall 
within  the  bounds  if  our  line  be  questioned."  After  due  author- 
ization, Stoughton  and  Dudley  bought  for  20  pounds,  Feb.  10, 
1682.  of  "Black  James  &  Co.,"  a  triangular  tract  of  land 
bounded  on  the  east  by  the  Blackstone  or  Nipmuck  River,  on 
the  southeast  by  a  line  of  marked  trees,  on  the  south  by  the 
south  line  of  Massachusetts,  on  the  north  by  an  imaginary  line 
four  miles  north  of  the  Boston-Springfield  path  and  coming  to 
a  point  on  the  west  on  the  Connecticut  line  near  Springfield, 
reserving  for  the  Indians  a  tract  of  land  five  miles  square  after- 


1  Land  records  in  the  office  of  the  Secretary  of  State,  Boston.  Mass. 
Archives,  Vol.  31,  p.  46,  47,  Map  and  Plan  3rd  scries,  Vol.  32,  p.  16. 

2  Letter  of    Tohn  Perry  to  Gov.  Dudley.     Mass.  Archives,  Vol.  70. 
p.  618,  619. 


46  RHODE  ISLAND  HISTORICAL  SOCIETY 

ward  set  off  in  Oxford  and  Thompson.     The  names  of  the 

Indians  who  signed  or  subsequently  agreed  to  the  deed  were : 

Black  James,  alias  Walomachin  Sean  Jasco 

Benjamin  Wabequalan 

James  Sebaquat 

Simon  Wolomp  Madaquamin 

Tascomp  Cook  Robin 

Sasequejasuck  Pamphosit 

Pomponechum  Naontock 

Papomsham  Nanatoho 

Wolowononck  Aspenaw 

Pe  Pegous  Peter  Pacataw 

John  Awagwon  John  Hownaheteammen 

Sosoquaw  Mattaomp 

Tobi  Alataquish  Mat  Waisk 

James  Wiser  Wawunhit 

James  Acojock  Sam  A  I.  Seeg 

Welompaw  Cotoosonk 

Papeunquanant  Acadaquami 

Waumshk  Wawaus,  or  James  Printer 

On  May  18th,  1682,  a  second  deed  was  signed  by  one  Indian 
whose  name  does  not  appear  on  the  first  one,  namely,  Sewos- 
sasco.  Twelve  other  Indians  who,  though  absent  at  the  signing 
of  the  first  deed,  had  apparently  authorized  their  signatures, 
also  signed  this  second  deed.  These  deeds  obviously  included 
the  northern  or  Massachusetts  end  of  Wallum  Pond  and  the 
adjacent  lands.  The  northern  Nipmuck  country  toward  Wachu- 
sett  was  not  bought  at  this  time  because  the  Commissioners  could 
not  find  Indians  "meet  to  be  treated  with  thereabouts."  The 
care  taken  by  the  Commissioners  to  make  the  titles  valid  by 
securing  signatures  from  the  Indians  of  each  locality  warrants 
the  assumption  that  the  37  signers  of  the  deeds  were  the  head 
men  of  this  region,  probably  the  heads  of  families.  If  we  so 
assume  and  also  assume,  as  did  Gookin  and  Eliot,  that  the  Indian 
family  averaged  five  members,  there  were  in  1682,  in  the  South- 
ern Nipmuck  country  of  Massachusetts,  at  least  185  Indians  of 
local  Nipmuck  origin  in  addition  to  Narragansetts  and  others 


THE   WALLUM    POND    ESTATES  47 

who  are  known  to  have  emigrated  here.  Although  northwestern 
Rhode  Island  was  clearly  Nipmuck  country,  this  colony  did  not 
recognize  the  Nipmuck  claims  and  it  is  doubtful  whether  there 
were  any  Indian  deeds  to  settlers  about  Wallum  Pond  on  the 
Rhode  Island  side  of  the  line.  The  only  Indian  deed  in  Burrill- 
ville  known  to  the  writer  is  that  of  John  Hoaneniuhesio  to 
Edward  Salisbury  of  land  near  Herring  Pond,  dated  March  8, 
1774.  A.  F.  Brown,  in  his  article  on  Douglas\  states  that, 
"prior  to  the  year  1708,  the  territory  now  embraced  within  the 
limits  of  the  town  of  Douglas  was  an  unbroken  forest  inhabited 
by  a  few  Indian  stragglers  from  the  Narragansett  or  Nipmuck 
Tribes.  One  small  band  occupied  the  extreme  easterly  part  of 
the  town,  another  the  southern  part  and  still  another  band  were 
located  northerly  of  the  centre."  Some  of  the  Indians  are  said 
to  have  died  of  smallpox-,  which,  according  to  Emerson^  was 
epidemic  in  Douglas  in  1792  and  1825.  Descendants  of  these 
Indians  continued  to  live  in  Douglas,  some  of  them  in  the  vicin- 
ity of  Wallum  Pond  until  well  into  the  last  century.  They  made 
and  peddled  baskets  and  other  handiwork.  A  few  intermarried 
with  whites  and  more  with  negroes. 

Patty  Pease. 

One  of  the  last  of  the  Nipmucks  reputed  to  be  of  pure  blood 
was  Patty  Pease.  At  some  time  prior  to  1835,  she  lived  with 
her  mother,  who  was  said  to  have  been  a  medicine  woman,  in  a 
cabin  northerly  of  the  Abel  Parker  sawmill.  This  sawmill  site 
is  northerly  of  the  highway  running  easterly  toward  Douglas 
from  Wallum  Pond  Hill  and  about  a  mile  from  the  latter.  About 
300  feet  northwesterly  of  the  mill  dam,  is  a  large  boulder  which 
has  been  quarried  and  was  the  site  of  the  courtship  of  this  Indian 
girl  bv  her  white  lover.  Syra  Jepherson.  After  their  marriage, 
they  lived  about  a  mile  from  Tasseltop.  She  often  visited  Badluck 
Pond  to  gather  material  for  baskets.  There  was  a  tradition  among 
the  old  settlers  of  this  vicinity  that  Badluck  Pond  was  so  named 


1  Hamilton  Kurd's  History  of  Worcester  Co.,  p.  1395. 

2  Statement  of  Joseph  Wallis,  given  to  the  writer  by  his  son,  W.  K. 
Wallis. 

3  Emerson's  History  of  Douglas,  p.  62. 


48  RHODE    ISLAND    HISTORICAL    SOCIETY 

by  the  Indians  because  one  of  them  was  drowned  there\  Patty- 
told  Edward  Esten  that  this  pond  was  given  an  Indian  name 
meaning  bad  luck  because  an  Indian  with  his  squaw  and  papoose 
were  drowned  in  attempting  to  cross  it  in  a  canoe.  Three  sons 
of  Patty  Pease  Jepherson  entered  the  Union  armies  during  the 
Civil  War  and  two  of  her  grandsons  with  decidedly  Indian  cast 
of  features  were  employed  in  the  construction  of  the  hospital  at 
Wallum  Pond  in  1916. 

The  Boston  Men. 

In  response  to  a  petition,  the  General  Court  of  Massachusetts, 
in  November,  1722,  appointed  a  committee  to  sell  3,000  acres  of 
common  land  in  what  is  now  southern  Douglas.  The  committee, 
consisting  of  Paul  Dudley,  John  Quincy  and  Benjamin  Whitt- 
more,  held  an  auction  at  the  Green  Dragon  Tavern  in  Boston  on 
Wednesday,  the  3rd  day  of  April,  1723.  A  1100-acre  tract  near 
the  present  Uxbridge  line  was  sold  to  Dr.  William  Douglas  and 
associates  for  4  shillings  per  acre  and  a  1900-acre  tract  adjacent 
to  Wallum  Pond  was  sold  to  Benjamin  Bronsdon  and  associates 
for  3  shillings,  3  pence  per  acre.  When  the  deeds  were  made 
out  the  next  day,  it  appeared  that  Dr.  Douglas'  and  Mr.  Brons- 
don's  associates  were  the  same  and  that  both  tracts  were  to  be 
divided  equally  among  the  following  six  men :  Dr.  William 
Douglas.  Benjamin  Bronsdon,  John  Binning,  Abijah  Savage, 
Andrew  Tyler  and  William  Tyler.  To  distinguish  this  tract 
from  previous  grants  to  Sherburn  men,  it  was  called  "The  Bos- 
ton Men's  Farms."  The  bounds  of  this  1900-acre  tract  as  stated 
in  the  original  deed  are  rather  hard  to  locate,  but  in  the  settle- 
ment of  the  estate  of  Andrew  Tyler,  these  bounds  are  given  as 
follows :  "Beginning  at  a  white  oak  tree  in  the  Colony  line  North 
6>4°  East  545  rods  to  Hedgehog  Corner,  then  west  3^4°  North 
500  rods  to  Bear  Corner,  then  south  6><°  west  156  rods  to  a 
stone  heap  on  a  knowle,  then  west  180  rods  to  a  white  oak  tree, 
then  South  6><°  west  400  rods  to  the  Colony  line,  then  on  the 
Colony  line  to  Walomp  pond  then  bound  round  the  North  end 


1  Statement  to  the  writer  by  William  Church,  which  information  was 
received  from  Salem  Walling. 


THE    WALLUM    POND    ESTATES  4Q 

of  said  pond  till  it  comes  to  the  Colony  line  again,  then  on  said 
line  to  the  bound  first  mentioned."  From  a  deed  of  Jeremiah 
Green  to  John  Hunt,  it  is  possible  to  fix  the  first  bound  as  372 
rods  from  the  point  where  the  Colony  line  crosses  the  East  bank 
of  Wallum  Pond,  and  the  1900-acre  tract  is  located  approxi- 
mately as  shown  on  the  map.  The  original  plot  of  the  division 
of  the  1900-acre  tract  among  the  6  men  is  not  known  to  be  in 
existence  but  all  the  lots  ran  eastward  from  the  east  shore  of  the  • 
pond  more  than  a  mile,  a  considerable  distance  east  of  the  high- 
way over  Wallum  Pond  Hill.  John  Binning,  a  mercliant,  had 
the  lot  next  the  colony  line.  After  his  death,  the  land  passed  to 
his  only  child  and  heir,  Sarah,  who  had  married  Jeremiah  Green, 
a  Boston  distiller. 

Dr.  William  Douglas  (1691  -  1752).  a  Scotchman,  who 
arrived  in  Boston  in  1718,  established  a  lucrative  practice,  and 
was  brought  into  considerable  prominence  by  his  Historical 
Summary,  his  writings  on  vaccination  and  other  medical  sub- 
jects. His  map  of  New  England  has  previously  been  alluded  to. 
Dr.  Douglas  acquired  much  land  in  Boston,  in  Douglas  and 
other  parts  of  Worcester  County.  In  1750,  he  gave  30  acres  of 
land  and  a  dwelling  house  to  the  inhabitants  of  what  was  then 
New  Sherborn  and  the  people  of  this  district  gave  the  town  his 
name.  After  Dr.  Douglas'  death,  his  lands  in  this  vicinity 
passed  to  his  sister,  Catherine  Carr.  Andrew  Tyler  (1692- 
1767),  a  goldsmith  and  merchant,  had  married  Miriam,  daughter 
of  William  PepperelF,  Baronet,  the  famous  Governor^of^^Iassa- 
chusetts.  Andrew's  brother,  William  Tyler  (1687-1758),  a 
brazier,  had  married  Jane,  Miriam's  sister.  Andrew  Tyler's 
131-acre  lot,  62  rods  wide,  lay  north  of  the  present  Ritchie  place 
on  Wallum  Pond  Hill.  After  his  death,  this  lot  went  to  his 
granddaughter,  Miriam.  A  part  was  later  sold  to  Caleb  Whiting 
for  nonpayment  of  taxes,  and  the  remainder,  Miriam  sold  to  Dr. 
Jennison. '  Another  lot  west  of  the  Pond  and  the  Cedar  Swamp 
lot  northwest  of  the  pond  was  left  by  Andrew  Tyler  to  h,s 
daughter,    Marv.     The  warrant   for   the  division   of   Andrew 


1  Parson's  Life  of   Pcpperell,  pp.  31-32. 


50  RHODE   ISLAND    HISTORICAL    SOCIETY 

Tyler's  estate  was  dated  May  7,  1767.  William  Tyler  had  pur- 
chased Benjamin  Bronsdon's  share  in  the  tract.  Some  of  Wil- 
liam Tyler's  land  lay  about  the  northern  end  of  the  pond.  After 
his  death,  his  lands  passed  to  his  son,  Joseph.  Abijah  Savage's 
lot  lay  next  the  colony  line  extending  westward  from  the  west 
shore  of  the  pond.  None  of  the  Boston  men  lived  on  their 
Wallum  Pond  lands. 

The  Rhode  Island  Proprietors. 

The  original  deed  which  Roger  Williams  obtained  from  the 
Narragansett  Sachems  on  March  24.  1638,  did  not  cover  the 
Wallum  Pond  section ;  but,  by  subsequent  deeds,  colonial  cliar- 
ters  and  boundary  agreements  with  Massachusetts  and  Connecti- 
cut, this  land  was  finally  confirmed  to  Rhode  Island.  As  desir- 
able settlers  came  and  contributed  funds  to  the  Colony  they  were 
voted  into  the  company  until  there  were  101  proprietors  who 
divided  up  the  lands  and  sold  to  other  settlers.  The  land  was 
divided  and  sold  a  little  at  a  time,  some  of  it  being  held  in  com- 
mon over  100  years.  Nearly  all  the  land  west  of  the  seven-mile 
line  (a  north  and  south  line  7  miles  west  of  Providence)  was 
held  in  common  or  as  undivided  land  up  to  1700.  Between  1705 
and  1729,  there  were  10  dififerent  divisions  of  lands  west  of  the 
seven-mile  line  among  the  proprietors^  It  should  be  understood 
that  many  of  the  proprietors  were  Providence  men  of  consider- 
able means  who  only  held  land  as  a  speculation  and  who  did 
not  care  to  live  on  it.  Squatters  or  tenants  sometimes  improved 
the  lands.  The  first  deed  or  lay  out  of  land  in  the  vicinity  of 
Allum  Pond  so  far  noticed  in  the  records  of  Providence  is  given 
below. 

"Paper  No.  16853."- 

"Layed  out  to  JoSeph  WilkiSson  and  William  Hopkins  one 
hundred  acres  of  land  on  ye  weSt  Side  of  ye  Seuen  ^lile  line 
and  within  ye  TownShip  of  providence  and  neer  a  pond  Called 
allam  pond  and  bounded  as  followeth  beginning  at  a  white  oake 
tree  being  ye  northweSterly  Corner  then  Rainging  SouthweSt 

1  See  Town  Paper  No.   17885,  book  39D,  page  65. 
-  Providence  Town  Papers  Vol.  39A. 


THE    WALLUM    POND    ESTATES  5 1 

Sixty  poles  to  a  walnut  tree  marked  and  Stones  laved  about  it 
then  Rainging  SoutheEterly  one  hundred  and  ninty  two  poles  to 
a  CheStnutt  tree  marked  and  Stones  layed  about  it  then  Raing- 
ing northeSterly  to  a  white  oake  tree  l^cir.-  being  one  hundred 
and  twenty  poles  then  Rainging  upon  a  Strate  line  Cv.ut!:!i£tcrlv 
one  hundred  and  ninty  two  poles  to  ye  first  mentioned  bound 
the  aboueSd  bounds  are  all  marked  and  Stones  layed  about  them 
Layd  out  to  William  Hopkins  fifty  acres  of  land  on  the  WeSt 
Side  of  ye  Seuen  mile  line  and  within  ye  Township  of  providence 
and  bounded  as  foUoweth  beginning  at  a  white  oake  tree  marked 
then  Rainging  weSterly  forty  poles  to  a  read  oake  tree  marked 
then  Rainging  Southerly  one  hundred  and  twenty  poles  to  a 
white  c::l:2  trc2  pine  tree  marked  then  Rainging  eSte  ninty  Eight 
poles  to  a  white  oake  tree  marked,  then  Rainging  north  one  hun- 
dred and  twenty  poles  to  ye  firSt  mentioned  white  oake  tree, 
being   Situate  alittlsbout  a   mile   from  allom  pond  and  about 
SoutheSterly  from  ye  Same  and  was  layed  out  on  ye  origonal 
of  (  )  and  upon  ye  fifty  acre  diuiSion  on  ye  weSt  Side  of  ye 

aforeSd  Seuen  mile  line  which  was  agreed  upon  by  the  pur- 
cherSors  layed  out  ye  Eigth  Day  of  apriel  in  ye  }eare  one 
thouSand  Seuen  hundred  and  ten  by  me" 

On  April  11,  1729,  Elisha  Knowlton  surveyed  a  lot  of  land 
for  Nicholas  Lapham  in  the  140  acre  division.  This  land  was 
some  distance  east  of  Allum  Pond  and  next  the  Colony  line, 
probably  near  Nipmauge  brook.  John  Whipple  was  living  on 
this  land  when  he  bought  it  of  Lapham,  Nov.  27,  1746. 

Nicholas  Power  3rd,  by  his  will  dated  March  16,  1732.  dis- 
posed of  1294  acres  of  land  in  Gloucester  west  of  the  seven 
mile  line.  This  tract  of  land  when  laid  out  extended  roughly 
from  the  Clear  River  outlet  of  Wallum  Pond  on  the  north, 
southward  about  2>4  miles  to  Little  Worth  cedar  swamp  below 
the  corner  of  the  Buck  Hill  Road.  It  was  about  a  mile  wide 
east  and  west  and  included  practically  all  the  original  250  acre 
tract  later  purchased  for  the  State  Sanatorium.  The  right^  of 
Nicholas  Power  3rd,  to  these  1294  acres  was  based  on  the  orig- 
inal purchase  rights  of  his  great-grandfather.  Nicholas  Power. 

1  See  deed  of  Power  to  Gibbs,  Gloucester  Records. 


52  RHODE    ISLAND    HISTORICAL    SOCIETY 

and  of  Francis  Weston,  Thomas  Roberts  and  Benjamin  Smith. 
Francis  Weston  was  one  of  the  12  grantors  of  the  initial  deed^ 
He  was  captured  with  the  Gortonists  at  Warwick,  carried  to 
Boston,  September.  1643,  brought  before  the  Court  Nov.  3rd, 
sent  to  prison  at  Dorchester,  released  in  March,  1644,  and  ban- 
ished both  from  Massachusetts  and  Warwick.  He  returned  to 
Warwick  and  died  there  prior  to  June  4,  1645.  His  nephew  and 
heir,  Richard  Harcut,  sokl  his  commonage  rights  to  Nicholas 
Power  about  1650-. 

A  statement  to  the  effect  that  Nicholas  Power  died  Aug.  25, 
1657,  and  had  made  no  will  in  writing,  is  signed  by  Roger  Wil- 
liams and  four  others  as  members  of  the  town  council.  They 
ordered  that  his  son,  Nicholas  Power,  2nd,  the  next  day  after  he 
became  21  years  of  age,  should  have  "One  Wayunkeage  Right 
by  Vertue  of  his  Father's  Town  Right,  a  five  acre  share,"  etc. 
Nicholas  Power,  2nd,  was  killed  by  the  Indians  Dec.  19,  1675, 
in  the  Great  Swamp  fight.  Thomas  Roberts  died  in  Newport 
after  1672  without  an  heir,  his  estates  going  to  Christopher  Rob- 
erts of  Gloucester,  England'"'.  Benjamin  Smith  had  a  full  pur- 
chase right  in  1665.  It  seems  probable  that  the  Roberts  and 
Smith  rights  were  acquired  by  Nicholas  Power,  2nd,  1)etween 
1670  and  the  time  of  his  death.  The  purchase  rights  after- 
ward used  in  acquiring  the  Allum  Pond  estate  were  left  to 
his  son,  Nicholas  Power.  3rd,  who  has  previously  been  referred 
to.  Under  the  date  of  December  31,  1722.  in  the  Moses 
Brown  papers,  is  a  record  of  the  sale  by  Power  of  a  negro  man 
Cuffey.  Nicholas  Power,  3rd,  was  a  man  of  considerable  impor- 
tance in  the  colony.  The  records  show  that  he  was  one  of  the 
assistants  in  the  General  Assembly  in  1720  and  Deputy  from 
Providence  to  the  Assembly  in  1722.  He  evidently  allowed  his 
purchase  rights  in  the  division  of  lands  west  of  the  seven-mile 
line  to  accumulate  until  they  entitled  him  to  1294  acres,  which 
could  not  have  happened  before  1723.  In  his  will,  dated  March 
16,  1732,  his  son,  Nicholas,  was  directed  to  select  the  best  200 


1  E.  R.  Vol.  III.,  p.  90. 

2  E.  R.  Vol.  IV.,  p.  231. 

3  Richard  Smith  appointed  administrator  Dec.  5,  1679. 


THE    WALLUM    POND    ESTATES 


53 


acres  and  his  son,  Joseph,  the  next  best  200  acres  before  the 
rest  of  the  estate  was  disposed  of.  Nicholas  Power,  4th,  bought 
Joseph's  200  acres,  and,  May  24,  1743,  with  his  mother,  sold  the 
entire  1294  acres  to  Dr.  Robert  Gibbs,  one  of  the  prominent 
physicians  of  the  Colony,  500  pounds  being  the  sum  named. 
Dr.  Gibbs  sold  96^4  acres  of  this  land  to  Jeremiah  Ballard,  of 
Smithfield,  Sept.  30,  1766,  another  lot  west  of  P>uck  Mill  corner 
to  one  Thayer,  and  the  rest  of  this  estate  was  broken  up  among 
his  children  after  his  death.  The  partition  of  the  Gibbs  estate 
by  the  Inferior  Court  took  place  in  June,  1770. 

The  Early  Settlers. 

The  96 5^  acres  bought  of  Dr.  Gibbs  by  Jeremiah  Ballard, 
extended  roughly  from  just  north  of  the  natural  outlet  of  the 
pond,  back  of  O'Neil's  Camp  to  a  short  distance  below  the  pres- 
ent Sanborn  house  and  included  the  water  privileges  of  Clear 
River  and  the  site  of  the  present  sanatorium  buildings.  Bal- 
lard had  doubtless  been  impressed  with  the  value  of  the  water 
privileges  at  the  outlet  of  the  pond  while  surveying  the  Capt. 
John  Whipple  farm  on  Allum  Pond  Hill  and  he  must  be  given 
credit  for  first  developing  the  water  power.  Ballard  built  a 
small  one-story  dwelling  house,  a  cornmill  and  a  sawmill  west 
of  the  Clear  River  bridge  and  cleared  a  small  piece  of  land,  as, 
in  his  deed  of  sale,  fences  are  mentioned.  The  dwelling  house 
and  mills  were  probably  built  soon  after  his  purchase  of  the 
property  in  1766,  as  pioneers  were  coming  into  this  section  rap- 
idly and  they  were  very  dependent  on  grist  mills.  Old  residents 
loved  to  tell  of  the  settlers  coming  to  this  grist  mill  in  dead  of 
winter,  each  man  on  snowshoes  with  a  bag  of  corn  on  his  back. 

The  Allom  Pond  Farm,  so  called,  (recently  the  James  H. 
Singleton  Farm)  was  originally  surveyed  from  common  land 
by  Jeremiah  Ballard  and  Thomas  Herendeen  for  Capt.  John 
Whipple,  a  prominent  Providence  man  of  that  period.  Whipple, 
like  Power,  had  evidently  allowed  his  purchase  rights  in  the 
first  seven  divisions  of  land  to  accumulate  until  after  1723,  when 
he  was  entitled  to  323  acres.  The  farm  was  said  to  contain  330 
acres  and  extended  to  the  Colony  line  on  the  North,  to  the  pond 
on  the  west,  and  to  Power's  land  below  the  present  railroad  on 


54  RHODE    ISLAND    HISTORICAL    SOCIETY 

the  south.  Capt.  Whipple  sold  the  farm  which  had  previously 
been  leased  to  Jeremiah  Brown,  to  his  son,  Joseph  Whipple,  Jan, 
4,  1768.  John  Rowland  bought  the  Capt.  Whipple  farm  of  the 
latter's  son,  Joseph,  in  1770,  and  sold  in  small  lots  to  William, 
James,  Joseph,  and  Thos.  Rowland,  Ezra  Stone,  John  Alger  and 
others  who  cleared  the  lands  and  made  their  home  there.  Ezra 
Stone  lived  where  the  stone  house  is  now  located,  half  a  mile 
east  of  the  present  Singleton  house. 

In  February,  1773,  Jacob  Eddy  bought  a  lot  of  Joseph  Eddy 
and  built  a  house  on  what  is  usually  known  as  the  King  place, 
about  a  half  a  mile  south  of  the  sanatorium  on  the  location  of 
the  present  vegetable  garden.  Hoziel  Hopkins  bought  this  place 
of  Jacob  Eddy,  Oct.  29,  1773,  and  lived  there  nearly  20  years. 
One  of  Joseph  Eddy's  hunting  experiences  in  this  region  is  thus 
recorded  in  the  proceedings  of  the  General  Assembly,  Feb.  26, 
1739-40:  "Whereas  Joseph  Eady  of  Gloucester,  in  the  County 
of  Providence,  produced  a  certificate  from  Andrew  Brown,  Esq., 
a  Justice  of  the  Peace,  in  said  Gloucester,  that  he  had  presented 
to  his  view  an  old  wolf's  and  seven  young  creature's  heads, 
which  the  said  Eady  made  oath,  were  wolve's  heads,  and  that  he 
killed  the  old  wolf  and  destroyed  the  young  ones,  all  within  this 
government ;  It  is  thereupon  resolved,  that  the  bounty  on  the  old 
wolf's  head  be  allowed,  and  no  more,  it  being  uncertain  whether 
the  young  creatures  were  wolves  or  not.  God  save  the  King." 
The  reader  will  readily  appreciate  this  legislative  dilemma,  but 
must  draw  his  own  conclusions  as  to  whether  the  difficulty  was 
due  to  the  cunning  of  Joseph  Eddy,  the  scepticism  of  Justice 
Brown,  or  to  the  wolf  with  atypical  offspring. 

The  HigJnvay. 

On  April  13,  1772,  on  the  petition  of  Enoch  Whipple  and 
others  for  a  highv/ay  from  Allum  Pond  Hill  to  Pascoag,  the 
Glocester  Town  Council  appointed  Joseph  Eddy,  Jonathan 
Harris  and  Thomas  Herendeen.  a  committee  to  lay  out  the  road 
and  report.  On  October  19th  of  the  same  year,  the  return  of  the 
highway  was  accepted.  The  highway  leading  by  the  Sanatorium 
buildings  was  built  shortly  before  June,  1793,  when  it  is  men- 
tioned in  an  old  deed  as  a  new  road.     Randall  Angell  said  that 


EARLY    EAST    GREENWICH    WILLS  55 

previously  there  had  heen  a  cart  path  from  Ballard's  mill  past 
his  house  to  Pascoag  over  much  the  same  course  as  the  present 
highway.  Before  Burrillville  was  set  off  from  Glocester.  Courts 
and  Town  meetings  were  sometimes  held  in  the  Smith  Greene 
house.     (First  one  on  the  hack  road  to  the  Putnam  pike.)^ 

1  Mrs.  George  Sly  so  quoted  her  father  in  a  statement  to  the  writer. 

[CONTINUED  IN  JULY  NUMBER] 


Abstracts  of 
Early  East  Greenwich  Wills 

contributed  by 
Norman  M.  Isham  and  Howard  W.  Preston 

[continued  from  january  number] 

Bennett,  William,  August  31,  1737; 

September  7,  1737. 
Ex.:     Sarah  Bennett,  widow. 

Appraisers;     Stuckley  Westcott,  John  Spencer,  Peleg  Spencer. 
Inventory,   500  pounds,    13s.    lid. 

I.  185 

Cunningham,  James,  mariner,  December  7,  1737 ; 

December  21,  1737. 
(late  of  Spanishtown, 

West  Indies) 
To   wife,   Elizabeth,  one  house  and   furniture. 
"     son,  James,  my  negro  boy. 
"     daughter,   Elizabeth,   one   negro   girl. 
The  residue  of  my  estate  to  my  son,  James. 
"     my  brother,  John  Markee,  my  sword. 
I    recommend   to   my   children   the   care   of  my   father,   Phillip 

Markee,  and  my  brother.  John  Markee. 
E.X.:     Phillip  Markee,  John  Markee,  both  of  Spanishtown,  and 
John  Brown  of  Newport,  Peleg  Spencer  and  his  son.  Benjamin 
Spencer  of  East  Greenwich. 
Test:     Robert  Estes  &  Jonathan  Remington,  Clement  Cooper. 

Inventory,  912  pounds,   19s.  9d. 

1,  189 


56  RHODE    ISLAND    HISTORICAL    SOCIETY 

Wever,  Clement,  yeoman,  October  16,  1736; 

April  8,  1738. 

To  my  son,  Jonathan  Wever,  and  heirs,  farm  where  on  I  now 
Hve,  which  is  137  acres,  with  all  houseing,  dwelling, 
fencings,  and  orchards,  and  all  appurtenances  there  unto 
belonging.  One  house  lot  in  East  Greenwich,  all  rights  in 
Mishneck  Swamp,  and  Menhungenet  Swamp  and  West 
Cenage,  and  all  my  other  out  lands,,  except  those  otherwise 
mentioned. 
"  my  son,  Clement,  and  heirs,  one  farm  and  lot  of  15  acres, 
housings,  fencings,  orchards  and  priveliges  there  unt 
belonging,  except  the  burying  place  of  my  honored  father, 
which  I  reserve  for  a  burying  place  for  myself  and  heirs. 
Also  land  in  Cowesett,  one  houselot  in  East  Greenwich, 
one  feather  bed  and  furniture,  one  cow,  one  chest.  In 
case  Clement  die  without  issue,  Jonathan  to  inherit  the 
land  in  Cowesett,  and  my  grandson,  Phillip  Wever,  to 
inherit  the  house  lot  in  the  new  town,  above  mentioned, 
the  goods  and  chattels  aforesaid  to  be  in  equal  parts 
inherited  by  my  daughter's  children.  Mary,  daughter,,  to 
succeed,  son,  Clement,  in  the  15  acres  of  land,  and  after 
her  death  her  son,  Clement,  and  his  heirs. 
"  my  daughter,  Mary  Wever,  80  pounds. 

"  son,  Gideon,  and  heirs,  all  land  which  I  bought  of 
Henry  Mattison,  in  East  Greenwich,  housings,  fencings,, 
orchards,  and  buildings,  one  house  lot  in  East  Greenwich, 
also  two  small  lots,  one  feather  bed  and  furniture,  one 
cow,  one  chest,  in  case  he  die  without  issue,  his  portion 
to  be  divided  among  son,  Jonathan's  children. 

To  my  wife,  Hannah  Wever,  all  my  household  goods  within 
doors,  to  have  equal  privileges  with  Jonathan  in  the  house 
and  in  all  movables,,  during  her  widowhood.  To  have  chief 
power  over  my  negro  man,  and  after  her  death,  or  mar- 
riage, negro  man  to  go  to  Jonathan. 

Ex.:     Hannah  Wever,  widow,  and  Jonathan  Wever,  son. 

Test:     Thomas  Wickes,  Dorcas  Casey,  Samuel  Casey. 

Inventory,    797   pounds,    15s.   Od. 

I,  196 

Wever,  Clement,  son  of  William  Wever,  December  31,  1737. 

Inventory,   147  pounds,  5s.  7d. 

I,  206 

Mackeen,  John,  April  14,  1738 ; 

May  27,  1738. 


Parish  Church  at  High   Lever,  Essex,   i",nj>l;nu!,  wiiero  Roger  Williams  and 
Mary  Barnard  were  married,   December  15,   1629 

Courtesy  of  Mrs.  Elizahetli  French  Bartlctt 


Gold  Rattle  owned  by  Gabriel  Bernon,  1644-1736. 
From  the  Museum  of  the  Rhode  Island  Historical  Society 


EARLY   EAST    GREENWICH   WILLS  57 

Sarah  Mackeen,  exec. 

Inventory,  95  pounds,  5s.  6d. 

I.  209 
Nicholas,  John,  July  29.  1738; 


Joseph  Nicholas,  exec. 
Inventory,  201  pounds,  6s.  2d. 


August  16,  1738. 


I.  213 

Davis,  John,  February  25,  1737/8. 

Martha,   widow,  exec. 
Inventory,  194  pounds,  15s.  6d. 

I.  223 
Johnson,  EUsha,  yeoman,  January  1,  1738/9 ; 

January  27,  1738/9. 
To   wife,  Deborah,    1/3    personal   estate.    1/3   use    of   profit   of 
real  estate. 
"  son,  Jonathan,  and  heirs,  my  fulling  mill  and  appurtenances, 
2  acres  of  land  in  said  town,  beginning  at  southmost  cor- 
ner of  said  farm,  extending  northward  along  the  highway 
until  a  line  easterly  parellel  with  Tentenbers',  as  they  now 
stand,  sixteen  feet  northward  of  said  Tentenbers,  to  extend 
the  same  course  easterly  until  a  southward  line  will  cross 
the  middle  of  the  old  cellar  whereon  the  old  house  stood, 
so  as  to  extend  to  Samuel  Davis'  land  aforesaid,  all  privi- 
leges  and  appurtenances   there  unto  belonging. 
"  son,  Elisha,  5  pounds. 
"       "     Benjamin,  5  shillings. 

"       ■'     Israel,    and    heirs,    my    farm    which    I    purchased    of 
Clement    Wever,   227    acres,    all    privileges    and    appurten- 
ances. 
■'  son,  Elisha,    and    heirs,   all    other   lands   and   tenements,   at 

age  of  21. 
"     daughter.  Elizabeth,  all  use  and  profits  of  said  land  during 
Elisha's  minority. 
"  six  daughters,  Elizabeth,  Deborah,  Jemima,  Amy.  Free- 
love,    and   Phoebe,    each,    one    feather    bed    and    furniture, 
thereunto  belonging. 
Ex.:     Deborah,  widow,  and  son,  Elisha. 
Test:     Pardon  Tillinghast,   Alice   Tillinghast,  John  Jenkins. 

Inventory,  248  pounds,  18s.  8d. 

I,  226 

[CONTINUED  IN  THE  JULY, NUMBER] 


58  RHODE   ISLAND    HISTORICAL   SOCIETY 

Report  of  the  Treasurer 

GENERAL  ACCOUNT  FOR  THE  YEAR  1921. 

Edward  K.  Aldrich,  Jr.,  Treasurer,  in  account  zvith  the  Rhode  Island 

Historical  Society.    For  current  account,  viz. : 

Dr. 

Cash  on  Hand  January  1,  1921  : 

In  Providence  Institution  for  Savings $832  00 

"    Rhode  Island  Hospital  Trust  Company 287  00 

"    National   Exchange   Bank 547  45 

"    National    Bank    of    Commerce     (Checking    Ac- 
count)    30  61 

"    National    Bank   of   Commerce    (Special   Account 

No.  1)    435  60 

"    National    Bank   of    Commerce    (Special   Account 

No.  2)    1,364  73 

"    Rhode    Island    Hospital    Trust    Co.    (balance    of 

James  H.  Bugbee  Fund) 149  58 

"    Industrial  Trust  Co.  (Franklin  Lyceum  Memorial 

Fund)   734  52 

Special  Account  No.  1,  U.  S.  Treasury  Certificates.  2,013  23 

Checks  and  Postoflfice  Money  Order 1 1  50 

$6,406  22 

Receipts  from  Annual  Dues $1,757  00 

"      Books 67  79 

"      Expenses  17  25 

"            "      Franklin  Lyceum  Memorial  Fund  In- 
terest      29  66 

"      Interest  and  Dividends 3,507  82 

"            "      Newspaper  Account  45  46 

Publications    1 10  75 

"      Rental  of  Rooms 29  00 

"       State   Appropriation    1.500  00 

"            "       Special  Account  No.  1 544  11 

"       Special  Account  No.  2 10  06 

"       Special  Account  No.  3 2,789  36 

"            "      James  H.  Bugbee  Fund  (Interest)...  5  26 

"       Supplies  10  00 

"             "       Telephone    3  85 

"  "      James  H.  Bugbee  Fund   (Balance  of 

Principal)    3,000  00 

"            "      Investments    211  66 

13,639  03 

$20,045  25 


REPORT    OF    THE   TREASURER  en 

Cr. 

^^^^^   $40  00 

2'"dmg    ..,,  ^^ 

Book's  537  &) 

Books   (Colonial  Dames  Fund) {^50 

Electric  Lighting    17  62 

Exhibitions   107  4  S 

Expenses  268  76 

Franklin  Lyceum  Memorial  Fund 16  50 

F"el    513  76 

Gas   8  40 

Grounds   and    Building 175  26 

Investments    4,105  21 

Janitorial  Services    326  65 

Newspaper  Account  129  46 

Publications    849  92 

Salaries    3,366  00 

Supplies   171  95 

Telephone   59  18 

Water  8  00 

Special  Account  No.  1 892  48 

Special  Account  No.  2 830  25 

Special  Account  No.  3 42  16 

State  Appropriation  for  Marking  Historical  Sites...  15  00 

Calvin  Monument  Fund 10  00 

$12,845  12 

Cash  on  Hand  December  31.  1921  : 

In  Providence  Institution  for  Savings $832  00 

"    Rhode  Island  Hospital  Trust  Company 287  00 

"    National    Bank   of    Commerce    (Special   Account 

No.  1)    87  43 

"    National    Bank   of   Commerce    (Special   Account 

No.  2)    544  54 

"    National    Bank   of    Commerce    (Special   Account 

No.  3  2,747  20 

"    National   Exchange   Bank 281  40 

"    Rhode  Island  Hospital  Trust  Company   (balance 

of  James  H.  Bugbee  Fund) 28  45 

Special  Account  No.  1,  U.  S.  Treasury  Certificates..  2.017  87 

Check  125  00 

In  National  Bank  of  Commerce  (Checking  Account)  249  24 

7,200  13 

$20,045  25 


60  RHODE    ISLAND    HISTORICAL   SOCIETY 


REPORT  OF  THE  TREASURER. 

Edward  K.  Aldrich,  Jr.,  Treasurer,  in  account  with  the  Rhode  Island 

Historical  Society. 

January  1,  1922. 

Liabilities. 

Grounds  and  Buildings $25,000  00  $25,000  00 

Permanent  Endowment  Fund : 

Samuel   M.  Noyes $12,000  00 

Henry  J.  Steere 10,000  00 

James  H.  Bugbee 6,000  00 

Charles  H.  Smith 5.000  00 

Charles  W.  Parsons 4,000  00 

William  H.  Potter 3,000  00 

Esek  A.  Jillson 2.000  00 

Jolin  Wilson  Smith 1,000  00 

William  G.  Weld 1,000  00 

Charles  C.  Hoskins 1,000  00 

Charles  H.  Atwood 1,000  00 

$46,000  00 

Publication  Fund : 

Ira  B.  Peck $1,000  00 

William  Gammell 1,000  00 

Albert   J.    Jones 1,000  00 

William  Ely 1,000  00 

Julia  Bullock 500  00 

Charles  H.   Smith 100  00 

$4,600  00 

Life  Membership  Fund $4,700  00    $4,700  00 

Franklin  Lyceum  Memorial  Fund 734  52        734  52 

Special  Account  No.    1    (National  Bank  of   Com- 
merce)     87  43  87  43 

Special  Account  No.  2    (National   Bank  of   Com- 
merce)            544  54        544  54 

Special  Account  No.   3    (National   Bank  of   Com- 
merce)         2,747  20     2,747  20 

Special  Account  No.  1,  U.  S.  Treasury  Certificates.      2,017  87     2,017  87 

$86,431  56 
Accumulated  Surplus    9,840  17 


5,271  73 


REPORT    OF   THE   TREASURER  6l 


Assets. 
Investments : 

Grounds  and  Building $25,000  00 

$6,000.00  Bonds,  Minneapolis,  Lyndale  &  Min- 

netonka  Railway  5,850  00 

$4,000.00  Bonds,   Cedar  Rapids   Manufacturing 

&  Power  Company 3,228  88 

$3,000.00  Bonds,  The  Cleveland  Electric  Illu- 
minating Company  2,565  42 

$500.00  Bond,  Western  Electric  Company,  Inc.        497  69 
125  Shares,  New  York  Central  Railroad  Com- 
pany        12,500  00 

111  Shares,  Pennsylvania  Railroad  Company..      7,188  45 
30  Shares,  Lehigh  Valley  Railroad  Company.      2,112  50 
6  Shares,  Lehigh  Valley  Coal  Sales  Company        241  85 
40  Shares,  Milwaukee     Electric     Railway     & 

Light  Company,  preferred 3,900  00 

55  Shares,  American  Telephone  &  Telegraph 

Company    7,123  61 

60  Shares,  Providence  Gas  Company 5,005  68 

Mortgage.  P.  A.  and  H.  A.  Cory 2,975  00 

10  Shares,  Duquesne  Light  Company,  preferred      1,060  00 
$1,000.00  Bond,  Denver   Gas   &  Electric  Com- 
pany             950  00 

$1,000.00  Bond.  Columbus    Railway,    Power    & 

Light  Company  970  00 

30  Shares,  Merchants  National  Bank 1,800  00 

45  Shares,  Blackstone  Canal  National  Bank...      1,050  00 

$1,000.00  Liberty  Bond  (U.  S.)  2nd,  4^ 956  19 

$100.00  Liberty  Bond  (U.  S.),  Victory 100  00 

5  Shares,  Narragansett  Electric  Lighting  Com- 
pany            28500 

$3,400.00  Liberty  Bonds  (U.  S.),  4th,  4^ 2,976  81 

Participation  Account  in  Industrial  Trust  Com- 
pany, Franklin  Lyceum  Memo- 
rial Fund 734  52 

$64,071  60 


62  RHODE    ISLAND    HISTORICAL    SOCIETY 

Cash  on  hand : 

In  Providence  Institution  for  Savings $832  00 

"    Rhode  Island  Hospital  Trust  Company....  287  GO 

"    National   Exchange   Bank 28140 

"    National  Bank  of  Commerce  (Checking  Ac- 
count)       249  24 

"    National  Bank  of  Commerce    (Special  Ac- 
count No.  1 ) 87  43 

"    National  Bank  of  Commerce    (Special  Ac- 
count No.  2) 544  54 

"    National  Bank  of  Commerce    (Special  Ac- 
count No.  3)   2.747  20 

"    Rhode     Island     Hospital     Trust     Company 

(Jam.es  H.  Bugbee  Fund,  balance) 28  45 

Special  Account  No.  1,  U.  S.  Treasury  Certificates.  2,017  87 

Check  125  00 

$7,200  13 


Total   Assets    $96,271  7i 

Respectfully  submitted 

EDWARD  K.  ALDRICH,  Jr. 

Treasurer 

Providence,  R.  I.,  January  7th,  1922. 

Examined  vouchers  and  securities  compared  and  found  to  agree. 

HORATIO  A.  HUNT 
HENRY  W.  SACKETT 
ARTHUR  P.  SUMNER 

Auditing   Committee 


Notes 

The  following  persons  have  been  elected  to  membership  in 
the  Society : 

Mrs.  Duncan  Hunter.  Mrs.  John  F.  Marvel.  Mr.  Walter 
Everett  French,  Mr.  Henry  M.  Sessions,  Mr.  John  F.  Murphy 
and  Mr.  John  Krawczuk. 

During  December,  1921,  and  January,  1922,  the  Society  held 
a  loan  exhibition  of  old  signboards.  Over  30  signboards  were 
exhibited,  it  being  the  largest  exhibition  of  its  kind  ever  held  in 
Rhode  Island  and  probably  ever  held  in  New  England.  In  con- 
nection  with   this   exhibition,.  Professor   Wilfred    H.    Munro, 


NOTES 


63 


L.H.D.,  delivered  an  interesting  talk  on  Tuesday  evening  Jan- 
uary 24,  1922. 

Illustrated  accounts  of  the  exhibition  appeared  in  the  Provi- 
dence Sunday  Journal,  December  18,  1921.  and  in  the  Boston 
Evening  Transcript,  Saturday,  February  4,  1922. 

The  following  persons  kindly  loaned  their  property  for  this 
exhibition : 

George  T.  Spicer,  M.D.,  Mr.  Russell  Grinnell, 

Mr.  Howard  M.  Chapin,  Mr.  William  S.  Stone, 

Charles  V.  Chapin,  M.D.,  Mr.  x\lbert  M.  Read. 

G.  Alder  Blumer,  M.D.,  Mrs.  William  A.  Spicer. 

Mr.  George  C.  Dempsey,  Mr.  C.  E.  Macfarlane, 

Mr.  Raymond  E.  Ostby,  Mr.  Samuel  M.  Nicholson, 

Mr.  Ulysses  G.  Bowen,  Mr.  H.  Martin  Brown. 

Miss  Ann  Hoyle.  Miss  Mary  L.  Potter, 

Mr.  Bautelle,  Mr.  C.  W.  Farnum, 

Pawtucket  Chapter,  D.  A.  R.,    Anawan  House. 
Attleboro  Chapter,  D.  A.  R.,     Rehoboth  Antiquarian  Society. 
Vernon  Stiles  Inn,  Ben  Grosvenor  Inn. 

Two  more  fire  buckets  have  been  added  to  our  ^^luseum,  the 
gift  of  Mrs.  Rebecca  F.  Bradford.  They  are  l)oth  inscribed 
/.  Angell. 

Mr.  H.  H.  Rogers  of  the  Standard  Oil  Company  has  pre- 
sented to  the  Society  the  Revolutionary  War  Muster  Roll  of 
Capt.  Elizah  Lewis'  Company. 

The  record  book  of  the  Warren  and  Barrington  Toll  Bridge 
Company,  1857-70,  is  the  gift  of  Mr.  Fred  A.  Arnold. 

The  objects  found  in  the  excavations  at  Arnolda.  Charlestown. 
R.  I.,  which  were  described  and  illustrated  in  the  January  issue 
of  the  Collections,  are  now  on  exhibition  at  the  Society's  build- 
ing. Through  the  kindness  of  Mr.  T.  L.  Arnold,  the  greater 
number  of  these  relics  have  been  presented  to  the  Society. 

At  the  Annual  Meeting  of  the  Society  held  in  January.  Prof. 
Harry  L.  Koopman  read  a  chaj^ter  of  his  poem.  "Hesperia.''^ 
entitled.  "Valor:  The  Nation's  Honor  Vindicated  in  Barbary." 
dealing  with  the  war  between  the  United  States  and  the  Algerian 
Pirates. 


64  RHODE    ISLAND    HISTORICAL    SOCIETY 

The  January  issue  of  the  Bulletin  of  the  Newport  Historical 
Society  contains  an  extensive  and  valuable  account  of  Early 
Rhode  Island  Grist  Mills. 

Roger  Williams'  Marriage. 

The  marriage  record  of  Roger  Williams  has  recently  been 
discovered  by  Mrs.  Elizabeth  (French)  Bartlett  and  through 
her  courtesy  is  for  the  first  time  printed. 

It  is  recorded  in  the  parish  register  of  High  Lever,  Co.  Essex, 
as  follows : 

"1629  Roger  Williams  clarke  and  Mary  Barnard 
were  married  the  15th  day  of  Decern:  anno  dom 
1629" 
A  previous  discover}-  of  I\Irs.  Bartlett  in  regard  to  this  mat- 
ter was  printed  in  the  Collections  for  October,  1918. 


Rhode  Island 

Historical    Society 

Collections 


CONTENTS 


The  Wallum  Pond  Estates  (Continued) 
By  Harry  Lee  Barnes 


Notes 


Vol.  XV  July,  1922  No.  3 


PAGE 


The  Inscribed  Rocks  of  Narragansett  Bay 

By  Edmund  B.  Delabarre  ^^ 


// 


94 


$3.00  per  year  Issued  Quarterly  75  cents  per  copy 


RHODE 
HISTORICAL 


ISLAND 
SOCIETY 


COLLECTIONS 


Vol.  XV 


July,  1922 


No.  3 


Howard  W.  PRESTON,Presiden(      EDWARD  K.  ALDRICH,  Jr.  .Treasurer 
GEORGE  T.  SPICER,  Secretary        HOWARD  M.  CHAPIN,  Librarian 


The  Society  assumes  no  responsibility  for  the  statements  or  the 
opinions  of  contributors. 


The  Inscribed  Rocks  of  Narragansett  Bay 

By  Edmund  B.  Delabarre 

V.    The  "Written -Rocks"  at  Tiverton 

The  town  of  Tiverton,  lying  across  the  Sakonnet  River  from 
Portsmouth,  was  once,  like  the  latter,  a  centre  for  the  activities 
of  the  ancient  rock-inscribers.  There  is  evidence  that  there  was 
formerly  a  considerable  number  of  rocks  in  Tiverton  whose 
surfaces  served  as  tablets  for  the  primitive  engraver.  Some  of 
them  have  been  destroyed,  some  used  in  constructing  stone  walls 
or  foundations,  some  covered  dee])  with  the  debris  of  storms,  so 
that  now  there  is  only  one  exposed  to  view.  By  the  aid  of  the 
chart  published  in  a  previous  paper\  and  of  the  photographs 
that  accompany  this  one-,  it  will  be  easy  to  find  it.  The  mam 
road  from  Fall  River  to  Sakonnet  passes  near  the  place,  which 
is  about  five  miles  south  of  the  Stone  Bridge,  and  a  short  dis- 


1  These  Collections.  Jan.  1921,  xiv.  17;  lower  chart  of  Plate  XIV 

2  Plate  XVIII.     The  writer  is  indebted  to  Mr.  John  R.   Hess  tor 
these  photographs. 


66  RHODE    ISLAND    HISTORICAL    SOCIETY 

tance  southwest  of  Tiverton  Four  Corners.  Leaving  the  main 
road  near  the  latter  place,  a  by-road  leading  westerly  is  taken, 
either  the  one  just  north  or  equally  well  the  one  just  south  of 
Nonquit  Pond.  This  is  followed,  with  the  necessary  turns  as 
indicated  on  the  chart,  until  we  pass  the  wharf  south  of  Fog- 
land  Point  and  proceed  nearly  to  High  Hill,  walking  down  to 
the  beach  just  before  the  latter  is  reached.  A  short  distance 
from  High  Hill,  on  the  next  little  point  north  of  it,  about  oppo- 
site the  number  16  that  appears  as  a  depth-indication  on  the 
chart,  is  a  group  of  large  "graywacke"  or  sandstone  boulders  on 
the  shore  between  the  low  and  the  high  water  levels.  The  only 
one  of  these  that  is  inscribed  is  marked  with  an  X  in  the  photo- 
graph showing  the  appearance  of  the  group,  and  is  thus  readily 
identified.  It  is  the  most  southerly  and  farthest  in-shore  of  the 
larger  boulders.  North  of  this  group,  about  half-way  to  the 
wharf,  is  a  ledge  of  similar  rock,  with  a  fish-weir  at  its  south- 
erly end. 

A  very  striking  feature  of  the  situation  consists  in  the  enor- 
mous masses  of  water- worn  stones  that  cover  the  beach  and 
rise  up  in  thick  deposits  behind  the  group  of  boulders.  The 
photograph  shows  their  appearance  better  than  words  can 
describe  it.  Some  of  the  inscribed  boulders  that,  as  late  at 
least  as  1835,  were  plainly  exposed  to  view,  now  lie  completely 
buried  by  these  storm-tossed  fragments.  The  spot  impressed 
Dr.  Webb,  when  he  viewed  it,  as  apparently  "one  of  Nature's 
favorite  battle  grounds ;  and  the  great  masses  of  rock  scattered 
around  and  piled  upon  one  another,  near  by,  indicate  the  rav- 
ages which  at  some  distant  period  here  took  place.  The  inroads 
made  upon  most  of  these  bowlders,  by  the  action  of  winds,  and 
tides  and  storms,  are  strongly  evidenced  by  the  singularly  cellu- 
lated  or  honeycombed  appearance  they  present."  He  expressed 
the  opinion  that  the  great  September  gale  of  1815  was  respon- 
sible for  serious  damage  to  the  inscriptions,  since  "the  water 
swept  with  such  tremendous  violence  and  power  over  the  ground 
where  the  Inscription-Monuments  are  situated,  that  it  bore 
along  with  it  rocks,  and  sand  and  gravel,  which  so  ground  in 
upon  the  faces  of  them  as  to  occasion  their  present  impaired 


THE    INSCRIBED    ROCKS    OF    NARRAGANSETT    BAV  67 

condition."^  But  though  thus  injured,  none  of  the  rocks  were 
then  covered  by  the  piles  of  loose  stones.  This  had  happened, 
however,  by  1868.  when  Dr.  Samuel  A.  Green  rejxjrted  that  he 
could  find  only  one  of  them'-.  The  present  owner  of  the  place, 
Mr.  Leon  F.  Almy,  tells  me  that  about  ten  years  ago  the  beach 
back  of  the  rock  was  washed  up  two  or  three  feet  higher  than 
before.  Both  he  and  the  writer  have,  at  different  times,  thrown 
aside  considerable  quantities  of  the  overlying  stones  in  the 
endeavor,  as  yet  unsuccessful,  to  uncover  additional  inscrip- 
tions ;  but  a  year  later  the  stones  had  been  washed  back  again. 
Evidently  the  spot  is  still  "one  of  Nature's  favorite  battle 
grounds" ;  and  we  may  well  hope  that  in  her  changing  moods 
she  may  some  day  wash  away  these  obstructing  stones  and  again 
reveal  the  missing  inscriptions. 

The  single  inscription  now  observable  is  on  a  nearly  plane 
surface  of  rock  measuring  about  four  by  seven  feet,  inclined  a 
little  to  the  north  of  west  at  an  angle  of  23°  to  the  horizontal. 
The  lines  are  pecked  in,  with  a  depth  usually  of  2  to  5,  though 
occasionally  as  much  as  8  millimeters.  One  possibly  artificial 
cup  near  the  center  is  15  millimeters  deep  and  60  in  diameter. 
On  account  of  the  conditions  of  lighting,  it  is  difficult  to  secure 
photographs  which  show  the  carvings  clearly.  Probably  the 
one  here  presented,  in  Plate  XVIII,  is  as  successful  as  any  that 
could  be  made  without  artificial  lighting.  It  was  taken  on 
October  29.  1919,  just  at  sunset  of  a  day  without  clouds  or  mist, 
with  the  light  glancing  low  across  the  face  in  such  manner  as 
to  throw  the  figures  into  the  greatest  possible  relief,  and  with 
the  daylight  supplemented  slightly  by  a  not  very  successfully 
working  flashlight. 

Examination  of  the  rock  itself,  and  comparison  of  these  pho- 
tographs with  the  earlier  drawings  of  Plates  XIX  and  XX. 
show  several  features  of  interest.  The  most  prominent  and 
certain  artificial  markings  are  a  figure  shaped  like  the  number 
4,  an  oval  or  diamond  with  central  dot.  an  ill-shaped  X.  some 
zigzags,  and  finally  the  crude  figure  of  a  man.  about  two  feet  in 


1  Antiquitates  Americanae,  1837,  p.  403. 

2  Proc.  Amer.  Antiqu.  Soc.,  Oct.  21,  1868,  p.  13. 


68  RHODE  ISLAND  HISTORICAL  SOCIETY 

length,  with  cross-lines  running  from  each  shoulder  to  opposite 
hip.  Mr.  Almy  thinks  that  the  man  is  represented  as  hanging 
from  a  gibbet,  and  there  is  some  faint  suggestion  of  this  in  the 
drawing  of  1768.  The  surface  of  the  rock  above  the  inscribed 
portion  and  to  a  slight  extent  below  it  is  deeply  and  intricately 
pitted  and  honeycombed,  and  is  evidently  soft  enough  to  have 
been  subjected  to  great  decay  and  wear.  But  the  inscribed  sur- 
face itself  is  of  more  resistant  material,  and  clearly  has  suffered 
little  in  the  course  of  150  years.  Stiles'  careful  drawing  shows 
not  only  the  artificial  lines  but  also  many  of  the  natural  pittings 
and  fiakings  of  the  surface  "incrustation,"  distinguished  by  dots 
between  the  lines.  These  features  remain  now,  in  size,  shape 
and  position,  almost  exactly  what  they  were  in  his  day.  The 
"graywacke"  of  this  boulder  is  very  similar  to  that  of  Dighton 
Rock  and  the  other  inscribed  rocks  of  this  region.  It  has  often 
been  asserted  that  the  rate  of  wear  of  these  surfaces  is  very 
rapid  and  that  the  consequent  gradual  disappearance  of  the 
carvings  is  easily  perceptible  even  in  a  single  lifetime.  For 
Dighton  Rock  I  reached  the  conclusion  that  this  is  a  psycholog- 
ical impression  only,  and  that  actual  erosion  is  so  slow  as  to 
have  made  no  appreciable  change  in  the  appearance  of  the  fig- 
ures since  the  time  of  their  earliest  observation.  The  fortunate 
circumstance  that  in  this  case  Stiles  depicted  the  more  prominent 
natural  features  of  the  surface  a  hundred  and  fifty  years  ago, 
enables  us  to  prove  that,  in  spite  of  its  exposure  to  unusually 
severe  batterings  by  storm,  stones  and  ice,  the  Tiverton  rock 
has  suffered  little,  and  thus  strongly  supports  the  same  belief 
concerning  the  other  rocks  also. 

Mr.  Almy  informs  me  that  "this  property  has  never  been  out 
of  my  family  since  the  settlement  of  this  State,  and  has  been 
handed  down  from  father  to  son  with  the  single  exception  that 
I  took  it  from  my  uncle.  In  questioning  my  grandfather,  Sam- 
uel E.  Almy,  Sr.,  who  was  born  in  1800,  he  told  me  that  no  one 
as  far  back  as  he  could  inquire  of  his  ancestors  could  name  the 
origin  of  these  markings,  and  it  had  always  been  referred  to  in 
the  family  as  the  'Writing  Rock'." 

We  have  already  learned  that  Dr.  Ezra  Stiles,  while  minister 


THE    INSCRIBED    ROCKS    OF    NARRAGANSETT    BAY  69 

at  Newport  and  even  later  when  he  was  President  of  Vale  Col- 
lege, was  intensely  interested  in  sculptured  rocks,  and  visited, 
described  and  made  drawings  of  all  that  were  reported  to  him 
which  he  could  easily  reach.  His  manuscript  notes  and  draw- 
ings, which  he  called  his  "Itinerary,"  so  far  as  they  deal  with 
this  particular  subject,  have  never  heretofore  been  published, 
and  yet  are  of  large  importance  for  thorough  study  of  these 
monuments.  So  far  as  we  know,  he  was  the  first  person  who 
investigated  the  "Written  Rocks,"  as  he  called  them,  in  Tiver- 
ton. He  went  there  first  a  year  after  his  first  inspection  of  the 
Dighton  and  Portsmouth  rocks,  arriving  on  June  6,  1768,  and 
lodging  with  Mr.  John  Almy,  son  of  Col.  Job  Almy,  who  died 
in  1767.  Mr.  Almy  was  deaf,  and  consequently  Dr.  Stiles  wrote 
down  in  his  Itinerary  (volume  ii,  page  345)  certain  questions 
which  he  wished  to  ask  him.  We  can  infer  from  the  context  the 
answers  that  he  received.  Including  these  within  brackets,  the 
following  is  the  record  of  their  conversation : 

"  'Please  to  tell  me  how  I  may  find  the  Rock  markt  with 
Characters  in  your  Farm.'  [Location  of  two  or  more  such 
rocks  given  by  Mr.  Almy.]  *Do  you  know  any  other?'  ['Yes; 
but  it  has  been  destroyed.']  'How  long  ago?'  ['Six  years.'] 
'1762?'  ['Yes.]  Cut  it  up  for  Whetstones  &  sent  to  Nova 
Scotia.'  " 

On  the  following  day,  Stiles  made  drawings  of  the  inscrip- 
tions on  two  rocks  in  his  ItineraryS  preceding  them  by  the  fol- 
lowing remark :  "Rocks  marked,  on  the  late  Col.  Almys  Farm, 
about  a  hundred  Rods  below  Fogland  in  Tiverton,  Rh.  Isld. 
The  Stones  are  soft  grit.  &  have  suffered  by  time."  Underneath 
each  drawing  are  several  indications  of  dimensions;  and  under- 
neath the  second  is  the  statement :  "A  Third  Stone  obliterated 
and  two  other  small  Stones." 

In  the  fourth  volume  of  the  Itineraries  are  several  notes  made 
twenty  years  later.  On  page  215.  under  date  of  September  15, 
1788,  is  his  memorandum,  previously  referred  to,  to  "take  off 
a  new  copy  of  the  characters"  here  and  elsewhere.    On  page  254 


1  Volume  ii.,  pages  351,  352.    See  Plate  XIX. 


yO  RHODE  ISLAND  HISTORICAL  SOCIETY 

is  a  small  road-map  of  his  travels  about  this  time.  Near  "Col. 
Almys"  are  three  small  circles  with  numbers  between  them, 
doubtless  indicating  the  positions  of  the  rocks  and  their  distance 
apart,  probably  expressed  in  rods.  One  circle  appears  to  repre- 
sent a  prominent  boulder  or  ledge  on  the  bank.  At  a  distance 
of  "2"  rods  directly  west  is  another  circle,  representing  probably 
the  position  of  the  first  rock  whose  characters  he  copied ;  and 
at  a  distance  of  "6"  southwest  of  this  is  the  third  circle,  corre- 
sponding to  his  second  drawing,  taken  from  the  rock  now 
exposed  to  view.  We  know  from  the  description  given  later  by 
Webb  that  this  is  the  direction  in  which  the  two  rocks  lie  with 
reference  to  one  another.  But  no  one  has  ever  told  how  far 
apart  they  are.  Consequently,  if  ever  the  overlying  stones  get 
washed  away  again,  or  if  anyone  ever  has  the  patience  and 
energy  to  throw  them  ofif,  this  rather  uncertain  record  by  Stiles 
may  aid  in  locating  the  one  that  is  now  concealed  from  view. 
Below  this  map,  on  the  same  page,  is  his  final  note  concerning 
these  rocks:  "1788,  Sept.  29.  Rode  with  M"-  Patten  to  Tiver- 
ton. Dined  Al-^Corys — took  off  the  markt  Rocks  in  M'"  Jn^ 
Almys  Farm — lodged  at  M""  Almys  Aet  69  at  Punkataece^  30. 
Storm  NE.  Copying  more  Rocks — Storm  P.  M.  Taks  off 
Characters  at  Al--  Almys.  Oct.  1.  Left  IVP  Almys."  There 
is  a  brief  reference  to  this  same  visit  also  in  Stiles'  published 
"Literary  Diary"  (iii.  330),  with  mention  merely  of  "havs  stont 
one  day  to  take  off  Inscriptions  on  the  Rocks  at  Fogland  Ferry." 
The  drawings  made  on  this  occasion  are  not  preserved. 

When  Edward  A.  Kendall  compiled  his  "List  of  Indian 
Sculptures"  in  1809-,  he  erroneously  interpreted  Stiles'  man- 
uscripts as  indicating  two  localities  here  instead  of  one.  His 
item  11  reads:  "In  Narragansett  Bay,  on  the  lands  of  the  late 
Col.  Almy,  on  the  peninsula  of  Paucatuc,  on  the  east  side  of  the 
bay,  and  at  six  miles  from  the  shore;"  and  item  12:  "In  the 
same,  at  Tiverton."    Evidently  Paucatuc  should  have  been  writ- 

1  This  is  the  name  of  the  neck  lying  between  Nonquit  Pond  and 
Sakonnet  River.  Stiles  elsewhere  spells  it  "Punckatace,"  and  it  is  also 
sometimes  given  as  "Punkatest"  or  "Puncoteast." 

••  S'^e  these  Collectirns,  July,  1920,  xiii.  92;  Kendall's  Travels,  1809, 
iii.  221. 


THE    INSCRIBED    ROCKS    OF    NARRAGANSETT    BAY  7 1 

ten  Punkatace,  the  distance  mentioned  was  not  from  the  shore 
but  from  some  other  place  (probably  Newport),  and  with  these 
corrections  the  two  items  should  have  been  combined  into  one. 

Soon  after  the  Committee  of  the  Rhode  Island  Historical 
Society  had  finished  its  new  drawing  of  Dighton  Rock  for  Pro- 
fessor Rafn  in  1834,  it  began  to  seek  out  other  inscribed  rocks 
of  the  vicinity.  It  learned,  from  Kendall's  list  or  otherwise, 
that  there  were  such  rocks  in  Tiverton.  On  November  30, 
1834,  Dr.  Webb  reported  for  the  Committee  to  Rafn:  "None 
such  have  been  found  by  us.  The  one  in  Tiverton  we  have 
marked  [on  the  chart]  near  Howland's  Ferry  Bridge,  l)ecause 
we  apprehend  that  this  shared  the  fate  common  to  all  rocks  in 
that  vicinity  for  some  distance  around,  when  the  last  bridge  was 
built  at  that  place  in  1809,  which  was  constructed  by  dropping 
immense  quantities  of  stones  of  all  dimensions  into  the  water 
till  a  rampart  was  raised  above  the  surface  of  the  highest  tide. 
The  water  here  at  the  lowest  tide  is  fifty-one  feet."^  There 
appears  to  be  no  reason  to  believe,  however,  that  there  ever  was 
any  inscribed  rock  in  this  part  of  Tiverton.  On  May  26,  1835, 
William  A.  Staples  reported  to  the  trustees  of  the  Society  that 
he  had  found  and  visited  the  Inscription  Rocks  in  Tiverton; 
and  "the  secretary  was  requested  to  correspond  with  Dr.  Patten 
and  others  to  procure  a  copy  of  the  drawings  of  the  Inscription 
said  to  have  been  taken  in  1783  by  Dr.  Stiles."-  They  were 
not  successful  in  securing  copies  of  Stiles'  drawings.  But  Webb 
and  Bartlett  visited  the  rocks  on  the  18th  of  August,  made 
drawings  of  their  inscriptions,  and  on  October  31,  1835,  made 
the  following  report  to  Rafn : 

"The  inscriptions  are  on  masses  of  gray-wacke.  near  a  ledge 
of  the  same  rock,  occurring  on  the  shore  of  Mr.  Almy's  farm,  a 
short  distance  to  the  N.W.  of  the  High  Hill.  The  Drawings 
sent  marked  No.  4,  5  &  6  exhibit  the  present  condition  of  the 
Inscriptions.  No.  4  and  5  are  on  a  line  ranging  from  N.E.  to 
S.W.  No.  4  is  a  very  large  mass,  if  not  in  fact  a  continuous 
portion  of  the  ledge  near  by.    It  being  buried  in  the  ground,  we 


1  Antiqiiitates  Americanae.  p.  372. 

2  Manuscript  Records  of  the  Society,  July  Jl.  IbSx 


72  RHODE  ISLAND  HISTORICAL  SOCIETY 

were  unable  to  decide  the  point.  The  markings  are  on  its  upper 
surface,  which  is  incHned  at  an  angle  of  a  few  degrees  to  the  N. 
and  that  part  which  is  uncovered,  measures  8}^  feet  in  length 
and  6  feet  in  breadth.  It  is  utterly  impossible  for  us  to  con- 
jecture what  was  formerly  in  the  vacant  spaces ;  we  can  only 
state,  they  were  occupied  with  some  kind  of  characters.  The 
individual,  upon  whose  land  they  are,  thinks  there  was  never 
any  thing  but  human  figures  on  them ;  but  sufficient  even  now 
remains  to  prove  the  incorrectness  of  his  opinion ;  look,  for 
instance,  at  the  figure  resembling  somewhat  a  cross,  and  at  the 
one  a  little  below  it,  to  the  right.  This  rock  has  a  crevice  run- 
ning across  it  near  the  upper  left  hand  corner;  and  a  portion 
has  been  broken  away  at  the  upper  right  hand  corner.  The 
characters  on  another  lying  between  No.  4  and  No.  5  have 
become  entirely  obliterated.  Those  on  No.  5  faced  to  the  N.W. 
and  the  space  they  occupied  measured  4  feet  by  7  feet.  The 
human  figure  on  this  rock  is  more  distinct  and  perfect  than  the 
rest,  being  formed  on  a  much  larger  scale,  and  the  indentations 
being  deeper.  The  peculiarity  about  the  left  knee  will  not  escape 
your  notice.  No.  6  is  a  small  stone  of  a  schistose  structure 
lying  a  short  distance  to  the  S.  of  the  others,  and  might  be 
lifted  by  two  stout  men;  it  is  of  the  size  of  the  outline  sent,  on 
which  the  characters  are  represented  of  their  true  dimensions. 
These  are  formed  in  a  different  manner  from  the  others  and 
perhaps  are  of  a  different  origin ;  although  we  do  not  pretend  to 
decide  upon  the  matter ;  they  are  channelled  or  grooved,  and 
appear  to  have  been  made  by  a  chizzel  or  smooth  cutting  instru- 
ment. Previously  to  1815,  according  to  Mr.  Almy,  the  charac- 
ters were  so  plain,  that  they  could  be  clearly  distinguished  at 
some  distance  from  the  rocks.  .  .  .  The  distance  across, 
from  the  Tiverton  Rocks  to  the  Rhode  Island  shore  is  1^4 
mile  and  to  Newport  6^4  miles. "^  The  portions  of  the  letter 
here  omitted  discuss  the  obliterating  eft'ect  of  storms  and  have 
already  been  quoted. 


1  Antiquitates  Americanae,  p.  402.    See  also  this  Society's  manuscFipt 
Correspondence  and  Reports,  vol.  ii.,  pp.  49,  74. 


PETROGLYPHS  OF  NARRAGANSETT  BAY-PLATI.  X\  III 


J— EZ55!»i'5iSb^-'"-rj^  y 


^^-mA^: 


^^f^^ 


■:,*i» 


■^Hfi 


:^fV 


The    group    of    Tiverton    boulders    as    seen  from  the    south,    looking 
toward  Fogland  Point 


y 


-t 


;./ 


4V:ti>, 


riftij! 


Photograph  of  Tiverton  inscription  by  John  R.  Hess.  October  29.  1919. 

at  5  P.M. 


PETROGLYPHS  OF  NARRAGANSETT  BAY-PLATE  XIX 


"N>    - 


i>  o 


> 


^  ilk.  lJ^  3^^ 


(Stiles's  First  Drawing) 
(The  lowest  line  in  the  above  reads  F  8  Inc.  to  +) 


7r'< 


^ 


(Stiles's  Second  Drawing) 
Drawings  of  Tiverton  inscriptions  by  Ezra  Stiles.  June  7,  1768;  reproduced 
from  Stiles's  manuscript  Itineraries,  II.  351,  352. 


THE    INSCRIBED    ROCKS    OF    NARRAGANSETT    I!AV  73 

Instead  of  reproducing  the  Webb-Bartlett  drawings  as  given 
in  Tabella  XIII  of  Antiquitates  Americanae,  our  Plate  XX 
presents  the  originals  of  them  in  possession  of  the  Rhode 
Island  Historical  Society.  Like  the  Portsmouth  drawings,  these 
are  on  sheets  of  paper  measuring  15><  by  19^  inches,  and  are 
here  shown  much  reduced.  Almost  the  only  important  differ- 
ence between  them  and  the  reproductions  by  Rafn  is  that  the 
latter  erroneously  prints  "6x83^  feet"  underneath  Xo.  5 
instead  of  underneath  No.  4,  where  it  belongs,  and  thus  fails 
to  print  the  correct  "4  x  7  feet"  underneath  Xo.  5. 

The  only  further  report  upon  these  rocks  based  upon  personal 
inspection  that  we  possess  is  that  of  Dr.  Samuel  A.  Green  in 
1868,  already  cited.  Although  he  knew  that  three  sculptured 
rocks  had  been  found  here  by  Webb,  he  could  then  discover  but 
one  of  them.  "Of  the  missing  two  at  Tiverton,  one  is  known 
to  have  been  taken  away  several  years  ago  and  kept  as  a  curios- 
ity near  a  farm  house.  It  was  afterwards  built  into  a  wall  in 
such  a  way  that  the  pictured  face  could  not  be  seen.  .  .  . 
The  stone  at  Tiverton  is  a  mica-slate.  .  .  .  Many  of  the 
marks  are  still  distinct  and  well-defined,  and  perhaps  were  made 
by  the  same  tribe  that  made  those  on  Dighton  Rock.  They  are 
of  interest  as  early  specimens  of  rude  Indian  art." 

In  these  accounts,  there  is  evidence  that  at  least  six  rocks 
bearing  man-made  characters  were  once  included  in  this  Tiver- 
ton group.  Giving  them  arbitrary  numbers,  and  assuming  as 
few  as  possible,  they  were  as  follows:  1.  The  one  reported  to 
Stiles  as  having  been  cut  up  into  whetstones  in  1762  and  sent 
to  Nova  Scotia.  2.  The  first  of  Dr.  Stiles;  Webb's  No.  4;  now 
buried  deeply  underneath  the  stone-heaps  on  the  shore ;  perhaps 
to  be  sought  two  rods  west  of  a  prominent  rock  or  ledge  on  the 
bank,  and  six  rods  northeast  of  the  rock  still  exposed  to  view. 
3.  Webb's  stone,  with  characters  obliterated  between  his  No.  4 
and  No.  5 ;  probably  identical  with  the  "third  stone  obliterated" 
of  Dr.  Stiles;  now  buried  under  loose  stones.  4.  The  second  of 
Dr.  Stiles;  Webb's  No.  5;  the  one  now  visible  on  the  shore. 
5.  Webb's  No.  6,  originally  a  short  distance  to  the  south  of  his 
No.  5,  where  no  such  boulder  can  now  be  found,  although  there 


74  RHODE  ISLAND  HISTORICAL  SOCIETY 

are  no  overlying  stones  on  that  part  of  the  beach ;  perhaps  iden- 
tical with  one  of  Stiles'  "two  other  small  stones,"  and  with  the 
one  reported  by  Dr.  Green  as  having  been  removed  and  built 
into  a  stone  wall.  6.  The  second  of  Stiles'  "two  other  small 
stones"  ;  not  now  discoverable  ;  had  probably  disappeared  before 
1835. 

The  same  theories  that  we  discussed  at  length  as  having  been 
advanced  to  account  for  the  Portsmouth  Inscriptions^  apply 
here  also.  Dr.  Stiles  regarded  them  as  of  Phoenician  origin. 
Rafn  and  Magnusen  believed  that  they  were  made  by  the 
Northmen,  and  they  found  on  these  rocks  as  well  as  on  those  in 
Portsmouth  certain  characters  which  they  declared  to  be 
"unquestionable"  runic  letters.  These  were  tabulated  in  our 
Figure  3,  whose  numbers  7  to  13  belong  to  the  Tiverton  Rocks. 
Number  13  is  easily  seen  on  the  Webb-Bartlett  drawing  of  rock 
No.  5,  and  the  others  were  discovered  probably  on  drawing  No. 
4.  Comparison  with  the  Stiles  drawings  and  with  our  photo- 
graph shows  that  not  one  of  them  has  any  claim  to  acceptance 
as  a  character  actually  present  on  the  rocks.  They  are  probably 
almost  obliterated  and  wholly  doubtful  fragments  of  larger 
designs  now  indecipherable.  Bliss,  Wilhelmi,  Hermes  and 
Kunstmann  supported  the  Norse  view,  but  merely  as  expound- 
ers of  Rafn.  De  Costa  opposed  the  Norse  theory,  but  advanced 
no  other  opinion.  Bacon  was  cautious  and  non-committal, 
rather  inclining  to  believe  in  the  Northmen.  Strong  advocates 
of  the  belief  that  Indians  made  the  inscriptions  we  found  in 
Kendall,  Bartlett,  Winsor,  Green  and  Babcock'-'.  To  these  lat- 
ter we  must  add  E.  G.  Squier,  who  held  that  the  inscriptions  at 
Dighton,  Tiverton  and  Portsmouth  "do  not  seem  to  differ  mate- 
rially in  character"  from  the  many  other  Indian  pictographs 
that  he  had  observed'. 

There  are  two  additional  theories  which  have  been  applied  to 
these  Tiverton  rocks  without  the  usual  simultaneous  reference 

1  These  Collections,  July  1920,  xiii.  86-93. 

-  The  sources  for  all  of  these  opinions  are  fully  cited  in  the  writer's 
Bibliography  of  Dighton  Rock,  in  Publications  of  the  Colonial  Soc.  of 
Mass.,  1920,  xx.  438-462. 

•'•  Smithsonian  Contributions  to  Knowledge,  1847,  i.  298,  300. 


PETROGLYPHS  OF  NARRAGANSETT  BAY-PLATE  \.\ 


(Webb-Bartlett  Drawing  'No.  4.    6x8>i  feet") 


Ul-C.1  ti*_ 


'W/^ 


•<  Kr 


•^C7 


4-     ^^t) 


!  t-te  G  ud  ;I 


(Webb-Bartlett  Drawing  "No.  5.    4x7  feet") 


(Webb-Bartlett  Drawing  "No.  6") 
Drawings  of  Tiverton  inscriptions  by  John  R.  Bartlett.  August  18.  1835; 
reproduced  from  the  originals  in  possession  of  the  Rhode  Island  Historical 
Society. 


76  RHODE  ISLAND  HISTORICAL  SOCIETY 

to  those  at  Portsmouth,  and  which  consequently  we  did  not  men- 
tion in  discussing  the  latter,  although  their  supporters  would 
undoubtedly  have  considered  them  as  applying  equally  well 
there.  One  of  these  is  the  view  expounded  in  1824  by  John 
Finch  and  in  1888  by  James  N.  Arnold,  which  we  have  pre- 
viously alluded  to/  that  the  rocks  at  Tiverton  and  elsewhere 
are  Druidical  monuments.  The  other  is  the  equally  absurd 
belief  of  John  Whipple  that  there  are  no  artificial  characters  at 
all  on  these  rocks.  Dr.  Thomas  H.  Webb  is  authority  for  this 
fact,  in  a  letter  which  he  wrote  to  John  R.  Bartlett  on  February 
4.  1838:  "John  Whipple  laughs  at  the  whole  affair,  denies  that 
there  are  any  such  figures  as  we  represent  on  the  Tiverton 
Rocks,  having  visited  them  many  times,  that  there  are  hundreds 
of  just  such  rocks  in  our  Bay,  all  of  which  were  marked  by  the 
action  of  water,  stones,  &c,  and  that  these  markings  have  by  the 
conjurings  of  our  imaginations  been  fashioned  into  the  shapes 
delineated  on  our  plates.  He  considers  the  Inscription  Rocks, 
Animal  ^Magnetism,  &  Phrenology,  among  the  humbugs  of  the 
day."- 

We  need  have  no  hesitation  now  in  entertaining  the  convic- 
tion that  these  carvings  were  made  at  some  unknown  date  by 
the  aboriginal  inhabitants  of  the  region.  They  seem  to  be  exe- 
cuted in  the  characteristic  style  of  the  Indians,  now  familiar  to 
us  through  numerous  far-scattered  examples.  These  at  Tiver- 
ton, of  course,  as  in  every  other  individual  case,  have  a  content 
different  from  that  of  any  others.  They  include  a  large  num- 
ber of  rudely  executed  human  figures,  which,  though  not  lack- 
ing, are  much  less  numerous  on  other  rocks  of  our  region.  But 
these  appear  to  have  no  significant  grouping,  to  tell  no  story, 
and  are  probably  the  record  of  individual  fancy.  The  other 
markings  do  not  seem  to  be  representations  of  anything  definite, 
and  must  probably  be  classed  as  merely  whimsical  or  decorative 
scribblings. 


1  These  Collections,  January  1921,  xv.  20. 

2  Preserved  in  Letter-Book  of  John  R.  Bartlett  (unpublished),  now 
in  the  John  Carter  Brown  Library. 


THE   WALLUM    POND    ESTATES  77 

The  Wallum  Pond  Estates 
By  Harry  Lee  Barnes 

{Continued  front  April  Number) 
The  Revolution. 
On  September  19,  1776,  the  Town  Council  sought  to 
encourage  enlistments  for  the  protection  of  Newport  by  otYering 
3  pounds  as  a  bonus  in  addition  to  the  regular  pay  given  the 
State  troops  and  by  promising  to  replace  the  firearms  furnished 
by  each  soldier  if  it  should  be  taken  from  him  by  a  stronger 
power.  A  record  of  the  meeting  of  the  Town  Council  on  May 
5th,  1777,  shows  that  the  State  draught  included  the  following 
land-owners  of  the  AUum  Pond  neighborhood:  Ezra  Stone, 
Jeremiah  Ballard.  Jethro  Lapham,  John  Rowland,  Jr.,  James 
Stone  and  Thomas  Herendeen,  who  were  to  serve  under  Col. 
Chad  Brown. 

The  Jcnnes. 
Timothy  Jenne  of  Uxbridge,  Mass..  bought  Ballard's  sawmill, 
gristmill  and  other  property  Sept.  30.  1778.  During  the  next 
few  years  Jenne  cleared  the  land  on  his  farm,  the  extent  of  this 
clearing  being  greater  than  is  indicated  by  the  present  open 
space  about  the  Sanatorium  buildings.  The  land  west  of  the 
present  buildings  was  used  as  a  pasture  about  half  way  to  the 
Lake,  the  cattle  using  the  spring  just  below  the  \\'est  Ward. 
The  pine  grove  between  the  Sanatorium  buildings  and  the 
Superintendent's  cottage  and  the  one  south  of  the  sewage  plant 
have  gradually  grown  up  since  1858.  In  1786,  Timothy  Jenne's 
brother,  Seth,  a  carpenter,  came  to  Allum  Pond  and  bought  S^y^ 
acres  of  the  southern  part  of  the  Jenne  farm.  During  the  same 
year  the  Jenne  brothers  built  a  dam  and  mill  at  the  lowest  mill 
privilege  which  was  on  Seth's  land  and  but  a  stone's  throw  east 
of  the  present  boiler  house.  This  mill  privilege  was  soon  sold  in 
shares  often  as  small  as  sixteenths  to  John  Rowland.  John  Kim- 
ball, Daniel  Hunt  and  others,  who  sold  it  back  and  forth  to  each 
other  with  bewildering  frequency.  Many  owners  probably  sold 
their  shares  as  soon  as  they  had  got  out  what  lumber  they  wished 


78  RHODE  ISLAND  HISTORICAL  SOCIETY 

for  their  own  buildings.  Timothy  Jenne  sold  the  Ballard  mills 
and  dwelling  house  to  Chad  Field,  who  immediately  sold  it  to 
Jacob  Lathrop  and  Seth  Hayward.  In  order  to  safeguard  the 
lower  mill  privilege.  Jenne,  five  days  later,  bought  back  from 
Field  a  limited  privilege  couched  in  the  following  language :  "I 
Chad  Field  etc.,  do  grant  to  Seth  &  Timothy  Jenne  a  privilege 
to  draw  water  through  my  grist  mill  dam  to  support  a  sawmill 
at  all  times  when  the  water  is  above  the  lower  part  of  the  letter 
T  on  the  north  side  of  a  rock  at  the  upper  end  and  south  side  of 
the  South  ditch  where  the  water  runs  from  Allum  Pond  to  my 
grist  mill  and  I  do  bind  myself  to  keep  a  gate  sufficient  in  my 
gristmill  dam  to  dam  water  as  above  mentioned — I  bind  myself 
not  to  turn  the  water  out  of  the  place  where  it  now  runs  to  the 
sawmill  except  what  water  the  mill  makes  use  of  to  water  his 
land, — and  I  do  grant  a  privilege  to  turn  the  water  out  of  my 
grist  mill  pond  to  water  his  land  sufficiently  2  nights  in  a  week 
and  no  more  from  the  15th  day  of  the  4th  month  to  the  15th  day 
of  the  7th  month."  A  natural  outlet  to  the  pond  was  the  north 
ditch  which  led  by  a  gradual  descent  through  a  swamp  back  of 
the  place  which  is  now  O'Neil's  Camp.  This  outlet  was  not  suit- 
able for  the  development  of  water  power  and  was  stopped  by  an 
artificial  embankment  plainly  visible  from  the  pond  at  this  day. 
During  high  water  the  overflow  is  still  sufficient  to  fill  this  brook. 
On  June  5,  1793,  Timothy  Jenne  bought  back  from  Seth  Jenne 
about  an  acre  of  land  a  few  rods  below  the  lower  sawmill  as  a 
site  for  a  fulling  mill,  but  there  is  no  evidence  that  this  mill  was 
ever  built.  Timothy,  or  possibly  his  brother,  built  a  new  house 
near  the  site  of  the  first  Sanatorium  barn,  the  cellar  hole  of 
which  was  still  to  be  seen  when  the  Sanatorium  opened  in  1905. 
This  house  had  disappeared  before  1840,  according  to  old  resi- 
dents. Timothy  Jenne  probably  died  about  1812,  and  with  his 
wife,  Abigail,  and  some  of  his  seven  children,  were  said  to  have 
been  buried  in  the  little  burying  ground  which  was  located  under 
the  site  of  the  Sanatorium  East  \\'ard\  Some  of  the  old  head 
stones  were  marked  Jenne  and  skeletons  were  exhumed  during 

^  Statement  to  the  writer  by  Seth  Darling,  Michael  McDermott  and 
others. 


THE   WALLUM    POND   ESTATES  yg 

the  excavation  for  the  foundation  of  this  building.  William 
Green  claimed  that  a  burial  took  place  there  as  late  as  1850. 
Jacob  Jenne,  Timothy's  son,  married  Thos.  Rowland's  daughter, 
Dorcas,  who  lived  to  be  over  100  years  old.  It  is  of  some  hiter- 
est  to  know  that  an  inventory  of  Jacob  Jenne's  goods  at  his  death 
in  1816,  showed  1  bushel  of  corn  and  25  bushels  of  rye  but  no 
wheat  and  that  Dorcas  had  13  pewter  plates  valued  at  $1.50 
each,  9  pewter  spoons,  3  pewter  platters,  a  pair  of  weaving 
looms  and  warping  bars.  They  kept  2  cows,  a  pair  of  oxen,  a 
pig  and  2  geese. 

The  King  Place 
James  King  bought  the  place  where  the  Sanatorium  garden  is 
now  located,  of  Hoziel  Hopkins,  Feb.  5,  1793.  The  old  house 
was  a  few  feet  west  of  the  present  cellar  hole  and  the  barn  a 
little  farther  west.  Hopkins  and  King  cleared  the  land  to  the 
southward  about  half  the  way  to  the  Buck  Hill  road.  Either 
Hopkins  or  King  cleared  and  drained  the  large  swamp  to  the 
westward  where  the  cranberry  bog  is  now  located  by  ditching 
the  swamp  itself  and  also  by  turning  the  little  brook,  which 
enters  the  south  end  of  the  cranberry  bog,  eastward  across  the 
present  Sanatorium  garden^  and  the  highway  so  that  this  water 
reached  Clear  River  without  entering  the  swamp  or  the  \)o\m\. 
The  swamp  was  then  cultivated  and  was  very  fertile.  Samuel 
White  is  quoted  as  saying  that  it  grew  the  biggest  corn  of  any 
place  in  this  vicinity.  Considerable  land  was  cleared  east  of  the 
highway  where  the  old  apple  trees  may  still  be  seen.  At  this 
time  King  kept  a  lot  of  stock,  about  40  head,  according  to  Levi 
Darling,  and  for  many  years  he  owned  a  share  in  and  operated 
the  lower  sawmill  opposite  the  present  boiler  house.  He  died  on 
the  old  place,  his  will  being  probated  Jan.  2,  1819.  His  wife, 
Hannah,  and  daughter,  Keziah,  probably  lived  there  some  time 
afterward,  as  his  will  provided  that  his  son,  James,  should  keep 
one  cow  and  four  sheep  for  each  of  them  for  the  rest  of  their 
natural  lives.    James  King,  2nd,  lived  in  this  vicinity  until  1822. 


1  The  ditch  was  visible  until  filled  by  ploughing  a  few  years  ago. 


80  RHODE    ISLAND    HISTORICAL    SOCIETY 

when  he  moved  to  Pennsylvania.  The  old  King  house^  probably 
rotted  down  as  there  was  rotten  timber  but  no  house  there  after 
1840.  The  farm  came  into  the  possession  of  Dr.  Levi  Eddy, 
King's  son-in-law,  who  held  it  until  his  death  in  1844.  After 
passing  through  the  hands  of  Stephen  Arnold,  and  Enos  La- 
pham,  at  one  time  Lieutenant-Governor  of  the  State,  the  King 
place  was  bought  by  Benjamin  Green.  About  1852,  Green  built 
a  new  house  somewhat  nearer  the  road  where  the  cellar  hole  may 
yet  be  seen.  The  well  is  still  used  by  the  Sanatorium  farm 
employees.  Green  had  a  barn  or  shed  about  100  feet  to  the 
north  of  his  house.  The  Green  house  burned  down  while 
occupied  by  Edward  Wells  about  1893.  His  wife  had  left  the 
place  to  carry  her  husband's  dinner  and  returned  to  find  it  in 
flames.  The  Green  barn  was  moved  to  Pascoag  about  this  time. 
Whether  cranberries  were  present  in  the  old  bog  before  James 
King  drained  and  converted  it  into  a  cornfield  is  unknown,  but 
cranberries  were  growing  there  by  1848".  About  1860,  Green 
built  a  dam  high  enough  to  flood  the  bog  3  or  4  feet  to  prevent 
the  vines  being  frost  killed.  W.  H.  Green  claimed  that  over  500 
bu.  of  cranberries  were  raised  here  in  one  season. 

The  Azariah  Phillips  Place. 
Azariah  Phillips  bought  a  few  acres  of  land  northeasterly  of 
the  present  Sanborn  house,  Nov.  20,  1795,  and  built  a  small 
house.  He  was  a  cooper  by  trade  and  operated  a  lathe  to  get  out 
his  stock.  He  made  fiddles,  baskets,  old-fashioned  splint-bottom 
chairs  and  other  furnishings.  Azariah  Phillips  died  shortly 
before  Jan.  19,  1837,  at  which  time  his  will  was  probated.  His 
widow  afterward  kept  house  for  Randall  Angell  and  while 
picking  up  chips  was  killed  by  a  buck  sheep.  Benjamin  Sweet 
afterward  lived  in  this  house,  and  still  later  it  was  occupied  by 
negroes.  The  house  was  taken  down  by  Benjamin  Green  about 
1850.  when  ready  to  collapse. 


1  Statement  to  the  writer  by  Seth  Darling,  Wm.  Green  and  others. 
'  Thos.  Green  to  writer. 


THE    WALLUM    POND    ESTATES  8l 

First  Cotton  Mill. 
Bani  Phillips  bought  the  old  Ballard  gristmill  of  Hayward 
and  Lathrop,  Sept.  20,  1804,  and  Jan.  25,  1805.  respectively, 
and  soon  after  built  a  small  cotton  mill  on  this  site.  The  exact 
date  of  the  building  of  the  mill  is  not  known  but  must  have  been 
before  Oct.  12,  1812,  when  he  sold  it  fully  equipped.  During 
the  next  11  years  this  mill  was  owned  in  whole  or  in  part  by 
Jeremiah,  David,  Robert,  Harley,  and  Ostrander  Phillips  and 
George  Lindley,  who  bought  and  sold  it  to  each  other  until  in 
December,  1819,  the  Court  of  Common  Pleas  was  called  upon 
to  unravel  the  tangle.  The  sawmill  and  gristmill  were  located 
just  west  of  the  highway  bridge  over  Clear  River,  and  the  old 
Ballard  house  was  a  little  northwest  of  the  bridge.  Only  the 
central  part  of  the  house  now  owned  by  Sylvester  Angell,  just 
southwest  of  the  bridge,  was  then  in  existence,  the  ells  having 
been  built  later.  All  these  buildings  were  awarded  to  David 
Phillips  with  the  exception  of  one-half  of  the  house  southwest 
of  the  bridge,  which,  with  the  Rowland  farm,  was  set  off  to 
Jeremiah  Phillips  and  George  Lindley,  July  28.  1820.  Harley 
Phillips  later  got  possession  and  sold  to  Peleg  Walker,  who  died 
soon  after  he  bought  it. 

David  Wilkinson^. 
David  Wilkinson,  a  manufacturer,  of  North  Providence, 
bought  the  cotton  mill  and  other  mills  June  30,  1822.  the  price 
named  being  $4,150.  The  cotton  mill  burned  down  some  time 
before  June  15.  1825,  when  he  sold  the  water  rights  of  AUum 
Pond  to  the  Blackstone  Canal  Company.  The  company  bought 
with  the  idea  of  storing  the  flood  water  and  using  it  as  a  feeder 
for  the  canal,  Clear  River  being  a  tributary  of  the  Blackstone. 
Wilkinson  stipulated  that  all  the  water  drawn  from  the  i^ond 
should  pass  through  the  flume  of  his  mill  and  that  the  flood 
water  reserved  should  be  drawn  oflf  each  year  before  Jan.  1st. 
After  the  burning  of  his  cotton  mill,  David  Wilkinson  bought 


iThe  writer  is  uncertain  whether  this  David  Wilkinson  was  the 
David  Wilkinson  who  invented  a  sliding  lathe,  and  wliosc  sister  became 
the  wife  of  Samuel  Slater. 


82  RHODE    ISLAND    HISTORICAL    SOCIETY 

various  properties  of  both  wood  and  improved  lands  about 
Allum  Pond.  He  owned  and  operated  both  sawmills  and  carried 
on  lumbering  operations  and  charcoal  burning  on  an  extensive 
scale.  He  built  a  wood  road  leading  from  the  mill  southwesterly 
to  the  Buck  Hill  road.  This  road  leads  to  a  peat  bog  about  a 
mile  from  the  Sanatorium.  On  this  road  there  were  formerly  at 
least  two  houses  where  people  made  hoops\ 

The  Second  Cotton  Mill. 

Wilkinson  became  involved  in  debt  and  John  Whipple,  as 
assignee  for  his  estate,  sold  the  entire  Allum  Pond  property  on 
May  7,  1831,  to  Levi  Darling  and  others  for  $2,000.00.  Darling 
moved  his  family  into  the  old  Phillips  house,  added  on  the  two 
ells  and  planted  the  three  maple  trees  in  the  front  yard  which 
are  there  to-day.  About  1835,  Darling  built  a  shingle  mill  on 
the  site  of  the  old  cotton  mill.  When  the  second  cotton  mill  was 
built  the  shingle  mill  was  taken  down.  The  firm  of  Sweet  and 
James  (Philip  Sweet  and  Albert  G.  James)  leased  the  upper 
mill  privileges  from  the  Darlings,  Aug.  3,  1844.  Levi  Darling 
built  a  new  dam  on  the  site  of  the  old  one  just  back  of  his  house, 
where  it  may  still  be  seen.  The  dam  and  gate  at  the  outlet  of 
the  lake  were  raised  and  the  old  log  dam  at  the  north  outlet  was 
also  raised  and  strengthened.  Darling  built  a  two-story  frame 
building  50  feet  long  by  Z7  feet  wide  for  the  factory  and 
installed  a  water  wheel  18  feet  in  diameter.  He  also  built  a  cot- 
ton house  and  sizing  house.  Albert  James  sold  his  interest  in 
the  firm,  Sept.  11,  1845,  to  Lovell  Parker  and  Joseph  Bowdish 
(1810-1900)  and  the  next  spring  (May  1.  1846)  Stephen  Tall- 
man  replaced  Parker  and  Bowdish.  The  cotton  was  drawn 
from  Providence  and  the  cloth  sold  there  to  Amos  D.  Lockwood 
&  Co..  who  received  a  5  per  cent  commission  on  all  goods  bought 
and  sold.  Sweet  and  Tallman  complained  that  the  water  power 
was  insufficient,  and  this  must  have  been  true  because  of  the 
low  elevation  of  the  mill  pond.  The  mill  employed  about  25 
persons  and  created  a  demand  for  more  house  room  for  opera- 

1  Sylvester  Angell  to  writer. 


THE    WALLUM    POND    ESTATES  83 

tives.  In  the  summer  of  1845,  Daniel  Kimball  built  a  dwelling 
house  about  50  feet  to  the  west  of  the  highway  and  almost 
directly  in  front  of  the  present  location  of  the  Superintendent's 
cottage,  on  land  owned  by  his  mother,  Serina  Kimball.  His 
wife.  Eliza,  for  several  years  kept  boarders  who  worked  in  the 
mill.  That  same  summer,  Abel  Robbins  bought  a  half  acre  lot 
extending  both  sides  of  the  highway  near  the  road  which  now 
enters  the  rear  of  the  Sanatorium  buildings  and  built  a  two- 
tenement  house.  Part  of  the  excavation  for  the  first  Sanatorium 
barn  was  in  the  cellar  of  the  Robbins  house.  The  old  Timothy 
Jenne  house  was  located  but  a  few  feet  farther  to  the  northwest. 
This  house  had  been  gone  sometime  when  the  Robbins  house 
was  built.  Abel  Robbins'  son,  Gilbert,  who  afterward  became 
Mayor  of  Providence,  lived  here.  This  same  year,  Levi  Darling 
moved  the  Jenne  house  which  stood  on  the  knoll  south  of  the 
Sanatorium  tennis  court  to  its  present  position  as  the  Wallum 
Lake  Store.  After  it  was  moved,  this  house  formed  the  south 
end  of  the  upper  story  of  the  present  house,  the  north  end  and 
basement  being  new\  Darling  also  built  a  small  store  at  the 
turn  of  the  road,  about  20  yards  north  of  the  bridge  over  Clear 
River.  The  old  Ballard  house  was  still  used  as  a  tenement  and 
a  blacksmith  shop  was  built  near  the  store.  April  2.  1847.  Tall- 
man  and  Sweet  sold  the  machinery  of  the  mill  to  Benedict 
La::'ham  for  $481.  The  list  of  machinery  shows  that  there  were 
64  spindles. 

The  Lapliams  Are  Balked. 
Benedict  Lapham  obtained  a  five-year  lease  from  the  Darlings 
on  August  14th  of  the  same  year.  Enos  Lapham.  who  after- 
ward became  Lieutenant-Governor  of  the  State,  was  overseer  in 
this  mill.  For  over  four  years,  the  Laphams  ran  the  mill  suc- 
cessfully. They  then  endeavored  to  buy  out  Darling  and  thus 
obtain  complete  control  of  the  water  privilege  with  the  intention 
of  developing  an  extensive  manufacturing  plant.  Had  this  hap- 
pened, the  mills  would  probably  have  been  located  near  the  lower 


1  Scth  Darling  (1829-1907)  to  writer. 


84  RHODE    ISLAND    HISTORICAL    SOCIETY 

water  privileges,  as  the  two  upper  privilges  were  too  near  the 
level  of  Wallum  Pond  to  allow  of  the  power  being  fully  devel- 
oped or  economically  used.  It  is  said  on  good  authority  that  a 
deed  conveying  the  whole  Darling  property  to  Lapham  was 
drawn  and  signed  by  both  Darling  and  Lapham  and  that  it  was 
rendered  void  by  the  refusal  of  Hannah  Darling  to  sign  unless 
she  received  an  additional  $500  for  herself.  Whatever  reason 
Mrs.  Darling  may  have  had  for  her  action,  her  refusal  to  sign 
the  deed  was  a  turning  point  in  history,  for  had  the  Laphams 
acquired  the  property,  their  business  ability,  influence  and  money 
would  probably  have  resulted  in  the  development  of  a  manufac- 
turing village  at  Wallum  Pond. 

The  Woolen  Mill. 
After  the  departure  of  the  Laphams,  Darling  leased  the  fac- 
tory to  George  \\'.  Marsh,  Augustus  Hopkins,  W^alling  &  Hop- 
kins and  Syria  Sherman.  After  this  firm  gave  up,  another  firm 
tried  to  run  it  as  a  woolen  mill  but  lasted  only  about  six  months. 
After  several  sales,  mortgages,  etc.,  to  iVIarsh  and  others, 
Edward  H.  INIarsh,  on  July  31,  1860,  sold  all  the  water  rights  to 
the  outlet  of  Wallum  Pond,  the  price  named  being  $7,500,  and 
the  control  of  the  outlet  has  been  held  by  Bridgeton  manufac- 
turers ever  since.  The  mill  was  afterward  taken  down  and 
moved  to  Manchaug,  Mass.,  where  it  was  used  in  the  construc- 
tion of  a  milP.  The  store  was  also  moved  to  the  same  place, 
where  it  was  converted  into  a  dwelling  house.  The  little  house 
above  the  factory,  built  by  Ballard,  which  had  been  used  as  a 
dwelling  by  Benjamin  Greene,  was  used  for  an  ice  house  until 
1880,  when  it  was  taken  down.  The  Robbins  house  was  bought 
and  moved  to  Mapleville  by  Daniel  Kimball.  Kimball's  house 
was  moved  to  Pascoag,  where  it  still  stands  near  the  shop  of  the 
Inman  Lumber  Company.  The  cellars  of  the  Kimball,  Robbins 
and  Jenne  houses  were  filled  in  1906.  Daniel  Kimball's  barn, 
the  foundation  of  which  is  still  visible  about  200  feet  north  of 
the  Sanatorium  Laundry  on  the  same  side  of  the  highway,  was 


1  William  Green  (1841-         )  to  writer. 


THE    WALLUM    POND    ESTATES  85 

moved  to  Centredale  about  1880  by  Edward  Sayles.  Levi  Dar- 
ling sold  all  his  Wallum  Pond  property,  Nov.  9,  1863,  to  Seth 
Ross  and  Sylvester  Angell  and  moved  to  Douglas,  Mass.  In 
March,  1868,  Sylvester  Angell  bought  out  Ross  and  thus  became 
sole  owner. 

The  Civil  War. 
The  boys  from  Wallum  Pond  neighborhood  who  fought  to 
save  the  Union  were:  Alfred  Angell,  Sabin  Angell.  (31ney 
Arnold.  Amasa  Buxton,  Thomas  Greene.  William  Greene.  Ben- 
jamin Horton,  Jerome  Horton,  Andrew  Rowland,  James  Riley, 
Mowry  Salisbury,  Judson  Wadkins,  John  Friery,  W^ellington 
Daw,  James  M.  Vickers  and  Emory  White.  James  Riley  was 
wounded  at  Fredericksburg,  and  Amasa  Buxton  and  Jerome 
Horton  died  in  the  service.  When  the  boys  returned  they 
noticed  a  striking  change,  as  the  mill  and  many  of  the  dwellings 
had  been  moved  away. 

The  Pond  Traditions. 
A  dugout  boat  with  carving  believed  to  have  been  made  by 
Indians,  was  seen  by  Ezra  Stone,  2nd^,  when  a  young  man. 
Joseph  Bowdish  found  and  raised  a  sunken  dugout  boat  and 
used  it  for  carrying  charcoal  across  the  Pond-.  A  dugout  boat 
was  also  seen  by  Daniel  Buxton-  and  others.  Sylvester  AngelP 
found  and  used  an  old  dugout  boat  many  years  ago  which 
showed  no  trace  of  Indian  workmanship.  Quite  possibly,  all 
these  men  saw  the  same  boat,  which  might  have  been  preser\'ed 
almost  indefinitely  if  sunk.  It  had  been  cut  out  with  an  axe  or 
similar  tool.  If  made  by  the  Indians,  it  must  have  been  in  later 
years  after  acquiring  white  men's  tools.  It  is  much  more  likely 
that  it  was  made  by  the  early  settlers  before  the  first  sawmill  in 

1766. 

The  pond  is,  for  the  most  part,  spring  fed,  so  that  a  swimmer 
notices  many  cold  spots.    It  is  from  30  to  50  feet  deep  in  most 


1  Wm.  Kimball  to  writer. 

2  Thomas  O'Neil  to  writer. 

3  Statement  to  writer. 


86  RHODE    ISLAND    HISTORICAL    SOCIETY 

places,  and,  in  the  middle,  north  of  Long  Cove,  soundings  have 
been  made  79  feet  below  high  water.  A  small  brook  which 
drains  the  cranberry  bog  enters  the  south  cove;  another  enters 
the  north  end ;  and  in  high  water,  two  tiny  streams  enter  on  the 
west  and  one  on  the  east  side. 

The  beach  at  the  north  end  has  exceptionally  sharp  sand 
which,  as  late  as  60  years  ago  was  used  in  making  rifles  used  in 
sharpening  scythes^. 

Before  1850,  a  man  by  the  name  of  Nathan  Stone  was 
drowned  just  off  the  big  rock  where  the  Sanatorium  water 
intake  pipe  is  at  present  located-.  He  had  gone  out  after  wild 
geese  and  the  ice  broke  under  him.  Still  earlier,  a  fisherman 
fell  from  an  old  scow  that  had  been  used  to  carry  logs  across 
the  pond  to  the  mills,  and  was  drowned-.  Francis  Whiting,  a 
boy  10  or  12  years  old,  while  bathing  at  the  north  end, 
stepped  into  a  hole  and  drowned.  The  Lime  Rock  Fishing  Club, 
which  rented  the  house  north  of  the  Superintendent's  Cottage, 
lost  one  of  its  members  by  drowning  sometime  after  1893.  The 
man  was  trying  to  pick  up  a  fish  hook  and  line  which  had  caught 
on  the  bottom.  Pickerel  and  perch  fishing  were  very  good  up 
to  the  time  the  lake  was  stocked  with  bass,  which  was  sometime 
about  1860. 

When  Daniel  Kimball  was  fishing  through  the  ice  in  Long 
Cove  one  time^,  the  ice  separated  and  left  open  water  between 
him  and  the  shore.  He  was  obliged  to  wait  until  sometime  after 
dark,  when  the  ice  cake  drifted  ashore  at  the  mouth  of  the  cove. 

While  the  mill  was  running  well  under  the  Laphams,  Parker 
Bowdish  and  other  employees  had  a  small  sail  boat.  Many  old 
people  say  that  Caleb  Eldridge  swam  the  whole  length  of  the 
pond  in  a  race  in  which  his  opponent  was  unable  to  finish.  His 
name  appears  on  an  old  deed  in  1799.  Some  time  about  1880, 
a  panther  escaped  from  a  circus  in  Webster  and  was  seen  occa- 
sionally in  the  Douglas  woods  for  over  a  year.  Wild  pigeons 
were  plentiful  here  as  elsewhere  and  were  killed  as  late  as  Levi 


^  Seth  Ross  to  writer. 

-  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Seth  Darling  to  writer. 

2  Sylvester  Angell  to  writer. 


THE    WALLUM    POND    ESTATES  87 

Darling's  time.  Foxes,  coons  and  rabbits  are  still  numerous  to 
the  southwest  of  the  pond.  Otter  and  mink  were  present  in 
W'allum  Pond  many  years  ago^  and  probaljly  are  still  present. 
In  the  old  days,  there  were  beaver  on  Clear  River  near  Wilson's 
Pond-.  Horace  Whiting  caught  an  otter  in  the  Whiting  Pond 
in  the  Buck  Hill  district  about  1895,  an  occasional  mink,  the 
last  one  in  the  Lewis  Brook  in  1920,  and,  during  the  last  30 
years,  has  shot  89  foxes,  most  of  them  in  the  Buck  Hill  woods. 
A  rattlesnake  was  killed  in  the  woods  south  of  the  tennis  court 
since  I860-'. 

The  pine  grove  back  of  the  Superintendent's  cottage  used  to 
be  a  ball  ground  when  the  mill  was  running.  On  the  west  shore 
of  the  pond,  near  the  north  end,  is  a  clay  deposit  which  was  used 
in  the  old  days  for  making  brick.  The  brick  yard  was  located 
near  the  Providence  Ice  Company's  house,  where,  until  recently, 
traces  of  brick  could  be  found.  The  chimney  brick  in  many  of 
the  old  houses  of  this  vicinity  came  from  this  yard.  These  brick 
were  small,  irregular  and  very  hard.  The  brick  yard  was  aban- 
doned, perhaps,  before  1800. 

The  Sanborn  House. 
Stephen  Collins,  who  worked  a  long  time  for  Levi  Darling, 
built  a  small  house  on  the  hill  south  of  the  Sanatorium,  having 
bought  the  land  of  Darling  April  17,  1840.  Collins  sold  to 
Mason  W.  Porter,  a  shoemaker,  March  6,  1854.  Porter  sold 
Nov.  8.  1858.  to  an  Englishman  by  the  name  of  Wm.  Prince, 
who  was  a  woodchopper  and  who  lived  there  with  his  wife  and 
daughter  until  the  property  was  bought  by  Thomas  M.  Green, 
April  12,  1862.  Green  tore  down  the  Collins  house  and  rebuilt 
it  with  lumber  obtained  from  the  old  cotton  house  in  1868.  He 
worked  in  the  Hopkins  Machine  Works  and  finally  sold  out  to 
Hopkins  &  Co.,  April  6,  1898.  Morton  C.  Sanborn,  the  care- 
taker of  the  Sanatorium  buildings  while  they  were  under  con- 
struction, bought  the  place  July  28,   1905,  shortly  before  the 

1  Judson  Wadkins  to  writer. 

2  Randall  Angell  to  Sylvester  Angell  to  writer. 
•■'•  William  Green  to  writer. 


05  RHODE    ISLAND    HISTORICAL    SOCIETY 

Sanatorium  opened.     He  put  the  buildings  in  repair  and  it  has 
been  rented  to  Sanatorium  employees  ever  since. 

The  Two  Lower  Mill  Privileges. 
About  1820,  a  turning  lathe  was  in  operation  just  below  the 
Clear  River  bridge.  The  middle  mill  privilege  near  the  present 
swimming  pool  was  developed  about  1844,  the  sawmill  and  grist- 
mill which  had  been  at  the  upper  privilege  having  been  moved 
here  to  make  room  for  the  second  cotton  factory.  The  mills 
were  close  together  so  that  one  could  step  from  one  to  the  other, 
the  grist  mill  being  on  the  east  and  the  sawmill  on  the  west  side 
of  the  dam.  These  mills  had  an  advantage  over  most  of  the 
mills  dependent  on  water  power,  as  there  was  a  large  reserve  of 
water  in  W'allum  Pond.  During  dry  spells,  the  old  gristmill  was 
often  run  both  night  and  day,  and  corn  has  many  times  been 
brought  out  here  from  Providence  for  grinding.  Sylvester 
Angell  put  in  the  first  iron  water  wheel  and  the  first  circular 
saw,  wooden  wheels  and  up  and  down  saws  having  been  used 
previously.  The  gristmill  was  closed  about  1867  and  a  cider 
mill  installed  in  its  place.  Mr.  Angell  continued  to  operate  the 
sawmill  occasionally  until  it  burned  in  January,  1907.  It  had 
been  necessary  in  the  old  days  to  have  two  mill  privileges,  as 
there  was  such  a  demand  for  both  grinding  corn  and  sawing 
lumber,  but,  as  the  demand  lessened,  the  lower  mill  opposite  the 
Sanatorium  boiler  house  was  allowed  to  rot  down,  which 
occurred  before  1845.  The  upper  mill  pond  was  formerly  used 
for  skating,  as  it  froze  over  much  earlier  than  Wallum  Pond. 

The  Adam  White  Road. 
Opposite  the  entrance  to  the  driveway  approaching  the  front 
of  the  Sanatorium  is  an  old  wood  road  leading  eastward  through 
the  pine  grove  across  Clear  River  and  over  the  railroad  to  the 
east  road  from  Wallum  Pond  Hill  to  Pascoag.  This  wood  road 
was  formerly  a  highway,  having  l^cen  laid  out  June  27,  1812\ 
and  abandoned  before  1840.  Between  the  railroad  and  the  east 
highway,  was  the  Adam  White   farm,   formerly  belonging  to 


1  Burrillville  Town  Council  Records,  Vol.  1,  page  30. 


Statue  of  Roger  Williams  on  the  Monument 

International  de  la  Reformation  at 

Geneva,  Switzerland 

Courtesy  of  Madavic  E.  Httuli 


THE    WALLUM    POND    ESTATES  89 

William  Clark.  The  house  at  the  junction  of  this  road  with  the 
east  highway  belonged  to  Samuel  White.  This  house  was  burned 
by  a  forest  fire,  about  1910.  and  the  barn  removed  in  1920. 
Samuel  White  hired  and  boarded  women  who  worked  hand 
looms  in  the  basement  of  his  house,  the  yarn  being  obtained  from 
mills  in  the  vicinity.  In  excavating  for  the  cellar  of  his  house,  a 
skeleton  was  exhumed  which  tradition  says  was  of  a  man  of  un- 
usual height.  In  the  old  days,  a  cart  path^  led  northerly  from  the 
Adam  White  place  along  a  low  ridge  coming  out  near  George 
Stone's  tannery.  A  house  on  this  path  was  at  one  time  occupied 
by  Asahel  Alger. 

A  Cure  in  Early  Times. 
In  view  of  the  later  development  of  a  health  centre  at  Wallum 
Pond,  it  is  of  interest  to  learn  of  a  consumptive  treated  in  this 
vicinity  in  1850.  Ara  Paine-,  then  a  boy  of  14,  after  about  three 
years  of  cotigh,  expectoration,  blood-spitting  and  other  symp- 
toms, was  given  up  as  a  hopeless  consumptive  by  his  physician. 
Hisgrandmother,  Prudence  (1772-1851),  wife  of  the  Rev.  Moab 
Paine,  received  him  into  her  home,  about  two  miles  easterly  of 
the  Sanatorium,  and  not  only  cheered,  rested  and  fed  him  well, 
as  grandmothers  are  wont  to  do,  but  removed  the  two  large 
windows  from  his  bedroom  that  he  might  have  the  open  air, 
night  and  day.  Several  months  of  this  regimen  started  him  on 
the  road  to  health  which  has  lasted  through  his  50  years  in  the 
practice  of  medicine  and  still  persists  after  71  years  have  passed 
away. 

The  Peters  Place. 
In  going  from  Wallum  Pond  toward  Pascoag  in  1905.  one 
passed  through  about  two  miles  of  woodland,  much  of  which 
had  been  cleared  by  the  old  settlers,  and  which  had  since  grown 
up  to  woods.  The  Sanatorium,  in  making  its  garden,  had  cleared 
about  10  acres  of  woodland  west  of  the  highway  near  the  old 
King  or  Green  place,  while  the  opposite  side  of  the  road  is  to-day 


1  Sylvester  Angell  to  writer. 
-  Dr.  Ara  Paine  to  writer. 


go  RHODE    ISLAND    HISTORICAL    SOCIETY 

woodland,  where  once  there  was  meadow  and  orchard.  About 
1,500  feet  beyond  the  King  cellar  hole  on  the  left  hand  side  of 
the  road,  is  an  apple  tree.  This  tree  was  so  straight  and  hand- 
some a  shoot,  about  55  years  ago,  tliat  Seth  Ross  bought  it  for 
50  cents,  intending  to  set  it  out  in  his  orchard  and  graft  it ;  but 
he  postponed  action  until  it  was  finally  too  large  to  transplant. 
This  apple  tree  is  near  the  cellar  of  the  Peters  house.  Israel 
Peters  (1788-1872),  who  lived  here  in  1827.  built  for  the  town 
the  road  over  Buck  Hill  where  there  had  been  previously  only 
a  cart  path.  He  afterward  moved  to  East  Boston,  Conn.  Rossel 
Burlingame  bought  the  place  in  1833  and  lived  here  for  a  time. 
There  was  then  an  orchard,  clover  lot  and  pasture  on  the  east 
side  of  the  road.  The  buildings  on  this  place  which  were  stand- 
ing in  1835^  were  gone  before  1840. 

The  Scott  Tragedy. 
James  Scott,  an  Irishman,  cleared  a  patch  of  land  on  the  west 
side  of  the  Wallum  Pond  road  at  its  junction  with  the  Buck  Hill 
road  and  built  a  shanty,  where  he  usually  lived  alone,  about  1856. 
He  kept  two  cows,  a  pig,  and  a  big  black  dog.  He  walked  to  and 
from  his  place  of  work  in  the  White  Mill,  at  Bridgeton,  drank 
hard  and  had  the  reputation  of  being  quarrelsome  when  intoxi- 
cated. He  was  missing  one  winter  night  and  no  trace  of  him  was 
found  until  the  ice  broke  up  the  next  spring,  when  his  body  was 
found  in  Wilson's  Pond.  Although  certain  persons  were  sus- 
pected of  foul  play,  no  official  action  was  ever  taken.  The  Scott 
cabin  was  afterward  taken  to  Chepachet  by  Job  Smith. 

The  Wells  Place. 
A  few  rods  before  reaching  the  Buck  Hill  corner,  a  road  on 
the  left  leads  through  the  woods  to  the  Wells  place.  Rossel 
Burlingame  bought  this  farm  of  Levi  Eddy,  Oct.  11,  1834. 
Arnold  Hunt  and  Dennis  Hunt  bought  it  in  1838,  and,  in  1839, 
sold  to  Silas  and  William  Howard.  Amasa  Seamans,  who  had 
a  wooden  leg,  bought  it,  Jan.  5,  1842,  and  lived  there  with  a 
large  family  for  many  years.     Seamans  also  owned  the  Israel 

1  Seth  Ross  to  writer. 


THE    WALLUM    POND    ESTATES  9I 

Peters  place.  He  sold  out  to  go  to  Minnesota,  and  Esten  Angell 
(1809-1889),  who  had  bought  out  the  Seamans,  sold  to  Alfred 
L.  Wells.  Sept.  23,  1869.  Wells  and  wife  were  living  on  this 
place  up  to  about  1910.  Since  their  death,  Henry  Johnson,  who 
was  a  slave  in  Virginia  before  the  Civil  War,  has  occupied  the 
house.  In  spite  of  his  84  years,  he  has  few  gray  hairs,  all  his 
natural  teeth,  and  is  able  to  cut  cord  wood  and  enjoy  life  in  a 
way  which  astonishes  younger  folks. 

The  Whipple  Angell  Place. 
Continuing  on  the  highway  toward  Pascoag  about  500  feet 
beyond  the  Buck  Hill  Road,  is  a  sharp  turn  to  the  right.  On  the 
east  side  of  this  turn,  was  a  house  which  Whipple  Angell  (1793- 
1862)  bought  of  James  Stone,  May  23,  1829.  There  were  seven 
acres  of  cleared  land  about  this  place.  Angell  never  lived  here 
but  rented  it  to  negroes  and  others.  The  barn  belonging  to  this 
farm  was  carried  to  Marieville,  North  Providence,  where  it  was 
still  standing  a  few  years  ago.  An  old  road  led  easterly  near 
this  house  across  Clear  River  to  the  East  Highway,  thus  giving 
a  short  cut  for  the  Round  Top  folks  to  go  over  Buck  Hill.  This 
highway  was  ai^andoned  by  the  town.  May  20,  1809\  This  i)lace 
had  so  completely  grown  up  to  woods  that  lumber  was  cut  here, 
about  1910. 

The  Chase  Lot. 
A  few  rods  further  on  and  easterly  of  the  highway,  about  100 
feet  north  of  Round  Pond  brook,  was  the  house  owned  I)y 
Joseph  and  Ambrose  Chase  and  later  by  other  members  of  the 
Chase  family  from  1812  to  1825-.  The  land  was  cleared  quite 
extensively  east  of  the  road  as  shown  by  the  stone  walls  and 
stone  heaps.  This  farm  had  an  orchard  to  the  east  side  and 
woodland  on  the  west  of  the  road.  The  place  was  sold  to  Duty 
Esten,  April  2,  1833.    Asahel  Alger  built  another  house  on  this 


1  Records  of  the  Burrillville  Town  Council,  Vol  I. 

2  The  writer  is  uncertain  whether  this  was  a  relative  of.  or  the  same 
Dr.  Jos.  Chase  of  Cumberland,  who  bought  Eh/abeth  G.bbs  share  of  Dr. 
Gibbs'  estate  from  James  Burroughs,  March  5,  1771. 


92  RHODE    ISLAND    HISTORICAL    SOCIETY 

site  about  1860.    There  is  a  maple  tree  about  15  inches  in  diam- 
eter (1920)  growing  from  the  cellar. 

The  next  farm  below  the  Chase  lot  had  been  originally  laid 
out  in  the  right  of  Stephen  Dexter,  but  was  cleared  and  occupied 
by  Randall  Angell  (1767-1855),  who  kept  a  hotel  there  at  one 
time. 

The  Porter  Place. 
In  going  from  ^^'allum  Pond  toward  Thompson,  a  few  rods 
after  turning  into  the  Buck  Hill  Road,  one  passes  Daniel  Por- 
ter's old  place.  He  bought  13  acres  of  land  of  Amasa  Seamans, 
August  24,  1850.  He  was  sometimes  called  Doctor  and  was 
said  to  have  had  a  plentiful  supply  of  pills,  but  is  not  known  to 
have  practiced  here.  He  worked  some  at  shoemaking ;  his  son, 
IMason  W.,  was  also  a  shoemaker  and  later  lived  at  the  Sanborn 
house.  Porter  cleared  some  of  the  land  on  both  sides  of  the 
road,  dug  the  well  and  built  the  stone  walls  which  are  there 
to-day.  In  digging  his  well,  he  found  some  clear  pieces  of 
quartz  which  were  said  to  have  been  hard  enough  to  cut  glass  a 
few  times  and  which  he  thought  were  diamonds,  a  circumstance 
that  provoked  enough  neighborhood  gossip  and  amusement  to 
be  remembered  by  the  old  timers.  Nearly  opposite  this  place  is 
a  wood  road  leading  southwesterly  to  Round  Pond.  In  1855, 
Porter  bought  the  Samuel  Cruff  farm  and  moved  away. 

The  Ward  Place. 
On  the  northerly  side  of  the  Buck  Hill  road  about  a  third  of 
a  mile  westerly  of  its  junction  with  the  Sanatorium  road  near  a 
large  flat  stone  by  a  bar  way  is  an  old  cellar  and  well.  This  has 
always  been  called  the  Ward  Place,  from  Eugene,  Hiram,  and 
Wm.  \\^ard,  who  lived  there  at  one  time.  The  only  interesting 
thing  known  about  the  Ward  Place  is  how  it  came  to  end^  It 
was  last  occupied,  about  1842,  by  Indians  and  negroes,  who  were 
guilty  of  various  acts  of  mischief,  including  the  throwing  of  a 
bull  down  the  well.  They  did  not  move  when  Randall  Angell, 
the  owner,  ordered  them  out,  but,  somewhat  later,  went  down  to 

^  Statement  to  writer  by  Wm.  R.  Angell  and  others. 


THE    WALLUM    POND    ESTATES 


93 


the  sea  shore  for  the  summer.  One  night.  Randall's  son.  Esten, 
and  two  neighbors,  Hawkins  and  Ross,  went  to  the  Ward  house. 
A  few  hours  sawing  of  the  beams  made  the  old  house  collapse, 
and  they  returned  to  bed.  When,  the  next  day,  a  neighbor  told 
Randall  that  the  Ward  house  was  flat,  the  latter  appeared  sur- 
prised and  indignant.  The  lumber  of  this  house  went  into  Ran- 
dall Angell's  cattle  shed. 

The  Tzi'ist  Place. 
About  half  way  between  the  Ward  Place  and  the  top  of  Buck 
Hill,  on  the  north  side  of  the  highway,  is  the  cellar  of  a  house 
once  occupied  by  Asa  Twist.  The  house  was  probably  there 
in  1806  on  the  separation  of  Burrillville  from  Glocester,  as  it  is 
named  in  the  Burrillville  school  records  as  a  dividing  line  be- 
tween Wallum  Pond  and  Buck  Hill  districts  and  it  had  probably 
disappeared  before  1819,  as  it  was  not  remembered  by  Esten 
AngelP. 

The  Trask  Place. 
One  who  ascends  Buck  Hill  from  the  east  and  sees  the  masses 
of  boulders  which  almost  cover  the  ground  can  but  marvel  at 
the  courage  of  one  who  would  attempt  to  clear  land  and  Iniild  a 
house  there.  Yet  we  find  a  good  foundation  and  cellar  a  few 
feet  from  the  north  side  of  the  road  at  the  foot  of  the  last  pitch, 
and  partly  cleared  land  to  the  northward.  William  Trask,  who 
claimed  to  have  been  a  veteran  of  the  War  of  1812  and  who 
lived  to  be  107  years  old,  owned  this  place  as  early  as  1826;  the 
house  was  gone  and  the  place  grown  up  to  weeds  before  1850. 


1  Wm.  R.  Anffell  to  writer. 


94  RHODE    ISLAND    HISTORICAL    SOCIETY 


Notes 

The  Rhode  Island  Society  of  the  Colonial  Daughters  of  the 
Seventeenth  Century  has  issued  a  leaflet  entitled  "History  of 
the  United  States  Flag."  It  is  for  use  in  the  public  schools  of 
Rhode  Island. 

The  second  volume  of  the  Rhode  Island  Court  Records  cov- 
ering the  period.  1662  to  1670,  has  been  printed  and  placed  on 
sale  by  the  Rhode  Island  Historical  Society. 

The  April  Bulletin  of  the  Newport  Historical  Society  con- 
tains a  paper  by  Mr.  Jonas  Bergner  on  "The  Old  House  on 
Franklin  Street"  and  one  by  Mrs.  William  P.  Buffum  on  "The 
Story  of  the  Old  Friends'  Meeting  House." 

Antiques  for  May  contains  an  illustrated  article  on  John  God- 
dard  of  Newport  and  his  furniture  by  Walter  A.  Dyer. 

The  following  persons  have  been  elected  to  membership  in 
the  Society: 

Mrs.  Charles  K.  Baker  Mr.  Stephen  C.  Harris 

Mr.  Horatio  E.  Bellows  Mr.  Charles  F.  Heartman 

Mrs.  Charles  Bradley  Miss  Hope  K.  Hodgman 

Mr.  Arthur  D.  Champlin  Mr.  John  S.  Holbrook 

Mr.  William  P.  Chapin  Mrs.  Donald  E.  Jackson 

Mrs.  Henry  G.  Clark  Mr.  Francis  B.  Kinney 

Mrs.  Henry  I.  Cushman  Mrs.  Webster  Knight 

Mrs.  Murray  S.  Danforth  Mrs.  I.  Harris  Metcalf 

Mr.  Robert  T.  Downs  Mr.  James  A.  Pirce 

Mr.  Cyrus  T.  Eddy  Mr.  B.  Thomas  Potter 

Mr.  W^illiam  H.  Eddy  Mr.  Robert  L.  Spencer 

Mr.  Preston  H.  Gardner  Miss  Louise  Tillinghast 

Miss  Annette  M.  Ham  Mr.  William  P.  Young 

Four  Sunday  afternoon  talks  were  held  in  March  with  an 
average  attendance  of  about  seventy-five  persons. 

The  speakers  and  subjects  were  as  follows : 

March  5— Mr.  Donald  Cowell,  "Rhode  Island's  Gift  to 
Telephony." 


NOTES 


95 


March  12— Air.  Howard  W.  Preston,  "Rochanilx\au  and  the 
French  in  Providence." 

March  19— Mr.  Norman  M.  Isham,  "Dating  of  Early 
Houses." 

March  26— Mrs.  William  H.  Eddy,  "How  to  Trace  One's 
Ancestry." 

Prof.  Verner  W.  Crane  read,  hefore  the  April  meeting,  a 
paper  entitled  "Christopher  Champlin,  Merchant,"  illustrating 
the  business  customs  and  trade  routes  of  Rhode  Island  ship 
owners  in  the  period  preceding  and  following  the  Revolution. 

Among  the  many  important  accessions  to  the  Library  is  the 
Stukeley  Westcott  Bible,  the  gift  of  Miss  Lucetta  A.  Stone. 
This  invaluable  addition  to  our  Library  belonged  to  one  of  the 
original  proprietors  of  Providence,  and  is  one  of  four  books 
remaining  of  those  owned  by  the  early  settlers. 

Mrs.  Louise  Lewis  Lovell  has  presented  the  Society  with  her 
recent  publication,  "The  Biography  of  Israel  Angell."  In  addi- 
tion to  the  biography,  the  volume  contains  over  one  hundred  and 
fifty  pages  of  transcription  of  original  contemporary  material 
dealing  with  the  Revolution,  supplementing  on  a  large  scale  the 
"Diary  of  Israel  Angell,"  published  some  years  ago. 

The  Massachusetts  Society  of  Colonial  Dames  has  issued  a 
book  on  American  Samplers,  by  Bolton  and  Coe,  a  copy  of  which 
has  been  recently  presented  to  the  Society  by  the  late  Mrs.  Sam- 
uel Powel. 

Other  gifts  are  as  follows  : 

Nine  volumes  of  their  Manuscript  Record  Books,  presented  by 
the  Providence  Franklin  Society. 

Two  fire  buckets,  marked  "I.  Angell,"  presented  by  Mrs. 
Rebecca  F.  Bradford. 

A  steel  dye  of  the  seal  which  belonged  to  Major  General 
Ambrose  E.  Burnside,  presented  by  Mr.  William  L.  Manchester, 
of  Bristol,  Rhode  Island. 

Index  to  "Mayflower  Descendants  and  Their  Marriages," 
written  and  presented  by  Dr.  Frank  T.  Calef. 

An  Indian  corn  grinding  stone  found  on  Wallum  II  ill.  tlic 
gift  of  Mr.  Ernest  Singleton. 


96  RHODE    ISLAND    HISTORICAL    SOCIETY 

View  of  Providence  (oil  painting)  the  bequest  of  Miss  Lucy 
A.  Metcalf. 

A  volume  of  manuscripts,  relating  to  the  Ballou  family,  pre- 
sented by  Mrs.  William  Ballou. 

One  of  the  four  mourning  rings  for  Washington's  hair  has 
been  presented  by  Col.  George  L.  Shepley.  It  is  the  Abby  Chase 
ring.  There  is  an  account  of  these  rings  and  hair  in  the  Provi- 
dence Journal  of  Feb.  9,  1908,  ^larch  8,  1908,  and  July  25,  1920. 

A  manuscript  genealogy  of  the  Davis  family  consisting  of  42 
closely  typewritten  pages  has  been  copied  and  added  to  the 
Society's  Library. 

Mr.  George  F.  Dow  of  Boston  has  made  an  index  of  all  the 
Rhode  Island  items  which  appeared  in  Boston  newspapers 
before  1750  and  his  compilation  is  of  great  service  to  historical 
students.  It  has  been  purchased  by  Col.  Shepley  and  can  be 
consulted  at  the  Shepley  Library  on  Benefit  Street. 

Dr.  Calef  is  at  work  on  tracing  the  descendants  of  Roger 
Williams  for  two  generations  beyond  the  ^point  that  they  are 
carried  in  Austin's  "Ancestry  of  Thirty-Three  Rhode  Island- 
ers."   He  will  appreciate  any  data  along  these  lines. 

Colotiial  Distinguishing  Flags. 

A  manuscript  in  the  Rhode  Island  State  Archives  describes 
the  distinguishing  flags,  then  called  vanes,  that  were  used  by  the 
various  contingents  in  the  Canadian  expedition  of  1746.  It  is 
as  follows : 

"The  Massachusetts  Transports  to  Wear  a  Broad  White  Vane 
with  a  blue  Ball  at  the  Main  Top  Gallant  Mast  head. 

"The  Connecticut,  Rhode  Island  &  New  Hampshire  Vessells 
to  Wear  a  Broad  Blue  Vane  with  a  White  Ball  at  the  Main  Top 
Gallant  Mast  head. 

"The  Transports  from  England,  to  wear  a  Broad  Red  Vane 
at  the  Main  Top  Gallant  Mast  head. 

"These  are  for  distinction." 

(Letters,  1746,  p.  36.) 


Rhode  Island 

Historical    Society 

Collections 

Vol.  XV  October,  1922  No.  4 

CONTENTS 


r- 


Early  Rhode  Island  Seals    . 

The  Wallum  Pond  Estates  (Continued) 
By  Harry  Lee  Barnes    . 


PAGB 


Captain  Kidd  in  Narragansett  Bay 97 

Recollections  of  Mount  Vernon  Bank 

By  Rachael  Knight  Budlong,  about  1880     .       .       .98 

XT  *  i*"        ^«^<^  -99 

Notes K,     ■  ^ 


101 


109 


$3.00  per  year  Issued  Quarterly  75  cents  per  copy 


RHODE 
HISTORICAL 


ISLAND 
SOCIETY 


COLLECTIONS 


Vol.  XV 


October,  1922 


No.  4 


Howard  W.  PRESTON,Presiden(      EDWARD  K.  ALDRICH,  Jr.  Jreaturer 
George  T.  SPICER,  Secretary        HOWARD  M.  CHAPIN,  Librarian 

The  Society  assumes  no  responsibility  for  the  statements  or  the 
opinions  of  contributors. 


Captain  Kidd  in  Narragansett  Bay 

The  following  account  is  from  Campbell's  manuscript  "News- 
Letter." 

"Boston,  June  the  19,  1699. 

"Last  thursday  Capt.  Kid  came  into  Road  Island  harber;  the 
Governour  sent  the  Collector  in  a  boat  with  about  30  men  well 
armed  in  order  to  goe  on  board,  but  Kid  shot  2  great  Guns, 
which  caused  the  Collector  to  retreat.  Kids  Sloope  has  10 
Guns,  8  Patteraroes."^  June  19,  1699,  fell  on  Monday,  so  that 
the  preceding  Thursday  was  June  15th.  The  East  Passage  of 
Narragansett  Bay  is  called  Rhode  Island  Harbour  on  the  Des 
Barras  chart  of  1776.  The  Capt.  Kid  mentioned  in  this  item 
is  William  Kidd,  alias  Robert  Kidd,  i)erhaps  the  most  famous 
pirate.  A  letter  discovered  in  1849,  dated  1700-1,  and  signed 
Robert  Kid,  is  printed  in  part  in  Field's  "Rhode  Island,"  vol.  1, 
p.  541 ;  and  in  full  in  the  life  of  Robert  Kidd.  published  ni 
Palmer,  Mass.,  in  1850.  A  deposition  of  Thomas  Paine  of 
Conanicut  in  regard  to  Capt.  Kidd's  visit  to  the  bay  in  I6')9  is 
printed  in  the  R.  I.  Hist.  Mag.,  vol.  6.  p.  156. 


1  Mass.  Hist.  Soc.  Proc.  Feb.  1873,  p.  422. 


98  RHODE    ISLAND    HISTORICAL    SOCIETY 

Recollections  of  Mount  Vernon  Bank 

(Written  by  Rachael  Knight  Budlong\  about  1880.) 

The  Mount  Vernon  Bank  was  situated  in  Foster  near  the 
Coventry  hne  on  the  Plainfield  Pike  or  stage  road  about  two 
miles  east  of  Rice  City.  The  founders  of  the  bank  were  Col. 
Nathaniel  Stone,  Pardon  Holden,  Elisha  Fish  and  Peleg  Place. 
The  bank  was  chartered-  about  1824  and  commenced  operations 
in  the  fall  of  1825,  with  Peleg  Place  as  Cashier  and  Nathaniel 
Stone  as  President.  The  bank  was  kept  for  a  few  months  in  the 
west  front  chamber  of  the  two  storied  house,  which  was  owned 
and  occupied  by  Pardon  Holden.  It  was  afterwards  removed 
to  a  stone  building  which  had  been  built  by  Dr.  Thomas  Car- 
penter and  used  for  a  while  as  a  store  after  which  it  was  sold  to 
Pardon  Holden.  This  building,  together  with  a  shed,  stood  a 
short  distance  west  of  his  house,  and  was  leased  by  him  to  the 
bank  for  as  long  a  time  as  it  should  be  used  for  banking  purposes 
after  which  it  should  revert  to  Holden  or  his  heirs. 

Mount  Vernon  village,  called  after  the  bank,  was  a  thriving 
village  at  that  time.  There  were  then  two  stages  on  the  road, 
each  driver  carried  a  long  tin  horn  which  he  blew  before  coming 
to  a  dwelling  house.  The  stage  house  or  tavern  was  kept  by 
Elisha  Fish,  and  was  later  sold  to  Moses  Potter. 

Mr.  Holden  was  an  enterprising  man.  He  owned  a  large 
country  store,  which  at  that  time  meant  to  buy  and  sell  every- 
thing. He  had  a  plough  shop  for  the  manufacture  of  cast  iron 
ploughs,  the  first  that  were  made  in  Rhode  Island.  Doct. 
Thomas  O.  H.  Carpenter,  quite  a  celebrated  doctor,  had  an  office 
and  boarded  in  the  place.  They  also  had  a  post  office^  and  with 
all  it  was  a  busy,  lively  village. 


1  Sister  of  Charles  Morgan  Stone,  cashier  of  the  bank. 

-  The  bank  was  chartered  in  October,  1823.  See  Acts  &  Resolves  of 
R.  I.,  Oct.  1823,  p.  62.  Iri  Brown  was  a  director.  See  Bayles  Hist,  of 
Prov.  Co.,  vol.  2,  p.  636. 

^  The  Post  Office  was  called  Mount  Vernon  in  1866,  but  the  village  is 
now  called  Vernon. 


NOTES 


99 


Col.  Nathaniel  Stone  was  the  first  president  and  Pardon 
Holden  was  the  second,  the  latter  served  until  his  death,  which 
occurred  in  1831.    The  next  was  Samuel  Tillinghast. 

Peleg  Place  was  the  first  cashier  and  a  stockholder.  He  filled 
that  office  for  eleven  years  when,  becoming  infirm  from  age, 
Charles  M.  Stone  was  chosen  to  take  his  place,  which  he  held 
for  eight  years,  when  in  the  spring  of  1844,  he  removed  to  Provi- 
dence to  take  charge  of  an  agency^  connected  with  the  bank,  a 
large  amount  of  the  business  being  done  in  the  city.  Raymond 
G.  Place  was  the  next  and  last  cashier. 

The  daughter  of  Pardon  Holden  remembers  distinctly  riding 
home  from  Providence  with  her  father,  the  latter  bringing  large 
sums  of  money  in  his  breast  pocket,  often  times  not  arriving 
until  dark,  something  never  done  at  the  present  time.  He  went 
to  and  fro  two  or  three  times  a  week  without  molestation 
although  conipletely  unarmed.  Mr.  Holden  was  a  large  and 
exceedingly  powerful  man  fully  able  to  cope  with  any  opposition 
he  was  likely  to  meet  in  those  days.  He  served  the  bank  in  this 
and  every  way  in  which  he  could  further  its  interests  until  his 
health  failed.  Afterwards  the  packages  of  money  were  sent  by 
the  driver  of  the  mail  stage  or  any  person  considered  perfectly 
reliable  and  not  a  dollar  was  ever  lost  in  transportation.  Fifty- 
five  years  ago  there  were  very  few  houses  this  side  of  the  bridge. 

The  bank  some  years  ago  was  removed  to  Providence'-  and 
consequently,  by  the  terms  of  the  lease,  the  bank  building 
reverted  to  the  heirs  of  Pardon  Holden. 


1  See  Field's  Rhode  Island,  vol.  3,  p.  300. 

-The  Rhode  Island  Historical  Society  has  on  exhibition  six  of  the 
Mount  Vernon  Bank  bills  issued  after  the  bank  moved  to  Providence. 
Joseph  Belcher  was  president  in  1857  and  1858.    H.  G.  Place  was  cashier 

in  1857  and  S.  C.  Arnold  in  1858. 


Notes 

Miss  Louise  C.  Hoppin  presented  to  the  Society  a  set  of  the 
books  illustrated  by  Augustus  Hoppin. 

A  number  of  genealogies  have  been  added  to  the  Library. 


100  RHODE  ISLAND  HISTORICAL  SOCIETY 

The  most  important  of  these  accessions  is  a  genealogy  of  the 
Cooke  family  by  Albert  Welles,  New  York,  1880. 

The  Society  has  recently  received  several  valuable  man- 
uscripts. The  largest  collection  is  the  "Utley  Papers,"  original 
manuscripts  relating  to  Tiverton  and  Little  Compton,  the  gift 
of  Mr.  Samuel  Utley  of  Worcester,  Mass.  Mr.  L.  H.  Austin 
presented  the  original  manuscript  wilP  of  Joseph  Williams,  son 
of  Roger.  The  Society  was  fortunate  in  obtaining  a  muster  roll 
of  several  companies  of  the  Rhode  Island  Militia  that  served 
during  the  War  of  1812.  Mr.  Edwin  P.  Anthony  presented  the 
royal  commission  granted  to  Robert  Robinson  as  Registrar  of 
the  Vice-Admiralty  Court  in  1714. 

When  in  England  last  spring,  Mr.  William  Davis  Miller  took 
a  photograph  of  the  church  at  High  Lever,  Essex,  where  Roger 
Williams  was  married.  He  has  had  an  enlargement  made  of 
this  photograph  and  has  given  it  to  the  Society. 

"Rhode  Island's  Gift  to  Telephony,"  the  talk  which  Mr.  Don- 
ald Cowell  gave  before  the  Society  last  March,  has  been  printed 
in  the  Providence  Magazine  for  May,  1922. 

Two  new  publications  of  Rhode  Island  interest  have  been 
recently  received.  They  are  the  "Records  of  the  Court  of 
Trials  of  the  Town  of  Warwick,  R.  I.,  1659-1674,"  from  the 
original  manuscript  in  the  Shepley  Library,  and  Norman  M. 
Isham's  guide  to  "Wickford  and  its  Neighborhood." 

Mrs.  Frederick  Allien  of  Riverdale  on  Hudson,  Mr.  George 
R.  Burgess  of  Providence  and  Mrs.  Edward  S.  Moulton  of 
Providence  have  been  admitted  to  membership  in  the  Society. 

A  coat  worn  by  Richard  Smith  of  Cocumscussuc  has  been 
added  to  the  Society's  museum,  the  gift  of  Mr.  Walter  Hidden. 

An  exhibition  of  Rhode  Island  State  Bank  bills  has  been 
arranged  in  the  exhibition  cases  in  the  Portrait  Gallery.  Over 
100  specimens  are  shown.  In  addition  to  those  owned  by  the 
Society,  there  are  exhibited  others  loaned  by  Col.  George  L. 
Shepley  and  Mr.  Edward  Aborn  Greene.  Col.  H.  Martin  Brown 
presented  the  Society  with  the  Pascoag  Bank  bill.    These  bank 


1  R.  I.  H.  S.  Ms.  XI,  p.  50. 


EARLY    RHODE    ISLAND   SEALS 


lOI 


bills  were  used  during  the  period  between  the  Revolution  and 
the  Civil  War.  The  exhibition  contains  not  only  bills  in  the 
state  of  circulation,  but  also  cancelled  bills,  restrikes.  unsigned 
specimens,  and  two  synthetic  bills,  apparently  to  be  used  as 
models  by  engravers.  Some  copper  and  steel  plates  from  which 
the  bills  were  struck  are  also  shown.  These  copper  plates  were 
engraved  by  the  local  Providence  engraver.  William  Hamlin 
the  man  who  engraved  the  first  published  view  of  Providence'. 
"The  Charter  and  By-Laws  of  the  Newport  Guards."  i^rinted 
at  Newport  by  Henry  C.  Southwick  and  Co.,  "Three  doors 
South  of  the  Cap  of  Liberty"  in  1794  has  been  added  to  the 
Shepley  Library.    It  is  a  hitherto  unknown  Newport  imprint-. 

1  R.  I.  H.  S.  Coll.  vol.  XII,  frontispiece. 
-  Cf.  R.  I.  H.  S.  Coll.  vol.  XIV,  p.  94. 


Early  Rhode  Island  Seals 

Many  of  the  early  Rhode  Islanders  used  distinctive  seals. 
Those  of  James  Sweet,  1662  (XI,  p.  100).  Gregory  De.xter, 
which  was  used  by  his  son  in  1716,  R.  I.  H.  S.  Ms.  I.,  p.  129 
(XII,  p.  114),  Robert  Jeoffreys  (XIII,  p.  52),  Richard  Water- 
man, 1729  (XIII,  opp.  p.  139),  John  Greene.  Jr.  (XIV.  p.  5), 
and  William  Coddington  (XIV,  p.  32),  have  been  illustrated  in 
our  "Collections."  W^illiam  Ellery's  seal  is  reproduced  in  the 
Newport  Historical  Magazine,  IV,  p.  184,  with  a  note  on  page 
259,  the  Lawton  seal  is  described  in  the  Rhode  Island  Historical 
Magazine,  VI,  p.  140,  and  also  the  seals  of  other  Newport  resi- 
dents. 1675-1783,  VI,  pages  67  to  71.  Seals  of  other  Rhode 
Islanders  are  reproduced  in  the  Massachusetts  Historical  Society 
Collections,  series  4.  volumes  VI  and  VII,  and  series  5,  volume 
I,  and  also  in  the  Heraldic  Journal,  1865-68. 


102 


RHODE  ISLAND  HISTORICAL  SOCIETY 


Governor  Benedict  Arnold  (1615-1678)  used  two  personal 
seals.  One  was  a  conventional  scroll  with  the  letters  B,  D,  and 
A,  signifying  Benedict  and  Damaris  Arnold.  There  are  several 
impressions  of  this  seal  extant,  one  of  the  finest  of  them  being 
on  a  deed  dated  1676,  and  preserved  at  the  Rhode  Island  His- 
torical Society.  The  other  seal  is  a  foul  anchor  between  the 
letters  B.  A.  This  silver  seal  is  still  preserved  and  is  on  exhibi- 
tion in  the  museum  of  the  Rhode  Island  Historical  Society. 
This  seaP  may  have  been  the  Colony  seal  of  1660,  which  was 
discarded  in  1664  when  Benedict  Arnold  was  Governor.  He 
may  have  bought  the  old  Colony  seal  and  had  his  initials  added. 
It  is  of  course  possible  that  Arnold  may  have  merely  copied  the 
Colony  seal  and  added  his  initials.  In  the  Rider  Collection, 
Brown  University,  there  is  an  impression  of  this  Arnold  anchor 
seal  made  in  1800  bv  Samuel  Chace. 


The  seal  used  by  John  Banister  of  Newport  on  a  deed  dated 
1741  in  the  TiUinghast  Papers,  vol.  I,  p.  1,  in  Rhode  Island 
Historical  Society  Library. 


'  See  Chapin's  The  Seal,  the  Arms  and  the  Flag  of  Rhode  Island,  p.  2. 


EARLY    RHODE    ISLAND   SEALS 


103 


The  armorial  seal  used  by  John  Clarke  on  his  will  dated  1676 
and  preserved  at  the  Newport  Historical  Society.  John  Clarke 
was  Deputy  Governor  and  Agent  for  the  Colony. 


The  seal  of  John  Coggeshall  of  Newport,  President  of  the 
Colony  in  1647.  From  manuscripts  in  the  Connecticut  Archives, 
Colonial  Boundary,  vol.  I,  pp.  103  and  109. 


The  seal  of  John  Greene  of  \A\irwick.  This  seal  appears  in 
the  Warner  Papers,  vol.  I,  pages  6  (1659),  8  (1665).  11 
(1668),  and  62  (1696).  It  may  have  been  one  of  the  early 
Colony  seals  with  the  initials  I.  G.  added  after  the  seal  had  been 
discarded  by  the  Colony. 


I04 


RHODE  ISLAND  HISTORICAL  SOCIETY 


The  seal  of  Samuel  Gorton  is  a  conventional  design  with  his 
initials.  It  appears  in  the  Greene  Papers,  page  2,  the  Warner 
Papers,  vol.  I,  pages  31,  56.  68,  69,  71,  72,  74,  83,  and  84,  in  the 
Rhode  Island  Historical  Society  Library;  Providence  Town 
Papers  090  in  the  City  Hall,  and  on  a  letter  in  the  Library  of 
the  Massachusetts  Historical  Society.  Their  impression  of  this 
seal  has  been  reproduced  in  M.  H.  S.  C.  4,  VII,  plate  11. 


The  seal  of  Daniel  Gould  of  Newport  is  somewhat  similar  to 
that  of  Samuel  Gorton.  Daniel  Gould  (1625-1716)  was  the 
son  of  Jeremiah  Gould,  one  of  the  early  settlers  of  Newport. 
His  seal  appears  in  the  Warner  Papers,  vol.  1,  p.  57,  in  the 
Rhode  Island  Historical  Society  Library. 


William  Harris  was  one  of  the  founders  of  Providence.  His 
seal  appears  on  a  power  of  attorney,  dated  1678,  on  page  109  of 
the  Harris  Papers  at  the  Rhode  Island  Historical  Society. 


CITY    OF    ROWSEViLLE,   R.I. 

'K\m-  rfl.l'rtitr)/  m.:/.ii'/,.;^'li'.i.l'iil.tii  en   lli,    sprl-tnUi    firliMl  rf'.'.rrifitii 
,...      ^^..^ ^ - 


(Manuscript  note  on  reverse  of  lithograph  i 

This  was  a  celebrated  watering  place  on  border  of  Old  Warwick  Pond,  where  there 
was  an  annual  outing  of  12  to  20  gentlemen  for  fishing  and  dinner  and  sports.  They  were 
largely  the  merchants  on  South  Water  Street  and  quite  a  number  of  them  were  cotton 
buyers,  residing  South  most  of  the  year,  but  coming  home  in  Summer.  Captain  Shubaei 
Cady,  Master  of  the  Brig  Rouse  usually  arranged  for  the  outing  at  "Rouseville."  Among  its 
members  were  the  Browns,  Col.  W.  W.,  "Zeph"  and  "Nat",  Allen  Mathewson.  Jeremiah 
Gladding,  brother  of  Ben  C.  who  resided  on  Arnold  St.  This  cartoon  is  from  the  pencil  of 
E.  L.  Peckham,  better  known  as  "Ned"  Peckham,  "taken  on  the  spot." 

From  lithograph  at  Rhode  Island  Historical  Society 


The  Forerunner  of  the  Squantum  Club 


KID.  bel  &  Sc. 
CITY  OF  ROUSEVILLE,  R.  I. 
(Manuscript  note  on  reverse  of  engraving) 
The  "Hotel"  at  this  watering  place  as  picture  shows  was  kept  by  one  imaginary  "John 
Smith",  who  makes  quite  an  exhibit  of   "Wet  goods  ;  "  and  the  only  food  is  a  fish  hanging  on 
the  Hotel,  and  suggestive  of  great  thrift.    The  corpulent  "gent"  at  the  door  requesting  him  to 
"pay  up"  is  the  genial  Capt.  Cady,  who  usually  figured  expenses  and  divided  the  same  among 
the  members  and  usually  collected  same  before  dinner,  a  very  wise  precaution,  where  some 
might  forget  to  settle  after  a  full  dinner.     The  gentlemen  on  the  right,  engaged  in  pitching 
cents,  are  of  high  character  and  we  don't  think  they  played  "for  keep"  ;  they  never  acquired 
the  habits  of  regular  gamblers.      The   "gent"   in  foreground  on  the  low  stool,  frying  fish,  is 
recognized  by  his  brother,  Benj.  C,  as  Jeremiah  Gladding.      These  gatherings  continued  for 
some  years  at  different  places,  at  last  developing  into  the  present  Squantum  Club. 

From  engraving  at  Rhode  Island  Historical  Society 


EARLY    RHODE    ISLAND   SEALS 


105 


The  seal  of  Ezekiel  Holliman,  who  died  in  1659,  may  l)e  a 
portrait  of  St.  John  the  Baptist.  Holliman  spread  the  Baptist 
teachings  at  Providence,  Portsmouth,  Newport  and  Warwick. 
The  seal  appears  on  pages  1  and  36  in  volume  III  of  Manuscript 
Deeds,  at  the  Rhode  Island  Historical  Society  Library. 


The  above  seal  was  used  by  Obadiah  Holmes,  pastor  of  the 
First  Baptist  Church  of  Newport,  on  his  will  dated  1682,  which 
is  owned  by  the  Newport  Historical  Society. 


The  armorial  seal  of  Samuel  Hutchinson  is  reproduced  from 
the  Heraldic  Journal,  vol.  II,  p.  183.  Samuel  Hutchinson  was 
son  of  William  and  Anne  Hutchinson.  The  above  seal  appears 
on  his  will,  which  is  dated  1667. 


I06  RHODE  ISLAND  HISTORICAL  SOCIETY 


The  seal  of  Thomas  Ohiey,  Junior,  of  Providence,  appears 
on  many  papers  in  the  Rhode  Island  Historical  Society  Library, 
a  few  of  which  are :  R.  L  H.  S.  Ms.  I,  pages  84,  88,  94,  96,  98, 
and  106,  Deeds  III,  pages  2,  5,  6,  and  7;  and  Esten  Papers  19, 
27  and  29. 


The  seal  of  Richard  Scott  was  used  by  his  wife,  Katherine, 
on  a  letter  dated  Providence  17-4-1658,  and  preserved  at  the 
Massachusetts  Historical  Society  Library.  M.  H.  S.  C.  5,  I, 
96,  and  plate  2.  Richard  Scott  and  Katherine  Morbury  were 
married  at  Berkhamsted,  Co.  Herts,  England,  on  June  7,  1632. 


The  armorial  seal  used  by  Richard  Smith  of  Cocumscussuc, 
R.  I.,  on  a  letter  preserved  in  the  Connecticut  Archives. 


EARLY    RHODE   ISLAND   SEALS 


107 


The  above  seal  was  used  by  Mary  Holliman  on  an  agreement 
dated  Feb.  22,  1668,  and  now  owned  by  a  descendant,  Howard 
M.  Chapin.  Mary  Holliman  married  first  John  Sweet,  one  of 
the  early  settlers  of  Providence,  and  secondly  Ezekiel  Holliman, 
one  of  the  early  settlers  of  Warwick. 


This  seal  was  used  by  Stukely  Westcott  in  1656,  on  a  man- 
uscript now  in  the  Rhode  Island  Historical  Society  Library, 
Harris  Papers,  p.  13.  Stukely  Westcott's  son  was  named  Rob- 
ert. This  seal  probably  belonged  to  some  earlier  member  of  the 
Westcott  family  with  initials  R.  W. 


The  armorial  seal  used  by  Roger  Williams  in  1637  and  1638 
on  letters,  now  preserved  at  the  Massachusetts  Historical  Society 
Library.    These  letters  are  printed  in  M.  H.  S.  C.  4.  VI.  231-3, 


I08  RHODE  ISLAND  HISTORICAL  SOCIETY 

242-4,  248-9,  252-3,  254-61,  266-7,  and  the  seal  illustrated  on 
plate  3.  There  is  a  discussion  of  these  arms  in  R.  I.  H.  S. 
News-sheet,  No.  39.  It  appears  probable  that  they  are  the  arms 
of  the  family  of  Williams  of  Llangibby,  Monmouthshire,  with 
the  gyronny  lines  omitted  through  carelessness  or  else  cut  so 
lightly  that  their  impression  is  not  now  discernible  in  the  wax. 
These  arms  were  "Gyronny  of  eight  ermine  and  ermines,  a  lion 
rampant  or,"  but  are  given  by  Burke  as  ermine  and  sable  instead 
of  ermine  and  ermines,  and  illustrated  by  Burke  as  argent  and 
sable.  Roger  Williams  of  Llangibby,  the  head  of  that  family, 
died  in  1575. 


William  Field  of  Providence  was  for  years  a  member  of  the 
General  Assembly.  He  died  in  1665.  His  seal  appears  on  pages 
6  and  7  of  the  Field  Papers,  which  are  preserved  in  the  Rhode 
Island  Historical  Society  Library. 


THE   WALLUM    POND    ESTATES  IO9 

The  Wallum  Pond  Estates 
By  Harry  Lee  Barnes 

(^Continued  from  July  Number) 

Round  Pond. 
This  pond,  having  an  area  of  about  50  acres,  lies  deep  in  tlic 
woods  about  a  mile  and  a  half  southwest  of  Walhini  Pond  and 
half  a  mile  south  of  the  Buck  Hill  road.    The  outlet  on  the  east 
side  has  been  deepened  to  allow  the  pond  to  be  drawn  down  a 
little.    According  to  Keech,  friendly  Mohawks  trapped  otter  on 
Round  Pond  brook  in  the  old  days.     On  the  northerly  side  of 
the  Pond,  about  200  feet  from  the  shore,  is  a  boulder  of  about 
12  feet  in  heighth  and  breadth,  against  which  we  are  told  a  gang 
of  counterfeiters  once  built  their  work  hut.    The  chimney  of  this 
cabin  was  still  standing  50  years  ago,  but  now  only  the  fireplace 
remains.     On  the  northeasterly  side  of  the  Pond,  near  a  large 
flat  ledge,  is  a  swampy  ravine  about  300  feet  wide  running 
northeasterly.     The  rocky  ridge  on  the  southern  side  of  this 
ravine  terminates  about  1,000  feet  from  the  pond  at  "Money 
Rocks."     This  small  rocky  cavern,  in  which  tradition^  says  the 
counterfeiters  hid  their  tools  and  money  is  entered  from  above 
through  a  triangular  opening,  measuring  34  by  38  by  49  inches. 
The  cave  is  large  enough  to  hold  two  or  three  men.  but  is  not 
high  enough  to  allow  one  to  stand  erect.    Formerly  the  opening 
could  be  completely  closed  by  a  triangular  flat  stone  which  had 
been  displaced  from  and  which  nicely  fitted  the  aperture,  but  the 
opening  has  been  enlarged  in  recent  years  by  the  action  of  the 
weather.     It  has  always  been  believed  that  the  tix^ls  and  other 
incriminating  evidences  of   their  work  were  thrown   into  the 
Pond  when  the  nature  of  the  work  was  suspected.     In  his  iiis- 
tory  of  Burrillville,  Keech  gives  an  interesting  account  of  the 
detection  and  trial  of  these  counterfeiters.    He  states  that  one  of 
the  counterfeiters  became  intoxicated  at  Brandy  Hill  Tavern  in 


1  Wm   R  Angell  was  shown  Money  Rocks  by  his  srandfather.  Eslon 
Angell,  and  the  latter  by  his  father,  Randall  Angcll. 


110  RHODE    ISLAND    HISTORICAL    SOCIETY 

Thompson  and  passed  so  much  new  counterfeit  money  as  to 
arouse  suspicion,  which  lead  to  his  arrest.    Among  the  suspected 
were  Arnold  Hunt  and  Zadoc  Sherman  (1783-1870),  the  latter, 
as  a  boy  of  12,  caught  the  men  at  their  work^  and  was  admitted 
to  the  gang  to  induce  him  to  hold  his  tongue.    There  is  a  tradi- 
tion that  Arnold  Hunt  was  put  on  trial  for  counterfeiting.     No 
convictions   were   ever  made,   according  to   Keech,   because   it 
involved  too  many  prominent  people,  some  of  whom  were  related 
to  the  Judge.     There  is  good  reason  for  thinking  that  part  of 
their  dies  and  other  tools  were  made  by  Arnold  Sayles  (1773- 
1860),  who  was  a  very  able  workman.     The  writer  has  seen 
some  of  the  tools  which  Sayles  is  alleged  to  have  made  for  these 
counterfeiters.     One  of  these  dies  made  for  a  coin  about  the 
size  of  a  quarter  is  inscribed  "Carlos   III   Dei  Gratia   1789." 
These  counterfeit  operations  had  previously  been  carried  on  in 
Thompson.     The  counterfeiting  at  Round  Pond  covered  a  con- 
siderable period  from  about  1786  to  1795.    Spanish  money  was 
counterfeited  because  it  was  in  common  use.    A  tradition  per- 
sists that  some  of  the  dies  were  made  in  Canada  and  that  some 
of  the  counterfeit  money  was  put  in  circulation  in  that  country. 
On  the  south  side  of  this  pond,  a  short  distance  from  the  shore, 
is  the  cellar  of  the  Stanfield  house.    Several  acres  had  once  been 
cleared  about  it.    About  1840,  a  man  by  the  name  of  Robbins 
cleared  up  several  acres  on  the  southeast  shore,  built  a  cabin  and 
lived  there  with  his  family-.    He  burned  charcoal  and  carted  it 
to  Providence  for  sale.     The  Robbins  cabin  was  a  wreck  by 
1850,  but  the  cellar  and  stone  heaps  can  be  plainly  seen  to-day  in 
the  thick  woods  where  one  would  little  expect  them. 

TJic  Buck  Hill  Woods. 

The  Buck  Hill  Woods  is  a  wilderness  of  ridges  and  hills, 
thickly  strewn  with  boulders  and  covered  with  scrub  oak,  broken 
by  occasional  high  black  oak  or  scrub  pine  stumps  which  have 
been  charred  by  forest  fires.     The  wood  road,  leading  westerly 


1  Zadoc  Sherman  to  Barton  Jacobs  to  writer. 

2  Sylvester  Angell  to  writer. 


THE    WALLUM    POND    ESTATES  III 

from  the  present  Sanatorium  pig  house,  divides  at  the  top  of 
the  first  ridge,  and  the  left  hand  fork,  after  two  or  three  hun- 
dred yards,  leads  to  a  high  ledge  of  rocks  of  unusual  appearance 
and  known  from  the  earliest  times  as  Badger  Mountain. 
Whether  the  name  came  from  a  supposed  resemblance  to  a 
badger  or  because  this  animal  was  at  one  time  found  there  is 
not  known.  The  wood  road  continues  southwesterly  about  half 
a  mile  beyond  Badger  Mountain,  where,  in  a  depression  of  land, 
is  a  small  pond  about  200.  feet  long  by  100  feet  wide  and  4  to  6 
feet  deep.  This  pond  is  fed  by  springs  and  yet  is  apparently 
without  an  outlet  or  running  off  brook.  The  easterly  side  of  the 
pond,  about  its  middle,  was  the  site  of  William  Angell's  steam 
sawmill,  about  1903.  Six  or  seven  hundred  feet  northwesterly 
of  this  pond  is  Goat  Rock,  a  ledge  about  80  feet  long,  with  a 
perpendicular  face  on  the  easterly  side,  15  to  20  feet  high.  Why 
it  is  called  Goat  Rock,  no  one  seems  to  know.  It  might  well  have 
been  called  "coon  rock,"  as  it  seems  to  have  been  a  favorite 
resort  for  raccoons.  At  the  foot  of  the  northerly  end  of  the 
Goat  Rock  is  a  brook  which  in  the  springtime,  is,  perhaps,  half 
the  size  of  Clear  River,  and  this  brook  is  believed  to  drain  the 
Angell  sawmill  pond  by  an  underground  passage.  After  flowing 
about  100  feet  on  the  surface,  in  direction  a  little  west  of  south- 
west, it  disappears  underground  to  reappear  later  on  its  way  to 
join  the  Leeson  Brook. 

On  the  Buck  Hill  highway,  six-tenths  of  a  mile  southeasterly 
of  Orrin  Whiting's,  one  crosses  a  brook  which  flows  southwest- 
erly into  Ouadick  Reservoir  in  Thompson  and  in  its  lower 
course,  in  tTie  Buck  Hill  district,  is  known  as  the  Lewis  Brook. 
This  brook  is  formed  by  the  union  of  several  small  brooks  which 
rise  in  the  Buck  Hill  woods  westerly  and  southwesterly  of  the 
Sanatorium.  The  Leeson  Brook,  so  named  from  one  Leeson. 
who  many  vears  ago  had  a  house  and  clearing  near  it.  may  be 
considered  the  main  brook  in  the  sense  that  it  is  the  longest,  rises 
about  eight-tenths  of  a  mile  west  of  the  southern  end  of  Wallum 
Pond  and  flows  southerly,  receiving  branches  from  the  east. 
About  a  third  of  a  mile  northerly  of  the  Buck  Hill  road,  a  brook 
enters  from  the  east  called  the  "Boiling  Spring  Brook."    Follow- 


112  RHODE    ISLAND    HISTORICAL    SOCIETY 

ing  up  this  brook  in  an  easterly  direction,  about  half  a  mile 
through  Boiling  Spring  Cedar  Swamp,  one  comes  to  the  Boiling 
Spring,  a  circular  spring,  perhaps  8  feet  in  diameter,  where 
the  water,  which  is  cold,  can  be  seen  to  rise  or  "boil"  up  from 
the  ground.  A  pole  can  be  stuck  in  the  bottom  of  the  spring  10 
or  15  feet,  without  reaching  firm  bottom.  About  300  feet  east- 
erly of  this  spring  is  a  brook  which  comes  from  a  swamp  about 
20  rods  northeasterly  of  the  cellar  hole  of  the  William  Trask 
house.  In  high  water  this  brook  runs  overground  into  the  Boil- 
ing Spring,  but  at  other  times  it  is  lost  underground,  probably 
reappearing  in  the  Boiling  Spring  Brook.  The  Trask  Swamp 
Brook  is  dry  in  summer,  but,  no  matter  how  dry  the  weather, 
the  Boiling  Spring  pours  out  a  generous  stream  of  water.  About 
half  a  mile  northerly  of  Goat  Rock  Brook  is  another  brook  which 
runs  southeasterly  into  Leeson  Brook.  This  brook  starts  in  a 
swamp  about  half  a  mile  southwesterly  of  Wallum  Pond,  dis- 
appears for  some  distance,  and  then  reappears  in  a  spring  of 
water,  very  cold  from  its  underground  journey  and  called  Cold 
Spring  Brook.  Leeson  Brook,  like  its  tributaries,  has  a  trick  of 
disappearing  in  some  places  in  the  upper  part  of  its  course. 

Coon  Cave  lies  about  half  a  mile  westerly  of  the  southern  end 
of  Wallum  Pond  in  a  ledge  of  rocks  about  50  feet  long  by  10 
feet  high,  facing  the  west.  At  the  foot  of  the  ledge  is  an  open- 
ing in  the  rocks  into  which  a  man  can  crawl  about  15  feet.  A 
torch  shows  many  crevices  and  holes  extending  about  20  feet 
farther  and  large  enough  to  form  hiding  places  for  animals. 
This  small  cave  has  been  a  favorite  place  for  bats  in  summer 
time  and  many  a  coon  and  fox  have  here  found  safe  retreat  from 
hunters.  On  the  westerly  side  of  the  ledge  is  a  swampy  pond 
hole  about  200  feet  long  by  60  feet  wide,  filled  with  swamp 
huckleberry  bushes  of  unusual  height.  This  swamp  drains 
northerly  into  a  small  pond  of  clear  water  of  about  the  same 
size.  A  few  rods  westerly  and  in  plain  sight  of  this  pond,  is  a 
prominent  irregular  ledge  of  rocks  known  as  Rattlesnake  Ledge. 
Over  50  years  ago,  Reuben  Dudley  spent  3  or  4  days  about  here 
catching  rattlesnakes  for  a  circus.  The  rattlesnakes  were  caught 
by  pinning  their  heads  to  the  ground  with  a  forked  stick  and 


THE    WALLUM    POND    ESTATES 


•13 


then  seizing  the  snakes  and  depositing  them  in  a  hag.  Dudley' 
caught  20  rattlesnakes,  for  which  he  was  paid  $100.  On  the 
easterly  side  of  the  pond,  hy  Rattlesnake  Ledge,  is  tiie  running 
out  or  outlet  brook,  which,  after  the  fashion  of  Buck  Hill 
streams,  runs  underground  for  a  considerable  distance.  The 
water,  though  out  of  sight,  can  be  heard  on  its  way  to  Wallum 
Pond.  The  reason  for  the  disappearance  of  the  brooks  in  the 
Buck  Hill  woods  is  found  in  the  enormous  number  of  boulders 
so  thickly  piled  together  that  in  many  places  one  may  walk  for 
long  distances  without  touching  earth.  The  water,  falling  sev- 
eral feet  through  the  crevices  between  these  boulders,  which,  in 
some  places  have  a  thin  covering  of  moss,  leaf  mould,  or  loam, 
is  often  lost  to  sight  and  hearing. 

The  Clear  River  Reservoir  Co. 

The  value  of  Wallum  Pond  as  a  reservoir  for  the  Bridgeton 
mills  has  always  been  considerable.  These  mill  owners  are  said 
to  have  paid  Darling  to  open  his  gates  at  the  outlet  of  the  pond 
until  these  outlet  gates  were  finally  bought  by  IMarsh  and  later. 
Sept.  18,  1860,  by  Augustus  Hopkins  of  Bridgeton.  The  Clear 
River  Reservoir  Co.,  a  chartered  corporation,  afterward  leased 
Wilson's  Pond,  Sept.  20,  1866,  and  raised  the  dam  7  feet,  thus 
enlarging  Wilson's  Pond.  They  also  built  a  new  dam  and  gate 
and  deepened  the  trench  at  the  outlet  of  Wallum  Pond  so  that 
the  pond  can  be  drawn  four  feet  lower  than  before.  The  old 
log  dam  at  the  north  outlet  was  replaced  by  one  of  stone.  Their 
questionable  deed  to  flow  the  land  about  Wallum  Pond  to  any 
height  was  never  carried  out.  The  right  of  the  Clear  River 
Reservoir  Co.  to  sell  and  market  ice  was  sold  to  Wm.  E.  Bowen, 
March  23,  1900. 

O'Neil's  Camp. 

This  land  was  originally  sold  from  John  Howland's  farm  and 
at  one  time  belonged  to  Howland  Kimball.    The  name  of  Xche- 


1  In  a  newspaper  account  a  few  years  before  his  death,  it  was  stated 
that  Ddkv,  whS  frequently  hunted  in  the  Douglas  and  Buck  H.Il  woods 
had  cauglU  or  killed  700  coons,  150  foxes,  21  otter  o7  rattlesnakes  and 
250  swafms  of  wild  bees.  This  statement  is  cred.ted  by  rehable  persons 
who  knew  him. 


114  RHODE    ISLAND    HISTORICAL    SOCIETY 

miah  Kimball,  who  formerly  lived  on  this  place,  begins  to  appear 
in  the  deeds  as  early  as  1815.  He  at  first  lived  in  a  log  house  on 
the  south  side  of  the  road^  After  a  few  years,  he  built  a  frame 
house  on  the  north  side  of  the  road,  where  the  cellar  hole  is  still 
readily  seen.  He  married  Cyrene,  daughter  of  Israel  Aldrich,  a 
farmer  on  Wallum  Pond  Hill,  and  lived  on  the  O'Neil  place 
until  his  death  in  1849.  His  wife  lived  here  as  late  as  1860  and 
then  lived  in  Mapleville  with  her  son,  Daniel.  This  house  was 
bought  by  a  man  named  Moore,  who  moved  it  to  Pascoag  for  a 
fish  market.  Mrs.  Kimball  sold  the  place  to  James  Dockery  in 
1864.  John  Riley  owned  the  place  from  1872  until  1903,  when 
it  was  bought  by  the  Pascoag  Fishing  Club,  so  called,  Thos. 
O'Neil  and  seven  other  men,  each  of  whom  owned  two  or  three- 
twentieths  of  the  property.  The  small  cabin  built  in  1894  was 
replaced  by  the  present  camp  in  1903.  ]Mr.  O'Neil,  who  con- 
ducted the  place,  gave  clambakes  and  entertained  fishermen  and 
others. 

The  Railroad. 
The  origin  of  the  Providence  and  Springfield  Railroad,  which 
was  built  to  Pascoag  in  1872-1873,  was  described  to  the  writer 
by  the  late  William  Tinkham,  the  Harrisville  manufacturer,  who 
was  President  of  this  railroad,  substantially  as  follows : — "The 
water  furnishing  insufficient  power  for  the  mills,  we  had 
burned  wood  largely  up  to  1872,  when  the  wood  was  pretty  well 
cut  off  and  we  were  so  far  in  the  country  that  it  was  too  expen- 
sive to  haul  coal  over  the  road.  I  met  Albert  L.  Sayles  in  the 
Arcade  in  Providence  one  day  and  said  to  him,  'We  must  build 
a  railroad  up  there,  and  we  can't  get  on  without  it.'  Mr.  Sayles 
said,  'Yes,  but  we  can't  do  it  alone ;  we  must  get  someone  to 
help.'  I  went  to  my  office  and  wrote  an  article  for  the  Provi- 
dence Journal,  and  Mr.  Danielson,  the  editor,  wrote  an  editorial. 
After  one  month's  advertisement  and  agitation,  we  tried  to  sell 
stock  and  got  $200,000  easily.  The  trains  started  to  run  in 
August,  1873."     The  plans  for  the  extension  from  Pascoag  to 


^  Mrs.  Nehemiah  Kimball,  Jr.,  to  writer. 


THE    WALLUM    POND    ESTATES  II5 

Southbridge,  passing  by  the  east  and  north  sides  of  Walkim 
Pond,  were  made  July  11,  1891,  and  most  of  the  deeds  of  the 
property  to  the  railroad  for  this  extension  were  made  in  1892 
and  1893.  Service  between  Pascoag  and  Southbridge  was  dis- 
continued for  a  time  but  was  recommenced  after  the  erection 
of  the  State  Sanatorium.  The  Providence  to  Southbridge  line 
was  sold  to  the  New  York,  New  Haven  &  Hartford  Railroad 
Company  Oct.  30,  1905,  the  sum  named  being  $569,195. 

The  Red  House  on  the  Hill. 
This  house,  near  the  southern  end  of  Wallum  Pond  Hill  with 
a  commanding  view  toward  Pascoag,  was  originally  part  of  the 
Capt.  John  Whipple  farm  and  later  of  the  John  Howland  farm. 
It  was  subsequently  bought  by  the  Phillipses,  who  owned  the 
factory  and  who  probably  used  it  for  their  mill  employees.  On 
the  division  of  the  Phillips's  mill  estate  by  the  court,  Israel 
Aldrich  bought  this  place.  Dutee  Logee  once  lived  here.  While 
the  mills  were  running,  Daniel  Kimball,  Aldrich's  grandson,  had 
a  good  country  store  in  this  house,  and,  at  one  time,  Sabin  Mil- 
lard had  a  saloon  with  a  bowling  alley  in  the  basement.  Jose])h 
Bowdish  and  Lovell  Parker  lived  there  for  a  time.  Martin  H. 
Smith  sold  the  place  to  James  Dockery,  July  7,  1860.  Dockery 
was  a  big  Irishman  who  had  a  large  family.  There  is  a  tradi- 
tion that  there  was  once  a  distillery  for  moonshine  corn  whiskey 
in  the  woods  about  a  half  mile  east  of  the  Wallum  Lake  Station. 
In  1872  this  place  was  sold  to  John  Riley  and  Alfred  .\ngell 
(1841-1884),  who  lived  there  together  until  Riley  bought  out 
Angell.  Riley  sold  to  the  Pascoag  Fishing  Club,  so  called.  May 
7,  1903,  from  whom  it  was  bought  by  Mr.  Singleton.  Since 
then,  it  has  been  for  the  most  part  unoccupied.  The  barn  burned 
down  about  1907.  This  place  was  considered  as  a  site  for  the 
Sanatorium  before  the  present  site  was  purchased. 

Quarries. 
About  a  mile  from  the  Wallum  Lake  Depot,  toward  Pascoag. 
on  both  sides  of  the  railroad  one  sees  where  stone  has  been  (juar- 
ried.    This  work  began  almost  immediately  after  the  builduig  of 


Il6  RHODE    ISLAND    HISTORICAL    SOCIETY 

the  railroad.  Henry  Mathewson,  of  Providence,  took  a  50  years 
lease  of  six  acres  on  the  southwesterly  side  of  the  railroad,  Sept. 
21,  1893.  The  land  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  track  was  leased 
to  John  Leavet,  who,  until  1906,  quarried  stone  there  and  also 
near  the  Providence  Ice  Company's  spur  track  at  the  north  end 
of  the  pond,  where  much  building  stone  had  been  obtained  in  the 
old  days.  The  quarry  near  the  ice  house  was  in  a  ledge  formerly 
called  the  Snake  Den.  This  stone  was  said  to  be  a  granite  good 
for  foundations,  but  not  good  enough  for  monuments,  as  it  con- 
tained mica  which  fell  out  and  left  pits.  The  granite  used  in 
the  construction  of  the  Boston  Dry  Dock  was  obtained  from 
these  quarries. 

The  IVallum  Pond  School. 
In  ]May,  1800,  the  Glocester  Town  Council  appointed  a  com- 
mittee to  divide  the  town  into  school  districts.  The  Wallum 
Pond  district  was  No.  1  and  extended  south  on  the  Connecticut 
line  to  Henry  Pollock's,  then  eastward  by  the  south  side  of 
James  King's,  about  half  a  mile  south  of  the  Sanatorium,  to 
Cyrus  Logee's,  about  a  mile  northeasterly  of  the  Sanatorium 
and  then  northward  by  Lippitt  Eddy's  to  the  Massachusetts  line. 
Cyrus  Logee^  was  the  first  to  be  given  a  certificate  to  teach  in  the 
Wallum  Pond  district.  The  old  schoolhouse  stood  on  the  north 
side  of  the  east  highway  leading  from  Wallum  Pond  Hill  to  Pas- 
coag  and  a  little  east  of  the  highway  leading  from  the  Ezra  Stone 
or  Friery  place  to  the  first  mentioned  highway.  When  this 
schoolhouse  became  old  and  badly  in  need  of  repair,  a  new  one 
was  built  in  the  triangular  area  where  the  road  from  Douglas 
meets  the  east  road  from  Wallum  Pond  to  Pascoag,  about  a 
quarter  of  a  mile  south  of  the  present  Singleton  house.  While 
it  was  natural  that  the  factory  people  should  prefer  the  new  site, 
and  Capt.  Samuel  White  and  the  Logees,  the  old  site,  as  being 
nearer  to  each  neighborhood  respectively,  the  bitterness  of  the 
quarrel  over  the  two  sites  so  near  each  other  seems  amusing  at 
this  date.    About  1843",  the  matter  was  compromised  by  moving 


1  Records  of  the  Glocester  Town  Council. 

-  Statement  of  Sylvester  Angell,  who  saw  the  schoolhouse  moved. 


THE    WALLUM    POND    ESTATES  II7 

the  new  schoolhouse  half  way  between  the  two  sites,  where,  on 
the  side  hill,  it  could  hardly  have  been  satisfactory  to  anyone. 
Most  of  the  larger  children  worked  while  the  mill  was  running, 
when  the  school  sometimes  declined  in  number  to  two  or  three 
pupils.  During  slack  time  at  the  factory  because  of  shortage  of 
water,  etc.,  the  number  of  pupils  increased  to  about  thirty.  This 
school,  with  its  rattling  windows,  many  wasps,  few  children  and 
a  fifteen-year-old  school  teacher,  made  a  bad  impression  on  Ellen 
Wakefield\  in  1856.  Sometime  in  the  fifties,  James  Riley  recalls 
seeing  a  man  teacher  named  Kenyon  deposited  in  the  woodbox 
by  Alfred  Angell,  Emory  White  and  William  Green.  In  later 
times,  Burrillville  changed  the  district  to  exclude  the  Buck  Hill 
region  and  extended  it  southerly  to  include  the  A.  S.  Wells 
house.  The  school  census  shows  the  enrollment  in  later  years 
to  have  been  as  follows:  1885,  11 ;  1886.  11 ;  1887,  9;  1888,  14; 
1889,  13;  1890,  13;  1891,  12;  1892,  9;  1893,  6. 

In  early  years  the  school  was  taught  by  Preserved  Alger ;  and 
in  the  early  fifties,  and  probably  earlier,  by  Emily  King,  whose 
efficiency  is  still  a  tradition.  In  the  fifties  and  sixties,  the  school 
was  taught  by  Sarah  Wakefield.  Mary  Paine,  Nancy  Paine. 
Nancy  Rowland,  Susan  Page  and  Ellen  Paine.  In  the  early 
eighties  by  Grace  Blake  and  Maria  L.  Ross.  In  the  late  eighties 
and  nineties,  some  of  the  teachers  were  Lillian  Bailey.  Maggie 
Shea  and  Ella  M.  Thayer.  The  school  was  discontinued  in 
April  1893.  because  of  the  small  number  of  pupils  and  the  school 
house  burned  a  few  years  afterward. 

George  Stone. 
On  the  right  hand  side  of  the  road  running  from  the  school- 
house  corner  to  the  Friery  farm,  there  stood,  in  the  old  days,  a 
large  two-story  gambrel-roof  house  with  two  large  barns,  corn 
crib  and  orchard,  owned  by  George  Stone.  Mr.  Stone  operated 
a  large  cooper  shop,  wheelwright  shop  and  blacksmith  shop; 
which  he  bought  of  Ezra  Stone  May  17,  1803.  On  the  opposite 
side  of  the  road  was  a  horsepower  cider  mill,  and  at  the  school- 


1  Statement  to  writer. 


Il8  RHODE    ISLAND    HISTORICAL    SOCIETY 

house  corner  on  the  south  side  of  the  road,  near  a  good  spring, 
were  the  tannery  vats  or  tubs,  parts  of  which  were  seen  as  late  as 
1850.  Mr.  Stone's  business  had  disappeared  before  1840,  the 
house  standing  perhaps  until  1850.  Many  individuals  of  the 
Stone,  Alger  and  neighboring  families  were  buried  in  the  Stone 
burying  ground  north  of  the  George  Stone  house,  near  the 
Frierv^  farm. 

Tlic  Algcrs. 

Two  brothers,  Joshua  and  Preserved  Alger,  at  one  time  lived 
in  a  two-family  house  on  the  south  side  of  the  road,  east  of 
George  Stone's  corner.  The  house  stood  about  opposite  the 
recently  disused  highway  leading  to  the  Duty  Logee  place.  In 
later  years  John  Riley  and  James  Riley  lived  there.  Half  of  the 
house  was  torn  down  by  the  latter  and  the  remainder  took  fire, 
from  ashes  left  in  a  barrel,  and  burned^  Joshua  Alger,  who 
bought  the  old  school-house  which  stood  on  the  north  side  of  the 
road,  and  east  of  the  George  Stone  corner,  built  an  addition  to  it 
and  occupied  it  for  some  time.  When  beyond  repair,  this  house 
was  torn  down  by  Patrick  Friery. 

Enoch  A ng ell's  Place. 
On  the  opposite  side  of  the  road  from  the  Singleton  house  and 
a  short  distance  southerly,  was  a  small  house  and  barn  built  by 
Ezra  Stone  for  his  son,  Amos.  The  latter  sold  to  Arnold  Baker, 
who  lived  there  in  1834.  Baker's  mortgage  to  Randall  Angell 
was  never  paid,  and  the  property  passed  through  the  hands  of 
his  son,  Brown,  to  Brown's  son,  Enoch  (1832-1865).  The  lat- 
ter removed  the  foundation  wall  from  one  end  of  the  house  in 
excavating  for  a  new  addition,  and  a  heavy  wind  storm  tipped 
the  house  over  and  it  was  allowed  to  rot-.  Enoch  Angell's  only 
child  and  heir,  Maria  Angell  Wood,  sold  the  place  to  Mr. 
Singleton. 


1  James  Riley  to  writer. 

-  Statement  to  the  writer  by  Sylvester  Angell,  who  at  one  time  owned 
the  house. 


THE    WALLUM    POND    ESTATES  I  I9 

The  Si}iglcto)i  Farm. 
John  Howland,  a  descendant  of  the  John  Rowland  who  came 
over  on  the  Mayflower,  carried  on  the  farm  after  his  purchase 
from  Whipple  in  1770  until  1802,  when  he  sold  to  James  P.ur- 
lingame.  Buffum  Chase,  a  tanner,  bought  of  Ikirlingame  in 
1814.  It  is  not  unlikely  that  Chase  conducted  or  worked  in  the 
old  tannery.  Chase  defaulted  a  mortgage  and  gave  possession 
to  John  Arnold  in  1819.  Randall  Angell  bought  the  proi)erty 
with  his  son,  Brown,  in  1827,  and  the  latter  became  sole  owner 
in  1833  and  lived  there  until  his  death.  Brown  Angell  (1801- 
1878)  was  a  successful  farmer  and  one  of  the  few  in  this  neigh- 
borhood who  raised  tobacco.  His  son,  Luther,  conducted  the 
farm  until  his  death.  The  farm  was  bought  of  the  Angell  heirs 
by  \\'illiam  Green,  a  son-in-law  of  Brown  Angell,  who  held  it 
until  his  sale  to  James  H.  Singleton.  About  200  yards  south- 
westerly of  the  Singleton  house  is  a  small  burying  ground  con- 
taining field  stone  monuments  without  names. 

Olncy  AngcU's  Place. 
This  farm,  the  next  one  north  of  Singleton's,  from  which  it  is 
separated  by  the  State  line  between  Rhode  Island  and  Massa- 
chusetts, was  a  part  of  the  "Boston  Men's"  1.900-acre  tract  pre- 
viously described.  It  was  laid  out  to  John  Binning,  whose  only 
child  and  heir,  Sarah,  married  Jeremiah  Green,  a  Boston  dis- 
tiller. Green  sold  all  of  this  farm  east  of  the  Pond,  containing 
280  acres,  to  John  Hunt,  March  2,  1773.  John  Hunt  sol<l  131 
acres  to  Daniel  Hunt  in  1775.  The  latter  cleared  the  land  and 
made  his  home  there  until  old  age,  possibly  until  death.  During 
the  Revolutions  he  was  arrested  on  suspicion  of  being  a  Tory, 
but  was  discharged  after  satisfying  the  authorities  of  his  inno- 
cence. His  widow,  Hulda,  sold  the  place  to  Randall  Angell.  ni 
1813.  The  latter  paid  for  this  farm  with  the  proceeds  of  tlie 
corn  and  rve,  beef  and  pork,  butter  and  cheese  raised  on  the  i)Iace 
and  carted  to  Providence  by  ox-teanr.  Brown  Angell,  as  a  boy 
of  16,  carried  on  this  farm  alone  for  months  at  a  time  tor  his 


1  Emerson's  History  of  Douglas,  page  75. 

2  Randall's  statement  to  grandson.  Sylvester  Angell. 


120  RHODE    ISLAND    HISTORICAL    SOCIETY 

father,  having  his  younger  sister  with  him  as  housekeeper.  When 
Brown  Angell  was  settled  on  the  present  Singleton  farm,  Olney 
(1808-1886),  another  son  of  Randall  Angell,  took  the  place  and 
lived  there  until  his  death.  The  Angells  tore  down  the  old  Hunt 
house,  which  was  in  bad  condition,  and  built  the  house  now 
standing.  The  old  cellar  of  the  Hunt  house  may  be  seen  about 
200  feet  north  of  the  present  house. 

The  Alexander  Ritchie  Place. 

Obadiah  Brown,  afterward  associated  with  Samuel  Slater,  the 
noted  manufacturer,  who  bought  the  Daniel  Hunt  place  in  1809, 
failed  to  pay  off  his  mortgage  to  Hunt,  and  after  the  latter's 
death  the  court  appointed  Israel  Aldrich  and  Richard  Mowry 
to  settle  the  estate.  From  the  northern  part  of  the  Hunt  place, 
a  61 -acre  lot  was  sold  to  John  Rich  of  Sutton,  September  20, 
1813.  Benjamin  Robbins  and  John  Hunt  bought  this  land  the 
following  November  and  the  next  April  sold  to  Jonathan  Aid- 
rich,  a  son  of  Israel  Aldrich,  who  built  the  first  house  and  lived 
there  until  1849,  when  he  sold  to  his  son-in-law,  William  Buxton, 
and  moved  to  Centerdale,  R.  I.  Subsequent  owners  were  Lovell 
Parker  (1810-1891),  Michael  Roberts,  who  married  Mary 
Ritchie,  aunt  of  Alexander  Ritchie,  who  bought  in  1893.  The 
house  burned  in  1901  from  a  forest  fire  which  started  from  the 
railroad  near  the  pond,  and  Ritchie  replaced  the  old  house  with 
the  present  log  house. 

In  the  woods  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  road,  extending  a 
mile  from  the  State  line  to  the  Wallum  Pond-Douglas  school 
house,  is  a  swamp  known  as  Bear  Swamp.  There  is  a  tradition^ 
that  the  last  bear  in  the  vicinity  was  hunted  in  this  swamp. 
After  killing  a  dog  belonging  to  one  Sherman,  the  bear  took 
refuge  in  a  tree  and  was  killed. 

Most  of  the  area  eastward  of  Bear  Swamp,  extending  from 
the  Fairfield  road  to  the  Tasseltop  road  and  from  the  Rhode 
Island  line  northward  to  the  Wallum  Pond-Douglas  school  house 
road,  was  covered  with  a  hemlock  forest  from  early  colonial  days 


1  Statement  to  the  writer  by  Edwin  C.  Esten,  who  received  the  infor- 
mation from  his  mother,  the  daughter  of  Jonathan  Marcy. 


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IMPLEMENTS  USED  BY  THE  NARRAGANSETT  INDIANS 

From  the  Museum  of  the  Rhode  Island  Historical  Society 


.     THE    WALLUM    POND    ESTATES  121 

down  to  perhaps  1860.  The  brook  which  drains  Bear  Swamp 
and  flows  northeasterly  nearly  to  Tasseltop  was  named  Hem- 
beck  (Hemlock)  on  Dr.  Douglas's  map. 

TJic  Charles  Arnold  Place. 

The  cellar  hole  of  this  house  is  the  next  one  north  of  Ritchie's 
log  house.  November  20,  1779,  William  Menzies  bought  what 
remained  of  Katherine  Robertson's  lot,  cleared  the  farm  and 
erected  buildings.  After  his  death,  the  administralors  sold  the 
property  to  Daniel  Hunt,  April  9,  1795.  Jonah  lirown,  Jr., 
bought  part  of  the  property  in  1802  and  was  living  there  when 
he  sold  to  Abbee  Brown  in  1811.  Aaron  Benson  bought  it 
November  4,  1813,  and,  the  following  January,  sold  to  Otis  Bux- 
ton (1786-1873).  The  latter,  with  his  wife.  Salome  (1787- 
1887),  and  a  large  family  of  children,  lived  there  until  1835, 
when  he  sold  to  his  son,  Daniel,  and  bought  John  Martin's  i)lace 
west  of  Wallum  Pond.  Daniel  Buxton  (1812-1897),  a  rather 
picturesque  and  unconventional  character,  owned,  at  one  time  or 
another,  most  of  the  land  on  the  northern  part  of  Wallum  Bond 
Hill.  In  1851,  he  sold  to  his  brother,  Allen  Buxton  (1827- 
1897),  and  moved  into  the  Israel  Aldrich  house.  A  few  feet 
westerly  of  the  house  was  a  shoemaker's  shop  containing  half  a 
dozen  benches\  where  Charles  Arnold  employed  his  neighbors 
in  the  late  fifties  and  early  sixties.  Later  owners  or  tenants 
were  Alonzo  P.  Taft,  who  operated  a  sawmill,  Lovell  Parker, 
Dexter  Walling  and  George  Walling.  The  house  burned  between 
1892  and  1898.  and  the  barn  fell  down  sometime  in  the  nineties. 

Daniel  Buxton,  according  to  his  son,  William,  was  a  spectator 
at  the  "Battle  of  Acote's  Hill"  in  Chepachet  in  1842.  Mr.  Syl- 
vester Angell  recalls  hearing  the  commotion  due  to  the  flight  of 
Dorr's  troops  over  Wallum  Pond  Hill  and  across  the  Massachu- 
setts hue  during  the  night  after  the  afifair.  Thomas  O'Ne.l 
quotes  Joseph  Bowdish  as  saying  that  some  of  Dorr's  men  spent 
the  night  in  Bowdish's  barn,  located  easterly  of  the  school-house. 


1  Fred  Arnold  to  writer. 


122  RHODE    ISLAND    HISTORICAL    SOCIETY 

The  Vickcrs  Place. 

The  cellar  of  this  house  is  close  to  the  road  and  has  large  lilac 
bushes  near  it.  In  the  old  days,  the  Providence  to  Southbridge 
stage  turned  into  this  place,  went  westward  down  by  the  north 
end  of  the  pond,  across  the  brook  and  swamp  on  a  long  bridge- 
way,  and  continued  westerly  over  the  hill  to  the  Coffee  House 
four  corners.  This  road  is  still  passable  for  a  horse  and  wagon 
as  far  as  the  pond. 

The  Vickers  Place  was  a  part  of  Andrew  Tyler's  lot,  which 
was  sold  for  taxes  at  an  auction,  May  29,  1782,  to  Dr.  William 
Jennison  (1732-1798),  who  acquired  much  property  in  Douglas. 
Two  years  later  Dr.  Jennison  bought  240  acres  more  of  the 
Andrew  Tyler  lot  from  the  latter's  granddaughter,  Miriam 
Tyler  Powell  of  New  Haven,  Conn.  Between  1782  and  1795, 
the  property  passed  through  the  hands  of  Peter  Tyler,  Joseph 
Chase  and  Abel  and  John  Robbins.  It  is  likely  that  the  stage 
road  to  the  pond  was  built  during  the  latter's  ownership,  as  it  is 
mentioned  for  the  first  time  when  he  sold  to  Daniel  Aldrich  in 
1795.  The  farm  had  probably  been  cleared  and  buildings  erected 
by  that  time.  Seth  Aldrich,  who  bought  of  his  father,  Daniel, 
lived  here  from  1799,  until  he  sold  to  Dr.  Levi  Eddy  (1776- 
1844)  in  1810.  Dr.  Eddy  rented  the  property  to  David  Buxton, 
a  brother  of  Otis  Buxton,  and  to  Benjamin  Green,  who  had  mar- 
ried a  Buxton  and  who  lived  here  many  years.  After  Dr.  Eddy's 
death,  the  property  passed  successively  through  the  hands  of 
Daniel  Buxton,  Alpheus  Humes  and  Allen  Buxton.  In  1858, 
Ruth  Buxton  Burbank  and  Rhoda  Buxton  Ide  bought  the  place 
for  their  father  and  mother,  Otis  and  Salome  Buxton,  specifying 
that  it  should  be  free  from  the  interference  of  their  husbands,  a 
clause  evidently  inserted  to  make  sure  that  the  old  couple  could 
remain  as  long  as  they  pleased.  In  1864,  Abigail  Vickers,  a 
woman  of  Indian  blood,  who  had  married  Erastus  Vickers, 
mixed  Indian  and  negro,  bought  the  place  and  lived  there  until 
Dutee  Salisbury  bought  to  erect  the  summer  camp  at  the  north 
end  of  the  pond  in  1891.    The  house  burned,  about  1892. 


THE    WALLUM    POND    ESTATES  123 

The  Israel  Aldrich  Farm. 
The  farm  is  nicely  situated  on  the  northern  crest  of  W'allum 
Pond  Hill  with  fine  views  of  the  Pond,  the  Douglas  W^jods 
and  Mt.  Watchusett.  This  land  was  i)r()l)al)ly  a  part  of  William 
Tyler's  share  in  the  1,900-acre  tract  which,  hy  his  will,  was  left 
to  his  son,  Joseph  Tyler.  Lucy  Tyler  Whitwells  and  Frances 
Tyler  sold  to  Israel  Aldrich  (1765-1831).  March  30,  1787.  P.en- 
jamin  Green  heard  Mr.  Aldrich  say^  that  he  cleared  and  planted 
so  much  land  the  first  spring  after  he  settled  here  that  it  took 
him  30  days  to  do  his  hoeing.  Aldrich  was  a  prosperous  farmer. 
His  son,  Asahel,  who  afterward  lived  on  the  next  place  to  the 
northward  (the  Ernest  Singleton  Place),  operated  the  sawmill 
by  the  railroad,  about  half  a  mile  northwest  of  W'allum  Pcjnd. 
One  of  Israel's  daughters  married  Capt.  Samuel  White  and 
another  married  a  Wallis;  and  both  daughters,  with  their  father 
and  mother,  are  buried  in  the  family  burying  ground  about  COO 
feet  northwesterly  of  the  home  site.  Mr.  Tallman,  who  at  one 
time  operated  the  W'allum  Pond  factory,  lived  in  the  Israel  .Aid- 
rich  house  for  some  time,  about  1851.  Daniel  liuxton  was  liv- 
ing in  it  when  it  burned  in  1854. 

Religious  Services. 
Wallum  Pond  never  had  a  church,  but  services  were  frc- 
quentlv  held  in  the  Douglas  school  house,  which  was  on  the  north 
side  of  the  road  leading  easterly  from  the  Israel  Aldrich  place 
on  Wallum  Pond  Hill  and  about  one  quarter  of  a  mile  therefrom. 
Mr.  Harvey  Wakefield  (1808-1889),  the  Gore  minister,  occa- 
sionallv  came  up  to  preach  in  the  school-house.  Others  who 
sometimes  conducted  services  there  were  Ezra  Stone  and  I'.ras- 
tus  Vickers.  Some  of  the  W^allum  Pond  Hill  ne>ghl,orho...l 
attended  ^Ir.  Wakefield's  services  in  East  Thompson ;  others 
attended  church  in  Tasseltop;  and  there  was  a  churcli  <.t  the 
Mormons  or  Latter  Day  Saints  near  the  Marcy  Place,  about  two 
miles  east  of  Wallum  Pond  Hill. 

1  Wm.  Green  to  writer. 


124  RHODE    ISLAND    HISTORICAL    SOCIETY 

Walliim  Pond-Douglas  School. 
The  first  school-house^  on  this  site  was  built  by  Emer  Bowen 
in  1799  at  an  expense  of  $135.  The  teacher  in  this  school  in 
1835-  was  Augusta  Batchelder;  and  in  1841  Joseph  Seagraves. 
Other  teachers  before  1855^  were  Malvina  Richardson,  Sarah 
Healey,  Clara  Holman,  Sarah  Jefferson,  and,  in  later  years, 
Sarah  Walling  and  Grace  Darling.  This  school  was  continued 
until  the  burning  of  the  building,  about  1893. 

The  Summer  Camps. 
It  is  not  surprising  that  such  a  beautiful  sheet  of  water,  with 
adjoining  wooded  hills  and  good  fishing,  should  have  proved 
attractive  to  summer  campers.  Dutee  Salisbury,  of  Pascoag, 
camped  in  a  tent  with  a  frame  cook  house  at  the  north  end  of 
the  Pond  in  1891  and  1892,  and,  after  the  opening  of  the  railroad 
in  1893  had  made  the  place  more  accessible,  built  two  camps 
there.  He  afterwards  rented  these  camps  to  Horatio  Bellows, 
to  one  Hughes  and  others,  who  conducted  a  boarding  house, 
there  being  about  thirty  summer  boarders  living  in  the  camps 
and  tents  at  the  north  end,  where  there  is  a  fair  beach  for  bath- 
ing. Mr.  Oliver  Inman  at  one  time  had  a  tent  camp  north  of 
the  railroad,  near  the  spring.  Wm.  Inman,  of  Bridgeton, 
camped  one  season  in  a  tent  in  the  pine  grove  near  the  Sana- 
torium site  and  took  his  meals  at  the  Salisbury  Camp.  The  next 
season  (1894),  he  built  a  camp  near  Salisbury's  and  occupied  it 
several  seasons.  Dr.  E.  V.  Granger  of  Pascoag,  after  camping 
in  a  tent  in  the  pine  grove  behind  Sylvester  Angell's  house  sev- 
eral summers,  built  a  camp  on  the  east  shore  on  railroad  land 
about  1,000  feet  south  of  the  north  end.  Wm.  Dyer,  of  Provi- 
dence, bought  the  two  Salisbury  camps,  about  1908,  and  sum- 
mered there  with  his  family  for  several  seasons.  While  the 
Sanatorium  was  being  built,  its  architect,  Howard  Thornton,  of 
Providence,  built  a  camp  on  the  east  shore  a  little  north  of  the 
middle  of  the  pond.     This  camp  burned,  about  1906,  and  the 


1  Emerson's  History  of  Douglas,  page  9L 
-  Susan  Green  Angell  ( 1827-         )  to  writer. 
3  Nancy  Buxton  Anderson  to  writer. 


THE    WALLUM    POND    ESTATES  125 

camp  afterward  built  by  Clarence  King  and  now  owned  by  Mr. 
J.  Ernest  Singleton,  is  located  on  the  same  site.  In  the  summer 
of  1914,  Mr.  W.  E.  Gaucher  of  Harrisville  built  a  camp  on  the 
lower  west  shore  almost  opposite  the  Sanatorium  ice  house. 

Minerals. 
It  has  long  been  a  tradition^  in  the  Angell  family  that  in  early 
days  hunters  about  Wallum  Tond  made  bullets  from  lead- 
obtained  from  rocks.  Smith  F.  Angell  states  that  his  father, 
George  R.  Angell,  told  him  that  the  latter,  with  .Arnold  Stone. 
made  bullets  from  lead  cut  out  of  seams  in  the  rocks  with  a 
jackknife  and  that  this  lead  was  found  near  Goat  Rock.  In  the 
prospectus  of  the  Gold  IMilling  &  Refining  Co..  organized  by  Syl- 
vester Angell  and  others,  it  is  claimed  that  three  veins  of  sili- 
cious  ore  have  been  located  on  the  northwestern  side  of  Wallum 
Lake  and  that  four  of  the  assays  showed  gold  valued  from  $5.15 
to  $24.92  per  ton,  silver  from  31  cents  to  $22.04  per  ton,  and 
arsenic,  amount  unstated. 

The  Ice  Companies. 
The  Wallum  Pond  Ice  Co.  was  organized  by  Richard  W. 
Smith,  formerly  a  teacher  in  the  Mowry  &  Goff  School  of 
Providence,  who  became  President  of  the  concern.  The  cor- 
poration bought  land  of  the  Knowltons  on  the  west  shore  of  the 
pond  near  the  north  end.  May  12,  1894.  An  ice  house  having  a 
capacity  of  about  eighteen  thousand  tons,  a  boarding  house  for 
the  men  and  over  1,000  feet  of  spur  track  were  constructed  and 
steam  engine  and  hoisting  machinery  installed.  The  company 
did  not  prosper,  and  after  being  mortgaged  to  Fred  L.  Sayles 
and  leased  to  Wm.  E.  Bowen,  the  property,  following  some  liti- 
gation, was  acquired  by  the  Providence  Ice  Co.  in  November, 
1901.  The  ice  house  was  filled  nearly  every  year,  but  rarely 
emptied,  as  this  ice  was  usually  kept  in  reserve  until  the  supply 
nearer  Providence  was  exhausted.     On  Feb.  14.  1915.  while  a 


1  Sylvester  Angell  from  his  father.  Brown  Angell. 

2  Israel  Aldrich  told  Benjamin  Green  that  the  Indians  Rot  lead  from 
rocks  in  the  Douglas  woods.  A  similar  account  is  given  in  W  intiirop  s 
Journal,  Jameson's  Ed.,  Vol.  1,  page  108. 


126  RHODE    ISLAND    HISTORICAL    SOCIETY 

gang  of  men  were  preparing  to  commence  ice  cutting,  the  ice 
house  took  fire  and  burned  so  rapidly  that  several  men  barely 
had  time  to  escape  from  the  building.  It  was  believed  that  the 
fire  resulted  from  men  smoking  in  the  straw  lofts  under  the  roof. 
The  boarding  house  burned  a  few  hours  later.  The  Crystal  Ice 
Co.,  of  Providence,  of  which  David  F.  Sherwood  was  President, 
on  Jan.  23,  1901,  bought  of  Sylvester  Angell,  three  or  four  acres 
of  land  near  the  outlet  of  Wallum  Pond,  with  the  ostensible  pur- 
pose of  building  an  ice  house  and  railroad  s[)ur  track  to  the  prop- 
erty, but  this  project  never  materialized  and  these  rights  were 
afterward  sold  to  John  F.  Kaufman  and  later,  Nov.  18,  1901,  to 
the  Providence  Ice  Co.  No  attempt  to  utilize  this  property  was 
ever  made. 

Farms  West  of  the  Pond. 

From  the  west  shore  of  the  pond,  the  wooded  land  rises  stead- 
ily for  about  a  third  of  a  mile  to  the  summit  of  the  Buck  Hill 
ridge,  which  runs  north  and  south  parallel  to  the  pond  and  about 
150  feet  above  it.  The  top  of  the  ridge  forms  a  rolling  plateau 
about  a  mile  wide  from  which  the  land  slopes  downward  and 
westward  into  Connecticut.  The  ridge  extends  many  miles  to 
the  southward,  but  to  the  northward  it  is  severed  by  the  valley 
of  Rocky  Brook,  which  crosses  it  in  its  westerly  course.  There 
have  been  five  farms  on  this  ridge,  two  in  Rhode  Island  near  the 
Massachusetts  line  and  three  in  Massachusetts.  Considering 
how  hilly  and  stony  the  land  is  hereabouts,  and  how  deeply  in 
the  woods  the  farms  are  located,  one  is  surprised  to  see  how 
smooth  this  land  is  and  how  excellent  the  farm  buildings  were 
as  evident  from  the  large  and  well  built  foundations. 

The  Worsley  Place. 
South  of  the  Whitman  place  is  what  was  formerly  called  the 
Hatch  lot.    This  land  was  laid  out  in  the  original  right  of  Daniel 
Abbott  of  Providence,  who  sold  to  Estes  Hatch,  of  Dorchester, 


THEWALLUM    POND    ESTATES  127 

Mass.,  Sept.  3,  1726\  A  tradition  persists  that  lands  in  this 
vicmity  belonging  to  Hatch  and  one  Menzies.  who  were  Tories, 
were  confiscated  during  the  Revolution.  The  tradition  is  incor- 
rect as  applied  to  this  land,  which  was  sold  by  Estes  Hatch  and 
Nathaniel  Hatch,  of  Boston,  to  John  Aldrich  and  Daniel  Abbott. 
Nov.  26,  175P.  In  1809,  Joseph  Worsley.  of  Thompson.  bouKdit 
112  acres  of  the  Hatch  lot  of  William  Joy.  The  Worsley  house 
stood  about  50  rods  southerly  of  the  Whitman  house  and  had 
disappeared  before  1850.  The  barn-  was  then  standing  and  was 
used  by  Serrail  Jacobs  for  his  sheep,  which  were  pastured  on 
the  Worsley  place. 


The  Whitman  Farm. 

Elijah  Whitman  bought  this  place.  62  acres,  of  Elias  Joy, 
Oct.  28,  1808,  cleared  the  land  and.  after  living  for  some  time  in 
a  log  house,  built  a  frame  house  in  Rhode  Island,  80  rods  from 
the  Massachusetts  line.  In  1812,  Burrillville  accepted  a  road 
leading  westward  into  Thompson.  Whitman  and  Worsley  thus 
had  the  unusual  experience  of  running  farms  in  Burrillville, 
Rhode  Island,  and  having  no  highway  communication  with  the 
rest  of  the  town  unless  they  previously  passed  through  a  section 
of  either  Massachusetts  or  Connecticut.  Wood  roads  which 
lead  southeast  to  the  pond  and  to  the  present  Sanatorium  pig- 
gery were  used  for  logging  in  winter.  In  1818,  Joseph  Munyon 
sold  to  Joseph  Benson  a  tract  of  woodland  to  the  westward  of 
Whitman's.  The  highest  point  of  this  land  has  been  called  Ben- 
son Mountain  and  is  794  feet  above  the  sea  level,  16  feet  higher 
than  Wallum  Pond  Hill  and  219  feet  above  the  pond.  After 
Whitman's  death,  his  wife,  Sally,  moved  to  Oxford,  and.  witli 
his  children,  Elijah,  the  2nd,  et  al,  sold  the  form  to  Henry 
Wheelock,  March  7,  1854.  The  farm  was  afterward  owned  by 
Lemuel,  a  son  of  Ebenezer  Starr.  The  unoccupied  house  burned 
to  the  ground  in  the  forest  fire,  about  1911. 


1  See  deed  of  Estes  and  Nathaniel  Hatch  to  John  Aldricli  and  Daniel 
Abbott  in  the  Glocester  Records. 

2  Barton  Jacobs  to  writer. 


128  RHODE    ISLAND    HISTORICAL    SOCIETY 

The  Mason,  Buxton  and  Starr  Farms. 
From  the  Whitman  place,  a  road  leads  northward,  crossing 
the  Rhode  Island  line  to  the  three  Massachusetts  farms.  It  has 
been  a  tradition  that  these  farms  were  the  so-called  "Boston 
Men's  Farms,"  and  it  is  true  that  the  eastern  parts  of  these 
farms  were  originally  granted  to  the  "Boston  Men."  It  appears 
likely  that  these  lands  were  cleared  and  the  buildings  erected 
during  the  ownership  of  Abraham  Mason  (1763-1852).  Mason 
was  a  veteran  of  the  Revolution  and  subsequently  a  blacksmith 
in  Thompson.  He  was  a  small,  wiry  man  who  weighed  scarcely 
120  pounds  but  possessed  great  strength.  One  of  the  feats  still 
related  by  those  who  remember  him^  was  the  crossing  of  an 
unfinished  room  with  his  body  suspended  in  air,  by  clinging  with 
the  thumb  and  fingers  of  each  hand  to  the  overhead  joists.  The 
tract  comprising  these  three  farms  was  bought  in  one  piece  by 
Abraham  Mason  of  Dr.  Timothy  Jennison,  of  Cambridge,  in 
1799.  Dr.  Jennison's  father,  Dr.  Wm.  Jennison,  had  previously 
bought  the  tract  of  Abijah  Estes,  who  bought  of  John  Reed,  of 
Uxbridge,  February  9,  1761.  Reed's  deed  to  Estes  states  that 
this  land  was  bounded  on  the  east  by  the  "Boston  Men's  Farms." 
(To  be  concluded) 


lira  Wakefield  (1837-         )  to  writer. 


Form  of  Legacy 


'*!  give  and  bequeath  to  the  Rhode  Island 

Historical  Society  the  smn  oj 

dollars.''